Meanwhile, Chick found himself hard pressed. He could not get out from behind his tree without offering himself as a target for a spear, and he could not stay where he was indefinitely. He had only six more shots left in the magazine of his rifle, and no time to reload. “I’ll give them all I’ve got,” he muttered. “If that doesn’t clear the way, I’ll have to go out there and get into a rough-and-tumble scrap, taking chances.” He fired a couple of shots into the ranks of the oncoming Hindus, hoping to hit some of them, but without knowing exactly where his bullets would go. It was impossible to take steady aim under the circumstances, and he did not try. “I’ll fire low,” he thought. “That’s one of the fundamental rules in sharpshooting. Then, if you hit anybody, you are pretty sure to do something worth while.” “Look out, Chick!” came excitedly from Patsy. “The woods are full of them! Mind they don’t crawl up behind. Gee! Here’s where I’ll beat it for the Bowery--or as near as I can get.” “Back!” suddenly shouted Nick Carter. “Get back, both of you! They are working around on my side. They’ll cut you off in another minute!” “That’s what!” roared Patsy. “But we can do some cutting ourselves. Whoop! Get out of my way! You black skunks! Come on, Chick!” “Of course I will,” replied Chick, with the calmness of desperation. “I hear them on my left, but they haven’t got us yet. Hold together, boys! We’ll beat ’em!” he went on, hardly knowing, in his excitement, what he said. Sending one more shot in the general direction of the enemy, Chick turned and lunged back into the darkness. “Whoof!” It was Nick Carter who made this involuntary ejaculation, for, in the blackness, Chick had plunged headlong into him. “I beg your pardon!” blurted out Chick. “That’s right!” laughed his chief. “Never forget your manners, old man. Bend low and run! It’s our only chance at this stage of the game.” Side by side, the three detectives raced over the rotting undergrowth and leaves, and it was surely luck that prevented any of them dashing their brains out against some tree. They had become somewhat used to the darkness by this time. What had appeared at first as merely a black wall resolved itself now into a forest, with trees spaced so that it was possible to get around them with some ingenuity, plus a great deal of agility. Dodging, swerving, stumbling over fallen limbs and upheaving roots, occasionally gasping for breath, and conscious all the while that the enemy was gaining, the trio rushed on. Not only was there danger from those who were making a rear chase of it. Some of the natives had flanked them. Their spears glistened as they were brandished fiercely, while their owners uttered low guttural threats which sounded supernaturally awful in the darkness.