nd he was unwilling to
plunge their friends into anxiety and grief until a further time had
been allowed to elapse.

For a long time negotiations went on between Admiral Seymour, who
commanded the British fleet now at the port of Alexandria, and the
government of the khedive. The ministers were really nothing more than
the nominees of Arabi and the army, and the demands of the English
admiral for satisfaction for the outrages, compensation to the
sufferers, and the punishment of the guilty, were met with evasive
answers. So threatening and insolent was the bearing of the Egyptian
troops, that the greater part of the European population again left
their houses and took refuge on board the ships in the harbour.

More and more peremptory became the demands of the English admiral, but
still no results were obtained. Egyptian troops now commenced throwing
up fortifications at points commanding the position of the British ships
in the harbour. The admiral sent ashore and insisted that these works
should be at once discontinued. No attention was paid to the demand. A
message was then sent through the consuls warning all Europeans in the
town to embark at once, and an ultimatum was despatched to the Egyptian
ministry, saying that unless the works were stopped and a satisfactory
answer to the demands returned before nightfall the ships would open
fire the next day; in the afternoon, as no reply had been received, the
men-of-war steamed out of the harbour and took up their position off the
town.

The warships of the other nationalities also left the harbour; but as
their governments refused to support actively the action of the English,
they either steamed away or anchored at a distance as spectators of the
approaching event. The various merchant-ships in harbour also sailed
out, all of them crowded with fugitives from the town. The English fleet
consisted of the _Invincible_, _Monarch_, _Penelope_, _Sultan_,
_Alexandria_, _Superb_, _Inflexible_, and _Temeraire_, with the
gun-boats _Signet_, _Condor_, _Bittern_, _Beacon_, and _Decoy_.

Nearly a month had passed since the lads had been taken prisoners. They
were in absolute ignorance as to what was going on in the town, except
that they had been told by one of their guards, who spoke a few words of
English, that Arabi and his troops were masters of Alexandria, and that
every European in Egypt would be destroyed.

"They may be masters of Alexandria at present," Jim Tucker said