When the meat was cleared away I bade Suzanne go to bed, which she did
most unwillingly, for knowing the errand of these men she wished to hear
our talk. As soon as she was gone I took a seat so that the light of
the candles left my face in shadow and fell full on those of the three
men--a wise thing to do if one is wicked enough to intend to tell lies
about any matter--and said:

"Now, here I am at your service; be pleased to set out the business that
you have in hand."

Then they began, the lawyer, speaking through the interpreter, asking,
"Are you the Vrouw Botmar?"

"That is my name."

"Where is your husband, Jan Botmar?"

"Somewhere on the veldt; I do not know where."

"Will he be back to-morrow?"

"No."

"When will he be back?"

"Perhaps in two months, perhaps in three, I cannot tell."

At this they consulted together, and then went on:

"Have you living with you a young Englishman named Ralph Mackenzie?"

"One named Ralph Kenzie lives with us."

"Where is he?"

"With my husband on the veldt. I do not know where."

"Can you find him?"

"No, the veldt is very wide. If you wish to see him you must wait till
he comes back."

"When will that be?"

"I am not his nurse and cannot tell; perhaps in three months, perhaps
six."

Now again they consulted, and once more went on:

"Was the boy, Ralph Mackenzie, or Kenzie, shipwrecked in the _India_ in
the year 1824?"

"Dear Lord!" I cried, affecting to lose my patience, "am I an old
Kaffir wife up before the Landdrost for stealing hens that I should be
cross-questioned in this fashion? Set out all your tale at once, man,
and I will answer it."

Thereon, shrugging his shoulders, the lawyer produced a paper which the
interpreter translated to me. In it were written down the names of the
passengers who were upon the vessel _India_ when she sailed from a place
called Bombay, and among the names those of Lord and Lady Glenthirsk and
of their son, the Honourable Ralph Mackenzie, aged nine. Then followed
the evidence of one or two survivors of the shipwreck, which stated that
Lady Glenthirsk and her son were seen to reach the shore in safety in
the boat that was launched from the sinking ship. After this came a
paragraph from an English newspaper published in Capetown, dated not
two years before, and headed "Strange Tale of the Sea," which paragraph,
with some few errors, told the story of the finding of Ralph--though how
the writing man knew it I k