e
full of prime meat for the troops."

"There--look!" I said; "they're settling down to graze, and the guard
is spreading out between them and the open veldt."

"Yes, I see," said Denham anxiously; "but I hope they'll take great
care. That job ought to be ours."

But it was not, and I did not want it. I said so, too.

"That's bosh," replied Denham. "You say so because you're not hungry;
but just wait till you are, and then you'll be as fidgety about the
bullocks as I am."

"But you're not hungry now," I said laughingly.

"Well, no--not at present; but I shall be soon. I haven't made up the
balance of two days' loss yet. Ugh! only fancy--grilled cat's-meat for
a commissioned officer in Her Majesty's service! Ugh! To think that I
was compelled by sheer hunger to eat horse! I'd swear off all
flesh-feeding for good if it wasn't for that beef."

He burst into a hearty fit of laughing then, and we rode on, chatting
about our position and the fact that the Boers seemed to consider they
could not do better for their side than keep us shut up as we were till
we surrendered as prisoners of war.

"That's it, evidently," said Denham. "They hate us horribly, for we'd
been doing a lot of mischief amongst them before you joined, as well as
ever since."

"Shall we be able to cut our way through before long?" I asked.

"I don't know, old fellow," he replied.

"We ought to," I said, "because we could be of so much use to the
General's troops."

"Well, I don't know so much about that," said Denham as we neared the
fortified gateway, with its curtain of empty wagons. "I'm beginning to
think that we're being a great deal of help to the General here."

"How?" I asked wonderingly. "Our corps is completely useless."

"Oh no, it isn't, my little man. Look here; I'm of opinion that we're
surrounded by quite a couple of thousand mounted men."

"Yes, perhaps there are," I said, "at a guess."

"Well, isn't that being of use to the British General? We're keeping
these fellows fully occupied, so that they can't be harassing his flanks
and rear with all this mob of sharpshooters, who know well how to use
their rifles."

"I say," I cried, "what's the matter yonder?"

"Nothing! Where?"

"Look at the baboons right at the far end of the kopje. They're racing
about in a wonderful state of excitement."

"Smell cooking, perhaps," said Denham. "Here, Sergeant," he continued,
calling up Briggs, "take Mr Moray and a