ingers of malaria--and fire-flies buzzed in swarms,
snakes and lizards, their hitherto undisturbed solitude rudely shaken
by the stealthy patter of three score pairs of bare feet, wriggled
across the swampy ground, while overhead thousands of frightened birds
flew in large circles, chattering the while in a way that would alarm
every Boche within a radius of three miles.

A mile and a half of this sort of marching--the Haussas were in single
file--and the platoon emerged into a wider track running obliquely
across the path they had taken. Halting his men Wilmshurst, assisted
by Sergeant Bela Moshi, examined the ground. There were evidences that
a number of European and native troops had passed, going in the
opposite direction to the Waffs' bivouac, while what was somewhat
remarkable there were more recent tracks of a horse's hoofs.

"Him am gov'ment horse, sah," declared the sergeant. "Him lib for go
plenty fast no time," meaning that the animal was a British Army mount
(this from the peculiar shape of the horse-shoe prints) and had passed
by quite recently.

"Probably Sutton dispatched a mounted orderly to summon help," thought
Wilmshurst. "In that case the fellow's taken the wrong track. He'll
be back shortly. Hope it will be before Fritz ambles along here--if
it's our luck that the Huns do retire this way."

Two hundred yards further on the scrub became quite scanty in a wide
belt that terminated in a low range of hills. The slopes of the rising
ground were fairly steep except at a gap in the centre, where a deep
ravine had been utilized by the makers of the road. It was an ideal
spot for an ambuscade. Sheltering behind the cacti that abundantly
covered the hill the Haussas could extend on a fairly broad front, and
concentrate a heavy fire upon any enemy retiring along the path. The
maxim on its tripod mounting was set up to enable it to sweep the
expected column with an oblique fire, its panther-skin encased
water-jacket being camouflaged by foliage carefully placed so as not to
obstruct the sights.

Hardly were these preparations completed when, with a terrific roar and
a tremendous cloud of dust, an explosive missile burst within two
hundred yards of the platoon's position.

"Dash it all!" ejaculated Wilmshurst. "That's a thundering big shell.
Keep down, men."

The Haussas in natural and childlike curiosity were craning their necks
to see the unexpected sight. Just then a loud buzzing sound cam