ken by us. I don't know where
you slept last night; but this I do know, that yesterday you drove a
wounded man into Britstown, and probably a lady as well. The lady came
from Nieuwjaarsfontein. For you see those cushions you have on your
front seat came out of the Nieuwjaarsfontein _sitkomer_.[21] I have
got a similar one, which I took myself from the farm. So don't lie any
more. Tell me who is in Britstown?"

_D._ (_who had lost his air of stolid indifference, and was beginning
to move uncomfortably_) "Britstown is full of Kharkis; they are coming
in now fast."

_Intelligence Officer._ "Is this road clear into the _dorp_?"[22]

_D._ (_with polite sarcasm_) "You may ride along this road in perfect
safety."

_T._ (_cheerily_) "That is more than you can, my friend. (_Turning to
Intelligence Officer._) This man has evidently, sir, carried
information to Brand's people and a wounded man into Britstown; see
the blood on the back of the seat. I should keep him a prisoner,
sir--send him back to the column with a man. Besides, if I am to stay
with you, sir, I should like his cart and mules. They are good mules,
you see. They have been into the town and back, and have scarcely
turned a hair!"...

There was no doubt as to the occupation of Britstown when the
Intelligence officer and his escort crossed the vlei, which is the
principal outlying feature of that typical little South African
township. The De Aar road was one block of moving transport, and the
usually quiet main street of the village was alive with troops. Of a
truth a concentration was taking place, and the Dutch were not amiss
in their simile when they likened a British concentration to a flight
of locusts.

Very few of you will have ever heard of Britstown. Yet, like so many
other obscure South African townships, this war has brought it a
history. Nor is the historical record which has been built up for it
of extraordinary merit. There will be many in the ranks of a certain
favoured corps who will scarcely treasure the memory of that little
wayside asylum. We remember when the papers were full of the exploits
and valour of this returning corps--then Britstown found no mention.
Yet its associations, pleasant though they may not be, are closely
interwoven with its short-lived history. The story is told to-day over
the hotel-bars of the little township by gleeful Colonials. Told how
in open fight, a handful of rebel farmers--perhaps our friends the
brothers Pr