"Too late; too late," I muttered through my teeth as, sword in hand, I
made a bound to keep up with Sandho, who dashed forward. It was lucky
for me I did so; as it was, I nearly lost my hold. The poor beast had
been sadly punished in the melee; and between temper and dread he was
hardly controllable, and bearing hard against the curb in a wild desire
to rush off. In fact, I fully expected at any moment to be shaken from
my grasp, as, oddly enough, even in that time of peril, I recalled the
gymnastic sport of giant strides of my schooldays, and held on; but I
was certain we were now too late, and that it was only a matter of
moments before we should be overtaken and cut down or taken prisoners by
a strong party of the Boers who were in full pursuit.
Then my exaltation increased, and I thought that Sandho would be able to
go faster if relieved of my clinging hand, and so save the Colonel; and
in another instant I should have let go, when--as he told me
afterwards--the Colonel seemed to divine my thoughts, and I felt his
sword strike against my back as it hung loosely by the knot to his
wrist, while his strong right hand was thrust under and gripped my
leather cartridge-belt.
"Hold on tightly, my lad, and we'll do it somehow," he cried.
These words drove all the heroic thoughts out of my brain, and I tried
to look back to see how near our pursuers were; but I could not turn my
head round, but only listen to the shouts, while _crack, crack, crack_
came the reports of rifles--badly aimed by the mounted men, who fired
from the saddle, holding their weapons pistol-wise--the bullets from
which went whizzing and buzzing past our ears.
"It's all over," I thought, and a deep sense of depression was coming on
at the thought of the Colonel falling wounded and a prisoner into the
Boers' hands; but the depression was only momentary, being chased away
by a wild feeling of excitement as I thought I had misjudged the gallant
lads of the Light Horse. For as soon as they had pulled themselves
together, under command of their remaining officers, and had discovered
the loss of their chief, in response to our Major's orders they drew
rein and divided into two squadrons, which swung round into line, with a
short distance between them, and gallantly charged down upon our
pursuers.
They were none too soon. I remember feeling a strange choking sensation
as, with a wild cheer, they swept round us, and, sword in hand, rode
over and cut down those of the enemy who stopped to face them, the
majority taking flight. Then our men came thundering back, seeming to
sweep us up and carry us along with them, while the Boers in our rear
and on both sides began to fire at our hurrying troopers.
I was nearly breathless, and must have dropped but for the Colonel's
strong grasp; and I was curiously giddy till I heard his voice just
above me give the word for the men to halt. His orders were echoed by
the troop-leaders, who and the racing retreat was checked.
"Bring one of those horses here for me," shouted the Colonel; and I now
noticed that just ahead were half-a-dozen of the brave beasts whose
saddles had been emptied but had kept their places in retreat, charge,
and retreat again.
"That's right," cried the Colonel as he released my belt, so that I
stood, hardly able to keep my feet as, with swimming eyes, I saw him
stagger forward and mount the fresh charger, though evidently
experiencing great suffering.
"Now then, my lad--Moray--what's your name?--mount."
His words seemed to galvanise and bring me back to a knowledge of my
position, while Sandho helped to rouse me by turning and coming close
up.
I hardly know how I did it, but I managed to climb into the saddle, and
from that moment, as we cantered away together, with the bullets
whizzing after us, the terrible burning sensation of exhaustion from
which I suffered began to die out, and the throbbing of my brain
steadied down.
"What are we going to do now, Denham?" I said at last, as, gazing
straight ahead, I leaned over a little towards the left.
"Eh? Denham?" said a voice. "I'm not--"
"Ah!" I cried excitedly; "don't, say the Lieutenant's down!"
"Well, I won't if you don't want me to," said the private at my side;
"but he is, and pretty well half our poor fellows too."
I uttered a groan, and down came the horrible feeling of depression
again--a feeling I now knew to mean despair.
"Can't be helped," continued my fellow-trooper. "We've fought as plucky
a fight as could be; but they've been too many for us, and I suppose we
shall have to surrender at last, or all be shot down. Ah! there goes
another," he cried. "No; it's only one of the empty saddle-horses."
As we swept past it, I looked at the poor beast struggling to get upon
its feet again; and then it was in our rear, and my companion said
bitterly the one word, "Down!"
"Why, that's the old fort and the kopje yonder, a mile ahead," I said
suddenly. "Are we going there?"
"Eh? Yes, I suppose so," was the reply, "if the Doppies'll let us.
They're coming on again."
He was quite right, for upon glancing to my left I could see a perfect
swarm of the Boers galloping as if to cut us off, while I learned from
the right that they were also coming on there. Then came the news that
they were advancing in force behind; and from that moment the crackling
of rifle-fire ceased, and it became a hard ride for the haven of
comparative safety ahead.
"They'll reach the old place just about the same time as we do," said my
companion on the left, "unless something's done."
Something, however, was done, for the Colonel seemed to have recovered
himself, so that he was ready for the emergency; and as we neared the
place that offered safety he gave his orders, and these were cleverly
carried out. Half of our flying troops drew rein and faced round,
unslung the rifles from their shoulders, and proceeded to fire volley
after volley with terrible effect upon the nearest of the Boers. Then
this troop retired past the other one in reserve, who had halted to take
their turn, and another half-dozen well-aimed volleys went hurtling
through the Boer ranks with such terrible effect upon horse and man
that, upon the repetition of the evolution, the pursuit was checked, and
the enemy began firing in turn.
We were in rapid motion again, so their shots had no effect; and a
little more firing enabled us to reach and dash round the great walls to
the entrance to the old fort, where our men sprang from their horses,
which filed into safety of their own accord, while their riders put in
practice the Boers' tactics, seeking the shelter of fallen stones and
mounting the great walls, the steady fire from the ruins soon sufficing
to send our enemies cantering back.
"Water for the horses at once," cried the Colonel as he entered the
court, where I was standing examining poor Sandho. "Ah, Moray!" he said
as he saw me; "not hurt, I hope?"
"Only battered and bruised, sir," I said. "Nothing serious."
"Humph! I'm glad of it, boy. You did splendidly. But I'm a fool, am
I?"
My words, uttered in the wild excitement of our adventure, had slipped
but of my memory; and as he brought them back to my mind so suddenly, I
stood staring at him as if thunder-struck.
"A nice way to address your commanding officer! Why, you insolent,
mutinous young dog! you ought to be court-martialled. What do you
mean!"
"Not that, sir," I said, recovering myself. "I was half-mad with pain
and excitement then, and I wanted to save your life."
"Yes, I know; I know," he said, changing his manner. "I forgive you,
for no one else heard; and now, thank you, my lad; thank you. If I
survive to write to my poor wife and girls again, I shall tell them when
they pray for me to put the name of some one else in their prayers--the
some one who saved my life. Thank you, my lad, and God bless you!"
I felt astonished and at the same time overcome by his words, and in my
confusion could not find words to reply, till, lowering my eyes, I found
exactly what I ought to say; for they fell upon the great patch of
blood-stain which had been spreading terribly upon his right leg, till
his knee was suffused, and ugly marks were visible right down his brown
leather boot.
In an instant my hand went up to my throat, and I loosened the silk
handkerchief knotted there.
"Your wound's bleeding dreadfully, sir; let me tie it up."
"No, no; not till I've seen to the men, my lad," he replied peevishly as
he turned away, only, however, to turn back.
"Yes," he said, with a smile; "thanks, lad. First aid, and--here!
Water, some one. Ugh! I feel sick as a dog."
I caught hold of him and saved him from falling by lowering him down
upon a stone, just as there was the soft _pad, pad_ of naked feet behind
me, and a familiar voice said:
"Water, Boss. Here water, sah!"
"Joeboy!" I whispered as I turned and caught a waterbottle from an
extended black hand. "You here!"
"Um? Yes, Boss Val. Couldn't run no more, and come away back."
I handed the water to the Colonel, who drank with avidity; then I
tightly bound up the cut on his leg, for he impatiently refused to have
it examined by one of the officers who had hurried up; and then, as soon
as I was at liberty, I turned to the black.
"Have you seen the Lieutenant, Joeboy?" I said excitedly.
"Um? Boss Denham!" he replied. "No; all a rush and gallop. Lost Boss
Denham. Lost Boss Val. Lost ebberybody. Joeboy said, `All come back
to water. Boss Denham come soon.'"
"I pray to Heaven he may!" I said sadly; but I had my doubts.