To the number of three thousand the Matabeles
were sleeping in a succession of camps, through which the
fourteen men rode at a gallop. But in the darkness it was difficult
to distinguish the trek wagon of the king, and by the time they
found his laager the Matabeles from the other camps through
which they had ridden had given the alarm. Through the
underbrush from every side the enemy, armed with assegai and
elephant guns, charged toward them and spread out to cut off their
retreat.
At a distance of about seven hundred yards from the camps there
was a giant ant-hill, and the patrol rode toward it. By the aid of the
lightning flashes they made their way through a dripping wood and
over soil which the rain had turned into thick black mud. When the
party drew rein at the ant-hill it was found that of the fourteen
three were missing. As the official scout of the patrol and the only
one who could see in the dark, Wilson ordered Burnham back to
find them. Burnham said he could do so only by feeling the
hoof-prints in the mud and that he would like some one with him
to lead his pony. Wilson said he would lead it. With his fingers
Burnham followed the trail of the eleven horses to where, at right
angles, the hoof-prints of the three others separated from it, and so
came upon the three men. Still, with nothing but the mud of the
jungle to guide him, he brought them back to their comrades.
Pages:
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181