"They are nearer, Ned--a good deal nearer; but they have not gained half
their distance yet."

"The sun set fully ten minutes ago," Ned said; "in another half-hour it
will be dark. Their horses must be done up, or they would gain faster on
us, as ours have to carry double, and are getting terribly blown; but
there is a wood, which looks a large one, a couple of miles ahead. If we
can get there five minutes before them, we are safe."

By dint of flogging their horses they entered the wood while their
pursuers were half a mile behind.

"Another hundred yards," Ned said, "and then halt. Now, off we get."

In an instant they leaped off, and gave a couple of sharp blows with their
sticks to the horses, who dashed off at a gallop down the road.

It was already perfectly dark in the wood, and the fugitives hurried into
the thickest part. In five minutes they heard the cavalry come thundering
past.

"We must push on," Ned said; "fortunately, we have done no walking, for we
must be far away by to-morrow morning. They will come up with the horses
before very long, and will know we are in the wood, and they will search
it through and through in the morning."

A quarter of a mile, and the wood grew thicker, being filled with an
undergrowth of jungle.

"If you will stop here, Ned, I will push on through this jungle, and see