he citadel,
they would come pouring back again. He would have said to himself, 'We
shall be able to keep them at bay until our work is done, then we shall
have to fall back. What then? The enemy will mount the ramparts, and
while their main force pours out in pursuit, their guns on the walls
will play havoc with us. To prevent this I must silence them before my
company retires.'

"It is all very simple when we look at it after it is done, and yet
probably it did not occur to a single officer of that force except to
Captain Campbell. I admit that it did not occur to myself. Had it done
so, I should have ordered that some of the artillerymen should carry
spikes and hammers, and that upon entering the town they should
immediately take steps, by rendering the guns harmless, to enable the
force to draw off without heavy loss. In the same way he showed a cool
and calculating brain when he carried out that most dangerous service of
bearing the news that we should speedily bring aid to the citadel. It
is difficult to imagine a better laid plan. He thought of everything--of
his disguise, of the manner in which it would alone be possible to
approach closely to the wall.

"I think that few of us would have thought of making our way up through
a house a hundred yards away, working along the roofs and descending
into the lane by the wall itself. I asked him how he got the rope down
which it was necessary for him to use four or five times afterwards,
and he showed me the plan by which he contrived to free the hook; it
was most ingenious. It did not seem to me that it would have acted as
he told me, and I asked him to have another one made so that I might
understand how it was worked, for such a contrivance would be extremely
useful in escalades, when the troops, after descending into a deep
fosse, need the rope for climbing a wall or bastion. There it is,
gentlemen, and as you see, by pulling this thin cord the hook is lifted
from its hold, and the slightest shake will bring it down.

"The contrivance is an excellent one. The line he took was well chosen.
He accomplished the most dangerous part first, and made his way out
by the side where the watch was most likely to be careless, as anyone
leaving or entering the town there would have to swim the river. The
feat shows that he has not only abundance of courage of the very highest
order, but that he has a head to plan and leaves nothing to chance. You
will see, gentlemen, that if t