Inspired by patriotism, driven by love and compassion, he became in time the most resourceful, the most ingenious, and the most trusted of Boer spies.
One evening, soon after dusk, while he was engaged in his bakery, he heard a timid knock at the door, which he opened, fully expecting to see a customer.
To his surprise he found there a Boer with a long, unkempt beard—a "backvelder," or, as we call it, a "takhaar," of the most pronounced type.
The man withdrew into the shadows as the door opened, and with great apparent timidity showed as little of himself as possible.
Mr. Hattingh asked him to come in, and he ventured forward with shrinking hesitation.
"What can I do for you?" Mr. Hattingh asked.
"Take me in," the man answered breathlessly. "Harbour me. I am a Boer spy, straight from the commandos."
Mr. Hattingh betrayed the greatest amazement, as if he had never heard of the possibility of such a thing.
"A Boer spy!" he exclaimed. "How did you come in?"
The man described the route he had taken, and in an instant Mr. Hattingh, with his intimate knowledge of the actual route employed by Boers, realised that the man before him was not from the field at all, but a National Scout, employed by the British to betray the loyal Boers—a "trap," in fact, such as were in constant use against their brother burghers.