the one hundred and four telegrams which had accumulated in
forty-eight hours. It will suffice to state that ninety-seven were
relegated to the "bunkum" pocket, and seven retained as conveying
intelligent orders worthy of consideration. It is superfluous to
mention that the whole of the messages sent by the local intelligence
departments and by the De Wet expert were dismissed as "bunkum," often
without perusal. As the brigadier pertinently remarked: "I suppose
that the poor fellows have to justify their existence as members of
the great brain-system of the army. The only means by which they come
into prominence is by squandering the public money, and they only hurt
those who take their information seriously. They do you no harm if you
consistently ignore their existence, and don't worry to read their
messages."
The sum-total of the messages of instruction which the brigadier had
so quaintly filed as "business-material" was information from the
Chief, Pretoria, that the plan of the operations was changed. That our
general was to co-operate--a word of very elastic meaning, and
responsible for much velvet-covered mutiny during the present
campaign--with the columns in his neighbourhood which, over and above
the skeleton of the New Cavalry Brigade, had concentrated that day at
Britstown. A message in cipher gave an inkling of the plan which had
risen phoenix-like out of the ashes of the original dispositions. De
Wet, instead of being enticed south, was to be driven north into the
loop of the Orange River between Prieska and Hopetown, where Charles
Knox's column and a column of Kimberley swashbucklers would be ready
for him. The Britstown columns, and the brigadier of the New Cavalry
Brigade co-operating, would push north--wheel into line with the
panting Plumer, now north of Strydenburg, and then "Forward away!"
Now, just as the original scheme had, when on paper, presented a very
reasonable and common-sense stratagem, so with the new incubation. But
there were three main factors over which the gilt cap at Pretoria had
no control, and which dished this, as they have dished ninety-nine out
of every hundred of schemes which were undertaken during the guerilla
war. The first of these three lay in the fact that the strategy was a
conformation to the enemy's movements. This naturally gave him time to
think and to develop his counter-move, with all advantages in the
balance. No. 2 is to be found in the timidity of certain of the column
commanders. Men who proverbially take every opportunity of sacrificing
the main issue to pursue some subsidiary policy. Men whom De Wet
loves, and whom he plays with, decoys, and bluffs until he achieves
his object. Men whose heart will not take them, like Plumer,
"slap-bang" along the course which must lead to heavy conclusions, if
the enemy will fight; but who prefer to fritter away the _morale_ and
efficiency of their columns in pursuing a phantom enemy. Choosing a
country in which an enemy as sagacious as the Boer would never
operate, these men are careful not to leave the security it affords,
though their telegrams to headquarters build up the statistics which
have misled our calculations throughout the war. The third reason is
just as deplorable. It is the passive resistance evinced between
column commanders, who are called upon to co-operate. These leaders,
instead of sinking all differences in one common objective, work
rather as if they were employed in a business competition. And why is
this? Ask of the man in Pretoria with his hand on the tiller. Is not
centralisation the cause of it all? Does not the centralisation of the
guiding authority mean that all success is judged by personal
results,--that the "brave" is selected for preferment who can claim to
have the most scalps dangling from his waist-belt. This is the nature
of the war for which the British nation is content to pay many
millions a-month!
* * * * *
"Please, sir, can I speak to you a moment?" The Tiger stood in the
doorway of the hotel dining-room.
"Anything serious?" asked the Intelligence officer.
"I have made a discovery."
"Can you spare me, sir?" (_to the Brigadier._)
"For half an hour. I am going down to the commandant's office to see
the general. Meet me there in half an hour."
"What is it, Tiger?"
"I will now show you something which will open your eyes. Something
which will show you how this game is worked. It is only about two
minutes' walk from here."
As the Intelligence officer and the Tiger made their way down the main
street, it would have required no great strain upon the imagination to
have fancied that the town had recently been carried by assault, and
the victorious troops allowed the licence consequent upon street
fighting. Even in the few short hours of occupation debauchery had had
its way. Drunkenness is the worst attribute of irregular soldiering
upon five shillings a-day. If the Colonial has money he will drink.
Where the average white man greets a friend and acquaintance with a
hand-shake, the South African Colonial calls him to the nearest bar,
and they drink their salutation. When half-a-dozen Colonial Corps "off
the trek" meet in a wayside township, they turn it into an Inferno.
Here they were crowding in and out of the houses in drunken hilarity.
The townsfolk, delighted at their opportune arrival when Brand was at
their gates, ply them with the spurious spirit which passes for whisky
in South Africa. If the spirit is there, no amount of military
precaution will prevent the Colonial trooper from securing it. You
cannot place whole regiments--officers and men alike--under arrest.
And when a Colonial regiment is "going large," in the majority of
cases it would baffle any but an expert to distinguish officer from
man. And while young men in smasher hats fall over each other in the
streets, the sober British troops look solidly on and wonder. Some, it
is true, fall away with the rioters. But they are few. Discipline and
want of means buoy them at least upon a surface of virtue. Yet, be it
said to the credit of these roysterers in town, the man who drinks
the hardest in the afternoon will follow you the straightest in the
morning!
The Intelligence officer and the Tiger had arrived at a little cottage
on the outskirts of the town. A primitive yet pretty dwelling--a toy
villa of tin.
"Go in," said the Tiger.
The Intelligence officer knocked and entered. He was met with a smile
by the pretty Dutch girl with the great blue eyes, who had so played
upon his feelings at Richmond Road.
"Miss Pretorius!"
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Water dam or pool.
[18] When out with a column men were often weeks before they knew what
the Gazette had given them.
[19] Colloquial Hindustani--bullock hackney carriage.
[20] Boer method of assessing distances.
[21] Sitting-room.
[22] Village.
V.
A NEW CAST.
For the moment the Intelligence officer could ill disguise his
astonishment. Here, standing in front of him, was the girl who had
taught him his first lesson in staff jurisprudence. The memory of the
incidents at the farmhouse, her petulance with the Tiger, her tears
for her lover, had been almost effaced by the vicissitudes of the last
forty-eight hours. If he had ever thought of the girl at all, it had
been in the same spirit as a mariner recalls a passing ship, whose
shapely lines were barely distinguishable in the night. His surprise
was such that he could only marvel that while, travel-stained and
dishevelled, he had arrived at Britstown with an effort, she had
already reached that goal, and, to judge from the studied neatness of
her attire, had reached it with consummate ease. Her smile and
attitude as she held out her hand to her visitor expressed
satisfaction at the meeting--a satisfaction tempered with a
determination to show a front which should declare a full measure of
resistance. Taking advantage of his officer's surprise, the Tiger
discreetly withdrew.
_Intelligence Officer._ "Miss Pretorius,--how did you get here?"
_Miss Pretorius._ "Quite simply. Partly on horseback, partly in a Cape
cart."
_I. O._ (_recovering somewhat_) "Naturally; I did not anticipate that
you had walked. But with what object?"
_Miss P._ (_the corners of her pretty mouth sinking in defiance_) "I
might easily have walked, and arrived before a British column. As to
my object in coming here, surely your Africander spy has informed
you?"
_I. O._ "If you mean the Tiger, he has told me nothing!"
_Miss P._ "And may I also ask something,--What authority have you to
put me such a question? At the institution which prided itself in
teaching me--an Africander girl--the manners and customs of the
English, they were emphatic upon the impertinence of asking personal
questions."
_I. O._ "I must apologise, Miss Pretorius. But the circumstances are
hardly normal. We cannot get away from the fact that we are influenced
against our better natures by an unfortunate state of war."
_Miss P._ (_petulantly_) "Oh, the war! That is just like you
Englishmen--you paragons of manly virtue--you make the war a cloak for
all your sins. It is such an upright war, therefore in its furtherance
you can do no wrong--cannot even be unmannerly. It is this that has
made you so beloved in the Republics; but how does your attitude hold
good with me? I am a loyal British subject, living at peace with all
men in a British colony. What right, therefore, have you to catechise
me as to my goings and comings? I do not even live within the
legitimate area of your so-called just war. I am only exposed to its
rigours--that is, as far as the insolence of those who should be our
defenders affects us women--because you English, in spite of your
vaunted power and military magnitude, cannot defend us, your
Africander dependants, from a few simple farmers. Where is your
manhood, where the courtly bearing of the Englishman, of which I have
heard so much--and seen so little?"
_I. O._ "Really, Miss Pretorius, if I may say so, I think that you
exaggerate the case. Unfortunately we are at war. You claim
consideration on the score of loyalty. Are you astonished that I
should have mistaken your attitude towards us? Your two brothers only
yesterday were in arms against us. One is wounded, the other a
prisoner in our hands. Is it surprising that I regarded you as their
accomplice in rebellion?"
_Miss P._ "I am surprised at nothing that an Englishman may do. But
why should I be compromised because my brothers have taken up arms
against you. Am I not of an age to formulate opinions of my own? or is
it that you consider that we poor Africander girls have no
intelligence, that our opinions must of necessity be bound up in those
of our men-folk, that we have no mind above the duties of the drudging
_hausfrau_? No, sir; I am an Africander loyalist--more loyal by far
than the renegade white who brought you here. And if you wish to know
the reason of my presence at Britstown, I am not averse to telling
you, provided you will not claim to have the information as a right."
_I. O._ (_with a touch of penitence in his voice, which for a moment
caused a smile to flicker round the corners of the girl's mouth_) "Of
course, Miss Pretorius, I have no right. You will persist in
misunderstanding me."
_Miss P._ "It is a simple problem. I am loyal, as I have said; but I
am a daughter and sister first, patriot later. In a fit of meaningless
bravado, tempered perhaps by some compulsion from over the border, my
old father and brothers had joined a rebel commando. You, with a
naïveté which I had hardly expected in you, and for which I liked you,
told me the objective of your column--information which meant
everything to me, and perhaps to you, for you looked as if you would
have liked to have bitten your tongue out after you had parted with
it. I, with the honest intention of saving my father and brothers from
you, rode out to them that night. I then knew nothing of Lotter's and
Hertzog's men. If it had not been for the fighting, I should be now
back again at Richmond Road. As it is, my poor wounded father in the
next room is sufficient reason for my presence here."
_I. O._ (_who, English-like, was all sympathy at once_) "Oh, it was
your father then that you brought with you in the Cape cart. I hope
that he is not badly wounded. May I see him?"
_Miss P._ "There would be no object in your seeing him, as he is at
present asleep. No; he is, not severely wounded. He is shot through
the shoulder,--luckily it has missed his lung."
_I. O._ (_with unaffected solicitude_) "I am indeed sorry for you,
Miss Pretorius; those last forty-eight hours have been full of trouble
for you. But I doubt if you know the worst!"
_Miss P._ (_suddenly paling, and losing for the moment her
self-control_) "The worst!--surely you have not burned our farm? You
are not burning farms in the Colony!"
_I. O._ "No, not your farm; but I am afraid your sweetheart has been
badly hit!"
_Miss P._ (_with evident relief and surprise_) "My sweetheart!"
_I. O._ "Yes; the guide whom we took from your farm. He tried to
escape, and was unfortunately shot."
_Miss P._ (_laughing outright_) "Oh, Stephanus! He is no sweetheart of
mine. How could he be? He is only a bywoner!"
_I. O._ "But you told me that he was when I first suggested taking him
with me!"
_Miss P._ "Did I? It was not the truth, then; it was only an addition
to the part I was then playing."
_I. O._ "How do I know that you are not still playing a part?"
_Miss P._ "If I am, then it is a very sad one. No; you may trust me
now. I have played my part, and if anything that I could do for you
would stop this dreadful war, I would gladly help you!"
_I. O._ "You can help me, if you will; but after what you have said
about my want of manners, I am afraid to ask you a question."
_Miss P._ "I have forgiven you that; and now that you do not claim the
right to question me, I do not mind answering you if I can!"
_I. O._ "How, if your object was to save your father, did it happen
that Lotter was informed of our presence at Richmond Road?"
_Miss P._ "I expected that you would ask that. I did not tell him
personally, nor would I in any circumstances have done so. But the
fact that I arrived in great haste in the small hours of the morning
had a peculiar meaning to the commando, and it was not necessary for
me to open my mouth. I daresay to-night there will be one hundred
Africander girls in the saddle in different parts of the Colony. When
the urgency is great, a girl is more reliable than a Kaffir. It is one
of our means of communication. There; is not that an admission worthy
of a loyal Africander?"
_I. O._ (_holding out his hand_) "Good-bye, Miss Pretorius."
* * * * *
It would have been difficult to analyse the Intelligence officer's
feelings as he strode back along the Britstown main street to keep his
appointment with his brigadier. He was at a loss to understand two
things,--the anomalism of his second meeting with the Pretorius girl,
and the latter's attitude towards the Tiger. He could not divest
himself of a feeling of suspicion that all was not quite as it
appeared. There is no walk in life which breeds distrust in one's
fellows so rapidly as that of military Intelligence. And although the
Intelligence officer had only formed an atom in this great structure
of British incompetency in South Africa for two days, yet sufficient
had been borne in upon him during this period to cause him uneasiness
as to the sincerity of motive in those that moved round him. It is
said that the only person that a race-horse trainer will trust is his
wife, and that as long as he trusts her he remains an unsuccessful
man. We cannot say what truth there may be in this ancient turf adage;
but we do know that administrative work successfully performed in the
Intelligence Department of an army in the field leads a man to place
the lowest estimate upon the integrity of his fellows. The first
lesson is of an inverse nature, and compels a man, however he may
dislike the procedure, to believe those who move about him to be
knaves, until he has had opportunity to test their honesty. Young in
his knowledge of the people against whom he had been warring for
eighteen months, the Intelligence officer was exceedingly puzzled at
the strange anomaly presented by the Africander girl he had just left.
He could not help feeling that this daughter of a nation which he had
led himself, if not to despise, at least to depreciate, had fathomed
him in two short interviews, while he had penetrated little beyond the
surface of her feminine attractions and lively wit. He was puzzled at
the outcome of his interview, even perhaps a little alarmed at the
manner in which he had been treated--shocked at the erroneous estimate
which he had formed of Dutch women after eighteen months in their
midst. But this rebuff had served its purpose: it had sown in him the
seeds of that appreciation of our enemy which will have to generally
exist if we are ultimately to live in peace and concord, united as
fellow-subjects, with the people of South Africa.
* * * * *
It was now already dark, and the Intelligence officer had some little
difficulty in finding the house in which the general had taken up his
headquarters. The main street was still full of revellers, bursting
with Colonial _bonhomie_, but strangely lacking in topographical
information. In fact it seemed doubtful if the general's house would
ever be found, and the weary Intelligence officer was rapidly losing
his temper, when chance again came to his aid. A horseman came
galloping down the street. A little man in civilian attire--all
slouch-hat and gaiter. He seemed to be in a desperate hurry, as he was
flogging his tired and mud-bespattered animal unmercifully with his
_sjambok_. It was a beaten horse; and just as it came level with the
Intelligence officer, it stumbled, half recovered itself, and then
fell heavily in a woeful heap. The Intelligence officer pulled the
little civilian on to his feet, with a soft admonition about the
riding of beaten horses. The civilian shook himself, and turned to his
prostrate horse with a curse. But the poor beast had no intention of
rising again. It had lain down to die.
"It can't be helped; the news I bring will be worth a horse or two
anyhow. I must leave it, saddle and all, until I have seen the
general."
"Do you know where to find him?" hazarded the Intelligence officer. "I
am looking for his house now."
_Civilian._ "Well, I ought to; I've not run a store in this town for
five years not to know my way about. But who may you be?"
_Intelligence Officer._ "I'm staff officer to one of the columns which
came in to-day. I've been trying to find headquarters this last ten
minutes."
_Civ._ "Come along with me. I must get there at once. I've just come
in from Houwater. I was sent out by the commandant to follow up Brand,
and I have located him and Hertzog. I tell you I have come in
fast--never went faster in my life. Devilish nearly got cut off. My
word, I bore a charmed life to-day. Well, here we are. I shall go
straight in. The new general doesn't know me, but he soon will. The
commandant knows me: he knows that when I come with news there is
something worth hearing."
The little civilian bounced up the steps and dived into the lighted
hall of the headquarter's villa, before orderly or sentry could stop
him. A tall Yeoman stepped up to the Intelligence officer, and
saluting with more dignity than alacrity said, "Beg your pardon, sir;
but I am the general's orderly, and he told me to tell you that he
would only be a few minutes here, and that if you wouldn't mind
waiting he would join you immediately."
Waiting for a general is a serious undertaking, and the Intelligence
officer was tired. Moreover, he did not know where the camp was, or
when he would be expected to take over from the chief staff officer of
the column. But on active service all these things work out in their
own time, so he just sat down on the whitewashed steps of the verandah
and lit a cigarette. The tall Yeoman orderly did likewise on the far
side of the entrance. The Intelligence officer smoked in silence for
some time, engaged in the occupation most welcomed by tired men on
service--thinking of better times--until the nightmare of the column,
the orders for the morrow, the supplies and the camp, broke in upon
his reverie.
_Intelligence Officer._ "Do you know where the camp is?"
_Orderly._ "Yes, sir; it is about half a mile from here."
_I. O._ "You can find your way there in the dark?"
_Ord._ "Yes, sir; it is straight down the main street, and then the
first to the left. It would be impossible to miss it."
_I. O._ "What do you belong to?"
_Ord._ "I don't quite know what I belong to now. I came out originally
with the 218th Company Imperial Yeomanry; but they have gone back
home."
_I. O._ "Then what are you doing out here now?"
_Ord._ "Well, you see, sir, I came to the general as orderly about
four months ago, and I liked being with him so much that I did not
rejoin the company. As a matter of fact, we were away down in Calvinia
District; I don't quite see how I could have got back to them, even if
the general would have let me go. I haven't seen the company since I
was wounded at Wittebergen seven months ago. I joined the general from
Deelfontein Hospital!"
_I. O._ "I hope that your billet has been kept open for you in
England."
_Ord._ "I sincerely trust it has, sir; but I have missed a season's
hunting. I don't intend to miss another if I can help it."
_I. O._ "The devil you don't. What do you do at home?"
_Ord._ "I hunt four days a-week in the winter, and in the----"
_I. O._ "I mean, what is your job?"
_Ord._ "I haven't much of a job, sir; I'm the junior partner in an
engineering firm, and as we do some very big things in contracts,
there isn't much left for me to do except amuse myself!"
_I. O._ "Then whatever made you come out in the ranks?"
_Ord._ "It suits me, sir. I am not fond of responsibility: besides, if
every one who could afford it had taken a commission in our company,
we should have been all officers, with no one to command!"
_I. O._ "I call it most sporting of you."
_Ord._ "No; not exactly sporting. It was no idea of sport that brought
me out here. It was a sense of duty. Were you out here, sir, during
the Black Week--the Colenso-Magersfontein period? You were. Then you
have not realised, and you never can realise, what we in England went
through during that period. I went down to my stables one morning, and
my groom came up to me and asked if he might leave at once. In answer
to my look of surprise, he said, 'It's this way, sir: I feel that the
time has come when we shall want every man who can ride and shoot to
defend the country. I can do both, and the country is not going to be
defeated because I can ride and shoot, and won't. I want to join the
Yeomanry!' I let him go, and thought over his estimate of the
situation all day. If the country's honour lay in my groom's hands,
how much more must it lie in mine--the employer of labour? I made up
my mind before dinner, told my wife before going to bed, and here I
am, sir."