Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-12-02
CHAPTER XIV.

l stood with Djezzar on the ramparts of Acre. On the night before, the outer wall of the old tower had been shat tered by the explosion of & mine. A few hours previously the French had made two assaults in rapid succession, both of which were vigorously repulsed They were now hammering at the old tower with their batteries. Rent by the explosion, blackened with powder dinted with shot, its rents patched with beams of wood and bags of sand and wool, its aspect was grim, tragic and truculent, like that of some herculean gladiator, covered with wounds, yet fighting to the death. The reelzing debris which filled the ditch at it's foot was red with blood and strewn with the headless bodies of the storming party who led the last assault.
 During the month which had elapsed since my capture and escape the siege had continued with varying fortunes. rest. But in Phelippeaux, the com modore, and Djezzar he found foemen worthy of his steel. In one sally alone the pasha lost five hundred of his Mau- grabins, and more than half of his brave Albanians had perished. Yet, on the whole, the advantage was with us. The French were getting short of am munition; and, though their engineers displayed great ingenuity, Phelippeaux displayed more. He began to take the offensive, pushing forward works which were like to take Bonaparte's batteries in reverse and force him to abandon the siege.
 To prevent this consummation the French made night attacks, which were always repulsed with much heavier loss to the enemy than to ourselves.
 And then the luck turned for tim e. Col. PheGppeaux died of exposure and fatigue; and the French received sev- eral pieces of heavy artillery from Jaffa and powder from Gaza. The upper part of the tower was demolished, and a breach made in the curtain wide enough to admit fifty men march ing abreast. We began to look anxiously for the fleet of Hassan bey with the long-expected and long-prom- ised achievements of Turkish troops; for of Djezzar's own troops there re- remained only a few hundreds, and brave as these were and desperately as they fought, 1t was impossible for them to withstand many more assaults, even with all the help we could give them.
 'Can you see anything?'' asked Djez- gar, as I swept the horizon with my glass
 "Yes; a sail"
 ''Only one2"
 'tOnly one. Ahl there is another; and now-1 can count four"
 "What do they look like?''
 ''From their rig, should say they are Turkish"
 Their numbers increased every min ute. Soon could count dozen, then twenty, then thirty ships, all making for Acre.
 The Ottoman fleet, beyond doubt The town was all joy and excitement, and the blue-jackets and marines, both ashore and afoat, gave hearty cheer. Ut is all over," said Col Douglas who had succeeded Phelippeaux as en- gineer~in chief.
 With any other general it might have been all over; but, instead of abandon. ing the contest because he was going tc be overmatched, Bonaparte made su. preme effort to take the place before the achievements could disembark. The besiegers' batteries were worked with frantic energy, and a column ot attack was formed by Bonaparte ir person, whom we could plainly see or Coeur~de-Lion's mount, giving his orders and haranguing his men. In the mean time, Sir Sidney, fully alive to the danger, signaled for every blue-jacket that could be spared to come ashore anc lend helping hand to the defenders and himself went off in the Tiger tc meat the. Turks and hurry them on.
 DID