at won't join.
Is there?"

"No--no."

The answer was an enthusiastic roar. And as they drank his health they
struck up the usual chorus under the circumstances--`For he's a jolly
good fellow'--until the room rang again. And if the watchful savage was
crawling about the dark veldt outside, in a scouting capacity--and who
shall say he was not--he must have decided that Makiwa was singing
war-songs with extraordinary go and zest--not to say indulging in a
_Tyay'igama_ dance [see note], by way of celebrating his victory.

Then Lamont made a little speech. He thanked them for responding so
readily to his call for volunteers, but he knew that they would thank
themselves for the rest of their lives that it had been given to them to
be the means of averting the horrible tragedy they _had_ been the means
of averting. The whole country now was up in arms. These savages
spared neither age nor sex, he had already seen enough--and Peters would
bear him out there--to prove that. Probably they would hear of more and
similar massacres elsewhere before long, but at any rate he, for one,
was going to help the country in which he had lived since its opening
up--to help it to the best of his ability; and whether they served with
him or not he hoped and believed every man jack in that room was going
to do the same.

As for himself, Jim Steele had been good enough to emphasise anything he
might have done, but exactly the same and more might be said of every
man who had fought that day in defence of their two fellow-countrywomen,
and of none more than of Wyndham, who although he had had no opportunity
of firing a shot at the would-be woman-slayers, had none the less by his
coolness and skill contributed to the safety of the party as thoroughly
as though he had shot a score of Matabele with his own hand.

Wyndham had just come in, and a shout of cheering greeted his appearance
at these words. When this had abated Lamont went on.

They were not out of the wood yet, he said. They had either got to wait
here until relieved or take the ladies back to Gandela themselves, and
he himself favoured the first plan. Were they alone they would reckon
it part of the day's work to fight their way, if necessary, to whatever
point at which their services were most required. But the events of the
afternoon had shown they were an inadequate force for escort purposes,
though providentially they had been brought through that time. Again,
he repe