e on board the _Briton_, "unless we have to attack
other places along the coast. You will probably be sent on that
service, and I confess I envy you."

"I hope we shall," was the answer; "though I am afraid that at present
we shall be employed as a despatch-boat. I should like to see what is
going forward on shore, and shall be glad if I can take a turn of duty
with the naval brigade, but I have very little hopes of that."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

THE TORNADO AT BALACLAVA--THE ALLIED CAMPS--RUSSIAN CAVALRY AND
HIGHLANDERS--THE FLYING TURKS AND THE HIGHLAND WIFE--CHARGE OF THE HEAVY
BRIGADE--"INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH RODE THE SIX HUNDRED!"--DEATH OF
CAPTAIN NOLAN--AFTER THE BATTLE--TOM AND ARCHIE PROPOSE TO LEAVE THE
NAVY FOR THE ARMY, BUT THINK BETTER OF IT--THEIR VISIT TO THE GUARDS'
CAMP--THE STERN REALITIES OF WAR--ATTACKED BY THE RUSSIANS--THE
MIDSHIPMEN IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT.

The _Tornado_ had been ordered to proceed to Balaclava. She entered
that landlocked harbour, on the southern end of the Crimea, on the
evening of the 24th of October. As she was to remain there the whole of
the next day, Jack resolved to take the opportunity of paying a visit to
his brother Sidney, and seeing what was going forward before Sebastopol.
There was no time to set off that evening; he, however, landed with his
second lieutenant and some of his younger officers, including Tom and
Archie, to have a look at the country, and to engage horses for the next
day.

Steep hills rose on either side of the harbour, on the right of which
the little town was situated, with steep, narrow streets leading down to
the water's edge. Above it was a line of defences, garrisoned by the
bluejackets forming the naval brigade, and the marines of the fleet. To
the left, across the Chersonese, ran the road to Sebastopol; while
directly in front, connected by a gorge with the harbour, was a broad
valley, called the South Valley. Beyond this rose a ridge known as the
Causeway Heights, on which were situated six redoubts, garrisoned by the
Turks, to whom had been committed what formed the outward defences of
Balaclava; along this causeway ran the Woronzoff Road. At the eastern
extremity of the valley there was a knoll between five and six hundred
feet in height, joining the Kamara Hills to the right by a neck of high
ground, the knoll jutting out over the valley, as a promontory does over
the sea. This knoll, on which Number 1 redoubt had been t