'All together,' ordered Bruce. 'Walk!' Rocking and creaking over the
uneven ground the structure moved ponderously back towards the laager.
Below it the feet moved like those of a Caterpillar.
The men in the laager started to cheer, and from inside the shelter they
answered with whoops of laughter. It was fun. They were enjoying
themselves enormously, completely distracted from the horror of poison
arrows and the lurking phantoms in the jungle around them.
They reached the camp and lowered the shelter. Then one at a time the
gendarmes slipped across the few feet of open ground into the safety of
the laager to be met with laughter, and back-slapping and mutual
congratulation.
'Well, it works, boss,' Ruffy greeted Bruce in the uproar.
'Yes.' Then he lifted his voice. 'That's enough. Quiet down all of you.
Get back to your posts.' The laughter subsided and the confusion became
order again. Bruce walked to the centre of the laager and looked about
him. There was complete quiet now. They were all watching him. I have
read about this so often, he grinned inwardly, the heroic speech to the
men on the eve of battle.
Let's pray I don't make a hash of it.
'Are you hungry?' he asked loudly in French and received a chorus of
hearty affirmatives.
'There is bully beef for dinner.' This time humorous groans.
'And bully beef for breakfast tomorrow,' he paused, 'and then it's
finished.' They were silent now.
'So you are going to be truly hungry by the time we cross this river.
The sooner we repair the bridge the sooner you'll get your bellies
filled again.' I might as well rub it in, decided Bruce.
'You all saw what happened to the person who went into the open today,
so I don't have to tell you to keep under cover. The sergeant major is
making arrangements for sanitation - five-gallon drums. They won't be
very comfortable, so you won't be tempted to sit too long.'
They laughed a little at that.
'Remember this. As long as you stay in the laager or the shelter they
can't touch you. There is absolutely nothing to fear. They can beat
their drums and wait as long as they like, but they can't harm us.' A
murmur of agreement.
And the sooner we finish the bridge the sooner we will be on our way.'
Bruce looked round the circle of faces and was satisfied with what he
saw. The completion of the shelter had given their morale a boost.
'All right, Sergeant Jacque. You can start sweeping with the
searchlights as soon as it's dark.' Bruce finished and went across to
join Shermaine beside the Ford. He loosed the straps of his helmet and
lifted it off his head. His hair was damp with perspiration and he ran
his fingers through it.
'You are tired,' Shermaine said softly, examining the dark hollows under
-his eyes and the puckered marks of strain at the corners of his mouth.
'No. I'm all right, he denied, but every muscle in his body ached with
fatigue and nervous tension.
'Tonight you must sleep all night,' she ordered him. 'I will make the
