ible.

He left twenty men to guard his guns, placed a guard of ten upon the
road leading up to the fort, to prevent the inhabitants from sending
up news of his intentions to the garrison, who had, with that of
Suzarow, kept up a fire from their guns upon the town, since his
arrival there. The moon was not to rise until eleven o'clock, and at
nine Charlie marched, with a hundred and seventy men, from the town.
Making a considerable detour, he found himself, at half past ten, at
the foot of the rocks, rising almost sheer from the upper part of the
hill.

He was well provided with ropes and ladders. The most perfect silence
had been enjoined upon the men and, in the darkness, the march had
been unseen by the enemy. While waiting for the moon to rise, the
troopers all wound pieces of cloth, with which they had come provided,
round their boots, to prevent these from making a noise, by slipping
or stumbling on the rocks.

When the moon rose, the ascent of the rocks began at the point which
Charlie had, after a close inspection through a telescope, judged to
be most accessible. The toil was very severe. One by one, the men
climbed from ledge to ledge, some of the most active hill men, from
northern India, leading the way, and aiding their comrades to follow
them, by lowering ropes, and placing ladders at the most inaccessible
spots. All this time, they were completely hidden from the observation
of the garrison, above.

At last, the leaders of the party stood at the foot of the walls,
which rose a few feet from the edge of the cliff. The operation had
been performed almost noiselessly. The ammunition pouches had been
left behind, each man carrying ten rounds in his belt. Every piece of
metal had been carefully removed from their uniforms, the very buttons
having been cut off, lest these should strike against the rocks; and
the muskets had been swathed up in thick coverings.

The men, as they gained the upper ridge, spread along at the foot of
the walls, until the whole body had gathered there. They could hear
the voices of the sentries, thirty feet above them; but these, having
no idea of the vicinity of an enemy, did not look over the edge of the
wall. Indeed, the parapets of the Indian fortifications were always so
high, that it was only from projecting towers that the foot of the
wall could be seen.

When the English force were assembled, the ladders, which, like
everything else, had been muffled, were placed agains