was so borne up in my passion that I forgot my bonds
and my grave danger. I was inspired like a prophet with a sense of
approaching retribution. Henriques heard me out; but his smile changed
to a scowl, and a flush rose on his sallow cheek.

'Stew in your own juice,' he said, and spat in my face. Then he
shouted in Kaffir that I had insulted him, and demanded that I should
be bound tighter and gagged.

It was Arcoll's messenger who answered his summons. That admirable
fellow rushed at me with a great appearance of savagery. He made a
pretence of swathing me up in fresh rawhide ropes, but his knots were
loose and the thing was a farce. He gagged me with what looked like a
piece of wood, but was in reality a chunk of dry banana. And all the
while, till Henriques was out of hearing, he cursed me with a noble
gift of tongues.

The drums beat for the advance, and once more I was hoisted on my
horse, while Arcoll's Kaffir tied my bridle to his own. A Kaffir
cannot wink, but he has a way of slanting his eyes which does as well,
and as we moved on he would turn his head to me with this strange
grimace.

Henriques wanted me to help him to get the rubies--that I presumed was
the offer he had meant to make. Well, thought I, I will perish before
the jewel reaches the Portuguese's hands. He hoped for a stampede when
Arcoll opposed the crossing of the river, and in the confusion intended
to steal the casket. My plan must be to get as near the old priest as
possible before we reached the ford. I spoke to my warder and told him
what I wanted. He nodded, and in the first mile we managed to edge a
good way forward. Several things came to aid us. As I have said, we
of the centre were not marching in close ranks, but in a loose column,
and often it was possible by taking a short cut on rough ground to join
the column some distance ahead. There was a vlei, too, which many
circumvented, but we swam, and this helped our lead. In a couple of
hours we were so near the priest's litter that I could have easily
tossed a cricket ball on the head of Henriques who rode beside it.

Very soon the twilight of the winter day began to fall. The far hills
grew pink and mulberry in the sunset, and strange shadows stole over
the bush. Still creeping forward, we found ourselves not twenty yards
behind the litter, while far ahead I saw a broad, glimmering space of
water with a high woody bank beyond.

'Dupree's Drift;' whispered my ward