and the next half-hour was
spent in a restless pacing up and down between the orange trees of the
avenue.

"Will they never come? Have they fallen into some unforeseen pitfall?

"At this, the most critical moment of our whole adventure, when all
arrangements seem to have come to a smooth and successful termination,
must our plans be frustrated, and a bloody encounter be the climax?"

Hansie walked boldly towards the Military Camp, whistling to Carlo and
admonishing him thus audibly:

"Why can't you leave the kittens alone, Carlo?" Then more softly: "A
peaceful serenity pervades the camp. Evidently nothing brewing here!"

With a lighter heart she went back to the house, but one glance at the
face of the Captain was enough, and once more she sped down the
garden-path to the ill-fated trysting-place.

As she neared the spot she heard no sound of life and her heart once
more sank, but only for a moment. Suddenly she started violently.
"What is this?"

The place seemed in a moment alive with silent figures. From the
depths of the overhanging willow branches they emerged, one by one,
and approached the tense form of the girl as she stood immovable, with
straining eyes trying to distinguish the moving, silent figures in the
darkness.

The white dress of a woman fluttering among the leaves reassured her.

"What is this?" she whispered. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

One of the men came forward.

"Venter and Brenckmann," he said softly, "come for the Captain."

"Yes, yes," Hansie said hurriedly. "I know. We have waited for you
more than an hour. But these people? Who are they?"

"Our friends and relatives come to see us off," came the unexpected
reply.

Hansie was silent, trying to hide her indignation, her rising
resentment, as another and yet another form cautiously emerged from
behind the foliage.

"Do you know," she said at last, "that you are not only exposing us to
great danger by coming here at a time like this, but that you are
making it a thousand times more difficult for the Captain to depart
unobserved? How could you be so indiscreet?"

"These people are all trustworthy," one of the men volunteered.

"I have no doubt of it." Hansie extended her hands cordially to them.
"But you must all go now as quietly as you came. Say good-bye and go,
please, before I go to call the Captain."

She turned away with a lump in her throat, for no sounds broke the
stillness of the night save those of stifled s