Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand
occasion he had not returned from Newcastle (whither hehad gone, as was his practice, to help in the church services on aSunday) in the happiest frame of mind. Everywhere he saw the plainestindications of the mischief he had anticipated. Newcastle was full ofBoers, who had come in from the more distant parts of the Transvaal, andtheir feelings and intentions could not be mistaken: not only was revoltdesigned, but it was close at hand. He greeted George and Redgy withhis usual kindness, but his depression and vexation were evident.
"Did you know that your stepfather and mother, as well as your sister,were on the way here?" he asked, addressing Rivers.
"No, sir, I had no idea of it. I haven't had a letter for the lastfortnight; and Thyrza, from whom I heard three weeks ago, said nothingof any such intention."
"No; I imagine it must have been a hasty thought. But they arecertainly on their way to Newcastle, and will arrive in a day or two atfurthest."
"Who told you of it, sir?" asked George. "Perhaps it is some mistake."
"No, that can hardly be. It was Henryk Vander Heyden who informed me.I met him in the street at Newcastle, where he arrived two days ago.Mansen, with his wife and daughter, were to follow him very shortly.Miss Vander Heyden is to travel in their company. Her brother thoughtit better."
"What are all the ladies coming for?" inquired Redgy. "They are notgoing to fight the English, anyhow."
"No," said Mr Rogers; "but it may not be safe for them to stay behind.Nearly all the able-bodied men among the Boers will take part in therising. The Kaffirs and Hottentots would have it their own way, andthey might insult or injure the white women. I think Vander Heyden, andyour stepfather too, George, are quite right to bring their ladies withthem."
"I suppose Vander Heyden is very hot about this," suggested Rivers.
"Yes, he is determined enough, and he is a dangerous opponent to theEnglish. He is a good officer; especially, he understands hiscountrymen's mode of fighting, and knows from experience what are thefaults into which our officers are likely to fall. And he is adesperate man into the bargain."
"How so, sir? I do not understand you."
"Don't you know the story of the girl who was killed by the Zulus notlong before the battle of Isandhlwana?"
"Yes; I heard something about it, I believe, from Mr Baylen or Hardy, Idon't remember which. Some female relative of his was killed in a verybrutal manner. But they are always brutal, these Zulus."
"It was too sad a matter to be much spoken about. The lady, Lisa vanCourtlandt, had been engaged to him for some years, and he is said tohave been greatly attached to her. She had been murdered just before hecame up, and the sight of her mangled corpse drove him, they said,almost mad. It wasn't merely for the purpose of avenging her death thathe enlisted in our army--at least, so it is thought. He wanted, poorfellow, to get knocked on the head himself."
"Well, that explains what I couldn't understand before," saidMargetts,--"why he was so terribly vexed when it was settled that he wasto remain at Rorke's Drift. He was for a time almost beside himself."
"And that, too, may account for his desperate exposure of himself duringthat night of the encounter with the Zulus," added Rivers. "I never sawa man so utterly insensible to danger; and he hardly seemed rejoiced thenext morning at his escape. Poor fellow, he has had a hard lot in life!Well, I agree with you, Mr Rogers; I have no doubt he will fightdesperately enough in this outbreak, if it really is going to takeplace."
"That, I am afraid, there is no doubt of. Vander Heyden told me asmuch. He wanted to know whether you and Margetts meant to volunteeragain to serve in the English army. If you did, he said, you shouldleave the Transvaal immediately, or you might be arrested. He offeredto give you a pass which would carry you across the frontier. That wasvery kind and generous."
"What did you tell him, sir?" asked Rivers.
"Oh, I said that you were now in orders, and, of course, would not thinkof fighting; as for you, Mr Margetts, I said I did not know what youmight do, but I would ask you, and let him know if you required hishelp."
"I am obliged to him," said Margetts; "but I have no idea ofvolunteering again. I consider this to be quite a different matter fromthe Zulu war, where it was a question whether barbarous or lawlesscruelty should be put down. Unless I am myself interfered with, I shallnot interfere in this business."
"I am glad to hear you say so," said Mr Rogers. "Then we shall allremain quietly here. I shall invite the Mansens to come and stay atDykeman's Hollow, and I think they will come. It will be quieter andmore comfortable for them than Utrecht or Newcastle, which areovercrowded. I have no doubt Vander Heyden, who has a high command,will be able to secure us from molestation."
Mr Rogers was not disappointed in either expectation. In a few daysMrs Mansen and Thyrza arrived; while Ludwig joined the assembledcouncil of Boers which was now sitting at Heidelberg, exerting himselfto prevent the rising which was evidently on the point of taking place.Simultaneously with the appearance of the ladies came a note from VanderHeyden, endorsing a protection from Praetorius for all the inmates ofMr Rogers' household. Not long afterwards the standard of rebellionwas openly displayed, and Ludwig joined his family at the Hollow. TheBoers in all parts of the Transvaal now took the field with theirWestley Richard rifles, and all through the Transvaal the English wereobliged to fly for refuge to towns or villages, where they were besiegedby the Boers.
Resolved not to provoke the animosity, or even the distrust of hisneighbours, Mr Rogers kept himself and all his employes within thebounds of his own domains, not even sending a letter or a message toNewcastle, lest it might be supposed to have some political purpose. Headvised his guests also to observe the same prudent demeanour. No doubtMynheer Mansen was a Dutchman, and one very generally respected; but hiswife and stepdaughter were English, and they were the guests of anEnglishman; and at this time national feeling, as it might be termed,ran so high that the merest trifle might be enough to cause a generaloutbreak. The Mansens would have had no inclination to act otherwisethan as he advised, even if their sense of what was due to him as theirhost had not forbade them to do so. They regarded the strife that wasin progress as a vexation and a calamity; and whatever might be theissue of it, they were anxious to see an end put to it.
But the ladies felt the time hang heavily on their hands; and when oneday had been expended on a visit to George and Redgy's cottage andgarden and an inspection of their farmyard and stock, and another to thechurch and school where he ministered and taught, they were at a losshow to employ themselves, until their host, by a happy inspiration, oneday late in January suggested a visit to Kolman's Kop, a mostpicturesque spot on the very edge of Mr Rogers' estate, from which awide prospect might be obtained of that part of the Orange Free Stateknown as Harrismith. The road from Bloemfontein to Newcastle ran closebeside it, and was visible for a long distance from the summit of theKop, though the latter was so thickly wooded as to screen any visitorsto it from being themselves seen by passing travellers.
To this spot it was agreed that an expedition should be made on thefollowing day; and the whole party, inclusive of Mr Rogers, who actedas guide, set out after breakfast, on horses and mules, having sent someKaffirs on before them to make the needful preparations.
Kolman's Kop was situated on one of the spurs of the Drakensbergs, notascending so high as to be bleak or chill, yet high enough to command amagnificent view of the landscape beneath, and there are few countriesin the world in which so vast a panorama is visible from the higherlands as in the Orange Free State. It is not, indeed, an unbrokenlevel, like the low country of the Netherlands, being continually variedby hill and ridge. But these hardly anywhere rise to any considerableheight, so that from the slopes of the Drakenberg the eye may range inevery direction, until the horizon line melts into the distance. It isa fertile and picturesque territory, watered by noble rivers, whosebanks, for the most part, are fringed with foliage, rich with corn landsand fruit orchards, and pastures where sheep and oxen
and horses arebred abundantly. The land on that side of the Drakensbergs beingconsiderably more elevated than on that of Natal, the climate is coolerand more agreeable to European residents. A general cry of admirationbroke from the visitors as they caught sight of it, and sitting down onthe trunk of a fallen tree, they proceeded more leisurely to examine itsbeauties.
"Well, sir, the Dutch have not much to complain of here, at all events,"observed Redgy after a lengthened survey of the scene. "No wonder theyhalted here when driven from their homes by the English. I should havethought, for my part, that they might have been very thankful to theEnglish for driving them here!"
"Well, so they might, Margetts," remarked Mr Rogers, "if they