“Pay no attention to the fellows in the gardens,” the Major said; “fire at their guns—they must expose themselves to load.”
The men were kneeling behind the parapet, where the sandbags had been so arranged that they could see through between those on the upper line, and thus fire without raising their heads above it.
“Shall we wait for them or fire first, Major?” the Doctor asked.
“I expect the guns are loaded and laid, Doctor; but if you see a head looking along them, by all means take a shot at it. I wish we could see down into the battery itself, but it is too high for that.”
The Doctor lay looking along his rifle. Presently he fired, and as if it had been the signal five cannon boomed out almost at the same moment, the other being fired a quarter of a minute later. Three of the shot struck the house below the parapet, the others went overhead.
“I hit my man,” the Doctor said, as he thrust another rifle through the loophole. “Now, we will see if we can keep them from loading.”
Simultaneously with the roar of the cannon a rattle of musketry broke out on three sides of the house, and a hail of bullets whistled over the heads of the defenders, who opened a steady fire at the embrasures of the guns. These had been run in, and the natives could be seen loading them. The Major examined the work through a pair of field glasses.
“You are doing well,” he said presently; “I have seen several of them fall, and there is a lot of confusion among them; they will soon get tired of that game.”
Slowly and irregularly the guns were run out again, and the fire of the defenders was redoubled to prevent them from taking aim. Only one shot hit the house this time, the others all going overhead. The fire of the enemy became slower and more irregular, and at the end of an hour ceased almost entirely.
“Doctor,” the Major said, “I will get you and Farquharson to turn your attention to some fellows there are in that high tree over there. They command us completely, and many of their bullets have struck on the terrace behind us. It would not be safe to move across to the stairs now. I think we have pretty well silenced the battery for the present. Here are my glasses. With them you can easily make out the fellows among the leaves.”