FOR a mile or so I kept the bush, which was open
and easy to ride through, and then turned into the
path. The moon was high, and the world was all a
dim dark green, with the track a golden ivory band
before me. I had looked at my watch before I
started, and seen that it was just after eight o'clock.
I had a great horse under me, and less than fifty
miles to cover. Midnight should see me at the cave.
With the password I would gain admittance, and
there would wait for Laputa and Henriques. Then,
if my luck held, I should see the inner workings of
the mystery which had puzzled me ever since the
Kirkcaple shore. No doubt I should be roughly
treated, tied up prisoner, and carried with the army
when the march began. But till Inanda's Kraal my
life was safe, and before that came the ford of the
Letaba. Colin would carry my message to Arcoll,
and at the Drift the tables would be turned on
Laputa's men.

Looking back in cold blood, it seems the craziest
chain of accidents to count on for preservation. A
dozen possibilities might have shattered any link of
it. The password might be wrong, or I might never
get the length of those who knew it. The men in the
cave might butcher me out of hand, or Laputa might
think my behaviour a sufficient warrant for the
breach of the solemnest vow. Colin might never get
to Blaauwildebeestefontein, Laputa might change his
route of march, or Arcoll's men might fail to hold the

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