'At least they are out of it now, the lucky thunders.' The man had
spoken without thinking, and Leroux turned on him.
'You can go too hands, up for the British, there is no one to stop you.
' The softness of his voice did not cover the ferocity in his eyes.
'I didn't mean it that way, Oom Paul.
'Well, don't say it then,' he growled, and would have continued, but a
shout from the sentry on the kopje above them brought them all to their
feet.
'One of the scouts coming!
'Which way?' Leroux bellowed upwards.
'Along the river. He's riding to burst!'
And the sudden stilling of voices and movement was the only outward
sign of the dread that settled upon all of them. In these days a
galloping rider carried only evil tidings.
They watched him splash through the shallows and slide from the saddle
to swim beside his horse across the deep channel.
Then pony and rider, both streaming water, came lunging up the near
bank and into the camp.
'Khaki,' shouted the man. 'Khaki coming!'
Leroux ran to catch the pony's head and demanded' 'How many'? ' 'A big
column.
'A thousand?'
'More than that. Many more, six, seven thousand.'
'Magtig! ' swore Leroux. 'Cavalry?'
'Infantry and guns.'
'How close?'
'They will be here before midday.'
Leroux left him and ran down the slope to Zietsmann's wagon
'You heard, Menheer?'
'Ja, I heard.' Zietsmann nodded slowly.
'We must mount up,' Leroux urged.
'Perhaps they will not find us. Perhaps they will pass us by.'
Zietsmann spoke hesitantly, and Leroux stared at him.
'Are you mad?' he whispered, and Zietsmann shook his head, a confused
old man.
'We must mount up and break away towards the south.
Leroux grabbed the lapels of Zietsmann's frock coat and shook them in
his agitation.
'No, not the south, it is finished. We must go back,' the old man
muttered, then suddenly his confusion cleared. 'We must pray. The
Lord will deliver us from the Philistine.
'Menheer, I demand . Leroux started, but another urgent warning
shouted from the kopJe interrupted him.
'Riders! from the south! Cavalry!'
Running to one of the horses Leroux vaulted on to its bare back, with a
handful of its mane he turned it towards the kopJe and flogged it with
his heels, driving it up the steep rocky side, scrambling and sliding
in the loose rock until he reached the top and jumped down beside the
sentry.
