The pain of my aching bones woke me up several times, and once, just as the first tinge of dawn was coming, I thought I could hear movements in the jungle.

I raised myself somewhat, and I saw that the sounds had been heard by the Dacoits, for they were standing listening, and some of them were bringing spare firearms from the storehouse, in evident preparation for attack.
"As I afterwards learned, the police had caught one of the Dacoits trying to effect his escape, and by means of a little of the ingenious torture to which the Indian police then frequently resorted, when their white officers were absent, they obtained from him the exact position of Sivajee's band, and learned the side from which the ascent must be made.
That the Dacoit and his band were still upon the slopes of the Ghauts they knew, and were gradually narrowing their circle, but there were so many rocks and hiding places that the process of searching was a slow one, and the intelligence was so important that the news was off at once to the colonel, who gave orders for the police to surround the rock at daylight and to storm it if possible.

The garrison was so small that the police were alone ample for the work, supposing that the natural difficulties were not altogether insuperable.
"Just at daybreak there was a distant noise of men moving in the jungle, and the Dacoit halfway down the path fired his gun.

He was answered by a shout and a volley.

The Dacoits hurried out from the chamber, and lay down on the edge, where, sheltered by a parapet, they commanded the path.