He shut
his teeth, and his chin rose a bit higher. "A picket! And now the
brute has run in to tell tales," he said shortly. "Quick, men, it's
a race between us now."
Answering to the touch of the spur, the gray broncho went leaping
forward, with Paddy's horse neck and neck at her side. From beyond
the ridge, the trio of guns could be heard, barking ceaselessly,
while their shells dropped thick into the laager, scarcely eight
hundred yards away. And now the defile, short, but narrow, was close
at hand.
Ka-paw! Ka-paw!
From the mouth of the tiny pass, a rain of bullets swept down upon
them. A horse dropped, shot through the knee; another, hit in the
neck, bolted, threw its wounded rider and then, mad with pain,
hurled itself straight into the ranks of the enemy. A second shot,
almost at arm's length, threw it to the earth; but not until it had
done its work. The half-broken Boer ponies, fat from much feeding
and totally unaccustomed to this species of missile, swerved at its
approach and destroyed the aim of the second volley, which was
answered by a fire that sent a full quarter of the twoscore Boers
sprawling heavily groundward.
A scant ten minutes sufficed for the rest.
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