Page:Barbour--Joan of the ilsand.djvu/234

222 looking out on to the veranda, and here Chester and Keith stationed themselves.

A soft thud against the outside of the wall near Keith made him start back involuntarily.

"They're firing arrows," he said. "Don't expose yourself at the windows more than you can help or you may get hit with one of the rotten things."

"Joan, you'd better go into one of the other rooms," her brother ordered. "Ouch! Get back there!"

Another arrow, aimed in the darkness with better luck than the last, swished through the air within a foot of Chester's shoulder and its barbed point sank deep into the wall near where the girl was standing. They could not see the quivering object, but there was no mistaking what it was.

"You forget I can shoot as well as either of you," the girl replied in a voice that betrayed no sign of panic, "and if you think I'm going to take a back seat now you're mistaken."

It was no moment for argument. Moreover, what the girl said was true; and three armed people would be able to put up a better defence than two.

The cries of the blacks were swelling louder every moment as they worked themselves up into a frenzy for a massed attack. Already the yelping of some of the enemy, more adventurous than the rest, could be heard close to the house. It was impossible to