They asked permission to search the house for the ammunition which they knew to be concealed there. Ammunition! Jannie said he knew of none, except a boxful of cartridges standing in the loft. They had been found lying about the house and were stowed away when the English had taken possession of Pretoria. He took the officers up to the loft and showed them the box, but they were not satisfied, and ordered him to appear before the Provost-Marshal the next day, to give a satisfactory explanation. A search was also made for documents, but nothing was found except an old heliographic chart which his father, Commandant-General Joubert, had used long ago in Kaffir wars. Jannie Joubert went the following day to give an account of himself, and the next thing his mother heard was that he had been arrested and removed to the Rest Camp. (_Arrest_ Camp, some people called it!) He was very independent and refused to take the oath of neutrality, which, strange to say, he had hitherto avoided, and it would certainly not have been to his taste had he known that his mother had been to the Military Governor to intercede for him. The result of that interview was not satisfactory. He would only be released on signing parole. This, Mrs. Malan thought, he would certainly refuse to do. "We were treated with marked kindness," she continued, "and this may be taken as proof that the English are not aware of the _real_ facts." The two women laughed in mutual understanding of their conspiracies. "Still this leniency may be only a blind, Hansie. It is painful not to know _how much_ the enemy knows." "What will you do if Captain Naude and Mr. Greyling come in to-night?" Hansie asked. "Shelter them, of course!" was the undaunted reply. * * * * * That night as Hansie lay on her sleepless pillow, she felt as if all the batteries of the gold mines were thumping on her heart. Mrs. Malan's last words to her rang continually in her ears: "Willie Botha will be executed without a doubt." But before day dawned Hansie's heart was at rest and she slept, for she had solved the problem in her mind. She would go to General Maxwell and plead with him for the life of her friend. He was human and tender-hearted, that she knew, and she would tell him how an innocent young life hung in the balance, how the lives of both mother and child would be imperilled if such a cruel fate befell the father. If her pleadings were of no avail, she would offer to give, in exchange for his life, the name of one well known to her as a dangerous enemy to the English. And when she had made sure of his release, hers would be the name she would reveal. During the dark days which followed Hansie found her strong support in the thought of this resolve. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 4: The writer was misinformed on this point. After the age of fourteen, boys are liable to be executed.] CHAPTER XXVIII HANSIE EARNING THE VOTE Events moved quickly in those days.