e seemed to be thousands of them, strapping, fierce,
well-armed savages. Their spears looked not unlike a field of dancing
cornstalks.

It was necessary to check the little advance guard before the plans
could go amiss. Ridgeway, suddenly calm and deliberate, despatched the
king with instructions to have his men spear the scouts as they came up,
driving them back. Pootoo wriggled stealthily to the breastworks below,
reaching the position a few moments ahead of the Oolooz squad. Perhaps
one hundred yards behind this detail came the swarm of battle men. There
was something in the advance that suggested a cat stealing upon an
unsuspecting bird.

By this time it was quite light, although sunrise was half an hour away.
In the gray, phantom-producing gloom Hugh could see his own men behind
the boulders, awaiting his command. A sudden shriek broke on the
stillness, causing him to leap as if some one had struck him violently.
Then there was a succession of yells and the rushing of feet. He glanced
nervously toward the trenches. A dozen Oolooz men were flying back
toward the main body, while not a sign of Pootoo or his men was visible.
They had delivered a few spears and had dropped back into the trench.

The main body in the pass swayed and jammed in the effort to halt, but
the rear pushed forward so clamorously that the whole mass rolled up the
ravine fairly into the death trap before it began to understand the
meaning of the yells and the sudden retreat of the scouts.

"Now is the time," thought the American. His tall form sprang from
behind the tree at the edge of the little cliff. His white face was
whiter than ever, his eyes flashed, his long frame quivered. Up went
his sword arm and loud came the cry from his lips:

"Fire!"

As if by magic two long rows of immutable boulders wabbled for a second
and then thundered down the hillside, while ten score of wild, naked
human beings sent up yells of horrid glee to the unveiling dome above.

No pen can describe the flight of those death-dealing rocks as they
bounded over the sharp declivities, gaining speed with each revolution,
scattering earth, gravel and underbrush with the force of a cyclone,
leaping at last with a crushing roar into the very midst of the
stupefied army. There was a sickening, grinding crash, an instant of
silence, then the piteous wails and groans and the spectacle of a
writhing, rolling, leaping, struggling mixture of human forms. Almost as
the firs