Confused by this sneak attack Leroux stared at him for a long time
before he dropped his eyes and fiddled with his cane.
'Come on, man,' Sean told him. 'Make an end to this foolishness .
You and I have a lot of work to do.
'You and I?' Leroux asked suspiciously.
, yes. , , Leroux laughed, a sudden harsh bellow of laughter.
'You are a slim Kerel, ' he roared.
'I'll have to think about what you have said.' He rose from the bed
and seemed to stand taller now. The laughter filled out his gaunt
features and wrinkled his nose.
'I'll have to think very carefully about it.' He reached out his hand
again and Sean took it. 'I will come and talk with you again.'
He turned away abruptly and limped down the ward with his cane tapping
loudly.
Jan Paulus kept his word. He visited Sean daily, an hour or so at a
time, and they talked. Two days after the Boer surrender he brought
another man with him.
Jan Paulus stood a good four inches over him, but though he was slimly
built the visitor gave the impression of size.
'Sean, this is Jan Christian Niemand.'
'Perhaps I am lucky we did not meet before, Colonel Courtney, '
Niemand's voice, high in timbre, was crisp and authoritative . He
spoke the perfect English he had learned at Oxford University. 'What
do you think, Oubaas? ' He addressed Jan Paulus by the title which was
obviously a private joke between them, and Jan Paulus chuckled.
'Very lucky. Otherwise you also might be using a stick.'
Sean examined Niemand with interest. Hard years of war had muscled his
shoulders and he walked like a soldier, yet above the pointed blond
beard was the face of a scholar. The skin had a youthful clarity which
was almost maidenly, but the eyes were a penetrating blue, the
merciless blue of a Toledo steel blade.
His mind had the same resilience, and before many minutes Sean was
using all his wits to meet and answer questions that Niemand asked
him.
It was clear that he was being subjected to some sort of test. At the
end of an hour he decided he had passed.
'And now, what are your plans?'
I must go home,' Sean answered.
soon, soon, perhaps, a wife.'
'I wish you happiness 'it is not yet settled,' Sean admitted. 'I still
have to ask her.
Jannie Niemand smiled. 'Well, then, I wish you luck with your suit.
And strength to build a new life.' Suddenly he was serious.
'We also must rebuild what has been destroyed.' He stood up from the
bed and Jan Paulus stood with him.
'There will be need of good men in the years ahead.' Niemand held out
his hand and Sean took it. 'We will meet again.
Count on that.
As the train ran in past the great, white mine dumps Sean leaned from
