"Very well, sir. When does the party start?"
"In half an hour's time. The despatches will be ready for you in ten minutes. When you have received the reply, you need not wait for the party to return, but ride straight back."
"Very good, sir; I will return here in a quarter of an hour."
"Hans, I want my horse saddled at once," Yorke said, as he joined his follower.
"Yes, Master Yorke. Am I to saddle my own too?"
"No. I am only riding to Graspan with a despatch, and am joining a party who are going there to see that the line is in good order. I shall be back to dinner."
In a quarter of an hour Yorke, having received his despatches, rode off to the camp of the Lancers. The party was already prepared for a start. It consisted of an officer and twelve men. The former was already known to Yorke.
"I heard that you were going with us, Harberton," he said, as Yorke rode up. "I shall be glad of your company. It is dull work riding alone, especially when you have nothing to do but see that the rails have not been torn up in the night."
"I don't suppose there is much fear of that," Yorke replied, "for if the Boers had been there, they would have been sure to cut the telegraph wire, and they have not done so. I know that messages have been exchanged this morning."
"If they can communicate," the officer said, "I don't see why you should have been sent with a despatch."