ikely. But they were now
emerging from the mango grove, a hundred yards away. They came on foot,
leaving their horses out of musket range.

Desmond's heart sank as he counted them. There were even more than he had
supposed. They numbered fifty-four and several had no doubt been left in
charge of the horses. Still, he felt that he had two advantages. The
first was his position behind the wall; the second, the fact that the
enemy, unless they had obtained information from the villagers, could not
know what force they had to deal with. Their ignorance, of course, must
be only temporary: if one of them should succeed in mounting the wall the
weakness of the defense must immediately be seen.

As the enemy, tall men in the costume of native cavalry, assembled by
twos and threes at the edge of the grove, Desmond noticed three Europeans
leave the main body and advance some way into the open. It was with a
flush of indignation and a fierce resolve to bring him at last to book
that Desmond recognized one of them as Diggle. With his companions he
walked at a safe distance completely round the building.

For some time they halted at the back, carefully scanning the position.
Here the wall approached the house much more closely than in the front,
and no one could mount it without being fully exposed to fire from the
upper windows. After his examination, Diggle returned with the two men,
whom from their appearance Desmond judged to be Frenchmen, to the main
body, and sent off half a dozen men toward the other end of the village.
While they were gone one of the Frenchmen seemed to Desmond to be
expostulating with Diggle: but the latter only laughed and waved his
gloved hand in the direction of the house.

The messengers soon returned, dragging with them three of the villagers.
These Diggle took aside separately and questioned: it was clear to
Desmond that he was ascertaining the strength of the garrison. Apparently
satisfied, he divided his force into three parts; the largest, consisting
of some forty men, remained at the edge of the grove; the two smaller
proceeded to the right and left of the back of the house. One was in
command of a Frenchman, but the Frenchman who had expostulated with
Diggle had apparently refused to have anything to do with the affair: he
held himself aloof, and by and by disappeared into the grove.

Diggle's evident intention was to weaken the garrison by forcing Desmond
to divide his already too small