‘Now, listen to me, Gabriel Schwartzberg. Am I faithful wife of yours?’
‘That have you ever been, Julie.’
‘Then will you listen to me, and keep your cursing to the end, old man!’
The old man bowed his head and lowered his hand, and sank to a chair that Hermanus brought him.
‘Listen, then, Gabriel Jacobus Schwartzberg. The English are helping the French to fight those German brutes who would make slaves of all. You remember all I read you that the Germans did to the Belgian girls at Louvain. Did ever the English behave like that here? You know they did not. Did I love the English? You know I did not. But they were fair and honest and kindly. The Mori Kaptan who took me away to the laager treated me as if I had been his mother. Did they not give us back our Government? Oh yes, I know the Predikant, told you it was Boer slimness got it back, but he wanted money from you for his manse. It was English slimness who knew how to manage free people, not like your dirty Germans. Besides they are helping the French, whom you Germans attacked. I am French. I am a Duplessis, and I have not forgotten it, nor my mother, nor my mother’s mother, for all we married you fusty old veldt Dutch. And your mother told me the same, and she was a Duplooy, and her mother was a Terblanche. Look in the old Bible and see! You men are so busy shooting bucks and smoking, you don’t think of such things, but we women do. So, Mr. Dutchman, my grandsons shall wear khaki and go and help the English and the French and those poor Belgian girls, and you shall give them your blessing, Gabriel, or I will go right away to my brother Armande Duplessis, who is vriede reckter[6] at Fauriesberg, and Tanta will make your coffee. You know how you will like that.’
Julie was a very voluble person when stirred, and when she had finished the others murmured ‘Ja! Ja!’ while Commandant Delarey brought his rifle-butt with a ring on to the stones and said:
‘The Vrouw is right, mynheer, and the boys must come.’
The fire had gone out of the old man’s eye. Fire at ninety-two is not constant, and old Tanta coming to say supper was ready clinched the situation.
After supper Hermanus read the word of God from the Second Book of Kings out of the great Bible, and poor old Schwartz was taken to bed to hear more for his pains.