at the same time made them increasingly wary, and for the next hour
or two they contented themselves with a continuous series of
demonstrations which drew our fire and kept us incessantly on the alert,
without actually renewing their attack.

At length the wind dropped away to a flat calm and the rays of the
unclouded sun beat remorselessly down upon us with a fierce intensity
which in our exhausted condition was positive agony. A burning
unquenchable thirst took possession of us, and the men resorted to the
water-kegs so incessantly that the water diminished with startling
rapidity, and foreseeing the possible difficulty of obtaining a further
supply I was at last reluctantly compelled to put them upon an
allowance, so that very speedily we had thirst added to our other
miseries. And during all this time our aching eyes were every moment
directed down the river in the hope, which grew less and less as the day
wore on, of detecting the approach of the boats which we felt certain
were on their way to effect our rescue.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

RESCUED.

Finally the long, harassing, anxious day drew to a close, the sun set,
the night-mists gathered once more about us, and the hoped-for rescue
had not appeared.

We were by this time completely worn out, and I foresaw that unless the
men could obtain a little rest our pertinacious enemies must inevitably
prove victorious.

Of course in this matter of rest everything depended upon the behaviour
of the foe. If from principle or superstition, or for any other reason,
it was their invariable habit to abstain from fighting at night all
might yet be well with us, for though our stock of provisions and water
was getting low, and the ammunition for our muskets was getting short, I
felt convinced that, could our lads but secure three or tour hours of
unbroken rest, they were quite equal to holding the battery for another
twenty-four hours at least. Unfortunately I knew nothing whatever about
the fighting customs of the natives, and was consequently quite without
a guide of any kind beyond my own reason. I felt convinced that the
blacks had fully realised the advantage to them of our fagged condition
during the past day, and had little doubt but that they were acute
enough to trace it to its correct source; the question then was, would
they allow us to pass an undisturbed night and thus sacrifice an
important advantage? I greatly doubted it. But they might allow a few
hou