On the return of the engineer to the battery, he said nothing to any one, having been before much annoyed by the speculative opinions of those who stood about him. He, however, after his return, altered the direction of the firing of the breaching-battery to a large tree which had been shot down, and which must necessarily impede our ascent. This, he afterwards said, completely blocked up the footing of the breach; and, had we stormed according to the opinions and ardent wishes of many of the inexperienced, we must have suffered considerably in the loss of lives. He afterwards said, that he thought it a providential thing that such opinions, however foolish, had been expressed, for it was the cause of his being able to remedy an evil he could not for a moment have foreseen. On the contrary, it had before been his opinion, that the fallen tree would have facilitated our progress rather than impeded it. He thought we should be able to storm in the afternoon. A howitzer was immediately laid for the removal of this obstacle, and the shell fired from it lodged in the very centre of the rooty part of the tree, and when it burst blew it to pieces. This drew upon the artillery-officer who laid it the eulogiums of the spectators. Amongst the number was the Irish sergeant, who cried out, "By the powers, captain, but that's what I call a moving shot." "Yes," replied the captain, "a remover, certainly, for I see the stump of the tree is gone. I wish you would remove the other large bough that hangs on the side of the bastion." "I will try, if your honour pleases; but I should rather see your honour do it, to finish the work you are just after completing, and I will try and do the rest." Thus went round the merry joke, and we were all laughing heartily at poor Pat's bulls and drollery, when a whisper was heard running the lines, "Fall in, storming-party!" On went the pointed bayonet; in went the new flint. Everybody was busy in an instant, and naught was heard save the hammering of flints and the fixing of bayonets. This was about three o'clock in the afternoon. We crossed the Nerbuddah, and marched along the bed of the river to our other breaching-battery, and there rendezvoused for a time, till all was ready. The gallant general on whose staff I had acted had volunteered to lead the storming-party in person, as it was supposed we had a sharp job before us. I, as part of his staff, did not of course remain behind, but had the honour to participate with the general in the toils and glory of the day. Our situations, I assure the reader, were no sinecures; for we fought and fagged hard for nearly three hours.