About two o’clock
John looked grave , and his suspicions re-arose , but at that moment one of the men in question rode up and told him that he must start at once , and so off they went . This second day 's journey was in many respects a counterpart of the first . The road was utterly deserted , and they saw neither Boer , Englishman , nor Kafir upon it ; nothing , indeed , except a few herds of game grazing on the ridges . About two o'clock , however , just as they had started after a short outspan , a little incident occurred . Suddenly the Vilderbeeste 's horse put his foot into an ant-bear hole and fell heavily , throwing his rider on to his head . He was up in a minute , but his forehead had struck against the jawbone of a dead buck , and the blood was pouring from it down his hairy face . His companion laughed brutally at the accident , for there are some natures in the world to which the sight of pain is irresistibly comical , but the injured man cursed aloud , trying to staunch the flow with the lappet of his coat .