"So have I," she said. "And I told him so. But, Wilfred, tell me about my father?"
"He has gone back to Durban, as you know, to see the authorities about your disappearance. He thinks you have been taken prisoner by the Boers, and that you are at Pretoria by now. He is going to try and get you exchanged."
"There is no need for that, thank God!" said Brenda, cheerfully. "I must let him know at once."
"That will be difficult unless you send a message from Ladysmith."
"When do you think we shall be there?"
"If the luck holds good, in a couple of days. We have taken most of the Boer positions; now Warren intends to try for Spion Kop to-night. If he captures it, we shall hold the key to the Boer position."
"Ah, you see Wilfred, your forebodings are all wrong."
"We are yet in the wood, not out of it," replied he, significantly. "However, I will give Buller and Warren all praise. They have done well. All the same, I still condemn this plan of campaign. Only a miracle can render it successful."
"Well, we shall see what happens when Spion Kop is taken. Do try and look on the bright side of things, Wilfred."
But the young man departed, still shaking his head. There was no doubt that he was very depressing company. His face wore a look of settled gloom most painful to behold; and he was always prognosticating calamity in the face of the most promising operations. At the same time he invariably refrained from pessimism in his letters to his newspaper, which were usually cheerful and full of devoted praise of the behavior of both troops and officers.