CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
I HAVE MY DOUBTS.
"Too late; too late," I muttered through my teeth as, sword in hand, I made a bound to keep up with Sandho, who dashed forward.

It was lucky for me I did so; as it was, I nearly lost my hold.

The poor beast had been sadly punished in the melee; and between temper and dread he was hardly controllable, and bearing hard against the curb in a wild desire to rush off.

In fact, I fully expected at any moment to be shaken from my grasp, as, oddly enough, even in that time of peril, I recalled the gymnastic sport of giant strides of my schooldays, and held on; but I was certain we were now too late, and that it was only a matter of moments before we should be overtaken and cut down or taken prisoners by a strong party of the Boers who were in full pursuit.
Then my exaltation increased, and I thought that Sandho would be able to go faster if relieved of my clinging hand, and so save the Colonel; and in another instant I should have let go, when--as he told me afterwards--the Colonel seemed to divine my thoughts, and I felt his sword strike against my back as it hung loosely by the knot to his wrist, while his strong right hand was thrust under and gripped my leather cartridge-belt.
"Hold on tightly, my lad, and we'll do it somehow," he cried.
These words drove all the heroic thoughts out of my brain, and I tried to look back to see how near our pursuers were; but I could not turn my head round, but only listen to the shouts, while _crack, crack, crack_ came the reports of rifles--badly aimed by the mounted men, who fired from the saddle, holding their weapons pistol-wise--the bullets from which went whizzing and buzzing past our ears.
"It's all over," I thought, and a deep sense of depression was coming on at the thought of the Colonel falling wounded and a prisoner into the Boers' hands; but the depression was only momentary, being chased away by a wild feeling of excitement as I thought I had misjudged the gallant lads of the Light Horse.

For as soon as they had pulled themselves together, under command of their remaining officers, and had discovered the loss of their chief, in response to our Major's orders they drew rein and divided into two squadrons, which swung round into line, with a short distance between them, and gallantly charged down upon our pursuers.
They were none too soon.