nce was assured was to rise with the lark, and ride round his
lands counting his herds of cattle. That done he was at leisure all the
rest of the day. His life was simplicity itself; the gaieties and
amusements of cities, and social intercourse with other men, never upset
the serenity of his existence. His soul longed to be free of them all.
He was at last, and determined to be to his dying day, king of the
stretches of plain he owned. No one should oust him from them, and for
his happiness it only sufficed that he should live alone with his own
family, sit the livelong day upon the stoep (step) of his farmhouse,
drinking coffee and smoking incessantly, while he gazed listlessly
across the waving grass and veldt, and busied himself with thoughts the
nature and depth of which could not be great.

"Dressed in rough cloth coat and trousers, and with a dilapidated slouch
hat upon his head, he never troubled to discard his clothing. His beard
and hair were seldom trimmed, and his toilet was a matter of which he
never thought.

"But all the while, though nothing seemed to stir him from his lazy
life, the mere suspicion that his dearly-cherished independence was in
danger brought him to tear himself away from his peaceful farm, and,
rifle in hand, to place himself shoulder to shoulder with his brother
Boer to fight for the Republic.

"For twenty years the Boers maintained a constant succession of disputes
as regards the frontiers of the Transvaal. Now it was with the Orange
Free State, and at another time with the English. But at last they
picked a quarrel with Sekukuni, whose country lies to the northeast of
us, and this led to open warfare.

"Now, all along I have given our neighbours credit for staunch and
dogged pluck, though I am bound to confess that their constant
association with the natives has taught them dishonest and treacherous
habits. But to be really brave our friends must lie behind the rocks.
It is against their nature to fight when exposed in the open. True
guerilla warfare is their motto; to shoot down the enemy unawares, and
without showing so much as a finger.

"For defence these tactics are excellent, but for attack quite useless.
Sekukuni and his followers proved too much for the Boers. Hidden in
caves from which nothing but a frontal attack and absolute disregard of
danger could dislodge them, they laughed at our neighbours, who were far
too careful of their own safety to make a rush.