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Chapter Twenty Two
“’Top Littlee!”

Stan Lynn had good reason to stare, for at the sharp report of the rifle poor Wing’s aspect of being a part of the gable disappeared instantly. He sprang to his feet with one hand clapped to his chest, the other reaching round to his back, both busily searching for his wound, as he uttered a dismal cry.

The next moment both hands were in the air clutching for something to hold on by so as to save himself, but clutching in vain. For his foot as he stood erect had slipped on the sharp slope of the tiled gable-end, and in far less time than it has taken to describe the catastrophe, the poor fellow had fallen upon his back and was sliding rapidly down.

But he had not quite lost his presence of mind. Making a tremendous effort he wrenched himself round so as to bring his chest underneath; and as he went on gliding down, Stan could see him striving hard to get a hold with his crooked fingers, which he vainly tried to drive in between the interstices of the tiles. They were too closely fitted, however, and it was not till he was three parts down that he was able to check his downward course.

“That’s right!” shouted Blunt hoarsely, for, though Stan strove to speak, no sound came from his parched lips. “Hold on; we’ll soon help you.”

Then, turning to the first of the men, whom the report of the rifle had brought rushing out to make for their posts to repel the imaginary attack:

“Run up, some of you, with a rope. Get up on to the roof-ridge and lower one of the men down to get hold of him.”

There was a rush back into the warehouse, but before half the men were inside, Wing’s weight had proved to be too much for his fragile hold. He slipped suddenly and glided down sideways till one foot caught beneath the eaves, and he made here a desperate effort to save himself, brought his other foot alongside the first, with his soft heels in the gutter, and then tried to turn over to plant his toes where his heels rested; but he only succeeded in dislodging them, so that he came down with his crooked fingers clutching in the hollow, and there he held on.

“That’s right; hold tight!” cried Blunt again. “Help coming.”

Stan would have added his voice could he have found utterance, but he could only think and stand half-paralysed at the sight of the poor fellow swinging by his crooked fingers to the frail gutter.

Had he remained perfectly still, it is possible that he might have hung till some one descended to him with a rope; but most probably the Chinaman felt his fingers giving way, and before they were dragged from their hold by his weight he made one more desperate effort to perform an impossibility. For, contracting his muscles, he slowly drew himself up by his arms till his chin was on a level with his hands, and meanwhile his toes were tearing at the wall to find a footing – trying, but finding not, for the soft boot-toes kept gliding over the wall beneath the eaves. Once by a desperate struggle he got what seemed to be a firm footing, but it was only to hasten the disaster, for all at once as those below gazed upward they saw that the poor fellow’s knees were close up to his chest, and he hung like a stout package by his arms. At the same moment there was an encouraging shout, and one of the most active of the clerks, bearing a coil of rope, and followed by several more, appeared on the ridge.

“That’s right,” roared Blunt. “Be smart! Let yourself be lowered down. Hold hard, Wing!”

His words were supplemented by a shout from below, where half the employees of the warehouse were assembled, all impotent to render any assistance to the unfortunate sentry.

Instantly following the shout, which sounded to Stan as if meant derisively, the end came, for, as suggested, Wing’s desperate effort only meant putting greater strain upon the fingers in the guttering, forcing them right off, so that he fell like a light bundle rapidly through the air fully thirty feet, and as he reached the bottom, passing out of sight behind the wall, but really to rebound about a couple of feet, and then lie all of a heap just inside the little bastion so lately made.

The dull thud which struck heavily upon Stan’s ears acted like magic. The moment before the lad had stood looking upward feeling quite paralysed. Then every nerve and muscle quivered, and, rifle in hand, he bounded to the bale wall, climbed over, and, wild with excitement, dashed to where poor Wing lay, to drop upon one knee by the sufferer, whom he fully expected to find lying dead.

The same thought was shared by those who followed the lad and climbed to the top of the wall, for directly after Blunt said hoarsely:

“Lift his head gently, Lynn. Is he dead?”

“No – not bit dead,” said the poor fellow in a plaintive voice as he slowly turned his face towards the questioner and opened his eyes. “Only velly bad indeed. Bloken all to bit. Poo’ Wing! I velly solly fo’ him.”

The removal of the painful tension suffered by the lookers-on was so sudden that to a man they broke out into a loud laugh. Not a mirthful-sounding explosion of mirth, for it was painful and hysterical. Every one had expected to hear Stan answer “Yes” to the manager’s question, while the supposed-to-be-dead man’s statement sounded inexpressibly droll, and his next words, in spite of a strong feeling of commiseration, only brought forth another burst that really was now one of merriment. For the poor fellow said piteously:

“Not’ing to laugh at. Wing velly, velly bad.”

“They don’t mean it,” whispered Stan, whose own face was still convulsed. “They laugh because they are so glad you are not killed.”

“Here, let me come,” cried Blunt. “I am a bit of a doctor in my way;” and he too bent down on one knee. “Now, Wing, my lad, cheer up. Let’s see what’s the matter with you.”

“Plea’ don’t touch, Misteh Blunt,” cried the poor fellow piteously. “Tumble down such long way. Come all to piecee.”

“No, no; not so bad as that. Come, come; I’ll be gentle with you. I want to see where you’re hurt before I have you lifted up.”

“No, no; plea’ don’t,” sobbed the poor fellow, with the tears running down his cheeks. “Not quite dead yet.”

“No, no; of course not.”

“Don’t let the boys buly me yet a bit. Velly dleadful; makee poo’ man flighten.”

“Bury you? Nonsense! Who’s going to bury a live man?”

“Only half alive. Oh deah! oh deah! Oh-h-h!”

“Come, come; be a man,” said Blunt gently as he softly raised the poor fellow’s head, manipulating it gently the while, and laying it down again. “Does that hurt very much?”

“N-no,” sighed the sufferer. “Not head bleak. All to piecee evely place, not head.”

“Then you’re not going to die, I hope,” said Blunt. “Your skull is not fractured, and the hinges of your neck are not broken.”

“You suah?”

“Quite sure, my lad. You wouldn’t be talking like that if your neck was broken.”

“P’l’aps not,” sighed Wing. “Bleak to bit evelywheh, no alm, no leg. Oh deah! oh deah!”

“Now then, I want to lay you out straight so as to feel your body all over.”

“Lay stlaight?” cried the poor fellow, with more animation. “Leady to buly poo’ Wing?”

“Nonsense!” cried Stan warmly. “No one thinks of such a thing. Let me lay that arm close beside you.”

“No, no,” sighed the poor fellow. “Wing don’t wantee see aim come off.”

“It won’t come off, my man,” said Blunt kindly. – “That’s right, Lynn. Well done! It’s not broken. Neither is this,” he continued as, with the patient still groaning, the other arm was tenderly examined and laid straight. – “Hurt you very much, Wing?”

“Not velly much. Bloken off. Wing can’t feel.”

Stan glanced at Blunt, and saw him frown and look more stern as he met his companion’s eyes to exchange a look full of intelligence.

“Now his legs,” said Blunt then. “Both together. Lay them out straight.”

This was done, Wing groaning softly the while.

“Bones all right,” said Blunt half to himself; “joints move easily – no dislocation. That hurt you very much, Wing?”

“N-no. Hultee evelywheh else.”

“Does that mean the spine is injured?” whispered Stan anxiously.

“I’m afraid so,” was the reply.

Wing looked sharply from one to the other.

“Young Lynn say bote leg bloke light off?”

“No,” said Blunt, smiling; “he didn’t say anything of the kind. They’re quite sound. Now then, I will not hurt you much. I’m going to feel whether your ribs are broken.”

“No, no; much betteh let be. All bloke littlee bit.”

“I don’t think so,” said Blunt, passing his hands softly down the man’s sides over and over again from armpits to hips. “Now breathe, Wing.”

“Wing keep on bleathe lil bit longeh. Not dead yet.”

“‘Not dead yet: see the Quiver,’” said Blunt softly to himself, as, incongruously enough, there came to his mind the words on one of the great bills which appeared upon nearly all the hoardings in London many years ago.

“Breathe again, Wing,” continued Blunt. “Draw in as long a breath as you can. – Well, do you hear me?”

“Wing ’flaid,” was the reply.

“Afraid? What of?”

“’Flaid nevah bleathe again; so bad.”

“Stuff! Do as I tell you.”

“Oh deah! oh deah!” sighed the poor fellow as he obeyed, and retained his breath for some time.

“Well, does that hurt you very much?”

“N-no, n-no,” sobbed the man. “Not velly much.”

“Then there are no broken ribs, Lynn. Look here.”

As he spoke Blunt passed his hands firmly about the sufferer’s chest, even going so far as to press the ribs inward, without eliciting more than a faint groan.

“There!” said Blunt; “nothing is broken. The injury must be to the back.”

“Yes,” said Wing, uttering a whimper. “Back. Velly, velly bad.”

“Come, let’s see,” said Blunt. “We’ll have you carried into the big office now, and knock you up a bed of some kind. Give me your hand. – Take the other, Lynn, and let’s raise him up into a sitting posture. Gently, mind.”

“No, no; plea’, plea’ don’t!”

“Why not?” said Blunt, who was watching the man keenly.

“Back bloke. Come in two bit. Bleak light off. Leave poo’ Wing leg lie all alone.”

“Well, well!” said Blunt gently; “never mind; be a man. If you come right in two we’ll fasten you up tightly again with sticking-plaster. You’ll soon grow together again.”

“Eh?” exclaimed Wing, looking sharply from one to the other, but looking in vain, for Stan took his cue from his companion and preserved a perfectly serious countenance.

“Now,” said Blunt; “both together. Lift.”

Wing uttered a louder groan than ever as he was drawn right up into a sitting posture and lowered down again.

“Did that hurt much?”

“Oh, velly, velly much!” said Wing, with the tears trickling down his plump face.

“Yes, you are a good deal shaken, Wing, my man, but you are not broken in half.”

“Misteh Blunt suah?”

“Yes, quite,” replied Blunt. “You have had a wonderful escape from being killed. You are hurt, of course, but I believe that if you were helped you could stand right up.”

“Wing velly much ’flaid.”

“I suppose so, but you are going to try.”

“Must?”

“Yes, you must. – Now, Lynn, take one side; I’ll take the other. – Come, Wing; just for a minute. Up with you like a man.”

Wing gave each a piteous look, but said nothing, as he was again raised into a sitting position, and then allowed his arms to be drawn over his helpers’ shoulders as they bent down over him and rose together, brought him up standing, and held him there.

“Now then, you can feel that you are not broken to bits, Wing?” said Blunt.

“Yes; but hult velly bad.”

“Of course it hurt, Wing; but you’ll soon get better.”

“Get betteh? No go die and be bulied?”

“You’ll not die and be buried this time. – Do you see what saved him, Lynn?”

“Yes – of course. I see now. He must have come down upon those piled-up silk-bales.”

“To be sure; and they are so yielding and springy that they threw him off again so that he fell on to the stones inside.”

“Yes,” said Wing piteously; “tumblee all togetheh. Come bump, bump on silk-bales. Flow um off again on to stones and bang back dleadful bad.”

“Yes; a very narrow escape for you,” said Blunt firmly. – “Bring a board here, some of you.”

Two of the coolies hurried off, to return in the fast-increasing gloom with a broad plank, which was set down and Wing then lifted carefully upon it, bearing the moving very well, and only uttering a groan or two.

“Now carry him into the office. – We’ll make that the hospital, Lynn.”

“’Top littlee! ’Top littlee!” cried Wing.

“What’s the matter?” said Blunt sharply, speaking as if he felt that he had spent enough time on his patient.

“Wing wantee say much ’blige, t’ank you. Um feel deal betteh now.”

“That’s right,” said Blunt.

“Wing velly much ’flaid when he fall. Much mo’ ’flaid when come down bump, bang on stones. Misteh Blunt, young Lynn, makee feel velly happy. Not bloke all bits. Going to live long time.”

“That’s right,” said Blunt brusquely. “But look here; all your trouble came from your going to sleep when you were on sentry.”

“Yes,” said Wing dolefully. “Velly muchee solly. Sun hot – velly hungly – velly dly mouth. Can’t help go ’sleep. Misteh velly angly poo’ Chinaman?”

“Not very, Wing, for you have been severely punished.”

“Wing nevah do so no mo’e.”

“That’s right,” said Blunt, who hurried away as soon as he had seen the injured man lying comfortably; and Stan was about to follow, but Wing caught his sleeve and signed to him to bend down.

“Young Lynn know who shot Wing?” he whispered.

“Yes,” said the lad frankly.

“Young Lynn tell Wing.”

“Yes, some day,” replied the lad, who felt the blood flush to his face, but it was now so dark in the office with the blocked-up windows and the coming night that the questioner could not see.

“Young Lynn tell Wing some day. Wing betteh now. Thought bloken allee piecee. Not bloken allee piecee. Don’t ca’e mandalin button now.”

“That’s right,” said Stan. “Look, they’re bringing you some bread and tea. Think you can eat and drink?”

“Velly much indeed,” said the Chinaman.

“Begin at once, then,” said Stan. “Here, I must go.”

He hurried after Blunt, and as he went to where the latter was standing sweeping the dimly seen surroundings with his glass, it suddenly occurred to him that after firing the shot to startle Wing he had not replaced the empty cartridge.

He opened the breech, and at the sound of its being closed upon the cartridge Blunt turned upon him suddenly.

“Hullo, young fellow!” he cried. “Going to fire again to startle me?”

“No,” replied Stan. “I was thinking that I might have to shoot again, and it would not do to find that my rifle was not loaded.”

“No,” said Blunt thoughtfully. “I’m sorry, though, that I gave you that order. For a time I was quite under the impression that you had aimed at and hit the poor fellow. But he’ll soon be right again.”

“I hope so,” said Stan. “Can you see anything with the glass?”

“Just the dim country, that’s all. There! we’ll set our sentries and let all who can be spared lie down for a rest till we change guard, for we must be military now. I shall take the first part of the night for visiting the posts every hour; you will have to take the second half. Mind, you will have to visit each sentinel and see that he is awake and watchful. You understand?”

“Quite,” was the reply, given in a firm voice, though the lad could not help shrinking a little from the great responsibility about to be placed upon his shoulders.

“Come along, then.”

Stan followed, and a short time after half-a-dozen sentries were leaning upon their rifles in different places, keeping a strict watch upon the river, the direction from which danger was most likely to come; while, his part of the duties performed, the lad went to lie down on the bare boards in the office, near to where Wing was sleeping soundly. As he listened to the man’s hard breathing a feeling of envy came over him. He wished that he too could sleep and forget the danger, if only for an hour. He was completely fagged with the day’s exertions; the heat was great, and his brain was in a state of wild activity which made him feel that he had never been so wakeful before in his life.

All was very still without, and as he turned upon the hard boards it seemed that every one must have gone off to sleep at once, while he was growing more and more wakeful. Now and then he started up on one arm to listen to a strange cry that suggested the approach of the enemy; but after two or three repetitions he came to the conclusion that it must have come from some riverside bunting, heron, or crane, and he lay down again, but only to ask himself whether he might not just as well get up and join Blunt, to share the night-watch, for he was more sure than ever that it was impossible to sleep under such circumstances as these.

“Yes,” he said to himself, with a feeling of satisfaction, “I’ll do that;” and it seemed to him that he got up to go and join the manager out on the dark wharf, where he could see him standing on a pile of stones close to the river-edge, leaning upon his rifle and gazing up-stream for the first sight of the enemy who might at any moment come.

Blunt turned upon him at once in the darkness, looked down, stretched out one hand and caught him by the shoulder, to say in a sharp whisper:

“Now then, my lad, time’s up!”

Chapter Twenty Three
“Am I going mad?”

Stan made no reply, but stared straight up at him, to feel the grasp upon his shoulder tighten, while Blunt said again: “Now then, my lad, time’s up!”

But this time there was an addition – “Do you hear?”

“Yes – of course,” whispered back the lad; “but I don’t know what you mean. What time’s up?”

“Why, your time. Hang it all! You take it pretty coolly, when at any moment some hundreds of savage cut-throats may be down upon us. I couldn’t have slept like that.”

“Like what?” said Stan sharply.

“In the way you have done.”

“I? I’ve not been asleep.”

“Oh, haven’t you? Why, you’re asleep now.”

“If I’d been asleep, how – Oh, what nonsense! If I was asleep, how could I have come out here to keep you company?”

“What!” cried Blunt, with a soft, chuckling laugh. “Well, you are a rum fellow! Do you know where you are?”

“Yes; standing out here on the wharf, with the river flowing softly down at our feet.”

“Stoop down and put your hand in it, then.”

Stan stretched out his right hand at once, and felt the rough boards, while at the same moment Wing drew one of those deep breaths which are so like snores.

The next moment Stan was sitting up feeling for his rifle.

“Here, I say, I haven’t been asleep?”

“Of course not. You said you hadn’t, and I can’t doubt the word of a gentleman.”

“Oh, how stupid!” said Stan in a hoarse whisper, as he felt his rifle, and sprang up at once. “What time is it?”

“Just struck two by the American clock in the big warehouse.”

“Then I have been asleep.”

“I think it’s very likely,” said Blunt dryly.

“Then I must have been dreaming that I came out to you on the wharf because I couldn’t sleep.”

“And instead of your coming to me, my lad, I came to you. There! come along outside in the cool air; that will wake you up thoroughly; and I want to give you a few instructions and then lie down for an hour or two to get a little rest before the enemy come in the morning.”

“Then you think they will come?”

“Most likely,” said Blunt dryly. “Come along.”

Stan was wide enough awake now, and proved it as soon as they were out on the wharf, where a pleasantly fresh breeze came off the water.

“Did you visit all the six posts?” he said.

“Yes, every one.”

“Regularly?”

“Of course.”

“Find any one asleep?”

“No; everybody was keenly on the watch.”

“How did you know when the hours were up?”

“Guessed it,” said Blunt quickly. “Are you wide awake enough now, my lad? You know where all the men are stationed?”

“Oh yes.”

“Repeat the places.”

Stan ran rapidly through the posts – east, west, north, south, back and front – and Blunt grunted his satisfaction.

“Good!” he said. “The fresh men have relieved those who watched with me, and there is a new password. Don’t forget it. As soon as you approach you’ll be challenged with ‘Who goes there?’”

“Yes; I understand,” said Stan eagerly.

“No, you don’t. What word will you give to prove that you are a friend?”

“Don’t know.”

“Of course not. Remember it, then. ‘Cartridge.’ Understand?”

“Yes, perfectly.”

“Then I’m off. I’m dead-beat, my lad. Every hour, mind, as near as you can guess. Take hold of my whistle, and keep a sharp lookout up the river from where I did.”

“What! from up on that pile of stones at the edge of the wharf?”

“Eh?” said Blunt sharply. “How did you know I watched from that heap of stones at the edge of the wharf?”

“I saw you there.”

“What! When did you come?”

Stan was silent, feeling quite confused,

“Did you come and look at me before you went to sleep?”

“No,” said Stan slowly – “no; I’m sure now that I did not.”

“But you said you saw me there, and I never told you nor any one else that I was going to make that my post of observation.”

“You didn’t tell me,” said Stan; “and it seems very strange. I thought I came out to you and you caught me by the shoulder.”

“You did not, and I did not catch you by the shoulder till I came and shook you to wake you up.”

“Then I must have dreamed it,” said Stan, “for I certainly seemed to see you there in the darkness.”

“Yes, you must have dreamed it; but it seems very strange.”

“Horribly,” said Stan.

“Don’t you get dreaming any more of that sort of stuff, then,” said Blunt shortly. “Here, catch hold of this whistle; but mind, you are not to use it unless the enemy come in sight. Then blow as if you wanted to bring the place down. Pleasant watch to you. I’m off. If I don’t go and lie down I shall fall down and sleep on these stones.”

“Good rest to you,” said Stan quietly. “One moment: where are you going to lie down?”

“On the planks that formed your bed. They’re nice and soft now, I suppose.”

“No; horribly hard. Put some bags under you.”

“Not I,” said Blunt gruffly. “I could sleep now on a row of spikes. Good-night – morning, or whatever it is.”

The manager walked quickly to the nearest opening in the wall of chests and passed through it, leaving Stan to his watch, which he commenced by giving a good searching look up river and down, and then placing his hand behind his ear to listen, before, feeling satisfied that all was right, he stepped to the bottom of the piled-up block of stones, mounted it carefully, rested the butt of his rifle at his feet, felt whether his revolver was within easy reach of his hand, and then began to think about his dream and the strangeness of his imagining that he had walked out to get to the wharf and had then seen his brother-officer, as Blunt seemed to have become now, standing exactly where he had taken his own place.

“All imagination,” he said to himself at last, for he could make nothing else of it, and forcing himself to think of something fresh, he began to peer into the darkness in every direction, and long for his first hour to pass so that he could have something more active to employ his time and go and visit the different posts.

“Let me see,” he mused; “they will challenge me by saying, ‘Who goes there?’ and I shall answer, ‘Stranger, quickly tell’ – Nonsense! ‘A friend.’ No, no; that’s wrong. What did Mr Blunt tell me to say? Why, I’ve forgotten the word. I remember that he told me something, but it seems to have gone right out of my head. How stupid, to be sure! I couldn’t have been half-awake after all.

“What shall I do?” thought Stan again, after striving vainly to recall the word. “I must go and ask him again, and that means waking him up. Why, he’ll call me an idiot. I know; I’ll go to the nearest sentry and ask him.”

The lad stopped short in his musings, for a cold chill ran through him at the thought of the risk he would have to run – the idea of the risk coming to his brain with the thought:

“Why, if I can’t give the answer just when he challenges me, he’ll fire and send a bullet through my head.”

The more the lad thought and strove to recall the password, the more confused his brain seemed to grow. Hundreds of words flowed through, but not one which suggested that which was correct. Time, too, was gliding steadily on, and in imagination he felt that he must be getting very near the end of the hour when his duty would lead him to the first post – for what? He felt ready to groan as he told himself that it was to be shot at.

“Whatever shall I do?” he said at last, when he stood on the stone pile fully believing that the time was past, and that if he did not visit the posts the sentries would grow uneasy and give some alarm, the result of which would be that Blunt would wake up; and how could he meet him after being guilty of such a contemptible lapse of duty?

“He’ll look upon me as a complete idiot,” thought the lad; “just, too, when I was trying so hard to behave in a manly way, and making him begin to believe in me. It’s dreadful; it’s horrible! Am I going mad?”

In utter despair, Stan let his rifle-barrel sink into the crook of his left arm, and turning his hands into a binocular, gave a long, careful look up the river, half-expecting to see some tall-sailed junk dropping quietly down the stream. In his excitement he turned trees into masts, and projections from the banks and a solitary long low hut into vessels; but after further inspection he was bound to believe that there was no sign of danger, and at last, with a sigh of weariness, he sank down into a sitting position, with his legs hanging over the side of the pile and his rifle across his knees, to make one more desperate effort to recall the password from the black depths of his brain into which it seemed to have sunk down.

But all his efforts were in vain; his head seemed to grow more and more dense, and he felt that he must rouse himself and run all risks. He determined to walk towards the first sentry, and the moment he was challenged in the darkness call out loudly who he was and say frankly that he had forgotten the password.

“The sentry will think I’m half-mad, and I believe I am. It’s the excitement, I suppose, and the risk and dread. I never felt anything like it before. It’s dreadful. Yes, it is the excitement.”

But he did not give the true cause, for he did not grasp the position – to wit, that it was due to brain weariness from the overstrain of thought and want of proper rest. For if, when his inability was at its worst, he had been able to lie down and sleep soundly for a few hours, he would have wakened up with his mind perfectly clear and the missing word ready to come quite readily.

“There! it is of no use,” he said to himself at last; “the time must have gone by ever so long ago. I must get up and go. It’s very risky, but I am bound to risk everything so as to do my duty. Here goes; and if I am shot at, I am shot at. It’s a hundred to one that the sentry couldn’t hit me in the darkness, hurry, and confusion, and before he could reload and fire again I might rush up to him and explain. Oh, horrible, to have to tell the fellow what a weak-minded muff I am!”

Grown perfectly desperate now, as he felt the minutes seem to gallop away, Stan took up his rifle, rose to his feet once more, and descended to the level of the wharf, perplexed by another thought which had come to torment him.

“He’ll fire at me, of course,” he said, “and I must run in before he can reload, as I said; but what about his revolver? Well, I can’t help it,” he muttered; “I must risk it. And perhaps I can make him understand before he can draw the pistol out of the holster.”

Drawing a deep breath, he nerved himself for the encounter, and began to walk steadily for the corner where the first sentry was stationed, and in the effort of action felt stronger and firmer.

“I may find him asleep,” he thought, “and pounce upon him before he wakes up to challenge.

“Not likely. Our men here are not like poor Wing; but – Ah! that’s possible,” he said to himself excitedly. “I forgot to do so; why shouldn’t he have done the same? He may not have loaded, and if he has forgotten to slip in a cartridge– Oh! Think of that!” he cried half-aloud, for the missing word had come.

Just in the nick of time, too, for the lad’s ejaculation had been heard, and in an instant the challenge came out of the darkness:

“Who goes there?”

“‘Cartridge,’” said Stan promptly; and the next moment he was conversing with the first sentry, feeling as if a tremendous load had been taken off his mind.

The man had nothing whatever to report, and Stan went on towards the next.

“Mustn’t let that cartridge go off again,” he said to himself, with a little laugh. “How stupid it seems now! Cartridge – cartridge! How could I have forgotten it like that?”

There was nothing to report at either of the other posts, and Stan returned to his old station, feeling calm and refreshed, to pass the rest of the hours, which did not prove weary, though there was nothing more exciting than the occasional cry of a bird, a rustling of wings overhead, and now and then a splash in the river which suggested the possibility of part of a night spent in a boat with fishing-rod and line. He found himself wondering what Chinese river fish would be like, and whether they bore much resemblance to those of Old England – thoughts which brought up memories of days spent by pond and lake in school excursions.

But whenever the lad’s ideas wandered off like this, they were brought up short again by the stern aspect of the present, and he felt ready to blame himself for letting his thoughts go astray when possibly a terrible fate might be awaiting them all, and he was bound to keep his attention fixed upon the broad stream in front.

Fortunately it was a beautiful night, and before the watcher could think it possible the stars grew faint, a long, pale, soft line of light began to appear in the east, and soon after as it broadened there was a twittering and whistling in the belt of reeds across the river where all was rural, half-woody, half-cultivated land, with waving corn and sugar-grass. Then a loud flapping and splashing began in the river, whose farther side proved to be a perfect colony of ducks; while after a time the trees, which had during the night been visible only where seen against the lighter parts of the horizon, grew plainer and plainer, till they gradually showed in their natural green. For high up orange flecks were appearing, and before long, as Stan watched, it seemed impossible that anything horrible could be on the way, so grand was the transformation taking place from night to a glorious day.