"A gallant action, sir," Mr. Rhodes said, holding out his hand to him. "Of course I heard about it, and of your plucky defence all day till the Kimberley Horse went out and brought you in. I heard at the mess of the Diamond Field Horse yesterday that you had been there an hour before, and given them an account of Lord Methuen's three battles. If you have nothing better to do, sir, perhaps you will kindly tell me the story. We had better sit down on these sand-bags. The commandant sent me a copy of your report, but that, of course, gave no details." Yorke gave a full account of the battles. "It does not seem to me," Mr. Rhodes said when he had finished, "that there can be sufficient scouting. Of course I am not a military man, and know nothing of the handling of the troops. But certainly before attacking a place I should have taken steps to find out the exact position of the enemy, and, as far as possible, their strength. This could have been done by a handful of mounted men. Now, tell me a little more as to how you got through." Yorke much more briefly gave the account of his journey. "And now, Mr. Harberton--for such, I hear, is your name--will you tell me how it comes that so young an officer was entrusted with such hazardous work. First of all, would you mind telling me something about yourself. I like to know the ins and outs of things. Believe me, I am not asking from mere curiosity." Yorke felt that in this strong able man he might find a valuable friend, therefore he gave him a sketch of his reasons for leaving England. "So you were at Rugby!" his hearer broke in. "I am a public-school boy myself, you know, and there is always a fellow-feeling among public-school boys, even if they were not at the same school. You came out to a cousin, you say, and that is some eight months ago. What did you do with him?" "I looked after his farm a bit, but the greater part of my time I spent in learning to shoot and to speak Dutch." "Do you speak Dutch well?" "Well enough to pass in ordinary conversation, sir. I had a Dutch boy as a companion, and as my cousin's wife was Dutch, that language was principally spoken in the house." "And why did you leave?"