one of those
sloping ones on which there is no cover. Where Jack was he was in a
small hollow, with tiles rising steeply on either side of him; and here
he determined to remain as long as possible. It was already dusk, and
in a few moments it would be quite dark, so that his figure would not be
seen as he climbed over the top of the roof.

Placing his ladder against the steeply-sloping tiles, in readiness for a
hurried escape, Jack hastily dragged Mr Hunter's old suit on over the
clothes he was already wearing. There was no difficulty about it, for
though Jack was somewhat taller than his friend, the latter was stouter
and broader. Soon his rough disguise was completed, and with the slouch
hat on his head he looked precisely like hundreds of Boers who were to
be found in and around Johannesburg.

By now it was pitch dark, and he cautiously climbed up the ladder and
stared down into the garden which surrounded the house. It was
illuminated in patches where the lights from the windows fell upon it,
and here the figures of half a dozen Zarps stood out prominently.
Elsewhere all was darkness, but by watching carefully, Jack saw first
one and then as many as four other widely-separated dots of fire, which
now and again disappeared, to become more prominent a moment later,
clearly showing them to be the glowing ashes of the pipes which Boers
one and all indulge in from morning till night, whether acting as
policemen or not.

There was at least ten yards between them, and Jack at once made up his
mind to attempt to reach the ground and slip away. Sitting astride the
top of the roof, he lifted his ladder with the greatest caution, and
lowered it again on the other side till it rested in the gutter. Then
he gently pressed upon it, and finding it secure put all his weight upon
it and descended. Arrived at the bottom he fixed his heels in the iron
gutter, and once more lifted his ladder and passed it down till it
rested upon the roof of the verandah. This, like the one upon which he
was sitting, was composed of corrugated iron, and at the slightest blow
gave out a sound like a drum. But fear of capture, and what that might
mean, made Jack cautious. His wits were sharply alert, and he handled
the light ladder with such care that once more he managed to fix it in
the gutter which edged the verandah, without so much as a sound.

Seated on the roof, he waited for a few moments, watching the little
glowing spots below, a