"Attention!" called the Lieutenant. "There is but one chance left us. We must skirmish with this monster as best we can until the troops come up. Mark those bushes to the right and left. Ready! Vault!"
MacWhirlie gave these commands in sharp, rapid tones that seemed to impart his own spirit to the sentinels. Cteniza had approached within half a bow shot of the Lieutenant as the final order was given. At the word "vault," every Brownie disappeared into the foliage of the bushes to right and left, and there perched on the outer leaves with bows and spears in hand.
The giantess paused and stood with raised arms, rampant and threatening. She panted with anger and exertion. She looked to this side and that, before her, behind her, but saw no sign of her enemies. From the top of a tall clump of grass above her MacWhirlie's voice called: "Fire!" Cteniza started; a lance had struck her face; an arrow had cut through her shaggy robe and broke flesh upon the abdomen; a dozen other weapons bounded back harmlessly from the chest, or frayed the skin upon arms and legs. She leaped upon the clump of grass whence MacWhirlie had issued the order. The stalks bent down so quickly under the great weight, that the bulky creature sprawled upon the ground. The Lieutenant was shaken from his perch, and rolled in the dust beside the Pixie, but at once regained his feet.
[Illustration: FIG. 120.--A Rampant Tarantula.]
"Rally!" he cried, and the soldiers ran to his side.
Cteniza now stood looking at her tiny foes. It seemed like a battle between a lion and a litter of mice, so vast was the difference in size between the combatants. In this moment of peril to the devoted band there was a new arrival upon the scene. Ensign Lawe having left camp for Hillside, the command of the cavalry fell to Sergeant Goodnews when MacWhirlie came into chief command after Bruce's disappearance. Goodnews was one of the most famous among the Brownie officers. There was not a fairy in the whole nation so comely in appearance, so valiant in fight, so efficient in all military action, so wise in council, so cheerful, amiable and kind in disposition. Never were beauty and sweetness so well combined with valor and might.