"Hullo!" exclaimed the former, pointing to a paragraph in The Cape Argus. "There's been a hold-up between Kimberley and Vryburg."
The other man shrugged his shoulders.
"Thank goodness it's out of my district," he observed. "It won't scupper my leave. Have they caught the fellows?"
"No," was the reply. "By Jove! It was a cool bit of work; three men holding up a trainload of, for the most part, rough Afrikanders and farmers from Rhodesia. Not many details. One passenger got a bullet through his shoulder because he didn't take it lying down. The robbers got away with about a couple of thousand in hard cash, and the train was six hours late in arriving at Vryburg. Apparently the line had to be repaired."
"H'm!" ejaculated the policeman. "And the robbers: were they mounted or did they have a motor?"
"It doesn't say," replied the other. "Here's the paper. I've finished with it."
Both Desmond and Sinclair would have liked to have asked questions on the subject, but with typical British reserve they refrained. It was not until they were alone that Tiny remarked:
"Well, it was a jolly good thing we didn't go by rail or we might be stranded with empty pockets miles from anywhere. All the same, it must have been a thrilling stunt."
"Wonder if Van der Wyck was in it?" said Colin. "If he were, I shouldn't be surprised if he was the fellow who got plugged."
"Why?" asked Tiny.