ell
in advance and showing no sign of fear.

Mounted men advancing up the rugged pass had very little chance of
keeping themselves concealed. Here and there a bend in the narrow
valley helped us; but there was always the knowledge that, if the enemy
were in force up by the neck of the pass, they had plenty of niches
among the mountains on either side to which they could climb and watch
us till well within range of their rifles, when shot after shot and puff
after puff of white smoke would appear, with very different effect, I
felt, from those fired in the darkness of the past night's scare.

All this was very suggestive of danger; but somehow I did not feel
alarmed. There was too much excitement in the business, and I was
flushed with a feeling of triumph at being so soon in a position to
retaliate upon the people who had used me so ill.

I rode on, then, for some distance behind my officer, as I now began to
consider him, till the valley opened out, and he reined up a little to
allow me to come alongside, so that he could question me about the track
higher up. I told him all I could, and endeavoured to impress upon him
that it would be a very bad position for his men if the Boers sighted
them.

"You would find the ground so bad and encumbered with rough stones," I
said, "that it would be impossible to gallop back."

"But we don't want to gallop back," he said, with a laugh. "That's all
capital about the bad road, and sounds sensible as a warning; but you
must not talk about galloping back. If the enemy does show we shall
dismount and use our rifles, retiring slowly from cover to cover. But
you'll soon know our ways in the Light Horse."

"I hope so," I said; "but of course I am no soldier yet, and very
ignorant."

"Not of the use of your rifle, Val, my lad," he said. "I used to envy
you."

"Oh, nonsense!" I said. "Of course I could shoot a bit. My father
began to teach me very early."

"I don't believe I can shoot so well now as you did two years ago, when
we went up the country. I don't know what you can do now. Why, Val, I
expect you'll soon prove yourself to be a better soldier than any of us,
for our drill is precious rough; but we are improving every day."

"You have been farther up than this?" I said, to change the
conversation, which was making me, a lad accustomed only to our solitary
farm-life, feel awkward and uncomfortable, with a suspicion that my
companion was bantering me.

"No,