But a lot of sharpshooters were told off to aim at the soldiers who were manning the walls, and they did their work very cleverly, picking them off one by one. The guns of the fort were trained on them, and they went down in large numbers, but they imitated the tactics of the artillery, and never fired twice from the same spot; and gradually they made an impression. There came a moment when the soldiers on the top of the wall did not seem quite so thick as before. And when that moment came there was a great shout from the regiments below, and from the onlookers. For at last a soldier attacking the wall scrambled on to the top of it.
They saw him stand for a second laying about him at the defenders, and then he went down. But not before two or three more had climbed over.
After that it was quickly finished. More and more soldiers reached the top, until presently the defence almost ceased, and the defendant forces were driven away from the top of the walls altogether.
Another shout went up when the great gate in front of the fort was seen slowly to roll open. And then the gallant soldiers ceased climbing up over the wall, and poured in through the gate, to finish the work that had been so splendidly begun.
XIX
SELIM IS CAPTURED
The final reduction of Dollfort would have taken longer than it actually did if the citadel at the top of it had not been closed for spring cleaning. Selim and Rose would certainly have taken refuge there, and would have been defended by those that remained of the wooden soldiers. The citadel was very strong, and it might not have been possible to take it by assault at all. They might have had to starve it into surrender, and that would have taken a long time.
However, by a lucky chance, the commander of the fort, who was rather fussy, had said the day before that he couldn’t have the place looking like a pig-sty, and it was to be thoroughly cleaned out and white-washed. This was being done when Selim drove into the fort, and the fighting had followed so soon that there had been no opportunity of putting the citadel into any sort of shape to resist attack.
Soon after the fort was taken, Peggy and the others were allowed to ride into it through the gateway that had been opened by the attacking party. As they came into the first narrow street of the fort a wooden officer was standing by the gate. It was none other than Captain Louisa, who saluted his old friends, and said he was very glad to see them there.
Another officer who was standing with him, patted him on the back, and said, “You haven’t told them that it was you who was first over the wall.”