No less remarkable was their well-directed effort to undermine the walls; and at the close of the siege the defenders found a huge pent roof, which was to have been borne along and placed against the walls of the fort so as to cover the assailants, and huge scaling-ladders, capable of carrying three men abreast. With the aid of these contrivances the enemy had hoped, when the mine had been successfully fired, to have made one last desperate assault upon the devoted garrison before the Relieving Force could arrive. They calculated that the defenders must be getting very short of supplies, for Mr. Robertson in his negotiations with them had always been careful to lead them into this belief. They thought, too, that the native troops must be low at heart, and ready to throw up the sponge at any day. They considered, therefore, that if one great effort could be made they would be able to first crush the Chitral garrison, and then annihilate Colonel Kelly, who they knew had with him only a handful of men with no supplies and no transport to speak of, and who was now in the middle of the worst defiles of the country. But the carefully-planned and brilliantly-executed sortie under Harley had effectually frustrated this last supreme effort of the besiegers, and Colonel Kelly's force had, by their skilful tactics and bravery in action, thwarted the enemy's most cherished plans. Just on the brink of a disaster the British forces came out triumphant; and once again in our fair island's story it was shown that British officers, even though unsupported by a single British soldier, and with only their own stout hearts and strong right arms to trust to, and to the influence they could exercise over men of subject races, had been able to uphold the honour of their race; and the story of the defence and relief of Chitral will be handed down to posterity as one of the most brilliant chapters in the annals of Indian military history. [Illustration: HOUSE OCCUPIED BY SHER AFZUL DURING THE SIEGE OF CHITRAL FORT NOW THE BRITISH AGENCY] THE END _Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._ =MACMILLAN'S= NEW SHILLING LIBRARY _Globe 8vo. 1s. net per Volume._ LEAVES FROM THE NOTE-BOOKS OF LADY DOROTHY NEVILL Edited by RALPH NEVILL. H.M.I. Some Passages in the Life of one of H.M. Inspectors of Schools By E. M. SNEYD-KYNNERSLEY. TALES OF OLD JAPAN By A. B. FREEMAN-MITFORD (Lord Redesdale). Illustrated. AT LAST: A Christmas in the West Indies By CHARLES KINGSLEY. Illustrated. THE RELIEF OF CHITRAL By Colonel G. J. YOUNGHUSBAND and Sir FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND. Illustrated. BARRACKS, BIVOUACS, AND BATTLES By ARCHIBALD FORBES. REMINISCENCES OF THE GREAT MUTINY. Including the Relief, Siege, and Capture of Lucknow, and the Campaigns in Rohilcund and Oude By WILLIAM FORBES-MITCHELL. CAWNPORE By the Right Hon. Sir G. O. TREVELYAN, Bart.