With Rifle and Bayonet Part 22

"Not a bad shot that," Jack remarked serenely. "It touched the roof, ricochetted off, and burst away behind."

The next shot proved almost more alarming, for it was a shrapnel sh.e.l.l, and exploded some hundred yards in front of the farmhouse, sending a hail of bullets spattering in all directions.

"They've got the range now, and I think we had better get below," said Jack. "We shall be quite safe from a rush, for the Boers cannot come close while their friends are sh.e.l.ling us. I expect they will continue firing till they have smashed the place to pieces, and then they will gallop up full-tilt. That will be our time. We will lie low, and make them think that the sh.e.l.ling has killed or wounded all of us. We will hold our fire till they are at the railings, and then we will blaze into them. I fancy we shall be safe enough till nightfall, but then, if help does not reach us, it will go hard with us. Tim must have slipped into the town by this, so we can hope for the best."

"I will play something for you, if you like," said Eileen Russel at this moment. "You don't want any cheering up, but just to show you that I feel quite safe in your hands, and have no fear of the Boers, you shall have some music. What shall it be?"

"Let us have 'G.o.d Save the Queen!' Miss Russel," Wilfred cried. "It will make us feel all the better."

Accordingly the brave girl stood up at one end of the cellar, and in that curious place, and with sh.e.l.l and bullets plunging through the walls of the house above, and occasionally exploding with a deafening noise which drowned the music for the moment, made the air throb with those strains which no Englishman worthy of the proud name can listen to unmoved. It was indeed a strange proceeding, and to the Boer horseman who galloped up just then, during a lull in the firing, and approached the farmhouse within fifty yards, it was totally inexplicable. Here were a few mad Englishmen listening to the strains of their national anthem with bullets flying all about them. "Surely they are a strange people!" he thought. And plucky too, for that violin he heard was played by a young girl's hands.

Eileen played right through the anthem, and was heartily applauded by the men, who sat round her, rifle in hand, their faces dimly lit by the rays from the oil-lamp which had been placed upon the floor.

By this time the farmhouse had been drilled through and through with sh.e.l.l, most of which, however, had pa.s.sed out without exploding. A few had struck directly upon the stone slabs above the cellar, but all save one had merely fizzled angrily and poured out a quant.i.ty of smoke. But one burst, and blew part of the roof of the house away, also shattering two of the stone slabs.

"Volunteers to replace the damaged stone roof!" sang out Jack, pushing his head up through the trap and inspecting the havoc. "Two of the slabs above us have been blown to pieces and must be replaced at once, or else an unlucky sh.e.l.l will pitch through the boards and come in here on top of us."

Wilfred at once rose to his feet, and the two darted up the ladder and into the kitchen. Here they found that a brick wall, built to carry the cooking range, stood between the Boer fire and the ponies, so that the hail of Mauser bullets had for the most part failed to reach them. But one had entered through the wall at the back and had killed a pony, while a sh.e.l.l burst through the thin layer of brick just as Jack and Wilfred entered, and, throwing a shower of dust and debris in all directions, inflicted a fearful wound upon another of the captured ponies and flew out through the other wall.

"Poor beast!" exclaimed Jack with a shudder. "I will put it out of its agony. They will not hear my Mauser from such a distance."

Stepping up to the wounded animal, he placed his pistol close against its chest and pulled the trigger. The bullet pa.s.sed through its heart and killed the suffering animal instantly.

"Now for the stones!" he said quietly. "I'll lever them up, and then help you to put them in position. Hurry up! I see those fellows are getting the other gun into place, and preparing to fire it."

Jack took a hasty view through one of the loopholes with his gla.s.ses, and then proceeded to prise up the slabs from the kitchen floor. Five minutes sufficed to complete the work, and just as they were preparing to descend into the bomb-proof chamber once more, a loud and incessant rat, tat, tat sounded in the distance, followed an instant later by a continuous hum overhead, and then, as the range was found, by a stream of one-pounder sh.e.l.ls which hurtled through the farmhouse, smashing walls, chairs, and everything in their way into matchwood.

"Come down, lads!" cried Frank Russel anxiously. "That's a quick-firing Vickers-Maxim barking. They'll give us a long dose of that while the mounted men ride closer, and then there'll be a rush. Get your guns ready, and immediately the firing ceases climb out of this and man the walls. I expect they'll come mostly from the front, for they don't know of this cellar, and will fancy we are all wiped out. Well, we'll teach them something, that's all."

"Then it is agreed we hold our fire till they are within a few yards of the railings," said Jack. "A volley to start with will be the thing, and then when they reach the garden we will use our magazines."

"That's it, lad!" Frank Russel answered. "We all understand, and we'll hold our fire till you give the word. George! they are pouring it in this time!"

There was good cause for this last remark, for above their heads there was a perfect pandemonium, in which the loud rip, rip, and scream of a flow of sh.e.l.ls predominated, while now and again a dull, heavy thud, as one struck the slabs above, caused all to start nervously.

But they were well protected, and although the position was not exactly pleasant, or devoid of danger, they bore the bombardment with a serenity which was wonderful. At any moment one of the iron missiles might find its way into the cellar, and deal a sudden and awful death to all.

Indeed Jack began to wonder what would be the best course to adopt supposing one of the bombs did happen by ill-luck to find an entry, and lie in front of them fizzling and spluttering ere it shattered itself and its immediate surroundings to pieces. He had seen that some of them did no more than splutter and smoke, and he at once determined in his own quiet dogged way that he would take immediate action and remove it to the slabs above. If it burst in his hand--well--neither he nor his friends would ever know much about it. But if the fuse were not expended he might be able to remove it in time, and so save all their lives.

But he was never called upon to take such a desperate risk, and instead sat silently in his corner, smoking furiously, and watching the smoke which Frank Russel and Wilfred blew out from their lips. It was quite fascinating to see it curling slowly up from the dark cellar into the bright light overhead, and then suddenly cut in twain by a rushing sh.e.l.l. Even Eileen was interested in it, and, catching Jack's gaze fixed in the same direction, smiled at him just to show how steady she felt. "Look out, lads!" exclaimed Frank Russel a few minutes later.

"They've done pumping those sh.e.l.ls into us, and we had better get back to our posts."

All four at once scrambled up the ladder, and, darting across the floor, looked out over the sunlit veldt. In front it was covered by a number of galloping ponies, with wild-looking Boers upon their backs.

Jack at once rushed to the other side of the house and gazed in that direction, but there was no one to be seen.

"They are all in front," he cried. "All the better for us! Each of you lie full-length on the floor and push your rifle a few inches only through the wall. That's it! Now wait till I give the word."

Lying flat on their faces the gallant little band held their fire, and waited in dead silence while the hors.e.m.e.n galloped towards them. Soon, as they got within 200 yards, one of them gave a shout and threw his hand in the air. All at once drew rein and walked their ponies forward, laughing and shouting joyfully to one another; for the fact that no sharp reports had greeted their rush seemed to show that the sh.e.l.ls they had poured into the farmhouse had been effective, and that all the defenders had been killed.

Laughing, therefore, and smoking their pipes, they rode slowly towards the farm, gradually drawing close together as they directed their ponies towards the entrance to the garden.

"Get your magazines ready!" whispered Jack. "We scarcely hoped for such luck. Wait till they reach the opening, and then fire into them as fast as you can."

His companions obeyed him silently, and then waited grimly for the word which would send a death-dealing stream of lead into the Boers.

It seemed an hour before it was given, but Jack was not the lad to be flurried, or to allow excitement to get the better of his judgment. He waited calmly till some of the enemy had ridden through the opening, while the remainder were in a close body outside.

Then he shouted, "Fire!" and instantly the four rifles spoke out, spouting forth a continuous stream of bullets and angry puffs of flame.

Then they stopped as suddenly, as the magazines emptied.

"Now volley-firing!" shouted Jack; and each, slipping in a cartridge, waited till he gave the word. Four times in rapid succession they emptied their rifles, but on the last occasion only into flying men, for the Boer slimness had for once been dormant, and neglect of ordinary precautions had led them into a trap which proved a bitter lesson to them. At such close quarters, and grouped together as they were, the long Lee-Metford bullets, with their tremendous velocity and penetrating power, had drilled through and through the ma.s.s, and had almost annihilated the band. Had a Maxim been turned upon them for a minute the slaughter could scarcely have been greater, and as it was, a pile of dead and wounded Boers blocked the entrance to the homely English flower-garden, while injured ponies struggled and lashed out madly with their heels, adding to the ghastly picture.

It had been a sudden and terrible blow, and those of the enemy who yet lived turned their animals, and, extricating themselves from the heap of fallen comrades, galloped madly away in the desperate desire to escape from the murderous rifles of the few dauntless "Rooineks" whom they had hoped to find dead and mangled beneath the ruins of the farmhouse.

"That will teach them something, my lads!" exclaimed Frank Russel hoa.r.s.ely. "It's awful to have to kill so many of them, but it's their lives or ours, and besides, we've a glorious cause to fight for."

"It is truly awful," murmured Eileen, sitting down on the floor and suddenly turning deadly pale. "Oh, I cannot bear to hear their groans!"

"She's done up, and no wonder, poor girl!" cried Frank. "Slip below, Jack, and fetch up a gla.s.s of brandy. There, that's it, Eileen dear!

pull yourself together, and remember it is all for our queen and country."

Jack at once dived into the cellar and reappeared with some brandy and water, some of which was poured between Eileen's lips. But she was now in a dead faint, and it was some minutes before she regained consciousness again. Naturally a somewhat timid and gentle-mannered girl, to be called upon to use a rifle in earnest and deal mortal wounds was a sore trial to her. The need for strength, and the stern struggle in which she had so bravely borne a part, had, however, braced her for the work. But now, when it was all over, or rather when the hostilities had ceased for a time, and she saw the wounded and heard their groans, the terrible sight and the unusual sounds unnerved her, and she was prostrate in a moment.

A little later she had recovered, and, stimulated by the brandy and soothed by her father's kind words, was soon herself again and able to stand up.

Meanwhile Wilfred and Jack had dragged a table from a corner in the kitchen, and having placed it beneath the gap in the iron roof, and lifted a chair upon it, the latter jumped up, and, standing on tiptoe, waved a handkerchief. It was answered from a distance, and as soon as one of the enemy had galloped up, Jack informed him that for an hour they were at liberty to send a party of fifteen men to remove the killed and wounded.

The permission was again accepted with grateful thanks, and while the gruesome work was going on, the little garrison once more took advantage of the time to s.n.a.t.c.h a hasty meal. When all the Boers who lay in front of the house had been removed, a man with a grey beard and wrinkled face rode forward alone and asked for a parley.

From his post in the roof Jack beckoned to him to advance, and asked him what he wanted.

"Elof Visser is dead," he began sadly, "and so are many more of my poor comrades; but, for all the loss we have suffered, we are none the less determined. We will capture you if we have to smash the house to pieces. But you are brave men, and I again offer you terms, and if you refuse them, beg that you will send out the girl. She shall be taken and handed over to the English pickets outside Kimberley. Think well of what I say. Frank Russel shall not be injured if he is with you. That is all; but I will remind you that they are honourable terms, which men such as you are might well accept."

"Thank you," replied Jack courteously. "I will discuss your terms with my comrades. Draw off as far as the railing and wait till I call you."

"Now, what shall we do?" he asked, jumping from the table. "Whatever happens, I think Eileen had better trust herself to these men. The Boer outside looks an honest sort, and I am sure he will do exactly as he promised."

"I refuse to leave you!" exclaimed Eileen indignantly. "If you are not going to surrender, I shall certainly not say 'good-bye' now. My rifle has proved of some help to you, and will be wanted badly later on. You can settle the point as to surrender or not, Jack, but I am mistress of my own actions, and shall throw in my lot with you."

"George! then I expect there's only one answer to be made!" cried Frank.

"We've shown them that this is a precious tough nut to crack, and we're no worse off now than we were early this morning. Let us stick to it, I say, and trust to the boys from Kimberley reaching us by nightfall."

"And I think the same," exclaimed Wilfred excitedly. "We've got the cellar to hide in, and since it has already stood a long bombardment, it will serve our purpose for a few hours longer. We've plenty of ammunition and food and water. Yes, I quite agree. 'Stick to it!' is our motto."

"Very well, then," said Jack, with a grim chuckle, "I'll let this fellow know."

Jumping up on the table he called to the Boer, and as soon as he bad approached near enough told him the decision of the little garrison.