's side. As they ran, Henderson placed a
whistle between his lips and blew a single short piercing call upon it.
"That will soon bring the other two to our help," he gasped.

They were by this time within a hundred feet of the bush-path; but the
light-heeled Malays were close behind them. The time for decisive
action had arrived. Seeing this, Gaunt once more placed his child on
the ground and said:

"Now run home as fast as you can, dear boy, and tell mother that the
doctor and I hope to be with her in a quarter of an hour."

Then, as the little fellow made off at top speed, the father added:
"Thank God, _his_ retreat is secured if we can hold out for ten minutes.
Now, Henderson, true and trusty comrade, let us make a stand here and,
shoulder to shoulder, show these rascals how Englishmen can fight."

So, without another word, the two friends turned and stood at bay,
finding time to bring down two more of their foes by a couple of lucky
snap-shots before they were closed with.

And then began a battle, fierce and grim--sixteen Malays to two
Englishmen! Luckily for the smaller party the Malays had, at the outset
of the disturbance, emptied their pieces ineffectually, and had found no
time to reload them, whilst Henderson had provided himself, in addition
to the two repeating rifles, with a brace of loaded six-chambered
revolvers, one of which he now handed to Gaunt. With these and their
clubbed rifles the two men fought so desperately, that not only were the
Malays effectually checked in their attempt at an outflanking movement,
but actually foiled in their intention to bear down the two men by sheer
force of numbers and brute strength. Swinging their rifles club-wise
with one hand and firing their revolvers with the other whenever they
saw a chance of making a shot tell, the Englishmen wrought such terrible
execution that at length the Malays drew back confounded. At this
moment a cheer was heard close at hand, and in another instant up dashed
Manners and Nicholls, breathless with hard running, and placed
themselves one on each side of their two countrymen.

"_Now_ let us give them a volley!" cried Gaunt--who, his blood fairly
boiling at the recollection of the past night, had been fighting like a
demon--and, at the word, up went the four rifles to the "present."

"Choose each his man!" ordered the inexorable engineer: and then out
rang the four pieces, leaving three foes the less to deal with. Hark!
what