He had been very enthusiastic about the slaughter and the terrible punishment the Afghans had received, but when he came to count the dead there were only thirty-two on the slope; and although that meant thirty-two fewer Afghans, it was more than counter-balanced by a very grave signal from Mr. Scarlett saying that he had fired forty-eight rounds of six-pounder ammunition and eight hundred rounds from the Maxim, leaving only thirty-five more six-pounder and three thousand rifle and Maxim rounds on board. This meant, as I knew only too well, that to repulse one more attack would leave the "_B.A._" practically helpless to assist again. I kept this knowledge to myself, and sent a signal to Mr. Scarlett to come and see me and bring ashore with him another thousand rounds of ammunition for Ellis’s Maxim. A good deal of firing began again, as if to contradict Mr. Fisher’s optimism, and I heard isolated shots, from a considerable distance, with occasionally the smack of a bullet on the outer wall of the house, though, as no one was with me, I did not know what was actually happening. Presently the gunner arrived, with a very long face. "I was careful as I could be, sir, but you know what it is, and things looked so precious ugly at one time that we had to fire fast. It’s my belief they simply did it a’ purpose, just to make us waste ammunition. They haven’t lost heart over it either, for they’re skulking all over the place, down among the trees round the Old Fort, and along the beach. They potted at me all the way from the ’_B.A._’, that they did. They are firing at everyone who shows his nose outside the wall, and none of these here people can go on with levelling the breastwork. They’ve given that up as a bad job and gone inside again. "It’s a nasty bit of work this, sir, and the sooner I have you safe and sound aboard the ’_B.A._,’, sir, the better I shall be pleased. And the little lady too; she ought to come and keep Mrs. Fisher company. Mrs. Fisher, sir," he added, lowering his voice and smiling grimly, "tried to come ashore again, but I locked her up in the cabin before I started, and told Percy to shove her breakfast through the port-hole." I smiled too, for I could quite imagine him doing this, and not wasting any words over it either. "It was the only thing I could do, for the cabin’s made of good steel plate, and if she’d been left to wander round she might have been hit by some of them bullets," he explained. "I’m certain we shall find them gone to-morrow morning," Mr. Fisher cried, coming abruptly into the room; "and if we don’t, the Muscat people will know that the cable is interrupted and something wrong, so will tell the _Intrepid_ as soon as she gets back from the coast. We shall have her here in no time."