On the Irrawaddy: A Story of the First Burmese War

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 15: The Attack.

  Stanley got up several times during the night, and went below tothe watches; as he felt sure they would be nervous for, though theyhad now, to a large extent, got over their superstitious fears,they would still be timid at night. They reported that everythingwas still round the temple, but that they had heard distant soundsin the woods; and on the first of these occasions he had, afterreturning to the room above, gone out on to the ledge; and fromthat height could see the reflection, in the sky, of a number offires extending in a semicircle, at a distance of a mile or so fromthe temple. From this he felt convinced that the governor wasdetermined to have a thorough search made in the morning.

  As soon as it was daylight, the sound of the blowing of horns andthe beating of drums was heard in the forest and, half an hourlater, a large body of men poured out from the trees, headed by thegovernor, himself.

  "Now," he shouted, "this place is to be searched, in every hole andcorner.

  "As to the evil spirits, there is no fear of them, either by day ornight. Did you ever hear of their attacking a large body of men?They may strangle a single traveller, who ventures into theirhaunts; but no one ever heard of a Burmese army being attacked bythem. Now, every man has to do his duty; and the first who wavers,his head is to be struck off, at once.

  "Forward!"

  The troops rushed impetuously across the ruins, penetrated into thevarious chambers in the rock and, in a few minutes, all these werereported to be empty.

  "There are chambers higher up," the governor said. "We will searchthem, and--look at that door up there, it must lead to somewhere.Bring stones, and make a stair up to it."

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

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

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

  "Shoot him, men!"

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

  "Keep where you are, men, until they have finished; then approachthe door for, directly they begin the attack, the men behind muststop 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 couldcome down and help!"

  "They can never get in, Harry. British soldiers might do it, butnot these fellows. They can only enter two abreast and, with adozen spear points facing them, what can they do? I thought that Iwould just come up and tell you it was all right. It will take themfive minutes, at least, to pile up stones level with the doorway."

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

  Presently, there was a silence outside.

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

  The pause lasted for a minute or two. Then a drum was beaten, and ahundred 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 thechamber.

  A wild yell was raised by the Burmese. Now they knew that they werefighting human foes, their courage returned, and there was a rushof men up the pile of stones to the entrance; but in vain theytried to force their way into the chamber. Those in front fellpierced by the spears and, while the defenders could see theirfigures against the light, the assailants, coming out from thesunshine, could see nothing in the chamber, which was now darkenedby their filling up the entrance. Not once was it necessary forStanley to strike. The Burmans' spears did their work thoroughlyand, in two or three minutes, the entrance was nigh choked up withdead bodies, adding to the difficulty of the assailants.

  Pressed on by those behind, the foremost fell over these obstacles,and were instantly pierced by the spears; until it was no longerpossible to get through the outer entrance, much less make theirway into the chamber. Again and again the attack was repeated and,as often, repulsed. Before advancing the Burmese, each time,endeavoured to clear the passage by drawing out the bodies of theircomrades; but the two guards now posted themselves in front, andshot man after man who made the attempt. At last the Burmese drewoff, but not till some fifty or sixty had been killed.

  The governor was seen gesticulating furiously to a party ofofficers and, presently, a final attack was made, led by severalofficers of rank. This was as unsuccessful as the others. Thebodies, indeed, of the killed now forming a well-nigh impassablebarrier and, after several of the officers and many of the bravestmen had fallen, the remainder withdrew suddenly. The governorappeared to recognize that the task was an impossible one; and twoor three hundred men were at once set to work felling trees and, bynightfall, a high stockade had been erected round the open groundin front of the temple.

  "They are going to try to starve us out," Stanley said. "There isno more chance of fighting, tonight."

  As soon as the stockade was finished, musketeers took their placebehind it and opened a dropping fire at the entrance, while thewoodcutters continued to fell trees.

  "We must get rid of these dead bodies, if we can," Stanley said,"or the place will be uninhabitable, in a day or two.

  "Get those two bamboos we had for the litter, Meinik. We will pushthe bodies out, one by one, beginning with those on the top of theheap. We can keep down behind the shelter of the pile, till we havegot most of them out. After that, we must take our chance of ashot."

  It took them some hours' work but, at last, the passage wascleared, and the bodies all thrown outside. The fire was lighted inthe next room; and Stanley, bidding two men listen attentively forany movement, went up again to Harry--to whom he had paid a flyingvisit, as soon as the Burmese drew off.

  "We cannot risk having a light here, Harry," he said. "I don't wantthem to have any idea that this chamber, which is nearly fifty feetabove the entrance, is in any way connected with the rooms below.If such an idea struck them, they might lower men from above byropes, and so take us in the rear."

  "Did you say that we are regularly shut up, in front, by thatstockade?"

  "Yes; there is certainly no getting out, that way. Behind, youknow, it is a sheer wall of rock; and the only possibility, that Ican see, is that we may clear a staircase which runs up through therock, from a ledge on the level of this room, to the ruins of abuilding above. At present, the upper part is entirely choked upwith blocks of stone and rubbish, and it will be a very awkward jobto get through it; but so far, it seems to me, it is that ornothing."

  "What are they going on chopping down trees for?"

  "I believe their general is doing it to bring large numbers of histroops close up to the stockade; partly perhaps to keep up thespirits of the front line, by their company; partly to renderimpossible any attempt, on our part, to make our way out by asudden rush. Of course, they don't know what our strength is; butthey have had so sharp a lesson, today, that they will take everyprecaution, in future.

  "Well, what is it, Meinik?"

  "We have been talking together, master; and we think that, if wewere to call out that they might take the bodies away, without anyinterferen
ce by us, they would do so. Several officers of rank havefallen there, and it is our custom always to carry off the dead,when it is possible."

  "It would be worth trying the experiment, anyhow, Meinik. But wemust all stand to arms, while they are doing it; as they might makea sudden rush. However, we would risk that, for those bodies havebeen worrying me very much, and I would give anything to have themtaken away. I will go down with you."

  Meinik accordingly went down to the entrance, and shouted out:

  "Peace, peace! I am ordered, by the English officer, to say that hewould wish those who have fought so bravely to be honoured, afterdeath; and that no shot shall be fired, and no interference made,with those who come to carry away the dead."

  There was silence for two or three minutes, and then a voice calledback:

  "It is well; for two hours there shall be peace between us."

  "I have no doubt the governor is as glad to do this as we are. Itis considered a disgrace, if the dead are not carried off theground to burial; and if he sends despatches to Ava, he will beglad to be able to put in that the brave men who fell have all beenburied, with due honours. Besides, Meinik, it would not beencouraging to his troops for them to have that pile of dead bodiesbefore them and, indeed, would be enough to cause a pestilence, ina few days."

  The men were formed up again, round the entrance. The Burmese didtheir work silently. Occasionally a slight movement was heard, butno one could have imagined that a hundred men were busy outside. Anumber of them carried torches, and all worked steadily and in goodorder, under the direction of two or three officers. One of theposts of the stockade had been pulled up and through this thebodies were carried. It was less than two hours before a hornsounded, and there was a loud call of:

  "The peace is over; all is done."

  Beyond the stockade great fires blazed among the trees. The work ofchopping down the forest continued, and by the morning the groundhad been cleared for a distance of thirty or forty yards from thepaling. Then the Burmese raised another stockade forty feet behindthe first, so that, if by carelessness or treachery the besiegedshould manage to pass through the first line, there would yet beanother in front of them.

  "I expect, master," Meinik said as, standing well back, he watchedthe men at work, "the general is building this second line, notbecause he thinks that there is a chance of our getting through thefirst, but to keep the men at work, so as to prevent them fromthinking anything about the spirits. Now that they have passed onenight there, they will have got somewhat over their fear and, ofcourse, every day that passes, without ill befalling them, theywill think less and less about the evil ones."

  "Do you believe in them, Meinik?"

  Meinik hesitated.

  "Everyone knows, master, that evil spirits guard the treasures ofthe people that lived in the land long, long ago. No one can doubtthat people who have rashly sought the treasures have been founddead, with staring eyes and swollen bodies; but as, at present,they must know well that neither we nor those outside are searchingfor treasure, they may not interfere."

  "Then you think that there are treasures buried here, somewhere?"

  "I cannot say, master; everyone says so. The story has been handeddown that this was once the greatest of the temples of the oldpeople; and that, when they were defeated by tribes from theeast--I know not whether it was us, or some people before us--thepriests from all the other temples came here. The remains of theirarmy came here, too, and fought outside the temple until all werekilled.

  "When the conquerors entered, they found the priests all lying, inregular lines, on the pavements. All were dead. One story is thatthey had stabbed themselves; another, that they had taken poison.At any rate, no treasures were found; although it was known thatthe riches of the temple were great, and that all the other prieststhat had come here had brought the treasures from their templeswith them. That was the beginning of the destruction of the place;for the pavement was torn up, and the walls in some placeslevelled, and the images of the gods broken up in search for thetreasures.

  "The work of the guardian spirits had already begun. They say thatall who took part in the search died, of a terrible pestilence thatbroke out. Since that time, the place has been accursed. Once ortwice, kings have sent bodies of troops to search; and they saythat some could never find the temple, but wandered about theforest for days, searching in vain for it. Others found so thick adarkness, like the blackest of smoke, filling the forest, that eventhe bravest dare not enter. I say not that those things were so; Ionly say that these are the stories that have come down to us."

  "Well, Meinik, we are not going to search for the treasure; and itis evident that the spirits bear us no ill will; indeed, I feelobliged to them, for it is likely enough that the soldiers will putdown their misfortune to their influence, and that even thegovernor may feel that it would be useless to try to get them torenew the assault. This evening we will go up, and have anotherlook at the stairs; and see how we can best set to work to clearthem. There is no great hurry about it, but the sooner we set towork, the better."

  All day long a dropping fire was maintained on the entrance, by thetroops behind the first stockade; but as, with the exception ofthree men kept always on watch, the defenders were stationed in thenext chamber, the bullets pattered harmlessly against the wall.During the night the accumulated dust of ages had been swept upfrom the floor; and this had been strewn, three inches deep, in thepassage between the outer air and the chamber, so as to cover theblood that had been shed there.

  As soon as it was quite dark, Stanley, Meinik, and three of thevillagers 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 acloth to prevent the slightest glow being noticed by the enemy. Themen, by Stanley's order, brought with them the bamboos of thelitter, the saw they had used at the stockade, a hatchet, and someblocks of firewood.

  When they got to the point where the steps were choked up, theylighted the two torches--the men who brought up the rear of theparty holding up a rug, to prevent any reflection from the torchesbeing seen outside. When Stanley and Meinik had again examined theobstacle, the latter retired; and the Burmans, one by one, came upand 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. "Ifonly one stone moved out from its place, it would be death to usall. They are firm now, quite firm; but if two or three weredisturbed, the whole might come down at once."

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

  The Burmese were silent,

  "I will tell you my scheme then. I propose to cut the bamboos intolengths that will just reach across the passage. It is the lowerstones that one is most afraid of. So long as these remain fixed,there is no fear of any general movement but, if they went, thewhole mass might come down. This passage is less than three feetwide, and the bamboos are twelve feet long; so that each would makefour, 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 theywill actually touch the stones, so as to prevent their making theslightest downward movement. If they began to slide, no doubt theywould carry away the bamboos; but if these were fixed firmly, bywedges, they ought to be sufficient to prevent any movement fromtaking place--especially as there would be enough of them almost totouch each other, extending from this lowest step, on which therocks rest, some five feet upwards--that is, to within some twofeet of the roof, which would be sufficient for us to crawlthrough, and the bamboos would serve as a ladder. Then I proposethat we should work our way along the top, passing the small stonesand rubbish backwards, after filling up all the cracks and crevicesbelow us.

  "I see, of course, that we should meet with many obstacles. Greatstones may be
sticking up, perhaps jammed against the roof; thesewould have to be broken off, or chipped in pieces. No doubt thework will take time but, at any rate, there is plenty of food forthree weeks and, working by turns night and day, we ought to beable to burrow our way out. As we get on, we may not find thestones so tightly pressed together as they are, here. At any rate,as we saw the light above us, only some thirty feet up, there oughtnot to be above twenty feet of closely-packed stuff to get through.

  "No doubt the work will be dangerous, as well as hard but, as weknow that if we do not succeed all our lives are forfeited, we canface the danger. Everyone of us will take his share in turn; Ishall do so, myself, and shall direct the work in general. What doyou think of the plan?"

  "I think that it is possible, master," Meinik said. "At any rate,we must try it; since it is the only way that offers us any chanceof life."

  The Burmese all agreed, and they at once set to work. The bambooswere first cut into lengths; and then, by means of the axe andwedges, were jammed so firmly, from side to side, that it wouldhave required great force to dislodge them. These supports weresomewhat irregularly placed, as it was necessary that they shouldabsolutely touch the stones. As they proceeded with the work, thespaces behind the bamboos were filled tightly up with rubble, so asto solidify the whole.

  When the last support was in its place, Stanley said:

  "Now, Meinik, do you with these three work, tonight; four otherswill take your place, before dawn. Mind, at first I don't want youto attempt to move any fixed stones; but simply to clear away allsmall stones, and rubble. You can stow a good deal behind the twoupper bamboos. The rest you must put on the stairs. I will see,tonight, what we can manage in the way of tools for chipping awaythe big stones that cannot be moved. You had better relieve eachother very often. The three who are not at work should sit down onthe ledge, outside, so that any stone accidentally dislodged willnot fall on anyone. Every ten minutes, one will come up to take theplace of the man at work. Be sure that each, as he passes up ordown, replaces the blanket carefully."

  They had, indeed, before beginning to saw up the bamboos, fastenedthe blanket to one of the cross pieces of the stretcher and,cutting this to the width of the passage, had jammed it close up tothe roof; so that the curtain, hanging down, effectually shut offthe light.

  Stanley then descended the steps, and rejoined Harry below. Beforegoing down further, Stanley, who had during the day informed Harryof his plan, told him of the start that they had made.

  "Of course, it all depends upon what stones you meet with," Harrysaid. "If you come to a big solid block, I don't see how you aregoing to get through it."

  "We have the hatchets, and can whittle it away; and perhaps we canmake some chisels, from the ramrods of your guards' guns. A lot canbe done, with patience and plenty of hands."

  Stanley then went down below, and explained to the others the planproposed. The news gave them great satisfaction; for althoughMeinik had told them there was a staircase above blocked withstones, it had seemed so impossible, to him, to clear it that hehad placed no stress upon the fact; and the preparations made bythe enemy to cut off any possible retreat had greatly depressedthem.

  Stanley took one of the iron ramrods and, raking some of the embersfrom the fire, placed it in them, about a foot from one end; thenhe directed the others to fan the embers, until they raised themalmost to white heat. Taking the ramrod out, he laid the edge ofone of their knives upon it and, striking its back with a stone,soon cut through the glowing rod. He repeated the operation andhad, then, three short rods of equal length. He now heated one endof each and, laying it on an axe on the ground, hammered it intochisel shape with the back of a light hatchet; repeating thisseveral times, until it had the required shape and sharpness; thenhe plunged this into a pot of water. He did the same with the othertwo; and had, now, three chisels with which he hoped to be able tochip away the stones. The other ramrod he left intact, except thathe sharpened one end.

  Then, going up to Harry's room, he lay down and slept for somehours; putting the two boys on watch, and bidding the trooper lookafter them. The two Burmans, with one of the guards, were to go towork with him. Several times he woke. The last time, on lookingout, he thought that there was a faint light in the sky and, goingdown, called up the three men and, bidding them bring up the twoheavy axes, a light hatchet, and the three short chisels, he ledthem up the steps to the working party.

  "How have you got on, Meinik?"

  "We have cleared four feet, master; but there is a big stonesticking up, now, and we can do nothing with it."

  "We will have a try, and do you all go down, at once.

  "Take off your cloth, one of you, and fill it with this rubbish onthe steps. Do it as quickly as you can. The day will be breaking,in a few minutes."

  Stanley now climbed up, and investigated the passage. The bottomwas level. Every crack and crevice between the stones being filledup with rubbish. The obstacle Meinik had spoken of evidently formedpart of a flat slab. It reached within an inch of the roof and, atone side, touched the rock wall; at the other there was aninterval, of some four or five inches, and the earth and rubbishhad already been scraped out from behind it. Putting his hand in,he found that the block was some four inches in thickness.

  He thought that if he could but get a fair blow at it, with theback of one of the heavy axes, he might break it off; but this wasimpossible. The total width of the passage did not exceed threefeet; and as the men had, as they went, worked down somewhat, therewas now about thirty inches between the bed of earth and rubbish,on which he was lying, and the roof. Taking the handle of the axein both hands, he used the head as a battering ram; but without anysuccess. He then called up the slightest of the three men, and toldhim to crawl in beside him and, with their united strength, theypounded the stone for some time. Finding that nothing could be donethis way, Stanley sent the man back again; and then, taking one ofthe three chisels and a small hatchet, he proceeded to mark a linealong the bottom of the stone; and then, for ten minutes, workedaway on it with the chisel and hammer. Then he called up one of theothers, and showed him what he was to do. All day they worked byturns and, though progress was very slow, by nightfall the groovewas half an inch deep.

  Stanley and the strongest Burman then went in together and, lyingon their backs again, tried the effect of the heavy axe; but stillwithout success. Then Stanley told the man to get down and take outthe wedge, at the top of the axe; and to cut away the wood belowthe head, so that the latter would slip down, four or five inches;then to take off the head of the other heavy axe and put it onabove it, and replace the wedge. In a few minutes, the man rejoinedhim.

  "We must strike it as near the roof as we can," Stanley said. Bothgrasped the handle firmly. "We will sway it backwards and forwardsthree times and, the third time, strike.

  "One, two, three--hooray!"

  As the two-headed axe, driven with their united force, struck thestone, there was a sharp crack.

  "That has done it," Stanley said, turning over.

  There was a dark line along the groove, and the top of the stoneinclined back, two inches from the perpendicular; being kept in itsplace by the rubbish behind it. Stanley put his hand into the hole,and got his fingers behind the stone; while the Burmese put thechisel into the crack, and used it as a lever. In two or threeminutes the stone was moved out of its position, taken out of thehole, and laid down on the steps.

  Half an hour later Meinik came up, with a trooper, another guard,and one of the boys; and was delighted to find that the obstacle,which had seemed to him fatal to their hopes, had been removed.Stanley showed how they had carried out the work; and then, withhis party, went down into the rock chambers.

  "It was pretty tiring work, Harry," he said, "though we were onlyat it about a quarter of an hour, at a time. My wrists and arms andshoulders are aching, as if I had been beaten with sticks. TomorrowI will take up a good supply of firewood. The chisels got bluntedbefore we had worked an hour; and we should get on a
deal faster,if we could sharpen them frequently."

  "Is the stone hard?"

  "No; it is a sort of marble, I think. We had the underpart of theslab on our side, and I did not think of looking when we took itdown. Anyhow, it was not very hard and, with a good strong chiseland a short, heavy hammer, I am sure we could have done it in anhour.

  "Anyhow, it is a comfort that nothing came down on top of us. Iexamined the pile carefully, and there had not been the slightestmovement among the lower stones; so that part of the difficultyseems to have been got over.

  "Now, I must go down and get something to eat, and then I will goin for a good sleep. You are feeling all right, I hope?"

  "Could not be doing better, Stanley. I have eaten three solidmeals, today; and have been sitting up on the edge of my bed, forsome time. I tried standing, but it was no go; still, I do thinkthat, in a day or two, I shall manage it."

  For six days the work continued. One party watched, another slept,and the third worked, by turns. Some of the stones gave muchgreater trouble than the first they had met with; but having thefire close by proved a great assistance, as the chisels could befrequently sharpened. The men became more accustomed to the work,and the steady progress they made greatly excited their hopes.

  At the end of the week, but one stone barred the way. This,however, was much the most formidable that they had encountered. Itseemed to have been a pillar, or a huge gate post; and was square,measuring some twenty inches on each face. The obstacle was all themore formidable, as the upper end was inclined towards them,greatly increasing the difficulty in using the chisel. Beyond this,as far as they could see, there was merely a mass of smallerstones.

  The party who had been working upon this block were muchdisheartened, when Stanley went up to relieve them. Owing to theinclination of the stone, their chisels could get but little biteand, though they had been working for six hours at it, they hadscarcely made any impression; indeed, at only one point had they sofar broken the face that the chisel would cut. Meinik had come downtwo hours before, to report to Stanley the nature of the obstacleand, when he went up, he took with him the second ramrod, which hadnot hitherto been used.

  He saw at once that, as Meinik had told him, it would be impossibleto get through this block by the same means as before for, as thegroove deepened, the labour would become greater and greater and,from the inclination of the stone, they would in time arrive at apoint where the axe could no longer be used to strike the chisel.

  The point at which the slight indentation had been made was nearlyat the corner of the stone. This was gradually enlarged, byhammering upon it with the head of the axe and, after an hour'swork, the surface had been so far pounded that the chisel could geta flat hold upon it. Then Stanley and one of the Burmans lay down,and placed the cutting end of the long ramrod against it; and theothers, by turns, struck the end with the back of a light hatchet,those holding the rod turning it, slightly, after each blow. Everyhalf hour the edge of the chisel was resharpened and, by the timethe next party relieved them, a hole of half an inch in diameter,and two inches deep, had been drilled in the stone. Stanleyremained with the newcomers for half an hour, instructing them inthe work, and then went below.

  "Well, Stanley, what are you going to do with this monstrous stoneMeinik tells me of?"

  "There is only one thing to do with it, Harry; that is, to blastit. The block is so inclined that one can do nothing with thechisels, and we are now drilling a hole. I don't know that I shallsucceed but, at any rate, I am going to have a try. If it fails, Imust hit on some other way. The provisions are holding out allright; and Meinik calculates that, with a little stinginess, wecould manage for another three weeks. We have drilled the hole intwo inches today and, as we get more accustomed to the work, I daresay we could do three inches in each shift. The block is twentyinches through on the straight, and may be two feet on the linethat we follow; so that in four days we shall be nearly through it.

  "In three weeks we shall have made five holes, which will weaken itso that we may be able to break it off. However, I hope we shallfind one hole sufficient. I shall make it fifteen inches deep, andthen charge it with the contents of a dozen cartridges. I thinkthat ought to do it."

  In two days and a half, the hole was of the required depth. Harryhad progressed so rapidly that he was able, that morning, to walkacross his room.

  "We must try the shot, at once," Stanley said, "because if itfails, we must go on working. If it succeeds we can, if we like,wait for another week before we make off. By that time you will bestrong enough to be got through that low passage, and walk for alittle distance; when we can cut some poles, and rig up thathammock again.

  "Do you know anything about mining, for I know nothing? I only hadan idea how to drill the hole from seeing some engineers at work atAgra, years ago; but I am sure I don't know how they fired theshot, or prepared it."

  "I can tell you a little about it, Stanley; for I have been down acoal mine once or twice, and watched the men doing it. They firstof all put in the charge; then they put in a wooden rod, just thethickness of the fuse they use; then they dropped in a little drydust round it, which they pressed down very carefully, with a smallwooden rod; then they damped some dust, and hammered that downhard. After putting in about half an inch of this, they used dustslightly moistened, beating it down as before. When it was quitefull, they pulled out the centre stick, and put the fuse into thehole that it left."

  "We have not got any fuse," Stanley said, "but I think that if wetake a narrow strip of cloth, moisten it, and rub gunpowder intoit; let it dry, and then roll it up, it would be all right. Then wecould lay a train of damp powder to it, set the end alight, andbolt."

  "I should think that that would do," Harry agreed, "but you wouldhave to bolt very sharp for, if it went off before you got to thebottom of the steps, it might be very awkward."

  "I don't think the effect of the shock will be as great as that,Harry. It may crack the stone, but I should hardly think it wouldsend anything flying out of the hole."