"
"So do I," I muttered, keeping my right foot on the ground with
difficulty.
But Stephen laughed outright and asked:
"What will you do, Sammy, when the fighting begins?"
"Mr. Somers," he answered, "I have employed some wakeful hours in
making a hole behind that tree-trunk, through which I hope bullets
will not pass. There, being a man of peace, I shall pray for our
success."
"And if the Arabs get in, Sammy?"
"Then, sir, under Heaven, I shall trust to the fleetness of my legs."
I could stand it no longer, my right foot flew up and caught Sammy in
the place at which I had aimed. He vanished, casting a reproachful
look behind him.
Just then a terrible clamour arose in the slavers' camp which hitherto
had been very silent, and just then also the first light of dawn
glinted on the barrels of our guns.
"Look out!" I cried, as I gulped down the last of my coffee, "there's
something going on there."
The clamour grew louder and louder till it seemed to fill the skies
with a concentrated noise of curses and shrieking.
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