He waited until the last man had passed, applied a lighted match to the
train, which began to fizz and sputter, and then ran out and followed the
rest, shutting the door of the magazine as he went out, in order that the
burning fuse should not be seen.

By this time the houses on either side were alight, and the whole party
were returning at a double toward the intrenchments.

As they neared the lines the enemy swarmed out from their cover, and the
head of the reinforcements were pouring out through the house into the
battery, when the earth shook, a mighty flash of fire lit the sky; there
was a roar like thunder, and most of the retreating party were swept from
their feet by the shock, while a shower of stones and timber fell in a
wide circle. They were soon up again, and scrambled over the earthworks.

For a minute the explosion was succeeded by a deathlike stillness, broken
only by the sound of the falling fragments; then from the whole circle of
the British lines a great cheer of triumph rose up, while a yell of fury
answered them from the enemy's intrenchments.

"Any loss?" was Mr. Gubbins' first question.

"No one killed," was the report of the officers of the three sections.

"Any wounded?"

Four of the men stepped forward; two were slightly wounded only; two were
seriously hit, but a glance showed that the wounds were not of a nature
likely to be fatal.