The Boer went on: "We want to catch a man of your regiment. Morton is his name. You know him, I suppose?"
"I decline to answer any of your questions," replied the trooper firmly.
"Well, when you reach your corps, you might tell this Morton, that if we catch him, a sjambokking awaits him, followed by a dose of lead. He has already killed five of my best men."
Jack Lovat was listening with bated breath to the conversation, and he wondered at the cool courage displayed by the New Zealander.
Piet Van Donnop came forward in answer to something put to him by the Boer leader.
"How is your father, Jack?" asked Piet; "and I must not forget your mother and little Mary. I suppose she is quite a woman by now."
"They are all right," replied Jack. "I never thought you would have joined the rebels, Piet."
"And why not, Jack?" asked Piet. "They are my own flesh and blood, and I am only fighting for my own. The commandant wishes me to ask you how many troopers are quartered at the Kopje Farm? I ought to have been there now, but I am acting as despatch rider for the commando."
The question was put in Dutch, a language Morton was not conversant with.
"The commandant had better find out for himself. You will get a warm reception if you go to the Kopje Farm," replied Jack testily.