eedy death awaited them in the dungeon of Rao
Khan. The chances were truly worth taking.

They followed instructions closely when the guard brought them food at
noon, and in the evening Melton tossed on the floor as though in pain.
The thrice-welcomed darkness came at last, and the light faded out of
their dungeon. Once a horrible thought entered Guy's mind. What was to
prevent the Greek from making his escape alone, and abandoning the
Englishmen to their fate? It was but momentary, however, and then he
dismissed the suspicion with a feeling of shame. He had already learned
to trust the Greek implicitly.

Crouched by their dungeon door, they listened by the hour, and at last
their patience was rewarded. Voices were heard, steps approached and
died away, and then all was silent.

The time for action had come.

Melton threw himself on the straw and moaned. Guy rapped sharply on the
door and waited in suspense. Almost instantly it opened, and the guard,
a tall Nubian, pushed his lamp into the doorway and followed it up with
head and shoulders.

"Canaris, Canaris!" said Guy earnestly, pointing to Melton, who uttered
at that moment a most unearthly groan.

The guard drew back and shut the door. His soft tread echoed down the
corridor, and all was still.

The suspense of the next five minutes Guy will never forget as long as
he lives. It seemed to his excited imagination as though an hour had
passed by, when suddenly sounds were heard in the corridor, and in an
instant more Canaris stood before them, his leather case at his side, a
lamp in his hand. He closed the door, opened, the case, and drew out two
wide linen tunics and two long jackets such as the Emir's troops wore.

"Put these on," he whispered. "You can wear your helmets; there are many
of them in Harar."

As he spoke he drew an Arab burnous over his head, shading entirely his
light hair and mustache. He next pulled the revolvers and shells from
under the straw, distributed them around, and with the knife cut the
rope in a dozen parts. By this time Guy and Melton had donned their
disguises and were ready for action.

Up to this point Guy had supposed that Canaris had bribed the guards and
paved the way out of prison.

"You are sure the guards will let us pass?" he said.

Canaris looked at him in wonder, and then a smile rippled over his face.

"You thought I had bribed the guards," he said. "Ten thousand pounds
could not tempt them. They would only lo