"Not till the moon gets up a bit, baas," answered the Bushman. "We can then find our way better, and the baviaans will all be fast asleep." They waited a couple of hours, till ten o’clock. The moon rose slowly behind the hills and shed a glorious light, tipping the wild kopjes with pale silver, and casting blue-black shadows from bush and tree and ant-hill. Mr. Blakeney had delved among the wagon stores and brought out some blue lights, with which, as well as with a couple of lanterns, they were provided for the assault. Three-quarters of an hour’s walk brought them near to the scene of operations. Sheltering behind some bush, they now lit the two lanterns, and moved forward for the final act. It was a stirring moment. Not a sound was heard through the vast solitude of these lonely hills, save for the ceaseless droning of a cicada in a bush hard by. The very night birds were asleep or absent. The clear moon gazed down upon the little group of serious men with placid serenity. Very silently they moved forward, Poeskop and Mr. Blakeney leading. Turning an angle of bush, Poeskop nudged his master. Mr. Blakeney swiftly lighted a blue light at his open lantern, and the pair dashed forward. They stooped and entered a dark cavern, the boys close at their heels, and then a weird scene, indeed, met their gaze. They stood in a large cave some thirty yards square. The roof was fairly lofty, once they had passed the portal, and the wonderful illumination of the blue light, now held upwards by Mr. Blakeney, lit up every nook and cranny of the place. In the corner, huddled together as if for mutual encouragement and protection, was a troop of some score of baboons, big and little. All the creatures were alarmed and angry. The older and bigger beasts showed their teeth threateningly, and _quah-quahed_ fiercely at the intruders. In the centre of the group the eyes of the onlookers were instantly fixed, on a figure which, as all could clearly see, differed somewhat from the rest of the apes. It had a black face, but it was human, and, undoubtedly, the baboon boy. "Now, lads," said Mr. Blakeney, "you guard the entrance. Let all escape that will, but whatever happens seize the boy yonder. Shoot any of the brutes that go for you. I’ll stir them up."