l promptitude, and he lay tossing restlessly upon his
pallet until he became impatient and finally exasperated at his want of
success. The hut felt hot and stuffy to the verge of suffocation, and
the lieutenant at length came to the conclusion that there was no hope
of his getting to sleep until he had taken a turn or two up and down the
compound, in the comparatively cool night air.

He accordingly scrambled to his feet, and, groping his way in the
intense darkness, made for the verandah. Here he paused for a moment,
glancing upward to the sky, which he found to be obscured by a dense
canopy of heavy black cloud, portending rain, which sufficiently
accounted for the pitchy darkness. His eyes at length becoming
accustomed to the obscurity, he looked round for the guard; and he
eventually discovered the various members faithfully occupying their
posts, but, one and all, squatted upon the ground evidently fast asleep.
He stalked out toward the centre of the compound and took two or three
turns up and down its length, his footsteps falling noiselessly upon the
light sandy soil, and not one of the savages manifested the slightest
consciousness of his presence. Then he gradually extended his walk
until he reached the gate in the palisade, and here too the guard was
fast asleep. An idea presented itself to him; and he was about to make
an attempt to noiselessly remove the bars and open the gate, when
prudence suggested another and a better plan. He tiptoed lightly back
to the hut, and, gently awakening each of his companions in turn,
whispered in their ears:

"Up at once! There is an opportunity for us to effect our escape!"

The aroused sleepers instinctively comprehended the situation and sprang
to their feet. Another minute, and four shadowy shapes stole
noiselessly across the compound, to vanish almost instantly in the
deeper shadows of the palisading. The closed gate was reached and
passed, and presently the fugitives found themselves in the angle of the
compound most distant from the slumbering guard. Here Mildmay offered a
"back" to the baronet, whispering:

"You go first."

Without a word Sir Reginald complied, clambering first upon his
companion's back and thence noiselessly to the top of the palisading.
In another second a faint thud on the outside told that the first
adventurer had successfully scaled the barrier. "You go next,"
whispered Mildmay to the colonel, "and remain on the top of the palisad