h at them now, well mounted as I was, but--how about
Beryl's horse? I should hardly have time to reach it before the savages
would be upon me. It was simply a race as to who should get there
first.

I have known few excitements in life to equal that moment. The stripe
of running, leaping savages converging on my objective, the lithe,
ochre-smeared forms flitting through the dark green of the bush, the
gleam of assegais--and the closeness of the race. The ground was rough,
and riding barebacked as I was, and with only an impromptu bridle,
constituted a pretty severe test to my capabilities of horsemanship.

I was there. I leaped off my steed, cut the _reim_ which held Meerkat,
and twisting it into his mouth in the same way, mounted him--for I was
determined to save him, even if all the others had to be sacrificed.
Then I cut the _reim_ which held the other horse, and with all three
following me, I started back, just as the foremost Kafirs leaped from
the cover barely thirty yards away.

Mounted as I was, the odds were by no means in my favour, for as I have
said the ground was rough and, withal, the bush was thick. And now the
whole crowd surged forward, uttering strident hisses and ear-splitting
roars, intended to render my steed unmanageable and scatter the others--
and indeed how I managed even to stick on, let alone steer through bush
and over stones and shuts, I hardly know to this day. Something hit
me--something hard and heavy--behind the shoulders, but without effect,
the distance being too great. Twenty yards nearer and it would have
knocked me headlong, for it was a hard iron-wood kerrie hurled by no
unpractised hand, and as I pressed on, the three horses galloping on
either side, neighing and capering, but always keeping abreast, the
roars and whistles of the pursuing barbarians making the air hideous, I
felt that I was in for a very lively time indeed. But the worst of it
was that, thanks to the aforesaid roughness of the ground, they could
travel nearly as fast as I could, and more than once I looked over my
shoulder with something like despair as I saw how untiringly and
persistently they kept up the pursuit. At this rate my mount would soon
get blown, nor was I sure I was taking the right direction.

We were racing up a long stony slope, rather more clear of bush than
hitherto. Poor Meerkat was not in hard condition, and I was beginning
to regret not having stuck to my first mount. Then the