They were about to leave when she arrived at Mrs. Joubert's house.
Their preparations were conducted in perfect silence, except for an occasional whispered command, while outside, guard was kept by an alert figure, slender and upright, the figure of the aged hostess of the spies, who, it is said, was never visible to the spies and never slept by day or night as long as these men were being sheltered under her roof.
A brave and dauntless woman she was, knowing no fear for herself, but filled with concern for the fate of the men whose capture meant certain death, for it was whispered in town that on the head of Koos Naudé, Captain of the Secret Service, a price of £1,000 had been fixed.
The men left Pretoria that night for the "nest" of the spies in the Skurvebergen, west from Pretoria, and from there they proceeded to where they expected to find the Generals.
CHAPTER XVIII[ToC]
THE CASE OF SPOELSTRA
There were so many events of importance during the month of July 1901 that there is great difficulty in choosing the right material from Hansie's diary.