a quartermaster on board one of her Majesty's ships at Cape Town, got drunk, overstayed his leave, and deserted rather than face the punishment; the other a quick, active little fellow, with a face like a ferret. He was a Zululand trader, who had ruined himself by drink, and a peculiarly valuable member of the corps on account of his knowledge of the country in which they were going to serve. Both men saluted and stood at ease.
"Well, my men, what is it?" asked Ernest, going on filling up his forms.
"Nothing, so far as I am concerned, sir," said the little man.
Ernest looked up sharply at the quondam tar.
"Now, Adam, your complaint; I have no time to waste."
Adam hitched up his breeches and began:
"You see, sir, I brought /he/ here by the scruff of the neck."
"That's true, sir," said the little man, rubbing that portion of his body.
"Because he and I, sir, as is messmates, sir, 'ad a difference of opinion. It was his day, you see, sir, to cook for our mess, and instead of putting on the pot, sir, he comes to me he does, and he says, 'Adam, you blooming father of a race of fools'--that's what he says, sir, a-comparing of me to the gent who lived in a garden--'why don't you come and take the skins off the ---- taters, instead of a-squatting of yourself down on that there ---- bed!'"
"Slightly in error, sir," broke in the little man, suavely; "our big friend's memory is not as substantial as his form. What I said was, 'My /dear/ Adam, as I see you have nothing to occupy your time, except sit and play a jew's-harp upon your /couch/, would you be so kind as to come and assist me to remove the outer integument of these potatoes?'"
Ernest began to explode, but checked himself, and said sternly:
"Don't talk nonsense, Adam; tell me your complaint or go."
"Well, sir," answered the big sailor, scratching his head, "if I git it a name, it is this--this here man, sir, be too /infarnal sargustic/."
"Be off with you both," said Ernest, sternly, "and don't trouble me with any such nonsense again, or I will put you both under arrest, and stop your pay. Come, march!" and he pointed to the door. As he did so he observed a Boer gallop swiftly past the house, and take the turn to Government House.
"What is up now?" he wondered.
Half an hour afterwards another man passed the window, also at full gallop, and also turned up towards Government House. Another half-hour passed, and Mr. Alston came hurrying in.
"Look here, Ernest," he said, "here is a pretty business. Three men have come in to report that Cetywayo has sent an Impi (army) round by the back of Secocoeni's country to burn Pretoria, and return to Zululand across the high veld. They say that the Impi is now resting in the Saltpan Bush, about twenty miles off, and will attack the town to-night or to-morrow night. All these three, who have, by the way, had no communication with each other, state that they have actually seen the captains of the Impi, who came to tell them to bid the other Dutchmen to stand aside, as they are now fighting the Queen, and the Boers would not be hurt."
"It seems incredible," said Ernest; "do you believe it?"
"I don't know. It is possible, and the evidence is strong. It is possible; I have known the Zulus make longer marches than that. The Governor has ordered me to gallop to the spot, and report if I can see anything of this Impi."
"Am I to go too?"
"No, you will remain in the corps. I take Roger with me--he is a light weight--and two spare horses. If there should be an attack and I should not be back, or if anything should happen, you will do your duty."
"Yes."
"Good-bye. I am off. You had better muster the men to be ready for an emergency;" and he was gone.
Ten minutes afterwards, down came an orderly from the officer commanding, with a peremptory order that the officer commanding Alston's Horse was to mount and parade his men in readiness for immediate service.
"Here is a pretty go," thought Ernest, "and the horses not served out yet!"
Just then Jeremy came in, saluted, and informed him that the men were mustered.
"Serve out the saddlery. Let every man shoulder his saddle. Tell Mazooku to bring out the 'Devil' (Ernest's favourite horse), and march the men up to the Government stables. I will be with you presently."
Jeremy saluted again with much ceremony and vanished. He was the most punctilious sergeant-major who ever breathed.
Twenty minutes later, a long file of men, each with a carbine slung to his back, and a saddle on his head, which, at a distance, gave them the appearance of a string of gigantic mushrooms, were to be seen proceeding towards the Government stables a mile away.
Ernest, mounted on his great black stallion, and looking, in his military uniform and the revolver slung across his shoulders, a typical volunteer officer, was there before them.
"Now, my men," he said, as soon as they were paraded, "go in, and each man choose the horse which he likes best, bridle him, bring him out and saddle him. Sharp!"
The men broke their ranks and rushed to the stables, each anxious to secure a better horse than his neighbours. Presently from the stables there arose a sound of kicking, plunging, and "wo-hoing" impossible to describe.
"There will be a pretty scene soon, with these unbroken brutes," thought Ernest.
He was not destined to be disappointed. The horses were dragged out, most of them lying back upon their haunches, kicking, bucking, and going through every other equine antic.
"Saddle up!" shouted Ernest, as soon as they were all out.
It was done with great difficulty.
"Now mount."
Sixty men lifted their legs and swung themselves into the saddle, not without sad misgivings. A few seconds passed, and at least twenty of them were on the broad of their backs; one or two were being dragged by the stirrup-leather; a few were clinging to their bucking and plunging steeds; and the remainder of Alston's Horse was scouring the plain in every possible direction. Never was there such a scene.
In time, however, most of the men got back again, and some sort of order was restored. Several men were hurt, one or two badly. These were sent to the hospital, and Ernest formed the rest into half-sections, to be marched to the place of rendezvous. Just then, to make matters better, down came the rain in sheets, soaking them to the skin, and making confusion worse confounded. So they rode to the town, which was by this time in an extraordinary state of panic.
All business was suspended; women were standing about on verandahs, hugging their babies and crying, or making preparations to go into laager; men were hiding deeds and valuables, or hurrying to defence meetings on the market-square, where the Government were serving out rifles and ammunition to all able-bodied citizens; frightened mobs of Basutos and Christian Kafirs were jabbering in the streets, and telling tales of the completeness of Zulu slaughter, or else running from the city to pass the night among the hills. Altogether the scene was most curious, till dense darkness came down over it like an extinguisher, and put it out.
Ernest took his men to a building which the Government had placed at their disposal, and had the horses stabled, but not unsaddled. Presently orders came down to him to keep the corps under arms all night; to send out four patrols to be relieved at midnight, to watch the approaches to the town; and at dawn to saddle up and reconnoitre the neighbouring country.
Ernest obeyed these orders as well as he could; that is, he sent the patrols out, but so dense was the darkness that they never got back again till the following morning, when they were collected, and, in one instance, dug out of the various ditches, quarry-holes, etc., into which they had fallen.
About eleven o'clock Ernest was seated in a little room that opened out of the main building where they were quartered, consulting with Jeremy about matters connected with the corps, and wondering if Alston had found a Zulu Impi, or if it was all gammon, when suddenly they heard the sharp