"Thank you; that would be best, especially as I shall want the meat cooked. There are three of us, and as we sha'n't have much else, we can do with at least two pounds a day each, and about the same quantity of bread. We shall want a bag of mealies for the horses, they wouldn't pick up much on the veldt. I have got six water-bottles, which it will be as well to fill before we start, for we may cross the river in a hurry, and there is not much chance of finding water in any of the spruits. We have got tin mugs, and the only other thing we require is some tobacco; I forgot to lay in a supply at Bloemfontein. Can you pick up a pony for my Kaffir?"
Yorke now went out and joined Hans, who was waiting for him in the street. Looking carelessly at the shops as they went along, they made their way out of the town, and, having been directed by the innkeeper, struck off by the road they intended to follow without having to ask any questions. They went about half a mile and then returned, as it would have seemed unnatural for them to be seen walking farther.
"I think we know as much as we need about it now," Yorke said. "We may as well go back to the inn. It is quite evident that we are not likely to be asked any questions here, nor, indeed, as far as I can see, anywhere, unless we come upon an outpost."
They loitered about the streets for an hour. No one spoke to them, for the Boer force there was composed of men from various parts of the Colony, as well as from the Free State, and as they were to a great extent unknown to each other, a fresh face excited no attention. Yorke on their return found the landlord had bought a stout pony for Peter. Half an hour later Peter ran into their room.
"Baas," he exclaimed, "there are three Boers looking at our horses. They say that one of them is stolen."
Yorke and Hans caught up their rifles and bandoliers and ran downstairs.
"I was rubbing them down, baas, in the yard when they came in, and one of them pointed to the brand on the horse you ride and said he knew it. Then they asked who was my master, and I said, 'Mr. Meyring'; and he said, 'I have reason to believe that this horse is stolen from a friend of mine. If he is in the inn tell him to come here.'"
The yard was at the back of the house, with a gate opening into a lane behind it. As they entered it Yorke started involuntarily, for he recognized in one of the men who was standing by his horse his old enemy Dirck Jansen; it had never occurred to him that, as Richmond lay but some eighty miles from Colesberg, this was the point Dirck would be most likely to make for as soon as it was seized by the men of the Free State. Fortunately Dirck's back was towards him and he did not notice the momentary pause.
"Where did you get this horse, sir?" Dirck asked authoritatively.
"I am not accustomed to be questioned in that tone," Yorke said quietly. "I have had the horse for some months. I had it at Pretoria."