"Is the place strongly guarded?" queried the veldt-cornet, who was a namesake and relative of President Steyn.
"You ask me a question that I cannot answer," replied Jack. "There is certainly a town guard, but whether they are any good or not is more than I can say. However, you had better try your luck against the town."
"That is just what we are going to do, after we get hold of these New Zealanders. You know the Bank at Springbokfontein?" queried Steyn.
"I know very little about banks," answered Jack somewhat brusquely; and then he nearly made an ass of himself by blurting out the fact that his father had been robbed of five hundred pounds intended for deposit in the bank under discussion.
"It is said that a hundred thousand sovereigns are reposing in the Bank," said the veldt-cornet, with a laugh, "mostly belonging to the people who asked us to come to their help and then showed the white feather."
"White flag, did you say?" asked Jack grimly. "I thought only Boers were addicted to that practice."
"Have a care, youngster," said Steyn warningly, as he tapped the butt end of his rifle with a meaning glance in his eyes. "It is the rooineks, not Free Staters or Transvaalers."
Jack felt that metaphorically speaking he was putting his foot in it, and intimated he was only having a joke.
"A delicate subject to joke about, youngster," observed Steyn. "You know the countryside?" he added.
"Not this immediate neighbourhood," replied Jack.