“All the better!” replied Maurice, coolly examining the edge of his sword. “I fancy they will find it hard to drive us back from this position. Here they come again. The devil!” “What’s the matter?” “They are going to fire the barricade! that is Caliphronas’ idea, I’ll bet!” A party of men now surged forward, bearing huge bundles of brushwood, smeared with tar and inflammable oils, which they threw at the foot of the barrier, and ignited without a moment’s delay. The Melnosians, adopting their former tactics, shot and stabbed with right good will, but the advantage was with the enemy, for, in the space of a few minutes, the wooden poles and crossbars of the barricade were in flames. Against this new peril nothing could be done, as, not anticipating this stratagem, Justinian had not provided himself with water; so the flames, leaping redly out of the thick smoke, roared upward to the roof of the tunnel, while the little band, some with bayonets fixed, others with guns loaded, awaited the assault which would follow the downfall of the protective palisade. As if to hasten this catastrophe, the enemy, with infinite labor, dragged a small cannon up the steep stairs, and, having placed it in position, fired recklessly into the centre of the blazing mass, with the hope of the ball cutting a lane through the Melnosians. Luckily, owing to the irregularity of the ground, they were unable to depress the muzzle of the gun sufficiently, and the shot passed innocuously overhead, having no other effect than to bring down a small shower of stones from the roof of the tunnel. Justinian was rather dismayed when he found they had succeeded in bringing up a gun, but when he saw the effect of the shot, he smiled contemptuously. “That’s no good,” he said confidently; “they can’t get the muzzle low enough to be effective.” “Nevertheless, if the roof”— The end of his sentence was lost in a tremendous explosion, which nearly stunned them all, for, in their eagerness to fire, Alcibiades’ men had overloaded their cannon, with the result that it burst at the application of the light, and killed five men. “Glory! glory!” yelled Gurt, when he heard the row; “they can’t do much now, d—n them!” “No!” cried Maurice rapidly; “the barricade will soon be down, and it will be a hand-to-hand fight. If they bring up another gun, we’ll take it by storm.”