so that she
could not keep it steady; so, going close up to the door,
she rested the muzzle on the iron bar. Then she pulled the
trigger.

"The gun went off with a roar and filled the room with a
stifling smoke. The baby began to cry, but she paid it no
attention till the gun was loaded again. Then, as she
snatched up her child and soothed it, she heard wailing and
screaming from outside, where the heavy bullet had done its
work.

"The Kafirs left her at peace for about an hour, and the
noise of the wounded sank to a sobbing. At last a voice
hailed her again.

"'We will kill you now,' it said. 'You have shot two men,'
and she was assailed with a string of horrid names such as
only a Kafir can think of.

"'Where are you?' she called, terrified.

"'Here,' came the reply, and a little stone fell down the
chimney.

"'I will shoot!' she screamed, taking up the gun; but the
Kafir on the roof answered with only a laugh.

"'It will do no good,' he replied. 'We shall kill you, burn
you in a fire slowly, scald you with boiling water, cut you
in little pieces,' and he went on to threaten the lone
woman with the most fiendish and ghastly outrages, such as
I dare not even give a name to.

"The low devilish voice on the roof went on. 'And your
baby, vile thing! You shall see it writhe in the flames,
and hear it cry to you, and watch the blood spout from its
skin. You shall see the dogs tearing it, while you lie in
anguish, powerless to aid it. Yes, we will kill the child
first, and slowly--slowly! It shall cry a long time before
it shall die at last.'

"Then the Vrouw Coetzee, calling aloud on God, pointed the
gun and fired through the roof. There was a laugh again,
and before the smoke cleared a big Kafir dropped down the
wide chimney and rushed at her.

"Her gun was empty, but the Vrouw Coetzee was the worthy
wife of a good Boer, and she raised the heavy weapon and
struck him down. He rolled, face upward, on the floor, and
as he lay she struck him again. He kicked once or twice
with his legs and clutched with his hands; and then he lay
still and died.

"It was their plan, you see, that she should fire off her
gun and then be taken before she had time to recharge it.

"'Have you got the woman, Martinus?' called a Kafir from
outside.

"'No,' cried the Vrouw Coetzee; Martinus has not got the
woman, for I have killed him. Who comes next?'

"There was a while of silence then, till she heard them
moving about