About half an hour later the speed of the train slackened, and, climbing out on to the footboard, Jack and Guy jumped off in turn, alighting on the soft grassy veldt without hurting themselves. Then they turned to the right and tramped on steadily all night.
When morning dawned they were well on the way to Johannesburg, and by the following night had struck the railway some miles below that town. That same night they boarded a goods train bound for Natal, and hid themselves beneath a sheet of coarse canvas which was thrown over an immense Creuzot gun being taken south to add its fire to the bombardment of Ladysmith.
It was a long and tedious run, but no one disturbed them, and two days later they ran through the tunnel at Laing’s Nek, and on through Newcastle without stopping.
When nearing Ladysmith Jack and Guy left the truck which had proved such a friendly shelter to them, and striking away from the line hid themselves close to the summit of a solitary hill. And here, behind a breastwork of boulders, they threw themselves on the ground and slept till the sun came up.
Chapter Fourteen.
An Alarming Predicament.
When Jack Somerton and his friend Guy Richardson awoke on the morning following their escape into Natal, and looked out cautiously between the rough boulders which surrounded and hid them from sight, a scene at once picturesque and awe-inspiring met their eyes. They were on the top of an immense and precipitous hill, situated some three miles from the railway, and almost encircled by a wide plain of lovely grass land, looking beautifully cool and green beneath the rays of the morning sun. Away in the distance, and jutting forward on to the grassy plain, were hills and short mountain ranges innumerable, their summits for the most part brilliantly lit up, and flashing back the light from the white faces of thousands of boulders, while the valleys between were still hidden in deep shadows and mist. Here and there, nestling in among the hills or out on the open veldt, were groves of waving trees, while away in the distance the sparkle of an immense cascade of water could be distinctly seen.
It was a peaceful and lovely country, and on that fine summer’s morning appeared perhaps even more beautiful than it might have done had Jack and his friend not so recently escaped from a flat and cheerless part, where hills were scarcely to be met with. And yet, much as they admired it all, the presence of a large force of Boers marred the scene, and filled them with forebodings for the future. Two miles south of them there was a large camp, mainly composed of bullock wagons, and to the left of this another could be seen; while crawling across the plain were strings of vehicles laden with supplies.