As Effie felt shy about appearing in boy's clothes, Mrs. Talbot lent her a blouse and skirt. Great was the admiration expressed when she told how she had undertaken on her own account to fetch assistance, and how she had successfully carried out the attempt. Mr. Talbot, with the party of police, came in at eleven o'clock, by which time a dozen more settlers, who lived at a greater distance than the earlier comers, had also arrived; after a halt for half an hour to give the police a chance of a meal, the whole party started. The horses of the police had a good feed, and each trooper was furnished with another mount from Mr. Talbot's yard. These their officer decided had better be led until they reached the Springs, and they would then be able to start in pursuit on comparatively fresh animals. Effie, of course, rode with them. Although she felt certain that all was well, she was in a fever of excitement to get home. She knew her parents would be very anxious about her. Her absence would have been discovered directly she started, as the outburst of the yells would have caused all to catch up their rifles and run to the windows. If, as Mr. Talbot had thought likely, the natives, on finding that she had got off safely, had made an attack upon the house, the defenders would feel assured that she had got safely away, and in any case the absence of any yells of exultation would be almost proof that she had succeeded. It was just four o'clock when they reached the Springs. No signs of the blacks had been met with, and as the party rode down the slope towards the house, Mr. Roberts, his wife, and the men ran out to receive them.
"You have frightened us horribly, Effie," her father said, after the first greetings, "but we felt sure that you must have got away. We could not tell that you would not be overtaken, though we had every hope that you were safe. Thompson, who was on watch on that side, declared that he heard one of the horses gallop off just before the row began, and before that he had heard what he was sure was your whistle some distance away, but he could not tell that the horse had got safely through, or that he had not been so severely injured as to be unable to carry you far. Thank God that it has all turned out well! You ought not to have made the attempt without consulting us, and you may be very sure that we should not have allowed you to try if you had."
