第76章

LieutenantBaker’snewhousewasignited。Onebyoneeveryhutwasfired。Therear-guard，havingdonetheirduty，closedupinthelineofmarch。

Ididnotgivetheword”Forward！”untiltheflameshadshotuphighintheair，andthestationwasinthepossessionofthefire。Atthismomentaloudreportannouncedthatalltherocketshadexploded。Theadvance-guardmovedforward，andthemarchcommenced。

Wesoonenteredthehighgrass，whichwasreekingwiththelightrain，andwewerewetthroughinaninstant。

Mywifewaswalkingclosebehindmewithaquantityofspareammunitionforthe”Dutchman”inherbreast。ShehadaColt’srevolverinherbelt。

LieutenantBakerwasheavilyloaded，ashecarriedaPurdyrifleslungacrosshisback，togetherwithalargebagofammunition，whileheheldadoublebreechloadersmooth-boreinhishand，withabagofheavybuckshotcartridgesuponhisshoulder。

SuleimanandMohammedHaroon(ourservants)wereclosebywithmytwobreechloadingNo。8elephantrifles。Thesecarriedpicrateofpotashshellsthatwereimmenselypowerful。Verylittlewouldhavebeenleftofthebodyofamanhadoneofsuchshellsstruckhiminthechest。

Thecattlebegantocausemuchtroubleassoonasthemarchcommenced，andweslowlydescendedtheknolluponwhichthestationstood，andinsinglefileenteredtheextremelynarrowpathwhichleddowntoasmallswamp。

Crossingtheswamp，throughdeepmud，wearrivedonfirmground，andcontinuedtomarchslowly，onaccountofthecattle。Ifeltsuretheywouldhavetobeabandoned。Thecowsstrayedtotherightandleft，andMorgiantheBari，andAbdullahDjoorthecook，whowerethedrovers，wererushingaboutthegrassinpursuitofrefractoryanimals，thatwouldshortlyendinbeingspearedbytheenemy。

Wethusmarchedforaboutamilebeforeahostilesoundwasheard。Wethendistinguishedthetumultuousvoicesofthenativesintherear，whohadbeenattractedtothestationbythegeneralconflagration。

Theslowmarchcontinued，throughgrassabouteightfeethigh，andoccasionalforest。Therainnowdescendedsteadily，andIfearedthattheoldmuzzle-loadingmusketswouldmissfire。

Thesoundofdrumsandhornswasnowheardthroughoutthecountry，asthealarmspreadrapidlyfromvillagetovillage。Wecouldheartheshoutsofnatives，anddrumsthatwerenowsoundingintheforestuponahillonourright。Thesepeoplewereevidentlyinpossessionofapathunknowntous，whichranparalleltoourroute。

Forsevenhoursthemarchcontinuedwithsuchfrequenthalts，owingtothestrayingofthecattle，thatwehadonlyprogressedtheshortdistanceoftenmiles，when，at4。40P。M。，weenteredthevalleyofJonJoke。WesawbeforeusthehillcoveredwithplantaingroveswherewehadsleptwhenuponthemarchtoMasindi。

Thegrasswasveryhigh，andthepathhardlyafootwide，onlyresemblingasheeprun。Suddenlytheadvance-guardopenedahotfire，andthebuglesounded”halt！”

Afewpacesinfrontofme，myfavouritesailorandfisherman，Howarti，wasintheline，carryingametalboxuponhishead。Inadditiontohismusket，whichwasslungacrosshisshoulders，Ihadgivenhimoneofmydoublebreechloadingpistols，whichhecarriedinhisbelt。

Thewordwassuddenlypassedthat”Howartiwasspeared！”

Lancesnowflewacrossthepath，andthelineopenedfireintothegrassuponourright，accordingtoorde

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