With Rifle and Bayonet Part 5

Jack faced Piet Maartens coolly, and proceeded to divest himself of his coat.

"Now," he said sternly, stepping forward till he was within a foot of Piet, "put up your fists, and I will endeavour to teach you to keep your tongue to yourself, and to be careful in future when you speak of my countrymen."

Jack squared his shoulders, and put himself into a position of defence, while the onlookers cheered him loudly.

But Piet Maartens had had enough. His eyes dropped before Jack's determined gaze, and, muttering a fierce oath, he turned on his heel and left the saloon, followed by his companion.

Jack at once slipped on his coat, and, nodding to all, went out with Wilfred and returned at once to the house.

"By Jove, Jack," exclaimed his friend enthusiastically, "you have done what no one else has been able to accomplish, and I admire your pluck, old chap! But take care of yourself. You have made an enemy of an unscrupulous brute, who will never forget that you have defied him, and made a fool of him. Well, I'm glad you did it; and there is one thing, we shall see less of him at the store. He was always popping in to speak to Father."

That evening Jack recounted the quarrel to Mr Hunter.

"Ah! I am sorry to hear it, Jack, for you have really made an enemy of a dangerous fellow, as Wilfred says," remarked the latter. "But I am glad in other respects, for it will keep him away. It would not be policy for me to send him about his business, but as it is he is not likely to trouble me again. For a long time he has spied upon me here, but with what object I have never been able to discover, though I suspect he is an agent of Kruger's and is suspicious that I have arms concealed on the premises. He really is one of the most uppish of the many b.u.mptious Boers to be met with here and in Pretoria, and of course in other towns in the Transvaal. Everywhere, all over the Transvaal, Englishmen are belittled and sneered at, simply because, years ago, in a fit of generosity we stayed our hands, and would not give them the lesson they deserved. And now we have a very different matter to face.

We collectively outnumber them, I believe, but they are all armed, whereas we are forbidden to carry, or even to possess, a weapon of defence. Not only here, but in all the country parts, distrust of us is the rule, and I very much fear things are getting to such a pa.s.s that life will become intolerable to Englishmen who are worthy of that name.

Once the Boers are openly opposed to us, we shall find ourselves engaged with an enemy nearly every one of whom is a st.u.r.dy, weather-hardened fighter, full of pluck and determination, and with a cunning in warfare which will try our troops, should they meet them, far more than is believed. But some day I will tell you all about our troubles. For the present I am glad you showed that fellow that you were by no means afraid of him. He wanted a lesson, and has had it.

"I am going to Kimberley to-morrow, and suggest that you come with me.

Matters will have quieted down when you return."

Jack jumped at the offer, for he had heard much of the diamond city, though when he got there he found that "city" was scarcely the term to apply to it. The mines are situated on the western border of the Orange Free State, which lies directly south of the Transvaal, and are about a hundred miles from Bloemfontein.

It was a distinctly disappointing place at first, at least so Jack thought, especially when compared with Johannesburg. But when he and Mr Hunter had made a round of the mines, he was deeply impressed with the work carried on, and with the prosperous condition of everyone in the town. From Kimberley they returned to Bloemfontein, staying there only a few hours, for, unlike Pretoria, it was of little interest, while at the latter place the huge forts, which had recently been built on most modern lines, were alone well worth a visit.

When they reached Johannesburg again, Jack had been exactly three months in the country, and liked it so much that he determined to stay still longer. His leg was now perfectly strong again, but the accident had been a severe one, and the shock to his system so great that it had brought to light some slight weakness of the lungs, which up to the moment when his thigh had been broken had remained completely unsuspected.

"If you take my advice, my boy," said Mr Hunter, patting him kindly on the back, one day when Jack had suggested it was time to return home, "you will stay on here for a complete year. We are some thousands of feet above the sea-level, and Johannesburg, and indeed most of the Transvaal, is notoriously healthy. You are not fit to go back to the cold English climate. Of course there is not much the matter with you, but I don't like that weakness you sometimes complain of. I have written to Dr Hanly and your mother, and the former quite agrees with me that a prolonged stay will do you good."

"There is nothing I should like better, Mr Hunter," Jack replied, "but what am I to do with myself all day?"

"Oh, that is easily arranged! You seem to have taken quite kindly to shop life, and I am going to propose that you become one of my regular a.s.sistants. I shall only want you in the mornings, and as we always open early you will be able to get plenty of exercise in the open air.

You have already made many friends here, and no doubt you will find plenty ready to accompany you on horseback out into the veldt. There are two good horses in the stable which you may use whenever you like."

Accordingly it was settled, much to Jack's and Wilfred's delight, that the former should prolong his visit, and very soon he had quite settled down to the life. Early morning found the two lads in their s.h.i.+rt sleeves outside the store taking down the shutters. By breakfast time everything was dusted and the goods uncovered. After the meal they stood behind their counters, and before long Jack knew as well as anyone in Johannesburg what was the current rate of b.u.t.ter and ham, and what was the lowest figure at which sugar could be sold in order to leave a good margin of profit for his employer.

But there was really no need for the cutting down of prices. A store in such a populous town was a valuable property, and Mr Hunter's had a reputation which ensured the various departments brisk business all day long. All who patronised it seemed to be in a prosperous way, and indeed only grumbled that all their energies and business prospects were smothered by the continual opposition and stupid action of President Kruger and the Boers.

To say that Jack enjoyed the life he was now leading was to describe his feelings rightly. He took the deepest interest in his work, and after his hours in the shop were done, generally went for a gallop with one or more of the many young fellows he knew. Christmas came and went, and by the early months of the New-Year, the eventful and never-to-be-forgotten year of 1899, he was quite himself again, a rosy-cheeked and manly-looking young fellow whom everyone but Piet Maartens and his Boer sympathisers liked.

So well did Jack's life agree with him that he was within an ace of deciding to forego his commission in the army and remain for good in Africa. But Mr Hunter dissuaded him.

"You are too young to settle down as yet," he said. "And besides, it was your father's wish that you should follow his footsteps and enter the army. Of course we should prefer you to stay, but under the circ.u.mstances I hope you will return and go up for that examination.

Later on, perhaps, when you have knocked about the world a little more, you may wish to resign your commission, and then if you join us here all the better! You will be older and more ready to settle down, and your family ties in England are not likely to prevent your emigrating if you wish to do so."

Jack recognised the wisdom of doing as Mr Hunter suggested, and accordingly made all preparations to leave Africa in the following August.

But the old proverb that "Man proposes and G.o.d disposes" was exemplified in his case. Events proved too strong for him, and he remained in the country, shoulder to shoulder with his English friends, to face the storm of pa.s.sion which was soon to burst over their heads, and to take his part in the bitter struggle which was to be fought out between the Boers and their allies, and the sons of our mighty empire.

CHAPTER FOUR.

A STARTLING ADVENTURE.

"Jack, how would you like to carry out a little piece of business for me?" asked Mr Hunter one morning, extracting a letter from a big bundle which he held in his hand.

"I have just had this offer of leather goods from the agents in Durban, with whom I am in the habit of dealing. In spite of war scares, and the fear that we should have to leave the country suddenly, shoals of new-comers constantly reach us, and such articles as bags and trunks are always in demand by those who are forced to travel from town to town.

Saddlery, bits, and reins are also easily disposed of. This would be a good opportunity for you to make a run down to Durban. You have never been there, and you could inspect these goods between the hours when you will be looking round the town.

"There is a list of the articles that have just been s.h.i.+pped over from England, and you will notice that against the prices quoted I have ticked down the amount usually asked for here. If the goods are of first-rate quality, you may close with the agents at once."

"Thanks! It's very good of you, and I'd like to go immensely, Mr Hunter," Jack answered. "How many of each of these items am I to buy?

I see you have not stated that."

"Well, I imagine it is a big consignment, Jack, and I believe by buying now I shall be able to sell all at a large profit, for I think there is likely to be an unprecedented demand very shortly. So I shall leave it to your discretion to buy as many as you think reasonable. Here is a signed cheque. Of course you will get something taken off for a large order, and the terms I shall also leave to you. You have already shown you possess a business head, and I can therefore rely upon your carrying the arrangements out satisfactorily. Fill in the cheque and hand it over when you have settled the matter. To-day is Sat.u.r.day. You had better start on Monday morning, and I shall expect you back on the Thursday or Friday following."

Jack was delighted at the confidence placed in him, and set off on the Monday morning in the highest spirits. He purchased a return ticket, shook hands with Wilfred--who would have liked to accompany him, but had to remain behind, as his father was going to Kimberley for a few days,-- and jumped into a luxuriously-furnished carriage.

It was a long and monotonous journey to Durban. Many of the towns they pa.s.sed through, however, bore names which only a few months later were to be in the mouths of all Englishmen, in fact of the whole of the civilised world.

Running south towards the Orange Free State border, the railway curved towards the south-east, pa.s.sing in succession Heidelberg, Standerton, and Volksrust. Then, with a loud and piercing shriek from the engine whistle, the train dived into a long, dark tunnel in the Drakenberg range of mountains, and emerged into Natal, one of England's most loyal colonies. Sweeping past Laing's Nek and Majuba Hill, names which will ever cause our countrymen to grit their teeth with vexation and regret, the train pa.s.sed through a mountainous and extremely rugged country, and finally pulled up at Newcastle, one of the towns where the opening scenes of the second Boer war were to be laid. Then, after a ten-minute wait, the guard's whistle sounded, and they steamed on past Glencoe and Dundee, and, swerving to the right away from the neighbourhood of Rorke's Drift (that little mission station on the banks of the deep, swift-flowing Buffalo River, where a mere handful of English soldiers kept at bay the flower of Cetewayo's army of fierce Zulus), they ran through Elands Laagte and Reitfontein, and drew up once more, at Ladysmith. On proceeding, the train ran down to the river Tugela, skirted its western bank, and thundered across the bridge, and on past Chieveley and Frere to Estcourt, stopping only when it had run into the station at Pietermaritzburg. From there to Durban was only a short spin, and very soon Jack had arrived, and had been whirled to his hotel on a "rickshaw" drawn by a strapping Kafir.

On the following day he called on the agents, and inspected the leather goods he had been commissioned to buy; and having decided how many to take, and offered a certain sum down for the articles he required, he left the warehouses, promising to call at the same hour next day and hear whether they would accept it or not.

Then he took a "rickshaw" a little way out of the town, and called upon a young fellow who had sailed out from England with him.

"What! Somerton! The fellow with a groggy leg whom the ladies on board took so much care of!" the latter exclaimed, shaking Jack cordially by the hand, and forcing him into a chair on the shady verandah on which the two lads had met.

"Boy! Joko! Do you hear?" he shouted. "Look lively! I'm on the verandah."

"Coming, Baas! coming!" sounded away from the opposite side of the house, from which a Kafir appeared a moment later, in a desperate hurry to obey his master.

"Now, Somerton," said Jack's jovial friend, whose name was Turner, "join me in a lemon-squash and a cigarette. It's a funny combination, but I find it agrees with me, and I'm sure it's far better for one than drinking spirits as many fellows do."

Jack gladly agreed to do so, and soon they were lolling back out of the heat of the sun, puffing their cigarettes, for that was a habit which Jack had already learnt to appreciate, and chatting about their respective doings for the past few months.

"So you're up in the Transvaal with Mr Hunter, and under the eyes of the Boers, are you?" said Turner, when he had heard how Jack had been employing his time. "Well, I dare say you fellows up there know more about affairs than we do here; but there are going to be ructions, awful ructions, I feel sure, and if I were you I should get ready to leave at a moment's notice."

"Yes, everyone says the same, Turner," replied Jack, "and from what I can understand, trouble is certain to follow. Some say it will lead to war, and others say it is likely to be merely a kind of storm in a tea-cup. Whatever happens, though, I expect I shall stick to Johannesburg till the Hunters clear out I've thrown in my lot with theirs, and I couldn't very well leave them, you know. Besides, I am not anxious to do so.

"If matters come to a head before August, then I shall stay in the country and see the trouble through; if not, why, I suppose I shall have to go back to England and begin to cram for the army, a grind which I don't fancy at all."

"Then the chances are you will be in the thick of it, Somerton, for by August there will either be war, or old Kruger will have knuckled under.

I can tell you this, at any rate: the Boers have been arming for years, and if I were in your shoes I should certainly smuggle in some weapon, a revolver for choice. And mark my words, you'll have need of it before long or I'm a Dutchman! Now what do you say to a spin round the town or down to the quays?

"Joko! We want a couple of 'rickshaws'. Bustle up and fetch them!"

Jack and his friend were soon bowling along through the streets of Durban, and spent a pleasant afternoon together.