suited to the purpose. It did not--as
Ralph had supposed--go straight through; but there were two holes,
one upon each side of the pier, nearly at the same level, and each
extending into the center of the pier. The holes were about four
inches square.

The barrels of gun cotton were now hastily opened on the bank, and
men waded out with the contents. Lieutenant Ribouville upon one
side, and Ralph upon the other, took the cotton and thrust it, with
long sticks, into the ends of the hole. In five minutes the
contents of the two barrels were safely lodged, the fuse inserted,
and the operation of tamping--or ramming--in dry sand, earth, and
stones commenced.

"Make haste!" Major Tempe shouted. "Their numbers are increasing
fast. There are some fifteen or twenty, on either side."

A brisk fire of rifles was now going on. The day had fairly broken;
and the franc tireurs, sheltered behind the parapet of the bridge,
on the bank of the river, were exchanging a lively fire with the
enemy. Three-quarters of an hour had passed since the first shot
was fired.

Suddenly a distant boom was heard, followed in a few seconds by a
slight whizzing noise, which grew rapidly into a loud scream and,
in another moment, there was an explosion close to the bridge. The
men all left off their work, for an instant.

"And what may that be, Mister Percy? A more unpleasant sound I
niver heard, since I was a baby."

"I quite agree with you, Tim, as to its unpleasantness. It is a
shell. The artillery are coming up from Luneville. The fire of the
sentries would take the alarm, in a couple of minutes; give them
another fifteen to get ready, and half an hour to get within range.

"Here comes another."

"Are you ready, Ribouville?" the commandant shouted. "They have
cavalry, as well as artillery. We must be off, or we shall get
caught in a trap."

"I am ready," was the answer.

"Barclay, strike a match, and put it to the end of your fuse, till
it begins to fizz.

"Have you lit it?"

"Yes, sir," Ralph said, a moment later.

"So have I," the lieutenant said. "They will burn about three
minutes.

"Now for a run!"

In a couple of minutes the franc tireurs were retreating, at the
double; and they had not gone a hundred yards when they heard the
sound of two tremendous explosions, following closely one upon
another. Looking back, they saw the pier had fallen in fragments;
and that the bridge lay, a heap of ruins, in the stream.

"Hurrah,