, take up thy tools at once, or verily thou wilt be
sorry."

Ahmed stood over the men, and his voice rang with a tone of command as
authoritative as that of their own officers. The Sikh hesitated for a
moment, then, to his own surprise, no less than that of his comrades, he
took up his tools, rose, and went off slowly to the back of the house.

"You two follow him," said Ahmed.

And the others got up, and went without a word.

Ahmed found that the back doors were slightly made and frail. They would
ill sustain a vigorous assault. So he got the doctor to give orders that
a quantity of heavy furniture should be collected in the passage leading
to them--material for blockading it if the doors were battered down.
While perambulating the lower part of the house, he noticed some bales,
containing Minghal Khan's possessions, which had been laid against the
wall of the compound, in readiness for instant removal. These he
carried, with the khansaman's assistance, to the upper part of the
house. Then he removed all provisions--a very scanty store--from the
servants' quarters, and conveyed the water-pots, filled by the bhisti
that morning, to the dining-room. This done, he felt that the garrison
was prepared to meet the storm.

But when he returned to the surgery, the doctor gave a further order.

"Find a long plank," he said, "as wide as the stairs--nail two together,
if you cannot find one wide enough--and drive nails through it so that
their points stand up."

The necessary material was soon found. When it was thickly studded with
nails, the doctor bade them make a hole in it, pass a rope through the
hole, and tie it to the newel of the staircase. Ahmed guessed the
purpose it was designed for; for the present he laid it on its side, so
that there was free passage up and down the stairs.

It was a full hour before the attack was resumed. Looking from a window,
Ahmed saw the street beyond the compound thronged with rebels, some
sepoys, but the majority Irregulars. Ladders were placed against the
wall, and the enemy began to swarm up. There was a volley from the
defenders collected at the door of the house. Several of the men who had
mounted the wall fell back; others, finding themselves unsupported, gave
way before the rush of their opponents, who dashed across the compound
and thrust their bayonets fiercely upwards. For a moment the top of the
wall was clear, but the defenders had fired their pieces, and Ahmed knew
that