At the last moment Holman decided that he was unable to see his friend off by train on the journey he was undertaking at his request; an engagement prevented him from getting to the station in time. They met at breakfast; but very little was said in reference to the journey or its mission, the details of which had been discussed overnight. Matheson had the letter and his directions. His destination was a farm some twenty miles to the west of De Aar. He would leave the train at the junction and complete the journey by road, obtaining a conveyance at a hotel which Holman recommended. The prospect of the journey bored him. He was sufficiently familiar with the line to be able to judge fairly accurately the amount of discomfort he might expect from travelling in summer; and the idea of staying for a fortnight, perhaps longer, on a farm with Dutch people was distasteful. "What, in hell," he asked desperately, "shall I do with myself? I don't even speak Dutch." "Nor write it?" Holman asked, without looking at him. "Haven't any knowledge at all of the fool lingo. You might as reasonably expect me to talk in Kaffir." "I'm not expecting anything," was the response. "But I thought you might have picked up a few words--some fellows show a surprising facility in acquiring the taal. But it's not important. The Dutch mostly speak English. The Kriges do, anyhow. Mrs Krige is, as a matter of fact, English by birth." "Come, that's better," Matheson said complacently. "It constitutes a link. I'll know how to talk to a fellow-countrywoman." "I wouldn't insist too much on the point of nationality," the other threw in with a note of caution in his tones. "She's Dutch now, and so are all her children." "In law, yes," Matheson agreed. "There are kids, then?" "Oh! they are all grown up. It is her son you are going to see. The old man died years ago." He changed the subject with some abruptness, and spoke of his own arrangements, and planned their next meeting. He would wait in Johannesburg; Matheson, when he turned up, would discover him in one of the usual haunts. They could then square their account finally. And if there was any little service that it lay in his power to do the other, he would be glad to be called upon to perform the same.