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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The War of the Axe, by J. Percy-Groves
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-Title: The War of the Axe
-       Adventures in South Africa
-
-Author: J. Percy-Groves
-
-Illustrator: John Schönberg
-
-Release Date: October 8, 2011 [EBook #37661]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR OF THE AXE ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
-
-
-
-
-The War of the Axe
-Adventures in South Africa
-By J. Percy-Groves
-Illustrations by John Schonberg
-Published by Blackie and Son, 49-50 Old Bailey, London.
-
-The War of the Axe, by J. Percy-Groves.
-
-________________________________________________________________________
-
-________________________________________________________________________
-THE WAR OF THE AXE, BY J. PERCY-GROVES.
-
-CHAPTER ONE.
-
-THE SURAT CASTLE--OUR HERO--A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE ATLANTIC--AFTER THE
-GALE--LAND HO!
-
-In the early summer of the year of grace 1844 the _Surat Castle_, a fine
-clipper barque of 400 tons burthen, left the London docks on a voyage to
-the Cape of Good Hope, with a valuable cargo and several passengers,
-including a small draft of volunteers and recruits for the Saint Helena
-regiment.  The _Surat Castle_ traded regularly between the port of
-London and Table Bay, and so well-known was she as a fast-sailing,
-seaworthy vessel, with excellent accommodation, and such was the
-popularity and reputation of her commander and part-owner, Captain John
-Ladds, that many Cape gentlemen, who had occasion to make the trip to
-the old country and back every two or three years, preferred taking
-their passage in her rather than in the ordinary mail-packets.
-
-Amongst the cabin passengers who were now returning to the Cape in the
-_Surat Castle_ was a good-looking lad of sixteen--a fine, well-built
-youngster, with a cleanness of make and shape that bespoke muscular
-strength and activity combined, and whose sun-burned healthy face and
-clear well-set eye bore ample evidence that he was in capital condition;
-in fact, sound in wind as well as limb.
-
-Thomas Flinders, for that was the lad's name, was the only son of a
-retired major of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, who had, with the money
-realised by the sale of his commission, purchased a farm in the
-neighbourhood of Cape Town, and there settled down with his family,
-"turning his sword into a ploughshare."  On this farm Master Tom first
-saw the light of day, and there he lived until within a few weeks of his
-eleventh birthday, when Major Flinders, finding that his son and heir
-was becoming somewhat troublesome and self-willed, packed him off to
-England to be educated at Rugby, under the great and good Doctor Arnold,
-who was then in the zenith of his fame.  Five years of public-school
-life--three under Doctor Arnold [Arnold died in 1842], and two under his
-successor--worked wonders with young Flinders, and developed him into a
-plucky, straightforward English lad, full of fun and exuberant spirits,
-but without a spark of vice in his composition; a gentleman in the
-truest and noblest sense of the word, holding in hearty contempt aught
-that savoured of meanness or "bad form."  Nor had the lad's physical
-education been neglected, for he became a very fair hand at most outdoor
-games and sports; from fives to football, from quoits to
-hare-and-hounds, and could play rough-and-tumble with any boy of his own
-weight.  And now Tom Flinders, having imbibed the regulation quantum of
-Latin and Greek and a modicum of mathematics, together with a very
-proper notion of his position as an ex-school-house boy and a member of
-the upper-fifth, had left Rugby for good, and was returning to the land
-of his birth under the nominal charge of Captain Ladds, who was an old
-friend of the major's.
-
-The early part of the voyage of the _Surat Castle_ was unmarked by any
-incident worth recording.  Stress of weather detained her in the Downs
-for some few days, but once clear of the Channel she met with favourable
-winds and (except in the Bay of Biscay) smooth seas, and so made a quick
-run to the island of Saint Helena, where she anchored off James Town in
-order to disembark her military passengers and replenish her fresh-water
-tanks and sea stock.  At Saint Helena Tom had the opportunity of
-enjoying a run ashore and of visiting the empty tomb of the great
-Napoleon Buonaparte, whose remains had recently been removed from
-beneath the weeping-willows in Slane's Valley (whither, nineteen years
-before, they had been carried by the grenadiers of the 66th Regiment) to
-their honoured resting-place within the walls of the Invalides.
-
-But the _Surat Castle_ remained at anchor only a short time, for as soon
-as the soldiers were clear of the ship, and the fresh provisions and
-water had been taken on board, Captain Ladds put to sea and shaped his
-course for Table Bay.
-
-On the sixth evening after the barque left Saint Helena there was every
-indication of a change for the worse in the weather; away to the
-north-east the clouds were thick and threatening at sundown, and Captain
-Ladds, judging that a heavy gale lay behind them, ordered sail to be
-reduced.  The breeze stiffening into a gale, everything was made snug
-for the night; the top-gallant masts and yards sent down,
-preventer-braces rove, the hatches battened down, and dead-lights
-shipped--preparations which bespoke no good tidings to the passengers;
-many of whom retired to their berths at a much earlier hour than usual.
-Nor did these preparations prove unnecessary, for gradually the wind
-increased until it blew with almost hurricane force, and before long the
-_Surat Castle_ was scudding under bare poles, not a stitch of canvas
-showing, her storm-sails having been blown from their bolt-ropes or
-split into ribands.
-
-The storm raged throughout the long hours of the night with undiminished
-fury, the lightning darting forth from the dark clouds illumined the
-whole firmament, and the thunder rolled continuously; whilst the sea,
-running mountains high, threatened every instant to engulf the gallant
-barque.
-
-Tom Flinders had remained on deck, not caring to go to his cabin.  This
-was the first big storm he had experienced, and he stood watching the
-gigantic and angry billows with mingled interest and awe.
-
-"You had much better go below and turn in, my boy," said Captain Ladds
-kindly, as a huge wave "pooped" the barque, and, sweeping along the
-deck, drenched Tom to the skin.  "We have not had the worst of it yet, I
-can assure you.  You might get washed overboard like poor Jennings was
-just now."
-
-"What! the bos'un?" exclaimed Tom, who was clinging to the brass
-handrail of the companion.  "I _am_ sorry to hear that!  Do you think
-there's much danger, Captain Ladds?" he added.  "If so, I'd rather stop
-on deck--that is if you don't object.  I shouldn't like to be drowned
-like a rat in a hole!"
-
-Before the captain could reply to his young friend's question a
-tremendous squall, with a shift of the wind, struck the barque, and
-immediately afterwards another heavy sea broke over her weather quarter,
-causing her to shiver from stem to stern.  The half-doors of the
-companion burst open, and poor Tom, losing his grasp of the handrail,
-shot down the ladder head foremost, whilst it was only by a supreme
-effort that Captain Ladds saved himself from a similar mishap.
-
-"The boy must have broken his neck!" was the captain's anxious
-exclamation when he recovered himself.  "Below there!" he continued,
-raising his voice and peering down the hatch.  "Steward!  Jackson, see
-to Mr Flind--oh, there you are, Tom!  Are you much hurt?"
-
-"Made my nose bleed, that's all," Tom replied, picking himself up.  "I
-landed on a heap of blankets and was then pitched against the
-pantry-door.  All the same I sha'n't come on deck again; I think I had
-better turn in."
-
-"I think so too," was the rejoinder.  "A pretty figure you'll cut
-to-morrow morning!  Good night!"
-
-"Good night, captain!" replied Tom, mopping away at his nose; and off he
-staggered to his berth.
-
-It blew "great guns" for the next fifty-six hours, and the unfortunate
-passengers--Tom Flinders included--were reduced to a state of misery
-pitiable to behold.  One and all were frightfully ill, and the steward
-and his assistant were run off their legs, and could no longer attend to
-their duties.  The cabin now presented a scene of confusion and disorder
-that contrasted woefully with its usual comfortable appearance; the
-floor was strewn with the debris of the breakfast and dinner services--
-shattered plates and dishes, cups and saucers, glasses and decanters,
-whilst the piano had fetched away from the ring-bolts and lay on its
-"beam ends" with its front stove in.
-
-At length the weather began to moderate, the heavy storm-laden clouds
-rolled away, and on the fourth night of the gale the stars shone out
-bright and clear.  The wind continued to slacken, and the sea to go
-down, until dawn of day, when the sun rose once more in all his wonted
-splendour, and the sky was blue and cloudless.
-
-At noon Captain Ladds and his chief mate brought out their quadrants and
-took an observation, when it was found that the storm had driven the
-barque far out of her course; much further indeed than the captain had
-thought.  However, there was no help for it, the lost ground must be
-recovered, so all hands set to work to repair damages, and after many
-hours' arduous toil through the night the _Surat Castle_ had once more a
-taut ship-shape appearance, and was running before a favourable breeze
-which most opportunely sprang up in the morning.
-
-And now by twos and threes the passengers appeared on deck to breathe
-again the invigorating sea air.  Very pale and woebegone did those
-helpless mortals look, and listless was the manner in which they lolled
-about, until they were suddenly startled into a semblance of life and
-action by the unexpected cry:
-
-"Land! land on the port bow!"
-
-CHAPTER TWO.
-
-THE DESERT ISLAND--A HAPPY RELEASE.
-
-The land, thus unexpectedly reported in sight, proved to be a small
-rocky island, which the second mate, after a careful examination through
-his glass, declared was inhabited.
-
-"My eyes don't often play me false," said that officer to Captain Ladds,
-who had followed him into the fore-top; "and I'm a'most sartin that I
-can make out people moving about on yonder shore.  Please to look for
-yourself, sir," he added, handing his glass to the skipper.
-
-"Yes--no--and yet--yes, I'm inclined to think you are right,
-Weatherhelm," said Captain Ladds, bringing the mate's glass to bear on
-the island.  "But my eyesight is not so good as it was ten years ago,
-and I cannot be positive."
-
-"Ay, but _I_ am, sir," retorted the mate, who was a thorough outspoken
-"salt" of the old school; one who, having "come in through the
-hawse-holes," had worked his way to his present position by acquiring a
-sound practical knowledge of his profession, and attending strictly to
-his duties.  "It's possible that the crew of some craft--probably a
-whaler, for we're pretty well out o' the track of other vessels--have
-been cast away there."
-
-"Quite possible," the captain assented, "and we will stand in a little
-closer.  It is our duty to make sure whether such is the case; for we
-have been mercifully preserved through one of the worst gales that I
-have ever experienced, and should therefore be all the more ready to
-render assistance to those who have been less fortunate."
-
-"That's truth, sir," rejoined old Weatherhelm, as they descended the
-fore-rigging, "and 'tis a pity that others don't see things in the same
-light as you do.  We hear a sight too much of distressed vessels being
-passed by, by those who could help 'em if they'd only the will."
-
-So the barque's course was altered, and she stood towards the island.
-
-When the passengers heard that there was reason to suppose the island
-was inhabited, their recent sufferings were forgotten in their
-excitement; and many and marvellous were the speculations amongst them,
-as to who, and what, the mysterious islanders could be.
-
-One old gentleman declared that they must be savages--probably
-cannibals--and expressed his decided opinion that the captain had no
-business to go near them; _he_ was immediately, and most deservedly,
-snubbed by the ladies, whereupon he retired to his cabin in high
-dudgeon.  Another suggestion was, that some of the passengers and crew
-of the ocean steamer _President_ (which left New York in March, 1841,
-and was never seen or heard of afterwards) might have escaped and got
-ashore on the island; and this notion found great favour with the fair
-sex, until Captain Ladds, on being appealed to, hinted that they were a
-_few_ degrees too far to the southward to expect to fall in with any
-survivors of the long-missing ship--even if such survivors existed,
-which was not within the bounds of probability.
-
-"No, my friends, there can be very little doubt that the _President_
-foundered off the banks of Newfoundland," said he, with a mournful shake
-of the head; "and that poor Roberts and his crew and passengers went
-down in her.  If there are people on yonder island, they will most
-likely prove to be the crew of some Yankee whaler."
-
-As the _Surat Castle_ approached the island all doubt as to its being
-inhabited was dispelled, for standing on the summit of a conical rock
-were three wild-looking individuals frantically waving their arms.  The
-barque was then hove-to, and one of the quarter-boats lowered.
-
-"May I go in her, Captain Ladds?" asked Tom Flinders, all alive at the
-prospect of an adventure.
-
-"Very well, my boy; only don't get into mischief," replied the
-good-natured skipper.  "Remember that I promised your good mother to
-keep an eye upon you, and unless I can hand you over with a whole skin,
-I shall not dare show my nose at Rustenburg Farm."
-
-"No fear of _my_ coming to grief, sir," laughed Tom, as he went down the
-side and seated himself in the stern-sheets of the boat.  "They taught
-us to take care of ourselves at Rugby!"
-
-"But not to keep your legs in a gale of wind!" retorted Captain Ladds.
-"Don't forget the header you took down the companion-ladder, young man!
-Are you ready, Mr Weatherhelm?"
-
-"All ready, sir."
-
-"Then shove off, if you please; and mind that you are cautious in
-approaching the island."
-
-"Ay, ay, sir!" responded the officer.  And at his command the bowman
-pushed off, and the sailors, bending to their oars, sent the light boat
-through the smooth water in a style that would not have discredited a
-man-o'-war's crew.
-
-It was now discovered that the land consisted of two low-lying rocky
-islets, divided by a narrow channel, the entrance to which was barred by
-a dangerous reef, over which the waves broke with considerable force;
-the southmost of the islets terminating in a lofty "sugar-loaf" peak.
-When within a hundred yards of the shore, Mr Weatherhelm ordered his
-men to rest on their oars, while he looked out for a likely spot to run
-the boat ashore.  Just then a tall, gaunt man appeared from behind the
-sugar-loaf rock, and hailing the boat, pointed to a narrow strip of
-beach some yards away to his left.
-
-"You can land there," he shouted, in a husky voice.  "Steer between
-those rocks right ahead of you--port a little--steady! now give way!"
-
-The next moment the boat's keel grated on the shingle, and the man ran
-forward to meet it.  He was followed by a lad, apparently about Tom's
-own age, and a young girl of eleven or twelve, whose long fair hair hung
-down her back almost to her waist, its golden colour contrasting
-strangely with her skin, which was so tanned by exposure to the fierce
-rays of the tropical sun, that the child was as brown as any gypsy.
-
-The poor creatures looked thin and careworn; their cheeks were hollow,
-their eyes were unnaturally bright, and wore an anxious expression of
-mingled hope and doubt--an expression rarely seen except in the faces of
-those whose hearts have been sickened by hope long deferred.  Their only
-garments consisted of a sack-like tunic made of goat-skin which reached
-some inches below the knee, but left the arms and neck bare.
-
-With what delight and emotion did the castaways welcome their rescuers!
-
-"Are you alone on this island?" inquired Mr Weatherhelm, wrapping his
-pea-jacket round the girl's shoulders.
-
-"We are," the man answered, tears of joy and thankfulness coursing down
-his sunken, weather-beaten cheeks.  "These are my children, and here
-have we been for more than twelve weary months.  My name is Weston, and
-I was owner and commander of the _Sea-mew_, whaler, which was wrecked on
-this island after the crew deserted her."
-
-"Just what I thought!" exclaimed the old mate.  "But we mustn't waste
-time palavering; get your traps together--"
-
-"They are here," interrupted Mr Weston, holding up a battered tin
-deed-box.  "This is all I care to bring away."
-
-"Then jump into the boat and let's be off," cried Weatherhelm.  "Now,
-Missy!  I'll take care of you."
-
-The castaways needed no second bidding, and in another half-hour they
-found themselves safe on board the _Surat Castle_.
-
-Captain Ladds received the unfortunate strangers with the utmost
-kindness, expressing his deep commiseration at their sorry condition,
-and heartily congratulating them on their providential release from
-their seagirt prison.  Mr Weston thanked him in broken tones, but was
-too overcome with feelings of emotion to say very much, and presently he
-asked that he and his children might be allowed to retire to rest; so
-the captain took him down to his own cabin, whilst the lady passengers
-carried off the little girl, and Tom Flinders marched the boy to his
-single state-room, and insisted on his taking possession of the only
-berth.
-
-CHAPTER THREE.
-
-TOM FLINDERS IS REMINDED OF THE OLD SAYING--"THE WORLD IS VERY SMALL."
-
-The sun was high in the heavens when young Weston awoke next morning,
-and on turning his face to the light, the first object that his eyes
-rested upon was Master Tom Flinders, seated on a portmanteau, regarding
-him with pitiful looks.
-
-"Halloa, old fellow!" exclaimed our hero, colouring red as a
-turkey-cock, at being thus caught staring; "how do you find yourself
-this morning?  You've had a jolly long caulk!"
-
-For a moment young Weston appeared a little confused; but he quickly
-recollected the joyful events of the previous day, and feeling much
-refreshed by his protracted sleep, replied that he was all right, and
-would like to get up and go on deck.
-
-"All serene!" said Tom; "turn out by all means; and while you're
-washing, I'll see what can be done in the way of clothes.  There's some
-water in the basin, and there's my sponge and towels.  It's too late for
-you to have a tub, for the bath-room boy goes off duty at ten, and it's
-now close on twelve."
-
-"Then I must have slept nearly twice the round of the clock!" cried the
-other in surprise.
-
-"Going on that way," laughed Tom, diving into his portmanteau and
-fishing out several garments.  "My `duds' are most of them packed away
-in my trunks," he went on, "and they, you know, are down in the hold
-with the rest of the heavy luggage; but I'll do my best to turn you out
-respectably.  By the way, what's your name?"
-
-"George--George Maurice Weston."
-
-"Well, George, here's a pair of white flannel `bags,' and a ditto
-shirt--they're my old cricketing `togs;' but I thought they'd come in
-useful during the voyage, and so left 'em out.  Here's a jacket, rather
-the worse for wear, and that stupid fellow, the second steward, capsized
-a plate of soup over it the other night--see, there are the stains, down
-the right shoulder and arm!  But you won't mind that?"
-
-"Not a bit," put in George, taking the unlucky garment.  "I've learnt
-not to be over particular."
-
-"There's a collar, a cravat, and a pair of socks; and there's a pair of
-shoes--nice, easy ones, too.  Now, look alive, old chap; slip 'em on,
-and then we'll go and get some grub."
-
-Rattling on in this manner, Tom helped his new friend to dress--or
-fitted him out "from truck to kelson," as he expressed it; for Tom had
-become very nautical in his language since he joined the _Surat
-Castle_--and then surveyed him with a critical eye.
-
-"Come, that's not so bad! you look less like an ancient Briton now,"
-said he, crowning young Weston with a cricket cap upon which was
-embroidered the school-house badge.  "Feel a bit queer though at first,
-eh, George Maurice?"
-
-"Rather so," George answered, wriggling himself.  "The shoes and socks
-are the worst.  You see I've gone barefoot for such a precious long
-time.  However, I shall no doubt get accustomed to them in a day or
-two."
-
-"Of course you will," assented Tom.  "Now come along and I'll introduce
-you to the ladies; we have five on board--three married women and two
-girls.  Won't they make a fuss over you and that little sister of
-yours!"
-
-When our hero and his friend made their appearance on deck they found
-Mr Weston (now shaven and shorn, and clad in a suit of true nautical
-cut, the property of Mr Weatherhelm) standing near the skylight talking
-to the skipper and Mr Rogerson, the chief mate of the _Surat Castle_.
-
-"Halloa!" he exclaimed, catching sight of his son's head-gear.  "I ought
-to know that cap."
-
-"It is the Rugby school-house cap," said its owner with conscious pride.
-"We have only lately worn them; but I've heard old school-house men say
-that they were introduced years ago--long before Arnold's time--but
-dropped out after a while."
-
-"That's quite right," rejoined Mr Weston.  "I am an old Rugby boy
-myself, and well remember the school-house badge being introduced.  It
-must be nearly five-and-thirty years ago," he added with a sigh, "when I
-was about little Grade's age."
-
-"Why!"  Tom cried, his interest in the family increasing fourfold, "you
-must have been at Rugby with my father!  Flinders is his name--Major--"
-
-"Not dear old Matthew Flinders surely?" interrupted the other, "who
-afterwards went into the Cape Rifles?"
-
-"The same," answered Tom, nodding his head.  "Did you know him?"
-
-"Know Mat Flinders!  Why, my dear boy, your father was the best and
-truest friend I ever had!  But it is many, many years since we met.  You
-must tell me all about him."
-
-Tom was delighted at this discovery, and he there and then proceeded to
-give Weston a full account of his father's doings, and of their farm
-near Cape Town; in the midst of which he was interrupted by the steward
-announcing that "tiffin was on the table."
-
-"Well," said the boy as they entered the saloon together, "they say the
-world is very small, and that one tumbles against friends and
-connections in all manner of queer places; but I should never have
-dreamed of meeting an old school-house man, a chum of the _pater's_, on
-a desolate island in the South Atlantic Ocean."
-
-The Westons soon became favourites with both the officers and cabin
-passengers of the _Surat Castle_.  Mr Weston himself was a well-bred,
-well-informed man of pleasing address and manners; in person tall and
-powerfully built (old Weatherhelm was the only one on board who
-approached him in height), with a handsome but rather sad countenance,
-and dark curly hair just slightly grizzled.
-
-George Weston, though he had not had the advantage of a public-school
-education, was as nice a lad as anyone could wish to meet; well-behaved
-and intelligent, quiet and studiously inclined.  He was in his sixteenth
-year, had a pleasant bright look about his face, and was slight of
-figure, but active and sinewy withal.
-
-As for Miss Gracie, when she recovered her spirits and got over her
-shyness, she became the life and soul of the ship; and must inevitably
-have been spoiled had she not been blessed with a sweet unspoilable
-disposition.  As Tom had prophesied, the lady passengers made a great
-deal of Gracie and her brother, for their tender womanly hearts
-overflowed with compassion when they heard of the misfortunes and
-sufferings of the family.
-
-It was not until he had been on board nearly a week that Mr Weston gave
-a full account of the loss of the _Sea-mew_, and of his previous
-adventures; but one Saturday, when the cabin party were seated round the
-dinner-table chatting over their wine and walnuts, Captain Ladds
-suggested that he should spin them a yarn.
-
-"Willingly," replied Mr Weston, pushing away his plate; "and as we are
-all friends here I will also give you a brief sketch of my career before
-I became skipper of a South Sea whaler.  My life has been a chequered
-one, and not devoid of adventure, so I trust my story will interest you;
-anyhow, I feel assured that I am secure of your sympathy."
-
-And without further preamble Weston commenced his yarn, to which we will
-devote the next chapter.
-
-CHAPTER FOUR.
-
-MR WESTON'S STORY.
-
-"I have already stated," began Mr Weston, "that I was educated at
-Rugby, where I first became acquainted with our young friend's father.
-Mat Flinders and I were both school-house boys, and we shared the same
-study, fagged for the same sixth-form boy, belonged to the same form,
-and no doubt--if the truth is to be told--were often flogged with the
-same birch; so we were, as a matter of course, firm allies.
-
-"Shortly before my fourteenth birthday I was offered a midshipman's
-rating on board the _Thetis_, a fine 36-gun frigate which had been taken
-from the French and purchased into the navy in 1808; and as my father--a
-retired rear-admiral who had served with distinction under Keppel and
-Rodney--was determined that I should follow in his footsteps and serve
-King George afloat, I bade farewell to the old school and all my chums
-and journeyed down to Chatham, where the frigate was `fitting foreign.'
-
-"Those were stirring times in the navy, I can tell you, my friends! and
-our captain was no niggard of shot and shell; indeed a more dashing
-officer never trod his majesty's quarter-deck!
-
-"His invariable rule was to engage every Frenchman under a `74' that he
-fell in with, and he certainly managed to fall in with a good many; so
-that during the four years I remained in the _Thetis_ I saw my share of
-fighting, and was twice wounded--once when engaged in a `cutting-out'
-affair, and again in action with a 50-gun ship, which I'm proud to say
-we took.
-
-"Having powerful interest at the Admiralty it was not long before I
-received my commission, and when barely twenty years of age I was
-appointed second lieutenant of the _Dido_, a corvette on the West Indian
-station.
-
-"My messmates regarded me as one of fortune's special favourites, but
-the `fickle goddess' treated me scurvily enough in the end; and if my
-promotion had been rapid, at any rate I was not destined to enjoy it for
-any length of time.
-
-"Whilst at Jamaica I stumbled up against my old school-fellow, Mat
-Flinders, then a lieutenant in the --th Foot.  Mat was quartered at
-Kingston, and as the _Dido_ had been docked to undergo certain repairs
-we saw a good deal of each other, and renewed our friendship.
-
-"But now it was that Dame Fortuna began to frown upon me, or perhaps it
-would be more honest to say that I incurred her displeasure by my rash
-conduct.  It so happened that I had the ill-luck to offend my captain, a
-man of imperious overbearing temper; high words ensued between us, and
-in a moment of ungovernable passion I knocked him down.  Of course my
-prospects in the navy were for ever blighted; no provocation could be
-urged as an excuse for such a gross act of insubordination; no interest
-with the `powers that be' could shield me from the consequences of my
-rash act.
-
-"A court-martial assembled, and I was tried, found guilty of the charges
-preferred against me, and sentenced to be dismissed his majesty's
-service.
-
-"My fair-weather friends gave me the cold shoulder, for Captain B--was a
-near relation of the Governor and a man of considerable influence; so
-everybody took his part, and abused me roundly.  No, not everybody!  I
-had one true friend--Matthew Flinders.  If I were to tell all that Tom's
-father did for me during that miserable time I might keep you round this
-table until we reach Table Bay.  Suffice it to say, that never did poor
-unfortunate meet with a kinder or stauncher comrade.
-
-"I returned to England under arrest, and the sentence of the court
-having been approved and confirmed I was broken and turned adrift.  My
-father closed his doors against me, with a curt intimation that he would
-have nothing more to say to a son who had disgraced himself and his
-family as I had done; he would listen to no explanation, and returned my
-letters unopened.
-
-"I had a few pounds in my pocket, and they represented all my means; but
-I was a good sailor, and had no fear but that I could earn my own
-living.  Through the kind offices of Matthew Flinders, who had given me
-a letter to a relative of his connected with the mercantile marine, I
-obtained a berth as second mate on board a merchant brig, and in her I
-made three voyages to the Cape.
-
-"An offer was then made to me to ship on board a South Sea whaler as
-second mate, with the understanding that I should be promoted chief mate
-after my first trip; this offer I closed with.  My captain was a
-gentleman, and a right good fellow, and I made two voyages with him; he
-then retired.  I succeeded him in command of the ship, and shortly
-afterwards married his youngest daughter.
-
-"Several years passed happily enough, and two children--George and
-Gracie--blessed our union; but my happiness was short-lived, for when
-Gracie was nine years of age my wife died of a fever.
-
-"Two years after this sad event I received news of my father's death,
-and that I was entitled to a few thousand pounds, which it was not in
-his power to will away from me, for, implacable to the last, he had left
-the bulk of his fortune to a distant relative, who had already more
-money than he knew what to do with.
-
-"I now purchased and fitted out the _Sea-mew_, a barque of 300 tons; my
-intention being to take a long whaling cruise in the South Seas, and, if
-successful, to retire altogether from a seafaring life, and settle down
-in one of the colonies.  Save 500 pounds, which I left in my agent's
-hands, I embarked every guinea of my slender fortune in this venture;
-though fortunately I took the precaution to insure the barque for about
-half her value.
-
-"Not wishing to be separated from my children for so long a period I
-determined that they should accompany me.  I therefore engaged the
-carpenter's wife--who had no youngsters of her own, and was a highly
-respectable woman--to attend on Gracie; and the surgeon of the
-_Sea-mew_, Angus McDougal, an old shipmate of mine and a sound scholar,
-volunteered to superintend George's education.
-
-"On the 22nd January, 1842, we sailed from England, and after a tedious
-and perilous voyage arrived at our fishing ground, and prepared for our
-campaign against the `spermaceti.'
-
-"But we did not meet with the success I had anticipated; three months
-passed away and still we had a clean hold; the whales seemed to have
-disappeared from those seas!
-
-"This continued ill-luck sent my hopes of realising a modest competence
-down to zero, and, moreover, it dispirited the crew, rendering them
-discontented and sullen.
-
-"At length one morning we observed many polypi, medusae, and squid--"
-
-"And what?" interrupted Tom Flinders, who was listening to Weston's
-narrative "_auribus erectis_."  "What on earth is squid?"
-
-"Squid isn't on earth at all," retorted Mr Weston; "it floats on the
-surface of the water, and is nothing more or less than a sort of
-jelly-fish upon which the whale feeds.  Well, the sight of this raised
-our hopes, for we knew that we should probably fall in with a whale
-before long; and sure enough we were soon roused to action by the
-welcome cry: `There she spouts!'
-
-"I was on deck at the moment, and springing up the shrouds to the
-main-top-mast head, I descried three whales right ahead of us and at no
-great distance.  Two of them appeared to be half grown, or what we South
-Sea whalers call `forty-barrel bulls,' forty barrels being about the
-quantity of oil we usually get out of them; the third was a regular old
-stager, a magnificent fellow of enormous proportions.
-
-"In a very few minutes we had four boats in the water manned and ready
-to push off; I went as `headsman' of the largest, of which--at his
-special request--Doctor McDougal pulled the stroke-oar; the second and
-third mates and the boatswain took charge of the others.
-
-"Now I must tell you that the older and larger whales, besides proving
-the most valuable prizes, are by far the easiest to kill; whereas the
-`forty-barrel bulls' are difficult to come up with, and dangerous
-customers to tackle.  So I directed my second mate and the boatswain to
-go in chase of the old whale, whilst I and the third mate--a very
-experienced headsman--attacked the young bulls.
-
-"Away we pulled, and in a short time approached within four hundred
-yards of the young whales, when the one nearest to us `peaked his
-flukes'--that is, went down head foremost; but his companion remained
-above water and showed no inclination to avoid us.
-
-"`We'll make sure of that fellow and leave the other alone for the
-present,' I shouted to the third mate.  `Give way, my lads!'  Then the
-two boats raced through the smooth water, and we were soon within
-striking distance of our prey.
-
-"Up to this time the two boat-steerers had been pulling the bow-oars of
-their respective boats, whilst the headsman steered; but now they laid
-in their oars, and, seizing their harpoons, stood up ready to strike.
-My boat was the first in action, and the harpoon flew from the
-steersman's grasp and sank deep into the whale's body, just as he was in
-the act of `sounding;' down, down he went, and our line uncoiling
-rapidly from its tub ran out with a loud whirring noise.  I now changed
-places with my boat-steerer, and, armed with several lances, took my
-stand in the bow, ready to give the whale the _coup de grace_ the
-instant he reappeared.
-
-"In less than half an hour the stricken monster rose to the surface
-about a quarter of a mile distant, and set off at a good ten knots an
-hour, towing the two boats after him, for the mate had bent his line on
-to mine.  Suddenly he stopped and commenced plunging furiously, lashing
-the water into a boiling foam, and spurting jets of blood from his
-blow-holes--a sign of approaching death.  [Apertures or nostrils placed
-on the highest part of a whale's head, through which he breathes.]
-
-"`He's in his flurry!  Stern all! stern all!' was the cry, and quickly
-we backed our boats out of harm's way.  Soon the whale ceased his
-struggles and lay like a huge log on the bloodstained water, apparently
-exhausted; then once more we dashed forward, and as the boats came
-alongside, the mate and I thrust our lances up to the stocks into his
-carcass, close to the fin.
-
-"Alas, in our eagerness to make sure of our prize we forgot our usual
-caution!  The leviathan was not yet vanquished, but still had sufficient
-life left in him to make one final effort to avenge himself on his
-relentless foes!
-
-"Without a moment's warning the dying whale reared his enormous head and
-rushed open-mouthed at the mate's boat, which, unable to avoid the
-charge, was capsized and sunk; then the monster gave one last mighty
-plunge, and with a stroke of his powerful tail sent my boat flying into
-the air, scattering the crew into the foaming water.
-
-"The mate, his boat-steerer, and one man must have gone down at once,
-but the others saved themselves by clinging to their oars.  My boat's
-crew were even more unfortunate, for I alone escaped; the rest were
-either killed when the whale struck us, or else sank to rise no more.  I
-thus lost, literally at one blow, my poor friend Angus McDougal, and
-seven of my best hands; also two boats with all their gear.
-
-"The accident had been witnessed by the other boats, and the boatswain
-at once pulled for the scene of the mishap and picked us up.
-
-"About six weeks after this disaster sickness broke out in the
-_Sea-mew_.  The carpenter and the carpenter's wife were the first who
-succumbed; the cook and one of the oldest boat-steerers were the next
-victims, and several of the crew sickened, but recovered after laying
-many days in the `sickbay' almost at death's door.
-
-"We were now so short-handed, and the survivors of the crew were so
-discontented and mutinous, that I resolved to abandon the cruise and
-make for some port where I might be able to pick up fresh hands to help
-take the ship home, and accordingly I shaped my course for Table Bay.
-But my cup of misfortune was not yet full.
-
-"A fortnight after doubling Cape Horn a stiff gale got up, and increased
-in fury until it developed into one of the most fearful storms that it
-has ever been my lot to cope with.
-
-"The storm continued for a day and a night, and when it abated the poor
-_Sea-mew_ was left a dismasted wreck at the mercy of the waves.  We were
-all much exhausted, and sorely needed rest, but not a man could be
-spared from the pumps, for the ship had sprung a leak, which gained upon
-us slowly but surely.  Five more of my crew, including the first mate,
-had gone to their last account, three having been washed overboard and
-two killed by the fall of the main-mast.
-
-"By almost incredible exertions we succeeded in keeping the battered
-ship afloat, and the sea having gone down we were able to discover and
-stop the leak.  We then got a spare try-sail up on the stump of the
-foremast, and put the barque before the wind.
-
-"Rest was now absolutely necessary, for we had been working unceasingly
-for the last thirty-six hours.  The second mate begged that I would take
-the first spell, whilst he kept watch; as he appeared the fresher of the
-two, I consented, and retiring to my cabin was soon fast asleep.  When I
-awoke and returned on deck I found that my cowardly crew had deserted
-the ship, in the only boat that was seaworthy, leaving me and my poor
-children to perish.
-
-"But a merciful Providence watched over our safety.  After drifting for
-three or four days the barque ran on a rock, off the island where you
-discovered us, and as it was quite calm at the time we succeeded in
-getting ashore without much difficulty.  A week later the poor old
-_Sea-mew_ was broken up by a gale, but after she went to pieces we
-managed to secure some casks of provisions, and several useful articles.
-I also saved the ship's papers, and other private documents of
-importance.  On exploring the island we found that it was not altogether
-bare of vegetation, and that it was inhabited by a small herd of very
-lean goats--whose progenitors had probably been left there by the
-benevolent captain of some passing vessel, for the benefit of any
-persons who, like ourselves, might be cast ashore; there were also
-hundreds of sea-birds, and a plentiful supply of good water; so that
-there was no fear of our perishing of hunger or thirst.  Of clothes, we
-had only those we stood up in, and when they wore out, we replaced them
-with goatskins.
-
-"I will not weary you with an account of our life on the island; as you
-may well imagine, the time hung heavily on our hands, though we did all
-we could to lessen the monotony of our existence, but at times we felt
-very down-hearted; still we never quite lost hope that, some day or
-other, a vessel might come within hail, and take us off.
-
-"At length, after thirteen months of solitude and privation, that hope
-was realised--when a kind Providence sent the _Surat Castle_ to rescue
-us from our desert home and restored us to the society of our
-fellow-creatures."
-
-"Well!" exclaimed Captain Ladds when Weston finished his narrative; "you
-certainly have had a run of ill-luck!  Let us hope that brighter days
-are in store for you.  The tide must turn at last, you know; and you
-shall not want friends to help you to retrieve your fortunes."
-
-"No, indeed!" cried Master Tom impulsively.  "If the _pater_ don't stand
-by you, I'm jolly well mistaken.  You must come to Rustenburg until
-something turns up.  But I say, Mr Weston," he went on; "you've had
-about enough of the sea!  I'd try my luck on `terra firma' now, if I
-were you!"
-
-"I'm inclined to agree with you, Tom," Mr Weston replied; "and I might
-do worse than settle down in Cape Colony.  The anxieties and dangers of
-my last voyage have rather sickened me, and if there is a suitable berth
-to be found on shore, I don't think I shall be tempted to go afloat
-again."
-
-CHAPTER FIVE.
-
-THE END OF THE VOYAGE--TABLE BAY--"DOTH NOT A MEETING LIKE THIS, MAKE
-AMENDS!"
-
-  "The perils and the dangers of the voyage are past,
-  And the barque has arrived at--at--at Cape Town at last;
-  The sails are furled, and the anchor's cast,
-  And the happiest of the--"
-
-"Passengers is Master Thomas Flinders!" laughed Captain Ladds,
-interrupting our hero, who was giving utterance to his joyful feelings
-by trolling forth the above verse with, it must be confessed, more
-energy than harmony.  "Yes, Tom, my son," he continued, "here we are
-safe in old Table Bay; and there's the port-captain's boat putting off
-from the quay.  You'll be at Rustenburg in time for `tiffin.'  Mr
-Rogerson, see that the accommodation ladder is ready; Captain Morrison
-is coming off."
-
-It was a most glorious morning when the _Surat Castle_ ran into Table
-Bay, and brought up off the old wooden quay, which half a century ago
-served as the principal landing-place at Cape Town; for the splendid
-Alexandra Docks, affording ample accommodation for the three-thousand
-tonners of the Union Company, and Donald Currie's Royal Mail Lines, were
-not yet designed; the South African metropolis being in a chrysalis sort
-of condition, and not having reached any great degree of commercial
-prosperity--though it was a favourite resort of invalided Anglo-Indians,
-who found it a very pleasant place in which to spend a few months' sick
-leave, after broiling in the "gorgeous east" for the best part of their
-lives.
-
-Tears of pleasure dimmed Tom's eyes at the sight of home (for home is
-home, whether we live within the sound of "Bow Bells" or at the
-Antipodes) and the thought of meeting his parents and sisters after a
-five years' separation.
-
-How familiar was the scene upon which he gazed.
-
-There was the old Dutch city, situated on a plain rising by a gentle
-ascent to the base of the far-famed Table Mountain--the heights of
-which, viewed from the sea, bear some resemblance to the ruined walls of
-a Titanic fortress.  There was the quaint castle with its broad fosse
-and regular outworks, and Forts Knokke and Craig defending the shore to
-the east of the city; whilst westward of the principal landing-place--
-overlooked by the saddle-back hill, terminated at one extremity by the
-"Lion's Head," and at the other by the "Lion's Rump"--stood the
-fortifications known as the Rogge, Amsterdam, and Chavonne batteries,
-all of which commanded the anchorage and entrance to Table Bay, with
-their "thirty-twos" and formidable 68-pounders.
-
-"The old place looks just the same as it did five years ago," said Tom
-to himself as he leaned over the bulwarks, gazing landwards.  "No change
-that I can see."
-
-In these go-ahead, high-pressure days, if we leave a town for any length
-of time it is hardly recognisable when we return: villas, "genteel
-residences," "emporiums," and hotels, the handiwork of Mr Jerry the
-speculative builder, cover the green fields where we were wont to play
-cricket and football; and even churches, chapels, and public
-institutions appear to have sprung up with mushroom-like rapidity.  But
-fifty years ago things were very different--both in England and Cape
-Colony; people thought twice before they meddled with "bricks and
-mortar," remembering the good old saw--"Fools build houses for wise men
-to live in."  Had our young friend left his native land in 1880 and
-returned in 1885, he would have opened his eyes with astonishment.  The
-good citizens of Cape Town have manifested a wonderful "go-ahead" spirit
-of late!  But Tom's eyes are no longer scanning the shore, for he is
-eagerly watching the port-captain's boat, as, manned by six stalwart
-Kroomen, it approaches the barque.  "Tom," says Mr Weston, "I haven't
-seen my old friend Matthew Flinders for nearly a quarter of a century,
-but if he is not--halloa! where's the lad got to?"
-
-Tom had recognised the dear old _pater_ seated beside the port-captain,
-and as the boat pulled alongside he rushed down the accommodation ladder
-so as to be the first to welcome him.
-
-First greetings over, and the usual anxious questions answered, Tom
-thought of the Westons, and informed his father of their presence on
-board the barque; at the same time he briefly related the circumstances
-that led to their being there.  The lad had set his heart upon having
-his new friends at Rustenburg, at any rate for the present; and he was
-not doomed to disappointment.  Major Flinders at once hastened to meet
-his former school-fellow, and right cordially did he welcome him.
-
-"I don't forget," said he, "that it was Maurice Weston who risked his
-life to save mine, when we were youngsters together at Jamaica!  But for
-you, Maurice, I should certainly have become the food for `Port Royal
-Tom.'  Now, remember, no roof but mine shelters you and yours even for a
-single night!--not a word, my dear old friend, not a word!  If you had a
-score of children, my wife and I would welcome them for their father's
-sake.  Please, say no more.  Tom, my boy, get your traps together as
-sharp as you can, and then we'll go ashore."
-
-Three hours later, Mr Weston, Grace, and George were seated in a
-four-horse Cape cart, with Tom and the Major, spinning along the Wynberg
-road at a good fourteen miles an hour, _en route_ for Rustenburg Farm.
-
-CHAPTER SIX.
-
-TOM FLINDERS' HOME--"A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED!"--AN
-EXPEDITION PROPOSED.
-
-Five miles from Cape Town, on the Wynberg and Simon's Town road, lies
-the picturesque, wood-girt village of Rondebosch.  The ground in rear of
-this village is beautifully timbered, and rises with a more or less
-gradual ascent, towards a mountain range extending from Table Bay to
-Muissenburg; an old fort and military station about two-and-a-half
-leagues from Simon's Town; and upon one of the rocky spurs of this
-range, overlooking Rondebosch, there used to stand an ancient Dutch
-block-house, from the summit of which a splendid view of the surrounding
-country, and "veldt," stretching far away to the foot of the
-Stellenbosch Hills, could be obtained, on a fair, clear day.
-
-Between the "Block-house Hill"--as it was then called--and the village
-of Rondebosch lay Major Flinders' property, the "Rustenburg House Farm,"
-consisting of some 300 morgens [about 600 acres] of carefully cultivated
-land and vineyards, with a substantial dwelling-house and farm
-buildings; the whole being screened from the highroad by plantations of
-well-grown trees.  The Major also held 60 morgens of coarse
-grazing-land, with a cottage and stables, two miles away on the "veldt"
-to the north-east of Rondebosch.
-
-So you see the Major's commission-money had been well invested; the more
-so, because--thanks to good management and untiring industry--the farm
-had greatly increased in value since he took possession of it.
-
-One warm evening, some few weeks after the _Surat Castle_ anchored in
-Table Bay, Major and Mrs Flinders, with Tom, his two sisters, and their
-guests the Westons, were seated on the "stoep" of Rustenburg House; the
-ladies busily engaged in mending a pair of canvas saddle-bags, whilst
-the Major, Mr Weston, and the two boys occupied themselves cleaning and
-oiling a couple of sporting rifles and a double-barrelled "Joe Manton"--
-which latter weapon Tom had brought out from England.
-
-When Major Flinders heard of the misfortunes that had befallen Mr
-Weston he offered to assist him in any way that lay in his power--either
-by using his influence with the Governor to obtain for him some suitable
-appointment in Cape Colony, or by rendering him pecuniary aid.  At the
-same time the Major pressed his friend to join him in farming at
-Rondebosch, rather than seek government employment, or continue his
-seafaring life.
-
-Mrs Flinders warmly seconded her husband's proposition, pointing out
-that Rustenburg House was quite big enough to accommodate the two
-families, and declaring--with most unmistakable sincerity--how much it
-would please her to have Gracie Weston as a companion for her own girls,
-Ella and Maud.
-
-"They can be educated together, Mr Weston," said the good lady, "and
-that, you know, will be a mutual advantage."
-
-After a little consideration Weston thankfully accepted this offer, and
-decided to settle down at the Cape, and join his fortunes to those of
-his quondam school-fellow.  The _Sea-mew_ was insured for 1500 pounds
-(about one-third her value) and Mr Weston had 500 pounds in his London
-banker's hands; and the Major introduced him to a lawyer, who consented
-to advance him 250 pounds on his policy, and promised to take the
-necessary steps to secure the whole sum for which the ill-fated barque
-had been insured.  So Mr Weston did not come into the "firm" quite
-empty-handed.
-
-"By the way, my dear Mat," said Mr Weston as he proceeded to take the
-lock of one of the rifles to pieces, "we have been so engaged with
-lawyer Rutherhorn that we have forgotten all about that trip up country
-you were talking of the week before last.  Suppose you tell us about
-it."
-
-"Oh, I had not forgotten it," rejoined the Major; "indeed Kate and I
-were going over the `pros and cons' this morning, and we came to the
-conclusion that--"
-
-"What?" cried Tom eagerly, laying down the barrel he was cleaning.
-
-"That Rugby hadn't cured our son and heir of his impatience and
-impetuosity," laughed Mrs Flinders, rising from her seat.  "Come along,
-girls, we will leave the gentlemen to talk over this important project
-by themselves.  There are your saddle-bags, Tom; but if your father
-takes you with him, you must have a new pair; these have seen their best
-days."
-
-"Now, Maurice," said Major Flinders as soon as the ladies had
-disappeared into the house, "I will give you an idea of my plans, and
-see what you think of them.  To begin with, I must tell you that an old
-brother officer of mine, Donald Jamieson, has gone in for breeding
-horses at his farm up country, 180 miles north-east of Mossel Bay.  He
-has been exceptionally lucky, for it so happens that the district in
-which he has settled is wonderfully free from the fatal
-`horse-sickness;' and that pest of the country the `tsetse' is almost
-unknown there."
-
-"What is the `tsetse,' Major Flinders?" inquired George Weston, who was
-a lad with a thirst for knowledge of any description.
-
-"A most intolerable nuisance, George," replied the Major; "in the shape
-of a small, brownish-yellow fly, which attacks horses and cattle, too
-often causing their death; for the bite of this insect produces
-blood-poisoning, and that generally proves fatal.  Oddly enough human
-beings rarely suffer any ill effects from the bite."
-
-"Jot that down, Geordie," laughed Tom.
-
-"I think I will," quietly observed his friend, suiting the action to the
-word.
-
-"Quite right, my boy," said Major Flinders, with an approving nod; "pick
-up information whenever you can; you never can tell when it may not
-prove useful.  But to proceed!  Just now horses are very dear in these
-parts, and high prices are being offered in Cape Town even for unbroken
-colts and fillies.  I heard some time ago from Jamieson that he had
-several young horses to dispose of, so I thought we might combine
-business and pleasure."
-
-"Good!" assented his friend.
-
-"Jamieson mentioned in his letter," continued the Major, "that he wanted
-two good Cape-carts and four sets of double-harness from Muter in Berge
-Street, besides a host of other things which are not to be had for love
-or money in his parts; and I propose, therefore, to purchase all he
-requires in Cape Town, go round by sea to Mossel Bay, and from thence
-`trek' up country to Ralfontein, where he lives.  If Jamieson has any
-suitable horses we can take them off his hands and bring them down to
-Cape Town; when the price we shall get for them will cover all our
-expenses, and leave a good profit into the bargain.  As for sport, we
-shall have our fill of it; altogether the trip, at this season of the
-year, should prove most enjoyable.  Now, what say you?"
-
-"Capital! excellent, my dear Mat!" exclaimed Mr Weston.  "When do you
-propose to start, and who are to form the party?"
-
-"Well," the Major answered, "I saw Muter yesterday, and he has three
-carts all but finished.  By putting on extra hands--which he is quite
-willing to do--two can be got ready for shipment in a week from this,
-and the sets of harness will be ready at the same time.  Now, old Van
-Ryn's schooner, the _Knysna_, makes two trips to Mossel Bay every month,
-and I see that she is advertised to sail on Saturday week; so we might
-take our passage in her, and that will give us ample time to prepare for
-the journey."
-
-"Very good," assented Mr Weston.  "And who are to go?"
-
-"Why, there will be you and I, the two boys, and Patrick Keown, and
-Black William; six all told--a number sufficient to bring down a score
-of horses, and to hold our own should any roving bands of Caffres or
-Bosjesmans venture to attack us, which is not very probable."
-
-"How do you propose to travel back, father?" asked Tom, who was highly
-excited at the prospect of the trip.
-
-"Ride, my boy; ride the whole distance from Ralfontein, and let the
-led-horses carry our baggage.  I shall take a dozen pack-saddles with
-us, for Jamieson is certain to have at least twenty horses to dispose
-of."
-
-And after some further discussion, in which Mrs Flinders was invited to
-take part, the Major's proposals were carried "nem con."
-
-CHAPTER SEVEN.
-
-THE START FROM MOSSEL BAY--ON "TREK"--OUTSPANNED--ROUND THE CAMP FIRE.
-
-"The carts are all corrict, sorr, and ready for the line of march,"
-reported Mr Patrick Keown, whilom a troop sergeant-major in the "Cape
-Mounted Riflemen," but now his former captain's major-domo,
-master-of-the-horse, and general factotum.  "And, sorr," he went on,
-bringing his dexter hand down from the salute, and assuming a less
-poker-like attitude and a more confidential manner, "the mules we've
-hired from the postmaster here, seem loikely to suit us--that's to say,
-fairly well.  They're good animals, sorr, barrin' the off-leader of the
-second team, and he's a terrible kicker, and did his best to break Black
-William's leg just now.  And thin, sorr, there is another that's a bit
-contrary in harness--but shure now, that's no matther; we'll soon break
-the baste in!  I'll lay me quarter's pinsion that they'll have larned
-betther manners before we outspan this evening."
-
-"No doubt of it, Patrick," rejoined Major Flinders, who was standing on
-the stoep of the hotel, with his long bamboo whip in hand, listening to
-the ex-sergeant's report.  "No doubt of it," said he as soon as he could
-edge in a word; "we shall manage them all right!  But it's quite time we
-were on the road, for we ought to cover forty miles before sundown.  Now
-then, Maurice!  Come along, my boys; hurry up!"
-
-The Major and his party had landed the previous morning at Mossel Bay,
-with all their goods and chattels; and now in front of a long
-one-storied building, dignified by the name of "Moorhead's Royal Star
-and Garter Hotel," two well-built white canvas tilted Cape-carts, fresh
-from the hands of Mr Muter of Berge Street, were drawn up, each being
-_horsed_ by a team of six mules hired from the postmaster of the
-district.
-
-One cart was packed with a variety of useful articles--from a saddle to
-a screw-driver--ordered by Captain Jamieson from the Cape Town
-storekeepers; whilst in the other cart the Major and his companions were
-to travel.
-
-Under each cart was slung a strong "witte els" [a soft, tough wood] box,
-containing axes, hammers, saws, and other tools, a supply of nails and
-screws, straps and buckles, a small coil of "half-inch," and some stout
-cord and twine; so that in the event of a break-down, repairs might be
-executed on the spot Major Flinders and his faithful henchman Patrick
-Keown had travelled too much in South Africa to think of starting on a
-long journey without being prepared for emergencies.
-
-As the crow flies, the distance from Mossel Bay to Ralfontein was rather
-more than one hundred and eighty miles, but by road it was nearer two
-hundred and fifty.  The journey there was to be got over as rapidly as
-possible without unduly pressing the teams, and there were to be no
-unnecessary stoppages by the way.  The return journey would be a much
-more leisurely affair, for it was the Major's intention to ride from
-Ralfontein to Rondebosch, a distance of at least three hundred and fifty
-miles (instead of returning to Mossel Bay, and from thence by sea to
-Cape Town), and to take his own time on the road, so as to bring home
-his equine purchases in good condition.
-
-For the first two or three days after leaving Mossel Bay our travellers
-had an easy time and were not called upon to rough it in the smallest
-degree.  The road they followed--one of the best in the colony--led
-through a beautiful fertile district, studded with prosperous-looking
-farm-houses around which vineyards and orange groves flourished in
-wonderful luxuriance.  At these farms they were lodged and entertained
-with a hospitality worthy of the patriarchal ages, so that, as yet,
-there was no "camping out."
-
-Soon, however, the country presented a wilder, but no less beautiful
-aspect, the road became a mere track, and our friends found themselves
-journeying across tracts of rough, uncultivated land, through wooded
-valleys and steep rocky defiles, aglow with the brilliant crimson and
-amber blossoms of the aloe; here for miles they did not meet a human
-creature, or see a house of any description, and the silence of these
-vast solitudes grew almost oppressive.
-
-On the evening of the fourth day they arrived at a romantic spot
-five-and-twenty miles from any civilised habitation--the nearest being a
-German mission station at Ryk's Drift--and here the Major decided to
-outspan, beneath the shade of a fine tope of trees, near to a "donga,"
-or dry watercourse.  It was a most suitable halting-place!  A tiny
-"spruit," or streamlet, trickled amidst the reeds and boulders that lay
-all along the "donga," and crossing the track close by the "bivouac,"
-formed a shallow, but clear pool, at the foot of a grassy eminence,
-which was topped by a thicket of silver trees, aloes, and flowering
-shrubs.
-
-On every side the various tribes of the vegetable kingdom throve
-luxuriously, perfuming the air; whilst in the distance the foliage and
-coppice presented a thousand lively and variegated tints most pleasing
-to the eye.
-
-The mules having been knee-haltered and turned out to graze, under
-charge of the Hottentot, Black William, the Major and his companions set
-to work to light a fire and put the camp-kettle on to boil, and before
-long they were discussing some excellent broiled venison and ship's
-biscuit, washed down by copious draughts of black coffee.
-
-"This is what I call uncommonly jolly!" exclaimed Tom as they sat round
-the camp fire after supper; "ever so much better than putting up at a
-farm-house."
-
-"But how will you like taking your turn of `sentry-go' to-night, Master
-Tom?" asked Patrick Keown.
-
-"Ah, to be sure!" put in the Major.  "Two hours at a stretch, you know,
-Tom; and we shall expect you to be on the `_qui-vive_;' no sleeping on
-your post, young man!"
-
-"No fear of that, father," retorted the boy with a good-humoured laugh.
-"But I say, do you really think there's any likelihood of our being
-attacked?"
-
-"Well, it is within the bounds of possibility that some wild beast might
-take a fancy to one of the mules, or a roving Bushman or Hottentot to
-our rifles," was his father's reply; "so it will be best to keep a
-night-watch."
-
-"I suppose there are no lions in these parts?" inquired George Weston.
-
-"I should think not, George," answered Major Flinders.  "There is no
-doubt that they, and many other savage beasts, have retreated before the
-progress of European colonisation, and are now very rarely to be seen,
-except further north and east.  Still they are not extinct, even in this
-district."
-
-"Plenty lion in Bosjesman's country," observed Black William; "an' dey
-terrible savage dere too!  Eat up poor black mans, like de silver jackal
-eat missis' chickens; but dey seldom touch de white mans.  Tink de black
-moch nicer."
-
-"Find them more _gamey_, I presume," was Mr Weston's sotto voce remark.
-
-"I have heard several curious instances of the unwillingness of lions to
-attack a white man, especially if he shows a bold front," said the
-Major, refilling his pipe; "and I will relate one that I can vouch for.
-During the expedition against the Fitcani tribe in '28, I had attached
-to my troop as volunteers two Cape Dutchmen--Hendrik and Gert Eoos.
-You'll recollect them, Patrick?"
-
-"Shure I do, sorr," replied the ex-rifleman.  "Hendrik Eoos saved me
-loife at Schepers Drift, but I nearly broke me heart thrying to kape him
-clane!  He and his brother were the bravest and dhirtiest men I iver
-came across!"
-
-"Well," continued the Major after one or two draws at his long Dutch
-pipe, "the brothers Roos were renowned as mighty hunters, and it was
-said that they had killed upwards of thirty lions in their time, to say
-nothing of other big game.  But you know that `the pitcher that goes too
-often to the well runs a good chance of getting smashed,' and Master
-Hendrik Roos on one occasion went very near proving the truth of the old
-proverb.  He was hunting alone in the wilds when suddenly he found
-himself face to face with an enormous lion, who, so far from retiring
-before the white man, seemed determined to dispute with him the right of
-way.  Hendrik dismounted, threw his reins over his arm, and, waiting
-until the lion was within twenty paces and couched and in the act of
-springing, took careful aim at his forehead, but the moment he pressed
-the trigger his horse started, the reins broke, and, worse than all, his
-bullet missed its mark!
-
-"The lion bounded forward, and at a few paces' distance confronted the
-intrepid hunter, who now stood defenceless--his `roer' [smooth-bore gun
-for big game] empty, his horse fled; but he showed no sign of fear.
-
-"Man and beast stared hard at each other for some little time, and at
-length the latter slowly retired backwards, whereupon Hendrik began to
-reload his gun.  At this movement the lion growled and came forward
-again.  The hunter stood stock-still, motionless as a statue, and again
-the lion retired.  Once more Hendrik attempted to ram home his bullet,
-and once more his formidable adversary advanced, growling ominously.
-Hendrik fixed his eyes upon him, and the lion seemed confused--halted
-for a moment, and stood lashing his flanks with his tail, growling all
-the while; then of a sudden, unable to face any longer the stern gaze of
-the man, the savage beast turned about and fairly took to his heels; and
-so Hendrik Roos was saved."
-
-"Well, he _was_ a plucky chap!" exclaimed Tom.  "I wouldn't have stood
-in his shoes for something!"
-
-"You see that this Dutch hunter possessed an intimate knowledge of the
-nature of the animal he was pitted against; and knowledge is power,"
-observed Mr Weston.  "But, talking of wild animals, I remember that it
-was not very far from Mossel Bay that I fell in, for the first and last
-time in my life, with a wild elephant.  It was in '16, just before I
-`shipped the swab,' and I was then acting third `luff' of the _Phaeton_.
-We had been on the Cape station a few months, and our skipper had been
-ordered round to the Knysna to make a report as to the feasibility of
-forming a government ship-building establishment on the banks of the
-river.
-
-"Whilst there I went out duck-shooting with the purser, who had the
-reputation of being a thorough sportsman and an excellent shot.  We went
-some miles up country, and I soon found that my shipmate, though a
-capital shooter, was a precious bad hitter; and got through a large
-amount of ammunition in a very short time with no appreciable results.
-
-"Well, after blazing away half the day without bagging a single bird, we
-came to a large pool of water surrounded with very high grass (some of
-it quite ten feet in height) and abounding with wild ducks and geese.
-
-"`Now's our chance, Wraggles!'  I exclaimed, bringing my fowling-piece
-to the shoulder.  `Let fly into the middle of them!'
-
-"Bang! bang! went our guns, and at least one duck fell a victim to our
-unerring aim.
-
-"But ere we could secure the butchered birds the welkin rang with an
-awful roar, and the whole pool was in a state of commotion.  The next
-moment an enormous elephant rushed from out the grass, trumpeting loudly
-and striking the grass with his trunk.
-
-"Neither the purser nor I had ever seen a wild elephant before, and we
-had no wish for a nearer inspection; so, leaving our slaughtered ducks
-to their fate, we took to our heels and never stopped until we reached a
-place of safety."
-
-"Well, you certainly did not show a bold front on that occasion,"
-laughed the Major.
-
-"No, indeed," rejoined his friend.  "But I can assure you that few men
-could have presented a broader back than did the gallant purser; and it
-has always been a mystery to me how a man of his rotundity got over the
-ground at such a wonderful pace.  He beat me by a good fifty yards.  Now
-who is going to take first watch?"
-
-"Black William is first on the roster, sorr, and I shall relave him,"
-answered Patrick Keown; and the Hottentot having been duly posted, the
-others lay down before the camp fire and were soon wrapped in sleep--
-sleep--
-
-  "The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
-  Great nature's second course,
-  Chief nourisher in life's feast!"
-
-CHAPTER EIGHT.
-
-TOM GIVES THE ALARM--RIFLE VERSUS ASSEGAI--TRIUMPH OF THE WHITE
-MAN!--"KICKING JAN" OUTKICKS HIMSELF--A CATASTROPHE--ARRIVAL AT
-RALFONTEIN.
-
-The night passed away quietly and day dawned with all the splendour of a
-South African morning.  By five o'clock the little camp was astir, and
-our friends, having first enjoyed a refreshing dip in the clear pool at
-the foot of the hill, hastened to prepare breakfast; whilst Patrick
-Keown and his sable ally busied themselves making ready for the day's
-journey.
-
-"Well, Tom, how did you get on between one and three am?" was Mr
-Weston's first question when they sat down to break their fast with the
-remains of last night's supper.  "Found it rather lonely, didn't you?"
-
-"I should just think I did," was the candid reply; "horribly lonely!
-And I was obliged to keep trotting backwards and forwards like a hyaena
-in a cage to prevent myself nodding; not that I should have minded that,
-if I'd only had someone to talk to."
-
-"Well, you look fresh as a four-year-old this morning," Major Flinders
-said.  "I'm certain that a trip of this sort is a capital thing for
-getting young fellows into condition."
-
-"No doubt of it," assented his friend; "so long as it is not attended
-with too much fatigue or hardship."
-
-As soon as Tom had finished his breakfast he expressed his intention of
-taking a look round before they inspanned.
-
-"Don't go far, my boy; keep within hail," said his father.  "We shall
-make a start directly Keown has the carts ready."
-
-"All right, father," replied the boy, taking up his rifle.  "I'll just
-stroll up the donga and see if I can get a crack at something or other.
-There's no fresh meat in the larder, you know."  And off he trudged--
-
-                  "Unknowing what he sought,
-  And whistling as he went for want of thought."
-
-Tom had not gone many yards when his attention was attracted by a
-rustling amongst the reeds, and looking round, his quick eyes espied
-several dark forms stealing down the watercourse towards the bivouac.
-He at once scented danger, but had the presence of mind not to show that
-he was alarmed; and turning coolly about he returned to his friends and
-informed them of what he had seen.  Hardly had he given the alarm when
-thirty or forty dusky figures rushed down the donga and advanced with
-threatening gestures--brandishing their weapons and uttering loud cries
-of defiance.
-
-"Inspan, Patrick!" shouted Major Flinders to his servant as he seized
-his rifle.  "We can keep these black rascals off until you are ready."
-
-In order that Keown and his assistant should have time to collect the
-few articles which had been unloaded from the carts (the Major was not
-the man to abandon any of his impedimenta) and inspan, it was necessary
-to meet the enemy in the open and take up a position between them and
-the carts.  This of course somewhat exposed the little party; but Major
-Flinders was pretty well sure that his assailants belonged to a roving
-tribe--half Bosjesmans, half Korannas--more renowned for thievish
-propensities than for valour or warlike qualities; and he felt satisfied
-that if he and his friends received them boldly they would beat a hasty
-retreat.  These dusky warriors were indeed but sorry specimens of their
-race; they were short, narrow-chested, and hippy, whilst their faces
-were of a very low type, with thick projecting lips, small depressed
-noses, and roguish shifting eyes.  Their weapons consisted of rough,
-ill-made assegais, iron-wood clubs, or knobkerries, and small oval,
-hide-covered shields.  However, seeing how small a force they had to
-contend with, and animated by the hope of plunder, the dingy troop
-advanced with more confidence and _elan_ than might have been expected.
-
-"Give them one barrel first," said Major Flinders, bringing his rifle to
-the "present."  "Take a steady aim, and low.  Now--fire!"  The four
-rifles rang out nearly together, and three of the enemy rolled over and
-over, but their fall did not stop the rush of the others; on they came,
-bent on the destruction of the little band of white men.
-
-"Fire again!" shouted the Major as he discharged his second barrel.
-
-This time every bullet found its billet, and four Caffres bit the dust;
-whereupon their comrades pulled up, sent a few assegais whistling
-harmlessly through the air, and then went to the right-about and bolted.
-In the excitement of this, their first fight, Tom and George would have
-followed up the flying enemy had not the Major restrained them, saying:
-
-"I have no wish to kill those poor benighted creatures save in
-self-defence.  Go and help Patrick to inspan, and let us be off as
-quickly as possible."
-
-"They're not gone yet!" exclaimed Mr Weston, seeing several woolly
-heads pop up amongst the shrubs and bushes to the left of the donga.
-
-"No, indeed!  And unless I'm greatly mistaken they intend to renew their
-attack," rejoined his friend.  "They've more pluck and determination
-than I thought for!  Get the carts and mules under cover of the trees!"
-
-Patrick Keown at once dragged the carts into the centre of the tope,
-whilst the boys and Black William drove in the mules and tethered them
-between the carts, forming a sort of laager, into which the Major and
-Mr Weston retired.  They all took up their rifles and opened fire upon
-the advancing enemy, who showed no lack of courage, and sent their
-assegais hurtling amongst the trees in a style that would have done
-credit to Zulu warriors.
-
-But they did not attempt to come to close quarters, their sole object
-being to carry off their dead and wounded, not to renew their attack on
-the white men, whose terrible rifles had already done to death so many
-of their company.  Had they been able to explain their intentions they
-might have done this without let or hindrance; as it was, they lost
-three more of their number.
-
-At last Black William divined what they were about, and begged his
-master to cease firing for a minute or two.  The savages then rushed
-forward, caught up their unfortunate comrades, and bolted back in
-double-quick time.
-
-"The beggars are off now, and no mistake!" cried Tom.  "Let us see what
-damage they have done us."
-
-"First and foremost there are two mules killed," responded his father;
-"Sandboy and Admiral--the best animals in either team."
-
-"And Kicking Jan's got an ugly wound in his flank," put in Keown.  "Bad
-cess to the contrary baste; he's sure to git into mischief if there's
-mischief about!"
-
-"I got hurt too," said Black William with a grin, showing a tear in his
-sleeve, which was covered with blood.  "And dere's young Mas'r George
-been hit by dem niggers!"
-
-An assegai had indeed grazed George Weston's shoulder, but happily no
-serious injury had been done to any of the party--nothing, in fact, that
-cold water and a strip of lint would not cure.
-
-The dead mules were now stripped of their harness; Kicking Jan's wound
-was dressed--an operation that the "contrary baste," true to his nature,
-resented to the best of his power; and the travellers resumed their
-journey.  No sooner were they well on the move, and at a respectable
-distance from their late encampment, than the discomfited savages once
-more appeared on the scene, and fell tooth and nail on the carcasses of
-the slain mules.
-
-"Bedad!" exclaimed the ex-sergeant when he saw the blacks cutting and
-hacking away with their short assegais, "they'll be having a foine gorge
-now!  Sorra a bit of flesh will they lave on the bones of poor Sandboy
-and Admiral."
-
-"They have paid dearly for their feast," observed Mr Weston, who was
-seated beside him.  "Are all the Caffres such gluttons?"
-
-"Indade they are, sorr," was the reply.  "Just sit the best of them down
-before a dead animal of any sort, from an elephant to a dossie, and
-they'd go on eatin' till they were fit to bust."
-
-Deprived of the two best mules in the teams, and having a third
-partially disabled, the travellers did not get so quickly over the
-ground as they had hitherto done, and it was some time after dusk before
-they arrived at Ryk's Drift.  Here they were entertained by the German
-missionary, and on the following morning they started on the final stage
-but one of their journey.
-
-Soon after leaving Ryk's Drift the travellers came in sight of a range
-of mountains, whose varied outline struck out into bold, precipitous
-spurs, or shot up into craggy peaks, the summits of which shone in the
-African sunshine almost like snow.
-
-"On the far side of yonder hills lies Ralfontein," said the Major, "and
-crossing them will prove the toughest job of the whole journey."
-
-"That I can believe," rejoined his friend.  "My admiration is now
-changed to consternation!  How ever will our mules contrive to drag the
-carts up such precipices?"
-
-"As I said before, it will prove a very tough job," Major Flinders
-answered; "but `where there's a will there's a way.'"
-
-"I shall believe that when I _see_ the way," laughed Mr Weston.  "At
-present I must confess that I am sceptical, for in all my varied
-experience I have never come across a quadruped that could fly!
-However, it is not for me to give my opinion; I am but a fish out of
-water!"
-
-Towards noon the travellers commenced the ascent, and right toilsome it
-proved.
-
-The way--for road, or even track, it certainly could not be called--was
-rugged in the extreme, and full of rocks and gullies, with here and
-there a narrow chasm over which the carts were dragged with the greatest
-risk and difficulty.
-
-Every one dismounted and lent a helping hand; the Major and his servants
-managing the teams, with much cracking of whips, and loud shouts of
-warning or encouragement; whilst Mr Weston and the boys, literally "put
-their shoulders to the wheel."
-
-"Oh, for the turnpike roads of old England!" sang, or rather gasped, Mr
-Weston, when for about the twentieth time they halted to allow the
-distressed mules to recover themselves a little.  "This is desperate
-work! eh, boys?"
-
-"Slightly warm," said Tom, mopping his perspiring face.  "It takes the
-superfluous flesh off one's ribs."
-
-"Shure, Misther Weston, we're nearly at the top," said Patrick Keown
-encouragingly, "and thin you know, sorr, we'll go down the other side
-noice and aisy."
-
-"A little too `aisy,' perchance," muttered Weston.  "Facilis descensus!"
-
-At length the highest point of the ascent was reached; but this proved
-the most hazardous part, as the track swept round a precipitous ledge
-jutting out from a spur of the mountain, so narrow that it hardly
-allowed six inches grace to the wheels.  Along this dangerous path the
-carts were taken at a snail's pace; the one containing Captain
-Jamieson's goods and chattels leading the way; whilst the other (which,
-save for a few articles used when outspanning, was empty) followed at an
-interval of twenty paces; the mules going very gingerly, for, surefooted
-though they were, it was no easy matter for them to keep on their legs.
-
-At this critical moment a large bird swept down from its nest in the
-overhanging cliff, and with a piercing cry flew close over the tilt of
-the hinder cart.  Now, as ill-luck would have it, "Kicking Jan" was one
-of the four mules attached to this cart, and no sooner did that contrary
-and troublesome animal hear the bird's shrill call than he stopped dead;
-then down went his head and up went his heels.  This unseemly behaviour
-set the other mules plunging and kicking, and before Black William, who
-had charge of the team, could quiet them, the cart was upset, and fell
-half over the ledge; the wheel-mules coming down on their sides at the
-same time.
-
-Another plunge--a violent struggle--a wild snort of terror! and over the
-precipice rolled the cart, carrying the wheelers with it.
-
-The moment "Kicking Jan" and the other leader felt the traces jerked and
-then tighten, they ceased kicking, and strained every nerve to retain
-their footing.  But their efforts were in vain!  The weight the poor
-brutes had to sustain was too much for them; they were dragged over the
-side of the ledge, and down went the cart and its team: down--down--
-down; crashing through trees and bushes and striking against rocks in
-their headlong descent; down they fell to the very bottom of the
-precipice!
-
-Horrified at this terrible catastrophe, the Major and Mr Weston ran
-back and found Black William lying in the middle of the narrow path; a
-broken "reim" clenched in his hand.
-
-"Are you much hurt?" inquired Major Flinders, picking him up.
-
-"Not mine vault, baas," blubbered the Hottentot with a frightened stare;
-"not mine vault."
-
-"No, no, William," said his master; "we know that.  You did all you
-could.  Are you hurt?"
-
-"I got kick in mine stomach; and all mine vind go," was the reply.
-
-"And our profits have gone with it, I'm afraid," said Mr Weston
-dolefully.  "'Pon my word, I'm a regular Jonah, and bring misfortune on
-all my friends!"
-
-"Don't talk like that, Maurice," said the Major sharply.  "Let us thank
-Heaven it is no worse--that no life has been lost."
-
-"And it might have been the other cart, you know," put in Tom, who had
-joined them.  "That _would_ have been a smash!"
-
-"Well, Mat, I am thankful it is no worse--on your account!"  Mr Weston
-said.  "Let us reckon up the damage."
-
-Major Flinders smiled, and replied:--"There's the cart, forty pounds;
-four mules, at, let me say, twelve pounds a head--that's as much as they
-were worth!--forty-eight pounds; harness and sundries another fifteen.
-I think a hundred will cover everything; so we sha'n't lose all our
-profits, Maurice.  And now, _en avant_!"
-
-The travellers accomplished the descent of the mountain without further
-mishap, and found shelter that night at a solitary farm situated in the
-plain below.
-
-Here they remained for a couple of days, for the mules were regularly
-knocked up, and required a long rest before they were in a condition to
-travel the last stage--a distance of forty miles.
-
-Early on the morning of the second day they once more inspanned, and the
-team being freshened considerably by their twenty-four hours "play,"
-they got over the ground in capital style, and reached Ralfontein an
-hour before sundown.
-
-CHAPTER NINE.
-
-RALFONTEIN--CAPTAIN JAMIESON AND HIS FAMILY--BUSINESS BEFORE PLEASURE!--
-THE LAST EVENING AT THE FARM--A STARTLING PROPOSAL.
-
-Captain Jamieson's farm was situated in the midst of a fertile tract of
-country, bounded on the north and east by ranges of lofty mountains and
-hills; beyond which lay vast plains and dense forests, abounding with
-wild animals and members of the feathered tribes, of every size and
-description--from the huge elephant to the diminutive "zenik;" from the
-ostrich to the tiny "creeper."
-
-The house, stables, and farm buildings stood on the summit of an
-eminence, which rose somewhat abruptly at the junction of two narrow,
-but swift streams; they were built in the form of a quadrangle, and were
-admirably planned for defence.
-
-The pasturage in the immediate neighbourhood of the farm was remarkably
-rich, wood and water were plentiful, the climate was all that could be
-desired; yet this lovely district was but thinly populated, and the
-"Squire of Ralfontein" was practically "monarch of all he surveyed,"
-there being no other settlement within five-and-thirty miles, and no
-town or village within double that distance.
-
-Donald Jamieson was--what our Yankee cousins would call--a "very
-remarkable man."  He had just turned his sixtieth year, but was as
-hearty and active as a man of forty.  The youngest son of a poor, but
-proud, Scotch laird, he had taken the "king's shilling" when a lad of
-eighteen, and after seeing much active service in all parts of the
-world, was awarded an ensign's commission in the "Cape Mounted
-Riflemen;" in which corps he remained until he obtained his troop, when
-he retired on half-pay, and took to farming.  He was now considered one
-of the most successful farmers in South Africa, and was also noted for
-his knowledge of the country, his skill as a hunter, and the influence
-he had acquired over the natives.
-
-[Although a mounted corps, the junior subs, of the C.M.R. held the rank
-of _ensign_, not _cornet_.]
-
-When Matthew Flinders exchanged from the --th Foot to the Cape Mounted
-Riflemen he was attached to Jamieson's troop, and from that time they
-had been on the closest terms of friendship.  Captain Jamieson was a
-widower; his family consisted of three sons and two daughters.  Frank,
-the eldest boy, had just turned eighteen; his brothers, James and David,
-were sixteen and fourteen respectively.  The girls were--but no, we must
-not divulge the young ladies' ages! suffice it to say that Miss Janet
-(who since Mrs Jamieson's death had acted as her father's housekeeper)
-was well out of her teens, whilst Miss Elsie had not long jumped into
-hers.  A pair of bonnier lasses could not have been found in the whole
-of Cape Colony!
-
-The young Jamiesons assisted their father in looking after the farm and
-the men employed upon it; of whom there were between twenty and thirty--
-mostly Hottentots, Korannas and Griquas, or "Bastaards;" these lived in
-decent cottages on the estate with their wives and families, and were
-all trained to the use of fire-arms; thus in the event of Ralfontein
-being attacked, it could be defended by a well-disciplined and
-well-armed garrison.
-
-"Business first, pleasure afterwards," was Major Flinders' motto; so on
-the morning after he arrived at Ralfontein he informed his host of his
-wish to purchase some horses.
-
-"You could not have come to me at a better time, Mat," was the captain's
-reply.  "I have now nearly seventy young uns--two, three, and four-year
-olds--and about half as many aged horses in the paddocks and stables;
-and early next month I expect a drove of brood mares and colts from
-Campbell's Doorp.  You can take your pick of those that are here or wait
-for the others."
-
-Major Flinders replied, that as he could not remain at Ralfontein more
-than a week he must choose from the horses then on the farm; so the next
-three days were spent in examining and trying several "young uns," of
-which the Major ultimately purchased fifteen, making up the score with
-older horses.
-
-Tom and his crony George Weston had hoped to see some big shooting
-during their stay at the Jamiesons'; but in this they were disappointed,
-as, it being a busy season at the farm, their young hosts had no
-opportunity of going out with them; however, like sensible lads, they
-contented themselves with roaming about the estate shooting hares and
-guinea-fowl, and assisting in the selection and trial of the horses;
-thus they found the time pass very quickly and the last day of their
-visit to the farm came round all too soon...
-
-"Well, my lads what think you of Ralfontein?" asked their hospitable
-host as they sat round the supper-table the evening before their
-departure.
-
-"It is the prettiest and jolliest place I ever stayed at," cried George,
-with unmistakable earnestness; "that is to say, except--except
-_Rustenburg_," he added, with some confusion.
-
-"I only wish the pater would give up Rustenburg, and settle here!"
-exclaimed Tom.  "How jolly we should all be together, and what sport
-we'd have!"
-
-"That is exactly what our friend wishes me to do, Tom," laughed the
-Major; "but I didn't think he would have found a supporter in you!"
-
-"Yes, that is true," said their host.  "I tell your father that he could
-sell Rustenburg for a large sum now, and once up here he would make no
-end of money.  You and Weston must really think it over, Mat."
-
-"And then you know, father," put in Tom, "when you had made your
-fortune, you might return to England, and buy back Flinders Court."
-
-"That's your ambition, is it!" the captain said.  "You want to become a
-Marlshire squire!  But you must see a little more of your native land
-first, Tom; and I should say that a couple of years' service in the
-`C.M.R.' would be the best way of seeing it.  Mat, my friend, let us
-have a glass together and drink to the welfare of the old corps?"
-
-"With all my heart, Donald! you and I have both served in other
-regiments, but I am sure our happiest days were spent with the `Green
-Jackets.'"
-
-"Do you think you will come up here, father?" inquired Tom as soon as
-the old comrades had drunk their toast--with "all the honours," as old
-comrades should do.
-
-"We must see what your mother says, Tom; such a `migration' is not to be
-thought lightly of," the Major replied.  "In the meantime it may satisfy
-you to know that our good friend has invited us to spend a month with
-him next year, just to see how we like it.  And now, as we have to be in
-the saddle by cock-crow, I think you youngsters had best turn in."
-
-CHAPTER TEN.
-
-FAREWELL TO RALFONTEIN.
-
-"Good-bye, and a pleasant journey to you," said Captain Jamieson, who,
-with his sons and daughters, had turned out at daybreak to see the last
-of his departing guests.  "Follow the route that I have mapped out, and
-I stake my reputation that you will find it comparatively easy
-travelling."
-
-"Shall we come across plenty of game, Captain Jamieson?" was Tom's eager
-question, as he took leave of his host.  "I am very anxious to try this
-rifle."
-
-"But you had a famous chance coming up here, Tom," laughed Frank
-Jamieson.  "There's no doubt that one or two of the blacks, who attacked
-you, fell before your aim."
-
-"That's all very well, Frank," retorted Tom, "but niggers aren't _game_,
-you know.  I want to try my hand at a tiger or buck.  I should very much
-like to send my old form-master a handsome `kaross,' made up of skins of
-my own shooting."
-
-"Well, my boy," said Captain Jamieson, "if you knock over one-thousandth
-part of the game you see 'twixt this and Rondebosch, you'll be able to
-present karosses to every master at Rugby, and feather-cloaks to their
-wives and daughters; ay, and clothe the elevens with tiger-skins into
-the bargain.  Once more, good-bye!  Hope to see you all again next
-year."
-
-"Good-bye! good-bye!" echoed his stalwart sons.
-
-"Adieu! adieu! take care of yourselves," chorused the young ladies.  And
-amidst the waving of white handkerchiefs and regretful farewells the
-little cavalcade moved off.
-
-Our friends had spent a very pleasant week at Ralfontein, and now they
-were starting on their return journey, with the twenty horses which they
-had purchased from Captain Jamieson.  Several of their purchases were
-already broken to the saddle, and had also been trained to behave
-steadily under fire; four of these horses the Major and Mr Weston
-decided to retain for their own stable, to be ridden by themselves and
-the boys.  Tom's "mount" was a useful red "skimmel" (roan) standing just
-under fifteen hands; a well-looking animal enough, with good shoulders,
-and clean, well-shaped legs, but--like most Cape horses--inclined to be
-"goose-rumped."  George rode at least twelve pounds lighter than did his
-friend, so Mr Weston picked him out a smaller horse--a nice-looking
-quiet little grey.
-
-Patrick Keown, who was an excellent rough-rider, chose a wild
-half-broken bay.
-
-"I loike to combine business wid plisure," quoth he, when he gave his
-troublesome nag the first bucketting.  "Shure, I'll `take the gay
-impidince out of his tail,' afore he's much oulder!"
-
-Black William was mounted on an ugly raw-boned animal that matched him
-in colour.
-
-The route which Captain Jamieson had advised the Major to follow lay
-across the Middel Roggeveldt, then over the Groote Karoo, striking into
-the Beaufort-Worcester track near to Kudos Kop.  From thence the road
-followed the course of the Gamska River for some miles, passed close to
-the base of the western extremity of the Black Mountains, and so through
-the Worcester and Stellenbosch districts to Cape Town, the actual
-distance which the travellers would have to cover being between 300 and
-400 miles.
-
-The Middel Roggeveldt was traversed without adventure; they saw plenty
-of game, and Tom and George proved themselves no mean shots with gun and
-rifle; but, as the former truly observed, nothing happened to crow or
-fuss about.
-
-The first difficulty the party met with occurred after they crossed the
-Newied Bergen.  A small river flows at the foot of this range of
-mountains, the road from the north-east crossing it at a place called
-Hottentot's Drift.  On arriving at the drift, Major Flinders found that,
-instead of a shallow river, a hundred and fifty yards wide at the most,
-he would have to cross a small inundated plain; for the river had
-overflowed its banks, and laid all the low land at the foot of the
-Newied Bergen, under water.
-
-It was rather awkward work getting the horses over.  Some of them did
-not like it at all, and plunged and snorted with terror; others did not
-seem to mind the water, but then they must needs try to roll.  However,
-after some trouble they were all got across; and as it was then getting
-late, the major ordered a "halt," and bivouacked for the night on the
-banks of the river.
-
-CHAPTER ELEVEN.
-
-HOW TOM AND HIS FRIEND WENT A-HUNTING; AND WHAT BEFELL THEM.
-
-Early next morning the march was resumed across the Groote Karoo--a vast
-undulating plain clothed with long waving grass, and studded with
-acacias, mimosa bushes, and camel-thorn--and towards noon on the
-succeeding day the travellers came in sight of the Black Mountains.  The
-country through which they had now to pass was still open, but the
-slopes of the neighbouring hills were thickly wooded; here game of all
-descriptions was abundant, and the spoor of deer and other animals was
-frequently to be seen.
-
-"Look, father!" cried George Weston, as they were traversing at a
-foot-pace a fine savannah.  "Look, Major Flinders, is not that a herd of
-deer feeding over yonder?"
-
-The Major drew rein, and unstrapping his field-glass looked in the
-direction indicated by his young friend.
-
-"You're right, George!" he presently exclaimed; "they're hartebeest.  I
-say, Maurice, suppose we send the youngsters after them on their own
-account?  They are quite old enough to go without `leading reins.'"
-
-"Oh, do, father!" cried George eagerly.
-
-"I'm sure you may trust us," put in Tom.
-
-"I am quite willing, Mat," replied Mr Weston, smiling at the boys'
-eagerness.  "After all, there's nothing like letting lads shift for
-themselves to make them self-reliant.  Let them go, by all means, say
-I."  Whereupon Master Tom gave vent to an ear-splitting "who-o-o-p," for
-which display of excitement he was called to order by the pater.
-
-"Gently! gently, my boy," said the Major, raising his hand; "don't get
-excited, or I shall have to withdraw my permission."
-
-Tom looked very crestfallen.
-
-"Now, listen to me both of you," continued his father.  "Do you see that
-curious-shaped hill looming in the distance?"
-
-"A little to our right, and about five miles off?" asked George Weston.
-
-"Five!" exclaimed Major Flinders.  "It is nearer five-and-twenty!  But
-that is the hill I mean.  Well, that is Kudos Kop, and we shall this
-evening encamp on the banks of the Gamska, about seven miles this side
-of it; so now if you lose sight of us, as you're pretty sure to do, you
-will know in what direction to steer."
-
-"I have my pocket-compass," said Tom, producing one from his
-breast-pocket.
-
-"That's right!  Now, see that your water-bottles are full, and put a
-pound or two of biscuit and some `biltong' [pieces of beef, venison, or
-other meat dried in the sun] into your wallets; then you'll be
-independent for the next forty-eight hours.  Bear in mind one thing!
-never when attacking any animal have both your rifles unloaded at the
-same time; always be prepared for danger, as that is the readiest way of
-escaping it.  Be very careful of your horses; don't over-ride them, and
-look out for sore backs."
-
-"All right, father, we'll not come to grief if we can help it," rejoined
-Tom, tightening his girths.  "Now, Patrick, hand us over the `grub'--
-there, that'll be plenty.  Are you ready, George?"
-
-"Yes, quite ready," was the reply.  "Come along!"
-
-"Mind you approach the herd to leeward," shouted the Major, as the boys
-galloped off.
-
-A smart "scurry" over the yielding turf soon brought our young sportsmen
-within three or four hundred yards of the unsuspecting hartebeest, when
-Tom called to his companion to pull up.
-
-"We mustn't go at them with a rush," said he.  "In fact, I almost think
-our best plan would be to tether the horses to these trees and stalk the
-herd on foot.  What do you say?"
-
-"I agree with you, old fellow," replied young Weston.  "You see we're
-not much accustomed to shoot from the saddle."  And so they both
-dismounted, tied up their horses to separate trees (for Tom's nag was
-rather given to using his heels), and having unslung and loaded their
-rifles with more than usual care, they advanced towards the hartebeest.
-The hartebeest--generally supposed to be the _Bubalus_ of the ancients--
-is one of the commonest breed of deer in Southern Africa.  It stands
-from four to four-and-a-half feet at the withers, the form of its body
-being something between that of a red-deer and a heifer; the tail
-reaches nearly to the hocks and is terminated by a tuft of coarse hair.
-The head of the hartebeest somewhat resembles that of an ox, but the
-ears are "asinine" in shape, and the eyes are placed very high; below
-each eye is a pore from which exudes a matter: this matter the
-Hottentots preserve as a rare and valuable medicine, but what diseases
-it is supposed to cure we cannot say.  The hartebeest is furnished with
-a pair of strong black horns, embossed with rings; the horns are quite
-close together at the base, diverging upwards, and at the tops bending
-rearwards in a horizontal direction almost to the tips, which are
-several inches apart.  The colour of this animal is a dark cinnamon,
-except the hind-quarter and inside the thighs, which are of a yellowish
-white; the face and the fore-part of the legs are marked with black.
-
-When galloping, the hartebeest appear to go heavily with a donkey-like
-action; but nevertheless they get over the ground quite as fast as other
-large deer; if, when followed, they manage to get ahead, they are apt to
-stop short and gaze at their pursuers.  When hard pressed, this animal--
-like the wood-antelope and nil-ghau--drops on his knees and shows fight.
-
-Cautiously the two boys crept up to the herd, keeping well under cover
-of the bushes and tufts of karoo-grass.
-
-"Now, Tom," said George, who, by the way, was much the best shot; "we're
-well within range.  I'll take that big fellow standing near those mimosa
-bushes."
-
-"All right, old boy," replied Tom.  "I shall aim at the buck grazing
-directly in front of us; it is the easiest shot of the two, I think."
-
-Bang! bang!
-
-"Missed, by all that's unlucky!" cried Tom.  "Here goes again!"  He then
-discharged his second barrel with no better effect; and the herd,
-alarmed by the report of the rifles, galloped off towards the hills.
-George Weston had wounded his buck slightly, but not sufficiently to
-prevent him from following his companions.
-
-The boys at once doubled back to the spot where they had left their
-horses, and untethering them, sprang in the saddle.
-
-Away they raced after the herd, but the latter had got a splendid start
-and kept well ahead, until they reached some low, forest-clad hills,
-which crossed the plain from north to south.  Beyond these hills the
-ground was covered with trees and tangled brushwood.  The hartebeest
-ascended the nearest hill and disappeared from sight, and the boys then
-pulled up their distressed and panting horses and looked at each other
-with inquiring eyes.
-
-"What's to be done?" asked Tom.  "The nags are pretty well pumped, I
-guess."
-
-"Yes, indeed," assented his companion; "we came the last mile or so at
-racing pace.  I should never have thought the hartebeest could travel so
-fast!  Shall we go back?"
-
-"What! empty-handed?" cried Tom.  "Not if I know it, old chap.  At any
-rate we might overtake the beast you wounded.  I'm sure you hit him
-hard."
-
-"Well, we can't gallop up those hills, that's certain," returned young
-Weston.  "Suppose we make for that ravine; no doubt we shall meet the
-herd again, if we have patience.  But it's no use making a `stern chase'
-of it; we must try and get round him."
-
-Tom nodding assent, they rode forward at a gentle pace, to allow their
-horses to recover wind, and presently they entered a narrow ravine, the
-precipitous sides of which were covered with arboreous and succulent
-plants.
-
-George Weston was some four horses' lengths in advance, when of a sudden
-he gave a shout of delight, as a magnificent female tree-leopard bounded
-across his path, and turned up the ravine.  Tom saw the brute, too; and
-unslinging their rifles, the boys gave chase--George maintaining his
-position ahead.
-
-The tree-leopard of South Africa (though called by Africanders the
-"Cape-tiger") is to all intents and purposes identical with the _Felis
-leopardus_ of the naturalists; in plain English, is an ordinary leopard,
-and partakes of all the characteristics of that beautiful, but dangerous
-animal--the terror alike of the timid Hindoo, the Chinee, and the savage
-islander of Sumatra.
-
-Now though the leopard will rarely attack a full-grown man, unless
-driven into a corner, he is a very awkward customer to deal with when he
-does turn; and many fatal encounters have been chronicled.
-
-[Some of our readers may remember the sad fate of Captain Bowlby, 94th
-Regiment, who, shortly before the Transvaal war broke out, was fatally
-injured by a "Cape-tiger."]
-
-Our readers will now be able to form a fair idea of the sort of "game"
-Master Thomas Flinders and George Weston thought fit to go in chase of.
-Finding herself hotly pursued, the leopard at first endeavoured to
-escape by clambering up the precipice on her left, but at that moment
-young Weston pulled up, and let fly with both barrels, inflicting a
-severe wound in the fleshy part of her shoulder.  Maddened with pain and
-mingled rage and terror, the hard pressed and well-nigh frantic brute
-turned, and springing upon George dragged him out of the saddle.
-
-Now, Tom Flinders knew well enough how savage and dangerous a leopard
-could be if once brought to bay, so when he saw his friend struggling on
-the ground, he uttered an involuntary cry of horror; then, regardless of
-the consequences, he jumped off his horse and rushed to the rescue.
-
-Taking aim at the leopard's flank, Tom gave his two barrels at once; but
-owing to his natural agitation as well as his fear of injuring George,
-he missed with both shots.  The leopard then abandoned her prostrate and
-senseless victim, and darted upon Tom with redoubled fury.  In spite of
-the suddenness and ferocity of this onset, the boy was not taken
-unawares; and clubbing his rifle he swung it round his head, and by
-great good fortune caught the terrible brute a swashing blow which
-brought her to the ground.  The butt of the rifle was shivered to
-splinters, but our young hero drew his long hunting-knife and threw
-himself on the leopard before she could regain her feet.  Deep into the
-brute's throat Tom pressed the keen blade; with one convulsive effort
-she shook herself clear of her antagonist and at the same time stunned
-him with a blow of her powerful paw; then, fatally wounded, she bounded
-off a few yards and fell dead.
-
-That night, the moon rose upon a curious scene!  Upon the bright green
-turf the two lads were stretched senseless and bleeding, and near them
-lay the carcass of their four-footed foe.
-
-CHAPTER TWELVE.
-
-MISSING!--THE SEARCH--HOW TOM WAS BESIEGED IN A CAVE--THE RETURN HOME.
-
-"Why, here come the boys!" exclaimed Major Flinders, as he and his
-friend Weston sat round the camp fire, on the banks of the Gamska River,
-smoking their after-supper pipes and chatting over old times.  "I hear
-the sound of their horses' gallop."
-
-"But you did not expect to see them much before noon to-morrow," said
-Mr Weston in a tone of surprise.  "They would never have returned so
-soon!  You must be mistaken, Mat."
-
-"There are horses galloping in this direction, that I'll swear to,"
-rejoined his friend, who had risen to his feet and was listening
-attentively.  "And what's more, they're coming towards us at a
-tremendous pace.  What say you, Keown?"
-
-Kneeling down, Patrick Keown placed his ear to the ground; and after a
-lengthened pause, replied: "They're horses, shure enough, sorr; but, by
-the beat of their gallop, I fear there's never a sowl on their backs.
-No, sorr, there's no doubt about that," he presently added.  "And
-they're slackening pace now."
-
-At that moment, as if to prove the truth of the ex-sergeant's words, two
-riderless horses cantered quickly up, and halted a few paces from the
-camp fire; they were those upon which Tom and George had ridden after
-the hartebeest in the morning!
-
-The Major and Mr Weston stared at each other in consternation.
-
-The horses were covered with sweat and dirt, and their distended
-nostrils and heaving, foam-flecked flanks bore silent but convincing
-testimony that they must have travelled some distance at a stretching
-gallop; whilst one of them--George's grey--had an ugly wound on his near
-shoulder.
-
-"Mat," said Mr Weston huskily, his face betraying his agitation and
-alarm, "the poor lads must have come to grief--possibly they have been
-attacked, and--and murdered by natives!"
-
-"I trust not, my dear Maurice; nay, I am sure that such is not the
-case," answered the Major.
-
-"In the first place, the natives would have been nearly certain to
-secure the horses; and in the second place--"
-
-"This wound in the grey's shoulder was inflicted by a wild baste, not a
-human cratur," interrupted Keown, who had caught George's horse.  "Look
-ye, Misther Weston, there are the marks of the brute's claws as plain as
-a pike-staff."
-
-"There's no mistake about it," said Major Flinders, stooping down and
-examining the grey's shoulder; "this is a tiger's work.  Maurice," he
-added, "you and Patrick Keown must remain here, whilst I take William
-and go in search of the poor boys."
-
-"I would rather go with you, Mat," replied the other.
-
-"No, old friend, do you remain here, the Hottentot is an admirable
-`tracker,' and I could not do without him.  Patrick, saddle up at once."
-
-A couple of horses were quickly saddled, and Major Flinders and Black
-William mounted.
-
-"Is there any hope, Mat?" whispered Mr Weston, as he wrung his friend's
-hand at parting.
-
-"We must hope for the best, Maurice," was the doubtful reply.
-
-It was a bright moonlight night, and the Hottentot had no difficulty in
-following the back track of the horses, as he and his master went over
-the ground at a hand-gallop.  The Major's heart was heavy, for he feared
-the worst; and for some time he rode along in silence.
-
-"What think you, William?" said he at length.  "Is there any hope that
-the young gentlemen are alive?"
-
-Black William shook his woolly head, saying: "I think tiger pull Baas
-George from his horse, and dat Baas Tom try to save him.  But tiger too
-strong for yong baas to fight."
-
-The Major's heart sank within him: not that he had had much hope from
-the first; and he bitterly reproached himself for having allowed the
-boys to go off alone.  Day was beginning to dawn when they came in sight
-of the range of hills over which the herd had disappeared when chased by
-the boys; here the `spoor' of the hartebeest was very distinct, and the
-Hottentot, tracking them to the foot of the hill, pointed out to his
-master where they had crossed.  Hope then revived in the Major's breast,
-for it struck him that the boys might have followed the game afoot, and
-during their absence the horses must have broken loose and galloped
-off--frightened most probably by some wild beast.
-
-"We will off-saddle for an hour or so, William," said he, drawing rein
-and dismounting near the entrance to the ravine.  "And do you ascend the
-hills, and--"
-
-"Vat dat, baas?" cried Black William, as a rifle-shot echoed amongst the
-hills--a shot that had evidently been fired at no great distance from
-the spot where they stood.
-
-"The boys!" shouted Major Flinders; "the boys, no doubt!  Come on, man."
-
-And springing into his saddle, he put spurs to his horse and rode up the
-ravine at full gallop, followed by the Hottentot.
-
-When Tom Flinders recovered consciousness he staggered to his feet and
-took a look around him.
-
-A few paces up the ravine lay George Weston; the dead leopard was a
-little further on; but the horses were nowhere to be seen.
-
-"This is pleasant!" said Tom, feeling himself all over to make sure that
-no bones were broken.  "How my poor head does ache, to be sure; that
-tiger must have caught me a thundering lick with his paw!  I do hope
-poor old George isn't done for," he added, kneeling down by the side of
-his friend; "he got it far worse than I did.  Halloa, George! how are
-you, old chap?"
-
-At the sound of his friend's voice George Weston's senses partially came
-back to him, and--much to Tom's relief--he made an attempt to raise his
-head; but he had been sorely mauled by the leopard, and was quite unable
-to speak, or help himself.
-
-Seeing this, Tom looked about for a suitable place to take him, and
-presently hit upon a small cavity in the hillside: thither he carried
-the senseless boy, and proceeded to dress his wounds as well as he was
-able; for George was much hurt, the leopard having severely lacerated
-his thigh with her formidable claws, besides biting him right through
-the forearm.
-
-However, Tom made him as comfortable as possible; then, seeing that
-nothing more could be done until morning, he gathered some boughs,
-brushwood, and large stones, and with them built up a rough breastwork
-in front of the cavity--which might be described as a small cave about
-six feet deep, by five or six in height.  Then he dragged the dead
-leopard within it, secured George's rifle and the shattered remains of
-his own, and, after a heart-felt prayer of thankfulness for his escape,
-lay down beside his friend, and fell fast asleep.
-
-The day was breaking when Tom Flinders was awakened by a violent blow on
-the legs.  Jumping to his feet, he seized his rifle and looked over the
-breastwork; his appearance was immediately hailed by a loud chattering,
-and a volley of stones and other missiles came whizzing about his ears.
-
-"Niggers!"  Tom exclaimed, bringing his rifle to the "ready;" "but where
-the dickens are they?"
-
-"Hi! what on earth are you about?" he shouted, as a big piece of rock
-knocked off his hat.  "You're an uncommon good shot, no doubt," he went
-on, ducking down in order to escape another stony "projectile;" "but if
-I catch a glimpse of you, I'll let you know that it is not a rook you're
-pegging at."
-
-As the boy spoke he caught sight of a dark active form swinging itself
-from tree to bush on the opposite side of the ravine; without a moment's
-thought, he raised his rifle and pulled the trigger, and down came the
-figure by the run.
-
-"There!" cried Tom angrily, for his temper was considerably ruffled.
-"I'll teach you to make a cock-shy of me!"  But now the ravine resounded
-with ear-splitting cries, and to Tom's utter amazement a whole troop of
-baboons appeared amongst the trees and bushes; and, after gibbering and
-grimacing round their deceased brother for a few seconds, they suddenly
-scampered off, springing from rock to rock, from tree to tree with
-marvellous agility, until they were lost to view.
-
-"Why, hang it all!  I must have bowled over a monkey!" was the boy's
-exclamation.  "Poor brute!  I wish I hadn't been quite so ready with my
-rifle."
-
-The next moment Major Flinders and Black William appeared in sight, and
-with a wild shout of delight Tom jumped over his barricade and ran to
-meet them.
-
-The Major looked very grave when he examined poor George's wounds, for
-he at once saw that they were of a serious, if not of a highly
-dangerous, character--such, in fact, as called for skilled treatment.
-If the boy's life was to be saved, it would be necessary to procure
-medical assistance as soon as possible.  Now the nearest place where
-Major Flinders could make certain of finding a surgeon was Fort Crause,
-a small town and military post situated some thirty-five miles to the
-east-north-east: and to Fort Crause he resolved to carry the lad without
-any delay.
-
-"We must start at once, you and I, Tom," said the Major, as he scribbled
-a few hasty lines on a leaf torn from his pocket-book.  "William will
-take this note back to Weston; I have briefly related what has occurred,
-and told him to join us at Fort Crause."
-
-"And what is to become of Patrick Keown and the horses, father?  Are
-they to follow us, or wait until we return to the Gamska?"
-
-"Keown will come on with Weston, and we shall have to change our route,
-and return home by the upper road to Tulbagh.  Now, my boy, jump up, and
-we will place George in your arms; you must hold him in as easy a
-position as you can.  There--now raise his head a little more; that will
-do!  I will lead the horse."
-
-To convey a wounded person thirty miles on horseback under a burning
-South African sun is a very dangerous experiment; and, had George Weston
-been taken the whole distance under such circumstances, he would
-certainly have suffered severely, and probably not have survived the
-journey; but happily, before they had gone very far, they fell in with
-an empty mule-waggon returning to Fort Crause, to which George was
-immediately transferred, and thus he travelled in comparative comfort.
-
-A week later Major Flinders and Tom, with the servants and horses, made
-a fresh start, and at the end of five days marched into Rondebosch; but
-George Weston was detained at Fort Crause for more than a month, and of
-course his father remained to look after him.  At first the doctor gave
-but faint hopes of his recovery--for inflammation set in, and it was
-feared that tetanus would supervene; but in the end, youth and a famous
-constitution gained the upper hand, and George was able to rise from his
-sick-bed.
-
-When, at length, he and his father returned to Rustenburg Farm, they
-found to their satisfaction that the Major had disposed of the young
-horses for nearly double the price he paid for them; so, after all,
-"Kicking Jan" did not dissipate all the profits of the expedition, but
-when every expense had been allowed for there still remained a good
-round sum to be placed to the credit of the firm of "Flinders, Weston,
-and Sons."
-
-CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
-
-TWO YEARS AFTER--RUMOURS OF WAR--GOOD NEWS FOR TOM--MR WESTON MAKES AN
-INTERESTING PROPOSAL.
-
-Nearly two years have passed since the events recorded in the previous
-chapters, and our hero is once more the guest of Captain Jamieson.  The
-Westons, too, are at Ralfontein, likewise Patrick Keown and the faithful
-Hottentot, Black William.
-
-But not Major Flinders?
-
-No; the Major is away in England with his wife and daughters, and many
-months must elapse before Tom can hope to see their faces again.
-
-But let us "hark back," and see what has happened since George Weston
-was so nearly done to death by the tree-leopard.
-
-In the spring of 1845 Mrs Flinders was suddenly seized with a sharp
-attack of illness which for some time entirely baffled the skill of the
-Cape Town doctors; and when, after weeks of anxiety and watching, they
-seemed to get the better of the disease, the poor lady was left almost
-at death's door.  Days went by without the patient showing any
-appreciable signs of improvement, and at length the doctors were obliged
-to confess that though they had checked the disorder they had by no
-means conquered it.  The plain truth was, they were altogether out of
-their depth.
-
-Said the pompous and portly Dr Brownjohn: "Major, you must, I fear,
-take our interesting patient to England, and--ha--and--"
-
-"Seek better advice," interrupted plain-spoken Mr Spike, his
-brother-medico.  "We can do nothing more, my dear sir.  The case is
-beyond us, I'm grieved to say."
-
-"And--hum!--and, I was about to say, the sea voyage may possibly benefit
-her," continued the great M.D., looking "prussic acid and strychnine" at
-his candid colleague.  "As my young friend Spike suggests," he added
-after a pause, "you _might_ consult some well-known London physician.
-Sir Timothy Glauber and Doctor Peter Bolus are both eminent men--very
-eminent men, I may say; you could not do better than seek their valuable
-advice."
-
-"But will my poor wife be able to stand the voyage?" the anxious husband
-inquired, glancing from one doctor to the other.  "She is lamentably
-weak, you know."
-
-"True--very true!" assented Brownjohn, pursing his lips.  "But let us
-hope for the best--yes, my dear sir, let us hope for the best!  While
-there's life--while there's life!--hum!  Pray, what is _your_ opinion,
-Mr Spike?"
-
-"That it is her only chance," bluntly responded Mr Spike.  "And hark
-ye, Major, take Mrs F to Newman--John Newman of Saint Margaret's
-Square.  He is not a fashionable doctor, but there's not a more clever
-fellow in the whole College of Physicians, and what is better, he has
-had wonderful experience in intricate cases.  If any man can pull your
-wife through this illness it is John Newman!"
-
-And thus it came to pass that Major and Mrs Flinders started for
-England by the next steamer, their daughters accompanying them.
-
-Now shortly before this trouble befell the Major he and Mr Weston
-(after much consideration and careful weighing of pros and cons) had,
-with the approval of Mrs Flinders, made up their minds to migrate to
-Ralfontein and enter into partnership with Captain Jamieson; and the
-former was on the point of closing with a most advantageous offer for
-Rustenburg Farm, when his wife's illness upset their plans and drove all
-other ideas from their heads.
-
-In fact, nothing more was said concerning the projected migration until
-Doctors Brownjohn and Spike advised that Mrs Flinders should be taken
-to England.  The Major then suggested that (as the above-mentioned offer
-still held good) Rustenburg should be sold forthwith, and that the
-Westons and Tom should proceed to Ralfontein as soon as the necessary
-arrangements could be made.  To this proposal Mr Weston gave a ready
-consent; and accordingly he, Gracie, and the two boys, attended by
-Patrick Keown and Black William, started for Ralfontein a fortnight
-after the mail steamer sailed from Table Bay; and at the time the
-present chapter opens they had been with the Jamiesons upwards of six
-months.
-
-And now we can go ahead with our "plain unvarnished tale" without any
-more "backing and filling."
-
-It is a chilly evening in the early part of the Cape autumn, [March,
-April, and May are the autumn months in South Africa], and Captain
-Jamieson and his family are gathered round a blazing _castange hout_
-fire in the general sitting-room of Ralfontein House.  The captain looks
-anxious and fatigued, as well he may do, for he has just returned from
-Graham's Town, whither, ten days before, he was summoned by the
-Lieutenant-Governor of the Eastern District to attend a "palaver" with
-some troublesome Caffres; and he has ridden upwards of 100 miles over a
-difficult country in less than fourteen hours--not bad work for a man
-who will never see sixty again!
-
-"So we're in for another Caffre war!"  Frank Jamieson said when his
-father informed them that the result of the "palaver" had been far from
-satisfactory.  "That makes the third in sixteen years, to say nothing of
-minor affairs."
-
-"I suppose the Caffres have grown `fat' again," observed young James.
-
-"`Fat!'" exclaimed Mr Weston; "in the name of all that's sensible, what
-has their growing _fat_ got to do with their going to war?"
-
-Captain Jamieson and his sons laughed at their friend's astonishment,
-and the former replied:
-
-"You must know, my dear Weston, that our Cape wars rarely arise from
-political causes, but chiefly from a desire on the part of the young men
-of the various tribes to distinguish themselves and earn the coveted
-title of `warrior.'  When a tribe has been some years at peace with its
-neighbours the number of young men increase; this they call growing
-`fat,' or, in other words, becoming ready to take the field.  Once in
-this condition the young men never rest until they find a pretext for
-going to war either with us or their neighbours."
-
-"And what pretext have they now?" inquired Miss Janet.
-
-"A very simple one, my dear.  Two Caffres, warriors of some standing in
-their tribe, were lately caught in the act of stealing an axe from a
-Beaufort storekeeper.  They were secured, committed by the magistrate,
-and in due course were sent down to Graham's Town with some other
-prisoners to stand their trial at the criminal court--their escort
-consisting of five or six civil constables.  Now the highroad between
-Fort Beaufort and Graham's Town runs close along the Caffre border; and
-before the constables had gone many miles they were suddenly attacked by
-a party of Gaikas, who had crossed the border with the express purpose
-of rescuing their fellow-tribesmen.  The escort appear to have made a
-stout resistance, but, overcome by their weight of numbers, they were
-forced to beat a retreat and leave their prisoners in the hands of the
-victorious Gaikas.  Now it so happened that the warriors who were the
-cause of this attack were handcuffed to two Hottentots; and their
-rescuers, not being able to unfasten the handcuffs, and being pressed
-for time, deliberately murdered these unhappy men, and, cutting off
-their arms at the elbow-joints, set their rascally friends at liberty.
-
-"When the lieutenant-governor was informed of this outrage he at once
-sent a message to the chiefs of the offending tribe, and demanded that
-the two prisoners should be brought back and the murderers of the
-unfortunate Hottentots surrendered.  But the young `amadodas' of the
-tribe were eager for war, and, their counsels outweighing the counsels
-of the older men, the government message was treated with contempt.
-
-"A `palaver' was, however, subsequently arranged for; and last Wednesday
-the lieutenant-governor, the senior officer at Graham's Town, and I
-started for the Block Drift mission station to meet the Gaika chiefs.
-They arrived at the appointed time, attended by a large body of warriors
-outnumbering the lieutenant-governor's escort by ten to one.
-
-"That the treacherous scoundrels meant mischief I am certain, but
-Captain S--who commanded the escort placed his men so judiciously that
-they made no attempt to attack us; and though the meeting was most
-unsatisfactory, at any rate it broke up without a rumpus--which was more
-than I expected.  War, of course, is imminent; for it is absolutely
-necessary that the government should bring the refractory chiefs to
-order, otherwise our prestige will be seriously damaged throughout South
-Africa."
-
-"I suppose we shall have it all our way, Captain Jamieson?" said Tom
-Flinders, now a strapping young fellow of eighteen, with an incipient
-moustache and whiskers.  "These Gaika fellows won't make much of a stand
-against our troops."
-
-"The Gaikas and their allies are brave men, Tom, and fight well," was
-the reply.  "Indeed, my experience of Cape warfare is that at first the
-Caffres have it all their own way, though in the long run they succumb
-to our superior discipline and resources.  Take the advice of an old
-campaigner, and never despise your enemies."
-
-"Shall you have to go out this time?" asked Janet Jamieson wistfully,
-putting her arm round the captain's neck.  "I hope not, dear father!"
-
-"I am afraid so, my girl," he answered gently.  "The Lieutenant-governor
-has offered me the command of a force of volunteers and burghers, and I
-could not well refuse it."
-
-"And what about us?" cried the young men in a breath.
-
-"You cannot all go, boys," interposed Miss Jamieson, the tears starting
-into her bright eyes.  "Who is to look after the farm and defend us in
-case of attack?"
-
-"Janet is right," said her father.  "Ralfontein must not be left
-unprotected, for we cannot tell how far this war may spread or how long
-it will last."
-
-"You must allow _me_ to accompany you, Jamieson," Mr Weston struck in;
-whereupon Miss Janet started and the colour left her cheeks.  "I shall
-be content to serve as a simple volunteer."
-
-"My dear Weston, I am relying on your taking command here," rejoined the
-captain, looking askance at his daughter.  "But let me tell you my
-plans.  In the first place," he went on, "the lieutenant-governor has
-offered provisional ensigncies in the Cape Mounted Rifles to Tom
-Flinders and Frank, on the--"
-
-"Hurrah!" shouted Tom, who, in spite of his incipient whiskers, was as
-great a boy as ever; "won't the pater be pleased!"
-
-"On the condition," resumed his host, smiling at the interruption--"on
-the condition that they serve a few months with my `commando,' in order
-to establish a claim on the government.  I have accepted this offer on
-their behalf; so they must go with me.  I shall also take Patrick Keown,
-as he will be useful in assisting me to drill my `irregulars' into
-something like soldiers.  So you see, my dear Weston, you must remain at
-Ralfontein and take charge of the place, with George and James and David
-as your lieutenants.  I hope you will not refuse the trust."
-
-"What say the young ladies?" was Mr Weston's rejoinder.  "Are you
-content to serve under my orders, Miss Janet?"
-
-"If papa wishes it," answered Miss Janet demurely.
-
-"Then so be it," laughed Weston; "I accept the responsible post of
-commandant of Ralfontein.  When do you start for the seat of war?"
-
-"Not for some days," responded the captain.  "Whilst at Graham's Town I
-did a stroke of business--sold thirty horses to the government.  A
-sergeant's party of the Rifles are to fetch them in the course of a week
-or so, and I propose to return with them.  And that reminds me I have
-accepted, in part payment for the horses, a brass six-pounder
-field-piece, with eighty rounds of canister, grape, and shell.  The
-escort will bring it up with them.  Should you have to defend the farm,
-you will find this gun of considerable service."
-
-The captain and Mr Weston sat up talking long after the others had
-sought their couches, and before they retired to rest Mr Weston told
-his friend that he had formed an attachment for Janet Jamieson.
-
-"I did not intend to broach the subject until I had consulted with
-Matthew Flinders," said he; "but after your request that I should remain
-in charge of your property and family during your absence, I felt in
-honour bound to mention it.  In spite of the disparity in our ages, I
-cannot but think your daughter returns my affection.  If such is the
-case, are you willing to give her to me?"
-
-And as Captain Jamieson had no objection to offer, but on the contrary
-appeared well satisfied that the "course of true love should run
-smooth," Mr Weston next morning asked Miss Janet to be his wife; to
-which tender question the young lady, with a becoming blush, said "Yes."
-
-CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
-
-OFF TO THE WARS!--JAMIESON'S HORSE--A BUMPTIOUS SUB--TOM'S FIRST PATROL.
-
-Although the Cape government declared war almost immediately after the
-"palaver" at Block Drift, some considerable time elapsed before the
-troops received final orders to take the field and enter Caffreland; and
-the first week of April was nearly over when Captain Jamieson,
-accompanied by his eldest son, Tom Flinders, and Patrick Keown, and
-escorted by the Mounted Riflemen in charge of the horses, left
-Ralfontein to assume command of the volunteers.
-
-In the interval between the captain's return from Graham's Town and his
-departure to join the army, Miss Janet and Mr Weston found time and
-opportunity to get married, at a Church of England mission chapel forty
-miles from the farm; so he bade farewell to his family with the
-consoling assurance that he was leaving them under care of one who now
-had a relation's right to comfort them in adversity or defend them in
-peril.
-
-On the thirty-second anniversary of the battle of Toulouse [Wellington
-defeated Soult at Toulouse on the 10th April, 1814.  It was the final
-battle of the Peninsular war.] (in which action Donald Jamieson, then
-sergeant-major of the --th Foot, was severely wounded) the party from
-Ralfontein arrived at Graham's Town and handed over the horses to the
-military authorities; and, having purchased a few articles likely to
-prove of service during the campaign, they proceeded to join Colonel H.
-Somerset's column, encamped at Victoria--a military post which had been
-recently established on neutral territory between the Kat and Keiskamma
-Rivers.
-
-The burgher force, of which Captain Jamieson now took command, consisted
-of about six-score well-armed, well-mounted men; for the most part
-farmers and their sons from the neighbouring settlements, with a
-sprinkling of storekeepers and clerks from Graham's Town and Bathurst.
-They were hardy, active fellows enough, accustomed to the saddle and the
-use of the rifle; but--with the exception of a few of the older hands,
-who had served on "commandos" in former wars--they were as ignorant of
-drill or military discipline as any civilian in England before the
-"volunteer movement" had been thought of.
-
-"Shure now, Masther Tom," observed Patrick Keown, regarding his future
-comrades (who had mustered and formed up to receive their commandant)
-with a critical eye, "we have here fornint us the raw _matherials_ for
-as foine a squadron of Light Horse as there is in Her Majesty's service.
-But, bedad, sorr!" he added with a solemn shake of the head, "they'll
-take a dale of _mixing_."
-
-"Mixing!" laughed Tom.  "I should say they're pretty well mixed as it
-is.  Still, I wager a dollar they know how to ride, and they'll fight
-well enough.  After all, that's the main point."
-
-"They are for work, not for show," put in young Jamieson.
-
-"True for ye, Misther Frank," the old sergeant rejoined;
-"niver-the-less, with your father's lave, I must tache them to pay
-attintion to their dhressing and intervals.  A loine is a loine, you'll
-be plased to remimber, sorr; not a sort of double semicircle."
-
-Of this irregular corps--which Captain Jamieson formed into two troops--
-Frank and Tom were appointed officers, with the local and temporary rank
-of ensign; the lieutenant-governor promising that after they had seen a
-little service he would recommend their transfer to the Cape Mounted
-Riflemen as provisional ensigns.
-
-Much to his chagrin, Patrick Keown had scant opportunity of imparting
-the "ilimints" of drill and discipline to the Albany farmers and
-townsmen who rode in the ranks of "Jamieson's Horse;" for three days
-after he was appointed sergeant-major of that corps the advance against
-the Caffres commenced.
-
-Early on the morning of the 13th April, the troops marched from Victoria
-in two columns--one commanded by Colonel Henry Somerset, Cape Mounted
-Rifles, the other by Colonel Richardson, 7th Dragoon Guards--and
-crossing the Keiskamma near its junction with Debe River, they, on the
-15th, encamped on the Debe Flats, near the base of the "Taban Doda," or
-Man Mountain; here the two columns were formed into one division, of
-which Colonel Somerset assumed command.
-
-At cock-crow on the following day the troops were again on the move;
-and, the camp having been broken up, they advanced towards the Amatola
-Mountains.  The point at which Colonel Somerset intended to enter the
-Amatolas was Burns Hill, where there was a large mission station, and
-near which the great chief Sandilli had his principal kraal.
-
-Shortly before the division was formed up, Captain Jamieson received
-orders to detail an officer and twenty men of his corps to join a
-reconnoitring party, under command of Lieutenant B--of the Mounted
-Rifles.  The officer who brought the order was a very young and
-consequential subaltern of the --th Foot, attached to Colonel Somerset's
-staff as galloper.  Said he, when he had delivered his message:
-
-"B--has orders to advance towards Burns Hill, and if he finds Sandilli's
-kraal deserted, or only held by a small force, he is to occupy it.
-You'll be good enough to make your fellows hurry themselves; in affairs
-like this it is important that no time should be lost."
-
-"They shall be in the saddle in ten minutes," the captain replied.  "I
-hear the mission station has been destroyed," he added.  "Is that so?"
-
-"Yes, but the missionaries and their people bolted, and are now at
-Graham's Town," was the reply.
-
-"Should all go well, we shall encamp at Burns Hill this evening, and
-there await the arrival of Major Sutton's `commando' of Hottentots from
-the Kat River.  If he joins us to-night, no doubt we shall be at it
-`hammer and tongs' to-morrow--or next day at the latest."
-
-"I trust we shall soon bring the Caffres to reason," Captain Jamieson
-answered, with something like a sigh.  "These oft-recurring little wars
-must inevitably ruin the country, for they paralyse every industry and
-trade; besides, the destruction of life and property is simply
-appalling."
-
-"I'm afraid we military men think more of `medals, rank, ribbons,' etc,
-than of trade, industry, or even life and property," was the flippant
-rejoinder.  "Of course that is the soldier's point of view; but you
-amateurs--"
-
-"Amateurs!" exclaimed Tom, boiling over at hearing his "chief" thus
-designated.  "_Coxy_ young--"
-
-"I am scarcely an amateur," Captain Jamieson interrupted, frowning at
-Tom to make him hold his tongue.  "Allow me to tell you, young
-gentleman, that I was present at the passage of the Douro, and saw the
-last shot of the Peninsular war fired at Toulouse.  I presume you have
-heard of the Peninsula?"
-
-"Eh!  Peninsula!  Oh, yes.  I--I--beg pardon, I'm sure!--thought you--
-you were a--a--a civilian, you know.  Very sorry--quite a mistake--
-Good--good morning!" stammered the ensign turning as red as his
-shell-jacket.  And off he cantered, muttering to himself, "Doosid
-awkward!  Put my foot into it, by George!  Hope our fellows won't hear
-about it."
-
-But "our fellows" did hear of it, and the bumptious youth got
-unmercifully chaffed in consequence; which he most thoroughly deserved,
-and which, no doubt, did him a vast deal of good.
-
-After a brief consultation with Patrick Keown, Captain Jamieson decided
-to send Tom Flinders in command of the detachment; so, twenty minutes
-later, our hero found himself cantering over the Flats at the head of a
-score of well-armed volunteers.  Each man of the detachment was armed
-with a double-barrelled rifle, hunting-knife, and horse-pistol, and
-carried a "cross-bag" (after the manner of Dutch burghers when on the
-"war-path") containing a supply of moss-biscuit and biltong, sufficient
-to last for several days.  Moss-biscuit, we may add for the information
-of our readers, is a light, dry biscuit made of fine flour mixed with
-"mosto," the unfermented juice of the grape; it will keep good for
-almost any length of time, and is both portable and nutritious.
-
-Lieutenant B--, who commanded the reconnoitring party, was a right good
-fellow, and Tom soon became friends with him.
-
-B--had been some years in the Mounted Rifles, and was considered one of
-the smartest officers in that corps; he was also an enthusiastic
-sportsman--just the man that a lad of Tom's age and disposition could
-look up to, and at the same time be on terms of good fellowship with.
-
-"Were you in the `C.M.R.' with my father?" asked Tom, as they rode side
-by side; having slackened pace in order to breathe the horses, for they
-had been "putting on the steam" since they left camp.
-
-"No; but I have often met him.  The Major, I think, retired in '29, and
-I did not get my commission until '35; just about the time Hintza was
-killed.  You will remember that business, I daresay."
-
-"Can't say I remember it, for I was quite a youngster at the time; only
-just `breeched' in fact," Tom replied, "but I have heard the pater
-mention it.  Hintza was shot when attempting to escape, was he not?"
-
-"Yes; when a prisoner on parole."
-
-"I should like to hear about it," said Tom, who dearly loved a yarn.
-
-"Well," replied his companion; "it is rather a long story, but I can
-tell you the main facts, for I was one of those who pursued him.  In
-May, 1835, Hintza, the paramount Chief of Caffreland, was a prisoner in
-the British camp, and, for his sins, had been sentenced to pay a fine of
-50,000 head of cattle.  This fine he expressed himself willing to pay,
-if he were allowed to return to his own country to superintend the
-collection of the cattle.  At first the governor would not listen to
-this, but after a lot of palaver and negotiation, it was arranged that
-Hintza should be permitted to go, under a strong escort; his son Kreilli
-and his uncle Bookoo being retained as hostages in the British camp.
-
-"An old Rifle Brigadesman, General Sir Harry Smith, was selected to
-command the escort; which consisted of both horse and foot, regulars and
-irregulars, but no artillery.  I was then serving in the `Guides' corps
-as a volunteer, and was one of those appointed to the general's
-body-guard.
-
-"Well, the column left the head-quarter camp on the banks of the Kei,
-and advanced into Caffreland by forced marches.  Hintza was treated as a
-sort of a prisoner at large, and usually rode with the general; he was
-splendidly mounted, and had been permitted to retain his arms--the usual
-bundle of seven assegais.
-
-"On the fourth morning after leaving the camp, the column reached the
-summit of a table-topped mountain.  We now had a splendid view of the
-country beyond the Bashee River, and to our surprise, saw thousands and
-thousands of cattle being driven _away_ from us.
-
-"This circumstance somewhat staggered us, and Sir Harry was examining
-the retreating masses through his field-glass, when suddenly somebody
-shouted, `Hintza has bolted!'
-
-"On hearing the cry, Sir Harry dropped his glasses and, putting spurs to
-his charger, raced after the fugitive, who had got a start of fifty or
-sixty yards.  We, of course, joined in the chase, but the general soon
-distanced us, and, overtaking the chief, ordered him to pull up;
-whereupon Hintza made a stab at him with his bundle of assegais.
-
-"Sir Harry parried the thrust, and drawing a pistol threatened to shoot
-the chief, if he did not immediately surrender.  Hintza replied by
-making another attempt to stab him, so Sir Harry fired, but without
-effect.
-
-"Thousands of Caffres were now to be seen crowning the hills in all
-directions, and towards them Hintza rode for dear life.  Once more Sir
-Harry dashed up to him, and, seizing him by his tiger-skin kaross,
-hurled him to the ground; but the impetus of his gallop carried him past
-the fallen chief, who was on his legs in an instant, and off down the
-precipitous side of the mountain.
-
-"By this time four of the Guides, who had joined in the chase, came up,
-and jumping from their horses, followed the fugitive on foot; these four
-were S--y, D--r, B--r and myself.  I sent two shots after the flying
-chief, both of which went wide of their mark; he then gained the bush at
-the foot of the hill, and disappeared from sight.
-
-"S--y and B--r now entered the bush from above, and D--r and I (who were
-further down the hill) from below; and, working towards one another, we
-presently closed in upon our human quarry, S--y being the first to come
-upon him.
-
-"Hintza was then standing up to his middle in a narrow stream, which ran
-through the bush, beneath a shelving rock; and when he caught sight of
-S--y he drew an assegai, and poised it.  Nothing daunted S--y approached
-and called upon him to surrender, whereupon the Caffre threw back his
-right arm and was in the act of hurling the assegai at his pursuer, when
-the latter, seeing that he must either kill or be killed, levelled his
-rifle and fired.  His ball struck the fugitive right in the centre of
-the forehead, and throwing up his hands, he fell backwards against a
-rock.  We rushed in and lifted him up, but the rifle-ball had done its
-work, and Hintza, the powerful Chief of Caffraria, had gone to his last
-account."
-
-"Serve the treacherous scoundrel right!" exclaimed Tom, when the
-lieutenant came to the end--the tragical end--of his narrative.  "Had he
-got the escort into his power not one of you would have lived to tell
-the tale.  I suppose that was what he was aiming at?"
-
-"No doubt of it; his purpose was to entice us into the heart of his
-country, and then surround us with an overwhelming force," rejoined Mr
-B--.  "He played a bold game, and lost it!  Still we were, one and all,
-from the general downwards, sorry for his untimely death; and nobody
-more so than the man who shot him.  And now, Flinders, I think you had
-better ride with your troop, for yonder is Burns Hill.  The mission
-station lies to the right, and Sandilli's kraal is a little beyond it."
-
-In another ten minutes they came in sight of the mission station, and
-B--galloped forward to join his advanced files.
-
-"Keep your fellows well in hand," said he to Tom, before riding off;
-"and be ready to support me if necessary.  From the fact that the houses
-and chapel are still standing, I am inclined to think that Sandilli
-intends to hold his ground."
-
-Mr B--, however, was mistaken, for on approaching, with every
-precaution, Burns Hill, he found that both the mission station and the
-chief's kraal were deserted; but though the former was not burned down
-(as had been reported), every house had been ransacked, and broken
-furniture, papers, school-books, Bibles, and many other articles lay
-scattered in all directions.
-
-"Verily, the Caffre is a destructive animal!" cried Tom, when he rode up
-and surveyed the scene.  "His bump of mischief must be strongly
-developed."
-
-"A European mob would commit quite as much damage, if in the mood,"
-Lieutenant B--answered.  "I don't think there would be much to choose
-between Santerre's `sans culottes,' and Sandilli's `amadodas.'  But
-behold our only trophy!" he added, holding up a couple of lions' tails.
-"Sergeant Jackson found them at the entrance of the chief's hut."
-
-"What are they?" asked Tom.  "Chamboks?"  [A peculiar kind of thonged
-whip.]
-
-"Chamboks! no indeed; they're the Caffre emblems of royalty."
-
-Towards noon the division reached Burns Hill, and encamped near the
-mission station, and shortly afterwards Major Sutton's "commando"
-marched up, and formed a separate camp on the other side of the
-Keiskamma River.  So when the tired soldiers lay down to rest that night
-it was pretty well understood that there would probably be warm work on
-the morrow.
-
-CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
-
-TOM RECEIVES AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION--WITH THE CAPE RIFLES--MOUNTAIN
-WARFARE--FORMIDABLE ODDS--THE EFFECTS OF SHELL.
-
-Shortly before daylight on the 17th April, the trumpets of the 7th
-Dragoon Guards and of the Cape Mounted Rifles, and the shrill bugles of
-the infantry corps, sounding the "reveille," roused Tom Flinders from
-his slumbers; and hardly had he finished a very hasty toilet, and made a
-hastier breakfast (consisting of a piece of biltong, a handful of
-"moss-biscuit," and a draught of icy-cold water from a neighbouring
-spruit), when the clear notes of the "assembly," quickly followed by
-those of "boot and saddle," rang through the still morning air.
-
-"Now, old chap," cried Frank Jamieson, who was already in the saddle,
-"look alive!  Sergeant Keown is calling the roll; and--why, here comes
-the governor looking very down on his luck!  What's the matter, father?"
-he added as Captain Jamieson cantered up.
-
-"Matter enough," growled the old gentleman--"matter enough!  We're to
-remain in camp instead of marching with the column of attack.  Where's
-that boy Tom Flinders?"
-
-"Here am I, sir," replied our hero from under the saddle-flap; for he
-was tugging away at the girths.  "Bother these buckles! they're as stiff
-as--"
-
-"Never mind the buckles, but listen to me," his chief struck in.  "Your
-friend B--of the Mounted Rifles has got leave for you to be attached to
-his troop for to-day.  Will you go with him?"
-
-"Will a duck swi--I beg pardon, sir; I mean I'll go like a shot," cried
-Tom.
-
-"To get shot!--eh, Tom?" laughed Frank Jamieson.
-
-"But I say, sir," continued Tom after a moment's thought, "perhaps Frank
-would like to--"
-
-"Frank's all right, my boy," interrupted Captain Jamieson; "he is to
-ride `galloper' to Major Sutton.  And now the sooner you're off the
-better.  The Rifles are parading."
-
-And Tom, thrusting the remains of his morning meal into his haversack,
-shook hands with the captain and Frank, jumped into the saddle, and
-galloped off to the Rifle lines, where he found Lieutenant B--awaiting
-him.
-
-At a "council of war," held at the Burns Hill mission station on the
-previous evening, Colonel Somerset and his brother-commanders had
-decided to form the division into three columns of attack; and it was in
-this order that the troops took the field on the morning of the 17th
-April.
-
-The right column, which was composed entirely of infantry corps,
-commanded by Major Glencairn Campbell, 91st Foot, entered the Amatola
-Mountains at the gorge of the Amatola Basin, with Mount McDonald on the
-right and the Seven Kloof Mountain on the left.
-
-The centre column, consisting of two squadrons of the Cape Mounted
-Riflemen and Sutton's Kat River Burgher Horse, crossed the Keiskamma
-River and ascended one of the ridges of the Seven Kloof Mountain to its
-summit.
-
-The left column, under Colonels Somerset and Richardson, consisting of
-the 7th Dragoon Guards (the "Old Black Horse," as they loved to be
-styled) and the remaining troops of the Mounted Rifles, with a
-half-battery of artillery, advanced towards the Seven Kloof Mountain,
-and, passing along its base, marched in the direction of Chumie Hoek.
-
-The troop of the "C.M.R.," to which Tom Flinders was attached, was with
-the centre column, which was led by Major Armstrong, with Major Sutton
-as his second in command.
-
-When at length, after a toilsome climb up a steep mountain path winding
-amongst patches of bush and rocky boulders, Major Armstrong's horsemen
-reached the summit of the Seven Kloof Mountain, they beheld a strong
-body of Caffres drawn up in the shape of a crescent, with a dense forest
-in their rear and their front protected by a tangled mass of brushwood
-and swamp, apparently impracticable for cavalry.
-
-At the same time the incessant rattle of musketry in the Amatola Basin
-below told them that Campbell's infantry were hotly engaged with the
-enemy.
-
-"They seem to be having a pretty warm time of it down there," observed
-Tom to his friend B--.
-
-"You're right, Flinders," the other replied.  "And I can tell you those
-fellows yonder will give us a warm time of it _up here_.  Hark to the
-yelling savages!  'Pon my word, they're no--"
-
-"No worse than `Santerre's sans culottes,'" Tom broke in with a sly
-laugh, as he called to mind his friend's previous remarks anent the
-"noble savage."
-
-"I never meant to say that they were," retorted B--; "so none of your
-chaff, my boy!  But they are very fiends for all that, and Heaven help
-the poor fellows who fall into their hands!  For my part, I'd rather be
-shot fifty times over than be taken alive by Sandilli's warriors."
-
-"Oh, I don't know," Tom carelessly replied.  "`While there's life
-there's hope,' as old Brownjohn used to say."
-
-"Old Brownjohn, whoever he may be, wouldn't have much hope left in him
-if he once fell into a Caffre's clutches," was B--'s dry remark.  "In a
-warfare like this our motto should be that of Napoleon's old guard--`We
-die, but we do not surrender!'  Here comes Major Armstrong.  I wonder if
-he intends to attack the enemy's position?"
-
-All this while the Caffres had been jeering at their foes, uttering loud
-cries of defiance and derision, brandishing their weapons and shields,
-and daring them to give battle.  This insolent behaviour was very
-galling to the Mounted Rifles and their Kat River comrades, and they
-were naturally impatient to accept the challenge and teach the sable
-warriors a sharp lesson.  But Major Armstrong, after consulting with his
-second in command, decided that the enemy's position was too strong for
-him to attack; and so he gave the word for the column to move on towards
-Chumie Hoek, in order that he might effect a junction with Colonel
-Somerset.
-
-Though both officers and men were greatly disappointed at their leader's
-decision, they could not but own that he was acting wisely.  It was one
-of those cases when "discretion becomes the better part of valour," and
-inclination has to give way to duty.
-
-Directly the column was put in motion, the Caffres, advancing with
-discordant yells (wherewith they thought to strike terror into the
-hearts of their foes), made an attack on its rear, and some smart
-skirmishing took place; but they never came to very close quarters, and
-after a while retired, leaving the column to proceed on its way
-unmolested.
-
-Armstrong now led his troops down a steepish descent on to a low ridge
-which divided the Amatola Basin from the Chumie Hoek, at the foot of the
-Hog's Back Mountain.  Just as he reached the ridge Campbell's infantry
-made their appearance, toiling up the precipitous slope of a lofty hill
-out of the valley of the Amatola, fighting desperately as they went, and
-evidently hard pressed by superior numbers.  They had been attacked
-immediately after entering the gorge of the basin, and had been in
-action ever since; their losses had been considerable, and many of the
-wounded had fallen into the enemy's hands, there being no means of
-carrying them off the field.
-
-Now between Major Armstrong's column and the infantry there was a steep
-rocky ledge, so that it was quite out of the question his despatching
-mounted troops to their assistance.  Major Campbell, however, when he
-caught sight of the riflemen, ordered his well-nigh exhausted soldiers
-to make for the ledge, where the ground became comparatively open;
-whereupon Armstrong, seeing his opportunity, placed a couple of troops
-in such a position as would enable them to charge the enemy should he
-venture upon the open ground.
-
-This some of the Caffres presently did, and then the squadron of Mounted
-Rifles went at them with a will, and, driving them back, sent them
-flying right and left into the valley below; at the same time Lieutenant
-B--'s troop dismounted, and, advancing to the brink of the ledge, held
-it until the last of Campbell's infantry had passed over in safety.
-This was not accomplished without loss, for two riflemen were shot dead,
-and Tom Flinders got a musket ball right through his "dopper" hat.
-
-Shortly afterwards Colonel Somerset came up from the direction of the
-Chumie Hoek to his lieutenant's support, bringing with him two
-field-guns.  These guns were at once unlimbered, and the Caffres were
-treated to a dose of shell which very soon sent them to the right-about,
-driving them out of bush and from behind rocks, and dispersing them in
-all directions, until there was not one to be seen save upon the distant
-hills.
-
-"That's always the way!" angrily exclaimed a rifle officer as the enemy
-rapidly dispersed.  "Directly we get a really fair chance at these
-beggars, they disappear like magic.  And yet I'd wager a month's pay and
-allowances that, if a small party of our fellows ventured only just out
-of range of the guns, they would be surrounded and cut to pieces before
-we could proceed to their assistance."
-
-Colonel Somerset now ordered the columns to re-form; and the wounded
-having been placed, some on the gun-limbers and others in front of their
-mounted comrades, the troops moved down the slope of the hill to the
-Chumie Hoek.
-
-The afternoon was now pretty far advanced, so Colonel Somerset gave up
-all idea of returning to the camp at Burns Hill, and decided to move on
-to an open plain beneath the high point of the Seven Kloof Mountain,
-close to the sources of a stream known as the "Geel Hout" River, and
-there bivouac until morning.  But before continuing his march to this
-spot the colonel wrote a hasty despatch to the camp commandant at Burns
-Hill, directing that officer to advance at break of day to Chumie Hoek
-with all his forces, guns, ammunition waggons, and camp equipage; and
-this despatch he intrusted to one of his staff to carry back to the
-mission station.
-
-A mounted party was at once detailed to escort the staff-officer on his
-dangerous mission, and, acting on Lieutenant B--'s advice, Frank
-Jamieson and Tom Flinders obtained leave to accompany the officer, so
-that they might rejoin their own corps in time to be with it during the
-morrow's march.  The escort, consisting of a subaltern and twenty-five
-picked troopers of the Mounted Rifles and four of Sutton's Kat River
-Burghers, paraded about four o'clock; and, arms and accoutrements having
-been carefully inspected, the word was given to "mount" and "away!"
-
-CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
-
-THE ATTACK ON THE ESCORT--FIFTY TO ONE!--A DEED OF "DERRIN' DO"--ARRIVAL
-AT THE CAMP--BAD NEWS.
-
-The most direct route from the Chumie Hoek to the Burns Hill mission
-station led along the valley up which Campbell's infantry column had
-fought its way that morning; through the gorge of the Amatola Basin,
-then across a branch of the Keiskamma River, and so on to the camp.  A
-cattle "trek" passed through the valley; but it was ill-defined and
-difficult to follow, being intersected at frequent intervals by spruits
-and gulches, and in many parts entirely obliterated by thick patches of
-"bosch," huge boulders, and tangled masses of "waght-en-beetje," or
-"wait-a-bit" thorn.  The march of the column was, however, only too
-clearly marked by the sad traces of the morning's bloody fray; for here
-and there lay the mutilated corpses of the poor soldiers who had fallen
-in the fight, presenting a ghastly spectacle, stripped as they were of
-their uniform, and gashed and hacked beyond all recognition.
-
-Along this rough cattle-track the escort proceeded at a smart canter,
-both officers and men keeping a sharp look-out, as the track was
-commanded by projecting spurs and bluffs where hundreds of the enemy
-might be lurking, ready to pounce down upon and annihilate an isolated
-body of troops.  Tom Flinders, with the four Burgher horsemen and two
-troopers of the Mounted Rifles, rode twenty horse-lengths in advance;
-then came the main body of the escort in "half-sections," with
-"flankers" thrown out on either hand; and Frank Jamieson, with a
-non-commissioned officer and four troopers, brought up the rear.
-
-In this order they rode for a considerable distance without seeing a
-solitary Caffre; and they were beginning to hope that the enemy had
-really retired far away into the surrounding hills, and that they would
-reach their destination without having to fight their way through a
-horde of bloodthirsty savages, when one of the Kat River men caught Tom
-Flinders by the arm, and, pointing to some huge boulders that lay a few
-yards to the right of the track, exclaimed: "Oh, mynheer! there are the
-Caffres!"  And Tom, looking in the direction indicated, descried the
-woolly heads of several dusky warriors who were lying in ambush behind
-the rocks.
-
-Seeing that they were detected, these Caffres at once sprang up from
-their hiding-place, and, with their old-fashioned flint-lock muskets and
-fowling-pieces (which were mostly loaded with small bullets cast out of
-zinc or pewter stolen probably from the neighbouring farm-houses),
-commenced a hot but ill-directed fusillade on the escort; whereupon
-Lieutenant S--, the officer in command, at once called in his rear
-files, and the whole party, bending low in their saddles to avoid as
-much as possible the leaden shower, dashed past the rocks at racing
-pace.  But hardly had they run the gauntlet of this ambuscade when
-numbers of the enemy came leaping down from the wooded slopes of the
-valley, and, forming across the track, opened fire at about thirty
-paces' distance.
-
-Coolly as if on parade, Lieutenant S--halted his men and wheeled them
-into line.  "We must cut our way through those fellows," said he as he
-fitted fresh caps to his double-barrel.  [When in action most of the
-officers of the C.M. Riflemen carried double-barrelled sporting rifles.]
-"But first we'll give them a volley.  Take it quietly, my lads, and
-don't throw a shot away if you can help it."  The volley was delivered--
-somewhat hastily, it must be confessed, though not altogether without
-effect, for several of the Caffres fell before it.
-
-Then, bursting over the rough ground that intervened between them and
-their enemy, the little band of horsemen charged down upon the yelling,
-surging horde.  The majority of the Caffres broke before this gallant
-charge, scattering right and left to take refuge in the bush and amongst
-the rocks; but many stood their ground bravely.
-
-Then for the space of six or seven minutes there ensued a regular melee;
-the troopers, urging forward their half-maddened steeds, wielded their
-sabres right manfully, and slashed and thrust at their opponents, who in
-their turn offered a stubborn resistance, striving to drag the soldiers
-from their saddles, and stabbing furiously at the horses' bellies as
-they were ridden down; until at length the escort cut their way right
-through "the black shining wall of human flesh," and rode onwards at a
-swinging canter.
-
-Tom Flinders--who had borne himself in the melee as gallantly as any
-veteran _sabreur_--was one of the last to get clear through; and he was
-racing to catch up his comrades when he heard a voice shout out: "Tom!
-Tom Flinders! for Heaven's sake don't leave me!"  He at once turned in
-his saddle, and to his horror saw Frank Jamieson standing across the
-body of his gallant "mooi paard," [grey horse] and defending himself
-against half a dozen Caffres, who were attacking him with their
-assegais.
-
-Wheeling his horse round like lightning, Tom galloped to the rescue of
-his friend, and swooping down upon the group rode clean over two of the
-Caffres, knocking them right and left like nine-pins.  A third--a
-herculean warrior, whose leopard-skin kaross bespoke the chief--sprang
-at his horse's head and clung to the bridle; but the brave lad, rising
-in his stirrups, threw all his strength into one downward cut, and the
-big chief, cloven clean through the brain-pan, fell beneath the horse's
-feet.
-
-"Well done, young Flinders!" cried a cheery voice--"well done, my boy!"
-And the next moment Lieutenant S--dashed up and put to flight the other
-Caffres, just as they were on the point of assegaiing Frank Jamieson,
-whose sword had broken short off at the hilt, leaving him entirely at
-the mercy of his assailants.
-
-"Jump up behind me, Jamieson," Mr S--said as the Caffres made off, "and
-let us get out of this before those savages come on again.  I've had
-enough fighting for one day!  Now, Flinders, ride for your very life!"
-
-And Frank, being safely mounted _en croupe_, they rode at full speed
-after their comrades, who, not perceiving their absence, had galloped on
-and were now nearly a quarter of a mile ahead.  Fortunately, however,
-the Caffres did not follow in pursuit; so they rejoined their friends
-without further misadventure.
-
-An hour later the escort arrived safely at Burns Hill...
-
-When the staff-officer delivered his despatch to the camp commandant he
-learned, to his astonishment, that the troops left behind at Burns Hill
-had been hotly engaged with the enemy, who early in the day had attacked
-the camp, and, though finally repulsed with heavy loss, had succeeded in
-carrying off a number of draught cattle.
-
-In the hope of recapturing these cattle, a troop of the 7th Dragoon
-Guards under Captain Bambric (a fine old officer who had fought at the
-battle of Waterloo), and a strong party of the Cape Mounted Riflemen
-under Lieutenant Boyes, had followed the daring Caffres into the bush,
-but, being attacked at a disadvantage by a vastly superior force, they
-had been compelled to retire, leaving their veteran leader _mort sur le
-champ de bataille_.
-
-CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
-
-FIGHTING THEIR BATTLES O'ER AGAIN.
-
-The sun had set and "retreat" long since been sounded when the escort
-reached Burns Hill, so that by the time Tom Flinders had reported
-himself to Captain Jamieson, had seen his horse fed, watered, and
-"fettled up" for the night, and had got rid of the traces of his arduous
-day's work, the officers of the various detachments in camp were already
-gathered round the big watch-fire, and were eating their frugal supper,
-talking over the stirring events of the day, or paying a soldier's
-tribute to the memory of their brave comrades who only the evening
-before formed part of their circle, but who now lay stiff and stark in
-the distant bush.  Of those who had ridden in from Chumie Hoek the first
-to join the group round the fire was Lieutenant S--, and he at once
-proceeded to relate the gallant manner in which Tom had rescued Frank
-Jamieson from the Caffres.  Said he warmly: "It was one of the pluckiest
-things I have seen for a long time.  Young Flinders is a fine lad, and
-will make a capital officer."
-
-"He is a `chip of the old block,' as those of you who know Matthew
-Flinders will agree," put in Captain Jamieson, who had heard full
-particulars from his son.  "I'm proud of him, I can assure you."
-
-"And here comes the young hero!" exclaimed Mr S--as Tom walked up to
-the fire.  "We were just talking of you, Flinders," he added, slapping
-the lad's shoulder.  "By Saint George, sir, that cut you delivered was
-worthy of Shaw the life-guardsman!"
-
-"Sit beside me, Tom," said Captain Jamieson, making room for him.
-"We'll find a bone for you to pick somewhere.  I can't say all I wish to
-say now," he went on in a low tone.  "But you know how deeply I--eh, my
-dear boy!"  And the old officer pressed his young friend's hand.
-
-"Allow me to congratulate you on your debut in the battle-field, Mr
-Flinders," called out Major G--, the camp commandant.
-
-"My friend here has informed me of your gallant behaviour, and you may
-be sure I shall report most favourably of you to the brigadier."
-
-Our hero was quite taken aback at thus publicly receiving so much
-"kudos," and he felt not a little relieved when the conversation turned
-from his personal exploits to matters of more general interest.
-
-"The campaign has opened with some hard fighting," observed Major G--;
-"and I fully expect that Sandilli and his warriors will give us
-considerable trouble before we subdue them."
-
-"If they attack us to-morrow on the line of march we shall have our work
-cut out for us," said another dragoon officer.  "It will be no easy job
-to guard the waggons with the force we have."
-
-"No, indeed," responded an artillery captain, who had some experience of
-South African warfare.  "Thompson tells me that we have over a hundred
-bullock-waggons to escort, to say nothing of our guns and ammunition
-train.  We shall have to fight tooth and nail to take them through.
-What route do you propose to take, major?"
-
-"Well," replied the major, "Jamieson, who knows the country thoroughly,
-advises me to follow the regular waggon-track--"
-
-"_Ir_-regular waggon-track, major," laughed Mr S--.  "The roads about
-here are not _macadamised_, though there's plenty of _metal_ on the
-surface."
-
-"Well, then, the _ir_-regular waggon-track that runs along the banks of
-Keiskamma and skirts the high ground upon which the ruins of Fort Cox
-stand," continued Major G--good-humouredly.  "It is a somewhat
-circuitous route, but in this case the `longest way round is the
-shortest way there.'  No doubt we shall have to fight over every yard of
-the ground when once we are across the river."
-
-"'Pon my honour, Jamieson," struck in an old captain of the Mounted
-Rifles, "Sandilli promises to give Somerset as much trouble as your old
-friend Marshal Soult gave the Duke!"
-
-"As the Duke gave Soult, you mean?" was the retort.
-
-"By the way, Jamieson," said Major G--, "talking of Soult reminds me of
-your promise to give us an account of the part your old regiment played
-at Albuera.  Suppose we have it now?  It is just the time and place for
-an old campaigner to `fight his battles o'er again.'"
-
-A murmur of approval greeted the major's suggestion; and so Captain
-Jamieson, willing to accede to what was evidently the wish of his
-companions-in-arms, thus commenced his "oft-told tale."
-
-"The early spring of 1811 found me an `impatient patient' in the General
-Hospital at Belem, suffering from the effects of a dangerous gunshot
-wound received at Busaco during our retreat down the valley of the
-Mondego.  You must know that I was then colour-sergeant of the Light
-Company of the --th Foot; and my regiment--which was attached to
-Colborne's Brigade, 2nd Division--had marched in pursuit of Massena,
-who, having broken up his camp before Torres Vedras on the 2nd March,
-was retiring into Spain, laying waste the country as he went.
-
-"Great was my disappointment at not being allowed to march with the
-regiment; for I began to fear lest my continued absence from the colours
-might lead my comrades to suppose that I had become a `Belem Ranger,'
-and did not intend to soldier any more.  However, I was not detained in
-hospital very much longer, for at the end of April the doctors
-pronounced me fit for duty; and I was forthwith sent, with a large draft
-of men belonging to various corps, to rejoin the --th.
-
-"After a fatiguing march the draft joined the 2nd Division at Albuera on
-the 13th May, and to my great pleasure I found myself reposted to the
-`Light Bobs.'
-
-"Marshal Beresford was then in command of the 2nd Division, General
-Rowland Hill, its proper leader, being away on leave.  Colborne was our
-brigadier.
-
-"Beresford had taken up a position on the heights of Albuera to cover
-the siege of Badajos, information having been received that Soult (with
-19,000 veteran infantry, 4000 cavalry, and 40 guns) was advancing from
-Seville to the relief of the beleaguered fortress.
-
-"To oppose the French marshal, Beresford had 32,000 men of all arms; but
-of this number only 7000 were British troops, the remainder being
-Spaniards and Portuguese under Blake and Castanos.
-
-"On the 15th May Beresford took post on the Albuera range, about seven
-miles from the town and fortress of Badajos.  This range extends for
-four miles, and, being easy of ascent, is practicable for both cavalry
-and artillery.  Along the eastern base of the hills flow the Albuera and
-its tributary the Feria, and between these two rivers is a wooded range
-of hills.  This range Beresford most unfortunately neglected to occupy.
-
-"The village of Albuera is situated above the river just at the junction
-of the main roads to Badajos and Seville, and Talavera and Valverde.
-
-"Beresford placed Blake's Spaniards on the right of the position; the
-British held the centre; Colborne's brigade (consisting of the 3rd,
-31st, 48th, and `ours') being posted near the village, which was
-occupied by Alten's Hanoverians; the Portuguese were on the left.
-
-"On the evening of the 15th the light company of the --th was ordered to
-parade for piquet, and Captain Clarke marched us down to a narrow stone
-bridge spanning the Albuera in front of the village.  Towards eight
-o'clock on the morning of the 16th Soult sent a battery of light guns,
-and some squadrons of light cavalry under Godinot, towards the bridge;
-and as soon as they had unlimbered, the French artillerists opened a
-smart cannonade upon our position, under cover of which Godinot's light
-horsemen advanced as though they would charge across the bridge, which
-was barely wide enough to allow three horses to cross abreast.
-
-"`This is but a feint, Sergeant Jamieson,' Captain Clarke said to me as
-we watched the movements of the enemy.  `This is a feint, I feel sure.
-Depend upon it, Soult will try to turn our right, which is our weak
-point.'
-
-"Now it happened that Beresford, who had come round to visit the
-piquets, overheard my captain's remark, and turning sharply round, said:
-
-"`They are going to retreat, sir.  I expect to attack their rear-guard
-by nine o'clock!'
-
-"The words were hardly out of his mouth when an aide-de-camp galloped up
-from the right, where the Spaniards were posted, with the alarming
-intelligence that our _right was turned_!
-
-"We afterwards learned that during the night Soult had quietly
-concentrated 15,000 troops, with 30 guns, behind the wooded range which
-Beresford left unoccupied, within ten minutes' march of our weakest
-point--the right; and this movement he carried out entirely unknown to
-Beresford or his lieutenants, who remained in total ignorance of the
-proximity of this powerful force until it was too late to interpose
-between it and the Spaniards.
-
-"So Blake was vigorously attacked and driven back with great slaughter;
-and Soult, confident that the day was won, pushed forward his columns.
-
-"At this critical moment General Sir William Stewart galloped up to our
-brigadier and ordered him to move to the right in support of the
-Spaniards; our company then rejoined the battalion.  Without waiting to
-form order of battle the brigade, led by the fiery William Stewart,
-doubled up the hill in open column of companies, and, passing the
-Spanish right, attempted to open line by succession of battalions as
-they arrived.  But the French fire was too hot and well-directed to be
-borne quietly, and before the manoeuvre was completed the word was given
-to `charge.'
-
-"With a ringing cheer we dashed onwards, but when close to the enemy the
-`halt' was unexpectedly sounded, and the `retire' followed almost
-immediately.  At this time a heavy rain was falling, which obscured the
-view; and whilst we were wondering why the `retire' had sounded the
-enemy's cavalry appeared in rear of the `Old Buffs,' who were, I
-believe, in the very act of re-forming column.
-
-"We then advanced again; but before we had moved many paces a perfect
-swarm of Polish lancers, supported by several squadrons of
-chasseurs-a-cheval, charged the rear of the brigade and threw the four
-regiments into confusion.  Separated and taken at a terrible
-disadvantage, our men had to act for themselves; so they formed groups
-of six or eight, and thus withstood the furious onslaught of the savage
-Poles.  Many of the officers joined the men, and prepared to sell their
-lives dearly; for quarter was neither given nor asked for.  Captain
-Clarke, his junior subaltern, Ensign Hay, and I, found ourselves in the
-midst of a group composed of a dozen men of our own company.  Clarke
-snatched up a musket and blazed away as fast as he could ram home the
-cartridges, encouraging the men a while with words of approval or
-exhortation.  Ensign Hay followed the captain's example, and fired as
-hard as he could fire; and I too abandoned my pike for `Old Brown Bess,'
-and may safely say that I never made better practice.
-
-"All this time the Polish lancers were wheeling round the groups,
-stabbing at us with their long lances whenever they got a chance.  It
-was reported afterwards that they had been promised a doubloon apiece if
-they broke the British line.  Gradually our men became mixed up with
-these lancers and with the chasseurs and French linesmen; and every one
-of us was thrusting and parrying, hacking and guarding, loading and
-firing, to the best of his ability.  Never have I witnessed such a
-melee.
-
-"I saw a savage-looking, bare-headed lancer attack our ensign and run
-him through the lungs, the lance coming out at his back.  He fell, but
-regained his feet immediately.  The Pole again delivered point, his
-lance striking Hay's breast-bone; down he went as if shot, whilst his
-assailant pitched over his horse's head and rolled over in the mud
-beside him.  I ran forward to the ensign's assistance, but came in
-collision with a chasseur-a-cheval, who cut at me with his sabre and
-brought me on my knees.  I staggered up and drove my bayonet through his
-leg, pinning him to the saddle.  He then cut at me again, inflicting a
-severe wound on my head and partially depriving me of my senses.  At
-that moment my adversary's horse was killed by a musket ball, and in its
-fall the poor brute crushed me to the ground.  I struggled hard to
-regain my feet, but the weight of the dead charger kept me down, and so
-I was placed _hors-de-combat_ for the rest of the day.
-
-"In this desperate hand-to-hand encounter Colborne's brigade suffered
-terribly, for of the four regiments composing it the 31st alone was able
-to form square when the French cavalry charged us.  The 3rd Buffs, the
-48th, and `Ours' were nearly annihilated.
-
-"At length a gust of wind blew aside the mist and smoke and revealed our
-desperate condition to General Lumley, who was in the plain below; and
-he at once despatched four squadrons of heavy dragoons against the
-lancers.  Almost at the same moment Houghton's brigade came up, and
-Major Julius Hartmann brought his light guns into action.
-
-"When I heard the artillery thundering over the ground I gave myself up
-for lost, making sure that they must inevitably gallop over me; but they
-passed a few yards to my right, and, quickly unlimbering, opened fire.
-
-"The battle was now continued with redoubled fury; the guns belched
-forth grape at half-range, the musketry kept up an incessant rattle; and
-the carnage on both sides was truly awful.  Presently our gallant
-fellows found that their ammunition was beginning to run short, and they
-were obliged to slacken fire; and at this juncture--misfortunes never
-come single--another French column established itself on the right
-flank.
-
-"Marshal Beresford--who had been doing his utmost to induce the cowardly
-Spaniards to advance to the assistance of their well-nigh vanquished
-allies--now saw that retreat was inevitable, and he most reluctantly
-gave the unwelcome order.  But happily the battle was saved by the
-_moral_ courage--hark ye to that, you young fellows!--by the _moral_
-courage of a young staff-officer, Colonel Hardinge, [afterwards Lord
-Hardinge, commander-in-chief], who entirely on his own responsibility
-rode off at full speed to General Cole (who had just arrived from
-Badajos) and urged him to advance with the 4th Division and
-Abercrombie's brigade of the 2nd Division.  Cole readily assented, and
-at once led the 7th and 23rd Fusiliers, flanked by a battalion of
-Portuguese cacadores, up the hill; whilst Abercrombie's brigade followed
-in support.
-
-"Separating themselves from the crowd of broken soldiery, these fresh
-troops attacked the French with irresistible fury, and slowly but surely
-drove them back to the farthest edge of the hill.  In vain did Soult
-call upon his veterans to hold their ground, in vain did he bring up his
-reserves; nothing could withstand Cole's splendid infantry; and after a
-desperate struggle the French masses went down the slope of the hill,
-breaking like a loosened cliff.
-
-"The battle was over.  By three o'clock the last shot had been fired,
-and the remnant of the British troops, who had fought with such devoted
-courage, stood triumphant on the bloodstained ground.  Since that
-memorable day I have taken part in many a `stricken field,' but never
-have I seen harder fighting than at the battle of Albuera."
-
-"It was indeed a brilliant affair," said Major G--n when the old officer
-stopped speaking; "and our soldiers gave unmistakable proof of their
-superiority over Bonaparte's veterans.  Pray, what were the losses on
-either side?"
-
-"I cannot say how the Spaniards and Portuguese came off; but out of 6000
-British and Hanoverian troops actually engaged more than 4000 were
-killed, wounded, or missing," Captain Jamieson replied.  "The French, I
-believe, lost between 7000 and 8000 men.  As for the poor old --th, we
-went into action over 400 strong, and on the morrow only 53 bayonets
-mustered at parade!  The battalion may almost be said to have ceased to
-exist."
-
-"Well might Byron exclaim, `O Albuera, glorious field of grief!'" said
-S--.  "But you have not told us how you fared after the battle."
-
-"Well, I lay crushed beneath the chasseur's dead charger until morning,
-when I was found by a party of the light company who had been searching
-for me throughout the night.  My wounds were not very severe, and when I
-recovered, the commanding officer, Major K--, appointed me
-sergeant-major of the battalion.  I held that post until the end of the
-war, when I was invalided home and promoted to an ensigncy on the
-half-pay list.  In 1821 they gave me my lieutenancy in the Cape Mounted
-Rifles."
-
-"You are to be congratulated on having seen so much active service,"
-said Major G--n.  "I always envy you Peninsula heroes.  Few men, I
-should imagine, have passed through so much peril, and yet lived to tell
-the tale."
-
-"I am not out of the wood yet, G--n," was Jamieson's quiet rejoinder.
-"But talking of peril, no man has experienced more of `moving accidents
-by flood and field' than my friend Richards," he went on, nodding at a
-wiry-built grave-looking man who sat near him.  "You've seen some rough
-work in America--eh, John?"
-
-"Yes, Jamieson," responded the person addressed, who was an officer of
-native levies; "but not such work as you've been describing.  This, you
-must know, is my first regular campaign.  I have always been a `man of
-peace,' gentlemen--that is to say, when the Red-skins would let me!"
-
-"Which was seldom enough, no doubt," put in Captain Jamieson.  "By the
-way, hadn't you a remarkable escape from the Indians some years ago?  I
-think I remember hearing of it."
-
-"A--ah!" rejoined Mr Richards with a sort of gasp--he spoke, too, with
-a slight American intonation; "a--ah! that _was_ an adventure!  Why, do
-you know, gentlemen, that though it happened twenty-two years ago come
-next fall, I feel kinder nervous even now when I think of it; for 'twas
-just about the very narrowest shave of being scalped that ever I did
-run."
-
-"Come, tell us all about it, John," said the captain.  "I'm sure our
-friends will appreciate the yarn."
-
-"Well, then, gentlemen," Mr Richards began, taking a look round the
-company as if he wanted to find some individual upon whom to fix his
-eye, "you must know that I met with this adventure in '25, when I was a
-smart spry young fellow of nine-and-twenty.  I was trapping beavers at
-the time, in company with my friend Job Potter, near the head-waters of
-the Missouri; and as we knew that the Blackfoot Indians were on the
-war-path, and that we should meet with but scant mercy if we fell into
-their hands, we just set our beaver-traps at night, visited them at
-dawn, and remained concealed in the woods during the day.
-
-"Early one morning Job and I were paddling up stream in our canoe, on
-our way to examine the traps, when of a sudden we heard a noise as
-though a herd of buffaloes were galloping towards us; and the next
-minute a number of Red-skins in their war-paint came rushing along
-either bank of the river--a couple of hundred of them at the least.
-
-"We turned the head of the canoe like lightning and paddled down stream
-as hard as we could paddle, but the Indians sent a flight of arrows
-after us and killed poor Job Potter, who in his fall upset the canoe.
-By a miracle, I only received two slight flesh-wounds; and when I found
-myself in the river I dived like a duck in order to escape the second
-shower.  Now some thirty yards lower down the stream was a small island,
-and when we paddled past it I had noticed that against the upper part a
-sort of raft of drift-timber had lodged.  This raft, I must explain, was
-formed of the trunks of several trees, large and small, covered over
-with smaller and broken wood to the depth of five or six feet.
-
-"In my extremity I happily remembered this raft, and I saw in it my only
-chance of eluding my pursuers.  Rising for one second to the surface in
-order to make sure of its position, I dived again and swam under water
-until I found myself directly beneath the raft.  I then--not without
-considerable difficulty--managed to force my head and shoulders between
-the trunks of trees, so that the upper portion of my body was well above
-water, and at the same time completely hidden from view by the broken
-wood on the top of the raft.
-
-"Hardly had I fixed myself in this position when the Indians arrived
-opposite my place of refuge, and several swam off to the island and
-searched for me amongst the brushwood; one or two actually got on the
-raft.
-
-"Gentlemen, I remained in that terrible position for eleven mortal
-hours!--in fact, until the Red-skins took their departure, which was not
-before nightfall.  As soon as I was certain that they were gone I dived
-from under the raft and swam some distance down the river, and there
-landing, made my way to Fort Jefferson.  When I arrived there, after two
-days' tramp, I found that my hair had turned quite grey; and I can
-assure you, that, if I live to be a hundred, I shall Dever forget the
-agony of suspense I suffered when fixed up between those trees."
-
-Many a thrilling tale of sport and war, of peril by flood and field, was
-told that evening; and the circle round the watch-fire would not have
-broken up until the small hours of the morning had not the commanding
-officer reminded them that they must be on the move by cock-crow.  So
-the officers lay down to rest with their weapons beside them, ready for
-aught that might occur; and before midnight the camp was hushed in
-slumber, no sound being heard save the measured tramp of the patrol or
-the hoarse challenge of the sentinels.
-
-CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
-
-THE 18TH APRIL--A FIGHT AGAINST TERRIBLE ODDS--NUMBERED WITH THE
-SLAIN!--THE MARCH TO BLOCK DRIFT.
-
-The stars were still bright in the heavens, and the grey dawn of day had
-not yet appeared in the east, when the camp at Burns Hill was once more
-astir with the final preparations for the march to Chumie Hoek; and so
-soon as the waggons were ready and the draught cattle inspanned, the
-troops paraded without blast of bugle or beat of drum, and the order to
-form column-of-route was given.  The advance-guard moved off just as the
-morning broke, and was presently followed by the long train of
-bullock-waggons--one hundred and twenty in number--and the guns and
-caissons of the Royal Artillery; but the day had "begun its broiling
-course" before the rear-guard, of which Jamieson's Horse formed part,
-was clear of the camping ground.
-
-As daylight grew more distinct, thousands of Caffre warriors were
-descried pouring down from the mountains; and it became palpable to all
-concerned that the way would be disputed by a determined and--so far as
-numbers went--an overwhelming force.
-
-Said old Captain Jamieson, as he brought his glass to bear on the
-distant hordes, "Mark my words, G--! the 18th April will become famous
-in the annals of South African warfare.  Those fellows yonder mean
-business; they have no doubt been excited to the verge of madness by
-their witch doctors, and will attack us with maniacal fury."
-
-"We shall have hard work to get through them," the major replied,
-somewhat gloomily, for he felt much his responsibility; "and I fear many
-a good soldier amongst us will never see another sunrise.  Still, were
-it not for the `impedimenta,' I would not mind encountering double the
-number; and if we could only get them in the open for half an hour our
-cavalry should read them a lesson they'd never forget--a lesson that
-should be handed down to posterity!  But I must move on to the front.
-_Au revoir_, Jamieson!  I trust we shall meet again at Chumie Hoek
-before many hours have passed."
-
-The road by which the convoy was to march followed the bank of the
-Keiskamma for some two or three miles; until the river, suddenly
-changing its course by a sharp bend to the right, swept round a rocky
-eminence upon which stood the ruins of a long-abandoned military post
-known as Fort Cox.  At the base of this eminence (which the road
-traversed before it again met the Keiskamma at the drift or ford) the
-way led for nearly a half mile up a precipitous ascent, encumbered with
-huge boulders, and surrounded by bush.
-
-It was at this point that the Caffre chiefs massed their eager warriors
-for the attack on the baggage-train.
-
-The leading division of waggons, which carried the "impedimenta"
-belonging to Colonel Somerset's column, were so admirably defended by
-G--n's advanced-guard and their own escort, that they passed up this
-dangerous ground without disaster, and descending to the drift (which
-was held by a squadron of the Cape Mounted Rifles, under Lieutenant
-Bissett) [General Sir John Bissett, K.C.B., author of _Sport and War in
-South Africa_] crossed over the Keiskamma.  This part of the train
-subsequently reached the camp at Chumie Hoek in safety; its rear being
-covered by Bissett's riflemen, who, after the passage of the river was
-effected, were relieved at the ford by Major G--n's advanced force.  But
-the journey between the ford and Chumie Hoek was not made without
-opposition, for there was some very hard fighting all through the bushy
-country, and several of the escort were killed and wounded; Mr Bissett
-himself had a narrow escape of his life, his charger being shot under
-him, and his rifle knocked to pieces in his hands.
-
-The centre division of the convoy--consisting principally of the
-baggage-waggons of the 7th Dragoon Guards--did not meet with similar
-good fortune; for the enemy attacked the escort with such impetuosity
-and in such overwhelming numbers, that the latter was compelled to fall
-back on the troops in the rear, and so the whole of the waggons were
-captured.  To make matters worse, this disaster occurred in a narrow
-part of the road, and the wily Caffres immediately freed the teams from
-the yokes, overturned several of the waggons, and so completely blocked
-the way for the rest of the train.
-
-By this time Colonel Somerset had despatched every man he could spare
-out of camp to Major G--n's assistance; namely Sutton's Kat River
-Burghers, and two companies of the 91st Regiment, under Captain Scott;
-but the enemy continued to come up to the attack in such astonishing
-force that the major was reluctantly compelled to abandon the
-baggage-waggons of the 7th Dragoon Guards (fifty-two in number) in order
-that he might have more men to defend the guns and ammunition train,
-which he was determined to save at all hazards.
-
-Leaving the waggons to their fate, Major G--n made a detour to the left
-along the bushy slope, and having fought his way across the Keiskamma he
-entered a valley at the foot of the Seven Kloof Mountain.
-
-Up this valley G--n led his column, fighting over every yard of the
-broken ground, until--just as night was falling--he reached the open
-country in the vicinity of Chumie Hoek.  The Caffres here made one more
-desperate attempt to take the guns, but the gunners opening upon them
-with shot and shell, repulsed the attack, and it was not renewed; the
-column then marched on, and eventually arrived in camp with the loss of
-an artillery waggon, which had to be abandoned owing to the collapse of
-its team of bullocks...
-
-We must now return to the rear-guard, and see how it had fared with our
-friends in "Jamieson's Horse" during that eventful day.
-
-When the officer commanding the rear-guard heard that the escort of the
-centre division of the convoy was being driven back, and that the
-waggons were in imminent danger of falling into the enemy's hands, he
-consulted with Captain Jamieson as to whether he should not take it upon
-himself to send a troop to their assistance; but before he had time to
-come to a decision a mounted orderly arrived from the front with the
-alarming intelligence that the waggons had already been captured, and
-that the road was entirely blocked; he also brought an order that
-"Jamieson's Horse" should be sent forward at once, to retake the waggons
-and hold the enemy in check until the road had been cleared.
-
-Anxious to reach the scene of the disaster without a moment's delay, and
-being well aware that if he advanced along the road he must necessarily
-meet with more or less hindrance, Captain Jamieson wheeled the corps to
-the left, and started off at a hand-gallop across country until he lost
-sight of the convoy; when he changed direction to the right and led his
-men over some broken ground, which ran almost parallel to, and was
-within easy rifle-shot of the road.  They had advanced about three parts
-of a mile over this ground, and were within half that distance of the
-captured waggons--which were now completely surrounded by hundreds of
-the enemy--when Frank Jamieson, who was riding at the head of the
-leading troop, espied--away to the left front--a small party of Caffres
-driving off the bullock teams into the mountains.  He at once pointed
-them out to his father, who ordered him to follow in pursuit with
-fifteen men, and do his best to recover the teams and bring them back as
-quickly as possible.
-
-"Without them," said the captain, "I do not see how we can take the
-waggons on; for I heard Thompson say that he had no spare draught
-cattle."
-
-As soon as Frank had ridden off, Captain Jamieson and the remainder of
-the corps galloped onwards, and--the nature of the ground and the "din
-of battle" favouring them--they approached within a couple of hundred
-yards of the baggage-train without attracting attention; for those of
-the enemy who were not actually engaged with either the advance-guard or
-escorts, were busily employed plundering the waggons.  Jamieson's
-volunteers were thus enabled to deliver a telling volley, and then
-charge down on the Caffres before the latter were thoroughly alive to
-the fact that they were being attacked from that quarter; and so
-impetuous was this charge, that the little band rode right through the
-dense masses of the enemy up to the waggons without losing a single man
-or horse.  The next minute the Caffres, recovering from their surprise,
-closed in upon the gallant horsemen, and for a little while there was
-some desperate hand-to-hand fighting, in which, however, Jamieson and
-his men at first held their own.  But the Caffres outnumbered them
-twenty to one, and, moreover, were excited to such a pitch of fury that
-they were utterly reckless of their lives; and as fast as one was cut
-down or shot, half a dozen others would press forward to take his place;
-many, too, actually crawled on all-fours amongst the plunging horses,
-and thrust their assegais again and again into the poor brutes' bellies,
-and so in a short time nearly one-third of the volunteers were
-dismounted, and assegaied before they could disengage themselves from
-their dead chargers.  And now the corps got broken up into groups, and
-the end soon came.
-
-Amongst the first who had their horses killed, were Captain Jamieson,
-young Flinders, and Sergeant-major Keown; they, however, at the time,
-escaped personal injury, and so continued to fight on foot until they
-found themselves separated from their comrades, and standing at bay with
-their backs against a waggon.
-
-Three worthier representatives of our glorious triune kingdom never
-faced their sovereign's foes!
-
-On the left of the "dauntless three" stood the fine old Scotchman, cool
-and calm as if at sword-play; his grey head bare, his tall commanding
-figure reared to the full height, his long cavalry sabre red with the
-blood of his enemies.  Next to him was our young hero, a trifle less
-collected than his veteran chief, but not a whit less fearless; could
-any of his former school-fellows have beheld Tom Flinders at that
-moment, they would have rested content that the honour of Rugby was safe
-in his hands!  Tom had lost his sword when his horse was killed, and he
-was now defending himself with an assegai snatched from an enemy's hand.
-
-Then on the right--close beside his master's son--stood that brave and
-honest son of "Ould Erin," Patrick Keown, armed with an old-pattern
-dragoon sabre, which he had picked up cheap in some Cape Town store, and
-had had sharpened until its edge was as keen as that of a scythe.
-Patrick Keown was a splendid swordsman (he had been sergeant-instructor
-of fencing to the C.M.E.), and not a few Caffres had fallen beneath his
-stalwart arm during the fray; but, alas! that good right arm now hung
-powerless--for an assegai had pierced it through and through, and poor
-Patrick's coat-sleeve was literally saturated with the crimson stream
-that gushed from the wound--and it was his _left_ hand that was clenched
-within the basket hilt.  Round these devoted men was gathered a mob of
-yelling savages, who thirsted for their blood, yet hesitated to come
-within reach of their formidable weapons.
-
-But it was impossible that such an unequal contest could last for more
-than a few minutes.
-
-Tom Flinders was the first of the trio who fell.  Struck on the head by
-a jagged piece of rock, hurled by one of the infuriated Caffres, Tom
-dropped as if shot; and rolling between the wheels of the waggon lay
-motionless on his face--to all appearance dead.
-
-Almost at the same moment Captain Jamieson received a ghastly wound in
-the breast, and sinking lifeless to the bloodstained ground was
-instantly despatched by his ruthless assailants.  Hard fate his, poor
-old man! to have fought through many a hotly-contested action with
-"foemen worthy of his steel;" to have survived the glorious perils of
-the Peninsula campaigns; and then at last to have fallen by the hand of
-a South African savage!
-
-When Sergeant-major Keown saw that his chief and his beloved master's
-son were both down, he gave utterance to a bitter cry of mingled rage
-and sorrow, and with uplifted sword rushed madly into the very midst of
-the exultant foe.  Once--twice--thrice did his sabre flash in the sun,
-and each time that it descended a Caffre "bit the dust."  Then a
-crushing blow from a knobkerrie--delivered from behind--brought the
-brave Irishman on his knees; he staggered up, and wiping away the blood
-that, streaming down his face, obscured his vision, he shortened his
-sword and thrust at the nearest Caffre, driving the keen point deep into
-his side; but the next moment a dozen assegais were plunged into Patrick
-Keown's body, and he fell to rise no more.
-
-A few of the ill-fated corps succeeded in hewing themselves a path
-through the dense masses of the enemy, and rode back to the rear-guard;
-whilst one or two--of whom more anon--were taken prisoners; but the
-majority of those who took part in the fatal charge were slain
-fighting--like their heroic commander and his sergeant-major--to the
-very last gasp.  The volunteers who escaped to tell the woeful tale were
-attached for the rest of the day to a troop of the Cape Mounted Rifles,
-and with them fought their way across the Keiskamma, and thence on to
-Chumie Hoek; where, late that same evening, they were joined by Frank
-Jamieson's party.
-
-Frank's grief on hearing that his father and Tom Flinders were amongst
-the slain was very great, and he would certainly have gone forth alone
-to search for their bodies, had not the brigadier given him a peremptory
-order to remain in camp; declaring that--being one of Captain Jamieson's
-oldest friends--he would not hear of the young man throwing away his
-life to no purpose.
-
-The "General Order" issued on the evening of the 18th, informed the
-weary soldiers and Burgher troops that it was the brigadier's intention
-to quit Chumie Hoek on the morrow, and march with his entire force and
-"impedimenta" to the mission station at Block Drift.  This was anything
-but welcome news to the poor fellows, who sorely needed rest after the
-fatigues they had undergone, and had looked forward to remaining quiet
-at least a clear day, instead of only a few short hours; nor were they
-permitted to enjoy these few hours undisturbed, for during the night
-they had repeatedly to stand to their arms in order to repel the attacks
-which the enemy made on the camp.  Then when morning dawned there was
-every indication of another day's desperate fighting; the mountains
-above the camp being alive with the enemy, whilst masses of their
-mounted warriors had assembled on the lower heights of the Chumie range.
-
-As Colonel Somerset's advance-guard marched from the camping ground, the
-Caffres moved down from the mountains in vast numbers, extending
-themselves all along the line of route; and when the column approached
-the bushy country towards Block Drift, they attacked it in front,
-centre, and rear.
-
-Somerset immediately gave orders for the Royal Artillery to come into
-action, and the guns opening with shell and canister, quickly drove the
-enemy back.  When the head of the column neared the mission station,
-Colonel Somerset rode forward with his advance-guard and two guns, and
-taking possession of the ford of the Chumie River, placed the guns in
-position, and opened a hot fire upon the Caffres; who were still
-hovering round the flanks and rear of the baggage-train--attacking the
-waggons whenever an opportunity occurred.
-
-About two and a half miles from Block Drift the enemy were strongly
-posted on a sugar-loaf, bush-clad hill, at the base of which the road
-passed; here there was some severe fighting, and the rear of the column
-was at one time very hard pressed.  To do the Caffres justice, it must
-be confessed that they exhibited undeniable courage, and returned again
-and again to the attack; and that in the face of a destructive artillery
-and musketry fire, such as might well have daunted even European troops.
-The passage of the Chumie River was not effected without considerable
-difficulty and delay, for the banks being precipitous and slippery, many
-of the waggons stuck fast in the bed of the stream, and had to be hauled
-up on "terra firma" by the soldiers--the bullocks not being equal to the
-task.
-
-All this time the fighting in rear of the column was going on with
-unabated fury, until at last, the ammunition of the infantry of the
-rear-guard failing, volunteers were called for from the cavalry corps to
-relieve them.  The troopers of the "Black Horse," and of the Cape Rifles
-readily responded to the call, and, the required number having been
-selected from amongst those who stepped to the front, they dismounted
-and doubled back to the rear.
-
-The Caffre chiefs now began to think they had had enough of it; their
-losses had been very heavy, and they had only captured one waggon--
-which, as it turned out, they had much better have left alone; so their
-attacks became less furious, and at length they were finally repulsed.
-By that time the last of the waggons had been brought across the Chumie
-River, and Colonel Somerset continuing his march reached Block Drift in
-safety and there established his camp, taking advantage of the
-missionary buildings.  Amongst those who were reported as "missing,"
-after the day's work was done, was Frank Jamieson!
-
-Thus ended what may be termed the "opening campaign" of the "War of the
-Axe."
-
-CHAPTER NINETEEN.
-
-OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN INTO THE FIRE.
-
-When a hard unyielding substance such as a lump of rock, thrown with the
-full force of a vigorous arm, hits a man fairly on any part of--what Mr
-Seth Pecksniff, Emperor of servile hypocrites, once described as--"that
-delicate and exquisite portion of human anatomy, the brain," that man
-may think himself exceedingly fortunate if he escapes with no more
-serious injury than a broken head and a temporary deprivation of his
-senses.  And such was the first thought that entered the mind of our
-friend Tom Flinders when, some hours after he was struck down in the
-manner recorded in the foregoing chapter, he found himself capable of
-thinking at all--in other words, when he so far recovered from the
-stunning effects of the blow he had received as to be able to realise
-the fact that he was still in the land of the living.
-
-But though Tom recovered consciousness he certainly did not at once
-recover the full use of his reasoning faculties, otherwise he would have
-had "nous" enough to remain beneath the friendly shelter of the waggon
-until he could be sure that the coast was clear; whereas, instead of
-doing this, he must needs crawl out on to the road and take a look round
-him.  The consequence of his rashness was that four Caffres, who were
-still prowling about, pounced upon him before he had time to offer any
-resistance, and, pinioning his arms with leathern thongs, marched him
-off in triumph.
-
-Wounded as he was, breathless and almost insensible, the poor lad was
-half-dragged, half-carried by his savage captors, first across the
-Keiskamma Drift, then up the precipitous mountain side, until, shortly
-after sunset, they reached a small kraal situated on one of the rocky
-spurs of the Amatolas.  Here the wretched prisoner's appearance was
-hailed with loud shouts of exultation by the few men and the numerous
-women and children who inhabited the kraal; and after he had been well
-beaten and loaded with abuse (not a word of which he understood) the
-thongs that bound his arms were cut, he was stripped of the greater
-portion of his clothing, and then ignominiously kicked into a hut, where
-his enemies left him to pass the night as best he might, without a drop
-of water or the smallest morsel of food.
-
-That Tom Flinders' reflections as he lay, almost in a state of nudity,
-on the mud floor of the miserable hut--the interior of which swarmed
-with noxious insects and vermin--were not of an agreeable nature may be
-readily imagined.  A dull feeling of pain racked his weary limbs, his
-temples throbbed violently, and a burning thirst consumed him, added to
-which his mental anguish bade fair to drive him mad.
-
-He could not help calling to remembrance all that he had heard
-concerning the appalling cruelties practised by the Caffres on those
-unhappy creatures who chanced to fall into their hands; and the
-recollection of these horrors almost made him wish that the piece of
-rock had struck him just a little _harder_, or that his captors had put
-an end to his existence when they discovered him, instead of reserving
-him for a doom of protracted and unutterable suffering.
-
-But Tom was not one to willingly give way to gloomy forebodings, and he
-strove hard to change his thoughts; so that presently he found himself
-thinking of his parents, especially of his mother, and of their grief at
-his sad fate; and next he began to wonder what had become of Captain
-Jamieson and faithful Patrick Keown (for when Tom crawled from beneath
-the waggon he had not noticed the mutilated bodies of those brave men
-lying by the road-side), and of the rest of his comrades--whether any of
-them had escaped, and if so whether they would make any search for him.
-
-"They might as well look for a needle in a bundle of forage," said he
-half aloud.
-
-But thinking of his absent friends was good for poor Tom, for it made
-him remember that he had One Friend who was never absent; and,
-reproaching himself for his rebellious and ungrateful feelings and his
-want of trust, he rose to his knees and offered up an earnest prayer for
-pardon, and for deliverance from his savage enemies.
-
-After which he stretched himself on the floor of his foul prison, and
-(in spite of his painful condition and wretched surroundings and the
-pangs of almost overwhelming thirst) he at length fell into a heavy
-sleep.
-
-Tom remained in a heavy drowsy slumber--half sleep, half stupor--for
-eight or nine hours, and when at length he opened his eyes it was broad
-daylight.  On attempting to get up he discovered that his ankles were
-secured by a stout cord, though his arms were still free.
-
-"So the beggars have been paying me a visit during the night," said he,
-assuming a sitting posture and taking a look round the hut.  "I must
-have slept uncommonly sound, for them to have lashed my feet together
-without rousing me!  Halloa! what's this?" he went on as his eye lighted
-upon a gourd and a few green mealies placed just within his reach.
-"Come, they don't intend that I should die of thirst, after all!"  And
-eagerly seizing the gourd, which contained about a pint and a half of
-sour milk, he drained it to the dregs.
-
-"I don't remember ever having enjoyed a drink so much!" exclaimed the
-poor fellow as he threw down the empty vessel with a sigh.  "But oh,
-don't I wish there had been three times the quantity!"
-
-The day passed without a soul visiting the prison except one repulsive
-old woman, who brought Tom another and larger vessel of milk and some
-more mealies during the afternoon, and who, after regarding him with
-looks of fiendish malignity, deliberately spat in his face as she left
-the hut.
-
-"Beastly old crone!" growled Tom as he raised the milk to his lips and
-took a long draught.  "What on earth did she want to do that for?" he
-added, putting down the half-emptied vessel.
-
-By this time Tom was suffering from the pangs of hunger as well as those
-of thirst, and so he set to work on the hitherto neglected mealies, and
-managed to dispose of half of them, untempting though they were.
-
-Next day our captive hero was left entirely alone, receiving neither
-food nor drink; driven almost to despair he had serious thoughts of
-freeing himself from his bonds and rushing out upon his foes, regardless
-of consequences, but he found he was too weak to make the attempt.  Then
-he became quite light-headed, and jabbered and sang to himself, until at
-last he fell into a regular stupor; and when he once more awoke to
-consciousness he found that there was another prisoner in the hut, and
-that prisoner was--Frank Jamieson!
-
-CHAPTER TWENTY.
-
-AN UNEXPECTED MEETING--A FRIENDLY CAFFRE.
-
-"Can this possibly be you, Tom?" exclaimed Frank Jamieson in utter
-astonishment, when, in the squalid, half-clad figure lying huddled up
-against the wall of the hut, he recognised his friend and comrade Tom
-Flinders.  "How came you here?  It was officially reported in camp that
-you were killed when our corps attempted to retake the waggons on the
-18th.  I am most--"
-
-"Would that the report were true!" interrupted Tom in dejected tones;
-for he felt so completely broken down that not even the unexpected sight
-of his friend could rouse him.  "I should be out of my misery then.
-These black devils have beaten and kicked me about like a dog; they've
-insulted and starved me, and driven me half-mad by keeping me without
-drink.  Now I suppose they'll finish up by torturing us both to death."
-And, unable to control himself any longer, for he was quite hysterical
-from exhaustion, pain, and thirst, the poor lad burst into tears.
-
-In an instant Frank Jamieson was down on his knees beside his prostrate
-friend, and, taking a spirit-flask from the pocket of his blouse, he
-raised Tom's head and made him swallow a small quantity of brandy; he
-then produced a handful of moss-biscuit from another pocket and pressed
-him to eat it.  But Tom shook his head, saying: "No, thanks, Frank, I'll
-not take it; you may want it yourself before long.  Food is not
-plentiful in this miserable hole, I can assure you."
-
-"Nonsense, man!" retorted the other, seeing that, in spite of his
-refusal, Tom cast a hungry look at the biscuit.  "Eat it at once, or
-I'll pitch it away."  Then, as Tom devoured the biscuit, Frank said:
-
-"I think our lives are safe, though we may be detained prisoners for
-some time.  The truth is I have a friend at court, who will do all he
-can for us."
-
-"But you're not a prisoner, Frank?" inquired Tom (upon whom the sup of
-brandy and mouthful of wholesome food had already had a most beneficial
-effect), as he regarded his comrade with a puzzled look.
-
-"You cannot for a moment suppose that I came here willingly!" laughed
-Jamieson.  "What makes you ask such an extraordinary question?  I hope
-you don't think that I am a _deserter_!"
-
-"Why, you don't _look_ like a prisoner," Tom rejoined.  "In the first
-place, the Caffres have left you your clothes; and secondly, they don't
-appear to have made free with the contents of your pockets; whereas,
-they've stripped pretty nearly every rag off my back, and knocked me
-about into the bargain.  How is it they let you off so easily?"
-
-"Well, as I told you before, I have a friend at court," Jamieson
-answered.  "It fortunately happened that Untsikana, the chief into whose
-clutches I fell, is an old acquaintance--in fact, about two years ago I
-saved his life; and moreover, he was under great obligations to my poor
-father--"
-
-"_Poor_ father!" echoed Tom.  "I hope the captain is--"
-
-"The dear old governor is dead, Tom," interrupted Frank with a deep
-sigh.  "I thought you knew it.  When last seen he was fighting by your
-side."
-
-"So he was, but he was all right when I got knocked over.  Are you sure
-he is killed?"
-
-"There can be no doubt of it, I grieve to say.  Untsikana saw his body,
-and also that of poor Patrick Keown.  The corps was almost annihilated--
-counting the fellows that were with me, there are not more than thirty
-left."
-
-Their conversation was now interrupted by the entrance of two Caffre
-warriors, one of whom was Untsikana himself Frank, who could speak the
-Caffre language fairly well, at once appealed to him on Tom's behalf,
-and with such success that the chief not only provided him with food and
-drink, and water to bathe his wounds and bruised limbs, but also
-procured him an old tiger-skin kaross and a pair of "veldt schoon," to
-take the place of the garments of which his captors had stripped him,
-and which had been distributed amongst the dusky inhabitants of the
-kraal, so that there was no recovering them.
-
-"Who shall say there is not _some_ good in a Caffre?" observed Frank
-Jamieson as he dressed the wound on his friend's head; "come, Tom, you
-must acknowledge that."
-
-"Your acquaintance Umpty-dumpty, or whatever his name is, is certainly
-not half a bad chap," replied Tom, whose customary good spirits were
-returning.  "But he is a wonderful exception to the rule.  I wonder what
-they'll do with us?" he added.  "Turn us into white slaves, I expect!"
-
-"Impossible to say," his friend answered.  "I must sound Untsikana on
-the subject when he next pays us a visit.  I might induce him to aid us
-in making our escape!"
-
-"Not you," Tom rejoined with a shake of the head.  "That would be
-testing his gratitude rather too much.  By the way, when and how did he
-take you prisoner?"
-
-"That is soon told," said Frank.  "You must know," he went on, "that the
-brigadier broke up his camp at Chumie Hoek on the morning of the 19th,
-and marched, bag and baggage, for Block Drift.
-
-"I was with the rear-guard in command of the remnants of our poor old
-corps.  The enemy came down in thousands from the mountains and attacked
-the whole line of waggons, from front to rear, at one time, so that we
-had some precious hard fighting all along the route.
-
-"Whilst the head of the column was crossing the Chumie River the rear
-waggons were forced to halt for a bit; and then it was that the Caffres
-made their hottest attack.  The artillery received them with four or
-five rounds of canister and grape, which staggered them above a bit and
-checked their advance.  A troop of the 7th Dragoon Guards then charged
-them, and I was ordered to support this charge; because, as no doubt
-you've noticed, the Caffres generally break when charged, and then
-re-form when the cavalry have passed through them.
-
-"Well, during the charge my old horse `Trumpeter' was killed, and I got
-a nasty fall, striking my head against a big stone.  When I regained my
-feet our fellows were a hundred yards away, and before I well knew where
-I was, I was surrounded by a dozen Caffres, who would have quickly put
-an end to me had I not recognised Untsikana and called out to him to
-save my life.  He at once interfered and would not let his men lay a
-finger upon me; but, in spite of my entreaties, he carried me off into
-the mountains.  To make a long story short, I was kept, closely guarded,
-in a cave until yesterday morning, when Untsikana brought me on here."
-
-"Did the enemy capture any of the waggons?" asked Tom.
-
-"From what I heard them say, I think they must have got hold of the
-hospital stores waggon," answered Jamieson.  "I saw three or four
-Caffres yesterday in a very miserable state, and Untsikana told me they
-had been drinking the white man's medicines.  One fellow was terribly
-bad, and, from the condition of his mouth and lips, I should imagine
-that he must have been eating some sort of _blister_ [a fact]--and a
-precious strong sort, too!"
-
-"Hope it agreed with his complaint, whatever that may have been!" said
-Tom, grinning at the thought of the wretched Caffre's discomfiture when
-the blister began to draw.  "But what could have induced the stupid
-beggar to taste such a thing?"
-
-"Don't you know that the Caffres have an idea that the white man's
-medicines possess extraordinary strength-giving properties?" his friend
-replied.  "You're not half up in the manners and customs of your
-coloured compatriots.  They will at any time steal physic in any shape
-or form, and swallow all they steal."
-
-"And did your friend Umpty go in for this course of promiscuous
-physicking?  Though I don't suppose we should have found him so amiable
-if he had."
-
-"Well," laughed Frank Jamieson, producing a glass-stoppered bottle from
-his pocket, "while I was in the cave I saw Untsikana handling this,
-which no doubt he `looted' from the hospital waggon; and he was on the
-point of swallowing the contents, when, fortunately for him, I caught
-sight of the label and snatched the bottle from his hand."
-
-"Why, what is it?--castor-oil?"
-
-"Castor-oil!--no.  He might have drenched himself with that for aught I
-should have cared," Frank answered.  "This is _chloroform_--the stuff
-the surgeons use during operations to produce insensibility.  It has
-only been in general use a few months, I believe."
-
-"Ah!  I heard Dr Fraser talking to old McAlpine about it the other
-evening," said Tom.  "This is the first time it has been supplied to the
-field-hospital.  But what did you want to keep such dangerous stuff
-for?" he added.  "There's enough of it to poison a troop, I should
-think."
-
-"To tell the truth, I popped the bottle in my pocket, and forgot that it
-was there until this moment.  I must throw it away when I have a
-chance."
-
-"The sooner the better," said Tom.  "A pretty job it would be if you
-smashed the bottle in this dog-hole of a place!  We should probably drop
-off to sleep, and never wake again!"
-
-"I will give the bottle to Untsikana when I see him again," Frank
-rejoined, "and advise him to pitch it into the nearest river, or empty
-it away in the bush.  It _is_ nasty stuff to carry about."
-
-But Frank Jamieson did not see Untsikana again, for the friendly chief
-quitted the kraal that very evening to rejoin his brother-warriors, the
-majority of whom had by this time crossed the frontier into British
-territory, and were committing great ravages and depredations amongst
-the Albany farms and settlements--so much so that Colonel Somerset had
-to march with the greater number of his troops to Graham's Town, and
-from thence follow up the enemy into Lower Albany.
-
-CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
-
-IN DURANCE VILE--THE PRISONERS LEARN THEIR FATE--A FATAL DOSE.
-
-For three days after Untsikana left the kraal, Tom Flinders and Frank
-Jamieson were kept in the closest confinement, not being allowed to take
-any exercise, nor even so much as show their noses outside their narrow
-prison.  During this weary time our unfortunate friends--though they had
-sufficient both to eat and drink, and were not made to suffer actual
-personal violence--were forced to put up with the insolent taunts of
-their captors, and with the virulent abuse of the women and children,
-who evidently took a delight in congregating round the hut, and
-assailing its occupants with every insulting epithet they could think
-of; and, what was far worse, they lost no opportunity of flinging mud,
-mealie-husks, and other filth through the low doorway, "as though," as
-Tom truly remarked, "the hut was not dirty enough already!"
-
-This was, of course, exceedingly annoying, and Tom Flinders waxed very
-indignant; but his friend took things in a more philosophical spirit,
-remarking that, as they could not possibly put a stop to these
-unpleasant attentions, they had best "grin and bear them."  On the
-fourth morning after the friendly chief's departure, the old Caffre who
-had been told off to attend on the prisoners and bring them their daily
-food, informed Frank Jamieson that he and his companion in misfortune
-were to be taken under escort to one of the principal Caffre strongholds
-beyond the Bashee River, and there to become the slaves of Untsikana's
-father--a chief of no small importance.
-
-"Never more shall you see your people," said the old fellow with a
-malicious grin; for, true to the instincts of his savage nature, he felt
-a cruel pleasure in attempting to strike terror into the hearts of his
-prisoners.  "Our brave and invincible warriors have eaten up the `red
-soldiers' of the island-queen, and are now sweeping before them the
-hated white men.  Not one shall be left alive in this land except you
-and this boy, and you will end your days in slavery!"
-
-"What does the old rascal say?" asked Tom, to whom the Caffre tongue was
-quite unintelligible.  "Something unpleasant, I'll wager a dollar; he
-looks so precious satisfied with himself.  Ugh, you hoary-headed,
-hardhearted old sinner!" he added, as the man left the hut.
-
-"He says that Colonel Somerset's troops have been totally defeated, and
-that the Caffre warriors are driving our countrymen into the sea," Frank
-replied with a slight smile.
-
-"Oh, hang it all!  You must tell that to the marines!" exclaimed Tom;
-though at the same time a feeling of uneasiness came over him lest there
-should be a spice of truth in their jailer's report.  "I don't believe a
-word of it!  It cannot possibly be true, you know."
-
-"And you and I are destined for transportation beyond the Bashee River,
-where we shall become the bondmen of the great chief Umbodhla--my
-friend's father," continued Frank.  "A bright look-out, truly!"
-
-"Very," ejaculated Tom.  "But the beggars haven't got us there yet, and
-if we get the chance of giving them the slip, why--"
-
-"We'll do so," interrupted Frank.  "But, my dear fellow, if we wish to
-succeed in making our escape we must keep quiet and submit to any
-affront they may put upon us.  Our chief endeavour must be to throw them
-off their guard, and thus lead them to imagine that we are both
-thoroughly cowed.  Now, do you remember this, Tom! for our success
-depends upon it.  Don't you show your teeth, old chap--unless you have a
-good chance of using them."
-
-"I understand," growled Tom.  "A nod is as good as a wink to a blind
-horse!"
-
-They had no time to say more to each other, for at that moment their
-jailer came back, and was followed into the hut by three brawny savages,
-who, seizing Frank roughly, proceeded to fasten his arms behind him,
-after which they placed a long "reim" with a running noose round his
-neck; they then served Tom in a similar fashion.
-
-"Hamb'uye ngapandhle (Get outside)," said the Caffre who appeared to be
-the leader, striking Tom Flinders a pretty smart blow across the
-shoulders with the staff of his assegai.
-
-"You uncivilised brute!" shouted Tom, the hot blood mounting to his
-face.  "If my hands were only free--"
-
-"But they're not, old boy," interrupted Frank; "so take it quietly, like
-a sensible fellow.  It may be our turn by and by."  And without a murmur
-he followed the guards out of the hut.
-
-The instant the white prisoners appeared outside the hut the entire
-population of the kraal--from the grey-headed "indoda" [indoda, man;
-inkwenkwee, boy; inkosikazi, chief's wife; intombi, girl] to the
-woolly-pated, chubby "inkwenkwee;" from the lean and repulsive-looking
-"inkosikazi" to the plump little "intombi"--set up an awful and
-prolonged howling and caterwauling, such as would have done credit to an
-election mob engaged in the pleasing pastime of hooting an unpopular
-candidate.  With this charming chorus ringing in their ears Tom and his
-friend were conducted by their sable guards through the midst of the
-kraal.
-
-This was really the first time that Tom had seen the interior of an
-inhabited kraal (for it was dark when he was brought in after his
-capture), and in spite of his unpleasant position he cast curious
-glances round as he passed through.  The kraal--which was but a small
-one--consisted of a number of beehive-shaped huts constructed of canes,
-wattled and filled in with clay, and thatched with reeds and long grass;
-the space upon which these huts were erected was inclosed by a wall or
-lofty hedge, formed of the branches of the "mimosa" strongly and tightly
-interlaced.  The hut in which our friends had been kept in durance vile
-stood in the very centre of the inclosure, and was not above a quarter
-the size of the others.  "About half as big, and twice as dirty as an
-English pig-sty, and as full of fleas as a gypsy's van," was Tom
-Flinders' after description of his uncomfortable prison.
-
-The party told off to escort the white prisoners to Umbodhla's
-stronghold beyond the Bashee River consisted of five invalided warriors,
-who had received wounds during the attack on Campbell's column on the
-17th April; but although their injuries were of such a nature as to
-prevent their taking part in a "pitched battle" or a hard day's bush
-warfare, these warriors were by no means in a weakly condition, and were
-perfectly capable of marching twenty or thirty miles between daylight
-and dark, and of resisting any attempt on the part of the prisoners to
-escape from their custody.  The leader of the party--a most
-ferocious-looking savage, with a sinister and forbidding cast of
-countenance--was armed with an old-fashioned flint-lock "roer" of Dutch
-make; but his comrades carried only the usual bundle of assegais and
-their formidable knobkerries.  The leader's name was Waishlahla, and he,
-too, was a chief, but of much lower rank than Untsikana.
-
-Quitting the kraal by a narrow opening in the inclosure wall, barely
-wide enough to allow of three persons passing abreast, the Caffres
-conducted their prisoners across some cultivated ground by which the
-kraal was surrounded, and ascended to the summit of the Amatolas.
-Traversing the range in a northeasterly direction, they presently hit
-upon a path that, passing down a rocky ravine, led over an extensive
-plain stretching far away from the base of the Amatolas to the banks of
-the Kei River.
-
-Down this precipitous and dangerous path the escort proceeded at a rapid
-pace, forcing their prisoners to keep up with them by repeated blows,
-and even prods of their assegais, until they reached the mouth of the
-ravine; they then left the path and struck straight across country in
-the direction of the Kei River.
-
-Through broken scrub and thorny mimosas, and over rough stony ground,
-Tom Flinders and Frank Jamieson were hurried at a pace that was
-well-nigh killing (for when on the march Caffres move over the ground at
-a sort of double stride or trot, which is terribly trying to those
-unaccustomed to such rapid travelling) until at length their guards came
-to a halt on the banks of a small stream.  Worn out with heat and
-fatigue, and suffering intense pain from their bleeding and swollen
-feet, the weary prisoners--after a long refreshing draught of cool
-water--sank down on the veldt with a sigh of relief; but one of the
-escort immediately seized Frank by the collar and dragged him up again,
-and Waishlahla, severing the thongs that bound his arms, ordered him to
-strip.  Frank hesitated for a moment, and was about to remonstrate, when
-a sharp blow over the shoulders reminded him that resistance was worse
-than useless; and so, gulping down his wrath, he threw off all his
-garments, his shirt excepted, and flung them on the ground.
-
-"Now you may lie down," said the chief with a savage grin.  "You can
-have an hour's rest, and then we go on again;" and picking up the
-clothes he distributed them amongst the escort, whilst Frank, with an
-exclamation of disgust, stretched himself beside his friend, who had
-been watching these proceedings with surprise and indignation.
-
-"We're in a pleasant fix, and no mistake," whispered Tom as they lay
-side by side; "why are they treating you in this manner?  I thought they
-intended to leave you your clothes, but now it appears we're to fare
-alike!"
-
-"I suppose it is the Caffres' nature to maltreat those who fall into
-their power," answered Frank in the same low tone.  "You see as long as
-Untsikana was present this fellow Waishlahla dared not annoy us, but
-now--well, you ought to remember the good old nursery rhyme, `When the
-cat's away the mice will play!'"
-
-"Precious rough play," growled the other.  Then after a pause he said,
-"I'm afraid we shall not have much chance of getting away from these
-brutes; they're a deal too wide-awake."
-
-"They were not wide-awake enough to fasten my arms again," his friend
-rejoined, "and that is something in our favour!  Never say die, old
-fellow!  Remember the yarn John Richards spun us; he was in far greater
-straits than we are, nevertheless he managed to escape from two hundred
-Red-skins, every one of whom was eager to get his scalp.  But turn your
-back, Tom," he went on, "and let me see if I cannot loosen your bonds;
-you will be more at ease then."
-
-"But I say, Frank, did you take in all that yarn?" asked Tom, as the
-other cast loose the thongs round his arms.  "I didn't; at least I
-thought Richards was drawing on his imagination a good deal."
-
-"Not a bit of it; what he told us was true enough; Richards is not the
-sort of man to romance.  I know him well, for he has acted as our agent
-at Graham's Town for the last seven years--in fact ever since he came to
-South Africa."
-
-"Well, at all events," yawned Tom, "I couldn't escape at this moment if
-I had the chance; for I'm completely knocked up, and so are you, old
-fellow; and as we have only one hour--"
-
-"We had better make the most of it," Frank chimed in.  "That is just
-what I was about to remark, Tom.  We must manage to take rest whenever
-we can, for we shall require all our strength and vigour--mental and
-physical--if we want to give our guards the slip, and find our way back
-to the colony."
-
-It was about mid-day when our two friends lay down to snatch a hasty
-repose after their toilsome journey; but when Frank Jamieson awoke he
-found to his intense surprise that the sun had sunk below the horizon,
-and darkness was rapidly setting in.  Tom Flinders was still asleep by
-his side, and round them were gathered the five Caffres, apparently also
-asleep--two of them face downwards, with their woolly heads buried in
-their arms, the other three stretched on the broad of their backs.
-
-"Halloa!--why, it is nearly dark!" exclaimed Frank, sitting up and
-rubbing his eyes to make sure that he was quite awake.  "We must have
-been sleeping considerably longer than an hour!  Or is it possible that
-I have been dreaming?" was his mental question; but his bare limbs and
-swollen, bleeding feet were convincing proofs to the contrary.  "Tom--
-Tom Flinders," he then whispered, bending over his friend and gently
-shaking him.
-
-"What's the row?" cried Tom, waking up with a start.
-
-"H'sh," whispered Frank; "don't make a noise!  Waishlahla and his men
-have overslept themselves, and if we mean to make a dash for freedom, it
-must be now or never!  We shall not get such a chance again."
-
-"I'm game," Tom answered.  "But we had better secure their weapons
-first, especially the chief's gun."
-
-"Leave that to me," said his companion, as he crept cautiously up to the
-recumbent figure of Waishlahla, with the intention of taking possession
-of his "roer."
-
-The savage chief lay flat on his back, with his brawny arms extended
-over his head; and when Frank leaned over him he saw that his jaw had
-dropped, and that his eyes were wide open and staring.
-
-But there "was no speculation in those eyes"--for Waishlahla was stone
-dead!
-
-In an instant it flashed across Frank's mind what had happened.
-
-"He must have taken the chloroform!" he exclaimed.  "I left the bottle
-in the pocket of my blouse."
-
-"What?" cried Tom, looking over his shoulder, "you don't mean that!"
-
-"There cannot be a doubt about it," said the other.  "See, the man is
-quite stiff and cold; he must have been dead four or five hours."
-
-"Then, depend upon it, they're all in the same boat!"
-
-And such proved to be the case.
-
-Waishlahla had found the bottle of chloroform in the pocket of Frank
-Jamieson's blouse, and he and his comrades had drank the whole of the
-contents--about eight ounces--between them, with, of course, fatal
-results.
-
-"Frank," said Tom, as they stood over the chief's stiffening corpse,
-"I'm very glad we never thought of _giving_ the poor fellows that stuff!
-Still--well, it is a lucky thing for us that you didn't pitch the
-bottle away!"
-
-CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
-
-A STARLIGHT TRAMP.
-
-Although by a concatenation of unforeseen circumstances--that is to say,
-the accidental possession of a bottle of chloroform, and the Caffres'
-extraordinary craze for European medicaments--Tom Flinders and Frank
-Jamieson were freed from their savage guards, they felt by no means
-certain that they would even now be able to make good their escape.  The
-untimely fate of Waishlahla and his men had, so to speak, left our
-friends "prisoners at large;" and this was a step--a long step!--in the
-right direction; but it was no use disguising the fact that there were
-still almost insurmountable difficulties to overcome, and unknown perils
-to encounter, before they could consider themselves fairly out of the
-wood.
-
-They were alone in a hostile country, with only a scanty supply of food
-and almost without means of procuring more when that was gone (for,
-situated as they were, it would be running a great risk to use
-Waishlahla's gun, save in self-defence), whilst between them and
-Albany--the nearest British territory--lay the Amatola Mountains, which
-they knew to be swarming with their bloodthirsty foes.  Moreover, Frank
-Jamieson had grave misgivings as to whether there might not be a certain
-amount of truth in what their old jailer had told him--namely, that
-Colonel Somerset had suffered a serious reverse, and that Albany was now
-overrun by the victorious Caffres; and, lest this should be the case, he
-thought it better for them to keep clear of that district altogether,
-and endeavour to reach--by a long and circuitous route--one of the more
-distant provinces, where they might reasonably hope the war had not yet
-spread.  And so, after much anxious deliberation, he proposed to his
-companion that they should shape their course for the Storm Bergen
-(which lay almost due north), and having crossed that range, should
-travel in a westerly direction until they reached the Tarka River, and
-then proceed along its banks to Cradock--a small town in Somerset
-province, 70 miles north-west of Graham's Town.
-
-"It will be a serious undertaking," said Frank, "and we shall have to
-undergo any amount of privation and hardship; but I know you will agree
-with me that anything is better than running the risk of falling again
-into the hands of the Caffres; for, depend upon it, we should not get
-off so easily a second time!  Of course," he added, "we must travel by
-night, and conceal ourselves during the day--at any rate until we're
-clear of the enemy's country."
-
-"But how are you going to find your way?" was Tom's doubtful query.
-
-"I shall steer by the stars," replied the other.  Then, seeing that his
-friend's face still wore a dubious expression, he said, "Remember, Tom,
-I don't for a moment suppose that it will be all plain sailing--quite
-the contrary!  But I do honestly believe that in following this route,
-lies our best--nay, our _only_ chance of eluding the Caffres."
-
-"All right, old fellow," cried Tom cheerfully.  "I am ready to trust
-myself to your guidance, and we'll sink or swim together.  Now, the
-sooner we're off the better.  I feel fresh as possible after my long
-caulk."
-
-Frank then resumed his clothes (which luckily for him the Caffres had
-not put on), whilst Tom despoiled the unfortunate Waishlahla of his gun
-and ammunition; he also took his knobkerrie, shield, and bundle of
-assegais; and a bag of green mealies.
-
-"Are you ready, Tom?" asked Frank.
-
-"Ay, ay!" was the prompt reply; "quite ready."
-
-The air was mild and calm, and the glorious constellations of the south
-shone down on the young men as they started on the first stage of their
-perilous journey; not knowing where that stage might end, but resolved
-to keep moving forward throughout the night.  Setting their faces in the
-proposed direction, they trudged on; now dipping into a deep hollow
-where the grass grew tall and rank, now topping a gentle rise; now
-clambering over masses of rock, now forcing their way through spiky
-mimosa jungle or tangled coppice.
-
-Tom Flinders was deeply impressed by the weird novelty of their first
-night march.
-
-Strange indeed were the noises that sounded through the still night
-air--the deep hum of myriads of insects, the melancholy "croak, croak"
-of the bull-frog, or the shrill scream of the night bird mingling with
-the moaning bark of the jackal, the laughing cry of the hyaena, or the
-sullen roar of some prowling leopard; stranger still the gaunt,
-spectre-like forms which loomed through the darkness or moved from the
-path with snort of terror or angry growl.
-
-At length the morning dawned, and then the weary, foot-sore fugitives--
-their faces and limbs scratched and bleeding, their garments rent and
-torn--climbed into the wide-spreading branches of a well-grown baobab
-tree, and sought shelter and rest amidst its dark green foliage.
-
-Thus--turning night into day and day into night--our friends journeyed
-on for a week and a day, covering on an average eight miles betwixt
-sundown and sunrise.
-
-Not very rapid travelling!  True; something less than a mile an hour;
-but be it remembered that the travellers had to make their way by
-starlight through an unknown country; up hill and down dale, over
-"bosch" and "bron," through deep, rugged, watercourses, and (twice)
-across rapid streams; keeping all the while a sharp lookout least any of
-the savage beasts, whose howlings and roarings made the night hideous,
-should spring upon them as they passed along.  Of water, they happily
-found abundance; but all they had to eat during that wearisome tramp
-were the green mealies they had taken from the dead Caffres; they
-certainly might have killed some small birds or even animals, but then
-they dared not light a fire to cook them, and had no mind to devour raw
-flesh.
-
-The ninth morning of their journey brought them to a grassy plain
-watered by a clear, shallow stream, which bubbled over a pebbly bed.
-This plain was bounded on the north by a long range of lofty mountains
-exhibiting a magnificent front, clothed with overhanging woods,
-diversified with hoary rocks, and steep buttresses of green turf.
-
-"Look yonder, Tom!" cried Frank Jamieson, gazing with admiration and
-thankfulness on the view before; "there are the Storm Bergen!  By this
-time to-morrow I trust we shall be on the far side of them."
-
-CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
-
-CROSSING THE STORM BERGEN--A SCENE OF SLAUGHTER--TOM'S LAST
-ADVENTURE--"OUT OF THE WOOD" AT LAST!
-
-Nearly opposite to the spot where the travellers had halted, the Storm
-Bergen were pierced by a narrow "poort" or valley, presenting a gloomy
-and terrific aspect of solitude.  Through the "poort"--and winding in
-and out amongst huge boulders of moss-covered rock and beneath frowning
-precipices, past wild and gorgeous hollows rank with semi-tropical
-vegetation so peculiar to those regions--a rough track led to the open
-country north of the range.
-
-Anxious to pass through the mountains before nightfall, our hero and his
-companion--after a very short rest, and a mouthful of mealie--entered
-the "poort," and followed the tortuous path until the sun rose high in
-the heavens, and its burning rays beat down into the valley with cruel
-force; then, unable in their debilitated condition to stand the fierce
-heat, they came to a halt, and concluded to rest until the cool of the
-evening.
-
-"This _has_ been a tramp!" exclaimed Tom Flinders, dropping on his knees
-beside a tiny rivulet, that bubbled and sparkled across their path, and
-lapping up the cool, clear water, like a thirsty hound.  "'Pon my life,"
-he added, when he had quenched his thirst, "there's nothing to be
-compared to `Adam's ale,' when one is really parched!  I say, Frank," he
-went on in more serious tones, "we've a lot to be thankful for."
-
-"We have that, old fellow," was Frank Jamieson's hearty reply.  "Our
-escape has been little short of a miracle."  Then after a pause he said,
-"But I fear our friends will have mourned for us as dead."
-
-"I'm afraid so," rejoined Tom.  "I only hope that Wilson hasn't written
-to the _pater_, and reported me `killed in action;' it might be the
-death of my poor mother to hear such news, in her delicate state of
-health.  When do you think we shall reach Cradock?"
-
-"That, of course, depends a great deal upon circumstances," Frank
-answered; "but, barring accidents, I think we may fairly reckon on being
-there by this day week at the latest.  You see, Tom, now we're able to
-travel during the day, we shall get over the ground much more rapidly."
-
-"How far is Cradock from Ralfontein?" queried his friend.
-
-"As the crow flies, something over a hundred miles; but the track,
-though a good one, is rather--halloa! what's that noise?"
-
-Frank's attention was attracted by a rumbling sound, which might be
-likened to that made by a heavy _slow_ train passing over a bridge just
-within earshot; a sound which grew louder every second, and was
-presently mingled with horrible shouts and yells that echoed and
-re-echoed through the valley.
-
-"I know what _that_ noise is!" exclaimed Tom, seizing the gun and
-springing to his feet.
-
-"Caffres! we're lost," ejaculated Frank Jamieson, his face paling;
-"we're lost, Tom!"
-
-But Frank quickly recovered himself, and casting a glance around in the
-hope of discovering some hiding-place, his eyes rested upon a hollow--or
-small cave--in the cliff almost immediately over their heads, and about
-eight or nine feet above the path.
-
-"There's our chance! let us take refuge in that hole," said he, catching
-Tom by the arm.  "I'll help you up first and hand you the gun and
-assegais; then you can haul me after you.  Up you go, there's not a
-moment to lose!"
-
-So saying, Frank placed his body against the face of the cliff or rock,
-which was all but perpendicular, and Tom, without any hesitation, sprang
-upon his shoulders and clambered into the cave.  The gun and assegais
-were next handed up, then Tom, lying down flat on his stomach, reached
-over the edge of the cave as far as he dare, and seizing his friend's
-outstretched hands, hauled him up.  The cave was just deep and wide
-enough for them to turn round, and just high enough to allow of their
-squatting on their haunches like a couple of Hindoos; the entrance was
-partially hidden by an overhanging bush.
-
-Hardly had our friends concealed themselves, when--as though they had
-dropped from the clouds--a score of sinewy black forms appeared in the
-valley, and took up a position on either side of the track, directly
-beneath the cave; they were armed with assegais only, and did not
-present a very warlike appearance; in fact it was evident that they were
-of quite a different race to Sandilli's dusky warriors.
-
-"I don't believe these fellows will molest us," Frank Jamieson said with
-a sigh of relief.  "They probably belong to one of the pastoral tribes
-inhabiting the country in the vicinity of Campbeldorp, and are now on a
-hunting expedition.  Ha!  I thought so."
-
-And as he spoke a vast herd of small deer--beautiful animals, graceful
-of form and of a light cinnamon colour on the back, with white bellies
-and legs--came leaping and bounding along the valley, pursued by a
-number of savages, all yelling and shrieking at the very top of their
-voices.
-
-"They're spring-bok," said Tom, leaning forward to get a fair view of
-the deer.  "I wish I had my double-barrel!  A good juicy steak off one
-of those fellows wouldn't come amiss, eh, Frank?"
-
-"No indeed," replied the other.  "But, I say, old fellow, take care you
-don't overbalance yourself.  I wouldn't trust too much to that bush."
-
-The leaders of the herd of deer were now almost abreast of the cave, and
-the sable hunters, who were lying in wait along the path, rushed in upon
-them.  Then commenced a scene of slaughter; numbers of the affrighted
-spring-bok being slain by the assegais of the savages, whilst not a few
-fell down and died from sheer terror.
-
-This cruel and unsportsmanlike butchery was at its height when,
-forgetful of his friend's warning, Tom Flinders leaned forward to obtain
-a better view of the scene, and in order to preserve his balance he
-caught hold of the bush which overhung the entrance of the cave; but, as
-Frank had suspected, the bush was not very firmly rooted, and so of a
-sudden it gave way, and poor Tom pitched head first out of the cave and
-landed right on the shoulders of one of the savages, who fell sprawling
-amongst the spring-bok, with our hero on the top of him.
-
-Now nine feet is not a very terrible distance to tumble (though, of
-course, a great deal depends on how a person falls--for there's a knack
-in falling, as everybody should know), and Tom would probably have
-escaped with a few bruises, had he not unfortunately rolled from off the
-prostrate savage right in front of another, who was in the very act of
-spearing a spring-bok; the consequence was that his sharp weapon took
-effect in the biped instead of the quadruped; that is to say, poor Tom
-received a severe wound, the assegai-head being driven clean through his
-leg from side to side, an inch or two above the knee-cap.
-
-The sudden and startling appearance of a white man in their midst so
-electrified the hunters that they stood stock-still, and allowed the
-spring-bok to dash onward through the valley without attempting to stop
-them; thus the greater number of the herd would certainly have galloped
-over Tom's body, and probably have injured him not a little, had not
-Frank Jamieson dropped down from the cave, and rushing forward dragged
-his friend out of harm's way.  Tom was indeed badly hurt, and when Frank
-drew the assegai from the wound the pain was so sharp that the poor
-fellow fainted right away.
-
-The blacks--to the number of fifty or sixty--now crowded round, and one
-of them--who appeared to be in authority--addressed Frank in broken
-English, volunteering his assistance, and assuring him that he had
-nothing to fear.
-
-"My name is Ntlororo, and I am captain of a kraal," said he.  "My tribe
-is at peace with our white brethren, and we will help you in your
-trouble."
-
-Frank thanked the chief most warmly, and inquired how far distant his
-kraal might be.
-
-"Twelve miles," Ntlororo replied.  "But my hunters shall carry your
-friend thither," he quickly added, seeing his "white brother's" face
-fall considerably.  "We will start at once."
-
-He then gave some orders to his men, who commenced to collect the
-spring-bok they had slain, whilst Frank, with Ntlororo's aid, bound up
-Tom's injured leg.  As soon as the stricken deer were all collected, a
-rough litter was formed of assegais covered with a kaross; on to this
-Tom was lifted, and the whole party quitted the scene of slaughter and
-marched up the valley--Frank Jamieson (forgetful of his fatigue and
-hunger in his thankfulness and excitement) walking beside the litter.
-The spring-bok were carried on the shoulders of the hunters, who kept up
-a sort of triumphant chant as they trudged along.
-
-They were soon clear of the mountain, and three hours' march brought
-them to a green savannah, plentifully intersected by the spoor of
-cattle; which showed Frank Jamieson that they were not any great
-distance from the kraal.  Another half-hour's "heel and toe," and the
-party came in sight of a cluster of ant-hills dotting a grassy slope
-leading down to a small river, beyond which lay the kraal.
-
-But it was not the sight of the native village that drew forth an
-exclamation of astonished delight from Frank Jamieson's lips!
-
-No, indeed!  He scarcely noticed the bee-hive-shaped huts, for his eager
-eyes were fixed upon a couple of large bullock-waggons outspanned on the
-banks of the river.
-
-CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
-
-THE LAST.
-
-The bullock-waggons which had attracted Frank Jamieson's attention, when
-approaching the kraal, belonged to a certain Mr Abraham Shipp, who was
-engaged in the adventurous and not unprofitable occupation of trading
-with the natives in the interior of South Africa, bartering a great
-variety of British hard goods--principally of "Brummagem" manufacture--
-for elephants' tusks, valuable skins and horns, and ostrich feathers.
-Mr Shipp, after many months' sojourn amongst the up-country tribes, had
-come down south, and was now hastening on to Natal, where he hoped to
-dispose of the ivory, skins, and plumes that he had collected, to some
-of the British and Dutch traders, who had branch houses in the
-fast-rising town of D'Urban, or else make arrangements to ship them off
-to Cape Town in one of the small coasting vessels plying regularly (more
-or less!) between Port Natal and Table Bay.
-
-But apart from his desire to "trade," Abraham Shipp had another and more
-important reason for wishing to reach D'Urban as quickly as possible.
-
-He had with him a sick companion, a young man of four--and--twenty,
-Oliver Maurice by name.  Young Maurice was an Oxford man of good family
-and fortune, but having "gone the pace" whilst at college, and plunged
-into the dubious pleasure of what Captain Costigan was wont to call
-"poloit societee" with rather too much enthusiasm when reading for the
-bar, he had damaged his fortune and lost all taste for what is termed
-"life," and so came out to South Africa to seek enjoyment amidst "fresh
-woods and pastures new."  Meeting with Abraham Shipp, Maurice had
-arranged to accompany him on his trading expedition, but whilst up
-country far north of the Gareep River, he had been seized with sickness,
-and now it was only too evident that his days were numbered.  He
-suffered no pain, but lay all day in one of the waggons in a state of
-apathy.  Still Mr Shipp clung to the hope that if Oliver Maurice could
-only be placed under a doctor's care he might "pull round."
-
-Shipp, though somewhat brusque-mannered and rough-tongued, was a right
-good-hearted fellow, and when he heard Frank's story he at once proposed
-that they should join company.
-
-"Look you now, my lad," cried he, slapping Frank's shoulder with a hand
-half as big as a fair-sized leg of mutton, "just you give up your mad
-idea of tramping to Cradock, and make up your mind to come with me.
-Your chum can share the waggon with poor Noll Maurice; it's plenty big
-enough for both, and they'll cheer one another up; and I've got a spare
-nag--rather a rum 'un, but I can see _you_ won't mind that!--which you
-can ride.  I'll find you in meat, baccy, and grog, and rig you out in
-fresh togs into the bargain.  We inspan at daybreak to-morrow, and I
-hope to be at D'Urban by Tuesday week.  Come now, what d'ye say?"
-
-We need hardly add that Frank accepted this generous offer without
-hesitation.
-
-Early next morning Shipp's waggons were got on the move, and having
-taken a friendly leave of Ntlororo--upon whom Frank bestowed
-Waishlahla's gun and ammunition--the party left the kraal en route for
-Natal.
-
-Oliver Maurice seemed very pleased to have Tom as his companion, and
-before they had known one another four-and-twenty hours they were on
-friendly terms.
-
-Maurice evidently felt a relief in having somebody with him in whom he
-could confide, and he gave Tom a brief sketch of his short, but misspent
-life.
-
-"If I had only been a poor man I might have done better," said he one
-evening--the day before they reached D'Urban.  "But it is a true saying
-that money unfairly come by brings--"
-
-"Unfairly come by!" ejaculated Tom.  "You surely don't mean that you
-_stole_ it?"
-
-"Not exactly, my dear fellow," replied the sick man, with just the ghost
-of a laugh.  "But nevertheless, though _legally_ mine, the best part of
-my fortune should by rights have gone to another man.  My father had a
-distant relative--a queer, crochety old fellow whom he had never seen
-and never wished to see--and this distant relative had an only son, a
-lieutenant in the royal navy, who unfortunately--"
-
-"Why!" interrupted Tom, a sudden light breaking in upon him, "you don't
-mean Weston?"
-
-"Weston was the name of my father's relative; and his son was dismissed
-the service for striking his superior officer.  Do you know anything
-about him?"
-
-"I should think I did!" was Tom's reply; "why, my dear chap, Weston is
-my father's partner, and Frank Jamieson's brother-in-law."  And
-thereupon he proceeded to give Maurice a full account of Mr Weston's
-history.
-
-"I am glad to have the opportunity of making a restitution of this
-property," said Maurice when Tom finished.  "Ask Shipp to give you some
-paper, and this very evening I'll draw up a will in Weston's favour,
-which, if I live to reach D'Urban, I will have put into regular legal
-jargon.  I shall leave him every penny--no, I sha'n't though," he added
-with a faint smile; "I owe you something, Tom, and as I see that you
-feel a tender interest in Miss Gracie Weston I shall leave her a share
-of the property."
-
-Poor Maurice was as good as his word; he reached D'Urban just in time to
-draw up a formal will, which was duly attested by the resident
-magistrate, leaving his fortune to Mr Weston, with the exception of
-3000 pounds, which he settled on Miss Grace Weston.  Two days later he
-breathed his last, and after his funeral Frank Jamieson and Tom Flinders
-took leave of Mr Shipp and embarked on board the _Mary Anne_ cutter,
-bound for Table Bay, where they landed after a rough passage of a week's
-duration.
-
-Our task is ended; but before parting we must ask our readers to
-accompany us once again to Ralfontein, and to imagine that ten years
-have elapsed since our hero and his friend escaped from the Caffres.
-
-Quite a large village has sprung up on the plateau in rear of the old
-homestead; a village in which may be counted four substantial houses,
-"standing in their own grounds," and one tiny wooden church.
-
-On the fertile plains that surround the plateau hundreds of splendid
-cattle are grazing, whilst the meadows and inclosures nearer home are
-enlivened by young horses sufficient in number to furnish remounts for
-any light cavalry corps in the service.
-
-The village is inhabited by the employes of "Jamieson, Flinders, and
-Weston," the largest and most successful horse-breeders and farmers in
-the colony; and in the four substantial houses dwell the families of
-Messieurs Tom Flinders, Frank Jamieson, George Maurice Weston, and
-Richard (commonly called Dick) Jamieson; the little church is "_served_"
-by the Reverend James Jamieson.
-
-Major and Mrs Flinders reside in the old house with Mr Weston and his
-wife.
-
-And now let us lay down our pen, saying: "God save all this fayre
-compagnie!"
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-The End.
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