"Yes," panted Lennox, "but I thought I was gone."
"Who has got that other lantern?" asked the captain.
"It went out, sir," came in a husky tone from its bearer.
"Bah!" exclaimed Captain Roby. "Here, two of you make your way back to
the top; be smart, and bring two more lanterns."
There was a low, hissing sound as of men all drawing in a deep breath at
the same time, and before the captain could repeat his command a
peculiar sound came up the hole.
"Look out!" cried Lennox. "Bayonets here! Some one is coming up."
Sergeant James sank upon his knees in the darkness, felt about for the
edge of the hole, and then leaning over, seized hold of the tree-trunk,
and whispered, "Some one's trying to drag it down, sir." Then in a
stentorian voice: "Ahoy there! Fire straight down, my lads!"
There was a final jerk given to the trunk, next a grating and scratching
sound against the wall, and then a rushing noise caused by the
dislodging of a stone which fell with a crash, sending echoes repeating
themselves far below, and after what seemed to be a measurable space of
time there was a dull _plosh_ as the stone plunged into water.
"Well," said Dickenson, breaking the silence as all about him stood
breathlessly listening for the next sound, "I'm rather glad that wasn't
I."
"Attention!" cried Captain Roby angrily as two or three of the men burst
into a half-smothered guffaw. "Who has a match?"
"I have," said Dickenson, striking a wax vesta as he spoke, the bright
flash being followed by the feeble little taper flame; "but it's nearly
the last. Bring that lantern here."
There was a quick response, the bearer opening the door with fumbling
fingers, and as he held the rapidly burning-down match Dickenson drew
the pricker from his belt, held the light close, and began to operate on
the wick of the little lamp inside the lantern.
"Only slipped down," he said. "Wick was too small. Hold the lantern
still, man. That's better. I shall get it up directly."
The scratching of the sharp steel point sounded quite loudly on the
socket of the lamp as the wick kept eluding the efforts made, and the
faint light threw up the grim faces around in a strangely weird way,
while not another sound was heard but the hissing rush of the water far
below, till suddenly there was a sharp bang, the lantern was nearly
knocked out of its holder's hand, and Dickenson yelled, "Oh Gemini!"
They were in utter darkness once more.
"Bah!" cried Roby. "How careless!"
"Burned down to my fingers," said Dickenson coolly out of the black
darkness. "Do you know, I don't believe a bullet going into you hurts a
bit more than being burned like that."
"For goodness' sake strike another match, Mr Dickenson," cried the
captain angrily.
"Fumbling for it now, sir. Doesn't seem as if there are any more. Yes,
here's one little joker hiding in a corner. Got him!"
_Scr-r-r-itch_! went the little match, and flashed into a bright flame
which formed an arch in the air and disappeared down the yawning pit.
"Why, you left go!" cried Captain Roby.
"No wonder if I did, after burning my fingers so," grumbled Dickenson;
"but I didn't, for I've got the wax here. Top jumped off."
Then there was a tinkling sound as he shook the little silver box he
held.
"Hurrah!" he cried. "Here's one more. Ready with that lantern, my
lad?"
"Yes, sir."
"Take the lamp out and let me try if I can get the wick up with the
pricker before I strike the match."
The men's breathing could be heard as they stood, with every nerve on
the strain, listening to the scraping, scratching sound made in the
excitement and dread caused by the horrible darkness; for there was not
a man present, from officer to the youngest private, who had much faith
that they would find the way back to the mouth of the cavern.
"For goodness' sake mind you don't drop the match, Mr Dickenson," said
the captain suddenly.
"Trust me, sir," said Dickenson coolly.--"Ah, would you slip back into
the paraffin. Come out," he continued, apostrophising the wick he was
pricking at. "Phew! How nasty it makes one's fingers smell! Bravo!
Got him at last."
"Tut, tut, tut!" ejaculated the captain impatiently.
"Wait till I've opened the wick a little more. That's it! Here, what
am I to wipe my fingers on?"
"Oh, never mind your fingers, man," cried Captain Roby.
"But they're quite slippery, sir."
"Rub 'em on my sleeve, sir," growled Sergeant James.
"Thankye, sergeant, but I've just polished them on my own."
_Click! click_! went the lamp as it was thrust back into the lantern,
and there was once more the sound of men drawing their breath hard--a
sound that was checked suddenly as the last match was heard to tinkle in
the silver box.
"Got him!" said Dickenson audibly as he talked to himself. "Now then,
ready with the lantern?" he said aloud.
"Yes, sir."
"Give me elbow-room, all of you."
There was the sound of men shrinking back.
"Now then," said Dickenson, "here goes! I hope the head won't come off
this time."
_Fuzz_! and directly after _fuzz_! but no light followed the rubbing of
the match.
"Why, it has got no head," cried the striker in dismay, and at this
announcement the men uttered a groan. "All right," cried Dickenson
cheerily. "I was rubbing its tail instead of the head."
_Cr-r-r-r-r-r-ch_! went the match; there was a burst of flame, followed
at a trifling interval by the steady glow of the tiny taper, and the
young officer's fingers were lit up and seen to bear the flame to the
lantern lamp, which caught at once and blazed up, when the door was shut
with a click, and the men exhaled their pent-up breath in a hearty
cheer.
"Well done!" said Captain Roby. "Here, I'll lead now; or would you like
to continue what you began, Mr Lennox?"
The latter looked at him, and seemed to hesitate.
"Oh, very well," said Roby rather contemptuously. "I'll lead myself."
"No, no; you misunderstood me," cried Lennox as Dickenson turned upon
him wonderingly. "I want to go on."
"I don't want to rob you of your chance," said Roby.--"Here, Mr
Dickenson, what two men went back to fetch those lights?"
"Corporal May and Channings tried to feel their way, sir, but they found
the job hopeless."
"But I gave orders."
"Yes, sir," said Dickenson; "but they could not find their way."
"I'll speak about this later on," said Roby. "Now then, Mr Lennox, are
you ready?"
"Yes, sir," was the reply as the young officer stood waiting for
Sergeant James, who had slipped off his scarf, passed it through the
handle of the lantern, and was securing it to his waist.
"Then forward!" cried Roby.
"Better let me lead, sir, on account of the light," half-whispered the
sergeant; "then you can be ready to give point at any one who comes at
me."
"No," said Lennox firmly; "I must lead. Leave your rifle, and follow
me, bayonet in hand."
He stepped to the mouth of the pit, tried the ladder-like contrivance,
found it fairly firm, and began to descend as fast as he could; while,
risking the strength of the wood, the sergeant stepped on as soon as
there was room and followed, shedding the dancing light's rays on the
weird-looking walls of the place.
Dickenson went next, and the captain followed, to find those in front
waiting upon a fairly wide shelf, upon which the bottom of the tree was
propped, while beneath it, and sloping now, the well-like pit went down
into the black darkness, up from which the hollow, echoing rush of water
came in a way which made some of the stoutest present shudder.
The shelf was at the mouth of a low archway which proved, upon the
lantern being held up, to be the entrance to another of the
ramifications of the great series of caves with which the kopje was
honeycombed. Here within a few yards lay the first lantern, which had
rebounded on falling and rolled down into a narrow crack in the
flooring, a rift which ran from somewhere ahead, draining the interior
of the cavern passage, and bearing a tiny stream of water to join the
rushing waters below, these being undoubtedly the source of the
perennial stream which issued from the foot of the kopje.
One of the men pounced upon the lantern at once, to find that, though
the glass was much cracked, it was perfectly ready for use; and there
was a short delay while it was relit without application to the one the
sergeant had just detached, one of the men having now recalled that he
had a tin box of matches nearly full.
The moment this was done Captain Roby gave the order to advance. He
sent the lantern-bearers forward with orders to keep to right and left;
and at the end of about a hundred feet, where the cavern chamber was
beginning to contract, he called aloud for them to halt.
"Now, Mr Lennox," he cried, "advance with six men abreast in a line
with the lights, and make ready to fire if the man in front does not
surrender. Attention!"
His orders echoed along the roof of what seemed to be quite a narrow
passage in front, and the men listened till the last echoes died out,
when Captain Roby spoke again.
"Hoi, there, you Boer in hiding!" he cried. "Your comrade's a prisoner,
and if you wish to save your life, surrender too."
The captain waited, but there was no reply, and the word was given to
advance again, when suddenly from out of the darkness beyond the range
of the lights there came the sharp, clear _click! click_! of a piece
being cocked.
"There's the answer, Mr Lennox," said the captain. "Give your orders,
and clear the place."
"No, stop; I surrender," came from a hoarse voice speaking in broken
English. "Tell your men not to shoot."
"Come forward," cried Lennox, "and give up your piece."
He stepped towards the spot from whence the voice had come, to see the
crossing lights of the two lanterns centre upon the broad, familiar face
of one of the Boers who had been captured, and who had returned with the
loaded wagons and the powder-bags, of which the last portion had been
secured a short time before.
The man halted, and stood with his rifle presented at the young
officer's breast.
"One man can't fight against a hundred," he growled.
"Only with treachery and deceit," said Lennox sternly. "Give up your
rifle, you cowardly dog."
"Not till you give your English word that I shall not be shot," replied
the Boer.
"I'll give the order for you to be shot down if you don't give up your
piece," cried Lennox angrily.
"You give the word that I shall only be a prisoner, or I'll shoot you
through the heart," cried the Boer harshly.
"I give no word. Surrender unconditionally," cried Lennox, whose blood
was up.
"Give your word, you miserable rooinek!" growled the Boer, whose teeth
shone in the light, giving him the aspect of some fierce beast at bay.
"Give your word. You're covered--your word of honour, or I'll fire."
"Fire!" shouted Captain Roby from behind; but the six men halted before
obeying the ill-judged command. For, in response to the Boer's threat,
Lennox had sprung forward to strike at the presented piece, the edge of
his sword clicking loudly against the barrel of the rifle, turning it
sufficiently aside to disorder the desperate man's aim, so that the
bullet whistled by him and over the heads of his men, before sending a
little shower of granite splinters and dust from the side of the cavern.
Before the Boer could fire again Lennox had him by the throat, and in
another minute he was held up against the cavern wall by three men with
their bayonets, while the sergeant wrested the rifle from his hands and
tore away the man's well-filled bandolier.
"Ah!" he snarled; "cowards again. Always cowards, since the day when
you ran away from us at Majuba."
"Hold your tongue, sir, before you are hurt by some of the men who know
that they have one of the bravo miscreants before them who lay
powder-mines ready to destroy those they dare not fight in the open
field."
"Tell the dog I'll have him gagged as well as bound if he does not keep
his tongue quiet," said Captain Roby, coming up.
The Boer laughed mockingly; and Captain Roby, who seemed unable to
restrain the anger rising within him, turned away.
"See that he has no revolver, Lennox," he said hoarsely, "and try to
find out whether he has any companions."
"He wouldn't say if he had," replied Lennox; "but we'll soon search and
see. Sergeant James is making him fast. Yes, he had a revolver," he
continued as he saw the sergeant take the weapon and thrust it inside
his belt.
The next minute the prisoner was secure between two men, and the
light-bearers went forward, to be brought to a standstill almost
directly by the contraction of the cellar-like place, out of which there
was no way in that direction.
Having satisfied themselves of this, the party hastened back to the
tree, and stood looking about for a time, examining a few cracks and
rifts, before the orders were given to mount to the upper cave--a risky
and unpleasant task, for the tree-trunk was loose. The men, however,
for the most part made light of it, and as soon as the big chamber was
reached they proceeded to thoroughly examine that, when, to the delight
of all, its real character of a hiding-place and storehouse belonging to
one of the native tribes was revealed: for scores of huge woven baskets
were piled-up, looking at a few yards' distance, with no better
illumination than the military lamps, like masses of rock, but
containing hundreds upon hundreds of bushels of hard, sweet corn,
failing which there would soon have been only one chance of escape for
the detachment, and that by a bold attempt to cut their way through.
The search was continued, but nothing more rewarded their efforts.
There was the ample supply of corn, stored up by some tribe, and outside
the bags of gunpowder hidden by the Boers, whose plan was quite evident,
and thoroughly realised by all who had discovered the entrance--to blow
up the great gun captured from them and destroy the stronghold that
checked their advance.
Before long a sentry was marching up and down in front of that ingenious
specimen of native work, the big stone entrance to the cave which ran so
easily upon a pivot; while the detachment in charge of the big gun
talked shudderingly of the risk they had unknowingly been running, for,
given a little longer time and the right opportunity, their two crafty
enemies would undoubtedly have fired their mine and blown the greater
part of the kopje-top into the air.
"I was growing anxious over the long silence," said the colonel,
smiling, after he had been made aware or the success attending the party
that had hurried up at the alarm, and after he had examined the
prisoners; "but you have done a splendid night's work--cleared away an
impending danger, and secured a storehouse of corn sufficient for a whole
month."
"A month or more," said Captain Roby.
"Ha! Then we can hold out and wait. But about these prisoners. Here,
major, what do you say?"
"Humph!" ejaculated the major. "Two of the treacherous hounds who
deceived us, and whom we let go to fetch us supplies."
"And came back to blow us up," said the colonel.
"Failed in that," said Captain Roby, "and then started another
cold-blooded, treacherous plan."
"Yes," said the colonel, "based upon the knowledge they must have wrung
from one of the native tribes they have oppressed. Well, gentlemen, we
have two of the miscreant spies. What next?"
"The fate of spies," said Captain Roby. "I think it is due to our men
that they should be shot."
"Kept prisoners till we can hand them over to the general, and let him
decide," said the major. "What do you say, Edwards?"
"They are prisoners, and beaten," said the captain. "Yes, I side with
you."
"Two against you, Roby," said the colonel.--"Well, Lennox--and you,
Dickenson--you may as well give your opinion. What do you say,
Dickenson?"
"I should like to see that black-haired brute tied up and flogged, sir."
"Should you?" said the colonel, smiling. "Well, I dare say he deserves
it; but it is not the punishment we can give a prisoner, so your opinion
will stand alone.--Well, Lennox?"
"Oh, it's all war, sir; and the fellows are half-savage peasants who
hate us like poison. You can't shoot them, sir, for fighting their
best--their way."
"No, Mr Lennox, I can't shoot them; but it will be a horrible nuisance
to have to keep them as prisoners. I wish they had died fighting like
brave men. As it is they will have to live prisoners till the war is at
an end. Now then, about where to place them."
"Here, I know, sir," said Dickenson, laughing. "Shut them up in the
kopje. They'll be quite at home there."
"No," said Lennox, joining in his comrade's merriment; "don't trust them
there, sir. They're malicious enough to spend their time destroying all
the corn."
"Well done, Lennox!" said the colonel emphatically. "I'm glad you
spoke, for before anything was said I had determined to make their
hiding-place their prison. You are right. That would not do at all.--
Roby, you must have your prisoners placed in the safest hut that you can
find, and let a sentry share their prison, for they must never be left
alone. Now, gentlemen: bed."