ing of the West. His attitude at the meeting
would sway the mass of his adherents and decide the question
of peace or war.

Accordingly, General Louis Botha, Premier of the South African Union,
summoned General de la Rey to Pretoria some days before the meeting, and
persuaded him to use his best efforts to allay excitement.

On the 15th the meeting was held. The situation was a tense one. Not one
of the burghers present doubted the outcome. Yet General de la Rey
exhorted them to remain cool and calm. He urged them to await the turn
of events in Europe. After his address a "strange and unusual silence"
was observed, says the "Blue Paper."

A resolution was passed unanimously expressing complete
confidence in the Government to act in the best interests of
South Africa in the present world crisis. The burghers
appeared to have taken their leader's advice to heart, as they
dispersed quietly to their homes.

All danger of a rebellious movement had apparently been averted.

The only difficulty was that the prophecy of "Oom Niklaas" was still
standing. The fact that the uprising had failed did not seem in the
least to invalidate the vision. If the mysterious number did not mean
Aug. 15, then perhaps it did mean Sept. 15.

Accordingly, preparations were laid for a rebellion for the latter date.
The plot was engineered by Lieut. Colonel Solomon G. Maritz and General
Christian Frederick Beyers. Maritz is a brilliant though unlettered
Colonel who won distinction in the Boer war, while Beyers was the
Commandant General of the South African Union forces. Beyers is dead
now; Maritz and some of the prominent men associated in the conspiracy
are in prison awaiting trial.

Beyers and Maritz did not trust entirely to the prophecy of the seer of
Lichtenburg. Maritz had already obtained a guarantee from the
authorities in German West Africa, with whom he had been in
communication for some time, that in the event of Germany's victory the
Free State and the Transvaal would be given their freedom. He had
organized the back-veldt Boers into readiness to go over into German
West Africa at a moment's notice. In the Free State, General de Wet was
ready to aid the rebellion, and the Western Transvaal, already excited,
could easily be swung into line.

The regiments of the west were to concentrate at Potchefstroom early in
September for their annual training. At that time the members of the
Government, a