CHAPTER XX.

A blow from an axe had broken Munza's left knee, a lance head had penetrated deeply into his right side, and from these two wide, gaping wounds the blood flowed in streams. Nevertheless, the King fought on; he no longer attacked, but he defended himself, kept his enemies at a distance, and prevented their coming to close quarters to despatch him. Powerless to rise from the spot where he had fallen, his bleeding body scarce raised from the ground, he still wielded the battle-axe, so terrible in his hands, looked so ferociously at the Walindis, and uttered such fear-instilling cries, that he kept the space around him clear.

Little by little, however, the surrounding host closed in upon him; they knew that their prey could not escape them, but they were not in a hurry to fall upon him. They advanced slowly, cautiously, silently, ready to rush in the moment Munza showed any sign of weakness.

But now M. Périères, followed by the Monbuttoos armed with revolvers, hurried out of the encampment to the rescue of the wounded King. It was high time; Munza had made such superhuman efforts to defend himself that his wounds had opened, and, weakened by loss of blood, he swooned upon the ground. Some soldiers lifted him up in their arms, whilst M. Périères and his little band kept at bay the maddened and yelling mob.

They succeeded in bearing the King within the enclosure set apart by Madame de Guéran for the sick and wounded. But Delange, after a moment's examination, saw clearly that this time his skill would be of no avail. They had not brought him a wounded man, but an already stiffening corpse, whose large eyes alone were open and rivetted on Madame de Guéran, who had just appeared on the scene.

Munza might, perhaps, have had strength enough left to speak to her and touch her; but he only fixed his eyes upon her and appeared well-content to die near her and for her. He had struggled heroically against his enemies, but he disdained to fight against death. He accepted his fate without a murmur, without reviling. This savage died like a Frenchman.

Madame de Guéran knelt down beside him, and, after having solemnly made the sign of the cross over him, laid her hand on his forehead. He shivered at her touch; his already closing eyes opened wide with a last effort, his face was lighted up with a smile of intense meaning, his lips moved, and in a long, deep sigh his soul fled away.

Laura de Guéran remained on her knees for a long time, praying to the God of the Christians to receive into His keeping the heathen soul which, lifted out of its former abasement, was in a state to expand into something far higher and better. She prayed, too, for ail those friends who were fighting so valiantly in her defence, and for her husband, so near to her and yet so far removed, not by mere distance, but by the terrible obstacles lying between them.

Whilst she thus knelt beside the body of Munza, the Walindis came on again to recover from the Europeans the wounded man snatched from their vengeance. They did not know that he was dead, and they hungered after the pleasure of strangling him with their own hands, carrying off his body, casting it down at the feet of the Queen, and saying to her—"You see that we can fight as valorously as your women; your warriors are in no way inferior to your amazons."

Intoxicated by their first success, and thinking now that victory was within their grasp, they rushed in one huge, compact body against the encampment.

"Fire!" called out de Morin.

A hundred rifles volleyed forth their messengers of death; every bullet told on the mass; a hundred bodies fell, and the remainder, terrified and dismayed, recoiled as one man, and attempted to fly. But that was out of their power; they now found themselves enclosed, cooped up, and penned in, so to speak, between their enemies and their friends.

The army of the amazons had moved down from the neighbouring hills on to the plain to reinforce the battalions already engaged. The latter, on turning to fly, consequently found behind them an impenetrable human wall, five thousand women, who reviled them as cowards, and threatened them with death if they retreated. Put thus to the blush, and in despair at flight being impossible, they attempted a fresh attack. They were received with a second volley, and another hundred of their number bit the dust.

But this time the fire was continuous, a never-ceasing storm of leaden hail, where every bullet found its billet. The Europeans saw clearly that if they ceased firing for a second, or if their line was broken at any one point by their countless enemies, it would be death, speedy, inevitable death!

The Walindis were now in utter confusion, fighting amongst themselves and killing each other. The front rank fell under the European fire; the rear-rank, borne backward, was hurled against the amazons, and suffered terribly from the sharp blades with which the bodies of these women were covered. The brutal terror which had taken possession of this human herd at length inspired them with an intelligent idea. They, suddenly, made a simultaneous rush against the living barrier which shut them in, made a breach in it, and sped, through this opening, in haste and disorder across the plain.

Nothing now separated the Europeans from the army of the amazons. Five thousand women, bristling with iron and armed with axes and lances, five thousand raving maniacs, only awaited the word to assault the camp, defended by scarcely a hundred men.

"This time," said Dr. Delange, cheerfully, to his two friends, "I imagine that we shall see the end of all this, and a very good end, too. At all events, I am glad of it. We shall no longer have to say to each other every morning, 'Is this the day? Are we to be exterminated before or after sunset?' Now we are regularly in for it; in five minutes there will remain of our caravan only an agreeable memory—for the Walindis. What have we to complain of? We might have died of fever, which is a stupid sort of thing to do, or we might have fallen into the hands of the Bongos, Niam-Niam, or Domondoos, all very second-rate people, whereas we are going to die by the hands of those charming women. Only look at them! They are perfectly adorable! Here they come, on purpose that we may admire their pretty, graceful necks, their flashing eyes, their dear little noses, and kissable lips!"

The whole of the amazons were, indeed, advancing, but in hostile array and good order, commanded by the Queen in person, who was in the centre of the front rank.

"Are you not going to give the word to fire?" said M. Périères to M. de Morin.

"I shall take very good care to do nothing of the kind," replied M. de Morin. "We have but one hope—that of frightening them by a general attack, and so throwing them into disorder."

"You are the commander-in-chief, but I do not think that these sweet creatures are to be daunted so easily."

"Nor I either, but we must do something."

"What have they done with M. de Guéran?" asked Delange. "I cannot see him, even with my telescope."

"The Queen," said de Morin, "no doubt thinks that it would be useless to expose so valuable a life, and has put her prisoner in some quiet corner."

Whilst he was saying these words, Madame de Guéran came out of the inner enclosure, and gravely, calmly, and almost smilingly, joined her three friends.

"Gentlemen," said she, "I am come to die with you."

She had barely finished speaking, when a loud shout came from the ranks of the Walindis, and those immediately around the Queen seemed to be thrown into disorder, as if they were fighting amongst themselves. At length their ranks opened before a man, armed with an axe, which he was whirling furiously round his head. He walked backwards, with his face to his enemies, who followed and tried to surround him, but dared not strike him.

He had already accomplished about twenty yards in this manner, when he turned round towards the Europeans; his eyes sought those of Madame de Guéran, with whom he exchanged a long, lingering glance. Then, calling out to the three young men who were preventing her from rushing out to meet him, he exclaimed—

"Fire! Fire!"

"Our bullets may hit you," shouted de Morin.

"What matter! You are all lost if you hesitate a moment longer."

"Fire!" said de Morin.

As soon as the smoke had cleared away, everybody looked for M. de Guéran. He was no longer as he had been but a moment before, standing upright and formidable. The Queen had got up to him, and, whilst he hesitated, no doubt, to strike her, had thrown her arms round him, and borne him down to the ground, where she was stabbing him in a perfect fury with all the iron blades fixed to her neck, her arms and her ancles.

At the same time, the amazons, now beyond Walinda's control, and undeterred by the dropping fire from the entrenchment, rushed altogether against the camp, and succeeded in effecting an entrance.

Fortunately for the Europeans, they had crossed the ditch to rescue M. de Guéran, and were consequently on the outside of the rampart. The Nubians, and a few Monbuttoos, had followed them, and now formed a forlorn hope, still capable of a sturdy defence. The amazons gave them a moment's breathing time; wholly occupied in killing the unfortunate wretches left in the camp, intoxicated with blood, frantic with rage, and half-mad, they had even forgotten their Queen, whom Nassar and three Dinkas, after a severe struggle, had managed to tear away from the mangled body she was hugging convulsively.

But a hundred victims were not enough to satisfy the ferocity of the amazons. As soon as they had massacred all the enemies they found within the entrenchment, they turned their attention to those who were outside.

Their numbers were still so great, that they completely filled the space between the mountain and the ditch; a second more, and they would have rescued their Queen, and butchered the Europeans and their surviving defenders.

But, suddenly, a fearful sound was heard—the mountain seemed to open out—rocks and immense blocks of granite rolled down its slopes; enormous stones, hurled high into the air, were falling on all sides; they crushed everything beneath them, inspired all around with terror, and either destroyed or dispersed the remnant of the army of the amazons.