"And what about the owner? Is he a fighting man? Shall we have much trouble?"
"Mr. Lovat is quiet enough," replied Piet. "He has a son named Jack, a dare-devil sort of boy, who will show fight, I think, but possibly he may be on commando with the rooineks."
"Any Kaffirs kept on the farm?" queried Eloff.
"There used to be many," answered Van Donnop. "I do not wish any harshness to be used towards Mr. Lovat. He used to be very kind to me before I went on commando. The horses will be paid for, I suppose?"
Eloff laughed outright as he replied, "Van Donnop, I don't think a single gold piece can be found in the pockets of the whole commando. My instructions are to take what we require—as civilly, of course, as possible. The account will be paid when the vierkeleur flies not over the Transvaal and Orange Free State only, but over the whole of the Cape. A receipt for the horses, of course, will be given."
The Boers, who had been travelling through a series of dongas, now debouched into a fairly open country.
Eloff halted his men, and after looking ahead, turned to Van Donnop.
"You have a pair of field glasses, Van Donnop, allow me to look through them."
Piet handed the glasses to Eloff, who placed them to his eyes.
"There is a farmhouse, Van Donnop, on a kopje some four miles ahead," said Eloff; "is it the home of this Mr. Lovat?"