Part 13 (1/2)

England awoke sorrowfully to the fact that hostilities were not to be put off, and, cal the best of a bad le Already she had despatched special officers for the defence of certain parts, and now she sent sufficient arrisons of Cape Colony and Natal to 20,000, and that done, set to work to mobilise a complete army corps and call up 25,000 of her reserves

The Boers, too, showed that they e was bound to serve, and by October let had been called upon

From Pretoria and Bloeraph wire, and then by the field-cornets, or localtheir rifles, horses, food, and ahers e Free State e ofinto Natal, and also sent other coe force of e River, and the Basuto border, where trouble froht be expected

The Transvaallers for the 's Nek, the scene of the forle, while others went north to Kooa Bay entered the country, and to the northern border near Tuli A large co, and another marched south towards Kimberley

Thus, ar war, and now that they were fully prepared, with all their burghers on the borders and within striking distance, they despatched an ultimatum to the British Governasp, and e It was addressed by President Kruger on October 9th, and declared that forty-eight hours' grace would be allowed for our forces to be withdrawn frorievances submitted to arbitration If we refused to do as demanded, war should commence on October the 11th, in the afternoon

Never before had such an audacious e been addressed to us There was no answer to be made Its despatch made war unavoidable We were forced into it, and accepted the inevitable with a sigh But had we known all that was in store for us, had we as a nation realised that this was no tribal war, such as ere accustoainst a race of born soldiers arh country suited to their tactics, that sigh would have been replaced by a start and by an anxious foreboding which would have led us to throw all our available forces into Africa without a moment's delay

But to return to Jack Somerton

Early in October he and To the news, and on the 9th of the er despatched his ulti hi Mrs Hunter to the frontier

_I know it is asking a lot of you_, he wrote, _for it would be aard if you were found in the Transvaal after the warning you have had

But I know you and To the past feeeks, and really, ood lad, but scarcely capable of the hich will be required, for I can tell you the refugees are likely to o at once, and communicated his intentions to Tom ”I'll risk it,” he said ”An old tweed suit and a slouch hat ought to disguise h on Vic and Prince It would take longer by rail, and all the stations are certain to be watched I know the way, and ought to get through in about three days”

Accordingly he saddled up his ponies, jumped into the old suit in which he had left Mr Hunter's house, and with a hearty shake of the hand fro sufficient water and provisions with him to last for a week

”Good-bye, old boy!” Tom shouted after him ”We shall expect to see you here in a week or so, but we shall be closely shut up, and you will have to find a way in Ta, ta! you'll e it, I'ht expect hi up his ponies, cantered away out of sight

CHAPTER SEVEN

REFUGEES

It was shortly after noon when Jack set out fro, and as he could not expect to get there before the afternoon of 11th October, when the ultier to the British Government expired, he determined to ride at a moderate pace, for he knew that Wilfred would wait for his arrival But there was another lishe Free State, so that if he wished to get through undetected, he , and lie up during the day

About five miles out from Kimberley he pulled up, knee-haltered his ponies, and sat down on a boulder, with a map of the two republics spread out before hiht; ”I must pick out a route which will be little frequented just now The Transvaallers, I know, are rushi+ng west and north to Mafeking and the northern border, and east and south towards Natal The other fellows in the southern state aredown this way to Kimberley with some of the Transvaallers, and they are certain to co across country by train The reo east to Natal That leaves the Vaal River deserted, and that ought to be ht to the right into the Orange Free State, and et to the neighbourhood of Reitzburg, cross the river, and trust to luck to get through the reo, but, dressed as I a at Jack anyone ht have admitted the same Clad in Mr Hunter's old tweed suit, which was a size or two too big for him across the shoulders and round the waist, but all too short at wrists and ankles, he looked for all the world like the average Boer Beneath his trousers he wore a pair of high riding-boots, round his neck was a blue woollen scarf, and on his head a dilapidated and weather-beaten felt hat Over his left shoulder was a bandolier filled with cartridges, and hitched over the other, and drawn tight against his back so that the butt sell free of his saddle, was his Lee-Metford rifle In addition he carried a water-bottle, a h which he could put his head, and his Mauser pistol, which was comfortably hidden away in its old position

Extra shoes, or i them on to his ponies, were not wanted, for in addition to theirBasuto anirass or stony ground

It was still early in the day, and after riding on a few ain and off-saddled, so as to rest his ponies Whilst they set about foraging for thee eucalyptus-tree, pulled out his pipe and lit it, and proceeded to clean his rifle A few hours later the shadohich he sat had lengthened considerably, and he turned round towards the west to see the sun, which had been strea behind a far-distant range of , for here, before his eyes, was a gorgeous scene, a fit subject for any artist

The sun was sinking in a splendour of gold and purple lights, and the heavens above it were decked with beautifully red and silver-streaked blue clouds, against which the jagged broken peaks of the ed and boulder-strewn slopes, and the stretch of rolling veldt beloere already clouded with the shades of coht Jack, should not all the beings dwelling within reach of it, or, for thesuch a prospect as lay before hiood brotherhood with one another and enjoy it? South Africa was a vast country, so sparsely populated that one could ride forso much as a roof or habitation, let alone a ht of the beauties of the country Other and deeper ree they were on the brink of a sanguinary hich would mean an awful loss of life, and--what then?

”Mr Hunter says it's a case of British supremacy,” he murmured ”Yes, that's what it is, and that is what it shall be when the war is over”

And straightway Jack forgot all about the declining sun, and the peaceful landscape, and with a curious feeling of elation, which the thought of coiven him, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, ju his ponies

Half an hour later it was dark, save for a sht to show the road Jack vaulted into his saddle, hitched his rifle over his shoulder, shook the reins, and cantered off across theveldt, which was just beginning to send forth a few blades of fresh green grass

Alternately cantering and walking, and changing from one pony to the other, he kept steadily on, the unshod hoofs of his ani able to hear anyone approaching Five hours later he stumbled upon the road from Kimberley to Hoopstad, and at once off-saddled to rest hi that tioodalong just by the side of the road, and turning on to it now and again, when the veldt was so streith boulders or cut up by nullahs and deep water-courses as to make it difficult for him to pick his way