Then my turn came.  When they were not more than fifty yards away from the first wall, I shouted an order to my riflemen to fire, aiming low, and set the example by loosing both barrels of an elephant gun at the thickest of the mob.  At that distance even the most inexperienced shots could not miss such a mark, especially as those bullets that went high struck among the oncoming troops behind, or caught the horsemen lifted above their fellows.  Indeed, of the first few rounds I do not think that one was wasted, while often single balls killed or injured several men.

The result was instantaneous.  The Black Kendah who, be it remembered, were totally unaccustomed to the effects of rifle fire and imagined that we only possessed two or three guns in all, stopped their advance as though paralyzed.  For a few seconds there was silence, except for the intermittent crackle of the rifles as my men loaded and fired.  Next came the cries of the smitten men and horses that were falling everywhere, and then—­the unmistakable sound of a stampede.

“They have gone.  That was too warm for them, Baas,” chuckled Hans exultingly.

“Yes,” I answered, when I had at length succeeded in stopping the firing, “but I expect they will come back with the light.  Still, that trick of yours has cost them dear, Hans.”

By degrees the dawn began to break.  It was, I remember, a particularly beautiful dawn, resembling a gigantic and vivid rose opening in the east, or a cup of brightness from which many coloured wines were poured all athwart the firmament.  Very peaceful also, for not a breath of wind was stirring.  But what a scene the first rays of the sun revealed upon that narrow stretch of pass in front of us.  Everywhere the pitfalls and trenches were filled with still surging heaps of men and horses, while all about lay dead and wounded men, the red harvest of our rifle fire.  It was dreadful to contrast the heavenly peace above and the hellish horror beneath.

We took count and found that up to this moment we had not lost a single man, one only having been slightly wounded by a thrown spear.  As is common among semi-savages, this fact filled the White Kendah with an undue exultation.  Thinking that as the beginning was so the end must be, they cheered and shouted, shaking each other’s hands, then fell to eating the food which the women brought them with appetite, chattering incessantly, although as a general rule they were a very silent people.  Even the grave Harut, who arrived full of congratulations, seemed as high-spirited as a boy, till I reminded him that the real battle had not yet commenced.

The Black Kendah had fallen into a trap and lost some of their number, that was all, which was fortunate for us but could scarcely affect the issue of the struggle, since they had many thousands left.  Ragnall, who had come up from his lines, agreed with me.  As he said, these people were fighting for life as well as honour, seeing that most of the corn which they needed for their sustenance was stored in great heaps either in or to the rear of the temple behind us.  Therefore they must come on until they won or were destroyed.  How with our small force could we hope to destroy this multitude?  That was the problem which weighed upon our hearts.