legs, was now able to walk.

Presently they came to a large party of men, some of whom had their
arms in slings, some were bandaged on the head, some lay in stretchers
on the ground.

"It is a convoy of wounded," Jack said. "I suppose we're going to be
taken into the interior."

An officer, evidently in charge, saluted the boys as they came up, and
said something in Russian.

They returned the salute. He was a pleasant-looking fellow with
light-blue eyes, and yellowish moustache and beard. He looked at them,
and then gave orders to a soldier, who entered the building, and
returned with two peasants' cloaks lined with sheep-skin, similar to
the one he himself wore.

These were handed to them, and the midshipmen expressed their warmest
gratitude to him; their meaning, if not their words, being clearly
intelligible.

"These are splendid," Jack said. "They've got hoods too, to go over
the head. This is something like comfort. I wish our poor fellows up
above there had each got one. It must be awful up on the plateau now.
Fancy twelve hours in the trenches, and then twelve hours in the
tents, with no fires, and nothing but those thin great-coats, and
scarcely anything to eat. Now there's a move."

A strong party of soldiers came down, lifted the stretchers, and in a
few minutes the whole convoy were at the water's edge. Other similar
parties were already there, and alongside were a number of flat
barges. Upon these the invalids walked, or were carried, and the
barges were then taken in tow by ships' boats, and rowed across the
harbor to the north side.

"I hope to goodness," Jack said, looking up at the heights behind
them, along which the lines of entrenchments were clearly visible
against the white snow, "that our fellows won't take it into their
heads to have a shot at us. From our battery we often amused ourselves
by sending a shell from one of the big Lancaster guns down at the
ships in the harbor. But I never dreamed that I was likely to be a
cockshy myself."

The usual duel was going on between the batteries, and the puffs of
white smoke rose from the dark line of trenches and drifted up
unbroken across the deep blue of the still wintry sky.

But happily the passage of the flotilla of boats attracted no
attention, and they soon arrived at the shore close to the work known
as Battery No. 4.

Here they were landed. Those who could not walk were lifted into
carts, of which some hundreds stood ranged alon