"It is almost a pity that you did
not commandeer two ponies and saddles while you were about it," Chris
laughed, as they set off again feeling all the better for their meal. "We
only want that to complete our outfit."
"You should have mentioned it before
I started, Chris. There is no saying what I might not have done; and really,
without joking, a pony is one of the easiest things going to steal when
there are Boers about. They always leave them standing just where they
dismount, and will be in a store or a drinking-place for an hour at a time
without attending to them."
"It is not the difficulty, but the
risk; for even if a thief gets off with a pony, he is almost sure to be
hunted down. It is regarded as a sort of offence against the community, and
a man, whether a native or a mean white, would get a very short shrift if he
were caught on a stolen horse."
"Yes, I know. Still, for all that,
if I could come upon a saddled pony, and there was a chance of getting off
with it, I should take it without hesitation as a fair spoil of war."
"Yes, so should I, for the betting
would be very strongly against our running across its owner; and in the next
place, it would greatly increase our chance of getting safely through. It is
the fact of our being on foot that will attract attention. We could walk
about a camp full of Boers without anyone noticing it, but to walk into the
camp would seem so extraordinary, that we should be questioned at once. A
Boer travelling across the country on foot would be a sight hitherto
unknown."
"There I agree with you; and I do
think that when we get to Helpmakaar, which we can do to-morrow evening if
we make a good long march to-night, we had better see if we can't
appropriate a couple of ponies. We can walk boldly into the place, and no
one would notice we were new-comers. There are sure to be ponies standing
about, and it will be hard if we cannot bag a couple. Then we can ride by
the road south from there to Greytown, and after crossing the Tugela, strike
off by the place where we had the fight near Umbala mountain, which would be
a good landmark for us, and from there follow our old line back to Estcourt.
It would be rather shorter to go through Weenen, but there may be Boers
about, and the few miles we should save would not be worth the risk."
They made a long journey that night,
slept within seven or eight miles of Helpmakaar, and started late in the
afternoon. When near the town they left the main road, passed through some
fields, and came into the place that way, as had they entered by the road
they were likely to be questioned. Once in the little town, they walked
about at their ease. It did not seem that there were any great number of
Boers there, but the town was well within the district held by them, and
such loyalists as remained were sure to be keeping as much as possible
without their houses. In front of the principal inn were nearly a score of
Boer ponies, but the lads considered it would be altogether too risky to
attempt to take a couple of these, as their owners might issue out while
they were doing it; however, they stood watching. For some time there was a
sound of singing and merriment within, and for a quarter of an hour no one
came out.
"If we had taken a couple of ponies
at first," Sankey said savagely, "we might have been two miles away by this
time."
"Yes; I don't know that it is too
late now. Wait till they strike up another song with a chorus, none of them
are likely to leave the room while that is going on, and it will drown the
sound of hoofs."
There were few people about in the
streets; and even had anyone passed as they were mounting, he could not tell
that they were not the legitimate owners.
"If anyone should come out," Chris
said, "don't try to ride away. We should have the whole lot after us in a
minute, and it is not likely we should have got hold of the fastest ponies.
Besides, they would shoot us before we got far. So if anyone does come out
and raises an alarm, jump off at once and run round the nearest corner, and
then into the first garden we come to. We should be in one before they could
come out, mount their ponies, and give chase. Once among the gardens we
should be safe. If the man who comes out does not shout we would pay no
attention to him, but ride away quietly. If the ponies don't happen to
belong to him or some friend of his, he would not be likely to interfere,
for he would suppose that we were two of the party who had left the place
without his noticing them. But if he gives a shout, jump off at once, and
rush round the corner of the nearest house."
They waited for a minute or two, and
then two Boers came out, mounted a couple of the ponies, and rode quietly
down the street. At that moment another song was struck up. "That is lucky.
If anyone comes out and sees us mounting he will take us for the two men who
have just ridden off." Then they strolled leisurely across the street, took
the reins of two of the ponies, sprang into the saddles, and started at a
walk, which, twenty yards farther, was quickened into a trot. The two men
had fortunately gone in the other direction. Once fairly beyond the town,
they quickened their pace. "Now we are Boers all over," Chris said
exultantly; "but there is one thing, Sankey, we must be careful not to go
near any solitary farmhouse. There must still be some loyal men left in
these parts, and if we fell in with a small party of them the temptation to
pay off what they have suffered might be irresistible."
"Yes, Chris; but they certainly
would not shoot unless certain of bringing us both down, for if one escaped,
he would return with a party strong enough to wipe them out altogether.
However, we need not trouble about that for the present, though no doubt it
will be well to be careful when we are once across the Tugela."
"Well, we shall be there long before
morning; it is not more than seven- or eight-and-twenty miles."
They rode fast, for it was possible
that when the loss of the ponies was discovered someone who might have
noticed them go down the street might set the Boers on the track, and in
that case they would certainly be hotly pursued. The ponies, however, turned
out to be good animals, and as the lads were at least a couple of stones
lighter than the average Boer, they could not be overtaken unless some of
the ponies happened to be a good deal better than these.
After riding at full speed for eight
or nine miles, they broke into a walk, stopping every few minutes to listen.
They knew that they would be able to hear the sound of pursuit at least a
mile away, and as their ponies would start fresh again, they were able to
take things quietly. So sometimes cantering sometimes walking, they reached
the river at about one o'clock in the morning. On the opposite bank stood
the little village of Tugela Ferry. Here there was a drift, and there was no
occasion to use the ferry-boat except when the river was swollen by rain. It
now reached only just up to the ponies' bellies; they therefore crossed
without the least difficulty, and after passing through the village, left
the road, and struck off across the country to the south- west. When four or
five miles away they halted at a donga, and leading the ponies down, turned
them loose to feed, ate their supper, and were soon asleep.
It was no longer necessary to travel
by night, and at eight o'clock they started again. They kept a sharp
look-out from every eminence, and once or twice saw parties of mounted men
in the distance and made detours to avoid them. So far as they were aware,
however, they were not observed. The distance to be ridden from their last
halting-place was about thirty-five miles, and at one o'clock they were
within five miles of Estcourt. On an eminence about a mile in front of them
they saw a solitary horseman.
"That is evidently one of our
scouts," Chris said. "I dare say there is a party of them somewhere behind
him. If I am not mistaken I can see two or three heads against the
sky-line--they are either heads or stones. We should know more about it if
the Boers hadn't bagged our glasses when they took us."
Two or three minutes later Sankey
said, "Those little black spots have gone, so they were heads. I dare say
they are wondering who we are, and put us down either as Boers or as loyal
farmers, though there cannot be many of them left in this district."
Presently from behind the foot of
the hill six horsemen dashed out. The lads had already taken the precaution
of taking off their hats and putting on forage-caps again.
"It is always better to avoid
accidents," Chris said. "It would have been awkward if they had begun to
shoot before waiting to ask questions, especially as we could not shoot
back. They are Colonials; one can see that by their looped-up hats, which
are a good deal more becoming than those hideous khaki helmets of our men."
The horsemen had unslung their guns,
but seeing that the strangers had their rifles still slung behind them with
apparently no intention of firing, they dropped into a canter until they met
the lads.
"Who are you?" the leader asked. "Do
you surrender?"
"We will surrender if you want us
to," Chris said; "though why we should do so I don't know. We belong to the
Maritzburg Scouts, and were taken prisoners, being both wounded, eight or
nine days ago; and, as you see, we have got away."
"I dare say it is all right," the
officer said; "but at any rate we will ride with you to Estcourt."
"We shall be glad of your company,
though I don't suppose we shall be identified until we get to Chieveley.
Will you please tell us what has taken place since we left?"
"That, I think had better be
deferred," the officer said dryly. "We don't tell our news to strangers."
"Quite right, sir."
"It is evident that you are not
Dutch," the officer went on; but there is more than one renegade Englishman
fighting among the Boers, and except for your caps you certainly look as if
you belonged to the other side rather than to ours."
"Yes, they are Boer coats, Boer
ponies, and Boer guns," Chris said. "We have taken the liberty of borrowing
them as they borrowed our guns and field-glasses. Whether they borrowed our
horses we shall not know till we get back. You see," he went on, opening his
coat, "we still have our uniforms underneath. Who is at Estcourt now? Ah, by
the way, we are sure to find some officers in the hospital who know us."
The officer by this time began to
feel that the account Chris had given him of himself was correct, and when
they arrived at Estcourt it was rather as a matter of form than anything
else that he accompanied him to the hospital. Upon enquiry Chris found that
among the wounded there was one of the naval officers he had travelled with
from Durban. Upon the surgeon in charge being told that he wished to see
him, he was allowed to enter with the officer. The wounded man at once
recognized him.
"Ah, King," he said, "I am glad to
see you again. Have you brought me down a message from Captain Jones or any
of our fellows?"
"No; I am very sorry to find you
here, Devereux, but I am glad to see you are getting better. I have really
come in order that you might satisfy this gentleman, who has taken me
prisoner, that I am King of the Maritzburg Scouts."
"There is no doubt about that. Why,
where have you been to be taken prisoner?"
"Oh, it was a fair capture. I was
with one of my section caught while out scouting, and have got away in Boer
attire, and as we were riding in we met this officer's party some five miles
out, and not unnaturally they took us for the real thing instead of
masqueraders."
[Illustration: "PRESENTLY FROM
BEHIND THE FOOT OF THE HILL SIX HORSEMEN DASHED OUT."]
"I can assure you that King is all
right," the sailor said. "He came up in the train with three of his party
from Durban."
"Thank you," the officer said with a
smile. "I am perfectly satisfied, and was nearly so before I came in here.
Well, I wish you good-day, sir, and hope we may meet again," and shaking
hands with Chris he left the tent.
Chris remained chatting for a few
minutes more with the sailor.
"I suppose there is no great chance
of getting a bed here?" he said, as he rose to go. "We have had two pretty
long days' ride, and I don't care about going on to Chieveley."
"Not a chance in the world, I should
think."
"Well, it does not matter much. We
have been sleeping in the open for the past five nights, and once more will
make no difference. We are just back in time, Sankey," he said when he
joined his friend outside. "Devereux tells me that there is a big movement
going on, and that a severe fight is expected in a day or two. He hears that
the baggage train has been moving to Springfield, so that it will be
somewhere over in that direction; and I suppose we are going to move round
to Acton Homes and force our way into Ladysmith through Dewdrop. You know,
they say that it is comparatively flat that way."
They got rid of their long coats and
fastened them to their saddles; then led their ponies to the station, and
leaving them outside entered. An enterprising store-keeper had opened a
refreshment stall for the benefit of the troops passing through, or officers
coming down from the front to look after stores or to visit friends in
hospital. Chris had explained their position to Devereux, and the latter had
said: "Then I suppose they have eased you of all your money?"
"Yes; they did not leave us a
penny."
"There is my purse with my watch in
that little pocket over my bed," he said. "You must let me lend you a
sovereign till I see you again." And Chris had thankfully taken the money.
They now had what to them was a
gorgeous feast; some soup, cold ham, and a bottle of wine. They gave what
little remains they had of bread to the ponies, and then led them a quarter
of a mile out of the town and camped out with them there, the Boer coats
coming in very useful. The next morning they started at daybreak, and
arrived at their camp at Chieveley just as their friends were sitting down
to breakfast. They were received with a shout of welcome, and a torrent of
questions was poured upon them.
"I will leave Sankey to tell you all
about it," Chris said. "I must go and report myself to Brookfield and get
our names struck off the list of missing. I shall not be five minutes away."
The captain received Chris as
heartily, though not so noisily, as his comrades had done.
"We have been very anxious about
you," he said, after the first greeting. "When we came back to the point
where you left us, and did not find you there, we thought there might be
some mistake, and that you had ridden on. We picked up all the others, but
were not uneasy until we got into camp, and found that you did not return.
Then two of your friends took fresh horses and rode out again, taking two of
your blacks with them. The blacks found the place where you had left us, and
following your tracks down came on your horses. Then they went on till they
saw the river in front of them. The blacks traced your footsteps along near
the bank till they came to a spot where there was evidently a drift, as a
road was cut down to the water on both sides. They then crawled along till
they could look down into the road. They were some time away, and returned
with the news that they had seen below them on the road a patch of blood and
the mark of a body in the mud, another step they said had gone down to the
water, and had not come back. Crawling along by the edge of the bank they
found some empty cartridges. They said whoever had been up there had crawled
once or twice to the edge above the sunken road where the other was lying,
and that he had then gone back from the river and afterwards down into the
road. A little farther there seemed to have been a fall, and then two men
with big feet came to the spot, and, they asserted, carried the one who had
fallen there down to the other; but they could not see what had happened
then, for it was evident that the Boers were in force on the other side of
the river, and they dared not go down farther to examine the tracks. Enough
had been seen, however, to show that you must both have been wounded. It was
pretty certain that you had not been killed, for if so the Boers would not
have troubled to carry your bodies across the drift. Now, Chris, let us hear
your story."
"If you don't mind, Captain
Brookfield," Chris said with a smile, "I will put off telling it for another
half-hour. The fact is, breakfast is ready, and I have only had one square
meal since I went away, and that was yesterday at Estcourt."
"Go, by all means," the captain
laughed. "I breakfasted half an hour before you came in, and forgot that it
was possible that you had not done so." It was a full half-hour before Chris
returned, and when he did so he left Sankey still telling the story of their
adventures, which had made very little progress, as he had declared that he
could not enjoy his breakfast if he was obliged to keep on talking all the
time. When Chris, on his part, had told the story to Captain Brookfield, the
latter said:
"I can't say that I am altogether
surprised to see you back, though I certainly did not expect you for a long
time, for I felt sure that if you and Sankey were not seriously wounded you
would manage to give them the slip before you got to Pretoria; and I thought
we should hear the first news of you at Durban, for it would be shorter and
easier for you to make your way down again to Lorenzo Marques than to follow
this line."
"We should certainly have gone that
way if we had not escaped until we were near Pretoria, but it was a great
deal easier to slip away from the waggons than it would have been if we had
been once put into the train. I hope, sir, we have not been returned as
missing, for it will have frightened our mothers terribly if we have been."
"No; I thought that there was no
occasion to give your names until you had been away for a month. If you were
not heard of by that time, I should consider it certain that you were dead
or at Pretoria. I knew that, as you say, it would be a terrible shock to
your mothers if they were to see your names among the missing; while it
could do no harm to anyone if I kept it back for a month, and put you down
as missing the first time after the corps were engaged. Well, you are just
back in time for a big fight, though we are not likely to take any part in
it. It is supposed to be a secret as to the precise position, but orders
have been privately circulated this morning. Dundonald with the regular
cavalry, the Natal Horse, and the South African Light Horse went on four
days ago, with one or two other colonial corps, and occupied Springfield,
and the baggage train followed them; and after occupying the place, instead
of waiting for infantry to come up, he moved on to a river. Some of his men,
with extraordinary pluck, swam across and managed to bring the ferry-boat
over under a very heavy fire. Then a number of them crossed, scattered the
Boers like chaff, and took possession of a rough hill called Swartz Kop, and
held it till support came up. It was a capitally managed affair, and one
cannot but regret that the same care was not shown at Hlangwane. We are to
go on this afternoon, but as we are not in Dundonald's brigade I expect that
our duty will be, as it was in the last fight, to guard the baggage."
"But what will Dundonald's brigade
do?"
"The general opinion is, that they
will push round to Acton Homes. I am not sure that the whole force is not
going that way. It would be a grand thing if it could be done; but I doubt
whether the train could carry enough stores, for it would be a long way
round, and we should probably have to fight two or three times at least, and
it might take us five or six days."
"Then most of the infantry have gone
on already?"
"Yes, Hart's and Hildyard's brigades
have marched straight from Frere. By the way, did you hear of the Boer
attack on Ladysmith on the night of the 6th?"
"No; that was the night we were at
Glencoe. On our way up we did hear some very heavy firing. At least, we were
not certain that it was firing, and rather thought it was a distant
thunder-storm."
"The firing began at two o'clock in
the morning," Captain Brookfield said, "and was so heavy that everyone
turned out. It lasted four hours, and there was no doubt that the Boers were
making a determined attack. Everyone wondered that we did not at once make a
diversion. When the day broke it could be seen that numbers of mounted Boers
were hurrying off from their camps among the hills towards Ladysmith, but it
was not until two in the afternoon that five battalions of infantry marched
down towards Colenso, and the naval guns opened in earnest on their lines.
It had the effect of bringing the Boers scurrying down again to their
trenches. Our fellows marched in open order and worked their way nearly down
to Colenso, which was more strongly garrisoned than it had been at the time
of our last attack. No doubt they had seen us preparing to advance, and
strongly reinforced the garrison. Our guns were taken a long way down, and
at six o'clock their trenches were bombarded; then it came on to rain, and
the Boers ceased to fire, and at seven o'clock our men turned into camp. The
firing in Ladysmith had ceased some time before that."
"And what had taken place there?"
Chris asked anxiously, "for I know the place has not fallen or we should
have heard of it."
"No, they beat the Boers off
splendidly. However, they had hard work to do it, for the heliograph flashed
a signal at about nine o'clock in the morning to say that they had so far
beaten off the enemy, but were much pressed. We heard the next day that this
had indeed been the case. Caesar's Camp had been taken and retaken several
times--by our men at the point of the bayonet, by the Boers, by rushing up
in overwhelming numbers. It is said that we have twelve hundred casualties,
and the Boers at least fifteen hundred, of whom a large number were
bayoneted. They say the loss fell chiefly upon the Free Staters, who were
put in the front by the Transvaal people. They fought pluckily, and several
of their commanders were among the killed. I should think that they would
hardly try it again. A native got through two days afterwards with a
despatch. We have not heard what it contained, but we fancy from what has
leaked out that our defences were very weak."
"We ought to take a lesson from the
Boers," Chris said. "I saw something of their trenches as we went up the
railway valley, and they are wonderful."
"Yes, we must do the Boers the
justice to say that they are not afraid of hard work. Ever since they first
came here they have been at work everywhere every day in the week, including
Sundays. Of course, as we are not standing on the defensive, there is no
occasion for us to construct works to the same extent; but I cannot myself
understand why we do not throw up batteries for our guns, pushing forward
zigzags every night, and advancing the batteries until we can plant all our
naval and field guns within a hundred yards of Colenso, when we should be
able to smash their entrenchments in no time, and effectually cover an
advance across the bridge or one of the drifts. When I was in the army it
was always said that the next war would be fought with the spade as much as
with the rifle, but so far we have seen nothing whatever of the spade,
except just by the guns. We were also taught that strong positions held by
steady troops armed with magazine guns and supported by good artillery were
absolutely impregnable against direct attack. I grant that Dundee and
Elandslaagte, and Belmont and Enslin on the other side, seemed to contradict
that idea, but our experience here is all the other way; and if we keep on
knocking our heads against those hills I suppose the axiom is likely to be
finally confirmed."
"Then you don't think that we are
going to fight our way into Ladysmith, Captain Brookfield?"
"Not direct into Ladysmith. Possibly
we may work our way round; but after what we saw of the fire from their
position, trench above trench, and miles upon miles in length, my own
conviction is, that allowing to the utmost for the gallantry and devotion of
our men, we shall never win our way across those hills."
"Then we move off at two o'clock,
sir?"
"Yes, fresh batches of waggons are
going on, and we are to escort them, and if we reach Springfield by
to-morrow night we may think ourselves lucky, for some of the officers who
went with the first lot have come back, and say that the roads are simply
awful--there are dongas to be passed where the waggons sink up to their
axles--and that at one point ninety oxen were fastened to a single waggon
and could not pull it out from a hole in which it was sunk, and there it
would be now if one of the Woolwich traction engines hadn't got hold of it
and drawn it out. They are doing splendid work, and if the War Office
authorities can but take a lesson to heart, the next war we go into we shall
have five hundred of them and not a single transport animal. They would cost
money, no doubt, but they would eat nothing and drink nothing; they would
only require to be oiled and cleaned occasionally to keep them in order, and
when they were wanted they would do the work without our having to hunt the
world over for transport animals. They would save their cost in one war;
there would be a thousand drivers and stokers instead of twenty thousand
camp followers; it would not matter whether the country was burnt up dry or
deep in grass, they would drag their fuel with them; and would save the
artillery horses by dragging the guns till they were in the neighbourhood of
an enemy. It might not look so pretty or picturesque as the present system,
but it would be enormously more useful, and in the long run vastly more
economical. I should like to see Kitchener put at the War Office with
authority to sweep it out; Hercules in the Augean stable would be nothing to
it."
Chris laughed at the earnestness and
vehemence with which the commander spoke.
He went on. "I am an old army man,
and have been as staunch a believer in army traditions as any man, but I
tell you fairly that I am disgusted at the amount of routine work, delay,
and, if I may use the word, priggism, that I see going on. I am not
surprised that the Colonials to a man are convinced that they would manage
matters infinitely better if they were left to themselves. They would harass
the Boers night and day, sweep their plundering parties out of the land,
make a circuit no matter how far into Zululand, and come down behind and cut
the line of railway, and blow up the bridges, and worry them out of the
colony. I don't say they would succeed, but I am sure they would try, and I
believe firmly that five thousand mounted Colonials fighting in their own
way would relieve Ladysmith and clear Natal sooner than we with thirty
thousand shall do. I am not saying that they would succeed in a Continental
war, though they would certainly harass and bother any regular force four
times their own strength. To succeed they would require guns and a greater
degree of discipline than they have got, but such a force would be
absolutely invaluable as an assistant to a regular army. Don't repeat what I
say, Chris; there is a good deal of soreness of feeling on both sides
already, and I don't want any utterance of mine to add to it. Still, I can
assure you it has been a relief to me to let the steam off."
At the appointed hour the Maritzburg
Scouts and another Colonial corps started with a train of two hundred
waggons, and with immense exertion made eight miles before it became dark.
The men were more often on foot than in their saddles, sometimes roping
their horses to the sides of the waggons to aid the oxen, sometimes putting
their shoulders to the wheels, or working with a score of others with
railway sleepers that had been brought for the purpose, to lever the axles
out of deep holes into which the wheels had sunk.
"I don't think I ever knew what it
was to be really dirty before," Field said, as they finally dismounted and
prepared to camp. "I thought I did know something about mud, but I can see
that I did not. I feel that I am a sort of animated pie, and could be cooked
comfortably in an oven. If we could but get a big fire and stand round it,
our crust might peel off; and I really don't see any other way. There is one
advantage in it, and that is that we shall be able to skirmish, if
necessary, across either a sandy or muddy country, without the possibility
of our being made out more than fifty yards away by the keenest-sighted
Boer. What do you propose, Captain Chris? If there were running water near,
the course would be clear. We would lie down by turns, and be rolled over
and over, and thumped with stones, and rubbed with anything that came handy
till we were in a state of comparative cleanliness."
"Why running water?" Chris asked.
"Why not a pond?" "A pond!" Field said, contemptuously. "Why, sir, before
our section alone was washed, the water of anything short of a lake would be
solid."
There was a general burst of
laughter.
"Well, Field, you do us almost as
much good as a wash," Peters said. "Anyhow, we are better off than the
others. We have got our tents and our spirit-lamp, and can have our tea with
some degree of comfort, which is more than the others will be able to do.
Now, as we have not running water, I think we might as well scrape as much
of this mud off as we can."
"I would almost rather remain as we
are," Field said. "Hitherto I have felt rather proud of our appearance. As
we only got our uniforms when we came up here, and have always had our tents
to sleep in, we looked a great deal cleaner than the average. Now we shall
be conspicuous for our dirtiness."
"In spite of what Field says, I will
adopt your suggestion, Peters. We had better help the Kaffirs to get up our
tents first," Chris said, "then we can do the scraping while they are
getting our supper ready. It is very lucky that we had the water-skins
filled before starting. We should hardly taste the tea if it had been made
from water from any of these spruits."
The tents were erected, and then
jack-knives were taken out; and giving mutual aid to each other, they
succeeded in removing at least the main portion of the mud. That done, they
sat down to supper. Fortunately, the rain that had come down steadily the
greater portion of the day had now ceased, and with a tin of cocoa and milk,
and some fried ham and biscuits, they made an excellent meal. Their less
fortunate comrades brought their kettles, which were boiled for them one
after another, until all who had waited up in hopes of their turn coming had
been served. As they carried tea and their ration bread, they were able to
make a fairly comfortable meal, instead of going supperless to bed, which
they would otherwise have done, as few would have cared after their hard
work to go out into the veldt to gather soaked sticks, which they would
hardly have been able to light had they found them. A small ration of
spirits and water was given to each of the five natives, and then the lads
crept into their tents feeling that after all, things might have been much
worse.
