movement on the young officer's part to shoot him down as they would
have done a springbok.

"Oh dear!" groaned Dickenson; "to come to this!" And he was in the act
of raising his hands in token of surrender when his comrade's head
caught him full in the chest and drove him back among the bushes which
grew densely at the mouth of the gully.

_Crack! crack! crack! crack_! rang out half-a-dozen rifles, and Lennox,
who as the consequence of his spring was lying right across his comrade,
rolled off him.

"Hurt?" panted the latter in agonised tones.

"No. Now then, crawl after me."

"What are you going to do?"

"Creep up level with your rifle, and cover you while you get it."

"Is it any use, old fellow? There's about fifty of them over yonder."

"I don't care if there are five hundred," growled Lennox through his
teeth. "Come along; we must keep it up till help comes from the
laager."

"Then you mean to fight?" panted Dickenson as he crawled after his
leader; while the Boers from the other side kept up a dropping fire
right into and up the gully, evidently under the impression that the two
officers were making that their line of retreat instead of creeping
under cover of the bushes at the foot of the cliff-like bank, till Drew
stopped opposite where the abandoned rifle lay upon the stone Dickenson
had left, so far unseen.

Where they stopped the bushes were shorter and thinner, and they had a
good view of the enemy, who had taken cover close to the edge of their
bank and were keeping up a steady fire, sending their bullets searching
the dense growth of the ravine, while about a dozen mounted men now
appeared, cantering along towards where there was a ford about a mile
lower down.

"That's to surround us, old man," said Dickenson. "The miserable liars!
There isn't a man this side. But oh, my chest! You've knocked in some
of my ribs."

"Hang your ribs! We must get that rifle."

"Wait till I get my wind back," panted Dickenson.--"Oh, what a fool I
was to lay it down!"

"You were, Bobby; you were," said Drew quietly. "Here, hold mine, and
I'll dash out and bring it back."

"No, you don't!" cried the young officer; and as he crouched there on
all fours he bounded out like a bear, seized the rifle from where it
lay, and rushed back, followed by the shouts and bullets of four or five
Boers, who saw him, but not quickly enough to get an effective aim.

"Now call me a fool again," panted Dickenson, shuff