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

by G. A. Henty

They now sat down to lunch, and after the meal Yorke gave the details of his journey down, and of the struggle in the yard of the inn at Colesberg.

"That was a fortunate escape indeed," Mr. Chambers said, "and wonderfully well managed."

"I can't think how you do such things," Mrs. Chambers remarked. "You do not look more than eighteen, and yet you seem to be as cool and as quick in deciding what is best to be done as if you had been employed in dangerous work for many years."

"I don't think age makes much difference, Mrs. Chambers," Yorke laughed. "The games that one plays at school make one quick. A fellow sends down a ball at your wicket, and while it is on its way, which is not much above a second, you have to decide what to do with it, whether you will block it, or drive it, or cut it to leg. It is the same with football, and at boxing or single-stick you have to guard a blow and return it before, as one would imagine, you had time to think. In fact, you don't know yourself that you think. I should say that a fellow is quicker and cooler when he leaves school or college than he can be years afterwards, when he has altogether got out of the way of using his wits in a hurry."

After talking for an hour Yorke walked up with Mr. Chambers to the engine-houses.

"I hope we shall be getting to work soon," the latter said.

"I am afraid it will be some time before you do," Yorke replied. "The country is still in a very disturbed state all down the line, and one may almost say, as far as Cape Town; and I am afraid that it will be a long time before the Boers accept their defeat as final, and that they will carry on a partisan war for many months. It will be impossible to guard every foot of line for nearly a thousand miles, and it will be constantly cut. As they are all mounted, there will be no overtaking the raiding parties with infantry, and we have nothing like enough cavalry to police such an enormous extent of country. It will take a long time, I should think many months, before we shall be able on the single line of railway to do more than feed the troops, and until all resistance is crushed out it does not seem to me to be possible for the fugitives to return."

"Well, we must wait as patiently as may be. I am glad to see, by the news that we have received through Lorenço Marques, that our shareholders in England have neither lost heart nor patience, and that the fall in the value of stocks and mines has been much smaller than might have been expected. I own that I have had great fears of late that the Boers would, when they saw matters going against them, smash up the machinery and blow up the mines as far as they could. There was great danger of it at one time, and indeed yesterday I feared the worst. The rabble of the town, encouraged by Judge Koch, seemed bent upon violence; Botha and his troops had retired, and there was no authority whatever to keep order. Dr. Krause did all he could, and when a mob, composed almost entirely of the lowest class of Irish and Germans, went out to the Robinson mine the prospect looked desperate. But Mr. Tucker, the manager, showed great tact and firmness; and he was well backed by Krause, who pointed out to the mob that if the British troops when they entered to-day found that the mines had been damaged, they would probably have the whole of the lower portion of the town burned, and every man who could not prove that he had taken no part in the affair, shot; and therefore, as there was everything to lose and nothing to gain by the destruction of the mines, it would be nothing short of madness for them to commit so useless a piece of mischief.

"Happily he succeeded, and the mob returned to the town, and there is nothing to prevent us from going to work again as soon as we can get hands. Of course the mine has been somewhat damaged by our picking out all the richest deposits during the last month's working; but as I have no doubt I shall be able to get a few hands, as many men have remained here, to drive headings and open new ground, I do not suppose that there will be any falling off in our output when we once set to work in earnest."

That evening, after the ladies had retired, Mr. Chambers said: "Now, as to yourself, Yorke. From what you said, I fancy you do not think of remaining in the army after this affair is over?"