Part 30 (2/2)

Inside the defence, all was quiet. Not a man showed himself. Doubtful whether the town had not been entirely evacuated, the Malays paused for some little time, while some of the chiefs gathered together in consultation. Then a few of the men advanced, with the evident intention of examining the defences.

They were allowed to approach within ten yards of the ditch, when a shower of arrows flew from the openings in the palisade; and two, only, of the Malays fled back to their companions. The fall of the others provoked wild yells of anger. A horn sounded, and the a.s.sailants rushed upon them from all sides. When within a few yards of the ditch they hurled their spears, and shot a cloud of arrows. A large proportion were stopped by the bamboos, but such as pa.s.sed through flew harmlessly over the heads of the defenders; who replied with a far more deadly shower of arrows.

Leaping over those who had fallen, the enemy dashed forward. Those in front endeavoured to check their course, on arriving at the edge of the ditch; but they were forced in by the pressure of those behind, and the long spears of the defenders gleamed out through the openings of the bamboos, inflicting terrible damage.

In vain the a.s.sailants endeavoured to climb out of the ditch. The bayonet-like line of bamboos checked them; and the arrows of the concealed defenders told, with terrible effect, on the struggling ma.s.s. At last, at many points, the ditch was literally filled with dead; and the a.s.sailants were enabled to leap upon the line of bamboos which had so long checked their pa.s.sage.

The advantage was but slight. The slippery poles were some six inches apart and, slanting as they did, afforded so poor a foothold that the Malays were forced to stand between them, on the narrow ledge between the palisading and the ditch. Here they thrust their spears between the palisade; but these were wrenched from their hands, and scores fell from the blows of kris, spear, and arrow; until at last their leaders and chiefs, seeing how terrible was the slaughter, and how impossible it was to climb the bamboo fence, called their men off; and they fell back, pursued by exulting cries from the women, who were standing on the platform behind the wall of the palace, watching the conflict, and by the yells of the defenders of the stockade.

Of these but few had fallen, while some five hundred of the a.s.sailants had perished. The rajah was almost beside himself with joy, at this crus.h.i.+ng defeat of his enemy.

”I do not suppose it is over yet, Rajah,” Harry said, through his interpreter. ”There are still some five times our number, and they will surely not retire without endeavouring to avenge their defeat. But I hardly think they will attack the stockade again. Possibly they will try fire, next time; and it will be harder to fight that than to keep men at bay.”

The rajah looked serious.

”Yes,” he said, ”they cannot return to their homes, and say that they have left five hundred dead behind them. What do you advise?”

”They will hardly attack again today, Rajah; therefore I shall have time to think it over. But at present, it seems to me that our only course is to shoot down as many of those who bring up firebrands as possible. We have still a number of long bamboos left, and with these we might thrust away any burning f.a.ggots that might be cast against the palisade.”

The rajah nodded.

”That might be done,” he said, ”and with success, no doubt.”

”With success at many points, Rajah; but if they succeed, at only one point, in establis.h.i.+ng a big fire against the stockade; we must retire within the wall. They cannot burn us out there, except at the gate; and against that we must pile up earth and stones. But I should certainly recommend that the roofs of all the buildings inside should be taken off unless, indeed, you have sufficient hides to cover them. Still, we need not do that until we are driven inside the wall. It takes but a short time to take off the broad leaves with which the roofs are covered.”

During the fight, Harry had taken no active part in the conflict. He had divided the circle into three, and had taken charge of one division, Abdool taking another, and the rajah a third. They had each encouraged the men under them, and had gone where the pressure of the attack was most severe.

On leaving the rajah, Harry joined Abdool.

”They will try again, Abdool; but I don't think they will try to carry the stockade by a.s.sault again.”

”They will try fire, sahib.”

”That is just what I am afraid of. The archers will shoot down a good many of them, but in such numbers as they are, this will make little difference; and we must calculate that, at at least a dozen spots, they will place blazing f.a.ggots against the palisade.”

Abdool nodded.

”I have been telling the rajah,” Harry went on, ”that the men must provide themselves with long bamboos, which they can thrust through the openings in the stockade, and push the f.a.ggots away. But even if we do so, we must calculate upon the enemy succeeding, in some places, in setting the palisades on fire.”

”That would be very serious; but of course we should go in behind the wall.”

”I do not want to do that, as long as we can possibly stay here. I think that, when night comes, we ought to make a sortie.”

”But are we not too few, sahib?”

”Too few to defeat them, Abdool, but not too few to beat them up. You see, the wind always blows, in the evening, up from the sea. I noticed it last night. It was quite strong. What I should propose would be to pull up enough bamboos for four men to go out, together, on the side facing the wind. Two hundred men should first sally out; remaining, as they do so, close to the ditch. When all are ready, they should crawl across the cleared ground and then, at a signal, attack the enemy who, taken by surprise, would be sure to give way, at first.

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