hat never took place. As sure as I stand
here, the last time I saw you was when you were playing the fool there
in front of Schoeman and the rest, simply committing suicide like the
consummate ass you were, and always have been. As for turning you
loose, I couldn't have done so even if I'd wanted to. Old Schoeman took
jolly good care of that by putting me under arrest myself."

Frank stared, whistled, then shook his head.

"All I can say is then, that if it wasn't you, it was your bally ghost.
That's all," he said.

"Well, you'd better not talk about it any more, Frank," said Stephanus.
"Don't you see, man? It's a thing to forget now."

"Oh--um--ah--of course, I see," assented Frank readily.

"That may be, Stephanus," said Colvin, "but I have assured the whole of
this crowd upon my honour that I had no more to do with Frank's escape
than the man in the moon. And no more I had."

"No--no--of course not, old chap," cheerfully rejoined Frank, who didn't
believe a word of the other's denial. "Well, after all, what's the odds
now? All's well that ends well."

"There's some mystery behind all this," said Colvin in a low tone to
himself. But Aletta heard it. And then her own doubts came back to
her. What if they had all been mistaken? There was evidently someone
about who bore an extraordinary likeness to Colvin. Her own eyes had
deceived her once. Yes, it was extraordinary.

"_Mijn Baas! Mijn lieve Baas_!"

Just outside the group stood Gert Bondelzwart. He had watched his
opportunity to sidle up, for in a Boer laager native servants were not
wont to move about with the same free and independent swagger as, say,
in the suburbs of Cape Town. Colvin turned:

"Hullo, Gert, how did you get here?"

"Ah!" cried Stephanus, "you have to thank this rascal that I am here at
all, Colvin. He it was who brought Aletta's note telling me of the fix
you were in, and killed one of my best horses in doing so, but that's
nothing. The wonder to me is he got through at all."

"_Ja_, _Baas_. It was a wonder," put in the Griqua. "Twice I had a
volley fired at me, but I knew what delay would mean, so I wouldn't
stop. Ah, well, we came in time--we came in time. And the _klein
missis_ told me it didn't matter if I killed the horse if only we did
that."

"Gert, you are a fine fellow, and I won't forget in a hurry," said
Colvin, turning a very kindly glance upon his faithful servitor. "Why,
what is all this about?"