ou know. We may be fighting for our lives to-
morrow; so to work!"

Orders had to be obeyed, and the ammunition was sorted out--
providing 150 rounds for the Express, 250 rounds each for the three
carbines, and 175 rounds for the shot-gun.

"That is a short supply, boys. We must be careful not to throw away
a single shot; for, remember, we've got to go a long way before we
reach safety, even after this business of Hassan's is done. We must
try and do with fifty rounds apiece in this little affair."

"Little affair!" muttered Venning, remembering the flotilla of
canoes and the mob of fierce-looking cannibals.

"Big or little, we can't afford to indulge in reckless firing. One
bullet, one man, is my motto."

"But we cannot all shoot like you," grumbled Venning.

"A matter of habit," said the hunter, quietly. "All you have to do
is to get the advantage of position, and then it is no merit to
shoot straight. Drop three men out of a hundred, and you will stop
the remainder; drop thirty out of a thousand, and the same thing
happens. If there are only a hundred, and you have the upper ground,
let them come within two hundred yards; if the enemy is in great
numbers, open at five hundred yards; and anywhere down to fifty
yards according to his dwindling strength. Shoot straight every
time, and the plan answers like clockwork."

"Have you tried it?"

"Many times, but only in self-defence. Now we'll just examine our
position, for it is always good to have open a line of retreat."

They walked along the ledge to the mouth of the gorge up which they
had ascended, saw that the ledge ended there, then retraced their
steps past the cave and the bath to a spot where a break in the
ledge opened up a way down into the valley.

"Just take note of that path," said the hunter, "and follow it
down."

"What a beautiful spot!" said Compton.

"It does the eyes good to look on it," said Venning,
enthusiastically. "See how the sun shines on the broad leaves--
banana-leaves, I think--bordering the silver stream."

"Never mind the silver stream," broke in Mr. Hume, testily. "Fix
your attention on this path. Get it into your mind. See how it drops
down to that solitary palm."

"Now remember that if you are down there, and have to run, you are
to make for that palm, ascend here, and cut along to the gorge. Have
you got that fixed? Good. Now we will go back."

At last, with their feet dangling over the edge of the ledge before
the