But I said that a gun should be the signal.

Possibly they didn't hear the first one, the damned, deaf, cowardly hounds!" Beverley wheeled forth the swivel and rammed a charge of powder home.
But when he fired it, the effect was far from what it should have been.
Instead of calling in a fresh body of militia, it actually drove out the few who up to that moment had remained as a garrison; so that Captain Helm and his Lieutenant found themselves quite alone in the fort, while out before the gate, deployed in fine open order, a strong line of British soldiers approached with sturdy steps, led by a tall, erect, ruddy-faced young officer..