"You see, sir, it was just like this. I’d been bringing up the rear and got rather be’ind’and, what with one thing an’ another, and in them thick bushes, it being so dark an’ all, I jest lost mysel’ and couldn’t no’ow find the rest of ’em. So I thinks to mysel’, ’Jest obey orders’, and when you’re lost, as the Commander said, ’Jest climb and climb’. "Well, that was what I did, sir," he continued, with a half-anxious, half-humorous expression, "and I climbed and I climbed till, blow me! I simply fell over them sandbags, and not a savidge anywhere could I see. So I jest lights my pipe and stops there, knowing the Commander would be along in no time. But you see, sir, I’ve rayther done ’im out of ’is show, and my mates are rayther furious about it too. "I wish I’d ’ung on to the party, an’ then there wouldn’t ’ave been none of this ’ere trouble." He munched his cake solemnly and then added slyly: "That ’sentry-go’ business, sir, that’s what riled ’em. That was just for effect, I don’t mind telling you, sir." "That’s all right, Bolton," I told him. "You won’t hear any more about it from the Commander, I’m sure of that." "Well, I ’opes you’re right, sir; an’ if you’ll look arter this ’ere rifle of mine I’ll jest see if there ain’t a little o’ that ’ot cocoa left." He crawled away, scraped a little out of the big mess-tins, warmed it over the fire in his own tin cup, and brought it back to me. It was jolly refreshing, I can tell you, and warm and oily. He took his rifle from me and watched me drink. "You’ll put in a good word for me, sir, when we gets aboard the _Laird_; now, won’t you, sir?" I promised that I would do so, but could not help smiling. "You see that ’ere Chinaman?" he said presently, jerking his thumb towards a motionless blue heap which lay about a hundred yards away along the crest—one of those who had bolted away from Captain Hunter. "I shot ’im, sir; knocked ’im all of a ’eap. Caught ’im in the upper works I did, sir, an’ ’e jest toppled over an’ over an’ never moved a ’air, though there I was all waiting, with another cartridge jammed in, in case ’e did. "Never moved a ’air," he kept repeating softly to himself, evidently vastly contented with his marksmanship, "an’ with that ’ere rifle too," and he kept patting its breech. "Eh! look at that, sir!" he said, pointing down to the harbour, just after the Krupp gun had fired again, and jumped to his feet, waving his rifle over his head and cheering loudly, as did the others, for the shell had landed, fair and square, in the cruiser’s stern, and seemed to have practically wrecked her. Every man on top of the hill roared himself hoarse. However, they sank down behind the sand-bags again, for they had drawn a rapid fire from "Bush Hill" and the field-guns. I watched the great clouds of black smoke rolling up from the cruiser.