The first blow was successful. The spark fell on the
tinder, and at once began to extend.
He listened intently. The men on the wall were still talking, and the
sound had evidently not reached their ears.
Chapter 7: Besieged.
Dick hastily clambered up the wall, ran to the gate, blew the tinder,
and then applied it to the slow match. A moment later, this began to
fizz.
"Round the corner of the wall, Surajah!" he exclaimed, running back
himself.
A few anxious seconds passed, then came a sharp explosion. In an
instant they ran up. The gate stood two or three inches open. It
yielded to a push, and they ran out.
Loud shouts were heard from the men above, and a hubbub of cries from
the guard house.
"Run, Surajah! We must risk it. Keep on the edge of the road, and
dodge as you go. The chances are they will run down below, to see what
has happened."
At the top of their speed, they dashed down the road. No shot was
fired from the wall, Dick's conjecture that the first impulse of the
sentries would be to run down below having been justified. They were a
couple of hundred yards away, before two shots were fired from the
gate. The bullets whistled by harmlessly.
"We are all right now," Dick cried.
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