“They expects,” the old tar repeated scornfully.  “For my part, I don’t think nothing of these soldier chaps.  Why, I was up here with the first party as come, the day after we got here, and there warn’t nothing in the world to prevent our walking into it.  Here we’ve got 50,000 men, enough, sir, to have pushed those rotten old walls down with their hands, and here we be a-digging and a-shovelling on the hillside nigh a mile from the place, and the Russians are a-digging and a-shovelling just as hard at their side.  I see ’em last night after we got back to camp.  It seems to me as if these here generals wanted to give ’em time to make the place so strong as we cannot take it, before they begins.  Why, it stands to reason that the Rooshians, who’ve got their guns all stored close at hand, their soldiers and their sailors handy, and no trouble as to provisions and stores, can run up works and arm them just about three times as fast as we can; and where shall we be at the end of three months?  We shall be just a-shivering and a-shaking, and a-starving with cold, and short of grub on that ’ere hill; and the Rooshians will be comfortable in the town a-laughing at us.  Don’t tell me, Mr. Archer; my opinion is, these ’ere soldiers are no better than fools.  They don’t seem to have no common sense.”

“I hope it’s not as bad as all that, Dick,” Jack laughed.  “But it certainly does seem as if we were purposely giving the Russians time to strengthen themselves.  But you’ll see when we go at them we shall make short work of them.”

“Well, I hope so, Mr. Archer,” Dick Simpson said, shaking his head ominously, “but I’m dubious about it.”

By this time the oxen and men had recovered their breath, and they again set to at their tiresome work.  Although the weather was fine and the position of the camps high and healthy, the cholera which had ravaged their ranks at Varna still followed them, and during the three first weeks in the Crimea, the Allies lost as many men from this cause as they had done in the Battle of Alma.

By the 4th of October forty pieces of heavy artillery had been brought up to the front, and the work of the trenches began in earnest.

On the morning of the 10th the Russian batteries for the first time opened a heavy fire upon us.  But the distance was too great for much harm to be done.  On the 11th the Russians made their first sortie, which was easily repulsed.

On the 17th of October the bombardment commenced.  The French and English had 117 guns in position, the Russians 130.  The fire commenced at half-past six.  By 8.40 a French magazine at the extreme right blew up, killing and wounding 100 men, while the French fire at this part was crushed by that of the Russians opposed to them.  All day, however, the cannonade continued unabating on both sides, the men-of-war aiding the land forces by engaging the forts.

During the night the Russians, having plenty of guns at hand, and labor in abundance, mounted a larger number of guns, and their superiority was so marked that the bombardment was gradually discontinued, and even the most sanguine began to acknowledge that an enormous mistake had been made in not attacking upon our arrival, and that it was impossible to say how long the siege would last.  Ammunition, too, was already running short.