pervaded the house in legions.

The number of the defenders decreased daily. Six only were able now to
carry arms. Mr. Hunter, Captain Rintoul, and Richards had died of fever.
Farquharson had been killed by a cannon ball; two civilians had been
badly wounded; several of the children had succumbed; Amy Hunter had
been killed by a shell that passed through the sandbag protection of the
grating that gave light to the room in the basement used as a sick
ward. The other ladies were all utterly worn out with exhaustion,
sleeplessness, and anxiety. Still there had been no word spoken of
surrender. Had the men been alone they would have sallied out and
died fighting, but this would have left the women at the mercy of the
assailants.

The work at the gallery had been discontinued for some time. It had been
carried upwards until a number of roots in the earth showed that they
were near the surface, and, as they believed, under a clump of bushes
growing a hundred and fifty yards beyond the walls; but of late there
had been no talk of using this. Flight, which even at first had seemed
almost hopeless, was wholly beyond them in their present weakened
condition.

On the last of these six days Major Hannay was severely wounded. At
night the enemy's fire relaxed a little, and the ladies took advantage
of it to go up onto the terrace for air, while the men gathered for a
council round the Major's bed.

"Well, Doctor, the end is pretty near," he said; "it is clear we cannot
hold out many hours longer. We must look the matter in the face now. We
have agreed all along that when we could no longer resist we would offer
to surrender on the terms that our lives should be spared, and that we
should be given safe conduct down the country, and that if those terms
were refused we were to resist to the end, and then blow up the house
and all in it. I think the time has come for raising the white flag."

"I think so," the Doctor said: "we have done everything men could do.
I have little hope that they will grant us terms of surrender; for from
the native servants who have deserted us they must have a fair idea of
our condition. What do you think, Bathurst?"

"I think it probable there are divisions among them," he replied; "the
Talookdars may have risen against us, but I do not think they can have
the same deadly enmity the Sepoys have shown. They must be heartily sick
of this prolonged siege, and they have lost large numbers of their men.