Eight were dead in the passage outside the
chamber, their corpses mingled with those of Arabs and Maghrabis.
In the chamber, as the Master glanced back, he could see a heap of
bodies round the door. These bodies of attackers who had been pulled
inside and butchered, made a glad sight to the Master. He laughed
grimly.
"We're more than even with them, so far," he exulted. "We've beaten
them, so far! The rest will get us, all right enough, but Jannati
Shahr will remember the coming of the white men!"
The survivors--the Master, Bohannan, "Captain Alden," and Leclair and
nine others--were in evil case, as they trailed down the low-roofed
chamber lighted with copper lamps. More than half bore wounds.
Some showed bleeding faces, others limp arms; still others hobbled
painfully, leaving bloody trails on the floor of dull gold. Curses on
the Arabs echoed in various tongues. This first encounter had taken
frightful toll of the Legion.
But every heart that still lived was bold and high. Not one of the
little party entertained the slightest hope of surviving or of ever
beholding the light of day. Still, not one uttered any word of despair
or suggestion of surrender.
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