Part 10 (2/2)
The calm of the previous day had been succeeded by a fresh breeze, which was blowing from the ard, and thus Hans could not depend sothe approach of an eneh the underwood in the ravines He was thus particularly anxious and watchful in order to guard against a surprise
The darkness of night had been succeeded by the grey twilight ofto cause hiht increased he strained his eyes to exa object, in his endeavour to discover an ene about the strea distinctly over the surrounding plains, and thus before the sun rose the vieas not very distinct Whilst he exaround his eye was suddenly attracted by what seee of the rock close to him So momentary was the view he obtained that he was not certain the waving of a branch in the wind ht not be the cause He was, however, too keen a sportslimpses of objects that the best chances are frequently obtained, and thus with his gun in readiness he remained motionless under the shadow of the rock, whilst he watched the grass near the edge In a moment after he saw the head of a Matabili slowly raised above the edge of the rock, and then thehe could effect a surprise, endeavoured to pull himself up to the level plateau Hans saw the chance that offered, so, instantly grasping the long baed the Matabili with such speed, that though the , yet he could neither raise hih to avoid the deadly thrust which Hans h the chest, fell on to a Matabili as following hiround, soe and disappointes, until now concealed in the ravines below The noise they thus irls had that their enemies had arrived The three rushed from their respective caves at this unearthly yell, and Victor eagerly inquiring of Hans the cause, received a hasty explanation, whilst the blood-stained lance was an earnest of its success as a weapon to restrain invaders
”We will not waste a shot, Victor,” exclaimed Hans; ”let us thrust the brutes doith these lances They can never succeed in cliun ready, but let us use these lances whilst we find them useful”
The defeat of the surprise party, or rather spies,--for it was to ascertain whether an enemy really was in the caves that the Matabili ventured on this errand,--caused a momentary delay on the part of the Matabili; but their system of warfare was one quite different froht in the bush, and much after the fashi+on of the North American Indians The Matabili, however, like to come to close quarters with their eneth Confident in his nuave the order to attack the Dutchhold The Matabili who had been wounded in the first attack had remained concealed in the ravines until the arrival of his companions, and it was by his information that the chief learnt that there was a causeway by which he could reach the position of his ene his forces into three divisions, he ordered one to climb the rock where the spy had just been hurled down
The second division he directed to attack by the causehilst the third was to endeavour to find some third means of ascent, or at least to iving undivided attention to the other parts of attack These arrange been co their shi+elds to add to the noise, rushed towards the points of attack
Whilst one party endeavoured to ascend the wall of rock, the other suddenly found themselves opposed by stakes, and a steep rock and bank
Expecting st them, they were surprised to find no atte this to only one cause, they shouted to each other that the white ed they climbed on one another's shoulders, and thus reached the level of the rock No sooner, however, did the body of a Matabili rise above the level of the plateau, than the deadly thrust of a lance hurled the intruder back lifeless a ene one of their numbers to the level of the rock, but it was only to find hih with the broad blade of one of their own iron spear-heads Still the shouts ”Their powder is all done” gave encouragement to others to attempt an entrance to the fortification; and it was only when ten men had been sacrificed, that the chief ordered his men to desist, in order that some other plan of attack should be adopted
”So far it has been all gain on our side,” said Hans; ”we have not fired a shot yet we have beaten theht of mine, to make those spears We must not let them knoe have powder; for if they believe we have none, they may make plans which we can easily defeat”
For more than an hour the Matabili ht well be terain advanced to the attack, shouting as before Hans and Victor prepared to resist their foes, and stood behind the breastwork they had raised ready to thrust down the intruders Whilst their attention was thus directed below theht noise above attracted their attention, and both turned to look at the rock above, when they instantly saw the plot of their crafty enemies The Matabili, by a circuitous path, had ascended the sue, and then climbed to the rocks above the plateau: they had then loosened so to cast these down on the two Dutchmen, when the latter, attracted by the noise, turned and saw their danger
The rocks above the plateau on which were the whitethan receded from the perpendicular, so that it required the man who hurled the stone to lean forward in order to cast it on the right spot: had it fallen attracted by gravity alone, the stones would have passed clear of the plateau, and would have descended into the ravine below
The ground above the slight ridge on which the Matabili had taken up their position was nearly perpendicular, and being bare of underwood, offered no cover to the le false step would have resulted in the fall of the man into the ravine belohere he would be undoubtedly dashed to pieces Thus it was a e above the plateau This position, however, entirely commanded the Dutchht noise, the white norant of the position of their enemies, until the fall of heavy stones on or near theer
I to cast these heavy stones on him, he called to Victor to keep close to the rocks ”They cannot touch us here,” said Hans; ”but we must use some bullets on the the men who venture to climb up Yes,” he continued, ”that is their plan, and it is clever
These men above hope to keep us back whilst the others obtain a footing on our rock, then it would be all over with us; but ill just teach them a lesson Now, Victor, we must be quicker than those stones; we et the men to hurl their rocks down, but we must avoid them; then instantly, before they have another rock ready, we must shoot them down They are not sixty yards above us, and we can each drop a running ourebi at that distance Are you ready now?”
”Yes,” replied Victor, and the twoan instant, sprang back under cover of the rock They were only just in time to avoid two heavy masses of stone that were hurled at them by the Matabili above them; whilst those below shouted defiantly, and instantly coain to ascend to their enemies
”Now for our bullets on those above,” said Hans; ”we must be quick I will take the fellow on the sunny side, you the uns, there was a shout of ridicule from those below, as well as those above ”Their powder is done” was the cry, hs This, however, did not affect the aim of the two hunters, who covered each his man, and the two shots fired in rapid succession were echoed froe
One of the Matabili sank instantly to the ground motionless, and there remained, as still as the rocks around hi stones, rose on his feet, and with a tre off fro body he cleaved through the air, struck against a projecting rock in his descent, and, crashi+ng through the branches of the trees below, fellhis comrades
The effect of the shot on the other Matabili was instantly visible
Those ere cli up the rock at once retreated under cover, for they no that they were opposed to desperate one, and who, it was evident, could use their weapons with skill
The two re men who had ascended the rocks at once endeavoured to escape One, in his eagerness,down the incline, bounded off into the air, and was killed by his fall into the depths below The other, however, ed to effect his escape
”They will not be anxious to try that again,” said Hans ”I wonder what their next plan of attack will be They can't burn us out, for these solid old rocks are fire-proof; neither are they likely to starve us out As long as they have no fire-arms we are tolerably certain to be able to defeat the this place; so I am curious to knohat they will try to do next”
For fully two hours the Matabili were quiet, no sound indicating that they were near
”Do you think it possible they have decided to leave us?” inquired Victor