The Petticoat Commando Part 20

And yet the guard stood still, transfixed by the unerring aim of those two deadly implements.

A moment more and every man was provided with a steed, another moment and they tore across the veld in mad, exultant flight, while behind them the shots rang out and the bullets fell beside them in the gra.s.s.

Eleven horses in all! n.o.ble thoroughbreds, well trained and sensitive to voice and touch.

No fear of cruel treatment from your captors, beautiful steeds! The life you are entering upon may be full of hards.h.i.+p for you, but it will be free and wild, and you will be tended with all care and gentleness. These men are brave and strong, and it is only the cowardly and weak who would inflict on you one single unnecessary pain.

Serve your new masters well.

Be swift and sure when Death is on their track.

G.o.d only knows what the future holds for them of suffering and woe.

Not on foot, but riding like lords, these men reached General Botha's force, and the two men Naude and Coetzee, being among the only burghers on commando familiar with the route through the British lines, were thereafter employed by minor officers to travel backwards and forwards to the capital. At first their work consisted only of helping other burghers to escape, but as time went on their duties became more complicated and hazardous. There were countless commissions to fulfil and information to be obtained on every imaginable question.

The need of a body of organised men in town began to be felt more strongly in the field, and it was Captain Naude who introduced the system of employing a set of reliable burghers as spies in the heart of the enemy.

For this purpose he once again went to Pretoria with the list of names of the men he wished to interview.

Mr. Botha was the first he approached, and the former was only half pleased when he heard that, instead of the escape from British martial law, for which he had been keeping himself in readiness so long, he was commanded to remain in Pretoria as the head of a body of Secret Service men.

He protested vehemently, but his objections were overruled by the argument brought forward by Naude, a consideration for the state of his health. This was certainly a point which carried weight. He consented, and the names of the other men to be appointed as his co-operators were submitted to him for approval:

C.P. Hattingh, G. Els, W. Bosch, and J. Gillyland, a body of five men, which we shall know in future by the name of "the Secret Committee."

The Secret Service of the Boers was now well established, and could not have been entrusted into hands more capable, more undaunted, or more faithful.

Captain Naude had in the meantime earned distinction for himself as the bravest and most enterprising emissary employed in the field. He was placed by General Botha at the head of a corps of scouts, including the men who had captured the British remounts, and it is on the foundation of his adventures as captain of this body of men that this story is built.

We now turn to Mr. Botha and his first visit to Harmony.

It seems that Mrs. van Warmelo was one morning, during her daughter's absence at Irene, surprised by the appearance of a stranger at her house.

He introduced himself as Mr. Willem Botha and handed a card to Mrs.

van Warmelo, the card of her friend Mrs. Pieter Maritz Botha, on which were written the following words, "You may trust the bearer as you would myself."

No other introduction was necessary.

Mrs. P.M. Botha, sister of Sir David Graaf, whose striking personality and unique experiences throughout the war would alone fill a big book, was one of Mrs. van Warmelo's dearest friends.

Any one coming from her to Harmony could depend upon a hearty welcome.

Mrs. van Warmelo looked at her visitor with her keen and searching eyes.

He was short of stature and carried a little walking-stick for support, and his eyes, when they looked into yours, were shrewd, humorous, and true as steel.

A _great_ little man he was, and is to-day, G.o.d bless him!

I stretch out my hands to him across these pages and clasp his in the sympathy and understanding of what we went through together. True as steel! Yes, that describes him well, for in all his dealings he was a n.o.ble friend, an honourable foe.

Fate had been hard on him in leaving him a helpless prisoner in the hands of his enemies when his whole heart was with his brothers in the field, but Providence was kind in giving him the power and opportunity he required for serving land and people under circ.u.mstances as unique as they were dangerous and difficult.

From him Mrs. van Warmelo learnt of the existence of the Secret Committee.

No names were mentioned to her, but the general outline of their work was described, and her a.s.sistance was invited in that branch of the work which included the sending of dispatches to the President.

Her fame as an exceedingly clever "smuggler" had evidently spread, and if the plan of the White Envelope had been known to her visitor at the time, he would no doubt have been even more satisfied with the result of the visit.

That the Committee in Pretoria formed only a very small part of the scheme of espionage all over South Africa I am well aware, but it is with this particular Committee that we have to do, and a detailed account of the work carried out by them will give the reader some idea of the system generally employed by the Boers.

Not with the foolhardy young spy who came into the capital to buy a pound of sweets or a box of cigarettes, not with the reckless youth who came in to spend a few days with his friend and to escort his sweetheart to church on Sunday night, thereby increasing the difficulties and danger of detection for his more earnest fellow-countrymen, are we concerned in this book.

These escapades were of such frequent occurrence, and were so well known to many people in town, that it would have been dangerous in the extreme to use them for serious purposes.

From the earliest days of the occupation Pretoria was always full of spies, and the English were aware of it, but, do what they would, they could not prevent it.

Although we always knew how things were going in the field, I do not for a moment believe that the accounts of British reverses brought unofficially in to town by the spies were always reliable, nor do I sanction the reckless coming and going of irresponsible men. Alas, no!

too bitter have been the experiences of disastrous results brought about by their thoughtlessness.

The van Warmelos were warned from the beginning against having dealings with them if they really wished to be of service to their people, to which warning they owed their safety and the privilege of being able to help their countrymen till the end of the war. General Emmet, as prisoner in the Rest Camp, also sent a warning, saying that General Botha had instructed him to tell Mrs. van Warmelo that her name was known on commando.

As time went on, Pretoria was being shut in more completely every day.

Blockhouses rose on every side; on the hills which lie around the town searchlights played from commanding positions over many miles of country, making darkest night as clear as noonday; barbed-wire fences enclosed the entire capital, and outposts were on guard night and day--with no avail!

The spies glided in and out like serpents in the night, and some idea of the hards.h.i.+ps and perils they went through in order to achieve their purpose will be given in this true story of the great Boer war, some idea of the dangers to which their a.s.sistants in town were exposed, and the part played by women and girls in the scheme of espionage.

I believe the events related here to be tame in comparison with some of the risks incurred and heroism displayed by other Boer women all over South Africa, but we must confine ourselves strictly to Hansie's diary, as it was written from day to day, before time could obliterate the smallest detail from her memory.

Hansie's diary with all the bitterness left out; Hansie's diary without its sighs and tears, its ever-changing moods, and deep emotions; Hansie's diary, shorn of all that makes it human, natural, and real,--surely what is left of it must be tame and totally unworthy of the original!

And yet it needs must be!

This book must be a calm, dispa.s.sionate review of the past, a temperate recital of historical events as they took place, and, as facts speak largely for themselves, I leave the details to be filled in by the reader's imagination.

CHAPTER XV

THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL SCOUTS CORPS

If what theosophists say be true, that thoughts are living forces, then it seems to me that the subtle power and influence of a national maxim must be far-reaching and powerful in its effect on the national mind.