The man took his horse and stole quietly away, taking a wide detour to avoid the lynx eyes of the Boers. So he was away and out of sight before they reached the farmhouse by the front. Brenda could see them coming, could see Van Zwieten leading--she knew him by his golden beard. She ran to change her things, and by the time the Boers had dismounted near the fence running round the house, she was back in her riding-habit. She got a revolver from her husband, and by his orders remained in the sitting-room as the safest place. Then he kissed her fondly and went out. His men, posted at doors and windows, were all on the alert--coolly courageous, as the British soldier always is in time of peril. For the rest they were in God's hands. The yellow in the east changed to a fiery red, and all the earth was bathed in roseate hues. From the verandah Captain Burton could see the wide veldt rolling in grassy waves to the foot of the distant mountains, and a gleam of the winding river, crimson in the glare. The enemy were grouped some distance away from the fence, and he went out with two men to ask their intentions. Of course he knew too well what they were, but even in war there is a certain etiquette to be observed. After a while Van Zwieten, with a white handkerchief at the end of a stick, came forward also with two men, and stopped at the fence, whence he could talk to the English officer. "Well, you scoundrel!" Captain Burton said fiercely, for his soul loathed this man who was trying so hard to take his wife away from him, "what do you want?" "I want Mrs. Burton, and I want you!" "You shall have neither--or, at best, our dead bodies." The other man changed colour. "Don't be a fool, Burton," he said. "I have a number of men here, and you must give in. Surrender, and I promise you that you shall go free." "And my wife?" "I can't let her go," Van Zwieten said sullenly. "I have risked too much for her sake to do that. She must come with me!" Captain Burton stepped forward a pace, but he still kept on the verandah. His orderlies stepped forward, also stolid and courageous. "You villains," said Burton, savagely, "how dare you make such a proposal to me? If it were not for the flag you carry I would shoot you where you stand. If I were only one of your lot I should do so in spite of it! I hope to God that I shall kill you! And I will some day. You have insulted my wife for the last time, you scoundrel!" "I never insulted Mrs. Burton, as she will tell you herself," the Dutchman said coolly. "And she will not be your wife long. I shall claim her as mine over your corpse." "Do so if you can! But I want no more talk. Retire your men." "Surrender to the President of the Transvaal Republic!" was the counter demand. "I hold this house for Her Majesty the Queen. I refuse to surrender."