Steady! steady! and as quietly as you can, said Lennox in warning tones, as he kept on directing and encouraging his men. They are firing by guesswork. Ah! that wont do any good, he muttered, for just as he was speaking Dickenson and his men, who had spread out widely, began to reply; it will only show our weakness.
He looked forward again in the direction the oxen were being driven; but the kopje was invisible, and now he altered his opinion about the firing of Dickensons detachment, for he felt that it would let the captain know what was going on, and bring up support.
He was quite right, for in a very little time Captain Roby had felt his way to them, learnt the cause of the firing, and carefully covered the retreat till the intricacies of the rocky ascent put a stop to further progress in the gloom, and a halt was called till morning.
The rest of the night passed in the midst of a terrible suspense, for though the Boer firing gradually died out, as if the leaders had at last awakened to the fact of its being a mere waste of ammunition, the British detachment, scattered here and there about the captured gun, lay in momentary expectation of the enemy creeping up and then making a rush.
But they will not, said Lennox quietly. Theyll wait till morning, and creep up from stone to stone and bush to bush, trying to pick us off.
You need not be so cock-sure about it, growled Dickenson. They are in force, and must have known from our fire how few we were. A rush would do it.
Yes; but they will not rush, replied Lennox. They understand too well the meaning of the word bayonet .
Cock-sure or no, theyll make no dash; but as soon as it begins to be light we shall have a hailstorm.
Nonsense! said Dickenson tetchily; theres no sign of rain.
I did not say rain, replied Lennox, but hail leaden hail from every bit of cover round.
Oh, I see, said Dickenson. Well, two sides can play at that game; and I fancy we have most cover here.
Lennox was quite right; for as soon as the first pale grey of a lovely dawn began to make objects stand up in an indistinct way upon the level veldt around the kopje, the sharp cracks of rifle after rifle began at every object that displayed movement upon the eminence, and the pattering of bullets among the rocks often preceded the reports of the Boer rifles.
But by this time Captain Roby had communicated with the colonel in the village, and had taken his steps, sending his men well out in the enemys direction to take advantage of every scrap of cover to reply wherever it was necessary, which they did, their efforts, as the time went on, to some extent keeping the Boer fire down.
The colonel grasped the position at once and sent assistance, with the result that, in spite of terrible difficulties, by help of horse and mule to supplement the pulling powers of the ox-team, the big gun, limber, and an ammunition-wagon, which daylight showed lying deserted a quarter of a mile away among some bushes into which it had been dragged in the dark, were hauled to the flat top of the kopje, where they were surrounded with a rough but strong breastwork of the abundant stones, and by the mens breakfast-time a shell was sent well into the midst of a clump of bush which the Boers had made the centre of their advance.
A better shot could not have been made, for as soon as the shell had burst, the defenders of the kopje had the satisfaction of seeing that the greater part of the Boers ponies had been gathered into shelter there, and a perfect stampede had begun, hundreds of horses, mounted and empty of saddle, streaming away in every direction except that in which the kopje lay.
There was no need for a second shell, for the sputtering rifle-fire ceased as if by magic, the Boers retiring, leaving the colonels force at liberty to go on at leisure strengthening the emplacement of the enemys heavy Creusot gun, and forming a magazine for the abundant supply of ammunition, also captured for its use.
The rest of the day was occupied, by as many of the men as could be spared, building up sangars (loose stone walls for breastworks) and contriving rifle-pits and cover to such an extent that already it would have taken a strong and determined force to make any impression; while, when the officers met at the mess that night and the matter was under discussion, the colonel smiled.
Yes, he said, pretty well for one days work; but by the end of a week we shall have a little Gibraltar that will take all the men the Boers have in the field to capture a regular stronghold, ready like a castle keep if we have to leave the village.
And may that never be, colonel, said Captain Roby.
Hear, hear! cried every one present.
So I say, said the colonel; but we may at any time be ordered to occupy some other position. By the way, though, I should not dislike to send the Boer leader a letter of thanks for sending us that gun and a supply of oxen. How many must be killed?
Killed? cried Captain Roby.
Yes; several were bayoneted in that charge.