"That is right; it would be of no use taking up one that would not carry government ammunition."
"How long have you been in the colony, Mr. Harberton?" the major asked.
"Six months, sir."
"You have done well to learn the language so quickly."
"The cousin with whom I was staying, sir, married a Dutch lady, and as he had been out here twenty years, Dutch was generally spoken in the house. I spent my whole time in riding and practising shooting, and I always had this Dutch boy with me. He talks English, but we talked when together in Dutch, as I was anxious to learn it."
"I suppose you were accustomed to ride before you came out here?"
"Yes, my father kept three horses, and bred them so that I learned to ride as far back as I can remember."
"You left school early, for you cannot be past seventeen yet?"
"Yes, sir. My father is a clergyman, and had a good private income, but the Birmingham and Coventry Bank, in which his money was all invested, went to smash, and as the living was by no means a rich one, I had to leave school. I had been invited here by my cousin, when he was in England a year before, and it was thought that I could not do better than to come out to him, and after being with him for a time, try to make my own way."