"THE FRENCH! THE FRENCH!"

For two terrible seconds the Die-hards eyed one another.
Then someone in the rear rank whispered, "An ambush!" The two ranks
began to waver--to melt. Uncle Issy, with head down and shoulders
arched, was already stumbling down the slope towards the town.
In another ten seconds the whole Company would be at his heels.

The Doctor saved their reputation. He was as pale as the rest; but a
hasty remembrance of the cubic capacity of the store-hut told him
that the number of Frenchmen in ambush there could hardly be more
than half a dozen.

"Halt!" he shouted; and Captain Pond shouted "Halt!" too, adding,
"There'll be heaps of time to run when we find out what's the
matter."

The Die-hards hung, still wavering, upon the edge of the platform.

"For my part," the Doctor declared, "I don't believe there's anybody
inside."

"But there _is_, Doctor! for I saw him myself just as Uncle Issy
called out," said the second lieutenant.

"Was it only _one_ man that you saw?" demanded Captain Pond.

"That's all. You see, it was this way: Uncle Issy stepped fore, with
me a couple of paces behind him thinking of nothing so little as
bloodshed and danger. If you'll believe me, these things was the