"Hum! thanks for this information. Then take my advice, part company with this Stephanus Groblaar as soon as possible, and also--don't air those Imperial ideas too freely when you are going to Johannesburg. They are not fashionable there at present." "I will never hear my nation insulted without resenting it, sir," replied Ned, boldly. "Better swallow insult than run the risk of imprisonment." "No, sir; I cannot endorse that sentiment." "It is the sentiment generally held by the Transvaal Uitlanders." "I do not care. It shall never be mine." "Nor mine!" "Nor mine!" cried Fred and Clarence in chorus. "Good lads," said the stranger, in feeling tones, holding out his large hand to our heroes, who grasped it by turns. "I like you for your pluck and freshness. Tell me your names, so that I may remember them if I can serve you at any time." The lads at once produced their cards and presented them. The stranger smiled humorously as he took the paste-boards. "Ah, you are fresh from England, I see. All the better. You will see some sad and humbling sights in Johannesburg. But keep up your pluck, and don't forget that you are sons of a mighty nation of free men." "Depend upon it we shall never do that, so long as the great Cecil Rhodes stays in Africa, at any rate." The stranger started, and a dusky tint seemed to overspread his face. Then he smiled and looked at the cards. "Edward Romer! I knew a Paul Romer, of Devonshire." "That was my father, sir." "Indeed! Then I must do something for you. Clarence Raybold. Ah, I know your father, if he lives at Johannesburg." "He does, sir," answered Clarence. The stranger looked at Fred with the others intently and silently for a few moments, then he drew nearer to Ned. "You can save me a journey tonight, young Romer, for I think I can depend upon you as well as upon your companions." "I trust you can, sir," replied Ned, modestly. "On your discretion as well as your loyalty and courage?" "I hope so, sir." "Then I shall trust you." He glanced round, and seeing the veldt clear and Stephanus still by the water-hole, he pulled a leaf from his pocket-book, and wrote something hastily upon it. This small note he folded up and addressed, then he gave it to Ned. "Put that inside your boot, and keep it there until you reach Johannesburg. When you arrive there, look at the address, and deliver it to the person it is for. You will find him easily. Meantime, be secret about it, and show it to no one except the person it is for. Much depends on its safe delivery--more on it not being taken from you or lost on the way. If you carry it safely, you will have rendered your country and the man you appear to admire a great, a very great, service." He sprang on his horse as he spoke, and, taking his hat off, waved it to them as he rode swiftly away. "Remember that you are trusted by Cecil Rhodes. So long. We shall meet again."