the peasants have come in."

"Do you think Mr. Bathurst has got beyond the line of sentries?" Isobel
said, after standing perfectly quiet for some time.

"Oh, yes, a long way; probably he was through by the time we came up
here. They are not likely to post them more than fifty or sixty yards
from the wall; and, indeed, it is, as Bathurst pointed out to me,
probable that they are only thick near the gate. All they want to do is
to prevent us slipping away. I should think that Bathurst must be out
near the lines by this time."

Isobel moved a few paces away from the others, and again stood
listening.

"I suppose you do not think that there is any chance of an attack
tonight, Doctor?" Wilson asked, in low tones.

"Not in the least; the natives are not fond of night work. I expect they
are dividing the spoil and quarreling over it; anyhow, they have had
enough of it for today. They may intend to march away in the morning, or
they may have sent to Cawnpore to ask for orders, or they may have heard
from some of the Zemindars that they are coming in to join them--that is
what Bathurst has gone out to learn; but anyhow I do not think they will
attack us again with their present force."

"I wish there were a few more of us," Wilson said, "so that we could
venture on a sortie."

"So do I, lad; but it is no use thinking about it as it is. We have to
wait; our fate is not in our own hands."

"And you think matters look bad, Doctor?"

"I think they could hardly look worse. Unless the mutineers take it into
their heads to march away, there is, humanly speaking, but one chance
for us, and that is that Lawrence may thrash the Sepoys so completely
at Lucknow that he may be able to send out a force to bring us in. The
chances of that are next to nothing; for in addition to a very large
Sepoy force he has the population of Lucknow--one of the most turbulent
in India--on his hands. Ah, what is that?"

Two musket shots in quick succession from the Sepoy lines broke the
silence of the evening, and a startled exclamation burst from the girl
standing near them.

The Doctor went over to her.

"Do you think--do you think," she said in a low, strained voice, "that
it was Bathurst?"

"Not at all. If they detected him, and I really do not see that there is
a chance of their doing so, disguised as he was, they would have seized
him and probably killed him, but there would be no firing. He has gone
unarmed, you know, and would offer