As it was with the hope of obtaining an invitation that the Boer had come in, he assented willingly, and remained talking until Yorke said it was time for them to be going on. They slept that night at Winkel Drift, on the Rhenoster River, and drove next day to Kroonstad. Here no questions were asked. They put up at an inn, and Yorke mentioned casually that they were intending to stay with a friend for a day of two at Bloemfontein, and then going to the front. They had avoided entering the town until it was dusk; and as many Boers were constantly passing down to join the commandos, no one thought of enquiring minutely into their affairs. Three more days took them to Bloemfontein. There Yorke noticed, as they drove in, that many stores with British names over them were still open, for the wholesale expulsion of English from the Transvaal had not extended to the Orange Free State, where, till the outbreak of the war, a good feeling had existed between the two peoples. At Bloemfontein especially a considerable portion of the trading class had been British, and these, considering that if they left, their stores would probably be looted, thought it better to remain, and, although their position was not a pleasant one, they had received fair treatment at the hands of the Boers. CHAPTER XVI AN OLD ENEMY Arriving at Bloemfontein in the evening, they first went to an hotel, and having engaged rooms, and seen their horses put up, Yorke proceeded to the house of the Dutch gentleman to whom the letters Mr. Chambers had given him were addressed. On sending one in he was shown into the sitting-room, where Mr. von Rensburg presently joined him. "You are the bearer of this letter, Mr. Meyring, from my friend, Mr. Chambers?" "Yes, sir, and of this also, which I did not care to give into any hands but your own." Mr. von Rensburg took it a little surprised. The first had been so simple and matter-of-fact that he had not suspected for a moment that Yorke was not, as it stated, an employé at the mine. He looked scrutinizingly at Yorke when he had read the second letter. "I will not ask who you are, Mr. Meyring, or whether that is your real name. It is just as well not to know more than I can help. I understand you want to cross into Cape Colony, and may be glad of my advice as to the best road to take. In the first place, may I ask how you came here--by rail?" "No, sir, we drove. I have a friend with me, and it is open to us either to drive from this point, or, as we have two horses, to ride, or to go on foot, though naturally we would rather not adopt the last plan if it could be helped." "That I can well understand," the other said with a smile; "and indeed it would be the worst method; it would be far more natural for you to be driving or riding than going on foot. Now, tell me exactly how you stand. You, I see, are dressed as a young farmer in comfortable circumstances. How about your friend?"