By night the tribe in another of the side valleys was withdrawn, and
during the days which followed one by one the little camps of
white-robed tribes-men melted away like the snow upon the lower hills,
till not a man of the investing forces remained, and the long-harassed
defenders looked in vain from the highest tower of the fort for their
foes.

The falling rain had effected in a few days that which the brave;
defenders had been unable; to compass in as many weeks; while the
alteration from the insufferable heat to the soft, cool, moist air had a
wonderful effect upon the wounded, and made Doctor Morton chuckle and
rub his hands as he rejoiced over the change.

And still the rain went, on falling; the valley seemed surrounded by
cascades, the streams rushed and thundered down, and the main river
swept by the walls of the fort with a sullen roar; while, as if dejected
and utterly out of heart, the British flag, which had flaunted out so
bravely from the flagstaff, as if bidding defiance to the whole
hill-country and all its swarthy tribes, hung down and clung and wrapped
itself about the flagstaff, the halyard singing a dolefully weird strain
in a minor key, while the wind whistled by it on its way down towards
the plains.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

UNCOOKED MUTTON.

Two days passed--two of about the wettest and most dismal days
imaginable. There was no sign of the enemy, and the scouts sent out
came back dripping, and always with the same news--that the hill-men had
given up the siege in disgust, and were right away making for their
homes in the valleys at the foot of the mountain-slopes.

There was no relaxation in the watchfulness of the garrison, however,
the treacherous nature of the tribes being too well-known. Hence it was
that the sentries in their heavy greatcoats stood in such shelter as
they possessed, keeping watch and ward, with the valley stretched out
dark and gloomy, and the booming and roaring river dimly-seen through
the gloom of the night, as it foamed and tossed itself in spray against
the various obstacles it encountered on its way towards the lower gorge
whence Colonel Graves's regiment had made its appearance when it first
came to the assistance of the beleaguered in Ghittah Fort.

The rain had ceased and given place to a thick mist, so peculiar in its
appearance that one of two officers going the rounds, both nearly
invisible in their long overcoats, said softly to the other:

"Migh