A cry arose of "Here they are!" Cartridges rattled in breech-blocks, and Wicklow's heart was joyful within him, when, a cloud of dust preceding them, a straggling mass of horsemen burst upon them. The storm broke, but on they came, for Porky was valiant and by now reckless, till at last, with guns thudding in their faces and withering fire from Maxim and rifle pouring in upon them, even he became convinced of the futility of further advance, and halted his cursing, sulky-faced regiment in the centre of the pass. A loud shout of laughter greeted them from the infantrymen looking down from the rocks on either side.
"We're in for it, Graves," he calmly observed, "but a damning is no new thing to me." Then Porky proceeded to light his pipe, and, seating himself on a stone beside the path, waited for the wrath to come.
"A pretty piece of business," said the General, as he lumbered across the veldt towards the scene of disaster, "very pretty indeed! Oh for heaven's sake keep up beside me, Colonel Royle, and stop talking to Graeme, you can do that afterwards."
"Yes, sir; very sorry, sir," gasped Royle, rushing his horse up and cannoning into the General in his haste. "oh, I beg ten thousand pardons, sir, and you were saying——"
"How the devil can I say anything when you damn near knock me over? Hold up, confound you!" pulling at his horse's mouth, as the animal skipped cleverly over the hole of an ant-bear. "Nasty clumsy brute to give a general officer. Who chose him—you?"[#]
[#] It is usual for the general and his staff, when not bringing their own horses with them, to be mounted by the cavalry regiment in the station they are visiting. Amiability is a sine qua non in the quadrupeds selected for this honour.
"No, sir, Colonel Graeme, sir——"
"Damme," roared the General, "it's always Colonel Graeme, pray, does he command the 1st Lancers or do you?"
"I do, of course, sir; but Graeme, being the second in command, I usually leave such matters to him. I thought he was to be relied on, sir; but after to-day I see——"
"I hope you do, a nice show up for your regiment, to-day's performance. Now, perhaps, you'll believe what I've always said about this officer."