THE UITLANDER

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue XVI, 22 April 1899, Page 538

THE UITLANDER

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JOHN EDGEWATER.

The veldt, a grassy upland, green with the luxuriance of a South African December, flecked with flowers heaths, geraniums, and a variety of odorous blooms, and broken here and there by clumps of mimosa, stretched clear in the morning light northward to the verge of sight. Opposite, near at hand, rose gently a wave-like ridge of land, beyond which stood distantly the round-topped range of the Witwatersrand, whose deep kloofs were darkened by dense forest growths. It would have been esteemed a pleasing scene by eyes more observant than those of the springbok which halted for a moment in its graceful flight on the erest of a knoll, or of the eagle which floated far up in the luminous blue sky, or of the herds of grazing sheep and cattle, scattered over the glades, which indicated the vicinity of some Boer homestead. And equally oblivious was a couple who rode slowly along the base of the ridge. The woman, mature yet maidenly, with the ample stature, broad brow, yellow hair and steadfast eyes of her Holland ancestry, rode with the ease of long custom, a native horse of sturdy stock. The man, long of limb, lithe of motion, was an American, if one might judge from the thin,angular face, the quick glance of the humorous brown eyes, and, above all, the quality of his horsemanship. Even a Zulu stable-boy would recognise in the powerful, dark chestnut a Cape horse with the blood of English thoroughbreds, but her equipment would appear to him outlandish. The saddle was neither theshort-stirrupped pig-skin of an English civilian, the heavy accoutrement of Her Majesty’s dragoons, nor the deep, high-cantled seat affected by the Boers. It was a ‘ McClellan ’ of United States Army type, which its owner sat with the grace nowhere so well attained as in the riding-school at West Point. in fact. Henry Clendenin was a. graduate of that famous military academy, whose distinction in study earned him a coveted place in the Corps of -Engineers.

His career was closed, however, after a few years by the death of his father, following an unlucky venture in business, which left the mother and a sister dependent on his care. He resigned from the army to accept a lucrative position as mining engineer in the Rand, where he had learned in one circuit of the sun,much about gold quartz and cyanide reduction, more to Transvaal politics, and,most of all, to love Annetje Maritz. For it had chanced on a day of fortune while hunting, that he halted at Maritzdorp to claim the habitual Afrikander hospitality. This was given without stint by genial Hans Maritz, who little dreamed that he might yet rue the grace in the loss of his Annetje. For the visitor was charmed to discover amid the rusticity of a Boer farm, even of the better sort, a girl of most unusual force of nature and grace of culture. The scnool at Capetown and a year in Europe had opened for her the mystic portals to the paradise of literature, and the quiet days at Maritzdorp had afforded many hours for reading. Study, qualified by the duties deemed proper for a maiden by the housewife Moeder Katrine, such as tendance of garden, dairy and poultry-yard, dainty care of the home, control of the halfwild native servitors, with long rides over the veldt by the side of Vader Hans—sweet, domestic service, homely, healthy pleasures and the delight of books—had filled her life to the brim with satisfaction, until there rode into her heart this modern knight from over the hills, out of the far away.

He seemed to her an embodiment of that superb and strenuous America, which her fancy interpreted and adorned by the glory of Washington and Lincoln, Emerson and Longfellow. Ami she seemed to him like the first sweet stephanotis he had discovered

growing wild in the veldt. Its vigour and the splendour of its fragrant bloom was a delight of surprise to him who had known only its fragile sisters in the artificial culture of his home. Thus it happened that often thereafter the chestnut was stabled at Maritzdorp, while Clendenin smoked with Mynheer on the wide stoop, and watched through the open door for the coming and going of Annetje. The good vader appropriated these visits, so that the eager suitor found scanty chance for speech with the daughter, until this day, riding since dawn from Johannesburg, he met her near the homestead and told his love with only the eagle in the heavens for witness, and the soft breeze to whisper the story to the flowers. She said: *Oh ! lam sorry. Why did you speak when we were happy ?’ ‘ But, Annetje, hear me ; look at me ; don’t turn away. Do you mean then, that you eannot love me ?’ ‘No ; I will say the truth. Ido love you ’ —her voice faltered, but instantly was calm and strong again—- ‘ I do, yes, I do. I will never deny it ; but here it must end. You do not know how hard it is for me to pain you, but there is no help ’ — Clendenin checked his horse, seized her bridle, and said with a decision which both pleased and frightened her :

'Then tell me why. You owe me a reason. If it is right we must submit; but I will not take this answer unless you justify it". Forgive me if I seem to overstep the bounds of courtesy. This is well nigh life and death to me. For all that makes living worth while is bound up with it. Tell me, dear —I will call you so, for so you are—tell me, Annetje, what is this obstacle, if you love me?’ ‘Do you not know that my father never, never would consent? You are an Uitlander. He would see me dead before he would say “yes” to our plea. And I—l cannot go against his will. I dare not take my own happiness by breaking his heart.’ ‘Why,’ he said, the joyous smile coming back to his eyes, ‘why, here is tragedy, indeed. Of course I respect Mynheer’s prejudices. But lam no Englander. 1 have no more affection for their party than Oom Paul himself. As an American, all my heart goes out to the brave little Republic in this glorious African highland. Why, yes! Africander and Amerikaner, we can surely agree. Is that all? Then wait and see how soon I’ll gain his good will to our plans if you only give me leave.’

‘Ah, you do not know him. You cannot appreciate his feelings. He is steadfast as the Rand himself. He can never be moved.’

‘All right. I’ll risk that. Only say. dearest, that you love me and all will be well.’ ‘I do—’ ‘Henry,’ he interrupted. ‘I do, Henry.’ He took her hand and bent over and kissed her.

‘Now.’ he said exultantly, ‘that seals the compact, you dear, fearful soul. I'll manage, the vader. I’ll prove to him that there are two sorts of Uitlanders, and he ought to like my kind, just because he hates the other. Why, I am now bearing the best possible argument for our cause.’ ‘What do you mean?’

‘Never mind. We will not talk politics to-day. Tn our skies not Mercury or Mars, but Venus is in the ascendant.’ What he said more is not essential to this chronicle, and after a time, reasonably brief under the circumstances. they rode upon a travelled track which turned through a wooded spruit in the hills and led to Maritzdorp.

The house, of plain colonial pattern, with heavy stone walls, of one storey, nnd a vast hipped roof, extending over a deep stoop along the front, stood on a natural terrace In the mouth of a dell. This closed, at some

distance behind, into a ravine, down which dashed a brook through a succession of cascades. It then skirted the dell on the right and disappeared in an artificial lakelet. On the other side of the house, partly hidden by shrubbery, were the kraal and hoek of the flocks. In front the land sloped

to the veldt, which swept far and widein mimosa dotted vales. Around the dwelling was an extensive range shaded openly with native trees, the immense yellow wood, the graceful Cape beech, the rugged ironwood, and planted with specimens of Old World growths, here-

colonised, a hedge of cedars, a copse of young oaks, with the ivy, the vine and the rose climbing the house walls. There was no fence, and no formal flower beds. What need when ail nature was a-bloom? The sward, untouched of scythe, was more beautiful than any' shorn velvet lawn, as its tangle of varied grasses swayed like fairy harvests. As the two approached, Maritz rose from his armchair on the stoop, and taking a long pipe from his lips said heartily, ‘Goot morning, vriend Glendening. Welgome on Christmas Day.’ He was a square, sturdy man in a corduroy hunting garb, with spurred boots and a wide felt hat. He had the frank, fearless face and bushy moustaches one sees in the old Dutch portraits.

‘How d’ye do. Mynheer Maritz?’ said the younger man. Hope you’re well.’ ‘Yaas. Sit toun. Haf a bipe? Dit you rite far to-tay?’ ‘From Johannesburg, on my way to Pretoria. If you’ll kindly have my friend Jacky, yonder, feed the mare, I must then push on.’ ‘So! To Pretoria, ant in a hurry Can you not spent Christmas mit us? Dere is news, perhaps?’ ‘Yes, sir. and serious at that. I must see Kruger and wish you to go with me.’ Maritz hesitated a moment and said. ‘Yaas, I vill go after we haf eat.’ When the mid-day meal had been dispatched, somewhat hastily for a holiday occasion, the two men rode north over the veldt to the capital of the South African Republic. It was clearly visible, six miles away, after they had flanked the ridge enclosing the" dell of Maritzdorp. Clendenin began to tell his love for Annetje, when the Boer stopped his horse roughly and turned with a frown, saying, ‘No more. I haf made you mine guest, put you may be no more in my house. You are ITitlander and Annetje will wed mit her own beoples. Egscuse me, I vould not be rude, but you do not know —’ ‘I beg your pardon, sir.’ exclaimed the other, ‘I do understand and sympathise with your feeling about the strangers. Otherwise T would not be here. Well, let us put this matter aside for the present. But I will always love your daughter. I will not abuse your trust as my host. Yet I do not resign hope. Perhaps you will some time allow me to address you again, for in a few weeks events will ripen and put an end forever to my suit, or else prove me a friend to the Transvaal, so that you will not eall me an ITitlander.

‘Now for the subject of my mission. I have a message for Kruger which concerns you and the rest of his Council. But to avoid repetition, I will only say now that a serious danger menaces the Republic, which will destroy it surely and swiftly unless counter measures are promptly determined.’ ‘Dose Englanders,’ snarled Maritz. ‘ant te Gotless rappie at te mines! Yaas, I know they voult testroy us. But Gott vill ait us yet once again. You do not know all what makes mine heart purn as like fire. Gott in heafen! it trives be mat. ‘Let me tell you somedings. My beoples, long pack, was Hollanders ant Huguenots, what gome to the Cape—it was a Goot Hope to them—for gonscience sake, that they might worship Gott and lif free. They made homes in the golony, but at the last the Englanders steal their liperties. But they dit not fight at the first. They lofed peace only less than liperty. So mein granvater, Pieter Maritz, he trekked avay, ant more pesides—far avay into the wild gountry of the Amazulu, ant got land by dreaty with Dingaan. That was Natalia. But when years ago, again the Englanders gome ant take Natalia. ant mein vater leave the graves of his dead, and trek to the Orange gountry. I vas then a poy, but I mind the long, hart ehourney. Others gome. We lose much cattles ant sheeps by the thirst ant the fly, ant some beoples die by the way, but again we settles far from all mens but the blacks, ant make homes.’ The old man stopped as if his memory was busy with that far past, and Clendenin asked: ‘lt was there you grew up?’ ‘Yans, ant married; but to get forefer avay from the Englanders I trek agross the Vaal. Some Boers stay in

the golony, some in Natalia, some by the Orange, but many vould be free. They gomes, like Israel in the wilderness, here to this goot land. See! the pones of my beoples are scattered along the vay —one here, another there—ant we haf no place until now. Here we make the Republic, ant in 1852 England sign agreement, at Sand River, which say -— “they haf the right to manache their own affairs ant to govern theirselves according to their own laws without any interference on the part of the British Government.”

‘Yaas, that was the worts’— ‘One would consider that sufficient guarantee,’ said Clendenin. ‘Ja,’ said Maritz, eager to resume now that his heart was open, ‘so it vould from any others. Ant, see you, fife ant twenty year all go well; but the natives they was many as ten to one ant somedimes steal cattles ant purn houses. So we fight ant subdue them at Secoeni. But pefore that, in 1877, gomes Sir Shenstone ant offers us ait. We deglines, but he says we were weak against the blacks ant that hurts the brestige of the white man ant entangers their colonies. So, for our goot and for civilisation—Hein! the civilisation of the traders ant the land-grabbers — he annex us to the great British Empire.’ ‘He hoists the flag—the red flag of birates ant blunderers—ant bropose to make a State with highsounding officers of justice, ant finance, ant war. Some poor fools of Boers say, “yaas,” but the Volksraad vote “Naay.” But what could we do? The troops was in Bretoria to protect us. ‘ln two years the Zulus rise up. Now the Englanders for theirselves see what the savage was. We vould not help them. Let them inspan their own team’—

‘That was the Zulu war, was it?’ ‘Ja! It pass, ant after gome Sir Bartie Frere. We demant our liperties. He say, very bold, “No territory ofer which the British flag has once wafed will efer be abandoned.” Not? Veil we rise—Kruger, ant Joubert, ant Smit, ant Maritz, too—l vas dere—-we go to Heidelberg ant make a government for the Boers lone. That vas war! Thunder ant lightning! It was a time to live! ‘The tetachment of the Nintyfourth Rechiment was wiped out at Broneker’s Spruit. They say we surbrised them. What! I vas one of four what ride to Colonel Anstruther with flag of truce for them to leave. He refuse ant atvance. Then we attack.

‘Sir George Colley, he gome with much troops ant try to gross the Drakenberg at Laing’s Nek. He was triven avay from five assaults. We follow to the Ingogo ford ant fell on them ant kill more as a huntert ant fifty mens. But Colley he gome pack with more soldiers —it was said tree thousand—ant fortify Majuba heights to cover the pass at Laing’s with gannons. Well, we glimb that hill, ant kill him ant many pesides ant capture more. We was repulsed twiee. but the third time was luck. Smit lead. All victories, see! The Boers was not once whipped.’ ‘Aye,’ said Clendenin, ‘I remember that. It occurred while I was at West Boint, and our Brofessor described the battle as a splendid example of courage, which enabled militia to conquer, under adverse circumstances, a superior number of regulars. It was so in our own War of Independence. I have never forgotten it. How the fellows cheered that day!’ ‘What! You dit? Goot! Well, there was peace ant intepentance—the dreaty of 1881; then the gonvention of 1884. These recognised our liperty, but the last say Great Britain haf the right to veto our dreaties with native tribes or foreign nations. The Volksraad protest, ant did not vote for the veto, or the debt gombromise, or the western boundary, ant we haf nefer agree with them, but England say it is a dreaty all the same. ‘Ant efer since they try to steal, efen as they lie, ant now are ready to kill, that they may take the landt. They haf no fear of Gott, for, see you. golt was found. At first we hide the discovery. We know their greed ant want no mines. But the cursed golt leak out. Then we pass a law forbidding to mine. But what avails? they gome like locusts, by tousands, trinking. cursing, gambling, ant puilding a city with play-houses ant —ant hells of iniquity. They demant to

govern, but at the latter end that means an English golony. Nefer! The cup is full. We must fight. We cannot trek. The Englanders are all apout the Transvaal, south, north, ant west. They have seized all the hinterlandt. Mark me. young man. we trek no more! We holdt this landt, or here we all together die, ant if so. Gott’s will be done, ant let the murder of a nation curse Englandt to all the ages.’

Clendenin could not wonder at Maritz’s wrath, which, long smouldering. now glowed with fury. Indeed, he had seen and heard enough in the Rand to know that these Boers had their quarrel just. And the blood of his revolutionary forbears, who fought with the old Maryland line, stirred in his heart with rythmic ardors for liberty in Africa as in America. He said little, however, and Maritz’s soliloquy ended as they drew near Bretoria. It is a quiet, pretty town, on a hillside, of quaint, homelike Dutch houses, with wide streets, each having its stream of sparkling water, and its archway of trees. The Government House, on the public square, is a substantial building, recently constructed out of the affluent taxation of the Rand mines. Halting here they found Bresident Kruger. Clendenin saw then, for the first time, and with curious interest, this shrewd diplomatist of a petty African commonwealth, who was destined to become famous the world over. He stands at least six feet, despite the stooping of his broad shoulders. His heavy body, with immensely long arms, suggests the nickname—Gorilla — bestowed by his enemies. His eyes are small, deep-set, and almost closed bv folds of fat. His nose, both broad

and long, dominates a wide, fleshy mouth. White whiskers fringe the strong chin and jaw. Hut. despite this homeliness, not to say unique and alluring ugliness, his expression conveys the true impression of an intelligent, amiable and generous nature. After greetings Clendenin handed Kruger a note from the Council’s confidential agent in Johannesburg, saying: ‘Sir, this is my introduction. It read thus: ‘Johannesburg, Dec. 24th, 189— ’To His Excellency. Bresident J. B. Kruger: ‘The bearer, Mr Henry Clendenin, is worthy of all confidence. I am fully aware of the facts he will report, and heartily approve the plans he will submit to your judgment. I am unable to visit you without exciting suspicion, and dare not trust, by wire or rail, a message or a messenger of our own people. Hence, Mr Clendenin will ride unnoted to Bretoria. Receive him as you ivould myself. ‘Very respectfully yours, ‘JOHANNES BOK.’ Kruger eyed the young man for a moment and said: ‘This is a matter for the Council.’ After some delay there assembled in the President’s office, Joubert, Smith, Jorrison and the elder Bok, who, with Maritz, were all immediately accessible, and a majority of that body. With brief introductions and explanations, Clendenin was requested to unfold his budget. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘you know the state of affairs in the Rand. I will advert to it only so far as closely related to my message. The Uitlanders have formulated their demands on the Volksraad. They have raised a so-

called National Reform Committee, and armed men ostensibly for protection against what they are pleased to believe the danger of aggression and assault by the Boers. The mines are shut down, and workmen are pouring by the thousand into Johannesburg. Each man with his wages receives a rifle. The streets are filled with excited crowds, which listen eagerly to the “firebrands” who stir their passions by lawless appeals.

Tn all some ten thousand men are armed and drilled openly, while munitions of war are being provided. Many merchants, and even miners other than the English, deprecate this appeal to force. Indeed, yesterday, a company of Americans left for the coast rather than countenance an act of brigandage. And some have sent to Natal, in hot haste, their families and valuables. All availing transportation. luggage-vans and cattle-cars are pressed into the service. The place has the aspect of a town fearing assault. ‘This is not the frenzy of a mob. Behind it is the reasoned purpose of determined men. The great mine owners, through their agents, lead the dance while all the adventurous and impecunious spirits foot the measure. The natives also are restless. It is a union of plutocracy and anarchy to overthrow the Republic, in the conviction that the British Government will accept their deed. It will disapprove of violence, but possess the Transvaal under pretence of protecting life and property. ‘All the fuel of a dreadful conflagration is gathered, and now—the torch is lighted. This is my message. 1 learned last night, and communicated to Bok a project of amazing boldness, which is known to but half a dozen of the conspirators—the inner group, the suibtle and secretive brain of the movement. How I know need not. and must not be told, but it leaves me free to act, and lays on me the duty of choosing sides. I have come to give you the last move in this game of subjugation, and then to offer you the sword of an American soldier.

‘The news is this: Two weeks ago a secret letter, signed by the chiefs of the Reform Committee, was sent by safe hands to Dr. Jameson, the Commissioner of the British South African Company, urging him to invade the Transvaal with as large body of border police and volunteers as he could gather, and to hasten by forced marches to Johannesburg, professedly to protect life, actually to aid an insurrection which is timed to his ap-

proach. ‘lt is difficult to say how long it will take him to summon forces, but he moves quickly and strikes sharply, as appears from his dealings with the Matebeles. It is to be noted that he is now at Mafeking, on the border, with a large detachment, as though anticipating some crisis. Moreover, as evidence that this is not a hastily devised expedition, word has come by cable, in cipher, to the junta that the raid is subject of whisper in the clubs of London. This justifies the suspicion that the South African Com-pany-—which is Cecil Rhodes, whose brother, as you know, is active in the agitation at Johannesburg—is feeling the pulse of the British public where it beats fiercest, in the jingoism of the military cluibs’ — ‘But,’ interrupted Kruger, ‘can this be true?’

‘As to the letter,’ replied Clendenin, ‘and the expectation that Jameson will answer it in person with all diligence, I am positive. That the scheme is known by certain circles in England is more than probable. The rest is warrantable inference.’ ‘Yes,’ said the President, slowly, ‘J do not doubt, for I have expected some conspiracy. But I cannot belie ve that the British authorities are cognisant of such scoundrelism.’ ‘Ab,’ said Jorrison, the AttorneyGeneral, ‘the government is not informed officially, but, Kruger, if this filibuster should succeed in thrashing us Boers, he would be the hero of the English populace, and Her Majesty's Cabinet, while protesting, and maybe punishing his unauthorised act, would not scruple to yfroftt by its results. I know them, those Englanders; like their own lion, they will let the jackal hunt and then seize the prey.’ ‘Tut! tut!’ said Kruger, with his gentle smile. ‘They are not all alike. 1 here is Gladstone, who did us justice’—

•By the great Gott,’ spluttered Maritz, ‘yaas, justice! after Majuba. Smit, you was there. Ant I would myself gif much out of my life to glimb dose heights again. Ja! the Boers must fight. It has gome to that once more.’

‘Well,’ said War Secretary Joubert, ‘whatever the diplomatic aspects of t'ne case —that comes after—it is apparent that the one thing now is to suppress this uprising. For my part I would muster the militia and take possession of Johannesburg, peaceably or forcibly, and proclaim marrial law. As to Jameson, whether he appears or not matters little, since he can have, at best, but a few hundreds of men.’

‘Ah!’ replied Kruger, ‘on the contrary, I think he is the key to the situation. Will he invade the Republic? In my mind, there is no doubt, for whether he has, or has not, any authority, or even suggestion from Rhodes, he will act on the request of the Reform Committee, assuming that the raid will be condoned and rewarded. Just so was it with his invasion of Matebeleland. He came, and saw. and conquered without orders, and the government repudiated his course, but chartered the South African Company nevertheless, with this freebooter as administrator. Yes, he will come, and thank God for it. He gives us ouir right and reason for decisive action. He must be defeated, and then no man will defend him. The deed will ring around the world. It will voice our case for the first time in the tribunal of humanity. The whole hope of our cause turns at this point. If Jameson succeeds, nothing can prevent the occupancy of the Transvaal by the English. If we defeat him, nothing can rally Biitish officialism to the support of the Uitlanders; and alone these can. at worst, but raise a rebellion which we need not fear. Sirs,, our practical problem is to defeat Jameson;, all else will follow.’

Smit, who, like Maritz, belonged to the old school of Boers, untouched by European culture, here spoke for the first time.

•I think Oom Paul is rleht, put I do not pelieve we can get de militia togeder soon enough to stop de rait. ant as Joubert says, it matters not. Let Dr. Jim get in ant de Uitlanders will refuse to give him oop. Then we haf egscuse to attack. It will reguire weeks to gather our men, ant he is. maype, reaty to march now. First summon de militia.’

Bok, the elder Secretary of State, who had listened quietly, now said: ‘I would suggest that we send a. cipher despatch, before the lines are closed against us, to our agent in Germany, Dr. Leyds, that he may understand the situation, which will be misrepresented in Europe. But there is a side of this affair which has not been mentioned. We shall be compelled, I fear, at the last, to heed the complaints of the Reform Committee, you know that petitions of thirteen thousand signers in ’94. and of thirtyeight thousand in ’95, asking the franchise, were refused by the Volksraad. and I voted with you all. But consider, the Uitlanders number sixty thousand, mostly men, and in a twelve month there will be a hundred thousand, for mines which yield £12,000,000 a year, from a reef that has hardly been scratched on the surface, will draw multitudes of men and millions of capital. We number, say, fifty thousand, men, women and children, and can put no more than five or six thousand militia in the field. At last we may be compelled to yield everything to force. Is it not better to resign something to appeal? Moreover, the demands for a constitution, franchise on liberal terms, removal of the so-called religious disabilities, equality of languages in the schools, free trade in South African products, and a lessening of imposts on foreign goods, will appear to the judgment of mankind reasonable and equitable, whatever we may think of them. ‘And 1 warn you that in the long run the opinion of the world wins. I know well your objections, Smit and Maritz. old fire-eaters, but wait, until you hear from Kruger and Jorrison as brave at heart, but with calmer minds. Say, will it not be well to promise reforms in general terms? This will quiet the Rand, and we can easily deal with Jameson.’ ‘Poof!* snarled Maritz, ‘tell that to

the Volksraad, and see. I will nefer put mine hand in the trap. When we teals with the Gommittee, we reehognise them ant their temants. There will be no trawing pack any more.’ ‘Well, said Kruger, ‘what Bok says is not to lie forgotten. With these facts we must deal some day. It seems difficult to maintain the present status, yet to grant the Uitlanders the franchise alone, would transfer the government to them—it would be an act of political suicide — it would abandon the Republic to the British Empire. We would tie ourselves by the first concession. ‘My policy, which to this moment I have never uttered, is based on the fact that the English want—not the country, but the gold that is in it. This is confined, sb far as we now know, to the Witwatersrand, in which is and will be the alien population. It is not a large area. I would then cede it with a strip of our southern border touching Natal and the Orange State, to England, on condition of absolute independence for the remainder of our territory, under a convention, if possible, to which Germany and other European powers might be parties. We should lose a region which we do no want, which is the source of all our difficulties, and retain “ons landt” intact. We would sacrifice our revenues from the Rand, but better poor and free. This would be better than war without some assurance of support from Germany.

‘However, this is not the time for diplomacy, for counsel, and concession. These Uitlanders are in arms. It is a time for free, or forced, submission to authority. Afterwards treaties. ‘But the letter speaks of plans. Have you suggestions, Mr Clendenin?’ ‘Yes,’ said the American, ‘but will you permit first a word as to the causes of this conflict. As Mr Bok says, the demands of the manifesto are abstractly considered equitable. All these things are unquestioned rights in most Countries, but the issue here cannot be settled by mere precedent, in a scholastic and dogmatic way. The practical result of grants must be anticipated. And an essential element is the fact that these miners are not only aliens, but rovers —here to-day and gone to-morrow. They have and will have no stake in the country. They will never become cordial children of an adoptive country. What care they for the Republic? Do you recall how last Fourth of July they tore down your flags in Johannesburg, flying in honour of the American nation? That was an insult not soon to be forgotten by either Boers or Yankees.

‘The Englishmen are not willing to forego allegiance to the Queen, and to swear life-long citizenship in the Republic. They refused to fight in your levies a few years since, against the Kaffirs, when Germans, Spaniards, Americans willingly served. They appealed to the Cape Government against your draft, and were released on payment of a war tax. Thus they repudiated the duties and dangers of citizenship, yet demand its highest privileges. If these were granted, they would overturn your institutions and depart, whenever it suited them, with their pockets full of gold. ‘I predict that the Rand mines will last at their best ten years. Unless other fields are discovered, in a quarter of a century hte Transvaal will be purely an agricultural and pastoral country. That is its destiny. And with the ebb of the gold flood, your aliens will float away. But, meanwhile, if you yield an inch, all will be taken. And at the best, your land will be a province in some future United States of South Africa, or at the worst, a colony of the British Empire. ‘President Kruger’s policy seems to me altogether wise as an alternative, for the future, but the present requires not policies, but actions— not the pleas of an advocate, but the rifles of soldiery. As to ♦ hat, you gentlemen have grasped the issues involved, except one, if you will bear with me—the supreme importance of preventing Jameson’s entrance to Johannesburg. I beg to differ from you at this point, and for the reason that the malcontents of the Rand have no military leader. Their armed miners are only a mob. But give them such a commander us Jameson, and they become a formidable army. •Moreover, any effort on your part which stops short of suppressing op-

position quickly, will invite more Englishmen from the colonies. And some competent military man will arise. The chief danger is delay. If you crush Jameson on his march, then your forces can overawe or subdue the mob at Johannesburg. If he enters that town, it will be put in a posture of defence, and send out an army thrice your utmost strength. The President is correct. Dr. Jim is the pivot of this movement, strategically, as well as diplomatically.’ This impressed the Council, but Smit said:

‘Ja! but how you say to stop him?’ ‘I would submit that as many men as can be gathered, if only a hundred, should be sent out at once to watch the trail from Mafeking, to annoy, to delay, and, if necessary, to sacrifice itself in attack on Jameson’s column at suitable places along the road, until a sufficing force to engage him has been mobilised. Let the latter choose its own place for battle and capture or destroy the whole body of filibusters. ‘The utmost expedition must be used, as Jameson may even now be marching, and it is only a hundred and fifty miles from Mafeking. He will not have more than five hundred men, and surely you can assemble as many or more of your militia in a few days. Meantime, the advance patrol should, at all hazards, delay the enemy, until the main body is prepared.’ ‘By the heavens!’ exclaimed Joubert, ‘that’s it exactly. That is our plan of campaign. Besides, an order must go out for a general rally, so that Johannesburg can be dealt with w-hether Jameson gets through or not. Let orders be sent out to-day—by couriers —to every part of the' Republic, for the men to repair, all of them, with haste, to Pretoria, to repel invasion. The message must be such as will rouse our slow but steady Boers. Issue your orders, and I will proceed to execute them.’

‘Right,’ said Kruger; ‘so be it. There is no difference here. And the quicker the better, fighting Piet. How many men have we on hand, and who can lead them?’

‘I could mount fifty to-day, and perhaps a hundred more to-morrow from the near-by country. Every Boer has his horse, arms and ammunition. They need no baggage. They can subsist on game and supplies from the farms. But a leader, that is difficult. Our young men are hunters —not soldiers. They have courage, but no strategy, and this work requires skill.’ ‘Well!’ shouted Maritz, striking Clendenin on the shoulder, ‘Here iss the man. He iss a soldier trained, ant haf fight the Indians in America, He haf what he sings, “Te swort of Punker Hill.” ’

‘But,’ he said, with a smile, ‘1 am called an Uitlander. Are you williug to trust me? Well, I have offered my sword, and I’ll serve in any place you appoint, at the head of a column, or in the rear rank. I only ask to strike a blow against this invasion of a country which has given me a welcome, and has granted bread and gold to those who now assail her.’

Ihe result was that Clendenin rode out of Pretoria that Wednesday evening of Christmas day at the head of forty Boers, mounted burghers, seasoned frontiersmen, well-horsed and well-armed, with the promise that a hundred more should follow their trail the next day. He did not. laager until moon-setting, near midnight, and marched again at dawn. He pressed forward, hardly stopping to off-saddle, the next day and the third, until, approaching the frontier, he camped to rest and await the coming of the recruits. He was assured by his scouts that Jameson had not yet entered the Transvaal, and rejoiced at every hour of delay as great gain to Joubert and his patriots. The eamp was in a grove, at the mouth of a kloof, whence a clear view across the veldt ten miles disclosed a rough ridge over whose summit Jameson must approach, unless he made a wide detour. This was altogether unlikely, as he would not expect any opposition unless in the vicinity of Pretoria.

I' rom the camp the burghers could retire unobserved up the kloof and choose their position to dispute the advance. Sunday they remained in laager, and the men testified their respect for the day according to their simple, earnest faith, by reading their Dutch Bibles, and singing to quaint,.

old-world tunes, their versified version of the Psalms. Clendenin, whom his eomrades had regarded .with shyness and some suspicion at first, had, by this time, won their goodwill, and, in turn, accorded them his cordial respeet. They were young farmers—big, stout, slouchy, but athletic; clad in home-made hunting suits, with broad soft hats; armed with Martini rifles and cartridge eases about their waists. Every man carried a brace of revolvers, a hunting knife and a long pipe, with a pair of blankets strapped in front of the saddle, and square leathern pockets behind which bore the Boer’s rations of biltong, or dried meat, coffee and tobacco. They were a hearty, rather jolly set of fellows among themselves, simple and kindly, but steadfast with a sort of dour, dogged, unconquerable spirit. 'et they • chatted and joked on the march, and beguiled the way with old Boer songs, such as: ‘Vat you gaed an trek, Ferrela.’

About noon the detachment rode in some ninety strong, and soon after a courier who had left Joubert on Friday with tidings that men were coming in promptly, so that he hoped to march with a thousand by Monday morning.

Cowards sunset the cry was raised, ■Jameson is coming!’ and a body of horsemen was seen to cross the ridge. It halted for the night, and soon could be discerned the faint gleam of their camp-fires, which glowed until daydawn. For, while the days were hot, there was a night chill sufficient to cause discomfort. This the Boers endured patiently, since Clendenin would allow no flame that might suggest the presence of an enemy. Early on Monday, after a hasty meal, the patrol passed up the kloof, while Clendenin remained to reconnoitre. He waited until the English bad deployed in the open, so near that through his field glass he could almost count them. There were eight hundred to a thousand mounted men, a picked force of border police, and volunteers in quest of adventures. These latter were distinguishable by their dress, the campaigning uniform of British officers, and their presence in considerable numbers convinced him the raid had been prepared with deliberation. Its purpose surely antedated the Rand letter. There were also about a hundred natives and three large wagons of stores, dragged not by the usual teams of oxen, but for speed by six horses apiece, which easily kept pace with the column. To his surprise, he also noted eleven pieces of light artillery, Maxim machine guns, he feared, as these formidable weapons would play havoc with the Boers in an open field fight. Regaining the head of his troop he sent a courier to Joubert, and another the following morning, having ridden meanwhile so as to watch the course of Jameson’s march, himself unseen. On Tuesday came an order that the invaders were to be withheld until Wednesday from approaching Krugersdorp, whither the trail was tending. So Clendenin halted twenty miles west of that place and waited for the English in a spruit fringed with brush. A skirmish ensued without serious result except that it delayed Jameson, as intended, since he was ignorant of his opponent’s strength. When he brought up his Maxims, the Boers retired. After a short pursuit, much harassed by the Dutchmen, he laagered for the night. At midnight Clendenin was commanded to fall back on the main body, which he did, leaving a squad of scouts to follow, one by one, with news of the advance. He was greeted joyfully by Joubert wi th the tidings that, beside some eight hundred men with him, an equal force was posted on Hospital Hill, with a battery of Maxims which easily commanded Johannesburg, and that the militia was rapidly rendevouzing in Pretoria to join him at Krugersdorp. Meantime, his plan for the overthrow of Jameson was simple but sagacious. His main body of those present, some four hundred, was posted in reserve at Krugersdorp, while nearby, a mile from the town, about a hundred were strongly entrenched and masked, with machine guns, around a spur of the hills, on a wooded, boulder-strewn slope, where the road afforded no shelter to the foe. These were to voerly the attacking English. A detachment of two hundred were already on a wide

detour to the rear of Jameson, whom they were to follow out of sight until the engagement, and then close in as directed at the time. Clendenin was given an additional one hundred and fifty men, to march at dawn, strike Jameson and retire judiciously, drawing him to the ambush and then flanking him to prevent retreat from the road at the foot of the hills to- the opeu veldt. Thus all three parties would be in a position to surround the column. Dispositions being made, the Boers waited beside their horses.

Jameson, at the break of day, moved rapidly, hoping to reach Johannesburg that evening, although his cat tic were sorely spent; or at least to fall in with the Rand men, whom he expected according to promise, for he began to realise the serious risk of marching so small a force through the Boers’ settlements. This was learned from dispatches on captured messengers, which addressed the committee importunately on the need of prompt action. Not meeting even a solitary Boer, however, the English were advancing confidently, when Clendenin’s detachment appeared at their front, a good half mile away. The invaders instantly assumed form of battle. A scouting line, an advance guard, the main body with flanking parties, and a rear guard with the wagons was the order marshalled. Then they rede forward, sharply, at a trot to finish matters quickly- The Boers advanced leisurely, fired, and fell back. Again they made a stand, but after a volley given and taken, they gave way in good order. The English, laughing and shouting with derision, pressed forward, almost to the muzzles of the ambushed guns, when a withering explosion brought them to their senses. They wavered and huddled on the rear guard, but there rallied bravely, although they were fighting only puffs of smoke. For, after the first volley, single shots alone rang out spitefully as a hidden marksman picked off his man; while now and then was heard the sharp rattle of a masked Maxim. The English dared not charge. Their ma chine guns were of no avail. And not an enemy could be sighted for a shot. Only the long range saved them from destruction.

Now appeared on their right, the body of horse, led by Clendenin, which had first atacked them. And presently the front files of the reserves rode round a curve in the road. The British drew off slowly, pursued by the Boers, some of the latter in the open, and some on the left, sheltered along the hillsides. Yet, Dutchmen and Englishmen were so nearly matched in numbers, with the latter compact and defended by their Maxims, and the former divided into three bands, that a decisive movement was impossible, and the running fight lasted for hours. The patriots attempted assault several times, but the furious sputtering of the guns, and the rapid discharge of repeating rifles among the solid and steady British force held them at a distance.

When night fell the English laagered in the saddle about their baggage waggons and behind their battery. With earliest morn, foodless and sleepless, worn and wearied, cursing the Rand men, anxious and angry, they renewed the struggle, retreating stubbornly, until brought to a stand by heavy fire in the rear. Just then a battery of Maxims appeared at a gallop along the road over which they had fought, and cheers broke from the ranks. ‘Thank God! It is the Rand fellows at last!’

But the hope was vain. It was Kruger’s new light artillery which had reached the, field. Then Jameson made an attempt to escape, as Joubert had foreseen, through a kloof which divides the hill to the

left, and whose broken ground offered shelter from the merciless fire of the sharpshooting Boers. But hardly had the shattered troops crowded into the defile than the ping, ping, of rifles ahead, and the whizz, thud of bullets in their midst assured them they were cn light fast in a trap. Now the parties on flank and rear closed in behind, while the Boers in front blazed away from behind trees and rocks. Men and horses were falling. the wounded in the waggons were moaning with pain or crying for water, and the unharmed were barely able to keep the saddle after the forc-

ed march and long hours of hopeless lighting without tood, water or rest, in the thick ol this hurly-burly occurred those incidents of battle which disclose at once tne meanness and magnanimity ol human nature. Thus a ooer stepped trom shelter with his canteen lor tne moaning lips ot a wounded nriton, who had crawled into the brush, when a comrade of the latter snot tor his heart, und the dead mini tell across the dying. Again, a t it lander and a Trausvaaler aimed at each other, but glancing along their rifles each recognised at the same moment an old schoolfellow, and by a common impulse lowered their guns, and with a wave of the hand, both turned for other victims.

But the struggle was ended. There was but one thing for the English to do, except to light until the last man tell. V» ith a bitterness like death at his heart, Jameson ordered a flag of truce, and one of his troopers rode forward with the sleeve of a shirt flaunting from the point of his sabre.

At once the firing ceased, and from all sides the Boers came together in a dosing circle which rimmed the conquered invaders. Through them rode an elderly Boer, with a full flowing beard, and a young soldierly fellow on a chestnut mare, his haggard face covered with dust and powder, and his left arm swathed in bloody bandages and supported by a sling. iney approached Jameson, who was leaning against his horse, a man of medium height, muscular and nervous, with a lean, though broad face, a sharp chin, clear, steady eyes, and an air of com-age and decision. ’Dr. Jameson?’ said Joubert, •les,’ he replied, ‘and you?’ ‘Piet Joubert, in command.’ ‘What terms do you propose?-' ‘Unconditional surrender, within five minutes.’ There was a murmur among the English, and three minutes were wasted in disputes by those clustered around Jameson,when he turned,saying ‘What will you do with us?’ •Deliver _>u as prisoners at Pretoria. Perhaps your men may be released. I can make you no promise. Y'ou will have to stand your trial.’ ‘Never mind me,’ he said, ‘I surrender.’ Without a sign of exultation, the Boers immediately distributed food and water to their famished foes. A camp was improvised for the disabled, and the rest were marched to Krugersdorp, under guard.

Clendenin’s detachment had borne the first brunt of the attack, and then flanked and followed and fought the English on the open field, while incidentally it intercepted several couriers which bore despatches which revealed the wrath and despair of Jameson at being left to his fate by the Johanuesburgers. Thus it happened that the struggle was over before even the news of Jameson’s approach had reached that town, which otherwise might have risen to his rescue.

The troop had suffered severely, losing three-fourths of the one hundred and eighty men, who fell among the patriots. Its leader received a shot through the briule arm, which not only tore the flesh, but shattered the bone above the elbow. As there was no disabling loss of blood, he persisted in keeping the saddle after one of his men had bound the arm with rude, but valid surgery. When captors and captured had rested at Krugersdorp a detail was assigned as the convoy of prisoners to Pretoria, while Joubert gathered the militia, which had already answered his summons from the capital, and marched on Johannesburg. At sunrise his batteries, were posted and his burghers disposed so as to cover the town. It lay in the vale with its thousands of armed miners, its blatant Committee of Reform, its furious •fire-barmls,’ with all its swagger and bluster, and now humming with the suppressed excitement of the news to which it awoke —‘Dr. Jim captured with all his troops’—and here stood the Boers’ army holding the hilltops on every side. The Uitlanders choked with curses under their breath, but not an arm was raised or sword drawn, and the rebellion of the Rand passed into history, a day’s wonder, a world's scorn, a. theme of laughter, a bye-word for nerveless intrigue, n proverb of inept and impotent revolt. Mynheer Mnritz, fairly drunk with victory, sought out Clendenin and fouud him in the inn at Krugersdorp,

barely alive. The hard riding, the wakelul nights, the severity of heat and cold, the two days’ tight, mid at last the wound, untended fevered and ominous, had well nigh let the life out of him. Maritz insisted on carrying the American home to Maritzdorp for his cure, but the doctor said him nay, since the chance of his life was absolute quiet and constant care. The old Boer, tender at heart, beneath his bluffuess, stooped over the half-conscious man, and said, ‘My poor vriend, 1 am sorry you suffer for us. I dake back that name. You are not a Uitlander, but brother as of one blood. Hein! We smash them once more. Say, I prings Annetje to nurse you? Ja? You likes that? it shall be so.’ Who knows but these words rallied the failing powers of his nature to endure the surgeon's knife, the consuming fever, the deathly weakness, until one day—it seemed to him after ages—he opened his eyes heavily, wearily, and saw—yes, the face of Annetje bending over him—sad, tearful, breathing prayers, and ‘Annetje’ fluttered faintly from his pallid lips. ‘My God!’ she cried, and then, softly, ‘My darling! You are better. Sleep and get well—for me.’ Of course he did, in time to attend a wedding at Maritzdorp on a smiling April day, when Mynheer Maritz gave his daughter to a Uitlander, and Oom Paul, with his accustomed and precipitate and successful diplomacy, stole the first kiss from the bride, and a troop of jolly young burghers, who had ridden through the fight at Krugersdorp, cheered the Amerikaner. and Henry Clendenin himself thought it more than an even bargain that in Africa he had lost an arm for liberty and his heart for love, but had gained Annetje for his wife.