With Roberts to Pretoria: A Tale of The South African War

by G. A. Henty

Mr. Chambers went out with Yorke to the stables and showed him the horses that he was willing to have despoiled of a portion of their tails, and this, with a pair of scissors that the girls had lent him, Yorke speedily accomplished. They then saddled Mr. Chambers's favourite horse, and he at once started. He was away an hour and a half, by which time, amid a good deal of laughter and merriment, the hair had been sewn and glued into Hans's straw-hat. Yorke had also got out his wig and put it on, and even Mrs. Chambers, shaken as she still was by the incidents of the night before, joined in her daughters' hearty laughter at the changed appearance of her two guests.

"The police will be here at twelve, Mr. Harberton, therefore, if you have now made up your mind to start to-day, it would be as well that you should be away before they arrive. You know I should be delighted if you would stop a few days, but as you said that you would very much rather be off this morning, I shall not try to persuade you to do so."

Half an hour later all was ready for the start. Mr. Chambers had taken Hans aside. "You have done me a great service," he said. "The present is not a time when it is safe to be travelling about with much money in your possession, especially when you are wanted by the authorities, and if you were searched, and found to have a sum of money that did not accord with your apparent position, you would not only lose the money, but your liberty as well. Therefore, I do not propose to make you a gift at the present time, but I engage myself to pay to you the sum of five hundred pounds whenever you may wish to buy a farm or otherwise settle down after the conclusion of the war."

Hans's eyes opened with surprise. "I only did what my master told me, sir."

"You did more. Your astuteness in listening to the conversation of the rascals who were talking in that drinking-shop was no doubt at first a mere matter of curiosity, but the fact that you communicated it at once to Mr. Harberton enabled him to take the steps which defeated the plot; and you bore your share in the fight itself. My name is well known, I think, throughout South Africa, and, as I may be away from the country when you wish to draw the money, here is a promissory note, undated, undertaking to pay three months after presentation the sum of five hundred pounds on the duly certified signature of Hans Bernard; and with it is this letter, saying that I have handed you this bill in consideration of the very great service that you rendered me in discovering and thwarting an attempt on my life. That letter can do you no harm if found upon you. When the war is over you can, at any time, hand that note to the bank here, or to any of its branches in Natal, or to its agents. They will require the signature of Mr. Harberton, or some other person known to them, and will then place the money at your disposal as soon as they have communicated with the bank here."

Without waiting for any thanks from Hans, who was too overwhelmed to find words for the purpose, he went across to the stables, where Peter was harnessing the horses. "Peter," he said, "your master tells me that you have been very faithful to him, and you have now rendered me a service by helping him to defeat the men who attacked this place last night. It would not be safe to give you money now, as you may be searched going down country, but I shall give him authority to pay you two hundred pounds for me at the end of the war. Don't spend it in folly at the Cape; go back to your own people, build a kraal, buy cattle, and settle down there."

Then he walked away, and in a few words told Yorke what he had done. "They have both proved themselves good men by their devotion to you," he said, "it will give them both a good start in life."

"Thank you most heartily, Mr. Chambers, I am certain that both of them will do justice to your kindness. I am sure of Hans being steady; and, as I have already persuaded the Kaffir to swear off liquor, he will, I feel certain, take your advice, which is indeed almost the same as I gave him when getting him to promise not to spend his earnings in drink. These native labourers with the army are all paid very high, indeed ridiculously high wages. He has promised to hand over his pay, when he gets it, to me, and I have undertaken if he does so to keep him in tobacco, so he will, if the war lasts for a year, have over fifty pounds laid by, which will add to his sense of responsibility. I will not draw upon you for the money until he is ready to go straight away directly he gets it. Of course, I do not know what I shall be doing myself; if I can, I shall certainly accompany him and see him settled. As to Hans, I have no fear as to his doing well; he certainly was not a hard worker until I went to my cousin's farm, but since then he has quite woke up. He saw the advantage of irrigation there, and I shall strongly advise him not to go in for keeping cattle, but to take a small piece of good land near this town, or Kimberley, where water can be obtained at no great depth, and to go in for growing vegetables for sale in the town. I am convinced that it would pay splendidly."

"He certainly could not do better. The prices of vegetables are extravagantly high, and he can dispose of any quantity at rates that would pay him well. Well, there is the Kaffir with the cart. You had better come in and say good-bye to my wife and daughters."

Five minutes later they started, with strongly-expressed hopes that in two or three months they might meet again when the British army came up.