nd hill which overlooked the farm, while he himself went forward,
covered by the rifle of the Intelligence officer from their present
position. To the first part of the scheme the Intelligence officer
agreed, but he reversed the order of the latter arrangement. Having
seen the troopers well on their way, he left the Tiger to cover the
advance, and rode leisurely himself towards the farm. It was a very
ordinary farm--not flush with the ground, but standing on a plinth of
brick like an Indian bungalow. A great solemn quietness reigned over
the whole kloof, not a living soul was visible, and the footfalls of
the horse sounded strangely exaggerated as the solitary rider
approached the verandah. Presently a dog stirred, trotted out into the
sunlight, and barked furiously. It disturbed the inmates of the house;
a girl hurriedly opened the upper swing-back of the door, looked out,
and then closed the door with a bang. This was suspicious, and the
Intelligence officer let his hand drop to the wooden case of the
Mauser pistol strapped to his holster; his thumb pressed the catch,
and he threw the pistol loose, keeping his hand upon its stock. Then
to his shout of "_Wie dar!_" the upper portion of the door was again
gingerly opened. The same face appeared, that of a round blue-eyed
Dutch girl. She turned her impassive gaze upon the visitor, who, by
way of opening the conversation, taxed his limited knowledge of the
vernacular so far as to ask for a little milk.

"Milk!" the girl answered in passable English. "Yes; I will get you
milk. Just wait!"

She seemed a long time finding the milk, and the Intelligence officer
began to feel the situation oppressive. He would have liked to have
turned his head to see if there were any sign of his troopers being in
position on the hill above him. But he had that indescribable feeling
which often inspires a man with the belief that his every movement is
being watched by unseen eyes. Those of you who have been
tiger-shooting on foot will readily appreciate the nature of this
sense. Yet, though he peered through the open door, his eyes could
discern no movement or his ears any incriminating sound. Presently the
girl returned with a glass of milk upon a tray. She opened the lower
half of the door, and came demurely to the edge of the verandah. The
Intelligence officer put out his hand to receive the glass, when in a
moment the girl lowered her elbow and soused the contents of the glass
full into