so one of the men at her side jerked her roughly to her feet
and struck her across the mouth with his fist.

Instantly my blood boiled, and forgetting every consideration of
caution, I leaped from my concealment, and, springing to the man's
side, felled him with a blow.

So unexpected had been my act that it found him and his fellow
unprepared; but instantly the latter drew the knife that protruded from
his belt and lunged viciously at me, at the same time giving voice to a
wild cry of alarm.

The girl shrank back at sight of me, her eyes wide in astonishment, and
then my antagonist was upon me. I parried his first blow with my
forearm, at the same time delivering a powerful blow to his jaw that
sent him reeling back; but he was at me again in an instant, though in
the brief interim I had time to draw my revolver.

I saw his companion crawling slowly to his feet, and the others of the
party racing down upon me. There was no time to argue now, other than
with the weapons we wore, and so, as the fellow lunged at me again with
the wicked-looking knife, I covered his heart and pulled the trigger.

Without a sound, he slipped to the earth, and then I turned the weapon
upon the other guard, who was now about to attack me. He, too,
collapsed, and I was alone with the astonished girl.

The balance of the party was some twenty paces from us, but coming
rapidly. I seized her arm and drew her after me behind a nearby tree,
for I had seen that with both their comrades down the others were
preparing to launch their spears.

With the girl safe behind the tree, I stepped out in sight of the
advancing foe, shouting to them that I was no enemy, and that they
should halt and listen to me. But for answer they only yelled in
derision and launched a couple of spears at me, both of which missed.

I saw then that I must fight, yet still I hated to slay them, and it
was only as a final resort that I dropped two of them with my rifle,
bringing the others to a temporary halt. Again, I appealed to them to
desist. But they only mistook my solicitude for them for fear, and,
with shouts of rage and derision, leaped forward once again to
overwhelm me.

It was now quite evident that I must punish them severely,
or--myself--die and relinquish the girl once more to her captors.
Neither of these things had I the slightest notion of doing, and so I
again stepped from behind the tree, and, with all the care and
deliberation of target prac