when I pulled the trigger, and down he toppled. Almost at the
same instant three or four other shots rang out, and each proved
sufficiently well aimed to reach its mark. A few seconds later another
half-dozen shots followed, and down went four more of the charging
negroes. The effect was instantaneous; at least half of them halted, in
manifest indecision, some wheeled abruptly round and fled, and only
about a dozen of the boldest maintained their rush. Another quick
discharge brought even these to a halt, with the loss of four of their
number; and while they stood, hesitating whether to advance or retreat,
we peppered them again, to their manifest astonishment and
consternation--possibly they thought that, with our guns empty, they
were reasonably safe for a minute or so--whereupon they turned and fled,
leaving six of their comrades prostrate on the ground. At this moment a
cry from Teresita sent us all with a rush, helter-skelter, to the room
which I had originally undertaken to defend; and here we found a
critical state of affairs indeed. For while we had all been engaged in
checking the rush upon the front of the house, the party with the
palm-tree battering-ram had, under cover of various patches of
vegetation, stolen up to within a hundred yards of the side, and were
now manifestly preparing to make a rush across the open, bearing their
battering-ram with them. Thanks, however, to Teresita's warning cry, we
were just in good time to pour in a brisk fire upon them almost before
they had fairly started upon their rush, and three or four men went
down, throwing the others into momentary confusion, which afforded us
the opportunity to treat them to a second volley. As this second volley
crashed out I, having reloaded my weapon, stepped forward to take my
place at a loophole just vacated by some one else, and as I did so I
observed that the whole party had been thrown into great confusion by
the second volley, the tree trunk having fallen to the ground, or been
dropped. That, however, was not all; the negro dressed in Spanish
infantry uniform had come to the front and was standing stock still,
with his back toward the house, haranguing the battering-ram contingent
and apparently urging them to pick up the tree again and make another
attempt. The opportunity was too good to be lost, for he was within
long range, and it was quite worth while to throw away a shot on the
chance of hitting him; I therefore levelled