276 FOR THE FLAG

the knowledge of the defence of Backcup the assailants
must possess, they cannot possibly contemplate an attack
by night.

Until evening the work of preparation at various points
on the coast continued. There are six sets of apparatus
which have been conveyed through the corridor to positions
previously chosen.

When this was done Serké joined M. Roch in his
laboratory. - Is he about to inform him that a fleet is in
sight of Backcup—to tell him that his Fulgurator is
going to be used to defend the island?

There are about fifty shells, each charged with many
pounds of the explosive, with the fuse which assures them
a greater trajectory than any other projectile, ready to
do their work of destruction.

M. Roch has prepared several tubes of the deflagrator
liquid, and—I know it, alas! only too well—he will not
refuse to co-operate with the pirates !

Night fell during these preparations. Semi-darkness
reigned in the interior, for only the Beehive lamps were
burning.

I returned to my cell, as I was anxious to show myself
as little as possible. The suspicions which I had inspired
in Serk6 might so easily be revived now that the squadron
is approaching Backcup.

But will the ships sighted keep their course? They
may hold off from the Bermudas and disappear below the
horizon. For a moment this fear troubled me, but—
no, no—besides, according to Captain Spade’s account