And Tommy is quite happy when they tell him that, as to being nearly over, it’s not quite that; but that as to going on much longer, it won’t go on much longer--at least, it depends on what you mean by much longer; or when someone gives him one or two Kruger pennies. At last we left Kroonstad at ten o’clock in the evening, passing through Brandfort, that village to which, feted and acclaimed, we had come with _Long Tom_ in January. All along the route the railway had been destroyed, and we travelled on rails laid on unballasted sleepers by the Royal Engineers. Trenches had been dug to enable the train to pass over the shallow, dried-up streams without any very artistic labour, and sometimes the little half-destroyed bridges had been repaired with logs and made to do duty again. It seemed wonderful that it could all hold. But it appeared--I heard this at the camp at Springs--that one of the chief engineers of the railway service was a civilian, a French Canadian, who had already distinguished himself in America by the construction of very daring railways. He must have been extraordinary indeed to have astonished the Americans! It is certain that the English successfully re-established railway communication with very restricted means in a very rapid manner--not that this prevents it from being constantly re-cut, however. On July 17, at 8.30 in the morning, we were at Bloemfontein. Poor old capital of the Orange Free State! It is now the chief town of the Orange River Colony. Here again there was an immense camp, a large proportion of the Kelly-Kenny division. We only stayed half an hour, and, after changing trains at Springfontein, we passed Norval’s Pont at 6.35 in the evening. We were in Cape Colony! Here we were no longer on an improvised railway, and we got on faster. On the 18th, about 7.30 a.m., we were in the environs of Cape Town. In accordance with English custom, many of the merchants have offices in the town, and live in little houses which give a gay and smiling aspect to the suburbs. We therefore took up a number of passengers who looked like men of business. In a few minutes we were in the town. We left the train at 8.30. My permission to return to France was confirmed by the General commanding the garrison. I was almost a free man! * * * * *