THE MAY THAT WAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12071, 15 September 1902, Page 6

THE MAY THAT WAS.

THE DAYS h Mil. KRL'GLR. Mr. B. Fletcher Koblvsov, writing ima, Utrecht to the Ilndon Daily Express says:--In the western shush of the town, over j the main canal, lie! the Mnliebaan, where t the shopkeepers rette to comfortable villa-* ! dom when the quiel day is done. It is r broad avenue, such althe Dutch love, shaded by a triple avenue q limes. To the English poW the M-dhsbaan Las a. special inf-erest. f...{ on its western side a the villa of Or.wjj- jUt , t< wherein Mr, Kruger now lives tub absolute seclusion * It is not a pretention, dwelling "The Orally: Pkw»nce '— translate the Dutch title—is a. square, cnj-ptfr-r-vutlwd b'nldbe that lies back some 1)1 Is from \W road. It is ill-kept, i-a pv.h.': ;,-, our i-J—, : . -pi gravel path is gr.iss-gttwn, i.\- tapper tain in an untidy roivery be (ore the door is twisted and broken] Ib-hivH i- u quaint little garden. wi.:.h gi-\e! v.-..H , ihmked bv shrubs and shaded wills a. ...... ;.„,,._ ar'd | lilac. The blintis " : *•':..)■'•■'• ;i!f ™ ; drawn ; there is no Ma-alt" life or movement. A PRIVATE LTIIZi-.X. i _ Yet outside this bit lied .<.-», dn Mr. I Kiugu- never got- 1 . Fiite'iit. tint welcome,! 1 him with a French ei»thiit-i.i>:.i, i.jmls him 1 now with .i Dutch compcVutv. Whit is the 1 good of Liting outside i door from which I no one comes '.' How i..n they feel interest ; in an old gentleman \,iii , v,.. walks or j drives among 'hem nor .-;■ <;-'-.- a ., r.nuecef- ! sary guilder, though r. puled a millionaire? ! So argue the good citi/eni ucmr su'kilv ' ! Mr. Krr.ger m.kes but tac option "to a sec.usiou th it is almost, nnraslic. On every j second Sunday or so }~ drive* „ A tiny i church and list, to a pi'e.uher who is noted for the sternest Calvinism. R a re . fuses to attend the service in the grand old Lutheran Cathedra!, for the doctrine is too liber:.l for his taste. Gtt those tjundaysi whi< h he spends a'a home lis favourite minister visits him for private worship. It was almost by aceida.t that I saw (!*» old ex-President, for his secretaries sruarf him well. i was standing half in and half out of the side door of VJranje Lust that leads to the room of those smooth-toiiun«wl i gentlemen. Their chief, in oilv English I was assuring me of Hie impossibility of 4e' ing the " President." None had seen him no, not even a representative of the m «st pi'o-Boer»h of papers. I turned, and there beneath a shady arch of green stood >.' ( 'v' man that was." He had halted upon: spring me and stood leatiuicj cm his stick wish his head thrust slightly forward. His pose reminded me of some old lion, hall angry, half curious at the sight of a. hunter. tfis face wns gnarled and lined like the trunk of some ancient free, and his fringe of beard was whiter than of old— he did not bear himself as a man who had succumbed to the assaults of misfortune and old age. He wore an old top hat and a long, ill-fitting frock coat* that was shiny with hard usaee. So he stood until I, with his secretaries buzzing nervously about, me. Mas bowed to the "ate without. " A MAX OF MYSTERY. A man of mysteiy still is this veteran tanner. He must be rich— verv rich— ret nis tastes seem simple even to'the simple Mfc among whom he lives. How l l; „ J he used his money. How will he now employ it. ISo one can say. There are rumours. indeed, of new ventures, great plots and counter plots in South Africa, and Europe to be engineered by his means. But these be rumours only. For weeks the Pom- refugees who hung about him like bees about honey have left Utrecht. He. is absolutely alone, save for the few men in his employ." Lately there occurred at Utrecht an incident that would be humorous if it did not sadly display the heights to which Anglophobia can rise on occasion. There "appeared at the leading hotel there an Englishman, stout and stalwart, bearing a gigantic cane. He took the town generally into his confidence. He was a pro-Boer,' he said, and for months Chamberlain, the lynx-eyed and unscrupulous, had been upon his trail. He had only escaped assassination in England by escaping during the petw.e celebrations, when the entire British public were lying on their backs— drunk. He was th« hero of the citizens, of course. Several times he spied the agents of Chamberlain in. the town, and warned the people against them. There were nearlv lynching cases and international complication* But gradually it leaked out that Mr. Kruger had refused to see his champion. Suspicion deepened when it was known that he refused to pay his hotel bill. Police were sent for At their appearance he rushed wildly upon" them, crying, " Chamberlain's murderers in disguise ! I know you ! I will slay you'" He was a raving lunatic! ' " As 1 was leaving Utrecht I called upon, a friend I had made there to say good-by. " Do you go to write about" the President Meinheer?" he asked. " Yes," said I. " Then I pray you deal gently with him, for he has lost his wife and his country— also he is an oil, old man." I promised, and trust I have not broken my promise.