which immediately
followed upon the relief of Kimberley and of Lady smith, Rhodes had
approached Sir Alfred and frankly told him that he wanted to try his luck
with the Dutch party, and to see whether his former friends and colleagues
of the Afrikander Bond could not be induced to listen to reason, the High
Commissioner would have been only too glad to meet him and to explain his
views on the whole question. Instead of doing so, Rhodes, carried away as
he always was by this everlasting desire to be the first everywhere, did
not even give a thought to the wisdom of confiding to anyone the efforts
which he undoubtedly made to induce the Bond leaders to trust him again.

There was a moment when things got very near to an understanding between
Rhodes and Sir Alfred. This was when Mr. Sauer himself entertained the
thought of letting Rhodes sway the future by making with the English
Government conditions of a peace which would not wound to the quick the
feelings of the Dutch part of the population of the Colony.

A circumstance, apparently insignificant, destroyed all the hopes that had
been entertained by several who wished the Colossus well. Certain papers
were brought to Rhodes; these contained information likely to prove of use
to him as well as to the English Government. After he had read them he
asked that they should be left with him until the following day. The
person in charge of the documents had been asked not to part with them
even for a single hour, as it was important that no one should be able to
copy documents which might seriously compromise certain people. Therefore,
she refused. Rhodes thereupon flew into a terrible passion and demanded to
know the reason for the apparent distrust. When told that it was not so
much a question of distrust as the impossibility of breaking a promise
once given, he exclaimed that he would have nothing more to do with the
whole business, and started almost immediately afterwards his agitation
for the suspension of the Constitution in Cape Colony. But--and this is an
amusing detail to note--Rhodes used every possible effort to obtain
possession of the papers he had been allowed to see, going so far as to
have the house searched of the person who had refused to allow him to keep
the documents--a revenge which was as mean as it was useless, because the
papers in question had been at once returned to their rightful owners.

The request made by Rhodes to keep these documents produced