Part 22 (1/2)
”Not a bad shot that,” Jack remarked serenely ”It touched the roof, ricochetted off, and burst away behind”
The next shot proved al, for it was a shrapnel shell, and exploded so a hail of bullets spattering in all directions
”They've got the range now, and I think we had better get below,” said Jack ”We shall be quite safe from a rush, for the Boers cannot co us I expect they will continue firing till they have sallop up full-tilt That will be our ti has killed or wounded all of us We will hold our fire till they are at the railings, and then ill blaze into thehtfall, but then, if help does not reach us, it will go hard with us Tim must have slipped into the town by this, so we can hope for the best”
”I will play so for you, if you like,” said Eileen Russel at thisup, but just to show you that I feel quite safe in your hands, and have no fear of the Boers, you shall have some music What shall it be?”
”Let us have 'God Save the Queen!' Miss Russel,” Wilfred cried ”It will irl stood up at one end of the cellar, and in that curious place, and with shell and bullets plunging through the walls of the house above, and occasionally exploding with a deafening noise which drowned the music for the lishman worthy of the proud na, and to the Boer horse, and approached the farmhouse within fifty yards, it was totally inexplicable Here were a fewto the strains of their national anthe all about theht And plucky too, for that violin he heard was played by a young girl's hands
Eileen played right through the anthem, and was heartily applauded by the men, who sat round her, rifle in hand, their faces dimly lit by the rays from the oil-lamp which had been placed upon the floor
By this tih with shell,A few had struck directly upon the stone slabs above the cellar, but all save one had rily and poured out a quantity of smoke But one burst, and blew part of the roof of the house away, also shattering two of the stone slabs
”Volunteers to replace the da his head up through the trap and inspecting the havoc ”Two of the slabs above us have been blown to pieces and must be replaced at once, or else an unlucky shell will pitch through the boards and come in here on top of us”
Wilfred at once rose to his feet, and the two darted up the ladder and into the kitchen Here they found that a brick wall, built to carry the cooking range, stood between the Boer fire and the ponies, so that the hail of Mauser bullets had for the h the wall at the back and had killed a pony, while a shell burst through the thin layer of brick just as Jack and Wilfred entered, and, throwing a shower of dust and debris in all directions, inflicted a fearful wound upon another of the captured ponies and flew out through the other wall
”Poor beast!” exclaiony They will not hearup to the wounded aniainst its chest and pulled the trigger The bullet passed through its heart and killed the suffering animal instantly
”Now for the stones!” he said quietly ”I'll lever them up, and then help you to put the the other gun into place, and preparing to fire it”
Jack took a hasty view through one of the loopholes with his glasses, and then proceeded to prise up the slabs from the kitchen floor Five minutes sufficed to co to descend into the bomb-proof chamber once more, a loud and incessant rat, tat, tat sounded in the distance, followed an instant later by a continuous hue was found, by a streah the far in their way into matchwood
”Come down, lads!” cried Frank Russel anxiously ”That's a quick-firing Vickers-Maxi dose of that while the mounted uns ready, and i ceases climb out of this and man the walls I expect they'll come mostly from the front, for they don't know of this cellar, and will fancy we are all wiped out Well, we'll teach thereed we hold our fire till they are within a few yards of the railings,” said Jack ”A volley to start ill be the thing, and then when they reach the garden ill use our azines”
”That's it, lad!” Frank Russel answered ”We all understand, and we'll hold our fire till you give the word George! they are pouring it in this tiood cause for this last remark, for above their heads there was a perfect pandemonium, in which the loud rip, rip, and screaain a dull, heavy thud, as one struck the slabs above, caused all to start nervously
But they ell protected, and although the position was not exactly pleasant, or devoid of danger, they bore the bombardment with a serenity which onderful At any ht find its way into the cellar, and deal a sudden and awful death to all
Indeed Jack began to wonder ould be the best course to adopt supposing one of the bombs did happen by ill-luck to find an entry, and lie in front of the ere it shattered itself and its is to pieces He had seen that some of them did no more than splutter and sed way that he would take immediate action and remove it to the slabs above If it burst in his hand--well--neither he nor his friends would ever know ht be able to remove it in time, and so save all their lives
But he was never called upon to take such a desperate risk, and instead sat silently in his corner, s the smoke which Frank Russel and Wilfred blew out fro slowly up froht overhead, and then suddenly cut in twain by a rushi+ng shell Even Eileen was interested in it, and, catching Jack's gaze fixed in the same direction, smiled at him just to sho steady she felt ”Look out, lads!” exclaimed Frank Russel a fewthose shells into us, and we had better get back to our posts”
All four at once scra across the floor, looked out over the sunlit veldt In front it was covered by a nu Boers upon their backs
Jack at once rushed to the other side of the house and gazed in that direction, but there was no one to be seen