He fired and
the man dropped, but he had used his rifle and the great spattering of
earth showed his whereabouts. Now was the time for keen eye and steady
arm. The enemy had halted thirty yards off and beneath the slope there
was a patch of darkness. He kept one eye on this, for it might contain
a man. He fixed his attention on a ray of moonlight which fell across
the floor of the gully. When a man crept past this he shot, and he
rarely failed.
Then a command was given and the column came forward at the double. He
fired two shots, but the advance continued. They passed the ray of
light and he saw the whites of their eyes and the gleam of teeth and
steel. They paused a second to fire a volley, and a storm of shot
rattled about him. He had stepped back into his shelter, and was
unscathed, but when he looked out he saw the enemy at the foot of the
slope. His weapons were all loaded except the express, and in mad haste
he sent shot after shot into the ranks. The fire halted them, and for a
second they were on the edge of a panic. This unknown destruction
coming out of the darkness was terrifying to the stoutest hearts. All
the while there was wrath behind them. This stopping of the advance
column was throwing the whole force into confusion. Angry messages came
up from the centre, and distracted officers cursed their native guides.
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