The Intelligence officer rode out on his lonely mission. Luckily he had changed his horse after the affair at Liebenbergspan, and being well mounted, he felt fairly confident. He first steered north-west, hoping to strike off the _spoor_ of Goven's column. But when after four miles he failed to find it, he opined that he was making a detour which, if persevered in, would not bring him to his destination by nightfall. He therefore changed his direction to due north, and put spurs to his horse. He was working along the inner edge of a great veldt-basin, and getting a little uncomfortable as to his direction; and alarmed that he saw no traces of the column, he dismounted in a kloof, and climbed to the top of the edge of the basin. Beneath him lay a track, standing out white against the veldt. There was just a short breadth of veldt, and then the country became very broken and hilly. Within two hundred yards of the spot which he had chosen for his reconnaissance stood a small farmhouse. But it was not the farmhouse that attracted his attention; it was a pillar of dust which showed to the north along the track. He took out his glasses. There was no doubt about it,--it was a body of mounted men and some transport going away from him. They were not more than a mile away; and if it had not been for the dust, he could almost have counted the force. "It is De Wet," he inwardly reflected; "he is going right into Goven's arms; and for Boers to make all that dust, they must be travelling fast." He turned his glasses down to the south; there he could find no sign of living thing upon the track. He was just debating in his mind what would be the right course to pursue, when he heard a voice behind him, "Beg pardon, sir, but them is Boers; they have just all gone past here!" He turned round to find a British dragoon standing stiffly to attention behind him. _Intelligence Officer._ "Who are you? and where the devil have you come from?" _Trooper._ "Please, sir, we belongs to a patrol that was sent out by Captain Charles, and we got lost." _I. O._ "Where are the others? where are your horses?" _T._ "I have got the three horses down in the nullah there. The corporal and the other man are down in that farm, sir; at least that is where they went before the Boers came." _I. O._ "In that farm? Why, the Boers will have got them; they must have passed quite close to the farm!" _T._ "They did that, sir; but I never seed them get them. I expect that they was under the beds when the Boers passed." _I. O._ "Did you see all the Boers pass?" _T._ "Yes, sir; there was about a thousand, two waggons, and a lot of carts. Some was riding horses, and others riding in the carts." _I. O._ "Were they going fast?" _T._ "Yes, sir; just as fast as they could, shouting and swearing and calling to each other. They seemed dreadful pressed for time!" _I. O._ "We had better see if those other fellows of yours are still in the farm. Have you got your rifle loaded?"