wise the sweet equanimity and caressing,
teasing, provocative little ways. This Nidia had come back so changed.
There was a tired, hunted look in her eyes, a listlessness of speech and
manner such as might have suited her twenty years thence, after an
indifferent experience of life _interim_, but now was simply startling
as a contrast. She talked but little, and of her escape and the manner
of it, seemed to care to talk least of all. The part John Ames had
borne in that escape she took care to make widely known, but when alone
with her friend reference to him had the effect of causing her to burst
into tears in the most unexpected and therefore alarming fashion. This
seemed not unnatural. The terrible experiences the poor girl had gone
through were calculated to unhinge her; nor was it strange she should
grieve over the tragic fate which had almost certainly overtaken the man
who had been her sole guide and protector during those terrible days,
whose sagacity and resource had brought her in safety through every
peril that threatened. It was in the nature of things she should so
grieve, even had they not been on very friendly terms before. There was
nothing for it but time, thought Susie Bateman--time and change of
scene; and with a view to the latter she hinted at the advisability of
risking the journey down-country, for, strange to say, the enemy had
refrained from intercepting the coach traffic on the Mafeking road.
This proposal, however, was met by Nidia with a very decided negative.

These two were fortunately exempt from the crowding and discomfort of
the laagers, through the fact that the house owned by the absent Bateman
was situated within about a stone's throw of one of the latter. Should
occasion really arise, they would, of course, be obliged to take refuge
therein; but in the mean time they could afford to ignore
unsubstantiated scares, for there were not wanting those who made it--
literally in some instances--a labour of love to keep extra and special
watch over this particular household. Moseley and Tarrant, for
instance, who were among the defenders of the township; Carbutt, the
tall, good-looking man who had figured prominently in the fight at
Jekyll's Store; and several others. Leave it to them, had been their
assurance. If real necessity arose, they would see to it that the two
ladies should be within the laager in ample time. Meanwhile they need
take no notice of the ordinary regulation s