e were other villages,
then, besides the one spared, and now the Ba-gcatya, spreading over the
land in their immense might, were firing all such and massacring the
inhabitants. Many and various were the comments which arose as the party
gazed intently upon the distant smoke columns.

"If only as a change from knocking on the head these defenceless devils,
it's quite a blessed relief to have some real fighting," quoth Holmes.

"You'll get plenty of that, Holmes, within the next few hours," remarked
Hazon dryly.

It was near midday, and the heat was torrid and sweltering. The fierce
vertical sun-rays seemed to pour down upon their unshaded position as in
streams of molten fire. Even the quick, excited murmurs of the men grew
languid. And, having seen to all being in complete readiness, as
Laurence Stanninghame sat there at his post in the torrid heat, smoking
the pipe of meditation, did no thought of the home, such as it was, but
which he would probably never see again, not rise up before him? If it
did, it was only to confirm him in the conviction that the present
position of peril--whose chances he, at any rate, was in no disposition
to under-estimate--was the preferable of the two. Here freedom,
activity, adventure; there galling bondage, stagnation, a ceasing to
live. Yes, that time indeed seemed very, very far away. He felt no
shadow of inclination towards a recurrence thereof.

Then, suddenly, with magical swiftness, the whole party was astir, and
it needed a sharp, hurried command or two from Hazon and Lutali to
restrain some from leaping on the rocks in order to obtain a better view
of what had caused the alarm.

Between the _kopje_ and the forest belt the ground, save for an
occasional roll, was entirely visible. Now, swarming out into the open,
came masses of moving figures--fleeing figures. Hazon and Laurence, who
each possessed a powerful glass, were able to master the situation in a
twinkling.

Close on the rear of the fugitives pressed another multitude, to the
naked eye like myriad ants upon the far plain, but to those who scanned
them through the powerful glasses all detail was vividly distinct--the
lines and lines of tufted shields, the gleam of spear blades, the
streaming feather and cow-hair adornments.

And now the hum and roar of the wild onslaught and pursuit grows
momentarily louder, drawing nearer and nearer. A great cloud of dust is
whirling onward, and athwart it the gleam of steel, risin