Leading questions were put to Mrs. van Warmelo, and she felt that her assistance was required for some purpose or other; but being too discreet to invite her visitors' confidence, she waited.
After beating about the bush a good deal, Miss F. remarked:
"You know the Zoutpansberg District very well, do you not?"
"Yes," Mrs. van Warmelo answered; "we lived there formerly."
"Then you will perhaps know trustworthy people in Pietersburg, people on whom one can thoroughly rely in these days."
Mrs. van Warmelo answered hesitatingly:
"Yes—there is one, at least, on whom I can depend."
"Would there be much risk and difficulty in communicating with General Botha through such a person?" Miss F. inquired.
"General Botha!" Mrs. van Warmelo exclaimed. "But he is not in the north. He is on the High Veld, somewhere south-east of Transvaal, and much easier to communicate with than if he had been in Zoutpansberg."
"How could one get a message through to him?" Miss F. asked, and her hostess decided to beat about the bush no longer.