by the time the Desperate Lark had
come to the edge of that part of the forest through which Shard had
laid his course the Arabs were no more than five knots away. He had
sailed East half a mile, which he ought to have done overnight so as
to be ready, but he could not spare time or thought or men away from
those twenty trees. Then Shard turned into the forest and the Arabs
were dead astern. They hurried when they saw the Desperate Lark enter
the forest.

"Doing ten knots," said Shard as he watched them from the deck. The
Desperate Lark was doing no more than a knot and a half for the wind
was weak under the lee of the trees. Yet all went well for a while.
The big tree had just come down some way ahead, and the ten men were
sawing bits off the trunk.

And then Shard saw a branch that he had not marked on the chart, it
would just catch the top of the mainmast. He anchored at once and sent
a hand aloft who sawed it half way through and did the rest with a
pistol, and now the Arabs were only three knots astern. For a quarter
of a mile Shard steered them through the forest till they came to the
ten men and that bad big tree, another foot had yet to come off one
corner of the stump for the wheels had to pass over it. Shard turned
all hands on to the stump and it was then that the Arabs came within
shot. But they had to unpack their gun. And before they had it mounted
Shard was away. If they had charged things might have been different.
When they saw the Desperate Lark under way again the Arabs came on to
within three hundred yards and there they mounted two guns. Shard
watched them along his stern gun but would not fire. They were six
hundred yards away before the Arabs could fire and then they fired too
soon and both guns missed. And Shard and his merry men saw clear water
only ten fathoms ahead. Then Shard loaded his stern gun with canister
instead of shot and at the same moment the Arabs charged on their
camels; they came galloping down through the forest waving long
lances. Shard left the steering to Smerdrak and stood by the stern
gun, the Arabs were within fifty yards and still Shard did not fire;
he had most of his men in the stern with muskets beside him. Those
lances carried on camels were altogether different from swords in the
hands of horsemen, they could reach the men on deck. The men could see
the horrible barbs on the lanceheads, they were almost at their faces
when Shard fired, and at the same moment the De