"If you are hit it will do every one else harm instead of good." He turned upon me fiercely, but calmed down directly. "Yes," he said; "I suppose you're right. Oh, here's the Sergeant coming up. He has done drilling, I suppose." The Sergeant announced that this was so directly after joining us. "The boys are getting splendid with the sword now," he said, seating himself upon a block of stone and wiping his moist brow; "but it's dreary work not being able to get them to work." "Tell the Colonel to get them all out, then, and make a charge. We ought to be able to scatter this mob." "So we could, sir," said the Sergeant gruffly, "but they won't give us a chance. If they'd make a mob of themselves we'd soon scatter them, numerous as they are; but it's of no use to talk; we can't charge wagons and rifle-pits. It wouldn't be fair to the lads. Why, they'd empty half our saddles before we got up to them, and then it would be horrible work to get through. No, it can't be done, Mr Denham, and you know it as well as I do." "No, I don't," said my companion stubbornly. "It ought to be done. Once we were all through, the enemy would take to flight." "Once we were all through," said the Sergeant, with a grim chuckle; "but that's it. How many would get through? Now, just put it another way, sir. Say there's only six or seven of them out there, and there's one on our side. That's about how it stands as to numbers. Very well; say you lead that charger of yours out. The Boers see what's going to happen directly, and the minute you're up in the saddle they begin to fire at you--the whole seven." "You said six," cried Denham. "Six or seven, sir. Well, let it be six. Don't you think it very likely that one out of the six Doppies would manage to hit you?" Denham frowned and remained silent, while Joeboy sat all of a heap, his arms round his knees, watching the Sergeant, and I saw his ears twitch as if he were trying hard to grasp the whole of the non-com's theory. "You think not, sir?" continued Briggs. "Well, I don't agree with you. They'd hit you perhaps before you got far; they'd hit you for certain, you or your horse, before you got close up; and let me tell you that the chances would be ever so much worse if we were galloping up to them in line." "Yes, you're right, Sergeant," said Denham slowly. "It would be murder, and the chief couldn't, in justice to the men, call upon them to charge. But they'd follow us," he added excitedly. "Follow their officers, sir? Of course they would, and some of 'em would get through." "Gloriously," cried Denham.