“Yes, sergeant, to shoot down those men.”
“No, no, my lads; what you’ve got to do is to put those torches out, and the way to do it is with the bayonet. Stand ready there to slip over the breast-work, all of you, then a sharp run, and meet them as they come, and then back again under cover.”
As he spoke the smoke of the dammar-torches could be seen, and some ten or twelve Malays came running across from the earth-works to set fire to the pile.
There was not a man behind the breast-work whose breath did not come thick and fast at the sight of the lights; for brave as they were, they knew that once the building they defended caught fire, the dry, sun-baked wood must flare away like so much paper; and there were women shut in there with them, whom it was their duty to defend.
It was no wonder then that the men tightly grasped their bayonet-armed rifles, and stood waiting for the command, that did not come. For just as it was upon the sergeant’s lips a panting noise was heard, and as every eye was directed up the river, the masts of the steamer were seen coming along above the trees, and for the present the little garrison felt that they were saved.
Chapter Forty Nine.
How Ali went to spy out the Land.
A tremor of excitement seemed to run through the attacking party; men hurried here and there; the bearers of the dammar-torches paused irresolute, and it was evident to the besieged that contrary orders were being given.