The Sepoys had suffered heavily from the steady fire of the invisible defenders and gradually drew off, and in an hour from the commencement of the attack all was silent round the building.
"So far so good, ladies," the Major said cheerily, as the garrison, leaving one man on watch, descended from the roof.

"We have had no casualties, and I think we must have inflicted a good many, and the mutineers are not likely to try that game on again, for they must see that they are wasting ammunition, and are doing us no harm.

Now I hope the servants have got tiffin ready for us, for I am sure we have all excellent appetites." "Tiffin is quite ready, Major," Mrs.Doolan, who had been appointed chief of the commissariat department, said cheerfully.

"The servants were a little disorganized when the firing began, but they soon became accustomed to it, and I think you will find everything in order in the hall." The meal was really a cheerful one.

The fact that the first attack had passed over without anyone being hit raised the spirits of the women, and all were disposed to look at matters in a cheerful light.