CHAPTER X.
A SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE.
The sounds of firing still continued as Ronald Mervyn, with his party ofburghers, rode at the top of their speed towards Mr. Armstrong's house.As they neared it a number of Kaffirs were seen gathered round it. Asthese perceived the approach of the horsemen there was a movement offlight, but a chief who was with them, seeing the smallness of the forceapproaching, called upon them to stand, and they at once gathered tomeet the advancing horsemen.
"Halt," Ronald shouted as he pulled up his horse a hundred and fiftyyards from the house, "there are a couple of hundred of them; we shallbe riddled with spears if we charge them, and shall throw away our liveswithout being of any assistance to our friends. Dismount, lads, and tieyour horses up to the trees. Don't tie them too firmly, for if they makea rush we must ride off and then return again. Now each get behind atree and open a steady fire upon them. Let each pick out his man anddon't throw away a shot. Don't all fire together. Let the man on theright fire first, and then the one next to him, and so on, so that twoor three of the right hand men can be loaded again before the last onthe left has emptied his rifle."
A second or two later the first rifle spoke out and a native fell. Shotafter shot was fired and every bullet told. The two chiefs were amongthe first who fell, and their loss to some extent paralysed the advanceof the natives. Some of them ran back to the shelter under the house,but forty or fifty of them with loud shouting rushed forward.
"Give them one volley," Ronald shouted, "and then to your horses."
Every loaded gun was discharged; the men unhitched their horses, spranginto their saddles, and dashed off. All were accustomed to load onhorseback, and as soon as the cartridges were down and the caps on,Ronald led them back again. The natives were this time holding theorchard. Ronald took a sweep as if to cut them off from the house, and,afraid of being separated, they ran back to rejoin their comrades. Avolley was poured in, and then a charge was made upon them, sword andpistol in hand.
For a minute or two there was a sharp fight. Many of the natives wereshot or cut down, while several of the burghers received assegai wounds.
A large body of natives were running up to the assistance of theircomrades, when the six men of the Mounted Rifles rode up. The advancingnatives paused at the sight of the soldiers, and before they could makeup their minds to advance, the greater portion of those who had occupiedthe orchard were killed.
"Draw off fifty yards," Ronald said, "and reload rifles and pistols."
This was done, and several steady volleys poured into the Kaffirs.
"That will do," Ronald said; "they are beginning to slip off. Now wewill charge straight down upon them; I and my troopers will cut our waythrough and enter the house. There is fighting going on in there still.Do you, gentlemen, take our horses as we dismount, and ride off, andthen open fire again on the rascals from a distance. We shall be able tohold the house if we can once enter."
The plan was carried out. With a desperate charge they burst through thenatives round the door. Ronald and the troopers sprang to the ground,and threw the reins of their horses to the colonists who caught them androde off again.
"Close the door behind you," Ronald said, as he sprang forward into thepassage, which was crowded with natives. The troopers followed him,closing and barring the door behind them. There was a sharp fight in thepassage, but Ronald's two revolvers and the rifles of his men were morethan a match for the natives, and in two or three minutes the last ofthem fell.
"Close and bar all the shutters," Ronald shouted, as he rushed into thedining-room, over the bodies of eight or ten natives lying inside.
His appearance was greeted with a hearty cheer, and Mr. Armstrong andthree or four others ran in through the door of an inner room.
"Thank God we are in time," Ronald said, grasping Mr. Armstrong's hand.
"Thank God, indeed," the farmer replied. "We have had a hot time for thelast hour."
"Miss Armstrong is not hurt, I hope?"
"No, she has escaped without a scratch, and I think that that's morethan any of the rest of us can say."
"I must see about my men now," Ronald said; "will you get all theshutters downstairs fastened and barred?"
Ronald ran out and found that his men had just succeeded in clearing thehouse. They had found several Kaffirs upstairs engaged in the work ofplundering. Some of them had been cut down, whilst others had jumpedfrom the open windows. As soon as the shutters had been fastened, Ronaldand his men took their places at the upper windows and opened fire uponthe natives, who were already drawing off. The fire of the defenders ofthe house was aided by that of the burghers, and the retreat of thenatives soon became a flight, many dropping before they were out ofrange of the rifles. As soon as the natives were fairly in retreatRonald again went downstairs, where he found Mr. Armstrong and the otherdefenders of the house engaged attending upon the wounded. Ronaldlooked round the room.
"My daughter is in there," Mr. Armstrong said, pointing to the innerroom. "She has behaved splendidly through it all, but she broke downwhen she found that the danger was over. I think you had better leaveher alone for a few minutes."
"No wonder!" Ronald said, as he looked round the room. Seven or eightnatives lay dead close to the doorway, three or four others in otherparts of the room, three white men and two women also lay dead; and onthe ground lay a table-cloth, broken plates and dishes, and the remainsof a feast. Mr. Armstrong and four other farmers were now engaged inattending to each other's wounds, and binding them up with bandages madeout of strips of the table-cloth.
"I was never so pleased in my life," Mr. Armstrong said, "as when Iheard the first sound of your guns. Who you were I could not of coursemake out, but I supposed it must be a party from one of the villageswhich had got news of the attack on us here."
"It is partly so, sir," Ronald said. "We have six of our men besidesmyself, and fourteen or fifteen burghers joined us as we came along. Ihear them riding up to the door now. I am sorry to say that no more wereto be obtained, for the attack has been general, and I fear that threeparts of the villages along the frontier have been destroyed, and theirinhabitants massacred. Fortunately we arrived in time to save the placewhere we were before encamped, and to rescue a few of those at the nextvillage. But at fully half the farmhouses we passed the work of massacrehad already been carried out."
The front door was now opened, and the burghers entered. Ronald foundthat two of the party had been killed in the charge up to the house, andthat most of them had received more or less serious wounds in thefight, while three of the Rifles had also been pierced with theassegais. He himself had been struck by a spear that had glanced off hisribs, inflicting a nasty flesh wound, while another assegai had laidopen his cheek. Mary Armstrong and two other women now came out from theinner room and assisted in dressing the wounds, while the men who wereunhurt carried the bodies of the Kaffirs who had fallen in the housesome distance away, while those of the white men and women were placedside by side in another room. They then got buckets of water and soonremoved the pools of blood from the floor.
"Now, Mary," Mr. Armstrong said, "will you and your friends get a freshtable-cloth out, and bring in some cold meat and bread and anything elsethat you can lay your hands on, for our brave friends? The rascals can'thave had time to find out our cellar, and though I don't think any ofour party want anything to eat, a draught of spirits and water will beacceptable all round."
"Not for those who are wounded, father; tea will be better for them, Iam sure."
"Perhaps it will, my dear."
The women were glad of something to do. One of them was the wife of oneof the farmers who had fallen, but she, too, in a dull mechanicalmanner, aided Mary Armstrong and the other, and as soon as the place wasmade quite tidy, six or seven children, of different ages, were calledout from the inner room.
Ronald and the troopers did justice to the food, for they had riddenupwards of sixty miles, and had had nothing to eat save a piece o
f hardbiscuit before starting.
"Now," Mr. Armstrong said, when their appetites were appeased, "tell usby what miracle you arrived here just in time to save us. I thought allthe troops in the colony were somewhere near Fort Cox, at least that wasthe news that came to us yesterday."
"So we were, sir," Ronald said. "A column advanced from there yesterdaymorning, and were attacked by the Kaffirs in the gorge of the Keiskammaand some twenty or thirty killed and wounded. It occurred through thetreachery of the Kaffir police, all of whom deserted last night. Someparties were sent off the first thing this morning to warn the bordersettlements, but I am afraid that very few of them arrived in time. Weshall have terrible tidings, I fear, of this day's work everywhere."
"You are in command of this party?"
"Yes; I got my corporal's stripes the day before yesterday, and I waslucky enough to be chosen to command this detachment, as I knew thecountry; and now, sir, how did this business begin here?"
"We were at dinner," Mr. Armstrong said, "when without the least notice,just as we had finished, there was a rush through the door. All myfriends had brought their rifles with them, and the instant the Kaffirsentered we knew what was up. Those who could caught their rifles, otherssnatched up table-knives, and the fight began. As you saw, several ofour party were killed at once, but the rest of us made such a good fightwith our clubbed rifles and knives that for the moment we cleared theroom, then two of us held the door while the rest fell back into theinner room, where, fortunately, all the children were at the time, forthe table was not large enough to hold us all, and they had had theirmeal first.
"Directly those who got in there recapped their rifles--for we foundthat our rascally Hottentot servants had removed the caps while we wereat dinner--Thompson and I, who were at the door, fell back. Then, yousee, matters were easy enough. Two of us were posted at the door of theinner room, and the moment a native showed himself inside the door ofthis room he was shot down. Of course we had shut the shutters of theinner room directly we entered, and one of us kept guard there. I don'tthink the Kaffirs would ever have forced their way in; but no doubt, assoon as they had stripped the house of everything valuable to them, theywould have set it on fire, and then we should have had the choice ofbeing burnt out here or being speared outside.
"I need not say that we had all agreed that it was a thousand timesbetter to die here than to trust ourselves to those fiends, who alwaysput their prisoners to death with atrocious tortures. Anyhow, myfriends, we owe our lives to you, for sooner or later the end must havecome to us. Now what are you going to do? You do not think of pushing onany further, I hope."
"No, I think that would be useless," Ronald said. "The massacre isapparently universal, and evidently began at the same time all along theline. We should be too late to warn any one now. Still," he said, risingsuddenly from his seat, "we might not be too late to rescue them. Theremay be other parties holding out. I hadn't thought of that, and we hadbetter push on further."
"I doubt if our horses can go any further," one of the men said. "Minecould scarcely carry me for the last five miles."
"Yes, that is so," Ronald said. "I think my horse is good for anothertwenty miles, and the horses of our friends the burghers are quitefresh, so I will leave you here and ride on with them. You will, ofcourse, keep a sharp look-out; but I do not think it likely that theywill renew the attack. They must have lost between fifty and sixty men.I will ride on with the burghers to the last settlement along this line.It is not, I think, more than twenty miles further. We will sleep thereand return the first thing in the morning. By that time, Mr. Armstrong,you will, I suppose, be ready to move into town."
"Yes, I shall be ready by that time," the farmer said. "I sent off fourloads of wheat yesterday morning, and the waggons will be back to-night.I will pack everything I want to take, and we shall be ready to start bythe time you return. Of course, I shall drive the cattle with us--thatis, if there are any cattle left to drive."
"I saw them in the kraal behind the house as we rode up," Ronald said."I suppose the Kaffirs thought they might as well finish with you first,and they could then divide the cattle among them at their leisure."
"Well, that's good news," the settler said. "I made sure they were allgone. But don't you think you have done enough for to-day?"
"Yes; don't go any further," Mary Armstrong added.
"I feel that it is my duty to go, Miss Armstrong. I would much ratherstay, I can assure you, but it's possible some of the garrisons may beholding out."
"Yes, we are wrong to ask you to stay," Mr. Armstrong said; "but justwait a minute, my horses are kraaled with the cattle. I will bring oneround and change the saddles; it will be a pity to founder that splendidhorse of yours. You see he has got a lot of English blood in him, andcan't go on for ever like our Cape horses."
Five minutes later, mounted on a fresh horse, Ronald started with theburghers. Every farm they visited exhibited a spectacle of desolation;many had been forsaken some time previously, but they had been brokeninto, and, in many cases, fired. In others, the bodies of the occupantswere beneath the embers of their homes; in a few the settlers had notbeen taken unawares, and stains of blood round the buildings showed thatthey had sold their lives dearly, and inflicted considerable loss on theKaffirs before they had succeeded in bursting open the doors. In onelittle cluster of three or four houses, the bodies of men, women, andchildren lay scattered about; but one stoutly-built farmhouse, inhabitedby a Boer farmer and six sons, had resisted all the attacks of theKaffirs. The natives had drawn off before the arrival of the troops. TheBoer stated that he intended to see it out.
"Two of my sons," he said, "have already driven off the cattle andhorses. I have got a couple of cows in milk in the shed adjoining thehouse, and I shall bring them inside at night. The Kaffirs will neverbeat down my shutters or door, and one of us will watch by turns, sothat we will give it them hot if they do venture to come on; but I thinkthey have had pretty nearly enough of us."
This was the only house where a successful resistance was made, and ongetting to the last station the party bivouacked near the ruins of thehouse, and, placing two men on guard, were soon asleep. They wereundisturbed till morning, and mounting as soon as it was daylight, rodeback to Mr. Armstrong's station. Three waggons had arrived late thenight before, and with the assistance of the troopers were alreadyloaded with furniture and other effects.
Two of the burghers offered to assist Mr. Armstrong in driving hiscattle and horses to King Williamstown. The party was accompanied by theother settlers and their families, several of whom had saved theirwaggons and animals, as the Kaffirs had made their first attack upon Mr.Armstrong, knowing from the Hottentot servants that the settlers fromthree or four of the adjoining farms would be gathered there. Theirdefeat, therefore, had saved not only Mr. Armstrong's, but the otherfarms from pillage. Very warm were the thanks that the settlers, beforestarting, bestowed upon Ronald and the troopers, and Ronald, as soon asthe caravan had started, rode somewhat thoughtfully off with his men tothe first place he had visited.
Here they found that the Kaffirs, after they had left, had made adetermined attack upon the place, but had been beaten off with much lossafter several hours' fighting. The settlers were now, however, occupiedin preparing to leave their farms, as the attack might at any moment berenewed, and perhaps with overwhelming numbers. The party of mountedpolice remained in the village until the following morning, as theirhorses, after their heavy work on the previous day, were not fit to takethe long journey back to the camp. On the following morning they saw thesettlers fairly on their way, and then galloped off to rejoin theircorps at Fort Cox.
As they ascended a piece of rising ground within a mile of the Fort, andobtained a fair view of it, they reined in their horses simultaneously.The Fort itself appeared silent and deserted, but at a distance of a fewhundred yards from it they could see a large number of men moving about.
"Those are not soldiers," Ronald exclaimed, "they must be Kaffir
s. ByJove, the place is absolutely besieged. Look at the puffs of smoke. Yes,there can be no doubt about it. I expect the column has gone out again,and the Kaffirs are trying to take it before they return. Well, lads,it's too late in the afternoon now for us to do anything. We had betterride back two or three miles and then camp for the night. In the morningwe must try and find out what has taken place, and where the troop havegot to."
All agreed that this was the best plan, and they accordingly rodequietly back, as for aught they could tell keen eyes might be upon them.They did not attempt to halt until it was quite dark, when they turnedoff at right angles to their former course, and after riding for about amile, encamped in a clump of bushes. They had plenty of cold meat withthem, for the settlers had, before starting, filled their haversacks.There was, therefore, no occasion to light a fire, which, indeed, theywould in no case have done, as, should a Kaffir catch sight of a light,he would assuredly bring an overpowering force down upon them.
"We will have two out on sentry, and relieve guard every hour," Ronaldsaid, "but we can eat our meal in comfort first. There is no fear oftheir coming down upon us at present, at any rate."
The manner in which he had led them in the attack on the Kaffirs hadgreatly impressed the men, and they yielded as ready and willingobedience, as if their corporal had been an officer. After the meal wasover, Ronald placed a sentry on each side of the bush.
"I will relieve you at the end of an hour," he said. "Keep your earsopen. I shall go out for a bit and reconnoitre, and mind you don't shootme as I come back. I will give a low whistle, like this, when I get nearyou. If you hear any one approaching, and he doesn't whistle, challenge,but don't shout too loud, or you might be heard by any Kaffirs who maybe in search of us. If he don't answer, challenge again, and then stepinto the bushes. If he comes on, and you are sure it is a man, fire; butdon't fire if you have the slightest doubt, for it might be a strayanimal, and your rifle might bring the Kaffirs down on us."
During the greater part of the night, Ronald moved about, keeping abouta hundred yards from the clump, and returning every hour to see thesentries changed. Towards morning, having heard nothing to lead him tosuppose that there were any Kaffirs in the neighbourhood, he returned tothe bushes, and threw himself down for a couple of hours' sleep. Atdaybreak, they were in the saddle again, and approaching as near as theydared to the Fort, they concealed themselves, and presently succeeded incapturing a Kaffir woman who was out collecting sticks. One of the troopknew a little of the language, and from her they learnt that the greaterpart of the soldiers had marched away on the previous morning, and alsogathered the direction they had taken. Keeping up a vigilant look-out,they rode in that direction, and presently met a detachment of the 91stand their own troop of the Rifles marching back to Fort Cox.
The force was under the command of Colonel Somerset, the colonel of theCape Mounted Rifles. Captain Twentyman, to whom Ronald reported himself,rode forward at once to the colonel with the news that Fort Cox wasinvested by the enemy. Ronald was sent for, and questioned as to thestrength of the Kaffirs. He said that owing to the position from whichhe had seen them, he only commanded a view of a portion of the ground.There appeared to him to be seven or eight hundred men so far as hecould see, but, of course, there might have been double that force onthe other side.
"Well, I think we ought to push forward at once," the colonel said tothe officer commanding the infantry. "The Governor is in the Fort, andthe force for its defence is a very small one. At any rate we must tryto relieve him."
The troops were halted for half an hour, and as the news soon spreadthat the Kaffirs were beleaguering Fort Cox, and that they wouldprobably have to fight their way through, they formed up with alacrityas soon as the order was given. The Cape Mounted Rifles went out inskirmishing order, ahead of the infantry, keeping a vigilant look-outfor lurking foes. The men had learned from Ronald's party of themassacre at the border settlements, and were burning with impatience toget at the enemy.
After marching two miles, the column came to a spot where a broad beltof wood extended across the country. As the mounted men approached this,several assegais were hurled from the bushes. The cavalry replied withtheir rifles, and then fell back upon the infantry, who advanced with acheer against the wood. Half the cavalry were dismounted, and, handingtheir horses to their comrades, advanced on foot. Ronald was one ofthose who remained behind. Keeping up a heavy fire at their invisiblefoe, the 91st advanced into the wood. The troopers with the horseslistened anxiously to the sound of the fray--the rattle of musketry, theloud reports of the Kaffir rifles, and their shrill yells, amid which aBritish cheer could be occasionally heard.
"It's hot work in there, corporal," Lieutenant Daniels said. "Too hot tobe pleasant, I should say. Judging by the yelling, the wood must be fullof Kaffirs."
"I should think so too, sir," Ronald agreed. "I fancy each Kaffir iscapable of doing an immense amount of yelling; but still, as you say,the wood must be full of them to make such a terrific noise as that."
A quarter of an hour passed, and then the rifles emerged from the wood.Those with the horses at once galloped forward to meet them, and soonall were in the saddle. Ronald heard Captain Twentyman, who had led thedismounted party, say to the lieutenant:
"There are too many of them, Daniels; the wood is crowded with them.Take half the troop and draw off to the right, and I will take the otherhalf to the left. The 91st will fall back directly. As they come out,prepare to charge the Kaffirs in flank if they pursue them."
Now the redcoats began to appear at the edge of the wood. They were inpairs, and every two men were carrying a wounded comrade. Presently themain body came out in regular order with their faces to the enemy. Withyells of triumph the Kaffirs poured out from the wood. The riflesfidgeted in their saddles for the order to charge, but LieutenantDaniels had his eye upon the other wing of the troop, and CaptainTwentyman did not give the order to advance until he saw that theKaffirs were so far out upon the plain that they could not get back tothe wood before he would be upon them. Then he gave the order to charge,and as his men got into motion, Lieutenant Daniels gave the same order.As he saw the cavalry sweeping down, Colonel Somerset gave the word, andthe 91st poured a tremendous volley into the Kaffirs, and a moment laterthe two bodies of cavalry swept down on their flank. With a yell of fearthe Kaffirs ran for the wood, but numbers of them were cut down beforethey could gain shelter. Then the cavalry fell back and joined theinfantry. It was found there had been a desperate hand-to-hand struggle,bayonets against assegais. Two officers and twenty privates had beenkilled, and a great many of the men wounded. They afterwards learnedthat the Kaffir loss in killed had exceeded two hundred.
The party then fell back and rejoined Colonel Mackinnon. There was nowan anxious consultation, when it was decided that as Fort Cox couldprobably resist all attacks of the enemy, it would be better not toattempt an advance to its relief until a junction had been effected withthe other columns, which were now at a considerable distance away. Onthe 31st, the news reached them that that morning the Governor, with asmall body of Cape Mounted Rifles, had made a dash right through theenemy, and had ridden to King Williamstown, twelve miles away, where hehad at once issued a proclamation calling upon the colonists to rise _enmasse_ to assist the troops to expel the Gaikas from the Amatolas, whilea force of Fingoes was at once ordered to be raised.
In the meantime, the Kaffirs were plundering and destroying all over thecountry. The settlers entirely abandoned their farms; and the roads toWilliamstown, Grahamstown, and Beaufort were blocked with the greatherds of cattle driven in. The news came that the Gaikas had been joinedby the T'Slambies and Tambookies, numbering not less than 15,000 men;and it was reported that an influential chief--Kairie--who could put10,000 men in the field, was preparing to make common cause with therebels. The Hottentots of the London missionary station at Cat River,who had for years been fed and clothed by the Government, and put intofree possession of a beautiful and fertile district, joined the
Kaffirs,and took a leading part in their attacks on the settlers. Their examplewas speedily followed by the so-called Christian Hottentots at themissionary settlements of Shiloh and Theopolis.
Against such overpowering forces as were now leagued against him, theGovernor could do nothing with the small body of troops at his disposal,and was forced to remain inactive at Williamstown until reinforcementscould arrive. He contented himself, therefore, with throwing suppliesinto Forts Cox, White, and Hare, this being accomplished only aftersevere contests with the natives. Bodies of Kaffirs had now completelyoverrun the colony, rendering even communication between the townsdangerous in the extreme, unless sent by messengers escorted byconsiderable bodies of troops.
On arriving at King Williamstown, Ronald Mervyn was greatly disappointedto find that the Armstrongs had gone on to Grahamstown. He found aletter awaiting him from Mr. Armstrong, saying that he was very sorry toleave without another opportunity of thanking him for the immenseservices he had rendered him, "but," he said, "my daughter, now that itis all over, is terribly shaken by all she has gone through, and I thinkit necessary to get her to a place a little further removed from allthis trouble. I shall probably leave for England before long. I hope tosee you before we go, but, if not, I will write to you, giving you ouraddress in England, and we shall both be very glad to see you if youreturn, as I hope you will, and that before long. We shall never forgethow much we owe you."
"Perhaps it is better so," Ronald said, as he finished the letter. "Itwould only have made it harder for me if I had seen her again. For ifthere is one thing more certain than another, it is that I can never askany woman to be my wife."
The Cape Town Rifles were before long joined by two troops from CapeTown and Elizabeth Town, and were continually employed in escortingconvoys and carrying despatches. A batch of twenty recruits also came upto fill the vacancies that had already been made by the war, and tobring the troops engaged up to their full force. One of the four men whojoined Captain Twentyman's troop gave a slight start of surprise as hiseyes fell upon Ronald Mervyn. He looked at him several times, and aslight smile stole across his face.
"Who is that corporal?" he asked one of the troopers.
"Corporal Blunt," the man said; "and a fine fellow he is, too. He led asmall detachment of our men splendidly in an affair down by the KabousieRiver. Why do you ask? Have you ever seen him before?"
"No," the man said, carelessly; "but he reminded me of some one I knewat home."
"He is a first-rate soldier," the man said, "and I expect he will getthe first vacancy among the sergeants. We all think he has been anofficer, though he never talks about it. He's the best-tempered fellowpossible, but you can never get him to talk about the past. However,that makes no difference to us."
"Not a bit," the recruit agreed. "I dare say he isn't the only one witha queer history in the regiment."
"I didn't say he had a queer history," the man replied, angrily. "He isas good a comrade, and as good a fellow as one wants to meet; there'snot a man in the troop grudges his being pushed on."
"I meant no offence," the recruit said. "The man he reminded me of had aqueer history, and I suppose that is what put it into my head."
"Well, if you don't want your head punched, you had better say nothingagainst Blunt," the trooper grumbled, "either in my hearing or out ofit."
The recruit turned away and occupied himself in grooming his horse.
"This is a rum start," he said to himself. "Who would have thought ofmeeting Captain Mervyn out here? I saw in one of the papers, soon afterI came out, the account of his trial. I wonder how I should have felt ifI had been standing in his place? So he has changed his name. I supposehe arrived at the Cape when I was up the country, and must have enlistedat once, for it's nearly three months since I joined the depot, and adraft had only sailed the day before. At any rate it's not likely hewill know me; not that he could do me any harm if he did, still it'salways useful to know a man and to know something against him,especially when he doesn't know you. If I ever get into a row I can putthe screw on nicely."
As the recruit, who had enlisted in the name of Jim Smith, had expectedwould be the case, Ronald Mervyn's eye showed no signs of recognition asit fell upon his face. He thought the new recruit was a strappingfellow, and would be a good man to have beside one in a hand-to-handfight with the Kaffirs; but beyond this he gave him no further thought.
A considerable number of the Fingo allies had now arrived at KingWilliamstown. They had no idea whatever of discipline, and looked everybit as wild as their Kaffir foes. But there was no doubt they were readyto fight, for they were eager to be led against the Kaffirs, who had solong kept them in slavery. They had been armed with muskets, and eachcarried a heavy knobkerrie. At present they had nothing to do but tosleep and eat, to dance war dances, and to get drunk whenever they couldobtain sufficient money to indulge in that luxury.
They were accompanied by their wives, who not only waited upon andcooked for them, but earned money by going out into the woods andbringing in bundles of faggots. Numbers of Hottentot women were engagedupon the same work, while the men of the same tribe looked after thegreat herds of cattle, furnished drivers for the waggons, helped in thecommissariat stores, and, so far as their lazy nature permitted, madethemselves useful.
"If I were the General," Ronald said one day to Sergeant Menzies, "Iwouldn't have a Hottentot about the place. I believe that they are allin league with the enemy. Look how they all went over from themissionary stations, and the farmers tell me they left in the majorityof cases on the day before the massacre. It's quite evident that theKaffirs somehow always get information of our movements. How could theyhave laid that ambush for us at Keiskamma River if they had not knownthe column was going that way? How was it they were ready to attack thedetachments that went with provisions to the Forts? It could not havebeen from their own people, for not a Kaffir has been near us since thetroubles began. I believe it's these hateful little Hottentots."
"They are hateful," the sergeant said, "whether they are traitors ornot. Except the Bushmen, I do believe that they are the most disgustingrace on the face of the earth, with their stunted bodies and theiryellow faces, and their filthy and disgusting ways. I don't know that Ishould turn them out of the camp if I were the General, but I shouldcertainly order them to be washed. If you get half-a-dozen of them onthe windy side of you, it's enough to make you sick."
"I wonder the Kaffirs didn't exterminate the little brutes," RonaldMervyn said. "I suppose they would have done if it had not been for theDutch first and us afterwards. The missionaries made pets of them, andnice pets they have turned out. It is just the same thing in India. It'sthe very dregs of the people the missionaries always pick up with."