ised him to
remain at the first bivouac, but Mac thought that influenza was as bad
at one place as at another. So he successfully guarded a road all
night, his horse picketed to a fence, and himself in a greatcoat
stretched asleep in the middle of the road.

Once again, the bright stars long before dawn looked down upon the
bustle of a breaking camp, looked down upon the flaring piles of
burning straw, the collapsing tents and the happy laughing throng of
busy troopers. Early in the dewy morning they clattered out of the
race-course gates and away down the winding road in the valley bottom.
Afternoon found them skirting the harbour beneath the great rocky
escarpments of Wellington's hills, and from here Mac espied a sight
which gladdened his soul and he lost no time in communicating his
discovery to Bill and the others. Across a distant neck of land at the
far side of the harbour, he had seen the tall tapering masts of two
men-of-war, moving rapidly, and two murky streaks of smoke. This
looked like business.

In an hour two great cruisers rounded the far point, and the boys
welcomed them warmly as a sort of guarantee that there would be no
humbug about this embarkation. Again came the animated scene as they
shipped their horses, again a last night to roam streets, which echoed
with mirth far into the night, and again the crowded piers aflutter
with handkerchiefs, drawing away in the distance. The _Tahiti_ passed
close astern of the two cruisers, the Japanese _Ibuki_ and the British
_Minotaur_, and cheered their crews lustily as they came abeam. The
whole fleet anchored in the stream. All night long the Morse lamps
winked at the mastheads, the ships' lights twinkled on the water in
long twisting lines, and the great glow of a million lamps of the city
lit with fire the waters of the harbour, and the huge hills stood out
black against the sky.

A day of squalls followed, and dragged slowly by. Why were the anchors
not weighed? Pessimists said they might never leave, and all eagerly
watched the warships for any signs of going to sea--an increasing
volume of smoke from the funnels, activity on the bridge or more than
an ordinary display of signal flags. But there was nothing to bring
lasting satisfaction and the grey day ended with a colourless sunset.
Towards midnight a tender bumped alongside, men shouted in the dark and
packages were dropped with thuds upon the deck above.

CHAPTER III

SORROWS AN