At full Tilt
Eagerly he peered ahead through the narrow tortuous passage. None of the Cossacks was in sight. He galloped on, hoping to reach the other end before they arrived; it would be easy to hold the entrance against them. He had almost reached the farther opening when he came full tilt on the leading Russian horseman, a Transbaikal Cossack riding with loose rein, pistol in hand. He was some twenty yards in advance of the troop. In the heat of the race Jack had not anticipated the chance of a fight on horseback. Before he could draw his pistol the Russian had fired: the bullet whizzed harmlessly past Jack's head. With astonishing dexterity the Russian whipped his sword from the scabbard; by the time Jack had his pistol ready only a few yards separated the two. Then Jack fired; the Russian's uplifted sword dropped from his hand, and the ponies came together with a thud. Both riders fell to the ground, Jack being thrown lightly on the slope to the right, thus fortunately escaping the hoofs of the ponies following. He arose dazed, saw a confused mass of men in front of him, heard shouts and the crack of pistols. Pulling himself together, he ordered his men to dismount and line the sides of the gully. In an instant some scores of them were scrambling up the bluffs on both sides, leaving their ponies to be gradually passed to the rear by their comrades.
The men in front, finding themselves unsupported, began to give way, but slowly and stubbornly. As the Russians could only advance two abreast, and that with difficulty, two or three precious minutes were gained, during which the crests of the slopes on either side were manned by the Chunchuses. Now Jack gave the word to open fire. His men were breathless; their limbs were quivering; and their hasty ill-directed shots did little execution. But several horses and men fell in the Russian van; the pressure on the mounted Chunchuses who were stemming the Russian advance was reduced; and then, as the marksmen steadied and took deliberate aim, a hot and deadly fire was poured into the enemy's ranks. The Russians made an attempt to reply, taking advantage of cover where they could, some of them sheltering themselves behind the ponies that had fallen. But the bandits had all the advantage of position; the Cossacks, after a gallant stand, were forced to give way; and leaving more than thirty of their number on the ground they galloped back a half-mile to a shoulder of the hill, where they found protection from the rifle-fire of the Chunchuses.
CHAPTER XVIII
A Fight in the Hills
Playing the Game—A Sprint—Hit—Waiting—Across the Open—Hard Beset—Between two Fires—The Raising of the Siege—The Spoils—The Rear-Guard—The Outlook
The onfall had been so violent and the fight so brisk and rapid that Jack had had no time to form any plans or give any but the most obvious orders demanded by the exigency of the moment. He was exceedingly glad of the breathing space afforded by the withdrawal of the enemy. If he had checked them, it was only because he was able to forestall them in the cleft; the real struggle was to come.
He utilized the pause to make good his position in the pass. The narrow path was strewn with boulders. With these each bandit made his own little fort, so arranging them, when they were not too heavy to be moved, as to give the maximum of cover against the enemy's fire. Jack wondered what form the Russian attack would take. The pass was so narrow, its course so uneven, that direct fire from the farther end would not, he thought, be very effective. That he was right was soon proved. In about a quarter of an hour the Cossacks opened a spasmodic rifle-fire from the rough ground about three-quarters of a mile away. It made no impression on the Chunchuses, except that one man was shot dead by a ricochet.
Apparently convinced of the hopelessness of loosening the bandits' hold upon the pass, the Russians ceased firing. As the minutes passed in silence, Jack wondered what their next move was to be. Faint sounds of shots came from the distance; Ah Lum's band was evidently still engaged; surely the commander of the men opposed to Jack must know that he was losing precious time, and would make some real effort to join hands with the other force. Jack could not but suspect that some movement was being developed quietly and out of sight, a suspicion strengthened when firing again broke out, intermittent, absolutely ineffective, probably designed to withdraw his attention from anything beyond his immediate front. From his position in the pass he could see nothing of the surrounding country; but about a hundred yards nearer the Russians there was a point from which he thought a good view might be obtained. To reach it, however, he would have to run the gauntlet of the Russian fire; for at least thirty yards he would be fully exposed without possibility of taking cover. Should he risk it?