"I’ve been watching the morning ebb, and it ran very strongly past the end of the landing-stage," replied the Commander, "so that if we creep down in the dark, get hold of one of those boats and cast off, we shall be whisked out in no time. We may have to knock a sentry or two on the head, though," he chuckled. "You’ll have to do that part of the show, Jones." "Right you are, sir. I’m a bit cramped now, but I’ll be all right soon." *CHAPTER XVIII* *The Escape from the Island* We Scramble Down—We Secure the Sentries—We Capture the Steam-boat—We Run the Gauntlet _Midshipman Glover’s Narrative continued_ At six o’clock (we could hear the cruisers striking their bells, so knew what time it was), and just as it was getting dusk, a little steam-boat came across from the opposite fort, the European we had seen in the morning landed at the jetty below us, and went up towards the fort, leaving the boat with a coxswain, bowman, and a stoker. In a few minutes he returned and went back to his own side. At seven o’clock, or a few minutes afterwards, he came again. It was quite dark, but we heard the bowman make the boat fast by hooking: the bow rope into a ring on the landing-stage. The bowman then lighted a lantern and showed the way up the cliffs to the European, the two sentries who had been crouching in front of their now fiercely blazing fire following him round the corner. In about ten minutes they returned. Another hour dragged past—my goodness, how it did drag!—the lights went out in the little town, and just as the _Hong Lu’s_ bell struck the hour the steam-boat came puffing across again. The same routine was carried out, and for ten minutes the little steam-boat lay alongside the landing-stage with no one aboard her except the coxswain and the stoker. Evidently this European had to visit the fort every hour, and we noticed as he passed across the glare of the fire that he appeared to be walking unsteadily. "We must stretch our legs," the Commander whispered. "I can hardly move mine;" and he rose to his feet and began hopping up and down. Jones and I did it after him, one at a time, and though at first our legs were horribly cramped and painful, the blood at last began to flow through them, and we were able to move freely. "My old rheumatism, sir—the same what I had up the Straits—won’t be no better for this, sir, I’m afraid," said Jones. Then the Commander told us to be prepared to climb down to the path directly the guard-boat came alongside again and the European and the sentries had gone away. There was no doubt at all that he was visiting the fort every hour, for as two bells (nine o’clock) rang out away over the harbour, we heard the crew of the steam-boat chattering as they took her alongside the opposite landing-stage.