er side of the door, and these the two lads
slipped home in a trice, interposing between themselves and their
bloodthirsty foes a barrier which they hoped would gain them a few
minutes' grace.

Once on the right side of the door, they hurriedly reloaded their
pistols, and looked round for an exit from the apartment, while the air
resounded with the sound of the blows which thundered upon the frail
woodwork behind them. Clearly the door would not stand more than a
minute or so, and it was necessary to hasten if they were to escape
after all. But, look as they might, there seemed to be no means of
egress, until Terry suddenly shouted, "That door will be down in a
second, Jim. We must get behind this tier of casks; they will afford us
a certain amount of shelter, at any rate."

In a moment the boys had slipped behind the stack of barrels, and there,
right in front of them, was the door for which they had been searching.

"Come along, Terry," exclaimed Douglas; "this way for your life!" And
like a flash they darted through the door, finding themselves in a dimly
lighted passage, which looked as though it led into the back premises of
the cafe. Just as they entered the passage they heard a crashing and
splintering of wood, followed by shouts of rage, and they knew that the
frail barrier between themselves and their pursuers was destroyed.

Down the passage they ran at top speed, round a sharp corner at the
bottom, and then emerged into a large _patio_ or courtyard. A rapid
glance round revealed no exit from the place; and already they could
hear their enemies rushing down the passage behind them.

"Quick! Quick!" whispered Jim, "we must hide somewhere or we are lost,"
And he cast his eyes round for some place which would suit their
purpose.

"This way!" he cried to his companion, dashing across the court towards
a large corn-bin. "This is our only chance!"

Like a flash the two lads raised the lid, clambered inside, and let the
covering down just as the first Chilian emerged into the _patio_. They
heard their pursuers separate and search the whole yard, calling to one
another at intervals to inquire whether anything had been heard or seen
of the fugitives; but, for some reason or other, it seemed to occur to
none of them to glance inside the corn-bin; the reason probably being
that it stood before them so prominently that they never dreamed that
any one could have thought of hiding there.

Suddenly there wa