Amongst the stables was a large shed filled with dry fodder for the palace horses and camels.

Suddenly this burst into a mass of flame that spread in all directions.

Then came the last, hideous panic.
From every part of the palace, the Mountaineers, men and officers together, rushed down to the gateway.

In a minute, with the single exception of Japhet, we four and Maqueda were left alone upon the roof, where we stood overwhelmed, not knowing what to do.

We heard the drawbridge fall; we heard the great doors burst upon beneath the pressure of a mob of men; we heard a coarse voice--I thought it was that of Joshua--yell: "Kill whom you will, my children, but death to him who harms the Child of Kings.