'Not yet,' he said. 'Wait till they come on again; perhaps having a blazing roof over them will give them such a scare that they will clear off. Besides, it occurs to me that once our tents are destroyed we shall find ourselves in sad need of them. Let us contrive to save one at least. Wait while I see what the pack is doing.'
His appearance at the opening was the signal for a chorus of howls and cries from the wolves, for all the world as if they were human beings. David watched them for a minute as they sat for the most part collected about the hollow in a wide circle, watching the place with sharp eyes which never strayed from it. Once one of the brutes, seeing him in the open, made a rush forward, but a quick shot caused it to halt and slink back amongst its fellows. Then our hero unhitched the rope outside from the peg to which it was attached, and signalled to those within to pull the canvas towards them.
'I'll watch the beasts while you do it,' he called. 'Pile it up on the barricade so as to make it higher. Hurry up. They've all got on to their legs and are moving.'
They had barely time to drag the tent within the cave when the pack of hungry and maddened beasts outside dashed forward, snarling and yelping, causing David to retreat at once to the shelter of the barricade.
'Wait till they are well in the opening before you fire the second tent,' he called to Jong, 'and take care that they don't catch sight of you. Once down there would be an end to any one.'
For a few anxious moments the defenders of the cave wondered whether they had been right in clearing the entrance, for now that there was ample room the wolves swarmed in in a mass, crushing one another, yelping and snapping viciously, madly struggling to come at those behind the barricade. Bullets made not the smallest impression. Even the red-hot brands failed to stop them. It looked, indeed, as if they would flood the place and kill the whole party. Then Jong set his brand to the second tent, and almost at once a sheet of flame flared across the opening. The result was wonderful. The pack of wolves struggled and fought to get away, and, finally freeing themselves, bolted into the open, where they sat themselves down again in a ring, their eyes reflecting the glare of the flames cast by the blazing tent. And there they continued to squat when the canvas was consumed, their tongues lolling from their mouths, their cruel white teeth showing.