se their heads in the morning.
It matters little," he added. "They will lose them anyhow. But our time
has come; be ready now to assist."

He motioned Guy and Melton behind the door, and then, pulling it partly
open, uttered a few words in a strange tongue.

Instantly the powerful frame of the big Nubian entered, and as he stood
for one second on the dungeon floor, sudden mistrust in his ugly
features, Canaris leaped at his throat and bore him heavily to the
ground.

"Quick!" he cried, and in an instant Guy and Melton had seized the
struggling man's arms and feet.

Still pressing the fellow's windpipe with one muscular hand, Canaris
thrust a gag into the gaping mouth, and in two minutes their captive was
lying bound and helpless on the straw.

"What did you tell him?" asked Guy.

"I said our lamp was going out," Canaris replied. "And now for the man
at the prison door. I must get him inside, for the post is in plain
view of the guard at the gate."

A solution of this puzzling problem was closer at hand than anyone
imagined. The creaking of a door was heard, followed by approaching
footsteps.

"Here he comes now!" said Canaris in an excited whisper. "He has grown
suspicious, and has determined to investigate. Quick!"

Canaris darted to the other side of the doorway, and then ensued another
period of chilling suspense.

The tread came nearer, and at last another stalwart Nubian blocked the
doorway with his massive bulk. His look of wonder was comical as he saw
his comrade gagged and bound on the dungeon floor, but before the half
articulated exclamation could escape his lips Canaris had him by the
throat, and down they came. The fellow uttered one cry, and then, as his
head struck the edge of the door in falling his struggles lessened, and
with no trouble at all he was gagged and bound.

Canaris tore the ammunition from their belts, handed Guy and Melton
their rifles, and then, blowing out the lamp, he pushed them into the
corridor and bolted the door.

"Two heads will be off in the morning," he remarked grimly. "One more
victory and we are out of prison."

He blew out the light that stood in the corridor and led the way
through the darkness till he reached the door. He pulled it open, a
crack revealing the moonlit courtyard, and took a long, careful survey.

"There is the man we want," he whispered, pointing across the court, and
putting his eyes to the crevice Guy saw against the massive prison wall
a