"He is dressed as a farm-hand, sir; and I have also a Kaffir with me to look after the horses." "Is your companion Dutch?" "Yes, sir." "You are not, I think. You speak Taal very well, but I fancy I can detect that it is not your own language." "That is so," Yorke agreed; "but I am glad to say that you are the first person who has noticed it." "I am not surprised at that, for you really speak it very well; it is more the tone of your voice than anything wrong in the language--or I may call it the dialect--that is noticeable." "I have learned it partly from books, sir, but chiefly from conversing in it almost entirely for six months." "You must have the knack of learning languages if you have picked it up so well in so short a time. You have only arrived here to-day, I suppose?" "Yes, sir, half an hour ago." "From Johannesburg?" Yorke made a gesture of assent. "You were, I suppose, intimate with Mr. Chambers?" "I can scarcely say that I was intimate with him, but my man--for he is my servant as well as my friend--happened to overhear a plot to murder Mr. Chambers and loot his house, and he, with my Kaffir, Mr. Chambers and myself, gave the ruffians so warm a reception that there is not likely to be a repetition of the attempt." "Were they a strong party?" "There were twelve of them, and only two got away alive. The really dangerous part of the affair was that the three men in the house were also in the plot; but we had tied them up before the others arrived." "That was a very thorough piece of business indeed," Mr. von Rensburg said, more warmly than he had spoken before; "and I can well understand now that my friend Chambers should be anxious to aid you in any way. Will you tell me a little more about it? You are not, I suppose, pressed for time." "Not at all, sir;" and Yorke related more fully the incidents connected with the affair. "It was a fortunate escape for Mr. Chambers. No doubt those scoundrels thought that he had money in the house. They would hardly have gone in such numbers if it had only been a question of ordinary robbery. And was your employment at the mine confined to this exploit?" "Entirely, sir; but as the house stands on the mine property, Mr. Chambers said when he wrote the letter that he could say with a good conscience that I had been employed there." "I have one question to ask: Are you personally known to anyone here? I mean, is there anyone whom you would be likely to meet who would recognize you?" "No, sir, I don't think there is anyone here likely to have seen me before. And if there should be anyone, I am sure he would not know me in my present disguise." "I asked the question," Mr. von Rensburg went on, "as in that case there is no occasion for me to make any instant decision as to the route you had better take. If there had been any danger of your being recognized I should say you had better start to-morrow morning early, but as it is, we can take our time about it."