"If it hadn't been for the firing, perhaps she would have come right in, sir," remarked Osborne. "Now she has her suspicions."
"The wreck of the ship would in itself give her warning," said the skipper. "Besides, if she did approach we could do little or nothing. It's just as likely that there's an understanding between the Arabs and the Huns. However, we must take things as we find them, and not look for trouble before it comes."
Accompanied by Lieutenant Osborne, the Captain made a tour of the trench, where every man who possessed a rifle was kneeling in front of a loophole, ready at the word of command to pour a destructive volley into the approaching Arabs. At the left flank stood Webb, with the Very's pistol in his hand, awaiting the time to fire the petrol.
"Picturesque sight, Mr. Webb," remarked the Captain composedly, but at the same time his keen eye was trying to detect any sign of "jumpiness" in the young Sub. But there was none; beyond a slightly heightened colour, Webb was as cool as if he had been on the quarter-deck of the Portchester Castle.
Captain M'Bride had aptly described the scene that lay before them. The Senussi were approaching in all the barbaric splendour of their race. Some were on camels, others astride small wiry horses. With loose rein they would dash forward perhaps a hundred yards, wheel, and, firing their rifles somewhere in the direction of the foe, would tear back for fifty yards, repeating the manoeuvre and uttering shrill yells of defiance. On their flanks in the rear were crowds of men on foot, for the most part armed with long broad-bladed spears, two-edged straight swords, and circular hide shields.
Outnumbering the British by ten to one, the Senussi looked, and were, formidable. Had every man of the Portchester Castle possessed a rifle the odds would have been considerably lowered. With a Maxim the defenders could have regarded the onset as a foregone conclusion in their favour.
It was to be a tough and desperate struggle. Every man realized that—a fight to the death, for a worse fate awaited them should they fall alive into the hands of the savage foe. At all costs the Senussi must be kept on the far side of the sorry breastwork of sand and the hedge of thorns, otherwise sheer weight of numbers would decide the day.
And as if the situation were not serious enough, a U-boat was threatening to shell their puny defences.
"Don't throw away a single shot, men," cautioned the Captain. "Reserve your fire till I give the word."
"She's opening the ball, sir," exclaimed Osborne, as a shell from the U-boat hurtled through the air and exploded away on the right flank, sending up a huge cloud of smoke and sand.