ere placed beneath the wheels to
make sure that there should be no running backwards on the part of the
waggon, and then the tethering ropes were fastened to the horses'
saddles; the Zulus and the boys took their head; the word was given to
start; the ropes that had been secured to different parts of the waggon
tightened; and though the horses could not pull as if they were properly
harnessed, the impulse they gave relieved the weary oxen, and after half
an hour's toilsome drag, the waggon was drawn to the top of the incline,
and the travellers had the pleasure of seeing that a tolerably level way
lay before them.

But there was no sign of water, and Mr Rogers looked serious as he
swept the dimly seen country before him with his glass.

"Had we not better outspan here?" he said, "and let the oxen rest. We
could start again at daybreak."

But the General shook his head.

"No, boss," he replied. "Let us go on. We may find water yet."

Mr Rogers gave way, and in a listless, weary fashion the heavy waggon
was dragged on.

"Oh, I am so tired," cried Jack; "and I'd give anything to be able to
walk right into a big pond and drink, and soak myself outside. My skin
feels as if it was cracking."

"I'm very tired, too," said Dick; "but not so tired as I thought I
should be. Why I must have walked twenty miles to-day. I wonder
whether that means that I am growing stronger."

"You need not wonder," said Mr Rogers, who had heard his words. "You
may be sure, my boy. But how dark it is growing! There are the stars."

"What's the matter with the bullocks?" cried Jack suddenly. "Why,
father, they're gone mad with thirst."

"Water," cried the General, pointing ahead. "They smell the water."

The sensitiveness was caught up by the horses, which, like the oxen,
quickened their pace, craning with outstretched muzzles, their fine
instinct telling them that there was water on ahead, towards which they
struggled to get.

Great care was needed now lest the water should prove to be merely a
well or pool, into which the bullocks would rush, muddying the water,
and perhaps trampling one another to death in their efforts to reach the
refreshing liquid. But strive hard as they would, it proved to be
impossible to keep the thirsty creatures back. The waggon had not
proceeded so fast since they started; and the speed was growing greater,
causing the great lumbering vehicle to rock and sway in a most alarming
fashion. If the