As he spoke there was another dull report, and a second shell whizzed over the walls, bursting in the centre of the marketplace.
"That was considerably lower than the first shot," observed Reeves. "They are trying the range. It will be a bad job hen they begin to pound the walls; a few I I A houses won't matter so much, if the people clear out of them in time. The worst of it is, we are outranged and cannot reply."
"What are they firing with?" asked Hugh.
"I can't say for certain, until one of the shells fails to explode; then I may find a clue. But I should not be surprised if it were a Krupp gun."
"A Krupp!" exclaimed Hugh. "How could they get hold of a gun of that sort?"
"Unfortunately there are at least half a dozen derelict guns in the Sahara. When the Egyptian armies under Hicks Pasha and Baker Pasha in the 'eighties were wiped out, several of these weapons fell into the hands of the Arabs. Many were retaken in our subsequent campaigns, after they had been against us, worked by gun crews composed of captured Gippy artillerymen. No doubt this is one that was not recaptured."
"It's a pity it couldn't be recaptured now," said Gerald, as a third missile missed the parapet by less than a foot, swept an unfortunate archer from the wall, and fell in the middle of a deserted street without exploding.
"It must be, if we are to get out of this mess," replied Reeves resolutely; and, turning to some of the men who were standing by, he told them to fetch the shell, assuring them that if it were carefully handled no danger need be feared.
Presently the men returned, having accomplished their task. Reeves took the cylinder and examined it carefully. "As I thought—a seven-pounder Krupp," he remarked. "I wish we had earthworks instead of this mass of stonework. We shall find ourselves sliding down a mass of rubble before long I'm afraid."
"What is to be done?" asked Sir Jehan anxiously, as another shell, striking one of the flanking towers, knocked a hole in the masonry large enough to drive a camel through. "The walls will not stand the shock of these hell-designed missiles."