The cheers were given again and again, and when at a sign the guards outside marched back in two parties, single file, one on each side of the mines, the cheering burst forth again, and was kept up till the last man was within, a final roar being given when the gates were shut to and firmly secured.
"Beaten, Phra?" cried Harry excitedly, but with something in his throat; "who's going to be beaten? Here, I say, if we were free, do you know what we'd do?"
"I should like to go and shut myself in my room and cry," said Phra simply.
"Cry?" said Harry, turning angrily upon his comrade; "cry? What, like a great, silly goose of a girl?"
"Yes," said Phra gravely; "that's how I feel."
"Cry?" said Harry again. "Bah! I feel as if I want to shout."
"But your eyes look quite wet, and there's a cracked sound in your voice."
"It's with shouting so, and the sun being in one's face."
"Yes," said Phra, with a wistful look and a smile. "I know, Hal. But what should we do if we were free?"
"Go and hoist the flags on the top of the palace."