shore, we might manage to get hold of a boat
and row out to the ships; but I do not see that there is any chance of
our being able to do that when we haven't got as much as a knife among
us."

Jim examined the walls. "There would not be much difficulty in working
through them if we had a couple of good knives, they are made of
sun-dried bricks. However, we will hunt about among this rubbish and see
if we can find some more bits of iron. Anyhow, we can wait a day or two
before we make up our minds about it and see what comes of it. I vote we
clear up this litter a bit, and chuck it out through the opening. There
is a close, musty smell in the place. The opening will be very handy for
chucking everything out and keeping the place as clean as we can."

"Yes, Jim; but the rubbish will be very useful to us if we decide to try
to cut our way out, as we can put a lot of brick-dust and stuff under
it. It would not do to throw that out of the window, for it would be
seen at once by anyone passing."

"Yes; you are right there, Jack. Well then, we have nothing to do but to
take it as easy as we can."

The closest search through the rubbish did not bring to light any other
piece of iron, and the bit they had used as a knife was so thin and
rusted as to be altogether useless for the purpose for which they
required it.

The days passed slowly. The two Egyptians brought bread and water
regularly, and the Nubian as regularly additions to their
meal--sometimes fruit, sometimes a dish of meat. Three bundles of maize
straw were brought down the first evening to serve as beds for them, and
on the following morning three or four men came down and swept up all
the rubbish from the floor. Once every two days they were taken out
under a guard of three men with swords and muskets, and allowed to sit
down in the sun, with their backs against the wall, for an hour or two.
The shipping still lay in the harbour, over which they commanded a good
view; and after a few days they saw that several more vessels of war had
entered it.

"I can see that the boats are going backwards and forwards to the
shore," Jim said, "so there is no regular war begun yet."

"Look, Jim, over there to the right," Jack said. "There is a swarm of
men at work. I believe they must be getting up a fresh battery there.
That looks as if the Egyptians had made up their minds to fight."

"So much the worse, Jack. I don't mind how much they fight when we are
out of their