At the best, all they can look for is to be beaten by the white
man.
A murmur of admiration at Bellin-Jama's bravery went up from the
listening blacks. But Bellin-Jama's voice was still ringing in the air,
and the murmuring was just beginning, when Sheldon cleared the rail,
leaping straight downward. From the top of the railing to the ground it
was fifteen feet, and Bellin-Jama was directly beneath. Sheldon's flying
body struck him and crushed him to earth. No blows were needed to be
struck. The black had been knocked helpless. Joan, startled by the
unexpected leap, saw Carin-Jama, The Silent, reach out and seize Sheldon
by the throat as he was half-way to his feet, while the five-score blacks
surged forward for the killing. Her revolver was out, and Carin-Jama let
go his grip, reeling backward with a bullet in his shoulder. In that
fleeting instant of action she had thought to shoot him in the arm,
which, at that short distance, might reasonably have been achieved. But
the wave of savages leaping forward had changed her shot to the shoulder.
It was a moment when not the slightest chance could be taken.
The instant his throat was released, Sheldon struck out with his fist,
and Carin-Jama joined his brother on the ground. The mutiny was quelled,
and five minutes more saw the brothers being carried to the hospital, and
the mutineers, marshalled by the gang-bosses, on the way to the fields.
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