he? I call
upon you to hand him over!"

Piet Maartens stared round rudely, and strutted up and down the room as
he spoke, as if the house were his and not Mr Hunter's.

"John Somerton?" asked Mr Hunter quietly. "Why, what can he have been
doing? Surely there is some mistake?"

"Mistake or not, I have a warrant here," repeated Piet, still with the
same malicious smile, "and I call upon you once more to tell me where he
is."

"I don't know where he is. You can see for yourself that he is not
dining with us," said Mr Hunter quietly.

"He was seen to enter this house three hours ago, and he is here now,
and you know it too!" exclaimed Piet angrily. "Now, where is he?"

"I have told you he is not here. If you do not believe me, and still
think he is in the house, go and find him," said Mr Hunter calmly.
"Tom Thumb will take you round. Perhaps, then, you will have no
objection to our going on with the meal which you have so rudely
interrupted?"

Piet Maartens was evidently put out, but he knew Mr Hunter to be a man
who was not to be trifled with, and with a muttered oath he turned on
his heel and strode out into the hall. Then he went to the door and
gave a shrill whistle. Two Boer policemen, who are locally known as
"Zarps", joined him immediately, and at once commenced to search every
corner of the house. Meanwhile Jack had not been idle. Once upstairs
he had darted into Mr Hunter's room and obtained possession of an old
tweed suit and a muffler resembling in appearance those usually worn by
the Boers. Then he hurried out and along a passage till he came to a
ladder leading up through a trap-door into a large loft where the
cisterns for the supply of water were kept, much as they are in England.
A moment later he had scrambled up, passed into the loft, and dragged
the ladder after him. As he did so he heard steps running upstairs, and
lowered the trap gently just as Piet Maartens and one of the Zarps
arrived at the end of the passage.

There was a moment's silence, and then he heard an exclamation of
vexation and a rapid conversation, in which he recognised a word here
and there which showed him that his pursuers had already guessed his
whereabouts.

But Jack was not to be so easily caught. Above his head there was a
small glass skylight, and this he pushed open with the end of his
ladder, and was quickly out on the roof. Mr Hunter's house was
irregular in shape, and the roof was consequently not