REXʼS REVOLVER CRACKED OUT.
A minute later the two foremost of the pursuers came rushing upon them, but the sudden pause of the fugitives had left them no time to draw their swords. Rexʼs revolver cracked out, laying one of them low, and Ah Lo, using his sword, struck the other with such force that he nearly decapitated him. There was a shout of rage from the party behind. Rex and his companion, needless to say, did not stop to listen, but at once turned and continued their flight. They ran down till they were brought up suddenly at the end of a lane where a house rose straight in front of them. It was too late to retrace their steps.
“What is to be done, master?” Ah Lo asked.
“We must break in the door, if it is not open.”
The first door they tried, however, was unfastened. They entered, shot the bolt to, and ran to the back of the house. They were disappointed, however, for there was no opening through which they could escape. Without wasting time they turned and ran upstairs to a terrace on the top of the house. Here a number of clothes flapped in the wind; it was evidently the family drying–ground.
“We can defend this ladder for a bit, Ah Lo, but they must beat us in the end. Let us scramble up to the other end of the street.”
Looking down they saw that the lane was now full of soldiers, some of whom carried lanterns. It was no easy matter getting along on the roofs, as the houses were irregular in height. Sometimes they had to jump down ten or twelve feet, at others to help each other up walls of equal height. They were some distance along when they heard a sudden shout, and knew that their pursuers had broken down the door of the house and had entered, and another that told that the enemy had gained the roof and found that it was deserted. In a short time lanterns appeared on the roofs of some of the houses, but the fugitives were already within a house or two of the end of the lane.