CHAPTER VII
The Fight in the Desert
URGING their steeds to the utmost, the three fugitives rode with setfaces, resolving either to escape or to fight to the end. Recapturewould mean far worse than death.
Grasping his pistol tightly in his right hand, and steadying himselfwith his left, Reeves turned in his saddle and took a swift yetcomprehensive view of the pursuing Arabs. There were five of them,all fully clad in white, showing that they were the chief men of thetribe. Each had a gun slung across his shoulder, and by the length ofthe barrels the Englishman knew, to his satisfaction, that they weresmooth-bore flintlocks, and not the modern rifles used by the Arabson the coast. Gun flints are practically indestructible, andgunpowder can be manufactured by the Arabs under the mostrough-and-ready conditions; but cartridges are comparatively scarce.Consequently, for all ordinary purposes--except in inter-tribalfights, when rapid firing is essential to success--the denizens ofthe desert prefer to husband their supplies of modern ammunition, andprefer to use flint.
"They are gaining slightly, I fear," remarked Reeves. "Still, we havea fighting chance. I wish we could take aim."
On they tore, pursuers and pursued, till at length one of the Arabstook a flying shot. The bullet fell short, knocking up a shower ofsand barely forty yards behind the Englishmen. This was a certainsign that the intervening distance was diminishing.
"What's that ahead?" exclaimed Gerald, pointing to a small, black,pillar-like object in the sand a full mile away.
"It's a rock," replied Hugh.
"That's a blessing!" ejaculated Reeves, for his camel was beginningto show signs of having over-exerted himself. "I only hope there areno more of the brutes in ambush," he muttered.
There were two alternatives--either halting and making a stand in theopen, or taking the risks that the rock already concealed more of theArabs, and, if not, enjoying the advantages of fighting with theirbacks against a wall.
Reeves chose the latter. It was evident that flight was now out ofthe question, for, in addition to his hierie showing signs offatigue, the lads' camels were almost at the end of their stride.
At length the fugitives drew up at the place they had selected, tomake their desperate defence. It was, on closer acquaintance, a largemass of rock, sheer on three sides, and sloping steeply on theremaining front. The most active climber in the world could not hope,without climbing implements, to scale the perpendicular sides, whichwere quite twenty feet in height, and worn smooth by the action ofsandstorms through countless ages. At the base of the fourth sidethere was a fairly wide trench, partly filled with drifting sand, alow wall of irregularly-shaped rock forming a breastwork about twofeet in height.
"Couldn't be better!" exclaimed Reeves, as he slipped from his camel."Be sharp; make these brutes lie down. Never mind that; it's over."This last remark was addressed to Gerald, who ducked his head as abullet flattened itself out upon the rock a good six feet from theground.
The camels, fortunately tractable and docile, were made to lie in thetrench, while, to be perfectly sure that they would not stampede andleave the fugitives in the lurch, Hugh fastened their halterstogether.
"Now we're fairly comfortable," continued the correspondent, as heplaced his reserve of cartridges by his side. "Those fellows won'tkeep firing long, I fancy. When they make a rush for it, wait tillthey are the length of a cricket pitch off, then let them have itwith some of these stones. Ah! That was a close one!"
A bullet clipped the edge of his _burnous_, while two others knockedchips off the rock behind which the three fugitives were sheltering.
"We can stand plenty of that," continued Reeves. "I only hope theywon't wait till the sun gets up, or we'll be baked in this hole."
Suddenly there was a dull thud, like that of a stone striking a sackof corn. One of the camels had incautiously raised its head, and hadreceived a shot in the throat. It gave a strange sort ofcry--half-groan, half-shriek--stretched its long neck on the ground,and closed its patient-looking eyes.
"That's awkward," remarked Reeves. "If this goes on, it will end inour having to tramp to the river." He spoke calmly, unwilling toalarm his charges, but the loss of a hierie could not be too highlytaken into account.
For quite a quarter of an hour the Arabs maintained a desultory fire,holding their antiquated weapons with the utmost deliberation, andfiring from a distance of less than one hundred yards. Reevesparticularly noticed that the "missfires" were few and far between,the great breadth of the Arabs' flints emitting such a large sparkthat the priming rarely failed to take fire.
All this while the defenders lay low within their natural fortress.Reeves was unwilling to fire a shot in reply, lest the Arabs shouldfear to close, and instead ride off for additional assistance. Thatwould have been fatal for the Englishmen. Stern necessity decreedthat it should be a fight to the death for one side.
Presently the Arabs dismounted, and, leaving their camels without anyattempt to secure them, worked their way round behind the rock.
Reeves gave a low whistle--a thing he always did when annoyed.
"They'll be able to rush us easier that way," he exclaimed; "but itcan't be helped. Got plenty of stones? Good! Now, look out!"
The Arabs, still maintaining a respectful distance, continued firing,their bullets whizzing by the side of the rock, as if they meant tofrighten the Kafirs before rushing in upon them. Cautiously Reevesand the two lads crept close to the base of their towering shelter.
"They'll close after the next volley," said the correspondent calmly."See that fellow with the red belt? You tackle him, Rags. Gerald, youmust have a shot at that amiable-looking gentleman with the greybeard. His spear looks particularly annoying. Now, keep cool; imagineyou're bowling with your first eleven."
Three of the Arabs had divested themselves of the upper part of theirclothing, and had accomplished what is termed in Scripture thegirding up of their loins. The others made no preparations for therush whatever.
Reeves was perfectly correct in his surmise. The Arabs do not takereadily to the use of firearms, and the primitive instinct to closewith their adversaries is still strong within them.
"Here they come!"
A volley, sounding almost like a single shot, whistled over thedefenders' heads, or else the bullets flattened against the rock.Dropping their firearms, the men picked up their spears or swords,and, with a fierce yell, rushed with incredible velocity upon theapparently defenceless unbelievers.
Reeves let them come to within thirty yards of the rock.
"Not yet," he cautioned hurriedly, as the lads bravely stood up tomeet their savage foes.
Steadying the muzzle of his pistol in the hollow of his left arm, thecorrespondent took careful aim full at the heaving chest of theforemost Arab, a mop-haired Baggara, who was brandishing a long,double-handed sword.
The pistol flashed; there was a report like the crack of a whip; butstill the Arabs bounded towards the defenders.
Crack! Another shot. An Arab immediately behind the swordsman sprangup in the air and fell, and a second later the Baggara faltered,turned twice round, and dropped, still grasping his gleaming weapon.
Then the lads hurled their missiles. Hugh's stone caught one of theassailants full in the forehead, toppling him over like a secondGoliath; but Gerald's aim was faulty, and his stone whizzedhandsomely by a tall, lithe spearman.
The next moment the two surviving Arabs, reckless in the heat of thefight, were upon them. Even as one leapt in order to deliver a fiercethrust with his keen, broad-bladed spear, Reeves fired full in hisface. The man was killed instantly, but the impetus of his rush madehim fall on top of Gerald, who was preparing to throw another stone.Unable to check his speed, the last Arab tripped over the body of hiscomrade; and before he could recover himself, Reeves shot him alsothrough the head.
Exhausted by their efforts, it was some time before the victors couldutter a sound. Now the fight was over, thirst began to assert itself.
"It turned out better tha
n I thought," remarked Reeves, as herecharged his pistol. "It was a pretty close shave at the end. When Ihave time I must flatten the heads of these bullets. Beyond ten yardsthey are almost useless for stopping a man."
"We won't be hard up for arms now," said Hugh, "and camels as well."
"Water is what we most require at present," replied thecorrespondent. "No doubt there are a few skinfuls with the camels,and perhaps some of these beauties have a small supply on them. Let'ssee!"
A search of the bodies of the two men who had been shot at closerange revealed nothing in the shape of water bottles. One man had,however, hampered himself with a small bag of dates, of which thevictors took possession.
"You dropped that fellow pretty neatly with that stone, Rags,"observed Gerald, as they made their way over to where the first threeArabs had fallen.
"Be careful!" cautioned Reeves, as the two lads approached themotionless body of the Arab whom Hugh had brought down.
Hugh was just on the point of asking why, when there was a generalcommotion as the Arab staggered to his feet and hurled his spear fullat Gerald, who was leading.
Taken completely by surprise, Gerald stood stockstill. He would havebeen transfixed by the hurtling weapon had not Hugh pulled himviolently on one side.
With a snarl the Arab drew his short knife and ran in upon the lads,who promptly took to their heels.
Finding that pursuit was impossible, the half-dazed man directed hisattention to Reeves, who unwillingly, though actuated by sternnecessity, was compelled to shoot him as he ran.
"That's an old trick," remarked the correspondent. "Many of our menlost their lives in the Sudan through Arabs feigning death. Now,let's look at these two. I am rather curious to see what happened."So saying, he led the way to where the Baggara swordsman and thesecond Arab were shot.
The Baggara lay on his back. Just below the left shoulder blade was asmall puncture, while another was visible barely three inches lowerdown. Both shots had taken effect, but owing to their high velocityhad failed to stop the man instantly. But the strange part was thatthe second shot, after passing clean through the man's body, andlosing some of its rate of speed, had struck the Arab who was behindhim in the forehead, causing instant death.
This man was carrying a small goatskin water bottle, but in his fallhe had burst it, and the precious liquid was utterly wasted.
"Hard lines!" ejaculated Hugh, rolling his tongue in his parchedmouth.
"We must see what the camels have on them," said the correspondent."Be careful how you approach them; they might run."
"They are used to us," replied Hugh. "We've taken them to be wateredmany a time;" and uttering the Arab cry of "Lu-lu-lu", the lad madehis way towards the spot where the five camels were standing.
"They won't move, you see," he continued, hastening his pace. "Look!two of them have water bottles slung from the saddles."
"Wait till I bring our two beasts out," called Reeves from adistance.
Either it was sheer obstinacy on Hugh's part, or else he failed tohear his elder comrade's warning, for without waiting for the alreadytractable camels to be brought out to entice the others, he advancedboldly towards the masterless animals.
Suddenly the five camels bolted, and in a cloud of sand were soonlost to sight.
Reeves bit his lip and said nothing. Hugh also was silent, but Geraldgave an exclamation of despair. The same fact was apparent to each ofthem. They were stranded in the desert, with only two hieries betweenthem, and not a drop of water to drink.
Captured at Tripoli: A Tale of Adventure Page 7