There were too many "alarums and excursions" at Groenfontein for much
more thought to be bestowed upon the friendly Boers, as the party of
former prisoners were termed, in the days which ensued. "Nobody can say
but what they are quiet, well-behaved chaps," Bob Dickenson said, "for
they do scarcely anything but sit and smoke that horrible nasty-smelling
tobacco of theirs all day long. They like to take it easy. They're
safe, and get their rations. They don't have to fight, and I don't
believe nine-tenths of the others do; but they are spurred on--
sjambokked on to it. Pah! what a language! Sjambok! why can't they
call it a whip?"
"But I don't trust them, all the same," said Lennox. "I quite hate that
smiling field-cornet, who's always shifting and turning the corn-sacks
to give them plenty of air, as he says, to keep the grain from heating."
"Why, he hasn't been at it again, has he?" said Dickenson, laughing.
"At it again?" said Lennox. "What do you mean?"
"Did he shout to you to come and look at it?"
"Yes; only this morning, when the colonel was going by. Asked us to go
in and look, and shovelled up the yellow corn in one of the sacks. He
made the colonel handle some of it, and pointed out that he was holding
back the corn tied up with the white strings because it lasted better."
"What did the old man say?"
"Told him that, as the stock was getting so low, he and his men must
make a raid and get some more."
"And what did Blackbeard say?"
"Grumbled and shook his head, and talked about the danger of being shot
by his old friends if they were caught."
"Dodge, of course, to raise his price."
"That's what the colonel said; and he told him that there must be no
nonsense--he was fed here and protected so that he should keep up the
supply, and that he must start the day after to-morrow at the latest to
buy up more and bring it in. Then, in a surly, unwilling way, he
consented to go."
"Buy up some more?" said Dickenson, with a chuckle. "Yes, he'll buy a
lot. Commando it, he'll call it."
That very day, growing weary of trying to starve out the garrison, the
enemy made an attack from the south, and after a furious cannonading
began to fall back in disorder, drawing out the mounted men and two
troops of lancers in pursuit.
As they fell back the disorder seemed to become a rout; but Colonel
Lindley had grown, through a sharp lesson or two, pretty watchful and
ready to meet manoeuvre with manoeuvre. He saw almost directly that the
enemy were overdoing their retreat; and he acted accordingly.
Suspecting that it was a feint, he held his mounted troops in hand, and
then made them fall back upon the village.
It was none too soon, his men being just in time to fall on the flank of
one of the other two commandos, whose leaders had only waited till the
first had drawn the British force well out of their entrenchments before
one attacked from the east, and the other drove back the defenders of
the ford and crossed at once, but only to bring themselves well under
the attention of their own captured gun on the kopje, its shells playing
havoc amongst them, while the men of the colonel's regiment stood fast
in their entrenchments. The result was that in less than an hour the
last two commandos retired in disorder and with heavy loss.
"There," said Lennox as the events of the day were being discussed after
the mess dinner, "you see, Bob, it doesn't do to trust the Boers."
"Pooh!" replied the young officer. "There are Boers and Boers, and one
must trust them when they supply the larder. Good-luck to our lot, I
say, and may they bring in another big supply. If they don't, we shall
have to begin on those quadrupedal locomotives of horn, gristle, and
skin they call spans. Ugh! how I do loathe trek ox!"
"Talking of that," said Lennox, "the cornet and his men ought to have
been off to-night."
"Why?" said Dickenson, staring.
"Why? Because the enemy will be in such a state of confusion after the
check they had to-day."
"To be sure; let's go and tell them so."
"I was nearly suggesting it to the colonel, but he would only have given
me one of his looks. You know."
"Yes; make you feel as if you're nine or ten, even if he hadn't
sarcastically hinted that you had not been asked for your advice. But I
say, Drew, old fellow, I think you're right, and if Blackbeard thinks it
would be best he'll go to the old man like a shot. No bashfulness in
him."
Without further debate the two young men made their way across the
market-square to the wagon where the Boers' dim lantern was swinging,
passing two sentries on the way.
"Not much need for a light," observed Dickenson; "one might smell one's
way to their den. Hang it all! if tobacco's poison those fellows ought
to have been killed long ago."
The cornet was seated on the wagon-box, with his legs inside, talking in
a low tone to his fellows who shared the wagon with him, and so intent
that he did not hear the young officers' approach till Lennox spoke,
when he sprang forward into the wagon, and his companions began to climb
out at the back.
"Why, what's the matter with you?" said Dickenson laughingly as he
stepped up and looked in. "Think some of your friends were coming to
fetch you?"
"You crept up so quietly," grumbled the Boer, recovering himself, and
calling gently to his companions to return.
"Quietly? Of course. You didn't want us to send a trumpeter before us
to say we were coming, did you?"
"H'm! No. What were you doing? Listening to find out whether we were
going to run away?"
"Psh! No!" cried Dickenson. "Here, Mr Lennox wants to say something
to you."
"What about?" said the man huskily.
"I have been thinking that, as you are going on a foraging expedition,"
said Lennox, "you ought to go at once. It's a very dark night, and the
enemy is completely demoralised by to-day's fight."
"Demoralised?" said the Boer.
"Well, scared--beaten--all in disorder."
"Oh," said the Boer, nodding his head like an elephant. "But what
difference does that make?"
"They would not be so likely to notice your wagons going through their
lines."
"Oh?" said the Boer.
"We think it would be a good chance for you."
"Does your general say so?"
"No; our _colonel_ does not know that we have come."
"So! Yes, I see," said the Boer softly.
"We think you ought to take advantage of their disorder and get through
to-night."
"Hah! Yes."
"You have only to go and see what the colonel says."
"Why don't you go?" said the Boer suspiciously.
"Because we think it would be better for you to go."
"And fall into the Boers' hands and be shot?"
"Bother!" cried Dickenson. "Why, you are as suspicious as--as--well, as
some one I know. Now, my good fellow, don't you know that we've eaten
the sheep?"
"Yes, I know that," said the Boer.
"Finished the last side of the last ox?"
"Yes, I know that too," replied the Boer, nodding his head slowly and
sagely.
"And come down to the last ten sacks of the Indian corn?"
"Mealies? Yes, I know that too."
"Well, in the name of all that's sensible, why should we want to get you
taken by your own people?"
"To be sure; I see now," said the cornet. "Better for us to get the
wagons full again, and drive in some more sheep and oxen."
"Of course."
"Well, I don't know," said the man thoughtfully. "They will be all on
the lookout, thinking that you will attack them in the night, and twice
as watchful. I don't know, though. There is no moon to-night, and it
will be black darkness."
"It is already," said Dickenson.
"Ha! Yes," said the Boer quietly, and he puffed at his pipe, which,
after dropping in his fright, he had picked up, refilled, and relit at
the lantern door. "Yes, that is a very good way. I shall go and tell
the colonel that we will go to-night. You will come with me?"
"No," said Lennox; "the colonel does not like his young officers to
interfere. It would be better for you to go."
"Your chief is right," said the Boer firmly. "He thinks and acts for
himself. I do the same. I do not let my men tell me what I should do."
He spoke meaningly, as if he were giving a side-blow at some one or
other of his companions. "I think much and long, and when I have
thought what is best I tell them what to do, and they do it. Yes, I
will go to the colonel now and speak to him. Wait here."
"No," said Dickenson quietly. "Go, and we will come back and hear what
the colonel thinks."
The Boer nodded, thrust his pipe in the folds of the tilt, after tapping
out the ashes, and went off, the two officers following him at a
distance before stopping short, till they heard him challenged by a
sentry, after which they struck off to their left to pass by the corn
store, and being challenged again and again as they made a short tour
round by the officers' quarters, going on the farther side of the
corrugated iron huts and the principal ones, four close together, which
were shared by the colonel, the doctor, and some of the senior officers.
As they passed the back of the colonel's quarters there was the faint
murmur of voices, one of which sounded peculiarly gruff, Dickenson said.
"Nonsense! You couldn't distinguish any difference at this distance,"
said Lennox. "Come along; we don't want to play eavesdroppers."
"Certainly not on a wet night when the rain is rattling down on those
roofs and pouring off the eaves in cascades," replied Dickenson; "but I
never felt so strong a desire to listen before. Wonder what the old man
is saying to our smoky friend."
"Talking to the point, you may be sure, my lad," replied Lennox. "I
say, though, he is safe to tell Lindley that I suggested it."
"Well, what of that?"
"Suppose the expedition turns out a failure, and they don't get back
with the forage?"
"Ha! Bad for you, old man," said Dickenson, chuckling. "Why, we shall
all be ready to eat you. Pity, too, for you're horribly skinny."
"Out upon you for a gluttonous-minded cannibal," said Lennox merrily.
"Well, there, I did it for the best. But I say, Bob, we've come all
this way round the back of the houses here, and haven't been challenged
once."
"What of that? There are sentries all round the market-square."
"Yes; but out here. Surely a man or two ought to be placed somewhere
about?"
"Oh, hang it all, old fellow! the boys are harassed to death with
keeping post. You can't have all our detachment playing at sentry-go.
Come along. There's no fear of the enemy making a night attack: that's
the only good thing in fighting Boers."
"I don't see the goodness," said Lennox rather gloomily.
"Ah, would you!" cried Dickenson. "None of that! It's bad enough to
work hard, sleep hard, and eat hard."
"I always thought you liked to eat hard," said Lennox.
"Dear me: a joke!" said Dickenson. "Very bad one, but it's better than
going into the dumps. As I was about to say, we've got trouble enough
without your playing at being in low spirits."
"Go on. What were you going to say?"
"I was going to remark that the best of fighting the Boers is, that they
won't stir towards coming at us without they've got the daylight to help
them to shoot. We ought to do more in the way of night surprises. I
like the mystery and excitement of that sort of thing."
"I don't," said Lennox shortly. "It always seems to me cowardly and
un-English to steal upon sleeping people, rifle and bayonet in hand."
"Well, 'pon my word, we've got into a nice line of conversation," said
Dickenson. "Here we are, back in the market-square, brilliantly lighted
by two of the dimmest lanterns that were ever made, and sentries galore
to take care of us. Wonder whether Blackbeard has finished his confab
with the chief?"
"Let's go and see," said Lennox, and he walked straight across,
answering the sentry's challenge, and finding the Boer back in his
former place, seated upon the wagon-box, and conversing in a low tone
with the men within.
He did not start when Lennox spoke to him this time, but swung himself
deliberately round to face his questioner.
"Well," said the latter, "what did the colonel say?"
"He said it was a good thing, and that we should take our wagons,
inspan, and be passed through the lines to-night."
"Oh, come," said Dickenson; "that's good! One to us."
"Yes," grunted the Boer after puffing away; "he said it was very good,
and that we were to go."
"Then, why in the name of common-sense don't you get ready and go
instead of sitting here smoking and talking?"
"Oh, we know, the colonel and I," said the man quietly. "We talked it
over with the major and captains and another, and we all said that the
Boers would be looking sharp out in the first part of the night,
expecting to be attacked; but as they were not they would settle down,
and that it would be best to wait till half the night had passed, and go
then. There would be three hours' darkness, and that would be plenty of
time to get well past the Boer laagers before the sun rose; so we are
resting till then."
"That's right enough," said Dickenson, "so good-night, and luck go with
you! Bring twice as many sheep this time."
"Yes, I know, captain," said the Boer. "And wheat and rice and coffee
and sugar."
"Here, come along, Drew, old fellow; he's making my mouth water so
dreadfully that I can't bear it."
"You will come and see us go?" said the Boer.
"No, thank you," replied Dickenson. "I hope to be sleeping like a
sweet, innocent child.--You'll see them off, Drew?"
"No. I expect that they will be well on their way by the time I am
roused up to visit posts.--Good-night, cornet. I hope to see you back
safe."
"Oh yes, we shall be quite safe," said the man; "but perhaps it will be
three or four days before we get back. Good-night, captains."
"Lieutenants!" cried Dickenson, and he took his comrade's arm, and they
marched away to their quarters, heartily tired out, and ready to drop
asleep on the instant as weary people really can.