four in the morning
After some severe fighting the Afghans were driven out , and the place blown up . On the evening of the 22nd the general received news that the Afghans , having prepared a great number of ladders for the assault , intended to attack that night . There had been several similar warnings but , this time , the news proved correct . A signal fire was lit upon one of the heights at four in the morning and , at five o'clock , the plain was covered with the enemy . Quietly they crept up in the darkness , towards the walls ; and at six o'clock a prodigious shouting was heard , and from the villages , orchards , and enclosed ground upon all sides , the enemy dashed forward to the assault . As they approached , they opened fire on all sides ; pressing chiefly towards the weak point , near the foot of the hills . But , tremendous as was the roar of the Afghan fire , it was drowned by the roll of musketry which broke from the whole circuit of the walls ; where the British troops , rifle in hand , had been lying for three hours , waiting the attack .