I rode on painfully as regarded my wrists; for above them my arms
throbbed and burned as if the veins were distended almost to
bursting-point, while my hands grew gradually cold and numb, and then
became insensible as so much lead. The physical pain, however, was
nothing to what I felt mentally. Only an hour or two before I was
leading that calm, happy home-life, without a trouble beyond some petty
disappointment in the garden or farm or during one of the hunting or
shooting expeditions with Joeboy to carry my game; and now a
lightning-like stroke seemed to have descended to end my idyllic
boy-life and make me a man full of suffering, and with a future which I
abhorred.
"No," I argued, "I must escape, even if they do send a shower of bullets
to bring me down." I did not believe much in the vaunted powers of the
Boers with the rifle. I knew that they could shoot well, but no better
than my father and his two pupils, meaning Bob and myself; and I felt
that we should have been very doubtful about bringing down a man going
at full gallop, even in the brightest daylight; and I meant to make my
venture in the dusk of the evening or after dark if only my captors
would continue their journey then. Once well started, and my rein free
of the man who held it buckled to his saddle-bow, I had no fear at all,
for I was sure that in a straight race there was not a Boer amongst them
who could overtake me, they being heavy, middle-aged men, while I was
young and light, quite at home in the saddle, and Sandho as much at home
with me, upon his back. Arms? I could do without them. Reins? I
needed none, if only free of the one which held me to my left-hand
guard; for an extra pressure of either leg would send my beautiful
little Australian horse in the direction I wished to turn, while a word
of encouragement would send him on like the wind, and an order sharply
uttered check him even if at full speed.
I had had Sandho four years, mounting him as soon as he was strong
enough to bear me, and ever since we seemed to have been companions more
than master and servant. We had played together; I had hunted him, and
he had hunted me--finding me, too, when I hid from him; and he answered
when out grazing on the veldt with a cheery neigh before galloping to
meet me. Why, there had been times when we had both lain down to sleep
together on the distant plains, my head resting on his glossy neck; so,
now that he was bearing me along, comparatively helpless, and I felt his
elastic, springy form beneath me, I was ashamed of my despair, convinced
that if I gave the word he would snap that rein at the first bound, and
bear me safely away.
I made up my mind that if I could defer my attempt till it was dark I
should be safe. If, however, I were obliged to venture in daylight, I
would make my dash by some rocky pass or kopje on the way, where Sandho
would easily leave the Boers' horses behind, he being almost as
sure-footed as a goat.
The captain drew rein a little, so that I came alongside during the
first part of our ride, and he cast his eye over my bonds and gave the
Boer who had the leading-rein a sharp order or two about keeping a good
lookout. To this the dull, heavy fellow responded with a surly growl.
After this the Irishman banteringly asked me if I was comfortable.
My answer was an angry glare--at least, I meant it to be--but the only
effect was to make him laugh.
"Ye've got a bad seat in the saddle, and it will be a good lesson to ye
in riding, bhoy. Make ye sit up. I hate to see a military man with his
showlders up and his nose down close to his charrger's mane. Faith, I'm
half-disposed to make ye throw the stirrups over the nag's neck, and I
would if we'd toime. But we've none to spare for picking ye up when ye
came off.--Here," he cried to the two men next behind, for we now rode
two and two; "why are your carbines not full-cocked--rifles, I mane?
That's right. Fire at wanst if he tries to bowlt; don't wait for
ordhers."
I listened to the sharp clicking of the rifle-locks as the men cocked
their pieces; but somehow I did not feel scared, for a feeling of
desperation was upon me, and I was strung-up to dare anything to get my
liberty; and, besides, my father's orders were that I should make a
dash.
"They can't hit me," I said to myself; and wherever the track was fair
going we went on at a canter, drawing rein wherever the ground grew bad.
At these latter times the captain began talking loudly in a
highly-pitched and half-contemptuous way to the leading men; and when
his words reached my ears I made out that his subject was either about
military evolutions and a man's bearing in the saddle, or else, in a
harsh and bitter tone, about the brutal Saxon who was at last going to
receive his dues for his long years of evil-doing and tyranny towards
the oppressed. Hearing such talk, I rode on half-wondering what England
had been doing towards the Irish at home and the Boers abroad, for this
was all news to me, and I had never noticed among the Dutch settlers on
the veldt anything but a stolid kind of contentment with their
prosperous lot; there not being a single case of poverty, as far as I
knew, within a hundred miles of our pleasant home.
At the thought of home a strange swelling came in my throat, and the
wide, open veldt before me looked dim as I pictured all I had left
behind; for, happy as had been the life I led, and lovely as everything
around had always seemed, home had never seemed so beautiful as now.
However, I set my teeth hard, knit my brows, and with an effort seemed
to swallow down that swelling lump in my throat, at the same time
nipping Sandho's sides so sharply that he gathered himself up to bound
off; but he was checked by a savage snatch at the rein, and received a
blow with the barrel of my escort's rifle, as the surly and scowling
brute beside me growled out a fierce oath in Dutch.
The plunge Sandho gave nearly unseated me, and in another moment he
would have been rearing and kicking to get free; but a few gentle words
from my lips soothed the poor beast down, and he settled into his canter
once more, while I fell to wondering whether my poor horse could think
and would understand that the brutal treatment did not come from his
master.
On and on we rode over ground familiar to me, for many a long journey
from home had I been in every direction--hunting, shooting, or with our
wagon and oxen and Joeboy as foreloper, on journeys of many days through
the wilderness, to fetch stores for home use or to dispose of game or
stock. So beautiful it all seemed; now it was so wretched for me to
leave it all, and to be forced to go and fight against my brothers, so
to speak, in a cause that I felt I must hate. As I rode on, thinking
thus, I could see that there was no such oppression and tyranny as the
Irish captain spoke of; nothing but a bitter and contemptible
race-hatred, fostered by idle and discontented men.
"But I shan't have to fight," I said to myself. "They talk about
freedom, and drag me away as a slave; but I too mean to be free."
From that moment the gloomy lookout ahead seemed to pass away, the veldt
seeming glorious in the afternoon sunshine; and, cantering through the
invigorating air, I could have enjoyed my ride but for the constrained
position in which I sat, and the dull pain in my arms and shoulders. I
tried to forget this, and listened to the captain's words, for he grew
more and more loquacious. I gathered that he reckoned upon picking up
other two young fellows of my own stamp at the farm twenty miles from
ours; and I noted that, no matter what he said, his words were listened
to in gloomy silence or received with grunting monosyllables, while the
Boers talked among themselves only about home and farming work or the
sale of stock. More than once, too, I heard one of the men near me
wonder how the housewife would be getting on with the beasts and sheep.
The words were spoken in Boer Dutch; but in the course of years I had
become pretty well acquainted with the expressions of ordinary life.
Thus it seemed as if the men were anything but contented followers of
their noisy, vapouring leader.
At last the farm was reached, and we halted for refreshment, spending
about half-an-hour to water and feed the horses, during which time I was
carefully guarded. There was no opposition here. The two recruits to
the commando, as they termed it, had been duly served with notice, and
within the time named they were ready with their horses, and armed; but
when we made our start I could see with what surly unwillingness they
took their places in the rank, and noticed too that they were nearly as
strictly watched as I was. In fact, I saw them exchange glances after
receiving a bullying order from Moriarty, and felt that it would not
have taken much to cause a display of temper on the part of the
recruits.
That, however, by the way: my thoughts were too much taken up with my
own position to pay much heed to the two young Boers; for when we were
once more on our route for our next stopping-place, where we were to
halt for the night, I felt that the time was rapidly approaching when I
must make my escape. I did not say to myself _try_ to make my escape,
but to make it; for I had no fear of being unsuccessful. The night was
coming on fast, and I knew that there was no moon, which was all in my
favour; and, once free, all I had to do was to make straight for home--a
ride of perhaps thirty miles through the wild country, keeping away from
the track, and with nothing to fear. Yes, there wore the lions,
plentiful enough in the wilder parts; but the thought of them did not
damp me, for Sandho would soon give me warning if any were near, and
carry me well out of danger.
Then there was the next day. I was to make for Echo Nek, and there,
meet Joeboy, who would bear my father's instructions; but would Joeboy
be there? My heart sank a little at the thought of how doubtful this
was; but I soon cheered up again. At the worst it meant waiting a day
or two, for I should not venture, home. The Boers would ride back--of
that I felt sure; then, thinking I should certainly seek for refuge with
my people, they would scour the country in search of me, and they might
search Echo Nek, though it was ten miles away.
"Never mind," I said to myself cheerily enough; "that all belongs to
what _may be_: let's think only of _will be_;" and I rode on, scanning
the track and keeping a good lookout from side to side for the likeliest
spot for my attempt. I was still keenly watching when the shades of
evening darkened into night, and the right place had not yet come; there
were even moments when doubts began to creep in, for my arms grew
acutely painful, and this thought worried me terribly: "Helpless as I am
now, and growing weary, shall I have the strength to carry out my plan?"
I still had strength enough to drive out the doubting thought, and
forced myself into watching eagerly for my chance, having pretty well
determined what I would do first, trusting to the sudden surprise to
give me a few moments' start.
In vain I looked for such a sanctuary as a rocky pile of scattered
granite would afford, for it had at last grown dark--a clear,
semi-transparent darkness, through which I could see twenty or thirty
yards in any direction; beyond that distance everything rapidly grew
black. If I could at once get fifty yards away, there was apparently
clear galloping ground, and distance would at any moment furnish me with
a dark hiding-place. All I wanted was the start; but how to get it?
I had my big knife in my pocket; but I might as well have been without
it, fastened as I was. So, though I thought and thought, I could see no
way of dividing that rein; the idea of raising it to my teeth being
dismissed as an impossibility, as also of Sandho cutting it with his own
powerful nip, for I knew the idea of communicating my desire to the
horse was absurd. "How to manage? How to manage?" I kept on saying to
myself. The idea would not come; and as it grew darker our canter gave
place to a round trot, and soon after we steadied down to a walk.
Suppose I suddenly made Sandho rear up? That would be easy, for I could
make him rise on his hind-legs and fight with his fore. But what good
would that do? No more than making him kick violently in all
directions, as he turned his fore-feet into a pivot upon which he
turned, bringing his heels round to all points of the compass, and
delivering smashing blows with them. Splendid practice this when a
litter of half-grown lions were trying to pull him down, but now not
likely to do more than bring down punishment upon the poor beast.
Again and again I made up my mind to make him give a sudden bound; but
the chances were that it would not snap the rein, only cruelly drag the
poor fellow's mouth. And the minutes glided by, and the position grew
more and more hopeless. Then, suddenly, I seemed to see the only
possible way of getting clear. We rode with long reins, my father and
I, and I began to wonder why I had not thought of putting my plan in
action before.