, however, was of opinion that, as the enemy
would know that the alarm would have been given by the fugitives,
on their arrival, and that the inhabitants would be on their guard,
they would not attack till daylight.

Harry had, at his invitation, gone up at midnight to his house, and
partaken of food; which was also sent out to Abdool and the
interpreter. The rajah would have continued the work all through
the night, had not Harry dissuaded him; saying that, after six
hours' sleep, everyone would work better.

At one o'clock a horn was sounded and, with the exception of a few
men left at the outer palisade, all set to work again. The men were
employed in digging a trench, a foot in depth, inside the inner
palisade; throwing up the earth in front of them, so as to lie
protected from arrows and spears, until it was time for them to
rise to their feet to repel an actual assault. The women and
children filled baskets with the earth thrown from the outer
trench, on the previous day, and carried it inside the wall where,
by five o'clock, a bank two feet high had been raised; and on this
a platform of bamboos, three feet high and eighteen inches wide was
erected.

The work had scarcely been finished when a horn was sounded,
outside the town; and the boys came running in, while the men ran
down to the outer palisade. As day broke, great numbers of dark
figures were seen, making their way through the fields on three
sides of the town.

"The band we saw must have been joined by another. There are
certainly more than two thousand men there. They will undoubtedly
carry the outer palisade. Many of our men will be killed, and many
others will be unable to join us here. I think that it will be much
better to rely on this defence, alone."

Having now great confidence in Harry's judgment, the rajah at once
ordered a horn to be sounded and, in a short time, the whole of the
men were assembled in their stronghold; and the entrance closed by
bamboos, for which holes had been already dug, close together. Then
short lengths were lashed across them, and they were further
strengthened by a bank of earth piled against them.

Before this was quite finished, yells of triumph were heard as the
enemy, finding the palisade unguarded, poured in; expecting to find
that the inhabitants had fled at the news of their approach. They
paused, however, in surprise, at seeing another line of defence
outside the palace. Quickly the numbers increased,