the astonishment of the two natives at seeing, as they supposed, three women standing with their boat, was no less than that of the boys at being thus suddenly surprised. suspecting no harm, however, they at once moved forward, asking in egyptian, "what are you doing here with our boat?"
"down with them, boys?" jim tucker exclaimed, and at once threw himself upon one of the boatmen, while jack and arthur instantly sprang upon the other.[132]
wholly unprepared for the attack, the men were thrown down almost without resistance.
"get some rope from the boat, arthur!" jim tucker exclaimed.
leaving jack to hold the prostrate man, arthur hill jumped on board the boat, and in a minute returned with two pieces of rope. with these the arms and legs of the natives were soon firmly tied.
"now, what are we going to do next?" jim tucker asked.
"it would not do to leave them here," jack said. "if they managed to untie each other they would give the alarm, and if we had to come back we should be caught. if they could not manage to untie each other they might lie here and die. i think we had better take them with us."
"i suppose that will be the best plan," jim agreed. "i do not know that it will make much difference in the end, for they must be left tied somewhere; still, it would certainly make it safer for us."
accordingly the men were lifted into the boat and laid down in the bottom. then the boys threw off the female garments, and taking the long poles punted the boat out into the lake. the water was so shallow, that it was not until they had gone more than a mile from shore that they laid in the poles and took to the clumsy oars. an hour's rowing, and the shore began to rise high in front of them. as they approached it they stopped rowing, and listened attentively.
"now, before we go any nearer we had better gag these fellows," jack said. "if they were to set-to[133] to shout as soon as we had landed, our chance of getting back again would be at an end."
they tore off two strips from the cloths, rolled them up, and put them in the prisoners' mouths, putting some lashings across so that they could not get them out; then they put the men so far apart in the boat that they could not touch each other, and lashed them in these positions. this done they again wrapped themselves in their women's garments, and quietly rowed to the shore. they had but little fear of finding anyone here. the natives, if no landing had been effected from the ships, would be all engaged in the work of plundering; while if the english had taken possession of the town they would probably be keeping in their houses. no one was near when they landed, and fastening the head-rope of the boat to a stone they pushed her gently off again.
"if anyone should come along," jim said, "it is too dark for them to see those fellows lying in the boat. now, we must take our bearings accurately as we go along, so as to be able to find the boat again if things go wrong with us."
they had landed half a mile beyond the town, and now made their way towards it. as they came to the houses a few people were about, but no one paid any attention to the three veiled figures. the glare of light was a sufficient indication to them of the direction they should follow, for they had agreed that if a landing had been made the sailors would be certain to be at work trying to put a stop to the spread of the flames.
presently they came to the edge of the district[134] swept by the fire. the walls for the most part were standing, although in many cases they had fallen across the road. the heaps of rubbish inside still glowed, and now and then little tongues of fire leapt up. on they went, making their way very cautiously until they reached a wide open space surrounded by ruins.
"this is the great square," jack said. "look, there is the fountain still playing in the middle. there are some fires there too, and a lot of people round them."
"let us wait a bit. if they are egyptians we shall be in a nice mess."
they stood for some time, afraid to approach closer, then they heard a burst of laughter.
"that must be english," jack said. "i don't believe egyptians ever laugh like that."
"i don't think so either. let us move a bit closer; but mind, we must be ready for a bolt if we find we are wrong."
they went quietly forward, and again stood irresolute. presently they heard a voice call "tom jones!" and heard the reply "aye, aye, sir!"
"it is all right!" jim exclaimed joyfully, and they at once hurried forward. they soon arrived at the fire, round which three or four naval officers were sitting. the boys tore the veils from their faces and threw back the cotton cloth from over their heads, and a general exclamation of surprise broke from the officers as they saw the heads of three european boys.
"hallo!" one of them exclaimed. "who are you, and where do you spring from?"[135]
"we were wounded and carried off last month, on the day of the rising," jim said, "and have been kept prisoners ever since, sir. we got away the night after the bombardment, and have just arrived. we belong to the barque wild wave; we are midshipmen on board her."
"well, i am glad you have got out of their hands," the officer said; "but i cannot do anything for you now. these rascals keep on setting the town on fire in fresh places, and we are just starting to put one out that began half an hour ago."
"what is this?" an officer asked, hurrying up to the spot.
"three lads, lord charles, who have been kept prisoners by the egyptians for the last month, and have just escaped. they belong to a merchant vessel, and were captured at the rising."
"please to march off your men at once, sir; i will overtake you in a minute or two. well, lads, what can i do for you?"
"well, sir, you might give us something to eat, perhaps," jim suggested. "we have had next to nothing for the last three days."
"come along with me," lord charles beresford said, and he hurried with them to another party of sailors at the further end of the square.
"give those lads something to eat and drink," he said. "you had better stop here until i come back, lads, then i will see what can be done for you."
a kettle was boiling over a fire, and before many minutes the lads were supplied with a basin each of cocoa and a lump of bread, and felt as they ate their supper that their troubles were at an end. it[136] required, however, more than one bowl of cocoa and a considerable quantity of bread before their appetites were appeased.
while taking their supper the boys gave to the officers gathered round them a sketch of the adventures they had gone through.
"now that you have done your supper," one of the officers said, "i suppose the next thing you want is some clothes. the question is how to get them."
"yes, sir; it is awful going about like this."
"well, you are rather objects," the officer agreed with a laugh; "but i do not see what is to be done for you at present. you see, all this part of the town is burned down, and the shops in the other parts are all locked up and deserted, and most of them have already been broken into and robbed. we have no time to see about that sort of thing at present; our time is entirely occupied in fighting the fire, and in preventing these scoundrels from lighting fresh ones. there were seven or eight fresh outbreaks to-day. however, you must stop here for the present. lord charles beresford will not be long before he is back, i daresay."
in another half hour the party of sailors returned, having pulled down two or three houses, and prevented the flames from spreading. their commander at once came up to the boys, followed by a sailor bringing a large bundle.
"i have not forgotten you, youngsters. one of the houses we pulled down was a clothier's, which had by some good luck or other escaped being looted, so i told the men to pick out half a dozen suits and[137] as many caps, and bring them on. they would only have been taken by the natives directly our backs were turned. no doubt you will find something there to fit you."
with great joy the boys seized the bundle, and going a little distance off examined its contents. after a good deal of trying on they each found things that fitted them fairly. feeling vastly more comfortable in their new attire, they rejoined the sailors.
"i expect your ship has left long ago," lord charles said. "your best plan will be to go round in the morning to the consul, mr. cookson. he has established himself in a temporary office just beyond the range of the fire. one of my men will show you the way. most likely your captain will have left some message with him in case you turned up again. after you have seen him you can, if you like, come back here; i daresay i shall be able to find something for you to do. or if you like you can be sent off to one of the steamers, where the refugees are on board."
"we would much rather stay here, sir, if we may," jim tucker said. "we will do anything that you like to set us to."
as they sat by the fire talking with the officers the boys learned what had happened in the town. as soon as it became evident that the fire of the ships of war was mastering that of the forts the troops and the populace began the work of plunder. the european stores were all broken into; everything portable was carried away and the furniture broken and smashed.[138]
fire was applied in scores of places. a considerable number of the poorer classes of europeans had remained in their houses, being afraid to desert their possessions, and many of these houses were broken into by the mob and the inmates massacred.
it was calculated that upwards of five hundred were killed. the clerks at the anglo-egyptian bank had determined to stay and defend it, and as soon as the work of plunder and massacre began a number of europeans made for this point, and the little garrison was swelled until it numbered nearly a hundred men. the place had been attacked by the mob and soldiers; but had held out gallantly and beaten off the assailants, who had before long scattered to points where plunder could be more easily obtained.
at night a steam-launch from the fleet entered the harbour. two or three men had landed, and making their way through the burning streets returned and reported the town was empty.
the next morning at daylight a force had landed and driven the plunderers from the european part of the town, while the ships had battered the forts that still held out. the following day a strong force of marines came ashore and patrolled the streets. at the sight of the british uniforms many doors were opened, and the wretched inmates, who had for forty-eight hours being trembling for their lives, made their way down to the water-side and went off to the ships. in the evening, a short time before the boys arrived, four hundred and fifty men had been landed from the british ships, and one hundred and twenty-five from an american man-of-war, and[139] these at once set about the work of re-establishing order.
in the morning a sailor conducted the boys to the house where mr. cookson had established himself. as soon as they gave an account of themselves to him he shook them heartily by the hand.
"i am glad to see you back in safety, lads. your captain was in a great way about your loss, and hunted high and low for you. he traced you to the spot where the riot began, but could learn nothing more; and as none of your bodies could be found, we had hopes that you had not been killed. of course he could not delay his vessel here, and went on to smyrna. he was going to look in here again on his way back; but as he has not done so, he probably got a freight and had to sail straight home. he asked me if you did turn up to let you have any money you required, and to do all i could for you. i can let you have the money, but i cannot do much else beyond sending you on board one of the ships outside to wait there until there is a chance of sending you home."
"thank you very much, sir," jim said. "we shall be glad of some money, but we do not want to go on board ship. lord beresford said he would give us something to do here."
"oh, if lord charles said that, i need not trouble about you," the consul said. "he will find you plenty of work. how much shall i give you each?"
"i think two pounds apiece, sir, would be plenty," jim said. "one does not like having no money; but i do not see how we are going to spend it."
the lads now went back to the square, and there[140] waited for some hours, lord charles beresford being away at work. he returned at mid-day, by which time the party in the square had cooked the dinners for their comrades. there were now two thousand sailors and marines on shore, posted in various open places, the grand square serving as head-quarters. sailors and officers were alike blackened with ashes and dust, having been engaged in the work of pulling down houses and checking the progress of the flames.
lord charles called the lads to him and made them sit down and join the officers and himself at dinner, and while the meal was going on he obtained from them an account of their adventures. when they had finished he said to one of the marine officers: "captain archer, you are to take command of that gang of fellows over there," pointing to some two hundred natives who were gathered a short distance away, "i hope we shall have a thousand at work to-morrow morning. you can take these young gentlemen with you; they will remain under your command for the present, and you will put them on rations. it will be a great thing getting these gangs of natives at work. i shall have time now to put a stop to the looting and incendiarism. besides, they say the egyptian troops are approaching the town again. i only hope they will try to come in."
there was a murmur of agreement among the circle of officers. the moment the meal was over the party rose, for there was no time to waste. captain archer, followed by the three boys and six marines, went over to the group of natives, by[141] whom one of the dragomans of the consulate was standing.
"these are all i could hire to-day, sir," the man said. "they are too much frightened to come out of their houses. to-morrow we shall get plenty of men. the consul told me to go with you as interpreter."
"thank goodness for that," the captain said. "i was wondering how i was going to get them to understand me. tell them to fall-in two and two and follow."
through the streets, where the heat from the houses was so intense that they hurried through with their hands shading their faces, clambering over masses of fallen stonework, broken furniture, and goods of all sorts scattered about, the party made their way to the edge of the fire. here the flames were ascending, and the conflagration was still spreading, although fortunately but slowly, for there was scarce any wind.
"now, lads," the captain said, "set to work and get down four houses on each side of the way."
the marines set the example by entering the houses, and, running upstairs, soon managed to break their way through the tiles and emerge upon the roofs.
"come on, darkies!" they shouted. "don't be afraid of blacking your hands!" they at once began to throw off the tiles, and were soon joined by a score of the most active natives.
"that is right, down with them!" the captain shouted, and in a very few minutes the last tiles had fallen. as soon as the shower had ceased the[142] whole of the contents of the houses were carried into the streets. then the marines began with the axes and crowbars with which they were provided to tear up the floor-boards and break down the rafters and beams. then grapnels fastened to long ropes were fixed on the top of the brickwork, a score of hands caught hold, and the lightly-built wall readily yielded to the strain, coming down in great masses. as soon as the walls had fallen the natives were set to work carrying away the beams and woodwork, and in a little more than half an hour from the time the operations commenced two heaps of brickwork and rubbish alone marked the spot where the eight houses had stood.
as soon as the work was finished the party moved on into the next street, there to repeat the operations. as parties of sailors were at work at a score of other places the operations proceeded rapidly, and by nightfall the workers had the satisfaction of knowing that the fire was completely cut off, and that there was no chance of its spreading farther. four other outbreaks had occurred in the course of the day. in two cases the sailors arrived upon the spot before the incendiaries had made their escape. one man was shot, and four taken before the egyptian magistrate who had been appointed to try cases, and they were, after their guilt had been fully proved, sentenced to death and summarily hanged.
the following evening, on their going round to the consulate as usual to hear if he had received any news of the wild wave, mr. cookson said, "i had a telegram an hour since, lads, saying that your ship[143] arrived in the thames yesterday, and asking if i had any news of you. i have sent off my answer, 'all here safe and well, making themselves useful and waiting instructions.' i am sure to get an answer some time to-morrow."
the next day the answer came, "delighted at news. tell boys remain alexandria. ship coming out with cargo coal."
