"I'm afraid it is. Fido is quite a standing dish in China."
Mrs. Pottle looked horrified.
"I wonder," she said reflectively, "what that stew was they gave us yesterday?..."
Her speculations were broken in upon by the sight of Ah-Sam running up the gully.
"Massa," he cried, "my look-see plenty piecee Chunchu come this-side chop-chop, galaw!"
CHAPTER XV
Fortifying the Gully
Stopping a Rush—The Trappers Trapped—Allies—A Manchu Marksman—A Sighting Shot—Building a Barrier—Velly Good Fighty Man—Ah-Sam at the Front
Mrs. Pottle grasped her umbrella as Bob sprang up, leapt over the boulders, and hurried to the mouth of the ravine. In the distance, to the right, he saw a band of mounted men, about sixty in number, easily recognizable by their nondescript dress and long lances as the redoubtable bandits of Manchuria. They disappeared in the bend of the valley. Again they emerged into view, now only a quarter of a mile away, heading straight for the gully over the trail of the cart. Bob hurried back to his place behind the boulders, and took the rifle handed him by Ah-Sam, who retained the other.
"You won't kill them if you can help it, will you?" said Ethel, whose cheeks had become a little pale.