den all de men
racing in, and after dem de enemy. Dey rush right up to de gate. But
Johnnie stop um."

The comical little fellow turned his eyes up to the moon and squinted at
Dick. He threw his chest out, stood to his fullest height, and put on
an air of dignity.

"How?" asked Dick.

"Like dis. De men run in de gate, and de last man bang um to and bolt
um. Den we stand at the peephole and wait. Two of de rascal come
runnin', and Johnnie take good aim. Bang! When me look 'gain both
lying on de face, dead's muttin'."

"And you took command of the stockade?"

"Y's guessed right, massa. Me hold de reins. Me shout de orders, and
de men brave and behabe demselbes. We fire slow and careful, same as
massa tell us, and we still plenty cartridge left."

"And practically no water. That is the most serious news, and makes it
impossible to remain for long where we are. How long will the moon be
up, Johnnie?"

"Soon down," was the answer. "In four hour, I tink."

"Then we will consult with the chief. Fetch him along, Johnnie."

Dick strolled out into the compound, and having made sure that all was
quiet and that the men were alert, he took his seat close to the gate,
with Johnnie and the two chief miners beside him. It was a strange
place and a stranger hour to have a meeting, and as remarkable, too, was
the fact that Dick could only just make himself understood and gather
the meaning of the natives, while Johnnie was useless at the task.
Still, Dick was able to act as interpreter, for he could speak a little
Fanti, and there is only slight difference between that and the Ashanti
dialect. Tersely the young leader of the party told his news, how he
had overheard the half-caste, and how two hundred Ashanti warriors were
expected.

"They will eat us up," said the chief, with an involuntary shudder when
he heard what Dick had to say. "They will pour like a river up to the
gates of the stockade, and we shall not stop them. They will swarm
over, and we shall be slain."

"While if we are successful during the day they would certainly succeed
at night, chief. Then there is the question of the water."

The chief shook his head dolefully.

"We are as good as dead," he said, "and glad I am that one can meet with
death only once. As well sally out now and end the matter."

"And be shot down like birds," was Dick's answer. "But I agree that the
situation is serious. We should be better off were we out in