I thought you said that this was done some
years _before_ the war."

"Yes, but we all knew what things were leading to!"

This incident was the first hint among the passengers that she was not
one of them.

At first they looked at her askance, but as the days went on and the
girl steadfastly avoided every allusion to the war, refusing to
express her opinions to any one, except the two men mentioned above,
the feeling of discomfort passed, and she was once again included in
the pastimes of the ship's company.

As they were nearing Teneriffe the longing for news, for the latest
cables from England and South Africa, possessed every soul on
board--and now I find that, search as I will, within the recesses of
my mind, for words with which to describe adequately such scenes,
brain and hand are powerless.

* * * * *

There was peace in South Africa--peace "with honour" for England,
peace _and defeat_ for the Boers!

* * * * *

In a moment the ship's crew went mad, as the wild cheering rolled over
the waves.

Hansie stood stupefied until (and strange it is that at a time like
this an insignificant detail should stand out in sharp relief against
the background of her dulled sensibilities) an hysterical woman ran up
to her with outstretched hands, crying:

"Oh, my dear, my dear, let me congratulate you! Let us shake hands!"

The girl, thus taken by surprise in all that crowd, recoiled in
shuddering distress, while, with hands clasped convulsively behind,
she murmured:

"Oh, I _could not_--I _could not_!"

A wave of deep resentment passed over the ship's passengers, and
hostile eyes looked on her frowningly.

* * * * *

That night, as the good ship was ploughing the waters on her way once
more, a solitary figure stood on the deserted decks.

In the saloons great bumpers of champagne were passing round, while
the strains of "God save the King" and "Rule Britannia" floated over
the ocean waves.

A man in search of her, fearing perhaps, I know not what, approached
the drooping figure of the girl, and pressed her hand in silent
sympathy.

"There is no peace!" she said. "Do you think I believe these lying
cables? The Boers will _never_ yield. If you knew what I know, you
would take these reports for what they are worth. I have been trying
to think what it all can mean, and this is the conclusion I have come
to. If it b