,-Nee, man. we don't use such rubbish.' And Dirk lost interest.
He turned back to Sean.
'Pa, I'm hungry.'
Again Beaver intervened. He pulled a long black stick of biltong,
dried meat, from his pocket and offered it to Dirk.
,
'Sharpen your teeth on that, Kerel. ' With his mouth full Dirk was
taken care of and Sean could concentrate on the other Boers. They were
convinced they had caught a spy, and were discussing the impending
execution. In a friendly manner Sean was admitted to the argument, and
they listened with respectful attention to his defence. This was
interrupted while they forded the lbgela and climbed the escarpment
once more, but Sean continued it while they rode in a bunch along the
crest. Finally, he convinced them of his innocence which they accepted
with relief, as none of them were really looking forward to shooting
him.
Thereafter the talk turned to more pleasant topics. It was a glorious
day, sunshine lit the valley in gold and green. Below them the river
twisted and sparided, world rig its devious way down from the smoky
blue wall of the Drakensberg that stood along the far horizon. A few
fat clouds dawdled across the sky, and a light breeze took the edge off
the heat.
'The youngsters in the party listened avidly as Sean spoke Of elephant
beyond the Limpopo, and of the wide land that waited for men to claim
it.
'After the war . they said, and laughed in the sun. Then a change in
the wind and a freak lie of the hills brought a faint but ugly sound
down to them and the laughter died.
'The guns,' said one of them.
'Ladysmith. ' Now it was sean's turn to ask the questions. They told
him how the commandos had raced down to the town of Ladysmith and
rolled up the force that stood to oppose them. Bitterly they
remembered how old Joubert had held his horsemen and watched while the
broken English army streamed back into the town.
'Almighty! Had he loosed us on them then! We would sweep them into
the sea.
'If Oom Paul had commanded instead of old Joubert, the war would be
finished already-but instead we sit and wait.'
Gradually Sean filled in the picture of the war in Natal.
Ladysmith was invested. General George White's army was bottled and
corked within the town. Half the Boer army had moved forward along the
railway and taken up a defensive line straddling the Escarpment,
overlooking the river and the tiny village of Colenso.
Below them on the great plain of the Tugela, General Buller was massing
his army for the breakthrough to relieve Ladysmith.
'But let him try-Oom Paul is waiting for him.'
'Who is Oorn Paul-Surely not Kruger?' Sean was puzzled.
Oom Paul was the affectionate nickname of the President of the South
African Republic.
'Nee, man! This is another Oom Paul. This one is VechtGeneral Jan
