"Come on then," said the former speaker. "_Ck_!"

The pony the man rode made a plunge as if spurs had been suddenly dug into its sides, and the dull beat of its hoofs on the dusty soil told of the course its rider was taking.

West was about to speak when the rapid beating of hoofs came from his left, and he had hard work to restrain his own mount from joining a party of at least a dozen of the enemy as they swept by noisily in the darkness.

"What do the fools think they are going to do by galloping about like that?" said Ingleborough gruffly.

"If they had kept still they might have caught us. Hallo! Firing again!"

Three or four shots rang out on the night air, and away in front of the pair the beating of hoofs was heard again.

"Why, the country seems alive with them," whispered West. "Hadn't we better keep on?"

"Yes, we must chance it," was the reply. "No one can see us twenty yards away."

"And we ought to make the most of the darkness."

"Hist!" whispered Ingleborough, and his companion sat fast, listening to the movements of a mounted man who was evidently proceeding cautiously across their front from left to right. Then the dull sound of hoofs ceased--went on again--ceased once more for a time, so long that West felt that their inimical neighbour must have stolen away, leaving the coast quite clear.

He was about to say so to Ingleborough, but fortunately waited a little longer, and then started, for there was the impatient stamp of a horse, followed by a sound that suggested the angry jerking of a rein, for the animal plunged and was checked again.

As far as the listeners could make out, a mounted man was not forty yards away, and the perspiration stood out in great drops upon West's brow as he waited for the discovery which he felt must be made. For a movement on the part of either of the ponies, or a check of the rein to keep them from stretching down their necks to graze, would have been enough. But they remained abnormally still, and at last, to the satisfaction and relief of both, the Boer vedette moved off at a trot, leaving the pair of listeners once more free to breathe.

"That was a narrow escape!" said West, as soon as their late companion was fairly out of hearing.

"Yes. I suppose we ought to have dismounted and crawled up to him and put a bullet through his body," answered Ingleborough.

"Ugh! Don't talk about it!" replied West. "I suppose we shall have plenty of such escapes as this before we have done."

"You're right! But we can move on now, and--Hist! There are some more on the left."

"I don't hear anyone. Yes, I do. Sit fast; there's a strong party coming along."

West was quite right, a body of what might have been a hundred going by them at a walk some eighty or ninety yards away, and at intervals a short sharp order was given in Boer-Dutch which suggested to West commands in connection with his own drill, "Right incline!" or "Left incline!" till the commando seemed to have pa.s.sed right away out of hearing.

"Now then," said West softly, "let's get on while we have the chance."

The words were hardly above his breath, but in the utter stillness of the night on the veldt they penetrated sufficiently far, and in an instant both the despatch-riders knew what the brief orders they had heard meant, namely that as the commando rode along a trooper was ordered to rein up at about every hundred yards and was left as a vedette.

For no sooner had West spoken than there was a sharp challenge to left and right, running away along a line, and directly after the reports of rifles rang out and bullets whizzed like insects through the dark night air. Many flew around and over the heads of the fugitives; for the moment the discovery was made West and Ingleborough pressed their ponies' sides and went forward at full gallop to pa.s.s through the fire in front of them.

It was close work, for guided by the sounds of the ponies' hoofs, the Boers kept on firing, one shot being from close at hand--so close that the flash seemed blinding, the report tremendous. This was followed by a sharp shock, the two companions, as they tore on, cannoning against the vedette, West's pony striking the horse in his front full upon the shoulder and driving the poor beast right in the way of Ingleborough's, with the consequence that there was a second collision which sent the Boer and his horse prostrate, Ingleborough's pony making a bound which cleared the struggling pair, and then racing forward alongside of its stable companion, when they galloped on shoulder to shoulder. They were followed by a scattered fire of bullets, and when these ceased West turned in his saddle and listened, to hear the heavy beat of many hoofs, telling of pursuit; but the despatch-riders were well through the line, and galloped on at full speed for the next half-hour, when they slackened down and gradually drew rein and listened.

"Can't hear a sound!" said West.

"Nor I," replied Ingleborough, after a pause. "So now let's breathe our nags and go steadily, for we may very likely come upon another of these lines of mounted men."

A short consultation was then held respecting the line of route to be followed as likely to be the most clear of the enemy.

"I've been thinking," said Ingleborough, "that our best way will be to strike off west, and after we are over the river to make a good long detour."

West said nothing, but rode on by his companion's side, letting his pony have a loose rein so that the sure-footed little beast could pick its way and avoid stones.

"I think that will be the best plan," said Ingleborough, after a long pause.

Still West was silent.

"What is it?" said his companion impatiently.

"I was thinking," was the reply.

"Well, you might say something," continued Ingleborough, in an ill-used tone. "It would be more lively if you only gave a grunt."

"Humph!"

It was as near an imitation as the utterer could give, and Ingleborough laughed.

"Thanks," he said. "That's a little more cheering. I've been thinking, too, that if we make this detour to the west we shall get into some rougher country, where we can lie up among the rocks of some kopje when it gets broad daylight."

"And not go on during the day?"

"Certainly not; for two reasons: our horses could not keep on without rest, and we should certainly be seen by the Boers who are crowding over the Vaal." West was silent again.

"Hang it all!" cried Ingleborough. "Not so much as a grunt now! Look here, can you propose a better plan?"

"I don't know about better, but I was thinking quite differently from you."

"Let's have your way then."

"Perhaps you had better not. You have had some experience in your rides out on excursions with Mr Norton, and I daresay your plan is a better one than mine."

"I don't know," said Ingleborough shortly. "Let's hear yours."

"But--"

"Let's--hear--yours," cried the other imperatively, and his voice sounded so harsh that West felt annoyed, and he began:

"Well, I thought of doing what you propose at first."

"Naturally: it seems the likeliest way."

"But after turning it over in my mind it seemed to me that the Boers would all be hurrying across the border and scouring our country, looking in all directions as they descended towards Kimberley."

"Yes, that's right enough. But go on; don't hesitate. It's your expedition, and I'm only second."

"So I thought that we should have a far better chance and be less likely to meet with interruption if we kept on the east side of the Vaal till it turned eastward, and then, if we could get across, go on north through the enemy's country."

"Invade the Transvaal with an army consisting of one officer and one man?"