you ever hear a pig soliloquizing to himself, just as he
crossed the tracks between the wheels of an express train? Well
then!"

"Meanwhile," Carew observed thoughtfully; "I wonder why we are out
on this trek."

"To escort the little Canuck with his mounts, and to study the
surface of the land, to be sure."

Carew's eye swept the barren, desolate expanse about them.

"It is a bit monotonous, though."

"It's monotony that's healthy. You can't make a whole dinner off
from red pepper, and you can't make a whole campaign off from
smokeless powder. In either case, you get too much heated up, for
the show it all makes. Strike hard and eat hot at long intervals and
with exceeding unction; and, meanwhile, pause and let it soak in.
It's not the hottest fire that gives off the most blazes. And where
is that nigger of a Kruger Bobs?"

"In among the wagons with The Nig." "Just for all the world like the
deuce of spades! The Black Watch would better adopt the two of 'em
for their colors. The Nig is a pretty bit of property; but this is
the brute for me." And Paddy bent over in the saddle to stroke the
neck of Piggie who snapped back at him testily.

However, in all truth, the little gray broncho deserved all of
Paddy's praise. Scarred from muzzle to pastern by errant bullets,
limping slightly on one fore leg, she still had borne her master
bravely over weary miles of veldt, into many a skirmish and through
the kicking, squealing throngs of her kindred which crowded the
Lindley kraal. Long since, Weldon had discovered that the
thoroughbred Nig was an ornament; but that Piggie was a necessity.
Again and yet again, her flying feet and gritty temper had brought
him, unscathed, through perilous plights. She read his mind as by
instinct; left unguided, she guided herself with exceeding
discretion; and, upon more than one occasion, she had endured the
nervous strain of feeling a human body dangling limply above the
saddle bow, held in place by main strength of her master who,
crouching forward beneath the heavy fire, could only indicate the
way of safety by the pressure of this heel and then that against her
heaving flanks. Surely, if ever honors could be given to a faithful,
plucky little broncho, Piggie should have been gazetted for the
Distinguished Service Order. Not to the men alone is due all the
honor of victory.

But now Piggie, fresh from a prolonged interval of resting in the
care of Kruger Bobs, felt that she was ou