intment.

That afternoon at Harmony a map was closely studied by the two men and
the exact spot pointed out where the dynamite lay buried, while Mrs.
van Warmelo packed the detonators one by one in cotton wool in a small
box, which was conveyed to Mr. Hattingh's house, where the spies were
being harboured. In the meantime the entire crown and brim of the
lovely Parisian hat had been unpicked, and that night the dynamite
fuse, wound closely round the body of a spy, went out to the
commandos, with the small box of detonators.

Soon after this Mr. F. returned to Europe as he had come, via Natal
and Delagoa Bay, well satisfied that his mission should have been
accomplished with so much ease.

What became of the sample of dynamite my reader will see in the next
chapter.

CHAPTER XVII

THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH SPIES, INTRODUCING TWO HEROES

Among other things, Mr. Willem Botha warned his friends at Harmony
against having a single incriminating document in the house.

"Detection means death for all concerned," he said one day, "but
without written evidence the worst the enemy can do is to send you out
of the country or to a Concentration Camp. Destroy every paper of a
dangerous nature you may have, as I have done, and then you need never
feel anxious."

This wise counsel was all very well, but Hansie had a mania for
"collecting," and she could not make up her mind to destroy what might
become a valuable relic of the war.

She therefore had her diaries and white envelopes removed to some safe
hiding-place and began a new book for future use.

In this book, in everyday pen and ink, she entered the ordinary events
of the day, but in another she wrote in lemon-juice her adventures
with the spies and all information of an incriminating character. Both
books lay open on her writing-table--the "White Diary," as she called
it, with its clean and spotless pages, with only here and there an
almost invisible mark to show how far she had got, and the misleading
record in pen and ink to throw the English off their guard in the
event of an unexpected search of the house.

The white diary gave a sense of security and satisfaction at the
thought of the secrets it contained for future reference, and it was
only after eight years that portions of the writing became visible to
the naked eye.

A few hours' exposure to the sun's rays, and the application of a hot
iron here and there, made it sufficiently legible to be rewri