Part 11 (2/2)

”I don't knohere he is You can see for yourself that he is not dining with us,” said Mr Hunter quietly

”He was seen to enter this house three hours ago, and he is here now, and you know it too!” exclairily ”Nohere is he?”

”I have told you he is not here If you do not believe o and find him,” said Mr Hunter calmly

”Tom Thumb will take you round Perhaps, then, you will have no objection to our going on with the meal which you have so rudely interrupted?”

Piet Maartens was evidently put out, but he knew Mr Hunter to be a man as not to be trifled with, and with a muttered oath he turned on his heel and strode out into the hall Then he went to the door and gave a shrill whistle Two Boer policemen, who are locally known as ”Zarps”, joined him immediately, and at once commenced to search every corner of the house Meanwhile Jack had not been idle Once upstairs he had darted into Mr Hunter's room and obtained possession of an old tweed suit and ain appearance those usually worn by the Boers Then he hurried out and along a passage till he cae loft where the cisterns for the supply of water were kept, land

A moment later he had scraed the ladder after hi upstairs, and lowered the trap gently just as Piet Maartens and one of the Zarps arrived at the end of the passage

There was a moment's silence, and then he heard an exclanised a word here and there which showed hiuessed his whereabouts

But Jack was not to be so easily caught Above his head there was a sht, and this he pushed open with the end of his ladder, and was quickly out on the roof Mr Hunter's house was irregular in shape, and the roof was consequently not one of those sloping ones on which there is no cover Where Jack was he was in a s steeply on either side of hi as possible It was already dusk, and in a few ure would not be seen as he cliainst the steeply-sloping tiles, in readiness for a hurried escape, Jack hastily dragged Mr Hunter's old suit on over the clothes he was already wearing There was no difficulty about it, for though Jack was somewhat taller than his friend, the latter was stouter and broader Soon his rough disguise was completed, and with the slouch hat on his head he looked precisely like hundreds of Boers ere to be found in and around Johannesburg

By noas pitch dark, and he cautiously cliarden which surrounded the house It was illuhts froures of half a dozen Zarps stood out pro carefully, Jack saw first one and then as many as four other widely-separated dots of fire, which now and again disappeared, to beco the ashes of the pipes which Boers one and all indulge in fro as policemen or not

There was at least ten yards between theround and slip away Sitting astride the top of the roof, he lifted his ladder with the greatest caution, and lowered it again on the other side till it rested in the gutter Then he gently pressed upon it, and finding it secure put all his weight upon it and descended Arrived at the bottoutter, and once more lifted his ladder and passed it down till it rested upon the roof of the verandah This, like the one upon which he was sitting, was coave out a sound like a druht mean, made Jack cautious His ere sharply alert, and he handled the light ladder with such care that once ed the verandah, without so much as a sound

Seated on the roof, he waited for a fewthat they had not , and the tra of feet just beneath him, which told him that Piet Maartens and his companions had secured another ladder and were already in the loft

There was not a moment to be lost He scrambled on to the ladder and down to the verandah roof Then he shi+fted his ladder and cla off when a rough hand forced so out, a sack was thrown over his head, and he was carried aiftly and bundled into a four-wheeled cart, which was driven off at a rapid pace

For the moment Jack was bewildered But he quickly realised that after all his caution the slim Boer had been too clever for hi down the roof, and noas in their hands, a prisoner, and hat fate before him? On his wrists a pair of handcuffs had been slipped, and at either side of him sat an armed Zarp He could tell that, for each held hih afraid that he would still contrive to get ahile one of theestive manner close to Jack's head

”Well, I suppose I had better sit still and wait,” he thought ”I s, so that I shall knohere they are taking me and how to return”

But this proved unnecessary The cart rattled along through the streets and then out into the veldt About half a mile outside the town it slowed down, the sack was removed, and Jack found he was close to the railway

A few ine, and a locoe steamed up and stopped close by them

Jack was bundled unceremoniously and with many a brutal jeer out of the cart and into the train, which at once went ahead, carrying hi, shaggy Boers, one of as the identical azine when Jack ain, and this time Piet Maartens climbed in and joined the at a fast pace

”We've got you at last, lishive you soood advice Make the most of the next few minutes, as they are the last you are ever likely to see You will have to reckon with Oom Paul now You will not find him so soft-hearted as that fool Oom Schalk, and even if you do, there is myself, not to mention fat Hans Schloss, who have to be considered

Altogether, you had best prepare for the end, and perhaps, now that you find we are in real earnest, you will not be quite so brave or cock-a-whoop as you were down in the azine”

Jack le, and he felt as though he would like to think in peace, for even without Piet's malicious advice it was sufficiently certain that he could expect little h men into whose hands he had fallen

Instead, therefore, of replying, he shts which now and again flew past the

Half an hour later, the train drew up on the open veldt, and he was bundled out and into another cart drawn by a couple of horses, which at once set off at a gallop Jack was placed on a seat between his two guards, and in this position was driven through Pretoria and up to the Governeneral appearance attracting no attention He was now forced to descend and enter the building, where he was ushered into a s fro just above a leather-covered desk, littered withback in an arly half-asleep, and with his fat hands clasped together in his lap

On one side of the president sat a big, burlyface, whonised as General Joubert, commandant of all the Boer forces, and, next to the president, the most powerful man in the Transvaal Jack was placed in front of the table and re defiantly and boldly at the man who, if report spoke true, was at once the most artful diplomat and the most consummate conspirator in the world

There was soue, which Jack could not follow, as he had only picked up a feords as yet Then Joubert addressed hier, as the latter had such an intense dislike for anything British that he even pretended to be ignorant of the language