ash into the tall reeds. Meredith now picked up Hans, who, released
from the strain of apprehension, burst into tears upon his shoulder, and
carried him up to the camp. Vrouw Steyn first took the lad from his
arms, pressed him to her breast, kissed him, and then, putting her arms
round the captain's neck, gave him two or three hearty kisses. That was
the bravest thing, she said, she had ever heard of, much more seen, and
she and her family would never forget it as long as they lived. Then
the stout old _vrouw_ resigned herself to a quiet flood of tears and
went about her work. Jacoba came next. The tears were already
streaming down her cheeks. Hans was her favourite brother, and very
dear to her. She came softly to Meredith, took his hand, modestly
kissed him on the right cheek, and thanked him again and again. Jan
Steyn and his three big sons, ranging from fifteen to two-and-twenty,
one after another followed, thrust their big hands into the captain's,
and in their gruff Boer manner did their best to convey their hearty if,
somewhat uncouth, thanks.

After that episode the friendship between Boers and Englishman grew
apace. The men hunted together as they moved slowly up the river, and
brought in many a head of game. Once or twice they came up with
elephants on the south bank of the river and secured some good teeth,
and the _Kaptein_, or Hendrik, as they all now familiarly called him
(his name was Henry), proved that, besides being a brave man, he was a
first-rate hunter and shot--as good a man, the Steyn lads said, as their
own father, which was their highest form of praise.

It was amusing to notice the domestic reforms that the Englishman and
his ways introduced into the Boer family. Instead of for ever stewing
lumps of game flesh in the big pot, or cooking dry _karbonadjes_ over
the embers, the captain persuaded the _vrouw_ to follow his own example,
and roast wild-duck or a joint of springbok in a Kaffir pot, with hot
embers below and on the lid. Sometimes he persuaded her to cook
springbok chops and "fry" in an open frying-pan, as had he taught his
own native cook. He presented her with one of his two frying-pans for
this purpose. He even inducted the good-wife and Jacoba into the
mysteries of curry, and gave them a supply of powder which lasted them
for a year or two later. In proof that these innovations were
acceptable, you may find them to this day, thanks to Jacoba's and Hans's
remembrance