But quick as the work was,
men fell thick, and by the time that I had emptied the carbine of its
twelve cartridges, for the moment the advance was checked. I rapidly
pushed in some more cartridges, and hardly had I done so when the enemy,
seeing that we were about to escape them altogether, came on once more
with a tremendous yell. By this time the two halves of the single tusk
of the great bull alone remained to be passed up. I fired and fired as
effectively as before, but notwithstanding all that I could do, some men
escaped my hail of bullets and began to ascend the cliff. Presently
my rifle was again empty. I slung it over my back, and, drawing my
revolver, turned to run for it, the attackers being now quite close. As
I did so, a spear struck the cliff close to my head.
"The last half of the tusk was now vanishing over the rock, and I sung
out to Gobo and the other man who had been pushing it up to vanish after
it. Gobo, poor fellow, required no second invitation; indeed, his haste
was his undoing. He went at the projecting rock with a bound. The end
of the tusk was still hanging over, and instead of grasping the rock he
caught at it. It twisted in his hand--he slipped--he fell; with one wild
shriek he vanished into the abyss beneath, his falling body brushing me
as it passed. For a moment we stood aghast, and presently the dull thud
of his fall smote heavily upon our ears. Poor fellow, he had met the
Fate which, as he declared, walked about loose in Wambe's country.
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