The landlord was there, drunk, talking to himself. He had broken a dish,
and was kicking the fragments under the table. He laughed at first when
the two Englishmen tried to impress upon him the gravity of the
situation; at last, however, they made him understand that this was no
joke, but deadly earnest. They helped him close and bar the heavy iron
gates; and as they looked about for material with which to build up a
barrier if necessary, they saw the sisters come to the door. Saidee had
a pigeon in her hands, and opening them suddenly, she let it go. It
rose, fluttered, circling in the air, and flew southward. Victoria ran
up the dilapidated stairway by the gate, to see it go, but already the
tiny form was muffled from sight in the blue folds of the twilight.
"In less than two hours it will be at Oued Tolga," the girl cried,
coming down the steep steps.
At that instant, far away, there was the dry bark of a gun.
They looked at each other, and said nothing, but the same doubt was in
the minds of all.
It might be that the message would never reach Oued Tolga.
Then another thought flashed into Stephen's brain. He asked himself
whether it would be possible to climb up into the broken tower. If he
could reach the top, he might be able to call for help if they should be
hard-pressed; for some years before he had, more for amusement than
anything else, taken a commission in a volunteer battalion and among
many other things which he considered more or less useless, had learned
signalling.
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