"
When a soldier came in, to say that the horses were at the door, they
went out. An officer was standing beside them, and the governor
presented him as his chief artillery officer.
"You have not brought your horse," he said.
"No, your Excellency. The distance is not great, and we should need to
dismount so many times, to get a view from the walls, that it would
not be worthwhile to ride."
"In that case, we may as well walk, also," Dick said.
"I would rather do so, too," the governor said. "I proposed riding,
because I thought you might be tired. As Bakir Meeram says, the
distance is not great. The walls themselves, with the exception of
those of the two forts, are not more than half a mile in extent; for
in most places the rocks go sheer down, and there defences are, of
course, unnecessary. We will inspect this fort, first."
They went the round of the walls, Dick and his companion listening to
the suggestions of the two officers. The principal one was that a wall
should be raised, inside the gate.
"The English, last time, got in here by rushing in at the tail of the
fugitives from below. They were in before the gates could be closed,
and took our men so completely by surprise that they were seized with
a panic.
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