It lasted only ten minutes, and then all was quiet again.

"The attack had failed, as I knew it must do, for two men could have
held the place against an army; a quarter of an hour later a gun from
the crest above spoke out, and a round shot whistled above our heads.
Beyond annoyance, an artillery fire could do no harm, for the party
could be absolutely safe in the store cave. The instant the shot flew
overhead, however, Sivajee Punt beckoned to me, and motioned me to take
my seat on the wall facing the guns. Hesitation was useless, and I took
my seat with my back to the Dacoits and my face to the hill. One of
the Dacoits, as I did so, pulled off the native cloth which covered my
shoulders, in order that I might be clearly seen.

"Just as I took my place another round shot hummed by; but then there
was a long interval of silence. With a field glass every feature must
have been distinguishable to the gunners, and I had no doubt that they
were waiting for orders as to what to do next.

"I glanced round and saw that, with the exception of one fellow squatted
behind the parapet some half dozen yards away, clearly as a sentry to
keep me in place, all the others had disappeared. Some, no doubt, were
on sentry down the path, the others were in the store beneath me. After
half an hour's silence the guns spoke out again. Evidently the gunners
were told to be as careful as they could, for some of the shots went
wide on the left, others on the right. A few struck the rock below me.
The situation was not pleasant, but I thought that at a thousand yards
they ought not to hit me, and I tried to distract my attention by
thinking out what I should do under every possible contingency.

"Presently I felt a crash and a shock, and fell backwards to the ground.
I was not hurt, and picking myself up saw that the ball had struck the
parapet to the left, just where my guard was sitting, and he lay covered
with its fragments. His turban lay some yards behind him. Whether he was
dead or not I neither knew nor cared.

"I pushed down some of the parapet where I had been sitting, dropped my
cap on the edge outside, so as to make it appear that I had fallen
over, and then, picking up the man's turban, ran to the other end of the
platform and scrambled down to the ledge. Then I began to wave my arms
about--I had nothing on above the waist--and in a moment I saw a face
with a uniform cap peer out through the jungle; and a hand was waved. I
made si