aputa a horse?'

'Yes; but I took it,' I stammered. 'You can see it behind me.' Arcoll
dropped my hands and stood up straight.

'By God, we've got him!' he said, and he spoke to his companions. A
man turned and ran out of the tent.

Then I remembered what I wanted to say. I struggled from the bed and
put my hands on his shoulders.

'Laputa is our side of the highroad. Cut him off from his men, and
drive him north--north--away up to the Rooirand. Never mind the
Wolkberg and the guns, for they can wait. I tell you Laputa is the
Rising, and he has the collar. Without him you can mop up the Kaffirs
at your leisure. Line the high-road with every man you have, for he
must cross it or perish. Oh, hurry, man, hurry; never mind me. We're
saved if we can chivy Laputa till morning. Quick, or I'll have to go
myself.'

The tent emptied, and I lay back on the bed with a dim feeling that my
duty was done and I could rest. Henceforth the affair was in stronger
hands than mine. I was so weak that I could not lift my legs up to the
bed, but sprawled half on and half off.

Utter exhaustion defeats sleep. I was in a fever, and my eyes would
not close. I lay and drowsed while it seemed to me that the outside
world was full of men and horses. I heard voices and the sound of
hoofs and the jingle of bridles, but above all I heard the solid tramp
of an army. The whole earth seemed to be full of war. Before my mind
was spread the ribbon of the great highway. I saw it run white through
the meadows of the plateau, then in a dark corkscrew down the glen of
the Letaba, then white again through the vast moonlit bush of the
plains, till the shanties of Wesselsburg rose at the end of it. It
seemed to me to be less a road than a rampart, built of shining marble,
the Great Wall of Africa. I saw Laputa come out of the shadows and try
to climb it, and always there was the sound of a rifle-breech clicking,
a summons, and a flight. I began to take a keen interest in the game.
Down in the bush were the dark figures of the hunted, and on the white
wall were my own people--horse, foot, and artillery, the squadrons of
our defence. What a general Arcoll was, and how great a matter had
David Crawfurd kindled!

A man came in--I suppose a doctor. He took off my leggings and boots,
cutting them from my bleeding feet, but I knew no pain. He felt my
pulse and listened to my heart. Then he washed my face and gave me a
bowl of hot milk.