Part 36 (1/2)
Then we heard tom-toms beating close by, and the clash of bra.s.s or some other metal that had a ring like cymbals.
”They're waking up,” cried 'old Hankey Pankey' to Mr Gresham, with a pleased smile on his face. ”The column will now advance. Close your ranks, men. Keep steady. Forward!”
We had hardly taken a dozen paces, advancing in the same formation as before, when we heard the roar of guns in front and steady volleys of rifle-fire, whose sound clearly betokened that it emanated from weapons similar to our own.
”By George, we'll be too late!” cried 'old Hankey Pankey,' hobbling onwards at a fine rate for a moment, and then slewing round to give some fresh order to those following up behind. ”Come on, men--come on at the double. Spread out your flanks, Mr Gresham! Spread out your flanks, d'ye hear? Tell Mr Shrapnell to bring up the guns. Spread out there, men--spread out in skirmis.h.i.+ng order, to cover your front! Hang it, come on, my lads--come on, or we'll be too late!”
Captain Oliver of the _Merlin_ was running us cheek by jowl with his contingent on the left and Commander Jellaby of the _Bullfinch_ trying to outstrip him on our right; so, we had hard work to keep our place in line ahead.
But 'old Hankey Pankey' was not going to let any one, junior or senior in the service, beat him for first place when fighting was on; and no one who had known how terribly he had been wounded, the muscles of his legs having become shrunk after the holes made by the matchlock ball had closed up, would have dreamt him capable of going the pace he did now.
”Forward, men--forward!” he yelled out spasmodically, as he hobbled on like the wind in front, taking long hops at intervals over any obstruction that lay in his path. ”_Mermaids_ to the front! You're not going to let us be licked, men, by any other s.h.i.+p on the station!”
How he got out the words between his leaps, and bounds, and hops, I am sure I cannot tell; but, get them out he did, though he must have been pretty well pumped out already by his exertions, and his breath nearly all spent.
But, we hardly needed the stimulus to prompt us to action; for in barely another half minute we burst out of the bush, going at the double and spread out in a half circle, so as to catch all stragglers who might have vainly hoped to escape in our direction, for we were right in the rear of the Arab town.
This was already all ablaze from the rockets and bursting sh.e.l.ls of the admiral's brigade, the straw-thatched houses as they looked, though they were really covered with dry plantain and banana leaves, burning up like so many fierce bonfires in our front, and right and left; while the sharp rattle of musketry and loud banging of the guns of the first division was mixed up with the platoon-like reports from the matchlocks of the Somalis, who were urging on their somewhat reluctant allies, the slave-traders of the interior, with hoa.r.s.e yells and shrill screams, bolstering up their courage likewise by the beating of innumerable gongs and clas.h.i.+ng cymbals, the consensus of sound making din enough to have wakened up all the dead dervishes of the desert for generations past, and caused them, had they come to life, to have proclaimed a 'Jehad' or holy war against us, and thus roused up all the fanaticism of all those of the Moslem race yet left alive!
Such was our grand rush, however, coming as it did on top of the cleverly planned combined attack of the admiral's columns in front of the town, thus taking the Arabs between two fires, that even Saladin would not have saved them.
Hundreds of them were shot down behind their stockades, which I must say they defended gallantly to the last; while those who were not potted by our bullets, were 'put out of action' by the bayonets of us bluejackets, who carried their intrenchments by storm.
So far, I was only one of the crowd, loading and firing my Martini as I advanced or halted on the word of command being given by 'old Hankey Pankey'; who, plucky as a lion, was in the forefront all through, his uniform cap tumbled off and his face all blackened with powder, 'potting' this chap with the revolver that he held in his left hand, or sticking another Somali through the gizzard with his sword, which was always thrust out straight before him as he went onward, and always 'at the point.'
But, now, I had a little diversion on my own account.
”Left turn!” shouted our company leader Mr Chisholm, whose sharp eye detected through the smoke a body of the Arabs attacking an officer and a detached party of our men who had escaladed the fortifications on the right of the town; and seeing that they were hard pressed, though making a gallant stand of it against heavy odds, our officer quickly called out, ”Double! Charge, my lads!”
By George! We did charge; and then, the bronze-coloured beggars, who had thought to make an easy prey of our before isolated comrades, turned savagely to receive us, a whole horde of them!
Larrikins, who was next me, got his right arm transfixed by one of their light spears or jereeds, a lot of which came whistling through the air into our ranks like a flight of sparrows.
This made Larry drop his rifle like a hot potato; but, nothing daunted, he kept alongside of me all the same, drawing his cutla.s.s as we raced along together.
”Lor', Tom, that wer' a nipper, that wer'!” he cried, with a grin on his face, as if the wound were rather a joke than otherwise. ”But I'm jiggered if I don't pay out the joker who skewered me then!”
At that moment a couple of the Arabs made at the pair of us; and I had quite enough to do to guard off the shower of cuts one of them delivered round my devoted head, his curved scimitar whirling about me in all directions and the sunlight from above making it flash so that it dazzled my eyes.
However, a lucky drive with my sword-bayonet through the rascal's throat stopped his little game; for the swarthy Arab dropped his scimitar instanter, with a gurgle of rage and an upward roll of his eyes, ”like a dying duck in a thunder-storm,” as father used to say, tumbling down all of a heap as dead as mutton.
Hardly had I done with him when, strange to say, I heard the bark of a dog.
This was very unusual, all Mahometans hating dogs and believing them to be possessed of the Devil.
Besides, somehow or other, I seemed to recognise the bark as familiar to me; for, believe me, the voices of dogs and their respective expressions of grief or joy, though sounding the same to alien ears, are as distinct to such as are accustomed to hear them frequently as the voices of human beings of our acquaintance or any individual.
Before I had time to think, however, though my senses were all on the alert from hearing the dog's bark, I saw that the naval officer whom we had rushed up to help at Mr Chisholm's instigation, was engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand fight with two Arabs, one of whom, a tall, lean Somali, with a peculiar sort of turban round his head, unlike any of those sported by the rest of the gang, I was certain was no less a personage than the man, or 'sheik' as he was called, Abdalah, the leader of the Somalis.
As I noted this, the officer fell; but, ere the big Arab, who drew back a long spear that he wielded, could give him the fatal thrust he intended, I was upon him.