Chris
and his friends all threw themselves on the ground, after sending up
Jack to the crest to keep watch. But the farmer said, "I dare not lie
down; if I did, I should never get up again."
He had, indeed, to be lifted off his horse when they dismounted.
"I can quite understand that," Chris said. "I feel stiff and tired
myself, and you must be almost made of iron to have ridden one hundred
and forty miles almost without halting."
"If anyone had told me that I could do it, I should not have believed
him. Of course one is on horseback a good many hours a day. Often, after
going round the farm, I start at two or three o'clock and ride into
Greytown and back; but that is only a matter of some fifteen miles each
way. Still, when one has got seven men's lives depending upon one, one
makes a big effort."
"I tell you what, Mr. Searle. The best thing you can do is to strip and
lie down. I will set the two Zulus to knead you. You will find yourself
quite a new man after it."
"That is a good idea, King, and I will adopt it."
For half an hour the two men rubbed and kneaded the farmer's muscles
from head to foot, exerting themselves until the perspiration streamed
from them. Then one of them brought up one of the water-skins and poured
the contents over him.
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