Then he signed to them to advance, and they moved forward swiftly, with the lightness of foot which is the negroes' birthright.
For some distance they were covered by the undergrowth. In spite of all their care, it was inevitable that the passage of so large a number of men should cause a slight rustling, and they were still nearly three hundred yards from the horses when the sound was heard.
The Tubus turned round, caught sight of them, and raised a shout of alarm. Concealment was no longer possible. Challis blew his whistle for the charge. His men answered with a fierce yell, and the whole line swept forward.
Challis had scarcely anticipated the effect of the shrill cries from hundreds of throats. The Tubus' horses were seized with panic and plunged wildly. Their riders, unable to control them, were themselves terror-stricken at the sight of the long line of warriors rushing towards them. Dropping the horses' bridles, they led the stampede.
The mob of men and horses surged towards the camp, where some of the Tubus were engaged in making new ladders, the rest cooking or idling. They dashed through and over them, scattering them right and left. Panic spread through the camp, and before the attackers were within striking distance, the whole force of the enemy was in headlong flight.
The horses in their blind charge dashed into the slight grass huts which the Tubus had built and razed them to the ground. Challis saw Goruba spring up from the ruins of one of them, catch at the bridle of a horse that was running by, and leap with extraordinary agility upon its back.
On went the torrent. The Tubus who had arms in their hands at the moment of alarm flung them away to speed their flight. Behind them panted Challis's men, shouting more and more loudly as they saw the dreaded enemy fleeing before them, and Challis rejoiced in the prospect of a bloodless victory.
For a little the course was uphill, towards the fort; but the slope gradually affected the direction, and the fugitives bore more and more to the right. At last they disappeared among the brushwood and woodland to the north of the fort, Goruba, conspicuous on his horse, striving vainly to check the flight.
When all the horses and men had vanished from sight, Goruba reappeared after a moment or two and galloped round the hill to the west, the direction of the second Tubu camp.
Challis had hard work, even with John's assistance, to keep his men in hand. Their instinct was to rush into the wood after the fleeing enemy, and they could not understand why the white man's whistle kept on calling them to halt.