quantity.
Their sympathy with the Boers was natural enough; but it was at the same
time too deep--in the eyes of Martial Lawyers--to be compatible with the
duty due to the Queen. A house to house visit was inaugurated by the
police--the sequel to which was the lodgment of some twenty persons
within the solid masonry of the gaol. The most prominent of the
prisoners was one employed as a guard in the mines. De Beers had always
been credited with a desire to observe strict impartiality in their
choice of servants, and the prisoner had hit upon a curious way of
demonstrating his appreciation of such a policy. Ever since they had
learned to handle an assegai the pugnacious natives shut up in the
compounds had been spoiling for a fight; and, having heard of the
Ultimatum, they were just then particularly restless, and keen on
expediting a Waterloo. The obliging guard had thrown open the gates to
gratify the "niggers"--on condition that British heads _only_ were to be
hit! The natives itched to hit somebody, and could not afford to let
slip so good a chance by dilly-dallying over details. They agreed to the
terms; but were fortunately herded together again before they could
strike a blow. It may have been only a slip of the tongue on the guard's
part; but the canons of martial law held such "slips" to be
unpardonable. The one in question lost a man his liberty for two years,
and his billet for ever.

The public were enjoined to hold no communication with the enemy, and to
give them no direct nor indirect assistance. Finally, the proclamation
informed us, a Court of Summary Jurisdiction had been established, armed
with power and authority to hang traitors until they were dead; to
confiscate their property; to lash them (when they escaped death); and
even to deal severely with Imperial persons who failed to comply with
the various regulations set forth in the plain English of one who had
the advantage of being only a _Martial_ lawyer.

It was not until eleven o'clock--during the hours of Divine
Service--that the hundred thousand ears adorning the anatomy of the
human population were first shocked by the horrisonous banshee wail of
the hooters. The music was awe-inspiring, and ineffably weird. It seemed
to portend the cries of the dying; and it was small wonder that the
people subsequently endeavoured--as they did successfully--to have a
more tuneful instrument employed. The immediate effect of the alarm was
to send members of