d found myself, to slip across in a gap of
the pickets.

Laputa would be in a hurry, and therefore he would try to cross at the
nearest point. Hence it was Arcoll's first business to hold the line
between the defile of the Letaba and the camp at Bruderstroom. A
detachment of the police who were well mounted galloped at racing speed
for the defile, and behind them the rest lined out along the road. The
farmers took a line at right angles to the road, so as to prevent an
escape on the western flank. The Basutos were sent into the woods as a
sort of advanced post to bring tidings of any movement there. Finally a
body of police with native runners at their stirrups rode on to the
drift where the road crosses the Letaba. The place is called Main
Drift, and you will find it on the map. The natives were first of all
to locate Laputa, and prevent him getting out on the south side of the
triangle of hill and wood between Machudi's, the road, and the Letaba.
If he failed there, he must try to ford the Letaba below the drift, and
cross the road between the drift and Wesselsburg. Now Arcoll had not
men enough to watch the whole line, and therefore if Laputa were once
driven below the drift, he must shift his men farther down the road.
Consequently it was of the first importance to locate Laputa's
whereabouts, and for this purpose the native trackers were sent
forward. There was just a chance of capturing him, but Arcoll knew too
well his amazing veld-craft and great strength of body to build much
hope on that.

We were none too soon. The advance men of the police rode into one of
the Kaffirs from Inanda's Kraal, whom Laputa had sent forward to see if
the way was clear. In two minutes more he would have been across and
out of our power, for we had no chance of overtaking him in the woody
ravines of the Letaba. The Kaffir, when he saw us, dived back into the
grass on the north side of the road, which made it clear that Laputa
was still there.

After that nothing happened for a little. The police reached their
drift, and all the road west of that point was strongly held. The
flanking commandoes joined hands with one of the police posts farther
north, and moved slowly to the scarp of the Berg. They saw nobody;
from which Arcoll could deduce that his man had gone down the Berg into
the forests.

Had the Basutos been any good at woodcraft we should have had better
intelligence. But living in a bare mountain country the