ht direction, for his
rides with Tom Salter had taught him how to make use of the stars as
guides, so that he went on for several hours with a short halt here and
there, and by three in the morning found himself well on the way to
Vryburg, and only a few miles to the west of the railway.

By this time the clouds on his left hand were already beginning to
lighten, warning him that ere long dawn would sweep over the wide range
of veldt, and that unless he wished to be discovered by the enemy he had
better set about finding some hiding-place. Fortunately there was no
difficulty in this, for he was now well in the bush country which
stretches in a wide belt north and south of Vryburg. Up to this he had
ridden by the side of it, but now he turned to the left, and, jumping to
the ground, led his pony on amongst the bushes. Threading his way
carefully between the clumps of mimosa and cactus, and the still more
painful wait-a-bit thorns, he at length came to a small and precipitous
kopje, covered with rugged boulders and bush, and clambered up to the
top.

Here he found a small hollow almost surrounded with boulders, and with
sufficient grass to give his pony a good feed, and still allow room for
himself to lie down. It was just the place for a secret camp, and five
minutes later he had taken possession of it. Vic--as he had called the
pony in memory of his favourite--was soon knee-haltered and busily
picking at the herbage, and Jack was equally busy devouring some bread
and meat he had brought in his haversack.

By the time he had satisfied his hunger and lit a pipe there was bright
daylight, and, crawling to the edge of the kopje, he squeezed his body
between two of the boulders, and with the help of his glasses made a
thorough survey of his surroundings. About six miles on his right the
snakelike track of the giant railway from Cape Town _via_ Kimberley and
Mafeking to Buluwayo, met his eye, while away in the distance was
Vryburg, looking like a white blotch against the green bush which almost
surrounded it.

But nowhere was there a Boer to be seen, and, satisfied that for the
present he ran no chance of discovery, Jack lay down on his mackintosh
sheet, wrapped himself in his blanket, and with his head resting on his
saddle was soon fast asleep.

Shortly after noon he woke again, and there being no one in sight he
saddled up, and, leading his horse to the foot of the kopje, pushed
forward on the long ride to Mafe