Part 40 (1/2)

Aware that Sarento was studying his reaction Lewis merely nodded, keeping his face blank.

'Can you do this thing?'

'I'll take one of the rifles,' replied Lewis.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

For five days the riders had tried tentative attacks, but now on the sixth their leader went berserk, and the h.e.l.lborn mounted their horses and thundered into the pa.s.s, through the cross-fire which decimated their ranks and on to the trench where Gambion waited with ten men.

Through the cloud of dust sent up by the pounding hooves of their horses the h.e.l.lborn bore down on the waiting men.

'Fire!' screamed Gambion and a ragged volley smashed into the first line of riders, bringing down men and horses. A second volley hammered into the hors.e.m.e.n; then Gambion's men broke and ran for the second trench.

Above them, with three riflemen, Ja.n.u.s cursed. He stood and emptied his rifle into the surging ranks of the enemy. Only Gambion remained in the first trench; his rifle empty, he tugged his pistols clear and shot a man from the saddle. Now the dust swirled above him.

A horse leapt over him, then a second. He fired blindly into the dust. A hoof clipped the top of his skull and he fell as shots hammered into the dirt beside him.

Ja.n.u.s screamed at the running men to take up positions and they responded, dropping down beside the three men in the second trench. Sh.e.l.ls tore once more into the h.e.l.lborn and they broke and ran.

'After them!' shouted Ja.n.u.s, sweeping up a rifle and leaping the earthworks. Some seven men followed him, the rest hunkered down behind the relative safety of the earthworks.

Ja.n.u.s knew the next few moments would be crucial in the battle. If they did not push the h.e.l.lborn outside into the canyon, they would spread up on to the hillside and outflank the defenders. He ran to the first trench and waited for his men to join him.

Together!' he shouted. 'Volley fire. But only at my signal.'

The men settled their rifles to their shoulders. 'Now!' A volley shrieked through the dust clouds.

'Again!' Three times more they fired into the fleeing h.e.l.lborn. Ja.n.u.s led his men further into the pa.s.s, aware that their position was perilous should the h.e.l.lborn turn, but in the billowing dust the enemy had no idea how many men pursued them. At last Ja.n.u.s stood in the mouth of the pa.s.s itself and watched the h.e.l.lborn galloping out of range.

'Take up positions,' he ordered the men around him.

'I'm out of bullets,' a man told him.

'I've only got two rounds left,' said another.

'Strip the dead,' said Ja.n.u.s. 'But be careful - some of them may only be wounded.'

They gathered what ammunition they could from the fallen riders and returned to their positions. Ja.n.u.s sprinted back to the first trench where Gambion was sitting up holding his head.

'You ought to be dead,' Ja.n.u.s told him and Gambion looked up at the blond youngster and grinned broadly.

'It'll take more than a kick from a horse.'

'We are almost out of ammunition - we can't hold much longer, Ephram.'

'We have to.'

'Be reasonable, man. When the bullets are gone, then so are we.'

'We've held this long, and we've made them pay. Just four more days.'

'What do you want us to do? Throw rocks at them?'

'Whatever it takes.'

'There are only twenty-two men left, Ephram.'

'But we've taken over a hundred of them b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.'

Ja.n.u.s gave up and ran back to the pa.s.s, climbing high on to the ridge and s.h.i.+elding his eyes, trying to see the enemy. They had dismounted and were seated in a circle around two officers. Ja.n.u.s wished he had a long-gla.s.s to study the situation more closely. It seemed to him that one of the officers had a pistol in his hand and that the barrel was in his mouth.

The crack of the pistol drifted to him and he watched the officer topple sideways.

Gambion joined him. 'What's happening out there?'

'One of their leaders has just killed himself.'

'Good for him!'

'What kind of people are they, Ephram?'

'They ain't like us, that's for sure. By the way, I done a count and we've roughly fifteen sh.e.l.ls per man. Good enough for a couple more attacks.'

Ja.n.u.s chuckled. 'Your head's bleeding,' he said.

'It'll stop. You think they'll come in again today?'

'Yes. One more charge. I think we should take a chance on stopping it dead.'

'How?'

'Line everyone across the pa.s.s and hit them with ten volleys.'

'If they break through, there'll be nothing to back us.'

'It's up to you, Ephram.'

Gambion swore. 'I'll buy it. d.a.m.n, but I never thought to see the day when a boy would give me orders.'

'And a child shall lead them,' said Ja.n.u.s.

'What?'

'It's from the Bible, Ephram. Don't you ever read it?'

'I don't read - but I'll take your word for it.'