The day was drawing towards its close. The blacks had made no movement, nor could any friends be seen approaching from the west. The planter and his overseer and Archie made frequent visits to the roof of the house, whence they could obtain the most extensive view, and Archie, who was the last to go up, watched the sun sinking into the west and darkness come on without having any satisfactory intelligence to give on his return, he felt more out of spirits than he had ever before done in his life. Not on his own account, however, for he wished that the blacks would attack the house, as he was ready to fight to the death, and felt confident that they would be driven off. He was sincerely attached to Mr Twigg's family, and he thought of the two young ladies-- especially of Ellen, to whom he had lost his heart--and dreaded the hardships to which they all might be exposed; indeed, he could not conceal from himself that they might be in still more terrible danger than at present. Lieutenant Belt, who had wisely taken some hours' sleep, rose refreshed and ready for the work before him. He forthwith went round among the men, urging them to be on the alert, and telling them that he fully believed the blacks would make an attack before long. "Don't be daunted by their shrieks and cries, my men," he said. "Depend upon it, they will not stand before a few well-aimed volleys from your muskets. Don't fire till you get them well in view, and then aim at their bodies. `Let every bullet have its billet,' and I will answer for it we shall beat them off." The men answered with a cheerful "Ay, sir." Still the rebels hung back. Perhaps they guessed that the garrison were in want of provisions, and had wisely determined to starve them out. Their proceedings were evidently conducted by chiefs who well understood the art of savage warfare. Midnight arrived; the faint moon, though it had lasted longer than on the previous night, had disappeared. Archie proposed again leading out a party to obtain water, and he was on the point of starting, when one of the sentries cried out, "The enemy are coming!" The warning was repeated by others, and a black mass could be seen stealing up the hill, the men bending low in the hope of escaping discovery till they had got close up to the fortifications. "Don't let them know that we see them," whispered the lieutenant, as he went round to the men; "the effect will be the greater when they receive our fire." The little garrison stood to their arms.