, falling into their hands through the death of his good
horse through horse-sickness.

His brother Fritz was under General Kemp with Jan and Izak Celliers
(this was the first news Mrs. van Warmelo heard of Mr. Celliers' safe
arrival on commando, after the adventures undergone by him and
described in Chapter IX), and a few others of his most trusted
friends, but what they must have thought of his inexplicable
non-appearance Dietlof did not know, but he feared they would be
undergoing much anxiety on his account.

Near the entrance of the Fort mother and daughter took their leave,
thanking the soldier warmly for his kindness to his charge, whom they
hoped to see again the following morning.

Very different was the meeting then!

The prisoner, a forlorn object, stood between two guards, before the
Provost-Marshal's office, when the cab containing the two women drove
up.

Hansie jumped out and was going up to her brother, when one of the
soldiers said to her:

"You may not speak to the prisoner."

"But I may kiss him!" Hansie retorted, throwing her arms round his
neck and giving him a kiss which could be heard all over the Fort.

There was a general laugh, and Mrs. van Warmelo promptly followed
suit.

Dietlof was called into the Provost-Marshal's office and
cross-questioned, while his mother and sister waited outside
impatiently. What a lengthy examination! Quarter of an hour, half an
hour passed, then he appeared with a soldier, who said curtly:

"You may talk to the prisoner for half an hour _in English_!"

I forget how many minutes of the precious thirty were lost in groping
desperately for some topic of conversation suitable to the occasion,
and safe! but when at last they found their tongues, they talked so
fast that it is doubtful whether the Tommies understood anything.

Hansie longed to ask her brother whether the Provost-Marshal knew
anything of their escapade the night before, but dared not, hoping
that the men concerned were under the impression that this was their
first interview with the prisoner.

He told them some of his war experiences and the fights he had been
in, for the Provost-Marshal had given him permission to speak of his
personal experiences of the war.

One incident Hansie remembered particularly, because of a curious
coincidence connected with it.

In describing the battle of Moselikatsnek, under General de la Rey,
in which he and Fritz had taken an active part, he told his mo