d their friends was
too much for them, fighting as they did, for a time, on the defensive;
warding off the cuts of the dusky villains, and giving only a few
thrusts here and there, when it could be done with fatal effect. Many of
their number had already bit the dust, and, as yet, no impression had
been made on the gallant little band, the Soaws being still two to one.
Thus Carlton and his party were still fighting under a disadvantage as
far as numbers were concerned. Had the combatants been less pre-occupied
with their deadly strife, they might have observed, at a short distance,
a female figure cautiously emerging from between the bushes and
stealthily creep beneath the vehicle, to the wheels of which the
Collector had been bound. This was the wife of the head clerk, the
pretty three-quarter caste, whose presence of mind, courage and
forethought had so largely contributed to their deliverance. Rapidly but
surely, with the hunting knife given her by Captain Crosby, she cut the
cords that bound her husband and his companions, who, when they found
they were released, rushed forward and possessed themselves of the
weapons of the fallen mutineers, and immediately commenced an attack on
their flank and rear, in hopes of rendering some assistance to their
brave defenders.

Moving quickly, but in such a way as not to attract notice, Mrs. de
Mello, released the Collector's wife and the other ladies from their
unpleasant and exposed position, and one by one removed them for safety
within the cover of the jungle in case of any chance shot or blow
injuring them. A brief time served to restore the ladies to something
like tranquility, and enable them to arrange their attire to the best
advantage under the circumstances, and evincing in the highest manner
their thanks and gratitude to her who had, with such peril to herself,
relieved them from a fate, to them, worse than death itself.

The unexpected release of the prisoners, and the attack made on their
flank and rear by them, totally confounded the mutineers, and rendered
all escape on their part impossible or nearly so, while Arthur and his
friends, seeing the addition to their number, and being about equally
matched--numerically speaking--changed their tactics from the defensive
to the offensive, and attacked their opponents in right good earnest,
and with such skill and determination did they use their weapons that
they very shortly brought the contest to a close. Eleven of