There was bustle and activity, but no noise and no excitement. A few burghers on the platform crowded about in the glare of the electric light, to watch the work; but there was hardly a word spoken, except an occasional command from one of the clerks attending to the removal. Cab after cab drove up to the station without any guard whatever; some of them, containing as much as £20,000 in sovereigns, had been driven by boys through the dark streets from the treasury to the station. The cabs were hurriedly unloaded and sent back for another load, while the men on the platform were busily throwing the bags and bars into the car. One boy had driven away a hundred yards into the darkness when he called out that there was a sack in his cab that had been overlooked. An attendant went after it and brought it back--a sack containing several thousand dollars’ worth of gold coin. It was an extraordinary sight, under the glare of the electric lights, to see this train being loaded with all that was left of the capital of the Republic. It was done decently and rapidly. As soon as the last sack of gold was transferred to the train the doors were closed. Secretary Reitz alighted from a cab and walked towards the train. As he passed under the light I saw an expression of sadness and anxiety on his face that forbade my speaking, although I knew him well and realized that I might not see him again. He entered the private car, and in a few moments the train departed, President Krüger boarding it a few blocks from the station, and for a few weeks the capital of the South African Republic was on wheels. Many have blamed President Krüger for running away, as they call it, and for leaving the country and going to Europe. But there is no doubt that he was pursuing the proper course. He was an old man, much too feeble to follow the commands in their marches through the mountains. Had he attempted to do this he would have been merely a hindrance to the rapid movements of the army. He is charged with taking away gold for his personal use; but if he took any of the state funds with him I do not think they were for his own use. He is a very wealthy man. Money was of no value to the burghers in the field, but it could be used in Europe to their advantage. It would have availed nothing for Mr. Krüger to remain in the Transvaal only to be captured and sent to St. Helena. Such an event would have helped the British immensely, and would have given a certain plausibility to the assertion that the war was over. The criticism against the President because he left the country was confined entirely to those who ran away themselves, for among the loyalists in Pretoria there was not a word of complaint against his course.