"There are no bones broken; I'm all right now," cried Royce. "I suppose Goruba has got away?"
"Yes, confound him! He's as difficult to catch as a weasel. Is it any good going on?"
"We won't give it up yet," replied Royce. "He may delay to collect his scattered band, and if we can catch him before he gets to the ford over the Yo it will be a great score for us. He would be invaluable as a hostage, to say the least of it."
Gamba, smarting at the loss of his horse, was eager to push on, though he admitted that it would be difficult to overtake the best horse of the tribe. Only by accident could the pursuit succeed.
The party rode on at their best pace. The country soon became more rocky, and on the harder soil they lost the tracks of Goruba's horse. But this was of no importance. Gamba was sure that the man would make for the Yo, and the nearest ford was about two hours' ride from the spot where Royce had come to grief. Towards that ford he led the way, often outstripping the rest of the party in his eagerness.
But there was never a sign of Goruba. They scanned the crest of every rise in the ground, hoping to see the big form on the sky-line. Neither horse nor man came within their view.
At last they arrived at the river, and Gamba galloped at headlong pace down to the ford. There he sprang from his horse and feverishly examined the tracks on the softer soil. To his surprise and dismay, there were none very recent, and those there were all pointed in the opposite direction. It was clear that no horseman had crossed to the northern bank for some weeks past.
Baffled, he rode up and down stream to see if Goruba had avoided the ford, and perhaps swum his horse across the river at some other point. While he was doing this Royce crossed at the ford, and examined the ground on the opposite bank, and Challis sent some of the men to scour the neighbourhood.
After a long search they had to confess utter failure. In no direction was there any trace of Goruba's horse. Goruba had given them the slip.
Gamba wept with disappointment.