Both had fired, and some shots had been
returned, but the Boers had at once drawn off.
"I don't suppose we shall hear any more of them. They hoped they might
catch us asleep. Now they find that we are on watch. I expect they will
give up the idea and make off. It is a nuisance having been disturbed,
but I am not sorry for it, for the Boers will have lost a couple of
hours, and even if the horses do not come in we shall still have a
chance of overtaking them. Now, Peters, you had better get forty winks;
I will go out with Brown, Field, and Sankey, and relieve the three out
there. I don't suppose they will come in, but they can take a nap where
they are. You need not send out when the farmers come back; we shall see
them."
Chris had been nearly two hours on watch when he made out in the bright
moonlight a number of horses and mounted figures going towards the
house. He at once woke the sleepers and called the others in, and by the
time they reached the farm some thirty unmounted ponies, followed by
Carmichael's party and the farmers, came up.
"We have been longer than we expected," one of the latter said as he
dismounted, "but we were lucky at last in finding this lot together in a
kloof. Have you seen anything of the Boers? We thought we heard a few
shots.
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