"I dare say," the young fellow said with a grin. "Germany is anything that suits her book. If she can smuggle in ammunition to assist the Boers you may be sure she will do it. My good sir, what with mercenaries in the Boer army, bread-stuffs, ammunition, guns and rifles being imported, we are fighting, not only the Transvaal, but the entire Continent of Europe. The Powers would give their ears to see us smashed!" This was a somewhat new view to take of the matter, and one which did not commend itself to Mr. Scarse. He had looked upon the Boers as a handful of honest, God-fearing farmers--his favorite expression when speaking of them--struggling for their freedom against the overwhelming power of Great Britain. That they had colossal armaments, hundreds of mercenaries, and clever agents scheming for them all over the world, had never entered his head. In further conversations with this young Englishman he received considerable enlightenment, and he began to modify his views somewhat as to the absolute guilessness of Oom Paul and his gang. But he kept his opinions to himself. The _Kaiser Fritz_ did not slip past Durban as her captain had expected. When at dawn she was almost abreast of that port she was brought to by an English cruiser. There was a polite signal to "Heave to!" and the German captain, with much bad language, felt himself forced to comply with the request. The news travelled quickly through the ship, and every one came on deck, amongst the foreigners being Brenda and her father and the young Englishman. The Germans were savage, and talked a great deal about the insult to the flag of the Fatherland. Abuse of England was rife, and as she listened Brenda felt her blood boil. Under the saffron sky of the dawn lay the menacing form of the cruiser, displaying the glorious flag of England. Across the deep blue of the sea came a large boat manned by the bluejackets, and no sooner were they alongside than a smart officer jumped on deck with a request to see the papers of the _Kaiser Fritz_. The captain blustered and swore in high and low Dutch; but the officer, though scrupulously polite, was quite firm. At last the papers were produced and examined, but no contraband goods appearing on the manifest, the vessel was allowed to proceed on her way, to the unbounded delight of the captain, whilst the English officer swore under his breath. The latter felt confident that there were guns and ammunition on board, and that the manifest was false. However, he had to appear satisfied, and prepared to return to his ship. But before leaving, he asked if Mr. Scarse and Mrs. Burton were on board. "I am Mr. Scarse," said that gentleman, a good deal surprised to hear his name suddenly spoken by this stranger, "and this is Mrs. Burton. But how did you know we were here?" "I will explain that when you are on board our boat, sir." "But we are going on to Delagoa Bay," said Brenda.