uffs, for several of the Rooshans had got out
their knives, and were slashin' about like one o'clock; and the Tartars,
on their side, had begun to tear out the rails o' the palisade and to
crack the skulls of the Rooshans with them. Just then Ivan Martchenkoff,
one o' my best men, came tumblin' down at my feet with half a dozen
Tartars atop of him; and as he fell he caught sight of me, and cried to
me for help.

Well, _that_ was more'n I could stand. I busted loose from Feodoroff
(who tried to hold me), and leapt right among 'em. I cotched the
uppermost Tartar by the scruff o' the neck, and chucked him away like a
kitten; and the second I hit sich a dollop behind the ear as made him
look five ways at once; but just then two o' the rips jumped upon me
from behind, and down I went. Then Feodoroff flew in to save me, but the
crowd closed upon him, and down _he_ went too; and I thought 'twas all
up with us both.

Jist then I heerd a rumble of wheels up the slope leadin' to the bridge,
and then a great shout of "_Soldati! soldati!_" ("The soldiers! the
soldiers!").

Then I lay close to the ground and made myself as small as I could, for
I knowed that if they fired into sich a crowd with cannon it 'ud just
mow 'em down like grass. The next minute I heerd an orficer's voice
singin' out, "Halt! front! fire!" But instead of the bang of a cannon
there cum a hiss like fifty tea-kettles a-bilin' over, and then a great
splash, and the crowd scattered fifty ways at once; and I found myself
wringin' wet all in a minute. Then somebody gripped hold o' me and
pulled me up, and there was Feodoroff, and beside him Lieutenant
Berezinski of the garrison laughin' fit to burst. And when I looked
round the whole place was a puddle o' water, with dozens of men rollin'
in it like flies in treacle; and at the end of the bridge was ten or
twelve sogers, and right in front of 'em a great steam _fire-engine_!
Then I understood it all, and began laughin' as loud as anybody.

"You've cooled their courage this time, Mr. Lieutenant," says I.

"I think I have," says the lieutenant; "and that, too, without wasting a
cartridge or killing a man. When you go home to England, Yakov
Ivanovitch (James son of John), you can say that if you haven't stood
fire, you've stood water, and been at the battle of Voyevoda."[31]

DAVID KER.

OUR MONTHLY GOSSIP.

THE COLORED CREOLES OF BALTIMORE.

It is well known that many French families, fugitives from