ly on Hansie's shoulders.

Nothing was allowed to run to waste, and that year was always
remembered as an exceptionally fine fruit season.

It was nothing for Mrs. van Warmelo to have 100 lb. of grapes cut
before breakfast and have them conveyed to the early market, and even
then the vines bore no trace of having been robbed or tampered with.

The soldiers, too, got their share, and the sergeant-major's small
basket was often filled--for were they not on the best of terms with
one another?

But when the shades of night fell over the land, and silence settled
on the birds and beasts and flowers, the sense of careless freedom and
security deserted our heroines entirely.

Unseen eyes watched them from behind the leaves, and they knew that
the very trees under which they sat had ears, straining to catch up
their every conversation.

The Military Police--unknown to the women, as they thought--were
guarding them and their property from intruders, and this was known by
Carlo's incessant growlings and his furious, sudden fits of barking
whenever he came upon some midnight prowler hidden under the trees.

I am sure the good dog never understood Hansie's apathy on this point.

After all he did to warn her of foul play, to have his efforts
rewarded with a scolding or a careless "Do be quiet, Carlo. The kitty
is only catching moths," seemed unjust and quite unlike his mistress's
usual ready sympathy.

In time he got used to finding strangers in the privacy of his domain
and only showed his dissatisfaction with an occasional low growl or a
vicious snarl.

Perhaps "Gentleman Jim" was not so bad after all, or perhaps he was
only stupid, because a few days after the flight of our friends he
came to Mrs. van Warmelo with the information, given with an amused
smile and more drawl than usual, that "the officer had promised him
plenty money" if he ever caught a Boer on the premises or in the
garden, and that in future a strict watch would be held over the
property and an extra vigilance preserved whenever the dog barked.

What more proof could be wanted after that? Now they knew exactly how
the land lay, and in their hearts they thanked their simple servant
and still more simple foe, for the confirmation of their suspicions.

As the weeks went by and the time for the Captain's next visit drew
near, Mrs. van Warmelo again and again urged the necessity of putting
up the danger-signal (a small block of wood, which was kept ready