Charge! Part 32

"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 sc.r.a.ps 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 circ.u.mstances; 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 ma.s.sive 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-gla.s.s 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 hors.e.m.e.n 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 rus.h.i.+ng 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!"