topographical reminiscence. And when I came to my hotel and had settled
down, I began to see why I knew it. The whole atmosphere of the city
reeked of the very beginnings of finance. It was the haunt of the
concession-monger; of the lobbyist; of the men who wanted something.
These I had seen before in some American State capitals; the anxious
face of the concession-hunter had a family likeness to the man of
Lombard Street: the obsession of the gold-seeker was visible on every
other face I looked at.

In the hotels they sat in rows: some were silent, some talked anxiously,
some were in spirits and spoke with cheerfulness. It pleased my solitary
fancy to label them. These had got their concessions, they were going
away; these still hoped strongly, and were going to-morrow and
to-morrow; these still held on, and were going later; these again had
ceased to hope, but still stayed as a sickened miner will hang round a
played-out claim. They were all gamblers, and his Honour the President
was the Professional Gambler who kept the House, who dealt the cards,
and too often (as they thought) "raked in the pot," or took his heavy
commission. And I had nothing to ask for; all I wanted was to see the
tables if I could, and have a talk with him who kept them.

The President is an accessible man. He does not hide behind his dignity:
he affects a patriarchal simplicity, and is ever ready to receive his
own people or the stranger within his gates. His unaffected affectation
is to be a simpleton of character: he tells all alike that he is a
simple old man, and expects everyone to chuckle at the transparent
absurdity of the notion. Was it possible, then, for me to see him and
have a talk with him? I was told to apply to a well-known Pretorian
journalist. As I was also a journalist of sorts, and not wholly unknown,
it was highly probable he would assist me in my desire not to leave
Pretoria without seeing the Father of his people. But my informant
added: "The President will say nothing--he can say nothing in very few
words. If you want him to talk, say 'Rhodes.'" I thanked my new hotel
acquaintance and and said I would say "Rhodes" if it seemed necessary.
And next afternoon I walked down Church Street with the journalist W----
and came to the President's house. We had an appointment, and after
waiting half-an-hour in the _stoep_ with four or five typical and silent
Boers, Mr Kruger came out in company with a notorious Pretorian
financie