circumstances under which they found themselves should prevent them from
giving the day its due military honors.

The major quite concurred; and it was mutually agreed that the occasion
must be honored by a bumper of port, and by a royal salute. Corporal Pim
must be sent for. The corporal soon made his appearance, smacking his
lips, having, by a ready intuition, found a pretext for a double morning
ration of spirits.

"The 18th of February, you know, Pim," said the colonel; "we must have a
salute of twenty-one guns."

"Very good," replied Pim, a man of few words.

"And take care that your fellows don't get their arms and legs blown
off," added the officer.

"Very good, sir," said the corporal; and he made his salute and
withdrew.

Of all the bombs, howitzers, and various species of artillery with which
the fortress had been crowded, one solitary piece remained. This was a
cumbrous muzzle-loader of 9-inch caliber, and, in default of the smaller
ordnance generally employed for the purpose, had to be brought into
requisition for the royal salute.

A sufficient number of charges having been provided, the corporal
brought his men to the reduct, whence the gun's mouth projected over
a sloping embrasure. The two officers, in cocked hats and full staff
uniform, attended to take charge of the proceedings. The gun was
maneuvered in strict accordance with the rules of "The Artilleryman's
Manual," and the firing commenced.

Not unmindful of the warning he had received, the corporal was most
careful between each discharge to see that every vestige of fire was
extinguished, so as to prevent an untimely explosion while the men were
reloading; and accidents, such as so frequently mar public rejoicings,
were all happily avoided.

Much to the chagrin of both Colonel Murphy and Major Oliphant, the
effect of the salute fell altogether short of their anticipations. The
weight of the atmosphere was so reduced that there was comparatively
little resistance to the explosive force of the gases, liberated at the
cannon's mouth, and there was consequently none of the reverberation,
like rolling thunder, that ordinarily follows the discharge of heavy
artillery.

Twenty times had the gun been fired, and it was on the point of being
loaded for the last time, when the colonel laid his hand upon the arm of
the man who had the ramrod. "Stop!" he said; "we will have a ball this
time. Let us put the range of the piece to the test."

"A goo