THE GUNS OF BUKK1SAUL. 



335 



" I PULLED TRIGGER/ 



"The screech which fol- 

 lowed showed that there was 

 one less mutineer left to raise 

 the mischief in India, and I 

 made a dash into the house, 

 accompanied by several shots 

 which whistled all about me. 



" Hastily shutting the doors, I prepared to die with my boots, or rather slippers, 

 t>n. The house had never been intended to serve as a fort, and though Fred had left 

 hs loaded rifle within, and I had my fully charged revolver at command, there was no 

 prospect of my being able to hold out long. 



" Wheeling about, I observed a dozen dusky miscreants running across the 

 highway, brandishing their knives, shrieking and fairly leaping with joy at the 

 prospect of the treat before them in putting me to a cruel death. 



" In that fearful moment, while I stood by the side of a window, with Jack's loaded 

 rifle in hand, I held my fire a moment, while I anxiously looked for Kush-awa, the 

 treacherous villain that had brought this upon me. I wanted to bore a hole through 

 his bronzed skull before I succumbed. 



" But he was invisible, and I let drive at the nearest fiend, who went down with 

 a howl that fairly made the leaves tremble. 



"This acted as a temporary check of the ardent Sepoys, who instantly scattered 

 to cover. 



" But I knew they would not remain quiet long, and, when they made a united 

 charge, even though I defended myself with the utmost desperation, nothing could 

 save me. 



" It was at this critical juncture, when the natives were like so many tigers 

 gathering themselves for a spring, that I heard distinctly the boom of a gun, 

 followed by another and another in quick succession, just as if a cannonade was 

 going on only a few hundred yards to the south. 



