he
attempt for, in the first place, most of the troops will be under
arms and drawn up outside the town; and in the second place the
sight of the place on fire would cause much confusion, would
inspirit our assailants, and necessitate a considerable force being
withdrawn from the field, to fight the fire.

"If the rains continue we need feel no uneasiness, whatever, for
there would be no getting anything to burn; whereas in dry weather,
a man with a torch might light the thatch as fast as he could run
along, and a whole street would be in a blaze in two or three
minutes and, if a wind happened to be blowing, it might make a
sweep of the whole place, in spite of all our efforts."

"I see that, sir. I own that I had never given it a thought,
before."

"I shall come up here, Colonel, unless we obtain sure news, before
the time arrives, that the attack is going to be a general one;
indeed, it is in any case the best place to post myself, for I can
see over the whole country, and send orders to any point where the
enemy may be making progress, or where our men can advance with
advantage. The line of fire flashes will be as good a guide, at
night, as the smoke by day."

"I will get a cot rigged up for you, General, as we don't know
which night it is to be."

"Thank you. Yes, I may just as well turn in, all standing, as the
sailors say, and get a few hours' sleep; for in this climate one
cannot keep at it, night and day, as we had to do in Spain."

The two aides-de-camp were kept in suspense as to what the
general's intentions were, and it was not until the morning of
Tuesday that he said to them:

"I am going up to the pagoda this evening, Mr. Tollemache; and you
had better, therefore, put some provisions and a bottle of brandy
into your holsters."

At nine in the evening they rode off. The rain had ceased; the moon
was shining through the clouds.

"It will be down by twelve o'clock," Tollemache said. "I should
think, most likely, they will wait for that. They will think that
we shall not be able to take aim at them, in the darkness; and that
they will manage to get to the foot of the hill, without loss."

When they reached the platform in front of the pagoda, their syces
took their horses. Meinik had begged Stanley to let him take his
groom's place on this occasion and, laying aside the dress he
ordinarily wore, assumed the light attire of an Indian syce, and
had run behind the horses with the others. He had a