or even of a trial.
Having walked in like this, and having successfully walked out
again--which is quite another matter--we felt elated with our success
and hung about till nightfall and tried it again after dark. This was
no easy job, as the place was surrounded by outposts very much on the
_qui vive_ for an enemy that was to make a manoeuvre attack during the
night. By keeping to leeward of the general position one was able to
quietly creep along, sniffing the breeze, until one could judge where
there was an outpost and where there was open ground, and in this
manner, smelling our way as we went, we were able to creep through
between the outposts and so gained the fort.
HOW WE GOT THE SECRET LIGHT.
This time it meant slipping through unperceived as far as possible,
and in this we succeeded equally well. By good fortune we arrived
just before experiments commenced with the illuminating rockets.
Everybody's attention was centred on these and no one had time to
notice or observe what we were doing. We watched the preparations and
also the results, and having studied the routine and the geography of
the practice we were in the end able to help ourselves to some of the
rockets and the lighting composition, and with these we eventually
made off. Without delay we placed our treasures in the hands of a
trusty agent who transferred them at once to England.
HOW THE BIG RIVER WAS SWUM.
Our next step was to see how crossing the river was carried out by the
cavalry. From information received we presented ourselves at a certain
spot on the river at a little before ten one morning. The official
attaches had received notice that a brigade of cavalry would swim the
river at this point at ten o'clock, and at ten o'clock their special
train was due to arrive there.
We were there, fortunately, half an hour beforehand, and we saw the
whole brigade come down to the river and file across a fairly deep
ford, where the horses got wet to some extent, but they did not swim.
On the far bank a few men were left behind. These, as it turned out,
were all the men and horses who could actually swim well, and as the
train arrived and the attaches disembarked on to the bank they found
the major part of the brigade already arrived, dripping wet, and the
remainder just swimming over at that moment.
Of course in their reports they stated that they had seen the whole
brigade swimming over. But this is how reports very often get about
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