As soon as the firing ceased I saw half a dozen
Boers galloping after me. My blood was up, as you may imagine, and on
getting to a dip I jumped off my horse, left it in shelter, and threw
myself down on the crest of the hollow, and as they came within range I
picked off the one who was nearest to me. That brought the others up
with a round turn. They retired a little way, then dismounted and
separated, and proceeded to stalk me. We exchanged shots for an hour or
two. I killed another, and got, as you see by this scar on my cheek, a
graze. However, I think they would have tired of the game first. But
suddenly I saw a dozen Boers galloping across the country in our
direction. They were doubtless a party who had arrived too late to take
part in the fight, if you can call such a treacherous massacre a fight,
and hearing the sound of shots were riding to see what was going on.
"I saw that things were getting too hot, and ran down to my horse again
and rode along in the hollow, which fortunately hid me from the sight of
either the men I had been fighting or those riding up. I had therefore
about a quarter of a mile start when I heard a shout, and knew that they
were after me. After what had happened I did not dare ride for
Middleburg, as there was no saying whether that place might not have
already risen; so there was nothing to depend upon but the speed and
bottom of my horse.
Pages:
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383