A _sowar_ fell.
The rest cantered forward, yelling and waving their _tulwars_. Sher
Afzul and the other servants opened fire. A second horseman dropped from
his saddle, a stallion stumbled and fell, throwing its rider heavily.
The firing grew faster. Two or three more horses were wounded and
galloped wildly off. The rest of the cavalry came on, but, losing their
nerve, checked their pace instead of charging home.
Dermot, loading and firing rapidly, bringing a _sowar_ down with each shot,
suddenly found Noreen crouching beside him behind the barricade. She was
holding a revolver.
"For Heaven's sake, get into the house, darling!" he cried.
"No; I have Fred's pistol and know how to use it," she answered, calmly. "I
have often practised with it."
He could not stop to argue with her, for the troopers still came on. But
they bunched together, knee to knee, in a frontal attack, instead of
assaulting from all four sides at once. They made a splendid target and
suffered heavily. But some brought their horses' heads almost against the
verandah railing. All the garrison rose from behind the barricade and fired
point-blank at them. The girl, steadying her hand on a box, shot one
_sowar_ through the body. The few survivors turned and galloped madly away,
leaving most of their number on the ground. To cover their retreat a ragged
volley broke from the infantry; and a storm of bullets flew over and around
the bungalow, ricocheted from the ground or struck the walls.
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