into town to see the British
troops come in.

Her mother thought it a most unseemly proceeding, and declined to
accompany her wilful daughter, but the latter did not wish to miss
what she knew would become an historical event of great importance,
and rode away on her bicycle, accompanied by her faithful retriever,
Carlo.

The thought of the conspicuous band of ribbon round her hat, in green,
red, white, and blue, gave her a certain feeling of comfort and
satisfaction.

At least none of the friends she might chance to meet that day could
suspect her of being in town to _welcome_ the enemy.

The air was charged with the electricity of an excitement so tense, so
suppressed, that it struck her like some living force as she rode
through the thronged, though silent streets.

In the heart of the town, as she neared Government Square, a change
was noticeable--a change that she could not define until it was borne
in upon her that it originated in the attitude of the black and
coloured part of the community.

They had come out in their thousands--the streets literally seethed
with them, the remarkable part of this being that they were all on the
pavements, while their "white brothers" walked in the middle of the
road.

For the sake of the uninitiated I must explain that under the Boer
regime no black or coloured person was allowed on the pavements, nor
to be out at night, nor to walk about without a registered pass. There
was no "black peril" then.

This noisy, unlawful demonstration was an expression of joy on their
part at the prospect of that day being set free from Boer
restrictions, a short-lived joy, however, for they became so lawless
and overbearing that it was found necessary, within a very few days,
to re-enforce the Boer laws and regulations.

* * * * *

In perfect order, but weary unto death, the British troops marched in.
Thousands and thousands of soldiers in khaki, travel-stained,
footsore, and famished, sank to the ground, at a given command, in the
open square facing Government Buildings.

Some of them tried to eat of the rations they had with them, others,
too exhausted to eat, fell into a deep sleep almost at once, and one
old warrior, looking up into the face of the girl standing above him,
said, in a broken voice, "Thank God, the war is over."

Hansie bent towards him and answered, in a voice vibrating with
passionate feeling, "Tommy Atkins, _the war has just be