Suddenly, without warning, a dozen feathered missiles sped from the apparently deserted forest around them. Two blacks fell. Major White, walking beside Orman, clutched at a feathered shaft protruding from his breast and fell at Orman's feet. The askaris and the Arabs fired blindly into the forest. The column came to a sudden halt.
"Again!" whispered Rhonda Terry.
Naomi Madison screamed and slipped to the floor of the car. Rhonda opened the door and stepped out onto the ground.
"Get back in, Rhonda!" cried Baine. "Get under cover."
The girl shook her head as though the suggestion irritated her. "Where is Bill?" she asked. "Is he up in front?"
"Not way up," replied Baine; "only a few cars ahead of us."
The men all along the line of cars slipped to the ground with their rifles and stood searching the forest to right and left for some sign of an enemy.
A man was crawling under a truck.
"What the hell are you doing, Obroski?" demanded Noice.
"I—I'm going to lie in the shade until we start again."