It was now half-past four. The fight at the clearing having been won without a single casualty on the British side, Dr. O'Brien was free to attend to the thirty wounded men who, with about half as many dead, bore witness to the severity of the struggle by the abattis. Meanwhile, Captain Lister was leading his men in pursuit of the fugitives. Suddenly the crackle of musketry broke out again far away to the north-east. The major turned at the sound. He caught sight of the rampart of baggage, of the stricken forms lying close beneath it, of Tom standing among his men.
"Tom," he said, with quick resolution, "I want you to take your unwounded men up to Mumford and see if he is really being attacked again. Some of the less severely wounded can guard the baggage. If he wants help send your boy or one of the men back to me, and I'll move up in support."
The major's tone was quiet and matter-of-fact, as though his command was quite in the ordinary course of things. Tom needed no repetition of the order; vowing that Uncle Jack was a brick, he started at once with twenty-five men and Mbutu. He had been hoping against hope for such a moment. Only with the greatest difficulty had he refrained from leaping into the fray by the abattis when he saw Captain Lister so hard pressed and defending his position so gallantly.
He reached Lieutenant Mumford's force at an opportune moment. The Arab chief, after his men had been hurled back by the enemy, had striven desperately to rally them. Collecting some two hundred and fifty of the survivors, and hearing, as the major had done, the sound of brisk firing to the south, he conceived the idea of making a circuit and joining his friends above the bridge. He had already made some progress in that direction, and had actually come into touch with the extended line of flankers, when he was informed by a scout, whom he had sent to reconnoitre, that the British commander was withdrawing the larger part of his force to the assistance of a second body up-stream. The Arab instantly wheeled round; his band was being augmented every moment by returning fugitives, and he saw an opportunity to fall upon and overwhelm the small British force left behind. Lieutenant Mumford quickly divined his intention, and foresaw the direction of the threatened attack. He at once changed front, and, turning the Maxim round at right angles to its former position, left it in the hands of a non-commissioned officer, while he himself took the general command. He posted his men on two sides of a square, thus forming a wedge. The position was partly protected by undergrowth, but the trees were not so close together as to afford complete cover, and the advantage of the ground lay rather with the massing Arabs.