was given to lower the lance-points, and we turned off to the
right, and, following Brooke's guidance, the twenty selected men led the
advance, keeping well under cover till the dusty road was reached, both
cavalry and artillery advancing as nearly in line as the rough ground
would allow; then, as we faced to the left, and formed a column, the
little troop went off at a trot, then at a gallop, and then raced for
the gate, raising a cloud of dust sufficiently thick to hide our
advance, the lancers first, four abreast, the guns last, at such a
headlong gallop that the half-mile seemed nothing.

In the midst of the wild excitement, the firing ahead sounded louder,
and there were yells and shrieks which literally fired my blood; then I
heard a few scattered shots and some yelling close at hand, which meant
the lancers riding down the feeble opposition at the gate, which we
seemed to reach a few moments later; and as we wheeled slightly to the
left, along we tore down a wide, open road. Next there was a leaping
and bounding of the guns and limbers over the low earthwork, and we were
on our way again at a gallop toward a cloud of smoke, and the next
minute the clash of arms, the yelling of men, the shouts and cheers of
our lancers as they tore on, sweeping all before them, rang in my ears,
while my brain swam in the giddiness produced by excitement. Amidst it
all the trumpet sounded a halt, the men leaped from horse and limber,
the guns were at once unhooked, and loaded with grape where we stood,
close up to some walls and barricades, from beyond which came shouts and
cheers which almost maddened us. Then, dominating these sounds, there
came the beat of hoofs, as the lancers rode back, after forcing their
charge as far they could, passed between the guns, and faced round, to
form up behind us ready for a fresh charge on the wave of fierce
enemies, beaten back for the moment, but now recoiling and coming back
to the attack on the barricade, behind which our fellow-countrymen had
been desperately trying to hold their own.

I had a full view of this huge wave of savage humanity--inhumanity, I
ought to say--as they came on at a rush, with eyes and weapons gleaming,
their wildest passions roused, one vast mob of fighting men, a hundred
yards--eighty--fifty yards away, when Brace's order rang out, heard
above the roar as of a storm raging on a rocky coast.

Then _thud_, and like the slow pulse-beats of doom, _thud_--_thud_--eac