e assailants, either by beating in
the grating or by scaling the roof, had got inside. They and the
defenders were engaged, hand to hand, almost within arm's-length of us.
We could hear loudly the yells with which every stroke was accompanied,
and the clang of metal striking upon metal, and the dull, crushing sound
of the blows which went home truly and carved through flesh and
bone--and we could see no more of it all than if we were dreaming, and
these sounds of savage warfare were but the imaginings of our brains!
One man, being, as we supposed, pursued by another from the central part
of the court-yard--where, as it seemed, the fight raged most hotly--made
a stand just outside the curtain that overhung the bars whereby we were
pent in; and we could hear him panting as he struck and parried there,
and then the splitting of his flesh and the crash of his bones as a
tremendous blow overcame his guard, and the soft, deep groan that he
gave as his life left him. His body fell against the curtain and dragged
it a little; and presently, as I stood there by the bars, I found that
my feet were in a pool of blood.

It was only a moment or two after this that the sounds of conflict very
sensibly diminished, and we heard a rush made, and the confused tread of
feet upon the stairs that led upward to the temple, and then came so
jubilant a shouting that we knew that to one side or the other had come
victory.

"If th' Priest Captain's outfit's on top," Young said, grimly, "I guess
we've about got t' th' end of a division; an' there's not much chance of
our changin' engines an' keepin' on with th' run." To which figurative
suggestion Rayburn gave an immediate grunt of assent.

But at that very instant there was a lull in the tumult outside, and we
heard a voice that I recognized as Tizoc's loudly calling to us; and to
his hail, that carried such joyful meaning with it, I joyfully and
loudly answered. To Rayburn and Young, of course, the call was
unintelligible, nor did they recognize the voice of him who called; and
they therefore were disposed to think, when I fell to shouting, that my
brain was addled. However, they changed their views a minute or two
later--the dead body resting against the curtain having been thrown
aside, and the curtain itself torn down--when they saw Tizoc's friendly
face outside the bars, and then saw the bars rapidly removed.

"Colonel," said Young, very seriously, as we stepped forth thankfully
once mo