At last the eastern sky began to turn grey, and John rose, shook the dew from his hat and clothes, and limped off as well as his half-frozen limbs would allow to catch the horses, which were standing together some yards away, looking huge and ghost-like in the mist.

By sunrise he had managed to saddle them up, and they started once more.

This time, however, he was obliged to lift Jess on to the saddle.
About eight o'clock they halted and ate their little remaining food, and then went on, slowly enough, for the horses were almost as tired as they were, and it was necessary to husband them if they were to reach Mooifontein by dark.

At midday they rested for an hour and a half, and then, feeling almost worn out, continued their journey, reckoning that they could not be more than sixteen or seventeen miles from Mooifontein.
It was about two hours after this that the catastrophe happened.

The course they were following ran down the side of one land wave, then across a little swampy _sluit_, and up the opposite slope.