Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand

or three very satisfactory interviews with him. Heseemed quite sincere in the desire he expressed of preventing bloodshed,and I am the bearer of a letter from him to Praetorius, which, as I wasin hopes, would prevent any outbreak of hostilities. He certainly didnot know, when I left Bloemfontein, that fighting was going on. Ishould be almost afraid it will be too late now."

  "Is it not extraordinary that no message was sent either from Durban orLondon, to stop any proceedings until the result of the negotiationswith Mr Brandt were known?" asked Rivers.

  "It seems so to me, certainly," replied Hardy; "but very likely thereare reasons for it, of which I know nothing. Well, anyhow, I had bettercarry President Brandt's letter to Praetorius. It is only carrying outmy orders, and cannot do any harm."

  "Not to any one but yourself, Hardy," said Margetts; "but I am not sureit would be safe for you to put yourself in the way of these Boers. Theleaders among them seem to behave well enough, but many of thesubordinate officers, if one may call them so, are rude and brutal, andmight shoot any Englishman who approached them, without inquiry andwithout listening to any representations."

  "You are right, Redgy, I am afraid," said Rivers. "I think Hardy had,at all events, better go with us to Dykeman's Hollow and consult MrMansen. He might go with him to Praetorius, and he is so well known tothe Boers--indeed, he is one of them himself--that there could be nodanger in his company."

  "Are the Mansens at Dykeman's Hollow?" asked Hardy.

  "Yes, they are Mr Rogers' guests; but they are nearer to us than that.They are up on the Kop yonder, though the trees hide them from oursight. Leave your horse here in Redgy's keeping, and I will go with youup to the Kop."

  Hardy accordingly dismounted, and he and George were just commencing theascent, when three or four men, whose uniform showed that they belongedto the 58th Regiment, came running down one of the narrow passes at theutmost of their speed, close to the spot where the three friends werestanding. They had evidently just escaped from some great danger.Their trousers were covered with mud, so that the regimental stripecould hardly be distinguished; their jackets were cut and stained withblood; two of them had lost their caps, and all had thrown away theirarms, which would have impeded their flight. As they reached the cornerof the road, they came in sight of George and Hardy, and would haveturned another way, if the last-named had not called to them.

  "Hallo, my lads!" he shouted; "what has happened, and where are yourunning to?"

  Hearing themselves addressed in English, the fugitives stopped, and oneof them, a corporal from his dress, answered,--

  "There has been a brush with the enemy at Laing's Nek, if you know wherethat is."

  "I know it well enough," returned Hardy; "it is a narrow defile, filledwith rocky boulders--just the sort of place where these Dutchmen wouldtake up a position, quite out of sight, and shoot down our soldiers attheir leisure. You don't mean to say, I suppose, that you attacked theBoers there?"

  "Yes, we did, sir," answered the corporal, "and to our cost. Half ourmen were killed or wounded in no time, and we couldn't see a singleDutchman to fire at in return. The rest contrived to retreat to thecamp, or there wouldn't have been a man left alive. We were cut off bya party of mounted Boers, and offered to surrender to them. But theypaid no heed, and fired on us, killing all but two or three. They areafter us still, I expect. They couldn't follow us on horseback up themountain paths, but they are riding round, I believe, by another road.Can you shelter as?"

  "I suppose in strictness we oughtn't to," said Margetts. "But we can'tsee our countrymen shot down in cold blood; I'd rather take the chanceof being shot myself. Come along with me, my lads; you can hide in thecaves under Kolman's Kop. The Boers, unless they come from thisneighbourhood, won't know anything about them; and they will hardlyventure in there after you, if they do. Only we must make all possiblehaste."

  He mounted Hardy's horse and rode off at a trot, the men following himas well as they were able.

  Rivers and Hardy watched them as they hurried along under the side of asteep cliff, and then turned into a narrow defile.

  "He is right, I suppose," said George; "we are bound not to interfere;but if the laws of civilised warfare are set aside, as it seems they areby these Boers, they cannot expect us to observe them so rigidly asgiving these poor fellows up to be shot would amount to. Don't youthink so?"

  "We have only their word that the Boers would give no quarter," saidHardy, "and it may be that they didn't understand what our fellows said.Still, I can't blame Margetts, if that is what you mean. But we hadbetter make our way to Dykeman's Hollow, hadn't we? I suppose yourfriends will have gone home by this time."

  "All right!" said Rivers; "come this way."

  They began climbing the steep path, and were nearly half-way up whenthey heard voices calling to them, and looking down saw a party ofmounted Boers, who were levelling their rifles at them and shouting tothem to descend.

  "What do you want with us?" called out Hardy in Dutch. "We are notsoldiers, and have nothing to do with this war!"

  "You are English--I can tell that by your speech," answered the man whohad hailed them. "I want to ask some questions of you, to which I meanto have an answer. You had better come down at once, or we will sendsome bullets to fetch you."

  This was evidently no idle threat Half a dozen Boers had already takentheir aim, and the path at the point at which the Englishmen had beenstopped was without shelter of any kind. There was no help for it.They had to retrace their steps, and presently found themselves face toface with the leader of the Boers, who proved to be no other thanRivers' old acquaintance, Rudolf Kransberg.

  "Ha! it is you, Mynheer Rivers?" he remarked with a scowl. "You are anEnglish soldier, I think, though your companion said you were not."

  "I _was_ an English soldier in the Zulu war," returned George; "but Ileft the army at its conclusion, and am now a clergyman of the Church ofEngland."

  "I don't care for that. I want to know whether you have seen somerunaways from the battle that has been fought at Laing's Nek. We are inpursuit of them, and they must, I think, have passed this way."

  "We have told you that we are not belligerents," replied George; "youhave no right to question us."

  "Ha! I see you will not answer, because you have seen your countrymen,and know where they are. As to having no right, we will see about that.We are at war with the English, and the English are our enemies, thoughthey may choose to say they are not. I shall make you my prisoner. Andthis person," he continued, turning to Hardy, "who is he?"

  "I am an Englishman, like Mr Rivers," answered Hardy; "like him, too,not a belligerent. Your President, Mynheer Praetorius, would not, I amsure, approve your proceedings."

  "You think so, hey? Well, you may see him at Laing's Nek, and find outhow much respect he will have for your rights?"

  "We are quite willing to be taken before him," said Hardy. "We willaccompany you to the camp, and answer, without objection, any questionshe may put to us."

  Rudolf appeared to be somewhat puzzled by this suggestion, but saw noreason why he should not agree to it. Indeed, it had already occurredto him that George Rivers was the stepson of Ludwig Mansen, a man wellknown to, and respected by, the Boer leaders. Any violence used towardsa near relative of his would probably be condemned by his superiors.And he further reflected that he had no kind of evidence that these twoEnglishmen had really encountered the soldiers, or knew where they were.It was also evidently no use to attempt any further pursuit of therunaways, every trace of whom had disappeared.

  "Very well," he said, after a few minutes of silence, "you shall go withus to Laing's Nek, and if the President is still there, and chooses tosee you, he will do so. You can ride on the saddles of two of the men,but, I warn you, you will be shot without mercy if you make theslightest attempt to escape."

  They mounted accordingly, and the party rode off. George, whounderstood Hardy's manoeuvre, by which he would get access to Praetoriuswithout at
tracting general attention, which it was his special object toavoid, made no demur to the arrangement. He further reflected that, assoon as he reached the Boer camp, he could ask for an interview withVander Heyden, who would, no doubt, at once set him at liberty and granthim an escort to Dykeman's Hollow. Nothing worse, therefore, was likelyto happen to either of them than a ride to the Dutch camp and a fewhours of detention there; and to this he was so far from objecting, thathe was particularly anxious to learn from an authentic source what hadreally taken place and was likely to ensue.

  They rode in profound silence, the Boers being habitually taciturn, andGeorge and Hardy anxious under present circumstances to say as little aspossible. Presently the narrow defile running between lofty rocks andalong the margin of mountain streams was passed, and they entered thebroken and wild country which extends between Newcastle and the borderof the Transvaal. After an hour's ride, which would have beenprotracted to twice that length but for the Boers' knowledge of theground, they reached the camp, where some five or six thousand men hadestablished themselves. George was at once struck with the differencebetween it and the camps to which he had been accustomed. There was anutter absence of the military discipline to which he had been used. Itbore more the appearance of a great camp meeting, at which every personprovided for his own lodging and maintenance; and yet there was areadiness to carry out the orders of the general officers in command,which seemed to take the place of the regular routine of a camp. Asthey rode over the ground where the battle had been fought that morning,they passed numbers of men employed in the melancholy duties whichfollow only too surely on an armed encounter. Wounded men were beingconveyed on stretchers to the farmhouses and inns, which had been turnedinto temporary hospitals; others, whose injuries were too severe topermit of removal, were being ministered to on the ground as well ascircumstances allowed; while several parties were engaged in digginggraves to receive the dead bodies which lay scattered in all directions.One of these companies was working under the direction of Henryk VanderHeyden; and the latter no sooner perceived the two Englishmen than herode up to them, and, after a friendly salutation, inquired what hadbrought them to Laing's Nek.

  "This gentleman, Mynheer Kransberg,--I am not aware of his militaryrank,--but he has brought us here as his prisoners," replied Rivers.

  "Prisoners! You have not been--"

  "We have not been interfering in military matters at all," interposedGeorge. "We had given you our parole not to do so, and, I need not say,have not broken it. We told Mr Kransberg so."

  "Then how comes this, Lieutenant Kransberg?" said Vander Heydenhaughtily. "Mr Rivers holds a protection which at my instance wasgranted to him by the President, which exempts him from all interferenceon the part of the military authorities."

  "He did not produce it," said Kransberg sullenly.

  "He had no time to do so," interposed Hardy. "But if you would grant meone moment, Commandant Vander Heyden,--that, I believe, is your propertitle,--I will explain why the protection was not shown to MynheerKransberg. It was because I wished to avail myself of his escorthither. I am the bearer of a letter from Mr Brandt, the President ofthe Orange Free State, to your President, Mynheer Praetorius, which hewas in hopes would prevent the outbreak of war. I regret to find I havearrived too late for that."

  "I regret also, Mr Hardy, to say that you have. We have been attacked,and we have driven back our enemies with heavy loss. But we should havepreferred to gain our object without spilling of blood."

  "Just so," said Hardy; "and you would prefer to gain it now withoutfurther bloodshed?"

  "Undoubtedly," assented Vander Heyden.

  "Then will you obtain me an audience with the President, at which I canstill present this letter? If the terms it proposes should beacceptable to him, an armistice may be agreed on, and the question of asettlement between the English Government and that of the Transvaal maybe discussed."

  "I would take you to him this instant," returned the Dutchman, "were itin my power to do so. But he is not at present in the camp. He hasto-day gone northwards on business of urgent importance, nor can I say,without inquiry, when he will return. In his absence I fear theVice-President and the Commandant-General Joubert could not discuss--certainly could not decide--a question of this importance. But if youwill come with me, I will take you to General Joubert's quarters."

  "I will go at once; but I should like to ask Rivers what he proposes todo, or rather, what you advise so far as he is concerned."

  "He can, of course, return to Dykeman's Hollow if he wishes it, and Iwill send an escort with him. But I believe they are greatly in want ofclergymen to attend the sick and dying in the English camp. Perhaps, ifhe knew that, he would prefer going there. I need not say he will be atfull liberty to do so. But we can speak to him after you have seenMynheer Joubert. We had better lose no time in going thither."

  Hardy accordingly followed Vander Heyden across the rugged and stonyground on which the action had been fought that morning, to a tent--itwas the only one in the camp--where the Commandant-General had fixed hisquarters. No difficulty was made about obtaining an interview, andHardy almost immediately found himself in the presence of the rebelleader, as well as in that of another bearded and grave-lookingpersonage, who, he was informed, was Kruger, the Vice-President of thenewly-proclaimed Republic.

  Hardy looked with interest at the Boer general, who, although he had notat that time attained all the celebrity now attaching to his name, hadalready achieved some brilliant successes. His family, as Hardysubsequently learned, was of Huguenot extraction, having migrated to theCape at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Butintermarriages with the Dutch in succeeding generations had had theireffect, and Joubert had all the appearance of a genuine Boer. Like hisfathers, he had followed the calling of a farmer, and had had noexperience of warfare, except with native tribes. But he was possessedof rare military ability, and if he had had the advantage ofprofessional training, would have made a great general.

  In personal appearance he was of middle height and powerful frame, withan unusually dark complexion, a beard and moustache, and featuresexpressing intelligence and good humour. He was apparently somewhatadvanced in years, though he had not passed the vigour of life. Hereceived Hardy with civility, and, after he had heard his story,expressed his regret, as Vander Heyden had done, that the President wasnot in the camp, so that the matter might be immediately dealt with.Praetorius was expected back very shortly, and then instant attentionshould be given to it.

  "Meanwhile, be assured," he said, "that we desire peace with England,and are willing to concede everything to her, except our nationalindependence. You may not, perhaps, be aware that when the Volksraaddeclared that the Transvaal Republic was again established, it passedseveral resolutions, which may well form the basis of negotiations withthe agents of the British Government."

  "I have only just arrived in the country after an absence of severalweeks," said Hardy, "and have therefore had no opportunity of learningwhat those resolutions were."

  "They are soon recited," said Joubert. "The first proclaimed a generalamnesty for all past offences. The second ratified all the acts of theBritish Government up to the date of the proclamation, and the thirddeclared that questions relating to foreign policy might be made matterof special discussion. I think you will allow that these resolutionsare not framed in any spirit hostile to your Government."

  "I must allow that they are not," replied Hardy. "I should certainlyhope that they might form the basis of negotiations satisfactory to bothparties. That was also the opinion of the President of the Orange FreeState."

  "I may add, it is also the opinion of our countrymen in Holland, whohave sent an urgent entreaty to the Queen of England that our nationalindependence may be restored to us. The same sentiment has beenexpressed in other European countries. But I should hardly have thoughtthat such a petition would require foreign support, when it had oncebeen submitted to the English
people. They have ever been the first,the most uncompromising of all nations in the assertion of their ownliberty. Why should they grudge to others that which they value sohighly themselves?"

  "You speak well, sir," said Hardy. "I am unable to deny the force ofyour appeal. We may hope that when the President returns,communications may be opened with the English Government which may leadto a settlement honourable and satisfactory to both parties. Butmeanwhile, ought not all hostile operations to be suspended? They couldnot facilitate any negotiations that might be set on foot, but theymight seriously impede them."

  "If the English general proposes an armistice, it will certainly beagreed to," said Joubert. "On our side we have no need to make any suchproposition. If we are not attacked, we shall not ourselves make anyattack. The British have only to do the same, and all fighting will besuspended. But, of course, if we are assailed, we shall repel theassault."

  Hardy bowed and took his leave. On returning to the place where he hadleft George Rivers, he found that the latter had already taken hisdeparture for the British camp, where, as the reader has heard, hisservices were greatly needed. A few days passed without any resumptionof hostilities, when, on the 8th of February, Sir George Colleyunexpectedly sallied out of his camp, and the