had been there. And Miss Vidal--why, she's splendid."

"I can tell you she saved the whole outfit, by preventing the niggers
getting at the mules before we came up," went on his informant. "I had
it from Fullerton she shot three with her own hand."

"Three mules?"

"No--niggers--don't be a silly ass, Driffield. Only don't make any
allusion to it when you see her. She wants to forget it."

"Of course. Any nice girl would. And she--by Jove, she's splendid!"

"You're not alone in that opinion," said the other so significantly as
to draw the obvious query--

"Why?"

"Well," lowering his voice, "Lamont seems to be making powerful running
in that quarter. In fact he pretty well gave the show away in his wild
eagerness to start after them the moment he heard Fullerton's crowd was
on the road at all."

Whereby it is manifest that Lamont's secret was not quite such a secret
as he--and the sharer of it--imagined.

He, the while, together with others, was watching the approaching
dust-cloud, and a council of war was held. Most were in favour of
allowing the raiders to approach quite close, and then surprise them
with a raking volley. This followed up quickly by another and another
could not fail to demoralise them utterly. Meanwhile the pickets came
riding rapidly in.

"Large force of Matabele coming up the road, sir," reported the first.

"Right. Every man to his post," ordered Lamont. His expression of
countenance grew anxious, as soon the impi swung into view, marching in
close formation, and divided into three companies--the largest and
central of which kept the road, hence the dust-cloud. For he estimated
that it could not be less than a thousand strong, and how was his small
force going to hold its own against a determined rush on the part of
such overwhelming odds?

The impi, as it drew near, presented an imposing spectacle. The
warriors were in their national fighting gear. Quite half of them had
been herders or mine boys for the settlers and prospectors--some
perchance store-hands in the townships, but all had discarded the
tattered shirt and trousers, or ragged hat, and their bronze bodies were
bedecked with feather and bead adornments, and cow-tails, and monkey
skins, and jackal-teeth necklaces--all of which, from a spectacular
point of view, constituted an immense improvement. Then, too, the
forest of great tufted shields, white or black, red or variegated, the
quivering rattle of assegai