h a gun, might make useful play with a chopper if it came to close
quarters. And now, look here," he went on, after a moment's hesitation;
"the situation may be desperate. These seven cut-throats are fighting
with a noose round their necks. Every one of their lives is forfeited,
and they are all well armed. Now, is there no suggestion you can make
towards strengthening the garrison?"

"Why, of course. Marian and I both know how to shoot. That makes three
of us. And then we are under cover."

"Well spoken. But I can improve on that idea--if you can bring yourself
to agree. Little chaps as they are, Fred and Basil are better shots
than either of you, and game to the core."

Hilda Selwood gave a gasp. Her two little ones! Why, they were mere
babies but yesterday! And now she was to be called upon to sacrifice
them--to expose them to the peril of a desperate conflict which would
fully tax the courage of grown men.

"I'd rather not, if it could possibly be avoided," she said, at last.

"Very well. But I'm much mistaken if the young scamps won't take the
matter into their own hands directly they hear a shot fired. Now, how
many guns have we? There's mine--two of Chris's--that makes six
barrels; the boys' muzzle-loaders, ten barrels. Then Chris has a
five-shooter--"

"He took that with him."

"Did he? Well, I have a six. Altogether we shan't do badly. And now
you had better break the news to Marian and Miss Avory, while I slip
down to the hut to rout out Gomfana. And lose no time barricading the
windows. Mattresses are the thing for that--almost bullet-proof."

Arming himself with a gun and revolver, Renshaw slipped out quietly, and
made his way to the huts. Gomfana, like most natives, slept heavily,
and took a deal of waking; and by the time the situation was brought
home to his obtuse brain some minutes had been lost. He was a sturdy
youngster of about twenty--a "raw" Kafir--that is to say, one who had
never been out of his native kraal, and was stupid and ignorant of
European ways. But at the prospect of a fight he grinned and brightened
up.

Just as they regained the house a glow suffused the sky against the
mountain-top, and a few minutes later a broad half-moon was sailing high
in the heavens. Renshaw hailed its appearance with unbounded
satisfaction.

The two girls had already lit their candles for bed when Mrs Selwood
brought the unwelcome news, judiciously omitting the ghastly trag