"Thank you very much, sir. At what hour are you likely to call?"
"We will say ten o'clock. I will bring a good map I have with me—or, no, I had better merely call and ask for you, and then bring you here. It would look strange if you were to ask for a private room, and we certainly cannot talk that over in the public room. They will not know that you have been here to-night, and you had better send your man with this letter again in the morning. Tell him before the landlord, or anyone else, that he is to take the letter to me, and say that you have arrived, and will call upon me at any hour that is convenient in reference to the business."
This programme was carried out, and at ten o'clock Yorke was standing at the door of the hotel when Mr. von Rensburg came up. He went into the hotel without noticing Yorke, and said to the landlord: "You have a Mr. Meyring staying here, have you not?"
"Yes, sir; he was outside just now." He went to the door. "There he is, sir," he said, pointing to Yorke.
Mr. von Rensburg went up to him. "My name is von Rensburg, Mr. Meyring. I did not know when I should be disengaged, so did not send an answer to the letter you brought, but I am free now, and if you will come with me to my house, we will talk over the business you mentioned, and see which commando you had better join."
"Thank you, sir! I am naturally anxious to lose no time. I should certainly prefer joining the force which is likely to be engaged soonest." The innkeeper and two other men lounging near heard what he said, and paid no further attention to them as they walked off.
Once in Mr. von Rensburg's parlour the latter said: "It will not be an easy matter to get through. The drifts are all guarded, both on the Orange River and the Riet. Of course the nearest way is through Petrusburg and Jacobsdal, but I put that out of the question. Then there is the road through Fauresmith and across the Orange at Zoutpans Drift, but that also is a long way round. I believe that as good a way as any would be to take the Boshof road across the Modder at Truters Drift. From there a road keeps along for three miles north of the Modder, and leads finally to Kimberley; it cuts the road from Boshof to Jacobsdal. But at that point there are strong forces to prevent the British from trying to make a detour that way. These are the names of the various commandos there, and at Jacobsdal, and at the drifts across the Orange.
"The safest way, though longer in miles, would be to go south to Bethulie, as if you were going to join the commando at Steynsburg, or better still, Colesberg. Once past Colesberg you would find no difficulty in making your way to De Aar. I could help you more that way than any other, because I could get a pass for you, and your horses, your servant, and the Kaffir, direct by rail to Colesberg; so that really you would not lose so much time as you might think, for from Colesberg to De Aar is not much more than half the distance that it is from here to Jacobsdal. The Philippolis commando is there."
"I know the country on the other side of the Seacow River," Yorke said, "and once past Colesberg could make my way easily enough. I would much rather choose that line. Once at De Aar I should not have much more than a hundred miles to ride to the Modder, even if I could not get up by train."