Accordingly he halted in a wooded hollow to wait for darkness. He wondered how the little garrison was faring, whether the Tubus had attacked, whether they were really on the point of giving up the siege. The time passed too slowly for his impatience, and he longed for the sun to go down.
Suddenly, about an hour before sunset, he heard shouts. They ceased immediately. What was happening? He stole up the slope of the hollow, intending to lie flat just below the top and peep over. But before he had reached it there were loud shouts, followed by rapid rifle fire. It was clear that the garrison was defending itself against a fierce assault.
When he gained the top of the slope and looked over, he found that he was still too far away to see anything clearly. The attack was not being made on the side towards which he was gazing. He was on the point of rushing forward, when he saw several dark forms running round the base of the wall. Though he longed to assist his friend, it was clear that he could not run the gauntlet through these armed negroes, and he sank back, filled with great anxiety.
The firing ceased, but the shouts continued for a time. Then again there was silence, and he saw with unspeakable thankfulness that the Tubus had disappeared.
"Well done!" he thought. "It will soon be dark, and then——"
John slipped up quietly behind him.
* * * * *
Meanwhile Royce and his men were resting after their victory. Never had a fight been won at so small a cost. Many of the men had been injured by the Tubus' clubbed rifles, some had spear wounds; but none had been killed, and with care all the wounded would recover.
Royce praised the men for their sturdy defence, and told them he hoped the enemy would trouble them no more. But in his heart he was far from confident. An ordinary raiding party of negroes would long since have abandoned the struggle, but in Goruba these men had no ordinary leader. He had shown himself possessed of exceptional courage and resource, and—what is still rarer in the negro—resolution. While he was with them they would not give up, Royce felt sure.
He wished that he could have disposed of Goruba; but when, after the fight, he mounted the wall at the point where the giant had fallen and looked for him, rifle in hand, he was not to be seen.