"Pass the word all along the line," he shouted. "False alarm. Only spies, and we have got them. Cease firing." His words had but little effect for a few minutes; but by degrees the tumult was stilled and the firing ceased. The men about us readily obeyed the Irish captain's orders. "They're old fr'inds of mine," he said, with a peculiar grin--"dear fr'inds who have come after me to join our ranks; and I'm going to make them take the oaths properly." There was a groan of dissent at this, but Moriarty paid no heed; he only showed his teeth at us in a savage grin like that of some wild beast about to spring. "Yes," he continued, "they're old fr'inds of mine--dear fr'inds. That one"--he pointed to me--"is a deserter from our forces, and the other miserable brute is an officer who has been fighting against us and helping his companion. Be cool and calm, dear boys, and as soon as it is light you shall have the pleasure of shooting the young scoundrels. For we're all soldiers now, and we must behave like military min, unless you would like to set a Kaffir to hang them both from a tripod of dissel-booms at the two ends of a rein." "Shoot them! Shoot them!" came in a burst of voices. "Very well, we'll shoot them; but we must do it properly. We'll have a court-martial upon them, and teach the spies to crawl into our camp like snakes." "It's a lie!" I shouted. "We are no spies." "Ah! you understand the beautiful language of my fr'inds," cried Moriarty. "You are not spies, then?" "No, neither of us," I said in Dutch. "Indade?" said Moriarty. "And perhaps you are not a deserter from our troops?" Amidst hootings, groans, and yells, I managed to make myself heard. "No," I said, "I am not a deserter. I am English, and I refused to fight against my own countrymen." A savage yell greeted my plain words; but Moriarty held up his hand. "Let him condemn himself out of his own lips, brethren," he cried.-- Then, to me, "You preferred to fight against and shoot down the people among whom you dwelt?" he cried. "I joined my own people," I replied; "and this gentleman with me is no spy." "What is he, then?" said Moriarty, holding up his hand in the light of the lantern he kept aloft, so as to secure silence. "An officer and a gentleman of the Light Horse." "Indade!" said Moriarty sneeringly. "Then you have both had enough of the British forces, and have desarted to ours?" "No," I said coolly. "We have both been badly wounded, as you can see, and we wanted to break through the lines and get away." "What for?" said Moriarty fiercely. "What for?" "We are too weak to fight," I said. "Bah!" roared Moriarty, "you are both spies; and do you hear? You shall both be shot by-and-by." A yell of triumph, which sounded like a chorus of savage beasts in anticipation of blood, rose from all around. "Get reins and tie their arms behind them, my brothers. They're English, and can spake nothing but lies."