Captain Brookfield will
keep an eye on them for us. The farmer is going to ride back with us on
one of the spare horses, and the three natives can ride the others.
There is a hundredweight of biscuits in the sack that came with the
boxes; each of us can take five pounds in his saddle-bag, a tin of cocoa
and milk, and a pound or two of bacon. Jack can take a kettle and
frying-pan, and the natives their blankets and twenty pounds of mealie
flour for themselves and five times as much mealies for the horses. We
can get them at the stores that were opened a few days ago."
Some of the men from the other tents walked over on seeing the tents
pulled down and the waterproof sheets and blankets rolled up, and asked:
"Where are you fellows off to?"
"We have resigned; we are sick of doing nothing."
As it was known that they drew neither pay nor rations, the news did not
create much surprise.
"You are lucky fellows," one said. "We get no share of the fighting and
a full share of the hardships; still, I wonder you do not stop till we
are in Ladysmith."
"When is that going to be?" Field asked innocently. "We have been told
that we shall be in Ladysmith in a week many times since we first came
up here in the middle of December, and we are no nearer now than when we
arrived here.
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