In this crisis, seeing that plans had somehow miscarried, the other five dacoits who were waiting in the garden rushed forward to the rescue of their distressed comrades, Maung Ay and Maung Byi had however only temporarily stunned each other, and they recovered just in time to meet their friends (whom they mistook for the police) with a resolute resistance. They stoutly held the stairs lashing out fiercely with their swords while their would-be rescuers supposing them to be the householders pressed home a vigorous assault.
Wounds of a major kind were freely given and received. There was no one of the party who was not grievously hurt, and left to themselves for a, few minutes longer ihey would certainly have rid Lower Burma of seven undesirable characters and thereby materially reduced the isbours of the detectives.
But it was just here that Maung Maung showed nis grievous ignorance xt Grimmnian strategy. All he had to do was to pelt the belligerents, if not with acorns, then at least with pots, pans, boots or any other domestic utensils which.might be calculated {o confuse, puzzle and annoy the combatants now locked in a deadly struggle,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.