Part 5 (1/2)
Jack faced Piet Maartens coolly, and proceeded to divest hi forward till he ithin a foot of Piet, ”put up your fists, and I will endeavour to teach you to keep your tongue to yourself, and to be careful in future when you speak of my countrymen”
Jack squared his shoulders, and put himself into a position of defence, while the onlookers cheered hih His eyes dropped before Jack's deter a fierce oath, he turned on his heel and left the saloon, followed by his co to all, went out with Wilfred and returned at once to the house
”By Jove, Jack,” exclaimed his friend enthusiastically, ”you have done what no one else has been able to accomplish, and I admire your pluck, old chap! But take care of yourself You have et that you have defied hilad you did it; and there is one thing, we shall see less of hi in to speak to Father”
That evening Jack recounted the quarrel to Mr Hunter
”Ah! I am sorry to hear it, Jack, for you have really erous fellow, as Wilfred says,” relad in other respects, for it will keep him away It would not be policy for me to send him about his business, but as it is he is not likely to troubletime he has spied upon me here, but hat object I have never been able to discover, though I suspect he is an agent of Kruger's and is suspicious that I have arms concealed on the premises He really is one of the most uppish of the many bumptious Boers to be met with here and in Pretoria, and of course in other towns in the Transvaal Everywhere, all over the Transvaal, Englisho, in a fit of generosity we stayed our hands, and would not give them the lesson they deserved And noe have a very different matter to face
We collectively outnumber them, I believe, but they are all armed, whereas we are forbidden to carry, or even to possess, a weapon of defence Not only here, but in all the country parts, distrust of us is the rule, and I veryto such a pass that life will becolishmen who are worthy of that name
Once the Boers are openly opposed to us, we shall find ourselves engaged with an enemy nearly every one of whohter, full of pluck and deter in warfare which will try our troops, should they meet them, far more than is believed But some day I will tell you all about our troubles For the present I alad you showed that fellow that you were by no means afraid of hi to Kiest that you come with me
Matters will have quieted dohen you return”
Jack jumped at the offer, for he had heard ot there he found that ”city” was scarcely the term to apply to it The e Free State, which lies directly south of the Transvaal, and are about a hundred miles fro place at first, at least so Jack thought, especially when co But when he and Mr Hunter had made a round of the mines, he was deeply impressed with the work carried on, and with the prosperous condition of everyone in the town Fro there only a few hours, for, unlike Pretoria, it was of little interest, while at the latter place the huge forts, which had recently been built on most modern lines, were alone orth a visit
When they reached Johannesburg again, Jack had been exactly three months in the country, and liked it sowas now perfectly strong again, but the accident had been a severe one, and the shock to his systeht weakness of the lungs, which up to the h had been broken had remained completely unsuspected
”If you takehiested it was time to return home, ”you will stay on here for a complete year We are so, and indeed most of the Transvaal, is notoriously healthy You are not fit to go back to the cold English climate Of course there is not much the matter with you, but I don't like that weakness you sometimes complain of I have written to Dr Hanly and your ed stay will do you good”
”There is nothing I should like better, Mr Hunter,” Jack replied, ”but what am I to do with ed! You see to propose that you becoular assistants I shall only want you in the et plenty of exercise in the open air
You have already made many friends here, and no doubt you will find plenty ready to accoood horses in the stable which you ly it was settled, ht, that the for his visit, and very soon he had quite settled down to the life Earlyfound the two lads in their shi+rt sleeves outside the store taking down the shutters By breakfast tioods uncovered After theJack kneell as anyone in Johannesburg as the current rate of butter and haar could be sold in order to leave a good in of profit for his e down of prices A store in such a populous toas a valuable property, and Mr Hunter's had a reputation which ensured the various depart All who patronised it seeruies and business prospects were smothered by the continual opposition and stupid action of President Kruger and the Boers
To say that Jack enjoyed the life he was now leading was to describe his feelings rightly He took the deepest interest in his work, and after his hours in the shop were done, generally went for a gallop with one orfellows he knew Christmas came and went, and by the early otten year of 1899, he was quite hi fellohom everyone but Piet Maartens and his Boer syree with hio his coood in Africa But Mr Hunter dissuaded hi to settle down as yet,” he said ”And besides, it was your father's wish that you should follow his footsteps and enter the army Of course we should prefer you to stay, but under the circuo up for that examination
Later on, perhaps, when you have knocked about the world a little n your commission, and then if you join us here all the better! You will be older and land are not likely to prevent your enised the wisdoly ust
But the old proverb that ”Man proposes and God disposes” was exe for him, and he relish friends, to face the storm of passion which was soon to burst over their heads, and to take his part in the bitter struggle which was to be fought out between the Boers and their allies, and the sons of our hty empire
CHAPTER FOUR
A STARTLING ADVENTURE
”Jack, hoould you like to carry out a little piece of business fora letter fro bundle which he held in his hand