went down in heaps. Almost at our last charge they gave back, and just
then the roof fell upon them.

Oh, what a terrible scene was that! The dense clouds of smoke, the
screams of the trapped and burning men, the turmoil, the agony!

The front door was burst in by a flank onslaught.

Leblanc and a slave who was near him were seized by black, claw-like
hands and dragged out. What became of the Frenchman I do not know, for
the natives hauled him away, but I fear his end must have been dreadful,
as he was taken alive. The servant I saw them assegai, so at least he
died at once. I fired my last shot, killing a fellow who was
flourishing a battle-axe, then dashed the butt of the gun into the face
of the man behind him, felling him, and, seizing Marie by the hand,
dragged her back into the northernmost room--that in which I was
accustomed to sleep--and shut and barred the door.

"Allan," she gasped, "Allan dear, it is finished. I cannot fall into
the hands of those men. Kill me, Allan."

"All right," I answered, "I will. I have my pistol. One barrel for you
and one for me."

"No, no! Perhaps you might escape after all; but, you see, I am a
woman, and dare not risk it. Come now, I am ready," and she knelt down,
opening her arms to receive the embrace of death, and looked up at me
with her lovely, pitiful eyes.

"It doesn't do to kill one's love and live on oneself," I answered