All preparations being made, John told the men to sleep. He would keep watch until the moment for departure came. He walked round the enclosure to make sure that no ammunition or anything else of value had been left, inspected the spot where the boma had been cut to allow the egress of the party, and then sat down on the tent, which it had been decided to leave behind. Shortly before six o’clock he woke Ferrier, and Coja woke the men, who shouldered their loads, and the whole party moved silently across the enclosure. Some of the men removed the piece of the boma which had been previously loosened, and John led the way out. There was a slight mist over the ground, which favoured the escape. They had covered about two hundred yards in safety when there was a loud shout from both the camps of the enemy, proving that a determined watch had been kept, and that their departure had been discovered. A few shots were fired, and John caught sight of two or three black figures darting among the trees of the wooded tongue towards which he intended to march; but the absence of a general rush seemed to show that his anticipation was being justified, and that the enemy were swarming from their camps to the two sides of the gap. John threw himself down on a knoll and sent two or three shots into the woodland to check any movement of the enemy to station themselves there, which would be fatal to his plan. The result of his firing was that the men who had been scouting there rushed away to join their comrades in the bush skirting the gap. Now that the party was fairly out, John asked Ferrier to take the lead, while he brought up the rear with Coja. Ferrier at first demurred to this arrangement, protesting that the greatest danger would lie in the rear, and he didn’t see why he should not share in it. "You shut up," said John, with friendly brusqueness. "We haven’t time to argue. We can settle that afterwards. Don’t go above a walking pace: if they think we are bunking they will make a rush for us, and we must avoid that at all costs. On you go: wheel to the right when you come opposite the end of the wood."