The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aletta, by Bertram Mitford

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Aletta
A Tale of the Boer Invasion

Author: Bertram Mitford

Release Date: May 28, 2010 [EBook #32565]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALETTA ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Aletta, by Bertram Mitford.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
ALETTA, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.

CHAPTER ONE.

BOOK I--THE TRANSVAAL EMISSARY.

The delegate from Pretoria was in full blast.

The long room was packed full--full of male Boers of all ages: that is
to say, from those in earliest manhood to the white-bearded
great-grandfathers of the community--Boers of every type, Boers hairy,
Boers shaven, moleskin-clad and collarless Boers, and Boers got up with
near approach to European neatness; Boers small, dark, and wiry, still,
after generations, preserving the outward characteristics of their
Huguenot and French ancestry; Boers tall, large-limbed, fair, of Saxon
aspect and descent.

What sitting accommodation the room held was absorbed by the older of
those present, for the patriarchal tradition is very strong among that
old-world and conservative race. The residue stood in a closely packed
mass, literally hanging on the words of the orator.

The latter was a tall, elderly man, all fire and energy both as to
speech and words. His face, strong and bronzed and lined, was of the
Roman type, and the brown of his short beard was just beginning to show
threads of grey. Standing there in his suit of black broadcloth, his
sinewy figure seemed hardly in keeping with such attire. It seemed to
demand the easier and more picturesque hunting costume of the veldt.
Andries Erasmus Botma was his name, and he ranked among his
fellow-countrymen as a "Patriot," second to none as deserving their
closest attention and deepest veneration.

On the table before him stood two lighted candles, throwing out the
lines of his strong, rugged countenance, and between them a ponderous
Dutch Bible, upon the closed cover of which one