ose fellows
before it is too late. Time enough to hunt for the traitor later on!"

Two minutes later, a swarm of armed men forsook the mock charity ball
and sallied forth to engage in realities. Firing was soon heard at the
western gate, half a mile away. Thither, the eager pursuers rushed. The
wide ray from the searchlight swung down upon this gate and revealed the
forms of struggling men.

The prisoners had fallen suddenly upon the two Greeks who guarded the
western gate, surprising them cleverly. The Greeks fought for their
lives, but were overwhelmed in plain view of the relief party which
raced toward them. Both fell under the clubbed guns of their
adversaries.

Chase and Selim were not more than a hundred yards away when the
desperate Greeks went down. The blinding glare of the searchlight aided
the pursuers, who kept outside its radius. The fugitives, bewildered,
confused by the bright glare in which they found themselves, faced the
light boldly, five of them kneeling with guns raised to protect their
two companions who started across the narrow strip which separated them
from the massive gate. Selim gave a shout and stopped suddenly, throwing
his rifle to his shoulder.

"They have the keys!" he cried. "Shoot!"

His rifle cracked a second later and one of the two men leaped into the
air and fell like a log. Chase understood the necessity for quick work
and fired an instant later. The second man fell in a heap, thirty feet
from the gate. His companions returned the fire at random in the
direction from which the well-aimed shots had come.

"Under cover!" shouted Chase. He and Selim dropped into the shrubbery in
time to escape a withering fire from outside the gates. The searchlight
revealed a compact mass of men beyond the walls. It was then that the
insiders realised how near they had come to being surprised and
destroyed. A minute more, and the gates would have been opened to this
merciless horde.

The prisoners, finding themselves trapped, threw themselves upon the
ground and shrieked for mercy. Lord Deppingham and the others came up
and, scattering well, began to fire at the mass outside the wall. The
islanders were at a disadvantage. They could not locate the opposing
marksmen on account of the blinding light in their faces. It was but a
moment before they were scampering off into the dark wood, shrieking
with rage.

The five fugitives were compelled to carry their fallen comrades and the
two Greeks