away.
Here they come."

As he spoke, the savages carrying the faggots rushed forward with the
intention of casting them over the outer line against the stockades.
Many, however, were shot down before they succeeded in doing this;
others were killed or wounded after they had thrown forward their loads.
A number of men now advanced, carrying candlewood torches.

"Those fellows must be picked off," shouted the lieutenant.

In some cases the command was obeyed; but many of the blacks, now
leaping on one side, now on the other, eluded the bullets aimed at them,
and threw the burning brands amid the bundles of wood, which catching
fire began to blaze up in all directions, the smoke almost concealing
the combatants from each other. Whenever it lifted, however, the flames
exposed the shrieking mass of blacks clearly to view, and many were shot
down in the moment, as they supposed, of their triumphant success.

As Lieutenant Belt had expected, none of them ventured through the
burning mass; but here and there the stockades were catching fire, and
it appeared too probable that they would be burnt through and afford an
ultimate ingress to the foe. The scene was indeed terrible to those
standing in the narrow space within the stockades--the crackling of the
burning wood, the lurid flames, the dense mass of smoke, and outside the
shouting, shrieking savages eager to break through the defences and
massacre all within.

Efforts were made to extinguish the fire, and had there been an ample
supply of water, it might easily have been done, for it was only in
spots where the flames blew against the woodwork that they produced any
effect. Still the back and sides of the house were protected, and until
the stockades were destroyed the besiegers could make no use of their
ladders.

"I do not think we need fear them," said Lieutenant Belt. "We must
watch narrowly where they are placed, and shoot down the people from the
windows immediately they attempt to mount."

The blacks, as before, carried off their dead and wounded, and it was
difficult to ascertain how much they had suffered. Already a good many
had retreated, but others were seen coming up with more faggots, which
they attempted to throw amid the already burning mass. By this time the
whole house was surrounded by a hedge of flames, and Mr Twigg, who had
exerted himself as much as any one, made his way up to the lieutenant,
and advised that they should retreat into the