their fire. Then they leaped to their feet and poured a volley into the
mass. So great were their numbers, however, that the gaps were closed in a
moment, and with yells and shouts the enemy leaped into the ditch, and
tried to climb the earthwork of the battery. Fortunately at this moment
the reserve of fifty men of the Thirty-second, which were always kept
ready to launch at any threatened point, came up at a run, and their
volley over the parapet staggered the foe. Desperately their leaders
called upon them to climb the earthworks, but the few who succeeded in
doing so were bayoneted and thrown back into the ditch, while a continuous
musketry fire was poured into the crowd. Over and over again the guns,
charged with grape, swept lines through their ranks, and at last,
dispirited and beaten, they fell back again to the shelter from which they
had emerged. The Thirty-second men then returned to the brigade messroom,
and the garrison of the fort were about to turn in when Mr. Gubbins said
cheerfully:

"Now, lads, we have done with those fellows for to-day, I fancy. I want
some volunteers to bury those horses which were killed yesterday; it's an
unpleasant job, but it's got to be done."

The men's faces testified to the dislike they felt for the business; but
they knew it was necessary, and all made their way to the yard, where,
close by the cattle, the horses were confined. The boys understood at once
the repugnance which was felt to approaching this part of the fort. The
ground was covered deep with flies, who rose in a black cloud, with a
perfect roar of buzzing.

Lucknow was always celebrated for its plague of flies, but during the
siege the nuisance assumed surprising proportions. The number of cattle
and animals collected, the blood spilled in the slaughter-yard, the