It was
Stephen who, by virtue of his amateur soldiering experience, had to take
the lead. He posted the Highlanders in opposite watch-towers, placing
Nevill in one which commanded the two rear walls of the bordj. The next
step was the building of bonfires, one at each corner of the roof, so
that when the time for fighting came, the defenders might confound the
enemy by lighting the surrounding desert, making a surprise impossible.
Old barrels were broken up, therefore, and saturated with oil. The
spiked double gates of iron, though apparently strong, Stephen judged
incapable of holding out long against battering rams, but he knew heavy
baulks of wood to be rare in the desert, far from the palms of the
oases. What he feared most was gunpowder; and though he was ignorant of
the marabout's secret ambitions and warlike preparations, he thought it
not improbable that a store of gunpowder might be kept in the Zaouia.
True, the French Government forbade Arabs to have more than a small
supply in their possession; but the marabout was greatly trusted, and
was perhaps allowed to deal out a certain amount of the coveted treasure
for "powder play" on religious fete days. To prevent the bordj falling
into the hands of the Arabs if the gate were blown down, Stephen and his
small force built up at the further corner of the yard, in front of the
dining-room door, a barrier of mangers, barrels, wooden troughs, iron
bedsteads and mattresses from the guest-rooms.
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