fed his hat,
something in Jacoba's heart told her that she had never seen so
completely good-looking a man. She stared hard with all her eyes as the
Englishman advanced towards her. As he drew near and held out his hand,
and said, in a clear, pleasant voice, "_Dag, juffrow_," Jacoba's eyes
fell beneath the steady gaze of his, and she whispered bashfully, as she
put her palm into his, "_Dag, meneer_."

That, as well as I can describe it, is the picture that even now, thirty
years after, is constantly before the mind's eye of Jacoba Steyn.

Captain Meredith had soon introduced himself to the Steyn family. He
was heartily received; for the Transvaal Boers, even in those days, had
no grudge against individual Englishmen. Their dislike was for the
British Government and British officialism, which, from their point of
view, had driven them to trek from the old colony. While the oxen and
horses were being watered at the river, a bottle of the captain's brandy
was produced, and Dutch and Englishman pledged one another in _soupjis_
of right "French."

Meanwhile, the Steyns proceeded to unburden their wagons and prepare for
the night. The sailcloth was spread between the two wagons; Jacoba's
fowls and chickens, and her cat Tina and the kittens were set loose.
The captain invited them all to his wagon to supper. He had the flesh
of a fat cow eland all ready, and it would save much trouble to the
tired trekkers if they took their evening meal with him. In an hour's
time they all sat down together, a jovial party, to sup by the light of
two blazing camp-fires. The _Kaptein_, as the Steyns already called
Meredith, was an English officer spending his leave on a hunting trip.
It was his second expedition; he had been to the Lake two years before;
and he spoke Cape Dutch. That was well for all parties; they could
converse freely; and as all were interested in the life of the hunting
veldt, there was plenty to talk about Meredith, too, had fought in the
Crimean war four years before; and although these homely Boer folk had
the vaguest ideas as to Russia and its whereabouts, they were interested
in hearing of fighting, especially of warfare and siege amid the deep
snows of the frozen North. And so, after pipes and coffee, the
gathering separated, and Jacoba went to her _kartel_ bed and dreamt of
the alert, brisk _Engelschmann_ and his handsome face and grey eyes.

It was settled next day that the two parties should trek up t