Every day, since the siege had begun, the defenders had fired an occasional shot at the stockade; not with any idea of doing any damage, but in order that the assailants should know that they were still in the cavern.

That evening, when the hole had got to the proper depth, Stanley, having prepared his fuse, went up with twenty cartridges in his pocket, accompanied by Meinik.

The hole was charged and tamped, and the fuse inserted.

This took a considerable time.

The fuse had been cut so that an inch of it projected outside the hole.