In the grip of the Mullah: A tale of adventure in Somaliland

by F. S. Brereton

As he spoke, the sheik, whose astonishment had at first been overpowering, suddenly recovered his wits, and, rendered desperate by the position in which he found himself, and fearful of losing credit with his following, suddenly sprang to the front, and, turning towards his men, shouted loud words of encouragement.

"Are you then afraid?" he cried. "Shall these few infidel dogs turn us from our purpose? On! Let not the flash of their weapons terrify you and rob you of your bravery. Forward! Death to the enemy!"

Swinging round until he faced the gorge once more, he levelled his gun at it, and pulled the trigger. Then he tossed it to one side, knowing that it would be useless in a hand-to-hand conflict, and drawing a long, double-handed sword from his waist with the quickness of a flash, he charged at the defenders.

Taking encouragement from his words and action, the tribesmen at once sprang forward and joined him, following close on his heels, and setting up a fierce shout which awoke the echoes, and almost deafened the defenders. "Kill them!" they shouted. "Slay the infidels!"

Pressing forward at their fastest pace, they were soon within some twenty yards of the barrier. But at that moment the rifles flashed out again, and a storm of bullets was poured into their midst. Throwing out the catch of their magazines, Jim's followers sent missile after missile into their midst without cessation, and, pausing only to replenish them, opened again, rising in their excitement from behind their shelter, so as to obtain a better aim.

Three times did the tribesmen win their way to within a few paces of the wall of stones, but on each occasion the rifles of the defenders beat them back. Then they retired sulkily, and, taking up their posts behind boulders and scraps of cover, which existed here and there, open a stinging fusillade upon the ravine.

"Order the men to lie down behind the rocks!" cried Jim; "and tell them that they are to reserve their shots until they are certain that they can see one of the enemy. They are then to take careful aim, and pick him off without wasting a cartridge. Let them show these tribesmen that recklessness will not pay, and that the instant one rises from his shelter he will be slain."

Obedient to the orders which were repeated to them by Ali Kumar, the native followers lay down upon their ledges, and kept a careful watch upon the tribesmen. But all the while each held his rifle to his shoulder, and closely scrutinizing the moonlit plain beyond, endeavoured to discover the whereabouts of lurking tribesmen. Then, taking careful aim, and waiting till the man he covered rose to empty his weapon in the direction of the ravine, he pressed his trigger gently and sent his bullets home. Not once, but many times, did the defenders pick off one of the enemy, and, when an hour had passed, quite twenty had paid the penalty for their boldness.

"Their volleys seem to be getting heavier," remarked Jim, some twenty minutes later, when a perfect storm of slugs whistled and shrieked through the entrance of the ravine, striking against the rocks on either side to glance off them and ricochet into space with a characteristic note to which an old soldier would have been quite accustomed. Others struck the hastily built wall of stones, and, smashing to pieces there, sent a shower of fragments in all directions. Indeed, so heavy and well-aimed was the tribesmen's fusillade, that a number of the small garrison were wounded, but only to a slight extent, thanks to the nature of the missiles used.

"Yes, it is certainly becoming heavier, and I should not be surprised if they made another rush before very long. Sing out to the men to be prepared, Ali, and tell them that on this occasion I shall not give the command to open fire until they are considerably closer, for they will have had their warning, and will most likely come on in open order, in which case we could not hope to inflict much loss, for the light is uncertain, and makes accurate aiming difficult. But they are bound to come together within a few yards of this, and that is the moment we must select for blazing into them."