"Yes, sir, and that is what I intended to ask you to do. But the case seems to me entirely changed by what my Kaffir found out this morning, and seems to show that he is here on a more serious business." And he then told him all Peter had noticed; how he met, evidently by appointment, an officer in the uniform of the Transvaal artillery, and of their long conference together.
"That is indeed serious, Mr. Harberton," the officer said after taking a note of Yorke's report. "Did the Kaffir say anything about the personal appearance of this officer? A score of them are in the town on parole."
Yorke repeated the account he had obtained from Peter of the man's appearance, and the address of the house they went to.
"That settles it," the officer said. "The man is Lieutenant Hans Cordua, a German. We are already watching him, and I am surprised that I have not already a report of this interview. We have received information from a man who is trusted by them that a plot is in progress, the object of which is to get up a sudden rising in the town, set fire to houses in various quarters, kidnap General Roberts in the confusion, and murder all the officers as they issue from their houses. We know that Botha has been in communication with him, and has been asked to bring up a large force close to the town on the night when the affair is to take place; and I have no doubt that this man, who is evidently a fanatic, is here in reference to the arrangements. I am only waiting until I hear that a definite date has been fixed upon, to arrest Cordua and the other leaders of the affair.
"It is a desperate scheme, but might, had we not heard of it, have been attended with some success. It has not advanced very far as yet—that is, the leaders have not yet taken any steps to excite this rising. They may consider that this could be done in a very few hours; there are certainly three or four thousand men in the town who would be likely to join heartily in such an enterprise. About half these are Dutch, the others low-class Germans, Irish, and French. They are all against us: in the first place, from an intense hatred of us; and in the second place, because the stoppage of the mines, the cessation of all trade, and the departure of all the employers of labour, together with the dearth of provisions, have deprived them of the casual employment upon which they subsisted.
"A few of them are working-men in the true sense of the term, and certainly a good many were employed upon the railroads and in the various railway yards. These men are ripe for anything in the way of mischief, and if a whisper were passed round but a few hours before the rising is to take place they would join to a man. Our discoveries at present are a profound secret, though, of course, the military commandant and the adjutant-general have been informed of them, and we are to have a consultation at the commandant's this afternoon. The news you have brought, that an emissary from without has arrived last night, and has had an interview with Cordua to-day, will probably precipitate matters, and I should not be surprised if Cordua and those concerned are arrested this evening. It would be as well that your men should continue their watch over this fellow Dirck Jansen, and I should be glad if you will return here at six o'clock, as you may be required to identify him."
"I would rather not appear in the matter personally if it can be avoided, because, badly as he has turned out, he is, as I told you, a nephew of my cousin's wife."
"I will take care that you shall not do so more than is absolutely necessary. The evidence of your man, that he is a farmer from the neighbourhood of Richmond, and notorious for his pro-Boer feelings, and that he was with the rebels at Colesberg, would probably be sufficient, corroborated, as it would be as to the latter portion, by your Kaffir, who could also prove that he met Cordua by appointment, and went with him to his house. He would probably not attempt to deny these points, and would find it hard to give any explanation of his present visit here. Of course, if he brought any document from Botha, we may find it when Cordua's lodging is searched. If not, he probably will get off with a few months' imprisonment as a notorious rebel."
"Very well, sir, I will call again at six o'clock."
Peter went on watch again, and just before Yorke was about to call on the provost-marshal, met him with the news that Dirck had been hanging about head-quarters, had addressed a staff officer who came out, and that the latter had taken out a pocket-book, written a few words upon a page, torn it out and given it to Dirck. When Peter left him he had just entered a small German beer-shop a hundred yards away.