"TEA FOR TWO"
It was at the time when the northern territories were being swept by
the enemy for the first time that Mrs. van Warmelo heard that a
relative of hers had been put over the border, and was staying with
her husband at the Grand Hotel in Pretoria.
She therefore asked Hansie to call at the hotel to inquire whether she
could be of any assistance to them in their trouble, and Hansie donned
her prettiest frock that very afternoon on her "calling" expedition,
Carlo walking with unusual sedateness by her side.
"We'll go and see General Maxwell too this afternoon, Carlo," she
said, "and see whether we can get that permit. Always put on your best
clothes when you go to the Military Governor, my boy. You'll find that
Tommy Atkins never keeps you waiting then."
Arrived at the hotel, she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten
her young relative's name, and did not know whom to ask for.
She was waited upon by a hall-porter, who watched her with a face of
stolid patience while she searched her memory for the forgotten name.
At last she said: "The lady I want was a Miss Maré, but she has
married an Englishman since last I saw her, and I have forgotten his
name. Can you tell me whether there is a young couple with a baby,
from Zoutpansberg, staying at the hotel?"
"I'll find out, miss."
He came back with the information that there were four young couples
from Zoutpansberg, each with a baby.
Hansie wondered that he did not smile.
"Are they all in?" she asked.
"Some are in and some are out," he said.
Suddenly he seemed to wake up.
"Would it be any help if I told you their names?" he inquired.
"Yes, indeed," she exclaimed; "I would know the name at once if I
heard it."
He brought her the book in which the names of visitors were entered,
and read one name after the other slowly.
"That's it," Hansie said. "Knevitt! Is Mrs. Knevitt in?"
"No, miss, she is out, and I happen to know that she is leaving again
soon. They only arrived yesterday. They were put over the border by
the Boers."
"I don't understand," Hansie answered.
"Don't you see, miss? The Boers are still in possession of
Pietersburg, and Mr. Knevitt, as a British subject, has been put over
the border."
"Oh yes, I see. Well, will you please give these cards to Mrs. Knevitt
when she comes in?"
Once on the street, Hansie again addressed herself to her faithful
companion:
"It is not hard to believe that the world is turning round, Carlo,
when one has to believe that Pretoria is the other side of one's own
border. I wonder what our next sensation is to be."
She was soon to find out.
The Military Governor was engaged, and she was shown into the office
of an under official, a tall, fair man whose name she did not catch.
She was politely asked to take a seat and the nature of her business
inquired into.
The tall, fair man bent over some papers he had before him and toyed
with a gold pencil, while she stated her case as clearly and concisely
as she could.
He asked her a few questions, with long pauses in between, and again
bent over his papers, making pencil marks and turning the pages over
slowly.
The silvery chime of a tiny clock told the hour of five.
"You--er--will have some tea?"
"No, thank you," surprised.
A moment's silence, then he pressed an electric bell at his right
hand.
An immaculate "Buttons" instantly appeared.
"Tea for two," the officer commanded, without raising his head.
Buttons disappeared, to return in an incredibly short time, bearing
aloft a well-appointed _tête-à-tête_.
When he had withdrawn, the hospitable officer, of whom it could well
be said that "he had a teapot in his soul," poured out two cups of tea
with an abstracted air, pushed one towards Hansie with his right hand,
while he slowly stirred his own with his left.
"Have some tea," he said persuasively.
There was no answer, and he again bent over the work with which he was
occupied.
Hansie got up quietly and left the room, but she had not gone many
yards in the long corridor before she became aware of hurried
footsteps following.
It was the tall officer, very straight now, who called out to her:
"Stop, stop a moment. Where are you going?"
Without turning round she replied:
"To General Maxwell. He _never_ keeps me waiting," and walked on
rapidly.
"Don't go," he implored. "Come back to my office. I have your permits
quite ready for you. I was busy with them all the time."
She turned round slowly and walked back with him to his office.
"Thank you _very_ much," she said as she took the papers from his
hand.
He opened the door for her with exaggerated courtesy, and she went on
her way, brimming over with delight.
"I missed two teas this afternoon, but I got my permits and came off
with flying colours," she confided to her dumb companion. "Let us go
home and tell the mother all about it, Carlo mine."