“Oh, here you are, young fellow!” were the words that saluted me, spoken in a low, angry whisper. “Now then, where are these two attacking parties of Boers?”
“I only reported that one was coming, sir—one descending the pass.”
“Very well; you shall have credit for only one, then. Well, where is it?”
“I can’t say, sir,” I replied. “I was warned of it by my native servant.”
“Then just go back and flog your native servant till you have given him a lesson against spreading false alarms to rob tired men of their rest. It is perfectly abominable—just when we want all our strength for the work in hand for us to-morrow.”
“I’m very sorry, sir,” I said.
“Sorry? What must I be, then? I can’t fight unless I have plenty to eat and as much sleep as I can get. There, get back to your post. I wish to goodness you had stopped at home or joined the Boers, or done something else with yourself, instead of coming and giving this confounded false alarm. Be off.—Here, call in the men again, and— Yes, what now?”
“Enemy coming up the pass in great strength, sir,” said one of the scouts, who had come breathlessly back.
“What!” said the Colonel in a hurried whisper. “Could you make them out?”
“Yes, sir; two or three hundred, I should say.”