it."

The rain, at length overtaking them, seemed to come down in a perfect
sheet of water, and in a few seconds they were wet to the skin.

They quickly, however, reached the farm, and unsaddling turned their
horses into the kraal, where a shed afforded the animals some protection
from the pitiless shower, while they themselves hurried into the house
for shelter. The gate was regularly closed at night, so that neither
Zulus nor wild beasts could steal in. Falls Farm had in this respect an
immense advantage over nearly all others in the colony, which were
perfectly unfortified, and open to the depredations of all descriptions
of animals. Had Captain Broderick expended the same amount of labour on
a farm near town, as he had bestowed on his present property, he would
ere this have become a rich man. It was the instinct of an old soldier
which had induced him to fortify it, although his great object was to
live at peace with his neighbours.

By the time the supper Rupert and Crawford found prepared for them was
over, the rain had ceased, and they went out as usual to make the round
of the walls.

Nothing could be seen moving outside, but the hideous howls and cries of
the jackals and hyenas came down from a distance on the night air.

"Those brutes are enticed into the neighbourhood by the scent of our
cattle, and they howl with disappointment at not being able to get at
them," observed Rupert to his companion. "We cannot drive them away,
and the hyenas especially are such cunning rogues, that it is a hard
matter to get a shot at them. We find that the only successful plan is
to form traps, in which, with all their cunning, they frequently lose
their lives."

Rupert and Crawford having seen that the men on the ramparts were
keeping a vigilant watch, returned to the house.

The night passed away without interruption. When daylight returned, and
the sun shed a bright light over the landscape, Crawford expressed his
belief that no treacherous enemy could be lurking in the neighbourhood.
It seemed probable that he was right, for when two of the Kaffir
servants, who had been out as scouts returned, they reported that they
had seen no one, nor had they discovered the traces of any strangers in
the neighbourhood.

"The chances are, the men we saw were merely passers-by, who were
seeking shelter from the storm under a bush, and had we ridden up to
them we should probably have found them to be very harmless charac