a gigantic and
terrible blaze will sweep over the land, Englishmen who have married
Boer wives and settled here will find themselves opposed to their own
country, throughout Africa there will be treachery, the bad blood of the
Dutch population will be roused, and many of Her Majesty's subjects will
go over to the Boers.

"They do not realise this in England. They think that a few thousand
troops will be sufficient should the emergency arise. But they will not
be. Of that I am certain, for we are face to face with the biggest and
most dangerous conspiracy that we have ever been called upon to meet.
It will be a struggle for supremacy in Africa, and England will have to
put out all her strength. Should she fail--and I trust and firmly
believe that she will not--it will be the first step down on the ladder,
which in the end will mean the dismemberment and the downfall of the
most glorious empire that the world has ever seen.

"But we shall see. If we suffer reverses at first we shall learn by
them, and I prophesy that this coming war will bring out England's
manhood and unanimity. Her sons will flock from the remotest corners of
the world, her colonies will vie with one another to help her, and from
every shore, from every spot which harbours an Englishman all eyes will
be turned towards the great white mother.

"My lads, I am not romancing. I am telling you this in sober earnest.
We are a slow and unemotional race, but we are true, and we are dogged,
even more so than the Boers, and if real danger confronts the nation,
woe to those who have attacked her. We shall want a lot of beating, and
we've yet to find the ones who can do it."

CHAPTER SIX.

FACE TO FACE WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER.

More than five minutes of unbroken silence elapsed after Mr Hunter had
finished that portion of his narrative which dealt with the troubles of
the Uitlanders. He had summed the whole position up, discussed every
point, and had finally shown that the dispute between the Transvaal
Government and its alien population was approaching vast proportions,
which threatened to involve the English Government, who were now
supporting the claims of their distant subjects. That a great
conspiracy existed he had proved almost beyond a doubt, and now, like
the patriotic man he was, he had prophesied how the sons of the great
White Queen would meet their troubles, and how on every side and from
every colony they would stretch forth their h