t hear us if we kept quiet. We
dismounted, and on counting it was found that three of the men were
missing. They were Hofmeyer, Bradburn and Colquhoun. Somewhere in
winding through the bush from the King's wagons to our present position
these men were lost. Not a difficult thing, for we only spoke in
whispers, and, save for the occasional click of a horse's hoof, we could
pass within ten feet of each other and not be aware of it.

'Wilson came to me and said, "Burnham, can you follow back along the
vlei where we've just come?" I doubted it very much as it was black and
raining; I had no coat, having been sent after the patrol immediately I
came in from firing the King's huts, and although it was December, or
midsummer south of the line, the rain chilled my fingers. Wilson said,
"Come, I must have those men back." I told him I should need some one to
lead my horse so as to feel the tracks made in the ground by our horses.
He replied, "I will go with you. I want to see how you American fellows
work."

'Wilson was no bad hand at tracking himself, and I was put on my mettle
at once. We began, and I was flurried at first, and did not seem to get
on to it somehow; but in a few minutes I picked up the spoor and hung to
it.

'So we started off together, Wilson and I, in the dark. It was hard
work, for one could see nothing; one had to feel for the traces with
one's fingers. Creeping along, at last we stood close to the wagons,
where the patrol had first retreated into the bush.

'"If we only had the force here now," said Wilson, "we would soon
finish."

'But there was still no sign of the three men, so there was nothing for
it but to shout. Retreating into the vlei in front of the King's camp,
we stood calling and cooeying for them, long and low at first, then
louder. Of course there was a great stir along the lines of the native
scherms, for they did not know what to make of it. We heard afterwards
that the natives were greatly alarmed as the white men seemed to be
everywhere at once, and the indunas went about quieting the men, and
saying "Do you think the white men are on you, children? Don't you know
a wolf's howl when you hear it?"

'After calling for a bit, we heard an answering call away down the vlei,
and the darkness favouring us, the lost men soon came up and we arrived
at the clump of bushes where the patrol was stationed. We all lay down
in the mud to rest, for we were tired out. It had left off raining, but