This was glad news for the two men, and Hansie soon after took her leave, promising to come back in the course of the morning with the dynamite.
Her manner was rather mysterious, and she took some unnecessary turns, to make sure of not being followed, before she reached the house where the dangerous article had been hidden. There a brown-paper parcel was handed to her with a brief, "Read the instructions and destroy them," and she was left alone in a quiet drawing-room.
On opening the parcel she found a small bottle of yellowish powder, ostensibly a remedy for colic, to be used in the way prescribed, and a pot of paste purporting to be an excellent salve for chapped hands. The two, when mixed together in a certain way, made up one pound of dynamite and had passed safely through the hands of the inspector of goods on the frontier.
As Hansie was cycling back to Mrs. Joubert's house with her precious parcel, she had to pass the Military Governor's offices on Church Square, and the thought occurred to her that this was a fitting opportunity to interview General Maxwell regarding her tour of inspection to the Concentration Camps, and at the same time to procure a permit for the Vocal Society to hold a charity concert.
"Why not go in now?" she thought. "There is some fun in going to see the Governor with one pound of dynamite in one's hands, and it would save me the trouble of coming into town again. Another thing: if I am being watched or followed, I am sure there can be nothing like a visit to Government Buildings to disarm the most suspicious."
Arrived at the Governor's office, she noticed with some amusement that the urchin at the door wrote on the card, under her name, "Nature of business: permission to have a consort." (This was indeed to come later!)
The German Consul was engaged with General Maxwell and Hansie had a long time to wait, and when at last she was shown in she found the affable Governor in a very bad temper and his A.D.C., Major Hoskins, looking anything but comfortable.
The former shook hands and greeted her with a curt, "Well, what is the matter with you now?"
"That is very unkind of you, General," she said.
"Why?" he demanded.