Between Snow and Fire — page 125: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

E tee je and karosses, S daetea de between the cattle and ebsir captors, with the object, of separating and driving off the former. A volley was discharged—with deadly effect, as testified by the number who fell, wounded, maimed, or stone dead. The rest rushed on, gliding in among the fleeing cattle— whistling and yelling in a frenzy of excitement. “Keep cool, boys, and fire low," cried Carhayes—who was in command of the dismounted party—as a crowd of Kafirs suddenly started up on their rear, and, with assegais uplifted, threatened a determined charge. “Now!” Again there was a roar, as the whole fire was poured into the advancing mass. Even the horses, steady, trained steeds as they were, began to show restiveness, terrified by the continuous crash of firing and the fierce yells of the savages. Then, without pausing to reload, every man dis- charged his revolver into the very thick of the leaping, ochre-smeared warriors. It was too much. The latter wavered, then dropped into cover. | But the respite was only a temporary one. Changing his tactics, the fierce foe no longer attempted an open coup de — main, but taking advantage of the bush he pressed the ~ handful of whites who formed the rear guard so hotly as to force them to close up on their comrades, in order to avoid being entirely surrounded and cut off from the latter. But however bad had been their marksmanship earlier in the day, while excited and practising at the two fleeing Kafirs at long range, our frontiersmen were now in a differ- ent vein. ‘There was nothing wild about their shooting now. ' Steady of eye, and cool of brain, they were keenly alive to ~— every opportunity. Directlya Kafir showed his head he was morally certain to receive a ball through it, or so un-— comfortably close as to make him feel as if he had escaped by a miracle, and think twice about exposing himself a second time. Meanwhile the cattle were being driven off by the enemy, and indeed matters had become so serious as to render this a mere secondary consideration. From the bush on three sides a continuous fire was kept up, and had the Kafirs been even moderately decent shots not a man of that patrol would have lived to tell the tale; but partly through fear — of exposing themselves, partly through fear of their own ~ fire-arms, to the use of which they were completely unaccus- ~ ‘Com, -? ae €OMICDOOKS.ca