“Humph!” grunted West.
“What, doesn’t that suit you? It’s true enough. I don’t want to kill any Boers, and I’m sure you don’t. Why, when you come to think that we shall be telling this to women whose husbands, sons, or brothers have been commandoed, we are sure to be treated as friends.”
“We had better act on your plan,” said West, “and then we need make up no tales.”
“Wait a minute,” said Ingleborough. “Pull up.”
West obeyed, and their ponies began to nibble the herbage.
“Now listen: can you hear anything?”
West was silent for nearly a minute, passed in straining his ears to catch the slightest sound.
“Nothing,” he said at last.
“Nothing,” said his companion. “Let’s jump down!”
West followed his companion’s example, and swung himself out of the saddle.