Charge! Part 8

"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 pa.s.s 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 circ.u.mstances 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 princ.i.p.al 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 pa.s.s might be held by hundreds of the st.u.r.dy 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 pa.s.s 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 gra.s.s.

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 pa.s.s; while those below, I felt sure now, would be in strong force, fulfilling the double duty of preventing English settlers from pa.s.sing 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 gra.s.s 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 gra.s.s 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 s.h.i.+eld and two throwing-a.s.sagais 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, fles.h.i.+ly-lobed p.r.i.c.kly-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 pa.s.s.

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 pa.s.s, a pleasant feeling of restfulness came over me, and the mountains in the distance seemed to grow hazy and of a delicious blue; the coa.r.s.e bushes did not look so dry, nor the sickly p.r.i.c.kly-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.