and.

Harmony had been chosen as a place of refuge, as the safest spot in
all Pretoria, with so many troops around it!

For several nights in succession a fire was kept going in the kitchen
until a late hour, and a plentiful supply of hot water kept in
readiness for the warm baths which the visitors would so sorely need
after their difficult and perilous journey.

Still they did not come, but on the morning of August 4th Mr. Botha
paid an early visit, bringing with him the news that on the previous
night five spies had reached the town in safety.

He did not tell where they were being harboured, it being one of the
laws of the Secret Committee that names were not to be used
needlessly, and that the people working for the Committee were not
even to know about one another.

So rigorously was this law enforced that from beginning to end the van
Warmelos had dealings with Mr. Botha only, and did not see the four
other members of the Committee, nor even hear their names until----

The five spies had not come in as easily as usual. They had
persistently been followed by the searchlights as they neared the
town, but they were able to get through the barbed-wire enclosure in
safety and had then separated and gone to their various homes,
unobserved as they thought.

But one of them, a young man whom we shall call Harry, who was
destined to play such a terrible part in the history of the Boer
Secret Service, was followed home by three detectives, two of whom
stationed themselves at the front door and the third at the back.

Fortunately when Harry became aware of his danger, he rushed out at
the back.

The detective, whose name was Moodie, shouted, "Hands up, or I fire,"
but the young man drew his revolver with lightning-like rapidity and,
firing twice, escaped from town under cover of the darkness.

The reported death of the detective caused a great sensation in the
town next day, and it was not until many months after that we learned
of the fate of the unfortunate man, not death, but mutilation worse
than death--a ghastly wound below the heart and an amputated leg.

This event caused the British to enforce a stricter vigilance, and
many houses were searched for the other spies, but without success.

The excitement in town did not abate for some time, and wherever
Hansie went she was told what had taken place by people who would have
been surprised indeed to hear that she was in possession of all the
details, and e