ld be able
to hold out longest, a most dramatic interruption came,--nothing less
than the boom of a heavy gun from close in under the cliffs, not far
from the harbour's mouth. A moment later I perceived, through the
flickering light of the blazing faggot, the white glare of a searchlight
focusing itself upon the path outside. There was a yell of dismay from
the attacking force, loud shouts, and then the quick thud of swiftly
retreating feet as the savages broke and fled. But before they could
possibly have reached the end of the path another gun spoke, the report
being immediately followed by an explosion, accompanied by a terrible
outburst of yells and shrieks. Amid these I believed I heard the sharp
patter of shrapnel on the face of the cliff, while other yells arose
from the party who had been attending to the business of keeping up the
supply of burning faggots above the opening of the cavern.

We were saved! By some extraordinary combination of circumstances a
ship--and a ship of war at that--had come upon the scene at the very
crisis of our fortunes, and, attracted possibly by the light of the
blazing faggots, had approached near enough to hear the sound of our
rifle fire, doubtless greatly intensified by the reverberations of the
cavern, and probably guessing pretty shrewdly at what it all meant, had
intervened in the very nick of time!

"Hurrah!" I shouted, "hurrah! A ship! A ship! And the savages have
fled. Go and tell your mother and the others, Julius. I will keep a
look-out here."

But there was no need for Julius to play the part of messenger; for the
report of the guns, followed by my jubilant exclamations, brought the
others forth with a rush from the innermost recesses of the cavern,
eager to know just exactly what had happened.

The rest of my story can soon be told.

To Mr Julius Vansittart, absorbed in the conduct and management of his
mammoth engineering business, the thought one morning occurred that a
considerable time had elapsed since he had last received news of his
wife and family, and that another letter from them must be about due.
On referring to the last letter received, and noting the date of its
arrival, he instantly perceived that another letter was not only due,
but considerably overdue; and knowing how regular and methodical his
wife was in the matter of correspondence, it did not take him very long
to arrive at the conclusion that something must have gone wrong with th