Ten minutes later Jantje, like a great snake in human form, came creeping in to where she sat, his yellow face shining with the raindrops.
“Well,” whispered Jess, looking up with a start, “have you done it?”
“No, missie, no. Baas Frank has but now gone to his tent. He has been talking to the clergyman, something about Missie Bessie, I don’t know what. I was near, but he talked low, and I could only hear the name.”
“Are all the Boers asleep?”
“All, missie, except the sentries.”
“Is there a sentry before Baas Frank’s tent?”
“No, missie, there is nobody near.”
“What is the time, Jantje?”
“About three hours and a half after sundown” (half-past ten).
“Let us wait half an hour, and then you must go.”