Ti-hi contrived to make us understand now that as soon as the sun had gone down, and it was dark, he would lead us away to the river side and then along the gorge, so that by the next morning we could be far out of our enemies’ reach, when they came expecting to find us in the cave.
His communication was not easy to comprehend, but that this was what he meant there could be no doubt, for we all three read it in the same way.
Encouraged then by this hope we waited impatiently for the going down of the sun, which was now slowly nearing the broad shoulder of a great hill. Another half-hour and it would have disappeared, when the valley would begin to fill with shadows, darkness—the tropic darkness—would set in at once, and then I knew we should have to lose no time in trying to escape.
But we were not to get away without an attack from the enemy of a bolder nature than any they had yet ventured upon.
For some little time the arrow shooting had slackened and we watched anxiously to see what it meant, for there was evidently a good deal of excitement amongst the enemy, who were running from bush to stone, and had we been so disposed we could easily have brought three or four down.
But of course all we wished for was freedom from attack, and in the hope that they were somewhat disheartened, and were perhaps meditating retreat, we waited and withheld our fire.
Our hopes were short-lived though, for it proved that they were only preparing for a more fierce onslaught, which was delivered at the end of a few minutes, some twenty savages bounding along the slope war-club in hand, two to fall disabled by a mass of stone that thundered down from above.
We fired at the same moment and the advance was checked, the savages gathering together in a hesitating fashion, when crash, crash, another mass of rock which had been set at liberty far up the hillside came bounding down, gathering impetus and setting at liberty an avalanche of great stones, from which the savages now turned and fled for their lives, leaving the valley free to a single black figure, which came climbing down from far up the steep slope, waddy in hand; and on reaching the level advanced towards us in the fast darkening eve, looking coolly to right and left to see if any enemy was left, but without a single arrow being discharged.
A minute later he was looking over our breastwork into the shallow cave, showing his teeth, which shone in the gloom as he exclaimed:
“Black fellow dreffle hungry. Give Jimmy somefin eat. All gone now.”