"Why, man, it's against human
nature. You've got all their wool: now do you think they want you to
have their skin too?"

Whereupon the weasel-faced individual uttered a howl of wrath, and
pretended to make a rush at the author of these random gibes, waiting
halfway for somebody to stop him and prevent a breach of the peace.

"Oh, Miss Croft!" cried out a woman in the crowd, who, like Jess, had
been trapped in Pretoria while on a flying visit, "if you can, do send a
line to my husband at Maritzburg, to tell him that I am well, except for
the rheumatism from sleeping on the wet ground; and tell him to kiss the
twins for me."

"I say, Niel, tell those Boers that we will give them a d--d good hiding
yet, when Colley relieves us," sang out a jolly young Englishman in
the uniform of the Pretoria Carbineers. He little knew that poor
Colley--kind-hearted English gentleman that he was--lay sleeping
peacefully under six feet of ground with a Boer bullet in his brain.

"Now, Captain Niel, if you are ready, we must trek," said one of the
Boers in Dutch, suiting the action to the word by giving the near
wheeler a sharp cut with his riding _sjambock_ that made him jump nearly
out of the traces.

Away started the horses with a plunge, scattering the crowd to the right
and left, and, amid a volley of farewells, they were off upon their
homeward journey.

For more than an hour nothing particular happened. John drove at a fair
pace, and the two Boers cantered along behind. At the end of this time,
however, just as they were approaching the Red House, where Frank Muller
had obtained the pass from the General on the previous day, one of the
Boers rode up and told them, roughly enough, that they were to outspan
at the house, where they would find some food. As it was past one
o'clock, they were by no means sorry to hear this, and John drew up the
cart about fifty yards from the place, where they outspanned the horses,
and, having watched them roll and drink, they went up to the house.

The two Boers, who had also off-saddled, were already sitting on the
verandah, and when Jess looked inquiringly towards them one of them
pointed with his pipe towards the little room. Taking the hint, they
entered, and found a Hottentot woman just setting some food upon the
table.

"Here is dinner; let us eat it," said John; "goodness knows when we will
get any more;" and accordingly he sat down.

As he did so the two Boers came in, and one of th