twenty-three minutes after six
It was the only body in the room . From this room I passed into the hall . This was in a similar condition to that of the drawing-room , except that it contained the remains of two bodies , one close to the doorway and the other at the point where the passage leading from the rear entrance of the building opened upon the hall . The body near the front doorway I identified as that of Nesbitt -- by the watch which was lying close beside it , and which , I noticed , had stopped at twenty-three minutes after six -- while the other body was quite unrecognisable . There was nothing to show how either of these men had died . Leaving the hall , I entered the dining-room ; and the moment I did so it became apparent that I had arrived upon the scene of the last stand of the little garrison , where the final phase of the stubborn and protracted attack and defence had been fought out . For the room was in a terrible state of confusion , the scattered remains of the heavy furniture showing that the savages had actually succeeded in forcing the barricade and gaining an entrance -- this evidence being confirmed by the presence of nine Tembu corpses piled up in the window opening .