pt at slipping in
together, but after that he will have to stay in the town till it is
relieved."

"That will suit me, Jack, old chap," Wilfred replied eagerly. "The
garrison is not likely to sit down and do nothing. There will certainly
be exciting times, sorties and so on, and I should like to join in it
all. When shall we start?"

"The ship sails in three days, Wilfred. We will telegraph down for a
berth for you. By the way, you will want a good mount. One pony will
be sufficient."

"Then I am already set up," said Wilfred. "Our friends here told me
they could let me have a reliable pony whenever I liked to ask for him.
Since coming down here I have obtained a complete campaigning kit and a
Lee-Metford rifle and bayonet. So I am ready to set off just whenever
you like."

Three days later, therefore, the two lads--or rather, young fellows they
should be called, for both stood well above five feet nine inches in
their boots, and were broad-shouldered and muscular in proportion--set
out for Durban, and having embarked there, arrived in due course at Port
Elizabeth, having had a pleasant sail.

An hour after landing they were in the train, and after many long stops
and tedious delays arrived at De Aar, a town where there was a small
force of troops, and which was likely before long to be a station of
some importance, for it was filled with vast military stores, and
truck-loads were still arriving.

Here they learned that the Boers had already crossed the Orange River
and were invading Cape Colony.

Jack and Wilfred took up their quarters for the night at a small hotel,
and having washed, and enjoyed a hearty meal, they lit up their pipes
and strolled through the town.

Then they returned, and were chatting with the owner of the hotel when a
stranger, to all appearance an English colonist, entered, and without
invitation joined in the conversation.

"Warm evening, landlord!" he exclaimed. "The kind of evening that makes
one thirsty! Let me have a bottle of something good, and perhaps these
gentlemen will join me. All Englishmen are comrades in these times."

Jack and his friend were naturally surprised, but they had already
experienced that sense of brotherhood in the colony now that war had
commenced, and rather than offend the stranger they consented to join
him, with an expression of their thanks. A moment later the landlord
returned with the liquor, and as he placed it on the table and prepare