He had given orders that no man was to fire until he sounded his whistle; but it was too much to expect that all his negroes, in the excitement of what was to many of them their first action, would exercise the self-control of disciplined troops. Only one of them, however, let off his rifle, and the single shot, fired at random, was hailed with a derisive yell by the askaris. Tom waited until they were half-way across the clearing; then he blew his whistle. Along the whole length of the barricade burst a shattering volley, not perfectly in time, but aimed low, as Tom had instructed. At so short a range the effect was inevitable. The first line of the assailants was broken; groans mingled with the shouts; the survivors wavered. The German non-commissioned officer from behind ran among them, threatening them with his revolver, and under this stimulus they charged forward, with the second line at their heels. Now Tom gave the signal for a second volley. The enemy were barely fifty yards away. Many of them dropped; some flung themselves on the ground. The few who struggled on found themselves baulked by the unsuspected moat; and the German having fallen, and no supports being at hand, they turned and fled. Before they reached the cover of the trees another storm of bullets swept upon them. The Wahehe gave rein to their jubilation. They shouted, pranced, slapped their thighs. Some wished to dash out from the barricade in pursuit of the enemy; but Tom sternly ordered them to stand to attention. He was as much pleased as they were that the first assault had failed; unlike them, he knew that this was only the beginning of things. But it was of good omen for the future. Brief though the engagement had been, it had weakened the enemy in numbers, whether seriously Tom, ignorant of their reserves, could not tell. It had encouraged his own men; best of all, it had proved their steadiness. The three shots they had fired were all that their magazines contained; now that he could trust them not to waste ammunition, he could allow them to keep their magazines full. For more than an hour there was no sign of a renewal of the attack. Then, however, the bombardment was resumed. It would appear that while the defenders’ attention was wholly taken tip with repelling their assailants, some of the enemy, unseen in the rear, must have "spotted" for the gun, for the shells now began regularly to pierce the barricade, exploding on impact, and tearing away masses of the leafy boughs. Crouching at the bottom of the muddy trench, the Wahehe suffered no hurt except bruises and abrasions from splinters of wood and metal; and Tom resolved to have the breaches in the barricade repaired during the night.