with importance.

"There were fifty offers in less than as many seconds.

"'Only twelve allowed to go,' said the Sergeant; 'and I am one,'
added he, adroitly inserting himself.

"A gun was taken down, placed on a carriage, and posted near
Death's Alley, but out of the line of fire.

"The Colonel himself superintended the loading of this gun; and to
the surprise of his men had the shot weighed first, and then
weighed out the powder himself.

"He then waited quietly a long time, till the bastion pitched one
of its periodical shots into Death's Alley; but no sooner had the
shot struck, and sent the sand flying past the two lanes of
curious noses, than Colonel Dujardin jumped upon the gun and waved
his cocked hat. At this preconcerted signal, his battery opened
fire on the bastion, and the battery to his right hand opened on
the wall that fronted them; and the Colonel gave the word to run
the gun out of the trenches. They ran it out into the cloud of
smoke their own guns were belching forth, unseen by the enemy; but
they had no sooner twisted it into the line of Long Tom than the
smoke was gone, and there they were, a fair mark.

"'Back into the trenches, all but one!' roared Dujardin.

"And in they ran like rabbits.