Provisions were at a low ebb.

There seemed to be no hope of outside aid, and disaffection was rife in his small force.

Jack Meredith, who was no soldier, found himself called upon to defend a weak position, with unreliable men, for an indefinite period.
Joseph had a rough knowledge of soldiering and a very rudimentary notion of fortification.

But he had that which served as well--the unerring eye for covert of a marksman.

He was a dead shot at any range, and knowing what he could hit he also knew how to screen himself from the rifle of an enemy.
Above all, perhaps, was the quiet influence of a man who never flinched from danger nor seemed to be in the least disconcerted by its presence.
"It seems, sir," said Joseph to his master later in the day, "that you've kinder stumped them.