in their stone setting.

"Listen!" said Yasmini.

There was another noise up-street--a rushing to and fro, and a trumpeting
that no one could mistake.

"I said that--"

"Thump!" came the baulk of timber--not so powerfully as before. There
was distraction affecting the team-work. The scream of an elephant
fighting mad, and the yelp of a dog, that pierces every other noise, rent
the darkness close at hand.

"I said that the gods--"

There came the thud of a very heavy body colliding with a wall, and
another blood-curdling scream of rage--then the thunder of what might
have been an avalanche as part of a near-by wall collapsed, and a brute
as big as Leviathan approached at top speed.

There was another thud, but this time caused by the hulk of timber falling
on the ground, as guard, eunuchs and Gungadhura all took to their heels.

"Allah! Il hamdul illah!" swore the gateman. (Thanks be to God!)

"I said that the gods would help tonight!" Yasmini cried exultantly.

"O Lord, what has happened to Dick?" groaned Tess between set teeth.