‘Yes; but we are not going to humble ourselves and beg for a vote; no, by Jingo! sooner than that, we will fight for it, and take by force what is refused us when we ask for it. Besides, even though we are not strong enough to take the Government by force, we only have to get up a row, and start some sort of revolution, and ask the British Government to step in, and of course England will say to your President, “You cannot keep the peace, we will have to come and keep it for you,” and the trick is done, _wacht een beetje_.’ 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. But I must say I have more faith in the honour and justice of your countrymen than you seem to have.’ Such discussions as these were the order of the day, and the sample given above may be taken as a fair example of the opinions of the two parties in the country. We shall leave the debaters now, but on some future occasion we shall take advantage of the privilege of historians to visit them again. CHAPTER XX A HUNTING WE GO After a few years stay in Pretoria, Steve and his four special friends made up a party for a sort of picnic and shooting expedition combined. They procured a roomy Cape cart and four horses, laid in a stock of tinned provisions for three weeks, and started one sunny morning in August. It was a beautiful day, and our friends enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air greatly, after their long confinement in town and office. Steve’s cousin, as usual, took a leading part. He was driving. After a halt for breakfast and again for dinner--which was doubly relished for being partaken of in the open air--they went on at a good pace, so as to arrive in time, before dark set in, at a certain farm, the owner of which was known to Steve. ‘Well, I declare this is grand,’ remarked Steve as he lay back in the cart, comfortably settled and puffing away contentedly at his pipe. ‘I do enjoy driving at a good pace, with the wind fanning your chin--oh--ah--her--goodness gracious, where are we going to? I must remark here, and at once, that I _don’t_ enjoy a journey to the centre of the earth, where you seem to be taking us, cousin mine. What in the name of goodness do you mean by driving us in here?’ ‘But I am in the path.’