d
the art of savage warfare. Midnight arrived; the faint moon, though it
had lasted longer than on the previous night, had disappeared. Archie
proposed again leading out a party to obtain water, and he was on the
point of starting, when one of the sentries cried out, "The enemy are
coming!" The warning was repeated by others, and a black mass could be
seen stealing up the hill, the men bending low in the hope of escaping
discovery till they had got close up to the fortifications.

"Don't let them know that we see them," whispered the lieutenant, as he
went round to the men; "the effect will be the greater when they receive
our fire."

The little garrison stood to their arms.

Onward marched the insurgents, moving up the hill like a dark wave
rolling slowly forward. They could be clearly distinguished, all
bending low to the ground, as they crossed the more open places exposed
to the bright moonlight. On and on they came, but still not a sign was
shown by the garrison that they were perceived. They must have known,
however, that they could not get close up to the fortifications without
being discovered. Suddenly, at a signal from their leaders, up they
rose to a man, uttering the most terrific shrieks and howls, and,
rushing forward, fired their muskets. Thick as hail the bullets came
rattling against the palisades and the upper portions of the house, some
chipping off splinters from the tops of the timbers, others sticking in
the wood, others penetrating through the interstices. None of the
garrison, however, were killed, but several were slightly wounded,
though not in a way to compel them to leave their posts.

"Now, give it the rascals!" cried the lieutenant, as the blacks were
within a dozen yards of the palisades. Every man fired, and many of the
blacks were seen struggling back or falling to the ground. Their
companions, excited to fury by the rum they had obtained from some of
the plundered estates, sprang forward without noticing them, shouting
and shrieking and throwing themselves desperately against the
_chevaux-de-frise_, forgetting the hedge of prickly-pear which had been
entwined amidst it. With cries of dismay as the sharp points pierced
their legs and wounded their hands, they fell back in spite of the
efforts of their chiefs to urge them on, thus giving the garrison time
to reload.

"Now fire at them, my lads, and the day is ours," cried the lieutenant.
His men obeyed the order, and onc