make a stair up to it."

It was evident now that there was no longer any hope of
concealment, and Stanley stepped to the entrance.

"My Lord Governor," he shouted, "there is a strong force here, and
all your army could not gain an entrance. We do not wish to take
the lives of brave men; but if we are attacked we must defend
ourselves, and I pray you to withdraw with them, and not to throw
away life."

This address from an apparent peasant excited the wrath of the
governor, who shouted:

"Shoot him, men!"

But before the order could be obeyed, Stanley had stepped back into
the chamber, where he had already ordered the men to stand out of
the line of the door. A number of muskets were fired, and several
bullets struck the back wall of the chamber. The firing continued,
and Stanley said:

"Keep where you are, men, until they have finished; then approach
the door for, directly they begin the attack, the men behind must
stop firing. They will be some minutes, yet."

He ran quickly up to Harry's room.

"They are attacking us," Harry exclaimed; "oh, how I wish I could
come down and help!"

"They can never get in, Harry. British soldiers might do it, but
not these fellows. They can only enter two abreast and, with a
dozen spear points facing them, what can they do? I thought that I
would just come up and tell you it was all right. It will take them
five minutes, at least, to pile up stones level with the doorway."

Stanley again joined those below. Meinik, the trooper, and one of
the Burmese were to form the first line; the four other Burmese
were to stand behind, with their spears, between the men in front;
the two guards with their muskets, and the boys were to act as a
reserve. Stanley had armed himself with one of the axes, and was to
stand by the side of the entrance so that, if the spearmen were
pressed back, and any of the assailants succeeded in passing the
entrance, he would strike them down.

Presently, there was a silence outside.

"Keep well back," he said. "They have laid their stones, and we
shall have a rush, directly; but they will most likely pour in a
volley, first."

The pause lasted for a minute or two. Then a drum was beaten, and a
hundred muskets were fired. A rain of bullets flew into the cave.

"Now," Stanley shouted, "form up."

Illustration: In vain the Burmese tried to force their way into the
chamber.

A wild yell was raised by the Burmese. Now they knew that they were
fightin