notion how awfully stuffy it feels after the fresh air."
As Mrs. Polwheedle had slept soundly during the greater part of the afternoon, it was not surprising that her night should have been wakeful; while it did also occur to Yorke that she of all the party should have had least cause to complain of the hardness of the pavement, in respect that nature had furnished her with an ample cushion; but he did not commit this repartee to words.
The party thus assembled, sitting in a circle at one end of the drawing-room round a small table on which the tea was placed, formed a curious contrast to the surroundings; for except that the room had not been dusted, that the picture-frames were piled on the piano, and various bundles lying about, it presented the ordinary aspect of a handsomely-furnished apartment; but the occupants were a strangely-assorted group. By general consent, coats and collars had been dispensed with by the men; and with several of the community a light under-waistcoat did duty for a shirt — the supply of the latter article of dress being very limited in the garrison — and with a pair of white or flannel trousers gave the wearer the appearance of a dirty racquet-player, while incipient beards added to the general seediness of aspect. All the men had their firearms beside them, or between their knees. The ladies generally did not look to much better advantage, although Olivia had somehow managed to make herself neat before descending; and her beautiful hair, coiled in neat folds round her stately head, was in contrast to the general slovenliness of the rest. Miss Peart, indeed, had washed her face before joining the party, and was clad in a clean muslin robe of her hostess; but as she sat in a low lounging-seat drinking her tea it was evident to the company that she had given up wearing stockings for the time; while Mrs. Polwheedle had apparently discarded stays and under-garments generally, as conducive to heat and supererogatory during siege-life, and sat fanning herself in a rocking-chair, clad in a crumpled wrapper which yielded to each impress of her ample figure.
CHAPTER XXVI.
The hope imparted to the garrison by the stillness of the night and early dawn, that their enemies might have abandoned the blockade, was dissipated with the return of daylight. The sepoy encampment was still standing pitched among the trees behind the court-house; large bodies of men were drawn up near that building, detachments from which could be seen from the look-out place on the roof to march down with a semblance of discipline to relieve the advanced pickets which lined the park walls; and about sunrise a lively fire began again, especially from the east wall and Sparrow's house, the roof of which was now discerned to be protected by a parapet of sandbags piled up during the night, in imitation of the defenders' method, while the doorways and veranda facing the park had been blocked in the same way; sandbag loopholes had also been made at various points along the top of the adjacent wall, so that the assailants were now on an equality as regards cover, and having apparently unlimited ammunition, they fired briskly, although with more care than on the previous day, evidently aiming at the loopholes of the garrison. The covered way to the bath-house was now completely commanded from the roof of Sparrow's house; and as Falkland passed along it to visit the guard there, attended by Yorke and the jemadar, the party had to run the gauntlet of a sharp fire.
"It's precious lucky, sir, there were no rifle companies among our three gallant regiments," said M'Intyre to the colonel, as a bullet, coming through a loophole from which he had just withdrawn, whizzed through the bath-house, and lodged in the wall on the other side, "or we should have a few more of these gentry."
"You're an awful dab at field-engineering and that sort of thing, Arty, I know," said Spragge, who had just entered the smaller building, bringing a bag of flour for the day's rations to his friend; "but you haven't made allowance for a fellow of my inches. Just look at this," he continued, holding up his pith helmet, in the top of which were a couple of round holes; "precious lucky my poor old nut was a little lower down, wasn't it? I don't want to give Johnny Raugh a step just yet."
"Pandy is quick to take a hint," said Falkland to his aide, "and we could not prevent their making sandbags, as long as there is any cloth left in the country. But we must try if we can't manage to control their spirits a bit." And returning to the main building, he collected about a dozen of the best shots on the east side, with orders to select each a loophole in Sparrow's house, and to aim carefully as soon as it should be occupied, and then sent Yorke to creep along the covered way, on his knees, holding up his hat on a stick
