e English, who, under this new form of attack, began to fall thick and
fast. For now that the populace had the support of several hundred
soldiers, their courage became so reckless that they could no longer
restrain themselves; and they accordingly engaged in the attack upon the
English with avidity--from the comparatively safe position of the
upstairs windows of the houses on either side of the street. Stukely
and Dick were with the rearguard, making a vigorous and successful stand
against the attack of the soldiery, when this new feature in the
fighting was introduced, and they knew nothing about it until a great
stone, hurled from the attic window of the house in front of which they
were fighting, crashed down fair upon young Chichester's head and sent
him reeling senseless to the ground.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

HOW PHIL AND DICK ESCAPED FROM CARTAGENA.

When Dick recovered consciousness it was evening; the street was quiet,
and he was lying upon a couch in a darkened room, with Philip Stukely
and an elderly woman bending over him; the woman holding a basin of warm
water, while Stukely assiduously bathed an ugly scalp wound on the crown
of his head. The said head was throbbing and aching most atrociously,
and when the young man sat up and attempted to rise to his feet he
discovered, to his astonishment and chagrin, that he had no control over
himself, the room seemed to be whirling and spinning round with him at
bewildering speed, and his legs immediately collapsed under him.

"Now, then, none of that, youngster," exclaimed Stukely, as he flung his
arm round Chichester and gently lowered the lad back on the couch.
"What a plague induced you to start up like that, all of a sudden,
before I was ready for you? You will just have to lie still, young man,
until I tell you that you may move. And how do you feel, now that you
have seen fit to at last come to your senses?"

"How do I feel?" reiterated Dick, trying to pass his hand over his
forehead, and failing, for the member seemed heavier than lead. "Why, I
seem to have no more strength than a baby; my head is nothing but one
big, atrocious ache; and I don't seem to be able to remember things very
well. For instance, I don't in the least know where we are, or how we
got here; and--and--who is the--ah--lady, Phil?"

"Don't you worry about the lady, youngster, she is all right, and proved
herself to be a friend just when we badly needed one," answered Stukely.
"Th