AS soon as it was quite dark, Yorke and his companion were again on their way. It was toilsome work. They kept, as well as they could judge, a mile from the road, but[Pg 191] it was a very rough piece of country. There were steep hills to climb and descend, tracts of boulder and rock to be crossed, and had it not been for the keen-eyed native, Yorke would have found it impossible to make his way. Fortunately the night was starlit, and this enabled them to keep their direction without having recourse to the dangerous expedient of striking a match. Presently the country became less rough and hilly. "I think we have passed the range, Peter, and Wesselton cannot be very far off. Keep a sharp eye on the look-out for lights. Directly we see them, we shall know exactly what our position is. We have taken a very long time to cross the hills, and I want to sight the river before daylight. We are sure to find bushes or willows growing by the bank where we can hide."
Half an hour's walking, and Peter said in a low voice, "There are lights, baas," pointing somewhat to the left of the track they were taking.
For a time Yorke could not discern anything. Then a light shone out and disappeared almost instantly. "That is somebody carrying a candle or lamp across a room," he said. "I am much obliged to him, whoever it is. The road cannot be far to the right, so bear more the other way. If there are any Boers about they would probably feel sure that we should strike off to the right."
Making a detour, they presently left the town behind them, and kept on due south. They had no fear whatever of anyone being on watch beyond Wesselton, and therefore stepped out boldly over the slightly undulating ground. Once or twice Yorke struck a match and looked at his compass, to be sure that they were keeping their course.
"I think we are near the river now, baas," Peter said at last.
"What makes you think that, Peter?"
"Smell the water."
"Do you, Peter? I did not know that it had any smell."
[Pg 192]
"Yes, baas. Oxen and deer and sheep all can smell it. Oxen always quicken their pace when they get near a pool."
"That would seem to show that you are right, but still I don't think there can be any smell; but there may be more damp in the air near water, and their senses in that way are more delicate than that of a white man. As you say you think we are near water I have no doubt you are right. Anyhow, I hope you are, for I have knocked the skin off my shins in half a dozen places among these rocks, and I have pretty nearly twisted my ankle as often, so I shall be glad enough to lie down. I certainly had several hours' sleep yesterday, but that did not make up for the loss of sleep the night before; besides, my feet are getting very tender. I have not walked, in all the months I have been out here, as much as during these two nights."
"Baas walks very well. No Dutchman ever walked half as far as you do."
"Perhaps not, Peter; they never use their legs. A Boer would get on a horse if he only wanted to go fifty yards to fetch anything. I used to be a good walker, but on the farm I got to be almost as lazy as the Dutchmen."
A quarter of an hour later a line of bushes rose in front of them.
"That looks as if the river were near."
"Just on other side of the bushes, baas."
So it turned out, and after climbing down to it, taking a long drink, for they had emptied their water-bottles before starting, they took a mouthful of food and lay down among the bushes.
"There is not the least occasion to keep watch," Yorke said. "It will be morning soon, and if either of us wake, we can peep out from the edge of the bushes and see if there are any Dutchmen in sight. If there are not, we can sleep on as long as we like."
Yorke did not wake till the sun was almost overhead. The native was crouching down near the bushes.
[Pg 193]
"Well, Peter, do you see anything?" he asked.
"I have seen Boers at that house there going in and out. They just rode in, waited half an hour, and rode away again. They did not look about at all; just paying a visit."
"We did not see the house last night, though we must have passed very close to it."
"We did not look for houses, baas, we looked for river."
"But as there are horses and cattle grazing about, I wonder we did not startle some of them. They must have been farther away from the house. They would have been sure to move if we had passed near them."
"Some came near here this morning, baas. Grass longer here. When river high, spread over country near."
"Well, as long as they don't enter the bushes, it does not matter, Peter. If they did, and came upon us, they would be startled, and gallop away, and if any Boer happened to be looking from that house, he might saunter down here to see what caused their fright."
The day passed quietly, and as soon as it was dark they were in motion again.
"Our course is a very little to the south of west," Yorke said. "Now we are quite safe till we approach the road from Kimberley to Jacobsdal. Once past that, it is only about ten miles to the railway, and by following the latter we shall reach the camp. But we can't go in till morning, for we have not got the countersign, and so should run the risk of being shot by one of our tramp pickets."
Four hours' tramp took them to the road. They could hear, as they approached it, a murmur of voices, and moved away to the right and walked for some distance before attempting to cross it.
"The Boers evidently have parties thrown out to give notice of any force approaching from our camp," Yorke said, in low tones. "We shall have to be very careful, for there is no saying where they are posted, and they may extend almost up to the railway."
[Pg 194]
"Yes, we must take care, baas. If only two or three, we shoot them; if more of them, they shoot us. I go first, you come a little after me, baas. If there are Boers, they are sure to be talking, keeping themselves awake; if not talk, sure to be asleep, then we pass them safe."
"Yes, if you don't happen to tread on them."
"No fear of that, baas. I can see little shrub twenty yards away. I see body of big Boer farther than that."
Trusting implicitly to the sight and hearing of the Kaffir, Yorke followed some ten paces behind him, having his rifle now in his hand ready for use. They bad gone a quarter of a mile, when suddenly on their left there was a movement, and a voice said, "Wake up, Philip! there is something moving."
"It is only a deer or a hare," the other said sleepily.
"No, it isn't," the man replied angrily. "If it had been a wild animal it would have dashed away when I spoke; instead of that, the noise stopped. It was footsteps, I could almost swear; most likely one of the rascally Kaffirs going to the Rooinek camp with news. We will soon see. Come along this way; that is where the sound came from."
Yorke had crouched down as soon as he stopped, and saw that the native had done the same. In a minute he saw the outlines of two dark figures.
"I can see you!" the Boer who had first spoken shouted. "Who are you, and where are you going? Answer, or I put a bullet through your head."
Yorke did not believe that he was seen, but he knew that if the Boers advanced two paces farther they would make him out, and the first intimation he would have that they did so would be given by a rifle bullet. It was a question of life or death, and accordingly he took a steady aim and fired. The man he aimed at fell without a cry. As he pulled the trigger Yorke threw himself flat upon the ground, and it was as well that he did so, for the other Boer fired where[Pg 195] he had seen the flash of his rifle. Almost at the same moment another rifle was discharged, and the Boer dropped his gun, and with an oath ran off at full speed. Peter was by Yorke's side before the latter could get on to his feet.
figures
IN A MINUTE HE SAW THE OUTLINES OF TWO DARK FIGURES.
"Are you wounded, baas?"
"No; by the sound the shot went through my water-bottle. Two inches lower and I should have had it in the hip."
"I was aiming at the same man as you," the native said, "till you fired and I saw him fall, and before I could change my aim the other man had fired. I was just too late to stop him."
"It was a good thing that you hit him, Peter, for if you had not done so he would have fired again. No doubt his magazine was full, and the next shot might have done its business. I had not time to think when I threw myself down; if I had done so I should have dropped with my head towards him, and then I could have fired again, but I went down sideways, and so for the moment could not use my rifle. You hit the other man in the arm, I think, for his rifle dropped, he did not throw it down. Now, we must run our hardest, Peter. Do you hear them shouting? We may as well go straight on as any other way. By the row they are making they seem to be all over the place, so it is no use trying to avoid them."
Keeping close together now, they ran at the top of their speed, changing their course occasionally when they heard voices ahead of them. The noise was all in their favour, for it completely drowned the slight sound made by their footsteps, and served as a warning to them of the position of the various outposts. They maintained their pace for nearly a mile. The sounds were all behind them now, so they broke into a walk, which they maintained until they came upon the line of railway.
"We will walk along on the other side of this. Keep your[Pg 196] ears open, Peter, and listen for the slightest movement. I don't know how far our outposts are thrown out, and I want to stop before we get near them."
They had walked some three miles, when Peter said:
"Stop, baas. I heard a noise; I think a soldier is stamping his feet to warm himself."
"All right, Peter. I am sure we cannot be very far off now, so we will wait till morning. We can sleep till broad daylight."
Three hours later the native touched Yorke.
"Sun is just up. Shall we go on now?"
"Certainly. We will sling our rifles again. If we have them in our hands the sentry might think it wiser to fire at once, without asking questions. However, now that he can see my uniform, I have little fear of that, but it is as well to be on the safe side."
As they approached they could see that the sentry called to a comrade close by, for another at once joined him. When they came within a hundred yards the sentry challenged.
"An officer with despatches from Kimberley," Yorke replied.
"You can come on for a bit," the soldier said, "but I shall not let you pass farther until an officer comes."
"I have a permit from General Colville to enter and pass the lines."
"Then you can come on, but don't touch those guns of yours till I have seen your permit."
The sentry was justified in being doubtful, for many of the Boers had adopted khaki-coloured clothes, and at a very short distance Yorke might well have been mistaken for one of these.
"That is all right, sir," the soldier said, when he had read the permit. "We are obliged to be careful, you know; and if you had come before it got light I could not have let you pass without the countersign."
[Pg 197]
"You were quite right to stop me," Yorke said. "It is because I knew that I could not get in without the countersign that I have been sleeping for the last three or four hours a quarter of a mile away. Did you hear any firing in the night?"
"I did not, sir; but the man I relieved told me that he had heard three shots over to the right, and we were charged to be extra vigilant."
"You need not be so any longer. One shot was fired at me as I came through some Boer outposts a couple of miles this side of the road from Jacobsdal. The others are the two shots we fired. There are a good many of the Boers about, but we got through safely."
"Is Kimberley all right, sir? You said you came from there."
"Yes, they can hold out for some time."
"They won't have to hold out long, sir. We shall be there before another week is over, I hope."
"I hope so too," Yorke agreed, and then he and Peter walked on.
He followed the line of railway. There were two or three strong posts upon it, but seeing that he had been allowed to pass by the most advanced sentries, no questions were asked him. Nearing the river, he turned off and proceeded at once to head-quarters. On arriving there he was told that General Colville was dressing, and would be out in a few minutes.
"Shall I take your name in, sir?" the orderly asked.
"No, I will wait till the general is ready."
In ten minutes General Colville came out with General Pole-Carew, and on seeing Yorke, said heartily:
"So you are back, Mr. Harberton. We got our searchlights to work last night for the first time, and got into communication with Kimberley. They have been flashing signals for some days, but we have not been able to answer[Pg 198] them until now. Last night we asked, 'Has messenger arrived?' and we got an answer, 'Yes, and left two days ago.'"
"Then I am afraid my report will be of little use to you, sir."
"On the contrary, we are most anxious to hear it. There are fellows in their ranks who have served with us, and one or more of these can doubtless read our signals. We have only asked them if they could hold out until we arrive, and they said 'yes.' We abstained from asking any further questions, for from prisoners we hear that the Boers feel sure that Kimberley cannot hold out much longer. Now, in the first place, what is your report?"
"This is all I have brought, sir. Colonel Kekewich was afraid that I might be caught on my way out, consequently I only put down, as you see on this slip of paper, his estimate of the amount of stores. It will not take me five minutes to write out the names of the various articles to which the figures refer."
"And were you caught?"
"Yes, and this paper was examined; but they could make neither head nor tail of it, and threw it on the ground and I recovered it."
"Well, just complete that list, then, and I will take it in to Lord Methuen, who is, I am happy to say, going on well. But first, you can answer me generally, how long can they hold out?"
"I should think, sir, for three months. Some items may run short, but in general Colonel Kekewich was of opinion that the stores available were considerably greater than those indicated by the figures, as most of the residents had laid in private stores before the town was altogether cut off."
"That is most satisfactory. We may be sure that they won't have to wait so long as that. If you will write out the list at once I will take it in to Lord Methuen, and after[Pg 199] that you can give me an account of how you got in, and how you got away after once being caught by the Boers."
Yorke wrote out the list.
"Very good indeed, much better than I had expected. I see you have put a query behind the number of shell. What does that mean? There can be no private store of shell."
"No, sir; but the De Beers people have set to to manufacture them, and have begun to turn them out rapidly. They have already been tried, and the gunners can make as good practice as with our own."
"Good indeed. I see that there is a mark after the number of the guns."
"Yes, sir; the De Beers people have begun making a long gun. They heard that the Boers are bringing up a hundred-pounder, and they hope that the one they are making will have a longer range than that piece, although I believe it is not to carry so heavy a shot."
The two officers left the room with the list; General Colville returned in a few minutes. "Lord Methuen will see you," he said. "He would like to question you himself."
Yorke followed him into another room. Lord Methuen was lying on a couch.
"I congratulate you upon your safe return, Mr. Harberton," he said. "It has been a most hazardous service, but the news you have obtained has been invaluable. We dared not question Kimberley about their store of provisions, for if their answers were understood by the Boers they would see that their chance of reducing the place by hunger was so slight that they might decide to abandon the siege and to march away into the Colony, which is the thing of all others we wish to prevent."
"Colonel Kekewich saw that, sir," Yorke said; "and that is why he would not give me any written details."
Lord Methuen asked many particulars as to the defences of Kimberley, the effect of the Boer bombardment, and the temper of the population. "Did you see Mr. Rhodes?"
[Pg 200]
"Yes, sir."
"How does he get on with the commandant?"
"I think, sir, from what I heard, that there is some friction between him and the military authorities, but nothing serious at all. All the resources of the mines have been placed by him in the hands of the authorities. He is employing a large number of Kaffirs in making roads, and these he pays and feeds, which is a great relief to the authorities; for they have twice tried to send the Kaffirs out of the town, but both times the Boers have compelled them to return, no doubt because they think that the more mouths there are to feed, the sooner the provisions will be exhausted."
"And now, Mr. Harberton, tell us how you managed to get into the town and to return here."
Yorke related his adventures.
"You have been fortunate indeed," the general said, "and have had three very narrow escapes—in the first place, at that hut which you defended so stoutly; in the next place, when you were first taken prisoner; and lastly, in getting through the Boer lines this side of Jacobsdal, to say nothing of your escape at Boshof. Your Kaffir must be a stout fellow."
"He is, sir. Without his assistance I should by this time be a long way on my road to Pretoria."
"Well, your services have been most valuable, and I shall have great pleasure in recommending you for a commission if you would like to take one."
"I thank you very much, sir. I should feel it a great honour. And even if I resigned at the end of the war it would be all my life a gratification to have received the Queen's commission."
"I suppose you would prefer the cavalry?"
"Yes sir."
"Well, then, I will recommend that you be gazetted to the 9th Lancers. The colonel will be glad to have you; what with casualties and illness he is short of subalterns. You have been very favourably reported before for your expedi[Pg 201]tion from De Aar across the Orange River, and there can be no doubt that my recommendation will be acceded to at once."
"May I ask what I am to do with the twenty Kaffir scouts who have been working under me?"
"You had better hand them over to Major Rimington. He will know how to employ them."
"Will you see, general, that Mr............