were stowed
away in Mr. David Malan's waggon-house, closely packed in one small
waggon, and there they still lay when the van Warmelos heard of their
arrival.

From the bosom of her dress Miss Malan produced the dispatches and a
number of private letters.

The dispatch to the President Hansie offered to send by the first
opportunity, without telling her friends that it would go by the very
next mail per White Envelope. This was a secret she naturally could
not divulge to her most trusted fellow-workers, although she could
guarantee that the work would be carried out, and they had enough
confidence in her to leave the matter in her hands.

The letter from the Captain to the Committee was left at Harmony to be
read and destroyed. Needless to say, Hansie, with her mania for
collecting war-curios, made a full copy of both letter and dispatch in
lemon-juice before regretfully consigning them to the flames. It was
hard to destroy original documents for which such risks had been run!

What was most disconcerting was to hear that the authorities,
evidently aware that the men had come through in spite of having been
fired upon, were searching for them in town. It was imperative that
they should leave that day, or at least as soon as night fell, for the
risk they ran was very great.

Hansie promised to think of some way of helping them to escape safely,
and said she would see them in the afternoon.

The feeling of responsibility on her young shoulders was very great.
There was no one to turn to, no man to whom this dangerous mission
could be entrusted, except one, her young friend, F.

She thought of him and wondered whether she could confide to him a
scheme which had been slowly forming in her mind.

That afternoon she was on the point of leaving for Mrs. Malan's house,
with a packet of letters and newspapers, when two lady callers arrived
at Harmony brimming with the news that the town was in a great state
of excitement. Armed soldiers were patrolling the streets, men were
stopped to show their residential passes, and every cab and carriage
was held up for inspection.

The general opinion was that there were spies in town, for the lower
part of the town and west of Market Street were cut off by a patrol,
while a systematic search of the private houses was being carried on.

Hansie chafed at the delay, listening with impatience to their excited
talk, and wondering what they would say if they knew that she was on
th