"It was not the bullets of the enemy, but the knife of an assassin that I feared," she said.
"Pooh, pooh, my love! you are always dreaming of assassins."
"And not without reason, Roland; had it not been for Percy's pistol you would not be alive now."
The colonel looked surprised at Percy. "What does this mean, lad? I did not hear you fire, and, indeed, did not notice you from the time when the attack began to the time when it was over. Do you mean to say that my life was attempted, and that you saved me?"
"It was aunt's doing, not mine, uncle." Percy then related the injunctions his aunt had given him and the results.
"You have saved my life again, Mahtab," he said embracing his wife tenderly. "At least this time you and Percy have done it between you. And who is the traitor?"
"That Percy does not know; he did not think of examining the body."
"Then we will do so at once," the colonel said, putting on his cap again. "Daylight will soon be breaking, and as soon as it does the soldiers will be at work removing from the wall the bodies of those who fell in the fight. I heard just now that there were twenty-five men killed by the enemy's musket-fire, and another twenty or thirty hit in the hand or arm as they fired over the wall. Come along, Percy, you will know exactly where the man fell."
Calling a couple of his guards and bidding one bring a lantern with him, the colonel, accompanied by Percy, went to the wall, where the latter at once pointed out the body of the man he had shot, lying close to that of the guard who had fallen by his knife.
"Throw the light on his face," the colonel said, and as the soldier did so he uttered an exclamation of surprise and disgust.