ever lets that weapon go far away from his hand, for
fear that his neighbor should send him away into the land of shadows in
order to possess it. And so a fusillade was soon commenced. But the
launch, armed with her fine rampart of logs, bore it unflinchingly, and
steamed up within a hundred yards of the thick of them, and just held
there in her place, with her wheel gently flapping against the stream,
and opened a vicious fire from fifty muzzles.

Of modern rifles Kettle had only twenty on board, but he had an
abundance of those beautiful instruments known as "trade guns," and at
shot-range a man can be killed just as definitely by a dose of pot-leg
out of a gas-pipe barrel as he can by a dum-dum bullet sent through
scientific rifling. Indeed, for close-quarter righting pot-leg is far
more comprehensive, and far less likely to miss than the lonely modern
bullet. Moroever, his crew had quite as much dread for him as they had
for the enemy, and as a consequence they fought with a briskness which
made even their grim little chief approve.

The crowd of mutineers did not, however, offer themselves to be browned
like a pack of helpless sheep for long. They were Africans who had been
born in an atmosphere of scuffle and skirmish, and death had no especial
terrors for them. Moreover, they had learnt certain elements of the
modern art of war from white officers; and now, in the moment of trial,
their dull brains worked, and the crafty knowledge came back to them.
They were a thousand strong; they had friends all round--cannibal
friends--who would come to help in the fight and share in the loot; and,
moreover, they had canoes. Other well-manned canoes also were fast
coming to their help down stream.

In the canoes then they put off, and Kettle smiled grimly as he saw the
move. He had thought of this before, but it was greater luck than he had
dared hope for. But now the enemy had given himself over into his hand.
The one strong position of the stern-wheel launch was her forward part.
The Congo is full of snags and floating logs which cannot always be
avoided, and so all steamers are strengthened to stand contact with
them; and he could give them the stem now without risk to himself.

He pretended flight when the canoes first came out, standing across
toward the further bank of the river, which was some dozen miles away.
The rebels fell into the lure, and paddled frantically after him. Canoe
after canoe put out, as fast as th