ed the redoubt to
tremble to its foundations. At the same moment the alarm sounded, the
men sprang up, seized their arms, and stood ready for an attack; but to
their surprise no attack was made.

"Surely it must have been one of the mines you were telling me about,"
said Miles, in a low voice to Sergeant Gilroy, who stood near to him.

"It was one of them unquestionably, for a corporal of the Berkshire
regiment told me Lieutenant Young placed the mine there yesterday."

While Gilroy was speaking, Lieutenant Young himself came along, engaged
in earnest conversation with Captain Lacey, and stood still close beside
Miles.

"What puzzles me, is that they have not followed it up with a few
volleys, according to their usual custom," said the former, in a low
voice. "Luckily they seldom do any harm, for they are uncommonly bad
shots, but they generally try their best to do us mischief, and always
make a good deal of noise about it."

"Perhaps," suggested Captain Lacey, "your mine has done so much
execution this time, and killed so many men, that they've got a fright
and run away."

"It may be so, but I think not. The Soudanese are not easily
frightened, as we have some cause to know."

"Have you many mines about?" asked the captain.

"Yes, we have a good many. And they form a most important part of our
defence, for we are not very well supplied with men, and the Egyptian
troops are not to be depended on unless backed up by ours. These mines
require to be carefully handled, however, for our shepherds take the
cattle out to graze every day, so that if I were to fail to disconnect
any of them in the mornings, we should have some of our cattle blown up;
and if I failed to connect them again at night, the enemy would attack
us more vigorously. As it is, they are very nervous about the mines.
They have pluck to face any foe that they can see, but the idea of an
unseen foe, who lurks underground anywhere, and may suddenly send them
into the sky like rockets, daunts them a bit."

"And little wonder!" returned the captain. "From what you say I judge
that you have the management of most of the mines."

"Of all of them," answered the lieutenant, with a modest look.

There was more than modesty in this young officer of Engineers; there
was heroism also. He might have added, (though he did not), that this
duty of connecting and disconnecting the mines each night and morning
was such a dangerous service that he declined