FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124  
125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   >>  
ered by his great war-shield, he made for a tall ruffian, whose head was streaming with long black feathers, and who seemed to be directing the charge. Like lightning he was upon him, and beneath the shearing flash of the great assegai, down went the man, his trunk wellnigh ripped in twain. "_Usutu! 'Sutu_!" roared the Zulu, as, whirling round, he struck another to the heart with his reeking spear, at the same time bringing another to the earth with a mighty slap of his great shield. Like lightning he moved. Never still for a second, he avoided the lunges made at him, always to strike fatally in his turn, and soon a ring of assailants round him was a ring of ripped and struggling corpses deluging the earth in torrents of blood. Whirling here, darting there, and ever roaring the war-cry of his late king, the towering Zulu was to these dismayed savages the very embodiment of irresistible destruction. With yells of dismay they fled before him in a broken, demoralised crowd, and into their front the fire of those behind the breastwork played upon their thickest masses. "Come back, Kumbelwa," commanded Haviland, in Zulu. Like magic the trained and disciplined warrior halted at the word of his chief. In a second he was within the breastwork again. "Thou wert being led on too far, my friend," said Haviland, all aglow with admiration. "In a moment yon dogs would have turned upon thee, and even a lion cannot stand against a hundred dogs." "_Nkose_! Yet had I but half the Umbonambi regiment here with me, we would eat the whole of these jackals at one bite!" exclaimed Kumbelwa, his great chest heaving with excitement and his recent exertions. "By Jove! I never saw such a sight as that! Magnificent!" cried Oakley, who was taking advantage of the lull to light his pipe. On the other side, too, hostilities seemed to have slackened, but here, whatever damage had been inflicted by the defenders they were unable to estimate with any certainty. It was evident that Mushad had chosen that the least esteemed of his followers--the black savages, to wit--should bear the brunt of the first attack, not from any lack of courage, but from sheer cold calculating economy. Their lives were worth the least to him, therefore let them bear the lion's share of the risk. And this they had assuredly done, if the black bodies which strewed the earth on their side of the breastwork were any criterion. Within, one of Somala's clan
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124  
125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   >>  



Top keywords:
breastwork
 

savages

 

Haviland

 

shield

 

Kumbelwa

 
ripped
 
lightning
 

exertions

 
recent
 

Magnificent


Oakley

 

taking

 
advantage
 

Umbonambi

 
hundred
 

turned

 
regiment
 
exclaimed
 

heaving

 

jackals


excitement

 

courage

 

calculating

 

economy

 

criterion

 

strewed

 

Within

 

Somala

 

bodies

 

assuredly


damage

 
inflicted
 

defenders

 

unable

 

slackened

 
hostilities
 

estimate

 
certainty
 

attack

 
followers

esteemed
 

evident

 
Mushad
 
chosen
 

trained

 

avoided

 
mighty
 

bringing

 
reeking
 

lunges