ht, the hour at which the remainder
of troops were to take up their positions at the various posts assigned
to them. Snow was still falling heavily, and the wind blew mournfully
across the plain as if in anticipation of the agonising drama that was
soon to be acted. The fuses were timed to burn in twenty minutes, and
before that time had elapsed it was certain that the guards would be
changed at the main gates, the objective it was so necessary they should
reach. To the hundred men crouching upon the bank every minute seemed an
hour. To Max, wet and cold as he was, each was like an eternity. He was
possessed by all sorts of fears. What if the fuses should have gone out!
What if any mistake should have been made in the arrangements, and the
troops not be in their proper places at the stipulated time! What if,
when they had broken in, the garrison should turn out and intercept them
before they could reach the main gate and overpower the guard! In the
horrible uncertainty of the moment, anything seemed likely to happen.
Again and again he tried to be patient, but his efforts were in vain.
Surely the fuses must be near the mines by this time. If daylight should
come all would be lost. He looked about him as the thought occurred,
almost expecting to see the dawn breaking over the mountains. Then, with
a suddenness that was terrifying, and with a roar that might have been
heard for many miles, and with a wealth of flame that lit up the
country-side, the first of the mines exploded, followed scarcely an
instant later by its fellow. For a moment the air was filled with the
shattered fragments of the walls, some of which fell among the men
waiting on the river bank, some in the river itself, but none in the
doomed city. Then Max sprang to his feet.

"Come, my lads," he cried, "follow me!"

Rifle in hand he dashed into the river, the men imitated his example,
and almost before anyone could have told what had happened they were
half-way to the other side. Before they reached the opposite bank,
however, the sound of another explosion on the further side of the city
came to them, followed by a heavy cannonading and the shrieking of
shells. It was the ruse which they had arranged to adopt in order to
make the enemy believe that the principal attack would take place on
that side. Panting after their swim, the men clambered up the bank,
which was now littered with fragments of masonry. A breach between
thirty and forty feet in length