oot of the hill, South-Enders as it happened, finding themselves
assailed in the rear and on the flank, turned round and attempted
to beat off the watchmen. In this they were sustained by numerous
volunteers from the fort, who looked upon the interference as
tyrannical.

The watch were determined fellows, and charged the boys valiantly,
driving them all into the fort, where we made common cause, fighting
side by side like the best of friends. In vain the four guardians of the
peace rushed up the hill, flourishing their clubs and calling upon us to
surrender. They could not get within ten yards of the fort, our fire was
so destructive. In one of the onsets a man named Mugridge, more valorous
than his peers, threw himself upon the parapet, when he was seized by
twenty pairs of hands, and dragged inside the breastwork, where fifteen
boys sat down on him to keep him quiet.

Perceiving that it was impossible with their small number to dislodge
us, the watch sent for reinforcements. Their call was responded to, not
only by the whole constabulary force (eight men), but by a numerous
body of citizens, who had become alarmed at the prospect of a riot. This
formidable array brought us to our senses: we began to think that maybe
discretion was the better part of valor. General Harris and General
Ames, with their respective staffs, held a council of war in the
hospital, and a backward movement was decided on. So, after one grand
farewell volley, we fled, sliding, jumping, rolling, tumbling down the
quarry at the rear of the fort, and escaped without losing a man.

But we lost Fort Slatter forever. Those battle-scarred ramparts were
razed to the ground, and humiliating ashes sprinkled over the historic
spot, near which a solitary lynx-eyed policeman was seen prowling from
time to time during the rest of the winter.

The event passed into a legend, and afterwards, when later instances of
pluck and endurance were spoken of, the boys would say, "By golly! You
ought to have been at the fights on Slatter's Hill!"

Chapter Fourteen--The Cruise of the Dolphin

It was spring again. The snow had faded away like a dream, and we were
awakened, so to speak, by the sudden chirping of robins in our back
garden. Marvellous transformation of snowdrifts into lilacs, wondrous
miracle of the unfolding leaf! We read in the Holy Book how our Saviour,
at the marriage-feast, changed the water into wine; we pause and wonder;
but every hour a