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Page 69
As for Good and myself, the armour did not suit us nearly so well. To
begin with, Good insisted upon keeping on his new-found trousers, and
a stout, short gentleman with an eye-glass, and one half of his face
shaved, arrayed in a mail shirt, carefully tucked into a very seedy
pair of corduroys, looks more remarkable than imposing. In my case,
the chain shirt being too big for me, I put it on over all my clothes,
which caused it to bulge in a somewhat ungainly fashion. I discarded
my trousers, however, retaining only my veldtschoons, having
determined to go into battle with bare legs, in order to be the
lighter for running, in case it became necessary to retire quickly.
The mail coat, a spear, a shield, that I did not know how to use, a
couple of /tollas/, a revolver, and a huge plume, which I pinned into
the top of my shooting hat, in order to give a bloodthirsty finish to
my appearance, completed my modest equipment. In addition to all these
articles, of course we had our rifles, but as ammunition was scarce,
and as they would be useless in case of a charge, we arranged that
they should be carried behind us by bearers.
When at length we had equipped ourselves, we swallowed some food
hastily, and then started out to see how things were going on. At one
point in the table-land of the mountain, there was a little koppie of
brown stone, which served the double purpose of head-quarters and of a
conning tower. Here we found Infadoos surrounded by his own regiment,
the Greys, which was undoubtedly the finest in the Kukuana army, and
the same that we had first seen at the outlying kraal. This regiment,
now three thousand five hundred strong, was being held in reserve, and
the men were lying down on the grass in companies, and watching the
king's forces creep out of Loo in long ant-like columns. There seemed
to be no end to the length of these columns--three in all, and each of
them numbering, as we judged, at least eleven or twelve thousand men.
As soon as they were clear of the town the regiments formed up. Then
one body marched off to the right, one to the left, and the third came
on slowly towards us.
"Ah," said Infadoos, "they are going to attack us on three sides at
once."
This seemed rather serious news, for our position on the top of the
mountain, which measured a mile and a half in circumference, being an
extended one, it was important to us to concentrate our comparatively
small defending force as much as possible. But since it was impossible
for us to dictate in what way we should be assailed, we had to make
the best of it, and accordingly sent orders to the various regiments
to prepare to receive the separate onslaughts.
CHAPTER XIII
THE ATTACK
Slowly, and without the slightest appearance of haste or excitement,
the three columns crept on. When within about five hundred yards of
us, the main or centre column halted at the root of a tongue of open
plain which ran up into the hill, to give time to the other divisions
to circumvent our position, which was shaped more or less in the form
of a horse-shoe, with its two points facing towards the town of Loo.
The object of this man�uvre was that the threefold assault should be
delivered simultaneously.
"Oh, for a gatling!" groaned Good, as he contemplated the serried
phalanxes beneath us. "I would clear that plain in twenty minutes."
"We have not got one, so it is no use yearning for it; but suppose you
try a shot, Quatermain," said Sir Henry. "See how near you can go to
that tall fellow who appears to be in command. Two to one you miss
him, and an even sovereign, to be honestly paid if ever we get out of
this, that you don't drop the bullet within five yards."
This piqued me, so, loading the express with solid ball, I waited till
my friend walked some ten yards out from his force, in order to get a
better view of our position, accompanied only by an orderly; then,
lying down and resting the express on a rock, I covered him. The
rifle, like all expresses, was only sighted to three hundred and fifty
yards, so to allow for the drop in trajectory I took him half-way down
the neck, which ought, I calculated, to find him in the chest. He
stood quite still and gave me every opportunity, but whether it was
the excitement or the wind, or the fact of the man being a long shot,
I don't know, but this was what happened. Getting dead on, as I
thought, a fine sight, I pressed, and when the puff of smoke had
cleared away, to my disgust, I saw my man standing there unharmed,
whilst his orderly, who was at least three paces to the left, was
stretched upon the ground apparently dead. Turning swiftly, the
officer I had aimed at began to run towards his men in evident alarm.
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