As he said, it was useless endeavoring to perceive what was happening without, the powder smoke clinging to the earth, and hiding everything from view.  Yet I realized what must have occurred; the dead bodies in sight proved how severely the assaulting column had suffered, and no doubt the entire force had been disorganized, and sent helter-skelter for safety.  Yet they would come back—­either they or others.  This muss must be cleaned up; this opening closed.  After that we could attend our dead and wounded.  I gave a dozen swift orders, and Miles instantly took command.  The imprisoned bodies were dragged out from underneath the door, the heavy log taken into the hall, the door itself torn from its remaining hinges and forced back into position, the log, one end resting against the stairs, being utilized as a brace.  If anything it was now stronger than before for purposes of defence.  We had barely completed this work when Mahoney came out into the hall, his head bound up with a blood-soaked rag.

“A foine, lively shindy, Leftenant,” he said, grinning amiably.  “Bedad, but Oi thought they had us that last toime—­Oi did that.”  He glanced about curiously.  “An’ ye must hav’ had it hot in here too.”

“It was hand to hand, Sergeant, and we lost some men—­four dead.  How did you fare along your side of the house?”

“Three kilt, an’ maybe a dozen wounded.  Oi got chipped up myself, but only the skin av me.  Those lads come up fierce, sorr, an’ they’d ‘a’ made it too, only fer our ravolvers.  We must have shot a dozen of ’em right in the winders.”

“And the rest of the house—­do you know how they came out?”

“Oi do, sorr; Oi’ve made the rounds.  There’s one man shot in the kitchen, but nobody got hurted up stairs.”

“And our men?” I asked eagerly.  “From those upper windows did you see any sign of troops down in the ravine?”

He shook his head.

“Not a domn thing, sorr.”

I looked into the faces clustered around us—­blackened, savage faces, still marked by the fierce animalism of battle—­feeling to the full the desperation of our position.

“Well, lads,” I said soberly, “there is no use hiding the truth from you.  I know you’ll fight to the end, and that won’t be long coming, unless help gets here.  We can never repulse another assault; we’ve got eight men killed, and more than that wounded now—­the next time we’ll all go.  What do you say—­shall we hold on, hoping?”

“Oi’m fer doin’ it, sorr,” broke in Mahoney, “an’ Oi’m spakin’ fer ivery Irishmon in H troop.”

“And you, Miles?”

“I’m not so bloomin’ fond of a fight, Lieutenant,” he said, scratching his head, “but I like to stay fighting after I once get started.  Ain’t that about the size of it, boys?”

Several heads nodded, and one fellow growled,

“Hell! we kin giv’ ’em the same dose a third time.”

“I don’t expect that, Sims,” I returned.  “But those other fellows ought to be up any minute now.  Anyway we’ll have a breathing spell, for the Johnnies must have had enough to last them a few minutes.  How is the ammunition?”