Part 14 (1/2)
”Ah, there you are!” cried Mr Hunter with satisfaction, when he -room ”Noill tell you what has happened since the ultimatum, and indeed since war becaovernhers, and since then our streets have been filled with men, all on their way to the front, ar to an iniquitous syste to obtain other necessaries No one's property has been safe, and we in Johannesburg have suffered, I believe, more heavily than any others My store has been practically denuded of its contents, so that I now congratulate oods frooods re here as rapidly as possible Some of my friends have not been so fortunate, and have lost everything valuable to n Horses have been seized everywhere, and there again I have been wise in tiood horses to Ted Ellison's farm, ten miles out from here They will be perfectly safe there, for Ted ood little woladly see all this trouble over and a British governood order
”At the presentsave your two ponies, and they will be safe till you start, for the Boers have twice paid me a visit, and have colad to hear about the teahtfully
”But why not take the train down to the border Surely Kruger and his friends will grant all refugees a safe-conduct?”
”Safe-conduct! A precious fine conduct they are giving us! Thousands of poor creatures are cla so for these past three days But what can you expect, Jack? It is a single line to Natal, and every inch of it is occupied in passing down trains laden with burghers The refugees are quite a secondarycruel ties are packed with Boers, and our poor country-people have to do as best they can in open cattle trucks or coal wagons
”Then every station is crammed with armed and excited Transvaallers, who have committed all sorts of detestable acts I know this is the case, for Joe Pearson, orks on the railway in ordinary tih one of the stations The older Boers are quiet and well conducted, but it is the youngerto shoot helpless passengers is the least of thes for asthe trucks to obtain food or water It is really terrible The unhappy woees, have been exposed to the weather for three days between here and Laing's Nek, and you can iine what that has ht I hear one or two of the children died on the way down
”It is dreadfully sad, terribly sad But there is one consolation, England will demand a just retribution when the time comes
”That is why I have decided to send Mrs Hunter down by road, rather than let her run the risks of the journey by train The horses are good ones, and ought to get you to Volksrust quicker than the rail; that is, of course, if they are not commandeered If that were to happen, I suppose you would have to get to the nearest station But I can leave that to you, Jack You have an old head upon those broad shoulders of yours”
”I'll do my best, never fear, Mr Hunter,” Jack exclai I suppose we had better do so at once Mrs Hunter can ride Vic, and Wilfred and I will take it in turns to get on Prince's back”
”Yes, I think you had better go at once, my lad Mrs Hunter is ready, and Tom Thumb carried over a haht All I shall ask you to carry is this bag of notes and gold-dust
Wilfred has another, and Mrs Hunter a third I shall stay here to look after the house and property, and to keep an eye on the et it, as I am one of the oldest residents here”
”By the way, Mr Hunter,” said Jack suddenly, ”this is the 12th Has the war begun yet? I suppose it has, as these Boer fellows seeo
”Yes, it has already opened with a sharp affair with an ar, and I am sorry to say our boys, under Captain Nesbit, VC, were taken prisoners The news has only just reached us, but it appears they allant stand before they were taken, and accounted for a few of the Boers They were running up fro, and suddenly came upon a part where the rails had been broken up It was a regular trap, for the eneuns already laid for it, and used the can, that is all”
By noas quite dark, and after a tender farewell from her husband, Mrs Hunter and the two lads, Jack and Wilfred, slipped round to the stables
A few minutes later the door was opened silently, and they issued out on to the veldt, Mrs Hunter and Wilfred mounted respectively upon Vic and Prince, while Jack walked alongside
An hour and a half later Ted Ellison's far in the yard, with the hamper stowed inside, and it took very little time to put the team in and hook up the traces
”Now, Wilfred,” said Jack, who had all this tie matters so as to ensure their safe arrival in Natal, ”you hop up there and take the reins When you get into the road, keep the team at a steady trot, and if anyone shouts to you in Dutch, answer theo, and that should be a great advantage I a to keep some way ahead of you, and shall scout on one side of the road first and then on the other If you hear a whistle like this”--and Jack gave a low but peculiarly piercing and long-drawn-out whistle, which he had learnt from Tom Salter--”pull up at once, and wait till I tell you the road is clear If I whistle twice, turn on to the veldt, and whip up till you are well away froiven his directions, Jack vaulted on to Prince's back, and, leading Vic, turned away fro Ted Ellison and his wife, who heartily wished them a safe journey
For threeclose beside the cart Then they struck across the on-road to Natal, and Jack at once cantered ahead on the veldt To all appearances he was a young Boer burgher bound for the wars, so that even if he did happen to run across anyone, he was not likely to be recognised in the darkness as an Englishman Beneath his coat he still wore his bandolier, and his pistol under his waistcoat, while his rifle was firmly strapped to the side of the empty saddle on Vic's back
Mile afterThen the sky, which had been open up to this, became banked up with clouds, and very soon a heavy stor flickered everywhere, lighting up the lonely road running across the veldt Then the rain began to pour down in a heavy deluge
Wilfred and Mrs Hunter ell provided aterproofs, and Jack by this tieexposed, while the ends of the rubber sheet fell over his pony's neck and quarters, and cos
Suddenly, as he was cantering silently along on the veldt, the only sounds being the noise of the thunder and the squish, squish of the ponies' feet, a brilliant flash of lightning seeround some yards behind hiaat daar?”
He cantered on, and a moment after heard Wilfred answer the hail, for it was evident that Jack hi along on the open road, had been shown up by the flash
Then there was a second hoarse hail, and an order for the cart to pull up But Wilfred paid no heed, and instead whipped up his horses, and sent the down the road
Jack meanwhile had turned to the left and then ridden back, well away from the road, till he was on a level with the cart Then he turned towards it and pulled up As he did so a second flash showed Wilfred standing up and using his whip freely, while twoon either side of the leaders, vainly endeavouring to pull the the to madness by Wilfred's whip, one of the the aniround like a stone The others stopped at once, al Mrs Hunter and Wilfred out of the cart