Supping With Panthers by Tom Holland Page A

their numbers increased.
    All too soon, the western peaks were touched with pink. I was growing impatient. I did not want to wait until darkness for the fight to begin; I wanted to see action before then, so that I could give the beggars a bloody nose and warn them of what they might expect from us. As I glanced across the far side of the abyss, my eye caught the statue of Kali on her hideous machine and an idea struck me. ‘Professor,’ I said, ‘give me some covering fire. Cuff and I are going to toss that foul instrument of torture into the abyss. If that doesn’t draw them out, then nothing will.’
    The Professor frowned, then nodded. He lowered his rifle, and as he did so the Sergeant-Major and I ran back across the bridge. As we hurried to the statue, I heard the crowds behind us starting to stir. I glanced round; only a few were crawling forward, but as Cuff began to heave at the statue and our intention became plain, so we heard a low moan and the whole line began to move.
    ‘Quick!’ Eliot shouted across to us; we heaved again, but still the statue wouldn’t topple, and suddenly three or four broke from the line and began shambling towards us.
    ‘This will have to be our last try!’ I shouted out. I could hear footsteps behind me now, but still we heaved, and then the Sergeant-Major bellowed out a great oath to the sky, and there was a rending of metal and earth and wood. The statue teetered over the abyss’s edge; the sun touched the gleaming hooks, so that they were dyed red one final time, and then they were falling – and the statue with it, and all that damnable machinery. I watched it go, and then I smelt the stench of rotting flesh behind me, and I turned to see dead eyes staring into mine. I felled the creature with a good left hook; he began to rise again, but I shot him through the heart and he lay there twitching like a landed fish. One down, I thought; how many more to go?
    We began to retreat, and the crowds now were no longer keeping their distance but were trying to cut us off from the bridge. I almost thought we wouldn’t reach it, for the blighters were literally snapping at our heels, and it was a hellish close thing. As we crossed, a swarm of our pursuers lurched after us, and as we gained the far side, so I heard the fizz of gunpowder snaking past my feet. We all ran on, then dived and blocked our ears; up went the bridge; down went our pursuers into the abyss.
    It had been a good job, though I say it myself, and we had won ourselves a breathing space. The crowds fell back from the shattered bridge, and those who remained we picked off easily. But it was growing very dark now, and I knew that night-time would see our troubles really begin. Soon the stars were burning in the sky, and we made out movements again by the city wall. Fortunately, my field-glasses had survived the past few days intact and I was able to get a pretty good view of what was going on; I had soon worked out what their game-plan was. ‘They’ve chopped down trees,’ I muttered, ‘and they’re bringing them up. For God’s sake, we must stop them before they reach the abyss.’
    Well, we put up a bloody good show. As the creatures began to draw near to us, we gave them all the fire we could and managed to halt them in their tracks for a while. But they wouldn’t stay down; I had never fought such an enemy before, and in the final count we were outnumbered a hundred to one. The beggars were soon swarming by the edge of the abyss; they laid down a tree, and began to swarm across that. We dropped our guns, and gave the tree on our side all the muscle-power we had; it was a hell of a job, but we did it, and the tree and its load was toppled into the abyss. But we knew there would be more, and that sooner or later they would get across; I began to think it might be time to retreat, for the tower would be easier to hold than open ground. I gave the order; we started to prepare ourselves to withdraw, with Cuff