o appear as if he knew more about it than his fellows; each
claiming to be a greater authority upon the probabilities or
improbabilities of the case than all the rest put together. But all
were agreed on one point--that the errand of breaking the news to those
most concerned was the duty of anybody but themselves. And three of the
unfortunate men were married; two of their wives--now widows, alas--
being actually resident in the place, within a stone's throw, in fact.
It was further agreed that, by whoever eventually performed, the longer
this duty could be deferred the better. Further information might
arrive any moment. It would be as well to wait.

For once, public opinion was sound in its judgment. Further information
did arrive, this time authentic, and it had the effect of boiling down
rumour considerably--in fact, by one-half. The four men had set out and
crossed the Bashi into the Bomvana country, as at first stated. They
had been attacked by the Kafirs in overwhelming numbers, and after a
terrible running fight Hoste and Payne had escaped. Their horses had
been mortally wounded and themselves forced to lie hidden among the
thick bush and krantzes along the Bashi River for two nights and a day,
when they were found in a half-starved condition by a strong patrol of
the Rangers, which had turned back to search for them. The other two
men were missing, and from the report of the survivors no hope could be
entertained of their escape. In fact, their fate was placed beyond the
shadow of a doubt, for the Rangers had proceeded straight to the scene
of the conflict, and though they did not discover the bodies--which the
jackals and other wild animals might have accounted for meanwhile--they
found the spots, not very far apart, where both men had been slain, and
in or near the great patches of dried-up blood were fragments of the
unfortunate men's clothing and other articles, including a new and
patent kind of spur known to have belonged to Milne.

This was better. The killed had been reduced from four to two, the
number of widows from three to one. Still, it was sufficiently
terrible. Both men had lived in their midst--one for many years, the
other for a shorter time--and were more or less well-known to all. This
time the news was genuine, for three of the Rangers themselves had
ridden in with all particulars. The sensation created was tremendous.
Everybody had something to say.

"Tell you what it is, b