“About a dozen feet of hide rope. I cut it off as high as I could reach; but, my word, wasn’t it hard!”
“Why did you cut it?”
“So that no Boer, exploring, should run against it and take it into his head to climb up. How do you feel?”
“Rather hot.”
“So do I. We’re precious weak yet. Now, look here; we’ll keep on walking as long as we dare; then we must go down on hands and knees; last of all, we must creep on our chests, helping ourselves along with our elbows.”
“It will be very slow work,” I said.
“Yes, but it’s the only way. We shall do it, for it’s gloriously dark. If we come suddenly upon a sentry we must drop on our faces and lie still till I see the way to circumvent him.”
“I understand,” I said.
“Not all yet. If we get close up you’ll have to take the lead; and the thing to do is to get close up among the sleeping Boers. That means safety, for if any one wakes up and speaks you must answer in Dutch, with your face close to the ground.”
“It seems very risky,” I said.