you are going to marry her
sister. Well, I wish you joy. A man wants a wife in this country. It
isn't like England, where in five cases out of six he might as well go
and cut his throat as get married. It saves him money here, and children
are a blessing, as Nature meant them to be, and not a burden, as
civilisation has made them. Lord, how my tongue does run on! It isn't
delicate to talk about children when you have only been engaged a couple
of weeks; but, you see, that's what it comes to after all. She's a
pretty girl, Bessie, and a good one too--I don't know her much--though
she hasn't got the brains of Jess here. That reminds me; as you are
engaged to Bessie, of course you can look after Jess, and nobody will
think anything of it. Ah! if you only knew what a place this is for
talk, though their talk is pretty well scared out of them now, I'm
thinking. My husband is coming round presently to the cart to help to
get Jess's bed into it. Lucky it's big. We are such a tight fit in that
waggon that I shall be downright glad to see the last of the dear girl;
though, of course, you'll both come and take your meals with us."

Jess heard all this in silence. She could not well insist upon stopping
in the crowded waggon; it would be asking too much; and, besides, she
had passed one night there, and that was quite enough for her. Once she
suggested that she should try to persuade the nuns to take her in at the
convent, but Mrs. Neville suppressed the notion instantly.

"Nuns!" she said; "nonsense. When your own brother-in-law--at least he
will be your brother-in-law if the Boers don't make an end of us all--is
here to take care of you, don't talk about going to a parcel of nuns. It
will be as much as they can do to look after themselves, I'll be bound."

As for John, he ate his steak and said nothing. The arrangement seemed a
very proper one to him.

CHAPTER XVII

THE TWELFTH OF FEBRUARY

John soon settled down into the routine of camp life in Pretoria, which,
after one became accustomed to it, was not so disagreeable as might
have been expected, and possessed, at any rate, the merit of novelty.
Although he was an officer of the army, having several horses to ride
and his services not being otherwise required, John preferred, on the
whole, to enrol himself in the corps of mounted volunteers, known as
the Pretoria Carbineers. This, in the humble capacity of a sergeant, he
obtained leave to do from the officer command