Webster laughed; but Klaas, in his excitement at the first shot, bounded forward, swinging his axe and hurling insults at the foe.
"Come back, you fool!" shouted Hume hoa.r.s.ely.
The Gaika danced back on his toes, and at his curious antics Miss Anstrade laughed; but at the sight of the pa.s.sion in his face the laugh ended hysterically.
"Come behind the boxes, Laura," cried Webster.
"I would rather stand here until you are ready," she said proudly, while with trembling fingers she extracted the empty cartridge and inserted another. The sharp crack of her rifle rang out again, and then she began to fire rapidly.
At last the barricade was finished, and the little laager was complete, flanked on one side by the huge tree, on the left by the waggon and bank of turf, at the ends by boxes and bags.
"Now for the outer fence," said Hume; and climbing over the boxes they began quickly to draw the thorn branches, with the stems in. This outer fence left a clear s.p.a.ce of about fifteen feet.
"Pa.s.s up, sieur," cried Klaas, as Hume walked out to cut down another tree; "there are men creeping round."
"Get my gun!"
Klaas sprang for the heavy weapon; and Hume stood on an ant-hill to take a look at the foe. They appeared halting about three hundred yards off, with their shields before them, and their waving plumes nodding above, while their a.s.segai blades threw off the sunlight in sparks.
"They have not moved," said Miss Anstrade, "since I fired."
But Klaas knew differently, and his keen eyes had seen a few men glide into the long gra.s.s, to show themselves momentarily at lessening intervals, and when he judged they were too near to be pleasant he cried out:
"There, baas! there, my good baas, by the round bush!" indicating a spot about one hundred yards away.
As Hume raised his Express a bullet struck the ant-hill beneath him, while a cloud of smoke drifted away from a rock to the right of the bush. At this there was a shout from the main body, and the enemy dashed forward.
The Express covered the bush, and as the leaves shook it cracked, then, swinging his gun round, he covered one of the advancing troop and fired again.
"Hit!" said Webster.
"To the laager!" shouted Hume; and the little party clambered into the enclosure.
"Lie down, Laura, there, under the waggon."
"Will they get in?" she asked.
Hume fired twice.
"Too high, Jim; aim at their feet. No, they won"t come within sixty yards;" and he fired again.
The shouts of the Zulus rose hoa.r.s.e and terrible, mingled with shrill whistling. On they rushed, right up to the outer barricade, and then, as they were brought up, and the terrible Express bullets tore through them, they hurled their throwing a.s.segais, then scattered and fled for shelter. Some of the a.s.segais entered the little fort and were embedded in the earth, their hafts quivering; others glanced along the branches, and many stuck into the waggon.
"That was a warm rush," said Webster; "and if it had not been for the mercy of that fence we would have been speared to a certainty."
Hume was pa.s.sing a cleaner through the barrels of his Express, and looking over the box barricade at the enemy, or, rather, for a sign of them, for they had apparently sunk into the earth. He did not reply, but turned presently and looked at Miss Anstrade.
"Well?" she questioned.
"If they make another rush, having now warmed to it, two rifles will not keep them back, and then--"
"Yes."
"There can only be one end," he looked at her with sad eyes, and then added, "for us."
"And for me?" she asked.
He turned away.
She came from under the waggon.
"I understand," she said firmly; "and if they come again there will be three rifles."
No sooner had she stood up, than an a.s.segai, hurled from the rear, whizzed by her head and plunged into the tree. Before they could turn, Klaas with one bound sprang over the barricade, and, throwing his hand back, launched an a.s.segai at a small bush beyond the fence, then quickly darted another; and, as the second spear rattled through the leaves, a tall Zulu sprang up. Springing over the bushes he leapt towards the fence, and, with one terrific bound cleared its bristling height, the tufted armlets and long feathers streaming behind, and as he reached the ground he thundered his war-cry. Before this magnificent rush the Gaika held his ground, his body stooping, the slender a.s.segai quivering in his fingers as he poised it, and, as the Zulu struck the ground the weapon sped from his hand. Swift it flew, and straight, so that it seemed there could be no escape from its thirsting blade; but the Zulu"s shield met it, and with a sure turn of the wrist, sent it whirring harmlessly through the thorns.
Then the Gaika, weaponless, tore the shirt from his body, baring his naked breast, and stood with folded arms. The Zulu caught the Kaffir by his arm, and, towering up a full head taller, glared down into his eyes, and raised his stabbing a.s.segai.
At the sight, the three spectators in the little fort stood horrified, while from behind numerous ant-hills there rose up men to watch the scene.
"Klaas," said a quiet, authoritative voice, "fall down, and I will shoot."
At the voice the Zulu fixed his fierce and bloodshot eyes upon the group, dwelt for a moment on the white face of the lady, then rested with a questioning look.
"Eh, Hu-em," he cried, then drew the point of his spear across the muscular breast of the Kaffir, leaving a lone red line. His hand relaxed, and Klaas, turning, was inside the laager in a moment, where he picked up another a.s.segai.
The Zulu stood between the fence and the barricade, calmly looking at the white men, and presenting, as he stood there, the very picture of war, with courage expressed in the poise of his head, command in the fearless glance of his eye, character and will in the clear sweep of his clean-cut jaws, strength in the broad shoulders, and activity in the straight limbs, all bone and muscle.
"Do not shoot him," answered Miss Anstrade.
"Shoot him! Good heavens, no! Is it Sirayo?"
"Yebo!"
Hume sprang over the boxes, and ran with outstretched hands to the great warrior, who had led the last charge at the battle of Ulundi, and had distinguished himself in a hundred desperate fights.
"Why are you fighting against us, Sirayo, my friend?"
"I was told you were bad people. So I came here to kill or die. What matters it? Sirayo is no longer a chief, his a.s.segai is at anyone"s command."
"Come in, my friend. We are not bad; these people have three times tried to steal our cattle, now they would take our lives. We are but four, and one is a woman."
"Tell me the story," said the Zulu, "and I will listen."
Hume told him all that had occurred, and when he had finished Sirayo turned once more, dragged a thorn-bush away, and stepping through, advanced into the open.
Hume stood anxiously waiting, and Webster, coming to his side, asked if he should shoot.
"Wait; I know this man well. There is no treachery in him, and he may prove our friend." Still he waited breathlessly.