"Yes, they’ve both gone, or it wouldn’t be necessary to ask for a man. It’s lucky Mr. Halliday is on the spot, so we shan’t have to hire anybody." "Gone shooting, I suppose," said Joe. "Or after strayed sheep," said Oliver. "They’re always a trouble." "But I don’t understand," said Hilda. "You say they have gone: why didn’t John get somebody before he went?" "That shows it’s sheep," replied Oliver quickly. "He’d have to start at once or he wouldn’t stand much chance of getting ’em all. That’s it, isn’t it, Mr. Gillespie?" "Well, no, not exactly." "In fact," said Mr. Halliday quietly, "the farm has been robbed, and as there are no policemen in the neighbourhood, John has had to go after the robbers himself." "Gone shooting: I said so," remarked Joe. "Don’t be absurd, Joe," said Helen. "I’m going to take Halliday down to the club, if you’ll excuse us," said Mr. Gillespie. "He’ll start for the farm to-morrow----" "So soon!" interrupted Joe quickly. "I thought we should all go together at the end of the week." "I must go to-morrow," said Mr. Halliday, "and as I shall be off before you’re up in the morning I’ll say good-bye now. I’ll be back in a few days, and then you can all come and view our estate. It’s just as well that I am going first, for we shall have to get some rooms ready for you, you know." He shook hands all round, and left with Mr. Gillespie, who had been speaking in an undertone to his wife. Joe Browne followed them from the room. "I say, Cousin David," he said, "what’s up?" Hesitating a moment, Mr. Halliday put John’s note into his hand. Joe whistled softly. "I’m coming," he said. "So will Poll. What time do you start?" "My dear boy, your mother----" "Mother’s an old trump. I shall tell her the exact state of the case quietly, of course; I won’t scare the girls; and she won’t turn a hair. We’ll ride, I suppose? You can get us mounts, Mr. Gillespie?" "Yes. We’ll start at sunrise. You’ve got khaki and sun helmets?" "Of course. We’ll be ready, sir, Poll and I." At six o’clock next morning a party of ten rode out of Nairobi. It consisted of the four men we know, with five friends of Mr. Gillespie and a Somali guide. Six were mounted on horses, the rest on mules. Two members of Mr. Gillespie’s household watched them leave. One was his wife, who bid them Godspeed at the door; the other was Hilda Ferrier, who had passed a sleepless night, and looked forth from the window of her room with tired and anxious eyes. CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH--An Attack in Force It was within an hour of sunset when John and Ferrier reached the fort. They looked first of all to see whether it was possible to raise the stones which had been cast into the pool, for the purpose of repairing the wall, and found, as John had suspected, that they were too deep below the surface.