"Did Mahon succeed in capturing any considerable force?"
"No, sir. There was a fight outside the town, but ourguns were too strong for them, and they fell back to their entrenchments on the other side of the town. Colonel Baden-Powell attacked them there, but I think they only made a stand to get their big gun away. This they succeeded in doing, and only one small gun was captured. If the horses had been fresher, no doubt a heavy blow might have been dealt them, but they had had a very heavy march. Certainly the four Canadian guns could not have pursued them with any chance of coming up with them, especially as they had abandoned their waggons and stores; and Colonel Baden-Powell believes that they sent off the big gun the day before, and only fought their battle with us to give it time to get a long way on the road."
"It is a sort of conjuring trick," Lord Roberts said, with a smile. "Heigh-ho, presto! and the gun is gone. We have out-man[oe]uvred them many times, but never once have we caught one of their big guns. Such cannon until the present war have been considered as simply guns of position and wholly out of the question in military operations in the field. I am sure I am much obliged to you for the zeal and activity that you have displayed, and shall have pleasure in mentioning your name most favourably in my despatches."
On leaving the general's tent, Yorke, to his great satisfaction, saw Hans standing near. "I saw you ride in, master, and glad I was, for one never knows what may happen."
"I am also glad to see you, Hans. I suppose Peter is here too?"
"Yes, sir, he is with the two horses; they are quite right again now. I didn't ride either of them coming up, so that they should be as fit as possible for work by the time you wanted them."
"I am glad to hear that, Hans, for this horse, good as it is, wants a fortnight's rest after the tremendously hard work it has done since I left you."
CHAPTER XX
JOHANNESBURG
The difficulties of the advance were now past, the country was almost level beyond the drift station, and in the distance was a low line of hills on which tall chimneys could be made out, the chimneys of the mines, which had brought such wealth, not only to those who worked them, but to the Transvaal, and which, owing to the greed and avarice of Kruger and his associates, had finally brought ruin upon the country. So far the resistance of the Boers had been feeble in the extreme. From one point after another, carefully prepared in every way, they had retreated with scarce a show of resistance, and although they might nerve themselves to fight one battle in defence of their capital, it was certain that Johannesburg, a far more important town, would fall into the hands of the invaders without an effort.
Many of the Free State men had left the retreating forces of the Transvaal and remained in their own country. Although they had, through the malign influence of Steyn, thrown in their lot with their northern kindred, there had from the first been no real heartiness between the two sections, the Free State men declaring that they were sacrificed by the Transvaalers, that the whole brunt of the war had fallen upon them, that they were not consulted, and were treated rather as if they had been born servants of the Transvaalers than as men who had sacrificed everything for their sake. The Transvaal men, on the other hand, accused the burghers of the Free State of being half-hearted in the cause, of being backward in fighting, and not to be trusted, accusations which were certainly unfounded. The one desperate attempt for the capture of Ladysmith, had been made by the Free State men, who had fought with greatercourage and determination than the Transvaalers had ever done.
Their country had been made the theatre of war. It was their railways that had been destroyed, their property damaged, their farms burnt. They had been placed along the Modder to bear the brunt of the British fire, while the Transvaalers had been posted in a comparatively safe position on the British flank. They a civilized people, had been lorded over by one inferior to their foes in all respects except physical strength. It was small wonder that, seeing how all the assurances that they had received had been falsified, all their hopes disappointed, all their feelings outraged, they should have refused to go north to aid in the defence of the country, which had done so little to aid them. The wonder rather is, that they did not retire altogether from the contest and accept the inevitable, when further resistance could but bring ruin upon them.
Advancing from the Klip River on the 29th, General Ian Hamilton found the enemy in considerable force with guns on a range of hills to the west. The position being too strong for cavalry to attack alone, two brigades of infantry were sent to their assistance; and the Gordons and the City Imperial Volunteers with the greatest gallantry stormed the heights. The fighting of the Boers here showed how great was their demoralization, there was no such resistance as that offered by the men who held the kopjes of Belmont and Graspan. The Gordons had nearly a hundred casualties, but this was caused to some extent by their advancing in open order in line without a pause; while the City Imperial Volunteers, who were exposed to an equally heavy fire, advanced by rushes, the companies in the rear keeping up a heavy fire against the Boers on the sky-line, and so shaking the accuracy of their fire.
Had the Gordons used similar tactics they would probably have suffered much less than they did. While this action was going on on their left flank, Henry with the mountedinfantry moved straight upon Germiston, a point at which the lines from Natal and Johannesburg joined the main line to Pretoria. This junction lay among the great mounds of mine refuse; these were occupied by the Boers, and there was some sharp fighting, but the enemy were soon driven off in gallant fashion by the dismounted men. The feat was a daring one, as it was impossible to say how large a body of the enemy had been lying among the tips. The way being thus cleared, the main force advanced to Germiston.
The next day the 7th Division, with a brigade of cavalry and the mounted infantry, were established on the heights north of Johannesburg. Ian Hamilton's column was at Florida, three miles west of the town. French and Hutton lay between the two forces. During the day Dr. Krause, who had been left in temporary charge of Johannesburg, came out to the head-quarter camp and agreed to surrender the town on the following morning. Early on the 31st the formal surrender was made, and Lord Roberts entered the town at noon with two divisions. The Union-jack was hoisted with the same ceremony as had accompanied its unfurling at Bloemfontein. Lord Roberts remained there but a short time, and then rode out to the suburb of Orange Grove, three miles to the north of the town, which was left in charge of Wavell's Brigade, while Mackenzie of the Seaforth Highlanders was appointed military governor.
Lord Roberts had now a serious decision to make. The departure of the main army to the north had emboldened the Boers of the Orange Free State to undertake operations at several points against the line of communications. The speed at which the army had advanced had rendered it impossible for stores sufficient for their needs to be pushed up along the single line of railway, and at the utmost only a day's consumption for the army could be brought up in twenty-four hours. The army was therefore literally living from hand to mouth, and the blowing up of a single important culvert or small bridge that would even for one dayarrest the transit of trains would have had the most serious consequences. Lord Roberts had therefore to decide whether to content himself for a short time with the capture of Johannesburg, until the safety of his communications was assured, and a supply for a further advance accumulated, or to push forward at once to Pretoria.
He chose the latter alternative. Delay would enable the Boers to recover from the demoralization which the complete failure of all their elaborate plans for checking the advance had brought about, to clear Pretoria of its stores, and above all to carry off the British prisoners, some four thousand in number, with them. The latter was a very serious consideration, as the possession of so large a number of prisoners might have been used by the Boers as a lever to extort more favourable terms than they could otherwise have looked for.
Yorke had ridden in with Lord Roberts's staff. As soon as the cheering that greeted the hoisting of the British flag had ceased, and the general was moving on, Yorke's eyes, as he looked round over the crowd, fell upon a group of familiar faces, and turning he rode up to them.
"You do not recognize me, Mr. Chambers?" he said, as he dismounted.
"Why, it is Harberton," the latter exclaimed. "No, we none of us recognized you, though we looked very narrowly at the mounted officers with the two divisions; but we did not think of seeing you on the general's staff. Besides, your uniform makes all the difference; you were a Dutch farmer, you know, when we saw you last. We are glad indeed to see you, as glad, I think, as to see the dear old flag hoisted."
While he was speaking Yorke had shaken hands with him, his wife and daughters. "Now, of course, you are coming to us," Mr. Chambers went on.
"I do not know what we are going to do at present, sir," Yorke replied; "I do not even know whether we shall stay in the town to-night. However, I will ask leave when theday's work is over, and I hope to be able to join you this evening, by which time I shall know something of what the movements are likely to be."
"And of course, you will bring your two men with you?"
"With pleasure, sir. If I manage to come, they will certainly be able to do so."
"Then we may expect you anyhow this evening?"
"Certainly; I have no doubt at all about getting away."
Yorke remounted his horse and rode after the general. General Roberts's quick eye had noticed him ride up to the party; he turned round when Yorke rejoined the staff and motioned to him to come up to him.
"So you have found some friends, Harberton?"
"Yes, sir; they were Mr. Chambers and the family, the gentleman I was able to render some service to when his house was attacked."
"And I suppose he wanted you to go home with him?"
"He did ask me, sir, but of course I said that it was out of the question."
"I am going out to Orange Grove," the general went on, "and it will certainly be two or three days before we advance again. I don't know that I can do without your services altogether, Harberton, for there will be a good deal to be seen to, but I can certainly spare you now, and as long as I stay here it will be sufficient if you come at nine in the morning, and you will always be able to get away by five or six o'clock in the evening."
"Thank you very much indeed, sir."
And Yorke rode back to the square. His friends were just taking their place in their carriage when he arrived, and were much pleased when he told them what the general had said. "I will follow you at once, Mr. Chambers, when I have found Hans; he and the Kaffir will be just behind. There, I can see him now, with the other orderlies and spare horses."
He rode at once to the party. Hans was riding one of thehorses and the Kaffir was leading the other. "This way, Hans. We are to stop at Mr. Chambers's to-night; you know the way." The carriage had waited till he returned, and he rode by its side out to Parfontein.
"I thought you were on General Pole-Carew's staff, Mr. Harberton?"
"So I was, sir; but when Lord Roberts arrived the day after my return to camp, he took me as an extra aide-de-camp and interpreter, as Pole-Carew's Brigade was not coming on at the time."
"We were very anxious about you; but we had a letter from von Rensburg, telling' us cautiously that our friends had arrived there safely, and had gone on by train to Colesberg. In a second letter, he said that there had been a fray in that town, and from the description, he believed that you and your men were concerned in it; but whoever it was, they had got away. That was the last we heard."
"We did get off safely," Yorke said, "and made our way up to the Modder, and then went on with the general. Of course we were at Paardeberg and at the entry into Bloemfontein. Then I was sent up to Mafeking with the relieving column, with whom I entered the town. I started again that night with despatches, giving particulars as to the siege and our march. As you may imagine I did not let the grass grow under my feet, as I was most anxious to rejoin the army before it arrived here. It was a close thing, for I only overtook it at Klip River Station three days ago. You have had no more trouble here, I hope, sir?"
"None at all; we have not heard of the matter since. Not only were the three fellows here sent away, but we gave such information that those who got away in the carts were arrested in the course of the day and all five were together sent down to Portuguese territory, so that the mouths of all who knew anything of the gold here were effectually silenced."
"I am very glad to hear that, sir. I have all along fearedthat the men who escaped might have got together another band and renewed the attempt."
"They would not have caught us napping again, for I arranged, as I told you I should do, for three of the engineers to sleep in the house. I had intended to move into the town; but when I found that all those fellows had been sent away, I had no longer any anxiety."
"Do you think there will be any more fighting before we get to Pretoria, sir?"
"There may be some fighting, but nothing serious. The Boers who came through the town in their retreat were perfectly disheartened; they abused their commanders, declared that they had been grossly deceived, and that it was of no use trying to stop the Rooineks, for that they would not attack them in the positions they had fortified, but went round at the sides, and they were obliged to retreat at once to save their guns and waggons."
By this time they arrived at the house.
"That is not the horse you rode when you were here," Mr. Chambers remarked as they alighted.
"No, sir; Mr. von Rensburg, when I started for Kimberley on my way to Mafeking, insisted on lending me this horse, as both of my own were worn out by the work they had had. It is a splendid animal, and has carried me nobly, as you may imagine when I tell you that, after a very rapid march from Kimberley to Mafeking, I started early the next morning and rode down to Boshof and then up to Kroonstad, a distance of over four hundred miles, in less than nine days. He said that I was to ask you to take care of it until there was an opportunity of sending it down to Bloemfontein, or until he came up here, which he was going to do as soon as the roads were open."
"That I will do willingly. I dare say I shall hear from him now that the line is open again, and it will be possible to send letters."
They now sat down to lunch, and after the meal Yorkegave the details of his journey down, and of the struggle in the yard of the inn at Colesberg.
"That was a fortunate escape indeed," Mr. Chambers said, "and wonderfully well managed."
"I can't think how you do such things," Mrs. Chambers remarked. "You do not look more than eighteen, and yet you seem to be as cool and as quick in deciding what is best to be done as if you had been employed in dangerous work for many years."
"I don't think age makes much difference, Mrs. Chambers," Yorke laughed. "The games that one plays at school make one quick. A fellow sends down a ball at your wicket, and while it is on its way, which is not much above a second, you have to decide what to do with it, whether you will block it, or drive it, or cut it to leg. It is the same with football, and at boxing or single-stick you have to guard a blow and return it before, as one would imagine, you had time to think. In fact, you don't know yourself that you think. I should say that a fellow is quicker and cooler when he leaves school or college than he can be years afterwards, when he has altogether got out of the way of using his wits in a hurry."
After talking for an hour Yorke walked up with Mr. Chambers to the engine-houses.
"I hope we shall be getting to work soon," the latter said.
"I am afraid it will be some time before you do," Yorke replied. "The country is still in a very disturbed state all down the line, and one may almost say, as far as Cape Town; and I am afraid that it will be a long time before the Boers accept their defeat as final, and that they will carry on a partisan war for many months. It will be impossible to guard every foot of line for nearly a thousand miles, and it will be constantly cut. As they are all mounted, there will be no overtaking the raiding parties with infantry, and we have nothing like enough cavalry to police such an enormous extent of country. It will take a long time, Ishould think many months, before we shall be able on the single line of railway to do more than feed the troops, and until all resistance is crushed out it does not seem to me to be possible for the fugitives to return."
"Well, we must wait as patiently as may be. I am glad to see, by the news that we have received through Lorenço Marques, that our shareholders in England have neither lost heart nor patience, and that the fall in the value of stocks and mines has been much smaller than might have been expected. I own that I have had great fears of late that the Boers would, when they saw matters going against them, smash up the machinery and blow up the mines as far as they could. There was great danger of it at one time, and indeed yesterday I feared the worst. The rabble of the town, encouraged by Judge Koch, seemed bent upon violence; Botha and his troops had retired, and there was no authority whatever to keep order. Dr. Krause did all he could, and when a mob, composed almost entirely of the lowest class of Irish and Germans, went out to the Robinson mine the prospect looked desperate. But Mr. Tucker, the manager, showed great tact and firmness; and he was well backed by Krause, who pointed out to the mob that if the British troops when they entered to-day found that the mines had been damaged, they would probably have the whole of the lower portion of the town burned, and every man who could not prove that he had taken no part in the affair, shot; and therefore, as there was everything to lose and nothing to gain by the destruction of the mines, it would be nothing short of madness for them to commit so useless a piece of mischief.
"Happily he succeeded, and the mob returned to the town, and there is nothing to prevent us from going to work again as soon as we can get hands. Of course the mine has been somewhat damaged by our picking out all the richest deposits during the last month's working; but as I have no doubt I shall be able to get a few hands, asmany men have remained here, to drive headings and open new ground, I do not suppose that there will be any falling off in our output when we once set to work in earnest."
That evening, after the ladies had retired, Mr. Chambers said: "Now, as to yourself, Yorke. From what you said, I fancy you do not think of remaining in the army after this affair is over?"
"No, sir. Owing to the death vacancies, I am now senior second lieutenant of the 9th Lancers, and might get my step any day. But the pay even of a first lieutenant will go but a very short way towards the expenses of a subaltern in a crack cavalry regiment, and even if I changed into the infantry, I could still hardly make ends meet. I came out here, as I frankly told you, in order to make money. My father's income as a clergyman will die with him; and above all things I am anxious to be able to assure the future of my mother and sisters."
"That you can do at present," Mr. Chambers said quietly.
Yorke looked at him in surprise.
"You do not suppose," the director went on, "that such services as you rendered to the company, and to myself and family, are to be passed over as if they had never occurred. I have taken all possible precautions to ensure the safety of the treasure, but I do not say that they would have sufficed had those twelve men had possession of the house for forty-eight hours. When they found that they could not bale out the water, they would naturally have supposed that it was fed from the cistern, or the pipe from the mine. They would have found out the latter, and by turning on the kitchen tap could have emptied the former; then they could have baled out the water and got at the top of the safe. They would have had trouble with it, but among desperadoes of that kind, and especially in a mining district, there would be sure to be several who would understand the use of dynamite; at any rate, sooner or later they would have blown it open and got at the gold.
"I have written a letter to the directors at home, saying that you have saved two hundred and fifty thousand pounds worth of gold in an attack made upon the house by a band of ruffians, with the connivance of my three male servants, who were cognizant of the existence of the store. I have recommended that at least five per cent of the sum thus saved to the shareholders shall be voted to you, a recommendation which I have no doubt whatever will be granted; especially as the very existence of this money is still unknown to them, as I have not ventured to say a word in my letters concerning it, because all of them were liable to be opened by the Boer authorities. I should say that if they are at all liberally inclined they will vote you a larger percentage; but at five per cent the sum would amount to twelve thousand five hundred pounds, which will, you see, enable you to ensure the future of those dear to you."
Yorke was silent with astonishment for half a minute, and then said earnestly: "It is too much, sir; it would be out of all reason. I had no thought of doing more than saving yourself and the ladies from those ruffians, and no thought of reward ever entered my head."
"That may be, Mr. Harberton, but that is no reason whatever against your accepting the money that you have fairly earned. It is not what you feel about it, but what the shareholders and I—as I am a very considerable shareholder myself—feel in the matter. There will be nearly two hundred and forty thousand pounds to divide between us—a sum wholly unexpected by them, and saved for them by you. It is a matter of only the barest justice, and I am sure they will feel as I do. I have, of course, written a full account of the affair—how, although an escaped prisoner and in danger every moment of detection, you went out of your way on hearing of this plot to hasten here; how you in the first place overpowered and disarmed my treacherous servants, and then warned me; how you and your two men killed no fewer than ten out of the twelve men who attackedus; and how without your interposition the ruffians would unquestionably have killed me, my wife, and daughters before ransacking the place for the treasure—a matter, by the way, that would have been a considerable inconvenience, to put it in no stronger form, to the company, as they would have found it difficult to replace me by anyone having at once so intimate a knowledge of the mine and so large an interest in its success.
"And now we come to my personal interest in the matter. I wish to make you an offer. I have no son, nor have I a nephew nor any near relative who could stand to me in the place of one. I propose, therefore, that you shall be trained up to take my place, so to speak, to act here as my assistant, to learn the business thoroughly, for which you would have ample opportunities, as I am inspector of several other mines, in which I have also interests. When matters have quite settled down, which may not be for another year or so, you can act as mylocum-tenens, for I shall certainly go to England with my family for two or three years. I may return again for a year or so, and shall then finally retire. By that time you will be fully competent to fill my place here as managing director, and I shall transfer enough shares in the company to you to qualify you for the post.
"This is no new idea on my part. I have for some months past been thinking over returning to settle in England, but I have seen no way of doing so without seriously inconveniencing the company. I now see a way by which it can be managed. I have spoken of my plans to my wife, and she most cordially approves of them, and it now only awaits your decision. I may say that I hold twenty thousand shares in the company, and that I consider that as managing director you ought to hold at least five thousand, and that number I shall transfer to your name. I am perfectly confident that you will do full justice to my choice of you as my successor here, and you will not be long in acquiring the necessary knowledge. I shall regard you as an adoptedson if you will allow me to do so, and I can answer that my wife and daughters will gladly accept you in that position. I may tell you that you will not be entirely cut off from your family, as you will be able to take three months' holiday every year if you like to do so, which will give you over six weeks at home, and perhaps you may bring one of your sisters out with you to keep house until you marry. What do you say to this?"
"I don't know what to say, sir; your kindness is so great I hardly feel that I can take advantage of it."
"My dear lad, place yourself in my position for a moment. Imagine that there had been a plot to kill your father and mother and two sisters, and that that plot failed by the interposition of a stranger. What would you have felt towards that man? Is there anything that you would not do for him? And if you had been a rich man, as I am, would you not have felt that the gift of five thousand shares—which originally cost me five shillings each, although they are now worth more than as many pounds—would have been an inadequate expression of your gratitude?"
Yorke was silent, and after a moment's pause Mr. Chambers went on.
"You must think of us as well as of yourself. It will be a grievous disappointment to us if you refuse. Even in a pecuniary sense, I consider that my offer to you is an advantageous one to my family. My stake in this mine and others is a very large one; every penny that I have is invested in this way. At the present value of shares they are worth over three hundred thousand pounds. It would be an enormous advantage to have here a gentleman on the accuracy of whose reports I could implicitly rely, and who would, which is not always the case with managers of mines, frankly say if the prospects of any of them were falling off or improving. It is my personal knowledge of the real state of things that has enabled me to do so well—to get out of mines whose prospects are not favourable, and buyinto others, perhaps at very low prices, likely to do really well when fully opened. I should not, of course, wish to obtain reports other than those sent by you to the boards of the various companies, but from what I personally know of the mines I should be able to draw very valuable deductions from those reports, and see the drift of them much better than men wholly in ignorance of the workings to which they relate."
"You need say no more, Mr. Chambers," Yorke said; "I accept most gratefully your splendid offer, and will endeavour to make myself worthy of it. But I hope that you will allow me to attend to my present duties until, at least, we have captured Pretoria. I could not in honour go to Lord Roberts and say that on the eve of possibly a great battle I desire to resign my commission. The war may continue in a partisan struggle for months, or even for years; but with Pretoria once taken it seems to me that there must be an end to fighting on a great scale, and that I might therefore, without feeling that I could be blamed for doing so, leave the army."
"By all means, Yorke; for, now that you have agreed to my proposal, I can henceforth call you so. If it had been a matter even of months I could have waited, but I believe that it is one of days only. There may be a great battle, for, insignificant as has been the resistance of the Boers to your advance, it is difficult to believe that, with the example of what Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking have done, all unprepared as they were, they can retire from a town that they have for the past four or five years been fortifying."
"It is hard to believe that they could be so cowardly, sir, especially as they would know that a lengthened resistance here would enable the Burghers of both states to rally, and by cutting the line of communications speedily reduce the besiegers to the greatest straits; and indeed, even if they could only hold out for a week, the position of the army would become extremely serious. One thing is certain, thatif they do not fight there they will never fight with any chance of success again. They may cut off convoys, blow up culverts, and harass us terribly, but it will no longer be a war, but merely the efforts of bands of mounted bandits."
"Now we will join the ladies," Mr. Chambers said.
"My dear," he said when he entered the room, "you will be glad to hear that Yorke has accepted our proposal."
"I am glad indeed," Mrs. Chambers said, shaking Yorke warmly by the hand. "I began to think that we should never be able to get away from here, and now I feel that there is a prospect some day of our doing so. My husband would never have gone until he felt sure that he could leave everything in the hands of one whom he could absolutely trust. Girls, you will, I am sure, be glad to know that henceforth Mr. Harberton will stand almost in the position of a brother to you. You have often lamented that you had no brother; I don't think you could have had one whom you could have liked better, certainly not one who could have done more for you. And now, in another year, we shall be able to go home, as you have always wished to do."
The girls both looked greatly pleased.
"I am glad Mr. Harberton," the elder said. "We both feel how much we owe to you; and if you will let us, I am sure we shall both, as mother says, come to look upon you as a brother."
"It is very kind of you to say so," Yorke said; "and as a beginning, I hope you will in future call me by my Christian name. I hate being called Mr. Harberton."
"It will be much pleasanter calling you Yorke," the girl said; "and, of course, you must call us Dora and Mary. And it will be so nice, when we go to England, to meet your father, and mother, and sisters. Of course, we have many acquaintances there among father's business friends, but it will be pleasant meeting people who can be real friends, and can talk about something else than mines, and levels, and reserves, and money."
"I have a bit of news to tell you, Hans, which I think will please you and Peter," Yorke said when, later in the evening, he went out to have a talk with them.
"What is that, master?"
"I am going to stay out here, Hans! and to be assistant to Mr. Chambers on the mine."
"That is good news indeed, Master Yorke. Then you are not going to be a soldier any more?"
"Only till we get to Pretoria, then I am going to resign my commission and come back here."
"And are you going to live in this house, master?"
"Yes, it has been arranged so, Hans; and that you shall take the place of the man we tied up, that is, you will have charge of the stables; and Peter will be there too, unless he makes up his mind to join his tribe again."
"I shall not do that, baas, as long as you will keep me. Some day I will go down and buy a wife, and build a little house near here. I have been so long in towns that I do not want to be a wild fellow again, and live in village kraals, and eat mealies, and have nothing to do but to walk about and carry a gun on my shoulder. A stupid life that; much rather live with baas."
The army remained but two days at Johannesburg, when, supplies having arrived, on the 3d of June, an advance was made to Leeuwkop, a distance of twelve miles. On the morning after the arrival at Johannesburg, Major Weston, with two hundred Lancers, had started to endeavour to damage the line of railway between Pretoria and Komati Poort, so as to cut off the retreat of the Boers, but they came across a strong body of the enemy, and were forced to retire, after having suffered nineteen casualties. French, with a portion of the cavalry, started on the 2nd, made a wide sweep round to the west of Pretoria, and after repulsing an attack by a strong force, established himself to the north of the town. On the 4th, the main army advanced. The Boers for a short time held the river called Six Miles Spruit, but they weresoon driven off. Some guns opened to check the pursuit, but our batteries were brought up, and speedily silenced them.
The Boers, however, menaced the flank as it advanced; and Ian Hamilton's Division, which was marching to the left of the main body, moved against them, and they fell back to Pretoria. As the army approached the town, a heavy rifle-fire was for a time opened from a ridge on which stood the great southern fort. But as the latter remained silent, it was evident that its guns had been already withdrawn, and that the opposing force was but a rear-guard posted to check our advance while the town was evacuated. This and the field-guns that supported it were soon driven off. Pole-Carew's Division, which had now come up, swept over the slopes; the forts were found to be abandoned, and the goal of the long march lay defenceless before them. Here a halt was made for the night.
After dusk, an officer with a flag of truce was sent in from the Mounted Infantry, who had taken up their post within a mile of the town, to demand its surrender. No reply was given; but at ten in the evening, the military secretary to Commandant-general Botha, with another general, brought in a letter proposing an armistice. Lord Roberts answered that surrender must be unconditional, and that an answer must be sent in before five in the morning, as the troops had been ordered to advance at daybreak. Before the time named, on the 5th of June, Botha sent in to say that he was not prepared to defend the place farther, and that he entrusted the women, children, and property to our protection. The troops at once moved up close to the town, and at three o'clock Lord Roberts arrived at the head of two divisions.
The British flag was hoisted, and the troops marched past. The general established his head-quarters at the British Agency. The 15th Brigade was told off to garrison the town, Major-general Maxwell being appointed military governor. A hundred and fifty-eight officers and over three thousandmen were found in the prisons, but nine hundred had been carried off by the Boers in their retreat. Orders were given that these released prisoners should at once be reclothed and armed, and sent down to form part of the force guarding the line of railway.
Mr. Kruger had fled before the arrival of the British army, and showed, by leaving his wife behind him, as also did General Botha, that he had no belief whatever in the atrocious calumnies the former had invented regarding the conduct of our troops. Before leaving, Kruger carried off the money in the banks, and the state treasure, and did not even pay the officials the salaries due to them. After all his boasting, that if the British ever entered Pretoria they would find him sitting in front of his house, his despicable conduct when danger approached was only what was to be expected from a man whose folly and ambition had brought ruin on the people over whom he ruled, and who had trusted him only too blindly.
CHAPTER XXI
SETTLED
Although Pretoria was taken, Yorke felt that he could not as yet offer his resignation. The position was still a serious one. Botha had retreated but fifteen miles away, and had taken up an extremely strong position, with fifteen thousand men under his command. The line of railway ran through it, and from this he could obtain supplies from his rear, and if need be, send off heavy guns and stores. The army of General Roberts had dwindled as it advanced. Garrisons had had to be left at the bridges and important stations. A brigade garrisoned Johannesburg, and another Pretoria. The disease which had played such havoc at Bloemfontein had accompanied the army, and had thinnedits ranks. He had but fifteen thousand men available for striking his blow, and the cavalry horses were again almost unfit for service.
In the Orange River Colony De Wet had some eight thousand or ten thousand mounted men under him, and was raiding the whole country, capturing towns and threatening lines of railway. The bright side of the picture was that Buller was now advancing, and might soon be expected to clear out the Boers opposed to him, enter the Transvaal, and relieve the pressure. On the 7th came the news that De Wet, with two thousand men, had cut the line of railway and telegraph to the north of Kroonstad. Fortunately, sufficient supplies had been found in the town to enable the army to subsist for a few days. Had Botha retreated to a greater distance, Lord Roberts would have waited, as he had done at Bloemfontein, for remounts, reinforcements, and stores. But with an enemy so strong, and able at any moment to take the offensive, the general felt that measures must be taken without delay to drive him away from the neighbourhood, and accordingly he went out with the troops on the 10th, and next morning attacked the Boers.
The position held by the enemy was on a long range of hills that could only be turned with extreme difficulty, and the cavalry were not in a condition to execute so extensive a movement. French, with two brigades and Hutton's Mounted Infantry, was to work round to the north-east of the enemy's position. Two other cavalry brigades under Broadwood, with Ian Hamilton's column, were to advance on the right. No attack was to be made on the centre, as the position there was so extremely strong that it would be impossible to carry it without great loss of life. As it turned out, the Boers had posted but a small force there, having determined upon adopting our tactics and falling upon both our flanks while we were engaged in an attack on their centre. Both armies, therefore, unknown to each other, massed a great force upon each flank.
The two cavalry columns first came into action with the enemy. French found himself speedily met by so formidable a force, that he was unable with the two thousand men under him to move forward. He was attacked in front, rear, and flank. The country was altogether too broken for the action of cavalry, and his men, therefore, fought dismounted and in open order, and, aided by the three horse-artillery batteries, they kept the enemy at a distance all day. Unable to advance, however, French made no attempt to retreat, knowing that, unless he held fast, the Boers would be able to throw their whole strength against the other wing, which, as could be heard by the distant firing, was hotly engaged. Night came on before the firing ceased, and the wearied men slept where they lay, and, renewing the fight in the morning, maintained their position all day.
On the other flank, Broadwood had been equally hotly engaged, and with difficulty held his own, being hardly pressed by a heavy artillery fire from front and left, while on his right rear a Boer commando attacked him fiercely. This force was with difficulty kept back by the fire of a battery of Royal Artillery, the same battery which had suffered so heavily at Sanna's Post; but as these assailants retired, another commando came up and pressed them hotly. These were charged in gallant style by the 12th Lancers, who, though their horses were weak, fairly rode over the mounted Boers and drove them to flight. The guns were saved, but when, after the charge, the cavalry re-formed, they were swept by a storm of bullets from the Boer marksmen. Lord Airlie, their colonel, with two officers and seventeen men, were killed or wounded, the former being shot through the heart.
Another threatened attack was repulsed by the Life Guards, and for a time the force was exposed only to the fire of the enemy's artillery. Hamilton's Infantry came up to the support of the brigade. As it was now late, Lord Roberts determined to postpone the general attack until thenext morning. Although they had gained some ground, the day's fighting had not been attended with much valuable result, except that Lord Roberts had now thoroughly ascertained the nature of the Boer position, and had determined upon the point against which the decisive assault must be made the next day. This point was Diamond Hill. In the morning the Guards Brigade with two Naval twelve-pounders reinforced Hamilton, and its commander was ordered to move against Diamond Hill, and then down towards the railway to threaten the line of retreat should the Boers maintain themselves in other positions. Hamilton told off one of the cavalry brigades, with an infantry battalion, to guard his right rear, and the other brigade, with some mounted infantry, to cover his right flank, while with the Sussex and Derbyshire regiments, and the City Imperial Volunteers and the field-battery, he advanced about midday against the Boer position.
He was met by a heavy fire on both flanks, and a continuous infantry fire from the hill in front. The infantry moved steadily forward, with the Guards Brigade in close support behind, and by two o'clock the position was carried, the Boers falling back to a hill covering the railway. After two hours' fighting, the infantry won their way to the crest of the new position. Here they were exposed to a terrible fire, and with difficulty maintained their position. The Boer guns pounded their line, while a heavy rifle fire swept them with a storm of lead, and there was nothing to be done but to lie still and return the fire as best they could until aid came up. Meanwhile the artillerymen were working with might and main to get the guns up the precipitous hill. One battery at last succeeded, and although the men fell fast, the guns were unlimbered and opened fire upon the enemy's batteries. Not, however, until two other batteries had been got up the hill and brought into action did the combat become equal, and as the afternoon wore on, theaccuracy with which our shrapnel burst began to keep down the Boer fire.
General Roberts decided that it was too late to undertake further offensive movements over unknown ground, and made his disposition for a final advance on the following morning. When day dawned, however, it was found that the enemy had withdrawn. The cavalry set out in pursuit, without much hope of success, as their wearied horses were scarce able to carry the weight of their riders and equipments. A hundred West Australians, however, better mounted perhaps than the rest of the cavalry, and more lightly equipped, followed the enemy up for twenty-five miles, and gained a kopje near which the Boers were retreating. As long as their ammunition lasted they kept up a constant fire, killing a number of men and horses. It was singular that this punishment was inflicted upon the Boers at the very spot where they had treacherously surprised and massacred a British regiment on the march nineteen years before.
On the day after the victory the army marched back to Pretoria, having freed itself from the danger of immediate attack. The railway communications were now restored. Lord Methuen, on the 11th of June, attacked and defeated the commando of De Wet, and the garrisons along the line were materially strengthened. Buller, while the engagement at Diamond Hill had been going on, had, by some severe fighting, defeated the Boers posted on a strong position at Aliwal's Nek, and the same evening established his head-quarters at Joubert's farm, four miles north of Volksrust, the border town of the Transvaal.
Yorke had been busily engaged during the two days' battle, and had had several narrow escapes from the enemy's shot. Twice, before the guns were brought to the crest, he had made his way up the hill on foot to ascertain how matters were going there. A ball had passed through his helmet,and another smashed his field-glasses. He was, however, untouched, and when the day was over, he felt that he could now resign his commission without any appearance of want of zeal. When, therefore, General Roberts sent for him in the morning, after their return to Pretoria, he determined to speak to him at once.
"I have called you, Mr. Harberton, to tell you that I have just heard of another vacancy in your regiment, which will give you your step. I congratulate you upon it heartily, and I only wish that it had been from lieutenant to captain, in which case I should have pleasure in warmly recommending you for a brevet majority."
"I am very much obliged to you, sir, and your kindness makes it all the harder for me to say what is in my mind. I am desirous of resigning my commission. I only accepted it for service during the war, and although the war is not yet over, its end appears so near at hand that I feel that my object in resigning my commission will not be misinterpreted. You may remember, sir, that, when I had the honour of relating to you the story of my escape from prison here, I mentioned to you that I had been able to render some service to Mr. Chambers, the managing director of the Parfontein mine. I saw him as I passed through Bloemfontein, and he has been good enough to offer me a post as his assistant, which is likely to lead to great advantages. He will himself be returning to England with his family when things have quieted down, and is anxious that I should go to him as soon as possible in order that he may give me such instructions as will enable him to leave matters in my hands while he is away. I had in no case thought of remaining in the army, as I have no private means, and came out here to make my way in business. I should certainly have preferred to stay on until the end of the campaign, but the offer made me is so advantageous, that I am anxious to avail myself of it."
"Quite right, Harberton," the general said. "You havealready shown that you possess all the qualifications required in an officer of the army, but it might be a long time before you had again such opportunities as those of which you have so brilliantly availed yourself during this war. I think your decision is a very wise one. You have done your share, and more than your share, in the events of the war, and have very markedly distinguished yourself. It shows that you have as much common sense as courage and quickness in making such a decision. Many a young officer, if he had gained as much credit as you, would have had his head turned, and refused even the most dazzling offer, with the result that years afterwards, when living in the dull monotony of a garrison town, he might bitterly regret having thrown away so valuable a chance. Personally, I cannot accept your resignation, but I can give you leave of absence until your name appears in theGazette; and I do so all the more willingly as it is likely that we shall have a halt here for some weeks before we can obtain remounts and reinforcements. In sending home my despatches, which I shall do in the course of a day or two, I shall certainly mention you as having performed exceptionally brilliant service. Should you, while I am at Pretoria, have occasion to come here, I shall at all times be glad to see you. I suppose your servant will also want his discharge?"
"If you please, sir; he is still, I suppose, on the books of the Cape Town Rifles. He was not transferred to the Lancers."
Again thanking Lord Roberts for his kindness, Yorke retired, and half an hour later started with Hans and Peter for Johannesburg, where they arrived that afternoon.
"Welcome back!" Mr. Chambers said as he came out on hearing them ride up. "We have been thinking about you very anxiously since we heard that there had been a two-days' battle and very hard fighting, and knew that as an aide-de-camp you would be galloping about with orders in the very thick of it."
"It was pretty tough work," Yorke said, "and, as you see, my helmet and field-glasses have suffered, but I had not even a scratch."
"Thank God for that! Are you here on duty, or have you come for good?"
"I am here for good, sir. I sent in my resignation this morning, and Lord Roberts has given me leave of absence until it appears in theGazette, which will of course be some time hence, as letters will have to go and return, and they do not hurry things at Pall Mall."
"That is good news indeed. We shall all be delighted to have you here; and you must look upon our home as your home now, you know."
On the following morning Yorke went into the town and ordered civilian clothes for himself and Hans, and bought a suitable attire for Peter, and on his return began work by descending the mine with Mr. Chambers. He threw himself into the work with his usual energy, and during the next two months paid a visit to every mine in the neighbourhood, Mr. Chambers explaining to him the run of the lodes, the reason why every level and heading was driven, the steps to be taken for extending work and endeavouring to discover other lodes. Before descending, Mr. Chambers showed him the plan of the workings, so that he could the better understand them when he went below. When not so engaged he was instructed in the nature of the books kept, and of the duties performed by the various officials of the mines.
"You will understand, Yorke, that the question of driving levels and carrying on the working is in the hands of the underground manager, and is always discussed with me prior to any new steps being taken, but this matter is not really difficult. It is only on locating fresh lodes, determining their value, and how they had best be worked, that geological knowledge is much required. The discovery is first made by men thoroughly acquainted with the country.After determining that the nature of the ground is favourable, they sink a small shaft twenty or thirty feet deep on the lode. The samples are taken to the assaye office in the town, and the proportion of gold to a ton ascertained there. The assaye value is always considerably larger than it will turn out on actual working, as much fine gold is lost in stamping and other processes, though the greatest care is exercised. Still, if the assaye product is, say, three ounces to the ton, it may be safely calculated that the actual working will yield at least two and a half ounces. However, you will not have to deal with this question. You have a well-established mine on a fine lode, and it would be difficult to make any serious mistake."
In the meantime scarcely a day had passed without news of fighting in the south, attended by varied fortune. De Wet, in spite of his rapid movements, had not been able to seriously injure the railway, and had several times been met and sharply repulsed; but, on the other hand, Delarey had gained a success at Nitral's Nek, eighteen miles west of Pretoria; and Grobler had cut up some cavalry to the north of the town, while twenty miles away a body of troops of the 19th Brigade had been very roughly used on the same day. On the 16th of July, Botha took the offensive and endeavoured to carry the British positions round Pretoria, but was repulsed with considerable loss. There had been a good deal of fighting farther west, and also near Rustenburg. In August the area of resistance became still more extensive and active, for Lord Roberts was accumulating as large a force as possible at Pretoria to clear the main Boer army off the railway leading to Delagoa Bay, and the forces elsewhere were necessarily decreased.
One evening early in August, Yorke, after dinner, went out to the harness-room as usual to have a talk with Hans, and smoke a pipe by the bright fire that was always maintained there during the hard weather.
"There is something I have to tell you, Master Yorke,"Hans said. "Peter came back from the town ten minutes ago. He went in at two o'clock, and I had begun to wonder what he was doing there so long. He tells me that this afternoon he saw Dirck Jansen, and the two men who were with him in that affair at Colesberg, in the street."
"He did, Hans? Then we must be on the look-out. Dirck can be here for no good purpose; and I should not be surprised if he has come to carry out his old grudge against me; though how he can tell that I am here is more than I can imagine. Of course they were together?"
"No; they were not far apart, but as they passed each other they neither spoke nor looked as if they were acquainted. They were not dressed as usual. Peter says Dirck was got up like a town Dutchman, and the other two like Uitlander workmen. I don't suppose we should have recognized the two men, though I should know Dirck anywhere. But Peter, like all the natives, never seems to forget a face he has once seen, and he is positive about them."
"I wish he had come back and told me at once, Hans. I don't know what I could have done, but I certainly should have had him arrested, because he is a British subject and a rebel, and we are in a position to show that he was actually in arms against us. He can have no protection papers to show that he had permission to return to his farm, and he would have great difficulty in explaining what he was doing here. At any rate, I could have got him a term of imprisonment, though I do not know that that would be much good; it would only add one more to what he considers his grievances against me. As to the other two men, I could do nothing; they are probably Orange River Colony men, and being unarmed and conducting themselves peaceably, could scarcely be arrested. Still, I wonder Peter did not come straight back. Bring him in here, Hans; I should like to question him myself.
"Sit down, Peter, and go on with your pipe," Yorke said when the Kaffir came in. "So you saw Jansen and thetwo men who were with him at Colesberg in the streets this afternoon?"
"Yes, baas."
"And they were not together, and did not seem to notice each other?"
"That is just so, master."
"I wonder that you did not come and tell me at once."
"I knew you were out with Baas Chambers. You rode away just before I started."
"So I did, Peter; I forgot that. We did not get back till just before dinner. I remember now that I rather wondered that Hans came and took our horses instead of you."
"As I knew you were away," the Kaffir went on, "I said to myself: 'No use going home. Better see what these fellows are here for; they are bad men. Dirck Jansen hates Baas Yorke; must look after him.' I had no fear they would know me, they only see me a little time; one Kaffir boy just like another, they never give me a thought. I watch and watch. Dirck went twice into a bar and had drinks; the others went in once, but never together. At six o'clock they all went to railway-station; I go there too. You know every evening one train runs to Pretoria. They all take tickets and get in, but not sit together. If I had had money in my pocket I would have gone too; but you know I never carry money, so that if I smell spirit, and want to break my promise, I can't do it. So, as I could not go with them, I thought it best to come here and tell you about it, then you can settle what is best thing to do. It not safe for you, baas, now this fellow about. Peter remembers his face when he saw you in that yard. He hates you, and would kill you whenever he had the chance."
"That is certainly so, Peter. No doubt they have gone to Pretoria to find me. They may have found out, from questioning men who have been taken prisoners, that I was on General Roberts's staff. Soldiers might not know me, but officers would know my name, and Dirck is crafty enoughto get the information he requires. I must think over what had best be done."
He sat for four or five minutes looking into the fire.
"It is clear," he said at last, "that I cannot sit quiet and let him hunt me down. He would have no difficulty about finding me. He would only have to go up to a staff-officer and say simply that he was an old acquaintance of mine and wished to see me, and he would be told at once that I had left the army and was here with Mr. Chambers; then he would only have to wait to get a shot at me. This time he would choose a hiding-place so close to the road that he could not miss me. We must hunt him down while he is tracking me, and the sooner we set about it the better. We must ride over, Hans, there is only that one train that takes passengers."
"I will start to-night, baas," Peter said. "Only thirty miles. I will sleep till twelve o'clock and shall be there by seven. What time you get there?"
"I shall set out directly after breakfast, say, at nine o'clock, and, riding fast, shall reach Pretoria at twelve. I shall, of course, put up at the hotel in which I stopped when I was with the army."
"I will be there, baas. Perhaps I find him before that. He sure to go to street near generals, that is the place to meet officers."
"Very good, Peter; I think now that we can reckon on catching him before he catches me. He does not know that he is being hunted; we know that he is hunting us. That gives us a tremendous advantage. But we must not be in too great a hurry; he is a deep fellow, and may be here on some other business. If so, he will probably finish that before he returns to Johannesburg. At any rate, we will watch him until we see what his game is. You will have to do this principally, Peter, for, of course, he knows both Hans and myself."
"I will watch him, baas. I will take my old clothes withme to-night, so that I can change them when I like. He might notice me if he saw me often near him in same clothes."
"That is a very good idea, Peter. Now, I don't know that I have any further instructions to give you."
Joining Mr. Chambers, Yorke told him what had happened and what he proposed to do.
"I think your plan a very good one. As you say, I have no doubt his chief aim in coming here is to endeavour to find you out and kill you. If that were his only object, I should say go straight to the head of the police, who is, I suppose, the provost-marshal, and have him arrested at once. But he may also be here to communicate with disaffected inhabitants. The Boers may intend making another attack upon Pretoria, and if they could arrange that at the same time there should be a rising there, and perhaps houses fired in different places so as to distract the attention of the garrison, it would certainly have a greater chance of success. Therefore, by all means carry out your plan. It would be best to say nothing about it to the ladies, it would only alarm them, and they would worry all the time you are away. I will say at breakfast that you are going to ride over to Pretoria on business, and may remain there for some days. I will mention at the same time that I am anxious to know when it is probable that we shall be able to get a few of the miners up from the Cape or Natal, so as to clear up and make preparations for a start. They will then suppose that your visit to Pretoria is in connection with that."
This was carried out, and Yorke and Hans started early the next morning, Mr. Chambers having arranged to have two of the engineers to sleep in the house during their absence. Peter met them as they rode into the yard of the hotel.
"Well, Peter, any news?"
"Yes, baas; at nine o'clock he came in front of the church. I did not see him come, I was strolling about, but just atnine o'clock I caught sight of him. He walked up and down. I say to myself, 'He waiting for those other men.' But presently a man in the uniform of a Transvaal artilleryman came along. He say something to Dirck, Dirck say one word in reply, then follow him. They walk some distance; of course, I follow; at last they go into small house half a mile from the place. They stop there two hours, then Dirck came out alone. He looked very satisfied. He walked half a mile, then met the other two men. They talked very earnest, and all seem pleased, then they separated. Dirck walked away again and went to another small house quarter of mile away, and I come to meet baas."
"Very good, Peter; it is clear that Dirck has some other business in view than that of seeking for me. I shall go and see the officer in charge of the police arrangements at once. As I know him personally, I can talk the matter over with him more comfortably than if it were a merely official business."
On sending in his card to the provost-marshal Yorke was at once admitted.
"So you are back again at Pretoria, Mr. Harberton?" the officer said as he entered. "Is it business or pleasure?"
"Business, and not of a pleasant nature. I should have come to you later to lay the matter before you, and ask you to arrest a man who, I believe, has come here for the purpose of taking my life; but this morning I have made a discovery that seems to show that the object of his visit here is of greater public interest than is my safety."
"Let me have the whole story, Mr. Harberton," the officer said; "there is nothing like getting at the bottom of affairs."
Yorke gave a short sketch of his previous experience with Dirck Jansen, and how his Kaffir boy had met him with the two men who had been overpowered by him at Colesberg.
"That certainly looks as if he had come here with the intention of avenging himself upon you, Mr. Harberton, and it was well indeed that your man recognized him. Whatyou have told me is amply sufficient for me to order his immediate arrest as a notorious rebel."
"Yes, sir, and that is what I intended to ask you to do. But the case seems to me entirely changed by what my Kaffir found out this morning, and seems to show that he is here on a more serious business." And he then told him all Peter had noticed; how he met, evidently by appointment, an officer in the uniform of the Transvaal artillery, and of their long conference together.
"That is indeed serious, Mr. Harberton," the officer said after taking a note of Yorke's report. "Did the Kaffir say anything about the personal appearance of this officer? A score of them are in the town on parole."
Yorke repeated the account he had obtained from Peter of the man's appearance, and the address of the house they went to.
"That settles it," the officer said. "The man is Lieutenant Hans Cordua, a German. We are already watching him, and I am surprised that I have not already a report of this interview. We have received information from a man who is trusted by them that a plot is in progress, the object of which is to get up a sudden rising in the town, set fire to houses in various quarters, kidnap General Roberts in the confusion, and murder all the officers as they issue from their houses. We know that Botha has been in communication with him, and has been asked to bring up a large force close to the town on the night when the affair is to take place; and I have no doubt that this man, who is evidently a fanatic, is here in reference to the arrangements. I am only waiting until I hear that a definite date has been fixed upon, to arrest Cordua and the other leaders of the affair.
"It is a desperate scheme, but might, had we not heard of it, have been attended with some success. It has not advanced very far as yet—that is, the leaders have not yet taken any steps to excite this rising. They may considerthat this could be done in a very few hours; there are certainly three or four thousand men in the town who would be likely to join heartily in such an enterprise. About half these are Dutch, the others low-class Germans, Irish, and French. They are all against us: in the first place, from an intense hatred of us; and in the second place, because the stoppage of the mines, the cessation of all trade, and the departure of all the employers of labour, together with the dearth of provisions, have deprived them of the casual employment upon which they subsisted.
"A few of them are working-men in the true sense of the term, and certainly a good many were employed upon the railroads and in the various railway yards. These men are ripe for anything in the way of mischief, and if a whisper were passed round but a few hours before the rising is to take place they would join to a man. Our discoveries at present are a profound secret, though, of course, the military commandant and the adjutant-general have been informed of them, and we are to have a consultation at the commandant's this afternoon. The news you have brought, that an emissary from without has arrived last night, and has had an interview with Cordua to-day, will probably precipitate matters, and I should not be surprised if Cordua and those concerned are arrested this evening. It would be as well that your men should continue their watch over this fellow Dirck Jansen, and I should be glad if you will return here at six o'clock, as you may be required to identify him."
"I would rather not appear in the matter personally if it can be avoided, because, badly as he has turned out, he is, as I told you, a nephew of my cousin's wife."
"I will take care that you shall not do so more than is absolutely necessary. The evidence of your man, that he is a farmer from the neighbourhood of Richmond, and notorious for his pro-Boer feelings, and that he was with the rebels at Colesberg, would probably be sufficient, corroborated, as it would be as to the latter portion, by your Kaffir, who couldalso prove that he met Cordua by appointment, and went with him to his house. He would probably not attempt to deny these points, and would find it hard to give any explanation of his present visit here. Of course, if he brought any document from Botha, we may find it when Cordua's lodging is searched. If not, he probably will get off with a few months' imprisonment as a notorious rebel."
"Very well, sir, I will call again at six o'clock."
Peter went on watch again, and just before Yorke was about to call on the provost-marshal, met him with the news that Dirck had been hanging about head-quarters, had addressed a staff officer who came out, and that the latter had taken out a pocket-book, written a few words upon a page, torn it out and given it to Dirck. When Peter left him he had just entered a small German beer-shop a hundred yards away.
When Yorke entered the provost-marshal's room the latter said: "We are going to make the arrest in half an hour's time, Mr. Harberton. We are agreed that the crisis might at any moment come to a head, and that although, now that we are forewarned, we could doubtless suppress the rising, it could only be done at the cost of a good deal of bloodshed, and the destruction of a vast amount of property by fire. Have you any news from your boy?"
"Yes, sir, the Kaffir has been watching him all day. He has had no communication with anyone, except that he accosted a staff officer, and the latter wrote a few words on a piece of paper and gave it him. That, I have no question, was my address, and bears out my idea that he came here with the twofold object of arranging about this plot, and the time when it was to be carried out, and to satisfy his desire for vengeance upon myself."
"Well, we will put a stop to both these matters this evening. I will send six men with an officer to seize him at this café, if he remains there. At the same time, the parties will start to arrest the others; they have been watched all day,and we know where to lay hands upon them. The arrests must be made simultaneously, for the others would fly at once if they heard that any one of their fellow conspirators had been taken prisoner. As you do not wish to appear in the affair, your man had better accompany the party to this café, if he is still there, to point him out to the soldiers."
"Thank you, sir! I sent my Kaffir boy back to the beer-shop, and Hans has gone with him; he will at once bring me news here if he comes out. But I should hardly think that he will be likely to do so—unless, of course, he has an appointment with Cordua later—as, when a Boer sits down to drink, he generally makes an evening of it. However, I will go down now and bring Hans here to lead the party of soldiers."
Half an hour later several parties of soldiers, each accompanied by an officer, started from the police station. Hans joined the one that was to arrest Dirck, Yorke followed at a short distance. Hans entered the beer saloon with the officer, and, pointing to Dirck, said, "That is the man, sir."
"I arrest you, Dirck Jansen," the officer said, "on the charge of being a rebel, who has borne arms against our troops, and of now being concerned in a conspiracy to effect a rising in this town."
Dirck leaped to his feet with a fierce oath; but the officer, warned of the desperate character of the man, had given orders to the soldiers who accompanied him, and two rifles were levelled at him. With another curse Dirck said, "I surrender."
"There is a pistol in the fellow's jacket," the officer said. "Just search his pockets, sergeant."
The latter did so, as Dirck remained silent and sullen, and a loaded revolver was produced from his pocket. "Now, put the prisoner in the centre of the squad, sergeant; he is to be marched to the prison at once."
As they came along past the spot where Yorke was standing, some forty yards away, Dirck recognized him by thelight of a shop window close by. He uttered a hoarse shout of rage, snatched a knife that was hidden in his trousers-belt, burst through the soldiers, and rushed at Yorke. The latter was unarmed, but he stood still, bracing himself to meet the attack. Dirck was within six feet of him when three shots rang out. The officer had used his revolver, and two of the men their rifles. All three bullets took effect, and Dirck fell dead at Yorke's feet.