CHAPTER XIII.
It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and
men, quitting their ill-relished meal, were to be seen
issuing to the parade, where the monotonous roll of the
assemblee now summoned them. Presently the garrison was
formed in the order we have described in our first volume;
that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square.
The vacant space fronted the guard-house, near one
extremity of which was to be seen a flight of steps
communicating with the rampart, where the flag-staff was
erected. Several men were employed at this staff, passing
strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended
from the extreme top, while in the basement of the staff
itself, to a height of about twenty feet, were stuck at
intervals strong wooden pegs, serving as steps to the
artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when foul,
the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter
had been removed; and, from the substitution of a cord
considerably stronger than that which usually appeared
there, it seemed as if some far heavier weight was about
to be appended to it.
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