each day at sunset, and opened not till
sunrise, save for the Great White Queen herself.

Here the place seemed undefended until we came close up to it, when
without warning we were met with a withering rifle fire that laid low
dozens of our comrades. The man who had been so enthusiastic a moment
before and who had told me of our successes, was struck full in the
breast by a ball and fell against me dead.

For a moment only did we hold back. Dawn was spreading now, but the
heavy black smoke obscured the struggling daylight. Suddenly there
sounded just at my rear Omar's well-known voice, crying:

"Forward! Forward, my brethren. I, Omar, your prince, lead you into the
palace of my father. To-day there commenceth a new and brighter era for
our beloved land. Falter not, but end the struggle valiantly as ye have
commenced it. Forward!"

His words sent a sudden patriotic thrill through the great concourse of
armed men, who instantly sprang forward, and regardless of the blazing
lines of rifles before them climbed the ruins and engaged the defenders
hand to hand. It was a brilliant dash and could only have been
accomplished by the courage inspired by Omar's words, for the odds were
once more against us, and the rapid fire from behind the ruins played the
most frightful havoc in our ranks. In the midst of the crowd I clambered
up, sword in hand, over the huge masses of masonry and rubbish, and
springing to earth on the other side, alighted in a corner where the
picked guards of the Naya were making a last desperate stand.

At first the struggle had been a hand-to-hand one, but they had
retreated, and were now firing heavy volleys that effectively kept us at
bay.

Almost at the same moment as I sprang down I heard behind me fiendish
yells and the clambering of many feet. In an instant I recognised it as
the savage war cry of the Dagombas, and next second a hundred half-naked
blacks, looking veritable fiends in the red glare, swept down headlong to
the spot where I stood and, headed by Kona brandishing his spear, dashed
straight upon the defenders. The effect of this was to cause the others
to spring forward as reinforcements, and quicker than the time occupied
in relating it, this position, an exceedingly strong one, fell into our
hands. So infuriated were the Dagombas by the excesses committed by the
soldiery in various parts of the city, that they vented their savage
wrath upon the defenders until the butchery became aw