It was clear they were on a mission of vengeance, for the few Kafirs, whose fires had appeared during the day, were either too terrified to leave their lairs, and give warning of an enemy's approach; or, what was more probable, the band of warriors had moved unnoticed to the spot. In perfect silence, and within the shadow of the hill, the chief put his force in order; ere long they were on their march. Not a sound was now heard upon the hill-side, but a measured tread of distant feet was distinctly audible to the convicts, as, impatient of delay, and, it must be owned, rather disheartened, they lay with their ears to the ground listening to the receding footsteps of the Fingoes along the edge of the ravine. "What a life we are to lead in this savage country!" murmured Gray, who, ill, weary, and unhappy, would have given worlds to have been at his duty as a soldier again. "Silence, fool! and follow me," was Lee's reply. There was nothing for it but to obey. They crept cautiously into the garden fronting the trader's hut; it was a desolate piece of ground; such plants as had once flourished were trodden to the earth; the door was torn from its hinges, and there was light enough from the moon to see that the interior had been rifled of some, if not all, of its contents. The two men sat down upon the earthen floor of the despoiled abode; the one cursing, the other moaning in the anguish of pain and weariness of heart. A man's form suddenly came between them and the moonlight that shone upon the opposite mountain. A pistol clicked in their ears. "Who have we here?" said a stern voice in English. The convicts rose to their feet, and in a moment all three men stood together in the clear and radiant atmosphere. But, to Lee's disappointment, the man, who had just issued from some place of concealment near them, was not the person he had expected to see, and on whose co-operation in his plans he relied, inasmuch as he, Lee, had some claims on the trader's good-will; and, compelled by circumstances to be prompt and truthful, he plainly admitted his surprise and regret. Then, without satisfying his interrogator as to his identity or his comrade's, he inquired abruptly, "Where is Tanner?" To this he received, instead of a reply, the unsatisfactory answer of "What's that to you? and who the devil are you?" The pistol was again elevated, but Lee coolly put it aside; and, sensible that his desperate position could only be defended by hardy measures--seeing, too, that the peremptory tone of his opponent was that of a man whose privacy was not to be further invaded against his will, answered in a steady tone: