‘Be quiet, you fool!’ roared Oom Hans, and turning round, he winked at Steve, giving him a momentary smile to reassure him. Steve saw that it was only going to be a farce, and not a tragedy, as he at first feared. Oom Hans now turned to the trembling Jew, who stood quaking with clasped hands, afraid to run, and afraid to stay. ‘My God, these Boers are terrible when angry,’ he muttered. ‘What do you say?’ roared Oom Hans. ‘I say, sir, that the Boers are the best people in the world, and that the English are dogs.’ ‘Say that again, and I shall send a bullet through you in a moment. The English, sir, are our friends, while they live at peace with us, so be careful what you say.’ ‘The English are a good people, sir. Oh, yes, they will always be the best friends of the Boers.’ ‘Silence, you dog! You say that because you are afraid of my gun. Now, look here, is that your horse there?’ ‘Yes, sir, I will make you a present of him, if you want him.’ ‘Silence! I will count ten to give you time to get on your horse, and ten to get out of gunshot, after that I fire.’ ‘Oh, but, sir, I come to do pisness; I bring you lots of monies. Just listen one word.’ ‘One!’ ‘One word only, sir,’ said the Jew, tears running down his eyes. ‘Two!’ The Jew began to retreat, still praying for an interview. ‘Three!’ The Jew was now running. ‘Ten!’ he heard shouted at him, as he mounted his horse. He waited no more after that, he used spur and whip to urge his horse forward. He thought that he had gone but a short distance, when he heard a report like the report of a cannon behind him. ‘Oh, father Abraham, receive my soul,’ he prayed, ‘for I must be hit; a Boer never misses.’ He was surprised to feel no pain or wound. ‘Now, I must race, before he can load again,’ he muttered, applying spur and whip with fresh energy, as he lay forward on the neck of the horse. When Steve and Oom Hans recovered from their fit of laughter, into which they had fallen at the sight of the Jew’s fear of a charge of loose gunpowder, they saw the Jew disappearing on a rise about a mile away, his arm still rising and falling as he lashed his horse furiously. The Jew must have done the distance from the farm to Pretoria in record time that day, as he was seen by several people on the road, riding his horse at full speed, looking back every minute to see if he was pursued. He was never seen on that farm again. CHAPTER VI HISTORY _A LA_ RHODES