CIOS

“ To his mind Napoleon would have been a greater man by far if he had remained only a Consul or President of the French Republic. Why a man who had done what he had done for France, and who had striven to the end to live and work only for the people, who wished to live for posterity as a man who had won the hearts of his people (such a man would be nobler and grander by far than one like Napoleon proved in the end) had only used his country and people to work for his own glory and vanity, puzzled Steve. ”

“ The poor brutes had been in harness most of the day, and that on a mouthful of mealies only. But what could they do? They must keep on to reach shelter for themselves and food for the horses. Night is coming on; ’tis only twilight now, and twilight does not last longer than thirty or forty minutes here. Soon they will be unable to see the road, and will be forced to span out on this barren, inhospitable veld.
‘Hurrah! I see a light, and what is more, the dim outline of trees, and I do believe a house,’ cried Steve.
‘But where the dickens is the road?’ cried his cousin. ”

“ Steve saw all this and realised the position in which Jameson must find himself. He tried to place himself in Jameson’s position in imagination.
‘What should I do if I were to find myself in such a hole of my own making? Should I surrender and take my chance of getting out alive? Could I expect to get out alive in case I surrendered? No! A filibustering murderer can expect nothing but death. Death would be my sentence, by Human Laws, by Moral Law, by God’s Law. I could not even expect a word of mercy from England. ”

“ Never was such glorious unity of purpose, of opinion and feeling, seen in South Africa. From the Cape to the Zambesi the holy spirit of patriotism and unity was awakened and displayed in beautiful colours of fellow feeling and love of country and people. Never was truer word spoken than when a man of position exclaimed in Pretoria, on receipt of the news of Jameson’s defeat: ‘To-day the nation of South Africa is reborn.’ Afrikander national feeling was reborn indeed, never to die again. The most bitter political opponents of President Kruger in the country became his most staunch supporters. ”

“ It is not everybody who can read the heart of man in his face, or from his tongue, and, least of all, the public. How easily the PUBLIC—the people—as a whole, will allow a boasting, a glib-tongued, plausible braggart to lead them by the nose. How disgusting it is for a student of human nature to see a man thus lead a crowd of credulous people to believe in him, to make a hero of him, to accept his statements for gospel, and all because the man has a plausible appearance and can TALK.
Johannesburg for a time believed in Charles Leonard! ”

“ Such reasoning disgusted Steve, as I am sure it would many an honest and fair-thinking Englishman. However, he replied,—
‘All I can say is that, if England does this, her glory shall pass away from her; such injustice will be tolerated by neither God nor man, and England shall raise such a cry of shame as has never been heard before. She shall feel something like the man who opened a hive of angry bees, and when the bees are stinging and buzzing about his ears, she shall be sorry she ever opened that hive. ”

“ I don’t believe you got an invitation from the Boer Government to come here and live under their laws. All you have to do is to submit to it or leave. No one will prevent you or ask you to come back. I do not say this because I wish to make myself nasty, but, in common fairness, you must consider what is right. Here you come into a free Republic, inhabited by a quiet, peace-loving, God-fearing people. They have obtained their country after herculean struggles against enemies from within and without. ”

“ No wonder, then, that Steve, who possessed a keenly appreciative eye for the beautiful, was enchanted with the view which met his eye when he entered Pretoria through the poort, from which emerges the road leading into it from Johannesburg, and he felt—like so many others have felt before and since—that once having seen Pretoria, a man may travel the world over, but he would ever feel a longing to be back in Pretoria. ”

“ Steve stood with clenched hands, pale as death.
‘And I say that the man who turns his coat and stands away from his countrymen in their time of need is worse than a dog, is worse than a Kaffir, for even a Kaffir will stand by his people in time of need. You are both dogs—curs, and worse than curs, you mongrel Afrikanders.’
‘Look here, young man, you must be careful what you say; you must remember we are four against you alone; we will soon take your gas out of you,’ said Nande.
‘Come on then all of you. One true Afrikander can always down half-a-dozen cowardly curs like you. ”

“ Dutch and English work together like brothers. An Englishman rescues and handles a child of Dutch parents as tenderly as if it were his own. A Dutchman pulls out of the ruins a ‘rooinek,’ and supports his head as tenderly as if it was his own father, while he holds the restoring cup to his lips. When God wishes our hearts to be softened towards each other, he sends us affliction. ”

“ Jameson is coming! and will soon be here; out and meet him!’ The balconies were covered with spectators; the streets were crowded with enthusiastic men and women, all to welcome their hero. ‘He is coming. Did not our self-elected leaders declare that he had forced his way through the Boers against tremendous odds, and that he would soon be here? Nay, have not our own brave pound-a-day troops gone out to meet him and bring him in in triumph. Ladies, hold your bouquets ready to cast before his feet as he passes; men, keep your throats clear to cheer.’
‘Ah, here he comes! ”

“ It was such cant that enabled the Boers to carry on the war of independence against mighty England to a successful issue. It was such cant that brought the elaborate plots of Rhodes, Jameson and the Johannesburg revolutionists to utter failure. It will be such cant that will make South Africa a free and united Republic, in which all the races of the world shall live free and united! ”

“ Steve then returned to his place, and resumed his share in the fierce fight.
The battle was raging fierce and hot. The cannon of the Chartered troops roared hoarsely above the rattle of small arms; while the continuous rat-a-tat-tat-tat of the Maxims was also to be distinguished from the more irregular and less incessant cracking of the rifles. A heavy cloud of smoke was floating above, concealing the sun as if it wished to hide the murderous work from the sight of Heaven. The slaughter amongst the Chartered 171 troops was terrible. ”

“ I have arrived in time to fight with my countrymen for life or—death. And if it is to lose, I would a thousand times rather die than live!’ thought Steve to himself.
Where he was standing on the rise or ridge, a reef was cropping out, throwing out projections of rocks, which formed splendid natural fortifications, giving good protection against the fire of an enemy coming in the direction from which Jameson was coming. ”

“ Therefore Steve, in common with all Afrikanders, was pleased when Mr Hofmeyr expressed such warm sympathy with the Transvaal, both before and after the crisis was decided. Truly times of adversity bring to light who are friends and who are foes. The trouble of the Transvaal during the first half of the year not only showed the world her true strength, the true feelings of the Burghers, the patriotism, love of liberty, the bravery and magnanimity of the Afrikander race, but it also exploded a long existing idea, viz., that the Boers are a half-savage, bloodthirsty, and cruel race. ”

“ Steve was by no means a paragon of goodness at all times—no boy ever is. He loved mischief as much as any other boy. We do not believe in the perfect hero. Every boy and man, as well as girl and woman, has his or her faults. Steve’s greatest fault was a keen sense of the ludicrous, which often led him into mischief; besides he loved mischief for its own sweet sake. He, one night, nearly had to sleep in the lock-up through his mischievous pranks. He and a companion, thinking it a pity not to make the best use of a fine moonlight night, proceeded to prepare for a game of snake. ”

“ Will she, do you think, allow your Government to shoot down her subjects in Johannesburg, without giving them aid? or if Johannesburg surrenders to the ultimatum, unconditionally, would England allow the Boers to shoot the Reform Committee as rebels, which would probably be done if nothing was done to prevent it?’
‘If it were done, it would only be what they deserve. But it will not be done, at least, not without a fair trial. You may be sure the Government is not going to do anything rash, and sacrifice all the advantages they have obtained. ”

“ My countrymen are perhaps even now struggling for life and liberty, and here I am in the open veld, without a horse or means of reaching the commando in time. Oh, my God, send me aid, help me to get away. Oh, God, I would give all I have for a horse to-night. Jesus, thou hast so often answered my prayers before, answer me now, when I ask for a horse to go and fight against our enemy.’ He shook with a passion of tears and intense earnestness as he prayed in his despair. Steve had great faith in prayer, and when all else failed, he believed that God would not fail him. ”

“ Just here I want to point out a peculiarity which I have noticed in our Dutch farmers in the Transvaal.
In the boom for gold farms, many a formerly struggling farmer has suddenly found himself a rich man, selling his farm, or one of his farms, for from £10,000 to £100,000 or more, and yet, amongst them all, I do not know of one of them that has given up his former simple mode of life and leads a retired easy life. They may build a larger, finer and more comfortable house, furnish it better, be more lavish in their hospitality, but their former occupation is never given up. ”

“ Does he not know that round the independence of the Transvaal revolves the whole hope of Afrikander national existence? Is he blind, or is he a traitor? I used to be proud of the Afrikander Bond, but now I am beginning to be ashamed of them, when they support a man like Rhodes. A man who works, firstly, for self-aggrandizement, and secondly, of course, for Imperialism.’
All the Englishmen present laughed at Steve’s earnestness and bitterness against Hofmeyr for working thus against the Transvaal. But they were accustomed to his earnest patriotism, and respected him for it. ”

“ It is the first clap of thunder that 62 breaks over your head, seeming to strike near you, all around you; you feel that you are not safe, you long for shelter, for company, for somebody to share your terror. Such a thunder storm seems to make cowards of the bravest. It is an invisible enemy; an irresistible danger seems to threaten you, to surround you, to search you out, hide where you will. ”

“ Oh, Jesus, they have bled and fought against the heathen and Thou hast always succoured them. When death faced them Thou saved them and said, “Live, and be a people.” Oh, God, Thou wilt surely not desert them now. Lord aid, even though victory seems impossible to human minds. Thou art the God of battles, and to Thee all things are possible. Oh, Lord, in Thee do we and they trust, now and evermore. Amen.’
They rise, and Steve goes up to his mother and stands leaning fondly against her.
It is January 1881. It is the time of the Transvaal struggle for independence and freedom. ”

“ Steve went on, as if he was unconscious of the interruption. He never lost his temper.
‘As to Johannesburg, I am not a betting man, but I am willing to go a little bet that Johannesburg won’t fight. If Johannesburg cared to face the Burgher forces, she would hardly have allowed Jameson to be defeated and captured without at least an effort to rescue and assist him. No, my boy, Johannesburg has no fighting men. It is all bluff. Of course, there are a few brave men in Johannesburg, who, for a righteous cause, would certainly be able to give a good account of themselves. ”

“ In the Free State the Government was giving full attention to the question of fully arming every Burgher. Even here President Kruger had won a great victory without lifting a finger, for a new President had been elected—a President heart and soul for the Afrikander cause; a President working for a closer union of the two Republics, which meant almost doubling the strength of the Afrikander nation. What is more, everyone felt that the Free State had a man for a President who was thoroughly unselfish. A man whose sole ambition seemed to be to live for land and people. ”