There was a man outside who knew, but none inside.
The point about the powder-magazine which most appealed to Brown--next
after his knowledge of its contents, mineral and human--was the fact
that the little platform at its summit overlooked the city-wall,
and that the side of the granary actually touched the wall on the
side of the city farthest from where he sat and spied it out. Ten
men on that protected platform, he thought, might suffer from the
sun, but they could hold the building and command a good-sized section
of the city ramparts against all comers.
He noticed too, though that seemed immaterial at the time, that one
well-aimed shot from heavy ordnance might crash through the upper
dome and set off the powder underneath. There was no artillery that
could be brought against the place, either with the British force
or with the mutineers, but the thought set him to wondering how much
powder there might be stored on the huge round floor below, and what
would happen should it become ignited. It was a sanguinary, interesting,
subtle kind of thought, that suited the condition of his brain exactly!
He climbed down from the tree, feeling almost good-natured.
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