s."

"The man whom you succeeded--how long had he been here?"

"I believe he had been here for twenty years, or more."

"And his system of keeping account was the same as yours?"

"Precisely. He handed his books to me, and I have kept mine in the
same way."

"Then it is a fact, if I understand you rightly, that there has
been no taking of stock for the past thirty years?"

"It was not necessary," the officer said, in a surly tone. "There
can be no mistake possible, considering the way in which we made
our entries."

They now entered the store. It was some sixty feet long and forty
feet wide, with pillars of masonry along the centre to support the
weight of the roof. It was lighted only by small loopholes in the
thick walls. Four of the soldiers carried lanterns, and they were
about to enter, when Desmond said:

"There is no loose powder lying about, I suppose?"

"None," the officer replied. "The barrels were all carefully
examined before being taken into the store. They are, as you can
see, strongly made. A leakage is out of the question, unless by
any accident one should fall off the pile and burst; but such a
thing has never happened, as far as I know."

"I see, by your book, that there should be three thousand four
hundred and eighty-two barrels, each containing five hundred
cartridges. Certainly an ample supply, even for a prolonged
siege."

The barrels were piled in four tiers, one above another, forming a
wall on each side of a central path, seven feet wide.

"Give me your hand, Mike," Desmond said to his follower, and,
standing upon it, he was able to scramble on to the top.

"Twelve barrels deep," he said, as he descended. "Now, let us
count the number in each line."

The wall of barrels extended only some two-thirds of the length of
the stores, and there were thirty barrels in each line. He made a
rapid calculation.

"That is three thousand two hundred, but I see that, in addition,
there is a small pile on each side, beyond the others, which would
about make up the correct total. Your record is strictly
accurate."

The official took up the lantern, as if the matter was now
finished, but Desmond said:

"No, sir. I have but begun; and my instructions were to see how
much musket ammunition there was here, at present. I only know how
many barrels there are.

"And now, Colonel, I will ask you to call your men in, and set
them to work. I wish two passages made through each of these piles
of