all
transpiring on every side. For a hundred miles we marched through the
Arab chieftain's land without any of its inhabitants dreaming of the
presence of a hostile force, and it was only by our sudden descent one
night upon the small walled town of Torola, which we sacked and burned,
that they were awakened to the truth.

But ere the news could spread to Koussan, about forty English miles
distant, we, by a forced march, had already reached the capital. Making a
dash upon the place by night with our Maxim and Hotchkiss guns, the
garrison were completely taken by surprise, nevertheless so well were its
high white walls defended, that our forces were driven back with severe
loss.

Undaunted however, Kona, who placed himself at the head of our Dagomba
allies, backed by the well-armed soldiers of Mo, made a second assault
upon a point that had been indicated by our spies as weaker than the
others. The fighting was desperate, and the sight, viewed from where I
was standing with the reinforcements, was one of exceeding grandeur.
Night was rendered almost bright as day by the constant flashing of guns,
and the noise of the tumult ever increasing sounded high above the
constant roar of artillery. Suddenly, as I gazed across the plain to
where the sharp conflict was proceeding, a brilliant blue flash blinded
me and an instant later a deafening explosion caused the ground to
tremble, while the red light of the guns gleamed through the increasing
veil of smoke, and I saw that our men had successfully placed a mine
beneath that portion of the fortifications near where they were fighting,
and it had been fired, effecting a great breach through which they next
moment poured, engaging the defenders hand to hand.

Soon afterwards a signal light flashed thrice, as had been agreed, and
six thousand men, including myself, sped over the plain to reinforce our
comrades. Soon, clambering over the fallen masonry where the enormous
breach had been made, I found myself with my sword, the one I had used in
the conquest of Mo, hacking right and left, endowed with a strength that
only came to me in moments of intense excitement.

The dash we made was indeed a brilliant one. The Arab defenders were, we
found, fully equal to us in numbers and were withal magnificent soldiers,
for in the broad squares of the city their cavalry, with their white
flowing robes and heavy curved swords, committed frightful havoc in our
ranks, yet in such numbers had