cers, we stood together, looking up
at the wall.

"What a long time they are taking!" whispered Denham impatiently. "The
Doppies can't be coming on, or they'd have been seen before now."

Almost as he spoke the two officers strode to one end of the rampart and
began to inspect the veldt again. The next minute they were making for
the opposite side of the great building, to examine the country in that
direction; and here they stood for a long time.

"Oh dear!" groaned Denham at last. "What's-its-name deferred makes the
heart sink into your boots. It's a false alarm."

"Not it," I said, "for there has been no alarm."

"Well, you know what I mean. It's all over. I did hope the chief would
be so busy that he'd forget all about what I said. There never was such
a miserably unlucky beggar born as I am. Now we shall--"

Just then the Major left the Colonel's side, came to the edge of the
wall, and looked down into the court, gave a nod of satisfaction, and
made a sign to the trumpeter, whose bugle went with a flip to his lips,
and there was a sound as if the pent-up breath of some four hundred men
had been suddenly allowed to escape. Then the walls were echoing to the
call "Boot and Saddle," and every man sprang to his hung-up saddle and
then to his horse, the willing beasts seeming all of a tremor with an
excitement as great as that of their riders. Long practice had made us
quick; and in an incredibly short time I was standing like the rest with
my rifle slung across my back, holding Sandho's bridle ready to lead him
out through the gateway, military fashion, though he would have walked
at my side like a dog.

"We're only going for a bit of a reconnaissance," said Sergeant Briggs
gruffly as, after a sharp, non-com glance at his men, he settled down
close to my side.

"How do you know?" I asked, speaking as if to a friend, and not to a
superior officer on parade.

"No orders for water-bottles and rations, my lad. I was in hopes that
we were going to make a dash through them and get out of this prison of
a place."

"What! and leave all that splendid beef, Briggs?" said Denham, who came
up in time to hear the Sergeant's words.

"Yes; and the gold-mine too, sir. We could come back and take
possession of that."

"But the bullocks?"

"They'd find their way out and get their living on the veldt. Needn't
trouble about them, sir. Look out."

We were looking out, for our two chief officers had now desc