Part 7 (1/2)
But Jack's surprises were not ended by any means, for as he went on all-fours to creep into a safer position, there was a sudden tearing sound, and one leg went deep down through the coal, to be followed instantly by the other Nextof the truck, with a layer of coal round his s were quite free to e, and though he could not exactly see through a brick wall, he could certainly, now that suspicion had sharpened his wits, get to the bottoreatest care he swept the coal aside till he came to a tarpaulin some five inches beneath it, which was evidently stretched across the truck Through this he had already forced a hole, and he had soon co daunted by the novelty or danger of the situation, had begun to grope about in the dark Fro over every inch of the space, and when his inspection was finished he had counted two uns of some description, besides a vast number of Mauser rifles
”Ah, this is really serious!” he rapes, which are really cartridges, for President Kruger, and a truck-load of coal, hiding no end of guns, not to rapes And I suppose the other trucks in front are just the sa to! I'd very much like to find out; but just now, if I want to see the Hunters again, I had better get back to ain, and was on the point ofthe top of the coal when, with a shriek and a deafening roar the train dived into the long tunnel which connects Natal and the Transvaal
To atte his brains knocked out against the arch above, for the coal-van was one with sides of sheet-iron, built very lish railways He therefore lay down flat upon the thin layer of coal, taking good care to spread his weight over as ed from the tunnel and rushed out into the open Onceworked his way to the foremost end of it, clambered over on to the buffer, and froet along far ht ”But first of all I will try the weight of one of these cases labelled 'Sugar' Ah, I thought as much! this one is so heavy that I can scarcely lift it”
Stu on top of the cases, he tried first one and then another, till he was convinced that here again he had hit upon a large consignment of war material of so of that nature, what could it be? And why should the cases be labelled 'Sugar'? Obviously it was extremely likely that all the trucks were loaded ar material, for otherhy the secrecy and incorrect labelling?
Satisfied that he had discovered a secret of the Boers, Jack scrae
It was by noat a rapid pace, swaying froreat caution, especially when he was stretching across the space which separated the trucks
However, by dint of due caution he at last reached the fore hiainst a cord which seemed to run from end to end over theit, and ondering what it could be, when the flash of a light froht his eye A second later it had been left behind, but the rope in his hand jerked and then stretched tight, as though the flash had been a signal and so
At thatdownhill, and the brakes were applied to steady it The grinding roar, and the sparks as they gripped the wheels, attracted Jack's attention, while the tension on the cord in his hand becas and heavy jolts as the buffers of the carriages and trucks ca of it all, the cord became suddenly slack, the brakes were clapped on to the wheels of the trucks, al him over the front with the jerk they caused, and the Johannesburg express was racing away from him into the darkness For five minutes the trucks followed in the wake of the express, their pace getting every moment less Then there was a clank and a jar, and they swerved fro behind a station, which was totally unlighted, and on beneath so trees, and out on to the veldt oncehill looht, and within five minutes the trucks had run beneath it and on a little way into the hill Then the brakes bit the steel rims harder, and the whole came to a stop
Jack had not wasted his tiot into a very dangerous corner, he crouched low upon the cases, and the instant the trucks pulled up, juaat daar?” (who goes there?) he heard sorey beard, appeared, carrying a lantern
”We are Uitlanders and have brought you a present,” a voice shouted, and then there was a loud chorus of laughter
Jack thrust his head out from beneath the truck and looked round As far as he could ascertain froe vaulted stone chauns of all sizes were packed, while behind them was a solid wall of boxes, siar”
As he looked out, the fourPiet Maartens, who had ridden in the van froround, and it was one of these, a short stu seen hi, who had hed Evidently he was ue than in the difficult and uncouth language of which the Boer boasts, and as most of the latter who live in the Transvaal towns can speak English more or less perfectly, the conversation which folloas carried on so as to be perfectly intelligible to Jack
”Well, Hans,” the bigthe Gerh quite safely, and without raising the suspicions of those English fools Ha, ha!
'Grapes, to be kept cool' Tis a fine idea But it would never do if others than our own men handled them They are too heavy, ar of which his honour is buying such a large amount It just shohat fools there are in the world, and what money, liberally spent, can do”
”True, Oom Schalk,” the German answered, with a chuckle, ”there are some fools indeed, as you say, and also there are wise men Oom Paul is the wise man of this land, and he is sliot the better of hih openly, and labelled as it is It is just the fact that weus in safety Ah, those English!+ Well, a ti Bah! How I hate theht of one makes me ill”
”Well, well,” Oom Schalk said with a smile, ”you shall have a chance to pay them out, ht, and then we can leave the the lantern well above his head, and followed by his four co Boer looked into the covered van, and then walked along by the side of the trucks, cli the contents of each
Noas Jack's chance to get away, and he took it at once Scra on the concrete hich the vault was paved, he slowly passed beneath the trucks till he reached the end of the van Peeping out toin the darkness, and soon was out of the vault and in a large shed built against the opening
There see of the feet of those behind hi up, he listened for a fewsuspicious, ran across the shed towards the door It was standing wide open, and at the sight he alave a cry of joy In athrough when a strong arm clutched him by the collar, while the cold muzzle of a weapon was thrust into his ear
It was a terrible shock, and set Jack's heart throbbing fiercely But he had the presence of mind to keep perfectly still, for that cold touch at his ear told hihtest movement would mean his certain death
A rasped him on the other side, and he was ed before Oom Schalk and his companions
”What is thehis lantern close to Jack's face, and scrutinising his features closely ”Why, he is not one of ours! He is a spy!”
”I cannot say who he is or how he came here, Oom,” the man who had captured Jack replied; ”but as I stood by the door with Van Zyl and watched you as you walked along the trucks, I suddenly caught sight of so across the vault His head passed between me and your lantern, and I saw at once that he was not one of you So aited here silently in the dark, and caught hih the door”