furtive glance at
the black foreloper, "we're a long way off, and the Boers will miss the
wagons and see us soon."

"Um? Yes," he said coolly.

"Do you think that you can get the bullocks to go faster?"

"Um? No," he said. "Must go like this."

"But the Boers will come after us as soon as they see us."

"Um? Yes; but can't see us yet. When Doppie see us Boss Denham see us
too, and come along o' fighting boys."

"Yes; I had half-forgotten that," I replied. Not thinking of anything
more to say, I trudged on. At last, as the light grew stronger, Joeboy
turned to me to say:

"Boss Val see Doppie now?"

I looked back in the direction of the enemy's lines and shaded my eyes;
but nothing was discernible.

"I can't see them yet," I said.

"Um? No. Joeboy can. Can't see a wagons yet."

"They can't see the wagons?" I cried. "How do you know?"

"Come on horses after us," he said. "Gallop fast."

"Of course," I replied, and looked anxiously at our great, lumbering
prizes, wishing I could do something to hurry the bullocks on; but
wishing was vain, and I knew all the time it would be madness to attempt
to hasten the animals' pace, and likely only to end in disaster.

The darkness, which had appeared to be low between us and the Boer
lines, now began to turn of a soft grey, which minute by minute
lightened more and more, and rose till it looked like a succession of
horizontal streaks, beneath which lay something disconnected and
strange, but which gradually took the form of a long line of horses,
broken here and there by little curves which, by straining my eyes, I
made out to be wagon-tilts seen through the soft pale-bluish air. Next,
on turning sharply to look in the direction of our comrades, there were
the old piled-up walls of our stronghold clearly marked against the sky.

"It's a long, long way yet, Joeboy," I said.

"Yes, long way," he replied.

"Can you see the Boers on the move?"

He shook his head, and then hurried to the foreloper, a heavy-looking
black, who was signalling to him.

Charge!--by George Manville Fenn

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

AN UNEXPECTED OBSTACLE.

"What does he want?" I muttered to myself as I looked on curiously, for
I could not hear what was said; but, to my horror, there appeared to be
something like a quarrel, as the foreloper suddenly threw down the long
bamboo he carried and then squatted upon the ground.

In an instant the shaft of Joeboy's assagai fel