“By the Lord, has a single man done this?” It was Webster who spoke. He had heard the conflict, had seen the first blow given by Sirayo, and had rubbed fiercely to bring back the blood to his numbed limbs.
“They will come,” said Sirayo, speaking slowly; “I will hold them for a time. When I fall be ready to take my place. The inkosikasi, does she live?”
“Yes,” said Webster, with his eyes brightening at the unyielding courage of the savage warrior.
“Give her an assegai,” he said, and put the point of his blood-stained blade to his throat.
Webster shuddered at the fearful significance of the gesture, then picked up an assegai, and stood waiting with the Gaika to bar the passage.
There was a cry from Laura. “Come,” she said, “quick!”
Webster turned with a roar, expecting to face the foe; but he stood amazed to see the native who had so opportunely arrived to cut their bands disappearing through a hole in the wall. Laura stood by, holding Hume by the hand, while with the disengaged hand she pointed at the hole.
“A refuge,” she whispered; “a hiding-place.”
“Hold the passage a minute, Sirayo,” he cried, then ran to her, and looked through into a dark cavern. “Is it safe?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Hume; “but I have lost half my perception with the loss of sight; there is some sort of cave here, I think. The man told me he had run here for shelter.”