At eight o'clock the 94th marched from Leydenberg, and Mr Harvey's waggons fell in the rear of the column. As they had a considerable amount of baggage and stores, the column would not proceed at a faster rate than the ordinary pace of the bullock-train. When the column was once on the march, the colonel rode down the line and entered into conversation with Mr Harvey and the lads, who were riding with him, and after having heard the narrative of the fight with the Boers, he said to the lads, "You have had a baptism of fire early." Mr Harvey smiled. "They have had some very much more serious fighting in the country north of the Limpopo; besides, they were both present at Isandula, Kambula, and Ulundi." "Indeed!" the colonel said; "then they have seen fighting. Perhaps you will ride on with me to the head of the column again; we have a long day's march before us, and if your young friends will give us some of their experiences it will while away the time." The four cantered together to the head of the column, where the doctor and one or two other officers were riding. After a word or two of introduction the colonel asked the lads to tell them how they came to be at Isandula, and how they escaped to tell the tale. "You had better tell it, Dick," Tom said; "you are a better hand at talking than I." Dick accordingly proceeded to relate their adventures during the Zulu war, and the story excited great interest among the officers. When the column halted for the day, the colonel invited Mr Harvey and the lads to dine at the mess, and would not listen to any excuse on the ground that their clothes were better suited for travelling among the native tribes than for dining at a regimental mess. The dinner was a very pleasant one, and after the cloth had been removed and cigars were lit, Mr Harvey, at the colonel's request, related their adventures north of the Limpopo. "Your life is indeed an adventurous one," he said, when the trader had finished. "It needs endurance, pluck, coolness, and a steady finger on the trigger. You may truly be said, indeed, to carry your lives in your hands." "Our present journey has been an exceptionally adventurous one," Mr Harvey said, "and you must not suppose that we are often in the habit of fighting our way. I have indeed on several occasions been in very perilous positions, and some other evening, before we separate, I shall be glad, if it will interest you, to relate one or two of them."