'Tell her that the Dutch will now certainly be beaten in the war.'
No response.
'Perhaps her sons will be taken prisoners.'
No answer.
'Now tell her to write down on a piece of paper the name of the youngest, and give it to my aide-de-camp; and then when he is captured she must write to me or to the Hoofd-General, and we will send him back to her, and not keep him a prisoner.'
She thawed a little at this, and expressed a hope that he had been comfortable while beneath her roof, and then--for the guns were still firing--he had to hurry away. But the aide-de-camp remained behind for the paper.
During the time we spent in this homely place I made a thorough inspection of the farm, especially the parlour, where I found one very curious book. It was a collection of national songs and ballads, compiled, and in part written, by Mr. Reitz. I afterwards succeeded in buying another copy in Ventersburg; indeed, it has been widely disseminated. The first part consists of patriotic Boer poems--the Volkslied, the Battle of Majuba, the Battle of Laings Nek, and other similar themes. The second half of the book is filled with Reitz's translations of English songs and well-known ditties into the taal. John Gilpin, besides being a burgher of credit and renown, was eke a Field-Cornet of famous Bloemfontein. Young Lochinvar had come from out of the Boshof district. The Landdrost's daughter of Winburg found a lover no less faithful than a famous swain of Islington. The pictures were mightily diverting. The old Field-Cornet Gilpin--'Jan Jurgens,' as he called himself now--was shown galloping wildly along, on a pulling Basuto pony, through the straggling streets of, let us say, Ventersburg, his slouch hat crammed over his eyes, his white beard flapping in the wind, while a stately vrouw, four children, and a Kaffir, flung up their hands in mingled wonder and derision.
One piece began:
Engels! Engels! alles Engels! Engels wat jij siet en hoor.
Ins ons skole, in ons kerke, word ons modertaal vermoor.
I cannot read Dutch, but the meaning and object of the book were sufficiently clear without that knowledge.