"Thank God for that! Are you here on duty, or have you come for good?"
"I am here for good, sir. I sent in my resignation this morning, and Lord Roberts has given me leave of absence until it appears in the Gazette, which will of course be some time hence, as letters will have to go and return, and they do not hurry things at Pall Mall."
"That is good news indeed. We shall all be delighted to have you here; and you must look upon our home as your home now, you know."
On the following morning Yorke went into the town and ordered civilian clothes for himself and Hans, and bought a suitable attire for Peter, and on his return began work by descending the mine with Mr. Chambers. He threw himself into the work with his usual energy, and during the next two months paid a visit to every mine in the neighbourhood, Mr. Chambers explaining to him the run of the lodes, the reason why every level and heading was driven, the steps to be taken for extending work and endeavouring to discover other lodes. Before descending, Mr. Chambers showed him the plan of the workings, so that he could the better understand them when he went below. When not so engaged he was instructed in the nature of the books kept, and of the duties performed by the various officials of the mines.
"You will understand, Yorke, that the question of driving levels and carrying on the working is in the hands of the underground manager, and is always discussed with me prior to any new steps being taken, but this matter is not really difficult. It is only on locating fresh lodes, determining their value, and how they had best be worked, that geological knowledge is much required. The discovery is first made by men thoroughly acquainted with the country. After determining that the nature of the ground is favourable, they sink a small shaft twenty or thirty feet deep on the lode. The samples are taken to the assaye office in the town, and the proportion of gold to a ton ascertained there. The assaye value is always considerably larger than it will turn out on actual working, as much fine gold is lost in stamping and other processes, though the greatest care is exercised. Still, if the assaye product is, say, three ounces to the ton, it may be safely calculated that the actual working will yield at least two and a half ounces. However, you will not have to deal with this question. You have a well-established mine on a fine lode, and it would be difficult to make any serious mistake."
In the meantime scarcely a day had passed without news of fighting in the south, attended by varied fortune. De Wet, in spite of his rapid movements, had not been able to seriously injure the railway, and had several times been met and sharply repulsed; but, on the other hand, Delarey had gained a success at Nitral's Nek, eighteen miles west of Pretoria; and Grobler had cut up some cavalry to the north of the town, while twenty miles away a body of troops of the 19th Brigade had been very roughly used on the same day. On the 16th of July, Botha took the offensive and endeavoured to carry the British positions round Pretoria, but was repulsed with considerable loss. There had been a good deal of fighting farther west, and also near Rustenburg. In August the area of resistance became still more extensive and active, for Lord Roberts was accumulating as large a force as possible at Pretoria to clear the main Boer army off the railway leading to Delagoa Bay, and the forces elsewhere were necessarily decreased.
One evening early in August, Yorke, after dinner, went out to the harness-room as usual to have a talk with Hans, and smoke a pipe by the bright fire that was always maintained there during the hard weather.
"There is something I have to tell you, Master Yorke," Hans said. "Peter came back from the town ten minutes ago. He went in at two o'clock, and I had begun to wonder what he was doing there so long. He tells me that this afternoon he saw Dirck Jansen, and the two men who were with him in that affair at Colesberg, in the street."
"He did, Hans? Then we must be on the look-out. Dirck can be here for no good purpose; and I should not be surprised if he has come to carry out his old grudge against me; though how he can tell that I am here is more than I can imagine. Of course they were together?"
"No; they were not far apart, but as they passed each other they neither spoke nor looked as if they were acquainted. They were not dressed as usual. Peter says Dirck was got up like a town Dutchman, and the other two like Uitlander workmen. I don't suppose we should have recognized the two men, though I should know Dirck anywhere. But Peter, like all the natives, never seems to forget a face he has once seen, and he is positive about them."