mand, who, on hearing that
two unprotected ladies were living alone on the property, had
immediately issued orders that no man was to enter Harmony on any
pretext whatever. Somewhat reassured, mother and daughter retired into
their stronghold, barricading doors and windows and ordering Carlo,
the good watch-dog, to preserve an extra vigilance that night.

Brave old Carlo! from that moment he seemed to understand that his
duty was to protect his beloved mistresses from their mortal foe, and
nothing could equal his dislike and distrust of anything connected
with the unwelcome visitors around his hitherto peaceful abode. For a
long time, he valiantly withstood temptation in the form of titbits
offered him by soldiers, not at any time responding to the many
advances made by them, and my reader will agree with me, as this story
unfolds itself, that no dog could have developed more useful
qualities.

The first few weeks after the occupation of Pretoria were spent in
settling down and finding accommodation for the thousands of British
officers and men, and it soon became evident to the inhabitants of
Harmony that Sunnyside had been chosen as a suitable suburb for the
more important members of the military forces.

To give the reader some idea of how Harmony was hemmed in by troops on
every side, I have drawn the annexed chart, and, though some
alterations were made as the months went by, this was practically the
position of our heroines during the greater part of the war.

On the eastern side were encamped the Military Mounted Police; on the
west, on the banks of the Aapies River and adjoining the Berea Park,
lay Kitchener's bodyguard; on the south were established the
Montmorency Scouts; and on the north, commanding the principal
entrance to Harmony, the Provost-Marshal, Major Poore, had taken up
his abode in the comfortable residence of the ex-Mayor of Pretoria,
Sir Johannes van Boeschoten, who was knighted on the occasion of the
recent visit to South Africa of the Duke of Connaught.

Opposite the Provost-Marshal, in a house belonging to Mr. B.T. Bourke,
the War Office, as we called it, was established; and still a little
farther north, in the British Agency, vacated by Sir Conyngham and
Lady Lily Greene when martial law was proclaimed, Lord Roberts and
his staff were installed, until better quarters could be found for
them. The Military Governor, General Sir John Maxwell, then took
possession of the British Agency and