rce.

At this point, instead of continuing the charge, as their officers
implored them to do, the men halted and began loading and firing, a work
in which they were greatly at a disadvantage, since the Russians
returned the fire briskly from behind their shelters. Every moment
reinforcements rushed in from the town and added to the weight of the
enemy's fire. The assailants were falling rapidly, particularly the
officers, who were singled out by their foes.

For an hour and a half the struggle continued. By that time the Russians
had cleared the Redan, but the British still held the parapets. Then a
rush from within was made, and the assailants were swept back and driven
through the embrasures or down the face of the parapet into the ditch,
where their foes followed them with the bayonet.

A short, sharp, and bloody struggle here took place. Step by step the
band of Britons was forced back by the enemy, those who fled for the
trenches having to run the gauntlet of a hot fire, those who remained
having to defend themselves against four times their force. The attempt
had hopelessly failed, and of those in the assailing column
comparatively few escaped. The day's work had been partly a success and
partly a failure. The French had succeeded in their assault. The English
had failed in theirs, and lost heavily in the attempt.

What the final result was to be no one could tell. Silence followed the
day's struggle, and night fell upon a comparatively quiet scene. About
eleven o'clock a new act in the drama began, with a terrific explosion
that shook the ground like an earthquake. By midnight several other
explosions vibrated through the air. Here and there flames were seen,
half hidden by the cloud of dust which rose before the strong wind. As
the night waned, the fires grew and spread, while tremendous explosions
from time to time told of startling events taking place in the town.
What was going on under the shroud of night? The early dawn solved the
mystery. The Russians were abandoning the city they had so long and so
gallantly held.

The Malakoff was the key of their position. Its loss had made the city
untenable. The failure of the attempt to recover it was followed by
immediate preparations for evacuation. The gray light of the coming day
showed a stream of soldiers marching across the bridge to the north
side. The fleet had disappeared. It lay sunk in the harbor's depths.

The retreat had begun at eight o'clock of