once or he would call the police. I looked at the men near me, and saw
that each was as disturbed as myself. A full quarter of an hour had
passed since the time set for the attack, and still there was no
signal from Garcia. The strain was becoming intolerable. At any moment
some servant, rising earlier than his fellows, might stumble upon us,
and in his surprise sound the alarm. Already in the trail behind us a
number of natives, on their way to market, had been halted by our men,
who were silently waving them back into the forest. The town was
beginning to stir, wooden shutters banged against stone walls, and
from but just around the corner of the main street came the clatter of
iron bars as they fell from the door of a shop. We could hear the man
who was taking them down whistling cheerily.

And then from the barracks came, sharply and clearly, the ringing
notes of the reveille. I jumped to my feet and ran to where Laguerre
was sitting with his back to the wall.

"General, can't I begin now?" I begged. "You said D Troop was to go in
first."

He shook his head impatiently. "Listen!" he commanded.

We heard a single report, but so faintly and from such a distance that
had it not instantly been followed by two more we could not have
distinguished it. Even then we were not certain. Then as we crouched
listening, each reading the face of the others and no one venturing to
breathe, there came the sharp, broken roll of musketry. It was
unmistakable. The men gave a great gasp of relief, and without orders
sprang to "attention." A ripple of rifle-fire, wild and scattered,
answered the first volley.