o Dr. Wolff as soon as he
could be found, but he declared himself unable to throw any light
whatever upon it. It was however clear from the message that on
Saturday afternoon it had been Dr. Jameson's intention to disregard
the wishes of the Committee, and to start on Sunday night, and the
telegram impressed the recipients more than ever with the wisdom of
their action in sending the messengers to Capetown and to Pitsani to
insist upon no further steps being taken. It is of little consequence
what the words 'distant cutting' really meant, or whether they were,
or should have been, understood by any of the parties. Major Heany
and Captain Holden, it was known, could not have reached Dr. Jameson
at the time the message was despatched, and therefore no more
importance was attached to this than to the other impatient
telegrams.

It was assumed that, on receiving the emphatic messages sent through
Major Heany and Captain Holden, Dr. Jameson would realize the
seriousness of the position, and would, in fact, abide by the
arrangements made with him. Nor was this all. It was also clear that
the telegram of Mr. Rhodes to which it was inferred reference was
made in the concluding words of Messrs. Hamilton's and Leonard's
wire--'Jameson has been advised accordingly'--could not have reached
Dr. Jameson at the time his telegram to his brother was despatched.
It was part of the instructions to Messrs. Hamilton and Leonard that
any communications which they might desire to make to Dr. Jameson
should pass through Mr. Cecil Rhodes in order to ensure due regard
being paid to them. There was therefore no doubt in the minds of the
Johannesburg men that during Saturday afternoon--that is to say, more
than twenty-four hours before he proposed moving--he must have
received a wire forbidding him to move.

The facts here given were sufficient to warrant the belief that all
that was necessary had been done to prevent any movement. But more
reassuring than all precautions was the conviction that Dr. Jameson,
no matter how much he might 'bluff' in order to force immediate
action, would never be guilty of so gross a breach of faith as to
start in defiance of the wishes of the Johannesburg people. Extreme
dissatisfaction of course prevailed in the minds of a good many when
they learned of the efforts made by him to force their hands, and
this feeling was intensified by the report brought in by Dr. Wolff,
who had just returned from seeing Dr. James