Resting at his watch post, Sergeant Taylor heard footsteps outside. He called out alertly, "Who's there? Password!"
"Torrent." The person replied with the passphrase, "It's me."
The passphrase matched, and the old Taylor relaxed, responding with the countersign, "Blossom."
The footsteps approached rapidly. Centurion Montaigne deftly vaulted over the parapet and jumped into the corridor.
Taylor immediately noticed that Centurion Montaigne was holding a strange short musket—strange because this musket had no firing device, like those old hook guns that required one hand to hold the gun and the other to ignite it, but it was indeed a firearm.
"What's the matter, sir? Enemy attack?" Sergeant Taylor hurriedly asked.
"No enemies spotted." Winters pulled out a bell, "But the alarm tripwires have been cut."
"What do we do? Sound the alarm?"
Winters hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Ring the bell! Sound the alarm!"
