they looked at Bruce disconcerted him.
'Everything under control, Mike?' he asked brusquely.
'Yes, Bruce. We should be able to hold this building against a sneak
attack. De Surrier and Hendry, down at the station yard, shouldn't have
any trouble either.'
'Have these people,' Bruce pointed at the civilians, 'loaded their
luggage?'
'Yes, it's all aboard. I
have told Ruffy to issue them with food from our stores.'
'Good.' Bruce felt relief-, no further complications so far.
'Where is old man Boussier?'
'He is across at his office.'
'I'm going to have a chat with him.' Unbidden, Shermaine fell in beside
Bruce as he walked out into the street, but he liked having her there.
Boussier looked up as Bruce and Shermaine walked into his office.
The merciless glare of the petromax lamp accentuated the lines at the
corners of his eyes and mouth, and showed up the streaks of pink scalp
beneath his neatly combed hair.
'Martin, you are not still working!' exclaimed Shermaine, and he smiled
at her, the calm smile of his years.
'Not really, my dear, just tidying up a few things. Please be seated,
Captain.' He came round and cleared a pile of heavy leather-bound
ledgers off the chair and packed them into a wooden case on the floor,
went back to his own chair, opened a drawer in the desk, brought out a
box of cheroots and offered one to Bruce.
'I cannot tell you how relieved I am that you are here, Captain.
These last few months have been very trying. The doubt. The anxiety.'
He struck a match and held it out to Bruce who leaned forward across the
desk and lit his cheroot. 'But now it is all at an end; I feel as though
a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.' Then his voice
sharpened. 'But you were not too soon. I have heard within the
last hour that this General Moses and his column have left Senwati and
are on the road south, only two hundred kilometres north of here. They
will arrive tomorrow at their present rate of advance.' 'Where did you
hear this?' Bruce demanded.
'From one of my men, and do not ask me how he knows.
There is a system of communication in this country which even after all
these years I do not understand. Perhaps it is the drums, I
heard them this evening, I do not know.
However, their information is usually reliable.'
'I had not placed them so close,' muttered Bruce. 'Had I known this I
might have risked
travelling tonight, at least as far as the bridge.'
'I think your decision to stay over the night was correct.
General Moses will not travel during darkness - none of his men would
risk that - and the condition of the road from Senwqti after
three months neglect is such that he will need ten or twelve hours to
cover the distance.'
' I hope you're right.' Bruce was worried. 'I'm not sure that we
