fired point-blank. Down fell the man across
the fallen officer, and then, as if by magic, half-a-dozen
wild-looking figures appeared all round him.

There was no mistaking their intention. With a yell of fury they
rushed on him. Helmar was as cool as if anything but his life
depended upon the issue. As the nearest of the Arabs approached, he
dropped him with another shot, then turning with an astonishing
quickness of the eye brought another to his knees. It was, however,
his last shot, for, as the man fell, his knife which had been
upraised, struck him on the wrist, lacerating it terribly; his
revolver fell from his nerveless grasp, and he was at the mercy of
his antagonists.

For a moment or two he struggled furiously with the remaining three,
but the contest was too uneven. The assailants were armed with long,
keen knives, and Helmar had now nothing with which to defend
himself.

[Illustration: "Just as a hideous black wretch rushed at him, he
fired point-blank." p. 66]

In those moments he realized the futility of his efforts, but he
meant to sell his life dearly, and struck out with his left to such
purpose that for a second the savages drew back. It was, however,
but a momentary lull, and with a combined rush they overwhelmed him.

For one brief moment he struggled fiercely, then he saw one of his
assailants raise a long narrow blade--the next instant it fell, and,
with a sickening sensation, it struck him in the shoulder. He
struggled to release himself, and then, without a single cry, sank
to the ground.

The sound of the firing and the cries of his assailants had roused
the neighbourhood, and just as the murderers were about to finish
their work a crowd approached, and they precipitately fled. It was a
mixed and villainous crew that first reached the spot after the
departure of the murderers, mainly consisting of natives; but there
was a sprinkling of Europeans of doubtful repute, and they quickly
gathered round the two inanimate bodies.

CHAPTER VII

A GOOD SAMARITAN

When Helmar woke again to consciousness, it was with no idea either
of the lapse of time or any recollections of what had occurred to
him in the meantime. Beyond being able to turn his head slowly from
side to side, he was unable to move, and a terrible feeling of
lassitude and weakness nipped all inclination in that direction.

The room in which he found himself was s