*CHAPTER XX*
Major-General Rivers, C.B.--better known as Bumps, from his seat on ahorse--was fond of describing himself as "a soldier of the old school."
"I'm a practical man, sir," he was wont to declare, "hard knocks andplenty of 'em for me; that's the way we won our battles in the past--andwe'll do again in the future, mark my words--not by poring over booksand mugging away at map reading."
This prophecy of the gallant General may or may not have been correct;his liking for hard knocks also was doubtless genuine, thoughunfortunately it had never been put to the test, actual fighting nothaving come Bumps's way, but the theory is certainly a convenient onefor those who possess neither the ability nor inclination for study. Herelied on himself solely; his views on warfare were his own and borrowedfrom no man, and though at times they were somewhat at variance withthose of accepted authorities on the Art of War, who shall say thatBumps was not right when he declared that the opinions of Napoleon,Wellington, and others were as obsolete as the uniforms they wore?
One thing was very certain, however, and that was that Rivers wouldtolerate no opposition, nor allow his infallibility to be questioned.Some generals there were, he knew, who prefaced their remarks by "Myopinion is." Not so Bumps; he despised such a concession as weakness;his criticisms on military operations were no expressions of opinion,but statements of facts, and, with this conviction in his mind, no onewas so scathing in condemnation of, or sarcastic in comments on, what hebelieved to be mistakes in strategy or tactics as Bumps. Indeed, he wasan excellent instance of the truth of the saying that, whereas few menthink, all will have opinions.
Further, like most general officers whose service has been passed almostexclusively with infantry, he held especially strong views on thesubject of cavalry. Engineers and artillery he left alone, they couldfloor him with abstruse details concerning cubic contents andbreech-blocks, but with the mounted arm there were no such annoyingtechnicalities. He knew all about them, he considered, and indeed itwas a cherished article of faith with him that, had not Fate ordainedhis march through life to be in large square-toed boots instead of aseat in a saddle, his career would have been that of a Seidlitz orMurat--that is to say, if he had ever heard of these warriors, whichunfortunately he had not.
For Hector Graeme, as has before been mentioned, General Rivers had aparticular aversion, not that he admitted this, for hatred meansequality, and never would he have allowed the existence of such betweenhimself and a junior. Nevertheless, hate him he did, with that virulentform of hatred a man bestows on one to whom, though superior in rank, heis inferior in the very qualifications of which that rank is the signmanual.
Graeme was his subordinate, and, as such, theoretically bound to accepthis dictum and teaching on matters military, while practically, as hewell knew, Graeme did nothing of the kind, but on the contrary treatedhis lessons with an almost open contempt, never missing an opportunityof showing up his instructor and exposing his absurdities to allpresent; indeed, an argument between the two was productive of muchinnocent enjoyment to seniors and juniors, with the one exception ofGraeme's colonel, Royle, to whom such moments were full of heart-feltanguish.
To-day, however, a supreme effort had been made by Bumps to crush onceand for always this insolent questioner of his infallibility, and it waswith a glow of anticipatory triumph in his heart, revealed by thetwinkle in his small grey eyes, that he now beheld Hector's arrival onthe scene.
He returned his salute graciously, and said "Morning, Graeme," acivility awakening instant suspicion in Hector's mind and a muttered"What's Napoleon up to now, I wonder, and what the deuce is the matterwith Royle? He looks half dead with funk."
"A little late," continued the General; "almost time to start. All yourforce is waiting for you to lead them to--victory."
"All, sir?" answered Graeme, looking round. "I don't see the infantry.There are the guns, a section (two) of them, and the cavalry, threesquadrons. Those waggons, too, are meant to represent a convoy, Isuppose, but no sign of the 'feet.' Am I to take on eight hundredinfantry"--there was only that number, as Graeme was naturally aware, inthe station--"with three squadrons, two hundred and eighty men in all?"and Hector laughed, a suspicion of the plot dawning upon him. He was tobe given an impossible task, was he? Right, then; so much the greaterscore when he won, as he certainly would.
"You'll know all about it in good time, I've no doubt, Colonel Graeme,"answered the other; "but you ought not to think of odds, you know. Dearme, a cavalry officer frightened of infantry--this is something new."
"Not at all, sir. I only wanted to know what was against me. Asomewhat usual knowledge, I believe, for a commander to possess."
"The General has just told you, Graeme," put in Royle hastily, "thatyou'll know all about it in good time. Why can't you wait till them?"
Royle was not quite at his best this morning. Always frightened of aGeneral, he was especially terrified of Bumps; and though ordinarily hehad confidence enough in Hector--indeed, he sought his advice on allregimental questions--since seeing the scheme[#] his nerve had left him.Graeme would certainly be defeated, he felt, and on him would fall theblame; for, as he was responsible for the training of his officers,their downfall meant his own.
[#] A printed paper, given to each opposing leader, though naturallydiffering in each case. On these papers is described an imaginarymilitary situation, followed by the task to be carried out, the actualexecution of this being, of course, left to the respective commanders.
Official censure was the one thing most dreaded by Royle, and, though hehad escaped it so far, the catastrophe was in sight at last. The swordhung but by a hair, that hair being Graeme's ability to placate; andnow, in sheer sport, it seemed that person was making the blade to danceover his head, till the hair must undoubtedly snap in a moment.
He looked imploringly at Graeme as he spoke, and was conscious of afaint sensation of relief, for his subordinate's face was confident asever. Why could he not feel the same?
"I beg your pardon, sir," answered Hector; "I have no wish to be undulycurious. One thing, however, I should like to ask, if I may, who'scommanding the opposite side?"
"Certainly you may know that, Graeme," said Bumps, watching him; "it'sColonel Wicklow." And once more Hector laughed, for his opponent was aStaff College graduate, and reputed one of the smartest officers at thattime in South Africa.
"Thank you, sir," he replied; "I'm much obliged to you for giving me achance of defeating such a distinguished officer."
"I hope you may," snapped the General; "but it's time you saw thescheme; here it is," drawing a long blue envelope from his pocket andhanding it to Graeme, at the same time again closely watching him, thetwinkle deepening in his eyes.
Hector, however, did not open it there, but walked some hundred yardsaway, where he seated himself behind a large boulder. He then took outhis case, lighted a cigarette, and, having removed his helmet so thatthe sun beat full on his face, leisurely proceeded to open the envelope.
"As I thought," he muttered; "the plot at last revealed; he's got it upfor me this time and no mistake. But no matter; there must be some wayout, and I'll find it."
He stretched himself flat on the ground, the cigarette between histeeth, and, closing his eyes, passed into semi-unconsciousness. A voicebegan to whisper in his ear.
The following was the scheme. Hector's force, composed of the 1stLancers and two guns, was directed to escort a convoy of waggons toTafelberg Farm, a distance of about six miles. Between him and hisdestination lay a high rugged ridge, the only openings in which were twonarrow passes two miles apart, and by now assuredly guarded by ColonelWicklow with his eight hundred infantrymen. Other way round there wasnone, save by a detour of some fifteen miles, and, even if the distancehad not made such a turning movement prohibitive, the country on thatside had been carefully marked "out of bounds."
The ridge itself Hector knew well, knew also that, save by the t
wopasses, neither waggons nor even horses could hope to cross throughoutits length; for many times on his solitary rides he had made the attempton his Basuto pony, but had always been forced to desist. Only on handsand knees could a man scale those rocky sides, and even then the taskwas difficult, more particularly about midway between the two passes,where the ridge reached its highest point and was well-nigh precipitous.
This, then, was his task: the crossing of a mountain barrier, impassablefor waggons and mounted troops--of which his force was composed--the twogates being guarded and held by infantry. Truly, General Rivers hadbeen successful in his object.
Suddenly Hector stirred, sat up, and gazed for a moment vacantly aroundhim; then, springing to his feet, stood rocking dizzily. Slowly themists cleared from before his eyes, and they lit up; a flame of redappeared in his cheeks: his knees ceased from trembling, and he wasawake--with the solution of the problem clear before him.
Taking out his glasses, he carefully scrutinised the distant ridge, eachstone of which could be seen through the powerful Zeiss. He noted thefigures of men lining the rocks at the sides of the passes, and thenlowering the glasses, remained motionless, thinking rapidly.
"Kinley," he called, "Major Kinley."
"That's the first thing," he muttered, "remove him from command of thecavalry"--this position, being next senior to himself, Porky was nowoccupying, Royle being detailed as umpire, and he in command of theside--"He'll sell me to a certainty if I don't."
"Kinley," he called again, no answer to his first summons beingforthcoming, and at length after some minutes' waiting, Kinley havinghad to be aroused from his slumbers, that person appeared, rubbing hiseyes.
"Well, old chap," he said yawning, "bit of a teaser this, eh? Johnson'sjust told me about it, but never mind, I've got an idea; tell you whatit is if you like."
"Thank you, Porky, I should; can't make head or tail of it myself. Youride with me and we'll talk it over together."
"Right-o--glad to escape the dust. But what about the bloomin'regiment? I'm in command, you know."
"Hand it over to Graves, we'll send him on ahead while you and I sitwith the guns and watch. Ask him to come here, will you--the rest aswell."
Porky departed, returning some few minutes later followed by the otherofficers of Graeme's army. These proceeded to range themselves in ahalf circle before their leader, their faces showing varying degrees ofinterest; for, though to the majority field days had long since losttheir charm, there was always a chance of something sensationalhappening when under their present commander, not to mention thepractical certainty of a row between him and Bumps.
Nor were their expectations disappointed to-day, for of the many madschemes in which, under his leadership, they had previouslyparticipated, the one now propounded surpassed them all in sheer lunacy,and their faces grew bright with interest as they listened to the planlaid before them.
"Here's the game, gentlemen," he began, "we've got to get that lot ofcarts to Tafelberg Farm. Between us and it lies an impassable ridge,only two openings, both held, as you'll see if you look, by infantry andguns. No way through--or so thinks Bumps." Here Graeme paused to allowthe impossibility of the task to sink into his hearers' minds; for thiswas his way, to make out that a thing was impossible and then to showhis audience how easy it really was for him. It was a touch oftheatrical display in which he, like some other and more distinguishedcommanders, delighted.
"He's out as usual, though, is Bumps," he continued; "for the convoysare going through all right and will be at the farm in three hours fromnow. Against me is that most distinguished officer Colonel Wicklow,who, as you know, is a Staff College graduate. Now, at that abode oflearning they read books, and those books teach them that the way todefend a ridge is not to spread troops all along it, but to hold thepasses strongly, and keep one or two reserves somewhere in rear, readyto come up to the threatened point. That, gentlemen, is what myopponent is now doing, and on his so doing I make my plan.
"Here it is. The cavalry under you, Graves--Porky remains to adviseme--will start off and head straight for the western opening. Then,when they begin to shoot, and Wicklow's reserves have started toreinforce that point, as they will, thinking we're going to rush thepass, you'll turn half right and go, hard as God will let you, for thecentre of the ridge, that peak there. At its foot you'll dismount,swarm up it, there'll be nothing but a picket on top--the reserve bythat time will be a mile away--and having settled them, work along theridge to the left, and come down on the western opening from above, andknock that lot out too. Then Jehu," pointing to the transport officer,"and I will bring on the carts and run them through and away toTafelberg Farm. The guns will bang away as soon as the cavalry startsfrom here, their target the western opening. That's to keep up thedelusion of attacking them. Now, you've got it. Get away and be off."
All but Porky saluted and hurried away. "Stand to your horses!" wasshouted, and, at the sound, sleeping figures rose up from the ground andbusied themselves with bridle and loosened girth. "Mount!" was calledonce more, followed by "Walk march!" and then suddenly "Halt!" from manyvoices, and the clattering mass came to a standstill.
"What the devil are they halting for?" said Graeme. "Go and see, Porky,tell them to shove on. Oh Lord, if it ain't that old idiot who'sstopped them! Here's Johnson coming too," as Bumps's A.D.C. camehurrying up. "What is it, Johnson?"
"The General's compliments, sir, and Major Kinley's to command thecavalry," was the answer.
Graeme uttered an oath, and consternation was displayed on Porky's face,for here was a bombshell indeed. The latter, as usual, was the first tospeak.
"Look here, old chap, I'm not for this at all. Taking on mountains withcavalry! Ain't goats, you know."
"What the hell do you mean, you fool? You never said a word just nowwhen you heard the scheme."
"I know I didn't; but then, you see, I wasn't responsible--but Graves.It's another pair of shoes now. If it comes off, all very well; but ifit don't, it's me who gets damned, not him. You know what Bumps isabout cavalry."
"Oh, go to blazes! I don't act to Bumps nor anyone else. Get away toyour squadron, and don't talk."
"For heaven's sake come with us, then. You see, Graeme, if you'rethere, you get the damning, as is only right. It's your scheme."
"Of course I'm coming. D'you think I'd let a turnip-headed ... Oh, comeon. Trumpeter, my horse," and Graeme mounted and was hurrying away,when again Johnson was seen approaching.
"The General's compliments, sir," he said, "and he wishes you to staywith him. The cavalry under Major Kinley is to go on at once and..."And then the A.D.C. stopped astonished, his ears listening to a flow oflanguage such as struck his simple soul with genuine admiration.
"You can tell your something something General," he concluded, "to drawhis something something face on a something something blackboard andtake a something something sponge and spit on it and----"
"Will you obey orders, sir," interrupted a quavering voice, and Roylerode up beside him. "For God's sake," reverting to pleading, as hecaught Graeme's eye, "for all our sakes, don't put the General's backup."
Hector glared at him for a moment; his mouth opened and then shut with asnap.
"Very well," he said, "I'll come. Only don't blame me for what's goingto happen; or rather do, if you like, I don't care," and thereupon hedismounted, and, handing his horse over to the trumpeter, walked away towhere Bumps was sitting.
"Now, Colonel Graeme," said the latter affably, "we want to hear yourplans; but first, I must tell you, you were wrong in proposing to leadthe cavalry. As commander of a mixed force, your place is with theguns. You've told Major Kinley, I presume, what you meant to do?"
"I've tried to."
"Tried to, what do you mean? Either you have or have not, which is it?"
"I repeat, I've tried to; but my plan requires me in person to lead."
"By that you mean, I suppose, a field officer in your regiment isinc
apable? What do you say to that, Colonel Royle?"
"I don't know what Graeme means, sir, I'm sure, Major Kinley's a mostexcellent officer," answered Royle, who but yesterday had lamentedPorky's total want of intelligence to Hector himself.
"I confess that is also my opinion," said Bumps, "he's an officer, withideas, too, is Kinley, and what's more is both modest and unassuming.Always ready to learn, doesn't think he knows better than his superiors.But about your plans, what are they, Graeme?"
"To attack that ridge where it's highest," answered Hector.
"Really, and how, may I ask, charge it with cavalry?"
"That's my idea."
"Graeme, you don't, you can't mean that," from Royle. "Sir," turning tothe smiling Bumps, "I can assure you this is directly contrary to myteaching."
"And mine too, Colonel."
"I meant yours, sir. Why, it was only the other day, after your lastlecture on cavalry, that I had all my officers up, and impressed uponthem how right you were when you said--said----" Here Royle was broughtto a standstill, memory failing him.
"Say no more, Colonel, I believe you; but there are some people tooclever to learn. Ah, they're off! Sit down here, Graeme, and watch. Ithink, possibly, in the next few minutes you may learn something, or theexperience of forty-five years goes for nothing."
"A mule that had been through all the wars of Frederick still remained amule," muttered Graeme, and, sitting down, lighted a cigarette andclosed his eyes.
That disaster was imminent he knew well, but now cared nothing. LetBumps have his silly triumph if he liked. His own plan had been right,of that he was intuitively certain, and that was all that mattered tohim; it would fail, of course, as it was, but that was to be expected,Porky being in charge.
Sitting there, he could foretell, knowing that officer, what was in hismind as he rode along, almost to the words he was now uttering to Gravesgalloping beside him.
"Hanged if I get a telling off," he was saying, "for Graeme or anyoneelse; my plan's much sounder, and will pull him through, and then he'llbe glad he didn't run his own rotten scheme. Look ye, Graves, we'llmake for the centre of the ridge now, straight away, that'll enticethose blokes away from the pass, and then we'll turn and be through itlike winking. It's the same as his plan, only the other way round."
In vain did Graves, who possessed intelligence, protest. Porky was firm,and carried out his scheme, or rather the first part of it, for in thelast he was not so successful.
On they headed for the ridge, Wicklow watching them through his glassesas they came, and for a moment doubt arose in his mind, soon quelled,however, for his Staff College teaching told him that cavalry do notattempt the crossing of precipitous mountains. "It's a transparentruse," he reflected, "to draw me away from the passes, their only hope,"and he called up his reserves till each entrance was guarded by close onfour hundred men.
A cry arose of "Here they are!" Cartridges rattled in breech-blocks,and Wicklow's heart was joyful within him, when, a cloud of dustpreceding them, a straggling mass of horsemen burst upon them. Thestorm broke, but on they came, for Porky was valiant and by nowreckless, till at last, with guns thudding in their faces and witheringfire from Maxim and rifle pouring in upon them, even he became convincedof the futility of further advance, and halted his cursing, sulky-facedregiment in the centre of the pass. A loud shout of laughter greetedthem from the infantrymen looking down from the rocks on either side.
"We're in for it, Graves," he calmly observed, "but a damning is no newthing to me." Then Porky proceeded to light his pipe, and, seatinghimself on a stone beside the path, waited for the wrath to come.
"A pretty piece of business," said the General, as he lumbered acrossthe veldt towards the scene of disaster, "very pretty indeed! Oh forheaven's sake keep up beside me, Colonel Royle, and stop talking toGraeme, you can do that afterwards."
"Yes, sir; very sorry, sir," gasped Royle, rushing his horse up andcannoning into the General in his haste. "oh, I beg ten thousandpardons, sir, and you were saying----"
"How the devil can I say anything when you damn near knock me over?Hold up, confound you!" pulling at his horse's mouth, as the animalskipped cleverly over the hole of an ant-bear. "Nasty clumsy brute togive a general officer. Who chose him--you?"[#]
[#] It is usual for the general and his staff, when not bringing theirown horses with them, to be mounted by the cavalry regiment in thestation they are visiting. Amiability is a _sine qua non_ in thequadrupeds selected for this honour.
"No, sir, Colonel Graeme, sir----"
"Damme," roared the General, "it's always Colonel Graeme, pray, does hecommand the 1st Lancers or do you?"
"I do, of course, sir; but Graeme, being the second in command, Iusually leave such matters to him. I thought he was to be relied on,sir; but after to-day I see----"
"I hope you do, a nice show up for your regiment, to-day's performance.Now, perhaps, you'll believe what I've always said about this officer."
"Indeed I do, sir, and if you like, sir, there are the ConfidentialReports to go in soon, sir, and----"
"Do your own dirty work, Colonel," snapped the General, who found thisservility even more exasperating than Graeme's insolence. "I shouldadvise you to remember, however, that you've always cracked the fellowup till now; made him out a sort of Julius Caesar."
"But, sir, that was before I knew, sir. Now, sir, that my eyes areopened, thanks to you, I see my mistake, and----"
"Oh, do you? Well, here we are. Sound the officers' call, Trumpeter."
"Gad, but your trumpeters want practice," he snarled, as the man,infected by the general demoralisation, blew a cracky, discordant blast,"and look there, see the way your officers are lounging up, like a lotof ducks shuffling along. For the Lord's sake, go and march 'em hereyourself properly. All present? Hum, yours too, Wicklow? Sit downthere, please, closer, damn it! I don't want to shout."
"Now, gentlemen--when you've finished arguing with Captain Graves, MajorKinley, thank you--I think we've had a most instructive morning, we'velearnt, or I trust most of you have, how cavalry should ... not behandled. The scheme, I allow, was perhaps a little too difficult for the'Blue'[#] commander; but even so, that's no excuse for the insaneperformance it has just been our privilege to witness. No attempt atscouting, no reports sent in, merely a blind, headlong rush todestruction. May I ask, Colonel Graeme, on what information you acted?As far as I know, you had not the slightest idea of what was in front ofyou."
[#] On field days one side is usually designated the "Blue," the otherthe "Red."
"There were two companies of infantry, with two guns, holding eitherpass. In rear, four companies in reserve," was the careless answer.
There was a murmur from the officers of Wicklow's force--the diagnosiswas correct.
"Really?" said Bumps. "Stop whispering there, will you! What do yousay to that, Colonel Wicklow?"
"It's correct, sir," he answered, "except that my reserves came up assoon as the attack developed; they were there in time to repel thecavalry charge."
"There you are, Graeme; four more companies than you thought. However,you've paid the penalty of disregarding my own and your Colonel'steaching, and there's no more to be said. I hope it will be a lesson toyou in the future to be a little less cocksure. It's a fault which hasbrought many a better soldier than you to grief. And now I'll tell youwhat you ought to have done. First, you should have sent out patrolsand scouted."
"To find out what I already knew, sir?"
"Kindly refrain from interrupting; besides, you did not know; it hasjust been proved. And then, having ascertained the enemy'sdispositions, reported to me that the task was beyond you."
"I understood, sir, we were supposed to be on active serviceconditions?" said Graeme.
"So you were, sir, what of it?"
"As far as I know, sir, there are no umpires on active service." Atthis remark a stir of anticipation ran through the audience, despitedisaster, Graeme was ag
ain not going to fail them.
"Umpires, sir, what do you mean, sir? I'm speaking of the officer whowould be your senior, and to whom, consequently, it would be your dutyto report."
"In which case, being my senior and on the spot, wouldn't he have madethe plan and given the orders?" The stir thereupon developed intoill-concealed mirth, at sight of which Bumps's foot went down.
"I'm not here to answer foolish questions, Graeme, nor yet to argue;kindly bear that in mind. I've told you what you ought to have done,and there's an end of it. One thing more, however, I should like to say,and that is, I in no way blame Major Kinley, though it's true his actionresulted in disaster. He was given an impossible task, and very rightlydeclined to run his head against a mountain ridge, and instead did thebest he could under the circumstances. He showed initiative, at anyrate--the great quality in a cavalry officer--and dash, though, perhaps,a slight want of judgment. That is all, gentlemen, good-day. You ridehome with me, Colonel Royle; I wish to speak to you." The General rose,and, mounting his horse, was soon lurching away over the veldtlunchwards.
Graeme rode back alone, no one showing any inclination to accompany him.He was down now, and the strong man or animal down is a being whom allsmaller creatures shun; for such is the penalty those who claimpre-eminence over their fellows have to pay if but for a moment theyfail to support their claim. For though to all living creatures a lordis essential, nevertheless they hate that lord and the dominion heimposes, and, once fallen, are on him like wolves on a disabled leader.Only in the case of hereditary kingship is it different--then it is theplace and not the individual to which they bow.
This came home to Graeme as he rode homewards. Yesterday--this morningeven--his brother officers, though disliking and perhaps fearing him,would nevertheless have followed his lead and accepted without questionhis dictum on military matters; but now, thanks to a mere field daydisaster, or, rather, to the utterance of a Bumps, all this had changed,and his former unbroken sequence of successes had been obliterated fromtheir minds.
While he was thus reflecting, the clatter of hoofs sounded on the trackbehind him, and Wicklow rode up, stopping for a moment as he passed.
"Hullo, Graeme," he said; "rotten job they gave you this morning, no manliving could have done it. Funny, though, at one time I thought youwere going to pull it off, but I think my reserves might have got therein time. They hadn't started for the passes when you headed for mycentre. There was only a picket of six men on top, but of course I knewyou wouldn't do an unsound thing like that; besides your horses couldn'thave got over."
"Supposing I'd dismounted and swarmed up, then moved along the ridge andcome down on you from above?"
"Glad you didn't, it's I who'd have had the damning then--not you.Bye-bye, I'm off to lunch," and Wicklow rode on, leaving Graeme thebitterer at the knowledge of what ought to have been and had not.
A feeling of despondency came over him, a sense of futility, one ofthose black moods to which the self-reliant, and consequently solitary,are at times prone. What was the good of it all, he asked himself, thislaborious building up of a name, which the slightest mistake of asubordinate or momentary ill-luck could destroy in a moment. Evenworse, perhaps, was the crass stupidity of those by whom he wassurrounded; their total inability to see matters that to his eyes wereas clear as daylight. He knew there was not one of those officerspresent at to-day's operations who had an inkling of the motives thathad prompted him to act as he had done. To them his plan had been awild gamble, which with luck might come off, but only with luck; whilsthe had known--even without the confirmation of Wicklow's words--thesuccess of that plan had been certain, based as it was on his knowledgeof human nature, which never changes and never can change.
Oh, to get away from it all, abandon this thankless profession, andleave the army to the ruin it courted by the retention in high places ofsuch as Bumps! Then there suddenly flashed upon him the remembrance ofthe telegram that had been despatched in the morning, and till nowforgotten; for in the concentration of purpose usual with him there wasonly room for one thought in his mind at a time.
A sigh of relief burst from his lips.
"Thank heaven," he muttered, "I did it; fool that I was to wait solong." And thereupon, suddenly exhilarated at the thought of speedyrelease, he struck spurs to his horse and rode on, until he reached hisquarters, before which a soldier in uniform was standing, awaiting him.
"Hullo, Lobb," said Hector, surprised at the apparition, the man being atrooper from his own late squadron, "what are you doing here, where'sMurphy?"
"Beggy pardin, sir, Murphy's 'ad a haccident; 'orse come down with 'imthis morning and broke 'is arm, and the Sergeant-Major sent me to dofirst servant to you in 'is absence."
"Where is he?" shouted Hector.
"'Oo, Murphy, sir? In 'orspital, sir; they took 'im there strite,compound fracture, I've 'eard, sir, the bone----" But Hector wasalready galloping away to the hospital, with a sudden desperate anxietyin his mind.
"Murphy, did you send that telegram?" he burst out, rushing up to thebed upon which the sufferer was lying.
"Beggy pardin, sir, I----"
"Did you send it?"
"No, sir; 'ere it is," and Murphy drew a crumpled sheet of paper fromunder the pillow. "Very sorry, sir." But once more Hector was gone,and five minutes later had reached the telegraph office, where, pushingaside other applicants for attention, he thrust the paper beneath thegrating.
"When will this reach Duikerpoort?" he demanded.
"Couldn't say," answered the clerk, with the nonchalance that a manlyColonial independence seems to demand; "perhaps to-night, perhapsto-morrow morning."
"It must get there to-night, d'you hear?"
"Oh, must it? You're in a hurry, you are! Oh, beg pardon, sir," asGraeme suddenly appeared behind him, having burst open the door marked"Private" and entered. "I'll send it off at once; it will be all right,I think, if the line's not blocked. Good-day, sir."
Hector rode slowly back to barracks, where till nightfall he wanderedabout aimlessly, his mind racked with this strange newborn anxiety andthe impotent desire to act.
"Dinner--not going to dinner," he replied to Lobbs's reminder that thedress trumpet had sounded and the hour of eight was close at hand."Bring me a bottle of champagne here; that's all I want. Anotherdamnable night," he muttered, the meal of liquor consumed, "only ninenow, twelve hours at least before I can get an answer. I think I'll sendfor my pony and spend the night on the veldt." He walked to the door,and as he did so, nine o'clock struck. Then a strange thing happened,for with the ceasing of the strokes the fever of restlessness suddenlyleft him, and in its place he felt perfect peace and calm. For half anhour longer he remained contentedly resting in his chair, his eyelidsgradually growing heavier, and then sleepily undressing he lay down onthe bed and was almost instantly asleep. Nor through the night hoursdid he move, but slept dreamlessly on, till a hot deluge in his faceawoke him to the fact that early morning tea had arrived, and also thatit was Private Lobb, and not the experienced Murphy, who had brought himthat tea.
"Beggy pardin, sir," said the perspiring soldier, rushing for a toweland proceeding to mop the soaking bedclothes and incidentally Hector'sface, "very sorry, sir; caught my foot; can't think 'ow it happened;'ere's a tallygram for you, sir," and Lobb fled hastily from the room.A faint rustle of paper was heard from within and then all was silentsave for the ticking of the clock.
"Lobb."
"Sir?" and in rushed the soldier. Once more he unfortunately "caughthis foot," this time against the water-jug, which breaking at the impactlet out a flood of water over the wooden floor.
"Beggy pardin, sir, I'm sure," began Lobb, in an agony, and thenstopped, for his master was speaking to him, and at the sound of thevoice and look in the eyes of the speaker the disaster was forthwithforgotten.
"Never mind that now, Lobb, but go at once and tell the Adjutant to comehere, and then fetch a Cape cart. Ten minutes I give you; don't bel
onger," and Hector rose from his bed and sat smiling at Lobb, a smilethat sent the latter flying from the room, leaving Hector alone.
Still smiling, he unfolded the paper in his hand and remained curiouslyregarding the charcoal-written words: "Stara dead."
Hector Graeme Page 20
