A Dash from Diamond City, by George Manville Fenn.
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The setting is South Africa, during the Boer war. Two young men are
sent from Mafeking with important despatches which they have to get back
to the General at Kimberley, travelling through Boer-occupied country,
and meeting with many mishaps. Just before they finally arrive they are
both severely wounded, and are unconscious for a fortnight. Luckily the
despatches, which had been sewn into a jacket, now filthy and
blood-stained, are still to be found, though there had been the idea
that the jacket would most probably have been thrown away, as it wasn't
at first anywhere to be found.
There are other threads in the story, for instance there's one about
illicit-diamond-dealing, and of course we meet Boers and Kaffirs, as
well as English people.
There is the usual well-written sequence of tense moments we get from
this author. A good read, and a nice audiobook if you prefer that.
NH
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