A NIGHT INTRUDER
"We must tackle the problem in bits," said Royce. "Take the
ammunition question first; I'll give orders that the men are never to
fire except at the word of command--yours or mine."
"The water supply is really the most urgent matter," returned
Challis. "The Tubus are sure to discover our night sallies by and
by, and then they'll no longer be safe. What about clearing out the
well?"
"A good idea. We'll set about that as soon as possible. Then the
food; that's only next in importance. It depends on the enemy's
patience. If they are in no hurry, they can starve us out without
incurring any loss by direct assault."
"And I see no chance of foraging, still less of getting any help.
It's not a cheerful prospect."
"Well, we must put the best face on it. Our Hausas are jolly good,
and they trust us completely. We must keep up their pecker at all
costs."
With considerable labour they managed to clear the rubbish with which
the well was choked. The soil beneath it was dry, but on digging
farther they struck the underground spring which had originally
supplied the well.
"That's first-rate!" cried Royce. "There's one part of our problem
solved. We'll make an embankment, to keep the water within bounds,
and have no further anxiety on that score."
Their next step was to partition the building among the various
sections of the company. Royce and Challis took up their quarters in
the room in which the former had slept on the occasion of his first
visit. The Hausas were given a larger chamber near the south wall,
and the rest of the party a half-roofed enclosure at the other end.
The rainy season not having commenced, the natives would not be
likely to suffer from their partial exposure.
The fort, small as it was, was too large to be defended by forty men
against serious attack. To make the most of his garrison, Royce
arranged that each man should have about three yards of wall to
defend. If the enemy should pluck up resolution to make a
simultaneous assault on all sides, they were numerous enough to throw
eight or ten men against every one of the garrison, and the odds were
more than sufficient for success.
The only weapons available for B Company, as Challis called the
released prisoners, were the tools included in their camp
equipment--mallets, hatchets, hammers, a saw, and a few tent pegs.
Though so ill provided, Royce thought that in day time the defence
would have a sporting chance. The rifles could take toll of the
enemy while they were advancing over the three or four hundred yards
of fairly open ground beneath the fort; and even if the attack were
pushed home to the walls, it would be possible to reinforce the men
in the quarter where the assault was hottest.
A night attack would be much more difficult to meet. Covered by the
darkness, the enemy might approach to within a few yards of the walls
without being detected, if they moved quietly; without suffering much
loss, if they were heard. At the walls their numbers would tell far
more effectually than in daylight. With such odds in their favour,
it would seem impossible to keep them out. And if once they got in,
the garrison must inevitably be overwhelmed.
But the Englishmen had little fear of a night attack. It was more
likely that the Tubus would move in the twilight of early morning.
This would be little less formidable. They might creep a long way up
the hill before they were seen, and the chance of checking their rush
would be small.
From the defensive point of view the weakest spot in the surroundings
of the fort was a patch of rocky scrub-covered ground about a hundred
and fifty yards away on the north-east side. It provided good cover
for an advance up the hill, and left only a short distance for the
final charge. From the attackers' point of view the disadvantage of
this spot was that it was small in extent, and would give cover to
only a limited number of men.
The day having passed undisturbed, Royce could not help feeling a
little anxious about the night. What if the Tubus should attack,
after all? He decided to keep half the garrison on guard while the
rest slept, and to send three or four of the most trustworthy Hausas
some way down the hill to act as scouts and give warning of any
movement of the enemy.
Both he and Challis, during their spells of watching, went round and
round the walls with the regularity of soldiers doing sentry-go.
Eyes and ears were tensely on the alert; not a sound escaped them.
The little various noises made by birds, insects, and small animals
darting through the scrub were sometimes smothered by sounds from the
distant camp. At one time the din was so loud that Challis, who was
on duty at the moment, was almost on the point of awakening Royce.
But he reflected that warriors intending a night attack, even though
savages, would have the common-sense to move quietly, and he took
himself to task for what he considered a tendency to panic.
"I mustn't get jumpy," he said to himself; "but this is a great
change from camping on Salisbury Plain."
In the morning, as soon as the sky began to lighten, Royce set the
men to work again on repairing the walls. Presently he caught sight
of some of the enemy in the distance. They were evidently watching
the fort. A little later one of them fired, and at odd times during
the morning there was fitful sniping whenever the workers allowed
themselves to be seen above the walls. But no one was hit, and the
Hausas' contempt for the Tubus' marksmanship was voiced by John.
"Dey good for nuffin, sah," he said. "You hold a bottle, me hit him;
dem fellas no can hit a house."
Working in squads, the men had by midday completely blocked up the
gateway, and repaired all the breaches that were dangerous.
"I feel better now," said Royce, as he sat with Challis, eating the
scanty meal which had to serve them for dinner. "Of course, they
could still take the place by a determined rush; but, if they attempt
it, they'll suffer more heavily than if they had had the sense or the
pluck to come on before we had finished."
"They'll play a waiting game," said Challis. "How long will the grub
last, do you think?"
"We can eke it out for ten days or so, by going short. I wonder if
one of us could run the gauntlet and make for the nearest British
post?"
"It would take more than ten days to get there. Everybody would
starve before help came. Besides, there are only about a dozen men
in charge, and they wouldn't be strong enough to undertake an
expedition such a long distance, and fight their way through some
hundreds of horsemen."
"How many do you think they really muster?"
"I've never had a good enough view of them in mass; but, at a guess,
I should say six hundred or so."
"They'll take some feeding."
"Yes, but they have the whole country to forage in, and I daresay
there are foraging parties out in all directions. They may bring
their total number up to a thousand."
"Well, old sport, if we can manage to stick it with our forty, we
shall deserve at least a line or two in history."
"Skittles! I'd give a good deal not to be mentioned in your history!"
"'One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.'"
"D'you call this glorious?"
"Don't you? I don't mean that it's glorious to lick a crowd of
heathens, but I do think it's a fine thing to have been able to win
the confidence of our forty men."
"So it is, and it will be a finer thing to show that we deserve it."
The day passed; dusk fell. The arrangements for the night were as
before. Royce took the first watch, with half the garrison.
Challis, leaving him at his post on the north-east bastion, made his
way along the passages that separated the several chambers of the
building, towards his quarters, picking his way carefully in order
not to trip over the fallen brick and other debris that strewed the
floor.
Turning a corner, he saw in the half-light, a little way ahead, the
figure of a negro cross his path from left to right. At first he
thought it was John or Kulana, the only men who might have any reason
to be in the neighbourhood of the white men's quarters. John looked
after the food, which had been placed in an adjacent chamber for
security; Kulana acted as body servant.
But it immediately occurred to Challis that neither of the men had
any business there at this hour. Then he remembered that John was
actually on duty with Royce. Was it possible that some other member
of the party was making a private raid on the stores?
He hurried on after the man, who had passed the room in which the
stores were kept and was going in the direction of the well-yard.
His back was towards Challis--a broad back, belonging to a man of
huge stature.
"Great snakes!" Challis inwardly ejaculated.
He quickened his pace. The man heard his steps, and glanced round;
then dashed through a ruined doorway leading to the well-yard.
Challis gave a shout and rushed after him. It was now dark inside
the building, and he groped about without finding the negro. His
shout had brought Royce up at a run.
"What is it?" he cried anxiously.
"A strange nigger--a big fellow--Goruba?" said Challis.
"Surely not!" said Royce, flashing his electric torch. "There's no
one here.'"
"He's got away. We must search the place."
Together they scoured the whole building; no trace of the man could
be found. None of the garrison had left his post; every man declared
solemnly that no one had entered from outside, nor gone out from
within.
"If I didn't know you, old man," said Royce, "I should say you had a
fit of the jumps. You think it was Goruba?"
"It looked very much like that big fellow who collared me. But how
could he have got in or out?"
"It's decidedly rummy. You remember Goruba came on me suddenly, and
John hadn't seen him. Strange that you should have had almost the
same experience!"
"What did he come for, if it was Goruba? To spy out the position?"
"Not easy in the dark. I confess it beats me. How did the fellow
get in? It was hardly dark outside, and our men must have seen him,
one would think. Yet I believe them."
"We had better search for a secret passage to-morrow, though I can't
think we should have missed it if there is one. One thing is
certain--Goruba has some interest in this fort which we don't know.
That explains the persistence of the Tubus."
"I wonder! Well, we can't do anything to-night. I only hope it
hasn't made our men jumpy. It's an uncanny thing to find an enemy in
your midst unawares."