here. Hi, sergeant! is there any sign of powder or dynamite?"

"No, sir," cried the non-com sharply, as he held the lantern as high as
he could and made its light play in every direction. "All a bam to
scare us, sir. No, no!" he yelled. "Keep back, every one. Up here,
sir, in this hole. There's a bag that looks like those we found. Take
the lantern, Mr Lennox, sir."

"No," cried the young officer; "keep it, and light me. The other fellow
can't get away; we'll have him afterwards. Here we are," he continued,
reaching up to a niche and drawing out a powder-bag. "Will you have it
passed out, Mr Roby?"

"Yes: take hold, one of you.--Captain Edwards."

"Here you are."

"See that the powder-bag is put well out of the prisoner's reach. He is
fast bound, but he might try to play us some trick."

"Yes, all right," said the captain; and then to the two men left on
guard by the prisoner, "Keep a sharp eye on this man; don't let him
stir."

"No, sir," was the reply; and then the order was given for the powder to
be guarded.

As the captain returned it was to meet a man bearing out another bag,
and he entered the cavern in time to see Lennox draw out another, and
again another, till eight had been dragged out of the place into which
they had been packed and carried out into the open air.

"Why, Lennox, man," he said laughingly, "you handle those bags as if
they were tea. Aren't you afraid that some of them will explode?"

"Not he," said Dickenson, who was looking on and holding up the second
lantern. "No danger. I'm here. I've been watching so that he
shouldn't light a cigarette."

There was a titter from the men near, and Captain Roby cried
impatiently, "Why, there's enough to have blown the top off the kopje
and destroyed the big gun."

"Thoroughly, I should say, wedged-in there as it was," said Dickenson.
"How much more is there, Lennox?"

"That's all," was the reply. "No, no. There's a great rift here to the
right, full too."

"Hand it out, then, quickly," said Captain Roby. "Be careful there with
your rifles; if a man lets his off by accident we shall all be blown to
atoms."

"They'll take care," said Captain Edwards; "eh, my lads?"

"Rather, sir!" said the sergeant grimly; and all worked hard and
carefully avoided the lanterns, till Lennox announced that the second
rift had given out its last bag.

"Yes, that's all," he said; "but I want to know how they got it up
here."

"They manage