kly finished, was
beginning to affect their demeanour and spirits, particularly of the one
named Dietrich, who appeared to be the boss of the party. At last the
immediate reason for their visit filtered out. This slightly intoxicated
gentleman inquired of Mr. Fraser where they could find a man named Mr.
P. and the English lady of whom he had written. The old gentleman, who
could be more than common deaf when he chose, affected utter vacancy at
the mention of these individuals, merely stating that he knew a man of
the name of P. fifteen years ago. Then the whole story was told. They
had captured our pigeon, with its tell-tale note. This confiding bird
had flown straight to the laager, had perched on the General's house,
where it had been shot by this same Dietrich, and we owed the present
visit to the information supplied therein by Mr. P., Dietrich informing
us he attributed this occurrence to the Almighty working for the Boers.
They stated they were now awaiting the arrival of the _Veldtcornet_ and
of Mr. Lamb, a neighbouring farmer, whom they had sent for, and they
proceeded to make their preparations to spend the night. After supper we
were relieved to hear Mr. Lamb's cheerful voice, as he rode up in the
dark with the jovial Dietrich, who had ridden out to meet him, and who,
it appeared, was an old friend of his. I must say the pleasure of
meeting was more on the Dutchman's side than on the Englishman's. By
this time the former was quite intoxicated, and Mr. Lamb cleverly
managed to get him to his room, and after having, as he thought,
disposed of him, he came and joined us on the stoep. There we freely
discussed our visitors, and were having a cheery conversation, when I
suddenly looked up, and round the corner of the verandah saw the
unsteady form of a typical Boer--slouch hat, bandolier, and rifle,
complete--staggering towards us, truly a weird apparition. The rising
moon shining on the rifle-barrel made it glitter like silver. I confess
I disappeared round the corner to my room with more haste than dignity.
To Boers by daytime, when sober, I had by now become accustomed, but at
night, after liberal doses of "dop," armed with a loaded rifle, I
preferred their room to their company. Luckily, Mr. Lamb was equal to
the occasion, and persuaded Dietrich to return to his quarters, in spite
of his assurance that he (Dietrich) "was the man who watched, and who
did not sleep." With the morning arrived nine or ten more, inclu