The prickly pear bushes
hung flattened over the rocks. By the fitful gleam of the
lightning Burke saw these things. The storm was passing, though
the rain still beat down mercilessly. It would probably rain for
many hours; but a faint vague light far down on the unseen horizon
told of a rising moon. It would not be completely dark again.
They splashed their way past the _kopje_, and immediately a loud
roaring filled his ears. As he had guessed the dry watercourse had
become a foaming torrent. Again a sharp anxiety assailed him. He
spoke to Diamond, and they turned off the track.
The animal was nervous. He started and quivered at the
unaccustomed sound. But in a moment or two he responded to Burke's
insistence, and went down the sloping ground that led to the
seething water.
Burke guided him with an unerring hand, holding him up firmly, for
the way was difficult and uneven. A vivid flash of lightning gave
him his direction, and by it he saw a marvellous picture. The
spruit had become a wide, dashing river. The swirl and rush of the
current sounded like a sea at high tide. The flood spread like an
estuary over the _veldt_ on the farther side, and he saw that the
bank nearest to him was brimming.
The picture was gone in a moment, but it was registered indelibly
upon his brain. And the hut--Guy's hut--was scarcely more than
twenty yards from that swirling river which was rising with every
second.
Pages:
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443