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diff --git a/21302.txt b/21302.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04562bb --- /dev/null +++ b/21302.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14582 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charge!, by George Manville Fenn + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Charge! + A Story of Briton and Boer + +Author: George Manville Fenn + +Illustrator: W.H.C. Groome + +Release Date: May 4, 2007 [EBook #21302] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARGE! *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +Charge! A Story of Briton and Boer, by George Manville Fenn. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +The earliest European settlers in South Africa were mostly Dutch. They +were known as Boers, the Dutch word for farmer. They were doing well, +and even though the British had come to rule the country, their +comfortable and profitable existence was all that most of them wanted. +However, an Irishman of the name of Moriarty thought otherwise, and +urged them to rebel against the British, simply because there is a class +of Irish people that enjoy fights, and the English are their nearest +neighbours, and Ireland was part of Great Britain. + +Val Moray is the son of John Moray, who is farming in South Africa, and +he has a brother, Bob. There is also a Kaffir worker on the farm, Joe, +or by his preference Joeboy. Joeboy is a co-hero of the story. +Moriarty arrives with a few of the Boers and demands that Val be handed +over to him to go and fight the British. Val has to go, but manages to +escape. He gets to a place where his father has whispered to him would +be where Joeboy was to wait for him. They meet up with a Light Horse +unit of the British army, where Val meets an old friend, Denham, and +they take part in various skirmishes against the Boers, in which they +are injured and captured, but manage to escape with the help of Bob and +John. + +There is plenty of action, but one can't help feeling that the author +has bitten off more than he can chew, as these skirmishes in real life +became more than that, and the whole thing became a real, if pointless, +war. NH + +________________________________________________________________________ + +CHARGE! A STORY OF BRITON AND BOER, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +HOME, SWEET HOME. + +"Hi! Val! Come, quick!" + +"What's the matter?" I said excitedly, for my brother Bob came tearing +down to the enclosure, sending the long-legged young ostriches +scampering away towards the other side; and I knew directly that +something unusual must be on the way, or, after the warnings he had +received about not startling the wild young coveys, he would not have +dashed up like that. + +"I dunno. Father sent me to fetch you while he got the guns ready. He +said something about mounted men on the other side of the kopje, so it +can't be Kaffirs. I say, do back me up, Val, and get father to let me +have a gun." + +"Ugh! you bloodthirsty young wretch!" I cried as I started with him for +our place, now partly hidden by the orchard--apple and pear trees--I had +helped to plant seven years before, when father really pitched his tent +by the kopje, and he, Bob--a little, round-headed tot of a fellow then-- +Aunt Jenny, and I lived in the canvas construction till we had built a +house of stone. + +The orchard was planted long before the tent was given up--all trees +that father had ordered to be sent to us from a famous nursery in +Hertfordshire. How well I remember it all!--the arrival of the four big +bundles wrapped in matting, and tied behind a great Cape wagon drawn by +twenty oxen, whose foreloper was a big, shiny black fellow, who wore a +tremendous straw hat, and seemed to think that was all he needed in the +way of clothes, as it was big enough to keep off the sun (of which there +was a great deal) and the rain (of which there was little). In fact, he +wore scarcely anything else--only part of a very old pair of canvas +trousers, which he made comfortable and according to his taste by +cutting down at the top, so as to get rid of the waist, and tearing +close in the fork till the legs were about three inches long. + +I remember it all so well: seeing the foreloper come striding along by +the foremost pair of oxen, holding one of them by its horn, and carrying +a long, thin pole like a very big fishing-rod over his shoulder, for use +instead of a whip to guide the oxen. Yes, I recollect it as if it were +only yesterday. I looked at him, and he looked at me. My eyes were +fixed upon those trousers; and I burst out, boy-like, into the heartiest +fit of laughter I ever had. As I laughed his eyes opened wider and +wider, and the corners of his mouth began to creep back farther and +farther till they nearly disappeared. Then, suddenly, his mouth flew +open, showing a wonderfully white set of teeth, and he gave vent to +"Yer-her! Yawk, yawk, yawk, yawk! Yor-hor!" Then he helped to outspan +the oxen, and I showed him and the man with the wagon where to find +water. At every order I gave he opened his mouth and laughed at me; but +he eagerly did all I bade, and followed me back to the wagon to help in +unloading the bundles of trees, taking the greatest interest in +everything, and lifting the boxes and packages of stores which had come +with the trees, no matter what their weight, as if he enjoyed putting +forth his tremendous strength. + +"Well, Val," said my father as he took out his big knife to cut the +string, and then carefully unlaced it--for string was precious out in +the desert--"I thought I'd chance a few; but it's quite a spec, and I'm +afraid they'll be all dried up. However, we'll try them; and now they +are here we must get them in at once. Mind, I shall look to you to make +them grow if they are still alive." + +"How am I to make them grow, father?" I said. + +"With water, my boy. You must bring down buckets from the spring till +we have time to dig a channel; and then they'll shift for themselves. I +hope they'll grow, for it will be pleasant for you and Bob to sit under +them sometimes and eat apples and pears such as your father used to have +in his old orchard at home." + +"Yes, father," I said; "and for you too." + +"Perhaps, my boy; perhaps," he said, with a sigh. "We shall see.--Here, +Jenny!" + +My aunt was already at the door, in her print sun-bonnet, and looking +very cross, I thought. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Give these two men a good hearty meal; I dare say they're pretty +hungry." + +"It's all ready, John," she said. + +"That's right, my dear," said my father; and then, as if to himself, "I +might have known." Turning to the short, thick-set Dutch Boer in charge +of the wagon, father told him to go to the big wagon-sheet supported on +poles, which we used for a dining-room, and then clapped the big black +on the shoulder, bidding him go too. + +"Get two spades, Val," he said as soon as the men were gone; "and you, +Bob, come off that bundle of trees. It wasn't sent all these thousands +of miles by ship and wagon to make you a horse." + +I fetched the spades while my father went on unpacking the little trees, +Bob being set to help by unlacing the string from the pleasant-smelling +Russian mats. Before the new arrivals were cast loose, the big black, +with a tremendous sandwich of bread and bacon, had joined us, and showed +at once that he meant to help. After taking a big bite, he put his +sandwich down while he carried trees to the places where they were to be +planted, and after putting them down, returned for another bite, giving +me a grin every time. + +Then the spades were taken up; and by that time the Boer had eaten and +drunk as much as he could, and gone to sit on the big chest in front of +the wagon, where he filled his pipe and began to smoke, never offering +to help, but watching us with his eyes half-closed. + +"Here, steady, nigger!" said my father, smiling; "we're not going to +bury bullocks. Little holes like this just where I put in these pegs.-- +You keep him in hand, Val. I never saw such a strong fellow before." + +The great black fellow grinned and dug away, making the rich and soft +dry earth fly as he turned it out; while he laughed with delight every +time I checked him, and followed me to another place. + +By that time he had finished his sandwich, and a thought occurred to me. + +"Here, Bob," I said; "put down those pegs"--for he was marching about +with us, looking very serious, with the bundle of pegs under his arm. +"Go and ask Aunt Jenny to cut another big bit of bread and a very large +slice of bacon, and bring 'em here." + +Bob ran off, and the big black looked at me, threw back his head, and +laughed, and laughed again, as he drove the spade deeply into the rich +loamy soil; and when the bread and bacon came he laughed, and bit with +those great white teeth of his, and munched and chewed like the +lying-down oxen, and dug and dug, till my father said, "No more +to-night," and bade me carry in the spades. + +That night, before going to bed, tired, but happy with the thoughts of +our orchard to come, I walked with father beneath the great stars, going +round the place--father with his rifle over his shoulder--to see if all +was safe. + +We went straight to the wagon, to find the oxen all lying down chewing +their cud, and from under the tilt there came a deep, heavy snore; but +there was also a rustling sound, a big black head popped out, and the +man said, in a deep, thick voice: + +"Boss, hear lion?" + +"No," said my father sharply. "Did you, boy?" + +"Iss. _Oom! Wawk, wawk, wawk_. Boss, lissum." + +We stood there in the silence, and for a full minute I could hear +nothing but the deep snore of the Boer and chewing of the oxen. Then, +distinctly heard, but evidently at a great distance, there was the +tremendous barking roar of a lion, and my father uttered a deep "Ha!" + +"Boss shoot lion," said the black in a quiet, contented way; and from +out of the darkness beneath the great wagon came the sound of the +foreloper settling himself down once more to sleep. I remember +wondering whether he had anything to cover himself, for the night was +fresh and cold. I asked my father. + +"Yes; I saw him with a sheepskin over his shoulders. He won't hurt." + +We were interrupted by no lion that night, and at the first dawn of day +we were out with the spades again; our black visitor, under my +direction, digging the holes for the trees, while father planted, and +Bob held the stems straight upright till their roots were all nicely +spread out, and soil carefully placed amongst them, and trampled firmly +in. + +This went on till breakfast-time, when Aunt Jenny called us, and the +Dutchman came and sat with us, while the great Kaffir carried his +portion away, and sat under the wagon to munch. + +After the meal the Boer lit his pipe, sat down on a piece of rock, and +smoked and looked on till midday, by which time the fruit-trees were all +planted, and the big Kaffir had trotted to and fro with a couple of +buckets, bringing water to fill up the saucer-like depressions placed +about each tree. Then Aunt Jenny called us to dinner, and after that +the Boer said it was time to inspan and begin the journey back. + +Oh, how well I remember it all!--seeing my father opening a wash-leather +bag and paying the Boer the sum that had been agreed upon, and that he +wasn't satisfied, but asked for another dollar for the work done by his +man. Then father laughed and said he ought to charge for the meals that +had been eaten; but he gave the Boer the money all the same; and Aunt +Jenny uttered a deep grunt, and said afterwards in her old-fashioned +way, "Oh John, what a foolish boy you are!" Then he kissed her and +said, "Yes, Jen. I always was. You didn't half-teach me when I was +young." + +This was after we had watched the wagon grow smaller and smaller in the +distance on its way back, and after the great black had stood and looked +down at me and laughed in his big, noisy way. + +Then once more we were alone in the great desert, father looking proudly +down at his little orchard, and Bob walking up and down touching every +tree, and counting them over again. + +"Begins to look homely now, Val," he said; "but we must work, boy-- +work." + +We did work hard to make that place the home it grew to. + +"It's for you, boys," he said, "when I'm dead and gone;" and it was +about that time I began to think and understand more fully how father +was doing it all for the sake of us boys, and to try and ease his +heart-ache. Aunt Jenny set me thinking by her words, and at last I +fully grasped how it all was. + +"I believe he'd have died broken-hearted, Val," she said to me, "if I +hadn't come to him. It was after your poor dear mother passed away. I +told him he was not acting like a man and a father to give up like that, +and it roused him; and one day--you remember, it was when I had come to +keep house for him--he turned to me and said, `I shall never be happy in +England again; and I've been thinking it would be a good thing to take +those boys out to the Cape and settle there. They'll grow up well and +strong in the new land, and I shall try to make a home for them yonder.' +`Yes, John,' I said, `that's the very thing you ought to do.' `Ah,' he +said, `but it means leaving you behind, Jenny, dear, and you'll perhaps +never set eyes upon them again.' `Oh, yes, I shall, John,' I said, `for +I've come to stay.' `What!' he cried; `would you go with us, sis?' +`Yes,' I said, `to the very end of the world.' So we came here, Val, +where there's plenty of room, and no neighbours to find fault with our +ways." + +That's how it was; and now I can admire and think of how Aunt Jenny, the +prim maiden lady, gave up all her own old ways to set to and work and +drudge for us all, living in a wagon and then in a tent, and smiling +pleasantly at the trees we planted, and bringing us lunch where we were +working away, dragging down stones for the house which progressed so +slowly, though father's ideas wore modest. + +"For," said he, "we'll build one big stone room, Val, and make it into +two with part of the tent. Then by-and-by we'll build another room +against it, and then another and another till we get it into a house." + +Yes, it was hard work getting the stones, and we were busy enough one +day in the hot sunshine, about a month after the wagon had been with the +trees and stores, when Bob suddenly stood shading his eyes, and cried: + +"Some one's coming!" + +We looked up, and there, far in the distance, I saw a black figure +striding along under a great, broad matting-hat. + +"Why, it looks like that great Kaffir, father," I said. + +"Nonsense, boy," he replied; "the Kaffirs all look alike at a distance." + +"But it is, father," I cried excitedly. "Look; he's waving his big hat +because he sees us." I waved mine in answer; and directly after he +began to run, coming up laughing merrily, and ending by throwing down +three assagais and the bundle he carried, as he cried: + +"Come back, boss." + +We gave him something to eat, and the next minute he was lifting and +carrying stones, working like a slave; and at night he told me in his +way that he was going to stop along with old boss and young boss and +little boss and old gal, and never go away no more. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +OUR UGLY VISITOR. + +The black fellow's arrival at such a time was most welcome; but my +father put no faith in his declaration. + +"They're all alike, Val," he said. "He's a quick worker, and as willing +and good-tempered as a man can be; but he'll only stay with us till he +has earned wages enough to buy himself some bright-coloured blankets and +handkerchiefs, and then he'll be off back to his tribe." + +"Think so, father?" I said. "He seems to like us all here. He says +it's better than being with the Boers. He always says he means to +stay." + +"He does mean it, of course," said my father; "but these black fellows +are like big children, and are easily led away by some new attraction. +We shall wake up some morning and find him gone." + +But seven years glided away, during which apprenticeshiplike time +Joeboy, as we called him--for he would not be content with Joe when he +had heard the "boy" after it once or twice, "Joeboy" quite taking his +fancy--worked for us constantly, and became the most useful of fellows +upon our farm, ready to do anything and do it well, as his strength +became tempered with education. In fact, it grew to be a favourite +saying with my father, "I don't know what we should have done without +Joeboy." + +One of the first persons I saw that morning, when I trotted towards the +house after being called by my brother, was the great black hurrying out +to meet us; and as we got closer it was to see his face puckered up and +his eyes flashing, as he said to me hoarsely: + +"Won't go, Boss Val; won't go. You tell the Boss I've run up into the +hills. Won't go." + +"Here, what do you mean?" I said. + +"Boss Boers come to fetch up go and fight. Won't go." + +"Nonsense," I said. "I dare say they've only come to buy bullocks." + +"No," said the black, shaking his head fiercely. "Come to fetch +Joeboy." + +"Here, don't run away." + +"On'y go up in kopje," he said. "Hide dar." + +He rushed away, and I was sure I knew where he would hide himself. Then +I walked on with my brother, to find my father and Aunt Jenny by the +door. + +"What's it all about, father?" I asked. + +"I don't know yet, my boy; but we soon shall. There's about a score of +the Boers, well mounted and armed. Yonder they are, coming at a walk. +There were only twelve; but another party have caught up to them, and +maybe there are more." + +"Joeboy has run off in a fright," I said. "He thinks they've come to +fetch him." + +"Oh no; it isn't that, my boy," said my father. "I fear it's something +worse." + +"What?" I said wonderingly. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +MY FIRST REAL TROUBLE. + +Before my father could reply a body of horsemen cantered up, every man +well mounted, rifle in hand, and carrying a cross-belt over his left +shoulder fitted with cartridges, bandolier fashion. Their leader, a +big, heavily-bearded, fierce-looking fellow, dropped from his saddle, +threw the rein to one of his companions, and then swaggered up to us, +scanning us with his eyes half-closed, and with a haughty, contemptuous +expression in his countenance. + +"Ye're John Moray, I suppose?" he said, turning to my father, after +looking me up and down in a way I, a hot-blooded and independent lad of +eighteen, did not at all like. + +"Yes," said my father quietly, "I'm John Moray. Do you want some +refreshment for your men and horses?" + +"Yes, of course," said our visitor; and I wondered why such a +big-bearded, broad-shouldered fellow should speak in so high-pitched a +tone. That he was Irish he proved directly; but that excited no +surprise, for we were accustomed to offer hospitality to men of various +nationalities from time to time--Scots, Finns, Germans, Swedes, and +Norwegians--trekking up-country in search of a place to settle on. + +"Will you dismount and tie up, then?" said my father; "and we'll see +what we can do.--Val, my lad, you will see to the horses having a feed?" + +"Yes, father," was on my lips, when the Irish leader turned upon me +sharply with: + +"Oh, ye're Val--are ye?" + +"Yes," I said, rather sharply, for the man's aggressive manner nettled +me; "my name is Valentine." + +"And is it, now?" he said, with a mocking laugh. "Ye're a penny plain +and tuppence coloured, I suppose? Coloured, bedad! Look at his face!" + +"I don't see the joke," I said sharply. + +"Don't ye, now? Then ye soon will, my fine chap. Let's see, now; how +old are ye?" + +I made no reply, and my father replied gravely: + +"My son is eighteen." + +"Is he, now? And ye're forty, I suppose?" + +"I am sorry to say I am over fifty," replied my father, as I stood +chafing at the man's insolent, bullying tone. + +"Then ye don't look it, sor. But there, we'll leave ye alone for a bit. +I dare say we can do without ye this time, and take the bhoy." + +"What for--where?" said my father quickly. + +"What for--where?" cried the man. "For the commando, of course." + +"The commando?" said my father, while I felt staggered, only +half-grasping the import of his words. + +"Yes, sor, the commando. D'ye suppose ye are to have the protection of +the State, and do nothing again' your counthry's inimies? If ye do +ye're greatly mistaken. Every man must take his turn to difind the +counthry, and ye may feel preciously contented that ye don't have to +join yerself." + +"But I have heard of no rising," said my father, looking at me +anxiously. "The blacks all about here are peaceable and friendly." + +"Not the blackest blacks, sor," said the man, drawing himself up and +raising one hand and his voice in an oratorical way; "the blacks I mane +are white-skinned, but black in the heart through and through; the +blacks who are the dispisers of progress, the foes of freedom, the +inimies of the counthry, sor--the despicable, insolent Saxons." + +"Do you mean the English?" said my father coolly. + +"I do that, sor," said the man defiantly; "and the day has dawned at +last when the down-thrampled Boers are goin' to give them a lesson that +shall make the British lion snaik out of this counthry with his tail +between his legs like a beaten dog." + +"You are a British subject, sir," said my father. + +"Mahn, I scorrun it," cried our visitor. "I have thrown off all fealty +years ago, and am a free Irishman, and captain of the body of brave men +who are going to dhrive the tyranny of England out of this colony for +ever." + +"This is all news to me, sir," said my father coldly. + +"Is it, sor?" said our visitor mockingly. "Then I'm proud to be the +bearer of the great news." + +"Do you mean to tell me, then," said my father, "that there is war +declared by England against the Boers?" + +"No, sor," cried the fellow insolently; "but I tell you that we have +declared war again' the brutal Saxon." + +"We, sir?" said my father gravely. "But you are one of the Queen's +servants--an Irishman." + +"Nothing of the sort, sor. I disown England; I disowned her when I came +out here to throw meself into the arrums of the brave, suffering, +pathriotic race around me, and placed my sword at their service." + +"Then you are a soldier, I presume?" said my father. + +"I was tin years in the arrmy, sor," said our visitor, drawing himself +up and clapping his hand upon his chest. "Look at thim," he continued, +pointing to his followers drawn up in line. "A part of my following, +and as fine irrigular cavalry as ever threw leg over saddle.--Look here, +young man, ye're in luck, for ye'll have the honour of serving in +Captain Eustace Moriarty's troop." + +"You are Captain Eustace Moriarty?" said my father. + +"I am, sor." + +"Then I must tell you, sir," said my father, "that though I have taken +up land here and made it my home, I claim my rights as an Englishman not +to make myself a traitor by taking up arms against my Queen." + +"A thraitor!" cried the captain. "Bah! That for the Queen;" and he +snapped his fingers. "But ye're not asked to serve now. That can wait +till ye're wanted. It's the bhoy we want, and maybe after a bit it'll +be you." + +"My son thinks as I do," said my father sternly. + +"Does he, now?" said the captain mockingly. "Then I shall have to +tache him to think as I do, and it won't take long. D'ye hear me, +bhoy?" + +"I hear what you say, sir," I replied. "Of course I think as my father +does, and I refuse to serve against England." + +"I expected it," said the man, with cool insolence. "It's what I +expected from a young Saxon. But look here, me bhoy; ye've got to +serrve whether ye like it or whether ye don't. What's more, ye've got +to come at once. So get yer horse, and clap the saddle on. Fetch him +his rifle and his cartridge-bolt, and let there be no more nonsense." + +"You heard what my son said, sir," said my father haughtily. "If it +were against a black enemy of the country we should both be willing." + +"Didn't I tell ye it was again' a black inimy?" said the man mockingly. + +"I heard you insult the Queen and her Government, sir," said my father; +"and, once more, my son refuses to serve." + +"The coward!--the white-livered cub!" cried the captain contemptuously. + +"What!" I cried, springing forward; but my father flung his hand across +my chest, and Bob rushed in past Aunt Jenny, as if to take refuge from +the scene. + +"Quite right, old man," said the captain, coolly stroking his beard. +"And look here, bhoy whether ye like it or not, ye're a sojer now; I'm +yer shuperior officer, and it's time of war. If a man strikes his +shuperior officer, he's stood up with a handkerchief tied across his +eyes to prevent him from winking and spoiling the men's aim, and then +the firing-party does the rest." + +As he spoke he made a sign, and half-a-dozen of the mounted Boers rode +up. + +"Sargint," he said, "the young colt's a bit fractious. Ye'll take him +in hand. Fasten his hands behind him ready. Two of ye go round to the +pen there and pick out the most likely horse, saddle and bridle him, and +bring him here. Ye've got some green-leather thongs. Then put him upon +the horse with his face to the tail, and tie his ankles underneath. +It'll be a fine lesson for the bhoy in rough-riding." + +The men were quick enough. Before I had even thought of trying to make +my escape, two of the Boers were off their horses and made me their +prisoner, while the rest of the little troop rode closer up and +surrounded us. + +Then other two of the men rode off behind the house, and I stood +breathing hard, biting my lips, and feeling as if something hot was +burning my chest as I tried hard to catch my father's averted eyes. + +Just then the Irish renegade captain burst into a hearty laugh, and I +wrenched myself round to look, and felt better. A minute before, I had +seen Bob disappear into the house, and had mentally denounced him as a +miserable little coward; but my eyes flashed now as I saw him hurry out +with three rifles over his right shoulder, a bandolier belt across his +left, and two more, well filled with cartridges, hanging to the barrels +of the rifles. + +"Bedad!" said the captain, "and he's worth fifty of his big, hulking +brother! But ye're too shmall, darlint. Wait a year or two longer, and +ye shall fight under me like a man." + +Bob made a rush for father; but one of the Boers leaned down and caught +him by the shoulder, while another snatched the rifles from his hands, +and laid them across the pommel of the saddle in which he sat. + +"Give up, Bob; give up," cried father sternly, as my brother began to +struggle with all his might. "It is no use to fight against fate." + +"Hear him now," said the captain. "He can talk sinse at times." + +"Yes," said my father, "at times;" and he gave the captain a look which +made him turn away his eyes.--"Val, my boy, I cannot have you exposed to +the ignominy of being bound." + +"Sure, no," cried the captain. "I forgot to say a wurrud about +stirrup-leathers across his back if he didn't behave himself." + +"Fate is against us for the present, my boy," continued my father, "and +you must ride with this party till I have applied to the proper quarters +to get the matter righted." + +"Now, man, be aloive," said the captain, and I winced and looked vainly +round for a way of escape; but I was seized by the wrist by another +dismounted Boer, who slipped a raw-hide noose over my wrist, just as two +more came riding back, leading my own horse, Sandho, between them. The +poor beast, who followed me like a dog, uttered a shrill neigh as soon +as he caught sight of me, springing forward to reach my side. + +"Stop!" cried my father loudly; "there is no need for that. My son will +ride with you, sir." + +"Indade, sir, I'm obleeged to ye for the inforrmation," said the captain +mockingly; "but sure it's a work of shupererrogation, me dear friend, +for I knew it, and that he was going to ride backward. If, however, he +gives up sinsibly, he may ride with his back to the horse's tail, and ye +needn't tie his ankles togither. Have ye ever ridden that horse +before?" + +"He has ridden it hundreds of times, ever since it was a foal," said my +father quickly, for I felt choked.--"Stop, man," he added angrily; "your +captain said my son was not to be bound." + +"Sure I didn't say a wurrud about his wrists, old man," cried the +captain contemptuously. "Ye want too much. I've let him off about the +ankles, and let him ride face forward, so be contint. Make his wrists +fast behind him." + +I was compelled to resign myself to my fate, and stood fighting hard to +keep down all emotion while my wrists were secured firmly behind my +back, the thin raw-hide cutting painfully into the flesh. + +By this time Sandho was bridled and saddled, and just then my father +turned to Bob. + +"Take in those rifles, my boy," he said. + +The captain turned sharply and gave my father a searching look; but he +contented himself with nodding, and my brother snatched the rifles from +where they lay across the Boer's knees, and rushed indoors with them. + +I knew well enough why, poor fellow: it was to hide the tears struggling +to rise, and of which he was ashamed. + +Just then I had harder work than ever to control my own feelings, for +Aunt Jenny hurried towards me, but was kept back by my captors; and I +saw her go to my father and throw her arms about his neck, while he bent +over her and seemed to be trying to whisper comfort. + +"There, up with ye, me bhoy," cried the captain. "Ye can't mount, +though, with yer hands behind yer like a prishner.--Lift him on, two of +ye, like a sack." + +"That they shan't," I said between my teeth; and feeling now that what +was to como was inevitable, I took a couple of steps to my horse's side. + +"Stand!" I said aloud as I raised one foot to the stirrup; and Sandho +stood as rigid as if of bronze, while I made a spring, raised myself up, +and threw my leg over. + +"Well done, bhoy!" cried the captain as I sank into the saddle.--"You, +Hooger, take his rein. Unfasten one end from the bit so as to give ye +double length, and ye'd better buckle it to your saddle-bow.--Now look +here, me fine fellow," he continued, addressing me, "ye'll give me none +of your nawnsense; for, look ye, my bhoys are all practised shots with +the rifle. They can bring down a spring-bok going at full speed, so +they can easily bring ye down and yer nag too. There's twenty of them, +and I'm a good shot meself, so ye know what to expect if ye thry to +escape." + +I said nothing, for I was thinking with agony about poor Aunt Jenny, who +was now coming up to me, and the captain laughed as he saw her +pain-wrung countenance. + +"Good-bye, Val, my boy," said my father slowly; "and bear up like a +man." + +That was all, and he turned away. + +The next moment Bob was clinging to my arm. + +"O Val! O Val! O Val!" he cried in a choking voice, and then he +dropped back, poor boy, for he could say no more. + +"Be sharp there and get it done, me bhoy," said the captain. "Ye can +say good-bye to the owld woman; but lave the cat and the dogs till ye +come back." + +"Are you going to march at once?" said my father as Aunt Jenny came to +my side, and I gripped my saddle and bent down for her to put her arms +round my neck. + +"Sor, ye see that I am," said the captain. + +"But you and your men will take something to eat and drink?" + +"Something to send them asleep?" said the captain suspiciously. "I'm +thinkin' they can last till we get back to Drak Pass, where there's a +shtore. I'm obleeged to ye all the same.--There, that'll do, owld lady. +I'll make a man of the bhoy, and send him back safe and sound, if some +of the raw recruits of the brutal Saxons don't shoot him." + +"Good-bye, then. God bless you and protect you, Val!" said Aunt Jenny, +with a sob, as she loosened her grip of my neck, and I straightened +myself up, feeling my heart swell and the blood bound in my veins, for +while my father kept the captain in converse, she, with quivering lips, +had breathed words of hope into my ear. + +"Listen, Val," she said. "Your father bids me say that you are to watch +for your chance, and then make a dash for your liberty. Gallop to Echo +Nek, and you will find Joeboy waiting there with a rifle and cartridges. +But you must not come back here. Joeboy will bring a letter." + +My heart was bounding with hope, and I felt ready for anything just +then, as the captain gave the orders "Mount!" and then "Forward!" But +the next minute my spirits sank into the darkness of misery. For what +had Aunt Jenny said? Joeboy would be waiting at Echo Nek with a rifle +and cartridges. Yes; but poor Joeboy had taken flight at the appearance +of the Boers, and fled for his liberty, in the belief that they had come +for him. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +WAITING FOR MY CHANCE. + +I rode on painfully as regarded my wrists; for above them my arms +throbbed and burned as if the veins were distended almost to +bursting-point, while my hands grew gradually cold and numb, and then +became insensible as so much lead. The physical pain, however, was +nothing to what I felt mentally. Only an hour or two before I was +leading that calm, happy home-life, without a trouble beyond some petty +disappointment in the garden or farm or during one of the hunting or +shooting expeditions with Joeboy to carry my game; and now a +lightning-like stroke seemed to have descended to end my idyllic +boy-life and make me a man full of suffering, and with a future which I +abhorred. + +"No," I argued, "I must escape, even if they do send a shower of bullets +to bring me down." I did not believe much in the vaunted powers of the +Boers with the rifle. I knew that they could shoot well, but no better +than my father and his two pupils, meaning Bob and myself; and I felt +that we should have been very doubtful about bringing down a man going +at full gallop, even in the brightest daylight; and I meant to make my +venture in the dusk of the evening or after dark if only my captors +would continue their journey then. Once well started, and my rein free +of the man who held it buckled to his saddle-bow, I had no fear at all, +for I was sure that in a straight race there was not a Boer amongst them +who could overtake me, they being heavy, middle-aged men, while I was +young and light, quite at home in the saddle, and Sandho as much at home +with me, upon his back. Arms? I could do without them. Reins? I +needed none, if only free of the one which held me to my left-hand +guard; for an extra pressure of either leg would send my beautiful +little Australian horse in the direction I wished to turn, while a word +of encouragement would send him on like the wind, and an order sharply +uttered check him even if at full speed. + +I had had Sandho four years, mounting him as soon as he was strong +enough to bear me, and ever since we seemed to have been companions more +than master and servant. We had played together; I had hunted him, and +he had hunted me--finding me, too, when I hid from him; and he answered +when out grazing on the veldt with a cheery neigh before galloping to +meet me. Why, there had been times when we had both lain down to sleep +together on the distant plains, my head resting on his glossy neck; so, +now that he was bearing me along, comparatively helpless, and I felt his +elastic, springy form beneath me, I was ashamed of my despair, convinced +that if I gave the word he would snap that rein at the first bound, and +bear me safely away. + +I made up my mind that if I could defer my attempt till it was dark I +should be safe. If, however, I were obliged to venture in daylight, I +would make my dash by some rocky pass or kopje on the way, where Sandho +would easily leave the Boers' horses behind, he being almost as +sure-footed as a goat. + +The captain drew rein a little, so that I came alongside during the +first part of our ride, and he cast his eye over my bonds and gave the +Boer who had the leading-rein a sharp order or two about keeping a good +lookout. To this the dull, heavy fellow responded with a surly growl. +After this the Irishman banteringly asked me if I was comfortable. + +My answer was an angry glare--at least, I meant it to be--but the only +effect was to make him laugh. + +"Ye've got a bad seat in the saddle, and it will be a good lesson to ye +in riding, bhoy. Make ye sit up. I hate to see a military man with his +showlders up and his nose down close to his charrger's mane. Faith, I'm +half-disposed to make ye throw the stirrups over the nag's neck, and I +would if we'd toime. But we've none to spare for picking ye up when ye +came off.--Here," he cried to the two men next behind, for we now rode +two and two; "why are your carbines not full-cocked--rifles, I mane? +That's right. Fire at wanst if he tries to bowlt; don't wait for +ordhers." + +I listened to the sharp clicking of the rifle-locks as the men cocked +their pieces; but somehow I did not feel scared, for a feeling of +desperation was upon me, and I was strung-up to dare anything to get my +liberty; and, besides, my father's orders were that I should make a +dash. + +"They can't hit me," I said to myself; and wherever the track was fair +going we went on at a canter, drawing rein wherever the ground grew bad. +At these latter times the captain began talking loudly in a +highly-pitched and half-contemptuous way to the leading men; and when +his words reached my ears I made out that his subject was either about +military evolutions and a man's bearing in the saddle, or else, in a +harsh and bitter tone, about the brutal Saxon who was at last going to +receive his dues for his long years of evil-doing and tyranny towards +the oppressed. Hearing such talk, I rode on half-wondering what England +had been doing towards the Irish at home and the Boers abroad, for this +was all news to me, and I had never noticed among the Dutch settlers on +the veldt anything but a stolid kind of contentment with their +prosperous lot; there not being a single case of poverty, as far as I +knew, within a hundred miles of our pleasant home. + +At the thought of home a strange swelling came in my throat, and the +wide, open veldt before me looked dim as I pictured all I had left +behind; for, happy as had been the life I led, and lovely as everything +around had always seemed, home had never seemed so beautiful as now. +However, I set my teeth hard, knit my brows, and with an effort seemed +to swallow down that swelling lump in my throat, at the same time +nipping Sandho's sides so sharply that he gathered himself up to bound +off; but he was checked by a savage snatch at the rein, and received a +blow with the barrel of my escort's rifle, as the surly and scowling +brute beside me growled out a fierce oath in Dutch. + +The plunge Sandho gave nearly unseated me, and in another moment he +would have been rearing and kicking to get free; but a few gentle words +from my lips soothed the poor beast down, and he settled into his canter +once more, while I fell to wondering whether my poor horse could think +and would understand that the brutal treatment did not come from his +master. + +On and on we rode over ground familiar to me, for many a long journey +from home had I been in every direction--hunting, shooting, or with our +wagon and oxen and Joeboy as foreloper, on journeys of many days through +the wilderness, to fetch stores for home use or to dispose of game or +stock. So beautiful it all seemed; now it was so wretched for me to +leave it all, and to be forced to go and fight against my brothers, so +to speak, in a cause that I felt I must hate. As I rode on, thinking +thus, I could see that there was no such oppression and tyranny as the +Irish captain spoke of; nothing but a bitter and contemptible +race-hatred, fostered by idle and discontented men. + +"But I shan't have to fight," I said to myself. "They talk about +freedom, and drag me away as a slave; but I too mean to be free." + +From that moment the gloomy lookout ahead seemed to pass away, the veldt +seeming glorious in the afternoon sunshine; and, cantering through the +invigorating air, I could have enjoyed my ride but for the constrained +position in which I sat, and the dull pain in my arms and shoulders. I +tried to forget this, and listened to the captain's words, for he grew +more and more loquacious. I gathered that he reckoned upon picking up +other two young fellows of my own stamp at the farm twenty miles from +ours; and I noted that, no matter what he said, his words were listened +to in gloomy silence or received with grunting monosyllables, while the +Boers talked among themselves only about home and farming work or the +sale of stock. More than once, too, I heard one of the men near me +wonder how the housewife would be getting on with the beasts and sheep. +The words were spoken in Boer Dutch; but in the course of years I had +become pretty well acquainted with the expressions of ordinary life. +Thus it seemed as if the men were anything but contented followers of +their noisy, vapouring leader. + +At last the farm was reached, and we halted for refreshment, spending +about half-an-hour to water and feed the horses, during which time I was +carefully guarded. There was no opposition here. The two recruits to +the commando, as they termed it, had been duly served with notice, and +within the time named they were ready with their horses, and armed; but +when we made our start I could see with what surly unwillingness they +took their places in the rank, and noticed too that they were nearly as +strictly watched as I was. In fact, I saw them exchange glances after +receiving a bullying order from Moriarty, and felt that it would not +have taken much to cause a display of temper on the part of the +recruits. + +That, however, by the way: my thoughts were too much taken up with my +own position to pay much heed to the two young Boers; for when we were +once more on our route for our next stopping-place, where we were to +halt for the night, I felt that the time was rapidly approaching when I +must make my escape. I did not say to myself _try_ to make my escape, +but to make it; for I had no fear of being unsuccessful. The night was +coming on fast, and I knew that there was no moon, which was all in my +favour; and, once free, all I had to do was to make straight for home--a +ride of perhaps thirty miles through the wild country, keeping away from +the track, and with nothing to fear. Yes, there wore the lions, +plentiful enough in the wilder parts; but the thought of them did not +damp me, for Sandho would soon give me warning if any were near, and +carry me well out of danger. + +Then there was the next day. I was to make for Echo Nek, and there, +meet Joeboy, who would bear my father's instructions; but would Joeboy +be there? My heart sank a little at the thought of how doubtful this +was; but I soon cheered up again. At the worst it meant waiting a day +or two, for I should not venture, home. The Boers would ride back--of +that I felt sure; then, thinking I should certainly seek for refuge with +my people, they would scour the country in search of me, and they might +search Echo Nek, though it was ten miles away. + +"Never mind," I said to myself cheerily enough; "that all belongs to +what _may be_: let's think only of _will be_;" and I rode on, scanning +the track and keeping a good lookout from side to side for the likeliest +spot for my attempt. I was still keenly watching when the shades of +evening darkened into night, and the right place had not yet come; there +were even moments when doubts began to creep in, for my arms grew +acutely painful, and this thought worried me terribly: "Helpless as I am +now, and growing weary, shall I have the strength to carry out my plan?" +I still had strength enough to drive out the doubting thought, and +forced myself into watching eagerly for my chance, having pretty well +determined what I would do first, trusting to the sudden surprise to +give me a few moments' start. + +In vain I looked for such a sanctuary as a rocky pile of scattered +granite would afford, for it had at last grown dark--a clear, +semi-transparent darkness, through which I could see twenty or thirty +yards in any direction; beyond that distance everything rapidly grew +black. If I could at once get fifty yards away, there was apparently +clear galloping ground, and distance would at any moment furnish me with +a dark hiding-place. All I wanted was the start; but how to get it? + +I had my big knife in my pocket; but I might as well have been without +it, fastened as I was. So, though I thought and thought, I could see no +way of dividing that rein; the idea of raising it to my teeth being +dismissed as an impossibility, as also of Sandho cutting it with his own +powerful nip, for I knew the idea of communicating my desire to the +horse was absurd. "How to manage? How to manage?" I kept on saying to +myself. The idea would not come; and as it grew darker our canter gave +place to a round trot, and soon after we steadied down to a walk. + +Suppose I suddenly made Sandho rear up? That would be easy, for I could +make him rise on his hind-legs and fight with his fore. But what good +would that do? No more than making him kick violently in all +directions, as he turned his fore-feet into a pivot upon which he +turned, bringing his heels round to all points of the compass, and +delivering smashing blows with them. Splendid practice this when a +litter of half-grown lions were trying to pull him down, but now not +likely to do more than bring down punishment upon the poor beast. + +Again and again I made up my mind to make him give a sudden bound; but +the chances were that it would not snap the rein, only cruelly drag the +poor fellow's mouth. And the minutes glided by, and the position grew +more and more hopeless. Then, suddenly, I seemed to see the only +possible way of getting clear. We rode with long reins, my father and +I, and I began to wonder why I had not thought of putting my plan in +action before. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +A DASH FOR LIBERTY. + +As I have said, one of my reins was unbuckled, passed over the horse's +neck, and buckled to the Boer's saddle-bow; and in consequence of the +length of the strap, it hung down in a long curve when we were riding a +fair distance apart, so I felt I had only to press my horse close +alongside that of my companion to slacken the leather strap still +further. My plan was almost a forlorn hope; but I could think of no +other, and determined to try it, even if, as would probably be the case, +it meant no more than dragging me suddenly from the saddle, to fall and +be trampled among the horses' heels. Still, I was determined, and only +waited now for the thrilling moment when I would try. + +We rode on for what seemed to me another mile, and still one moment +seemed as good as another. I was ready to despair. Then the time came. +The Boer at my side, having slung his cocked rifle over his shoulder, +fumbled in the darkness for something. Guessing what my companion was +about to do, with a slight pressure of my right leg I made Sandho edge +gradually closer. I was quite right. He took out a big Dutch pipe and +a pouch, proceeding to fill the bowl and press down the tobacco; and as +he worked so did I. Edging Sandho nearer and nearer, with my heart +beginning to beat with big, heavy throbs, I withdrew my left foot from +the stirrup, lowered it down in front of the loosely-hanging rein, and, +as soon as that was level with my ankle, twisted my foot again and +again, till the rein was three times round. Then I felt the drag upon +the Boer's saddle-bow, just as the man was getting a light; and at that +moment my leg came in contact with his so suddenly that it jerked him, +and the match he had struck went out. + +"Thunder and lightning!" he growled, kicking out to drive Sandho farther +away, but missing him, for I had just thrust my toe back into the +stirrup-iron and was pressing my horse away. + +The next minute scratch went another match, the bright light shining out +for a moment between us so that I could see the man's face plainly as he +held the burning splint between his hands on a level with his chin. +Then it was out again, for with a loud, shrill cry I was urging Sandho +to make his great effort--one which, as I have said, meant either +freedom--if the escape of one bound as I was could be so regarded--or +the horse galloping away and leaving me to be trampled under foot. + +"_Ri_--_ri_--_ri_--_ri_--_ri_--_ri_!" I half-shrieked, and Sandho made +a tremendous bound. There was a jerk at my left leg which nearly +dragged me from the saddle, and then we were off and away, the horse +tearing over the level plain out into the darkness; while close behind, +after a momentary pause, I heard the trampling of horses and the +high-pitched voice of the Irish leader yelling out orders. Then flash +after flash cut the darkness, and _crack, crack, crack_ came the reports +of the rifles, as the men fired in what they believed to be my +direction; but I heard no whistling bullet, and the firing ceased as +quickly as it had begun, for there was the risk of my pursuers +inflicting injury upon their fellows who led, and whom I could hear +thundering along behind me, while with voice and knee I urged Sandho on +at his greatest speed. + +A wild feeling of elation sent the blood dancing through my veins as we +raced along, and I was ready to burst out into shout after shout of +triumph, for I was free! free! And away we went, I almost perfectly +helpless, and knowing I must trust to my brave horse to carry me beyond +the reach of pursuit. + +_Throb, throb, throb_ went his hoofs on the soft earth, and _throb, +throb, throb_ went my heart, during what seemed now like some wild, +feverish dream in which I was careering onward through the +semi-transparent darkness, fully expecting every moment to see some +great patch of brush or pile of loose granite loom up before us, to be +followed by a tremendous leap, a crash as we came to horrible grief, and +then insensibility; but nothing of the kind occurred, for I had chosen +the happiest moment for my attempt, and we were galloping over the +almost level veldt. But evidently guided by the beat of my horse's +hoofs, the Boers were still in full chase, the deep thudding of their +troopers sounding loud and clear. + +For a few minutes, in the wild excitement, I could think of nothing but +whispering words of encouragement to Sandho, as I lay right forward now +and pressed and caressed him with my legs; while, as I reached towards +his head, I could just make out the delicate ears, and see them laid +back to listen to my words every time I spoke. + +Then a strange pain brought me more consciousness of my position. It +was not the aching above my crippled wrists, but in my left leg, which +felt strained and stretched as if on the rack, and for a few moments I +fancied my foot had been torn off at the ankle; but the next moment I +knew this was absurd, for I could rise in my stirrups. Still, I knew my +leg was badly hurt, and that I must now endeavour to do something to +free my hands. + +All this time we were tearing along at racing pace, while with dogged +obstinacy the Boers--ten or a dozen of them, I judged by the beating of +the hoofs--had settled themselves to the pursuit, meaning to hunt me +down as they would track some wounded eland trying its best for life. + +"This won't do," I thought as I began to grow calmer, and listened. + +There they were, tearing along, far enough behind, but well on my track; +and there was I, almost helpless, struggling to get my bonds undone, but +only giving myself more pain. + +The darkness was my only friend and refuge, and after a few moments' +consideration I made up my mind what to do. At any moment the chase +might be at an end. Seven years on the veldt had taught me well the +risks of a horseman, and I knew only too well what would happen if +Sandho did not rise in time, or failed to clear some one of the +thousands of scattered rocks; or he might plunge his foot in a hole made +by some burrowing animal, and come down crippled for life, while I was +flung over his head. Yes, the chase might come to an end at any moment, +and all hope of reaching Echo Nek be gone; so, drawing a deep breath, I +steadied myself. Then I strained forward as far as I could reach, and +spoke to Sandho, who uttered a whinnying snort and began to check +himself. As soon as he had eased down into a canter I brought my left +leg to bear upon him, and an agonising pain shot up to my hip, turning +me so faint that for a minute I was giddy and nearly lost my seat; but +my pressure upon his flank had caused him to amble on at right angles to +our former course. As my head grew clearer I brought him down to a +walk, and directly after stopped him short. I saw his ears twitching, +and his head turned in the direction from whence came the heavy beat of +hoofs. This sound came closer and closer, and then swept past, as I sat +with beating heart, mental distress being added to my bodily pain, for +at any moment I knew Sandho might utter a neighing challenge to the +passing horses; but he was silent, and they passed at a swinging gallop, +the sound soon growing fainter. I was beginning to breathe more freely +when my agony was renewed; for the beating of hoofs was resumed, and I +could tell that the little troop of Boers was divided into two, and the +risk had again to be encountered. + +I dared not whisper to Sandho for fear he should answer me in his own +way and reach round his soft, velvety muzzle to touch my expected hand, +now so painfully held back. These seemed the worst, the most agonising, +moments of my flight; and I felt sick with pain, too. If the horse +whinnied, all my desperate struggle would have been in vain; and I was +ready in my anguish to ask whether it was worth while to go on with the +desperate attempt. + +All this time the horsemen came nearer and nearer. In my agitation it +seemed they were not following the departing hoof-sounds in a direct +line, but riding in a curve which would bring them right over the spot +where we stood. + +How long the moments are in such an emergency! The time seemed to me +stretched out to an agonising length; but this second strain came to an +end, and Sandho stood motionless, with his flanks heaving beneath me. I +could hear his breath come hard as the Boers galloped on abreast, closer +and closer; and then the _thud, thud, thud_ grew less and less plain, +till the sounds gradually became faint in the distance. I now felt +ready to spring from my saddle and go down in thankfulness upon my +knees; but I dared not stir, for if I managed to throw myself down, I +knew perfectly well I could never get into the saddle again. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +NIGHT ON THE VELDT. + +I sat there in the chilly darkness, listening till the last sounds of +the beating hoofs died out--began again--grew fainter--finally ceased +altogether. Sandho stood perfectly still, with the painful heaving of +his flanks gradually easing down. At last he uttered a low whinnying +sound, as if asking me why we did not go on; but I made no movement, +spoke no word, only sat and listened for the return of the Boers. + +There was no sound, for my ruse had succeeded; and I was just beginning +to try to rouse myself from a faint, half-swooning state, when my nerves +received a fillip; for there in the distance rose the deep, barking roar +of a lion, followed by a pause, and then from a different direction came +the horrible wailing howl of the unclean prowlers who follow the monarch +of the desert to finish the remains of his feasts. + +Sandho stirred uneasily and drew a deep breath, which was followed by +something strangely resembling a sigh. I knew it was time to move; and, +shaking off a sensation of fast-approaching lethargy, I tried to get rid +of the feeling of faintness, and only roused the sharp pain afresh. +Still, that spurred me into effort; and as I pressed Sandho's sides +lightly, he began to amble gently along, while I raised my eyes to the +stars, and endeavoured to make out which way we were travelling. There +was a soft mistiness in the great arch above me, and it was some minutes +before I could pick out a few of the familiar stars; but at last I was +certain, and made out that the Boers had galloped on nearly due north, +while Sandho's nose was pointed east. + +North meant home; and without doubt they would keep on in that +direction, feeling sure that I should make for the farm. East meant +going in the right direction for Echo Nek and the mountains, though I +should have to bear off after a time towards the north-east. Anyhow, +matters were so far in my favour, and I tried to sit firm in the saddle +as I let the horse amble on at the pace which I had often compared to +swinging in an easy-chair; but the movement was agony now, and my great +dread was lest I should faint and fall, for the suffering seemed greater +than I could bear. + +In times of emergency--as I have often learned since--we are very poor +judges, whether as boys or men, of how much the human frame can bear. +Thus, in spite of all I suffered, I kept in the saddle, while, in what +gradually seemed to grow into a horrible, fevered dream, my brave little +horse ambled on and on, and later settled into a walk. He seemed always +to be aiming for one great dim star, which gave me encouragement; then +the dread came over me that, from his steady pursuance of our journey, +he must be making for home, and taking me right into the midst of my +enemies. + +After a time he stopped short, and from the steady _crop, crop, crop_, I +knew he was amongst grass; and he grazed away long enough before moving +on again at his old amble. Again he pulled up for another good long +feed, while I managed to find words to talk to him--foolishly, no doubt; +but it helped me and kept off the feeling of pain and loneliness, +seeming to give me strength, too, as I called him "Poor fellow," and +told him how sorry I was I could not get down to rest him, and make his +meal pleasanter by unfastening the curb and taking out his bit. + +It was all folly perhaps; but my words were very earnest and true, and I +believe the poor, faithful slave liked to hear my voice, for every now +and then when I spoke he would cease cropping the rich grass, whose +moist odour rose pleasantly to my nostrils, and utter one of his low +whinnying calls. + +"He is happy enough," I thought, in my dull misery; "while I, suffering +as I do, would give anything for a mouthful of water. Oh!" I sighed +aloud at last, "if this long night would only come to an end, and I +could reach a spruit. Just to get down and have one long drink, before +trying to sleep and rest!" + +As I said these words I felt that no sleep could possibly come to one +suffering such pain, and in desperation I once more made an effort to +free my hands, but only to set my teeth hard and utter a faint groan, +for the pain I suffered in the act seemed to increase tenfold. + +I felt half-delirious and strange after that, or at least it seems so +now; but I have some recollection of Sandho going on, stopping to crop +the grass, and then going on again and again, till I found myself gazing +straight before me at a faint, dull light in the distance--a light which +increased more and more, bringing with it a kind of feeling of hope that +the long night of agony was coming to an end, for I knew I was gazing +eastward, and that it would soon be day. + +Shortly afterwards I could see we were getting to the termination of the +plain, for there were scattered blocks of stone, with mountains beyond; +and something seemed to flash through me at the sight. "Stones," I said +aloud; "of course! Why not some rough edge against which I can saw the +raw-hide straps which bind my hands?" + +There was a faint speck of orange light high up in the sky just then, +and it seemed to be reflected somehow into my brain, making me see my +way at last to a better state of things. Hope was coming with the new +day, and the blackness of despair slowly dying out. + +With the sun rapidly brightening the sky, I urged Sandho forward, but +only at a walk, for he was weary and sluggish, and the slightest +movement beyond that pace brought back the sickening pain so intensely +that I believe if he had broken into a trot I should have fainted and +fallen to the ground. By going gently, however, we gradually neared the +wild and rocky portion beyond which the huge masses of stone towered up +into a mighty heap, forming one of the rough hills with precipitous +sides known to the Dutch settlers as "kopjes" or "heads." + +I now began to revive more and more in the fresh, invigorating morning +air, and carefully examined the open veldt away to the north and east in +search of the enemy; but not a living thing was visible. Then I turned +my attention towards the rough ground in front and the kopje beyond, as +I knew full well these were likely to be the home of other enemies, +which on an ordinary occasion would retreat before an armed and mounted +man; how they would behave towards one so completely helpless I +shuddered to think. Sandho, however, made no sign beyond raising his +muzzle again to sniff at the breeze we encountered; and when I called +upon him to halt, he lowered his head directly and began to crop the +rich grass growing amongst the stones. + +My intention now was to dismount; but I sat still, hesitating, and +looking away over the open veldt, fearing to alight, being fully aware +how helpless I should be and unequal to the task of remounting. + +However, it had to be done; so, pulling myself together, I drew my feet +from the stirrups, and called upon Sandho to stand fast. Then, lying +forward till my face touched my steed's neck, I made a desperate +effort--quickly, for I could not trust my strength--drew my injured left +leg right up on to the horse's back, and lay there perfectly still for a +few moments, suffering horribly from the pain of my overstrained +muscles, before making another effort, and then dropped down on my right +foot, dismounting on the wrong side of the horse, feeling, as I did so, +everything give way. I had completely collapsed, and all was blank. It +may have been an hour, or it may have been only a few minutes--possibly +only seconds--passed before I opened my eyes and gazed up, wondering +what was the meaning of the soft, warm puffs of moist air, and what it +was that kept on snuffing at my face. + +"Sandho, old boy!" I said, gazing up in his great, soft eyes, and the +wondering horse whinnied and then turned away to begin grazing once +more; while I waited for the sick feeling from which I suffered to pass +off, before trying to get up and find some sharp-edged stone against +which I could rub the raw-hide thong which bound my wrists. + +It was terrible work, and I had to make a severe call upon my courage +before I made the first effort. For it was like this: I was quite +exhausted and in a state of semi-stupor, combined with drowsiness. So +long as I lay quite still my injuries felt dull and numbed; but at the +slightest movement my arms and shoulders gave a burning, fiery pain, +while my left leg and ankle shot out pangs almost unbearable. + +The effort had to be made, though; and, setting my teeth hard, I called +up all my powers of endurance, and after a severe struggle managed to +get upon my knees. + +The pain now was excruciating; and, realising that my left leg must be +badly hurt, I made another effort before I was overcome again, getting +upon my feet and reeling towards a big upright mass of granite; but +before I had taken half-a-dozen limping steps the whole scene began to +glide round me, and I fell heavily, insensible once more. + +It is no easy task to rise to one's feet when lying with arms tightly +bound behind the back. Think, then, what it must have been to one +suffering as I was--arms swollen and cut into by the leather thong, +utterly exhausted, and with one leg rendered completely useless. + +Again I passed through that sickening phase of recovery from a swoon; +and then it was some time before my senses would act, and I could fully +grasp the situation and understand I must once more make that same +effort to rise. + +I was thoroughly desperate now; and as soon as I fully grasped my +position I made another attempt, turning over from my back, where I lay +in agony upon my swollen hands and wrists, on to my face. It was +impossible to keep it back, and I uttered a low cry, which brought +Sandho trotting towards me from where he was making a hearty meal. Then +I lay quite still, with the deathly sickness passing off once more, my +heart beating heavily all the time and a feeling of thankfulness making +me glow; for there, as I lay face downwards, I knew that my helpless and +swollen arms and hands were lying on either side, perfectly numb, but +free. In that last heavy fall, in trying to reach the stone, the thong +must have snapped, the dew-soaked raw leather falling loose; and now I +had only to wait till the circulation and sense of feeling returned. + +The pain I suffered was still bad enough, but it seemed to be softened +by the feeling of joy which pervaded me; and soon after, Sandho having +wandered off again to graze, I heard a sound which nerved me to renewed +efforts--the peculiar plashing made by a horse wading into a pebbly +stream. That was enough. A minute later I was struggling to reach the +stone I had fought to gain before; and by its help I got upon my feet, +when I saw Sandho some twenty yards away, standing in a depression by +the side of a perpendicular mass of rock, down whose side a spring of +water gushed and ran off below the rock, to sink out of sight some +distance off. + +It was hard work, and the pain excessive; but I limped and shuffled +along till I was close to the stream, and then sank down again, to lie +and drink and drink again of the sweet, pure water, every mouthful +giving me renewed energy. + +I must have fallen asleep after dragging myself from the pool--a +swoon-like sleep, from which I awoke in a confused, muddled state--only +gradually grasping my position and realising how long I must have been +insensible, for the kopje above me was glowing as if on fire, bathed in +the glory which suffused the west. My horse was lying down a dozen +yards away, with his head just raised; and in front, forming a charming +picture, was a little herd of about a dozen graceful antelopes, some +drinking, some standing in the water, and another upon the top of a low +flat stone, with head erect and long horns gracefully curving over its +back as it kept a lookout for danger; a slight movement upon my part a +few moments later making the beautiful animal utter a snort, and then +the whole party were off like the wind. + +Their rush made Sandho spring to his feet with a neigh of alarm, and +then, as I made an effort and rose to a sitting position, he bounded up +to me, whinnying with pleasure, and thrust his muzzle over my shoulder. + +To my delight, I found that, though painful and tender, the swelling of +my arms and wrists had gone down; while much of the pain had left my +leg, which was, however, stiff and helpless from the terrible wrench. + +My first movement was to get to the spring above where the little stream +had been trampled and discoloured by the antelopes; and after a good +draught I stood up once more, feeling ready to attempt mounting again, +and see if I could reach the spot my father had appointed for the +meeting with Joeboy. I knew, too, from sundry symptoms, that I must be +better--far better than I could have expected, for I was ravenously +hungry; and as I realised this I could not keep back a laugh. A capital +sign this, though painful, for there was no chance of obtaining food +till I could reach some farm; but I could recall no likely place on my +way to the Nek, and so the hunger-pains had to be borne. + +Leaving Sandho browsing upon the rich grass near the spring in a dainty +way, which, in combination with his appearance, suggested that he had +been feeding to his heart's content, I climbed over the rocks till I +reached the highest point of the kopje. There, lying down, I set myself +to carefully scan the open veldt in search of mounted men; till, +satisfied there were none to be seen, I descended, mounted my horse, and +rode gently away, not suffering more than was to be expected after what +I had gone through. + +The country where I now was seemed fairly familiar, and I soon made out +mountain-tops in the distance, which served as guides. One peak in +particular I marked down as lying to the left of Echo Nek, or at all +events near the gap in the mountains I was to reach; and towards this +Sandho ambled for another hour, when the night began to close in fast. +After marking down the direction of the peak as well as I could before +the light died out on the misty horizon, I waited till it was quite +dark, then I selected a star which I calculated was just over where I +had last seen the peak, and once more rode on for what must have been +three hours; but then, concluding that to ride farther might possibly +mean going astray, I walked my horse till a tolerably suitable spot +offered itself for a halting-place till daylight, where I off-saddled +Sandho, turned him loose to graze, and settled myself down in a patch of +thorny bush to pass the night as I could. + +I longed to light a fire to keep off lions; but in avoiding one enemy I +felt I might be attracting another; for if there were Boers anywhere in +the neighbourhood they would be certain to ride up, and then all my +efforts would prove to have been in vain. Hence there was nothing for +it but to take the risk. + +The night was glorious though cold, for I had been imperceptibly rising +into high ground. The stars sparkled as if there was frost; but I had +no eyes for the beauty of the scene, hemmed in as I was by enemies. +Twice over I shivered as to the fate of poor Sandho, the deep, muttering +roar of the lions seeming to make the ground tremble and the air +vibrate. If they scented my horse and drew near I was perfectly +defenceless, and could do nothing to save the poor beast. So alarmed +did I grow at last upon his account that I determined to risk being +seen, and hurriedly began to collect scraps of dead wood, twigs, and +such pieces of dry grass as were likely to burn. I did not stop to find +many; but, startled by a loud barking roar that, in my nervous state, +sounded very near, I knelt down and struck a match, holding it well +sheltered with my hands till the splint was fully alight, and then +started the grass and wood. Fortunately these were thoroughly dry and +caught readily; but the quantity was very small, and the blaze a mere +trifle compared with what I wished to obtain. So, as actively as I was +able, I started collecting everything I could, and carefully piled it +up; but with small success, for I had to depend entirely upon my hands +to break off scraps, and they burned away almost as fast as I could +reach the fire. + +I had just thrown on as much as I could hug to my breast when I was +startled by a heavy breathing; and, turning sharply, for a moment or two +I was certain that one of the fierce beasts had crept up. There, only a +few feet away, were a pair of glistening eyes reflecting the fitful +flames, and I began to back so as to get the fire between me and my foe. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +MY NOCTURNAL VISITOR. + +As I moved it moved too; and I dimly saw the outstretched head and body, +as I supposed, of a monstrous lion about to spring, when, the fire +having flashed up more brightly, I uttered a gasp of relief. It was +Sandho, who had come quietly up to the fire for company and protection. + +I worked the harder then, and kept on hour after hour, having to take +longer and longer journeys as I exhausted the supply close at hand; and +all the time I was perfectly conscious that lions were near, prowling +round our little apology for a camp so as to spring upon the horse and +pull him down. Every time I started for more fuel I expected to hear a +roar and feel one of the savage creatures spring upon me; but the night +wore on, with the fire giving a steadier glow as the time passed. I +suppose the fact of my keeping up a hurried movement, making a desperate +rush here and there, with the light from the fire throwing up my figure +plainly, was too much for the great cats, and they feared to attack. +Whatever it was, they were kept at bay; and daybreak found me thoroughly +exhausted, the last growl having died out, the light showing the great +soft footprints of our enemies round and round the clump of bushes, +crossing and recrossing, and suggesting that there had been a party of +four--an old lioness and her nearly full-grown cubs. + +It was a narrow escape; and, as if only too glad to get away from so +dangerous a spot, Sandho so fidgeted to start that I had hard work to +secure the broken end of his rein to the ring of the bit without +shortening it so much that I could not hold it in my hand. + +I took a good look round, however, before starting, and it was well I +did so, for, clearly seen now in the level sunbeams away to the north, +there was a party of horsemen riding in my direction, and discovery +seemed certain, even if I had not already been seen. + +My first idea was to spring into the saddle and gallop off; but I was in +no condition for springing into my saddle. Crippled as I was, it meant +a slow and painful climb, and then in all probability the utmost I could +do would be to walk my horse slowly away. + +To mount, lie down, and urge the horse round to the back of the clump of +bushes which had formed my shelter during the past night, and then +cautiously strike off straight away towards the mountains at a walk, +doing my best to keep the shelter of scrub between me and the enemy, +seemed the wiser plan, and this I put into execution. + +I had several things in my favour by doing this: the distance between me +and the horsemen was great; and I felt certain that, if it were a +portion of the captain's troop, they had no glass of any kind. If they +caught sight of me in making my retreat, they would only fancy they saw +the figure of some peculiar, humpbacked-looking animal; and on making +for the mountains my position upon Sandho's back would never lead them +to suppose it was a horse bearing a rider. This supposition, too, would +be helped by the fact that there were still little herds and single +wanderers, the relics of the vast hosts of antelopes of various species, +from the tiny gazelle-like animals up through the clumsy hartebeeste and +wildebeeste to the huge eland; and at a distance I felt it possible that +myself and steed might be taken for one of these. + +While thinking thus, and going through a painful struggle to get upon my +horse properly, it seemed to me that the party were visibly coming +nearer; but, hidden as we were by the bushes, I could see, from where I +lay on my horse's back, as I turned my eyes in their direction, that so +far I was not discovered. The crucial test, however, was yet to come; +for, though I could keep Sandho out of sight for half a mile possibly, +the land was gradually rising, and in that distance or less, I knew, we +should stand out plainly in the clear air. Then, if seen, suffer what I +might, I was determined to urge my horse on to his greatest speed, +leaving the rest to fate. + +I had no trouble with my well-trained steed, which obeyed every word or +pressure; and with eyes so turned that I could keep the bush between us, +I guided Sandho on till, as I had anticipated, the party of mounted men +came gradually into view--first only the men, but soon after their +horses. So far, they were going only at a walk, to pass the track +diagonally to my course and some distance away. + +As they were so visible, I felt they must soon see me, and tried hard to +efface myself as much as possible, knowing that my dusky-brownish, +homespun breeches, flannel shirt, and tanned high boots must assimilate +well with the coat of my chestnut horse, and this cheered me a little. + +Then, suddenly, I knew I was seen, for one of the men drew rein, letting +the others go on a few horse-lengths before; and, as if in answer to a +summons from the man behind, the rest of the party halted and sat gazing +in my direction. + +The next minute the man who had halted by himself now dismounted, and I +saw a gleaming light glance from where he stood and then dropped down. +It was too far off for me to see distinctly; but knowledge supplied what +my eyes failed to grasp, and I knew the gleam was from his rifle-barrel +reflecting the sun's rays, and the man's attitude that of one about to +try a long shot at the uncouth animal in view beyond the thorny scrub. + +There is an old-fashioned saying about people's feelings in critical +moments: that their hearts stood still. Now, I don't believe for a +moment that mine ceased to beat; but it certainly felt as if it did, +while I lay rising and falling, yielding to Sandho's movements, and +gazing straight back at the little hole which I knew must be pointed +straight at me--invisible, of course; but the little puff of white smoke +which suddenly jetted into the air was plain enough to my eyes, and so +was the peculiar buzzing sound to my ears as the bullet passed over me +like some strange bee in a violent hurry to reach its hive. Then came +the sharp crack as of a sjambok wielded by a strong and well-accustomed +arm. + +"A miss, and no wonder!" I exclaimed; and I suppose I must have started +and given Sandho a familiar pressure, or else it was the instinct of +self-preservation at work in the sensible animal, for he suddenly made a +bound forward so unexpectedly that I was nearly unseated; but my arms +were now free, and, reaching down and getting tight hold of his leathern +breastplate, I held on and let him go. The instinct of +self-preservation was also strongly to the fore in me, and I lay fully +expecting to hear the whizzing of half-a-dozen more bullets and the +cracking of the rifles, since naturally I could see nothing then, my +face lying against the horse's neck, as he bounded on at an easy gallop. + +Were the enemy in pursuit? + +I strained my hearing, but I could make out nothing more than the +regular beat of my horse's hoofs; while, as no shots came, I felt +certain they had made out my figure and were coming on in full chase. + +"They'll have a long one," I thought; for, though I was in great pain, I +found, to my intense delight, that I could accommodate myself to +Sandho's long swinging gallop as he spurned the soft loose earth behind +him, the ascent being exceedingly slight; and we were progressing in a +series of antelope-like bounds. + +At last, after galloping for quite ten minutes, something in front made +Sandho swerve round to the left; and, before raising my head to see what +it was, I turned my face sidewise so as to get a glance back at my +pursuers, and could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that no Boers were +there. It was not until I raised my head a little to gaze back in the +other direction that I could see them far away in the distance, +evidently pursuing the course they had followed before the incidents of +the halt and shot occurred. + +Now I held on tightly and raised my head, endeavouring to make out why +my horse had swerved. There it was plain enough: another of the stony +kops which rose up to block our way had forced him to gallop along the +unencumbered ground at the foot of a great line of hills, beyond which +was the peak I had marked down as being in the neighbourhood of Echo +Nek. + +Unfortunately the land here was all strange to me, my journeys never +having led me so far on this side of the mountains. Still, I felt I +must be going in the direction of the Nek, and that sooner or later I +should come to some valley into which I could strike off to the right, +and get through and round by the peak beyond which I now certainly +believed Echo Nek must be. + +I made no effort to check Sandho, who was keeping on nearly level +ground, but now raised myself upright in the saddle to watch for that +which I had forgotten during the time I was in danger, but now that I +was comparatively safe seemed to be the very first thing I should seek. + +Many hours had now passed since, I had broken my fast; and at eighteen +the desire for food is a tyrant against which no growing boy or young +man can fight. But no. To my right were the rugged, barren hills +undotted by bullock or sheep; to the left a far-spreading stretch of +unfertile veldt; and though I cantered on for another full hour not a +homestead came into sight. + +At last, however, I saw a break in the continuous ridge of hills on my +right, and eased Sandho down into his gentle amble, not willing to press +him hard, for I knew that at any minute I might be obliged to urge him +to his greatest speed. + +In another half-hour we were bearing off to the right, for the hills had +opened into a broad valley, at the head of which the great peak I had +seen now rose up as if to block the way; and in spite of my hunger I +felt lighter-hearted, for I was getting sure of my bearings. Yes, there +beyond the shoulder of the peak was the crag just below which lay Echo +Nek only a few miles away, not more than an hour's canter along the +fairly even valley, and then--Oh, if Joeboy should not be there! + +"He must; he is sure to be," I said half-aloud. "Even if he were not +there, father would know how I should be pressed for food, and be there +himself." + +This was an encouraging and cheering thought; and, inspired with fresh +hope, I rode on, wondering that, though the veldt looked so unpromising, +some one had not taken up land, if only in the hope of finding minerals +where the soil forbade the fruits of fertile earth; but no. All was +barren and strange; even the granite blocks and kops were rare, and I +looked still in vain for some sign of human habitation, some track of +wheel or print of foot. The last I did begin to see now; but they were +not the prints of ironshod hoofs, only those of antelopes, large and +small, and not too frequent. Still, here was sign; and as I looked more +closely I twice saw the soft round prints of the great sand-coloured +cats, and my eyes began now to roam afield in the expectation of perhaps +seeing those which had made the marks. No; the open valley that twenty +or thirty years earlier might have been alive with game was absolutely +desolate; not one of the vast herds which used to roam there, as the old +Boers had often told me, was to be seen. + +There was nothing whatever to break the long slopes of sand-coloured +soil. + +Ah! what was that on the ridge to my left, which ran down till it lost +itself in the open bottom of the valley along which Sandho gently +cantered? Some white-feathered and familiar birds, displaying their +soft plumes, which looked ostrich-like in the distance. What could it +be? I knew no bird, in spite of my wanderings, that ever looked like +that. Still, a bird was a bird, and game, and the thought of game at +such a time was glorious; but my spirits sank again, for I had no +weapon, and then the grapes seemed to be sour. + +"It isn't a bird; only a feather or two dropped by some old cock +ostrich," I said aloud. + +No. The feathers began to rise from the edge of the ridge, and there +was a black face beneath them, then the broad breast, and finally the +full figure of a stalwart Kaffir warrior, his thin arms and ankles +ornamented with wool, his savage panoply of shield and assagai in his +left hand, and his eyes shaded by his right hand, which cut straight +across his forehead just below the fillet holding the three white +ostrich feathers. He was evidently watching me. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +PERILS WHICH GROW. + +Upon making out what was before me, the little I had heard about the war +rushed across my mind, and I saw at once that, catching the infection, +at least one of the native tribes which had been disarmed, and were +previously living at peace, had broken out, seizing the opportunity of +their Dutch and English masters being at enmity to take one side or the +other, possibly with some vague idea that they would thus regain their +independence. + +What this warrior might be I could not tell at a distance, for he might +prove a Zulu still smarting under the defeat inflicted upon his nation +by the British, or a Swazi who bitterly hated the Boers for their brutal +treatment during the past. + +I felt I ought to be able to tell at once by his appearance; but my +knowledge was, after all, imperfect, and I certainly could not at a +distance make out to what nation the man belonged. + +I had not long time for consideration, as Sandho was steadily carrying +me nearer; but I decided to go as close as I could without getting +within range of an assagai; for it was worth some risk to get in touch +with a friendly native in my emergency, since I knew he would try all he +could to furnish me with food. + +So I rode slowly on, straining my eyes the while to scan the various +points in his slight dress, but keeping a sharp lookout right and left +to make sure that his companions, if he had any, were not, after their +fashion, crawling along under cover to outflank me. However, all seemed +safe, for there was no cover on either side; but below the black +warrior, and behind the ridge, there was ample space for a couple of +hundred of his kin to be lying out of sight, ready at a signal to spring +up and make a furious onslaught. + +"And turn me into a sort of human pin-cushion, which they would fill +with their assagais," I said half-aloud. "That wouldn't do, Sandho, old +boy; so be ready to gallop off when I pull your rein." + +My horse threw up his head and laid back his ears, beginning to bound +off at once; but I checked him. + +"Not yet, old boy; not yet. When I give the word you must make a +half-turn, and we must try and circumvent them--if it is them, and not +only one.--How near dare I go?" I asked myself; and I decided that +forty yards would be as far as I ought to venture, being of course well +on the _qui vive_. + +The black--Swazi or Zulu--looked a terribly formidable enemy as he stood +above me, clearly seen against the sky, and I was beginning to feel that +I must not go much farther; but I was still in the dark as to what he +might be, friend or enemy, when he mystified me still further by +suddenly striking an attitude, standing as if suddenly turned into a +bronze figure defying some one on his right. Directly after, he dashed +into a kind of war-dance, advancing, retreating, throwing imaginary +assagais at invisible foes, and then coming apparently to close +quarters, screening his body with his long elliptic shield, and stabbing +away at men standing and others falling all around. + +I need hardly say I drew rein at once and sat ready to urge Sandho to +his greatest speed at a moment's notice, for I felt that these +evolutions might either mean defiance and a display of what he would do +to me when I came within reach, or a feint to show his friendliness. + +I cast the latter idea aside at once, and came to the conclusion that my +warlike gentleman was on the watch for an opportunity to dash in after +throwing me off my guard, and then I knew only too well what would +happen--that which had befallen many an unfortunate settler in the past: +a couple of small assagais darted at him like lightning, and the thrower +rushing in after them with his stabbing weapon, followed by the fatal +termination. + +Still the grotesque dance went on, yet I felt pretty safe, for I was +fully fifty yards distant, and had often proved Sandho in encounters +with wild beasts; so I had no doubt of getting away in time when the +savage made his rush which was certainly coming, as I saw the lithe +actor was gradually working himself up to a sufficient pitch of +excitement. His eyes were rolling, his powerful black limbs shone, and +he darted here and there, leaping in the air to deliver some thrust with +greater effect, and generally carrying on in a way that would have made +me burst into a hearty fit of contemptuous laughter at the childish +exhibition, evidently meant to impress me with the fellow's great +bravery, had there not been, as I well knew, so terribly bloodthirsty an +element beneath it all. + +"There, Sandho," I said softly as I leaned forward to stroke my horse's +soft arching neck, "I think we've had enough of the idiot's nonsense, +and we'll go." + +I was in the act of saying these words, keenly watching all round for +danger, as well as beyond the bounding black in the full expectation of +catching sight at any moment of the plumed heads of a party of his +companions rising above the ridge, when, as if in a final effort or an +attempt at a climax to the weirdly absurd performance, the black warrior +proceeded to finish off with the slaying of about a dozen invisible +enemies around him. Bang went his stabbing assagai against his shield, +and then _stab, stab, stab_, when he turned upon his feet as if upon a +pivot, darting his weapon as if he were some fierce creature armed with +a terrible sting. I seemed to see in imagination an enemy go down at +every thrust; a strange thrill of horror ran through me, and an awful +kind of fascination held me seated there on my horse, as the black +warrior stabbed away till his back was completely turned to me and he +delivered a tremendous thrust, uttering a horrible yell. Then I burst +out into a hysterical peal of laughter, and nearly fell out of the +saddle. + +Why? Because never was anything more absurd. The warrior's face was +averted, and the long elliptically-shaped shield no longer covered the +greater part of his person; and though I had failed in recognition +before, I knew him now by the tremendously cut-down trousers he wore. + +"Go on, Sandho," I said, and my horse walked gently forward, while the +actor gave three or four more thrusts to kill the rest of the dozen +invisible enemies, bringing himself face to face with me; and after +leaping high in the air, uttering a triumphant yell, he grinned at me +from ear to ear, as he breathlessly cried: + +"'At's a way kill um all, Boss Val." + +For it was Joeboy on the war-path, ready in his own opinion to slay all +the Boers in the state. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE FRIEND IN NEED. + +"Why, Joeboy," I cried, wiping my eyes, "you're splendid. But where's +Echo Nek?" + +"Dah!" he said, pointing behind him with the dangerous-looking assagai +he carried. + +"Did you see me coming?" + +He nodded, it being one of his habits to say as little in English as he +could. + +"Tell me: have you got anything to eat?" I said. "I'm starving." + +He darted back to the other side of the ridge, and came back with the +strap of a big canvas satchel over his shoulder, the bag-part looking +bulky in the extreme. + +"Um Tant Jenny," he said, frowning, as he shook the satchel, and then +proceeded to scrape off with the blade of his stabbing-assagai the large +ants which had scented the contents and were swarming to the attack. +"Is there any water near?" I asked. + +"Um," said Joeboy, pointing towards the other side of the ridge. + +"Then there will be grass too," I said. "Go on, and show the way. +Quick!" + +The great black nodded and went off at a trot, taking me over the ridge +and down a steep slope into a large gap in the side of the hill; and a +quarter of an hour later we were alongside a bubbling stream, where +long, rich, juicy grass grew in abundance. + +Directly after Sandho was grazing contentedly; and when I had drunk from +the pure fresh water, I was devouring rather than eating the magnified +salt-beef sandwiches of which the satchel contained ample store, while +Joeboy grinned to see the way in which one disappeared. + +"Catch hold," I said, pushing a great sandwich towards my black +companion; but he shook his head and shrank away. + +"Tant Jenny say all young Boss Val," he said, and then he laughed and +displayed a large packet carefully fastened to the inside of his shield. +This packet he opened, took out a sandwich similar to mine, then +squatted down and began to eat. + +"Joeboy had plenty yes'day," he said, and he gave his front a circular +rub as if to suggest that it was still fairly stored, after which he +went on munching slowly as if to keep me company. + +"Now," I said after eating a few mouthfuls, "what did my father say?" + +"Big Boss say Joeboy go Echo Nek. Stop till son Val come." + +"Is that all?" I said wonderingly. + +"Yes; all Boss say." + +As he spoke, however, Joeboy laid his sandwich upon the shield beside +him, and then began to fumble behind him in the band of his cut-down +trousers, out of a leopard-skin pocket attached to which he drew a +packet of common leather tied up with a slip of the same. + +I opened the leather packet with trembling fingers, and found a letter, +which I eagerly read: + +"Dear Val,--I take it for granted, my boy, that you will escape from +those ruffians and be lying in wait for my message. I find, though, +that Joeboy is missing, and if he does not return I shall have to come +and meet you myself, and then I can tell you what to do. I will, +however, write this in the hope that I can send it, as I do not want to +leave your aunt and Bob, for there is much to do, burying and hiding a +few valuables in case we are ever able to come back." + +"Oh!" I exclaimed, and Joeboy half-sprang to his feet, but subsided as +I went on: + +"War has broken out, the Boers having defied the British Government. It +has, of course, all been a surprise to me; but the news is coming in +fast. Hodson has been here, and he tells me the English are all +receiving orders to go. It is ruin to us, and after making such a home; +but, God help us! we must do our best. + +"Of course you cannot serve against your own countrymen, and I don't +like your having anything to do with the horrible business; but if you +feel that you must join in with our people and act as a volunteer +against what is a cruel tyranny, I know you will act like a man. + +"I can write no more, and Heaven knows when we may meet again. I shall +make for Natal, of course, with as much as I can save out of the wreck-- +that is, as much as the enemy will let me carry off. Perhaps, though, +that will be nothing; and I must be content with getting away with our +lives, for I hear that the blacks are getting uneasy, as if they smelt +blood; and Heaven knows what may happen if they break out, for the white +man is their natural enemy in their eyes, and, friends now, they may be +our foes to-morrow. + +"God bless and protect you, my boy! Aunt Jenny's dear love to you, and +she is going to help me to hold Bob in, for the young dog is mad to come +after you. + +"Your father, in the dear old home he is about to quit, perhaps for +ever. + +"John Moray. + +"_PS_:--Good news, my boy. Joeboy has just come back, in full fighting +fig. He will bring this, and some provision for a day or two. I feel +sure you may trust him. He has been showing me what he would do to any +one who tried to hurt young Boss Val. He is like a big child; but he is +true as steel. Good-bye. + +"Heaven be with you, my boy!" + +That last line was in Aunt Jenny's handwriting, and there were big +blotches on the paper where the ink had run, and over them came a few +lines in Bob's clumsy hand: + +"Val, old chap, the dad says I'm not to come along with Joeboy to join. +I told him it was a shame, for I felt in a passion, and he knocked me +down. + +"That's only my larks. He did knock me down, but not with his fist or +the handle of a--I don't know how you spell it; but I mean chambock. He +knocked me over with what he said. He told me it was my duty to stop +and help him and auntie. He might want me to fight for him and her. If +he does, I'll shove in two cartridges--I mean only one bullet; and I +don't care if the old rifle kicks till she breaks my collar-bone. I +mean to let the Boers have it for coming and upsetting us. I never knew +how nice dear old home was before. Old--" + +That was the bottom of the paper; but upon turning it over, there at the +very top on the other side, and in the left-hand corner above the word +"Val," where my father had begun, was the word "Beasts," which I had +passed over unnoticed as being part of some memorandum on the paper when +my father took it up hurriedly to write. + +I always was a weak, emotional sort of fellow--perhaps it was due to the +climate, and my having had the fever when we first came there--and the +writing looked very dim and blurry before my eyes; and yet I felt +inclined to laugh over what Bob had scribbled. I did laugh when my eyes +grew clear again, for Bob had, apparently at the last, taken up the pen +to write along the edge of the paper, and so badly that it was hard to +read: + +"I say, Joeboy looks fizzing. He's been oiling himself over to make him +go easy, and sharpening his saygays with the scythe-rubber." + +"And so there's to be no more home," I said softly as I carefully folded +up the paper and placed it in my breast. Then somehow the terrible +feeling of hunger died out, and I only drank some more water. + +"Boss Val eat lot," said Joeboy, his voice making me start. + +"No more, now, Joeboy," I said. "I'll wait a bit." + +"Wait a bit," he said, nodding his head, and then carefully replacing +what I had left in the satchel. + +"Fasten that to the back of my saddle," I said. + +"Um! Joeboy carry." + +"No, no," I replied. "We must part now, Joeboy. I can't go back home, +nor stay here." + +Joeboy shook his head. + +"No stop," he said. "All bad." + +"You don't understand," I said. + +"Um!" he said, nodding. "Joeboy know. Boss Val fight Boers." + +"Perhaps; but you must go back and help my father if he has to leave the +farm." + +There was another shake of the head and a frown; then a silence, during +which the great black seemed to be thinking out what he was to say in +English to make his meaning clear. At last it came as he sat there with +his shield on one side, his assagais on the other; and, to my surprise, +he took up the big stabbing weapon and one of the light throwing-shafts +before touching me on the chest with a finger. + +"Boss John big boss," he said solemnly. "Boss Val little boss;" and he +held up the two spears to illustrate his words. "Big boss say, `Go +'long my boy.' Little boss say, `Go 'long my dad.' Joeboy say, `Don't +car'; shan't go. Got to go 'long Boss Val.'" + +"My father told you this?" + +"Um!" said the great fellow; "dat's all right." + +"But you would be so much use to my father, Joe, to manage the bullocks +in the wagon." + +"No," he said. "No bullock. Boer boy take 'em all away. Boss John no +got nothing soon." + +"You are sure my father said you were to go with me, Joeboy?" I said +after a few minutes' pause. + +"Um," he said, nodding his head fiercely. "Say, `Take care my boy, +Joeboy.' Joeboy take care Boss Val." + +He caught up his shield and sprang to his feet, with the assagais +trembling in his big hand, looking as if he could be a terrible +adversary in a close conflict, though helpless against modern weapons of +war. + +This thought made me think of myself and my own position. + +"Very well, Joeboy. I say you shall come with me." + +He nodded. + +"But you'll have to lend me one of your assagais till I can get a +rifle." + +"Boss Val got rifle gun," he said sharply. + +"Where? No; I have only my knife." + +Joeboy laughed, and ran to the side of the rift, where he began to +scratch in the sand, and a few inches down laid bare the muzzle of my +rifle, gave it a tug, and it came out with the well-filled bandolier +attached. + +I caught at it with a cry of eager joy, and began to carefully dust away +every particle of sand that clung to it before slipping on the belt, +forgetting the aching pains in my wrists and left leg, as something like +a glow of confidence ran through me. Then came back the thought of +home, with its smiling fields, orchard, and garden around the house we +had raised upon the land won from the wilderness; and the thought that I +was to be exiled from it all in consequence of this war; and the +injustice of the Boers raised a spirit of anger against them which +helped me to pull myself together and frowningly resolve to prove myself +a man. + +"Action, action," I muttered. "I should have liked to go back and see +them all again; but I must begin at once, before I am taken. What would +they do with me?" I said aloud; and a glance at Joeboy's face showed me +that, awkward though he was at speaking, he comprehended every word I +had said. + +"Big Boss Boer," he said, nodding, "say Boss Val come fight. No Boss +Val fight? _Whish, whish, whish, crack, cruck_!" + +He went through the movement of one wielding a bullock-lash, and +imitated the sound it made through the air and the loud cracking when it +struck home upon quivering flesh. Then he went on, "Boss Val no fight +now! _Bang, bang_!" + +"Flog me the first time I refuse, Joeboy, and shoot me the next time." + +"Um." + +"Well, then, we will not give them the chance." + +Joeboy shook his head violently. + +"What Joeboy do now, Boss?" + +"Rub my wrists, Joeboy," I said, stripping up my sleeves and showing him +their bruised state and my swollen arms. + +He understood why they were so, and took first one and then the other in +his big soft grey palms, to mould and knead and rub them with untiring +patience for long enough, the effect being pleasurable in the extreme. + +But I checked him when he was in the midst of it, and pointed to my leg. + +"Boer tie up leg?" he said wonderingly. + +I explained what was wrong, and he knelt before me, carefully removing +my laced-up boot, and giving me sickening pain as he drew off my coarse +home-knitted stocking, to lay bare the wrenched and swollen foot and +ankle. + +"Um!" he said. "Boss Val come to water." + +He lifted me to the edge of the stream as easily as if I had been a +child, and when I sat down, carefully bathed the joint for fully +half-an-hour, dried it by pouring sand over it again and again, and then +as tenderly as a woman replaced stocking and boot, which latter he laced +very loosely. + +"Boss Val go one leg when off Sandho." + +"Yes, Joeboy," I said; "but it will soon get better." + +"Um!" he said, and he looked at me inquiringly, as if for orders. + +"Now we must be off, Joeboy, before the Boers hunt me out." + +"Um!" he said, in token of assent; and upon my calling Sandho to my side +Joeboy helped me to mount, securing the satchel to my saddle in +obedience to my orders; and, making for Echo Nek, we went steadily on, +my intention being to get through the pass and some distance on the +other side towards the Natal border before dark. + +"We shall know the road better there, Joeboy," I said after we had been +walking some time; "it all seems strange to me here." + +"Joeboy know," he said. + +"What! the way about here?" I said, in surprise. "When did you come?" + +"Long while," he replied. "Lost bullock. Come here." + +"Oh!"--then I remembered. "Of course. You were gone a fortnight." + +"Um!" said Joeboy. + +"And my father thought you had run away, and that we should never see +you again." + +"How Joeboy run away? Bullock no run. Run other way." + +"Yes," I said, laughing; "they are always ready to go in the wrong +direction. Do you know"--I was going to say something about the rising +of one of the rivers up in the mountains somewhere near, but I stopped +short, for my companion suddenly darted to Sandho's head and pressed him +sidewise towards a pile of rocks which offered plenty of shelter from +anything in front. + +"What is it, Joeboy?" I said. "A good shot at something?" + +For answer he pointed upward at the rocks beside the pass which went by +the name of Echo Nek--the place which we had nearly reached, this great +gap in the mountains being the only spot for many miles on either side +where a horse could cross. As to wagons, a far greater detour was +necessary to find a road. + +I looked in the direction he pointed out, but for some moments I could +see nothing. Then a faint gleam from something moving gave me warning +of what had taken place, and directly after I caught sight of the bearer +of the rifle from whose barrel the sunlight had flashed. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. + +Under other circumstances I should have leaped down from my horse and +crouched; but my leg had grown still and cold, so I sat perfectly +motionless, trying to make out some plan of action I might follow out. +To my dismay, the Boers had been quicker than I had given them credit +for, and had, so to speak, shut the principal gate in the huge wall +which in that particular part closed in their country from Natal. The +man I had seen was doubtless one of their outposts, and for aught I knew +to the contrary the pass might be held by hundreds of the sturdy +burghers, every man a born rifleman. To go back by the way I came meant +running into the arms of those who were scouring the country to retake +me, while to make a detour and get round to the other side of the +opening meant getting farther into the Boer country, the more populous +part, where their troops would for certain now be on the move. + +It seemed there was no going backward; and upon turning to look at +Joeboy he showed he was of the same opinion. "No go back," he said; +"all Boer. Wait till sun gone." + +"And try to steal through the pass then," I said eagerly, "in the dark?" + +"Um!" he said. "All dark. No see Boss Val; no see horse." + +"But they'll hear his hoofs. There are sure to be plenty of sentries." + +"Um, plenty much Boer. Go soft, soft. Then Sandho gallop." + +"And what about you?" I said, as I grasped that he meant we were to +steal along softly in the darkness till we were heard, and then that I +was to gallop. "What about you?" + +"Joeboy hold stirrup and run," he said, with a laugh. "Boer better get +out o' way." + +This seemed to be our only road out of the difficulty, and I carefully +dismounted, Joeboy leading the horse farther in amongst what was now +becoming a chaotic wilderness of stones; and here, pretty well hidden, +but quite open to discovery by a wandering party of Boers at any time, +we sat down to wait, listening to the steady _crop, crop_, as Sandho +calmly set to work to improve the occasion on grass. + +As far as I could make out, the sentry we had seen was about a fifth of +a mile distant; but in all probability there were others perched up on +the lookout in various points of vantage high on either side of the +pass; while those below, I felt sure now, would be in strong force, +fulfilling the double duty of preventing English settlers from passing +out of the country save as the Boers pleased, and defending the place. + +"All Boer," he said, pointing in various directions. "Can't go. Wait." + +"Yes," I said; "we must wait till it is dark." + +"Boss Val wait. Sandho eat and rest," he said. "Boss lie down." + +"No," I replied. "I must sit here and watch. You lie down now." + +"Boss Val lie down," said the black, shaking his head. "Boer see um." + +"Well, they'll see you," I said. + +"Um!" he replied, with a nod. "Only black man. See Boss Val; come and +catch um." + +It was my turn to nod now, for his meaning was plain. If the Boers saw +me, my chances of escape were gone; while if by ill-luck they caught +night of him, the probability was that they would not trouble themselves +about a solitary Kaffir. + +"You are right, Joeboy," I said. "I'll keep hidden till it grows dark." + +"Um!" he said softly; "get dark. Then not see Boss Val. Joeboy go and +look how many." + +I was about to oppose this part of his plan, but upon second thoughts I +did not, but selected a better spot for my hiding-place by creeping +among the stones towards where Sandho was grazing, so as to keep him +well under my observation for fear he should stray too far, and not be +within reach should danger arise. There he was, in a snug nook where +the grass grew thickly consequent upon there being suggestions of a +trickling spring. The spot was well surrounded, too, by stones, which +on three sides fenced him in, and between two of these, and with a +larger one to form a support for my back, I settled myself as +comfortably as I could, for my leg was still very painful and my arms +ached terribly. In fact, I was so weary now the time for action was +over that I was quite content to subside, and sit leaning back watching +the black while he crawled on hands and knees to Sandho, who suddenly +raised his head with a start at Joeboy's approach; but on seeing who it +was, he uttered a low whinnying sound and went on cropping the grass +once more, paying no further heed to the black, who proceeded to hobble, +his two fore-legs to keep him from going too far, and then returned to +me. + +"No go away now," whispered Joeboy. + +"It wasn't necessary," I said. "I shall watch him." + +"Um!" said the black, and then he pointed in the way he intended to go, +laid the shield and two throwing-assagais by me, and then went rapidly +off on all-fours, trotting like a huge black dog. + +I watched till he disappeared among the stones between me and the +sentry, and twice I caught sight of him again, or rather, I should say, +of his back; but only for a moment or two, and then he was gone, while I +let my eyes rest again upon the spot where I had last seen the sentry. +Then I watched my horse, and afterwards began to take more note of my +surroundings. + +It did not take long. There were blocks of stone everywhere in the +wildest confusion, and among them here and there great straggling +patches of unwholesome-looking, fleshily-lobed prickly-pears with their +horrible thorns. Now and then, too, were miserable, dried-up +karroo-bushes, starved among the great blocks above the rich green +hollow where Sandho grazed. Everywhere else was parched loose red sand, +and beyond rose up the sterile mountains on either side of the pass. + +Joeboy knew me better than I knew myself when he hobbled the horse, for +as I sat there watching and thinking how solitary it all was, wondering +how they were getting on at home, and whether the Boers were really in +force by the pass, a pleasant feeling of restfulness came over me, and +the mountains in the distance seemed to grow hazy and of a delicious +blue; the coarse bushes did not look so dry, nor the sickly +prickly-pears so unwholesome and like flat oval cakes of horribly +unwholesome human flesh joined together at their edges; while the little +patch of pasture where Sandho was feeding appeared to be of an +indescribably beautiful tinge of green. + +"I wonder how long Joeboy will be," I remember thinking, as I drew my +injured ankle across my right knee and began to rub it softly. "He +ought to come back soon." + +Then I ceased chafing the ankle, for it was very tender, and I wondered +how long it would take to get well again, so that I could leap from +stone to stone as sure-footed as ever. + +It was a relief to leave it alone, and I let it glide back till it was +outstretched upon the sand beyond the stones, where it lay resting, and +the pain began to die out. It was restful, too, for my arms; for as +soon as I began to put any strain upon the muscles a peculiar gnawing +sensation was set up, which was complete torture till I let them lie +inert. + +"The brutes!" I muttered; "they must be half-savages still to treat one +like this; but it was all that wretched renegade's work. I wonder +whether I shall ever meet him again. I believe he's a miserable coward. +I'll soon see if I do. Oh, if I can only get amongst our people, and +join them!" + +These thoughts made me feel hot, and I lay back picturing all that had +taken place at our farm; but as the pain in my limbs died down, so did +my rage against the Irish captain, and I began looking round again, +thinking how beautiful the desert place looked, and what effects were +produced among the mountains by the changes in the atmosphere. Then I +fell to watching Sandho, and then the soft effects grew hazy, and--then +hazier--and very dark, but not so dark but that I could see Joeboy's big +face as he leaned over me and said softly, "Boss Val been asleep?" + +"No," I said sharply. + +"Um!" whispered Joeboy, laying his hand across my mouth. "Boer jus' +there. Lots. Plenty horses." + +"Why, it's night," I said in a whisper as I looked round in wonder. + +"Um!" + +"Where's Sandho?" + +Joeboy nodded his head; and, looking in the direction indicated, I could +just see the shadowy form of my grazing horse, not above eight or ten +feet away. + +"Have I been asleep all this time?" I said, with a strange feeling of +shame troubling me. + +"Um! Plenty sleep," replied Joeboy. "Now ready? Come 'long." + +"Yes, I'm ready," I said eagerly; "but tell me, have you been up towards +the pass?" + +"Um!" he said. "Plenty Boer. All dark." + +"Do you think we can get through?" + +"Um. Mustn't talk." + +He led Sandho forward, and went down on one knee to unfasten the strap +with which the horse was hobbled; then he offered me a leg up, and so +enabled me to spring into the saddle without much difficulty. The next +minute he was leading the horse in and out among the rocks, Sandho's +hoofs striking a stone with a sharp click; after which he checked the +active little animal, and we stood together listening. But all was +still, and the night looked as if a black cloud had been drawn across +the sky. + +"Nobody can possibly see us," I said half-aloud; "and if they do they'll +think it some of their own people." + +"Um!" said Joeboy, and as he said it I knew I was wrong, for I recalled +what I had read, that in time of war sentries challenge, and, failing to +receive the password of the night, fire at once. It was a startling +thought; but we went on all the same, I for my part feeling I must trust +to my good-luck. + +As we got farther in towards the mountains the obscurity increased and +the air grew cooler. I now began to feel how impossible it would have +been for me to have come alone and found my way in the darkness, for in +a few minutes I was quite helpless; but Joeboy seemed in nowise +confused, and did not hesitate once. It was as much as I could do to +make out his black head and shoulders, and only at times found that the +nodding ostrich-plumes were bobbing about just in front of me, as their +wearer walked steadily on, holding my horse's head. So we went on for +nearly an hour, with Joeboy leading Sandho in and out among the great +blocks of stone which strewed our way, keeping him where the sand was +soft by getting well in front, so that the horse's steps were pretty +nearly in his own. I could make out that we were gradually rising, and +that the rocks towered up to a great height left and right; but though I +rode with every sense upon the strain, I could neither hear nor see sign +of the enemy. + +Fortunately the night was cloudy, and I knew it would be long before the +waning moon rose--not, I hoped, till we had been right through the pass. +In fact, as we went steadily on without interruption, I began to +believe the Boer I had seen must have been one of a small outpost placed +there for observation during the daylight, and that they must have +retired at dusk, while I was asleep; for I thought we must now be pretty +well through the highest part of the opening, and had there been any one +there I must have heard a challenge. + +I was just about to whisper my opinion to Joeboy when he stopped our +progress and stood holding the horse's head tightly, showing me +something was wrong. I raised myself in the stirrups to peer forward, +but everything in front was nearly black; and though I listened, holding +my breath, there was not a sound. Then suddenly a voice from somewhere +above on the right front demanded in Dutch, "Who goes there?" + +For answer Joeboy stepped on at once, and for the first time Sandho +kicked against a stone, one of his shoes not only giving out a sharp +_clink_, but striking a spark of fire. + +It was as if that spark of fire struck by iron off stone had ignited the +powder in the pan of an old-fashioned gun; for from close at hand there +was a flash, the heavy report, and then a rolling volley of echoes. I +felt Sandho bound beneath me; but the next moment he was walking +steadily along, following the hand holding his bit, and he paid no more +heed when directly after another shot was fired on ahead, another +behind, and again another and another, raising what seemed to be a +continuous roar of echoes right, left, and in front, to go rolling among +the mountains. + +The hot blood flew to my face, and a thrill of excitement ran through me +as I involuntarily cocked the rifle I held across the saddle, sitting +ready to fire at the first enemy who presented himself; in fact, I +nearly drew trigger once, but my common-sense prevailed, as I felt that +we could not be seen, neither could we be heard in the roar of echoes +which took up and magnified the reports. Joeboy was doing exactly what +was right under the circumstances--going straight on; and, unless we +found a body of men confronting us and stopping our way, or an unlucky +bullet struck one of us, it seemed probable that in a very short time we +should have achieved our purpose. + +I had often heard of Echo Nek before, and had some vague idea that if +any one shouted there the tones of his voice would be reverberated from +the face of the cliffs; but I had never realised the true reason as I +did now. + +The firing went steadily on, the Boer outpost being evidently under the +impression that their action would drive back the force approaching to +get into their country. This being so, the reports increased to an +extent that showed plainly enough the presence of a strong body of men, +who had been lying inside the valley, ready to hurry forward to the +defence of the pass upon an alarm being given. + +I now began to wonder how it was that we were not seen through some one +of the flashes and hit by bullets sent spattering among the stones among +which we wended our way; but none came near. Every now and then I heard +a sharp shock against the rock, followed by a pattering downpour of +fragments. Every shot struck high above our heads, and at the end of a +few minutes, higher still; at which I wondered, till it suddenly +occurred to me that Sandho was not climbing higher and higher up the +pass, but descending. + +All this time Joeboy kept steadily on, apparently as unconcerned as if +he were leading the horse home from grazing peacefully away upon the +veldt. + +I too began to feel more at my ease, for we had gone on so far that +there was a strong hope that we might be successful, unless there should +prove to be another body lower down the pass. The next minute, though, +I felt convinced this could not be the case, for if another body were +lower down they would have been firing; or, on second thoughts, I +concluded they must have fired first, since the Boers would never +conclude that a body of men was leaving their territory. + +The firing kept on for a few minutes longer, and then suddenly ceased; +while as we proceeded, with Joeboy leading on as fast as Sandho could +walk, we could hear voices behind us; men shouting and answering one +another, though it was impossible to hear what was said; but it seemed +as if they were asking one another what the firing was about, and +whether any one had seen the attacking party. Of course this is only +what I surmised; but it satisfied me at the time, and I could not help +laughing at the waste of powder and lead occasioned by the harmless +incident of a spark being struck from a stone by a horse's foot. + +We were soon, however, satisfied about one thing: that we were not being +pursued; for there was no more firing, and the voices soon died out as +we went steadily on along a rough winding track pretty free from stones. + +We must have been carefully making our way onward for about an hour, +when suddenly we walked right into a mist, which made our progress more +difficult, for the great blocks of stone seemed to loom up suddenly +right in our way; and in avoiding these we somehow missed the track, +good proof of which was given me by Joeboy's action; for he suddenly +checked the horse, stooped down, felt about, and ended by lifting a +stone as big as my head and casting it from him. + +"Why did you do that, Joeboy?" I said. + +"Boss wait," was the answer, and I waited, to hear the stone strike +directly after, and then keep on striking, as it went on by leaps and +bounds, making me shudder slightly as I grasped the fact that Joeboy had +checked the horse suddenly just on the brink of some precipice, down +which the stone went rolling and plunging till the sounds of its blows +died away along with the echoes it raised. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN. + +"What a narrow escape, Joeboy!" I whispered. + +"Um!" he said. "No good go that way. Sandho break knees." + +"Break his knees?" I said. "Yes, I should think he would! Can you +find the way back to the track?" + +"Um! No. All thick; all dark. Come back little way. Sit down and +wait." + +It was good counsel, and I sat fast--rather nervously, though--while +Joeboy backed the horse. And I had cause for my nervous sensation. In +fact, what followed proved that, in the darkness and confusion caused by +our ignorance, Joeboy backed the horse along the edge of the precipice +instead of right away from it; for there was a sudden slip, and one of +Sandho's hind-legs went down, making the poor beast give a frantic +plunge which nearly unseated me and drove Joeboy backwards. Then, as +the horse leaped up again, he made three or four bounds before standing +snorting and trembling; while I heard the rush and rattle of the +dislodged stones as they went hurtling down into the gorge. + +"Um! Mustn't try any more," said Joeboy coolly as he took hold of +Sandho's bridle again, and petted and caressed the poor beast till he +was calm once more. + +"He'll stand now," I said, rather huskily, as I mastered a strong desire +to get down. "Feel round for this edge, Joeboy, and find out which is +the safe way to go." + +"Um!" grunted the black; and after giving Sandho a final pat on the +neck, he went down on all-fours and crawled away through the darkness so +silently that at the end of a few minutes I began to feel alarmed, +wondering whether he had made some terrible slip and gone over. + +It was vain to argue with myself, for the shock I had received when the +horse slipped had not passed away. No doubt my previous experiences had +weakened me, and made me less able to fight against what was a very +ordinary trouble for a mountain rider. + +Another five minutes passed away--minutes which seemed terribly +prolonged as I sat there in the darkness knowing I dared not stir, and +convinced that we must be upon a projecting bracket of rock whose shape +I could mentally picture, with only one narrow pathway off, and that +hidden by the mist. At last I could bear it no longer, and, leaning +forward to try and penetrate the darkness beyond the horse's head, I +called twice: + +"Joeboy! Joeboy!" + +"Joeboy here, Boss," came from behind me, and I uttered a sigh of relief +as the great fellow seemed to rise up close by and laid his hand upon my +arm. + +"Where have you been?" I said in a querulous, excited way. + +"Where, Boss Val say? Go all round. Better stop till morning." + +"Yes," I said, with a sigh of relief. "Let's stop till morning. Here, +help me to get down." + +I was obliged to ask for help, for the cold and damp air had made my +injured limbs so stiff and painful that I could hardly move them, and it +required a good strong effort to keep down a groan when I lowered myself +on to my feet, and then gladly sat down upon the damp rock. + +I had no fear about Sandho, whose rein had been passed over his head and +allowed to hang down, for he had been trained to stand, and having +grazed for many hours, had no temptation to stir. + +Joeboy soon settled himself close to my feet, and then began our long +and painful watching, hour after hour, through a night which seemed as +if it would never end. I had no desire to question the black, for his +action fully proved to me that our position must be perilous unless we +left the horse to shift for himself, and all this was sufficient to keep +off any desire for sleep; while a whisper from time to time was +sufficient to satisfy myself that my companion was as wakeful as I. As +the time passed on the mist seemed to thicken around us, with this +peculiarity striking me: it seemed to shut us completely in, so that not +a sound reached our ears, the silence being to me perfectly awful. + +At last the morning was heralded by a faint puff or two of chilly air +which came and went again, till at last it settled into a soft breeze, +whose effects were soon apparent. All at once, as I looked up, a cloud +of mist became visible, then floated away; and as if by magic the sky, +of a soft dark grey, dotted with a faint star or two, came into sight. + +Then day began to advance with rapid strides, and I found my notion of +our being upon a bracket of rock was not too far-fetched, for we were +upon a jutting-out promontory of some fifty feet across, from whose +edges the rock went down in places perpendicularly, in others with a +tremendously steep slope, while the way by which we came on was not +above half-a-dozen yards wide. + +"You were very wise, Joeboy," I said as I rose to look round. "It would +have been madness to try leading Sandho off there in the fog." + +"Um!" said Joe quietly; and then: "Look!" + +He pointed away to our right, and, following his direction, I could here +and there make out the missing path down the pass, winding along in +rough zigzags till lost in the distance. + +I was soon in my saddle again, and Joeboy led the horse off the perilous +place where we had passed the night, and then up the pass again for a +couple of hundred yards to where the track had borne off a little to the +right, but where we had kept on through the mist perfectly straight, +with nearly fatal results. + +We looked anxiously up now as we turned off into the proper track, fully +expecting to see outposts of the Boers who had fired as we crossed the +head; but none were visible. So we began to descend as rapidly as we +could, but only at a walk, for the track was terribly rough. + +It was only very gradually that the valley began to open out, our way at +times being along the stony bed of a mountain torrent; while right and +left the sides of what looked like a tremendous rift in the mountain, +split open in some terrific convulsion of nature, towered up. + +We went along cheerily, for every yard carried us farther from risk of +capture by the Boers; and once we were well clear of the pass a couple +of days would, I felt sure, place us safely in the land of my countrymen +with whom the Boers were at war. + +"How soon shall we stop and have breakfast, Joeboy?" I said as we were +passing through a perfect chaos of great stones which now hemmed us in +front and back. "No fear of seeing any Boers now." + +The words had hardly left my lips when Sandho stopped short, and uttered +a sharp challenging neigh, which was answered from some distance in +front; and directly after, as I turned my horse sharply to get under the +cover of a huge block we had just passed, there came the loud clattering +of hoofs and a shout, as a party of some five-and-twenty well-mounted +horsemen cantered out to bar the way. + +"Then they are there," I muttered as I swung Sandho round again. Joeboy +laid his left hand on the saddle, and away we cantered forward to +circumvent, if possible, the party in front whose horse had answered +Sandho's challenge. + +The men behind yelled to us to stop. We paid no heed, but, regardless +of the stones, cantered on, Joeboy taking them at a stride in company +with Sandho's bounds. + +The next minute I was looking upon fully twenty mounted riflemen right +across our path, and a glance right and left showed me that any attempt +to get round them would be an act of madness, for no horse could pass. + +I turned in my saddle and looked back, to find that the party there were +closing in upon us; and for a moment I felt ready to turn Sandho and go +at them at full gallop, so as to try and cut my way through. I saw, +however, this would be a greater risk than going in the other direction. + +"It's of no use, Joeboy," I said hoarsely; "we're trapped." + +"Boss Val going to fight?" he said inquiringly, and as he asked his +question he fitted his long, elliptical shield well upon his left arm +and arranged his assagais handy for throwing. + +"Two against all those, Joeboy? No; it would be folly." + +There was no time for more words, for the party which had remained in +hiding till we had passed were closing in fast; and then a couple of +young men suddenly darted out from those in front, set spurs to their +horses, and seemed to race at us, leaping the stones in their way +steeplechase fashion. + +In almost less time than I take to describe it, one of them, a +good-looking, frank young fellow in an officer's uniform, rose in his +stirrups and made a snatch at my arm; but, in answer to a touch of the +heel, Sandho leaped forward, and my would-be captor passed me, riding on +several horse-lengths before he could turn and come at me again; while, +by a quick leap aside, Joeboy avoided the man who came at him, and stood +with his back to a great stone, with his assagai raised to strike. + +"Surrender, you Dutch scoundrel!" roared my antagonist, drawing his +sword, "or I'll cut you down." + +"Dutch scoundrel yourself, you ugly idiot of a Boer!" I cried as +angrily, and I brought my rifle to bear upon him, holding it like a +pistol. + +"Here, don't shoot," cried my adversary. "You don't talk like a Boer." + +"Why should I?" said I. "But you're not a Dutchman--are you?" + +"Hardly," he said, with a laugh. + +"What are you, then?" + +"Making a mistake, it seems," he replied. + +"But your people are Boers?" + +"They're going to beat them," he replied, "as soon as they get a chance. +Have you seen them up the Nek yonder?" + +"Yes; I was running away from them. They were shooting at us last +night." + +"Hi; Robsy! Steady there!" roared my new acquaintance. "Steady, I say! +Friends.--You, Black Jack, put down that spear, or it'll be the worse +for you.--It's all right, sir," he continued as a grey-haired, +military-looking man now rode up, followed by half-a-dozen more. "This +is an Englishman running away from the Boers." + +"Then he's not an Englishman," said the officer sharply. "Here, arrest +this man.--Now then, give an account of yourself, for you look +confoundedly like a spy. Here, some one, cut that black fellow down if +he resists." + +"Be quiet, Joeboy," I cried; "these are friends." + +Joeboy dropped into a peaceable attitude and stood scowling at the +horsemen who surrounded us. + +"Now, sir," said the officer, "why don't you speak?" + +"Because you called me a spy," I said. + +"Well, that seems to be what you are, you young scoundrel. How many of +your friends are there up yonder?" + +"I don't know," I said. + +"Say `sir' when you speak to a gentleman," cried the officer angrily, +"and no nonsense. Speak out--the truth if you don't want to be shot." + +"Of course I don't want to be shot," I said scornfully; "and I'm not in +the habit of telling lies." + +"How many Boers are there, then, up in the pass?" + +"I don't know," I said. "We crept by them in the dark." + +"Why? To come and see what forces we had here?" + +"No," I said. + +"Then why did you come?" + +"To get away from the Boers." + +"Why did you want to get away from them?" cried the officer, gazing at +me searchingly. + +I was so hot and indignant that I would not speak for some little time. + +"I thought so. Making up a good story--eh? You've caught the first +spy, Lieutenant." + +"No, sir, I think not," said the young officer. + +"I think you have.--Now, sir," he continued, "if you wish to save your +skin, speak out. Why did you want to get away from the Boers?" + +"Because I was commandoed," I said rather sulkily. + +"Oh, then you were afraid to fight--eh?" + +"No; but I was not going to fight my own countrymen." + +"Oh!" said the officer, staring. "Here, tell me, how were you +summoned?" + +I told him, and that the party was led by an Irishman named Moriarty. + +"Ah! yes, I know him. Tall, handsome, dashing young Irish cavalier-- +isn't he?" + +"No," I said; "a middle-aged, bullying, ruffianly sort of a fellow, with +a red nose," I replied. + +"Humph! Then where do you come from?" + +"Cameldorn Farm." + +"Eh? Hullo!" cried the young man who had captured me. "I say, take off +your hat." + +"What for?" I asked. + +"Because I want to look at you. How's that scratch you got on the arm +from the lioness?" + +"What do you know about the scratch?" I said, leaning forward to look +the speaker full in the eyes. + +"Why, only that I shot her. What's your name? Of course, Val." + +"Mr Denham!" I cried in astonishment. + +"That's your humble servant, sir." + +"But you've got a beard now," I cried, holding out my hand. "Oh, I say, +I am glad to see you!" + +"The same here, Val, my lad. I say, how you've grown! Here, Colonel, +it's all right. I'll answer for this fellow. Why, Val, you were +commandoed, and cutting away?" + +"Yes," I cried excitedly. "Here, Joeboy, this is Boss Denham." + +"Um!" ejaculated the black, showing his teeth. + +"I was running away from the Boers so as not to serve, Mr Denham," I +said eagerly, for I wanted to wipe off the slurs of coward and spy. + +"Well, quite right, my lad," said the Lieutenant. "But what were you +going to do?" + +"Get into Natal, sir, and join the Light Horse." + +"Well done!" laughed the Colonel, clapping me on the back; "then you've +regularly fallen upon your legs, my lad. That your horse?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Good," he cried, looking me over, "and you ride him well. We're the +Light Horse. I'm the Colonel, at your service, and I accept you at once +as a recruit." + +"You can go through the swearing-in business some other time, Val," said +the Lieutenant. "Now then, are the Boers in force and coming down the +pass?" + +I told him all I knew, and the Colonel laughed. + +"You've seen a sentry and heard a few shots fired, my lad," he said. +"Why, you're not worth calling a spy." + +"Am I one of the Light Horse now, sir?" I said eagerly. + +"Certainly." + +"Then send me back up to the Nek, and I'll try and prove myself a better +one." + +"I'll send you up, sir," said the Colonel stiffly, "with a vidette, to +feel for the enemy and try to draw him out; but we don't call members of +the Light Horse spies. If you go on such an adventure it will be a +reconnaissance." + +I felt humbled, and was silent. + +"This is an old friend of yours, then, Denham?" continued the Colonel. + +"Oh yes," replied the Lieutenant. "His father, Mr Moray, was a most +kindly host to me during a long shooting expedition, and I am very glad +to have his son with us. I hope, sir, you will place him in the same +troop as I am." + +"Certainly," said the Colonel, who then turned to me in a frank, bluff +way, and held out his hand. + +"Glad to have you with us, Mr Moray," he said; "and I beg your pardon +for being so rough with you. Your appearance was a bit suspicious, +though. But what about this black fellow?" + +"He is my servant, sir," I replied. + +"Humph! But we can't allow privates in this corps to bring their +servants. It is not a picnic nor a shooting expedition." + +Some one who heard these words cried "Oh!" loudly. + +"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," said the Colonel, smiling; "it is. I +should have said this is not a hunting expedition. We all have to rough +it." + +"I beg pardon, Colonel," said Lieutenant Denham, giving me a quick look. +"Private Moray meant to say the black had been the servant at his home. +I had forgotten the man. I remember him now. He was a good hunter and +manager of the bullock-wagon we took up the country." + +"Yes, sir," I said eagerly; "and most useful in all ways." + +"Be able to forage a little for game--eh--if we run short of food?" + +"Oh, yes, sir!" I cried. + +"That will do, then; let him stay with us." + +Joeboy was straining his ears to catch every word, and I saw his face +light up as he caught my eye, and he gave his assagai a flourish. + +"Yes," said the Colonel dryly, for he had had his eye upon the big +athletic black; "but tell him that he must obey orders, and not be +getting up any fighting upon his own account." + +"He'll obey me, sir," I said, speaking so that Joeboy could hear; and he +looked at me and nodded. + +"That incident is over, then," said the Colonel sharply. "Now, Mr +Denham, take a dozen men and continue the advance. We know now the +meaning of last night's firing; but see what you can find out about the +strength of the party holding the pass. Be careful of your party. We +are good shots; but recollect they are better, and I want information, +not to see you bring back half-a-dozen wounded men." + +"I'll be careful, sir;" and ten minutes later, to my surprise and +delight at the way in which my position had altered during the last +half-hour, I was riding close behind Lieutenant Denham, while, proud of +his position, Joeboy was on in front, his knowledge of the pass we had +just descended being most valuable at such a time, the probabilities +tending to point out that he might be able to get well up to right or +left of the track and gain a pretty good idea of the strength of the +Boers without drawing a shot, whereas the sight of the horsemen, we +felt, would have been the signal for a shower of bullets. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +INTO THE FIRE. + +"What about breakfast? Have you had any?" said Denham. + +"No," I replied; "but I have some with me;" and taking out a portion of +what was left over from the previous afternoon, I proceeded to make up +for what was lacking, eating with the better appetite for seeing that +Joeboy was busy over one of the big sandwiches provided for him by Aunt +Jenny. + +This done, I seemed to forget my injuries, and rode on with the little +troop, watching the agile way in which Joeboy made his way forward, well +in advance and showing no sign of fear. + +Mounted men advancing up the rugged pass had very little chance of +keeping themselves concealed. Here and there a bend in the narrow +valley helped us; but there was always the knowledge that, if the enemy +were in force up by the neck of the pass, they had plenty of niches +among the mountains on either side to which they could climb and watch +us till well within range of their rifles, when shot after shot and puff +after puff of white smoke would appear, with very different effect, I +felt, from those fired in the darkness of the past night's scare. + +All this was very suggestive of danger; but somehow I did not feel +alarmed. There was too much excitement in the business, and I was +flushed with a feeling of triumph at being so soon in a position to +retaliate upon the people who had used me so ill. + +I rode on, then, for some distance behind my officer, as I now began to +consider him, till the valley opened out, and he reined up a little to +allow me to come alongside, so that he could question me about the track +higher up. I told him all I could, and endeavoured to impress upon him +that it would be a very bad position for his men if the Boers sighted +them. + +"You would find the ground so bad and encumbered with rough stones," I +said, "that it would be impossible to gallop back." + +"But we don't want to gallop back," he said, with a laugh. "That's all +capital about the bad road, and sounds sensible as a warning; but you +must not talk about galloping back. If the enemy does show we shall +dismount and use our rifles, retiring slowly from cover to cover. But +you'll soon know our ways in the Light Horse." + +"I hope so," I said; "but of course I am no soldier yet, and very +ignorant." + +"Not of the use of your rifle, Val, my lad," he said. "I used to envy +you." + +"Oh, nonsense!" I said. "Of course I could shoot a bit. My father +began to teach me very early." + +"I don't believe I can shoot so well now as you did two years ago, when +we went up the country. I don't know what you can do now. Why, Val, I +expect you'll soon prove yourself to be a better soldier than any of us, +for our drill is precious rough; but we are improving every day." + +"You have been farther up than this?" I said, to change the +conversation, which was making me, a lad accustomed only to our solitary +farm-life, feel awkward and uncomfortable, with a suspicion that my +companion was bantering me. + +"No," he replied; "only about a hundred yards farther than where we met +this morning." + +"Then you'll find the riding worse than you expect." + +"Well, it will be practice," he said. "But I say, how that nigger of +yours scuffles along! He's leaving us quite behind." + +"He is sure-footed and accustomed to the rocks," I said as I watched +Joeboy, who was getting higher and higher up the precipice to our left, +as well as higher up the pass. "He wants to get up to where he can look +over the Boers' position." + +"He had better mind," said Denham. "You ought to have taken away those +bits of vanity before he went into action." + +"What bits of vanity?" I said. + +"Those white ostrich-feathers. They make him stand out so clear to a +shooter. Ah! he's down." + +Just then Joeboy was seen to drop forward right out of sight. + +"No," I said; "that was one of his jumps;" and I spoke confidently, for +I had often seen him make goat-like leaps when we had been out shooting +among the hills. + +"You're wrong," said my companion confidently. "Poor fellow! let's get +level with the place where he tumbled. I'm sure that was a fall." + +"Wait a few minutes," I said, "and you'll see him perhaps a hundred +yards farther on." + +I proved to be quite right, for we soon saw Joeboy climbing steadily on +just as I had said, and he kept on getting higher and higher till we +were up to the spot where I had passed so unpleasant a night. + +"My word, you did have a bad time of it! Why, if you had gone over +there it would have killed this beautiful little horse of yours." + +"Then I shouldn't have found the Light Horse," I said quietly; but I +couldn't help feeling a bit of a shiver as I gazed at the depth below +where we had stopped. + +After that, as we rode on, keeping a good lookout, I began to ask a few +questions about the war which had so suddenly broken out and come like a +surprise upon us at our quiet and retired home. + +"Oh," said my companion, "it is only what many people expected. The +Boers have never been satisfied about being under England. Plenty of +them are sensible enough, and think that the proper thing to do is to +attend to their farms and grazing cattle; but there are a set of +discontented idiots among them who have stirred them up with a lot of +political matter, telling them they are slaves of England's tyrannical +rule, and that it is time to strike for their freedom, till they have +believed that they are ill-treated. So now they have risen, and say +that they are going to drive all the Rooineks, as they call us English, +into the sea, quite forgetting that if we had not helped them the savage +tribes around them would have overrun their country and turned them +out." + +"Will they drive us into the sea?" I asked. + +"What do you think?" said Denham, with a laugh. "Do you think we are +the sort of people to let a party of rough farmers turn us out of Natal, +just because they have been stirred up to fight by a gang of political +adventurers? Is your father going to give up his farm that he has spent +years of his life in making out of the wilderness?" + +"What?" I cried angrily. "No! I should think not." + +"Well, that's bringing it home to you, my lad. I said your father's +farm. His is only one instance." + +"It isn't as if we wanted to turn the Boers out," I said. + +"Of course not. All we want is for them to behave like peaceable +neighbours, and obey the laws. They want what they call freedom, which +is as good as saying that English laws make people slaves. We don't +feel much like slaves--do we?" + +"Is that the reason they are at war with us?" + +"Something of that kind," said the Lieutenant, "as far as I understand +it. All politics, and they are the most quarrelsome things in the +world. People are always fighting about them somewhere." + +"But--" I began. + +"Oh, don't ask me," said my companion; "that's as much as I understand +about it. All I say is that it's a great pity people should be shooting +at one another over what ought to be settled by a bit of talk. But, I +say, look out. What does that mean? Halt!" + +The men drew rein on the instant, as I looked forward, expecting to see +a puff of white smoke ahead, for Joeboy suddenly dropped down behind a +block of stone high up in front, and from there began to make signals, +just as if he were out in rough ground with me on the veldt and had +sighted game. + +"He has seen the Boers," I said excitedly. "Look! He says there are +hundreds of them." + +"No, he doesn't," said my companion gruffly; "he's only flourishing his +arms about like a windmill gone mad." + +"But that's his way of signalling a big herd of game," I said, "and--" + +Before I could say more, _puff, puff, puff_ arose the tiny white clouds +of smoke, followed by the cracking of the rifles, taken up by the echoes +till there was a continuous roar; while _phit, phit, phit_, bullets +began to drop about us, striking the stones, and others passed overhead +with an angry buzz like so many big flies. + +"Retire!" shouted my companion. "It's of no use to waste ammunition. +They're in strong force up yonder.--Here, you, Moray, what are you +about?" + +"Nothing," I said sternly; "only looking for my man." + +"But didn't you hear my order?" shouted Denham; and before I could do +anything to prevent him he caught Sandho's rein and put spurs to his +horse. + +"Don't do that," I cried angrily. "I can't go and leave my poor fellow +in the lurch. I'm afraid he's hit." + +"I can't stop here and have my little troop shot down on account of your +black." + +"But--" + +"Come on, sir!" shouted Denham; "obey orders. Here, you're a pretty +rough sort of a pup for me to lick into shape," he added, in a friendly +way, as he trotted back amongst the stones. "Recollect you're a soldier +now, without any will of your own. You hand everything over to your +officer, and obey him, whether it's to ride forward into the enemy's +fire or to retire." + +"But it's horrible to leave that poor fellow to his fate," I said. + +"More horrible to lose the lives of the party of men entrusted to me. +Look here, my lad; it's an officer's duty never to throw away a man. If +he is obliged to spend a few to carry some point, that's war and +necessary; but to dash them bull-headed against double odds to gain +nothing is folly." + +"But I can't go on. Let me stay back and try and help him," I said +passionately. + +"Certainly not. Be sensible. Look here: you don't know that he's hit." + +"But he dropped from behind that stone." + +"Yes; but that may be his dodge. Perhaps he's gliding back under cover +from stone to stone." + +"Perhaps," I said bitterly. "Look here: if this is your way of going to +work I've had enough of soldiering." + +I rode on unwillingly, expecting to hear a furious tirade from my +companion, who still held my rein; but he was silent for a few minutes, +while the bullets kept on spattering and whizzing about us without +hitting any one. + +"So you're tired of soldiering--are you?" said Denham at last. + +"Yes," I said hotly. "I never felt such a coward before." + +"Rubbish! Look here: you want me to expose my little detachment to the +fire of that strongly-posted crowd of Boers, and get half of them shot +down, so as to try and pick up your servant." + +"No, I don't," I replied sharply. "There's plenty of cover here. I +should have got the men behind some of these blocks of stone and +returned the fire, so as to keep the enemy in check while I sent two men +dismounted to try and bring my man--our guide--in, alive or dead." + +"Humph!" said my companion shortly. "Why, I begin to think you are a +better soldier than I am;" and, to my intense surprise, he halted the +party behind a huge block which divided our way, dismounted half, and +sent them out right and loft to seek cover from whence they could reply +to the enemy's fire. Then he turned to me. + +"You must hold two horses," he said. "I'll send two fellows to steal up +the gap from stone to stone to try and pick up your man." + +"No, no," I said excitedly. "I'll go alone." + +"Suppose you find him wounded, or--" + +"Dead?" I said, finishing his sentence. + +"Yes: you couldn't carry him in." + +"No," I said, with a sigh. "I'm lame still from the injury to my foot. +It hurts me so badly at times that I can hardly ride." + +"Hurrah!" came from the right, and the cheer was taken up from the left, +while _crack, crack, crack_, rifles were being brought well into play. + +"What does that mean?" said Denham. "Have they brought down one of the +Dutchmen?" + +He pressed his horse's sides and rode out from behind the great stone, +while I followed him, to learn directly what was the meaning of the +cheering. It was plain enough, for there, about five hundred yards up +the narrow pass, was Joeboy coming after us at a quick run, dodging +round the great stones, and pretty well contriving to keep them between +him and the enemy, whose rifles kept on spitting bullets fiercely after +him. + +It was as Denham had suggested. Joeboy had leaped down from behind the +stone as soon as he had drawn the enemy's fire, then started to follow +us, running the gauntlet of their bullets, and reaching us in a very +short time, flushed, triumphant, and very little out of breath. + +"Well," cried Denham, "see the Boers?" + +"Um!" replied Joeboy. + +"Were there a great many of them?" I said eagerly, as I sat hoping the +poor fellow did not give me the credit of forsaking him in a cowardly +way. + +For answer he held up both hands with fingers and thumbs outspread; +dropped them, and raised them once more; and would have kept on for long +enough if I had not checked him. + +"You see," I said to Denham, "they are in great force up there." + +"Yes, and no wonder," was the reply, "for it's a very strong position. +Now then, all here, and forward once more." + +The men ran back into the rallying-place as quickly as so many rabbits, +mounted, and once more we were in full retreat, with Joeboy trotting +beside my horse holding on to the stirrup-iron, while Denham kept coming +to me, to talk. + +"Just to give you a few lessons in the art of war," he said, with his +eyes twinkling and a laugh beginning to show at their corners. "There, +you see we have done exactly what the Colonel wanted us to do: made a +regular reconnaissance and drawn the enemy's fire, proving that he is +holding the pass. What the old man will do now remains to be seen. He +won't go up here with us to try and dislodge them, but will try, I +expect, to lure them down into the open somewhere, so as to give us a +chance at them." + +"They'll be too cunning," I said. "They fight only from behind stones, +and in holes." + +"Yes, they're cunning enough," said Denham; "but, like all over-clever +people, they make mistakes, or find others quite as cunning. Look here: +you'll have to propose some dodge to the Colonel to coax them out to +give us a chance." + +"I propose a plan to the Colonel?" + +"Yes. Why not?" said Denham, laughing. "You've begun your soldiering +by teaching me, and--Oh!" + +He uttered a sharp cry, and clapped his right hand round to his back. + +"What is it?" I said excitedly. "Not hit?" + +"Yes, I've got it," he muttered. "Just look. It hurts horribly. I +say, though, that's a good sign--eh?" + +The men halted involuntarily behind the stones, and Denham bravely kept +his seat till all were under cover, when, refusing to dismount, he +slipped off his bandolier and began to unbutton his tunic. + +"You had better let us help you down," I suggested. + +"No; I don't feel bad enough," he said through his teeth, speaking +viciously as if in great pain. "I don't think I'm much hurt. See any +blood?" + +"No," I replied as he threw off his tunic and laid it across his horse's +neck. "Here, look. That's it. All! there it lies." For I had made a +snatch at a long-shaped bullet, missed it twice, and then sat pointing +out where it had fallen. Joeboy snatched it up and handed it to me. + +"Humph!" said Denham; "then it hasn't gone through me, or it would have +fallen from my back." + +"Instead of your chest," I said. "It must have been partly spent with +the long distance it travelled." + +"I wish it had been quite spent," said Denham through his teeth, "Oh, +what a fuss I'm making about such a trifle! Nothing worse than having a +stone thrown at one." + +"It's gone right through the back of your jacket," said one of the men. +"Look, there's quite a big hole." + +"It has not broken the skin," I said, examining his back. + +"No, of course not. Here, give me that jacket again, you. Let's get it +on. This is all waste of time." + +He winced a good deal and looked very white; but he bravely mastered his +feeling of faintness, and struggled once more into his tunic, suffering +greatly, as I could see by the pallor breaking through his sun-browned +skin. + +"Stings a bit," he said to me as he fastened the buttons; "but it might +have been worse--eh, Val? I always was a thick-skinned fellow, and it +turns out lucky now. How far is the nearest skirmisher?" + +"A good thousand yards, I should say," I replied. + +"Good, and no mistake, for the distance has saved me, Val, my lad. But +what's that: over half a mile--eh? Not bad shooting, and shows they +must have good rifles, bless 'em! Now then, hand me that +cartridge-belt, and I should be glad if you'd pass it over my head, for +I'm not very ready to move." + +"You will have to let the doctor see the place," I said as I extended +the bandolier so as to pass it over his head. + +"Doctor? Faugh! What do I want with a doctor for this? I'm going to +keep quiet, my lad, or the doctor and the Colonel between them will be +wanting to invalid me." + +"Oh!" I exclaimed sharply. + +"Hullo!" he cried. "Don't say you've got it too, lad!" + +"No, no. Look here," I said, and I held out the cartridge-belt to show +where a case was flattened--the brass exterior and the bullet within-- +while the spring-like holder was broken, and the leather beneath sprayed +with lead. + +"What's the matter?" said Denham, looking round, and wincing with pain +as he changed his position. + +"It was no spent bullet that struck you," I said, dragging out the +damaged cartridge. "You have the bullet in its brass case to thank for +saving your life. Look how they're flattened." + +He took the bolt in his fingers, and then held them out, examining all +carefully without a word. + +"Humph!" he ejaculated at last. "That was a narrow escape. I think I +shall save that flattened bullet. Not the sort of thing a man would +choose for a back-plate, but it did its work. Yes, I must save that +flattened bit and the bullet the Boer shot. They'll be worth taking out +of a drawer some day to show people, if we got safe through the war. +There, I'm all right now. Attention! March!" + +The firing had ceased as he gave the orders, the first word in a sharp +military way, the second with a catching gasp, and he fell over +sidewise. Fortunately I was close upon his left and caught him in my +arms, which were none too strong or ready for such a task; but I managed +to hold him tightly clasped round the chest as his horse moved off and +his legs sank to the ground. A couple of the men drew rein and +dismounted directly to come to my help, they taking him from my arms to +lay him upon the stony ground. + +"Fainted," I said, dismounting painfully. "Who has a water-bottle?" + +One was produced directly, and I was busily bathing the poor fellow's +face and trying to trickle a little water between his lips, when we +became painfully aware of the fact that we had moved out from cover, for +_spat, spat, spat_, three bullets struck stones near us, making it +evident that we were well in view, and that the Boers were making +targets of the different members of the group. This was remedied +directly; but in spite of the shaking he received in being moved to the +rear of the biggest stone, Denham did not open his eyes, but lay there +perfectly insensible; while, to add to our difficulties, one of our men, +who had retaken their places in cover, to be ready to reply to the fire +if a favourable opportunity presented itself, announced that the enemy +was steadily advancing down the pass, and evidently with the intention +of clearing it of the party of cavalry which had entered between its +barren walls. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +REALITIES OF WAR. + +I glanced round at the little group of men, every face wearing the same +serious aspect; then I lowered my eyes to continue my task of trying to +restore Denham to his senses, while the moments glided by, and many +shots were fired at our position; yet there was no change in the +officer's condition. + +"He isn't dead--is he?" said one of the troopers. "Dead? No!" I cried +angrily; but even as I spoke a chill of horror ran through me, for the +utterly inanimate state of my new friend suggested that the shock of the +blow might have been fatal. + +"But he doesn't seem to have a spark of life in him, poor chap!" + +"He'll recover soon," I said as firmly as I could, and determined to put +the best face upon the matter. + +"But we can't wait for `soon,'" cried another man impatiently. "In less +than a quarter of an hour the Doppers will be down upon us, and then +it's either a bullet apiece or prisoners." + +"We must carry him down to where the Colonel is with the rest of the +troopers," I said. "No, no. Set him on a horse." + +"He can't possibly sit a horse," I said firmly; "and if you put him on +one it will take two men to keep him in his place." + +"We can't spare them," cried the first man who had spoken. "We want all +our rifles to be speaking as we retire." + +Just then a thought struck me. + +"He must be carried," I said. + +"It can't be done, sir," was the reply. "The men can't be spared. One +of us must have him in front of the saddle as we retreat." + +"No, no," I said. "Here, wait a minute.--Joeboy!" I shouted, and, +shield and assagai in hand, the black dashed to my side as if to defend +me from some attack. + +"Can you carry this officer on your back down the valley, Joeboy?" I +said. + +"Um!" was the prompt reply. "You take my spears." + +"Yes. Hang them to my saddle," I said. "Quick!" + +The next minute I helped to raise the insensible man carefully on to the +black's broad back as he bent down on one knee, Denham's arms being +placed round Joeboy's neck; and then, at his request, the wrists were +bound together with a sash. + +"Now," I said, "can you do it?" + +"Um!" was the reply; and, without a word being uttered by way of order, +the man rose softly to his feet and set off at a slow, steady walk down +towards the little force of mounted rifles waiting, a couple of miles or +so away, to receive our news. + +No sooner were we well out of the cover which had sheltered us than the +firing increased, showing that our movements were under observation; but +the pattering shots, which seemed to strike every spot save where we +moved at a pace regulated by Joeboy's steady walk, had no effect upon +the discipline of the little party. The sergeant, a middle-aged man, +like a Cornish farmer, now took the command. He ordered half the party +to follow close after their wounded officer, and halted the second half, +who stood dismounted and covered by their horses, to reply to the +enemy's fire. + +Instead of checking the shots, our reply seemed only to increase them; +but we had the satisfaction of knowing that the fire was concentrated +upon us, and that Lieutenant Denham and his bearer were running no risk +of being brought down. This was kept up for fully ten minutes, during +which our friends had got some distance. Then the order was given to +mount; and, giving our horses their heads, we went in single file +clattering along the stone-strewn and often slippery track, followed by +a scattered shower of bullets, horribly badly aimed, for we had taken +our enemies by surprise. + +We could not go very fast; but the pace was fast enough to overtake our +companions soon, who formed up under the best cover they could find, +leaving us room to pass and ride on to where Joeboy trudged manfully on, +and then draw rein and walk our horses, listening to the pattering of +the Doppers' bullets and the steady and regular reply of our men. + +"Has he moved or spoken, Joeboy?" I said anxiously as I rode alongside. + +"Um!" replied Joeboy. + +"'Fraid he gone dead, Boss Val." + +"No, no!" I said, laying my hand against Denham's neck. "I believe he +is only stunned. Are you getting tired?" + +"Um!" growled the great black. It seemed wonderful what expression he +could put into that one ejaculation, which sounded now as if he were +saying, "Tired? No: I could go on like this till dark." + +I said no more, but fell back into my place, where I found the next man +eager enough to talk. + +"They brag about the Boers' shooting; but I don't think much of it, nor +of ours neither, if you come to that. I don't wish any harm to them who +made all this trouble; but I should like for our boys to bring down a +man at every shot. It would bring some of the rest to their senses. I +say, you don't think young Mr Denham's going home, do you?" + +"No," I said sharply. "I think he only wants getting on to a bed, to +lie till the shock of his hurt has passed away." + +"Yes, that's it," said the trooper; "bed's a grand thing for nearly +everything. I never knew how grand it was till I came on this business +and had to sleep out here on the stones. You haven't begun to find out +what it is to be away from your bed at times." + +"I've slept out on the veldt or up in a kopje scores of times," I +replied, "and have grown used to it." + +"Oh!" said my companion, glancing at me to see if I was telling the +truth. Then, apparently satisfied, he continued: "I wish those who made +this war had to do all the fighting. I'm sick of it." + +"Already?" I said. + +"Yes; I was sick of it before we began to hit out. What's the sense of +it? Here am I, five-and-twenty, hale, hearty, and strong, trying to get +shot. But of course one had to come. I mean to make some of them pay +for it, though." + +"But you volunteered." + +"Of course. I say, though, I don't wonder at you making a run for it. +Nice game to have to fight on the enemy's side! I should like that--oh +yes, very much indeed! My rifle would have gone off by accident +sometimes and hit the wrong man. I say, though, oughtn't the Colonel to +hear all this firing, and come up to help us?" + +"That's what I've been thinking," I replied. "I should be very glad if +we saw him on ahead. But we must have a couple of miles to go yet to +join them--mustn't we?" + +"Yes, quite that; but, my word!" cried my companion, "they're going it +now. They're firing shots enough to bring down every one of our +rear-guard." + +"Yes; and it will be our turn again directly, when they trot on." + +"They ought to be here by now," continued my new comrade. "I don't +believe they'll come." + +"Why?" I said anxiously. + +"They'll all be shot down." + +"Nonsense," I said. "Listen; those are their rifles replying." + +"I suppose so," was the reply, given thoughtfully. "But what a strange +echo the hills give back here!" + +"Yes," I said. "That's why it's called Echo Nek." + +"I suppose so; but--but--Here, I say, those are not echoes we can hear +now." + +"Nonsense! What can they be, then?" + +"Some one else firing. Can't you hear? It sounds from right in front." + +"Well, that's how echoes do sound. The reports come down the pass and +strike against the face of the rocks, and are reflected off." + +"That's all very nicely put, comrade," said the young man, "and I dare +say it's scientific and `all according to Cocker,' as my father used to +say; but you're not going to make me believe those are echoes we can +hear right in front. Now, you listen." + +I did as he suggested, and the rattling of the Boers' rifles came +plainly enough, their many reverberations, as the reports seemed to +strike from side to side, almost drowning the feeble replies of our own +men. Then, after a perceptible pause, fresh reports were heard, and +certainly these seemed to come from some distance away in front. + +"There!" cried my companion triumphantly. "What do you say to that?" + +"That the shots echo again from some high hills in front." + +"Boss Val," cried Joeboy just then, and I touched Sandho with my heels, +making him spring on to where the big black was straining his neck to +look back, but trudging steadily on all the while. + +"What is it, Joeboy?" I said anxiously. "Has he moved or spoken?" + +"Um! Not said a word; but some one shooting over-over." + +He nodded his head in the direction we were going, and now I grasped the +fact that I had before doubted--namely, that firing was going on in our +front. + +I drew the sergeant's attention to it directly, and he nodded. + +"That settles it at once," he said. "Here have I been telling myself it +was all my fancy; but now you hear it I feel it must be fact." + +"I hear it; so does my man, and the trooper who rides next to me." + +"Yes; and we can all hear it now," said the Sergeant. "Well, it's plain +enough. We're in a tight place, my lad, for there's only one answer to +it, and it explains why the Colonel hasn't sent us some support, for he +must have heard the firing." + +"What do you make of it, then?" + +"That the Doppers are better soldiers than we give them credit for +being, and they've got round to the Colonel's rear somehow, and shut him +in this giant hogs'-trough of a valley." + +"Think so?" I said anxiously, as I thought of the Lieutenant. + +"I'm sure of it. Now then; that's not our business. Halt! Right +about! Take position behind those stones. Dismount and cover the +retreat. Here they come." + +The clatter of the horses of the other party came plainly to our ears as +we took our places ready to reply to the Boers' fire. I had intended to +have another look at the wounded man before this took place, and was +therefore much disappointed; but there was no help for it, and I stood +with Sandho fairly well sheltered behind a stone five feet high, upon +which my rifle rested. Then the party we were to relieve cantered by, +with two men wounded and supported on their horses; and as I watched the +puffs of smoke and listened to the bullets spattering and splaying the +rocks, with the buzz of the high shots now sounding so familiar, I +wondered at being able to take it all so coolly. + +"I suppose it's because I'm beginning to get used to it," I thought. +Then I began to speculate as to what would happen now if the sergeant +was right, and we were to be attacked front and rear; and what it would +feel like if I were hit, as seemed very likely now that the enemy were +getting so near. But I glanced right and left at my companions, just in +time, to see the Sergeant start back, to stand shaking his right hand +vigorously, and directly after I saw the blood beginning to drip from +his finger-ends. + +"Much hurt?" I asked, hurrying to his side, dragging out my +handkerchief the while. + +"No!" he roared; "only a scratch. Back to your place, sir! Who told +you to leave? Here; stop! As you are here you may as well tie that rag +round it." + +He said these last words more gently, and smiled as I rapidly bound up +his injury as well as I could. + +"Thank ye, my lad," he said. "I must preserve discipline, and we're +getting pressed. Taken off a bit of the middle finger--hasn't it?" + +"Half of it, I'm afraid," I said. + +"What have you got to be afraid of? Might have been worse. Suppose it +had been the first finger; then I shouldn't have been able to draw +trigger--eh? That'll do--won't it? I'm in a hurry." + +"I haven't stopped the bleeding," I replied. + +"Never mind. Mother Nature will soon do that. Now then, back you go. +Show them how you young farmers can shoot." + +I was on my way back to my place when the clattering of hoofs made me +turn my head, and I saw a man in the Light Horse uniform come galloping +up, utterly regardless of the danger he ran from obstructing stones. + +"Back!" he shouted. "Retire on the main body as fast as you can go. +Colonel's orders." + +We were in full retreat at once, after emptying our rifles upon the +steadily advancing enemy, who came on, running from stone to stone, +cleverly taking advantage of every bit of cover. We soon came in sight +of the men we had relieved, who were hurrying to the rear as fast as +they could get their wounded men along; while, to my great satisfaction, +there was Joeboy striding along at a tremendous rate: it was a walk, but +such a walk as would have compelled me to trot to keep up with him. He +could not have kept it up much longer, I could see, for the perspiration +was streaming down his face and neck, and he was breathing hard; but at +the end of another quarter of a mile, as the firing in front grew louder +and louder, I saw about a couple of dozen of the troopers coming to our +help, four of whom dismounted, giving up their horses to comrades, and +quickly spreading a blanket upon the ground. + +It struck me at once that Joeboy would refuse to give up his load; but I +got up to him just in time, and at a word from me the young officer, +still perfectly insensible, was lifted from the big black's shoulders, +laid upon the blanket, and then the four men took the corners in a good +grip and trotted off at the double. Joeboy, grinning with satisfaction, +now took hold of my saddle-bow and ran by my side till we reached the +strong position in a great notch in one side of the valley, where the +Colonel was defending himself against a large body of the enemy coming +on from the plains below. + +It was a capitally chosen spot, as I soon saw, for there was a smooth +open part in front of the notch, which backed right into the side; and +the stones across the path, front and rear, formed capital breastworks +for the dismounted men who lined them, all the horses having been turned +into the gap in the huge wall, where they were quite out of the line of +fire. + +"Splendid!" said the Sergeant to me, as we waited to take our turn at +the defence. + +"But we shall be attacked on both sides," I said. "Oughtn't we to get +in there with the horses?" + +"No, you recruit, you," said the Sergeant. "We shall be between two +fires; but don't you see how the enemy will be crippled? Every shot +that goes over us, whether it's upward or downward, goes among the +Doppies. They're firing at us, but at their own friends as well." + +"Of course," I replied. "I did not see that." + +"I didn't at first," he said; "but our Colonel's got his head screwed on +the right way, and the position is famous. Well, why don't you say +`Hurrah!' or `Bravo!' or something of the sort?" + +"Because I don't feel satisfied," I said. + +"You young fellows never are," said the Sergeant. "What's the matter +with you now?" + +"We can hold out, of course," I said, "as long as our ammunition lasts; +but what about afterwards?" + +"Bother afterwards!" he said sharply; "a hundred things may happen +before it comes to afterwards." + +"Then, if they determine to hold on, they can force us to surrender." + +"Never," said the Sergeant; "so no more croaking." + +"But what about provisions?" + +"Every man has his rations in a satchel." + +"But water?" + +"Every man has his bottle well filled, my lad." + +"But when the water-bottles are empty and the food is done? What about +feeding the horses? What about watering them?" + +"Yah!" growled the Sergeant savagely. "Call yourself a volunteer? What +do you mean by coming here prophesying all sorts of evil? Do you want +to starve the horses and see 'em die of thirst? Here, I say, my lad," +he whispered, "don't let any of the boys hear that. You've hit the weak +point of the defence a regular staggerer. You're quite right; but we +must hold on, and perhaps after a good peppering they'll draw off. If +they don't, it means forming up and making a dash, and that's what the +Colonel won't do if he can help it, on account of the loss." + +I had no more time for talking, for directly after I was ordered to take +my place behind one of the stones to make the best use I could of my +rifle in keeping back the enemy, who were now descending the pass in +great numbers, while the firing from the rear was so furious that it was +plain enough that the ascending force was stronger than the one with +which they were trying to join hands. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +HOW I USED MY CARTRIDGES. + +It was a strange experience for one who had come fresh from a home life; +and in the intervals of tiring I could not help wondering whether it was +not all a dream. The reality, however, forced itself on me too strongly +as the light went on, the spaces about the stones being literally +littered with battered bullets which had assumed all kinds of strange +shapes after coming in contact with the stones--flat, mushroom-shaped, +twisted, the conical points struck off diagonally, and the like; but we +were so sheltered that if the Boers fired low we were unhurt, and if +they fired high their shots went over among comrades. Signals were now +made from above and below, with the result that the attacking party +coming down the pass divided, to line the sides of the place as far as +they could, so that their shots crossed our defences, and the attacking +party from below followed their old tactics; thus our defences were +swept by a cross-fire, and fewer Boers fell by the bullets of their +friends. But these movements on the part of the Boers had brought them +better within range of our pieces, for they were more exposed upon +climbing up the slopes; and I had plain evidence of the loss they +sustained. + +At last night began to fall, and the firing of the attacking force, +dropped off. It was plain that the Boers were retiring, possibly +disheartened by their heavy losses. Then, soon after dark, lights began +to appear, just out of range, both up and down the pass; but it was +probable that the fight would be resumed as soon as it was daylight +again. + +Two-thirds of the men were now set at liberty to take what rest and +refreshment they could, the remaining third being upon sentry-duty, +ready to give the alarm should a night attack be attempted; but of this +there was little probability. + +Taking advantage of not being on sentry-duty, I made my way to the niche +in the mountain-side which had been taken for hospital purposes, and +here found Denham rolled up in a horseman's cloak and sleeping +peacefully. I felt his forehead gently, and then his wrists and hands, +to find all cool and comfortable; but I knew I must not wake him. Just +then a figure close by stirred, and I started, for a voice said, "He's +asleep." + +"Yes, I know," I replied; "but has he been awake?" + +"Yes; an hour ago." + +"How did he seem?" I asked. + +"Said it hurt him a deal, just as if his ribs were broken. Ah! he +doesn't know what pain is." + +"Do you?" I said. + +"Rather!" said the man. "One of their bullets went right through my +thigh just about six inches below my hip. That is pain. It's just as +if a red-hot iron was being pushed through." + +"Can I get anything for you?" I said. + +"No," was the gruff reply; "unless you can get me a heap of patience to +bear all this pain." + +I tried to say a few comforting words to him, but they only seemed to +irritate. + +"Don't," he said peevishly. "I know you want to be kind, my lad; but +I'm not myself now, and it only makes me feel mad. There, thank ye for +it all; but please go before I say something ungrateful." + +I crept away and tried to find the doctor who was with the corps; but he +was busy with his wounded men, of whom he had about twenty. Giving up +the satisfaction of getting his report about the young Lieutenant, I +went to where Sandho was picketed with the rest, and stood by his head +for about half-an-hour, petting and caressing him, before going back +towards the rough breastwork--partly natural, partly artificial--which +served as a shelter from the bullets. + +I soon came upon one of the sentries, who challenged me; but he made +room for me beside him after a few words had passed. + +"Oh yes," he said, "you can stay here if you like; but why don't you go +and lie down till you have to relieve guard?" + +"Because I feel too excited to sleep," I replied. + +"Humph! Yes, it has been warm work," said the sentry; "but I suppose we +shall get used to it. I'm excited; but I feel as if I'd give anything +to lie down for an hour." + +"Well, lie down," I said. "I'll keep watch for you." + +"You will?" he said joyfully. "No, no; I'm not going to break down like +that. Don't say any more about it. It's like tempting a man. Here, I +say," he whispered eagerly, "how quiet they are! You don't think +they're going to make a night attack--do you?" + +"No," I said; "it's not likely. What good could they do when they +couldn't see to shoot?" + +"None, of course. It's not as if they were soldiers with bayonets. The +only thing they could do would be to stampede the horses." + +"What!" I whispered excitedly. "Oh, I say, don't talk like that." + +"Only a bit of an idea that came into my head. Don't see anything--do +you?" + +"Nothing," I replied. "It's dark; but there's a curious transparent +look about the night, and I think we should see any one directly if he +were advancing." + +"How? I don't see that's at all likely." + +"If any one passed along it would be like a shadow crossing the grey +stones. They look quite grey in the starlight." + +"Well, yes, they do," he said; "and--I say, what's that?" + +He pointed towards the Boers' camp-fires, and, startled by his tone, I +looked eagerly in the direction pointed out; but there were the piles of +grey stones looking dull and shadowy, but no sign to me of anything +else. + +"Fancy," I said. + +"No. Just as you spoke I saw something dark go across one of the +stones. Shall I fire?" + +"Certainly not. It would be alarming every one for nothing. We talked +about seeing things pass the grey stones, and that made you think you +saw some one." + +"Perhaps so," he said thoughtfully. "Anyhow, there's nothing here now. +I say, that seems to have woke me up." + +"It would," I said; and then I crouched a little lower, shading my eyes +from the starlight and keenly sweeping the chaotic wilderness of rocks +again and again, but seeing nothing. + +I heard, though, the steps of the sentry away to my left, and soon after +a faint cough to my right sounded quite loudly. + +"It wouldn't have done for you to have gone to sleep with me taking your +place, for I suppose some officer will be visiting the posts before very +long, and then you'd have been found out if I hadn't woke you in time." + +I said this in a low tone not much above a whisper, in case any one was +going the rounds; but he did not take any notice. + +"It wouldn't have done, you know," I said. + +There was a low, heavy sighing breath, which made me start in wonder, +and then turn towards my companion, to find that his rifle was resting +against the stone, and that he had sunk sidewise against another and was +fast asleep. + +"Completely fagged out," I said to myself, with a feeling of pity for +him. "He did fight bravely against it; but the drowsiness was too much +for him." + +One moment I felt ready to take hold of his arm and shake him, but I did +not. I was there with his rifle ready to my hand, and if I kept his +watch, perhaps only for a few minutes, he would wake up again, refreshed +and better able to keep it till he was relieved. + +"It often is so," I said to myself. "One drops asleep after dinner, and +then wakes up ready to go for any length of time. It's being a good +comrade to the poor fellow," I thought; and, picking up his rifle, I +took over his duty just as if it were my own, keeping my eyes wandering +over the dark grey stones in front, and sweeping the whole space. Then +my breath suddenly felt as if checked in my surprise, for about thirty +yards away, as near as I could guess, there was a dark shadow passing +one of the great blocks. + +"Fancy," I said to myself as soon as I could recover from my surprise; +and, treating myself as I had treated my fellow-trooper, I mentally +declared I had thought about it till I seemed to see it. + +"It's all imagination," I said again; and then I lowered the rifle I +held, a thrill running through me as I distinctly saw the dark shadow +again, but nearer than before. This time I was certain it was not +imagination. A figure--enemy or no--was cautiously stealing towards our +lines! My first impulse was to fire at the figure and give the alarm; +but on second thoughts I hesitated to go to such an extreme. Fixing my +eyes upon the dark, shadowy form, I cocked my rifle, and called hoarsely +upon whoever it was to stop. + +"Ah! No shoot, no shoot," cried a familiar voice. + +"Joeboy!" I exclaimed. + +"Um!" was the reply; and, to my astonishment, the black came hurrying +towards me, bending under a load which stuck out curiously from his +sides and back. + +"Why, what have you been doing out there?" + +"Been get all these," he said as he forced his way between a couple of +stones, which caught his bulky load and checked him for a few moments. + +"You idiot!" I said in a low tone, for I was afraid now that I had +alarmed the sentries on either side; but though Joeboy's load on one +side bumped against my companion sentry, he was so utterly wearied out +that he did not stir. + +"Um? Idiot?" said Joeboy. "Boss Val going to be hungry. Joeboy +hungry. Been to get all these." + +"What are they--forage-bags?" + +"Um!" he said. + +"But where did you get them--whose are they?" + +"Doppies'. All in a heap. Brought them all along." + +A little further questioning made it all clear--that under cover of the +darkness the plucky fellow had crept up the valley, taking advantage of +the shelter afforded by the stones, passed the lines of the Boers, and +hunted about till he came upon something worth having in the shape of a +pile of canvas forage-bags containing the men's provender, which they +had left together and in charge of a sentinel, so as to be unencumbered +in their attack upon us. + +"But what about the sentry?" I said suspiciously. + +"Um? Fast asleep," said Joeboy. + +"What! all the time you were loading yourself with these bags?" + +"Um!" + +"You did not send him to sleep, did you?" I said suspiciously. + +"Um? Killum?" + +"Yes." + +"No," said Joeboy coolly. "Didn't wake up. Lot more couldn't carry. +Plenty to eat now." + +"Then you actually went foraging up there, and got back safely with this +load?" + +"Um!" said Joeboy. "Boss Val must have plenty to eat. Doppies nearly +caught um." + +"So I should expect," I said. "But you nearly got shot, stealing up to +the lines like this." + +He laughed softly. + +"Boss Val wouldn't shoot Joeboy. Doppies nearly ketch him. Big lot +coming down now." + +"What!" I said excitedly. "Some of them coming down?" + +"Um! Big lot coming down to fight." + +I began to grasp now that after all there was some night expedition on +the way, and that the pile of haversacks Joeboy had found had been +deposited there to leave the men free and unfettered. + +"Look here," I said sharply; "are you sure that the Doppies are coming +down?" + +"Um! Great big lot." + +"Here, you," I whispered, "wake up!" and I shook and shook the sentry +roughly, making him spring up and make a snatch at his rifle. + +"Thank ye," he said. "I say, I was nearly dropping off to sleep." + +"Very," I said dryly; "but keep awake now. My man here has just brought +in news that the enemy are coming on down the pass." + +"What--for a night-attack?" + +"Yes." + +"The beasts!" he cried, and he raised his rifle to fire and give the +alarm. + +"No, no," I said; "don't fire unless you see them. I'll go and give the +alarm. Stand fast till reinforcements come.--Here, Joeboy, bring your +load into camp." + +I led the way straight to the Colonel, being challenged twice before I +reached the side where he, in company with his officers, lay sleeping in +their horsemen's heavy cloaks. + +All sprang up at once, and each started to rouse his following, with the +result that in a few minutes the whole force was under arms and divided +in two bodies to join the line of sentries who paced up and down the +pass. + +It was only now I became aware of the Colonel's plan of strategy, which +was to defend the position as long as seemed wise, and then for each +line to fold back, making the pivot of the movements the ends of the +lines by the niche in the hillside where the horses were sheltered. +Then, on the performance of this evolution, there would be a double line +facing outward for the defence of the horses, in a position enormously +strong from the impossibility of there being any attack from flanks or +rear. + +So far we had no news of any attack threatening from the Boers who held +the lower part of the pass; but scouts had been sent out in that +direction to get in touch with the enemy, and their return was anxiously +awaited where the men were in position; but the minutes glided by in the +midst of a profound silence, and I began to feel a doubt about the +correctness of Joeboy's announcement. + +I was in the centre of the line which would receive the shock of the +descending Boers, and Joeboy had stationed himself behind me as soon as +he had bestowed his plunder in safety; and at last, as there was no +sound to indicate that the enemy was on the move, I began to grow +terribly impatient, feeling as I did that before long the Colonel and +his officers would be reproaching me for giving a false alarm. + +"Are you quite sure, Joeboy?" I whispered, turning to him where he +squatted with assagai in hand and his shield spread across his knees. + +"Um?" he whispered. "Yes, quite sure. Come soon." + +They did not come soon, and I grew more and more excited and angry; but +I refrained from questioning the black any more, feeling as I did the +uselessness of that course, and being unwilling to bring down upon +myself the reproof of the officers for talking at a time when the order +had been passed for strict silence, so that the Boers might meet with a +complete surprise. + +It seemed to me that an hour had passed, during which I stood behind the +natural breastwork of a stone upon which my rifle rested, gazing +straight away up the pass, and straining my sense of hearing to catch +something to suggest that the enemy was in motion; but there was not a +sound in the grim and desolate gap between the hills, and my beating +heart sank lower and lower as I glanced back at Joeboy, who reached +towards me. + +"Doppy long time," he said, hardly above his breath. + +"They won't come," I whispered back angrily. "You fancied it all." + +"Um?" + +"You fancied it all. They would not come on in the night." + +"Boss Val wait a bit. Come soon." + +"Ugh!" I ejaculated; and a voice somewhere near whispered, "Silence in +the ranks!" The command was needed, for a low murmur was beginning to +make itself heard. + +All was still again directly after, and the time glided slowly on again, +till that which I expected came suddenly; for I heard the trampling of +feet behind me in the darkness, and a voice whispered, "Where's that new +recruit Moray?" + +"I am here, sir," I said. + +"Quick! the Colonel wants you." + +I left my post, and another man stepped into my place, while I followed +the sergeant who had summoned me. + +"I say, young fellow," he said, "you're in for a bullying. The +Colonel's horribly wild about your false alarm. Are you sure the +Doppies were coming on?" + +I told him what I had learned, and that I had felt obliged to report it. + +"Humph! Yes, of course; but it's a great pity, when the men wanted +rest." + +The next minute I was facing the Colonel in the middle of the pass, +where he stood with a group of the officers, about half-way between the +two lines of men facing up and down, but lying so close that they were +only visible here and there. + +"Oh, here you are, young fellow!" were the words that saluted me, spoken +in a low, angry whisper. "Now then, where are these two attacking +parties of Boers?" + +"I only reported that one was coming, sir--one descending the pass." + +"Very well; you shall have credit for only one, then. Well, where is +it?" + +"I can't say, sir," I replied. "I was warned of it by my native +servant." + +"Then just go back and flog your native servant till you have given him +a lesson against spreading false alarms to rob tired men of their rest. +It is perfectly abominable--just when we want all our strength for the +work in hand for us to-morrow." + +"I'm very sorry, sir," I said. + +"Sorry? What must I be, then? I can't fight unless I have plenty to +eat and as much sleep as I can get. There, get back to your post. I +wish to goodness you had stopped at home or joined the Boers, or done +something else with yourself, instead of coming and giving this +confounded false alarm. Be off.--Here, call in the men again, and--Yes, +what now?" + +"Enemy coming up the pass in great strength, sir," said one of the +scouts, who had come breathlessly back. + +"What!" said the Colonel in a hurried whisper. "Could you make them +out?" + +"Yes, sir; two or three hundred, I should say." + +"You got near enough to see?" + +"I couldn't see much, sir; but I could hear. They seemed to spread +right across from the side I was on." + +"Here, you, Moray," said the Colonel, turning to me, for at this +announcement I had stood fast. "Get back to your post; and I beg your +pardon.--Yes; who are you?"--for another scout came in to endorse the +words of the first. He had scouted down the other side of the widening +pass, and according to his report the enemy could not be a quarter of a +mile away. + +"Thank goodness!" said the Colonel fervently. "Mr Moray, I spoke in +haste and disappointment. Now then, gentlemen, perfect silence, please. +I believe we shall hear some signal from below, and that is what the +party above are waiting for. Then they will attack simultaneously, to +give us a surprise, and we're going to surprise them. Every one to his +post, please; and then, at their first rush, let it be volleys and slow +falling back, so as to keep them from breaking our too open formation." + +The next minute every man was in his place, and the pass so dark and +still that it was impossible to believe that a terrible conflict was so +close at hand. As I stood waiting and listening for the enemy's order +to attack, I could feel my heart go _throb, throb, throb, throb_, so +hard that I seemed to be hearing it at the same time making a dull echo +in my brain. + +Still there was no sign; and at last I began to go over my brief +interview with the Colonel, and to wonder whether he would turn now upon +the two scouts and charge them with having deceived themselves, for +according to their report the enemy ought to have been upon us long +before. I had got to this point when all at once I felt an arm upon my +shoulder, and could just make out at the side and front of my face a big +hand pointing forward towards the stones a hundred feet away. + +"Um!" whispered Joeboy, with his lips close to my ear. "See um now. +Big lots." + +"I can see nothing," I whispered. + +"Joeboy can. Lie down ready. Boss Val going to shoot?" + +"When I get the order," I said softly, and my heart beat more heavily +than ever, for I felt now that the black must be right. I had had for +years past proofs of the wonderful power of his sight, and had not a +doubt that, though they were invisible to me, a large body of the enemy +were clustering among the stones ready for the assault upon our +position. + +Then I heard from somewhere below a faint, rushing, whistling sound, as +of a firework, followed by a crack, and the white stars of a rocket lit +up the sides of the pass and made the stones in front visible in a soft +glare. The next instant from front and rear, almost simultaneously, +there were flashes and a scattered roar, while the sides of the pass +took up the reports, forming a deafening roll of thunder running down +towards the plain. + +Before this was half-over there was the rush of men before us, the +stones and the spaces between seeming to be alive with running and +leaping Boers, shouting and cheering like mad as they came on, their +purpose being to scare us and frighten the horses into a stampede, +which, if it had followed, must have been equally fatal to their +comrades attacking from the rear as it would have been to us; but, +instead of the enemy being gratified by hearing the clattering of +hundreds of hoofs, they were received by a series of sharp volleys +proceeding from our two lines of men. These were so inadequately +returned that the officers in the rear ran to and fro bidding us stand +firm and keep up the fire, no attempt being made to fall back towards +the gap where the horses were tethered. + +Those were tremendously exciting minutes, and in the confusion, the +crack of the rifles, and the reverberations, I hardly know what I did, +except that I kept on firing without taking aim, for the simple reason +that there was nothing visible in the smoke and darkness unless one had +tried to aim at a spot from whence flashes came; and as the men +attacking us were constantly on the move, that would have been useless. + +I found afterwards, on talking to the men above me, that they had +behaved in precisely the same way as I did--they kept on firing; while +all were in constant expectation of having to club their rifles to beat +back the enemy should they come on with a rush. + +However, we never came to close quarters that night; for, failing in +sweeping our men back in the first surprise, the enemy drew off a short +distance till all were well under cover, and then kept up their fire, +each party of the enemy seeming utterly regardless of the risk to their +own comrades beyond us. + +In the midst of the roar and reverberation I was startled by a hand laid +upon my shoulder, and, turning sharply, I found the sergeant by my side. + +"Fall back," he said; and as I obeyed I thrust my hand to my +cartridge-belt so as to reload, when, to my utter astonishment, I found +it was two-thirds empty. This was soon remedied; for, as we--that is to +say, about half the defenders of the upper side of our stronghold--stood +fast, non-commissioned officers came running along and thrust packets of +cartridges into our hands. + +It was, as I have said, very dark; but I could just manage to see +beneath the canopy of smoke which rose slowly that half the lower line +of defenders had fallen back. Directly after, we were all hurried to +the front of the great niche and ordered to man the rocks there in front +of the horses. + +While settling ourselves in every advantageous position we could find, +the firing went on as briskly as ever, the Boers blazing away at our two +lines of men, who replied as fast as they could load; and, as far as I +could tell by the sound, the fusillade did not slacken. + +Then I began to understand what was about to happen, and could not help +laughing to myself when I saw the part of our line we had left firing +suddenly come hurrying in, to pass through an opening in our ranks; and +no sooner were they safe than the lower line fell back and came running +into the shelter, to join up with the others. + +As soon as these detachments were out of the way we had orders to fire +four cartridges each, half of us firing as well up the pass as possible, +the other half to fire as far downwards as they could. After these four +rounds each we were to cease firing: this was, of course, to prevent the +Boers from noticing that our fire had slackened and then ceased; and it +answered exactly as the Colonel had intended, for the bull-headed and +obstinate enemy went on for the next half-hour firing away at the stones +where we had been, each side believing that a portion of the reports and +echoes were caused by our firing, and all the time our men stood +laughing and enjoying the blunder, and pretty sure that the enemy must +be bringing down some of their own comrades. Whether the enemy found +this out at last, or were dissatisfied at not being able to silence our +fire, I don't know; but suddenly there was another train of sparks +rushing up through the smoke, and the bursting of a rocket far on high, +sending down a dingy bluish light through the overhanging cloud. Then +the firing stopped as if by magic. + +Instantly every man was on the _qui vive_, the front of the niche +bristling with rifles ready to deliver volley after volley as soon as +the rush we all expected began; but we waited in vain. When skirmishers +were sent out to feel their way cautiously in the darkness, through +which the smoke was slowly rising, we still waited and listened, +expecting to hear them fired upon; but again we waited in vain. Both +parties of the enemy had retired for the night; and, as soon as the +Colonel was satisfied of this, the necessary advance-posts were sent out +and stationed, and the men then ordered to lie down on their arms and +get what sleep they could. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +THE SERGEANT'S WOUND. + +There were the hard stones for our couches, and the air up in the pass +was sharp and cold; but we were all pretty close together, and in five +minutes it did not seem as if any one was awake, though doubtless the +few poor fellows who had been wounded--I may say wonderfully few +considering what we had gone through--did not get much sleep. I was one +of those who did lie awake for a time, gazing up at the clear, bright +stars which began to peer down through the clearing-off smoke, but only +for a few minutes; then a calm, restful feeling began to steal over me, +and I was sleeping as sound as if on one of the feather-beds at the +farm, where in course of years they had grown plentiful and big. + +We were not, however, to pass the night in peace; for directly after, as +it seemed to me, I started up in the darkness, roused by firing. Then +the trumpet-call rang out, and we were all up ready for the rush that +was in progress; while I was startled and confused, and unable to +understand why the now mounted Boers should be guilty of such an insane +action as to attack us there, nestling among the stones. We were all +ready, but no orders came to fire, and all crouched or stood with finger +on trigger, gradually grasping what it all meant, and listening to the +trampling of hoofs going steadily on, till at last the Colonel's +familiar voice was heard from close to where I stood. + +"Hold your fire, my lads. We should be doing no good by bringing a few +down. Let them join their friends. They've come to the conclusion that +this is too hard a nut to crack." + +This is what happened: the enemy's lower party had waited till nearly +daylight, and then approached quietly till their coming had been noticed +by our outpost sentries, who fired to give the alarm, when they made a +sudden dash to get up the pass to join the detachment of Boers above. +This they were allowed to do unmolested, the Colonel saying that nothing +was to be gained by stopping them, and that an advance up the pass was +work for infantry, not for a mounted force. + +Daylight came soon afterwards, I suppose; but I did not watch for the +dawn, for, as soon as the last of the horsemen had passed and the word +was given, I sank down again and slept as a tired lad can sleep. Again, +as it seemed, only a few minutes expired before the trumpet once more +rang out, and I had to shake myself together, when the first face that +looked into mine was that of Joeboy, who was standing close by me with a +heap of haversacks at his feet, and grinning at me with a good-humoured +smile. I didn't smile, for I felt stiff and full of aches and pains; +but before long fires were burning and water getting hot. I had a good +shower-bath, too, in a gurgling spring of water which came down a rift +by the gap in the pass. Then sweet hot coffee and slices of bread and +cold ham out of one of the haversacks Joeboy had foraged for seemed to +quite alter the face of nature. Perhaps it was that the sun came out +warm and bright, and that the blue sky was beautiful; but I gave the +bread, ham, and coffee the credit of it all. Ah! what a breakfast that +was! It seemed to me the most delicious I had ever eaten; but before it +was begun I had been to see Denham, who was sitting up with his chest +tightly bandaged. He was ready to hold out a hand as soon as he saw me. + +"Hullo, Moray!" he cried, "how are you this morning?" + +"It's how are you?" I replied. + +"Oh, I'm all right. A bit stiff, and I've got a bruise in the back, the +doctor says, like; the top of a silk hat." + +"You haven't seen it?" I said. + +"Have I got a neck like an ostrich or a giraffe? No, of course I +haven't." + +"But is anything broken?" I asked anxiously. + +"No, not even cracked. The pot's quite sound, so the doctor hasn't put +in a single rivet." + +"I am glad," I said heartily. + +"That's right--thank you," said the poor fellow, smiling pleasantly, and +he kept his eyes fixed upon me for some moments. Then in a light +bantering way he went on, "Doctor said the well-worn old thing." + +"What was that?" I asked. + +"Oh, that if it hadn't been for that bullet and brass cartridge-case, +backed up by the thick leather belt, that Boer's bullet would have +bored--now, now, you were going to laugh," he cried. + +"That I wasn't," I said wonderingly. "What is there to laugh at?" + +"Oh, you thought I was making a pun: bored a hole right through me." + +"Rubbish!" I said. "Just as if I should have thought so lightly about +so terribly dangerous an injury." + +"Good boy!" he cried merrily. "I like that. I see you've been very +nicely brought up. That must be due to your aunt--aunt--aunt--What's +her name?" + +"Never mind," I said shortly; "but if you can laugh and joke like that +there's no need for me to feel anxious about your hurt." + +"Not a bit, Solomon," he cried merrily. "There you go again, trying to +make puns--solemn un--eh? I say, though, you do look solemn this +morning, Val. I know: want your breakfast--eh!" + +"Had it," I said, smiling now. + +"I do, my young recruit. I'm longing for a cup of hot coffee or tea. +But I say, Val, my lad," he continued, seriously now, "I haven't felt in +a very laughing humour while I lay awake part of the night." + +"I suppose not," I said earnestly. "It must have been very terrible to +lie here listening to the fighting--wounded, too--and not able to join +in." + +"Well, yes, that was pretty bail; but I didn't worry about that. I knew +the Colonel would manage all right. I was worried." + +"What worried you?" I said--"the pain?" + +"Oh no; I grinned and bore that. Here, come closer; I don't want that +chap to hear." + +"What is it?" I said, closing up. + +"It was that business yesterday, when I was hit." + +"Oh, I wouldn't think about it," I said. + +"Can't help it. I did try precious hard to carry it off before I quite +broke down." + +"You bore it all like a hero," I said. + +"No, I didn't, lad. I bore it like a big boarding-school girl. Oh! it +was pitiful. Fainted dead away." + +"No wonder," I replied, smiling. "You're not made of cast-iron." + +"Here, I say, you fellow," he cried; "just you keep your position. None +of your insolence, please. Recollect that you're only a raw recruit, +and I'm your officer." + +"Certainly," I said, smiling. "I thought we were both volunteers." + +"So we are, old fellow, off duty; but it must be officer and private on +duty. I say, tell me, though, about the boys and the Sergeant. Did +they sneer?" + +"Sneer?" I cried indignantly. "You're insulting the brave fellows. +They carried you down splendidly, and I believe there wasn't a man here +who wouldn't have died for you." + +"But--but," he said huskily, "they must have thought me very weak and +girlish." + +"I must have thought so too--eh?" + +"Of course," he said, in a peculiar way. + +"Then, of course, I didn't," I cried warmly; "I thought you the bravest, +pluckiest fellow I had ever seen." + +"Lay it on thick, old fellow," he said huskily; "butter away. Can't you +think of something a little stronger than plucky and brave--and--don't +take any notice of me, Val, old lad. I'm a bit weak this morning." + +"Of course you are," I said sharply, and dashed off at once into a fresh +subject. "I say, I must go and hunt out the Sergeant. That was a nasty +wound he got after you were hit." + +My words had the right effect. + +"The Sergeant?" he cried. "Oh, poor old chap! we can't spare him. Was +he hurt badly?" + +"Oh no, he laughed it off, just as you did your injury; but I am afraid +he has lost one finger." + +"Ah, my young hero!" cried a cheery voice, and I started round and +saluted, for it was the Colonel. "How's the wound--eh?" + +"Oh, it isn't a wound, sir," said Denham rather impatiently. "Only a +bad bruise." + +"Very nearly something worse.--Morning, my lad:" this to me, and I felt +the colour flush up into my cheeks. "You behaved uncommonly well last +night, and we're all very much indebted to you. Pretty good, this, for +a recruit. I heartily wish you had been with us two or three months, +and you should certainly have had your first stripes." + +I mumbled out something about doing my best. + +"You did," said the Colonel. "I'm sorry I spoke so hastily to you in my +error. I didn't know you two were friends." + +"We are, sir," said Denham warmly. + +"Oh, of course; I remember. You shot together some time ago." + +"Yes, sir," said Denham, "and I had a grand time with Val Moray, here-- +big game shooting." + +"Not such big game shooting as you are going to have here," said the +Colonel. "I'm glad to see you so much better, Denham. Be careful, and +mind what the doctor says to you." + +He hurried away, and as soon as he had passed out of sight the Sergeant, +with his arm in a sling, came up from where he had been waiting to ask +how his young officer fared, giving me a friendly nod at the same time. + +"Oh, there's nothing the matter with me, Briggs," said Denham. "I shall +be all right now. Thank you heartily, though, for what you did for me." + +"Did for you, sir?" said the Sergeant gruffly. "I did nothing, only +just in the way of duty." + +"Oh, that was it--was it?" said Denham. "Then you did it uncommonly +well--didn't he, Moray?" + +"Splendidly," I said, with a fair display of enthusiasm. + +"Look here, you, sir," said the Sergeant very gruffly as he turned upon +me; "young recruits to the corps have got all their work cut out to +learn their duty, without criticising their superior officers. So just +you hold your tongue." + +"That's a snub, Moray," said Denham; "but never mind.--Look here, +Sergeant, how's your wound?" + +"Wound, sir?" he replied. "I haven't got any wound." + +"Then why is your arm in a sling?" + +"Oh, that, sir? That's a bit of the doctor's nonsense. He said I was +to keep it on, so I suppose I must. But it isn't a wound." + +"What is it, then?" said Denham sharply. + +"Bullet cut my finger; that's all." + +"Did it cut it much?" asked Denham. + +"Took a little bit off, and I went to the doctor for a piece o' +sticking-plaster, and he as good as called me a fool." + +"What did you say, then, to make him?" + +"I said nothing, sir, only that I wanted the plaster." + +"Did he give you some?" + +"No, sir; but I suppose he wanted to try his new bag o' tools, and got +hold of me. `Hold still,' he says, `or I shall give you chloroform.' +`Can't you make it a drop o' whisky, sir?' I says. `Yes, if you behave +yourself,' he says. `Look here, I can't plaster up a place like this. +Your finger's in rags, and the bone's in splinters.' `Oh, it'll soon +grow together, sir,' I says. `Nothing of the kind, sir,' he says; +`it'll go bad if I don't make a clean job of it. Now then, shut your +eyes, and sit still in that chair. I won't hurt you much.'" + +"Did he?" said Denham. + +"Pretty tidy, sir; just about as much as he could. He takes out a tool +or two, and before I knew where I was he'd made a clean cut or two and +taken off some more of my finger, right down to the middle joint. +`There,' he says, as soon as he'd put some cotton-wool soaked with nasty +stuff on the place, after sewing and plastering it up--`there, that'll +heal up quickly and well now!'" + +"Of course," said Denham. "Made a clean job of it." + +"Clean job, sir?" said the Sergeant. "Well, yes, he did it clean +enough, and so was the lint and stuff; but it's made my finger so ugly. +It looks horrid. I say, sir, do you think the finger'll grow again?" + +"No, Briggs, I don't; so you must make the best of it." + +"But crabs' and lobsters' claws grow again, sir; for I've seen 'em do it +at home, down in Cornwall." + +"Yes; but we're not crabs and lobsters, Sergeant. There, never mind +about such a bit of a wound as that." + +"I don't, sir--not me; but it do look ugly, and feels as awkward as if +I'd lost an arm. There, I must be off, sir. I've got to see to our +poor fellows who are to go off in a wagon back to the town." + +"How many were hurt?" said Denham eagerly. + +"Five; and pretty badly, too." + +"Any one--" Then Denham stopped short. + +"No, sir, not one, thank goodness; but those lads won't be on horseback +again these two months to come. Doctor wanted me to go with the wagon, +but I soon let him know that wouldn't do." + +"Poor fellows!" said Denham as soon as the Sergeant had gone. "That's +the horrible part of it, getting wounded and being sent back to +hospital. It's what I dread." + +"You won't attempt to mount to-day?" I said. "You'd better follow in +one of the wagons." + +"Think so?" he said quietly. "Well, we shall see." + +I did see in the course of that morning. For, when the order was given +to march, and the column wound down in and out among the stones of the +pass, Denham was riding with the troop, looking rather white, and no +doubt suffering a good deal; but he would not show it, and we rode away. +For a despatch had been brought to the Colonel from the General in +command of the forces, ordering the Light Horse to join him on the veldt +a dozen miles away as soon as the British regiment of foot reached the +mouth of the pass; and, as I afterwards learned, the Colonel's orders +were to keep away from the kopjes and mountainous passes, where the +Boers had only to lie up and pick off all who approached, and wait for +opportunities to attack them in the open. + +It was Denham who told me, and also what the Colonel said, his words +being, "Then we shall do nothing, for the Doppies will take good care +not to give us a chance to cut them up in the plains." + +As we rode down the pass we could see some of the enemy's sentries high +up among the mountainous parts; but we were not to attack them there; +and, with a good deal of growling amongst the men, we kept on. Then +every one seemed to cheer up when, a couple of hours later, we came in +sight of a long line of infantry steadily advancing, and the rocks rang +soon afterwards with the men's cheers as they drew up to let us pass. + +"No fear of the Boers getting past them," said Denham to me. "I +shouldn't wonder if their orders are to mount the pass, go over the Nek, +and hold it. Maybe we shall meet them again after we've made a circuit +and got round the mountains and on to the plain." + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +ON THE MARCH. + +Our next week or two seemed to be passed in doing nothing but riding +from place to place for the purpose of cutting off parties of Boers. +Information was sent to the Colonel, generally from headquarters; but, +whether because we were too long in coming, or because the Boers were +too slippery, we always found they had not stopped to be cut off, but +were gone. There was no doubt they had been at the places we reached, +generally some farm, where the old occupier and his people received us +in surly silence, and invariably declared there was nothing left to eat, +for the Boers had stripped the place. This sullen reception was not +because we were going to plunder them, for the orders were that +everything requisitioned was to be paid for; it was solely from a +feeling of pitiful racial hatred. + +We reached a big and prosperous-looking farm one afternoon after a long +hot ride, and I had been chatting with Denham more than once, and +remarking how rapidly he had recovered from his injury, which he +attributed to the healthy open-air life, and had also spoken with the +sergeant, whose injury troubled him very little; while of our men, +thirty who had received slight injuries had refused to go into hospital, +and were now ready to laugh at any allusion to wounds. + +We had reached, as I said, a big and prosperous-looking farm on the open +veldt, hot, fagged, hungry, and thirsty; and the first thing we saw was +the disorder left after the encamping of a large body of men. There +were the traces of the fire they had made, the trampling and litter left +by horses, and the marks where wagon after wagon had been placed to form +a laager; while in front of the long, low house a big, old, grey-bearded +Boer stood smoking, with his hands in his pockets. + +One of the officers rode forward to tell him that we were going to camp +there for the night, and that he must supply sheep, poultry, grain for +the horses, and fuel for the corps, at the regular market-prices, for +which an order for payment would be given to him. + +The officer was received with a furious burst of abuse in Dutch. There +was nothing left on the farm. The Boers had been there and cleared the +place; and if we wanted provisions of any kind we must ride on, for we +should get nothing there. + +The officer was getting used to this kind of reception, and he rode back +at once to the Colonel, who nodded and gave an order, riding forward +with the other officers to take possession of one of the rooms. In an +instant the men began to spread about and search, and the farmer dashed +down his pipe in a fury, to come running towards the officers, raging +and swearing in Dutch as to what he would do; while, as soon as he saw +half-a-dozen men approach the corrugated-iron poultry-house and proceed +to wrench off the padlock, the old man rushed back into his house, and +returned followed by his fat wife and two daughters, all well armed in +some fashion or another, the farmer himself bearing a long rifle and +thrusting his head and arm through a cartridge-belt. There seemed no +doubt about his meaning mischief, but before he could thrust a cartridge +into his piece it was wrested from his hands by one of the troopers; and +others coming to the trooper's aid, the fierce old fellow was bundled +back into his house, his people following, and a sentry placed at the +door. + +Rude and cruel? Well, perhaps so; but we were in an enemy's country-- +the country of a people who had forced a war upon us--and the Colonel +had a couple of hundred people waiting to be fed. So we were fed amply, +for the farm was amply stocked; and the order the officer left in the +old Boer's hands in return for his curses was ample to recompense him +for what had been forcibly taken. + +Denham and I slept pretty close to one another in one of the barns that +night, revelling in the thick covering of mealie-leaves which formed our +bed. Sweet, fresh, and dry, it seemed glorious; but I did not sleep +soundly all the time for thinking of what might happen to us during the +darkness. Once it was whether the farmer would send on messengers to +bring back the Boer party who had preceded us, and give us an unpleasant +surprise. Another time, as I lay on my back peering up at the openings +in the corrugated-iron roof through which the stars glinted down, I +found myself thinking of how horrible it would be if an enemy's hand +thrust in a lighted brand; and in imagination I dwelt upon the way the +dry Indian-corn leaves would burst into a roaring furnace of fire, in +which some of us must perish before we could fight our way out. It was +not a pleasant series of thoughts to trouble one in the dead of the +night, and just then I heard a sigh. + +"Awake, Denham?" I whispered. + +"Yes--horribly," he replied. "I say, smell that?" + +"What?" I replied, feeling startled. + +"Some idiot's lit his pipe, and we shall all be burned in our--beds, I +was going to say: I mean in this mealie straw." + +"I can't smell it," I said. + +"What! Haven't you got any nose?" + +"Yes: I smell it now," I said; "but it's some one outside--one of the +sentries, I think." + +"Don't feel sure--do you?" + +"Yes, I do now. Strict orders were given that no one was to smoke in +the barns." + +"Did you hear the order given?" + +"Yes; and Sergeant Briggs muttered about it, and said it would serve the +old Boer right if his hams were burned down." + +"So it would," said my companion; "but I don't want us to be burned in +them. Oh dear!" + +"What's the matter?" I said. + +"I wish this old war was over, and the same wish comes every night when +I can't sleep; but in the daytime I feel as different as can be, and +begin desiring that we could overtake the Boers and all who caused the +trouble, and give them such a thrashing as should make them sue for +peace. I say--" + +"Yes," I replied. + +"That's all. Good-night. I can't smell the smoking now." + +Neither could I. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +WE MAKE A DISCOVERY. + +"Oh, I don't like it; I don't like it," cried Denham to me, as he rode +up to my side while we were cantering over the veldt one day. "We +always seem to be running away." + +"Manoeuvring," I said, with a laugh. + +"Oh, hang so much manoeuvring!" he muttered. "The Boers set it all down +to cowardice, and hold us in contempt." + +"It doesn't matter what they think," I said, as we rode on over the +splendid open highland, with the brisk bracing air whistling past our +ears, and our horses seeming thoroughly to enjoy the run; "we've shown +the enemy time after time that we are not cowards." + +"But we're running away again; we're running away again." + +"Nonsense," I said; "we're altering our position. I declare I'm getting +to be a better soldier than you are. Would it be right to stand fast +here and let the Boers surround us and lie snugly behind the rocks to +take careful aim and shoot us all down, horse and man?" + +"Oh, I suppose not," groaned my companion; "but I hate--I loathe-- +running away from these bullet-headed double-Dutchmen. They think it so +cowardly." + +"Let them, in their ignorance," I said. "It seems to me far more +cowardly to hide one's self behind a stone and bring down with a rifle a +man who can't reach them." + +"Perhaps so. But where are we making for?" + +"That clump of rocks right out yonder, that looks like a town." + +"But they're making for that too," said Denham, shading his eyes by +pulling down the rim of his soft felt hat. + +"Yes," I said; "and there's another body behind us, and one on each +flank. We're surrounded." + +"Then why doesn't the Colonel call a halt and let us stand shoulder to +shoulder and fight it out with the ring?" + +"Because he wants to save all our lives, I suppose." + +"`He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day,'" said +Denham, with a bitter sneer. "Oh, I'm sick of it. Look here; those +brutes of Boers will reach that great kopje first, drop amongst the +stones, and shoot us all down just when we get there with our horses +pumped out." + +"Yes," I said, "if you keep on talking instead of nursing your horse." + +"Are you aware that I am your officer?" he cried angrily. + +"Quite," I replied; "but I was talking to my friend." + +"Friend be hanged!" he snapped out. "Keep your place." + +"I am keeping my place," I said--"knee to knee with you; and our horses +are going as if they were harnessed together. I say, what a race!" + +"Yes, it's splendid," said Denham excitedly. "Oh, how I wish the brutes +would stand fast and let us charge right into them--through them--cut +them to pieces, or ride them down! I feel strung up for anything now." + +I nodded at him, and panted out something about his knowing that the +enemy would not stand for a charge. + +It was exciting. By accident, of course, in following out certain +instructions from the General in command, to take a certain course and +cut off a commando of the Boers, we had somehow managed to get into an +awkward position, no less than four strong bodies of the enemy hemming +us in. + +There was nothing for our commander to do but make for the nearest +shelter, and this presented itself in the distance in the shape of what +looked like one of the regular piles of granite rocks, which, if we +reached it first, we could hold against the enemy, however greatly they +outnumbered us; though even then it seemed plain enough that they were +far more than ten to one. + +"Shall we do it?" said Denham as we rode on, having increased our pace +to a gallop. + +"Yes," I said; "I don't think there's a doubt of it now. We're on +better ground, and they're getting among rocks." + +"The flanks are closing in fast," said Denham. + +"Yes; but we shall be out of the jaws of the trap before it closes," I +said, "and we're leaving the last lot behind fast." + +"Oh," said Denham between his teeth, "if we can only get time to hurry +the horses into shelter and give the enemy one good volley before they +sneak off!" + +"Well, it looks as if we shall. But look! look!" I said excitedly; +"that's not a kopje." + +"What is it, then?" + +"A town, with a fort and walls. We're riding into a solid trap, I'm +afraid." + +"Nonsense; there's no town out here." + +"But look for yourself," I said excitedly. "It's a fort, and occupied. +I can see men on the walls." + +"Impossible. There's no fort or town anywhere out here." + +"I tell you I can see plainly," I said stubbornly, for I had in those +days capital eyes, well trained by hunting expeditions to seeing great +distances. + +"I tell you you can't," cried Denham. + +"I can, and that's what the Boers are doing. They're driving us into a +trap, and that troop that has been racing us is fighting to get here +first so as to cut us off when we find out our mistake and try to get +away." + +"I say, are you talking foolishness or common-sense?" said Denham. + +"Common-sense," I replied; "the sort that nobody likes to believe." + +"If you are we're galloping into a horrible mess; the Colonel ought to +be told. Yes, I'm beginning to think you're right. Ah! I can see the +people there. They're manning that tower in the middle; I can just make +them out. Val, lad, your horse is faster than mine. You must try and +drop out, or spin forward, or do something to get to the Colonel's side +and tell him what you can see." + +I made no reply, but rode on stride for stride with my companion; but I +kept my eyes fixed upon the strange-looking rocks and edifices in front, +and made no effort to change my position. + +"Did you hear what I said?" cried Denham. + +"Yes, I heard," I replied. "But how is it to be done?" + +"Don't ask me how it's to be done," he said angrily; "do it." + +"There's no need," I said; "the enemy is scuttling off as fast as he can +go." + +"Retreating?" + +"Seems like it. Why, Denham, can't you see?" + +"See? No! What? Speak out, before it's too late." + +"Look again," I said, laughing. "It's a troop of baboons." + +"What!" cried Denham. "Well, of all the absurd things! So it is." + +There was no doubt about the matter, and five minutes' gallop brought us +close up to where a mob of two or three hundred of the fierce and hardy +half-doglike creatures were racing about over the rocks, after leaving +the walls and battlements of the great buildings in front of us, and +leaping higher and higher amongst the rocks of the great clump which +stood like an island in the midst of a dried-up sea. + +There was no time for natural-history studies of the ape. The squadron +of Boers we had been racing to get first to the ruins--as we now saw +them to be--were only far enough off to afford us time to pull up, +spring from our horses at the foot of a huge wall, and, from our steady +position, give the advancing enemy a volley with such good effect that +over a dozen saddles were emptied, and the whole body wheeled round and +dashed off to join the rest of the advancing force. + +This gave us a few minutes' respite, during which the horses were +rapidly led into shelter by half our party, who found a way through the +great wall; while the other half rapidly manned wall, rock, and tower, +ready to receive the enemy with a steady fire, which they were not +likely to stand, for in every direction now the veldt stretched away, +bare of such cover as our enemies loved to use. + +It was close work, and the Boers swept round right and left to attack us +in the rear. Our men were, however, too quick for them; and, climbing +higher, knots of them reached the highest portions of the rocks beyond +the ruins, and opened fire upon the enemy, so that in a short time our +assailants drew back to a distance, but kept their formation of four +parties. As soon as they were beyond range, we could see three men from +each of three bodies gallop off to join the fourth, evidently to hold a +council of war concerning their next movements. This afforded us time +to make something of an examination of the stronghold so opportunely +offered as a refuge, and gave the Colonel an opportunity for taking the +best advantage of our position. + +The ruined buildings had undoubtedly been constructed for purposes of +defence; and, to every one's intense delight, on passing through an +opening in what proved to be a solid cyclopean wall, strengthened with +tower-like edifices, there was a wide courtyard-like enclosure, quite +beyond the reach of bullets, into which our horses were led, the walls +themselves being of ample width to be manned, and with sufficient +shelter from which our marksmen could command the whole kopje; and on +these walls about fifty of our men were stationed. + +"We're safe enough here from any attack they can make," said the +Colonel. "What we have to fear is the want of water and provisions if +they try to invest us." + +Which they would not do, was the opinion of all who heard his words. We +had our haversacks pretty well lined, and each man had, of course, his +water-bottle; but the possibility of being held up for over twenty-four +hours was enough to make the Colonel give orders for an examination of +the ruins and the rocks of the kopje around, to see if water could be +found. + +To Denham was given the task of making the search, and he nodded to me +to accompany him, and afterwards called to Sergeant Briggs, who eagerly +came to our side. + +"We're to go upon a foraging expedition, Briggs," said Denham, "in case +we want food and water." + +"Well, it won't take much looking to prove that there isn't a mouthful +of food to be got here, sir," said the Sergeant, "unless we take to +shooting some of those pretty creatures hiding amongst the stones. +They're as big as sheep, but I should want to be more'n usually hungry +before I had a leg or a wing." + +"Ugh!" shuddered Denham. "I'd sooner eat hyena." + +"Well, no, sir; I won't go as far as that," said the Sergeant. + +"As to water," said Denham; "this has been a city at some time, so there +must have been wells somewhere, for no river has ever been hereabout in +the plain." + +"Wells or tanks, no doubt, sir, if we can find them," said the Sergeant; +"but I expect we shall find they have been filled up or covered by the +stones that have crumbled down from these towers and walls." + +"What a place to build a city in, out in the middle of this wide veldt!" +I remarked. + +"It's more a fort or castle than the ruins of a city," said Denham. +"It's a puzzle, and it must be very, very old; but I say bless the +people who built the place, for it's a regular haven of refuge for us. +Why, we could hold these old walls against the whole Boer army." + +"Two of 'em, sir, if we'd got anything to eat." + +"And drink," I added. + +"Yes," said Denham. "That's the weak point; but there must be a big +well somewhere, and we've got to find it." + +"I believe the horses would find it, sir, if we led one about--a thirsty +one. They're good ones to smell out water when they want it." + +"Well, we'll try one if we can't find it without," said Denham. "Come +on." + +We "came on," searching about in the inside of the place, while the +outer works and the rocks were held by our troops; and after carefully +examining the enclosure where the horses stood looking rather +disconsolate, as they snuffed at the chaotic heaps of broken and +crumbling stones, we passed through what must have been a gateway built +for defence. The sides of this gateway were wonderfully sharp and +square, and the peculiarity of the opening was, that it opened at once +upon a huge blank wall not above six feet away, completely screening the +entrance to the great court, and going off to right and left. So that, +instead of going straight on to explore the exterior of the court, we +had the choice of proceeding along one of two narrow passages open to +the sky, but winding away just as if the court had originally been built +with two walls for an enemy to batter down before they could reach the +centre. + +No enemy had battered down these walls, not even the outer one. Time +had been at work on the upper part some thirty or forty feet above our +heads, where many stones had been loosened and others had fallen; but +the greater part of the walls stood just as they had been built by the +workmen when the world was much younger, possibly two or three thousand +years ago. Had time permitted, I for one should have liked to wander +about and climb here and there, and try to build up in imagination a +theory as to what race or age the old builders of the place belonged. + +"It's a puzzle," said Denham, in answer to a remark of mine; "but they +were not of the same race or kind of people as the tribes of niggers who +have lived here since, and who have never built anything better than a +kraal. But look here, Val; we mustn't stop mooning over old history; +we've got to find water for the horses, and there must be some about, +for people couldn't have lived here without." + +I roused myself at once to my task, and we struck off to the left, +walking and climbing over blocks of stone which had dropped in from the +outer wall and encumbered the narrow passage, every now and then being +saluted by one of the men, who, rifle in hand, was perched on high, +watching the Boers, and ready, as Denham put it, to administer a blue +pill to any one impudent enough to come too close. + +After getting along for about a hundred feet we came to a big opening on +our right--a wide gap where the huge stone wall had been broken down by +man or through some convulsion of nature, and now forming a rugged slope +full of steps, by which our men had mounted on either side of the +opening to the top, where, as stated, they had ample space for moving +and shelter from the enemy's bullets. + +"What are you looking for?" said one of the troopers from the top. +"There's no one here." + +"Water," said the Sergeant gruffly. + +"Then you'll have to wait till it rains," said the sentry. + +"Humph! we shall see about that," said Denham in a low tone, intended +for my ears only; and we climbed on over a heap of debris, at the top of +which we had a good view outward to where one of the Boer parties had +dismounted and were resting their horses before retiring or making +another attack. + +Upon descending the farther side of the heap of broken stones, there was +a continuation of the open passage, always about six feet wide, but +winding probably in following the course of the rock upon which the +place was built, so that we could not at any time look far along the +passage. + +"This doesn't seem like the way to find water," said Denham. + +"One never knows," I said. "Let's see where the passage leads to." + +"Of course; but it seems waste of time. The old city, or temple, or +whatever it was, must have been built with two walls for security, and I +dare say once upon a time it was covered in so as to form a broad +rampart." + +"Right!" I said eagerly, and pointed forward. For we had just come in +sight, at a bend, of a spot where great stones were laid across from +wall to wall; and on passing under them we found our way encumbered +beyond by numbers of similar blocks, some of which seemed to have +crumbled away in the middle till they broke in two and then dropped. + +"Oh yes," said Denham, in reply to a remark, "it's very interesting, of +course, but we're not ruin-grubbers. I dare say the place was built in +the year 1; and the knowing old codgers who understand these things +would tell us that the people who built the place had dolly something, +or square heads; but we want to find out which was the market-place +where they kept the town-pump." + +"And as the pump is most probably worn out," I said laughingly, "we'll +be content with the well." + +"Oh, if we find the well the pump-handle's sure to be at the bottom, +and--Hullo! what have we got here?" + +I shared my companion's wonder, for upon rounding a curve of the passage +we came upon an opening in the great stones of the inner wall--an +opening that was wonderfully perfect, being covered in by the +cross-stones, which were in place over the passage where the doorway +showed. + +"Dark," I said as I passed in. "No; only just here. There's another +wall, and quite a narrow passage not above three feet wide, and then +it's light again." + +"Let's look," said Denham. "Stop a minute, though. Don't go in, or you +may drop down some hole. Here, I'll strike a light." + +The next minute a little match was lighting up the narrow place, with +the wall close in front and then a passage going off to the right. + +"Why, it's like Hampton Court Maze done in stone," said Denham. "But +there, what did I say? Look at that hole." + +He pitched the remains of the burning match to the right, and it dropped +down out of sight, lighting up the narrow way and then going out. + +"That's the well, I believe," I said. + +"Let well alone," replied Denham. "We don't want to tumble down +there.--I say, Briggs, pick up that bit of stone, and reach in and pitch +it down." + +The sergeant rested his rifle against the wall, picked up a block of +stone, and reaching in, threw it to his left so accurately, by good +chance, that it must have dropped right in the middle of the opening and +gone down clear for some distance before it struck against stone, and +then rebounded and struck again, rumbling and rolling down for some +distance before it stopped. + +"Cheerful sort of place to have gone down," said Denham. "Tell you +what; that's the way down to the wine-cellars. The old races were rare +people for cultivating the grape and making wine." + +"I believe it's the way down to the vaults where they buried their +dead," I said. + +"Ugh! Horrid," cried my companion. "Here, let's light another match." + +He struck one, held it low, and stepped in and then to his right, and +stood at the very edge of a hole in the rough floor of crumbled stone. +Then, to my horror, the light flashed in the air as if it was being +passed through it rapidly. + +Then Denham spoke. + +"It's all right," he said. "You can step across. It's only about three +feet over. Wait till I've lit another match. Yes," he said as the +light flashed up, "it's just as wide as it is across. I believe that +originally the place was quite dark, and this hole was a pitfall for the +enemies who attacked. There, come on." + +It was easy enough to spring over, and the next minute Briggs followed, +and we continued our way down a narrow passage whose roof was open to +the sky at the end of a couple of dozen yards, so that there was no risk +of our stumbling upon a pitfall; and, after passing along this passage +for a time in a curve, we came upon what seemed to be its termination in +a doorway, still pretty square, but whose top was so low that we had to +stoop to enter a kind of building or room of a peculiar shape, wider at +one end than at the other, in which there was a rough erection; while at +one corner, some ten yards away, there was another doorway leading, +probably, to another passage. + +"Why, it must be a temple," I said, "and that built-up place was the +altar." + +"Does look like it," said Denham thoughtfully. + +"You gentlemen know best, I dessay," said the Sergeant; "but it strikes +me that this here was a palace, and the bit we're in was kitchen." + +"Nonsense," said Denham. "It was a temple, and that was the altar." + +"Wouldn't want a chimbley to a temple, would they, sir?" + +"Chimney?" I said. "Where?" + +"Yonder, sir. Goes back a bit, and then turns up. You can see the +light shining down." + +"Yes," I said, as we stepped close up to the supposed altar; "that must +have been a chimney." + +"That's right enough," said Denham sharply. "Burnt sacrifices, of +course. This place was covered in once, and that chimney was to carry +off the smoke. But there, let's get on. We're not finding water. Is +it dark through this doorway?" + +Inspection proved that it was rather dark; but the absence of stones in +the roof enabled us to see our way without a match. At the end of ten +feet of narrow passage, whose floor was very much scored and broken up, +there was a square opening similar to that which we had passed before +entering the so-called temple. + +"I shouldn't be surprised if that hole communicates with the first," I +said. + +"Pretty well sure to," said Denham. "Here, sergeant, fetch one of those +square bits of stone that lay by the other." + +Briggs stepped back, and returned with a curious-looking and roughly +squared piece of stone, handing it to Denham for throwing down; but as +he took it I checked him. + +"Don't throw that," I said; "it has been chiselled out, and is curious. +It may show who the people were that did all this." + +"Humph! Maybe," said Denham. "Take it back, Sergeant, and bring us +another." + +Briggs went back and fetched another block. + +"This here's the same, sir," he said, "and cut out deeper, as if to fit +on something." + +"Yes, that's more perfect," I said. "Throw the first one down." + +"Seems a pity," said Denham, looking first at one block and then the +other. "They are curious; why, they look as if some one had tried to +chisel out a hand-barrow on a flat piece of stone." + +"Yes, sir," said Briggs gruffly, "or one o' them skates' eggs we used to +find on the seashore at home in Mount's Bay." + +"Look here," I said, kicking at the flooring and loosening a shaley +piece of stone about as big as my hand; "I'll throw this down." + +I pitched the piece into the darkness below, and we listened for it to +strike, but listened in vain for a few seconds, and then: + +_Plosh_! + +"Water!" I cried. "Why, we've found the well." + +"Hurrah!" cried Denham; "well done us!" and he stepped back to where I +had kicked out the piece of broken stone, and was about to throw another +piece down, when, as the light from above fell upon it, I snatched it +from his hand. + +"Don't do that," he cried angrily. "I want to judge how deep the place +is." + +"Don't throw that," I said huskily. + +"Why not?" + +"It isn't a well." + +"What is it, then?" + +"Look at this piece of stone," I said, and I held the under part upward +so that the light fell upon two or three scale-like grains and a few +fine yellowish-green threads which ran through it. "It's an ancient +mine, and this is gold." + +"Right!" cried Denham excitedly. "Then that old place back there with +the chimney is the old smelting-furnace." + +"Right you are, gentlemen," cried Briggs, slapping his thigh; "and I +know what those two hand-barrow stones are. I've seen one like 'em +before." + +"What?" I said eagerly. + +"Moulds, sir, as the old people used to pour the melted stuff in. They +used to do it near my old home in Cornwall, only the metal there was +tin." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +THE OLD FOLKS WORK. + +"Then this isn't a well, after all," said Denham, who seemed struck with +wonderment. + +"No," I said excitedly, as all kinds of Aladdin-like ideas connected +with wealth began to run through my mind; "but there's water in it, and +it will serve us as a well." + +"Yes, of course," cried Denham. "I say, you two have made a discovery." +Then he lit a match, got it well in a blaze, and let it drop down the +square shaft, when it kept burning till, at about a hundred feet below +us, it went out with a faint hiss, which told that it had reached the +water. + +"It'll do for a well, sir," said Briggs; "and I wouldn't mind getting +down it at the end of a rope. I've done it before now, when a well's +been rather doubtful, and we've had to burn flares down it to start the +foul air. That hole's as clear as can be." + +"How do you know?" said Denham. + +"By the way that match burned till it reached the water, sir. If the +air down there had been foul it would have been put out before it +reached the surface." + +"But there will be no need for you to go down, sergeant," I said. "We +can reach the water with a few tether ropes." + +"To get the water--yes, my lad," said the sergeant, with a queer +screwing up of his face; "but I was thinking about the gold." + +"Oh, we've no time to think of gold," said Denham shortly. "But I say, +Val, isn't this all a mistake? Who could have built such a place and +worked for gold--making a mine like this?" + +"I don't know," I said, "unless it was the ancient traders who used to +go to Cornwall in their ships to get tin." + +"What! the Phoenicians?" said Denham. + +"Yes," I said. "They were big builders too. They built Tyre and +Sidon." + +"Val," cried my companion, slapping me on the shoulder, "you've hit it +right on the head. They were the builders. We know they went to Scilly +and Cornwall for tin. They must have come here for gold." + +"Oh no," I said. "They could sail from Tyre and Sidon, keeping within +sight of land all the way along the Mediterranean, through the Straits +of Gibraltar, and then up the coasts of Spain and France, and across to +our country; but they couldn't sail here." + +"Well, not all the way; but I can recollect enough of the map to know +that they'd most likely have ships at the top of the Red Sea, and could +coast down from there till they got somewhere about Delagoa Bay or +Durban, and gradually travel across country till they got here." + +"Rather a long walk," I said. + +"Long walk? Of course; but it was done by the people in the course of +hundreds of years perhaps--settlers who came into the country after its +products. There, I believe it, and we must have made a find. Here, +come back and let's have a look at the old furnace and chimney." + +We went back, and were soon satisfied that we had the right idea. On +further examination we found that some of the stones were calcined, and +at a touch crumbled into exceedingly fine dust; while one corner at the +back--below the chimney opening, where it was a good deal broken--showed +signs of intense heat, the face of one angle being completely glazed, +the stone being melted into a kind of slag like volcanic glass. + +"Oh, there's not a bit of doubt about it," cried Denham. "What do you +say, Sergeant?" + +"Not a bit o' doubt about it, sir. I've seen smelting-furnaces enough +our way for copper and tin, and this might have been one of such places, +made by old-fashioned folks who didn't know so much as we know now. +It's an old smelting-shop for certain; but I don't see as we've anything +to shout about." + +"What!" cried Denham; "when we've made a discovery like this? Are you +mad?" + +"Not as I knows on, sir. It's only like coming to a corner of the beach +at home and finding a heap of oyster-shells." + +"What do you mean?" said Denham angrily. + +"Why, sir, it only shows as there was oysters there once, and that +somebody came and dredged them, opened 'em, and ate 'em, and left the +shells behind. Here's the shell, plain enough; but the old Tyre and +Sidems, as you call 'em, took away all the gold, sure enough. Trust +'em!" + +"What!" cried Denham, laughing. "Is it likely? Here's a gold-mine, +sure enough; but if there's one here, don't you think there must be +plenty more places in this country where people could dig down and get +gold?" + +"May be, sir," said Briggs, scratching his ear. + +"Is there only one tin-mine in Cornwall, Sergeant?" I said. + +"Only one tin-mine in Cornwall!" cried Briggs in disgust. "Whatcher +talking about? Why, the country's full of 'em. You find tin wherever +you like to cut down to one kind o' rock as is what they call quartz, +and where there's tin in it there's a lot o' red powder as well; and +when you break a bit there's the tin, all in pretty little black shiny +grains. Oh, there's plenty o' tin in Cornwall, only it costs a lot to +dig and blast it out o' the mine." + +"So you may depend upon it there's plenty of gold here, sergeant," said +Denham, taking the piece of stone I had picked up and holding it out to +the sergeant. "There's a specimen of the ore, and I'll be bound to say +there's tons of it to be found." + +"Humph!" said the Sergeant, examining the piece of stone; "p'r'aps them +bits o' threads and them scrappy bits may be gold; but if you broke that +up and melted it, the gold you'd get would be such a tiny bead that it +wouldn't be worth taking away." + +"Perhaps not," said Denham, giving me a look; "but there'd be a +good-sized bead out of a ton. The ancient miners didn't work for +nothing, I'll be bound. But come along; we've found what we were +looking for, and--" + +He stopped short, for just then a shot was fired, which made us start on +our return along the narrow passage. + +"Mind the hole," I shouted to Denham, who was first. + +"Jingo!" he cried, "I'd forgotten it;" and he made a bound which took +him clear, proving that I had spoken just in time. + +Before we were out into the wider passage open to the sky, three or four +more shots rang out, followed by a volley, and then there was a cheer. + +"Ahoy, there!" cried Denham, hailing the men on the top of the outer +wall. "What is it--enemy come on?" + +"Eh? Oh, it's you, sir," cried one of our troopers, looking down. +"Yes, and no. Enemy, but not the Boers." + +"What do you mean?" cried Denham sharply. + +"Troop of those baboons got together and making a rush, barking like a +pack of dogs, at our fellows out yonder among the rocks. They had to +give 'em a few pills to scatter 'em. The savage little beasts have gone +off now." + +"I thought we were going to be out of a fight," said Denham to me as we +quickly retraced our steps, to make our way to the Colonel, whom we +found at last in the court amongst the horses, talking anxiously to a +knot of officers. + +"Oh, there you are, Mr Denham," said the Colonel as we went up. "I was +beginning to think you'd come to grief. I could have searched the place +half-a-dozen times over by now. You've come to say there's no water, of +course?" + +"No, sir; I've found plenty." + +"What!" cried the Colonel, whose whole manner changed in an instant. +"You've found plenty?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Splendid news, my dear boy. There, I forgive you for being long," he +added good-humouredly. "The horses want a drink badly. Show the men +where to lead them at once." + +"My news is not so good as that, sir. It's hard to get." + +"What! At the bottom of a well?" + +"Of a well-like place; and I think there's an ample supply." + +"See to getting ropes, Sergeant," said the Colonel, "and--we have no +buckets with us?" + +"No, sir; but there's a couple of those zinc-lined nose-bags in the +troop." + +"Capital. They'll do. Take what men you want, and set to work drawing +water at once. You must try and clear out some hollow among the stones +near the mouth of the well, so that the horses can be led to drink as +fast as the men can haul the water up." + +I was in the party told off to help; and the first thing to be done was +to find the nearest part of the court to the interior building where the +mine-shaft was. It proved to be an easier task than we anticipated. +What was better, we came upon a pile of stones in one corner, close up +to the wall, which looked as if they had been heaped up there by hand +for some reason or another; and they attracted me so that I drew +Denham's attention to them, and told him what I thought. + +"You're right," he said. "Here, half-a-dozen of you, come and help." + +He was about to set the men to work to drag the stones away; but I +proposed that the tethering raw-hide ropes of two of the horses should +be attached to their saddles and the ends made fast to the great rough +slabs of stone. This was done, and the horses set to draw, when one by +one a dozen massive pieces were drawn aside, leaving a little opening, +through which I dropped a stone, with the result that those who listened +heard a deep-sounding _plosh_! and set up a cheer. Then other two slabs +were dragged away, to lay bare a roughly squared hole six feet across, +from which the water could be easily drawn up. + +"That communicates with our shaft, then?" said Denham to me in a +questioning tone. + +"No doubt," I said. "I dare say there are tunnels running in several +directions. Did you tell the Colonel about the gold?" + +"Not yet," he replied. "He thinks a good deal more about the water now +than he would do about gold. But, I say, do you think it will be good +drinking-water?" + +"Certainly," I said. "Gold isn't copper." + +"Thank you," he said sarcastically. "I found that out a long time ago. +I never could do anything like so much with a penny as I could with a +sov.--Here, Sergeant," he cried as the first water-bag was pulled up, +dripping, and with the sound of the water that fell back echoing +musically with many repetitions underground, in what seemed to be a vast +place. "Water good?" + +"Beautiful, sir. Clear as crystal and cold as ice." + +"Then I'll have a taste," said the Colonel, coming up. "Excellent!" he +continued, after taking a deep draught from the portable cup he took +from his pocket. "Now, what are you going to do?" + +"Keep on pouring it into that hollow among the stones, sir," said +Denham, pointing to a little depression. Into this one of our makeshift +bags was emptied, and the impromptu trough proved quite suitable. + +Then the men worked away at lowering and raising the nose-bag buckets, +drawing up sufficient in a few minutes for watering half-a-dozen horses +at a time. + +While this was progressing the Colonel returned from where he had been +inspecting the top of the wall, and rearranging the men so as to take +the greatest advantage of our position, to make sure the Boers could not +break in through the weakest spot--the opening where the wall had +fallen. + +"Ha!" he said to Denham and me, "you two deserve great credit for +hunting out the old underground tank of this ancient fortress. Now, +with plenty of provisions and fodder for the horses, we might hold this +place for any length of time. I think the General ought to know of it, +and place two or three companies of foot here. I see that good shelter +might be contrived by drawing some wagon-sheets across the top of these +double walls." + +"Yes, sir--easily," said Denham. "As you say, there would be no horses +to keep if the place were held by foot." + +"Exactly," said the Colonel, who seemed much interested in the drawing +of the water, and listened intently to the echoes of the splashing from +the impromptu buckets. "Why, Denham, that tank seems to be of great +size; quite a reservoir, and tremendously deep." + +"It is, sir," said Denham dryly; "only it isn't a tank." + +"What is it, then--a well?" + +"No, sir: a gold-mine," said Denham in a low tone. + +The Colonel looked at him sternly, and then smiled. + +"Oh, I see. Metaphorical," he said. "Yes, to thirsty folk a perfect +gold-mine. Liquid gold--eh?" + +"You don't understand me, sir," said Denham quietly. "I was not +speaking in a figurative way, but in plain, downright English. That +really is part of an ancient gold-mine, in which the water has collected +in course of time." + +"Really? Are you sure?" said the Colonel. + +"Yes, sir," replied Denham. Then in a few words he told the Colonel +that we had discovered two shafts within the walls, as well as the old +furnace-house and the ingot-moulds. + +"You astound me," said the Colonel. "Here, come along and let me see." + +He followed Denham, and I went too, as one of the discoverers. The +Colonel examined everything with the utmost interest. + +"Not a doubt about it," he said at last. "You two lads have made a most +curious discovery. It may be valuable or worthless; but here it is. I +think that, besides being a splendidly strong place for a base, it is +otherwise worth holding." + +"You feel sure it is an old gold-mine, then, sir?" + +"Undoubtedly, and it must have been of great value. This explains why +it was made a favourite station by the ancient settlers who discovered +the riches on the spot. I've heard rumours of old workings about here +in the veldt; but I never thought much about them, or that they were of +any consequence. I shall begin to think now that we must fight harder +than ever to hold this part of the country. Which of you two made the +discovery?" + +"Both of us," said Denham. "No; Moray first stumbled upon the hole +there." + +"We were together," I said quietly; "and Sergeant Briggs helped." + +"I didn't see much of his help," said Denham dryly. "We pushed, and he +did the grunting." + +"You shall have the credit of the discovery, never fear," said the +Colonel, "and your share of the profit, if there is any; but we have +something else to think about now. Come up here; I want to see how our +enemies are going on." + +He led the way back to the walls, and we followed him to the highest +part of our fortress. The strength of the place seemed to explain a +great deal, suggesting, as it did, that the builders must have had good +reasons for the tremendous labour expended in making the place the +stronghold it must have been. + +"Ah," said the Colonel, shading his eyes and gazing over the walls at +the rocky part of the kopje, "I don't want to be unmerciful; but I'm +afraid we must clear the rocks of the enemy." + +"The apes?" said Denham. + +"Yes; the vicious little brutes have bitten two of the men; but they had +to pay for it, for three were killed and I don't know how many wounded +before the pack was driven off. You should both be well on the lookout +when wandering about, and ready to use your revolvers, for the apes have +steel-trap jaws, and muscles nearly as strong. It is astounding the +strength there is in an ape." + +"But if you come to the question of strength, sir," said Denham, "it +seems to me that everything in nature is stronger than a man. Look at +insects." + +"No, thank you, Mr Denham," said the Colonel sarcastically. "I have +something else to look at, and no time to listen to your lesson on +natural history. Some evening, perhaps, when there is no danger, and I +am sipping my coffee over a quiet pipe, I shall be happy to listen to +you." + +"Thank you, sir," said Denham. + +"Is that meant to be sarcastic, my dear boy?" said the Colonel, +laughing. + +"Oh no, sir," said Denham in an ill-used tone. + +"I say `Oh yes.' But I didn't mean to snub one of my smartest +officers.--Well, Moray, this is another reason for giving you your +stripes. Work away, my lad, and master all your drill. I would promote +you directly; but it would seem too much like favouritism in the eyes of +your seniors. You may rest assured that I am not forgetting you." + +"I am quite satisfied, sir," I said warmly. "Every one treats me more +as a friend than as the latest recruit." + +"I'm glad of it, and that Mr Denham here seems to look upon you as a +companion--a brother-in-arms, I ought to say." + +"Yet I've a lot of trouble with him, sir," said Denham mockingly. "He's +a very impudent young brother-in-arms sometimes." + +The Colonel made no reply, but took his field-glass from its case, and +sat down on the highest point of the old fortress, while he proceeded +carefully to examine the country round, dropping a word or two about his +observations from time to time. + +"The Boers seem as if they mean to stop," he said softly, and there was +a pause as he swept the horizon with his glass. "A good twelve hundred +men if there's one," then came, and he had another good long look. "Let +it stand at twelve hundred," he muttered; "but I believe there are +more." There was another pause. "Take some grass to keep all those +horses," he muttered--"that is, if they stay." Another pause. "Be next +door to madness to try to cut our way through them." + +"Yes, sir," said Denham. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Denham," said the Colonel, lowering his glass to +look at my companion. + +"Beg pardon, sir; I thought you spoke," replied Denham, and he cocked +his eye comically at me as the Colonel renewed his observations. + +"They evidently mean to stay; and if we made a rush for it, every man +would be down upon his chest delivering such a deadly fire as I dare not +expose my poor, fellows to." + +"No, sir," said Denham to me silently--that is to say, he made a round +"O" with his mouth, and then shaped the word "sir" as one would in +trying to speak to a deaf and dumb person. + +"They'd empty half our saddles, and kill no end of horses," continued +the Colonel, as he kept on sweeping the plain with his glass. + +There was a long pause now; and then, still speaking in the same low, +distinct voice, and without doubt under the impression that he was only +expressing his thoughts in silence: "That's it," he said at last, as if +he had quite come to a decision as to the course he must pursue. "In +the dark. A quiet walk till we are discovered by their outposts, and +then gallop and get through them. Say to-morrow night, when the horses +are well rested." + +Another pause, during which Denham shook his head violently. Then: "No. +The poor horses would be hungry. It will have to be to-night. Let me +see; there is no moon. Yes, it must be to-night." + +_Click_! went the field-glass as it was closed, and at the same moment +the Colonel turned, to see Denham nodding his head violently at me in +acquiescence with our chief's remarks, but in profound ignorance, till +he saw my eyes, of the fact that the Colonel was watching him curiously; +then he met the Colonel's glance, and blushed like a girl. + +"Don't do that, Mr Denham. You'll injure your spine." + +"Oh!" went Denham's mouth, and he stamped his foot, as the Colonel +walked away--both movements, of course, in silence. + +"There," said the Colonel loudly, as if for us both to hear; "I don't +think I need try to see any more. Ha!" he ejaculated as, with a sharp +movement, he began to open and focus his glass again, and looking +towards the west for some time. "Worse and worse. They mean to have +us. I suppose they look upon us as a danger that must be crushed out +once and for all." + +"If they could do it, sir," said Denham. + +"They evidently mean to try, Denham," replied the Colonel, with a sigh. +"Some of us will have to bite the dust before this business is over. +There's a fresh commando of quite five hundred men coming up yonder +under the sun, and before dark we shall be regularly ringed round." + +"Well, let them come, sir," said Denham bitterly; "they can't all hit at +us at once. What you said was right." + +"What I said was right?" replied the Colonel, staring. "Why, what did I +say?" + +"Something about advancing to-night in the darkness; and then, as soon +as we were discovered by the outposts, making a gallop for it." + +"Did I say that?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Not a bad plan either," said the Colonel, his face wrinkling up. + +"No, sir; just the exciting rush I love." + +"Humph!" said the Colonel. "Well, gentlemen, we may as well go down." + +"`Well, gentlemen,'" whispered Denham to me, with a laugh, as soon as he +had the opportunity. "I say, recruit--private--whatever you call +yourself--why don't you blush?" + +No more was said then, as orders were given for every man to make a good +meal from his haversack; and as soon as the order was passed along, the +men looked at one another and began to whisper. + +"We're not going to stop here for to-night," said one. "I had picked +out my corner for a good snooze." + +"The Colonel was afraid the ruin would be too draughty for us, and +didn't wish to see his boys getting up in the morning with stiff necks," +said another; and plenty of laughing and banter went on amongst the men, +who in all probability would be engaged in a deadly struggle before many +hours had passed. + +I thought of this for a time, and I ate my bread and cold salt pork +slowly and without appetite, for the thoughts of the pleasant old farm +came back; and I began to wonder how father and Bob were, and what Aunt +Jenny would be thinking about. Then, between the mouthfuls, a vision of +Joeboy's black face and grinning white teeth seemed to rise up; and I +fell to thinking how disappointed he would be when he returned from the +foraging expedition to find that the corps had been suddenly called out. + +"Poor old Joeboy!" I thought to myself; "it's a pity father didn't keep +him at home. It would be horrible if he were to be shot by the Boers." +But I was eating again heartily soon, the conversation of the men taking +up my attention, for they were discussing what was to be done that +evening. + +"It's only a reconnaissance," said one. "We're going to give the +Doppies a stir-up to show them we're `all alive, oh!'" + +"Nonsense," said another. "We shan't do anything; the Colonel don't +care about working in the dark." + +"That's right," said another voice. "It would be absurd to move from +such a strong place as this. Why, we could laugh at twice as many as +they could bring against us." + +"Don't you talk nonsense, my lads," said a familiar voice which made me +turn my head sharply. + +"Who's talking nonsense, Sergeant?" said one of the troopers. + +"The man who spoke," was the reply. "What's the good of a strong place +like this to us if we've got no provisions for selves and horses?" + +"The horses might be driven out to graze under the fire of our rifles." + +"How long would the scanty grass round here last? No: the chief's right +enough, and as soon as it's dark the orders will come, `Boot and +saddle.' We've got to cut our way through that mob of Dutchmen +to-night." + +"Oh, very well," said one of the men who had not yet spoken; "this is +rather a dreary sort of place, so by all means let us cut." + +The men grew very quiet afterwards as the twilight began to fall, and I +noticed that most of them, after finishing their meal and getting a +draught of water freshly drawn up out of the old mine, walked up to +their horses and began to make much of them, patting and smoothing, and +then examining girths, bridles, and every buckle and strap. + +The night was coming on fast now, and the Boers began to mingle with the +haze in the distance. We saw they had filled up all the gaps between +their lines, opening out till they formed a complete hedge of dismounted +horsemen around our stronghold; and they looked a very formidable body +of men. + +"Yes," said Denham, who had drifted to my side again, according to what +had now become a custom of his--for I could not go to him--"we're +regularly ringed round, Val." + +"Yes, they're very strong," I said. + +"No, they're not, lad, for a ring's very weak, and bends or breaks if +it's pushed from the inside; but if pushed from the outside it takes a +deal to break it. We'll both bend and break it to-night." + +We sat talking for a bit, and watched the Boers till they were quite +invisible. Then we could do nothing but wait for orders, no one +believing that any attack would be made by our mounted enemy. However, +about an hour after it was quite dark an alarm was suddenly given; but +every man was on the alert, and the entrances to our fort were doubly +strengthened. For there was the sound of shouts and horses thundering +over the plain towards the fort; and at last the order was given to +fire, a sharp fusillade ringing out in the horsemen's direction. It had +its effect, for the enemy turned and galloped away, the sounds of their +retreat rapidly dying out; and all seemed quiet till one of the +defenders of the gap in the wall challenged, with the customary "Halt! +or I fire!" + +"Um!" cried a familiar voice. "Don't shoot. On'y Joeboy. Want Boss +Val." + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +BATHING IN HOT WATER. + +"Why, Joeboy," I cried excitedly, "how in the world did you manage to +get here?" + +"Um! Walk very fas'. Then crawly till Doppies hear and shoot. Then +run very, very fas'. Water: Joeboy thirsty." + +The faithful fellow had followed the troop as soon as he returned from +his mission; and as he afterwards told me, with a broad smile upon his +face, he tracked us by following the Boers. + +"Joeboy know they try to ketch sojers," he said. Soon after this, the +Boers having withdrawn to their former position, as was carefully tested +by the scouts sent out, the Colonel and the officers held a little +council of war, at which Denham was present. And then the Colonel +announced his plans to this effect: He had made up his mind it was +impossible to hold the ruined fortress without provisions, though he +would have much liked to keep it as a base from which to make a series +of attacks upon the enemy. It was perhaps possible to get help; butt +this was doubtful, for the General's hands were very full. Then, by +sending out several messengers with a despatch, one of them would be +sure to reach headquarters; but, even if he did, the reply would +probably be to the effect that it would be madness to despatch a +detachment of infantry right out into the veldt at a time when the force +at disposal was so very small. So the Light Horse must make a dash to +extricate themselves from their awkward position. These, Denham said, +were the details of the Colonel's plan. + +"`That's how matters stand,' said the Colonel in conclusion, `and I +propose starting about two hours before daylight, going due east in +column, and as quietly as possible, till we come in touch with their +outposts, and then charge and cut our way through them before they have +recovered from their surprise. Now,' he said, `I am open to consider +any better suggestion if either of the senior officers can propose +one.'" + +"Did any one make a suggestion?" I asked. + +"Of course not. Every one thought the plan splendid," replied Denham. + +"Then we're going to try it?" I said. + +"We're going to do it," cried my companion warmly; "but I don't like +giving up a rich gold-mine like this now we've found it." + +"No," I said thoughtfully; "and, besides the gold, it is such a grand +archaeological discovery." + +"Well, yes, I suppose it is," replied Denham; "but I was thinking of the +gold. I say, though, you'll have to sit fast, squire--regularly grow to +your saddle." + +"Of course; but I'm afraid we shall leave a lot of our poor fellows +behind." + +"Not we," cried Denham warmly. "Our fellows can ride, and there'll be +no firing. The Doppies won't try to shoot for fear of hitting their own +men, as it will be too dark for them to aim for us. Besides, we may +steal through without being discovered." + +"Not likely," I said. "They'll be too cunning. Depend upon it, they'll +have vedettes out all along the line." + +"Then the vedettes had better look out, for those we meet when we charge +through in column will be in a very awkward position." + +"Yes, very," I said thoughtfully. + +"The Colonel then said all those not on duty were to lie down and sleep +till they were roused up half-an-hour before the start." + +"Oh yes," I said bitterly; "we shall all feel quite ready for and enjoy +a good sleep with a ride like this in prospect." + +"Well, why not? I know I shall sleep," said Denham. "So will you. So +here goes." + +As he spoke I noticed that the men were lying down in the soft sandy +patches among the stones; and, after seeing to my horse--just as a +matter of course, though there was no need, for Joeboy had gone to his +side--I returned to where I had left Denham, and found him wrapped in +his cloak, fast asleep, and announcing the fact gently to all around in +what sounded like an attempt to purr. + +"I may as well lie down," I thought, after seating myself on a block of +stone, and gazing round at the high walls which encompassed us, and at +the bright stars overhead looking down peacefully upon our camp, as if +there were no such thing as war in the world. Then I began thinking +about home again, and wondered what they were all doing there, and +whether the Boers had interfered with my father because he was an +Englishman. This brought up the thought that if the war went against +the Boers they might go so far as to commandeer both my father and Bob. +The thought was horrible. + +"It doesn't matter so much about me," I meditated; "but for them to be +dragged off, perhaps to fight against us--oh! it would be terrible." + +There had until now been a sad feeling of restfulness about my position; +but as I drew a mental picture of two forces drawn up against each +other, with my father and brother forced to fight on one side, and +myself a volunteer on the other, the rock upon which I was seated began +to feel horribly hard, and I changed my position, to lie down on the +soft sand at my feet. + +Well, I had been very hard at work all day; and Nature intended the +lying-down position to be accompanied by sleep. In less than a minute, +I suppose--in spite of home troubles, risks in the future, and, above +all, that one so very close at hand--my eyes closed for what seemed to +be about a moment. Then some one was shaking my shoulder, and the some +one's voice announced that it was Sergeant Briggs going round to all the +men of his troop. + +"Come, rouse up, my lad! rouse up!" he whispered. "We're off in less +than half-an-hour." + +I sprang to my feet, just as Denham came up. "Oh, there you are," he +said drowsily. "I was just coming to wake you. I say, get right up +beside me. We may as well go through it close together, and give one +another a help--if we can." + +That was a weird and strange business, moving about in the darkness, +with the horses snorting and sighing as the saddle-girths were +tightened, and bits and curbs adjusted for a ride where everything +depended upon horse and man being well in accord; but the preparations +did not take long, and we were soon all standing in our places, bridle +upon arm, and in as regular order as the roughness of the stone-littered +court would allow. + +I now learned that the men posted upon the walls had been withdrawn, and +that every one was in his place, waiting for the command to start upon a +ride at the end of which many would not answer to their names. + +Then, from out of the darkness, the Colonel's voice rose low and clear, +giving the order "March!" and in single file the men moved off, leading +their horses towards the openings, through which they passed; then they +bore off to their right to take up position in line till all were out, +our troop being last. Next came the order, softly given to the first +troop, to mount; and the same order was quietly passed along from troop +to troop till it reached us, and we sprang into our saddles almost +without a sound. + +"First come first served," said Denham to me in a whisper. "I should +have liked to be in front so as to do some of the scouting and feeling +for the enemy, besides having first go at them before they grew thick. +I say, Val, we must mind that we don't get cut off and taken prisoners." + +"Ugh! Yes," I said, with a shiver. "I say, isn't it rather chilly?" + +"Be warm enough presently," said Denham bitterly. "Bah! This is too +bad. I did want to be first in the column." + +"Form fours--left!" came from the front. + +I felt electrified as, quite accustomed to the command, the horses swung +round to the left. + +Then came the word "March!" and our column moved off, with Denham +whispering to me. + +"Talk about luck," he said. "Why, we're going round the other way, and +we are to open the ball after all." + +For so it was. We had made up our minds that we were to be last, but +the Colonel's determination was to bear round to the left instead of the +right; and in consequence of the movement the rear troop led. We rode +on at a walk till we had passed round by the rocks which harboured the +baboons, and then on till we were nearly opposite the opening by which +we had entered the old stronghold. + +Then the order came, "Right!" and we struck off straight away for the +Boer force opposite, an advance-guard and supports being sent out far +ahead; while the silence of the night was only broken by the +softly-muffled tread of the horses, and once in a way by an impatient +snort. + +"That's the danger," said Denham to me softly. "Just at the nick of +time our nags 'll be telling the Doppies we're coming." + +"Perhaps not," I replied. "Where they are they have horses about them +in all directions; and if they heard a snort, why shouldn't they think +it was from one of their own ponies?" + +"I hope they will," said Denham impatiently. "But, I say, the chief +isn't going to keep us at this snail's-pace--is he? I want to gallop, +and get it done.--Hullo! old Dark Night; I didn't know you were there." + +This was to Joeboy, who was walking with one hand on the cantle of my +saddle. + +"Um!" said Joeboy; "come along take care of Boss Val." + +"Good boy!" said Denham banteringly. "Take care of me too." + +"Um! Yes! Take care too," replied the black; and just then an idea +struck me, and I hastened to communicate it to my companion at once. + +"Why, Denham," I said, "we ought to send Joeboy right on in front, away +in advance of the guard. He wouldn't be noticed in the dark, and would +be able to get close to the outposts and let us know when it is time to +charge." + +"Silence in the ranks there!" said a stern voice. "Not a word there! +Who's here?" + +"Denham, sir," replied my companion. + +"Then you had better go to the rear. I want trustworthy officers in +front during this emergency." + +"Yes, sir," said Denham bitterly; and he was in the act of falling out +from his place when, feeling unable to contain myself, I broke out: + +"I beg pardon, sir; it was my fault. I spoke to propose--" + +"To propose what?--Silence!" + +I was mutinous in my excitement, for I continued: + +"To send on this black we have with us right in front. He could get +close up to the outposts without being seen." + +I expected a severe rebuke before I had finished; but, to my surprise, +the Colonel--for it was he who had ridden up to the front--heard me to +the end. + +"A black?" he said. "Is he to be trusted?" + +"I'll answer for him, sir," I said eagerly. + +"Here, Mr Denham," said the Colonel, "stay in your place. Yes--send +the black scout on at once to creep forward far in advance of the +column, and tell him to come back and give us full warning of how near +we are to the enemy." + +The Colonel drew rein as soon as he had spoken, and we passed on, while +as soon as we were getting out of hearing Denham gripped my arm. + +"You brick!" he whispered. "Now then, send on your Joeboy.--Do you +understand what for?" he now asked the black. + +"Um!" replied Joeboy. "Find the Doppies, and come back." + +"That's right," said Denham eagerly. "Creep up as close as you can, and +then come and warn us. Oh, what a blessing to have a black skin, and no +clothes to hide it!" + +"Joeboy go now?" + +"Yes. Off," whispered Denham, and the black uttered a peculiar click +with his tongue, leaped out sidewise, and then bounded forward without a +sound. One moment we saw his black figure dimly; the next he seemed to +have melted away or been absorbed into the blackness right ahead, and +for some time we were following the track of what had been like a +shadow. + +I listened as our horses tramped quietly on through what was, now that +the kopje had been left behind, like a sandy desert, whose soft surface +completely muffled the hoofs. Once in a while there was a faint +rustling as the horses brushed through a patch of thick bush or the +yellow-flowered thorn; but not a stone was kicked away or sent forth a +sharp metallic sound. So quiet was it that Denham turned to me and +whispered: + +"Who'd ever think there were four hundred of our fellows on the march +behind us?" + +"And somewhere about twelve or fifteen hundred of the enemy in a circle +round about." + +"Yes; but they're standing still," he said. "Think your Joeboy will +make them out?" + +"I'm sure of it," I said. + +"That's right. Then in a few minutes we shall be at them with a rush. +I don't like this fighting in the dark." + +"It will be a shout, a rush, and we shall cut our way right through," I +said. + +"Perhaps; but don't you cut, young fellow. If you come at any one there +in front, you give point; don't waste time in cutting. I say, Val; if I +don't get through, and you can get to where I'm found--" + +"What are you talking about?" I whispered sharply. + +"About my will," he said quietly. "I leave you my watch and my sword." + +"And I'll leave you my rifle and Sandho. He's a splendid fellow to go." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" said Denham, interrupting me. "You won't be +hurt." + +"That's more than you know," I said peevishly, for his words upset me; +and when he went on I made no reply. Even if I had replied I should not +have been able to finish my speech, for Joeboy now came up at a long +loping run. He caught at Denham's bridle, checking the horse, while +Sandho and the three troopers on my right stopped short, and the whole +line of horsemen suddenly halted. + +"What is it?" said Denham. + +"Doppies all along," said Joeboy. "All this way; all that way," he +continued, gesticulating. + +"How far?" I whispered. + +Joeboy shook his head, and seemed to feel puzzled how to answer the +question. At last he raised his face and whispered, as he pointed +forward: + +"Far as two sojers over dah," he said, "and far again." + +"Twice as far as the advance-guard," I interpreted his words to mean. + +At that moment the Colonel rode up, and Denham repeated the black's +words. + +"That's right," he said in a low tone, with his face turned so that as +many of the troop as possible should hear. "Lieutenant Denham, I shall +not alter our formation. Your orders are, `Forward' at a walk, and as +silently as if the horses were grazing, till the advance-posts give the +alarm. Then gallop straight away. Not a shot to be fired. Forward!" + +There was a low murmur as of many drawing a deep, long breath. Then the +column was in motion, and I felt a thrill of excitement running through +me like a wave, while unconsciously I nipped Sandho's sides so that he +began to amble. This brought back the knowledge that I must be cool, so +I gently checked the brave little horse, and softly patted his arching +neck, when he promptly slowed to a walking pace like the others. Then I +found that Joeboy had crept round to my right side, between me and the +next trooper, and, assagai in hand, was holding on to my saddle with his +left hand. + +All was perfectly still; and though we had gone on fully a hundred +yards, there was nothing to be heard or seen of the enemy in front. + +Suddenly Denham leaned towards me, and gripped my shoulder for a moment +before loosening his grasp and holding his right hand before me. + +"Shake," he said in a low whisper. + +Our hands pressed one another for a brief moment or two, and then we +both sat upright, listening. + +All was yet silent. Then, far away, but so loudly that the air seemed +to throb, came the deep, thunderous, barking roar of a lion, followed +from out of the darkness ahead by the rush and plunge of a startled +horse. + +"Quiet, you cowardly brute, or I'll pull your head off!" came loudly in +Dutch, as a horse somewhere to our left uttered a loud, challenging +neigh. This was answered directly by Denham's charger; and in an +instant a horse in front followed the first horse's example. + +I heard a faint rustle as every man threw his right arm over the reins +to seize the hilt of his sabre, and the feeling of wild excitement began +to rush through me again as I gripped my own and waited for the order to +draw. + +Now the darkness was cut by a bright flash of light right in front; +there was the sharp crack of a rifle, and right and left _flash, crack, +flash, crack_, ran along a line. + +As the first report was heard Denham rose in his stirrups. "Draw +swords!" he yelled; and then, "Gallop!" + +There was the rasping of blades against the scabbards, three or four +closely following digs into the soft sandy ground, with our horses' +muscles quivering beneath us, and then we were off at full speed, +tearing after the outposts, which had wheeled round and galloped back, +while with our sabres at the ready we went straight ahead. + +"Keep together, lads," cried Denham in a low, hoarse voice; but the +order was needless, for, after the manner of their nature, our chargers +hung together; and as we raced along it seemed to me that we should pass +right through the enemy's lines without a check. + +Vain thought! Away in front, as we galloped on, a low, deep hum seemed +to be approaching; and I knew the alarm had spread, and that the Boers +were rapidly preparing for us. More than that, we had convincing proof +that they were prepared. + +Suddenly, flashing, glittering lights, as of hundreds of fireflies +playing about a hedge extending right and left as far as I could see, +began to sparkle and scintillate; but only for a moment, for now came +the crackling roar of irregular firing, the flashes being partially +obscured. Then, in a few brief moments more, we were closing up to the +long line of riflemen. + +"Now for it!" cried Denham close to my loft ear, his voice sounding like +a husky whisper as we raced on knee to knee, and then our horses rose, +as it were, at a fire-tipped hedge to clear the smoke. + +There was a crash, yells of rage and defiance, and we were through, +tearing away with the roar of our long line of galloping horses close +after us. There was no time to think of danger--of shots from the +enemy, or being crushed down by the hoofs of the troopers tearing after +us; all was one wild state of fierce excitement, which made me feel as +if I must shout in triumph at the result of our successful charge. + +Contrary to expectation, there was now a new sound--the buzzing hiss of +bullets overhead. Then, away to my left, yet another peculiar +announcement of what might happen; for, clearly above the heavy thud of +horses' hoofs and the loud jingle of bits and chains, I could hear a +curious _zip, zip, zip, zip_--a sound I had learned to know perfectly +well: it was the striking of the Boers' bullets upon inequalities of the +ground, and their ricochetting to hit again and again, as though a +demoniacal game of "Dick, duck, and drake" were being played upon the +surface of the ground instead of upon the water from off the shore. + +Suddenly some one tore along to the side of our column, and a voice +shouted, followed by the clear notes of a trumpet. + +The horses wanted no touch from rein or spur. Those right and left of +me bore round, and naturally mine went with them. Left incline, and we +tore on still in as wild and reckless a race through the darkness as was +ever ridden by a body of men. + +The bullets overhead buzzed, and the ricochets sounded _zip, zip_; but, +as far as we could tell, no one was hit, nor had a man gone down from +the false stop of a horse. + +Unexpectedly, though, I heard a cry from somewhere behind, then a heavy +fall, and another, as a couple of horses went down, and caused some +confusion; but to stop to help the unfortunates was impossible at such a +time. It was the fortune of war, as we all knew; and we tore on, till a +note from the trumpet rose from our left; then another, and the fierce +gallop was changed to a trot, and evolution after evolution was executed +to bring the retiring regiment into formation of troops. Soon after +this was completed a fresh call brought us to a walk, and directly after +to a halt to breathe the panting horses. + +"Dismount, my lads," cried the Colonel. This order was to enable the +brave beasts to have the full advantage of our halt. + +"Hurt?" was asked excitedly on all sides; but every answer was in the +negative, and we stood there by our troopers and chargers in the +darkness, listening to the wild excitement from the distance. + +The firing was still going on, but in a confused, desultory way; and for +the moment it seemed as if we had made good our escape, and had nothing +to do but mount and ride quietly away. That was how it struck me, and I +said so to Denham. + +"Oh no," he said anxiously. "Didn't you see?" + +"See what?" I asked. + +"Why, we were riding straight on into another body of the enemy after we +had cut through the first." + +"No," I said. "Who could see through this darkness?" + +"Well, I didn't at first; but when the Colonel dashed up with the +trumpeter and turned us off to the left, I looked out for the reason, +and there it was: a long line of the brutes, blazing away in our +direction. You must have heard the bullets." + +"Yes, I heard them," I said, "but I thought they came from behind." + +"Some of them did, my lad, and I'm afraid we've left a good many poor +fellows behind. But them, it can't be helped. The thing now to be +settled is which way we are to go next. Listen; the officers are nearly +all with the chief now, and the whole plain seems to be dotted with the +enemy." + +Denham had hardly done speaking when a movement a short distance from us +resulted in the officers joining their troops and squadrons. Then the +order to mount was passed softly from troop to troop, and we waited for +the little force to be put in motion again. + +"It's of no use for the chief to try the same ruse again," whispered +Denham. "It was right enough as a surprise; but the enemy is on the +alert now. It seems to me we are as completely surrounded as before." + +"Never mind," I said, as cheerily as I could; "we shall do it yet." + +"Oh yes, we shall do it yet," replied my companion; "but it must be done +quietly and quickly, while it's dark. I say, though, what about your +black boy? He couldn't have kept up with our mad gallop." + +"Joeboy?" I said in an excited whisper. "Joeboy? I forgot all about +him;" and a pang of misery shot through me. + +"He was holding on by your saddle--wasn't he?" + +"Yes," I said huskily; "but from the moment I drew my sword and we +charged, I never thought about the poor fellow till you spoke." + +"Advance at a walk!" was the next order; and as we started, the Colonel +came up to where Denham and I rode at one end of the leading troop. + +"Here," cried the Colonel; "where's that Matabele fellow? He may lead +us out of this crowd." + +"Gone, sir," said Denham quietly. "We lost him in the gallop." + +"Tut, tut, tut!" muttered the Colonel; "he would have been more useful +than ever now. Forward at a walk! They can't see us, nor tell us from +one of their friendly troops riding about the veldt. Silence in the +ranks!" + +"He needn't have spoken," said Denham in a low voice, as the Colonel +drew rein and let us pass. "We shall get through yet, as you say." + +However, the odds seemed to be terribly against us, for whichever way we +turned large bodies of the enemy were evidently in front; and after +changing our direction again and again during the next two hours, the +Colonel at last halted the corps. + +"It's of no use," I heard him say to one of the senior officers. "We're +only tiring out the horses and men. We must stand fast till daybreak, +then select our route, make for it, and try what a good charge will do. +We shall clear ourselves then." + +Directly afterwards the order was passed for the men to dismount and +refresh themselves with such water and provisions as they had, and +silence once more reigned among us; for, not far off, large bodies of +the mounted Boers were in motion, and twice we were passed at apparently +some two hundred yards' distance, our presence not being detected. + +"We ought to be able to get through," whispered Denham to me soon after +the second body had gone by. "They must be thinking by this time that +we have got right away. Where do you think we are facing now? North, I +should say." + +"East," I replied, pointing away straight in front. "That's the morning +breaking." + +"For the beginning of another day," said Denham softly. "Well, I shan't +be unhappy when this one's work is done." + +"Nor I," was my reply. "I half-wish we had stayed among the ruins." + +"To be starved," said Denham bitterly. "No; this is far better. It +gives us something to do." + +"Yes," I replied; "and there's some more, for the Colonel's coming up." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +WHAT PEOPLE THINK BRAVE. + +The Colonel was coming up, and it was quite time, for day was breaking +fast, and the black darkness which had been our friend during the night +was gradually dying away. + +There was but one thing to be done: to select the best direction for +making our dash; and, glass in hand, the Colonel stood near us, +carefully scanning the country round. We who were waiting did the same, +and saw the distant hills which seemed to turn the broad plain which had +been the scene of our night's encounter into a vast amphitheatre. It +was too dark yet to make out much of the enemy's position; but right +away to our left, and not many miles distant, was the heavy-looking mass +of the great kopje and the ancient buildings we had left. + +For some time we sat waiting, with the grey dawn broadening, and at last +I could clearly make out bodies of the mounted Boers in nearly every +direction; while, as I still scanned the distance, I gradually grew less +surprised that we were evidently so thoroughly hemmed in, for the plain +seemed to be alive with the enemy, though the nearest party must have +been about half a mile off. Still there was no movement on the part of +the enemy towards us, as doubtless, in the dim morning light, our +dust-coloured jackets and broad-brimmed felts caused us to be mistaken +for some of their own people. + +However, it was only a few minutes before a change took place. The +Colonel had made up his mind, and the horses' heads were turned for the +open country, where there was a gap in the hills; and away we went at a +steady walk, orders being given for the corps to break up its regular +military order and ride scattered in a crowd, after the fashion of our +enemies. This served us for a few minutes, during which we covered a +mile in the direction we were to go; but the light had grown stronger, +and it became evident that a body on our right was moving slowly to cut +us off. Before another minute had passed another body was advancing +from the left; and, ignorant as I was of military evolutions, it was +plain enough to me that, long before we reached them, the two bodies +would meet and join in line to impede our advance. + +I was right, though I did not feel certain; for the orders were given, +"Trot!" and then "Gallop!" and away we went for the closing-up gap in +front. + +"We shall never do it," said Denham to me as we galloped on. + +"We must," I cried, and then no more words were spoken. To a man we +knew, as we went along at a steady hand-gallop, that every body of Boers +within sight was aware of what was going on, and moving forward to take +us in a gigantic net whose open meshes were closing in. + +There was no cheer, but a savage sound as if every man had suddenly +uttered the word "Ha!" in token of his satisfaction; for, as the two +bodies of the enemy in front were racing over the veldt to meet and +crush us as we tried to get through, our trumpeter sounded a blast which +sent us along at full speed; and then another call was blown, and we +swept round till, going at right angles to our former course, we were +riding exactly in the opposite direction to the detachment of Boers on +the right. Our object was, of course, to get round by their rear; and, +being an irregular and only partially drilled body, the result of the +Colonel's manoeuvre was that the enemy, in their efforts to reverse +their advance, fell into confusion. Some were trying to pull up, others +tried to sweep round to right or left and meet us; while, to add to +their confusion and turn them into a mob of galloping horsemen, the left +body charged full among their own men. The result was that we came upon +the struggling rear of the enemy's right wing, scattering and riding +over them; and had the country beyond been clear, we could have made our +escape. + +Unluckily it was the fortune, of war that, just as we had cleared the +scattering mob, with every man riding for his life, there appeared in +front another and stronger line, with bodies of the enemy coming in from +right and left. + +Our chief turned in his saddle to glance backward; but it was only to +see the two bodies we had passed struggling to got into something like +order, so as to pursue us. For another minute no alteration was made in +our course; but the attempt was hopeless, for we should have been +outnumbered twenty times over, while the enemy in front now opened fire, +their bullets whizzing overhead. + +The trumpet rang out, and we wheeled round as upon a pivot, our +well-drilled horses never losing their formation; and away we went as +soon as we were facing our loosely-formed, mob-like pursuers, straight +for their centre. + +The trumpet again rang out; and, sword in hand, every man sat well down +in his saddle, prepared for the shock of the encounter which in another +minute would have taken place. + +This, however, was not the style of fighting the Boers liked; and, +already upset by the collision of the two bodies resulting in a confused +mob, they declined our challenge, and pulled up, tried to ride off to +right and left, and again got themselves into a disorderly crowd; but as +they opened out we dashed through them, tumbling over men and horses, +and with, a cheer galloped to reach an open part of the plain. + +It was a wild and exciting rush before we got through; and I have but +little recollection of what took place beyond the fact that I struck out +right and left in melee after melee, wherein blows were aimed at us with +the butts and barrels of rifles, and shots fired at close quarters, but +in almost every case I believe without effect. Then the call rang out, +"Halt!" and, with our enemies at a distance, we formed up again, to give +our panting horses breathing-time. + +It was then, I remember, that Denham--who had not been missed--almost +breathless, and with uncovered head, edged in to my side, and as soon as +he was able to speak panted out: + +"Glorious, Val! Glorious! Oh! we did let them have it; but there's +nothing for it except to die game or surrender, and I'll be hanged if +I'll do either, and so I tell them." + +"Which way are we going now?" I said, taking off my soft hat and +offering it to him, as I wiped the perspiration from my face with my +hand. + +"Do you want to insult a fellow?" he cried, laughing. "Who's going to +wear your old hats?" Then, seriously: "No, no; keep it, old chap. +Which way next? Who knows? I'm sure the Colonel doesn't. It's all +chance. I don't like running; but run we must if they'll only open a +hole for us." + +"It's horrible," I said. + +"Not a bit of it. They're getting it worse than we are." + +"Yes; but look at their numbers." + +"I've been looking, old fellow, and there's more than I can count. I +didn't think there were so many Doppies in the country. There are too +many for us to kill, and so many that they won't run away. Why, we're +nowhere. Yah! Cowards! That's the Boer all over. Look at them, lying +down at a distance to pick us off. I don't call that fighting. Oh, +Colonel, Colonel, this won't do!" + +He said the words to me, and the men within hearing laughed. There was, +however, good cause for Denham's words, the bullets beginning to fall +about us, aimed from different directions; and it was quite plain that, +if we stood grouped together in troops, it would not be long before a +perfect hail of bullets would be pattering among us, many of them going +straight to their goals, and decimating our little force, or worse. + +The officers needed no telling; and in a few minutes we were off again, +first in one direction, then in another, our leader giving up as +hopeless the idea of making straight for any particular opening in the +dense ranks, but picking out the smaller parties of the enemy--that is +to say, mobs not more than double our own strength; and when we could +get within striking distance they were punished and scattered like chaff +before the wind, in spite of the scattered volleys they sent at us +before they fled. + +This could not last, of course, for it was always at the cost of some of +our poor fellows and of many horses, who had to be left to fall into the +enemy's hands. + +At last we managed to charge home right into a body of our foes at least +three times our strength--numerous enough, in fact, to surround us as we +fought our way through them, thus rendering us more and more helpless; +but our men fought desperately, till about half of the corps forced +their way through, and, making an attempt to keep well in formation, +dashed on. + +I was with about a dozen quite fifty yards in the rear, half-mad with +pain and excitement, for one of the Boers had clubbed his rifle in the +midst of the melee and struck at my head. I was too quick for him, +wrenching myself sidewise; but the rifle glanced all down one side, +giving me for the moment a terrible numbing sense of pain. Yet my head +was quite clear, and I rode on, feeling a wild kind of exhilaration from +the knowledge that with one quick thrust I had passed my sword through +his shoulder. Now I was urging on poor bruised and frightened Sandho to +keep up with the dozen or so of our men who were trying to overtake the +main body. We were in no formation, only a galloping party; and, +consequent upon my injury, I was last. As we tore on we passed one of +the corps trying to drag himself from under his fallen horse, which was +lying across his legs. I couldn't let him lie like that; so I pulled +up, leaped down, and, shouting to Sandho to stand, dashed at the fallen +and wounded horse's head, caught him by the bit, and dragged at him to +make him rise. The poor beast made a desperate effort, and got upon +three legs; but sank back again with a piteous groan, for it had stepped +into some burrow and snapped its off hind-leg right in two. However, +the horse's effort had saved its rider, who struggled to his feet, his +face blackened with powder and bleeding, and passed his hand across his +eyes. To my astonishment I saw who it was, the long drooping moustache +telling me in spite of his disfigured face. + +"Well done!" he said hoarsely; "but I'm hurt, and you can't help me. +Mount and be off. I'm done." + +I glanced behind me, and saw that the Boers were getting together again +as if to come in pursuit, while a long line was coming up from the left +at a steady trot, and bullets were whizzing by. It was only a momentary +glance to see what our chances were; and in answer to the Colonel's +words I shouted to Sandho to come round to my side. + +"Poor wretch!" groaned the Colonel; "you've done your part. I can't see +you suffer like this;" and, to my horror, he took out his revolver, +placed it to his charger's forehead, and fired. The shot had a double +effect that was nearly fatal to our chance, for at the clear-cutting +report the Colonel's charger laid his head slowly down, and a quiver ran +through his frame; but Sandho reared up, made a bound, and was in the +act of dashing off. Almost instinctively I gave out a shrill whistle, +which brought him up, and he trotted back to my side. + +"Now," I cried, half-wild with excitement and the feeling of exaltation +which had come over me, "mount and gallop after our men." + +"What! No, boy, I can't do that," he said, smiling, as he clapped me on +the shoulder. "I've played my part, and if it means exit I'll go off +the stage like a man, for I suppose the brutes will shoot me for what +I've done." + +"Nonsense!" I cried, wildly now. "Jump on, and gallop." + +"No," he said, recocking his revolver. "Mount, my lad, and ride for +your life." + +"I won't," I said. "You get up and go." + +"What!" he shouted, with his face lowering. "Mount, sir. I order you." + +"Don't be a fool," I yelled at him. "They'll be after us directly. +There, some of them are firing already. Get up, or you'll lose my poor +old horse." + +He turned upon me in a rage, with his revolver raised. + +"Bah!" he cried. Then a change came over him, and he turned to look +back at the enemy. "Can you run?" he said. "I can't; my right leg's +cut." + +That was plain enough, for his breeches were gashed above the knee, and +there was a great patch of blood spreading. + +"Yes, I can run," I said stubbornly; "but I won't." + +"You shall," he said, as he thrust his foot into the stirrup and swung +himself up on Sandho's back. "Now then, on my right here. Catch hold +of the holster-strap, and we'll escape together, or fall: the brave lad +and the fool." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +I HAVE MY DOUBTS. + +"Too late; too late," I muttered through my teeth as, sword in hand, I +made a bound to keep up with Sandho, who dashed forward. It was lucky +for me I did so; as it was, I nearly lost my hold. The poor beast had +been sadly punished in the melee; and between temper and dread he was +hardly controllable, and bearing hard against the curb in a wild desire +to rush off. In fact, I fully expected at any moment to be shaken from +my grasp, as, oddly enough, even in that time of peril, I recalled the +gymnastic sport of giant strides of my schooldays, and held on; but I +was certain we were now too late, and that it was only a matter of +moments before we should be overtaken and cut down or taken prisoners by +a strong party of the Boers who were in full pursuit. + +Then my exaltation increased, and I thought that Sandho would be able to +go faster if relieved of my clinging hand, and so save the Colonel; and +in another instant I should have let go, when--as he told me +afterwards--the Colonel seemed to divine my thoughts, and I felt his +sword strike against my back as it hung loosely by the knot to his +wrist, while his strong right hand was thrust under and gripped my +leather cartridge-belt. + +"Hold on tightly, my lad, and we'll do it somehow," he cried. + +These words drove all the heroic thoughts out of my brain, and I tried +to look back to see how near our pursuers were; but I could not turn my +head round, but only listen to the shouts, while _crack, crack, crack_ +came the reports of rifles--badly aimed by the mounted men, who fired +from the saddle, holding their weapons pistol-wise--the bullets from +which went whizzing and buzzing past our ears. + +"It's all over," I thought, and a deep sense of depression was coming on +at the thought of the Colonel falling wounded and a prisoner into the +Boers' hands; but the depression was only momentary, being chased away +by a wild feeling of excitement as I thought I had misjudged the gallant +lads of the Light Horse. For as soon as they had pulled themselves +together, under command of their remaining officers, and had discovered +the loss of their chief, in response to our Major's orders they drew +rein and divided into two squadrons, which swung round into line, with a +short distance between them, and gallantly charged down upon our +pursuers. + +They were none too soon. I remember feeling a strange choking sensation +as, with a wild cheer, they swept round us, and, sword in hand, rode +over and cut down those of the enemy who stopped to face them, the +majority taking flight. Then our men came thundering back, seeming to +sweep us up and carry us along with them, while the Boers in our rear +and on both sides began to fire at our hurrying troopers. + +I was nearly breathless, and must have dropped but for the Colonel's +strong grasp; and I was curiously giddy till I heard his voice just +above me give the word for the men to halt. His orders were echoed by +the troop-leaders, who and the racing retreat was checked. + +"Bring one of those horses here for me," shouted the Colonel; and I now +noticed that just ahead were half-a-dozen of the brave beasts whose +saddles had been emptied but had kept their places in retreat, charge, +and retreat again. + +"That's right," cried the Colonel as he released my belt, so that I +stood, hardly able to keep my feet as, with swimming eyes, I saw him +stagger forward and mount the fresh charger, though evidently +experiencing great suffering. + +"Now then, my lad--Moray--what's your name?--mount." + +His words seemed to galvanise and bring me back to a knowledge of my +position, while Sandho helped to rouse me by turning and coming close +up. + +I hardly know how I did it, but I managed to climb into the saddle, and +from that moment, as we cantered away together, with the bullets +whizzing after us, the terrible burning sensation of exhaustion from +which I suffered began to die out, and the throbbing of my brain +steadied down. + +"What are we going to do now, Denham?" I said at last, as, gazing +straight ahead, I leaned over a little towards the left. + +"Eh? Denham?" said a voice. "I'm not--" + +"Ah!" I cried excitedly; "don't, say the Lieutenant's down!" + +"Well, I won't if you don't want me to," said the private at my side; +"but he is, and pretty well half our poor fellows too." + +I uttered a groan, and down came the horrible feeling of depression +again--a feeling I now knew to mean despair. + +"Can't be helped," continued my fellow-trooper. "We've fought as plucky +a fight as could be; but they've been too many for us, and I suppose we +shall have to surrender at last, or all be shot down. Ah! there goes +another," he cried. "No; it's only one of the empty saddle-horses." + +As we swept past it, I looked at the poor beast struggling to get upon +its feet again; and then it was in our rear, and my companion said +bitterly the one word, "Down!" + +"Why, that's the old fort and the kopje yonder, a mile ahead," I said +suddenly. "Are we going there?" + +"Eh? Yes, I suppose so," was the reply, "if the Doppies'll let us. +They're coming on again." + +He was quite right, for upon glancing to my left I could see a perfect +swarm of the Boers galloping as if to cut us off, while I learned from +the right that they were also coming on there. Then came the news that +they were advancing in force behind; and from that moment the crackling +of rifle-fire ceased, and it became a hard ride for the haven of +comparative safety ahead. + +"They'll reach the old place just about the same time as we do," said my +companion on the left, "unless something's done." + +Something, however, was done, for the Colonel seemed to have recovered +himself, so that he was ready for the emergency; and as we neared the +place that offered safety he gave his orders, and these were cleverly +carried out. Half of our flying troops drew rein and faced round, +unslung the rifles from their shoulders, and proceeded to fire volley +after volley with terrible effect upon the nearest of the Boers. Then +this troop retired past the other one in reserve, who had halted to take +their turn, and another half-dozen well-aimed volleys went hurtling +through the Boer ranks with such terrible effect upon horse and man +that, upon the repetition of the evolution, the pursuit was checked, and +the enemy began firing in turn. + +We were in rapid motion again, so their shots had no effect; and a +little more firing enabled us to reach and dash round the great walls to +the entrance to the old fort, where our men sprang from their horses, +which filed into safety of their own accord, while their riders put in +practice the Boers' tactics, seeking the shelter of fallen stones and +mounting the great walls, the steady fire from the ruins soon sufficing +to send our enemies cantering back. + +"Water for the horses at once," cried the Colonel as he entered the +court, where I was standing examining poor Sandho. "Ah, Moray!" he said +as he saw me; "not hurt, I hope?" + +"Only battered and bruised, sir," I said. "Nothing serious." + +"Humph! I'm glad of it, boy. You did splendidly. But I'm a fool, am +I?" + +My words, uttered in the wild excitement of our adventure, had slipped +but of my memory; and as he brought them back to my mind so suddenly, I +stood staring at him as if thunder-struck. + +"A nice way to address your commanding officer! Why, you insolent, +mutinous young dog! you ought to be court-martialled. What do you +mean!" + +"Not that, sir," I said, recovering myself. "I was half-mad with pain +and excitement then, and I wanted to save your life." + +"Yes, I know; I know," he said, changing his manner. "I forgive you, +for no one else heard; and now, thank you, my lad; thank you. If I +survive to write to my poor wife and girls again, I shall tell them when +they pray for me to put the name of some one else in their prayers--the +some one who saved my life. Thank you, my lad, and God bless you!" + +I felt astonished and at the same time overcome by his words, and in my +confusion could not find words to reply, till, lowering my eyes, I found +exactly what I ought to say; for they fell upon the great patch of +blood-stain which had been spreading terribly upon his right leg, till +his knee was suffused, and ugly marks were visible right down his brown +leather boot. + +In an instant my hand went up to my throat, and I loosened the silk +handkerchief knotted there. + +"Your wound's bleeding dreadfully, sir; let me tie it up." + +"No, no; not till I've seen to the men, my lad," he replied peevishly as +he turned away, only, however, to turn back. + +"Yes," he said, with a smile; "thanks, lad. First aid, and--here! +Water, some one. Ugh! I feel sick as a dog." + +I caught hold of him and saved him from falling by lowering him down +upon a stone, just as there was the soft _pad, pad_ of naked feet behind +me, and a familiar voice said: + +"Water, Boss. Here water, sah!" + +"Joeboy!" I whispered as I turned and caught a waterbottle from an +extended black hand. "You here!" + +"Um? Yes, Boss Val. Couldn't run no more, and come away back." + +I handed the water to the Colonel, who drank with avidity; then I +tightly bound up the cut on his leg, for he impatiently refused to have +it examined by one of the officers who had hurried up; and then, as soon +as I was at liberty, I turned to the black. + +"Have you seen the Lieutenant, Joeboy?" I said excitedly. + +"Um? Boss Denham!" he replied. "No; all a rush and gallop. Lost Boss +Denham. Lost Boss Val. Lost ebberybody. Joeboy said, `All come back +to water. Boss Denham come soon.'" + +"I pray to Heaven he may!" I said sadly; but I had my doubts. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +MAKING THE BEST OF IT. + +That was a terrible night which followed. We had plenty of water; but +our scraps of food were sadly inadequate for the wants of the men, who, +many of them wounded, were sick and despondent, and dropped down here +and there to fall asleep as soon as their injuries were roughly dressed. +Meanwhile the walls were as strongly manned as could be contrived under +the circumstances; and the weary horses were now watered and given the +last handful of grain in the bags, after which they stood snuffing about +among the stones, every now and then uttering an impatient neigh--Sandho +as bad as any of them, though he had fared better, for I had given him +half my biscuits and a piece of bread-cake. + +By nightfall the entrance had been strongly fortified with a massive +wall of stones, a narrow side-opening being left, large enough to admit +any straggler who might manage to reach our camp; and then all but the +sentries, after a last look at the Boers' fires in the distance, lay +down anywhere to sleep; but pain and weariness kept me as wakeful as a +group of officers, among whose voices I was glad to hear that of +Sergeant Briggs, who spoke the most cheerily of them all. + +"If you'll not mind, gentlemen," he said, "I should like to say that our +position isn't so bad as you think." + +"Why, it couldn't be worse," said the Major. + +"Begging your pardon, sir, yes," said Sergeant Briggs. "We've plenty of +water, and our marksmen can keep the Boers at a distance as long as you +like. They won't face our rifles." + +"But the horses, man!" + +"They can be taken out to graze, sir, covered by our rifle-fire. +There's a good patch of green out yonder." + +"But we can't go and graze," said another officer. + +"No, sir; but we shall be hungry enough by to-morrow night to be ready +for a raid on the Boers' provision wagons. There'll be plenty, and we +must cut one out, fasten a dozen reins to it, and bring it up here." + +"Humph! We might try," said the Major. + +"And we will," said one of our captains. "Why, we might capture some of +their ammunition too," he added. + +"Yes, sir. They've got pack-mules with their small-arms ammunition; and +with a bit of scheming and a night surprise it might be done," said the +Sergeant. "And there's another thing I had my eyes on to-day." + +"What's that, Briggs?" said the Major. + +"A train of bullocks, sir; and if one of you gentlemen can shoot the +train with a field-glass just before sunset to-morrow night, if we're +here, and give me half-a-dozen men and that black chap as come along +with young Mr Moray, I shouldn't wonder if we had grilled steak for +supper just by way of a change." + +"Why, Sergeant," cried the Major, "if you're not our adjutant before +this war's over it shan't be my fault." + +"Thank ye, sir," said Briggs stolidly; "but I should like to get the +beef for the boys and a load of mealies for the horses before we talk +about that. And now, if you wouldn't mind, I'll have a couple of hours' +sleep." + +I felt for a few minutes so much brightened up that I was ready to go +off too; but the thoughts of poor Denham lying out dead or wounded +somewhere on the veldt kept me awake, and I was in greater pain than +ever from the blow I had received. And there I lay in my misery till +about midnight, when there was an alarm from the sentries of horsemen +approaching, and I sprang to my feet. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +"IL FAUT MANGER." + +I felt dizzy, and every movement was painful when I arose. The air was +so cold that I was half-numbed; and in addition to my bruised side I +ached from the tightness of my belts, and my sword-hilt and revolver +seemed to have made great dents into my flesh. However, with an effort +I lifted my rifle, which had been my bedfellow on the sandy earth, and +hurriedly joined the others in making good the defence of the great +gateway, with its newly-made protecting screen of stones. + +There was no desperate encounter, however, to send the blood rushing +through our veins; for, as we reached the entrance, we heard the men on +duty removing stones while they carried on a desultory conversation with +the new arrivals; and directly afterwards a thrill of joy ran through +me, and a curious choking sensation rose in my throat, for somewhere in +front where it was darkest I heard the Major say: + +"That's grand news, Denham--thirty of you, and forty horses?" + +Then his voice was drowned in the loud, spontaneous cheer which rose +from those about me, in which at the moment I felt too weak to join. + +"Here, get in, all of you," cried the Major as soon as he could make +himself heard. "You're sure there is no pursuit?" + +"Quite," came in Denham's familiar voice. "We have had a very long +round since we wore cut off, and have not heard a soul as we came +through the darkness." + +"How about wounds?" said the Major. + +"Pretty tidy, sir," said Denham. "The poor horses have got the worst of +it. But we're all starving, and choked with thirst." + +"We can manage water for you," said the Major; "but I'm afraid to say +anything about food." + +"Never mind," said Denham cheerfully; and then he seemed to turn away, +for his voice sounded distant as he said--to the men with him, of +course--"Tighten your belts another hole, lads. We'll forage for food +to-morrow." + +"That we will," cried the Major; and then out of the darkness came the +trampling of horses' feet, followed by a few neighs, which were answered +from where the horses stood together in the court. Meanwhile I tried to +get to the front, but could not, and had to wait till the men began to +file in after the homes; but at last I heard Denham's voice again. + +"Not a bad wound?" he said. + +"A nasty but clean cut from some Boer who had one of our swords." + +"But tell me," said Denham eagerly--"young Val Moray? Did he get in +safely?" + +"Any one would think he was a cousin or brother," said the Major +pettishly. "Yes, he managed all right, after giving up his horse to the +Colonel and getting him in after he had been down." + +"Val did?" cried Denham eagerly. "I am glad!" + +I did not wait to hear any more, and did not try to force my way through +the dense pack of our men, but worked hard to get back to the spot where +I had been lying down; and upon reaching it, with the satisfactory +feeling that there was to be no more fighting that night, I dropped into +my old place, after shifting hilt and belt so as not to lie upon them +again. Then, in spite of hunger and pain, a comfortable and +exhilarating sensation stole over me, which I did not know to be the +approach of sleep till I was roused by the reveille, and sprang up in a +sitting posture, when the first man my eyes fell on was Denham, who was +peering about among the troopers as if for something he had lost. + +"Oh, there you are!" he cried as he caught sight of me; and the next +minute we were standing together, hand grasping hand. + +"Denham, old fellow," I said huskily, "I thought you were either a +prisoner or dead." + +"Not a bit of it," he replied; "but it wasn't the Boers' fault. Just +look at my head." + +"I was looking," I said, for a closely-folded handkerchief was tied +diagonally across his forehead. "Is the cut deep?" + +"Deep? No," he replied. "Deep as the beast could make it--that is, to +the bone. I say, what a blessing it is to have a thick skull! My old +schoolmaster used to tell me I was a blockhead, and I thought he was +wrong; but he was right enough, or I shouldn't be here." + +"The loss is bad enough without that," I replied. + +"Horrible; but they've paid dearly for it," he said. "But I say, what +about rations? We can't starve." + +I told him what I had overheard during the officers' talk with the +Sergeant. + +"Yes," said Denham peevishly; "but that means waiting till to-morrow +morning. We must make a sally and get something." + +"I wish we could," I said, for now that my mind was at rest I felt +ravenously hungry. "Hullo! what's going on there?" + +Denham turned sharply, and, to our astonishment, Sergeant Briggs was +coming from the gate leading half-a-dozen men stripped to shirt and +breeches, carrying in half-quarters of some newly-killed animal. + +"Why, hullo!" I cried, "what luck! They've found and been slaughtering +an ox." + +"Yes," said Denham dryly, "and there's more meat out yonder. We shan't +starve. I'd forgotten." + +"Forgotten! Forgotten what?" + +"It isn't beef," he said quietly. "It's big antelope." + +"What! eland?" I cried joyously. + +"No; the big, solid-hoofed antelope that eats like nylghau or quagga." + +"What do you mean?" I said wonderingly, as I mentally ran over all the +varieties of antelope I had seen away on the veldt. + +"The big sort with iron soles to their hoofs. Two poor brutes, bleeding +to death, dropped about a hundred yards away as we came in last night." + +"Horse!" I exclaimed. "Ugh!" + +"Oh yes, it's all very well to say `Ugh!' old proud stomach; but I feel +ready to sit down to equine sirloin and enjoy it. Why shouldn't horse +be as good as ox or any of the antelopes of the veldt? You wouldn't +turn up your nose at any of them." + +"But horse!" I said. "It seems so--so--so--" + +"So what? Oh, my grandmother! There isn't a more dainty feeder than a +horse. Why, he won't even drink dirty water unless he's pretty well +choking with thirst. Horse? Why, I wouldn't refuse a well-cooked bit +of the toughest old moke that ever dragged a cart." + +"But what about fire?" I said. + +"Oh, there's plenty of stuff of one kind and another to get a fire +together. They break up a box to start it, and then keep it going with +bones and veldt fuel. Look; they're coming in with a lot now." + +"I say," I cried, as a sudden thought struck me. "Here, Sergeant!" + +"What do you say?" cried Denham. + +I said it to the Sergeant, proposing that he should make a roasting fire +under the chimney of the old furnace; and as I spoke his face expanded +into a genial smile. + +"Splendid!" he said, and hurried away to shout to Joeboy; and in a very +short time the smoke was rolling out of the top of the furnace chimney +for probably the first time since the ancient race of miners ceased to +smelt their gold-ore in the place marked on the maps of over a century +ago as the Land of Ophir, but which has lain forgotten since, till our +travellers rediscovered it within the last score of years. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +A VERY WILD SCHEME. + +"Well," said Denham some two hours later, "it isn't bad when a fellow's +hungry." + +"No," I agreed, speaking a little dubiously; "but it would have been +much better if we had not known what we were eating." I did not hear +any other opinions; for the men were ravenously hungry when the cooking +was over, and we had all so many other things to think about. + +It had been a very busy morning. Wounds had to be dressed, the +uninjured had the task of strengthening the force upon the walls, and +another party led the horses out a quarter of a mile to graze. This +they were allowed to do in peace, the Boers paying no heed to the +proceedings. Then the lookouts, who were furnished with the officers' +glasses, gave warning that strong parties were quietly on the move about +a mile away--evidently making a circuit for the purpose of disarming our +suspicions--with the intention of swooping round and cutting off the +grazing horses. But, as Denham said, they had not all the cunning on +their side, for we had taken our precautions. A red flag was hung out, +and in answer to the signal the horses were headed in for the gateway at +once. + +That was sufficient. The Boers, instead of riding along across our +position, suddenly swooped round, and came on, five hundred strong, at +full gallop, getting so near that they would have cut off some of our +valuable horses had not fire been opened upon them from the walls, quite +in accordance with the Boers' own tactics; our men lying down and taking +deliberate aim, with the result that saddles were emptied and horses +galloping riderless in all directions. + +However, the party gradually came nearer, till they found that our +firing grew hotter and more true; then, utterly discouraged by its +deadly effect, they wheeled round again, and went off as hard as their +horses could gallop. + +"Let them try the same ruse again," said the Colonel, as he turned from +where he had limped to watch the little action, and stood closing his +glass. "Let them come again if they like; but they had the worst of it +this time. Splendidly done, my lads! Excellent!" + +The Boers rode right away, then turned and rode back as if about to +renew the attack; but suddenly they drew rein, and a small body came on +at a canter, one of them waving a handkerchief. + +"Yes," said the Colonel sternly. "Hold your fire, my lads; they want to +pick up their wounded." + +This was soon proved to be the case, and we looked on, thinking how much +better their wounded fared than did ours. + +"Yes," said Denham when I said something of the kind to him; "but I hope +they are behaving decently to our poor lads, wounded and prisoners. +Let's give them credit for a little humanity." + +The Colonel waited till the enemy had retired with their injured men, +leaving a couple of dead horses on the plain. Already I could see that +the carrion-birds had caught sight of the dead, and were winging their +way to an anticipated feast; but they were disappointed, for the order +had been given, and the horses were being led out again to graze, while +four men, with strong raw-hide plaited reins attached to their saddles, +rode out quickly to play the part of butchers to the beleaguered force, +and shortly after came slowly back drawing a fresh supply of meat for +the garrison. Then the vultures descended to clear away everything +left. + +"It makes one shudder," said Denham to me as we sat perched upon a +broken portion of the wall, resting after the previous day's exertion, +and nursing our rifles. + +"Why?" I said, though I felt that I knew what he was about to say. + +"Makes one think how it would be if one lay somewhere out on the veldt, +dead and forgotten after a fight." + +"Bah! Don't talk about it," I cried. + +"Can't help it," he replied. "It makes me want to practise my shooting +upon those loathsome crows." + +"Why should you?" I replied. "They are only acting according to their +nature, and--Hullo! Look yonder; what's the matter with the baboons?" + +Away to our left a loud chattering had begun amongst the ridges of +ironstone and blocks of granite which formed the kopje. The drove, +herd, flock, family, or whatever it was, of the dog-faced apes was +running here and there, chattering, grimacing, and evidently in a great +state of excitement. There were some five or six big fellows, evidently +the leaders, and these kept on making rushes right down to the bottom of +the stones, followed by others; while the females with their young, +which they hugged to their sides in a curiously human way, kept back, +partly in hiding, but evidently watching the males, and keeping up a +chorus of chattering. + +"Why, the beggars are going to attack our butchers." + +"Yes; but they think better of it," I said, laughing; for the leaders of +the troop turned back and began leaping up the hill again, but only to +come charging down once more to the bottom of their little stony home, +and stand chattering and grimacing menacingly. + +"They're hungry," said Denham. + +"Oh no, I don't think they'd behave as badly as we do," I replied. "I +don't think they'd eat horse." + +"What do they eat, then?" + +"It always seemed to me when I've seen them that they ate fruit, nuts, +and corn. There used to be a pack of them in a big kopje not far from +our place, and they would come down and make raids upon the farm till we +had to make it too hot for them with small-shot, and then they went +right away." + +"They don't like to see those horses dragged in," replied Denham. + +"Not used to it," I said. "There, they are going back into hiding now." + +The horses had now been drawn in to be treated as if they were oxen, and +in a few minutes not one of the baboons was to be seen. There were two +or three alarms in the course of the day, but no direct attack; and the +whole of the horses had a good long graze, the vegetation after the late +rains being fairly abundant in places, though for the most part the +veldt in the neighbourhood of the old fortress was very dry and bare. +There was abundance of water, however, for a stone tied to the end of +four reins carefully joined did not suffice to plumb the well-like hole. + +That evening, as Denham and I sat playing the part of voluntary sentry, +my companion lent me his glass to watch the distant troops of Boers, +which I did diligently. We were seated on the top of the wall, for the +simple reason that both of us were terribly stiff and bruised, and +consequently extremely disinclined to stir. Then I uttered a loud +exclamation. + +"What's the matter?" said Denham quickly. + +"Take the glass," I said; "the sloping sun lights up that part clearly. +There, sight it upon the line below that flat-topped hill in the +distance." + +"Yes," he said, taking the glass and focussing it to suit. "What of it? +Boers, Boers, hundreds of Boers." + +"But there's something in motion." + +"Ah! Yes, I see now: one, two--why, there must be half-a-dozen +ox-wagons with long teams." + +"What does that mean?" I said. + +"Ox-wagons." + +"Yes; but what are they laden with?" + +"I dunno," he said, peering through the glass. + +"Corn for the horses; provisions for the Boers' camp." + +"Of course! Oh dear, if we could only get one of them across here!" + +"Well, could it be done?" I said. + +Denham shook his head. + +"It could only be done in the dark. You mean stampede the bullocks; but +they'd be outspanned at night, and we could never get them inspanned and +away without being beaten off.--Can't see it, Solomon the Wise." + +"It does seem difficult," I assented. + +"Yes; and, suppose we had got a team hitched on all right, see how they +move: two miles an hour generally. But it does look tempting." + +"But we might get a team of oxen away without a wagon by making a bold +dash." + +"Might," replied Denham; "but bullocks are miserably obstinate brutes to +drive. It would mean a good supply of beef, though--wouldn't it?" + +"Splendid." + +"Yes; but we want meal too. I say, I dare say there's coffee and sugar +in those wagons as well." + +"Most likely," I said; "the Boers like eating and drinking." + +"The pigs! Yes, and we're to starve. I say, couldn't we make a bold +night-attack and drive them away, compelling them to leave their +stores?" + +"Well, after last night's experience I should say, `No; we could not,'" +I replied. + +"You're quite right, Val," said Denham, with a sigh. "Hullo! here's +your black Cupid come up to have a look at us." + +For Joeboy, whom a good hearty meal had made very shiny and +happy-looking, came climbing up to where we sat, and stood looking down +at us as if waiting for orders. + +"Here, Joeboy," I said; "look through this." + +"Um? Yes, Boss," he said; and, from long usage when out hunting with my +father or with me, he took the glass handily and sat down to scan the +distant Boer line. + +"Lot o' Doppie," he said in a low tone, as if talking to himself. "Lot +o' horse feeding; lot o' wagon and bullock. Plenty mealie, coffee, +sugar." + +"Yes, Joeboy," I said; "and we want one of those wagons and teams." + +"Um? Yes, Boss," he said thoughtfully, without taking his eyes from the +glass. "Joeboy know how." + +"You do?" said Denham quickly. "Tell us, then." + +"Boss Colonel send Boss Val and hundred sojer fetch um." + +"It wouldn't do, Joeboy," I said sadly. "There would be another big +fight, and we should lose a lot of men and horses without getting the +wagon." + +"Um? Yes. Too many Doppie." + +"That's right, Shiny," said Denham. + +"Yes," I said; "we must wait till we see a team making for the kopje, +and then the Colonel can send out a party and cut them off." + +"Then the Boer General will send out a bigger party and cut us off," +said Denham bitterly. "I don't want another set-to like yesterday's for +a week or so. So we must take to horse and water for the present, I +suppose." + +"Joeboy know," said the black, with his eyes still fixed on the glass. + +"You know?" I cried, staring at the black's calm, imperturbable +countenance. + +"Um? Yes." + +"Why, what could be done?" I said, excited by the black's cool and +confident way, knowing as I did from old experience how full of +ingenuity the brave fellow was. + +"Um?" he said thoughtfully, as he still watched the Boer lines. "No +good to fight; Doppie too many." + +"Yes," said Denham impatiently. "You said so before." + +"Um?" said Joeboy, taking his eyes from the glass a moment or two to +glance at the speaker, but turning away and raising the glass again; +"Joeboy know." + +"Let's have it, then," said Denham, "for hang me if I can see how it +could be done." + +"Big fool black fellow drive wagon," said Joeboy, still gazing through +the glass, as if he could see those of whom he spoke. "'Nother big fool +black fellow vorloper. Both fast sleep under wagon. Boss Val talk like +Boer: double-Dutch." + +"Is that right?" said Denham. + +"Oh yes," I said. "I can speak like a Boer if it is necessary." + +"Um? Yes," said Joeboy quietly. "Think Doppie talky, Boss Val take +Joeboy and go in a dark night up to wagon. Stoop down and kick big +black fool driver and big black fool vorloper. `Get up!' he say. `Want +sleep alway? Get up, big fool! Trek!'" + +"What?" I cried excitedly. + +"Um? Talk like Doppie, Boss Val talk. Big fool get up an' inspan. +Boss Val get up on box an' keep call driver big black fool, like Doppie. +Joeboy walk 'long o' vorloper. Tell 'im Joeboy 'tick assagai in um +back if he talk, and drive right 'way." + +"Ha!" I said, with a heavy expiration of the breath. "But do you +understand what he means?" + +"Oh yes, I understand," said Denham, laughing; "but where are the +Doppies going to be all the while?" + +"Lying somewhere about, of course, asleep," I said excitedly; "but there +would be no sentries over the wagons; and, as he says, the black +foreloper and driver would be sleeping underneath." + +"Oh, that's right enough," said Denham impatiently. "But the noise, the +rattle of the wagon, the getting of the oxen, and all the rest of it?" + +"The oxen would be all lying down with the trek-rope between them, and +they'll quietly do what their black driver and foreloper wish. I think +it could be done." + +"My dear boy, it's madness." + +"It isn't," I said angrily. "Joeboy is right, and a trick like this +would perhaps succeed when force would fail. We must capture one of +those wagons." + +"Oh, I'd have the lot while I was about it," cried Denham, laughing. + +"Be sensible," I cried pettishly. "Joeboy is right. Can't you see that +it is the sheer impudence of the thing that would carry it through?" + +"No, old chap," he replied; "that I can't." + +"Well, I can," I said firmly. "The black driver and foreloper could be +roused out of their sleep, and they take it as a matter of course that +they were to drive the wagon somewhere else, and obey at once, +especially if they are hurried by some one who speaks like a Boer." + +"Well, I grant that's possible," said Denham; "but what about the Boer +sentries and outposts? They'd stop you before you'd gone straight away +for a hundred yards." + +"I shouldn't go straight away," I said, "but along by the front; and if +we were stopped, Joeboy could tell the outpost we were ordered to change +position--to go on to the other end of the line. What would the outpost +care or think about it? All he would think would be that a wagon-load +of stores was being shifted, and let us pass. Then I should tell Joeboy +to begin creeping out towards the east yonder, and keep on till we were +out of bearing before striking away for the kopje here. Once we had got +clear off we could keep steadily on all through the night, and at +daybreak you would be watching for us, and send out a detachment to +bring us in." + +"Splendid, my boy--in theory," said Denham; "but it would not work out +in practice." + +"Think not?" + +"A hundred to one it wouldn't," cried Denham firmly. + +"Well, I think it would," I said--"and from the cool daring of the +thing." + +"And what about your horse? That would be enough to betray you." + +"No take Sandho," said Joeboy, who had been listening attentively. + +"Of course not," I said. "We should walk right across to the Boer +lines, getting off as soon as it was dark." + +"Why not go in disguise as a minstrel?" said Denham banteringly--"like +King Alfred did when he went to see about the Danes? Have you got a +harp, old chap?" + +"No," I said coolly. + +"Well, it doesn't matter, because I don't believe you could play it. +But a banjo would be better for the Doppies, or--I have it--an +accordion! Haven't one in your pocket, I suppose?" + +"Why can't you be serious?" I said. + +"I am, old fellow. Banjo, concertina, or accordion, either would do; +and if you could sing them one or two of their popular Dutch songs it +would be the very thing." + +"Don't banter," I said dryly. + +"Then don't you propose impossibilities. There, they are cooking supper +again, so let's get down and see about a bit of--ahem! you know. +Whatever it is, we must eat. I almost wish I were a horse, though, and +could go out on the veldt and browse on the herbage. Here, I say, I've +got a far better Utopian scheme than yours." + +"What is it?" I replied quietly, for I felt that he was going to chaff +me. + +"Well," he said, "it's this. You know how imitative monkeys are?" + +I nodded. + +"Then all we have to do is to make a ring of our men round the kopje +there, and drive the baboons into the court here. From the court we +could turn them into one of the passages between the walls, stop up the +ends, and capture the lot." + +"To eat?" I said sarcastically. + +"Eat, man? No; to drill, and teach them to forage for us, just as the +Malays teach the monkeys to pick coco-nuts for them." + +"Drill them? Ah! there is a baboon called a `drill.' Yes, go on," I +said. + +"We could send them out every night, and they'd come back laden with +mealies for us; and there you are." + +"Nice evening, gentlemen," said Sergeant Briggs, who had just climbed +to our side. "I've been using the Major's glass. My word! they've got +wagon after wagon loaded with stores across yonder. Is there any way of +cutting out one or two, for we must not go on living upon horse?" + +I looked hard at the speaker, and then at Denham, and the result was +that we astonished the Sergeant, for both Denham and I burst out +laughing, and Joeboy smiled as widely as he could. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +A FORLORN-HOPE FOR FOOD. + +Sergeant Briggs stared, and looked so puzzled that we laughed the more. + +"Beg pardon, gentlemen," he said, speaking as if huffed, "have I said +something stoopid?" + +"Tell him, Val," cried Denham; and I explained why we laughed. + +"Oh, I see," he said good-humouredly. "I thought I was being laughed +at. Well, I don't know, Mr Denham, sir; I don't think the idee's quite +so wild as you fancy." + +"Oh, it's impossible, Sergeant." + +"No, sir, begging your pardon, it isn't. It's the cheek of the thing +might carry it off. I like it." + +"Yes; your mouth waters for the stores, Sergeant." + +"Maybe, sir; but if I was you I should go straight to the Colonel and +tell him." + +"So as to be laughed at for a fool," said Denham. "The chief's in no +laughing humour, sir," said the Sergeant stolidly. "He ought to be in +hospital with that cut on the leg he got; but he won't give up, though +I've seen him turn whitey-brown and come out all over the face with big +drops. That means pain. No; he won't laugh." + +"Then he'll growl at us, and tell us to be off for a pair of idiots." + +"Well, I'll risk it," I said firmly. + +"Will you? Young fellow," cried Denham, "don't you presume on my +friendliness and forget that you're a private in my troop." + +"It's my duty to let the Colonel know," I said warmly. + +"Yes, through your superior officer. Well, look here; perhaps you're +right. Let's go to him at once." + +We descended after another look at the Boer lines, and found the Colonel +resting against a block of granite, with his injured leg lying in a bed +of sand. He listened attentively, after Denham's introduction, to all I +had to say. Then he sat in perfect silence, frowning, and tugging at +his long moustache. I was as uncomfortable as ever I had been, and +wished I had not come; but soon a change came over me, for the Colonel +spoke. + +"Capital," he said sharply. "But--" + +My hopes went down to zero again, but rose as he went on, taking the +right line of thought: "It can only be done by sheer bravado. It is the +utter recklessness of the ruse that would carry it through. Do you +think, Moray, you could do this without breaking down at the supreme +moment?" + +"I think so, sir." + +"That's good," said the Colonel; "there's a frank modesty about that +`think.' But do you dare to run the risk for the sake of your officers +and brother-privates, who are in a very tight place?" + +"I don't think now, sir," I said: "I dare go." + +"Then you shall, Moray." + +"To-night, sir?" + +"No: have a night's sleep and a quiet day to-morrow to think out your +plans. You will be fresher then. There, I'm in pain, and I want a few +hours' rest to set me up. One minute," he added as I turned to go. +"How many know about this?" + +"Only Sergeant Briggs, sir, and the black, of course." + +"Keep the black quiet," said the Colonel, "and tell Sergeant Briggs from +me that the expedition is to be kept secret." + +"Yes, sir." + +"You are not to go on sentry work to-night." + +I saluted, and went away with Denham, who began to growl: + +"The chief's as cracked over it as you are. But, look here, Val, you +must alter your plans." + +"I can't," I replied. "I shall go." + +"Of course you will; but you must reshape them so as to take me with +you." + +"That's impossible," I replied. "But would you go?" + +"Would I go? Of course. I should like the fun of it. Here, you must +go and tell the chief you feel as if you can't curry out the business +properly unless you have my help." + +I looked at him, laughing. + +"I say, who's cracked now?" I said. + +"Well, I believe I am--half," he replied. "I say, Val, I would like to +go with you." + +"What! upon such a mad expedition?" I said. + +"Yes. It doesn't look so mad when you come to think a little more about +it. Look here; I know. I'll go as a Dutch driver." + +"You'll stop along with your troop, and I'll ask the chief to let you +come to my help in the morning when we're coming along with the wagon-- +if--if we carry it off." + +Denham was silent for a few moments before he said any more. Then, with +a sigh: + +"Yes, you might do that; but I should have liked to be in the thick of +the business." + +Many of the men went hungry to bed that night, and Denham and I lay +talking for long enough before sleep came; but when it did, nothing +could have been more restful and refreshing. + +We rose at the "Wake up" to find that there had been no alarm in the +night, and our first act was to climb to the top of the wall and use a +glass, to see that the Boers wore in the same positions, and the +outposts were just riding in, so that I had some insight as to the way +in which the enemy guarded their front during the night. + +"Here, I say, look!" cried Denham suddenly. "You ought to have gone +last night." + +"Why?" I asked as I took the glass; and then, "Oh!" I exclaimed in a +tone of disappointment. + +"Yes, you may well groan," cried my companion. "Why didn't the chief +let you go?" + +There was good reason. We could see plainly enough that the Boers were +unloading the wagons, and the Kaffirs hard at work carrying bags which +no doubt contained mealies or flour. To me the sight was maddening, for +it now seemed one of the easiest things in the world for us to have +captured and carried off one of the laden wagons. + +"There, it's of no use to cry after spilt milk," said Denham, with a +groan. + +"Nor is it of any use to despair," I replied as I watched the unloading. +"Perhaps they may leave one of the wagons full." + +"Oh, they will, of course!" said Denham mockingly. "They'll pick out +the best one, containing a nice assortment, and label it, `Reserved for +the use of the Natal Light Horse. To wait until called for by Don +Quixoto Valentino Morayo and his henchman Sancho Panzo Joeboyo.' I +never thought of that." + +"Let's go and report what we have seen," I said bitterly; and we went +and found the Colonel. + +"Humph!" he said shortly; "unfortunate." That was all. + +Then the day glided by, with our men always on the alert, their only +work being to man the walls and keep a sharp lookout while the horses +were driven out to graze; but though the Boers showed in force in +different directions, they made no attack. In spite of a false alarm or +two, the poor brutes managed to pick up a pretty good feed; though, +considering the work they had to do, it was poor and unsustaining as +compared to corn. + +As for the men, they made the best of things; but several knots gathered +together trying to allay the desire for different food by the agency of +their pipes. However, instead of endeavouring to get accustomed to the +food pretty plentifully prepared for their meals--other two horses +having to be shot on account of their wounds--some of the men preferred +to fast; and it was these men who discussed the probability of the +Colonel making a dash again that night, to cut a way through and escape. + +Sergeant Briggs favoured this idea. + +"I hope the chief will make another try to-night," he said to Denham and +me. "The Boers mean to starve us out; and in another day or two all the +fight will be gone out of the poor lads." + +However, the sun often peeps out on the cloudiest days; and towards +evening, just when we were feeling most despondent, Joeboy came up to +Denham and me just as we were going up to our old place of observation, +glass in hand. As we mounted, it was to see the horses led in, with the +guard behind them; the lines of the enemy being descried very distinctly +in the horizontal rays of the low-down sun. Denham was using the glass +and making comments the while. + +"There's a famous great gap out yonder," he said, "just to the right of +where we saw those unlucky wagons, Val. I will just go and tell some +one. The enemy will not be likely to fill it up; and I believe we might +go softly that way and make a dash through.--Oh, you disgusting, +sybaritish, gluttonous brutes! I always did think the Boers were pigs +at eating. Look at their fires all along their lines. Here are we +starving, and they're doing nothing but cook and eat--eat--eat." + +I took the glass and looked at the opening he had noticed, but said +nothing, remembering how terrible was our experience on the previous +occasion. I saw too--as enviously as my companion, but in silence--how +the fires were sending up their clouds of smoke in the clear, calm air +all along the line, telling of preparations for the coming meal. + +"The empty wagons are gone," I said at last. + +"If you say wagon again I shan't be able to contain myself," cried +Denham passionately. "I don't want to kick you, Val; but I shall be +obliged. Look here, if I feel as bad to-morrow evening as I do now, +I'll mount and desert to the Boer ranks." + +"Not you," I said. + +"But I will, just for the sake of eating as much as ever I can. Then +I'll desert again and join our own ranks." + +"Why, Denham--" I exclaimed excitedly, and then I was silent. + +"Why, Denham--" he replied. + +"Wait a minute," I cried; "let me make sure." + +"Sure of what?" he said, growing excited in turn on hearing the elation +in my voice. + +"Wagons!" I cried. + +"Ah, would you?" he shouted. "Didn't I say that if you spoke of wagons +again--" + +"One--two--three--four--five--six!" I cried, with the glasses to my +eyes. "Hurrah! There's a fresh lot coming into camp, right into that +opening you saw. Be quiet and let me watch"--for Denham had given me +such a slap between the shoulders that I nearly dropped the glass. + +"Say it again, old man--say it again." + +"There's no need," I replied. "Yes, I can make them out quite plainly-- +six wagons, with their long teams of oxen and black drivers and +forelopers. You can see the black bodies and white cloths." + +"I don't want to see them," cried Denham wildly. "I'll take your word. +Six teams of oxen!--that's all beef. Six wagons!--that means bread. +There, you be off and tell the Colonel you're going to start; and I'll +see about the troop that's to follow and bring you in. I say, pick out +a wagon of meal; not one of mealies. I don't know, though. Couldn't +you bring both?" + +"There's plenty of time," I said. + +"Time? The Colonel ought to know by now. Here, give me that glass." + +"Be quiet," I said, angry with excitement. "I want to watch and make +sure where the wagons are drawn up." + +Denham ceased speaking, and during the next half-hour I watched till I +had seen tin; six wagons drawn up pretty close together, and their black +drivers moving about attending to the oxen; now all grew faint and +indistinct, then completely faded out of sight; not, however, until I +had made up my mind that I could go straight away from the old fort and +find the place, though there were minutes when the task in the dark +seemed impossible. + +Turning to Joeboy, who had twice looked through the glass, I asked: + +"Do you think we could find those wagons in the dark?" + +"Um? Joeboy could," he replied promptly. "Go right straight." + +I breathed more freely then, and suggested to Denham that I should go +and report to the Colonel what I had seen. + +"Yes; at once," he said. "Come along; and I want to have command of one +of the troops sent out to bring you in." + +We had commenced the descent when Denham stopped me. + +"Look here," he said; "I have a good thought. We ought to arrange some +signal to let me know your whereabouts when you are returning with the +wagon." + +"I haven't got it yet," I said. + +"No, but you're going to get it," he said confidently; "and I want to be +able to come to you with fifty men, and to make sure of bringing you in. +Now then, what will your signal be? Because, if I hear it out on the +veldt we can ride straight off to you. Can you yell like a hyena?" + +"No," I said promptly. "Joeboy can." + +"Wouldn't do," said my companion, upon second thoughts. "Those beasts +are singing all over the place sometimes, and they might lead us wrong." + +"So would the cry of any animal." + +"Yes," said Denham thoughtfully. "I don't know, though. Here, can you +suggest something?" + +"I can't do it; but Joeboy can roar like a lion splendidly." + +"Wouldn't that scare and stampede the bullocks?" + +"Oh no," I said; "the cry would cheat the Boers, perhaps; the bullocks +would know better--wouldn't they, Joeboy?" + +"Um? Big trek-ox laugh, and say `Gammon,'" replied the black, showing +his glistening teeth. + +"Very well, then; when you are getting within earshot let Joeboy give +three roars half-a-minute apart." + +"Right," I said.--"You understand, Joeboy?" + +"Um? Yes, Boss Val." + +"Here, give us a specimen," said Denham. "Don't make a bully row. Just +roar gently so that I shall know it again." + +Joeboy dropped upon his hands and knees, placed his lips close to the +surface of the wall, and a low, deep, thunderous roar seemed to make the +air quiver and shudder. Directly afterwards there was an excited +stamping and neighing amongst the horses. + +"That'll do splendid," whispered my companion. "Three times, mind. +Hark! they're talking about it all over the place. There'll be an alarm +directly about a lion getting into the laager." + +By the time we had reached the spot where the officers made their bare, +unsheltered camp, the alarm had already died away; and, after being +challenged, we had leave to advance. + +The Colonel heard what we had to say in silence, and then remained for a +minute or two without speaking. + +"It is a very risky and daring business, Moray, my lad," he said; "but +we are in a desperate strait. I did mean to make another dash for +liberty to-night; but since this piece of good fortune has turned up +I'll wait twenty-four hours and see what you do. If you succeed I +promise you that--" + +"Please don't promise me anything, sir," I said quickly. "Let me go and +try my best. If I fail--" + +"And the Boers take you prisoner," said the Colonel quickly, "I shall, +like every one in the corps, thank you all the same for a very dashing +and plucky venture.--As for you, Denham; yes, certainly. Take fifty +men, and go out to meet him and bring him in. You need not, of course, +start till well on towards morning; and when you are gone I shall order +out nearly all the rest of the force to your support, so as to bring you +all in, if you are pressed." + +"Thank you, sir," I said eagerly; but Denham replied in rather a grumpy +tone, for he was all on fire to begin doing something almost at once. + +"Then I may start when I like, sir?" + +"Certainly, my lad. Of course you will take your rifle?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Take two revolvers instead of one. You may want them at a pinch; but +you must depend upon scheming in this, and not on strength. By the way, +there are a few biscuits in my haversack; you can take them." + +"Oh no, sir--" I began; but he interrupted me. + +"Take them," he said shortly, and in a way that meant a command; but I +compromised the matter with my conscience by only taking half. + +I now left the Colonel's quarters with Denham and Joeboy, and only +waited till it was as dark as it seemed likely to be before having a few +final words with my companion and Briggs, who were the only men in the +secret of what was about to be undertaken. Then, filling my +water-bottle and placing the biscuits in my pocket--after Denham had +refused a share--I saw that my bandolier was quite full of cartridges, +slung my rifle, and placed one revolver in its holster-pocket and thrust +the other in my breast. We now walked towards the well-barricaded +gateway, gave the word, and Joeboy and I stepped out, with Denham and +Briggs; but stopped to shake hands with Denham, who held mine tightly. + +"Good luck to you, Val, lad!" he said softly. "Don't take any notice of +what I said before--I mean of all that cold water I poured on your +scheme. It's splendid. Go in and win; and when you're half-way back, +or if you're pursued, make old Joeboy fill his bellows and roar. I'll +come to your help, even if there's a thousand Doppies after you." + +"I know you will," I said warmly as I returned the pressure of his hand. +"There, good-bye." + +"Good-bye, old boy! You'll do it. Oh! I wish I were coming too." + +"Good-bye, Mr Private Moray," said Briggs softly, in his deep tones. +"I wish you everything in the way of luck. You'll do it, my lad, I +know.--Here, Joeboy, you stick to your boss." + +"Um! Me stick to Boss Val--um!--alway." + +"Good-bye," I said again, trying to free my hands, for Denham and the +Sergeant each held one tightly and in silence. + +At last, as we stood there in the darkness, they let my fingers slip +through theirs, and I stepped out into the open, following Joeboy's +steps, for he at once took the lead, without making a sound. + +"Ah!" I said to myself, after drawing a very long breath, "this is +going to be the most exciting thing I ever did." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +SUCCESSFUL BEYOND EXPECTATION. + +"Boss Val come close up to Joeboy," said the black a minute or two +later. + +I had but to take two steps, and then I could touch the speaker, who was +standing with his back towards me. + +"Joeboy no turn round," he said. "Boss Val keep close. Joeboy got to +keep seeing wagons, and not lose them." + +"But you can't see the wagons now," I said softly. + +"Um? Joeboy see um inside um head. Can't see with eyes. Too far away. +But Joeboy know jus' where they are, and feel see um. Come along and +no talk. Take hold, and no let go." + +I grasped the long handle of Joeboy's assagai, which had touched me +lightly on the side as he spoke; so there was no chance of our being +separated in the dark and having to call to each other with probably +Boer outposts within hearing. The plunge had been made, and now I began +to see how terrible was the responsibility I had undertaken. For a few +minutes after leaving our friends I began to ask myself whether Denham +had not been right in calling it a mad project; but these thoughts soon +passed away as I pulled myself together with the determination to do +what my friends had told me: "Go in and win." There was too much to do +and too much excitement now to leave room for hesitation and thoughts +about risk and chances of discovery. Joeboy, too, was a splendid fellow +for a companion: he went steadily on as if the whole business was some +exciting game in which he played the chief part. + +Fortune seemed to be favouring us so far as the weather was concerned, +for a brisk wind was blowing, and the clouds overhead veiled every star; +so the night was profoundly dark. + +After tramping on for about ten minutes, Joeboy stopped and stood +motionless; then he whispered to me to come close up, without turning +his head when he spoke. + +"Boss Val lissum with both ears," he said. "Tell Joeboy when he hear +Doppie. Joeboy tell Boss Val too." + +"Right," I said; and we went on again so silently that I did not hear my +own footsteps in the sandy earth. + +There was no risk of meeting with any impediment, for the veldt from the +old fortress right away to the place where I had marked down the wagons +was a smooth, undulating plain. What we had to dread was coming across +a Boer outpost or patrol; but I had little fear of that without ample +warning, for I had had frequent experience in hunting expeditions of the +keenness of Joeboy's senses of sight and hearing. I was just beginning +to wonder how long it would be before he gave me warning of any danger +being near, when he stopped short again. I closed up so that I could +lay my hands upon his shoulders. Then he whispered very softly: + +"Hear Doppie soon. Boss Val go down when Joeboy kneel." + +"Right," I said again, straining my eyes right and left to get sight of +the Boer camp; and, though I judged that their fires would be all out, I +expected to get a glimpse before long of one of their lanterns. All, +however, remained dark, and the time dragged slowly in the same +monotonous way, making me wish I could walk side by side with my +companion, who seemed to be far more cautious in the darkness than I +thought necessary. + +We must have gone, as I hoped in a perfectly straight direction, for +what appeared to be nearly an hour, and I was getting desperate about +our slow progress, when suddenly the assagai-shaft was jigged sharply +and then dragged; and for a moment I saw a faint spark of light far +ahead, due to the fact that Joeboy had gone down suddenly upon hands and +knees. I followed suit, and lay flat, listening, but only hearing my +heart throbbing slowly and heavily. Not a sound was to be heard for +fully half-a-minute; and then came the familiar click of iron against +iron, caused, as I well knew, by a horse champing at his bit and moving +the curb-chain. Directly after there was the dull _thud, thud_ of +horses' hoofs coming from our right, and I knew that mounted men were +approaching us at right angles to our course, and thought we must be +discovered the next minute or else trampled on by the horses. + +For a moment or two my heart seemed to stand still and then to go at a +gallop, for the horses came nearer and nearer; and I tried to press +myself closer and closer to the sand as one horse passed within two or +three yards of my feet, and another a little way in front. + +I could hardly believe the men had gone by without seeing us, though I +had not seen them, and still crouched down, expecting to hear the riders +turn and come back. Hence it was like a surprise when I heard a faint +rustling which indicated that Joeboy was getting up; and, warned by a +jerk of the spear-shaft, I sprang up too. + +"All ride by," said the black; and I realised now that a patrol must +have passed, with the men riding two or three horse-lengths apart to +keep guard against any surprise parties of our troop. + +We went on again for a short distance, and then there was another +stoppage; for from the front came the murmur of voices talking in a low +tone, suggestive of a little outpost in front. + +Joeboy made a brief halt, and then we went down on hands and knees, and +crawled to the right for about fifty yards before turning again in the +direction of the wagons; and this movement was kept up for quite a +hundred yards; then the black rose to his foot, and our walk +recommenced. + +We must now, I thought, have kept on for above an hour, though I dare +say it was not more than half that time; but I fully believed it was +nearer three hours than two after we had left the fort when Joeboy +suddenly dropped down flat; and, as I followed his example, he backed +himself, walking quadrupedally on his hands and toes till he was able to +subside close to where I lay on my face. + +"Boss Val tired?" he whispered. "Um?" + +"Not a bit," I replied. "Are we near the wagons?" + +"Um? Done know," he replied. "Close by Doppie. All quiet. Fas' +asleep. Lissum." + +I listened, and all was very still. Now and then from a distance came a +faint squeal and a stamp from some horse; but there was no talking going +on, and it was hardly possible there in the darkness to conceive that +probably a thousand men were lying near at hand, spread out to right and +left, and ready at a call to spring up, mount, and dash across the +plain. + +"I can hear nothing," I replied at last, with my lips close to his ear. +"Think they are gone, Joeboy?" + +"Um? Gone?" he whispered back. "Gone 'sleep. Joeboy going to look for +wagons." + +"Stop a moment," I whispered. "Are you going to leave me here?" + +"Um? Boss Val lie still and have good rest. Joeboy come back soon." + +"But do you think you can find me again?" I said. + +He put his lips close to my ear again and laughed softly. + +"Um? Oh yes, Joeboy find um sure enough. See a lot in the dark. Boss +Val lie quite still." + +Before I could remonstrate against a plan which, it seemed to me, might, +ruin our expedition, he had crept away; and from the direction he took I +knew he had gone off to the left, going quite fast, and progressing in a +style which, in old days, I had often laughingly said was like that of +the crocodiles of the Limpopo. This time I did not hear him make a +sound, and I could, of course, do nothing but lie still, feeling in my +utter misery that all was over, and that I could only lie there till +near daybreak, waiting to be found again by Joeboy, and waiting in vain. +Then I would have to run the gauntlet of the outposts, and make a +desperate effort to return, shamefaced and miserable, to the camp. + +I tried hard to fix my attention on listening and endeavouring to make +out how near I was to the Boer lines; but I could not hear a sound. +Again and again I fretted at my miserable position as the time glided +away and there was no sign of Joeboy. + +"I should have stopped him," I reflected. "I ought not to have let him +take the lead." + +Just then, however, my heart seemed to give a great jump; for without a +sound the black was alongside again, touching my leg, and then gliding +up till his lips were level with my ear. + +"Boss Val 'sleep--um?" + +"Asleep!" I whispered back indignantly. "No." + +"Um!" he whispered. "Joeboy been very long way. No wagon there. Now +go this way." + +"No, no!" I whispered back. "You must stay with me, or we must go +together, Joeboy!" + +There was no reply, and in alarm I stretched out my left hand to seize +hold of him; but he had gone. I half-fancied I heard a faint rustle +some distance off as of a great serpent gliding across in front of my +head; but I dared not raise my voice to stop him. Now I realised that +he must have glided away from me the moment he had uttered the words +"this way;" and again I had to go through all that agony of expectation +and dread. Still, I began to feel a little more confidence in Joeboy, +and for the next half-hour I waited anxiously, hoping against hope, till +I was in despair and half-mad. + +I was just at my worst again, and picturing the looks of Denham, and his +disappointment if I managed to get anywhere near where he was on the +lookout for us, when I jumped violently, quite startled, for Joeboy +seemed to rise out of the black earth on my light. + +"Um?" he said softly. "Joeboy getting tired. Couldn't find wagon." + +"Then it's all over?" I whispered, my heart sinking with despair. + +"Um? Couldn't find at first," he said. "Joeboy went behind um. All +out before Doppies." + +"Then you did find them?" I whispered joyfully. + +"Um? Yes, Joeboy find um. Went long way and then come back." + +"But how did you manage to find them in the dark?" + +"Um? Smell um," he said quietly. "Now, wait bit. Boss Val know what +to say?" + +"Oh yes, I know," I said. + +"Get up," he whispered. "No Doppie here." + +I was startled by his words, but I obeyed; and as soon as I was erect I +felt his hands about me, feeling whether my rifle was slung across my +shoulder, my bandolier in place, and my revolvers ready. Apparently +satisfied, he gave a grunt, and taking my hand, he whispered again: + +"No Doppie here. Over this way and that way." + +I yielded to his guidance, with my heart throbbing heavily now; but the +feeling of excitement returned as I began to act, and in a few minutes I +found that something big and dark had loomed up in front, which I knew +to be a great tilted wagon. + +Joeboy bore to the left, and we walked silently on together till we had +passed the rears of six of the great vehicles drawn up at a fair +distance apart, but pretty regularly side by side. I now realised that, +though the wagons, as seen through the glass, had appeared to be in +touch with the Boer troops, they really formed a line some distance in +front. + +From that moment everything seemed to be like a curious waking dream, in +which I was the chief actor; for, passing the last tail and going +forward, I walked with Joeboy to the front, all being silent about the +wagons. From beyond these came the peculiarly soft, chewing sound of +working jaws; and I made out, partly by hearing and partly by the +peculiar but not unpleasant odour, that there were the teams in their +places, all the great oxen crouching down, from the pair on either side +of the dissel-boom or pole to the foremost couple right in front, pair +after pair, along the trek-tow--that is, the great rope which, for the +team, serves as a continuation of the pole. + +"Um?" whispered Joeboy as I stood listening to the dull cud-chewing of +the resting beasts. "Now make um come out." + +I hesitated for a moment or two; then I made the great effort to play my +part as I felt it ought to be acted, and stood alongside the black and +close up to the wagon, between the wheels. Then taking a long breath, +and wondering at myself the while, I stooped down so that my voice might +go well beneath; but paused as I was about to speak, for I could hear in +duplicate a deep guttural snore. At that moment Joeboy pinched my arm; +and, drawing a deep breath, I growled out in the best imitation I could +of the Boer Dutch: + +"Now then; rouse up, you lazy black beggars! Rouse up and trek!" + +My heart sank as the last word passed my lips. + +"Suppose they are not Kaffirs?" I thought. + +There was not a sound, and Joeboy again pinched my arm. + +I knew what he wanted; so, raising my voice, I said hoarsely, and in an +angry tone: + +"Rouse up! Trek!" + +There was a loud rattling noise at the same moment, for Joeboy had +reached under the wagon to strike here and there with the shaft of his +assagai. + +In an instant, following a dull thud or two, there came low remonstrant +growls, there was a scuffle and a rush, and two big figures rose near +us; one Kaffir ran towards the front box of the wagon, and the feet of +the other went _pat, pat_ till he stopped by the foremost pair of oxen +in the team. Then the great beasts began to get upon their feet and +shake themselves. + +"It's all over now," I thought, as I stood appalled by the noise made by +the bullocks, one of them lowing loudly; and, as if my despair was not +deep enough, I found from what I could hear that I had fired a train, +started a conflagration, or--to use another simile--touched one end of a +row of card houses and set all in motion. The action of rousing up the +blacks asleep beneath this one had communicated itself from wagon to +wagon on to the end. "Open sesame!" caused the cave of the Forty +Thieves to open; the magic word "Trek!" had started the wagon-drivers +and forelopers; and now I expected the next thing would be a rush of +Boer cavalry to surround us, unless Joeboy and I could hide. + +"Yah! hor! whoo-oop! Trek!" cried Joeboy in his hoarsest voice, and he +ran from me towards the foreloper, leaving me half-stunned at the turn +matters had taken. + +"Trek!" cried the black, who had climbed on to the box; then there was a +tremendous crack of the huge whip he wielded, the oxen jerked at the +trek-tow, the wheels creaked, and as I involuntarily took my rifle from +where it was slung and cocked it, the huge wagon began to lumber heavily +through the soft earth, and I walked by its side uninterrupted, finding +that in turn first one and then another of the six wagons started and +followed, till the entire row were in motion, following the lead of +Joeboy with the first foreloper, the whole business growing, in the +darkness, more and more like a feverish dream. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +NIGHT WORK. + +By a sudden effort I threw off the dreamy sensation--the feeling that I +was half-stunned by the pressure of the task I had undertaken, now that +it had suddenly grown so much greater than I had anticipated--and I +walked alongside the wagon-box, breathing hard, and planning that at the +first sound of approaching enemies I would rush forward to where Joeboy +was tramping beside the foreloper, assagai in hand, and make a dash with +him for liberty. But the minutes glided by, as the line of wagons, all +going on with the regularity of some great, elongated machine, rolled +easily along over the soft earth, the rested bullocks pulling steadily +under the guidance of their leaders and drivers. + +In vain I listened for the furious rush of horses and the challenges and +orders to stop; then, by degrees, I began to grasp the fact that, though +hundreds of Boers must have heard the wagons start, not one gave heed to +the crack of whip, the cries of the black drivers, or the creaking and +rumbling of the wheels. The moving of wagons of stores was quite a +matter of course; somebody had given orders for their position to be +changed, and that was all. These sounds were nothing to the weary men, +rolled up in their warm blankets, making the most of their night's rest. +Doubtless it awoke many; but they only listened for a moment, and then +turned over to sleep again. Oxen, their drivers, and the wagons had +nothing to do with the enemy. Had there been a trumpet-call, a single +shot, or a loud order, to a man they would have sprung up to rush to +their horses, saddled, and been ready to attack or defend; but the +shifting of some wagons during the night--what was that? Nor was the +Boer force a carefully drilled cavalry brigade, with its transport-corps +under the strictest discipline, every man part of a machine which only +moved by order, and whose stores and supplies were under the most severe +regulation and guard; it was a loose, irregular horde, whose officers +had to permit the men to fight very much as they pleased, so long as +they fought well and advanced and retreated at the word. + +It took time to reason all this out, and to get to believe that our bold +ruse was succeeding to a far greater extent than I had ever dared to +hope. There it was all plainly enough--all real; the wagons were going +steadily along, the first guided by Joeboy, and the rest following with +their black conductors quite as a matter of course. + +As far as I could make out in the darkness, we were going along parallel +with the lines of the sleeping Boers. Growing more excited now, I began +to wonder how soon Joeboy would turn the heads of the leading bullocks +and strike out for the fortress; then my thoughts drifted into a fresh +rut, and I speculated as to how long it would be before we came upon +some outpost and were turned back. + +Hardly had this idea crossed my mind, sinking my spirits almost to +despair, when a great figure loomed up before me. Joeboy was at my +side. + +"Got um all, Boss Val," he said in a low tone. "Doppies come and stop +us soon. Say, `Where you go?'" + +"Yes; and we shall be turned back," I replied quickly. + +"Um? No. Joeboy say, `Big boss tell us to go right away other end.' +Joeboy hear and know how Doppie talk, and Joeboy say right words." + +"Are you sure?" I said in Boer Dutch, to test him. + +"Um? Yes. Know what to say, like Boss Val know. Always talk like Boer +before Joeboy come and live with Boss Val." + +"Of course," I whispered, with a feeling of relief. + +"Um! Boss Val jump in wagon and say nothing. Go to sleep like. Doppie +coming." + +He gave me a push towards the wagon and went forward at a trot. +Yielding to his influence, I climbed in at the front, past the driver, +and drew the curtains before me, only leaving a slit through which I +could hear what passed. I was not kept waiting long. As far as I could +judge, about a dozen mounted men cantered up, and a thrill ran through +me as a familiar, highly-pitched voice cried in English, with the +broadest of Irish accents: + +"Whisht now, me sable son of your mother! What does this mane?" + +"Moriarty," I said to myself; and, with my heart beating fast, and a +strange feeling of rage flushing up to my head, my right hand went to my +revolver and rested upon the butt as I strained my ears to listen for +every word. My thoughts, of course, flashed through my brain like +lightning; but the answer to the renegade captain's words came slowly, +Joeboy replying in deep guttural tones, using Boer Dutch, to say: + +"I don't know what you mean, Boss?" + +"Ugh! You soot-coloured, big-lipped baste!" snarled Moriarty; and then +in Boer Dutch, "Where are you taking the wagons?" + +"Over yonder," replied Joeboy. + +"Why? Who told you?" + +"Big boss officer man," replied Joeboy calmly enough. "Say want more +mealies there. Make haste and be quick. Ought to have gone there last +night. Wake all up and say come along." + +"Oh," said Moriarty thoughtfully; and then, as I waited with my +trepidation increasing, to my great surprise and relief he said a few +words to those with him, which I could not catch; then aloud, in Dutch, +"All right. Go on." + +When he began speaking Moriarty did not stop the wagons, which had +crawled on in their slow and regular ox-pace, so that I was taken nearer +and nearer till I was in line with the group of horsemen, and then past +them; then the voices grew more indistinct. As the last words were +uttered the patrol or outpost, whichever it was, trotted off, leaving me +wondering what the broad-shouldered black just before me on the +wagon-box might be thinking about what had passed, and my peculiar +conduct in taking refuge inside. "A shout from him, if he is +suspicious, might bring them back," I mused; so, under the +circumstances, I decided to keep up the appearance of having got in for +the sake of a rest, and sat back upon one of the sacks. + +However, I was not permitted to stay long inside, for as soon as the +mounted Boers were out of hearing Joeboy came to the front of the wagon +and called to me in his deep tones--speaking in Boer Dutch--to come out. + +I stepped out past the driver, yawning as if tired, and leaped down, to +walk on with the black. + +"Hadn't you better turn the heads of the leading bullocks now towards +the laager, Joeboy?" I said. + +"Um? Did," he replied, "soon as Doppie captain went away. Going +straight home now." + +"Ah!" I ejaculated. "Capital! But we shall be stopped again and sent +back." + +"Um? Joeboy don't think so. Doppie over there, and Doppie over there," +he said, pointing in opposite directions with his assagai. + +"You think we shall not meet another party, then?" + +"Um? Can't hear any," he replied. + +"But about the drivers and forelopers? When they find where we're going +they'll want to go back to the lines." + +"Um? No," said Joeboy decidedly. "Black Kaffir chap. Not think at +all. Very sleepy, Boss Val. Jus' like big bullock. You an' Joeboy +tell um go along and they go along." + +"But suppose they turned suspicious and said they wouldn't go with us?" + +"Um?" said Joeboy, and I heard him grind his teeth. "They say that, +Joeboy kill um all: 'tick assagai in back an' front. All big 'tupid +fool. Ha! ha! Joeboy almost eat um." He laughed in a peculiar way +that was not pleasant, and it moved me to say: + +"Don't attempt to touch them if they turn against us. I'll threaten +them with my pistol." + +"Um? Boss Val think better shoot one? No; Boss Val mustn't make Doppie +come. Joeboy say `Trek,' and they no trek, he 'tick assagai in um +back." + +"No, no; there must be no bloodshed." + +"Um? Blood? No; only 'tick in little way. Make um go like bullock. +Make um go like what Boss Val call `'tampeed.' Black Kaffir boy not say +`Won't go.' Be 'fraid o' Joeboy." + +I thought it very probable, and said no more. Leaving him with the +foreloper of the first wagon, I stood fast and listened intently while +the whole of the six great lumbering wagons, drawn by their teams +averaging four-and-twenty oxen, crept past me. The forelopers walked +slouching along, shouldering a bamboo sixteen or eighteen feet long, +without so much as turning their heads in my direction; and the drivers +on the wagon-boxes were sitting with heads down and shoulders raised, +apparently asleep and troubled about nothing. They all trusted to the +front wagon for guidance, as their teams, until the oxen were tired, +needed no driving whatever, but followed stolidly in the track of those +in front. + +So slow!--so awfully slow! when I wanted them to go in a thunderous +gallop! Yet I knew this was folly. I wanted to play the hare, though I +knew that in this case the tortoise would win the race; for to have +hurried meant some accident, some breaking of the heavy wains: a wheel +off or broken, the giving way of trek-tow or dissel-boom. There was +nothing for it, I knew, but to proceed at the oxen's steady crawl, which +had this advantage: the wagons made very little noise passing over the +soft earth, the oxen none at all worth mention. But it was agonising, +now that we had started and actually been passed on by the enemy's +patrol, to keep on at that dreadful pace, which suggested that, even if +we did go on without further cheek, when day broke we should still be +within sight of the Boer lines and bring them out in a swarm to turn us +back. + +It seemed to me we must have been creeping along for an hour, though +perhaps it was not half that time, when suddenly the first team of oxen +was stopped, the wheels of the first wagon ceased to move, and the whole +line came, in the most matter-of-fact way, to a stand. No one seemed to +heed, and the oxen went on contemplatively chewing their cud. + +"What is it?" I said, running up to Joeboy. + +"Um! Cist!" he whispered. "Doppie coming." + +I could hear nothing, and it was too dark to see, so I stood listening +for quite a minute, knowing well that the black must be right, for his +hearing was wonderfully acute. Then in the distance I heard the sound +of trotting horses coming along at right angles towards us; and as it +occurred to me that the patrol would come into contact with us about the +middle of our long line, I began to wonder whether Joeboy would be able +to get the better of the Boer leader again. + +Nearer and nearer they came, and a snort or the lowing of a bullock +would have betrayed us; but the stolid beasts went on ruminating, and, +to my utter astonishment, the little mounted party rode past a couple of +hundred yards behind the last wagon, as near as I can tell, and the +sound of the horses' hoofs and chink of bit against ring died away. + +"Ha!" I ejaculated, with a sigh. + +"Um?" said Joeboy, who had come by me unheard. "Yes, all gone. Doppie +big fool. No see, no hear. Joeboy hear; Joeboy see wagon and bullock +long way off. Doppie got wool in um ear an' sand in um eyes." + +"So have I, as compared with you, my big black friend," I thought to +myself; "but I don't want you to call me or think me a big fool, so I'll +hold my tongue." + +"Doppie can't hear now," said Joeboy. "All agone. Not hear any more.-- +Go on. Trek!" he cried in his deep, guttural tones; and the bullocks +dragged at the great tow-ropes, the axles groaned, and away we went +again in the same old crawl hour after hour, but without further alarm, +though in one prolonged agony of anxiety, during which I was always +looking or listening for pursuers. + +Then came another trouble: the darkness was greater than ever. It was a +cloak, certainly, for our proceedings; but there was not a star visible +to guide us in our course towards the old stronghold. + +"Think we're going right?" I asked again and again. + +"Um? Joeboy think so," he always replied. "Wait till light come. Soon +know then." + +Words of wisdom these, of course; but though we kept on in what we +believed a straight line for our goal, the line we were taking might be +right away from the camp, or we might be proceeding in a curve which +would bring us within easy reach of the enemy--perhaps as near as when +we started. Truly we were in the dark; and as the air grew colder +towards daybreak, everything looked, if possible, blacker still. + +"Morrow morning," said Joeboy, suddenly coming back to where I trudged +alongside one of the wagons, whose drivers appeared to be all asleep. + +I looked in the direction he indicated, and there was a faint dawn low +down on the horizon. + +"Then we're going wrong, Joeboy," I said; "that's the east." + +"Um!" he said. "Too much that way. Going right now." + +I looked back in the direction of the Boer camp, but nothing was visible +there. It seemed as if the darkness lay like a cloud upon the earth; +but, upon turning again to look in the way the heads of the oxen were +pointed, I could see what looked like a hillock in the distance. Fixing +my eyes upon it, I could gradually see it more distinctly, and in a few +minutes' time made out that what had seemed like one hillock was really +two--the one natural, the other artificial: in other words, the pile of +ironstone and granite in one case, the built-up stronghold in the other. + +"Joeboy," I said, beckoning him to one side after a furtive glance at +the black foreloper, "we're a long way off, and the Boers will miss the +wagons and see us soon." + +"Um? Yes," he said coolly. + +"Do you think that you can get the bullocks to go faster?" + +"Um? No," he said. "Must go like this." + +"But the Boers will come after us as soon as they see us." + +"Um? Yes; but can't see us yet. When Doppie see us Boss Denham see us +too, and come along o' fighting boys." + +"Yes; I had half-forgotten that," I replied. Not thinking of anything +more to say, I trudged on. At last, as the light grew stronger, Joeboy +turned to me to say: + +"Boss Val see Doppie now?" + +I looked back in the direction of the enemy's lines and shaded my eyes; +but nothing was discernible. + +"I can't see them yet," I said. + +"Um? No. Joeboy can. Can't see a wagons yet." + +"They can't see the wagons?" I cried. "How do you know?" + +"Come on horses after us," he said. "Gallop fast." + +"Of course," I replied, and looked anxiously at our great, lumbering +prizes, wishing I could do something to hurry the bullocks on; but +wishing was vain, and I knew all the time it would be madness to attempt +to hasten the animals' pace, and likely only to end in disaster. + +The darkness, which had appeared to be low between us and the Boer +lines, now began to turn of a soft grey, which minute by minute +lightened more and more, and rose till it looked like a succession of +horizontal streaks, beneath which lay something disconnected and +strange, but which gradually took the form of a long line of horses, +broken here and there by little curves which, by straining my eyes, I +made out to be wagon-tilts seen through the soft pale-bluish air. Next, +on turning sharply to look in the direction of our comrades, there were +the old piled-up walls of our stronghold clearly marked against the sky. + +"It's a long, long way yet, Joeboy," I said. + +"Yes, long way," he replied. + +"Can you see the Boers on the move?" + +He shook his head, and then hurried to the foreloper, a heavy-looking +black, who was signalling to him. + +Charge!--by George Manville Fenn + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +AN UNEXPECTED OBSTACLE. + +"What does he want?" I muttered to myself as I looked on curiously, for +I could not hear what was said; but, to my horror, there appeared to be +something like a quarrel, as the foreloper suddenly threw down the long +bamboo he carried and then squatted upon the ground. + +In an instant the shaft of Joeboy's assagai fell with a sounding thwack +across the man's bare shoulders, making him spring to his feet and +snatch a knife out from his waistcloth. My hand went to my revolver, +and I ran to Joeboy's aid; but there was no need. In an instant the +glistening blade of my companion's assagai was pointed at the +foreloper's throat, making him recoil; and then, in response to a +threatening thrust or two, the man picked up his long, thin bamboo and +replaced his knife, while Joeboy, pointing fiercely to me, rated the man +in his own tongue. + +"What is it, Joeboy?" I asked as the man went back to the head of the +bullock-team. + +"Um? Say want to 'top and rest bullocks and make fire for breakfast, +Boss. I say he go on till we get to laager. Say he won't, and Joeboy +make um. Boss Val put little 'volver pistol away and unsling gun; +pretend to shoot um." + +I did as Joeboy suggested, and the man went down upon his knees and laid +his forehead upon the earth. I needed no telling what to say next. + +"Get up! Trek!" I shouted as fiercely as I could. The man leaped to +his feet and urged the bullocks on, while the driver on the box made his +great two-handed whip crack loudly in the quiet of the morning. The +actions of these two being taken up by the men with the wagons behind, +the bullocks for a time went on at the rate of quite another half-mile +an hour extra. + +"Um!" ejaculated Joeboy, with a look of satisfaction in his eyes; "rifle +gun reach long way. Boss Val see boy not driving well, pretend to send +bullet in um head, and make um jump along. Ha!" + +Noticing that the black was using his hands like a binocular glass, and +looking back, I asked anxiously, "What is it?" + +"Um? See Doppie coming now?" + +I looked, but could make out nothing; yet I was satisfied it was so. I +now gazed eagerly in the direction of our goal, for Joeboy had first +turned his eyes there. + +"Can you see help coming, Joeboy?" I asked anxiously. + +"Um? No," he replied. + +"Then it's all over," I said in despair. + +"Um? Yes, here um come." + +"Ah!" I cried, remembering now the signal agreed upon. "Is it the +Lieutenant--Mr Denham?" + +"Joeboy can't see so far as that," replied the black. "Only see horses +coming fas'. Coming to fetch wagons and plenty mealies and flour. Boys +all say `Hurrah!' and make all horses laugh." + +"But do you think they will get here first?" + +"Um? Yes. Doppie got longer way to come." + +"Ha!" I ejaculated, with a sigh of relief. + +A few minutes later the foreloper on whom so much depended--guided, no +doubt, by our anxious looks in one direction--made out the coming of our +friends, and I saw his eyes open widely till there was a great opal ring +round the dark pupils. Looking at me despairingly, he pointed with his +long bamboo in the direction of the galloping troop. + +I nodded, and pointed forward. After an uneasy glance at my gun, he +went on with his team in the direction we wished. + +"Black boy run away fas'," said Joeboy, suddenly laughing merrily, "but +'fraid lead bullet run fasser." + +"I suppose so," I said slowly as I turned to look back. The light being +now much increased, I readily detected a strong troop of the Boers in +motion, and doubtless coming in our direction. I drew my breath hard as +I looked at the long lines of slowly plodding oxen and then in the +direction of our rescuers, who must have seen we were pursued, for they +were galloping. Then, to my horror, Joeboy turned to me and nodded, +after gazing back. + +"Um?" he said in a long, slow, murmuring way, "'nother lot o' Doppie +coming. Big lot." + +I darted a look at our comrades, who came sweeping along over the veldt; +but they were still far distant, and we seemed to be creeping along more +slowly than ever. + +"Not enough; not enough," I thought; but I wasted no time in regret. +There were fully fifty friends, all good horsemen and able shots, coming +to our help; so I need not despair. Thinking of what would be the best +tactics under the circumstances, there seemed to be two ways open to us: +for the troop to fall in on either side of the last wagon, and keep up a +running fight; or, if the Boer party proved too strong, the six wagons +could be drawn up laager-wise and turned into a temporary fort, with the +bullocks outside, our men firing, till help came, from behind an +improvised shelter formed by the sacks of grain and meal. + +Then I reasoned despairingly that the Boers would send forward troop +after troop to recover, the wagons. "If they can," I now muttered +through my teeth. For I was more hopeful now, as it soon became evident +that the enemy had twice as far to come as our men had. At last, when +the mental strain had become almost unbearable, Denham and his troop +dashed forward, cheering madly. + +"Bravo! bravo, Val!" he shouted to me, pulling his horse up so suddenly +that it nearly went back on its haunches. "Here, you, Joeboy, keep the +teams going. Fall in, my lads! Dismount!" + +The troop sprang from their saddles, swung round their rifles, and +waited. In obedience to Denham's next order I followed the last wagon, +rifle in hand. Seeing the uneasy glances the drivers and forelopers +directed at it from time to time, I felt convinced that if it had not +been for this they would have played some trick with the bullocks, or +have done something to stop the further progress of our prize-convoy, +now that they fully understood what was wrong. + +For me the suspense was over, though the plodding of the oxen still +seemed maddening; but I had active work to do yet, with Joeboy for my +aid, keeping the blacks well to their work. This we did vigorously, +being called upon very soon even to threaten and command. + +Just when least expected, and following upon a determined charge made by +our pursuers, there was a rattling volley delivered standing by our men, +who, steadying their rifles upon their horses' backs, emptied many a +saddle. But the Boers came on till within about a hundred yards, when a +second volley was poured into them, sending horses and men struggling to +the ground. The troop now divided in two, swinging round to right and +left and dashing back towards the second party, who were now well in +sight. + +It was at the first volley that the alarmed black drivers nearly got out +of hand, while the teams began to huddle together and threatened a +stampede. The black boys, however, soon saw they had more to fear from +us than from the Boers; and by the time our friends had remounted and +trotted up to us the wagon-train was steadied again. + +"Can't you get any more speed out of them, Val?" shouted Denham. + +"No," I said; "this is the best they can do with the loads. You fellows +must save the prize now." + +"And we will," cried Denham, waving his hat, with the result that his +men cheered. + +Meanwhile the detachment of the enemy we sent to the right-about in a +headlong gallop had settled down to a trot to meet the reinforcements +coming up; but we had also a force coming to join us; so, when the enemy +had joined hands and came on again, we of the wagon-train had two troops +for our protection, who, coming on at a walk behind, readily faced +round, dismounted, and poured forth a withering fire, which again sent +the enemy scuttling away on their shambling ponies. + +So the march went on for the next hour, during which troop after troop +of the Boers reinforced our pursuers, but always to find that our force +had been strengthened. Then the Colonel joined us with all he could +command, and a fierce little battle raged. Again the Boers were +repulsed. There being no cover for their men, which is so necessary for +the practice of their marksmanship to the best advantage, the clever +cavalry manoeuvres of the Light Horse proved too much for them. + +Unsuccessful attempts to recapture the wagons were kept up till they +were drawn as close to the opening in the old fortress walls as they +could be got, the enemy being kept at bay while the bullocks were driven +in. Then followed troop after troop of our men, who dismounted and +hurried to the top of the walls, where they covered the retirement of +their comrades so effectually that the enemy were soon in full retreat, +gathering up their wounded as they passed without molestation from us. + +That afternoon the Boers' wagons, surmounted by a white flag, were seen +coming across the plain, their attendants being engaged for a long time +in the gruesome task of collecting the dead. + +It must not be supposed, however, that our men had not suffered; we had +a dozen slightly wounded. Inside the walls that evening there was a +triumphant scene of rejoicing, in which to a man the wounded took part. +The wagons had been emptied, and grain and meal stored under cover; +horses and bullocks had a good feed, and one of the wagons was +demolished for firewood, our whole force revelling in what they called a +glorious roast of beef. + +I never felt so much abashed in my life, I could not feel proud; though, +of course, I had done my best. I tried to explain that it was poor old +black Joeboy we had to thank for the success of the raid; but the men +would not listen. If ever poor fellow was glad when the sentries had +been relieved and the fires were out, so that rest and silence might +succeed the wild feast, I was that person. I felt utterly exhausted, +and I have only a vague recollection of lying down upon some bags of +mealies, and of Denham, who was by me, saying: + +"Hurrah, old fellow! The chief must make you a sergeant for this." + +I don't think I made any reply, for I was nearly asleep; and that night +seemed to glide away in a minute and a half. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +ANOTHER DISCOVERY. + +Denham and I went out early next day with a small party and an empty +wagon to go over the ground between our laager and the Boer lines, +following the route taken with the captured wagons, to make sure that no +wounded and helpless men were left on the veldt, and to collect such +rifles and ammunition as had been left. + +A sharp lookout was kept against surprise; but there was no need. +Denham's glass showed that the Boers, probably satisfied with their +reverses of the previous day, were keeping to their lines. + +We went as far as the spot where the first attack on us was made, +finding only a few rifles as we went, noticing on our way sixteen dead +horses--ghastly-looking objects, for near every one numerous loathsome +birds rose heavily, flying to a short distance; and footprints all +around in the soft earth showed that hyenas had been at the miserable +banquet. The ground here and there also showed the unmistakable tracks +of lions; but I am not sure they had been partakers. + +"Well, I'm precious glad there's no burying of the dead, or bringing in +wounded Boers as prisoners," said Denham as we rode back slowly side by +side. "I don't mind the fighting when my monkey's up--it all seems a +matter of course then; but the afterwards--the poor dead chaps with all +the enemy gone out of them, and the suffering wounded asking you for +water, and whether you think they'll die--it makes me melancholy." + +"It's horrible," I said; "but it was none of our seeking." + +"No; it's the Boers' own fault--the beasts! Fighting for their liberty +and patriotism, they call it. They won't submit to being slaves to the +Queen. Such bosh! Slaves indeed! Did you ever feel that you led the +life of a slave under the reign of our jolly good Queen?" + +"Pooh!" I exclaimed. + +"Pooh! puff! stuff!--that's what it is, old fellow. They're about the +most obstinate, stupid, ignorant brutes under the sun. They don't know +when they're well off as subjects of Great Britain, so they'll have to +be taught." + +"Of course," I said. "But they are brave." + +"Well, yes, in a way," said Denham grudgingly. "They'll fight if +they're ten or a dozen to one, and can get behind stones or wagons to +pot us; but they haven't got sense enough to know when they're well off, +nor yet to take care of six wagon-loads of good grain and meal, and +nearly a hundred and fifty oxen." + +"Well, no; they were stupid there," I said. + +"Stupid, Lieutenant Moray!" + +"What!" I exclaimed. "Do you know what you're saying?" + +"Oh yes; all right. You're not a commissioned officer yet, but you will +be. Promoted for special bravery and service in the field." + +"Nonsense!" I said, flushing up. + +"Oh, but you will be, sure. Not that I think you deserve it. There +wasn't much risk." + +"Oh no," I said; "only the risk of being taken, and shot for a traitor, +a thief, and a spy." + +"That's only what the Doppies would call it, and they're idiots." + +"If a fellow is going to be shot," I said, "it doesn't make much +difference to him whether he's shot by a wise man or a fool." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Denham quickly. "I'd rather be shot by a wise +man than by a Boer pig. But there was no risk. You and that big nigger +went in the dark, and you had luck on your side, and--Oh, I say, Val, +you did it splendidly! I had a good tuck-out of mealie-porridge this +morning, and three big slices of prime beef frizzled. I feel quite a +new man with all that under my jacket, and ready to take two Boers +single-handed." + +"Yes, a good meal does make a difference," I said, smiling with pleasant +recollections of my own breakfast. + +"Difference! Oh, it was splendid! I felt as if I could have voted for +you to be made colonel on the spot, and black Joeboy adjutant, when I +caught sight of you coming with six wagons and teams instead of one. My +dear boy, you've won the affection of every one in the corps, from the +Colonel right down to the cooks. It's only cupboard-love, of course; +but they're very fond of you now. We were going to chair you round the +big court last night, but the Colonel stopped it. `Let the poor fellow +have a good rest,' he said. But we did all drink your health with three +times three--in water. Here--hullo! What game do you call that?" + +He pointed to where, half a mile away, a dozen of our men were riding +out, closely followed by the bullocks we had captured overnight. + +"Taking the teams out to graze, I suppose. The poor beasts must be well +fed to keep them in condition." + +"Of course. But how do we know that they won't all bolt back for the +Boers' camp? They're Boer bullocks, you know. Oh! I'll never forgive +the Colonel if he loses all that beef." + +"The poor brutes will only make for the nearest patches of grass and +bush," I said, "and their guard will take care to head them back if they +seem disposed to stray." + +"But is any one on the lookout with a glass on the wall?" + +"Sure to be," I said. + +"I'm not so sure," cried Denham impatiently. "Why, there must be going +on for six hundred sirloins there, without counting other tit-bits; and +if the bullocks are taken care of, each one is a sort of walking safe +full of prime meat for the troops." + +"There--look!" I said; "they're settling down to graze, and the guard +is spreading out between them and the open veldt." + +"Yes, I see," said Denham anxiously; "but I hope they'll take great +care. That job ought to be ours." + +But it was not, and I did not want it. I said so, too. + +"That's bosh," replied Denham. "You say so because you're not hungry; +but just wait till you are, and then you'll be as fidgety about the +bullocks as I am." + +"But you're not hungry now," I said laughingly. + +"Well, no--not at present; but I shall be soon. I haven't made up the +balance of two days' loss yet. Ugh! only fancy--grilled cat's-meat for +a commissioned officer in Her Majesty's service! Ugh! To think that I +was compelled by sheer hunger to eat horse! I'd swear off all +flesh-feeding for good if it wasn't for that beef." + +He burst into a hearty fit of laughing then, and we rode on, chatting +about our position and the fact that the Boers seemed to consider they +could not do better for their side than keep us shut up as we were till +we surrendered as prisoners of war. + +"That's it, evidently," said Denham. "They hate us horribly, for we'd +been doing a lot of mischief amongst them before you joined, as well as +ever since." + +"Shall we be able to cut our way through before long?" I asked. + +"I don't know, old fellow," he replied. + +"We ought to," I said, "because we could be of so much use to the +General's troops." + +"Well, I don't know so much about that," said Denham as we neared the +fortified gateway, with its curtain of empty wagons. "I'm beginning to +think that we're being a great deal of help to the General here." + +"How?" I asked wonderingly. "Our corps is completely useless." + +"Oh no, it isn't, my little man. Look here; I'm of opinion that we're +surrounded by quite a couple of thousand mounted men." + +"Yes, perhaps there are," I said, "at a guess." + +"Well, isn't that being of use to the British General? We're keeping +these fellows fully occupied, so that they can't be harassing his flanks +and rear with all this mob of sharpshooters, who know well how to use +their rifles." + +"I say," I cried, "what's the matter yonder?" + +"Nothing! Where?" + +"Look at the baboons right at the far end of the kopje. They're racing +about in a wonderful state of excitement." + +"Smell cooking, perhaps," said Denham. "Here, Sergeant," he continued, +calling up Briggs, "take Mr Moray and a couple of men. Canter round +yonder and see if you can make anything out. Scout. Perhaps the brutes +can see the Boers advancing." + +In another minute we were cantering round the ragged outskirts of the +great pile of stones, where they came right down to the plain, among +which were plenty of grassy and verdant patches, little gorges and paths +up amongst the tumbled-together blocks; and as we rode along we startled +apes by the dozen from where they were feeding, and sent them shrieking +and chattering menacingly, as they rushed up to the higher parts. + +It was away at the extreme end where the main body of the +curious-looking, half-dog, half-human creatures were gathered, all in +motion, and evidently much exercised by something below them on the side +farthest from where we approached. + +"They're playing some game, Mr Moray," said the Sergeant, speaking +quite respectfully to me, and, as I thought, slightly emphasising the +"Mister," which sounded strange. "Tell you what it is: one of the young +ones has tumbled into a gully and broken his pretty little self." + +"Give the order to unsling rifles, Sergeant," I said quietly, "and +approach with caution." + +"Eh? What! You don't think there's an ambuscade--do you?" + +"No," I said as I watched the actions of the apes keenly; "but I do +think there's a lion lying up somewhere." + +"A lion!" + +"Yes; one of the brutes that were feeding on the dead horses in the +night. He has made for the shelter yonder, and is in hiding." + +"And the monkeys have found him, and are mobbing the beggar now he's +sleeping off his supper?" + +"That's it, I think," I replied. + +"Then let's get his skin if we can. Steady, all, and don't fire till +you get a good chance." + +We checked our horses so as to approach at a walk, the Sergeant sending +me off a few yards to his left, and the other men opening out to the +right. + +I fully expected to see the baboons go scurrying off as we approached; +but, on the contrary, they grew more excited as, with rifle ready and +Sandho's rein upon his neck, I picked my way alongside the others in and +out among the great blocks of stone at the foot of the kopje, where +there was ample space for a couple of score of lions to conceal +themselves. But I felt sure that as soon as we came near enough, and +after sneaking cautiously along for some distance, the one we sought +would suddenly break cover and bound off away across the veldt. + +Wherever I came to a bare patch of the sandy earth I scanned narrowly in +search of "pug," as hunting-men call the traces; but I could not make +out a single footprint. There were those of the baboons by the dozen, +and the hoof-tracks of horses, probably those of some of our men when +they made a circuit of the rocky hillock. Every hoof-mark was made by +horses going in the direction we were; but still no sign of a lion. + +"Keep a sharp lookout," said the Sergeant softly; and I remember +thinking his words unnecessary, seeing that every one was keenly on the +alert. + +"Seems to me a mare's-nest," said the Sergeant to me dryly, as he cocked +his eye and pointed down at the footprints. + +"No," I said; "the baboons have got something below them on the other +side, or they wouldn't keep on like that. Ah! look out!" + +"What can you see?" cried the Sergeant. + +"Marks of blood on the ground here. The lion has caught one of the +baboons, I expect, and he's devouring it over yonder under where the +rest are dancing about and chattering." + +"And enough to make them," said the Sergeant between his teeth. "Shoot +the beggar if you can, sir." + +"I'll try," I replied; and Sandho advanced cautiously, with the cover +getting more dense, till, just as I was separated from the Sergeant by a +few big blocks of ironstone, from out of whose chinks grew plenty of +brushwood, Sandho stopped short, threw up his muzzle, and neighed. + +"What is it, old fellow?" I said softly, as I debated whether I should +dismount so as to make sure of my shot. "There, go on." + +The horse took two steps forward, and then stopped again. + +"Here's something, Sergeant," I said. "Push on round the end of that +block and you'll see too." + +"Lion?" + +"No, no. Go on." + +Sergeant Briggs pushed on, and uttered a loud ejaculation. + +"One of the Boers' horses?" I said. + +"One of the Boers, my lad," he cried. "Close in there." + +The two men drew nearer, and the next minute we were all gazing down at +where one of the enemy's wounded horses had evidently pitched forward +upon its knees and thrown its wounded rider over its head to where he +lay, a couple of yards in advance, with a terrible gash across his +forehead, caused by falling upon a rough stone. But that was not the +cause of his death, for his jacket and shirt were torn open and a rough +bandage had slipped down from the upper part of his chest, where a +bullet-wound showed plainly enough that his lungs must have been +pierced, and that he had bled to death. + +"Poor chap!" said the Sergeant softly; "he's got it. Well, he died like +a brave man. Came up here, I s'pose, for shelter." + +"There's another over yonder," I said excitedly, for about fifty yards +away from where we were grouped, and high above us, the baboons were +leaping about and chattering more than ever. + +"Shouldn't wonder," said the Sergeant; "and he aren't dead. Trying to +scare those ugly little beggars away." + +"I'll soon see," I said; and as I urged Sandho on, the shrinking beast +cautiously picked his way past the dead group, and we soon got up to a +narrow rift full of bushes, the path among the rocks running right up to +the highest point, towards which the baboons began to retire now, +chattering away, but keeping a keen watch on our proceedings. + +"Another dead horse, Sergeant," I shouted back. + +"Never mind the horse," cried Briggs. "Be ready, and shoot the wounded +man down at sight if he doesn't throw up his hands. 'Ware treachery." + +I pressed on into the gully, at whose entrance the second dead horse +lay, and the next minute, as Sandho forced the bushes apart with his +breast, I saw marks of blood on a stone just beneath where the apes had +been chattering in their excitement; and then I drew rein and felt +completely paralysed, for a faint voice, whose tones were unmistakable, +cried: + +"Help! Wather, for the love of Heaven!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +BRIGGS'S IRISH LION. + +"Why, it's an Irish lion!" cried the Sergeant, who was now close behind +me. + +I was too much surprised to say anything then; but I felt afterwards +that I might have said, "Irish jackal! The Irish lions are quite +different." But somehow the sight of the badly-wounded man disarmed me, +and I dismounted to part the bushes and kneel down beside where my enemy +lay back with his legs beneath the neck and shoulders of his dead horse, +blood-smeared and ghastly, as he gazed wildly in my face. + +"Wather!" he said pitifully. "I am a dead man." + +"Are you, now, Pat?" cried the Sergeant, in mocking imitation of the +poor wretch's accent and high-pitched intonation. + +"Don't be a brute, Sergeant," I said angrily as I opened my water-bottle +and held it to the man's lips. "Can't you see he's badly hurt?" + +"Serve him right," growled the Sergeant angrily. "What business has he +fighting against the soldiers of the Queen? Ugh! he don't deserve help; +he ought to be stood up and shot for a traitor." + +"Be quiet!" I said angrily as I held the bottle, and the wounded man +gulped down the cool water with terrible avidity. + +"All!" he moaned, "it putts life into me. Pull this baste of a horse +aff me. I've got a bullet through my showlther, and I'm nearly crushed +to death and devoured by those imp-like divils o' monkeys." + +"Here, you two," cried the Sergeant surlily, "uncoil your reins, and +make them fast round this dead horse's neck." + +Our two followers quickly executed the order, and then, the other ends +of the plaited raw-hide ropes being secured to rings in their saddles, +they urged on their horses, which made a plunge or two and dragged their +dead fellow enough on one side for the Sergeant, with my help, to lift +the poor rider clear. + +"The blessing of all the saints be upon you both!" he moaned. "There's +some lint in my pouch; just put a bit of a bandage about my showlther. +I'm Captain Moriarty, an officer and a gintleman, who yields as a +prisoner, and I want to be carried to yer commanding officer." + +He spoke very feebly at first; but the water and the relief from the +pressure of the horse revived him, and he began to breathe more freely, +his eyes searching my face in a puzzled way as if he thought he had seen +me before. + +I took no heed, but did as he suggested; and, finding the lint and a +bandage, roughly bound up the wound, which had long ceased bleeding. + +"Can ye fale the bullet in the wound, me young inimy?" he said, with a +sigh. + +"No," I replied, looking him full in the eyes. "Our doctor will see to +that." + +"Then ye've got a docthor with ye?" he said, pretty strongly now. + +"Of course we have," growled the Sergeant, whose countenance seemed to +me then to bear a remarkable resemblance to that of a mastiff dog who +was angry because his master spoke civilly to a stranger he wanted to +hunt off the premises. "Do you take us for savages?" + +"Silence, sor!" cried our prisoner, "or I'll report ye to yer officer." + +"Silence yourself!" cried the Sergeant. "What do you want with a +doctor, you Irish renegado turncoat? You said you were a dead man." + +"Whisht! I'm a prisoner; but I'm an officer and a gintleman.--Here, +boy, ordher your min to carry me out of this." + +"My men!" I said, laughing. "I'm only a private, and this is my +sergeant." + +"Thin ye ought to change places, me boy.--Give orders to your min to +carry me out of this, Serjint." + +"I'm about ready to tell the lads to put an end to a traitor to his +country." + +"Tchah! Ye daren't do annything o' the kind, Serjint, for it would be +murther. This is my counthry, and I'm a prisoner of war." + +"Let him be, Sergeant, and we'll get him into the camp.--Can you sit on +a horse, sir?" I said. + +"Sure, how do I know, boy, till I thry? I've been lying under that dead +baste till I don't seem to have any legs at all, at all. Ye must lift +me on." + +"Officer and a gentleman!" said the Sergeant scornfully. "I never heard +an Irish gentleman with a brogue like that. I believe you're one of the +rowdy sort that call themselves patriots." + +"Sure, and I am," cried our prisoner. "But here, I don't want any +wurruds with the like o' ye.--Help me up gently, boy, and let me see if +I can't shtand." + +"Take hold of him on the other side," I said to the Sergeant, and he +frowningly helped, so that we got our prisoner upon his feet. + +"Ah!" he said, with a groan. "I think I can manage it if ye lift me on +a horse." + +Sandho was led up, and with a good deal of difficulty and a repetition +of groans and allusions to the state of his lower members, the Captain +was hoisted into the saddle, and after another draught of water he +declared that he could "howld" out till we got him to the "docthor." + +"He doesn't look as if he could try to make a bolt of it," growled the +Sergeant; "but you'd better throw the reins over your horse's head and +lead him.--And look here, Mr Officer and Gentleman, I'm very good with +the revolver, so don't try to spur off." + +Our prisoner waved his hand contemptuously and turned to me. + +"Sure, me wound and me fall put it all out of me head; but I had a man +with me when I was hit, and we were cut off in the fight." + +"Yes," I said; "the poor fellow lies close here--dead." + +"Thin lade the horse round another way, boy. I don't want to look at +the poor lad. Ah! I don't fale so faint now. To think of me bad luck, +though. Shot down like this, and not in battle, but hunting a gang of +wagon-thieves." + +"Ha, ha, ha! ha, ha, ha!" roared the Sergeant, slapping his thigh again +and again as he laughed. "Come, I like that, Mr Moray.--Here, Mr +Captain, let me introduce you to the gentleman who so cleverly carried +off your stores last night." + +I was scarlet with indignation at being called a cattle-thief, and +turned angrily away. + +"What!" said the prisoner; "him? Did--did he--did--But Moray--Moray? +Sure, I thought I knew his face again. Here, I arrest ye as a thraitor +and a deserter from the commando, boy;" and his hand went to the holster +to draw his revolver, which had not been interfered with. + +"Drop that!" roared the Sergeant roughly, and he dragged the prisoner's +hand from the holster, wrenching the revolver from his grasp, and nearly +making him lose his balance and fall out of the saddle. "I've heard all +about it. So you're the Irish scoundrel who summoned that poor lad, and +when he refused to turn traitor and fight against his own country, you +had his hands lashed behind his back and treated him like a dog. Why, +you miserable renegado! if you weren't a wounded man I'd serve you the +same. An officer and a gentleman! Why, you're a disgrace to your brave +countrymen." + +"Whisht! whisht!" cried our prisoner contemptuously. + +"Whisht! whisht! I'd like to whisht you with a Boer's sjambok," cried +the Sergeant. "Here he finds you wounded and where you'd have lain and +died, and the carrion-birds would have come to the carrion; and when the +brave lad's helped you, given you water, bound up your wound, and put +you on his own beast, like that man did in Scripture, you turn round in +the nastiness of your nature and try to sting him. Bah! I'd be ashamed +of myself. You're not Irish. I don't even call you a man." + +The Sergeant's flow of indignation sounded much poorer at the end than +at the beginning; and, his words failing now, I had a chance to get in a +few. + +"That's enough, Sergeant," I said. "You forget he's a wounded man and a +prisoner." + +"Not half enough, Mr Moray," cried the Sergeant. "I'm not one of your +sort, full of fine feelings; only a plain, straightforward soldier." + +"And a brave man," I said, "who cannot trample on a fallen enemy." + +Sergeant Briggs gave his slouch felt hat a thrust on one side, while he +angrily tore at his grizzled shock of closely-cut hair: it was too +fierce to be called a scratch. + +"All right," he said--"all right; but the sight of him trying to get out +a pistol to hold at the head of him as--as--" + +"Be quiet, Sergeant," I said, smiling in spite of myself. "Look: the +poor fellow's turning faint. Let's get him to the camp. Ride alongside +him and hold him up or he'll fall." + +"If I do may I--" + +"Sergeant!" I shouted. + +"Oh, all right, all right. I--But here, I'm not going to let you begin +to domineer over your officer." + +"Sergeant," I said gently, and without a word he pressed his horse close +alongside the prisoner, thrust a strong arm beneath him, and we went out +into the open, passing, after all, the prisoner's Boer companion, whose +fighting was for ever at an end; and at last we reached the entrance to +the old fort, with our wounded prisoner nearly insensible. After the +horses had been led in, the prisoner had to be lifted down and placed in +the temporary hospital made in a sheltered portion of the passage. Here +the surgeon saw him at once, and extracted a rifle-bullet, which had +nearly passed through the shoulder. + +The Colonel was soon made acquainted with all that had passed, the +Sergeant being his informant, and men were sent out to give a soldier's +funeral to the dead Boer, who, with the Captain, must have dashed out in +one of our skirmishes, after being wounded, and tried to escape by going +right round the kopje, but had fallen by the way. + +"Here, Moray," said the Colonel to me the next time he passed, "you've +been heaping coals of fire upon your enemy's head, I hear?" + +"Oh, I don't know, sir," I said uneasily. + +"I've heard all about it, my lad; and a nice sort of a prisoner you've +brought me in. If he had been a Boer I'd have put him on one of the +captured horses and sent him to his laager, but I feel as if I must keep +this fellow. There, we shall see." + +"A brute!" said Denham that same night. "He's actually had the +impudence to send a message to the Colonel complaining of his quarters +and saying that he claims to be treated as an officer and a gentleman." + +"Pooh! The fellow only merits contempt," I said. + +"There are fifteen Irishmen in the corps, and they're all raging about +him. They say he ought to be hung for a traitor. He doesn't deserve to +be shot." + +"But there isn't an Irishman in the corps would put it to the proof," I +said. + +"Humph! Well," said Denham, "I suppose not, for he is a prisoner after +all. Officer and a gentleman--eh? One who must have left his country +for his country's good." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +DENHAM'S BAD LUCK. + +The men of the corps were in high glee during the following days, the +Boers making two or three attempts to cut off our grazing horses and +oxen, but smarting terribly for being so venturesome. In each case they +were sent to the right-about, while our cattle were driven back into +safety without the loss of a man. + +The enemy still surrounded us, occupying precisely the same lines; and, +thoroughly dissatisfied with a style of fighting which meant taking them +into the open to attack our stronghold, they laagered and strengthened +their position, waiting for us to attack them. This could only be done +at the risk of terrible loss and disaster, for the Boers were so +numerous that any attempt to cut through them might only result in our +small force being surrounded and overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. +Therefore our Colonel decided not to make an attack. + +"The Colonel says they're ten to one, Val; and as we've plenty of water +and provisions, he will leave all `acting on the aggressive' to the +Doppies." + +This remark was made by my companion Denham when we had been in +possession of the old fortress for nearly a fortnight. + +At first, while still suffering a little from the injuries I had +received, the confinement was depressing; but as I gradually recovered +from my wrenches and bruises, and as there was so much to do, and we +were so often called upon to be ready for the enemy, the days and nights +passed not unpleasantly. Discipline was strictly enforced, and +everything was carried out in the most orderly way. Horses and cattle +were watered and sent out to graze in charge of escorts, and a troop was +drawn up beyond the walls, ready to dash out should the Boers attempt to +cut them off; guard was regularly mounted; and the men were set to build +stone walls and roofs in parts of the old place, to give protection from +the cold nights and the rain that might fall at any time. + +As for the men, they were as jolly as the proverbial sandboys; and at +night the walls echoed with song and chorus. Then games were contrived, +some played by the light of the fires and others outside the walls. +Bats, balls, and stumps were made for cricket; of course very roughly +fashioned, but they afforded as much amusement as if they had come +straight from one of the best English makers. + +There was, however, a monotony about our food-supply, and the officers +more than once banteringly asked me when I was going to cut out another +half-dozen wagons. + +"Bring more variety next time," they said merrily. "Pick out one loaded +with tea, coffee, sugar, and butter." + +"Yes," cried Denham, laughing; "and when you are about it, bring us some +pots and kettles and potatoes. We can eat the big ones; and, as we seem +to be settled here for the rest of our days, we're going to start a +garden and plant the little 'taters in that." + +"To be sure," said another officer; "and I say, young fellow, mind and +choose one of the next teams with some milch-cows in it. I feel as if I +should like to milk." + +I laughed too, but I felt as if I should not much like to undertake such +another expedition as the last, and that it would be pleasanter to +remain content with the roast beef and very decent bread our men +contrived to make in the old furnace after it had been a bit modified, +or with the "cookies" that were readily made on an iron plate over a +fire of glowing embers. Oh no! I don't mean damper, that stodgy cake +of flour and water fried in a pan; they were the very eatable cakes one +of our corporals turned out by mixing plenty of good beef-dripping with +the flour, and kneading all up together. They were excellent--or, as +Denham said, would have been if we had possessed some salt. + +One of our greatest difficulties was the want of fuel, for it was scarce +around the old stronghold when we had cut down all the trees and bushes +growing out of the ledges and cracks about the kopje; and the question +had been mooted whether we should not be obliged to blast out some of +the roots wedged in amongst the stones by ramming in cartridges. But +while there was any possibility of making adventurous raids in all +directions where patches of trees existed, and the men could gallop out, +halt, and each man, armed with sword and a piece of rein, cut his +faggot, bind it up, and gallop back, gunpowder was too valuable to be +used for blasting roots. This was now, however, becoming a terribly +difficult problem, for the enemy--eagerly seizing upon the chance to +make reprisals when these were attended by no great risk to themselves-- +had more than once chased and nearly captured our foraging parties. + +Consequently all thoughts of fires for warmth during the cold nights, +when they would have been most welcome, were abandoned; while the men +eagerly volunteered for cooks' assistants; and the officers were not +above gathering in the old furnace-place of a night, after the cooking +was over, for the benefit of the warmth still emitted by the impromptu +oven. + +Meanwhile every economy possible was practised, and the fuel store +jealously guarded. The said fuel store consisted of every bone of the +slaughtered animals that could be saved, and even the hides; these, +though malodorous, giving out a fine heat when helped by the green +faggots, which were in turn started ablaze by chips of the gradually +broken-up wagons. + +Then, too, the veldt was laid under contribution, men going out mounted, +and furnished with sacks, which they generally brought back full of the +scattered bones of game which had at one time swarmed in the +neighbourhood, but had been ruthlessly slaughtered by the Boers. + +So the days glided on, with not the slightest prospect, apparently, of +our escape. + +"Every one's getting precious impatient, Val," said Denham one day when +we were idling up on the walls with his field-glass, after lying +listlessly chatting about the old place and wondering what sort of +people they were who built it, and whether they did originally come +gold-hunting from Tyre and Sidon. "Yes," he added, "we are impatient in +the extreme." + +"It doesn't seem like it," I replied; "the men are contented enough." + +"Pooh! They're nobody. I mean the officers. The chief's leg's pretty +nearly right again, and he was saying at mess only yesterday that it was +a most unnatural state of affairs for British officers to be forced by a +set of low-bred Dutch Boers, no better than farm-labourers, to eat their +beef without either mustard, horse-radish, or salt." + +"Horrible state of destitution," I said quietly. + +"None of your sneers, Farmer Val," he cried. "He's right, and I'm +getting sick of it myself. He says it is such an ignoble position for a +mounted corps to suffer themselves to be shut up here, and not to make +another dash for freedom." + +"Well, I shall be glad if we make another attempt to get through their +lines," I said thoughtfully. + +"That's what the Major said, when, hang me! if the chief didn't turn +suddenly round like a weathercock, and say that what we were doing was +quite right, because we held this great force of Boers occupied so that +the General might carry out his plans without being harassed by so large +a body of men." + +"That's right enough," I said. + +"Don't you get blowing hot and cold," cried Denham, with impatience. +"Then some one else sided with the Colonel. It was the doctor, I think. +He said the General must know when, where, and how we were situated, +and that sooner or later he would attack the Boers, rout them, and set +us at liberty." + +"That sounds wise," I hazarded. + +"No, it doesn't," said my companion; "because we shouldn't want setting +at liberty then. Do you suppose that if we heard the General's guns, +and found that he was attacking the enemy, we should sit still here and +look on?" + +"Well, it wouldn't be right," I replied. + +"Right? Of course not. As soon as the attack was made we should file +out and begin to hover on the enemy's flank or rear, or somewhere else, +waiting our time, and then go at them like a wedge and scatter them. +Oh, how I do long to begin!" + +"It seems to me," I said thoughtfully, "that the General ought to have +sent some one to find us and bring us a despatch ordering the Colonel +what to do." + +"I dare say he has--half-a-dozen by now--and the Boers have captured +them; but it doesn't matter." + +"Doesn't matter?" I said wonderingly. + +"No; because, depend upon it, he'd have ordered us to sit fast till he +came." + +"Well, but oughtn't the Colonel to have sent out a despatch or two +telling the General how we are fixed?" + +"Yes--no--I don't know," said Denham sourly. "I'm only a subaltern--a +bit of machinery that is wound up sometimes by my superior officers, and +then I turn round till I'm stopped. Subalterns are not expected to have +any brains, or to think for themselves." + +"Now you are exaggerating," I said. + +"Not a bit of it, my little man. But I know what I should have done if +I had been chief." + +"What's that?" + +"Sent out a smart fellow who could track and ride." + +"With a despatch for the General?" + +"No; a message that couldn't fall into the enemy's hands. I'd have gone +like a shot." + +"You couldn't send yourself," I said dryly. + +"Eh? What do you mean?" + +"You were telling me what you would have done if you had been chief." + +"Bah! Yah! Don't you pretend to be so sharp. That's what the old man +ought to do, though--send out a messenger, and if he didn't find the +General he'd find out how things are going. I believe the Boers are +licking our regular troops." + +"Oh, nonsense!" I said, looking startled. "Impossible." + +"Nothing's impossible in war, my boy. I'm getting uncomfortable. You'd +go with a message if you were ordered?" + +"Of course," I said. + +"Of course you would. That's what the chief ought to do, and I've a +good mind to tell him so. But I say," he added, in alarm, "don't you go +and tell any one what I've been talking about." + +I looked him in the face and laughed. + +"Of course you will not," said Denham confidently. "Hullo! Going?" + +"Yes; I want to go and see how the great Irish captain is," I replied. + +"What do you want to go and see him for?" said my companion angrily. + +"I hardly know," I replied. "I like to see that he's getting better." + +"Well, you are a rum chap," cried Denham. "I should have thought you +would like to go and sit upon the bragging brute. Why, last time, when +I went with you, he talked to both of us as if we were two privates in +his Boer corps." + +"Yes, he's a self-satisfied, inflated sort of fellow; but he's wounded +and a prisoner." + +"What of that? It's only what he ought to be. I want to know what's to +be done with him." + +"The Colonel won't send him to the Boer lines when he's well enough to +move, I hope." + +"Not he. I expect he'll be kept till he can be handed over to the +General. Here, I'll come with you." + +I was quite willing, and we descended to the hospital, as the shut-off +part of one of the passages was called; and there sat the only patient +and prisoner, with an armed sentry close at hand to prevent any attempt +at escape. + +The Captain turned his head sharply on hearing our footsteps, and gave +us both a haughty stare, which amused Denham, making him look to me and +smile. + +"Oh, you've come at last," said the patient. "I've been wanting you." + +"What is it?" I said. "Water?" + +"Bah!" he replied, his upper lip curling. "I want you to bring your +chief officer here." + +"I dare say you do, my fine fellow," cried Denham. "Pretty good for a +prisoner! You don't suppose he'll come--do you? Here, what do you +want? Tell me, and I'll carry your message to the chief." + +Moriarty gave the young officer a contemptuous glance, and then turned +to me. + +"Go and tell the Colonel, or whatever he is, that I am greatly surprised +at his inattention to my former message." + +"Did you send a message?" I asked, surprised by his words. + +"Of course I did, two days ago, by the surgeon. It's not gentlemanly of +your Colonel. Go and tell him that I feel well enough to move now, and +that I desire him to send me with a proper escort, and under a white +flag, to make an exchange of prisoners." + +"Well, I'll take your message," I said; "but--" + +"Yes, go at once," said Moriarty, "and bring me back an answer, for I'm +sick of this place." + +He turned away, and, without so much as a glance at Denham, lay back, +staring up at the sky. + +"Well," said Denham when we were out of hearing, "of all the arrogance +and cheek I ever witnessed, that fellow possesses the most. Here, what +are you going to do?" + +"Take the message to the Colonel," I replied. + +"Going to do what?" cried Denham. "Nothing of the kind." + +"But I promised him." + +"I know you did; but you must have a fit of delirium coming on. It's +being too much up in the sun." + +"Nonsense," I said. "I've no time for joking." + +"Joking, my dear boy? Nothing of the kind. I'm going to take you to +the doctor; he'll nip your complaint in the bud." + +"Absurd," I cried. "Come with me to the Colonel." + +"What! To deliver the message?" + +"Of course." + +"No, Val, my boy. I like you too well to let you go to the old man. Do +you know what he'd do?" + +"Send me back to our friend there with a message as sharp as a sword. +Of course I know he will not send him across to the Boers." + +"My dear Val," said Denham solemnly, "let me inform your ignorance +exactly what would happen. I know the chief from old experience. He'll +sit back and listen to you with one of those pleasant smiles he puts on +when he's working himself up into a rage. He'll completely disarm you-- +as he did me once--and all the time, as he hears you patiently to the +end, he'll think nothing about my lord Paddy there, but associate you, +my poor boy, with what he will consider about the most outrageous piece +of impudence he ever had addressed to him. Then suddenly he'll spring +up and say--No, I will not spoil the purity of the atmosphere this +beautiful evening by repeating a favourite expletive of his--he'll say +something you will not at all like, and then almost kick you out of his +quarters." + +"I don't believe it," I said. + +"That's giving me the lie, Val, my boy. He'll be in such a rage that +he'll forget himself; for, though he's a splendid soldier, and as brave +a man as ever crossed a charger, he is one of the--" + +"What, Mr Denham?" said the gentleman of whom he spoke, suddenly +standing before us. "Pray speak out; I like to hear what my officers +think of me." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +DENHAM SHIVERS. + +I wanted to dash off--not from fear, but to indulge in a hearty roar of +laughter--for Denham's countenance at that moment wore the drollest +expression I have ever seen upon the face of man. + +"I--I--I beg your pardon, Colonel," he stammered at last. + +"For backbiting me, sir," said the Colonel shortly. "I could not help +hearing your last sentence, for you raised your voice and forced it upon +me. Now, if you please, I am one of the--what?" + +"I was--I was only telling Moray here, sir, that you were--er--er--very +passionate, and that if--" + +"Passionate, am I?" + +"Yes, sir," stammered Denham. "No, no; I beg your pardon, sir. I +didn't mean to say that." + +"I presume you are saying what you consider to be the truth, Mr +Denham," said the Colonel coldly. "Now, pray go on: and that if--" + +"If he came to you with--with a message, sir, that he has just received, +you would kick him out of your presence." + +"Humph!" said the Colonel sternly. "Just this minute, sir, you said of +me what you believed to be the truth; but now you have been saying what +you must know to be false.--Pray, what was the message Moray?" he added, +turning to me. + +There was only one thing to do, and I did it, giving Moriarty's message +to the end. + +"The insolent, conceited idiot!" said the Colonel scornfully. "You need +not go back to him with my answer; but if you come across him again and +he asks what I said, you can tell him this: that at the first +opportunity I shall hand him over to my superior officers, as one of Her +Majesty's subjects found with arms in his hand fighting against the +British force after taking service with her enemies, and doing his best +to impress Englishmen to serve in the same ranks.--Mr Denham, I should +like a few words with you in the morning." + +He turned upon his heel and strode heavily away, with his spurs clinking +loudly and the guard at the end of his scabbard giving a sharp _chink_ +every now and then, as, field-glass in hand, he climbed to the top of +the wall to take a look round at the positions of the enemy before the +evening closed in. + +"Well," said Denham at last, looking the while as if all the military +starch had been taken out of him, "you've done it now." + +I could keep back my laughter no longer. + +"Somebody has," I cried merrily. + +"Yes," he said dolefully; "somebody has. Oh, I say, Val, you oughtn't +to have told tales like that." + +"What?" I cried. "How could I help it?" + +"Well, I suppose you couldn't," said my companion. "But there never was +such an unlucky beggar as I am. What did he want to come upon us just +at that moment for? Oh dear! oh dear! and I got to face him to-morrow +morning! I say, can't we do something to put it off--something to make +him forget it?" + +"Impossible," I said. + +"Oh, I don't know; try and think of a good dodge--a sortie, or doing +something to make the Boers come on to-night. If we had a jolly good +light he'd forget all about it, and I shouldn't hear any more about the +miserable business. Here, what can we do to make the Boers come on? I +might get killed in the set-to, and then I should escape this awful +wigging." + +"Who ought to go and see the doctor now?" I said. "Who's going mad?" + +"I am, I believe, old fellow; and enough to make me. It's enough to +make a fellow desert. Here, I know; I'll do something. It's all the +fault of that miserable renegade. I'll go in and half-kill him--an +insolent, insulting brute!" + +Just then Denham, who was as fearless as any man in the ranks when out +with the corps, started violently in his alarm; for a hail came from +high up on the wall in the Colonel's familiar voice; and upon looking +up, there he was, glass in hand, looking down at us. + +"Denham," cried the Colonel, "run to the Major. Tell him to come here +to me at once, and bring his glass." + +"Yes, sir," cried my companion.--"Come with me, Val. My word! He gave +me such a turn, as the old women say; I thought he'd heard me again. +Hurrah, old fellow! there's something up, and no mistake. I shan't get +that tongue-flogging after all." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +DENHAM PROVES TO BE RIGHT. + +In a few minutes the Major had joined the Colonel, and soon every +officer and man in the old fortification was waiting breathlessly for +information as to what intelligence regarding the movements of the enemy +the two stern-looking men up on the wall were gathering into their +brains through their glasses--intelligence far beyond the ken of the +sentries, whose duty it was to keep strict watch upon the great circle +which was formed by the Boer lines. + +There was no hurry or bustle; but our trumpeter had buckled his +sword-belt and taken down his instrument from where it hung, and then +stationed himself upon one of the blocks of stone in the great +courtyard, watching his chiefs, and holding his instrument ready, while +his eyes seemed about to start out of his head in his excitement. +Everywhere it was the same. Men glided about here and there, after a +glance at the ranges of rifles against the wall, with their well-filled +bandoliers, and only paused at last where each could dart to his horse, +ready to saddle and bridle the tethered beast. The officers were also +silently preparing--buckling on their swords, taking revolvers from +their belt-holsters, and filling the chambers from their +cartridge-pouches, quite mechanically, without taking their eyes off the +watchers on the wall. But in spite of all these preparations no sounds +were heard save those made by the horses--an impatient stamp or pawing +at the stones, followed by a snort or a whinnying neigh. + +I did as the rest had done. Meeting Denham after his return from the +sheltered spot occupied by the officers, we stood together, looking up +at the wall. + +"What a long time they are taking!" whispered Denham impatiently. "The +Doppies can't be coming on, or they'd have been seen before now." + +Almost as he spoke the two officers strode to one end of the rampart and +began to inspect the veldt again. The next minute they were making for +the opposite side of the great building, to examine the country in that +direction; and here they stood for a long time. + +"Oh dear!" groaned Denham at last. "What's-its-name deferred makes the +heart sink into your boots. It's a false alarm." + +"Not it," I said, "for there has been no alarm." + +"Well, you know what I mean. It's all over. I did hope the chief would +be so busy that he'd forget all about what I said. There never was such +a miserably unlucky beggar born as I am. Now we shall--" + +Just then the Major left the Colonel's side, came to the edge of the +wall, and looked down into the court, gave a nod of satisfaction, and +made a sign to the trumpeter, whose bugle went with a flip to his lips, +and there was a sound as if the pent-up breath of some four hundred men +had been suddenly allowed to escape. Then the walls were echoing to the +call "Boot and Saddle," and every man sprang to his hung-up saddle and +then to his horse, the willing beasts seeming all of a tremor with an +excitement as great as that of their riders. Long practice had made us +quick; and in an incredibly short time I was standing like the rest with +my rifle slung across my back, holding Sandho's bridle ready to lead him +out through the gateway, military fashion, though he would have walked +at my side like a dog. + +"We're only going for a bit of a reconnaissance," said Sergeant Briggs +gruffly as, after a sharp, non-com glance at his men, he settled down +close to my side. + +"How do you know?" I asked, speaking as if to a friend, and not to a +superior officer on parade. + +"No orders for water-bottles and rations, my lad. I was in hopes that +we were going to make a dash through them and get out of this prison of +a place." + +"What! and leave all that splendid beef, Briggs?" said Denham, who came +up in time to hear the Sergeant's words. + +"Yes; and the gold-mine too, sir. We could come back and take +possession of that." + +"But the bullocks?" + +"They'd find their way out and get their living on the veldt. Needn't +trouble about them, sir. Look out." + +We were looking out, for our two chief officers had now descended from +the walls and crossed to where their servants were holding their +chargers. + +Directly after a note was sounded, followed by a sharp order or two, and +horse and man, troop after troop, filed out into position and stood +ready to mount. + +The order was not long in coming, and we sprang into our saddles, all in +profound ignorance of what was before us, save that we were soon to +return. About fifty men had been left as garrison. + +Then an order was given, and we divided into two bodies. One +detachment, under the Major, moved off, to pass round by the kopje; the +other, in which I served, taking the opposite direction, but turning +after passing round the stronghold, and meeting the other detachment +about half a mile to the east. There we sat, obtaining in the clear +evening light a full view of the enemy's proceedings. + +We had no sooner halted than the officers' glasses were focussed, and +all waited anxiously for an explanation of the movements which the +non-commissioned officers and privates could see somewhat indistinctly +with the naked eye. + +Denham was close to me; and, like the good fellow he was, he took care +to let me know what he made out, speaking so that his words were plainly +heard by Sergeant Briggs and the others near. + +"It seems to be a general advance of the enemy," he said, with his eyes +close to his glass. "They're coming steadily on at a walk. Yes; wagons +and all." + +"That doesn't mean an attack, sir," said the Sergeant. + +"I don't know what it means," said Denham. "Yes, I think I do. They've +got some notion into their heads that we mean to break through the ring, +and they are going to close up, to make it more solid." + +"They think we're getting tired of it, sir, and that when we see them +loaded with plenty of good things we shall surrender." + +"Perhaps it's out of kindness, Briggs," said Denham, laughing. "They +want to tempt us into making another raid because the distance will be +shorter for us to go." + +"Then I'm afraid they'll be disappointed, sir, for the Colonel isn't +likely to risk losing any of his men while we've got all those bullocks +to eat." + +"I don't know what to make of it," said Denham; then, thoughtfully: "It +looks to me like some bit of cunning--a sort of ruse to get within +rifle-shot. Look how steadily they're coming on." + +That was plain enough to us all, line after line of horsemen advancing +as regularly as if they had been well-drilled cavalry; and for my part, +inexperienced as I was in such matters, I could not help thinking that +the wagons were being pushed forward on purpose to afford cover for +their best marksmen, and that in a short time the bullets would begin to +be pinging and buzzing about our ears. + +I can't say what the Colonel thought; but almost directly the trumpet +rang out, and we were cantered back, to file steadily into the great +courtyard again, with the men grumbling and muttering among themselves +at having been made what they called fools of. + +"I tell you what it is, Val," said Denham as soon as he had another +chance to speak; "I believe I've got it." + +"What--the Boers' plan?" + +"Yes; don't you see? They'll come right in so as to be within easy shot +of our grazing grounds." + +"Oh!" I exclaimed, "I never thought of that. Of course; and if the +horses and cattle are driven out, they'll be able to shoot them down +till we haven't a beast left." + +"Nor a bit of beef. It's to force us to surrender--a regular siege." + +It was rapidly getting dark then; and we soon learned that our ideas of +the Boers' ruse were the same as those entertained by our chiefs. + +Upon the strength of the closer approach the sentries were doubled, and +by means of the wagons the entrance to our stronghold was barricaded in +a more effectual way; but we were not to be allowed to rest with a +feeling of security that night. In about a couple of hours after our +return a shot was fired by one of the sentries, then another, and +another; and the men stood to their arms, on foot, ready for an attack +by the enemy. In a few minutes, however, the news ran round that the +sentries had fired at a dark figure creeping along under the wall inside +the courtyard after repeated challenges; and, later, the news spread +that the sentry on guard over the prisoner was lying insensible and +bleeding from a great cut on the back of his head, and that Captain +Moriarty was nowhere to be found. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +AN AMBUSCADE IN STONE. + +"The chief's in an awful rage, Val," said Denham, when he came to me +after a thorough search had seemed to prove that the prisoner had eluded +the vigilance of the sentries. "He swears that some one must have been +acting in collusion with the pompous blackguard, and that he means to +have the whole of our Irish boys before him and cross-examine the lot." + +"I hope he will not," I said. + +"So do I; for I don't believe one of them would have lent him a hand, +and it would offend them all." + +"Yes," I said; "they're all as hot-headed and peppery as can be." + +"Spoiling for a fight," put in Denham. + +"Yes; and so full of that queer feeling which makes them think a set is +made against them because they are Irish." + +"Exactly," cried my companion; "and it's such a mistake on their part, +because we always like them for their high spirits and love of a bit of +fun." + +"They're the wittiest and cleverest fellows in the corps." + +"And if I wanted a dozen chaps to back me up in some dangerous business, +I'd sooner depend on them for standing to me to the last than any one I +know." + +"Oh! it would be a pity," I said warmly. "I hope the Colonel will think +better of it." + +Denham winked at me as we sat in shelter by the light of a +newly-invented lamp, made of a bully-beef tin cut down shallow and with +a couple of dints in the side; it was full of melted fat, across which a +strip out of the leg of an old cotton stocking had been laid so that the +two ends projected an inch beyond the two spout-like dints. + +"What does that mean?" I asked. + +"The chief," said Denham, "good old boy, kicks up a shindy, and swears +he'll do this or that, and then he thinks better of it. I've got off my +wigging." + +"How do you know?" I said. + +"Met the old boy after I had been having a regular hunt everywhere with +half-a-dozen men, and he nodded to me in quite a friendly way. `Thank +you, Denham,' he said. `Tell your men that they were very smart.'" + +"I'm glad of that," I said. + +"Same here, dear boy. It's his way, bless him! He likes a red rag to +go at, the old John Bull that he is; but if another begins to flutter +somewhere else, he forgets number one and goes in for number two." + +"Yes, I've noticed that," I said. "But it's a great pity that fellow +got away. I believe he has been shamming a bit lately." + +"No doubt about it. The nuisance of it is, that the brute will go and +put the Boers up to everything as to our strength, supplies, ammunition, +and goodness knows what else. But, look here, I'm going on now to see +how Sam Wren is." + +"Sam Wren?" I cried wonderingly. "What's the matter with him?" + +"Matter? Why, he was the sentry Moriarty knocked down." + +"Oh, poor fellow! I am sorry," I said, for the private in question was +one of the smartest and best-tempered men in our troop. + +"So's everybody," replied Denham. "I say: it was contusion in his case, +not collusion." + +"Where is he?" I said. + +"In hospital. Duncombe's a bit uneasy about him. I'm going on again to +see him. Will you come?" + +"Of course," I said eagerly. + +"Come along, then. We'll take the lamp, or some sentry may be popping +at us." + +"The wind will puff it out in that narrow passage." + +"Not as I shall carry it," replied my companion; and he led off, with +his broad-brimmed felt held over the flickering wick, in and out among +the fallen stones between the walls, nearly to the other side of the +court. Here another covered-in patch had been turned into a fairly snug +hospital by hanging up two wagon-tilts twenty feet apart, after clearing +away the loose stones; and a certain number of fairly comfortable beds +had been made of the captured corn-sacks. + +On reaching the first great curtain Denham called upon me to hold it +aside, as his hands were full; and as I did so I caught sight, on the +right-hand side, of our doctor down on one knee and bending over his +patient, whose face could be seen by the light of a lantern placed upon +a stone, while his voice sounded plainly, as if he were replying to +something the surgeon had said. + +"Only me, Duncombe," said Denham. "Just come to see how Wren is." + +"Better, thank goodness," said the doctor. "He seemed to come-to about +five minutes ago." + +"I am glad, Wren," said Denham, setting down the lamp beside the +lantern. + +"Thank ye, sir," said the poor fellow, smiling. "Moray's come with me +to look you up." The wounded man looked pleased to see me, and then his +face puckered up as he turned his eyes again to the doctor and said: + +"I don't mind the crack on the head, sir, a bit. Soldiers deal in hard +knocks, and they must expect to get some back in return. I know I've +given plenty. It's being such a soft worries me." + +"Well, don't let it worry you. Help me by taking it all coolly, and +I'll soon get you well again." + +"That you will, sir. I know that," said the man gently. "But I feel as +if I should like to tell the Colonel that I was trying to do my duty." + +"He doesn't want telling that, Sam," said Denham. "Of course you were." + +"But I oughtn't to have been such a fool, sir--such a soft Tommy of a +fellow. I knew he was a humbug; but he looked so bad, and pulled such a +long face, that I didn't like to be hard. `Here, sentry,' he says, as +he sat up with his back to the wall, just after you'd gone, `this right +leg's gone all dead again. It's strained and wrenched through the horse +lying upon it all those hours. Just come and double up one of those +sacks and lay it underneath for a cushion. The pain keeps me from going +to sleep.'" + +"Oh, that's how it happened--was it?" said the doctor, while we two +listened eagerly. + +"I'm coming to it directly, sir," said the man querulously. "Well, sir, +seeing as I felt that, as I was sentry over the hospital, I was in +charge of a wounded man as well, I just rested my rifle against the +wall, picked up one of the sacks, and doubled it in four. Then, just as +innocent as a babby, I kneels down, lifts up his leg softly, bending +over him like, and was just shoving the bit of a cushion-like thing +under his knee, when it seemed as if one of the big stones up there had +fallen flat on the back of my head, and I heard some one say, `Take +that, you ugly Sassenach beast! and see how you like lying in hospital.' +Then it was all black, sir, till I opened my eyes and saw you holding +that stuff to my lips." + +"Yes, my man," said the doctor; "now don't talk any more, but lie +still." + +"Tell me about that crack on the head again, sir, please. It wasn't one +of the stones fell down, then?" + +"No; the prisoner must have got hold of this piece somehow, then kept it +ready by the side of his bed, and struck you down." + +"And a nasty, dirty, cowardly blow, too," said the poor fellow feebly. +"Beg pardon, sir; you'll pull me round as quickly as you can--won't +you?" + +"Of course," said the doctor, smiling. + +"Thank ye, sir. I want to have an interview with that gentleman again." + +"I suppose so," said Denham; "and so do about four hundred of the corps. +He'd have been stood up with his back to one of the walls and shot by +this time, but the brute has got away." + +"We shall run against him again, though, sir," said the wounded man +confidently, "and we shan't mistake him for any one else.--Beg pardon, +though, sir; you're quite sure my skull isn't broken?" + +"Quite," said the doctor. "Now be quiet." + +"Certainly, sir; but is it cracked?" + +"No, nor yet cracked," said the doctor, smiling. "You're suffering from +concussion of the brain." + +"And I'll concuss his brain, sir, if I can only get a chance; but I will +do it fair and--Yes, sir, I've done, and I'm going to sleep." + +He smiled at us both, and then closed his eyes; while, after a few words +with the doctor, Denham picked up the lamp, and we went gently to the +other rough curtain. + +"It's just as near to go back this way," said Denham as I lowered the +canvas again, and we passed on, to be confronted directly after by a +sentry, who challenged with his levelled bayonet pointed at our breasts; +but after giving the word we passed on. + +"Seems queer for poor Sam Wren," said my companion, "changing places +like that. Sentry one moment; patient the next. Bah! it is a nuisance +that the prisoner should have been able to get away." + +"And go back to the Boers, full of all he has seen here," I said. + +"Well, it will make us all the more careful," said Denham, still shading +the lamp with his hat as we went on, till we had passed where we could +hear the movement of the horses tethered to the long lines, with none +too much room to stir, poor beasts! Commenting on the condition of our +mounts, I remarked that, as the Boers had come in so close, the horses +would have but little opportunity for stretching their legs. + +"Oh, don't you be afraid about that; the chief isn't the man to let the +Doppies come close like this without having something to say on his +side. You may depend upon it that the moment he feels that the horses +are going the wrong way, there'll be such a dash made as will astonish +our friends outside." + +"Well, I shall not be sorry," I said, "for I don't like being shut up as +we are. Look up. I say, what a lovely starlight night!" + +"No, thank you," replied Denham. "I like fine nights, but I like to +take care of my shins; and if I get star-gazing the lamp will be blown +out, and we shall be going down one of those holes into the old +gold-mine. There is one just in front--isn't there?" + +"Two," I said; "but there are great stones laid across now." + +"Across the middle; but there's plenty of room to go down on one side. +Look! Here we are." + +He stopped and held the lamp down, its feeble rays showing that he was +upon a broad stone laid across one of the old mine-shafts, one of those +close by the ancient furnace we had discovered on our first visit. On +this he now halted for a moment, partly from curiosity, partly to draw +my attention to the danger. + +"I should like to tie some of the horses' reins together and have a +decent lantern, so as to be let down to explore these places." + +"You couldn't," I said. "Don't you remember when we threw a stone down +this one it fell some distance and then went splash into the water?" + +"It was the one farther on, not this one," said Denham, bending lower. + +"Well, you may depend upon it that there'd be no going far before coming +to water." + +"Val!" cried my companion suddenly. + +"What's the matter?" + +"That's what some of our chaps have been doing." + +"What! going down to the water?" + +"No; exploring to find gold. Look here; they've been doing exactly what +I said. Here's a rein tied round this stone with the end going right +down, and--" + +_Crash_! + +"Ah! Val!" + +There was the sound of a couple of strokes, one falling upon the lamp, +which seemed to leap down into the shaft at our feet, the other stroke +falling on Denham's head; and as I sprang to his assistance I was +conscious of receiving a tremendous thrust which sent me headlong +downward, as if I were making a dive from the stone I tried to cross. +The next minute my head came in contact with stones, strange +scintillations of light flashed before my eyes, there was a roar as of +thunder in my ears, and then all was blank. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +IN DOLEFUL DUMPS. + +Mine was a strange awakening to what appeared like a confused dream. +There was a terrible pain in my head, and a sensation as of something +warm and wet trickling down the side of my face, accompanied by a +peculiar smarting which made me involuntarily raise my hand and quickly +draw it away again, for I had only increased the pain. Then I lay quite +still, trying to puzzle out what was the matter. + +At first I could only realise the fact that the darkness was intense. +After a time the idea occurred that I must have been out with my troop +attacking the Boers, and that a bullet had struck me diagonally on the +forehead and glanced off after making the cut, which kept bleeding; but +I was so stunned that a kind of veil seemed to be raised between the +present and the past. + +"I shall think all about it soon," I mused. "It's of no use to worry +after a fall." + +Then I wondered about Sandho, and how the poor beast had fared, a pang +of mental agony shooting through me as I listened. + +I could not hear a sound. + +"He's killed," was my next thought; "for if he had been alive he would +have stopped directly I fell from his back, and waited for me to +remount." + +I began to feel about with my hands; but instead of touching soft earth +or bush I felt rough stones, wet and slimy as if coated with fine moss, +and it had lately been raining. A faint musical drip, as of falling +water, strengthened this notion; but I did not try to follow it out, for +my head throbbed severely. So I lay still trying to rest, and gazing +upward expecting to see the stars. All above, however, was black with a +solid intensity that was awe-inspiring. I could see nothing; but I +could feel, and became aware of another fact: I was lying among rocks in +a most uncomfortable and painful position, with my head and shoulders in +a niche between two pieces of stone, and my feet high above me. + +"At the foot of some kopje," I remember fancying. Then my mind grew +clearer--so much clearer that I felt for my handkerchief, got it out of +my breast, doubled it, and bound it round my forehead to stop the +bleeding. This took me some time; but the movement, painful though it +was, seemed to give me more power of thinking, and I began to do more. +After an effort, I managed to get my back and shoulders out of the +crevice in the rocks where they were wedged. Then my legs slipped down +of their own weight, and I felt myself gliding down a sharp incline. I +spread out my hands to stop myself, and succeeded, bringing up against +some loose stones. + +"Sandho's somewhere at the bottom of this slope," I thought, and I +called him by name; but I was horrified to hear my words go +reverberating from me with strange, whispering echoes which died slowly +away. + +"How strange!" I muttered, as the intense darkness made my feeling of +confusion return. "Where am I? What place is this?" + +I knew I was saying these words aloud; and what followed came like an +answer to my question, for from somewhere close at hand there was a deep +moaning sigh. I started violently and tried to creep away; but my head +began to swim with terrible giddiness on attempting to move. As this +subsided a little I thrust out my hand cautiously and began to feel +about, touching at the end of a few seconds something which brought back +my memory with a rush. My fingers had come in contact with the tin +contrivance we had used for a lamp; and, naturally enough, the touch +recalled to me who had borne it, and the accident that had befallen us. +Accident? No; it must have been an attack. + +However, my head was clearing rapidly, and the sense of horror and pain +was passing off like mist; and now I began again to feel cautiously +about, but without avail, till I turned upon my hands and knees and +crawled a yard or two, slipped, and clung to the rugged surface to check +my descent. Then my feet went down to the full extent before they were +stopped by something soft, and a thrill of satisfaction ran through me, +for a well-known voice said peevishly: + +"Don't--don't!--What is it?" + +"Val," I cried, and my voice was caught up, and died away in whispers. + +Then there was a pause, and I lay listening till, from below, came the +words: + +"Did any one speak?" + +"Yes, yes, I did," I cried. "Where are you?" + +"I--I don't know. Think I must have had a fall." + +I was about to lower myself to the speaker, when a sudden thought made +me turn a little over on my left side. The next moment I was clinging +hard with both hands, for a stone I had touched gave way, and there was +a rushing sound, silence, and then a horrible echoing splash which set +my heart beating fast. In imagination I saw the loosened stone slide +down to an edge below me, and bound off, to fall into the water, which I +could hear lapping, sucking, and gliding about the sides of the chasm, +strangely suggestive of live creatures which had been disturbed and had +made a rush at the falling stone in the belief it was something they +might tear and devour. + +Recovering from my momentary panic, I set one hand free to search for +and get out my little tin match-box. It was no easy task, under the +circumstances, to get it open and strike one of the tiny tapers. + +"Val, is that you?" came from just below. + +"Yes; wait a moment. Hold tight," I said in a choking voice, as I +rubbed the match on the bottom of the box, making a phosphorescent line +of light, then another, and another, before impatiently throwing the +match from me and seeing its dim light die away in the darkness. + +I knew the reason why I had not got the match to light. As I opened the +box again to get another, I did not insert finger and thumb till they +got a good rub on my jacket to free them from the dampness caused by +holding on to the wet stones. Now, as I struck, there was a sharp +crackling noise, and the light flashed out, caught on, and the match +burned bravely, giving me light enough to look for the tin lamp I had +touched before. There it was, some little distance above me, on a +terribly steep, wet slope. + +No time was to be lost; so, mastering my hesitation as I thought of what +was before me if I slipped, I began to climb; but, before I had drawn +myself up a yard, Denham's voice rose to me, its tones full of agony and +despair: + +"Don't leave me, Val, old fellow!" + +"Not going to," I shouted. "I'm getting the lamp." + +"Ah!" came from below. + +Almost before the exclamation had died away I was within reach of the +fallen lamp; but just then I dislodged another loose stone, which went +rolling down and plunged into the water below. + +The match had burned out. + +"All right," I shouted. "I'll get another." + +The same business had to be gone through again. Untaught by experience, +I moistened the top of the first match I took out, my fingers trembling +the while with nervous dread that I would drop the box or spill the +matches, when the result might be death to one, if not to both. I tried +the damp match three times before throwing it away; then, taking out two +together and striking them, my spirits rose as I got a light, which was +passed into my left hand, and with the other I secured the lamp, which +lay bottom up. + +"The tallow and wick will have fallen out," I thought. No; the hard fat +was in its place. Again I took out a match, shivering as I saw how +rapidly it burned away. The very next moment I had laid it against the +bent-down wick, which had been flattened by the fall; and it sputtered +and refused to burn. All I could do till my fingers began to burn was +to melt out some of the tallow and partially dry the wick. Then all was +darkness again. + +"Cheer up!" I cried hoarsely; "third time never fails." There was no +response. I turned cold as I fumbled at the box once more; my fingers +needed no moisture from the slippery stones now to make them wet, for +the perspiration seemed to be oozing out of every pore. + +I was again successful when I struck a match, and it burned up brightly. +My heart now beat more hopefully, as one tiny strand of the cotton +caught and ceased sputtering, giving forth a feeble blue flame, which I +was able to coax by letting the fat it melted drain away till more and +more of the wick caught and began to burn. + +I dared not wait to light the second wick, but looked for a safe place +to set the lamp; this I found directly, within reach of my hand. My +hurried glance showed that we were in a rough tunnel or shoot, sloping +down rapidly into darkness--a darkness too horrible to contemplate; and, +to my despair, I could not see Denham. Then, as the sight of the light +revived him, I could hear his shivering sigh. + +"Where are you?" I said, trying to speak firmly. + +"Just below you," came faintly. + +I felt my teeth were clenched together as I asked the next question, +knowing only too well what must be the answer: + +"Can you see to climb up to me?" + +"No," came back after a pause of a moment or two. "I'm hurt and sick. +I feel as if I shall faint." + +"Can you hold on till I get down to you?" + +"I--I think so, old fellow," he said faintly. "I'm on a sort of shelf. +But don't try--you can't do it--you'll send the loose stones down upon +me. That last one grazed my head." + +"But I must," I said harshly, and I remember fancying that my voice +sounded savage and brutal. "I can't leave you like this." + +"Climb up out of this horrible hole yourself, old fellow, and leave me." + +"I won't," I shouted, so that my voice went echoing away; but as I +looked up past the light it seemed to me that I could not, even if +willing. + +"You must," said Denham more firmly. "Climb up and call for help." + +At that moment, sounding faint and distant, there was the report of a +rifle; then another, and another, followed by four or five in a volley. + +"The Boers are attacking," I cried. My heart sank as something seemed +to say to me, "Well, if they are, what does it matter to you?" + +The firing went on, and just then the wick of the lamp, of which a good +deal must have been loosened by the fall, began to blaze up famously. I +looked around to ascertain if I could get down to help Denham; but it +seemed impossible. I saw, however, that I might lower myself a couple +of feet farther, and get my heels in a transverse crack in the rock, +where I could check myself and perhaps afford some help to a climber. + +"Look here, Denham," I shouted out as if I had been running, "I can help +you if you can climb up here. You must pluck up and try." + +He muttered, with a low groan: + +"Don't talk like that, old chap. I've got the pluck, but feel as if I +haven't got the power. If I stir I shall go down into that awful pool, +and then--Oh dear, it's very horrible to die like a rat in a flooded +hole!" + +"Hold your tongue, you idiot!" I shouted, in a rage. "Who's going to +die? Look here; I can't get down to you, so I must climb out and fetch +help. I'll go if you'll swear you'll sit fast and be patient, even if +the light goes out." + +There was no answer. + +"Denham, old fellow, do you hear me?" I cried, with a thrill of horror +running through me as I imagined he had fainted, and that the next +moment I should hear a sullen splash. + +"Yes, I hear you," he said. "I'll try. It's all right. But why don't +you shout?" + +"No one could hear me, even if that firing was not going on," I said. +Looking upwards, I felt that the only chance was to try; but I was +almost certain that I should slip, fall, and most likely carry my poor +friend with me. The flickering light made the rocks above appear as if +in motion; and, as I stared up wildly, the various projections looked as +if a touch would send them rushing down. Then I uttered a gasp and +tried to shout, but my voice failed. Was I deceiving myself? Almost +within reach was a rope hanging down, close to the wall of the shaft on +my right. Then I could speak again. + +"Hurrah!" I shouted. "Here's help, Denham. Hold on; some one's +letting down a rope. Ahoy, there! swing it more into the middle." + +Echoes were the only answer. Almost in despair, I crept sideways, and +made a frantic dash just as I felt I was slipping, and a stone gave way +beneath my feet. There I hung, flat upon the rock, listening to a +couple of heavy splashes, but with the rope tight in my grasp as if my +fingers had suddenly become of steel. I could not speak again for a few +minutes; but at last, as the echoes of the splashes died out, the words +came: + +"All right, Denham?" A horrible pause followed; then, with a gasp: + +"Yes--all right--yes--I thought it was all over then." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +THE USE OF MUSCLES. + +Some one wrote, "Circumstances alter cases." Everybody knows how true +that is, and how often we have illustrations in our own lives. Here is +one: to catch hold of a rope after jumping to it is wonderfully easy, +and in our young days the sensation of swinging to and fro in a sort of +bird-like flight through the air is delightful--that is to say, if the +ground is so near that we can drop on our feet at any moment; there is +no thought of danger as we feel perfect confidence in our power to hold +on. It is a gymnastic exercise. But change the scene: be hanging at +the end of the same rope, with the knowledge that a friend and comrade +is in deadly peril, and that, though resting against a rocky slope which +gives you foothold and relieves the strain on your muscles, there is +beneath you a horrible chasm full of black water, hidden by the +darkness, but lapping and whispering as if waiting to receive the +unfortunate. It is then that the nerves weaken and begin to communicate +with and paralyse the muscles, unless there is sufficient strength of +mind to counteract the horror, setting fear at defiance. + +The best thing under these circumstances is to get the body to work, and +make brain take the second place. In other words, act and don't think. + +I must confess that my endeavours during those perilous moments were +quite involuntary; for it was in a kind of desperation that I got my +toes upon a solid piece of the slippery rock and pressed myself against +the steep slope for a few moments, listening to the firing, some of +which sounded close, some more distant. Then, shouting to Denham to +hold on, I glanced at the lamp, which was flaring bravely and giving a +good light, but only at the expense of the rapidly melting fat. The +next minute I was climbing as quickly as I could by the rope, and +shuddering as I heard stone after stone go down, any one of which I knew +might crash full upon Denham. + +There was no time to think--I was too hard at work; and, to my surprise, +I found myself just beneath the long bridge-like piece of stone which +had been laid across the opening to the shaft; while, by holding on to +the rope with one hand and, reaching up the other to grasp the stone, I +could see by the light which rose from below--reflected from the +glistening wall, for the lamp was out of sight--that the rope was one of +the strong tethering-reins, fastened round the stone as if for the +purpose of lowering a bucket. + +The next minute I was seated on the stone, with my feet resting on the +side of the shaft-hole, and drawing up the raw-hide rope hand over hand. +After pulling up some feet of it I came upon a knot which felt secure, +and I then hauled again till I came upon another, also well made. With +the rope gathering in rings about my knees and behind me, I kept hauling +till I came to knot after knot, all quite firm. I found that the rope +was dripping with water, and knew that it had been just drawn out of the +pool below. The end of the rope came to hand directly; and, with +trembling fingers, my first act was to tie a knot a few inches up before +doubling the strong raw-hide plait and tying it again in a loop, which I +tested, and found I could easily slip it over my head and pass my arras +through so as to get it beneath the armpits. + +I had the rope off again in a few seconds, held it ready, and shouted +down to Denham, who had been perfectly still. + +"Now then," I cried; "can you hear what I say?" + +"Yes," came in a strange, hollow tone. + +"Look out! I'm going to lower you a rope with a loop all ready tied. +Slip it over your head and under your arms." + +"Ah!" he said softly; and, as I rapidly lowered down the rope, though +the tone seemed only like an expiration of the breath, it yet sounded +firmer than that "Yes" of a few moments before. + +"I can't see, old fellow," I cried, when I had paid out what I thought +must be enough; "but this ought to be near you now. Can you see it?" + +"Yes; but it is a dozen feet too high," he replied. "It won't reach +me." + +"Yes, it will," I roared, for there was a despairing tone in those last +words. "Plenty more. Look out!" + +I lowered away, and then shouted again: + +"That enough?" + +"Yes," he said, with a little more spirit in his tone; "it's long +enough, but quite out of my reach--a couple of yards away, and I dare +not move." + +"I'll swing it to and fro till it comes close. Look out! Here goes." + +I began to swing the rope; and as it went to and fro it sent small +stones rattling down and then splashing into the water, making me +shiver. But they evidently fell clear of Denham, who sent a thrill of +encouragement through me when he now spoke more cheerily. + +"That's right," he said, and his words were repeated by the echoes. "A +little more--a little more. No. Harder. It keeps catching among the +stones. Give a good swing." + +I did as he told me, and then nearly let go, for he uttered a wild cry, +almost a shriek. The next moment there was a peculiar rattling sound; +the lamp flashed out brilliantly and lighted up the shaft; there was a +sharp hiss, followed by a splash, and then all was in darkness. + +"Denham!" I yelled, and I let the rest of the rope run through my hands +till it could hang taut, meaning to slide down it and go to his +assistance, for I was sure that all depended upon me now. I was already +changing my position, when--my sinking heart, which seemed to suggest +that I was about to descend to certain death, giving a sudden bound, and +I felt choking--Denham spoke again. + +"I couldn't stop the lamp," he said; "the rope caught it and knocked it +off the ledge; but I've got hold." + +"Hurrah!" + +I suppose I shouted that word, but it came out involuntarily. Then I +listened, my heart beating painfully, for I could hear the poor fellow +moving now, but, as it seemed, sending stone after stone rolling and +splashing into the water. + +However, nerved into action again, I did as he bade me, all the time +fearing it was too late, for he shouted hoarsely: + +"Pull up, Val--pull! I'm going down." + +My hands darted one over the other, the slack seeming endless as I heard +a low rushing sound mingled with the splashing of falling stones. Then +there was a sharp jerk at my wrists, and the rope began to glide through +my hands till I let one leg drop from where my foot rested against the +edge of the shaft-mouth, and quick as thought flung it round the rope so +that my foot and ankle formed a check; with the result that I was nearly +jerked off my seat before the rope was stopped. + +"Ah!" came from below, and I heard no falling of stones now; but there +was a splashing and dripping sound which for the moment I did not +understand. Once more I thought all was over, for the rope seemed to +slacken; but hope came again. + +"Pull up steadily," came in firmer tones; and, though I could not see, I +supposed that Denham had drawn his feet from the water and was trying to +climb up the rope. I knew it was so directly, for he spoke. + +"I've got the rope well under my arms," he panted out, "and if you keep +hauling gently, I think perhaps I can climb up the side; but you must be +ready for a slip. Can you pass it round anything?" + +"Yes," I said; and as the rope was eased I got both legs back into their +position again, thus hindering my power of hauling dreadfully, but +guarding against the rope being dragged down again rapidly by passing it +over my right leg and under the left. + +"Are you sure you can hold on if I slip?" said Denham now. + +"Yes, if you come slowly. The rope's strong enough, and I'll get it up +a yard at a time, so that's all the distance you can pull." + +"Ah!" he cried; "then I can use both hands, and climb with more +confidence. Now then, I'm coming up." + +"Ready!" I shouted; and I toiled on with the perspiration moistening my +hands as I steadily hauled with my right and left alternately, gaining a +foot with one and making it secure over and under my legs with the +other. All the while I could hear him painfully climbing as if gaining +confidence with every yard he came nearer the surface. + +"Now rest," he said, and I could hear him breathing hard. + +Stones had fallen again and again as he climbed; but I was getting +accustomed to their rattle and sullen plunge, for so long as the rope +proved true they were robbed of their terrible meaning. Just, however, +as my poor comrade said he meant to take a rest, there was another sharp +jerk which told that his foothold had given way, and for a moment or two +I was wondering whether I could hold on, as I listened to the falling of +many stones. Once more he gained a good footing, and from where he +half-hung, half-lay, he began to talk slowly about his position. + +"It's like climbing up the side of a house built of loose stones," he +said in a low tone; "but I mean to do it now if you can keep hold of the +rope firmly." + +"I can," I said. + +"Ah! It's a horrible place, Val; but you give me confidence. Now then, +I'm rested. Can you haul up more quickly? I want to get it done?" + +"No," I said quietly; "I can only just make the rope safe." + +"Very well. Go on as you like. There, I'm going to begin." + +"Go on," I said; and once more the painful climb went on, with the +stones falling and splashing, and the sound of Denham's breath at times +coming to my ears in sobs which seemed terribly loud. It did not last +many minutes; but no more agony could have been condensed into hours, +and no hours could have seemed longer than the interval during which I +strove to save my companion from death. + +However, all things come to an end; and at last, when I was nervously on +the _qui vive_ for another slip, and just when Denham seemed to be +creeping painfully up, though still many feet below, I suddenly felt one +of his hands touch my ankle, and the other get a good grip of the rope +where it lay cutting into my leg. Then I heard his feet grating and +scraping against the side, and my heart leaped as he threw himself on +his side away from the mouth of the hole, and lay perfectly still. + +"Ah!" I cried; "at last!" and, freeing my legs from the rope, I moved +painfully after him; but at the first attempt I felt as if the darkness +was lighting up, flashes played about my eyes, there was a horrible +swinging round of everything in my head, and I sank down, crawled aside +a little way instinctively to get from the shaft-mouth, and then for a +few moments all was blank. Not more than a few moments, however, for +Denham roused me by speaking. + +"Is anything the matter?" he said. + +"Matter?" I replied, as the absurdity of his question seemed to +surprise me. "Oh no, nothing at all the matter, only that my head feels +as if it had been crushed by a stone, and we had just saved ourselves +from the most terrible death that could have come to two poor wretches +who want to live. It's very comic altogether--isn't it?" + +Denham sat in silence, and we could hear the firing still going on. At +last he spoke with a low, subdued voice. + +"Yes," he said, "we have escaped from a horrible death. Val, old +fellow, I shall never forget this. But don't let us talk about it. Let +us talk about who did it. Some one must have struck at us and knocked +us down that hole." + +"Yes," I said; "and there's only one `some one' who could have done it." + +"That renegade Irishman?" + +"Yes," I replied. "It seems like this: he couldn't have got away, but +must have been in hiding here. He couldn't escape the watchfulness of +the sentries, I suppose." + +"No; and he must have managed to get that rope to let himself down from +the walls." + +"To let himself down into a place where he could hide, I think," was my +reply. + +"For both purposes. But what a place to hide in!" said Denham, with a +shudder. "He could not have known what he was doing, or he would not +have gone down." + +"I believe he went down and was afraid to stay. Of course he was hiding +somewhere here when we came along with the light." + +"And then struck us down. Are you much hurt?" + +"I don't know," I replied. "I forgot all about it for the time in the +excitement of trying to escape. How are you?" + +"My head hurts me badly now. I believe I was struck with a heavy +stone." + +"Of course. That was the wretch's trick, and how he served poor Sam +Wren. Here, let's go to the hospital. I feel as if I want to see the +doctor." + +"Yes," said Denham faintly. "I hope he has no more wounded after all +this firing." + +Denham rose to his knees in the darkness, and I did the same, bringing +on the giddy feeling once more, so that I was glad to lean against the +wall of the great passage. + +"What is the matter?" said my companion. + +"Not much; only a bit dizzy," I replied; "and my legs feel so awfully +stiff and strained that I can hardly stand." + +"My head swims too," said Denham. "I am glad to lean against the wall. +Ah! Look! here is some one coming with a light." + +I uttered a sigh of relief, and then, taking a good deep breath, I gave +a hail which brought half-a-dozen men to us, headed by Sergeant Briggs, +who uttered an ejaculation of surprise as he held up the wagon lantern +he carried and let the light fall on our faces. + +"Why, you gents haven't run up against that savage sham Paddy, have +you?" he cried. + +"Yes, Sergeant," said Denham, speaking faintly; "and he got the better +of us." + +"He has, sir, and no mistake." + +"Have you caught him, Briggs?" I asked anxiously. + +"No, my lad; I only wish we had. I never saw such shots as our men are! +Wasted no end of cartridges, and not one of 'em hit. Did nothing but +draw the enemy's fire, and they have been answering in the dark. All +waste." + +"But Moriarty?" asked Denham. + +"Moriarty!" said the Sergeant scornfully. "I'm Morihearty well sick of +him, sir. It's all easy enough to see now. Instead of getting away, as +we thought, after hammering poor Sam Wren with a stone, my gentleman's +been in hiding." + +"Yes," I said. + +"Yes it is, my lad. Then he's been sneaking about in the dark, going +about among the men like a sarpent, and then among the horses, helping +himself to the reins with his knife." + +"To join together and make a rope to let himself down from the wall," I +said. + +"That's right, my lad--right as right; and all our chaps asleep, I +suppose--bless 'em! They ought to be ashamed of theirselves. There was +quite a dozen nice noo reins missing, and half of 'em gone for ever." + +"Not quite, Sergeant," said Denham; "take your light and look carefully +down yonder." + +The Sergeant stared, but did as he was told, holding the lantern low +down by the crossing-stone. + +"Well, I am blessed!" he cried. "Here, one of you, come and loosen this +knot and coil the ropes up carefully.--But, I say, Mr Denham, how did +they come there?" + +Denham told him briefly of our adventure, and of what we surmised. + +He whistled softly, and then said, "Why, I wonder you're both alive. +You do both look half-dead, gentlemen; and no wonder. This accounts for +one lot, though. The others were tied together and one end made fast to +a big stone--a loose one atop of the wall. He must have slid down there +and got away. I never saw such sentries as we've got. All those +cartridges fired away, and not one to hit. Why, they ought to have +pumped him so full of lead that he couldn't run. Run? No; so that he +couldn't walk. But you two must come to the Colonel and let him know." + +"No, no! Take us to Dr Duncombe," said Denham. + +"Afterwards, sir." + +"Then you must carry me," said Denham, with a groan. + +"Right, sir.--Here, two of you, sling your rifles and dandy-chair your +officer to the Colonel's quarters. Two more of you serve young Moray +same way." + +"No," I said, making an effort. "One man give me his arm, and I'll try +to walk." + +"So will I," said Denham, making an effort. "That's right, Val; we +won't go into hospital, only let the doctor stick a bit or two of +plaster about our heads for ornament. Now then, give me an arm." + +The result was that we mastered our suffering, and were led by the +Sergeant's patrol to the officers' rough quarters. The first thing the +Colonel did was to summon the doctor, who saw to our injuries, while +Denham unburdened himself of our adventures, my head throbbing so that I +could not have given a connected narrative had I tried. + +Denham protested stoutly afterwards that there was no need for the +doctor's proposal that we should be sent to the hospital to be carried +into effect, and appealed to the Colonel. + +"Look at us both, sir," he said. "Don't you think that after a good +night's sleep we shall both be fit for duty in the morning?" + +"Well, Mr Denham, to speak candidly," was the reply, "you both look as +dilapidated as you can possibly be; so you had better obey the doctor's +orders. I give you both up for the present." + +Denham groaned, and I felt very glad when a couple of the Sergeant's +guard clasped wrists to make, me a seat; and as soon as I had passed my +arms over their shoulders their officer gave the word, and we were both +marched off to the sheltered hospital, where I was soon after plunged in +a heavy stupor, full of dreams about falling down black pits, swinging +spider-like, at the end of ropes which I somehow spun by drawing long +threads of my brains out of a hole in the back of my head, something +after the fashion of a silkworm making a cocoon. + +Then complete insensibility came on, and I don't remember anything. But +on the day following Denham and I lay pretty close together, talking, +and looking up at the sky just above, one of the wagon-tilt curtains +being thrown back. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +A HOSPITAL VISITOR. + +"Hang being in hospital!" Denham said over and over again. "I seem to +be always in hospital. There never was such an unlucky beggar." + +I sighed deeply. + +"It is miserable work," I said. + +"Yes; and it seems so absurd," said Denham. "There's something wrong +about it." + +"Of course," I said; "we're wounded, and suffering from the shock of +what we've gone through." + +"Gammon!" said Denham. "That wouldn't knock us up as it has. We both +got awful toppers on the skull; but that wouldn't have made us so groggy +on the legs that we couldn't stand." + +"Oh, that's the weakness," I replied. + +"My grandmother! It's your weakness to say so. We're made of too good +stuff for that. Why, you were as bad as I was when the hospital orderly +washed us. Bah! How I do hate being washed by a man!" + +"Better than nothing," I said. "We can't have women-nurses." + +"No," said Denham. "But what was I saying when you interrupted so +rudely? Really, Val Moray, I shall report your behaviour to the +Colonel. You're not respectful to your officer. You're always +forgetting that you are a private." + +"Always," I replied, with what was, I fear, a very pitiful smile, for my +companion looked at me very sympathetically and shook his head. + +"Poor old chap!" he said; "I am sorry for you. There, he shall be +disrespectful to his officer when he isn't on duty. I say, old chap, I +wish you and I were far away on the veldt shooting lions again. It's +far better fun than fighting wild Boers." + +"What a poor old joke!" I said. + +"Best I can do under these untoward circumstances, dear boy," he said. +"Yes, it's a `wusser.' I wish I could say something good that would +make you laugh. But to `return to our muttons,' as the French say. +About being so weak. You and I have no business to shut up like a +couple of rickety two-foot rules when we are set up on end. It's +disgusting, and I'm sure it's old Duncombe's fault." + +"No, you're not," I said. + +"Well, I say I am, just by way of argument. It's all wrong, and I've +been lying here and thinking out the reason. I've got it." + +"I got it without any thinking out at all," I said. + +"Don't talk so, private. Listen. Now, look here, it's all Duncombe's +fault." + +"That we're alive?" I said. + +"Pooh! Nonsense! It's that anti-febrile tonic, as he calls it. It's +my firm belief that he hadn't the right sort of medicine with him, and +he has fudged up something to make shift with." + +"What nonsense!" I said. + +"It's a fact, sir, and I'll prove it. Now then, where are we hurt?" + +"Our heads principally, of course." + +"That's right, my boy. Then oughtn't he to have given us something that +would have gone straight to our heads?" + +"I don't know," I said wearily. + +"Yes, you do, stupid; I'm telling you. He ought to have given us +something that affected our heads, instead of which he has given us +physic that has gone to our legs. Now, don't deny it, for I watched you +only this morning, and yours doubled up as badly as mine did. You +looked just like a young nipper learning to walk." + +I laughed slightly. + +"No, no, don't do that," cried my companion in misfortune. + +"You were wishing just now that you could make me laugh," I said, by way +of protest. + +"Yes, old chap; but I didn't know then what the consequences would be. +It makes you look awful. I say, don't do it again, or I shall grow +horribly low-spirited. You did get knocked about. I say, though, do I +look as bad as you do?" + +"I believe you look ten times worse," I said, trying to be cheerful and +to do something in the way of retort. + +"No, no; but seriously, do I look very bad?" + +"Awfully!" I said. + +"Oh, I say! Come, now, how do I look?" + +"Well, there's all the skin off your nose, where you scratched against +the rock." + +"Ye-es," he said, patting his nose tenderly; "but it's scaling over +nicely. I say, what a good job I didn't break the bridge!" + +"It was indeed," I said. + +"Well, what else?" + +"Your eyes look as if you'd been having a big fight with the bully of +the school." + +"Are they still so very much swollen up?" + +"More than ever," I said, in comforting tones. + +"But they're not black?" + +"No; only purple and yellow and green." + +"Val," he cried passionately, "if you go on like that I'll sit up and +punch your head." + +"You can't," I replied. + +"No, you coward! Oh, if I only could! It's taking a mean advantage of +a fellow. But never mind; I'm going to hear it all. What else?" + +"I won't tell you any more," I replied. + +"You shall. Tell me at once." + +"You don't want to know about that place on the top of your head, just +above your forehead, where you are so fond of parting your hair?" + +"Yes, I do. I say, does it look so very bad?" + +"Shocking. He has crossed the strips of sticking-plaster over and over, +and across and across, till it looks just like a white star." + +"Oh dear," he groaned, "how horrid! I say, though, has he cut the hair +in front very short?" + +"Well, not so short as he could have done it with a razor." + +"Val!" he shouted. "It's too bad." + +"Yes," I said; "it looks dreadful." + +"No, I mean of you; and if you go on like that again we shall quarrel." + +"Let's change the conversation, then," I said. "I say, oughtn't old +Briggs to have been here by now?" + +"I don't know; but you oughtn't to give a poor weak fellow such a +slanging as that." + +"I say," I said, "you wished we were up the veldt shooting lions." + +"So I do," replied Denham. "Don't you?" + +"No. I wish you and I were at my home, with old Aunt Jenny to nurse and +feed us up with beef-tea and jelly, and eggs beaten up in new milk, and +plenty of tea and cream and--" + +"Val! Val, old chap! don't--don't," cried Denham; "it's maddening. +Why, we should have feather-beds and beautiful clean sheets." + +"That we should," I said, with a sigh; "and--Ah! here's old Briggs." + +"Morning, gents," said the Sergeant, pulling back the tilt curtain after +entering. "Hope you're both better." + +"Yes, ever so much, Sergeant," cried Denham. "Here, come and sit down. +Light your pipe and smoke." + +"What about the doctor, sir?" said Briggs dubiously. + +"Won't be here for an hour. I'll give you leave. Fill and light up." + +The Sergeant obeyed orders willingly. + +"Now then," said Denham, "talk away. I want to know exactly how matters +stand since yesterday." + +"All right, sir," said the Sergeant, carefully crushing out the match he +had struck, as he smoked away. + +"Well, go on," said Denham impatiently. "You said yesterday that things +were as bad as they could possibly be." + +"I did, sir." + +"Well, how are they now?" + +"Worse. Ever so much worse." + +"What do you mean, you jolly old muddler?" cried Denham, rousing up and +looking brighter than he had been since he came under the doctor's +hands. + +"What I say, sir," replied the Sergeant, staring. "Things are ever so +much worse." + +"Val," cried Denham, turning to me, "poor old Briggs has had so much to +do with that scoundrel Moriarty that he has caught his complaint." + +"I beg pardon, sir," growled the Sergeant stiffly; "I've always been +faithful to Her Majesty the Queen." + +"Of course you have, Sergeant." + +"Beg pardon, sir. You said I'd caught his complaint, meaning I was +turning renegade." + +"Nothing of the kind; but you have caught his national complaint, for +there you go again--blundering. Can't you see?" + +"No, sir," said the Sergeant, drawing himself up stiffer than ever. + +"Then you ought to. Blundering--making bulls. If the state of affairs +was as bad as it could be yesterday, how can it be worse to-day?" + +The Sergeant scratched his head, and his countenance relaxed. + +"Oh!" he said thoughtfully, "of course. I didn't see that at first, +gentlemen." + +"Never mind, so long as you see it now. But go ahead, Briggs. You +can't think what it is to be lying here in hospital, with fighting going +on all round, and only able to get scraps of news now and then." + +The Sergeant chuckled. + +"Here, I don't see anything to laugh at in that," cried Denham, +frowning. "Do you find it funny?" + +"I just do, sir. Think of you talking like that to me? Why, twice over +when I was in the Dragoons I was bowled over and had to go into +hospital, up north there, in Egypt. Thirsty, gentlemen? I was thirsty, +double thirsty, in the nasty sandy country--thirsty for want of water, +and twice as thirsty to get to know how things were going on. That's +why I always come, when I'm off duty, to tell you gentlemen all I can." + +"There, Val," cried Denham, beaming. "Didn't I always say that old +Briggs was a brick?" + +"I don't remember," I replied. + +"Well, I always meant to.--Now then, Sergeant, go ahead." + +"Nay! I don't want to damp your spirits, sir, seeing how bad you are." + +"I'm not bad, Sergeant; neither is Moray. We're getting better fast, +and news spurs us on to get better as fast as we can. Now then, don't +make us worse by keeping us in suspense. Tell us the worst news at +once." + +"That's soon done, sir. These Doppies, as they call 'em--these Boers-- +shoot horribly well." + +"Yes," sighed Denham; "they've had so much practice at game." + +"They've got so close in now, with their wagons to hide behind, that I'm +blessed if it's safe for a sentry to show his head anywhere." + +"But our fellows have got stone walls to keep behind, and they ought by +now to shoot as well as the Boers," I said. + +"That's quite right, Mr Moray," cried the Sergeant, angrily puffing at +his pipe; "they ought to, but they don't--not by a long way. Every time +they use a cartridge there ought to be one Doppie disabled and sent to +the rear. I keep on telling them this fort isn't Purfleet Magazine nor +Woolwich Arsenal; but it's no good." + +"But, Sergeant," cried Denham anxiously, "you don't mean to say that +we're running out of cartridges?" + +"But I do mean to say it, sir; and the time isn't so very far off when +we shall either have to hang out the white flag--" + +"What!" cried Denham, dragging himself up into a sitting position. +"Never!" + +"Or," continued the Sergeant emphatically, "make a sortie and give the +beggars cold steel." + +"Ah! that sounds better," cried Denham, dropping back upon his rough +pillow. "That's what we shall have to do." + +"Right, sir," cried the Sergeant. "Cold steel's the thing. I've always +been a cavalry man, and I've seen a bit of service before I came into +the Light Horse as drill-sergeant and general trainer. I've been +through a good deal, and learned a good deal; and I tell you two young +men that many a time in a fight I've felt wild sitting on horseback +here, and trotting off there, dismounting to rest our horses; finding +ourselves under fire again, and cantering off somewhere else--into a +valley, behind a hill, or to the shelter of a wood, because our time +hadn't come--and the infantry working away all the while. I'm not going +to run down the cavalry; they're splendid in war when they can get their +chance to come to close quarters. You see, we haven't done much with +our swords, for the Doppies won't stand a charge. Where we've had them +has been dismounted, as riflemen, and that's what our trouble is now. +We can't get at the enemy; what we want is a regiment of foot with the +bayonet. Just a steady advance under such cover as they could find, and +then a sharp run in with a good old British cheer, and the Doppies would +begin to run. Then we ought to be loosed at them, and every blessed +Boer among them would make up his mind that it was quite time he went +home to see how his crops are getting on." + +"Yes, Sergeant," said Denham gravely; "that's exactly the way to do it, +and that's what people at home are saying. But we're shut up here, +ammunition is failing, and we have no regiment of foot to give the +brutes the cold steel and make them run; so what's the best thing to do +under the circumstances?" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. + +THE SERGEANT'S NOTION. + +"Ah!" said the Sergeant, tapping the ashes out of his pipe and refilling +it; "that's a bit of a puzzle, sir." + +"Hang out the white flag?" cried Denham bitterly. + +"No, sir," cried the Sergeant fiercely. + +"What then?" I said. + +"What then, sir?" said Briggs fiercely. "We've got plenty of pluck and +lots of fight in the boys." + +"Yes," said Denham, with his eyes flashing. "Plenty of prime beef and +good fresh water, Briggs; but scarcely any cartridges." + +"That's right, sir; and so I took the liberty, when I got a chance, of +saying a word to the Colonel." + +"What about?" + +"The Doppies' ammunition-wagons, sir." + +"Ah!" cried Denham, rising to his elbow. "I ventured to say, sir, that +the young officer as brought in our supply of provisions would have laid +himself flat down on the top o' the wall and watched with his glass till +he had made out where the best spot was, and then after dark he'd have +gone out and made a try to capture one of the ammunition-wagons, and +brought it in." + +"Impossible, Sergeant," said Denham. + +"Bah! That word isn't in a soldier's dictionary, sir. You'd have done +it if you'd been well enough." + +"But the cartridges mightn't fit our rifles, Sergeant." + +"Mightn't, sir; but they might. Then, if the first lot didn't, you'd +have gone again and again till you had got the right sort. If none of +'em was the right sort, why, you'd ha' said, `There's more ways of +killing a cat than hanging it,' and gone on another plan." + +"What other plan?" I said sharply. "There is no other plan." + +"Isn't there?" said the Sergeant, grinning. "They've got one wagon that +I can swear to, having made it out through the glass Mr Denham lent me, +full of spare rifles of the men put out of action." + +"Of course, of course," cried Denham. "Oh dear! oh dear!" he groaned, +falling back again with a pitiful look in his eyes. "I'm lying here, +completely done for. Why can't that doctor put us right?" + +The Sergeant smoked on for a few minutes, looking fiercer than ever. + +"Where's Sam Wren, sir?" he said suddenly. + +"He was fretting so much last night at being kept in hospital," I +replied, "that the doctor said he might rejoin his troop." + +"Glad of that. He's one of our best shots. But what's gone of your +blacky, Mr Moray?" + +"Joeboy? I don't know," I said. "Isn't he with the horses? Oh, of +course he'd be looking after mine." + +"He ain't, then," said the Sergeant. + +"What!" I cried excitedly; "then what about my horse? I've been lying +here thinking of nothing but myself. I ought to have seen to him." + +"Couldn't," said the Sergeant dryly. "But he's all right." + +"Are you sure?" I cried. + +The Sergeant nodded. "I saw to him myself. I like that horse." + +"Oh Sergeant!" I said, with a feeling of relief. "But what about +Joeboy? I did wonder once why he had not been to see me." + +"I didn't look after him, sir," said the Sergeant. "He's a sort of +free-lancer, and not under orders." + +"But when did you see him last?" I asked. + +"Well, I'm a bit puzzled about that. I say, hear that?" + +"Hear them? Yes, of course," said Denham angrily. "The brutes! The +cowards! Oh, if I were only well!" + +"Oh, let 'em alone, sir," said the Sergeant coolly as, beginning with a +few scattered shots, the firing outside had rapidly increased. "They're +doing no harm. Do you know what it is?" + +"Our poor fellows exposing themselves thoughtlessly, I suppose," said +Denham bitterly. + +"Only their hats, sir. It's about the only pleasure the poor lads have. +It's a game they have for pennies. Some one invented it yesterday. +Six of 'em play, and put on a penny each. Each game lasts five minutes, +and the players put their hats upon the top of a stone. Then the man +who has most bullets through his hat takes the pool." + +"What folly!" said Denham fretfully. + +"Well, as I told them, sir, it isn't good for their hats; but, as they +said, it wastes the Doppies' cartridges, and pleases the lads to make +fools of 'em. You can hear them cheer sometimes when a hat is suddenly +pulled down. They think they've killed a man--bless 'em! They're very +nice people." + +"But, Sergeant, you were telling me about Joeboy," I said. "Can't you +think when you saw him last?" + +"Not exactly. I've been trying to think it out, because I expected +you'd be asking about him. It strikes me that the last I saw of him was +the night I was going the rounds after the search for that Irish +prisoner. Perhaps he's tired of being shut up?" + +"No," I said emphatically. + +"Those blacks are men who are very fond of running wild." + +"Joeboy wouldn't forsake me, Sergeant," I said impressively. + +"Perhaps you're right. He always did seem very fond of you--never happy +unless he was at your heels; but he hasn't been hanging about the +hospital, you see. It looks like as if that Irishman had given him a +crack on the head too, and pitched him down one of the mine-holes." + +"Oh no; horrible!" I said. + +"Glad you take it that way," said Briggs grimly, "because it would be +bad for the water. Well, there's only two other things I can think of +just now. One's that he might have been shot by the enemy when driving +in the cattle." + +"Is it possible?" I said, in alarm. + +"Well, yes, it's possible," said the Sergeant; "but I didn't hear any +one hint at such a thing happening." + +"Oh, surely the poor fellow hasn't come to his end like that! Here, +what was your other idea?" + +"I thought that, being a keen, watchful sort of fellow, perhaps he might +have caught sight of our prisoner escaping." + +"Ah!" I ejaculated. + +"Yes; and knowing what I do of my gentleman, it seemed likely that he +might have followed him just to see that he didn't get into more +mischief, particularly if he saw him upset you two." + +"No, no; he couldn't. We saw no sign of him," I said excitedly.--"Did +you, Denham?" + +"Who could see a fellow like that in the dark?" cried Denham peevishly. + +"It is possible that, knowing what he did of Moriarty's treatment of me, +he may have felt that he had a kind of feud with him, and watched him." + +"For a chance to say something to him with one of those spears he +carried," said Denham, suddenly growing interested in our remarks. + +"Oh no. I don't think he would use his assagai except in an emergency." + +"That would be an emergency," said the Sergeant. "I've thought it out +over my pipe, and this is what I make of it: he has followed Master +Moriarty, and I expect that we shall never hear of him again." + +"What! Joeboy?" I cried. + +"No; Master Moriarty." + +"But that would be murder--assassination," I cried. + +"You can use what fine words you like over it," said the Sergeant +gruffly; "but I call it, at a time like this, war; and when Mr Joe +Black comes back--as I expect he will, soon--and you ask him, he'll say +he was only fighting for his master; and that's you." + +I was silenced for the moment, though my ideas were quite opposed to the +Sergeant's theory. + +But Denham spoke out at once. + +"That's all very well, Sergeant," he said, "but Mr Moray's black boy is +about as savage over his ideas of justice as he is over his ideas of +decency in dress. He looks upon this man as an enemy, and his master's +enemy; and if he overtakes Moriarty he won't have a bit of scruple about +sticking his spear through him." + +"And serve him jolly well right, sir." + +"No, no; that won't do," said Denham. + +"Not at all," I cried, recovering my balance a little. + +"But isn't he a renegade, sir?" said the Sergeant. + +"We call him so," replied Denham. + +"And didn't he attack you two and try to murder you, sir, just as he did +poor Sam Wren?" + +"Yes, I grant all that, Sergeant; but we're not savages. Now, suppose +you had gone in chase of this man, and say you had caught him. Would +you have put your revolver to his head and blown out his brains?" + +"That ain't a fair question, sir," said the Sergeant gruffly; "and all +I've got to say is, that I'm very glad, knowing what I do, that I wasn't +in pursuit of him, sword in hand." + +"You mean to say that you would have cut him down?" I cried. + +"I don't mean to say anything at all, Mr Private Moray, only that I've +got my feelings as a soldier towards cowards. There, I won't say +another word." + +"Then I'll speak for you," said Denham. "You wouldn't have cut the +scoundrel down, nor shot him, but you'd have done your duty as trained +soldiers do. You'd have taken him prisoner, and brought him in to the +Colonel." + +"And he'd have had him put up against the nearest wall before a dozen +rifles and shot for a murderous traitor, sir." + +"But not without a court-martial first, Briggs," said Denham sternly. + +"I suppose you're right, sir; but I don't see what comfort a trial by +court-martial can be to a man who knows that he's sure to be found +guilty and shot." + +"But not till he has been justly condemned," I put in. + +"Like to know any more about what's going on round about the fort, sir?" +said the Sergeant, after giving me a queer look. + +"Yes, of course," cried Denham. + +"Well, not much, sir. Colonel's always going round about to see that +the men don't expose themselves, and I expect that at any time there'll +be orders given that neither the horses nor the bullocks are to be +driven out to graze." + +"Then they are all driven out?" I said. + +"Of course, sir. We couldn't keep the bullocks alive without." + +"I wonder the Boers don't shoot them," I said. + +"Don't like shooting their own property," said the Sergeant, with a +grin. "They're always hoping they'll get 'em back; but they'll have to +look sharp if they do, for if they're much longer we shall have eaten +the lot." + +"Take some time to do that, Sergeant," said Denham, laughing. + +"Not such a very long time, sir. You see, the men have nothing but +water to drink; tobacco's getting scarce; there's no bread, no coffee, +no vegetables; and the men have very little to do but rub down their +horses to keep 'em clear of ticks: the consequence is that they try to +make up for it all by keeping on eating beef, and then sleeping as hard +as ever they can." + +"I don't know what we can do unless we cut our way through the enemy," +said Denham sadly. "I go on thinking the matter over and over, and +always come back to the same idea." + +"No wonder," said the Sergeant. "That is the only way; so the sooner +you two get fit to mount the better, for I don't see that anything can +be done till then." + +"Are there any more--cripples?" said Denham bitterly. + +"Oh, there's a few who'd be off duty if things were right," said the +Sergeant cheerfully; "but they make shift. The Colonel limps a bit, and +uses his sword like a walking-stick; six have got arms in slings, and +four or five bullet-scratches and doctor's patches about 'em; but there +isn't a man who doesn't show on parade and isn't ready to ride in a +charge." + +"But riding," I said, with the eagerness of one who is helpless--"what +about the horses?" + +"All in fine condition, gentlemen," said the Sergeant emphatically, "but +a bit too fine, and they look thin. The Colonel's having 'em kept down +so that they shan't get too larky from having no work to do." + +"But they're not sent out to graze now?" I said. + +"Oh yes, regularly." + +"Then why don't the Boers shoot them, so as to make them helpless?" + +The Sergeant chuckled. + +"Colonel's too smart for them," he said. "The bullocks are sent out in +the day with a strong guard on foot to keep behind the oxen, but the +horses go out as soon as it's dark, every one with his man to lead him, +and all ready for an attack. Ah! but it's miserable work, and I shall +be very glad when you two gentlemen are ready to mount again, so that we +can go." + +"You'll have to go without us, Briggs," said Denham sadly. "I don't +suppose the Boers will shoot us if we're taken prisoners." + +"That's just what the Colonel's likely to do, sir. It's his regular way +with his men. I must be off now, though. Time's up. You'll like to +see this, though, Mr Denham?" + +The Sergeant began to fumble in his pouch, bringing out several +cartridges before he found what he wanted--a dirty-looking piece of +milky quartz. + +"What have you got there?" we asked in a breath. + +"Stuff the men are finding in a hole at the back of the cook's +fireplace." + +"Why, it's gold ore," I said eagerly. + +"Nonsense! What do you know about it?" said Denham, turning the lump +over in his hand. + +"I know because pieces like that are in the kopje near my home. Joeboy +could find plenty like that. He took some to my father once, and father +said it was gold." + +"Then you've got a mine on your farm?" + +"I suppose so; but father said we'd better get rich by increasing the +flocks and herds. Look there," I said; "all those are veins of gold, +and those others are crystals and scales." + +"There, catch, Sergeant," said Denham bitterly. "We don't want gold; we +want health, and a way out of this prison." + +"That's right, sir; and if you like I'll try and come and tell you how +things are going to-night." + +"Yes, do," cried Denham. Then the Sergeant thrust his piece of gold ore +and quartz back into his pouch, and marched away. + +"Val, old chap," said Denham as soon as we were alone, "that fellow +seemed to cheer me up a bit while he was here." + +"Yes," I said; "he roused me up too." + +"But now he's gone I'm down again lower and lower than ever I was +before. I begin to wish I were dead. Oh dear! who'd be a wounded man +who feels as helpless as a child?" + +I was silent. + +"Is that doctor ever coming to see us again?" + +"Yes," said a sharp, clear voice. "Now then, most impatient of all +patients, how are you getting on?" + +"Getting ready for the firing-party to waste a few cartridges over, +doctor. Can't you see?" + +"Humph!" said our visitor, feeling the poor fellow's head and then his +pulse. "Here, drink a little of this." + +"More physic?" groaned Denham despondently. + +"Yes, Nature's," replied the doctor, holding out a folding cup which he +had refilled. "Fresh water; a bucket just brought to the screen there +by the orderly." + +As he spoke he raised the poor fellow up with one arm and held the cup +to his lips. + +Denham took a few drops unwillingly, then a little more, and finally +finished the cupful with avidity, while the sight of my companion +drinking seemed to produce a strange, feverish sensation in my throat. + +The next minute the doctor had let Denham sink down, and refilled the +cup and handed it to me. It was delicious, and I drained the little +vessel all too soon. Then I was gently lowered, and the doctor repeated +the dose with us both. + +"That's better," he said quietly. "You two fellows have been talking +too much; now shut your eyes and have a good long sleep." + +"What! in the middle of the day?" protested Denham. + +"Yes. Nature wants all your time now for healing your damaged places. +No more talking. I'll come again by-and-by." + +"How absurd!" said Denham as soon as the tilt had fallen back to its +place. "I can't sleep now. Can you?" + +"Impossible," I said, and I lay looking up at the long slit of blue sky +over the wagon-tilt. Then I was looking at something black as ink, and +beyond it the slit of blue sky was fiery orange. + +"Joeboy?" I said wonderingly. + +"Um? Yes, Boss," was the reply. + +"How long have you been here?" + +"Um? Long, long time. Boss Val been very fass asleep." + +"Hist! Is Mr Denham asleep?" I whispered. + +"Um? Very fass; not move once." + +I was silent for a few moments, struggling mentally to say something, I +could not tell what. + +"Boss Val like drink o' water?" said the black just then. + +"Yes--no. Ah, I remember now," I cried eagerly, for it all came back. +"Where have you been all this time?" + +The black smiled. + +"Um? Been to see Boss and Aunt Jenny." + +"You have?" I cried eagerly. "But stop a moment. You went after that +Irish captain?" + +The black nodded, and, to my horror, his face contracted and his lips +drew away from his white teeth, but not in a grin. + +I lay back looking at him wildly, and as I gazed in his eyes the +appearance of his countenance made me shudder just then, lit up by the +fiery glow of the sunset which flooded the place through the openings +above the tilt. It seemed to me horrible, and for a long time I could +not speak. At last the words came: + +"Did you know that he struck down Mr Denham, and nearly killed us +both?" + +"Um? Yes. Soldiers tell Joeboy." + +"And you followed him?" + +"Um? Yes," came, accompanied by a nod. + +"And you've killed him with your assagai?" I said, with a shudder, as I +glanced at where three of the deadly weapons lay at the side of my rough +couch, across his shield. + +"Um? No. Nearly kill Joeboy." + +"Ah!" I cried, with a curious feeling of relief. + +"Joeboy run after him all away among the Doppies; when they shoot, +Joeboy lie down, and then follow um till he see um. Then he shoot, +and--look here." + +Joeboy held up his left arm, smiling, and I saw that it was roughly tied +up with a piece of coarse homespun. + +"He wounded you?" + +"Um? Yes. Shot pistol, and make hole here." + +"And he got away unhurt?" + +"Um? Yes; this time," said the black. "Next time Joeboy make hole froo +um somewhere. Hate um." + +"But your wound?" I said. "Is it bad?" + +"Um? Only little hole. Soon grow up again." + +"Now tell me, how are all the people at home--my father, my aunt, and +Bob?" + +Joeboy shook his head. + +"What do you mean?" I said. "Haven't you seen them?" + +"Um? No; all gone right away. Doppies been and burnt all up. All +gone." + +"What's that?" said Denham, who had been awakened by our talking--"the +Boers have been and burnt up that jolly old farm?" + +"Um? Yes, Boss. All gone." + +"The brutes!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. + +THE DOCTOR'S DOSE. + +"Look here, Denham," said the doctor; "you're an ill-tempered, +ungrateful, soured, discontented young beggar. You deserve to surfer.-- +And as for you, sir," he continued, turning to me, "you're not much +better." + +That was when we were what the doctor called convalescent--that is to +say, it was about a fortnight after our terrible experience in the old +mine-shaft, and undoubtedly fast approaching the time when we might +return to duty. + +"Anything else, sir?" said Denham sharply. + +I said nothing, but I winced. + +"I dare say I could find a few more adjectives to illustrate your +character, sir," said the doctor rather pompously; "but I think that +will do." + +"So do I, sir," said Denham; "but let me tell you that you don't allow +for our having to lie helpless here fretting our very hearts out because +we can't join the ranks." + +"There you go again, sir," cried the doctor. "Always grumbling. Look +at you both; wounds healing up." + +"Ugh!" cried Denham. "Mine are horrid." I winced again. + +"Your muscles are recovering their tone." + +"I can hardly move without pain," groaned Denham. I screwed up my face +in sympathy. + +"Your bruises dying out." + +"Doctor!" shouted Denham, "do you think I haven't looked at myself? I'm +horrible." + +This time I groaned. + +"How do you know? You haven't got a looking-glass, surely?" + +"No; but I've seen my wretched face in a bucket of water," cried Denham. + +"Bah! Conceited young puppy! And compared notes, too, both of you, +I'll be bound." + +"Of course we have, lying about here with nothing to do but suffer and +fret. You don't seem to do us a bit of good." + +"What!" cried the doctor. "Why, if it hadn't been for me you'd have had +no faces at all worth looking at. Most likely--There, there, there! I +won't get into a temper with you both, and tell you what might have +happened." + +"Both would have died, and a good job too," cried Denham bitterly. + +"Come, come!" said the doctor gently; "don't talk like that. I know, I +know. It has been very hard to bear, and you both have been rather slow +at getting strong again. But be reasonable. This hasn't been a proper +hospital, and it isn't now a convalescent home, where I could coax you +both back into health and strength. I've no appliances or medicines +worth speaking about, and I must confess that the diet upon which I am +trying to feed you up is not perfect." + +"Perfect, Val!" cried Denham. "Just listen to him. Everything is +horrible." + +"Quite right, my dear boy," said the doctor; "it is." + +"The bread--Ugh! It always tastes of burnt bones and skin and grease." + +"Yes," said the doctor, with a sigh; "but that's all the fuel we have +for heating the oven now the wagons are burned." + +"Then the soup, or beef-tea, or whatever you call it. I don't know +which is worst--that which is boiled up in a pannikin or the nauseous +mess made by soaking raw beef in a bucket of water." + +"But it is warmed afterwards, my dear boy," said the doctor, "and it is +extremely nutritious." + +"Ugh!" shuddered Denham. "What stuff for a poor fellow recovering from +wounds! I can't and I won't take any more of it." + +The doctor smiled, and looked hard at the grumbler. + +"Won't you, Denham?" he said. "Oh yes, you will; and you're going to +have bits of steak to-day, frizzled on ramrods." + +"Over a bone fire!" cried Denham. "I'm sick of it all." + +"Come, come, come! you're getting ever so much stronger, both of you." + +"But are we really, doctor?" I said; "or are you saying this to cheer +us up?" + +"Ask yourselves, boys. You know as well as I do that you are. Climb up +on the wall this morning and sit in the sunshine; but mind you keep well +in shelter. I don't want one of the Boers to undo in a moment what has +taken me so long to do." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Denham dismally. "We're poor sort of +machines--always getting out of order." + +"Have you two been falling out?" said the doctor, turning to me. + +"No," I said; "we haven't had a word. Denham's in rather a bad temper +this morning." + +"Why, you impudent beggar!" he cried, "for two pins I'd punch your +head." + +"Bravo!" cried the doctor. "Here, I'll give 'em to you. Humph! No; +only got one. Stop a minute; I'll give you a needle out of my case +instead. Will that do?" + +"Look here, doctor," cried Denham; "I can't stand chaff now." + +"Chaff, my dear boy? I'm in earnest. That's right; go at him. Have a +really good fight. It will do you good." + +"Bah!" cried Denham, as he saw me laughing. "Here, come along up to the +wall, Val. I don't want to fall out with the doctor any more." + +"That you don't," said that gentleman, offering his hand. "There, +good-morning, patients. I know. But cheer up. I like that bit of +spirit Denham showed just now. It was a splendid sign. You'll eat the +grill when it comes?" + +He did not wait for an answer, but bustled away, Denham looking after +him till he was out of hearing. + +"I wish I hadn't been so snappish with him," he said rather +remorsefully. "He has done a lot for us." + +"Heaps," I said. + +"And we must seem very ungrateful." + +"He knows how fretful weak people can be," I said. "Come, let's get up +into the sunshine." + +For I was having hard work with poor Denham in those days. His +sufferings had affected him in a curious way. He was completely soured, +and a word or two, however well meant, often sent him into a towering +rage. Even then I had to temporise, for he turned impatiently away. + +"Hang the sunshine!" he said. + +"But it will do you good," I said. + +"I don't want to get any good. It only makes me worse. I shall stop +down here in the shade." + +"I'm sorry," I said, "for I wanted to be up in the fresh air this +morning." + +"Oh, well, if you want to go I'll come with you." + +"Yes, do," I said; and we went out into the great court, where the +horses were fidgeting, and biting and kicking at one another, and being +shouted at by the men, who were brushing away at their coats to get them +into as high a state of perfection as possible. There were the bullocks +too, sadly reduced in numbers, and suggesting famine if some new efforts +were not made. + +"Don't stop looking about," said Denham peevishly. "How worn and shabby +the men look! It gives me the horrors." + +I followed him, but after his remark I gave a sharp look at the groups +of men we passed, especially one long double line going through the +sword exercise and pursuing-practice under the instructions of Sergeant +Briggs; and as, at every barked-out order, the men made their +sabre-blades flash in the sunshine, I felt a thrill as of returning +strength run through me; but I noticed how thin, though still active and +strong, the fellows looked. + +We climbed up the rugged stones, which had gradually been arranged till +the way was pretty easy, and reached the top of the wall, now protected +by a good breastwork high enough to enable our sentries to keep well +under cover. + +It was very bright and breezy up there; but Denham did not seem disposed +to sit down quietly and rest in the sun, for he stepped up at once to +where he could gaze over the breastwork, resting his elbows on the +stones and his chin upon his hands. + +"Hi, Denham! don't do that," I said. "It's not safe." + +"Bah! I want to look out for those ammunition-wagons old Briggs was +talking about." + +"But--" I began, and then I was silent, for Joeboy had followed us up, +and seeing Denham's perilous position, he stepped up behind him, put his +hands to his waist, and lifted him down as if he had been a child. + +"How dare--Oh, it's you, Blackie," he said, laughing. + +It was a strange laugh, and I could see that the poor fellow had a +peculiar look in his eyes. For as Joeboy snatched more than lifted him +down, _ping, whiz_, the humming of two bullets went so close to his head +on either side that he winced twice--to right and to left; and _crack_, +_crack_ came the reports of the rifles fired from the Boer lines +opposite. + +"Doppie want to shoot Boss Denham," said Joeboy coolly. "Shoot +straight." + +"Yes, they shoot straight," said Denham; "but I didn't think--I don't +know, though; perhaps I did think. I say, Val," he added in a strange, +inconsequent way, as if rather ashamed of his recklessness, "that was +rather near--wasn't it?" + +"Why do you act like that?" I said reproachfully. + +"I suppose it was out of bravado," he replied, seeming to return to his +old manner again. "I wanted to show the brutes the contempt I feel for +them." + +"You only made them laugh to see how quickly your head disappeared when +they fired." + +"How do you know?" he said sharply. + +"Because that's exactly what they would do," I replied. + +Denham frowned, and turned to Joeboy. + +"Here," he said, "put up that big stone on the edge there." + +The black obeyed, and then Denham pointed to another. + +"Put that one beside it, and leave just room between them for me to peer +out. I want to see whether it's possible to do as you did, Val, and +bring out a wagon of cartridge-boxes." + +Joeboy raised first one and then another great stone upon the edge as he +was told, and Denham stepped up directly to look between them, but +bobbed his head and stepped down again directly, for _spat, spat, spat_, +three rifle-bullets struck the stones and fell rattling down. + +Denham looked sharply towards me, frowning angrily; but I met his eyes +without shrinking. + +"I wish I wasn't so nervous," he said, by way of apology. "It's from +being weak, I suppose." + +"It's enough to make a strong man shrink," I said. "Don't look again. +The next bullet may come between the stones and hit you." + +"But I must look," he said angrily. "It's quite time you and I did +something to help." + +"If you are hit it will do every one else harm instead of good." + +He turned upon me fiercely, but calmed down directly. + +"Yes," he said; "I suppose you're right. Oh, here's the Sergeant coming +up. He has done drilling, I suppose." + +The Sergeant announced that this was so directly after joining us. + +"The boys are getting splendid with the sword now," he said, seating +himself upon a block of stone and wiping his moist brow; "but it's +dreary work not being able to get them to work." + +"Tell the Colonel to get them all out, then, and make a charge. We +ought to be able to scatter this mob." + +"So we could, sir," said the Sergeant gruffly, "but they won't give us a +chance. If they'd make a mob of themselves we'd soon scatter them, +numerous as they are; but it's of no use to talk; we can't charge wagons +and rifle-pits. It wouldn't be fair to the lads. Why, they'd empty +half our saddles before we got up to them, and then it would be horrible +work to get through. No, it can't be done, Mr Denham, and you know it +as well as I do." + +"No, I don't," said my companion stubbornly. "It ought to be done. +Once we were all through, the enemy would take to flight." + +"Once we were all through," said the Sergeant, with a grim chuckle; "but +that's it. How many would get through? Now, just put it another way, +sir. Say there's only six or seven of them out there, and there's one +on our side. That's about how it stands as to numbers. Very well; say +you lead that charger of yours out. The Boers see what's going to +happen directly, and the minute you're up in the saddle they begin to +fire at you--the whole seven." + +"You said six," cried Denham. + +"Six or seven, sir. Well, let it be six. Don't you think it very +likely that one out of the six Doppies would manage to hit you?" + +Denham frowned and remained silent, while Joeboy sat all of a heap, his +arms round his knees, watching the Sergeant, and I saw his ears twitch +as if he were trying hard to grasp the whole of the non-com's theory. + +"You think not, sir?" continued Briggs. "Well, I don't agree with you. +They'd hit you perhaps before you got far; they'd hit you for certain, +you or your horse, before you got close up; and let me tell you that the +chances would be ever so much worse if we were galloping up to them in +line." + +"Yes, you're right, Sergeant," said Denham slowly. "It would be murder, +and the chief couldn't, in justice to the men, call upon them to charge. +But they'd follow us," he added excitedly. + +"Follow their officers, sir? Of course they would, and some of 'em +would get through." + +"Gloriously," cried Denham. + +"Well, I suppose some of those fine writers who make history would call +it glorious; but I should call it horrible waste of good stuff. It +wouldn't do, sir--it wouldn't do, for there'd be nothing to gain by it. +If we could make an opening in the enemy's lines and put 'em a bit into +disorder, so as to give a chance for another regiment to slip in and +rout 'em, it would be splendid; but to do it your way would be just +chucking good men's lives away." + +"Yes, yes, Sergeant; you're right, and the Colonel's right, and I'm all +wrong. I know better; but my head got so knocked about by that renegade +Irishman and my fall down that hole that it doesn't work right yet." + +"I know, sir," said the Sergeant, nodding his head. "When you talk in +that bitter way I know it isn't my brave, clever young officer speaking; +and I say to myself, `Wait a bit, old man; he'll soon come round.'" + +"Thank you, Sergeant; thank you," said Denham, holding out his hand, +which Briggs grasped, shook warmly, then turned to me to go through the +same business; he did so hotly, for my hand felt crushed, and I vainly +tried to respond as heartily, while the tears of pain rose in my eyes, +but did not dim them so much that I could not see my torturer's eyes +were also moist. + +"Well, what are you looking at?" he growled. "I say, don't squeeze a +man's hand like that. Why, you've made my eyes water, lad. Look, +they're quite wet. Phew! You did squeeze." + +"It's because he has so much vice in him, Briggs," said Denham, smiling. + +"That's it, Mr Denham. Well, we must wait, for there's nothing to be +done but send one or two smart fellows to creep through the enemy's +ranks in the night, on foot. You can't get horsemen through." + +"You mean, send for help from the nearest British force?" said Denham. + +"That's it, sir--some one to tell the officer in command that we shall +soon be on our last legs here; but if he'll como on and attack them in +the rear, we'll be out and at 'em as soon as we hear the shooting; and +if we didn't polish off the Doppies then, why, we should deserve to +lose." + +"Briggs," said Denham warmly, "of course that's the plan. You ought to +have been in command of the corps yourself." + +"Ah! now your head's getting a bit the better of you again, sir," +replied the Sergeant, "or you wouldn't talk like that. What I say's +only second-hand. That's the chief's plan." + +"Then why doesn't he carry it out?" I said indignantly. + +"You hold your tongue," growled the Sergeant. "You're only a recruit +yet, and your head's getting the better of you too.--Yes, Mr Denham, +that's the Colonel's own plan, and he's tried it every night for the +last twelve nights." + +"What!" I cried. + +"Yes, my lad; called quietly for volunteers, and sent out twelve of our +lads; but so far there don't seem to be one that has got through, and +the game gets expensive. There, I must go down again now and get to +duty. I saw you two coming up while I was going through the exercise, +and I'm very glad to see you both looking so much better.--Well, Joe +Black," he said as he turned away, "how's Mr Moray's horse?" + +"Um? Coat shine beautiful," said Joeboy. + +"And enough to make it, my lad, seeing the way you rub him down." + +"Denham," I said that night as we lay wakefully gazing up at the stars, +"do you feel any stronger yet?" + +"I don't know. I seem to fancy I do. Why?" + +"I thought you did because you've been so quiet ever since we had that +talk with the Sergeant. I feel stronger." + +"Why do you ask?" he said. + +"Because I've been thinking that I ought to do that job, and you ought +to be on the lookout again, to come to my help if I succeed." + +"No," he said quickly; "it's a job for two. I'd go with you." + +"But I should take Joeboy." + +"Then it's a job for three, Val; we can take our time, and the slower we +go perhaps the better. If we get stopped by the Boers, we're wounded +and getting away from the fighting." + +"Yes, that might do. We do look bad." + +"Horribly bad, Val. You look a miserable wreck of a fellow." + +"And you, I won't say what," I retorted, a little irritably. + +"So much the better. When shall we go--to-night?" + +"No. Let's have a good sleep to-night, and talk to Joeboy about it in +the morning. To-morrow night as soon as it's dark we'll be off," I +said. + +"The Colonel won't let us go if we volunteer." + +"Of course not. Let's go without leave; but that will look like +deserting." + +"I don't care what it looks like so long as we can get through and bring +help." + +"The same here." + +"But we ought to steal away to-night," said Denham. + +"No; let's have Joeboy. Ha!" I said, with a sigh of relief. "I seem +to see my way now, and I shall sleep like a top." + +"I'm so relieved, Val, old chap, that I'm half-asleep now. Quite a +restful feeling has come over me. Good-night." + +"Good-night," I replied; and I have some faint recollection of the rays +of a lantern beating down and looking red through my eyelids, and then +of feeling a soft hand upon my temples. But the next thing I fully +realised was that it was a bright, sunny morning, and that Denham was +sitting up in his sack-bed. + +"How do you feel?" he cried eagerly. + +"Like going off as soon as it's dark." + +"So do I," he said. "I'm a deal better now. What's the first thing to +do--smuggle some meal to take with us?" + +"I don't know," I replied. "Yes, perhaps we'd better take some; and, +I say, we must have bandages on our heads as well as the +sticking-plaster." + +"Of course. Then, I say, as soon as ever we've had breakfast we'll talk +to Joeboy." + +"Exactly," I replied. "He'll be half-mad to go, and when we've said all +we want to him we'll come back and lie down again." + +"Oh! What for?" + +"So as to rest and sleep all we possibly can, for if all goes well we +shan't have a wink to-night." + +"Perhaps you're right," said Denham. + +"There's one more thing to think about." + +"What's that?" + +"Our going off without leave," I said--"you an officer, I a private." + +"Oh! I say, don't get raising up obstacles." + +"I don't want to," I said; "but this is serious." + +"Very, for us to run such risks; and of course it isn't according to +rule. But it's an exception. Let's argue it out, for it does look +ugly." + +"Go on," I said, "for I want my conscience cleared." + +"Look here, then; what are we going to do?" + +"Try and get help, of course." + +"Then I consider that sufficient excuse for anything--in a corps of +irregulars. Old Briggs would say it was mutinous in the regular army. +To go on: if we asked leave, the Colonel or Major would say we were mad, +and that we are not fit. Then--Oh, look here, I'm not going to argue, +Val. I confess it's all wrong, only there's one thing to be said: we're +not going to desert our ranks, for we're both on the sick-list; and, +come what may, I mean to go and bring help somehow. You're not shirking +the job after sleeping on it?" + +"No," I said emphatically. "Now for breakfast, and then we'll have a +talk with Joeboy." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY. + +JOEBOY IS MISSING AGAIN. + +"What a breakfast!" groaned Denham half-an-hour later. + +"Never mind," I said; "we'll get something better, perhaps, to-morrow." + +"That we will, even if we commando it at the point of the sword, which +is another way of saying we shall steal it. I say, though, the thought +of all this is sending new life into me." + +"I feel the same," I said; then we sat back waiting till the doctor +visited us, examined our injuries, and expressed himself satisfied. + +"Another week," he said, "and then I shall dismiss you both. Nature and +care will do the rest." + +The doctor then left us; and, watching for an opportunity, we called to +one of the men passing the hospital, and told him to find the black. +However, ten minutes later we found that this might have been saved, for +the Sergeant paid us a morning call, and on leaving promised to go round +by the horses and send Joeboy to us. + +"What news of the messengers?" we asked. The Sergeant shook his head +sadly, and replied, "Don't ask me, gentlemen. It looks bad--very bad. +The Boers ain't soldiers, but they're keeping their lines wonderfully +tight." + +"That's our fault," said Denham. "We gave them such lessons by our +night attack and the capture of the six wagons and teams." + +"I say," said the Sergeant, and he looked from one to the other. + +"Well, what do you say?" cried Denham. + +"Doctor been changing your physic?" + +"Why?" I said. + +"Because you both look fifty pounds better than you did yesterday." + +"It's the hope that has come, Briggs," cried Denham, his face lighting +up. + +"Haven't got a bit to spare, have you, sir?" said the Sergeant; "because +I should like to try how it would agree with my case, for I'm horribly +down in the mouth at present. I don't like the look of things at all." + +"What do you mean?" asked Denham. + +"I had a look round at the horses, sir, last night." + +"Not got the horse-sickness, Briggs?" + +"No, sir, not so bad as that; but, speaking as an old cavalry man, I say +that they mustn't be kept shut up much longer. But there, I shall be +spoiling your looks and knocking your hope over. Good-morning, +gentlemen--I mean, lieutenant and private. Glad to see you both look so +well. I'll tell Joe Black you want him." + +"Yes, he'd upset our hopefulness altogether, Val, if it wasn't for one +thing--eh?" said Denham as the wagon-tilt swung to after the Sergeant. +"But, I say, that fellow of yours ought to be here by now." + +"Yes," I said. But we waited anxiously for quite an hour before the man +we had sent came back. + +"Can't find the black, sir," he said. + +"Did you go to the horses?" + +"Yes, sir, and everywhere else." + +"You didn't go to the butcher's?" I asked. + +"Yes, I did; but he hadn't been there." + +"Perhaps he's gone out with the bullock drove." + +"No," said the man; "the oxen are being kept in this morning because the +Boers have come a hundred yards nearer during the night. They're well +in opposite the gateway, and the Colonel's having our works there +strengthened." + +"The Sergeant didn't say a word about that," Denham said to me. + +I shook my head, and turned to the messenger. + +"Is he asleep somewhere about the walls?" I asked. + +"No; I looked there," was the reply. "He always snoozes up on the inner +wall, just above the water-hole. There's a place where a big stone has +fallen out and no bullets can get at him. I looked there twice." + +"Hasn't fallen down one of the holes, has he?" said Denham. + +"Not he, sir," replied the man, laughing. "He'd go about anywhere in +the dark, looking like a bit o' nothing, only you couldn't see it in the +darkness, and never knock against a thing. It's his feet, I think; they +always seem to know where to put theirselves. He wouldn't tumble down +any holes." + +"Keep a sharp lookout for him, and when you see him send him to me +directly." + +"Yes, sir," replied the man. "I dessay he'll turn up in the course o' +the morning. He's always hiding himself and coming again when you don't +expect it." + +"I say, Val," cried Denham as soon as we were alone, "we didn't reckon +on this. Why, if he doesn't turn up our plan's done." + +"Not at all," I said. + +"Eh? What do you mean? We couldn't go without him." + +"Indeed, but we could; and what's more, we will," I said firmly. "I +would rather have had him with us; but we're going to-night--if we can." + +Denham seized my hand and wrung it warmly. + +"I like that," he said; "but you shouldn't have put in that `if we +can.'" + +"Obliged to," I replied. "We may be stopped." + +"Oh, but I shall give the password." + +"We may find even that will not be enough. The orders are very strict +now. Besides, if we did not come back the guard would report us +missing, and then there'd be great excitement at once." + +"What would you do, then?" he asked. + +"Take a lesson out of that Irishman's book." + +"Knock two or three sentries on the head with a stone?" + +"No, no," I cried, laughing. "Get a couple of reins, tie them together, +and then slide down from the wall." + +"Good!" exclaimed Denham; and, after a pause: "Better! Yes, that will +do. Start from the far corner?" + +"No, from just up here where Joeboy arranged the stones. We can tie up +to one of those big ones that you stand on to look over. You feel +strong enough to slide down?--it isn't far." + +"Oh yes." + +"Then, once on the ground, we can crawl away. That's how I mean to go +all along." + +"What about the tethering-ropes?" + +"We'll go and have a look at our horses towards evening, slip the coils +over our shoulders, and bring them away. No one will interfere." + +"Val," he cried, "you ought to be a commissioned officer." + +"I don't want to be," I said, laughing. "I want the war to be over, and +to be able to find my people, and settle down again in peace. This +fighting goes against the grain with me." + +"But you always seem to like it, and fight like a fury when we're in for +it." + +"I suppose it's my nature," I said; "but I don't like it any the +better." + +We said no more, but waited anxiously in the hope that Joeboy would +return, and waited in vain, the time gliding by, some hours being passed +in sleep, till we were suddenly aroused by firing. There were two or +three fits of excitement in the course of the afternoon, and a smart +exchange of shots which at one time threatened to develop into a regular +attempt to assault the fort; but it died out at last, direct attack of +entrenchments not being in accord with the Boers' ideas of fighting. It +is too dangerous for men who like to be safely in hiding and to bring +down their enemies as if they were wild beasts of the veldt. + +No Joeboy appeared, and in the dusk of evening we went across the yard, +had a good look at our horses, stopped patting and caressing them for +some time, then went back to the hospital unquestioned and, I believe, +unseen, with the coils of raw-hide rope. From that time everything +seemed to me so delightfully easy that it prognosticated certain +success. + +The doctor came at dusk and had a chat; then the Sergeant looked us up +to tell us that he had seen nothing of Joeboy, but that the butcher told +him he had missed some strips of beef hung up in the sun to make +biltong, and that he believed the black had taken them. + +"Why?" I asked sharply. + +"Because he was so fond of eating; and he said the black would be found +curled up amongst the stones somewhere in the kopje among the baboons, +sleeping off his feed." + +"It isn't true," I said warmly. "Joeboy wouldn't steal unless he knew +we were starving, and then it would be to bring it to his master and his +master's friend." + +"That's what I like in you, Val," said Denham as soon as the Sergeant +had left us. "You always stick up for a friend when any one attacks him +behind his back." + +"Of course," I replied angrily. + +"Don't be cross, old man," he cried. "I didn't mean to insult you by +calling a black fellow your friend." + +"That wouldn't insult me. Joeboy is a humble friend, who would give his +life to save mine." + +"I wish he was with us, then, so as to make a present of it to somebody +if we should be in very awkward quarters." + +"I can't understand it," I said; "but we mustn't worry about that now. +What about arms?" + +"Revolvers under our jackets, out of sight, and a few cartridges in our +pouches along with the cake and beef we saved." + +"No rifle, bandolier, or sword?" I said thoughtfully. + +"Neither one nor the other, my lad. We're going to get through the +lines as sick men tired of it all, and whose fighting is done." + +"Perhaps to be taken as spies," I said. + +"Ugh! Don't talk about it," cried Denham. "We're invalids, and no one +can doubt that who looks at your battered head." + +"Or yours," I replied. "But look here, Denham; we must give up all idea +of capturing wagons. What we have to do is to fetch help." + +"Yes, I think so too--get through the Boer lines and find the General's +quarters. The other idea was too mad." + +We sat in silence for a while, till we felt that the time had come; then +we passed our coils of rope over our chests like bandoliers, and +strolled out into the dark court, to saunter here and there for a few +minutes, listening to the lowing of the oxen or the fidgety stamp of a +horse annoyed by a fly. Here Denham exchanged a few words with some of +the men. Finally, after a glance at the officers' quarters, from which +a light gleamed dimly, Denham led the way to the rough ascent, and with +beating heart I followed right up on to the wall. So intense was the +darkness that we had to go carefully, not seeing the first sentry till +he challenged us and brought us up. + +Denham gave the word, and stood talking to the man, who lowered his +rifle and rested the butt on the stones. + +"How are they to-night?" said Denham. "Quiet?" + +"No, sir; they seem to have been having a good eat and drink. More +wagons came up from their rear; so the man I relieved told me. It's +been a sort of feast, I think. Wouldn't be a bad time for a good attack +on the beggars, sir. The boys are, as one of them said, spoiling for a +fight." + +"Let them wait a bit," said Denham shortly. "It will come." + +"The sooner the better, sir," said the sentry; and we went on as far as +the next sentry, passing the stones where we had sat to sun ourselves. +We talked with this second man about the Boers, received a similar +account of the proceedings of the enemy, said "Good-night," and then +strolled back to the stones, to sit down for a few minutes, my heart +beating harder than ever. + +"Now," said Denham at last, in a low tone of voice; "off with your rope, +and give me one end. I'll make your line fast to mine, while you secure +the other end to that big stone. Tight, mind; I don't want to fall +sixty feet and break my neck." + +"Nor I," was my reply. "Be sure of your knot, too." + +"Right." + +Then, in the silence, we each did our part of the task, ending by Denham +letting the strong thin rope glide over the edge of the great stones +which formed the breastwork. The next minute we stood listening to the +sounds from the court, and narrowly watched for our sentries. Far out +in the darkness a feeble light or two showed where a lantern burned in +the Boer lines. Everything seemed to favour our design, even to the +end, and I was breathing hard with excitement, waiting to begin. Just +then a hand touched my arm and glided down over my wrist. I knew what +it meant, and grasped Denham's hand. + +"Good luck to us!" he whispered. "I'll go first and test the rope-- +hush! I will. As soon as I'm down I shall lie flat and hold on. +Ready?" + +"Yes." + +"Off!" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY ONE. + +OUR WILD ATTEMPT. + +Denham's words sounded so loud that, as I dropped on one knee to hold +the knot of the rope round the stone to prevent it from slipping, I felt +sure that the sentries to right and left must have heard him speak. But +it was only due to my excited way of looking at things. For the next +minute, after a preliminary rustling, I felt a peculiar thrill run along +the hide rope. This went on while I wondered if my companion had made +the joining of the two ropes secure, my imagination working so rapidly +that I seemed to see the knot stretching and yielding till one of the +ends slipped through the loop of the knot, and-- + +The thrilling sensation had ceased; and the rope, which felt in my hands +like some living, vibrating thing, hung loose. The next moment a kink +ran up it and dissolved in my hands. It was Denham's way of saying "All +right," and I knew my turn had come. + +The starting was the difficulty--that creeping over the breastwork, just +at a time when my strength was far from at its best; but I tackled the +business at once, stepped up on to a stone, seated myself on the top of +the breastwork, took tight hold of the rope, raised my legs so that I +could lie down, turned upon my face, and then softly swung my legs round +so that I could twist my feet about the rope and reduce the weight on my +arms. The next minute I was hanging at full length, holding the rope +with one hand, the edge of the breastwork with the other, and afraid to +move; for, to my horror, _tramp, tramp_ came the sound of the +approaching sentry to my loft. The perspiration began to ooze out on my +face and temples now, and I prepared for a rapid descent, fully +expecting the man would see the rope, stop, and, under the impression +that I was one of the Boers trying to get into the fort by escalade, +would strike me from my hold with the butt of his rifle. + +I might have spared myself the horror of those few moments of anxiety; +for even when he came nearer I could not see him, and with my head +beneath the level of the rough parapet he could not see me, but passed +on. I counted the steps, and at the sixth began to let the hide rope +glide slowly through my moist hands. + +Soon I felt the knot over my boots stop my progress, and had to slacken +the rope off my feet, gliding down till my hands touched the knot. This +was, I thought, so very loose that I had either to tighten it or slide +quickly down. I chose the latter, and went on so swiftly that my hands +were hot with the friction when my feet touched Denham's hands, as he +held the rope, and then the ground. I dropped to my knees at once, then +lay, panting as if I had run a mile. + +Denham placed his lips close to my ear and whispered, "I was afraid the +sentry would see you. Here, give me your knife." + +I answered by taking it out and placing it in his hands, listening, and +wondering then what he was about to do, for he rose to his feet, and I +heard a peculiar sound as of cutting something and Denham breathing +hard. + +He was down by me when the noise ceased, and once more his lips were at +my ear. + +"Get up and join hands," he whispered. "There's a light straight ahead, +and another about a quarter of a mile to the right. We'll make for this +last one. Mind, not a sound." + +The order was not needed. We rose silently. There, as he had stated, +right in front and away to the right, were two of the tiniest sparks of +light; they were almost invisible, the nearest being fully a thousand +yards off. + +Then, hand in hand and step by step, we went on through the pitchy +darkness straight for the light on our right. We moved very cautiously, +for our first fear was that we might be heard from the walls; and, +setting aside the extreme doubtfulness of receiving a bullet in the back +from a friend, there was the danger of one shot bringing many, as the +sentries carried on the alarm, with the result that every Boer in front +would be on the _qui vive_ and our venture rendered impossible. But all +was perfectly still, while the darkness overhead seemed to press down +upon us. + +In about ten minutes Denham whispered, "Don't take any notice." + +When he had spoken there was a faint, rustling sound, and I knew he had +thrown something from him, to fall with a dull sound upon the ground. + +"Bother!" he whispered. "I didn't think it would make such a row." + +"What was it?" I asked. + +"About a dozen feet of hide rope. I cut it off as high as I could +reach; but, my word, wasn't it hard!" + +"Why did you cut it?" + +"So that no Boer, exploring, should run against it and take it into his +head to climb up. How do you feel?" + +"Rather hot." + +"So do I. We're precious weak yet. Now, look here; we'll keep on +walking as long as we dare; then we must go down on hands and knees; +last of all, we must creep on our chests, helping ourselves along with +our elbows." + +"It will be very slow work," I said. + +"Yes, but it's the only way. We shall do it, for it's gloriously dark. +If we come suddenly upon a sentry we must drop on our faces and lie +still till I see the way to circumvent him." + +"I understand," I said. + +"Not all yet. If we get close up you'll have to take the lead; and the +thing to do is to get close up among the sleeping Boers. That means +safety, for if any one wakes up and speaks you must answer in Dutch, +with your face close to the ground." + +"It seems very risky," I said. + +"So did your going to cut out six wagons with their teams; but you did +it. Now, don't talk; come on." + +We moved forward again very slowly in what seemed to be a tedious +journey, though I knew perfectly well that, taken diagonally, it could +not be more than twelve hundred yards, it having been reckoned that the +Boers' advance-parties were about a thousand yards from the walls of the +fort. But we were getting nearer, for the lights seemed to grow, not +brighter, but less dim, and during the last few minutes we had noticed a +third light away to the right. I wanted to say that we were getting +pretty near to the enemy at last; but talking was now out of the +question, and I had to telegraph to my companion, by a pressure of the +hand, that we must be on the alert. + +Then, with a suddenness that startled my composure, I heard an impatient +stamp close by on my left, followed by the sound of reins jerked, and an +angry adjuration growled out in Dutch between the teeth by a mounted +sentry. He was invisible; and, taking advantage of the startled +movements of the horse consequent upon the punishment it had received, +Denham dragged heavily upon my right hand with his left, when, as I +yielded, he bore off to his right, walking very slowly, till we had left +the sentry some distance behind. + +Directly after that incident Denham seemed to alter our course again, +and once more we were walking straight for the dim lantern. This went +on for a short time, and then we had another check, for the sound of +tramping feet arose to our right--not the regular beat, beat of +well-drilled military, but a rough, heavy, anyhow walk of about a dozen +men. They were very near, and the chances were that, whether we stood +still, went back, or hurried forward, they might come right upon us. +But my companion did not hesitate. He chose to advance, hurrying me +forward half-a-dozen steps, and then lay down upon his face. For a few +moments I thought we were discovered, and that our attempt was a +failure; but the men just missed us, going on twenty or thirty yards, +and then a gruff Boer called "Halt!" + +From what followed we knew that guard was being changed. + +Everything was still succeeding, for, instead of walking right upon a +dismounted sentry, we had passed him to our left, and learned not only +where the new one was placed, but that we had succeeded in passing the +outer line of mounted men and an inner one of foot. + +As if telling me of the delight he felt, Denham's pressure on my hand +was like the working of some military code; and I responded the best way +I could, as we lay listening to the resumed tramp of the guard. + +Just as Denham signalled me to rise, there was a sharp crack, a flash of +light, and we dropped down again, to look in the direction of the flash, +and saw a pair of big hands lighted up as they were held lantern +fashion; and, directly after we had glimpses of the lower part of a +bearded face, at first seen distinctly, then it grew darker, and again +seen plainer as its owner puffed at the big pipe he was lighting. Then +all was in darkness once more, and the pungent smoke of coarse tobacco +floated to our nostrils. + +We started again, crawling on all-fours side by side, and pressing close +like sheep so as to keep in touch; but always forward now towards the +lantern, which seemed suddenly to be very near. + +Denham's lips were close to my ear directly, and he whispered, "We must +keep more away from the light. Now you take the lead, crawling very +slowly. I shall keep up by touching your heel regularly. If I leave +off, stop till I begin again." + +I nodded, though it occurred to me directly afterwards that he could not +see the nod; but I showed him that I fully understood by bearing off to +the left, crawling steadily and softly, and feeling Denham's hand come +_tap, tap_ regularly upon my heel. All the time I had a presentiment +that the Boers must be lying around by the hundred. + +In another minute I knew we must be close to oxen, for I could hear them +ruminating; and, convinced that a wagon would be before us, with perhaps +a dozen men underneath, I bore still more to my left, with Denham +following close, till I stopped once more, knowing that horses must be +just in front. + +I made a short pause now, longing to ask my comrade's advice; but I +dared not whisper. So, feeling that probably there would only be about +fifty yards of perilous ground to pass over before we had cleared the +Boer lines, I did what I imagined was best--bore off a little to the +right as I advanced--my idea being to get back towards the oxen and pass +softly by the side of the wagon which I believed must be close at hand. + +"They'll be asleep," I thought, "and I may get past." + +It was all a chance, I knew; but we had been lucky so far, and I hoped +that fortune would still favour us. In this spirit I still kept on, +crawling now very slowly, till suddenly I let myself subside, for my +hand had come in contact with the butt of a rifle lying on the ground. + +Denham too must have taken the alarm, for I felt him drawing steadily at +my heel, which I read to mean retreat. But I felt there was no retreat, +knowing that we had crept right in among a number of sleeping men. So I +let myself slowly subside, lying on my chest; and in the effort to cross +my arms and let them rest beneath my chin my left elbow struck sharply +against a sleeper's face, making him start so violently that he kicked +his neighbour, and in an instant there was a furious burst of Boer Dutch +oaths and imprecations. + +"Quiet!" said a deep, severe voice in Dutch. "There, you've roused the +patrol." + +My heart sank, for there was the hurried tramp of footsteps approaching, +and, worse than all, the gleaming of a lantern, which lit up the heavy +body of a man lying right across the way I sought to go, while right and +left, and within a foot of me, were two more burly figures. They were +all in motion now, and as the lantern was borne closer it was thrown +open, and, in what one of my neighbours would have called an +_augenblick_, I saw in the background on one side the tilt of a wagon, +and on the other the dim forms of horses. + +My agony, in spite of feeling Denham's hand pressing firmly on my heel, +seemed to have culminated; but the worst was to come, and I shivered, +for a high-pitched voice cried in Dutch: + +"Hwhat's all this? Didn't I tell ye to loy still and slape till it was +time to start? Why, ye blundering, thick-headed idiots, you have made +enough noise to rouse the Englanders." + +Denham pressed my heel now so that it was painful; but I did not stir, +only listened to the grumbling apology of the two men. + +"Don't go to sleep again," said the abusing voice. "We start in an +hour, if you haven't put the enemy on the alert." + +Just then the light was softened, for the door of the lantern was closed +and the fastening clicked. + +Then I felt that all was over, for the man on my left suddenly started +up and seized me by the arm. + +"Open that lantern again, Captain Moriarty," he cried. "I want to see +who this is we've got here." + +"Yes," said another voice; "two of them. I'll swear they weren't here +when we lay down." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY TWO. + +IN THE TRAP. + +If either Denham or I had felt the slightest disposition to run, it was +checked by the brotherly feeling that one could not escape without the +other; but even if we had made the attempt it would have been +impossible, for the words uttered by the big Boer at my side acted like +the application of a spark to a keg of gunpowder. In an instant there +was an explosion. Men leaped to their feet, rifle in hand; there was a +roar of voices; yells and shouts were mingled with bursts of talking +which rose into a hurricane of gabble, out of which, mingled with oaths +and curses delivered in the vilest Dutch, I made out, "Spies--shoot-- +hang them;" and it seemed that after thrusting ourselves into the +hornets' nest we were to be stung to death. + +The noise was deafening, and as we were held men plucked and tore at us, +while the roar of voices seemed to run to right and left all along the +line, alarm spreading; with the result that those outside the narrow +space where the facts were known took it to be a sudden attack from the +rear, and began firing at random in the darkness. In spite of the +despair that came over me, I even then could not help feeling a kind of +exultation--satisfaction--call it what you will--at the surprise we had +given the blundering Boers, and thinking that if the Colonel had been +prepared with our men to charge into them at once, the whole line of the +enemy for far enough to right and left would have turned and fled, after +an ineffectual fire which must have done far more harm to their friends +than to their foes, and then scattered before our fellows like dead +leaves before a gale. + +However, we were not to be torn to pieces just then by the infuriated +Boers, for we were each held firmly by two burly fellows, while +Moriarty, yelling at the excited crowd in his highly-pitched voice, +opened and held the lantern on high, so as to get a good look at our +disfigured faces. The light fell upon his own as well, and I saw him +start and shrink, as if for the moment he fancied that we had returned +from the dead. But his dismay was only momentary. Then a malevolent +grin of exultation came over his countenance, his eyes scintillated in +the lantern light, and he yelled orders to those around till he obtained +comparative silence. + +"Pass the word all along the line," he shouted. "False alarm. Only +spies, and we have got them. Cease firing." + +His words had but little effect for a few minutes; but by degrees the +tumult was stilled and the firing ceased. The men about us readily +obeyed the Irish captain's orders. + +"They're old fr'inds of mine," he said, with a peculiar grin--"dear +fr'inds who have come after me to join our ranks; and I'm going to make +them take the oaths properly." + +There was a groan of dissent at this, but Moriarty paid no heed; he only +showed his teeth at us in a savage grin like that of some wild beast +about to spring. + +"Yes," he continued, "they're old fr'inds of mine--dear fr'inds. That +one"--he pointed to me--"is a deserter from our forces, and the other +miserable brute is an officer who has been fighting against us and +helping his companion. Be cool and calm, dear boys, and as soon as it +is light you shall have the pleasure of shooting the young scoundrels. +For we're all soldiers now, and we must behave like military min, unless +you would like to set a Kaffir to hang them both from a tripod of +dissel-booms at the two ends of a rein." + +"Shoot them! Shoot them!" came in a burst of voices. + +"Very well, we'll shoot them; but we must do it properly. We'll have a +court-martial upon them, and teach the spies to crawl into our camp like +snakes." + +"It's a lie!" I shouted. "We are no spies." + +"Ah! you understand the beautiful language of my fr'inds," cried +Moriarty. "You are not spies, then?" + +"No, neither of us," I said in Dutch. + +"Indade?" said Moriarty. "And perhaps you are not a deserter from our +troops?" + +Amidst hootings, groans, and yells, I managed to make myself heard. + +"No," I said, "I am not a deserter. I am English, and I refused to +fight against my own countrymen." + +A savage yell greeted my plain words; but Moriarty held up his hand. + +"Let him condemn himself out of his own lips, brethren," he cried.-- +Then, to me, "You preferred to fight against and shoot down the people +among whom you dwelt?" he cried. + +"I joined my own people," I replied; "and this gentleman with me is no +spy." + +"What is he, then?" said Moriarty, holding up his hand in the light of +the lantern he kept aloft, so as to secure silence. + +"An officer and a gentleman of the Light Horse." + +"Indade!" said Moriarty sneeringly. "Then you have both had enough of +the British forces, and have desarted to ours?" + +"No," I said coolly. "We have both been badly wounded, as you can see, +and we wanted to break through the lines and get away." + +"What for?" said Moriarty fiercely. "What for?" + +"We are too weak to fight," I said. + +"Bah!" roared Moriarty, "you are both spies; and do you hear? You shall +both be shot by-and-by." + +A yell of triumph, which sounded like a chorus of savage beasts in +anticipation of blood, rose from all around. + +"Get reins and tie their arms behind them, my brothers. They're +English, and can spake nothing but lies." + +As some of the men hurried away to fetch the necessary cords, I turned +to one of the big Boers who held me. + +"Is it a lie," I said, "that my friend has been badly wounded? Is it a +lie that I have been hurt?" + +There was a low growl for reply from one, and the other--the man who had +first discovered my presence--only said, "But you are spies." + +"What are they all saying, Val?" said Denham coolly. "I don't seem to +get on at all in this game." + +"They say we're spies," I replied. + +"Let 'em. A set of thick-headed pigs. Don't be downhearted over it +all, old chap. We played our game well, and we've lost. We're +prisoners; that's all. They daren't shoot us." + +I looked him fixedly in the eyes, but made no reply. + +"Well," said Denham hurriedly, "it's murder if they do. But I don't +believe they will. Whatever they do, we won't show the white feather, +Val. I say, shall we give 'em the National Anthem?" + +"Hush!" I said. "You're a gentleman; don't do anything to insult them; +we're in their power." + +"Yes; but I want them to see that we're ready to die game. I say, Val, +we've made a mess of it this time, and we might have been lying +comfortably asleep over yonder." + +"No," I said; "we should have lain awake thinking of how to get help for +our friends." + +"True, O Calif! so we should.--Ugh! You ugly brutes. Tie our hands +behind our backs, would you?--Here, Mr Irishman, there's no need for +this. We didn't serve you so." + +"Oh yes," said Moriarty. "Spies like to get all the news they can, and +then to run away with their load." + +"After treacherously trying to murder the sentry on duty, and then +treacherously striking down two people in the dark." + +"Hwhat!" cried Moriarty fiercely. + +"I mean you, you cowardly hound!--you disgrace to the name of Irishman!" + +There was the sound of a smart blow, and Denham staggered back against +the men who were binding his wrists. + +A cheer rose from some of the fierce men around us, a murmur of +disapprobation from others, as Denham recovered himself and stood +upright, with his chest expanded and a look of scorn and contempt in his +eyes. + +"Yes," he said quietly, "you are a disgrace to a great name. I am a +prisoner, and my hands are tied." + +"Silence, spy!" cried Moriarty fiercely, and a dead silence fell. + +"I'll not be silent," said Denham. "Val, if we die for it, repeat my +words in Dutch. But if I live I'll kill that man, or he shall kill +me.--Moriarty, you're a treacherous coward and a cur, to strike a +helpless, wounded man." + +"A treacherous coward and a cur, to strike a helpless, wounded man," I +said aloud in the Boer tongue, the words seeming to come from something +within me over which I had no power whatever. + +Moriarty, white with fury, turned upon me, but one of the two men who +held me interfered, saying bluntly, "Let him talk, Captain; his tongue +will soon be still." + +"Yes, yes," said Moriarty, with a forced laugh; "his tongue will soon be +still. Putt them in the impty wagon, and bind their legs too. Then put +four men over them as guards. You'll answer for them, Cornet." + +The grim looks of the two speakers and the horrible nature of their +words, which meant a horrible death, ought to have sent a chill through +me; but just then I was so excited, so hot with rage against the +cowardly wretch who had struck my friend, that I did not feel the +slightest fear as to my fate; and, obeying the order to march, I walked +beside Denham with my head as erect as his, till we were by the tail of +a great empty wagon, into which two of the Boers scrambled so as to +seize us by the pinioned arms, causing great pain, as they stooped, and +then dragged us in as if we had been sacks of corn, and then let us +down. + +"Look here," said my captor, speaking from the tail-end of the wagon, +"there are four men on duty with rifles, and their orders are to shoot +you both through the head if you try to escape. Now you know." + +While he was speaking one of the men who had dragged us in reached out +his hand for a lantern, which he took and hung from a hook in the middle +of the tilt. + +Then he and his companion dropped down from the end of the dimly-lit +wagon, and we were alone for a few moments. But the two men who had +left us returned directly with two more reins and set to work binding +our ankles together as tightly as they could. + +"There," said one of them, in Dutch, as soon as they had finished, "we +can see you well from outside, and you know what will come if you try to +get away." + +Then we were alone again, and as the curtain of stout canvas at the end +ceased to vibrate, Denham as he lay back began to laugh merrily. + +"Denham!" I cried. + +"I can't help it, old chap," he said. "It's very horrible, but there's +a comic side to it. Blows hit terribly hard." + +"Yes, the coward!" I cried passionately, "to strike you like that!" + +"I wasn't thinking of that, old chap," he replied. "Yes, that was as +nasty a thing as the savage could do; but I was thinking of how hard you +can hit a sensitive man with your tongue." + +"What do you mean?" I said. + +"Moriarty! Why, I spoke quite quietly, but if I had given him a cut +across the face from the left shoulder with my sabre, which cuts like a +razor, it wouldn't have hurt the brute half as much." + +"Don't--don't talk about the business," I said bitterly. + +"Why not? I'm just in the condition that makes my tongue run. But I +say, old chap, we've made a pretty mess of our scheme. Never told a +soul what we were going to do, so we can't get any help." + +"And left a hanging rope to show our people that we have run away and +deserted them in their terrible strait." + +"Yes; that's about the worst of the whole business, my lad. Well, we +meant well, and it's of no use to cry over spilt milk. I don't think it +will be spilt blood; but it may, and if it does I'm going to die like a +soldier with his face to the enemy, and so are you." + +"I'm going to try," I said simply. + +"Then you'll do it, like a true-born Englishman," he said cheerily. +"How does that song go? I forget. There, never mind. I won't act like +a sham, even if I am where there's so much Dutch courage. Now, look +here, Val." + +"Yes?" I said gravely. + +"We're weak from our long sickness, and done up with the exertion of +what we've gone through." + +"Yes," I said; "I feel as weak as a rat." + +"Then we're going to sleep, so as to be ready to face them in the +morning." + +"What!" I said. "Can you sleep at a time like this?" + +"My dear old Val, as you said about facing the muzzles of the Dutch +rifles, I'm going to try." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY THREE. + +IN THE DARK WATCHES. + +"I can't sleep," I said to myself, feeling that history was repeating +itself, as I lay on my side in the lit-up wagon, with my wrists tied +behind my back and my torture increased by having my legs served in the +same way just above the ankles and again above the knees. "No one could +sleep in such a position," I thought to myself; but I did not speak to +my companion in misery. I was too weary and heart-sore, thinking that I +should never see father, brother, aunt, or home again. "Poor old home +is gone for ever," I remember, was the thought that occurred to me. +Next I fell to wondering what had become of my people, and whether they +had fled to Natal. Then my thoughts turned quickly to something else: +to the heavy, regular breathing of Denham, who was fast asleep and +suffering from a bad dream, for he began muttering angrily. Then he was +silent, but only to begin again. I believed I knew the subject of his +dream, for he suddenly exclaimed, "Coward--coward blow!" Then he was +silent for a few minutes, breathing hard and fast as if his growing +excitement had worked up to fierce passion, for he was going over the +scene of an hour ago, ending with "I'll kill you--or you shall kill me." +He was suffering as if from a nightmare; and, unable to lie there +listening, I managed to work myself along over the rough, cage-like +bottom of the wagon till I could get my face close to his, just as he +was panting and sobbing as if in a desperate encounter in which his +strength was rapidly ebbing away. + +"Denham!" I whispered. "Denham!" + +"Ha!" he sighed softly, and ceased to struggle; while, as I lowered my +head from the painful position into which I had strained it, I felt +relieved to know that the poor, overwrought companion of my adventure +could forget his sorrows for the time in sleep. + +"I wish I could sleep, and never wake again; for when the time comes I +shall be a coward"--such was the train of my thoughts. "Yes, I am sure +to be a coward. One doesn't think of the bullets when one is fighting +and they _ping_ and _whiz_ by one's head; but to stand up and face a row +of rifles, waiting for the order to fire--I'm afraid I shall be a coward +then." + +I shivered now; and a minute later, as I listened to Denham's breathing, +I shivered again. Perhaps it was from fear, perhaps it was from being +cold, for the night wind, not far removed from freezing, blew up through +the openings in the bottom of the wagon. I told myself it was from +dread, and a peculiar feeling of shame and despair attacked me as the +thought of what would occur on the coming morning rose up so vivid and +clear that I strained my eyes round a little so as to look up at the +hanging lantern, but lowered them again with a shudder, for I seemed to +see a row of rifle-muzzles with the orifices directed down at me. + +A noise occurred at the end of the wagon almost immediately, and upon +looking back there was in reality the barrel of a rifle forcing back the +canvas curtain, and then a second barrel appeared; but the owners only +used their weapons to hold back the curtain while their big-bearded +faces peered in to see if the prisoners were safe. They disappeared +directly, and I could hear muttering, and could smell the fumes of their +strong tobacco. + +I was thinking with something like envy of the Boers' lot as compared +with mine, and the envy had to do with Denham, who was sleeping soundly; +and then something happened--the something which I had thought +impossible; but it was quite true. I was staring painfully up at the +lantern which shed its yellowish glow all around, and then it seemed to +have gone out, and I was fast asleep, with the restful sensation which +comes of utter exhaustion. I dreamed, and it was of home and the +beautiful orchard I had helped to plant, of driving in the cattle, of +chasing the ostriches over the veldt; and then it was of having Bob and +Denham with me in a wagon, for we were after lions. It was night, and +the moon shone in through the front of the wagon with a yellowish light +like that of a lantern hanging from the top of the tilt. The wind was +blowing up icily through the bottom, and I had just been awakened by the +distant deep barking roar of one of the great sand-coloured brutes. His +roar had startled our oxen and made them low uneasily, as if they knew +what the fate of one of them would be unless a flash of fire came from +beneath the wagon-tilt just as the lion had crawled up and gathered +himself together for a spring. The night was very cold, and somehow the +thought occurred to me that it would be a good thing if that lion made a +bound right on to the wagon-box, and then jumped in to seize me and +carry me off as a cat does a rat; and when its roar sounded again, +nearer, all dread and pain died out, for it seemed as if it would be far +better to be killed by a lion than to stand up before the muzzles of a +dozen rifles and be shot as a spy, while Moriarty stood smiling +malignantly at my fate. It was all very vivid as the oxen bellowed +softly now, and Bob whispered into my ear, his breath feeling quite hot +after the chilling iciness of the night wind. "Cheer up, old Val," he +said; "they won't dare to shoot you. I shall be there, and if they +attempt it, and that Irishman gives the order--you know how true I can +aim? I'll send a bullet right through his head, if father isn't first." + +I started violently and made an effort to rise; but I only succeeded in +making a noise, as I looked up, to see the yellow lantern sending down +its feeble light; but a lion was barking faintly in the distance, and +some oxen close at hand were lowing uneasily. There was another sound, +too, at the back of the wagon--that of some one climbing up--and in a +wild fit of anxiety I listened for Bob's voice again. But it was only +that of the Boer who had first seized me, and he spoke in a gruff but +not unkindly way, as he said in his own tongue: + +"Hullo! What's the matter? Lion scare you?" + +"I've--I've been dreaming," I faltered heavily, my heart beating all the +time with big, regular thumps. + +"Oh!--He's dreaming too. You're two brave boys to sleep like that the +night before you're both to be shot for spies." + +"Ah!" I sighed as he dropped back heavily from the back of the wagon, +"and it was all a dream. Ugh!" I shuddered. I lay still again, my +mind going over the fantasy of the night, which came back so vividly, +yet was so strangely mixed and absurd; but all the time Denham slept on, +breathing heavily, dead to all the sorrows and horror of our unlucky +situation. + +The night was cold--bitterly cold--and I was dreadfully wide awake, +wishing now that I could sleep again, but wishing in vain. I lay and +listened to the sound of talking outside, two of the Boers engaging in a +conversation in which I heard the word "cold." Then there came the +sound of the drawing aside of the back curtains, and a big, soft bundle +was pitched in, then another. Directly afterwards two of our guard +climbed in, opened one of the bundles, and spread it out on the floor +beyond us. It was a great skin _karosse_, or rug, such as the Kaffirs +make up of the hides of the big game. + +"It's a cold night," said the man who had spoken before; and, one at my +head and the other at my feet, they lifted me between them on the big +rug. + +"Now, sleepy," he said, "rouse up." + +But Denham was perfectly insensible in his deep sleep of exhaustion, and +unconscious of what was going on as he was laid beside me. Then the +second bundle was opened and thrown over us. + +"There," said the big Boer; "we don't want you to be too cold to stand +up like men in the morning. Can you go to sleep now?" + +"Yes; thank you," I said hoarsely, and I lay and listened as they got +out of the wagon. + +"Can I sleep?" I thought. "No. But if I could, and dream all that +again! Poor old Bob!" I murmured to myself as a peculiar sensation of +warmth began to creep through my numbed limbs, and once more I lay +thinking about that strangely confused and realistic dream of which +fragments began to flit before me, and for a time made me more wakeful, +but not for long. Then the morning, the thoughts of my coming fate, the +recollection of the night-alarm which seemed to have put an end to what +must have been intended for a night-attack, even the sense of pain--all +these died away, and I was soundly asleep once more; this time without a +dream. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FOUR. + +IN THE QUEER PRISON. + +I was roused up by the great skin-rug being jerked off me. I tried to +rise, but sank back, just able to repress a groan, and stared wildly at +the four bearded faces looking down at me. The curtains at front and +rear had been thrown back, and the sun was shining in from the front, +the horizontal rays striking right through the wagon. For a few moments +I was so much confused and stupefied by sleep that I could not grasp the +meaning of the scene. Then like a flash it all came. These four Boers +were going to lead us out to execution--to be shot--the fate of spies! + +I set my teeth, and felt as if getting hardened now. My eyes turned to +Denham, who was seeking mine. He did not speak, but nodded and smiled +faintly, the look giving encouragement. Clenching my teeth, together, I +mentally vowed I would not let him be ashamed of me. + +Just then my attention was diverted by one of our morning visitors, who +differed in appearance from the others. He was better dressed, wore his +hair short, and his moustache and beard were clipped into points. His +hands, which he laid upon my shoulders, were white. To my surprise, +this man examined my head, with its bandages and traces of injuries. +Then he looked hard in my eyes, and turned me a little over to examine +my tightly-bound wrists and ankles. Next he examined Denham in the same +way, my comrade gazing straight away, with his brow knit and lips +tightened into a thin red line, but he never once glanced at the +examiner. + +"Well," said the latter, rising from one knee, "even if they are spies, +you need not treat them as if they were wild beasts." + +"Captain Moriarty's orders," said the Boer, whom I recognised as my +captor of the previous night. + +"Bah!" growled the other angrily. "You are soldiers now; act like +them." + +I was listening with a feeling of gratitude that this man spoke +differently from the others, and he saw my eyes fixed upon him. + +"Do you speak German?" he asked sharply. + +"No," I replied; "but I understood you just now." + +He nodded, and then turned to the others to speak in a low tone. The +result of this was that two of the men knelt down and set our arms free, +placing them before us, for they were perfectly numb and dead. Mine +looked as if the thongs had cut almost to the bone, the muscle having +swollen greatly. + +The party then went out at the back; but my captor, who was last, turned +back and said: + +"There are two sentries with loaded rifles at each end, and they have +orders to fire." + +"What did he say, Val?" asked Denham as soon as we were alone. + +I told him, and he laughed softly. + +"What is it?" I said wonderingly. + +"I was only thinking," he replied. Then quickly, "Will they bind our +hands again--at the last?" + +"I don't know," I said in a low, husky voice. "Perhaps not." + +"Let's hope not; and we must rub some feeling into them first." + +"What are you thinking about?" I asked. + +"Don't you know, old fellow? Guess." + +I shook my head. + +"Well, it is hard work; but look here: they didn't search us last night, +only tied us hand and foot. We've got our revolvers inside our shirts. +Let's have one shot each at Moriarty before we die." + +I looked at him wonderingly, for the vivid dream of the night came back, +and my brother's words seemed to be thrilling hotly in my ear once more. + +Denham looked at me curiously. + +"Well," he said, "wouldn't you like to shoot the wretch?" + +"No," I said; "not now. If we are to die I don't want to try to kill +any more." + +Denham frowned, and sat gently rubbing his wrists. I followed his +example during nearly an hour. While thus employed we could hear a good +deal of bustle and noise going on in the neighbourhood of the wagon, and +sundry odours which floated in suggested that the Boers in camp did not +starve themselves. Meanwhile we were very silent and thoughtful, +expecting that at any moment we might be summoned to meet our fate. + +At last there was the sound of approaching steps, and I drew my breath +hard as an order was given to halt, followed by the rattle of rifles +being grounded. + +I was unable to speak then, but held out my hand quickly to Denham, who +seized it in both of his, and his lips parted as if to say good-bye, yet +no words were uttered. The next moment he let my hand drop and turned +his eyes away, for the big Boer who had become so familiar now climbed +into the wagon, glanced at us, and then reached down outside for two +large pannikins of hot coffee, which he carefully lifted inside. + +"Here," he said gruffly; "help to keep up your spirits." + +He set the tins beside us, then went to the back of the wagon and +reached down again for a couple of large, newly-baked cakes, which he +handed to us. + +"The Irish captain didn't give any orders," he said; "but we don't +starve our prisoners to death." + +With that he scowled at us in turn, and left the wagon. + +"Toll me what he said, Val," whispered Denham in a tone of voice which +sounded very strange. + +With difficulty I repeated in English what the man had said; I felt as +if choking. + +"I wish they hadn't done this, Val," said Denham after a minute's +interval. "It seems like a mockery." + +I nodded, then remarked, "That man seems to have some feeling in him." + +"Yes; but we can't eat and drink now." + +"No," I replied. "I feel as if food would choke me." + +Denham nodded, and sat gazing out at the bright sunshine. + +"Think it would give us a little Dutch courage if we had some +breakfast?" + +"I don't want any," I said desperately. "I want them to put us out of +our misery before that wretch Moriarty comes back." + +"But we want to face them like men," said Denham suddenly. "We're so +weak and faint now that we shall be ready to drop. Let's eat and drink, +and we will show the Boers that English soldiers are ready to lace +anything." + +"I can't," I replied desperately. + +"You must," cried Denham. "Como on." He took up his pannikin, raised +it to his lips, and took a long deep draught before setting the vessel +down and taking up the cake. + +"Come, Val," he said firmly, "if you leave yours the Boers will think +you are too much frightened to eat." + +"So I am," I said gravely, "It is very awful to face death like this." + +"Yes; but it would be more awful if we stood before the enemy trembling +and ready to drop." + +I nodded now. Then catching up the tin in desperation, I raised it to +my lips and held it there till it was half-empty. Setting the pannikin +down, I took up the cake, broke a piece off, and began to eat. The +animal faculties act independently of the mental, I suppose; so, as I +sat there thinking of our home and our approaching fate, I went on +eating slowly, without once glancing at my companion, till the big cake +was finished; then I raised and drained the pannikin. + +It was while I was swallowing the last mouthful or two that Denham spoke +in a low tone. Looking in his direction, I noticed that he had also +finished the rough breakfast. + +"They're watching us, Val," he said softly. + +I glanced round to back and front, and saw that the big Boer and four +others were looking in, the sight making the blood flush to my face. + +Directly after the big fellow climbed in, to stand by us with a grim +smile. + +"Have some more?" he asked. + +"No, thank you," I replied. + +"Hungry--weren't you?" was his next question. + +I bowed my head. + +"Well, it'll put some courage into you." + +He picked up the two pannikins, and stepped out again. + +"I'm glad we took it," said Denham. "It's better than looking ready to +show the white feather." + +"I don't think we should have faltered even without the food," I +replied. + +We both relapsed into silence now, for talking seemed to be impossible. +We had to think of the past and of the future. One minute I felt in +despair, and the next I was filled with a strange kind of hope that was +inexplicable. + +It was during one of these oft-recurring intervals, as the time wore on, +that Denham turned to me suddenly and said, just as if in answer to +something I had said, for his thoughts were very much the same as mine: + +"There, I can't make anything else of it, Val: we were doing our duty, +and trying to save the lives of our friends." + +"Yes," I said quietly; then, both shrinking from speaking again, we sat +listening to the sounds outside. From time to time one or other of the +men on guard looked in to see that we were safe, though for the matter +of that we had hardly thought of stirring, as escape seemed to be quite +impossible. + +It was about midday, after a very long silence, when Denham suddenly +remarked, "It went against the grain at first, Val; but I won't attempt +to fire at that brute. He'll get his deserts one of these days. You're +right; we don't want to go out like that. I want us to be able to stand +up before the enemy quite calm and steady. We must show them what +Englishmen can do." + +I could not speak, but I gave him a long and steadfast look. + +The sound of footsteps was again heard, and I was not surprised this +time when our friendly Boer brought us two good rations of +freshly-roasted mutton and two cakes. These he put down before us +without a word, together with a tin of water, and then left us. + +Denham looked at me, and I looked at him, as--each feeling something +akin to shame--we ate the food almost ravenously. Then the afternoon +was passed in listening to the busy movements of the Boers; but we never +once tried to look out of our strange prison. + +At sunset, as I looked at the glorious orange colour of the sky, a +curious feeling of sadness came over me, for I realised it was the last +time I should behold the sun go down. There was such a look of calm +beauty everywhere that I could hardly realise the fact that we were +surrounded by troop upon troop of armed men ready to deal out fire and +destruction at a word; but once more my musing was interrupted by the +big Boer. He brought us coffee again, and this time cake and butter. + +"There," he remarked as he placed all before us, "make much of it, boys, +for I shan't see you again." + +A chill ran through me; but I don't think my countenance changed. + +"I'm going away with our men to the other side yonder, and the Irish +captain's coming back. Good-bye, lads," he said after a pause. "I'm +sorry for you both, for I've got two boys just such fellows as you. I'm +sorry I caught you, for you're brave fellows even if you are spies." + +"We are not spies," I replied quietly. I was determined to speak now; I +wanted that Boer to look on us as honest and manly. + +He shook his head. I repeated the words passionately. + +"Look here," I said; "we have been wounded, and were on the sick-list. +We could do no good, so we said we'd try and got through your lines and +fetch help." + +"Ah!" cried the Boer slowly and thoughtfully. "Yes, I see. But you +were caught, and I can do nothing, boys. Moriarty will have you shot in +the morning when he comes back, and begin to rage because it is not +done. Well, life's very short, and we must all die. I'm going to fight +to-night, and perhaps I shall start on the long journey too, for your +men fight well. God knows best, lads; and there is no fighting yonder-- +all is peace." + +He bowed his head down and went out of the wagon without a word. When +Denham asked me a few minutes later what the Boer had said, my voice in +reply sounded hoarse and strange, quite unlike my usual tones. + +We were now in darkness. The coffee was cold; the cakes lay untouched. +We were both sunk in a deep interval of musing; but Denham broke the +silence at last. + +"Then we have another night of life, Val," he remarked. + +"Yes," I replied; "and then the end." + +"Look here," he said thoughtfully, after he had taken up the coffee-tin +and drunk; "that Boer said that he was going over yonder to-night to +fight, and that perhaps he would be where we were." + +"Yes--dead," was my reply. + +"Perhaps, Val. What do the doctors say?--`While there's life there's +hope.'" + +"I see no hope for us," I said gloomily. + +"I do," Denham whispered in a low, earnest tone. "We've been too ready +to give up hope." + +I smiled sadly, stretching out my swollen legs. + +"Yes, I know," said Denham; "but my hands are not powerless now, and I +have still a knife in my pocket--the one with which I cut the reins--and +it will cut these." + +His words sent a thrill through me, and I glanced at the two openings in +the wagon. + +"Be careful," I whispered. + +"All right; but the Boers don't understand English. Look here, Val; if +the big friendly fellow is going to fight to-night, what does it mean?" + +"Of course," I replied excitedly, "an attack upon the fort. They're +going to get in when it's dark; and if they do there'll not be half of +our poor fellows left by morning." + +"Couldn't we slip off as soon as it's dark, and warn them? Once we were +outside the lines we might run." + +"Might run?" I said bitterly. "I don't believe we could even stand." + +"Ah! I forgot that," he muttered, with a groan. "Well, nothing +venture, nothing have. It'll be dark enough in a few minutes, and then +I shall slip the knife under your ankles and set your legs free. When +that's done you can do the same for me." + +"Suppose the Boers come and examine us?" + +"We must risk that. Perhaps they'll just come and look at the cords +with a lantern. We must sit quite still until they come." + +"No," I said eagerly; "don't let's cut the rope till they've been. I +dare say they'll come for the pannikins, and perhaps that Boer has told +them to bring us those rugs again." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FIVE. + +A DAMPER FOR OUR PLANS. + +I had hardly ceased speaking when a couple of our guards appeared at the +back of the wagon, and climbed in after they had tossed in the two big +rugs they had taken away when the German doctor came to examine us. + +Though anxious to dart a quick glance at Denham, I dared not, for at the +first glance I saw that each man was provided with a rein. Taking our +tins and passing them to two men whose rifle-barrels appeared above the +back of the wagon, they returned to where we sat up and carefully +examined our bonds, one of them giving a grunt and speaking to his +companion as he pointed to them. They next dragged our arms roughly +behind us, slipping our hands through running nooses, which they drew +tight before winding the thongs round and round, securing them as firmly +as ever. + +"You needn't have done that," I said angrily to the man who, while tying +me up, had roused my resentment by his brutality. + +"We'll take them off in the morning, when the Captain comes," he +replied. The other man laughed. They had finished their task deftly +enough. + +"That's the way we tie up a Kaffir," said the first one. + +"Yes," replied the other; "and it does just as well for a spy. There, +you may thank the field-cornet, Piet Zouter, for the skin-rugs. You +wouldn't have got them from us." + +"Then we won't thank you," I said bitterly. + +"And look here; we've six men with loaded rifles about the wagon, and +they've orders to shoot if you try to get away." + +I nodded my head. One of the Boers lifted down the lantern, passed it +out, and received a fresh one from a comrade. After this the men +retired; and we were alone, listening to their talk, with the sentries +placed over us. When the conversation ceased I whispered to Denham an +interpretation of all that had passed. + +"The brutes!" he muttered. "Lucky we hadn't cut our ropes; they would +have found us out. Now, what's to be done? We must get away." + +"How?" I asked sadly. + +"Let's draw the rugs over us, lie down, and keep on trying till we can +wriggle out of the thongs." + +"How are we to get the rugs over us?" + +"As a bird makes a nest--with the beak." + +I laughed bitterly. Then we each tried in turn, but vainly, and +afterwards lay back panting and in great pain. + +"I know," I said. I called aloud to the sentries. + +There was a rush, and a man appeared at once, his rifle rattling against +the back of the wagon. I told him what we wanted, and in a grumbling +way he climbed in and did as requested, spreading one _karosse_ and +drawing the other as a cover up to our chins. + +"Now loosen the reins about our wrists," I said; "they hurt dreadfully." + +The man laughed. + +"It isn't for long," he answered brutally. "Do you want to try to +escape, so as to be shot before morning?" + +With this parting sally, he climbed out of the wagon, leaving us alone. +We lay still for about half-an-hour, when the sentries looked in from +front and back to see us lying as if asleep; but as soon as they had +gone we began a hard struggle to get our wrists free. In this attempt +we only gave ourselves excruciating pain, and found, to our despair, +that the knots of the Boers were far too well tied to be loosened. At +last, with a groan, Denham gave up the attempt. I desisted then, having +only waited for him to set the example. + +"What does that sound mean?" asked Denham after a time. + +"Moving horses," I replied. + +"Yes; they're going to take advantage of the darkness for an advance +against the fort. Oh dear! We shall have to lie here and listen to the +firing soon. Val, I don't think I'd mind being shot in the morning if I +could only warn the Colonel. Do you think you could gnaw through my +rein?" + +"I'll try," I said; and Denham was about to turn his back to me when we +heard a sound behind us--that is to say, at the front of the wagon-- +which we knew to be caused by one of the sentries looking in. It soon +ceased; but just as I was going to fix my teeth in the thong which bound +my companion's wrists there came another noise at the foot, and then +again there was silence. But not so at a short distance, for we could +hear whispered orders plainly enough as we lay still, followed by the +tramp of horses' feet, and now and then the clink of bit or buckle, +which gave ample intimation that the Boers were slowly making an +advance, not to invest the fort more closely in a contracted ring, but, +as far as we could make out, in our direction. + +"They're marching in troops, I believe," whispered Denham, "and they +must be making for the gateway. Then they'll dismount and deliver an +attack. They mean to take the place by assault." + +"And we are to go through the agony of lying here and listening all the +while, perfectly helpless. Oh Denham, they'll never carry the place-- +will they?" + +"Not unless it's quite a surprise," he replied. "Oh no," he added more +confidently; "our lads will be too smart for that." + +"They'll try hard," I said, "and fail, losing a great number of men, and +they'll come back at daybreak mad with rage." + +"And shoot us," said Denham coolly. "That's it." + +"Let me try at your knots now." + +"No. Listen; the sentries are coming in again." + +He was right; for, as if suspicious, the sentries climbed in, four +strong, two standing with rifles at the ready, while the others stripped +down the top rug and carefully examined our wrists and ankles, then +spread the _karosse_ over us once more, uttering grunts of satisfaction +as they did so. + +Alone again, we lay listening for the movements of the Boer troops: but +the sounds had nearly died out. + +Then the sentries began to talk together earnestly, and it seemed as if +the man on duty in front of the wagon had joined those at the back, with +the result that the conversation was becoming excited. + +"They're on the lookout after the advance," whispered Denham. "It seems +to be very dark outside. I believe it will not be long before we hear +the attack begin." + +"No; they'll wait till our men are asleep." + +"Perhaps," said Denham; "but it must be getting late. Our fellows may +be asleep now." + +"Yes," I replied, with a sigh; and then irritably, "Why did you do that? +You can whisper." + +"What do you mean?" he asked after a pause. + +"Hitting me on the hands like that. You hurt me dreadfully." + +"I didn't--" he began; but I stopped him with an excited "Hush!" and lay +perfectly still, the perspiration starting out all over me. + +"What is it?" whispered Denham, after waiting for some time. "What's +that gnawing and tearing sound?" + +"Something under the wagon," I replied very softly. + +"A lion?" he whispered. + +"No; some one as brave as a lion. He has been cutting a long slit in +the _karosse_, and now he has hold of my wrists with one hand, and he's +sawing with a knife through the thong with the other." + +"Val!" panted the poor fellow wildly. + +The hot perspiration on my face turned icily cold at this cry, for I +heard a quick movement among the sentries, and two of them sprang up on +the wagon to look at us lying there upon our backs beneath the upper +_karosse_, under the yellow light of the lantern. I thought now all was +over; the new hope had faded out into darkness; but a measure of +confidence returned when Denham, feigning sleep, muttered, and uttered a +sob which ended in a low, uneasy groan. + +My eyes not being quite shut, I could dimly see through the narrow slit +the faces of two of the Boers, one showing his teeth in a grin as they +drew back and returned to their companions, when the talking began +again. As this went on I felt the sawing movement of the knife being +resumed, the two active hands which had been passed between the slits in +the wagon-bottom working more rapidly. Then there was a pause, and I +felt terrible pain as something thin and hard was passed under one of +the bands before the sawing recommenced. I could hardly repress a cry +of pain; but silence meant perhaps liberty and life. I knew, too, that +it was a piece of iron that had been thrust in for the knife to cut down +upon and save my wrist from a wound. + +Just then Denham whispered, "I couldn't help it, old chap; but I cheated +them afterwards. Is he still cutting?" + +"Yes; he has gone through the reins on my wrists, and has begun at my +ankles." + +"Val," whispered Denham again, with his face below the great rug, "it's +that big black angel of a fellow, Joeboy." + +"No," I said softly, though I could hardly utter my thoughts, my voice +panting with emotion. "It's not Joeboy: the hands are too small. It's +my brother come to our help." + +I knew now that my previous night's experience was not a dream, and that +Bob really was in the Boer camp with my father, and had crept under the +wagon and whispered hope. + +"Are there two Val Morays in the world?" murmured poor Denham, with +something which sounded very much like a sob. + +Lying perfectly still, I made no answer. I knew that the knife had set +my ankles free; but they were still tethered, not by raw-hide rope but +with insensibility, as if perfectly dead. + +"They will come right in time," I thought, my heart meanwhile beating +fast. "Bob will tell us what to do. Will it be to make our escape when +the attention of the Boer sentries is taken off us by the coming attack +upon the fort?" + +Then I was listening to a low tearing sound as of the knife passing once +more through the skin-rug, and directly after I heard Denham begin to +breathe hard. I understood what that meant. Making a slight effort, as +I lay covered up, I brought my arms out from beneath me, numbed and +aching but not powerless, and thrust my left hand inside my flannel +shirt, my fingers coming in contact with the butt of my revolver. + +"My hands are free, Val," Denham whispered faintly. + +"Feel for your revolver," I whispered back. "Hist! Careful"--for I +could plainly hear the Boer sentries coming towards the wagon again, and +the faint cutting noise ceased as the talking stopped. + +One of the men placed his hand on the back of the great vehicle, and was +in the act of climbing in, doubtless to examine our fastenings again. +My left hand now clutched my revolver tightly, though I knew that we +could do nothing, in our helpless state, to save ourselves. + +"Oh, how hard!" I thought; "just when there was a chance of life!" + +Then my breath seemed to stop short, for the sound of a shot came to us +from out of the distance where the Boer advance must be. This checked +the climbing Boer. Then another shot, and another. He had dropped back +to join his companions, who were doubtless gazing towards the fort, +where the firing was rapidly increasing into a perfect storm. + +I heard no more of the cutting; but Denham whispered that his feet were +free, and almost at the same moment a hand felt for my face and then +seized my ear as if to pull it down to the owner of that hand. + +Understanding what was wanted, I turned over on my right side and laid +my ear against the opening, listening. + +"Don't try to get up," buzzed into it, and seemed to set my brain +whirling. "The Boers are making a great attack on the fort, and you two +must try and creep out while the sentries are listening to the firing. +Can you both run?" + +"We could not stand up to save our lives," I whispered. "Our legs are +quite numb and dead." + +"Then I must carry you to where father is waiting," was whispered. + +I uttered a low sigh of misery, for I knew that was impossible. The +Boers must hear the movements, even if so young a lad as my brother had +possessed sufficient strength. + +"Lie still, and sham sleep," was the advice from below. "Your legs will +get better. The Boers won't be back for hours yet. Hark!" + +There was no need to speak, for the firing grew louder and louder, as if +echoing from the walls of the fort, not much more than half a mile from +where we lay; and I was thinking that a terrible assault might be made, +when my brother whispered again: + +"The Boers mean to take the place to-night. Now, do as I say. Pretend +to sleep. I'm going to fetch father." + +He had hardly ceased speaking when there was a rush of feet, and one of +our guards scrambled up at the back, rifle in hand; but he contented +himself with looking in when he saw us lying apparently unmoved beneath +the rug. + +"Hear that?" he said loudly. + +"Yes," I replied as calmly as I could. + +"There'll be hundreds more prisoners to shoot in the morning. Lie +still, you two, for if you try to move we'll serve you like jackals on +the veldt." + +At that moment he turned sharply to listen, and I listened too. As the +Boer suddenly leaped down, uttering a warning cry, I sat up, and Denham +followed my example; for there was a rushing sound in the darkness from +the side opposite that fronting the fort, and the tramp of many feet, +followed by the ringing notes of a bugle, taken up by another and +another, succeeded by so close a volley that the wagon lantern looked +dim in the flashes from the rifles. Then came a ringing cheer, +bugle-notes sounding the charge; and in the darkness, with cheers that +thrilled us through and through, a couple of regiments rushed the Boer +lines from the rear with the bayonet. + +Charge!--by George Manville Fenn + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SIX. + +HOW WE WERE SAVED. + +"Hurrah!" + +"Hurrah!" + +We yelled together with all our might; but our cheers sounded like +whispers amidst the noises of firing in front and the rush of men from +the rear. The Boer sentries, however, were true to their duty even in +the midst of the terrible confusion in their lines; and four of them +made at once, rifle in hand, for the wagon. But we were mad with +excitement now, and _crack, crack_, our revolvers began to speak. Our +shots and the rapid advance of the soldiers made them turn and flee. + +Then came the crash: the cheering and bayonet-work of the charge, as our +men dashed through the Boer lines, scattering them, horse and man, +across the veldt, panic-stricken. + +"Denham," I cried excitedly; "my friends!" He said nothing for a +moment; then, unable to give me comfort, he said, "Oh, if the Colonel +could only bring our fellows out now and charge!" + +Just then bugles rang out the recall, and in the midst of the many +sounds Bob's voice rose from the front of the wagon: "In here, father-- +quick!" + +The pair had only just clambered in when we heard the shouting of an +order and tramping of feet, and half a company of foot with fixed +bayonets dashed up to the wagon, the light within having attracted +attention. At the moment it looked like escaping from one great peril +to plunge into another; but, frantic with excitement, Denham saved us by +his shout: "Hurrah! Prisoners; help!" + +A young officer sprang into the wagon, sword in hand, followed by +half-a-dozen of his men with bayonets levelled at us; but the officer +halted the men. + +"Prisoners," he cried excitedly, "or a ruse?" + +"Get out!" shouted Denham. "Do you take me for a Dutchman? Look at our +hands and feet." + +A sergeant sprang forward and took the swinging lantern from the hook, +opened its door, and, as he held it down, they saw our horribly swollen +and useless limbs, with the hide-thongs just freshly cut through. + +"Who did that?" asked the young officer. + +"My young brother here," I said quickly; "we were just going to try and +escape." + +"Ah!" cried the young man sharply, as an angry murmur ran round the +group. "You couldn't escape with feet like that. I mean, who tied you +up in that brutal way?" + +"The Boers!" cried Denham passionately, for his face was convulsed, and +he looked hysterical and weak now. + +The soldiers uttered a fierce yell, and as others crowded to back and +front I heard a burst of excited ejaculations, oaths, and threats. + +"'Tention!" shouted the officer. + +"Now then," he cried, "who are you? Oh, I see you both belong to the +Light Horse." + +"Yes," I said, for Denham was speechless. "They took us last night as +we were trying to creep through their lines to come to you for help." + +"Ah!" cried the officer. + +"They said we were spies, and we were to be shot at daybreak." + +"We've come and shot them instead," said the officer. His men inside +and out burst into a wild cheer. "But who are these? Boers?" + +"No," I cried quickly. "My father and brother, who came to help us to +escape." + +"That's right," cried the officer, and the firing and cheering went on +near at hand. Then he added hastily, "Sergeant and four men stop and +help these gentlemen to the rear. Now, my lads, forward!" + +He sprang out into the darkness, followed by his men, and we were left +together, with my father down upon his knees holding me to his breast, +and his lips close by my ear murmuring softly two words again and +again--"Thank God! Thank God!" while Bob held on to one of my hands, +jerking it spasmodically; and then I heard him cry out to one of the +soldiers, "Don't stare at me like that! I can't help it. You'd be as +bad if you were as young." + +"What!" cried a rough voice. "Why, I'm 'most as bad, and I'm +six-and-thirty; and here's big George wiping one eye on his cuff." + +"Sweat, Sergeant, sweat," growled a rough voice, and there was a laugh +from other three men. + +"That was a lie, George," said the Sergeant. "Why don't you own up like +a man?" + +"Well, 'nuff to make any one turn soft when he's cooling down after a +fight like this. Look at them two poor fellows here." + +"Ah!" came in chorus, as the men standing around bent down in sympathy. + +"'Tention!" cried the Sergeant. "Here. Files one and three mount guard +front and rear of this dropsical timber-wagon. Two and four get some +water. First aid here. Stop a minute. No; kneel down and just rub +their legs gently as if you were trying to take out those furrows made +by the ropes.--Why, your legs and feet are like stone, sir." + +"Are they?" said Denham, quietly now, as he reached forward to shake the +Sergeant's hand. "I didn't know--I don't feel as if I had any legs at +all. There," he added excitedly, "I want to shake hands with you all +round. It's so much better than being shot in the morning." + +"Ay--ay!" cried the men eagerly. + +"Oh, never mind our hurts." + +"But we must, sir. I didn't know you were an orfficer at first," said +the Sergeant. "I say, look at your head." + +"I can't," said Denham, with a faint attempt at mirth which was very +pitiful. + +"Well, I can, sir, and you can look at your comrade's. Did the Boers do +that too?" + +"No," cried Denham fiercely; "it was a brute of a renegade Irishman +serving with the Boers." + +"Is he out yonder now, sir?" said the Sergeant, giving his head a side +jerk in the direction from which, in the darkness, came the sound of +cheering and scattered shots. + +"Yes, I believe so," said Denham. + +"Then I'm sorry for him, that's all," said the Sergeant dryly. + +"Ah! Do you think your men are whipping them?" + +"Think!" cried the Sergeant scornfully. "Think, sir? Why, we've got at +'em at last with the bay'net. They've been playing at shooting behind a +stone and firing at a target--targets being us--till we've been sick of +it, and then up on horse and gallop away; but we've got at 'em at last +with the bay'net, and there's no need to think." + +"But," I cried excitedly, as I strained my ears to listen, "they're +coming back." + +"Eh?" cried the Sergeant. "Here, files two and four support one and +three. Hold your fire till they're close in, and then receive 'em on +your bay'nets." + +The two men who were chafing our deadened ankles sprang to their places, +while my brother reached out of the side of the wagon and dragged in two +rifles, evidently their own, and Denham and I cocked the revolvers we +had thrust back into our breasts. + +"That's good business, gentlemen," said the Sergeant grimly. "I like to +see reinforcements when one's in a tight place." + +He patted Bob on the shoulder as my brother took his place beside the +two soldiers at the front of the wagon, my father going to the back. + +"You can shoot, then, my lad?" + +"Oh yes," said Bob quietly. "My father taught me five years ago." + +"That's right," said the Sergeant, and he set the lantern on one side +and covered it closely with one of the rugs. "Now, silence. We don't +want to invite attack. Here they come! They're mounted men, and they +may sweep past. Hear that bugle?" he said to me. + +"Yes," I replied, almost below my breath. + +"Officers hear them coming. Prepare for cavalry. Here they come. +They've rallied, and--No, no. Hark! Hark! Hurrah! No, no; don't +cheer, my lads. They're racing for their lives, and there's a line of +cavalry after them." + +"Hurrah, Val!" shouted Denham wildly. "Our Light Horse out and at 'em +at last!" + +"Oh," I groaned, "and we not with them now!" + +"But they're sweeping after them in full charge, and sabring right and +left. Look--look! I can see it all. No, no," he groaned; "it's as +dark as pitch.--But they're scattering them, Sergeant?" + +"Like chaff, sir, and--Hark at that!" + +_Crack! crack_! Two volleys rang out. + +"I hope that has not gone through to friends," growled the Sergeant. +"Ah, all right, gentlemen; there goes the `Cease firing.' They know +your Light Horse have been let loose. The Boers won't stand after this, +so we may sing `God save the Queen!' `Rule Britannia!' and the rest of +it. This fight's won, boys. Silence in the ranks!" + +He was just in time to stop a cheer, after which we listened to the +sounds of the engagement or pursuit, now growing more distant, and I +asked a question or two of my father, who now returned to my side. + +"Your aunt, my boy? She is safe in Pietermaritzburg. The farmhouse was +burned to the ground, all the sheep and cattle commandeered, and your +brother and I forced into the Boer ranks." + +I could ask no more questions for a few moments; but Denham was not +restrained by his feelings, and I heard him ask the Sergeant: + +"But how was it you came to the help of the Light Horse, Sergeant? Did +you know we were shut up?" + +"Not till yesterday morning or this morning at daybreak, sir. The +General knew your corps was missing, and that there was a strong force +of Boers camped out this way; but we were precious badly shut up +ourselves, and could get no proper communications for want of cavalry. +Our officers did nothing but swear about your corps for keeping away +when they would have been so useful." + +"But how did you get to know at last?" + +"Through a big nigger dressed up in two white ostrich-feathers, a bit of +skin, and an assagai and shield for walking-stick and cloak. He brought +the news, and as soon as the General had proved him a bit, two +foot-regiments, ours and `Yallow Terror Tories,' were sent off to make a +forced march. That black--Joeboy he called himself--brought us up +within striking distance, and then he went off to warn them in that old +ruin that we were coming, so that they might be ready to copyrate with +us." + +"But didn't they suspect that the black might be going to lead you into +a trap?" + +"At first, sir; but when he took our young lieutenant and some of our +fellows as scouts, with orders to shoot him on the slightest sign of +treachery, and he showed us where the Boers lay in the plain, and where +we could take possession of a kopje on to which our men could march and +act quite unseen, and where we could have defended ourselves against ten +times our number, we knew it was all right." + +"And you got there unseen?" said Denham. + +"That's right, sir; and then the Colonel in command of both lots let +this Crystal Minstrel go to warn the cavalry." + +"He has done his work cleverly, Sergeant, or our corps could not have +worked with you so well." + +"That's right again, sir. I quite took to that chap, Joeboy, as he +called himself; but it's a pity he's so jolly black." + +I had been listening quietly while all this talk went on; but, with a +heavy and fast-increasing feeling of depression, I could restrain myself +no longer, and exclaimed, "Oh Denham, suppose the poor fellow's killed!" + +"What, sir!" cried the Sergeant cheerily. "Killed? Who's to kill a +chap like that on a dark night? Nobody could see where to hit. +Besides, he goes through grass and bushes and rocks like a short, thick +boa-constructor. He'll turn up all right. Hurrah! Hear that?" + +We could hear, distinctly enough, repeated bugle-calls and the frantic +cheering of our men. Our little forces had gained a complete victory, +scattering the enemy in all directions, the morning light showing the +terrible destruction caused by our onslaught. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN. + +A CLEAR SKY. + +The rising sun showed that the enemy had disappeared; but ample stores +had been secured for those who had so long suffered severe privations. + +"Val," said Denham, "we must ride with our troop this week." + +"Of course," I said cheerfully; but I had my doubts. Some time later, +after we had met our comrades again, we had a long visit from the +Colonel. + +"Look here, young fellows," he said; "you're both invalids and cripples, +so I'll wait till you're well before I have an inquiry into your conduct +in leaving the fort without leave. I'm too busy now, and you are both +too weak; but it will wait a bit. This matter must be thoroughly +investigated." + +"He'll never say another word about it, Val," prophesied Denham. + +He never did. + +Immediately after our interview with our Colonel, Denham and I lay in +our wagon--ours by right of conquest--with the doctor looking at our +injuries in evident perplexity. + +"I never saw such a pair of scamps," he said. "Why, if every man +behaved in the same way the life of a regimental surgeon wouldn't be +worth living. Just as if I hadn't enough to attend to. Always in +trouble." + +"Don't bully us, doctor," said Denham, "we're both in such pain." + +"Of course you are, my dear boys; so I'm going to have this wagon made +into a sick-room for you." + +"Into a what?" cried Denham. "Nonsense; we want to join the ranks again +to-morrow." + +"I suppose so," said the doctor fiercely; "but--you--will--not. Your +wrists are bad enough, but look at your legs." + +"Bah! Hideous!" cried Denham. "Who wants to look at them?" + +"Then your head's not healed. Now, my dear boys, experience has told me +that in this country very slight injuries develop into terrible ulcers +and other blood-poisoning troubles. That renegade beast you tell me +about is to answer for your limbs being in a very bad condition, and it +will take all I know to set them right." + +"But, doctor, I wouldn't have cared if they were good honest wounds." + +"All wounds are wounds, sir, and injuries are injuries, to a surgeon. +Frankly, neither of you must put a foot to the ground for weeks." + +"Oh doctor!" we exclaimed together. + +"My dear boys, trust me," he said. "I want to see you stout men, not +cripples on crutches, and--How dare you, you black-looking scoundrel!" + +"Joeboy!" we shouted together excitedly. "Jump in. Hurrah!" + +As the doctor had spoken we noticed Joeboy's black face, with gleaming +eyes and grinning mouth, rising above the big box at the end of the +wagon. He wanted no further orders, but swung himself in lightly. + +"Um?" he exclaimed. "Boss Val, Boss Denham right?" + +"Yes," I cried, holding out my hand, which he took. "Joeboy, you +frightened me; I thought you were killed." + +"Um? Joeboy killed? What for? Been look all among the dead ones and +broken ones; um dead quite." + +"Who's dead?" I cried. + +"Um? Ugly white boss captain, Irish boss Boer. Joeboy meant to kill +um, but um run away too." + +"That will do," said the doctor. "Just listen to my orders before I go +off to the poor fellows waiting for me. You two are not to set foot to +the ground. Promise me. I'll let you keep that black fellow to lift +you about. He will do so, I suppose?" he added, turning to me. + +"He will. He'd be only too glad." + +The doctor rose, nodded, and went away; and soon after we had visits +from the colonels of both the regiments, and from the young captain who +had saved us from the zeal of his men, all these visitors congratulating +us warmly upon our escape, and praising Joeboy for his bravery. + +That afternoon we were on the march in what Denham called our +peripatetic hospital; but he was not happy. Pain and disappointment +seemed always uppermost in spite of the friendly attentions we received +from his brother-officers. + +"Yes, it's all very good of you," he said sadly; "but fancy being laid +aside now, after the Boers have been thrashed and there's nothing to do +but give them the finishing-cuts to make them behave better in the +future." + +As days glided by, Denham, to his surprise, learned that there was no +more fighting to do. + +First of all, our little forces of the Light Horse and the infantry were +depressed by the news that the General, with the main body, had met with +a terrible reverse from the Boers, whose peculiar way of fighting had +stood them in good stead and made up for the qualities they lacked. + +Thus the making of history rolled on; and, to the rage and indignation +of the fighting-men, the order went forth that there was to be peace; +that the troops were to be withdrawn, volunteers disbanded, and +everything settled by diplomacy and treaty. I need not go into that +matter; my father only shook his head and said that such an arrangement +could never mean lasting peace. + +"I'm glad the fighting is over, my boys," father said to Denham, who was +sharing our new temporary home. + +"Oh, Mr Moray," he replied, "how can you talk like that?" + +"Because I am a man of the ploughshare and not of the sword. I want to +get back to my quiet farming life again, and that is impossible while +war devastates the land." + +"But you'll never start a home again in the old place?" + +"Never," said my father--"never." + +"No," I said; "the Boers ruined you. They ought to be made to pay." + +"Not ruined, Val," said my father, "though the burning and destruction +meant a serious loss; but I had not been idle all the years I was there, +and I dare say we can soon raise a home in Natal, where we can be at +peace. Nature is very kind out here in this sunny, fruitful land; and I +dare say when Mr Denham comes to see us, as I hope he will often do in +the future, we can make him as comfortable as in the past days when the +farm was younger, and perhaps find him a little hunting and shooting +within reach." + +"You'll come, Denham?" I said. + +"Come? Too much, I'm afraid. I'm to have no more soldiering, I hear. +I've been corresponding with my people, and asking my father if it is +possible for me to get into the regulars. He wrote back `No,' with +three lines underneath, and said I must go back to stock-raising till my +country wants me again to unsheath the sword." + +"Well," said my father, smiling, "what do you say to that?" + +"Nothing at all, sir," replied Denham, with a smile. "Somehow I always +do what I'm told." + +"That's what makes him such a good soldier, father," I said, laughing. + +"Do you hear that, Bob?" said Denham. "You ought to take example from +me. But, I say, can't we have the horses out for a run?" + +"Of course," said my father, "if you feel strong enough." + +"Oh, I'm strong enough now," replied Denham. "Nothing whatever's the +matter, except that one leg gives way sometimes. Here, let's go and +rouse up Joeboy. Will you come with us, Bob?" + +That question was unnecessary; and soon Joeboy the faithful and true had +brought round Sandho, Denham's horse, and a fine young cob the black had +captured on the night of the fight and given to my brother. + +The horses were all fresh and sprightly from want of work; and when the +three were brought to the veranda of the farm which my father had leased +for a time, Aunt Jenny--who had rejoined us, and was looking as if +nothing had occurred--warned us to be careful, for the horses looked +very fresh. + +We promised to be careful, and were off cantering towards the veldt, the +horses soon making the dust fly beneath their hoofs in a wild gallop. + +"Oh Val," cried Denham, with flashing eyes, "isn't this glorious?" + +"Delightful," I replied. + +"Doesn't it make you think of being in the troop once more?" + +"No," I said bluntly; "and I hope we shall never again ride knee to knee +to cut down men." + +"But if the need should arise," he shouted, "you would volunteer again-- +yes, and you too, Bob?" + +"Of course," cried my brother, flushing; "and so would Val." + +"You hear that, Val?" said Denham. "Don't say you wouldn't come and +help?" + +"How can I?" was my reply. "This is sandy Africa, with savages who +might rise at any time; but I am English born, with a touch of Scottish +blood, I believe." + +"I've got a dash of Irish in mine," said Denham. "I say, shall we ever +see Moriarty again?" + +"I hope not," I answered, turning red up to my hair. + +"I don't want to see him now," Denham said. "But answer my question, +Val. Will you volunteer again if a bad time comes!" + +"So long as you mount a horse, and want me," I answered. + +It was very stupid and boyish; but we were excited, I suppose, with the +motion of our horses and the elasticity of the morning air. Just then +Bob rose in his stirrups in answer to a sign from Denham, clapped his +fist to his mouth, and brought forth a capital imitation of a trumpet's +blast, which made the horses stretch out and tear away close together +over the open veldt as if in answer to the cry which thrilled me with +recollections. For Denham, too, had risen in his stirrups, thrown his +hand above his head, and shouted, "Charge!" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charge!, by George Manville Fenn + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARGE! *** + +***** This file should be named 21302.txt or 21302.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/3/0/21302/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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