ake the attempt: I am in a perfect fever of excitement,
for it is a matter of life or death to me. I calculate from previous
observations that the tide will be very low at about a quarter to
nine. The top of the tunnel ought then to be a foot and a half above
water, which is more than enough to permit of the keg passing through
it. It will be another half hour at least before the flow sets in
again, and by that time the keg may be far enough away to escape being
thrown back on the coast.

I peer out of my cell. There is no one about, and I advance to the
side of the lagoon, where by the light of a nearby lamp, I perceive
the arch of the tunnel, towards which the current seems to be setting
pretty swiftly.

I go down to the very edge, and cast in the keg which contains the
precious document and all my hopes.

"God be with it!" I fervently exclaim. "God be with it!"

For a minute or two the little barrel remains stationary, and then
floats back to the side again. I throw it out once more with all my
strength.

This time it is in the track of the current, which to my great joy
sweeps it along and in twenty seconds, it has disappeared in the
tunnel.

Yes, God be with it! May Heaven guide thee, little barrel! May it
protect all those whom Ker Karraje menaces and grant that this band of
pirates may not escape from the justice of man!

CHAPTER XIV.

BATTLE BETWEEN THE "SWORD" AND THE TUG.

Through all this sleepless night I have followed the keg in fancy. How
many times I seem to see it swept against the rocks in the tunnel into
a creek, or some excavation. I am in a cold perspiration from head to
foot. Then I imagine that it has been carried out to sea. Heavens!
if the returning tide should sweep it back to the entrance and then
through the tunnel into the lagoon! I must be on the lookout for it.

I rise before the sun and saunter down to the lagoon. Not a single
object is floating on its calm surface.

The work on the tunnel through the side of the cavern goes on, and at
four o'clock in the afternoon on September 23, Engineer Serko blows
away the last rock obstructing the issue, and communication with the
outer world is established. It is only a very narrow hole, and one
has to stoop to go through it. The exterior orifice is lost among the
crannies of the rocky coast, and it would be easy to obstruct it, if
such a measure became necessary.

It goes without saying that the passage will be strictly guar