The Kopje Garrison Part 24

"Look here, don't forget. Mind I give old James two ounces of the best tobacco first time I have any-which I'm afraid will not be just yet."

"Mare's-nest," said Lennox thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose it is a mare's-nest. n.o.body could have been about here without being caught by the sentries."

"I don't know," said d.i.c.kenson, looking about him; "these n.i.g.g.e.rs are very clever at hiding and sneaking about. I felt certain after what I had experienced that we should find a way into a pa.s.sage and some caves. Here, 'tention; the general's coming back."

Captain Roby returned, replacing his gla.s.s, and gave a few sharp orders for the men to take their places once more and commence the descent, searching every crevice among the rocks as they went down.

This was carefully done, and the men reached the foot of the granite pile, formed up, and marched back to the market-place, where they were dismissed to their meagre breakfast, while the captain sought the colonel's quarters without a word to his subordinates.

"The doctor says fasting's very good for a man; but one man's meat, or want of it, is another man's poison, Drew, my boy, and starvation does not agree with Roby."

"No," replied Lennox. "I've noticed that he has been a bit queer for a week past."

"Say a fortnight, and I'll agree with you. Why, he has been like a bear with a sore head. Never said a civil word to any one, and I've heard him bully the poor boys shamefully."

"Yes; it is a pity, too, for they've behaved splendidly."

"Right you are. I always liked them, but I'm quite proud of the poor fellows now. I say though, hang it all! talking must be bad on an empty stomach. Lead on, my lord; the banquet waits."

"Banquet!" said Lennox, with a sigh.

"Yes. Oh, how tired I am of that mealie pap! It puts me in mind of Brahma fowls, and that maddens me."

"Why?"

"Because I used to keep some of the great, feather-breeched, lumbering things to send to poultry shows. Some one told me that Indian com was a fine thing for them-made their plumage bright and gave them bone; so I ordered a lot."

"And did it answer the purpose?"

"Answer the purpose?" cried d.i.c.kenson indignantly. "Why, the beggars picked it up grain by grain and put it down again. Pampered Sybarites! Then the c.o.c.k c.o.c.ked his eye up at me and said, 'Tuck, tuck, tuck! Caro, waro, ware!' which being interpreted from the Chick-chuck language which is alone spoken by the gallinaceous tribe, means, 'None of your larks: yellow pebbles for food? Not to-day, thankye!'"

"I say, Bob, what a boy you do keep!" said Lennox.

"The sweet youthfulness of my nature, lad. But, as I was telling you, the beggars wouldn't touch it, and I had to get our cook to boil it soft. Our mealie pap has just the same smell. That makes me think of being a real boy with my poultry pen: the Brahmas make me think of the young c.o.c.kerels who did not feather well for show and were condemned to go to pot-that is to say, to the kitchen; and that brings up their legs and wings peppered and salted before broiling for breakfast, finished off with a sprinkle of Worcester sauce, and then-oh, luscious! oh, tender juiciness! Oh! hold me up, old man, or I shall faint. There, sniff! Can't you smell? Yes, of course; mealie pap in a tin, and-Oh, here's the colonel eating his. Roby will have to give his report now."

"Good-morning, gentlemen," said the colonel. "Just in time for breakfast. Well, what have you found?"

He had hardly asked the question before Captain Roby hurried in, to go up to his side at once and make his report.

"I'm sorry; but no more than I expected.-Here," he said, turning to his servant, after making a brave show of eating the meagre tin of Indian corn porridge; "bring me a little cocoa."

"Beg pardon, sir," said the man, bending over him from behind; "very sorry, but last of the cocoa was finished yesterday."

"Humph! Yes; I had forgotten," said the colonel, and he took up his spoon and began to play with the porridge remaining in his tin.

The breakfast was soon ended, and the officers made a show of chatting cheerfully together, while the colonel sat tapping the edge of his tin softly with his canteen spoon, looking thoughtfully into the bottom of the cleaned-out vessel the while. Then every eye was turned to him as he straightened himself up, for they judged that he was going to make some communication. They were right, for he threw down his spoon on the clothless board and said suddenly:

"Well, gentlemen, the French proverb says, Il faut manger."

"Yes," said the doctor, with a grim smile; "but it is necessary to have something in the manger."

"Quite so, doctor," said the colonel, with a good-humoured nod; "so I may as well open a discussion on the position at once, and tell you that while Roby and his company have been searching the kopje the major and I have formed ourselves into a committee of ways and means, and gone round the stores.-Tell them, major."

The gentleman addressed shrugged his shoulders.

"There is so little to tell," he replied; "only that with about quarter-rations we can hold out for another week. That's all."

"Not all," said the colonel. "We have the horses as a last resource; but they are life to us in another way, and must be left till the very end."

Dead silence reigned, every man looking down at the rough table.

"Well, gentlemen," continued the colonel, "after giving every thought to our position I come to the conclusion that at all hazards I must hold this place."

"Hear, hear!" came from every lip.

"We are keeping three commandos fully employed, and that is something."

There was a sound like a murmur of satisfaction.

"I might determine," said the colonel, "to try and reach Rudolfsberg, and somehow or another we would cut our way there; but our losses would be terrible, and we should reach safety-some of us-with the feeling that we had not done our duty by holding Groenfontein at all hazards."

"That's quite right," said the major as his chief paused, and a murmur of a.s.sent followed the major's words.

"Then, gentlemen, that brings me back again to the French proverb. We must eat, so the first thing to do is to decide on which direction a raid is to be made: that means scouting, and the discovery of the nearest Boer store of provisions, with sheep and cattle. We are quite alone here, without the possibility of my words being heard, so I can speak out freely. Scouting parties must go out at once in the direction of each of the three commandos, and on the strength of their reports the expedition will be made."

"To-night?" said the major.

"Yes," replied the colonel. "Hus.h.!.+ Don't cheer! Let matters go on as if nothing fresh were on the way. We cannot afford to have our proceedings carried out of the lines by Kaffir spies."

Chapter Twelve.

The Boer Advance.

The scouting parties went out in three different directions after a long survey from the top of the kopje, the routes being marked out for the leaders in consultation with the colonel, who, gla.s.s in hand, selected the most likely routes to be followed so that the enemy might be avoided, and the more distant country reached where two or three Boer farms were known to be situated.

Then, with three of the best mounted men in each, they set off; and the colonel took especial care that no one of the many friendly-said to be friendly-natives who hung about the camp should follow. It was a necessary precaution, for the outposts stopped no less than a dozen men stealing through the long gra.s.s on both sides of the river, and, to their great disappointment, turned them back to go and squat down sulkily in such shade as they could find.

The instructions given were that at the latest the scouts were to be back at sundown, so as to give ample time for pointing out the route to be followed and preparations made for the raid to come.

Plenty of discussion ensued when the scouts had ridden off at a walk, opening out so as not to take the attention of the Boers; and as far as could be made out by the watchers there was not a sign of an enemy upon either of the hills.

The question of the discussion was which company of the regiment would be called upon to start upon the raid, the members of each hoping to be selected; and Captain Roby maintaining loudly, in a sharp, snappish way, that without doubt his company would be chosen, and turning fiercely upon any of his brother officers who differed from him.

"He's precious c.o.c.k-sure, Drew," said d.i.c.kenson later on, as they strolled together up the steep sides of the kopje; "but we had our bit of work this morning, and it is not likely that the old man will send us."