"I will leave you here, Mr. Harberton. I shall not want you to-day, and you may as well get acquainted with the officers of your regiment. Lucas may rejoin again soon, and then you may join them. At any rate, when you ride over here with a message it would be more pleasant for you to be acquainted with them. "I shall feel obliged, colonel, if you will send one of your men to head-quarters to hand over the horse Mr. Harberton is riding to the trooper he will find waiting there. His own horse is at Rimington's camp; it is only a quarter of a mile away. No doubt he will be going over there presently, as he has been attached to them for some little time. "You will come in this evening, Mr. Harberton, and take up your quarters with my staff. I believe there is still an empty room; if not, they will find one for you close by." "We are just going to sit down to breakfast, Mr. Harberton," the colonel said. "It will be a good opportunity for introducing you to the officers, and we shall all be glad to hear how you got into Kimberley, and what you found there." Five minutes later Yorke was sitting down to breakfast at a long table formed of packing cases and a rough board. He had been introduced to the officers, and at the colonel's request had taken his seat next to him. After the meal was over he gave an account of his adventures in entering and leaving Kimberley. "Well managed indeed!" the colonel said. "That Kaffir of yours must be a capital fellow." "He is, sir, and I should be very sorry to part with him; I have a Dutch trooper with me as my servant, but I can take him in to look after my horse." "I will take him, if you don't want him, and he will come," one of the captains said. "I have a boy I took on at Orange River, but he is of no use at all. Of course you can have him again if you join us." "Thank you; but I would not part with him on any account, after what he has done for me; I shall certainly keep him with me as long as I remain out here, and shall see that he is completely settled before I go home. Besides, I should need him again if I ever am sent on another expedition." After breakfast the Lancers went out to make a reconnaissance towards Magersfontein, and Yorke walked over to Rimington's camp. Hans ran out to meet him. "So you have returned, Master Yorke! I have not slept for the last two nights, I have been so anxious about you." "Yes, I got through all right, Hans. I was held prisoner for twenty-four hours, but Long Peter got me out. I will tell you all about it later." "You are going to stay here now, I hope?" "No. General Pole-Carew has put me on his staff. You are to come with me as an orderly." "I am glad," Hans said. "I don't care what I do so long as I am with you." "You have been getting on all right, I trust, while I was away. I hope the Kaffirs have behaved well?" "Yes; they have been out twice in the direction of Jacobsdal, but they could not get near the place. The Boer outposts are a long way out."