the windows, Surajah. It is
most important to get them done. You make the one at the end, I will
do that one looking into the street. Put it as close to the beam as
you can."

They worked hard, and it was not long before the walls were pierced.

"Now, Surajah, you do the one at the back. The fellows will soon be
within range, and I will give them a lesson to be careful. They will
naturally break up, and go round behind the houses opposite, as they
can find shelter nowhere else; and, for a bit at any rate, we shall
get them all on one side of us, which is what we want."

Dick carried the six guns to the end of the hut, and then applied his
eye to the loophole there. The enemy were coming along at a run, in a
confused mass.

"I can't very well miss them," he muttered to himself, as he thrust
his gun through a loophole, and fired. Without waiting to see the
result, he thrust another gun out, aimed, and fired.

"Never mind the hole, Surajah," he said. "Come here and reload."

The four other shots were discharged in rapid succession. The
Mysoreans at first opened an irregular fire on the hut. When the sixth
shot was fired, they left the road in a body, and ran across the
valley, leaving four of their number on the ground behind them.

As soon as the guns were reloaded, Surajah returned to his work. It
was now broad daylight, and the sun was shining upon the hilltops. A
quarter of an hour passed, without a movement from the enemy. Dick and
his companion occupied the time in further strengthening the door with
crossbeams, kept in their place by struts.

"If they break it to splinters," Dick said, when they had finished,
"they will hardly be able to force their way in, for if they were to
try to crawl in between those crossbeams, they would be completely at
our mercy.

"Now, we must get ready for a rush. I expect they will come all
together. There are the six guns, and three pistols each. Keep one of
the latter in reserve. We ought not to waste a shot; and if they lose
ten men, I should think they will give up the attack on the door.

"Stand clear of it, Surajah. They will probably fire into it before
they charge--keep down below the level of the loopholes."

Presently a volley of musketry was fired, and the door was riddled by
bullets. Then a number of figures sprang from between the two opposite
houses, and rushed at the door. Two of them carried a long, heavy
beam.

Two shots flashed out in return, from the h