neral has given it up as hopeless," he said. "They
are about to march away."

"It looks like it, Rajah," Harry admitted, "but I should hardly
fancy that Lord Lake will take such a step. He has tried to take
the town by a sudden assault, and I think that he will not retreat
until he has attempted to do so by a regular siege operation."

An hour later the whole of the tents had been pulled down and,
presently, both the troops and the huge body of followers and
cattle were in motion.

"They are not going to Agra," the rajah said, after watching them
for some time; "they must be going to march to the north."

Two hours later, the great procession had arrived at the north of
the town. There they halted, and their long lines of tents began to
rise.

"They are going to try another point," the rajah exclaimed. "Truly
they are brave men, but they will be repulsed, as they were
before."

"I fancy they will begin in another way, Rajah, and will make
regular approaches, so that they will not have to pass across the
open ground swept by your guns."

This indeed turned out to be the case. The trenches were at once
opened and, ere long, two batteries were established at a distance
of four hundred yards from the wall. Two days later another, still
nearer, opened fire and, by the 20th of February, the trenches had
been pressed forward to the edge of the ditch; and a mine sunk,
with the intention of blowing up the counterscarp, and so partially
filling the ditch. The troops intended for the assault took their
places in the trenches at an early hour, so as to be ready to
attack as soon as the repairs made by the garrison in the breach
during the night could be destroyed by the batteries.

The Jats, however, had been rendered so confident by their previous
successes that, during the night, they made a sally, crept into the
advanced trench--from which the workmen had been withdrawn--and
started to demolish the mine and carry off the tools. As the
storming party moved down through the trenches the Jats--who had
made the first sally--joined by a considerable number from the
town, rushed forward and attacked them; and inflicted considerable
loss before they were repulsed. A portion of them, however, still
held the advanced trench; and when the 75th and 76th, who were at
the head of the column, were ordered to dislodge them, they
hesitated.

The repulse of the former attacks had had its effect, and the
troops, believing that the e