“Silence!”
Then, sharply, “Fire, my lads, if you see any one following.”
“Ay, ay, sir.”
“Yes, it would be a pity,” said the lieutenant thoughtfully; “but it’s tempting. If we could get in front, Herrick, we could tow the load, and it would shelter us all from the firing.”
“Unless they got to be level with us, sir,” I said.
“And—quick! right and left, my lads. Fire!” cried the lieutenant; for there was the breaking of undergrowth close at hand on either side, and a savage yelling commenced as our pursuers forced their way through.
The men, who had been like hounds held back by the leash, were only too glad to get their orders; and in an instant there was quite a blaze of fire from both sides of the boat, the bullets cutting and whistling through the thick trees and undergrowth; and the movement on the banks, with the cracking and rustling of the bushes and tufts of bamboo, stopped as if by magic.
“Cease firing!” cried Mr Reardon; and then, as if to himself, “Every shot is wasted.”
I did not think so, for it had checked the enemy, who allowed us to go on slowly another hundred yards or so.
“Allee velly dleadful,” whispered Ching to me, as he crouched in the bottom of the boat. “You tinkee hit Ching?”