t his house, and he read it to
Anna.

"'Now I shall get some real shooting,' he said, with bright
eyes.

"She looked at him carefully, and noted that he lifted down
his rifle with the gaiety of a boy who goes hunting. It
brought a warmth to her heart that she dared not trust.

"'It is a pity you should go before the calves are weaned,'
she said.

"'Pooh! You can see to them,' he answered.

"'But you could so easily buy a substitute. It would even
be cheaper to send a substitute,' she urged half-heartedly.

"You see she had no faith at all in his courage. The years
she had lived with him had brought forth nothing to undo
the impression he had left in her mind when he sprang from
the cart and abandoned her in the middle of the Vaal River,
and this emergency had awakened all her old fear lest he
should be proclaimed a coward before the men of his world.

"'I dare say it would be cheaper and better in every way,'
he answered with some irritation. 'But for all that I am
going. This is a war, the first I have known, and I am not
going to miss the chance. So you had better get my gear
ready!'

"With that he commenced to tear up rags and to oil and
clean his rifle.

"She bade him adieu next day and saw him canter off with
some doubt. He had shown no hesitation at all in this
matter. From the time of the coming of the summons he had
been all eagerness and interest. It might have led another
to think she had been wrong, that the man who feared water
feared nothing else; but Anna knew well, from a hundred
small signs, that her husband had no stability of valor in
him, that he was and would remain--a coward.

"Next day the fighting had commenced, and Anna, working
serenely about her house, soon had news of it. There was a
promise of interest in this little war from the start. The
commando, under Commandant Jan Wepener, had made a quick
move and thrust forward to the crown of the little hills
that overlook the Tiger River and the flat land beyond it,
which was the home of the tribe. Here they made their
laager, and it was plain that the fighting would consist
either of descents by the Burghers on the kraals, or of
attacks by the Kafirs upon the hills. Either way, there
must be some close meetings and hardy hewing, a true and
searching test for good men. The young Burgher that told
her of it, sitting upon his horse at the door as though he
were too hurried and too warlike to dismount and enter,
rejoiced noisily at