d not repress a
start as he saw the malignant flash that seemed to dart from them into
his own. It affected him so that he ceased his examination for the
moment, waiting impatiently till the distant sound of steps announced
the return of the sergeant and the man bearing the implements he had
sought.

"Got the crowbar?" cried Lennox eagerly.

"Yes, sir."

"Then bring it here. Thrust it in under the stone at this natural
crevice."

"Why?" said Captain Roby sharply.--"Here, sergeant, try higher up."

But before the words were fully uttered the sergeant had driven the
chisel-edge of the iron bar into the horizontal crevice about on a level
with his knees, with the result that the men cheered so loudly that they
drowned the angry curse which escaped the Boer's lips. For, to the
surprise of all, no sooner had the sergeant pressed down the wedged-in
bar than it acted as a lever would, lifting one corner of the stone so
that it slipped away, the great block turning easily upon a central
pivot, and leaving an opening some four feet high and just wide enough
for a man to pass through.

"The light, sergeant.--Bayonets, my lads!" shouted Lennox, springing
forward; but his cry was mingled with one from the prisoner, who yelled
out:

"Fire, Dirck; fire! Never mind yourself; blow them all into the air."

It was an order which was full of suggestion, coming as it did so soon
after the cowardly attempt to kill the colonel and his chief officers;
but not a man shrank from the task before him, nor hesitated to take the
risk, whatever it might be. Lennox was in first, closely followed by
the sergeant, lantern in his left hand, iron bar in his right, ready to
strike down the first man who resisted, while the light was directed
here and there in eager search for bag or barrel that might contain the
elements of destruction.

The lantern lit up one of the typical caverns of the country, so many of
which have been utilised for strongholds by the Matabele, Mashona, and
other chiefs, and Lennox found himself in a rift of the stone which ran
right up overhead, a vast crack which the light of the lantern was too
feeble to pierce, while away to the right ran a low-roofed passage,
striking off almost at right angles, but only to _zigzag_ farther on and
die away in the darkness.

"Bayonets, lads!" cried Lennox again; "the other man must be down here."

"Look out!" cried Captain Roby, who was close behind. "Mind that open
lantern t