immense variety of palaces and mosques! What is that strange building
nearest to us?" he asked the guide.

"That is the Martiniere. It was built many years ago by a Frenchman in the
service of the king of Oude. Now it is a training college. All the pupils
are in the Residency, and are fighting like men. Beyond, between us and
the Residency, are several palaces and mosques. That is the Residency; do
you not see an English house with a tower, and a flag flying over it,
standing alone on that rising ground by the river?"

"And that is the Residency!" the boys exclaimed, looking at the building
in which, and the surrounding houses, a handful of Englishmen were keeping
at bay an army.

"That is the Residency," their guide said; "do you not see the circle of
smoke which rises around it? Listen; I can hear the rattle of musketry
quite distinctly."

"And how are we to get there?" the boys asked, impatient to be at work
taking part in the defense.

"We will keep on here to the right; the river is close by. We will swim
across after it gets dark, make a wide sweep round, and then come down to
the river again opposite the Residency, swim across, and then we are
safe."




CHAPTER XIII.