CHAPTER LXXXVII.
STILL THE BATTLE RAGES.
At that moment Kara-al-Zariel's horse received a mortal wound, and sankbeneath the chief.
He fell heavily, and narrowly escaped being trampled to death by hisown advancing men.
But procuring another steed, he again led the van.
Jack Harkaway had already had two horses killed under him.
He was disfigured by blood and smoke, and dizzy with weariness andexcitement, but he still fought like a lion, for it was for life.
The task of breaking through the Turkish ranks was a terrible one.
Many Arabs fell dead in the desperate attempt.
As fast as the gaps were made in the ranks of the enemy, they werefilled up by fresh men.
The horses trampled upon the weary limbs of the wounded.
Into this wild _melee_ Jack plunged, closely followed by his friendHarry.
Our hero struck down a gigantic Turk, fired a revolver into the face ofanother, and gave a cut right and left with his sword.
Taking advantage of the passage thus made, the other Englishmen rapidlyfollowed their leader.
Thyra was led by the waiter and the diver, while Mole and Figginsmutually assisted each other.
It was amid shots falling like hail in every direction, and menaced bykilling blows from heavy sabres that the retreat was made.
Thyra performed another act of heroism at this juncture.
A Turkish sergeant, on foot, fired straight at her as she passed.
By the width of scarce an inch, the bullet missed piercing her brain,but she answered it by a shot which sought and found the heart of theTurk, and he fell dead instantaneously.
In this way all the Englishmen got through the ranks of the foe andjoined the chief.
The rest of the Arabs followed, but they had a hard task to do so, forthe enemy now overwhelmingly outnumbered their reduced force.
But our friends were not to escape even thus easily.
The Turks made fresh and vigorous efforts, not only to prevent theirretreat, but to effect their capture.
Seeing the peril they were in, Jack called to Thyra and said--
"My good girl, you have acted with heroic bravery, but our danger isnow greater than ever, and you must quit this scene."
"Never, dear Jack, whilst you are imperilled," she firmly replied.
"But you can aid me more that way than by staying," he said. "Listen,yonder is the sea, not more than two miles off. There is an Englishship in the bay; its gallant sailors will not fail to assist theircountrymen in distress. Go to them at once, your steed is swiftest ofall. Ride, ride for your life, dear girl."
Thyra needed no further urging.
"I will bring assistance to you," she cried, "or perish in theattempt."
She turned her steed, and was off in a minute at lightning speed.
On came the Turks, now headed by Abdullah, for his comrade, the captainof the guard, had been desperately wounded.
"We must capture them!" he cried to his men. "Forward, men; death orvictory."
Jack and his men saw that resistance was useless against sooverwhelming a force.
Flight was the only chance remaining to them.
Yet they could not give in without some attempt to punish their enemy.
Jack levelled his pistol at the vizier's head, but by a dexterousmovement he avoided the shot.
"Yield, Christian dogs!" he thundered. "Yield to might and right, foryour capture or death is inevitable."
"You do not know us Boys of England," cried Jack. "We may be takendead, but while a breath of life remains, we will never surrender toblack-hearted Turks."
The vizier answered by ordering his men to surround the Christians,which they did their best to accomplish.
But by an agile movement, Jack and his friends suddenly turned andgalloped off.
It was not in the direction of the sea, for retreat was at present cutoff that way, but across the desert that they fled.
"Forward!" cried Abdullah. "They must not escape us."
For a considerable time this chase continued, till the English, by"doubling" again, changed the direction of their flight, and madetowards the sea.
Hope arose within their hearts, for they saw a considerable number ofwell-armed English sailors, led by Thyra, coming towards them.
A few minutes' galloping joined them with these welcome allies, andthis reinforcement enabled Jack again to defy the Turks.
The latter drew rein, and stood for awhile in hesitation.
This unexpected turn of affairs evidently disconcerted them.
But ere their horses could be put in motion again, Jack and his partywere upon them, backed by their new allies.
The impetuosity of their charge was for a moment irresistible.
They bore down all the Turks before them.
The Turkish troopers recoiled as from the flight of a rocket.
Jack rode on like a hero of old.
His hair streamed in the wind as he darted through the air on his nobleArab steed.
His eyes flashed fire, and struck awe into each foe that approachedhim.
But he soon found himself surrounded by his enemies. Abdullah, who wasat their head, cast himself upon Jack. Their horses were driven ontheir haunches by the force of the shock.
Half a dozen sabres at once circled round Jack's head.
Abdullah made a lunge at him with his sword, which would have provedthe death of Jack had not Harry Girdwood at that instant caught thethrust upon his arm.
Poor Harry! His devotion to his friend had cost him dear.
He reeled, and would have fallen from his saddle, probably trampled todeath, had not Bogey, at the risk of his own life, caught him and ledhis horse apart from the thick of the battle.
Burning to avenge his friend, Jack struck with all his force atAbdullah's head.
The interpreter received the blow upon his sword, which, proving thestronger of the two, Jack's weapon snapped in the clash, and he wasleft weaponless.
He seemed, indeed, at the mercy of his pitiless foe.
Abdullah smiled a cruel smile as he again raised his sabre.
But that smile was his last.
A lance-head gleamed past Jack, and transfixed Abdullah through thechest, so that he was borne down among the trampling hoofs of thehorses.
"Yah, yah; dat's one to me, Massa Jack," exclaimed Tinker, for he itwas who had thus saved Jack's life.
Jack caught up Abdullah's sword, and, by a desperate charge, cutthrough the opposing Turks, now "demoralised" by the loss of theirleader, and regained his Bedouin and English friends.
By this time the heat was very great.
The sky was like a dome of steel.
The sands of the desert burnt under the fierce sun.
The dust flew in clouds, save where the blood of the wounded and dyinghad soaked into the arid soil.
Taking advantage of the confusion that now reigned in the Turkishforce, the English and Arabs made a last desperate effort to escapetheir foes.
With a yell of defiance, the fierce Bedouins, led by Kara-al-Zariel,dashed through the ranks of the enemy, dealing destruction right andleft.
Taking advantage of the disconcerted state of the foe, Jack and hisfriends were enabled again to join their Arab allies, and the retreatof the whole party towards the shore began in good earnest.
They would soon have distanced their now exhausted foes, but ere theEnglish vessel could be reached, another large body of Turks came up tothe attack.
This force was led by no less a personage than the Pasha Ibrahimhimself, whose fierce grey eyes glared beneath his shaggy brows atthose who had slain his vizier.
Beside him rode the officer in command of his squadron, and anotheryoung man, in whom, although dressed in red _fez_ and Turkishuniform, Jack recognised Herbert Murray.
He was attended by his servant Chivey, also dressed as a Turk.
They were all splendidly mounted; their horses fresh, an
d their troopswell-disciplined.
As the two parties approached, the pasha's eyes were fixed upon Thyra.
"It is the Pearl of the Isles," he exclaimed, "who was stolen by theseinfidels from the harem. She shall yet be mine. One thousand piastresto the man who will capture her."
A dozen of his men instantly started in pursuit of Thyra, who was alittle in advance of her companions.
Her beautiful Arab steed seemed to have taken a sudden fright, for itstarted off at lightning speed, independent of Thyra's attempts to turnhim, for she wished to die or escape by the side of her companions.
Separated from them, and pursued by a dozen well-armed men, herposition was indeed perilous.
The speed of her horse seemed her only chance.
But the noble creature had been very hard worked that day, and afterthe first "spurt," showed signs of exhaustion.
The Turks, upon their fresh and fleet steeds, began to gain upon herevery minute.
At length she was at bay, resolved to die defending herself and defyingher enemies.
She placed her lance in rest as the foremost Turk came up.
Despite his efforts to avoid the weapon, she thrust it through hisshoulder.
He fell, desperately, if not mortally wounded, and full of rage atbeing defeated by a woman.
His nearest companion now faced the beautiful amazon, who rapidly drewher revolver--the one Jack had given her--and fired.
The ball took effect, for the Turk reeled in his saddle and fell to theground, dead.
The others now approached.
But Thyra discharged one, two, three shots from her revolver, and thelast killed the officer's horse, which staggered and fell, bringing therider to the ground.
Thyra urged her steed again towards the sea.
Herbert Murray and Chivey now pressed forward, resolved to try and gainthe pasha's reward and the glory of achieving her capture.
Away went Thyra on her gallant steed.
She was near the sea now.
The murmur of its waves upon the sands resounded in her ears.
The British cruiser was seen about a mile away in the offing, and onthe shore stood about half a dozen sailors, taking charge of the boatsin which the armed force had come ashore.
They were anxiously watching for their companions to return, and onperceiving Thyra's peril, two of them went to her assistance.
And they arrived not a moment too soon.
Herbert Murray had ridden up to her.
Grasping the bridle of her steed, he thought he had effected hercapture.
But at this moment a voice beside him cried out in English--
"Hands off there, you lubber!"
This showed that Thyra's call for help had been heard and responded to.
Murray turned, and saw the two stalwart British tars standing besideThyra.
"Look here," continued the sailor, "if you don't leave this here younglady alone, and be off instanter, we'll take you aboard and let ourcaptain deal with you."
Herbert Murray looked around, and seeing that the sailors were in aposition to carry out their threat, angrily relinquished the chase, andturning his horse, rode off with Chivey, who had not approached quiteso near.