night.

In the morning two fine hens were missing! The remarks then made at
Harmony on the vigilance of British soldiers in general and Military
Mounted Police in particular were complimentary in the extreme.

Then Mrs. van Warmelo sent the boy to reconnoitre, and he soon came
running back in great excitement, with the news that the thief, a
young Kaffir, was sitting beside a fire, eating fowls.

Armed to the teeth, the police set forth to capture him, and soon
returned with the miscreant. Such a sight he was! Glistening with fat
and covered with feathers, and, as one of the soldiers remarked,
"with a corporation like the Lord Mayor." He was handcuffed and taken
to the police camp, while the men had their breakfast before escorting
him to the Charge Office.

Suddenly there was a fearful commotion.

The culprit had slipped off one of his handcuffs, crept through the
wire fence unobserved, and was flying like the wind through the garden
towards the river.

After him, in wild confusion, jumping over shrubs and furrows,
followed half a dozen soldiers, a couple of natives, Carlo, and I
don't know how many other dogs.

He was captured by the brave corporal as he was dashing up the bank on
the other side of the river, and brought back to the camp, with his
hands tied securely behind.

One month's imprisonment only and a change of diet were prescribed for
him at the Charge Office that day.

This incident, though exciting at the time, would not have been worth
recording here were it not for its connection with what happened
afterwards.

Whatever suspicions the military may have had of intrigues at Harmony,
these must have been removed by the fact of their having been
requested by the inmates themselves to keep a watch over the property.

So the way was being unconsciously prepared for subsequent events.

As fruit was also being stolen from time to time, the soldiers
maintained their watch over the garden, well knowing that their
vigilance would be rewarded by a full share of the good things, while
they would be the losers if the pilfering were allowed to continue.

When it became evident, a few months later, that another thief was
helping himself to her fowls, Mrs. van Warmelo made up her mind to
catch him red-handed, without the assistance of the Military Police.

She decided that he would not come back at once, and gave him two days
to digest his spoil, and on the third day she got up very early in the
hopes