midday
Lying down , we presented the smallest possible mark for them ; but for some hours it was very hot . Nine out of ten of their shot , just went over the dome altogether . The spike was hit twenty or thirty times , and lower down a good many holes were knocked in the dome ; but the shots that struck near us all glanced and flew over . They fired a couple of hundred shot altogether , and at midday they stopped -- for dinner , I suppose -- and did not begin again . I suspect they were running short of ammunition . Once , when the firing was hottest , thinking , I suppose , to catch us napping , an attempt was made to climb the ladder ; but Dunlop , who was on watch , put a bullet through the first fellow 's head , and by the yell that followed I suspect that in his fall he swept all the others off the ladder . Anyhow , there was no repetition of the trial .