ROYCE LEADS THE CHARGE
Unlike Challis, he had fewer men than the enemy, and less than a third of them were armed. But one rifle was of more value than many spears. The men lined up on the slope of the hill, where the advancing enemy must come within close range. At the word of command they fired.
The Tubus checked instantly. They appeared to hesitate whether to run the gauntlet of the attack and push on to the support of their comrades or to remain and fight it out with the garrison of the fort. It was evident that they had no leader of authority, and Royce, like Challis, was quick to profit by their hesitation.
"After me, boys!" he cried, and led the Hausas in a headlong charge down the hill.
Behind them, in a wild, tumultuous mob, swarmed the other men, some armed with stones, some with spears, some even with the Tubus' scaling ladders.
The very boldness of the movement decided the issue. If the Tubus stopped to think, they must have supposed that so small a body, in measuring themselves against overwhelming numbers, was covered by support from some other quarter. They fired one scattered volley. Royce did not halt his men to reply to it, but bounded on at their head whooping like a schoolboy, while the Tubus kicked their horses' flanks and bolted for cover to the nearest wood.
The fight was won.
CHAPTER XXXII
A HOT CHASE
Royce and Challis met at the foot of the hill.