ns of uneasiness. That was enough. In a moment he had
tightened up the girths, and was in the saddle again.

The rest, though brief, had meant new life to the horse. The game
little Basuto stepped briskly out, but the kloof suddenly narrowed into
a steep defile, a dry watercourse in fact, and here the hoofs made such
an abominable clatter on the stones as to bring Gerard's heart into his
mouth. It could be heard for miles in the still silence of the night.

On he pressed, obliged to follow the lay of the land--a long, narrow
defile between steep mountain slopes. Would it never end? It seemed
not, as each fresh rise surmounted, only revealed the same winding
gloomy gorge, black in the darkness.

Another rest, this time of longer duration, and he pressed on again.
And then as the first streak of dawn began to tinge the sky, Gerard
noted that he had got clear of the mountains, and was riding over
rolling, bush-clad, and comparatively level country, but always
gradually descending. One thing puzzled him however. By the position
of the rising dawn he had travelled too much to the westward. That he
had not travelled in a circle he felt sure. Then as the dawn lightened
he saw in front of him a straggling irregular rift in the expanse of
bush beneath, and listening intently his ear thought to detect the sound
of water. Yes, it was water--a river. Drawing out the rough map Dawes
had prepared for him, he decided that it must be the Black Umfolosi. If
so he had made very fair distance. Surely he was nearly out of danger
as far as his pursuers were concerned.

The next thing was to discover a place to cross. A little further on
was a rocky conical eminence. By ascending this he could command a view
of the river, and would thus save the time occupied by riding up and
down, it might be for any distance, in search of a practicable drift.
His horse needed another rest, and while the animal was benefiting by
this he himself could ascend the hillock and take his observations, thus
killing two birds with one stone. A fatally erroneous move.

But having resolved upon it, Gerard lost no time in carrying it out.
Leaving his horse with the bridle drawn over its head, and the saddle
girths merely loosened as before, he set to work to climb the _kopje_.

The sides were rugged and steep, and the rocky summit was crowned with
bush and prickly aloes. A good view of the lay of the land rewarded his
efforts. For miles the bus