t stockade; but as, with the exception of
three men kept always on watch, the defenders were stationed in the
next chamber, the bullets pattered harmlessly against the wall.
During the night the accumulated dust of ages had been swept up
from the floor; and this had been strewn, three inches deep, in the
passage between the outer air and the chamber, so as to cover the
blood that had been shed there.

As soon as it was quite dark, Stanley, Meinik, and three of the
villagers went out on to the ledge in front of the upper opening,
made their way along it to the entrance of the stairs, and mounted.
They carried with them two or three glowing brands from the fire,
in one of the earthenware cooking pots, which was covered with a
cloth to prevent the slightest glow being noticed by the enemy. The
men, by Stanley's order, brought with them the bamboos of the
litter, the saw they had used at the stockade, a hatchet, and some
blocks of firewood.

When they got to the point where the steps were choked up, they
lighted the two torches--the men who brought up the rear of the
party holding up a rug, to prevent any reflection from the torches
being seen outside. When Stanley and Meinik had again examined the
obstacle, the latter retired; and the Burmans, one by one, came up
and looked at it.

"What do you think of it?" Stanley asked them.

"It would be dangerous to touch it, my lord," one of them said. "If
only one stone moved out from its place, it would be death to us
all. They are firm now, quite firm; but if two or three were
disturbed, the whole might come down at once."

"I quite see that," Stanley said. "Can any of you suggest a plan by
which we could get out, without much risk of setting them in
motion?"

The Burmese were silent,

"I will tell you my scheme then. I propose to cut the bamboos into
lengths that will just reach across the passage. It is the lower
stones that one is most afraid of. So long as these remain fixed,
there is no fear of any general movement but, if they went, the
whole mass might come down. This passage is less than three feet
wide, and the bamboos are twelve feet long; so that each would make
four, the width of the passage. I propose to drive them tightly in,
and fix them firmly with wedges. They must be put in so that they
will actually touch the stones, so as to prevent their making the
slightest downward movement. If they began to slide, no doubt they
would carry away the bamboos; but i