hey're coming on again in front."

The captain seized gun and ammunition; Uncle Jack and Sam German were
roused from sleep, which was to last till they came on duty to watch; a
few imperative words were uttered to the ladies; and once more everyone
was at his post, waiting with beating heart for the attack. But it did
not come.

An hour had passed, then another, and when the captain whisperingly
asked whether the boys were sure, and whether they might not have been
deceived, and taken the black shadows of evening or a depression of the
ground for an enemy, they began to think that they must have been
mistaken. So the captain went to the back to speak to Uncle Jack and
Sam German, who were there that night, the latter solacing himself with
a pipe of tobacco, which he was smoking while his companion watched.

"A false alarm, I think, Jack," said the captain. "So much the better."

"But I don't mind. It shows how thoroughly the boys are on the Alert,"
he was going to whisper, but he did not speak, for at that moment there
was a faint rustling overhead; the brothers pressed each other's hands,
and Sam German laid his pipe softly in the chimney, took up his gun, and
listened.

The next minute the soft rustle continued, and a noise as of someone in
pain was heard, while the listeners in the darkness knew perfectly that
a black had lowered himself and stood barefooted upon the sharp spikes.

Another attempt was made and another. The blacks, being emboldened by
the perfect silence within, tried a fresh plan, which consisted in
lowering down a heavy piece of wood, and began to batter the new
protection. But a couple of shots fired up the chimney had the
customary result, and there was silence once more.

This was the most painful part of the attack, for every nerve was on the
strain to make out where the next attempt at entrance would be made, and
after the respite of the past peaceful days this fresh alarm seemed more
depressing than even the first coming of the enemy. For the defenders
could only feel how hopeless their case was, and as the captain thought
of his wife's look that evening, he was fain to confess that he would
have to give up and settle where the help of neighbours was at his
command.

All at once there were a couple of shots from the front, followed by a
tremendous yelling, and then silence again for a full hour, when it was
plain that the enemy were preparing for a rush at the back, where at
le