words had left our leader's lips, the air was again filled by
the wild clamours of my dark companions, and as we had halted just at a
point where we would be compelled to turn at right angles, we remained
there in order to attack the Arabs as they advanced.

The sun's glow had faded, dark clouds had come up on the mystic line
where sand and sky united, and dusk was creeping on apace when the
enemy, sweeping forward, shouting and gesticulating, came within gunshot.
From their van a single flash showed for an instant, followed by the
sharp crack of a musket, and a bullet whizzed past Omar, striking one of
the natives a few yards away, passing through his brain and killing him
instantly.

A silence, deep and complete, fell for an instant upon us. In that
exciting moment we knew that the fight must be fiercely contested, and
that, unable to move scarcely an inch from the spot where we were
standing, the struggle must be long and sanguinary.

CHAPTER XV.

A NATURAL GRAVE.

THE single shot from our opponents was quickly replied to by myself and
my companions, and we had the satisfaction of seeing half-a-dozen Arabs
fall backward from the path and disappear in the soft sand. Instantly the
rattle of musketry was deafening, and over my head bullets whistled
unpleasantly close. The weapon with which I was armed was old-fashioned,
and as I fired it time after time it grew hot, and the smoke became so
thick that everything was obscured.

Meanwhile fierce hand-to-hand fighting was taking place between the
vanguard of the Arabs and a dozen of our men led by Omar. Fiendish yells
and shouts sounded on every side as they hacked at each other with their
long curved knives, each fearing to step aside lest he should be
swallowed by the sand. Once or twice, as the chill night wind parted the
smoke, I saw Omar and our Dagombas struggling bravely against fearful
odds. Omar had cast aside his gun and, armed with a keen _jambiyah_, had
engaged two tall, muscular Arabs, both of whom he succeeded in hurling
from the path, gashed and bleeding, to instant death.

Those behind him, armed with long spears with flat double-edged points
similar to the assegais of the Zulus, were enabled to reach and dispatch
several of the Arabs who had lost their guns or discarded their pistols
for their knives. Situated as we were on the angle of the secret path the
enemy were to our right. Their fire upon us was very hot and effective.
Their aim was