The Day of Resis

by Lillian Frances Mentor

“If they come too near discharge your pistols in their midst,” continued Mr. Bruce.

The natives were gaining on them fast, but they were not moving as quickly as they might, showing that they were undecided as to whether it would be best to attack the strangers or not. There seemed to be about two hundred of them, each bearing a torch in one hand and a spear in the other.

As time went on and they saw the hostile movements on the part of the strangers, they became bold and moved more rapidly. They were closing up quickly when our friends heard a shout in the rear, and looking over their shoulders saw another mob of the natives closing in on them from that direction.

“Which shall it be?” said Mr. Bruce, “advance or retreat.”

“Advance,” said Harry, “and give those howling demons a taste of lead.”

On all the excursions our friends had carried their small arms but had never used them; but they had these with them now and it was well that they had taken this precaution, for nothing else would have had as much effect on this barbarous race of underground dwellers, as the noise and explosion of the pistols would. Our friends were still standing waiting for the men to advance. The natives, seeing that they now had their game safe, became wilder in their demonstrations and bolder in their movements. The body in the rear also hurried forward and in a very short time the strangers in this horrible place found themselves very sorely pressed.

“Now,” said Mr. Bruce, “make a rush and fire as you go. Harry, you and I will take the lead, for it is best to go in twos. When the chambers of our revolvers are empty, we will drop behind and let Mr. Graham and Onrai take the lead. If these beasts do not turn and run, charge right into them, for it is our only chance. Now, forward, double quick.”

The men started on a run, discharging their revolvers as they went. At each discharge, one of the natives would fall, for they were so tightly wedged in the narrow passage, there was no chance of missing them. As our friends started and the fearful noise of the pistols, as they were discharged, rung through the cavern, the natives stopped and watched the advance with open-mouthed wonder. Then they saw their companions dropping one at a time as the weapons were discharged, they began to grow uneasy, and then to move slowly backward and then, at last, as the full force of the panic struck them, they turned and fled down the corridor, each trying to outrun the other and trampling those under foot who were unlucky enough to fall. On, on they flew over the hard surface of the cave, occasionally throwing frightened glances over their shoulders as they ran; then, seeing those strangers still after them, they strove still harder to place a greater distance between themselves and their pursuers.

Those in the rear of our friends had turned and ran in the opposite direction from which they came, when they saw their companions retreat. They saw too the work of those awful barking, smoke-belching weapons and thinking that they might be turned on them in the same manner, probably thought it best to get out of the way as quickly as possible. This took a considerable load from off the minds of our friends, for they had feared that these howling barbarians would attack them from the rear as they ran. After the first three or four discharges of the pistols had started their enemies, they had discontinued firing in order to save their ammunition, but they kept up the pace and were close on the heels of the devils. Suddenly the mob turned to the right and disappeared. As our friends had thrown away the lighted torch, when first surprised by the natives they were now left in total darkness again and when the danger disappeared, they stopped to hold a consultation. Looking back they saw that their former pursuers had also left the corridor and this decided them to wait a few minutes for further developments.

“We must be careful now,” said Mr. Bruce, “for these natives may lay in ambush and attack us, as we advance or retreat. They are cunning, as they have shown by their smoking process, and we must be on our guard.”