A babel of wild shouts went up at the sound of the first shots, followed by a burst of firing.
The two aides-de-camp had taken their places close to the general, who was standing in the gap between the infantry and the guns; and was looking intently, through his night glasses, at the forest.
"They are in a dense mass," he said.

"I cannot see whether they are in any regular order, but they are certainly packed a great deal closer than I have ever before seen them.

Those in front have got lanterns.

They are coming along fast." As yet the enemy were half a mile away, but the lanterns and the flash of their guns showed their exact position, while the fire of the outposts was kept up steadily.

As the latter fell back along the causeway, the interval between the two forces decreased; and then the fire of the outposts ceased as, in accordance with their orders, they broke into the double.
Illustration: The Burmese make a great effort to capture Pagoda Hill.
The uproar of the advancing crowd was prodigious.