"I could have shot the five one after the other, baas."
"You might have done so, Peter, but the sound of firing would have brought the whole town out at once. Besides, I should have been very sorry, for the landdrost was a very civil old fellow, and I should have been grieved if harm had come to him. I don't know that there is any fear of pursuit," he said, after they had run for more than an hour.
"No fear at all, baas. The Boers do not like riding about at night, especially when there is a storm coming on. Besides, they know very well that they have no chance of catching you in the dark. To-morrow morning they will send out in all directions. We must get away as far as we can."
In a quarter of an hour the storm burst upon them, the rain coming down in torrents, the wind blowing fiercely. They had now fallen into a jog-trot, and as Yorke had looked at his compass when the first drop fell, they were able to keep on without delay, for they could steer their course by the direction of the wind and driving rain. Half an hour, and the storm ceased as suddenly as it had begun. The Kaffir had been running a yard or two ahead of Yorke, for the latter could see nothing, while the former was able to make out any bush in their way. From the view he had obtained of the country when he came into the town the lad knew that there were no kopjes for a long way round it, and that the only danger was of falling into a spruit.
When the sky cleared and the stars shone out there was no longer any fear of accident, and sometimes walking, and sometimes trotting, they held on their course until morning broke. They had travelled, they calculated, nearly thirty miles. The last four or five had been over comparatively broken ground, being a continuation of the hills through which they had passed on their way to Kimberley. They hid up on the side of a rocky kopje, and when it was light made out the road from Boshof to Jacobsdal about a mile to their right.
"There is a little town in the distance," Yorke said looking south. "That must be Wesselton. I don't think that is more than eight miles or so from the river. What we have got to do is to get round that place, keep a bit to the right of the road till we are close to the river, and then strike due west. Of course the most dangerous point is where we cross the road from Jacobsdal to Kimberley. Once past that we are safe, except that they may have scouts out towards our camp, to give them notice of any move that might be made against Jacobsdal. They say that a strong force is there, who intend, of course, to try and cut the railway in our rear when Lord Methuen moves forward. Now, the best thing we can do is to take a few hours' sleep."
In a few minutes he was sound asleep. The Kaffir slept lightly, and every half-hour or so lifted his head and looked out over the road towards Boshof. Yorke awoke about midday. Peter was at that moment looking out.
"Do you see anything on the road, Peter?" Yorke asked.
"No one now, baas. Three hours after you went to sleep two Boers rode past going fast. I expect they were sent from Boshof to say that you had got away. Three hours after that more than twenty men came the other way. When they got to the plain they separated, and rode about searching the country as they went."
"Looking for us, no doubt," Yorke said. "Well, they won't find us, but it shows the alarm has spread. We shall have to be very careful now, Peter. Where is that food you bought at Boshof? I did not feel hungry last night, but my appetite has come back again this morning. If we go to that boulder fifty yards to the right we shall be in the shade."