For quite a long while they held the narrow gateway and the mound against all the howling, thrusting mob, much as the Roman called Horatius and his two friends held the entrance to some bridge or other long ago at Rome against a great force of I forget whom.

They shouted their Zulu battle-cry of _Laba! Laba!_ that of their regiment, I suppose, for most of them were men of about the same age, and stabbed and fought and struggled and went down one by one.
Back the rest of them were swept; then, led by Mavovo, Stephen and Bausi, charged again, reinforced with the thirty Mazitu.

Now the tongues of flame met almost over them, the growing fence of prickly pear and cacti withered and crackled, and still they fought on beneath that arch of fire.
Back they were driven again by the mere weight of numbers.

I saw Mavovo stab a man and go down.

He rose and stabbed another, then fell again for he was hard hit.
Two Arabs rushed to kill him.