F. "Early this morning!"
I. O. "Which way did he go?"
F. "He went out on the veldt; they took the Strydenburg road. But they were Free Staters; you cannot say where they were going. They would tell us Strydenburg, and then go somewhere else. You see, they knew that you were close!"
I. O. "How many men had he with him?"
F. "Only a few. It was a small horse commando, perhaps twenty. All Free Staters!"
The old patriarch, who had been fumbling in his pocket, now produced a slip of paper which he presented to the Intelligence officer. The writing on the paper ran as follows:—
"O.V.S. Receipt for Property Commandeered.
"Taken from Jan Van Herden, of Melk Kraal, Cape Colony, two sacks of mealies, 500 bundles of oat forage, two mules, four sheep, for the use of O.V.S. commando.
"This receipt to be presented for repayment at the end of the war to the O.V.S. Government.
(Signed) "Adrian Fischer,
Corporal, O.V.S. Forces.
Dated "February ——."