There was a sound of clashing of arms, and the report of a pistol.
As Tim's eyes came on a level with the terrace, he saw Hossein bound with uplifted blade into the midst of a group of men in the corner.
Three times the blade rose and fell, and each time a loud shriek followed.

Then he disappeared in the midst.
Tim was but a few seconds behind him.

Discharging his pistol into the body of one of the men, and running his sword into another, he, too, stood by the side of his master.

Charlie, streaming with blood, was half sitting, half lying in the angle of the parapet.

Hossein, his turban off, his long hair streaming down his back, was standing over him, fighting furiously against some ten men, who still pressed forward, while several others lay upon the ground.
In spite of the arrival of Charlie's two allies, they still pressed forward, but the shots of the pistols had been echoed by the muskets of the sentries.