s being placed out of reach of
danger, had, in the manner of their opponents, taken the cover of the
rising ground, or the fallen tree, and in this way, awaiting the
progress of events, were shielded from unnecessary exposure. It was only
when a position became awkward or irksome, that the shoulder or the leg
of the unquiet man thrust itself too pertinaciously above its shelter,
and got barked or battered by a bullet; and as all parties knew too well
the skill of their adversaries, it was not often that a shoulder or leg
became so indiscreetly prominent.

As it was, however, the squatters, from a choice of ground, and a
perfect knowledge of it, together with the additional guards and
defences which they had been enabled to place upon it, had evidently the
advantage. Still, no event, calculated to impress either party with any
decisive notion of the result, had yet taken place; and beyond the
injury done to the assailants in their first ill-advised assault, they
had suffered no serious harm. They were confident in themselves and
their leader--despised the squatters heartily--and, indeed, did not
suffer themselves for a moment to think of the possibility of their
defeat.

Thus the play proceeded in front of the defences, while Fullam silently
and industriously plied his way up the narrow gorge, covered entirely
from sight by the elevated ridges of rock, which, rising up boldly on
either side of the pass, had indeed been the cause of its formation. But
his enemy was on the alert; and the cunning of Munro--whom his
companions, with an Indian taste, had entitled the "Black Snake"--had
already prepared for the reception of the gallant Georgian. With a quick
eye he had observed the diminished numbers of the force in front, and
readily concluded, from the sluggishness of the affair in that quarter,
that a finesse was in course of preparation. Conscious, too, from a
knowledge of the post, that there was but a single mode of enfilading
his defences, he had made his provision for the guardianship of the
all-important point. Nothing was more easy than the defence of this
pass, the ascent being considerable, rising into a narrow gorge, and as
suddenly and in like manner descending on the point opposite that on
which Fullam was toiling up his way. In addition to this, the gulley was
winding and brokenly circuitous--now making a broad sweep of the
circle--then terminating in a zigzag and cross direction, which, until
the road was ac