ht of the good man, calmly sitting inside,
smoking his pipe and reading, little dreaming that his arch enemies
were within a stone's throw of his peaceful abode, added a delightful
thrill to the sensations experienced by her that night.

Very little was said when once they got inside. The hostesses took in
the condition of the starved and exhausted heroes at a glance and
busied themselves with preparations for a feast, while the men
stretched themselves on the sofas in the dining-room. When Mrs. van
Warmelo had lit the fire in the kitchen and set the kettle on to
boil, Hansie opened the windows of the drawing-room as wide as
possible, lit the lamps and candles, and opening the piano, played
some "loud music" for the edification of the sergeant-major.

"I've made him understand that we have visitors," she said, laughing,
when she got back to the dining-room. "He will quite understand the
all-pervading smell of coffee, even if he can't account for the ham
and eggs at this time of night."

Home-made bread, butter, and preserves, rusks, cold plum-pudding, and
fruit completed the repast--and how the men tucked in! They were so
bruised and worn-out that they could hardly sit up straight to eat,
and when they had each "forced a square meal into a round stomach"
they once more stretched themselves out on the sofas, supremely
content with their pipes.

Mother and daughter sat beside them talking until nearly midnight.

"Tell me" (Hansie began at the end)--"tell me where you disappeared to
from our gate. I can't quite forgive you the nasty fright you gave us.
You might have come straight up to the house."

"Well," Naude answered, "I did not know whether you were still in town
and alone at home, and we could not risk finding you with visitors.
While we were at the gate some of the Military Mounted Police passed
and we thought it safer to go for a walk. Unfortunately we walked
right into their camp, and before we knew where we were, we were
falling over their tent-ropes, and in our hurry to escape from them we
found ourselves before the house of the Military Governor, where the
sentinels on guard saluted me most respectfully. I can't tell you how
glad we were to find you waiting for us when we came back to the
gate." The diary shrinks from the attempt to describe the thrilling
adventures these men had to relate, their hairbreadth escapes, their
hardships, privations, and fatigue.

They sat talking with them far into the nig