nswer. All remained quiet. Mike
leapt to his feet and opened the door.

"What is it?" he asked the sentry.

"I saw two or three men at the end of the corridor. It was too
dark to make them out clearly. They were coming this way. I
levelled my carbine and cried, 'Who comes there?' and at once they
stole away. They could have been after no good, for their steps
were noiseless, and they must have come up without boots."

"Keep a sharp lookout, sentry," Desmond said, "and see that they
don't steal up to you, for if they do, you may be stabbed before
you have time to turn round.

"It is lucky that I carried out your suggestion, Mike, and posted
a sentry at the door. Of course, these men the sentry saw may not
have been coming here, but at any rate their conduct was
suspicious."

In a few minutes Desmond was again asleep. He had had a long day's
work, and believing that the affair was over, at least for the
night, he did not even try to keep awake.

As soon as Mike heard, by his breathing, that he was asleep, he
got up noiselessly and seated himself near the open window, with a
loaded pistol. An hour passed, and then he heard a slight stir in
the street. He did not look out, but grasped his pistol tightly.

Their room was on the first floor. Presently, he heard a grating
sound against the window. It was very dark, and he knelt down so
that he would be able to make out any figure that showed above the
windowsill. He thought first of rousing his master, but as he had
another pistol in his belt, and his sword leaned against the wall,
ready to his hand, he thought it better to let matters take their
course.

He had heard no further sound, but presently a round object
appeared in sight. Stretching out his arm, he fired without a
moment's hesitation. There was a sound of a heavy fall below,
followed by some muttered exclamations. In a moment, Desmond was
on his feet, a pistol which he had laid by his pillow in his
grasp.

"What is it, Mike?"

"It is only a gentleman who had a fancy for looking in at the
window, your honour, and I have no doubt would have come in,
without saying by your leave, if I had not cut the matter short by
putting a bullet into his forehead. He had some friends down
below. He came up on a ladder."

He looked out of the window.

"They are taking it down now, your honour. Shall I give them
another shot?"

"No, Mike; let them go. The lesson has been good enough."

The sentry had also run in