No doubt, they calculated that there was little chance of the fraud being detected--never, indeed, until there was a prolonged siege--for they would naturally serve out the barrels from the front row, as they were required, filling their places with fresh ones as supplies came in." The other storehouses were now examined.

The number of cannonball alone tallied with the account.

There were large deficiencies in the store of powder, and, indeed, among almost all the other munitions.
"It is infinitely worse than I thought," the colonel said, "and I fear that the storekeepers are not the only people concerned in these frauds." "Now, Colonel, if you do not mind, I should like to go to one of the provision stores at once.

Possibly, after what we have discovered, some pretext to stop further examination may be invented, if we wait till tomorrow." Great as had been the fraud in the magazines, that in the supplies of provisions was even greater.

There was a deficiency of many hundreds of sacks of flour and beans.