to call at the hotel to inquire whether she
could be of any assistance to them in their trouble, and Hansie donned
her prettiest frock that very afternoon on her "calling" expedition,
Carlo walking with unusual sedateness by her side.

"We'll go and see General Maxwell too this afternoon, Carlo," she
said, "and see whether we can get that permit. Always put on your best
clothes when you go to the Military Governor, my boy. You'll find that
Tommy Atkins never keeps you waiting then."

Arrived at the hotel, she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten
her young relative's name, and did not know whom to ask for.

She was waited upon by a hall-porter, who watched her with a face of
stolid patience while she searched her memory for the forgotten name.

At last she said: "The lady I want was a Miss Mare, but she has
married an Englishman since last I saw her, and I have forgotten his
name. Can you tell me whether there is a young couple with a baby,
from Zoutpansberg, staying at the hotel?"

"I'll find out, miss."

He came back with the information that there were four young couples
from Zoutpansberg, each with a baby.

Hansie wondered that he did not smile.

"Are they all in?" she asked.

"Some are in and some are out," he said.

Suddenly he seemed to wake up.

"Would it be any help if I told you their names?" he inquired.

"Yes, indeed," she exclaimed; "I would know the name at once if I
heard it."

He brought her the book in which the names of visitors were entered,
and read one name after the other slowly.

"That's it," Hansie said. "Knevitt! Is Mrs. Knevitt in?"

"No, miss, she is out, and I happen to know that she is leaving again
soon. They only arrived yesterday. They were put over the border by
the Boers."

"I don't understand," Hansie answered.

"Don't you see, miss? The Boers are still in possession of
Pietersburg, and Mr. Knevitt, as a British subject, has been put over
the border."

"Oh yes, I see. Well, will you please give these cards to Mrs. Knevitt
when she comes in?"

Once on the street, Hansie again addressed herself to her faithful
companion:

"It is not hard to believe that the world is turning round, Carlo,
when one has to believe that Pretoria is the other side of one's own
border. I wonder what our next sensation is to be."

She was soon to find out.

The Military Governor was engaged, and she was shown into the office
of an under official, a tall, fair man whose name sh