CHAPTER TWELVE.
INTO THE FIRE.
"What about breakfast?
Have you had any ?" said Denham.
"No," I replied; "but I have some with me;" and taking out a portion of what was left over from the previous afternoon, I proceeded to make up for what was lacking, eating with the better appetite for seeing that Joeboy was busy over one of the big sandwiches provided for him by Aunt Jenny.
This done, I seemed to forget my injuries, and rode on with the little troop, watching the agile way in which Joeboy made his way forward, well in advance and showing no sign of fear.
Mounted men advancing up the rugged pass had very little chance of keeping themselves concealed.

Here and there a bend in the narrow valley helped us; but there was always the knowledge that, if the enemy were in force up by the neck of the pass, they had plenty of niches among the mountains on either side to which they could climb and watch us till well within range of their rifles, when shot after shot and puff after puff of white smoke would appear, with very different effect, I felt, from those fired in the darkness of the past night's scare.
All this was very suggestive of danger; but somehow I did not feel alarmed.

There was too much excitement in the business, and I was flushed with a feeling of triumph at being so soon in a position to retaliate upon the people who had used me so ill.
I rode on, then, for some distance behind my officer, as I now began to consider him, till the valley opened out, and he reined up a little to allow me to come alongside, so that he could question me about the track higher up.

I told him all I could, and endeavoured to impress upon him that it would be a very bad position for his men if the Boers sighted them.
"You would find the ground so bad and encumbered with rough stones," I said, "that it would be impossible to gallop back." "But we don't want to gallop back," he said, with a laugh.

"That's all capital about the bad road, and sounds sensible as a warning; but you must not talk about galloping back.