ce, and they were fierce enough to
assault him had they dared to do so.

The party came to an end before midnight. Ben Mayberry had saluted his
friends, and was in the hall preparatory to going home, when someone
slyly pulled his arm. Turning, he saw that it was Ned Deering, a little
fellow whose father was the leading physician in Damietta. Ned was a
great admirer of Ben, and he now seized the occasion to say:

"Look out, Ben, when you get down by the bridge over the creek; they're
going for you."

"Whom do you mean?"

"That Rutherford Richmond and another fellow mean to hide in Carter's
Alley, and when you come along will pounce down on you. They wanted me to
go with 'em, but I begged off without letting 'em know I meant to tell
you."

"Where are they?" asked Ben, glancing furtively about him.

"They slipped out ahead, and are hurrying down there. You had better take
another way home. They are awful mad, and will knock the stuffing out of
you."

Ben Mayberry smiled over the earnest words and manner of the boy, and
thanked him for his information.

"Don't let 'em know I told you," added the timid fellow, as Ben moved out
the door; "for if they find out that it was me that was the cause of your
going the other way home, why, they'd punch my head for me. That
Richmond, they say, is a reg'lar fighter--has science, and can lay out
anybody of his size."

"They will never know you said anything to me, Ned, for I shall take the
usual way, and will be slow, so as to give them plenty of time to get
there ahead of me."

The little fellow looked wonderingly at Ben as he walked away, unable to
comprehend how anyone should step into a yawning chasm after being warned
of his peril.

CHAPTER XV

AN AFFRAY AT NIGHT

Ben Mayberry was so desirous that Rutherford Richmond and his brother
conspirator should be given all the time they needed to complete their
scheme for waylaying and assaulting him, that he lingered on the road
longer than was really necessary.

Finally he turned down the street, which crossed by the creek that ran
through the center of Damietta. It was a clear moonlight night, and,
except in the shadow, objects could be seen distinctly for a considerable
distance. He advanced with great care, and with all his wits at command,
for he was confident the warning given him by Ned Deering was well
founded.

When within a block of the bridge he saw someone peep out of Carter's
Alley and instantly dr