bewilderment, until he realised that he was surrounded by friends.

"By smoke!" he ejaculated. "I had cold feet with a vengeance--and
before a lot of niggers, too."

"So did we--that is, Danvers and I were in a mortal hurry to get out of
the way of the lioness," rejoined Laxdale. "Good old Spofforth bore
the brunt of it, and he's badly mauled."

"Is that so?" asked MacGregor. "I am sorry. It's a bad beginning,
this running away business. I only hope the colonel and the others
won't take it badly."

"Don't worry, old chap," said Danvers. "Feeling fit to foot it? Good.
We've got to get Spofforth back as quickly as possible."

Walking with difficulty MacGregor managed to keep pace with the three
officers, and presently the rough-and-ready stretcher was overtaken.
Upon arriving at the camp the medical staff were soon busy, with the
result that the wounds of the injured hunter were properly dressed.

"Not so serious as at first sight," declared the senior medical
officer. "Unless complications set in he'll be fit in a month, but
he'll carry the scars all his life."

CHAPTER V

HOW THE KOPJE WAS STORMED

A few days later the battalion left Kilwa for the scene of action, a
strong force of Germans being located by seaplane reconnaissance twenty
miles north of the Rovuma River and nearly four times that distance
from the coast.

Acting in conjunction with three battalions of the Waffs were a mounted
Boer contingent and a Punjabi regiment that had already done good
service in the northern part of the hostile colony, while three
seaplanes were "attached" to the expedition for reconnoitring purposes.

In high spirits the Waffs marched out of camp, eager for the chance of
a scrap. The only malcontents were half-a-dozen hospital cases who
perforce had to be left behind; amongst them, to his great disgust,
Second Lieutenant Spofforth, who though convalescent was unable to
bluff the doctor that his arm was "quite all right--doesn't
inconvenience me in the least, don't you know."

At the end of four days' hard marching through scrubby grounds the
troops began to climb the almost trackless hinterland, where water was
scarce and vegetation scanty. It was much of the same nature as the
veldt in the dry season, kopjes being plentifully in evidence. There
were unpleasant traces of Fritz and his native auxiliaries, for several
of the springs had been systematically poisoned and
cunningly-constructed booby-traps