his
excitement increased, when told that a strong force of his enemy
was gathered within a few miles of the town; and that an assault
might be immediately expected.

"Will you tell the rajah that I am used to warfare, and shall be
glad to assist him, to the best of my power, in the defence of his
town?"

"How many men were there?" the rajah asked.

"I should think there were a couple of thousand," Harry replied.
"Some of them had matchlocks, but the greater part of them only
spear and kris."

"And we have not more than five hundred," the rajah said. "We
cannot hope to resist them. What think you?"

"I will at once go round the town, and see," Harry said. "It may be
that, being accustomed to war, I can suggest some means of so
strengthening the defences that we may hold them against the
enemy."

The rajah, having heard many tales of the fighting powers of the
whites, said:

"I will go with you. I would defend the place if I could for, if
Johore were lost, I should be but a fugitive. All within it would
be killed, and I should have to beg an asylum from those over whom
I was once master."

Calling a party of his men to follow him, the rajah accompanied
Harry to the edge of the town. It was already surrounded by a
palisade; but this was of no great strength, and its circumference
was fully a mile and a half.

"Tell the rajah that we could make a first defence, here, but his
fighting men are not numerous enough to hold so large a circuit
against four times their number. I should suggest that the whole
population should be set to work to build another palisade, much
nearer to the palace. All the women and children should be sent
inside this, all the provisions in the town be taken into the
palace enclosure, and a large supply of water stored there.

"As soon as the new palisade is finished, all who can be spared
from its defence should set to work to throw up a bank of earth
against the wall; and upon this the fighting men can take their
places, and should be able to defend the palace against any
assault."

The rajah listened attentively to the interpreter.

"The English officer's words are good," he said, "but we have no
timber for the palisades that he speaks of."

"Tell the rajah," Harry said, when this was interpreted to him,
"that there is plenty of wood and bamboos in the huts that stand
outside the line of the new palisade; and that if we pull these
down, we can use the materials. Moreover, in any