This latter
reason he fully appreciated, and arranged with me to come to his house
the following day, for which purpose he left me a permit, vilely
scrawled in Dutch. I mentally reserved to myself the decision as to
keeping the rendezvous. We sat down to breakfast together, although, as
he could speak no English and I could speak no Dutch, the conversation
was nil. He was pleased with the cigarette I offered him, and observed
me with some curiosity, probably never having seen anything approaching
an English lady previously. Before he left, I complained, through an
interpreter, of the insobriety of my self-constituted sentinel Dietrich,
remarking it was quite impossible I could stand such a man dogging my
footsteps much longer. He promised to report the matter, and insisted on
shaking hands with great cordiality.
It was fortunate I had not accompanied De Koker, for that very evening
back came Mr. Keeley, who had luckily succeeded in satisfying the
suspicions of General Snyman, and who had received a permit to reside on
his farm during the war. He brought me a letter in Dutch from the same
authority, refusing, "owing to the disturbed state of the country," to
give me a pass to Mafeking, and requesting me to remain where I was,
under the "surveillance of his burghers." It was exactly the
surveillance of one of his said burghers I wished to avoid; but there
seemed no possibility of getting rid of Dietrich, who evidently
preferred his comfortable quarters at the hotel to roughing it in the
laager.
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