"It is a great misfortune, my dear," the rector said, after the first exclamations of surprise and lamentation had ceased. "Still, thank God, we have our church income remaining; that cannot be touched, and we are more fortunate than many others. Naturally it will make a great difference to us, but we can do without many of the things to which we have been hitherto accustomed. Of course we must sell our horses, the brougham, and dog-cart, and content ourselves with the pony and carriage. Fortunately the girls have nearly finished their education, and it has been already arranged that our good friend here, Miss Millar, should leave at midsummer. It is a comfort to think, Miss Millar, that our misfortune will not affect you."
"Not at all, sir," the governess said. "I have already[Pg 2] arranged with the lady, to whom you recommended me, to enter her service at the end of the summer holidays; but I most deeply regret that such a misfortune has happened to you, and had the girls been younger I would gladly have remained to finish their education, without there being any question of salary between us."
"You are very good, Miss Millar, but happily the matter has already been arranged. The greatest difficulty will be about you, Yorke. I am afraid that there will be no possibility whatever of sending you back to Rugby."
"Don't worry about me, father," the lad said, with an effort at cheerfulness, though the thought of leaving the school he loved was a painful one indeed. "I shall get on all right somehow; and you know there was never any chance of my doing anything brilliant. Though I don't say that I shall not be sorry to leave Rugby, that is nothing beside your having to give up the horses and carriage and all sorts of other things."
"It will, of course, make a wide difference to us, Yorke," his father said gravely; "but this must be faced in the right spirit. Our lot has been an exceptionally pleasant one up to the present time, and I hope that none of us will repine. I shall henceforth be as other clergymen having nothing but my stipend to depend upon."
"But will nothing be saved out of the wreck, John?" Mrs. Harberton asked.
"It would be as well to assume at once, Annie that it will be all lost; and I can only trust that, when matters are gone into, all depositors who have trusted in the bank will be paid in full. Fortunately it is a limited concern, and the money I have invested elsewhere will be sufficient to pay the amount uncalled-up on our shares. Had it been otherwise, our home might have been sold up; as it is, we shall be able to keep all the surroundings to which we are accustomed. I shall at once give notice to the coachman and gardener. The boy must be kept on. He can look after the pony, and do[Pg 3] the rough work in the garden with the aid of a man hired for a day occasionally. One of the maids must, of course, go. We shall see how well we can manage, and I hope we shall be able to keep on the other two. We shall have to practise many little economies. Owing to the fall in the tithes and the value of the glebe land, we shall not be able to reckon upon more than ￡250 a year at the outside from the living, and the interest upon a few hundred pounds that may remain after the shares are paid up."
The calm tone in which the rector spoke had its effect. His wife dried her eyes; the girls, who had looked stunned at the blow which had at once swept away three-fourths of their father's income, pressed each other's hands silently, and the elder said cheerfully: "Yes, father, Bella and I will take charge of the garden, and I am sure that we shall be able to make our own dresses after a little practice, and we can make ourselves useful in all sorts of ways."
"That is the right spirit, Lucy," her father said approvingly. "We shall all be called upon to make some sacrifices, you girls not least. Although doubtless, you will have less gaiety than you before looked forward to, you will still be able to have a good deal of society in a quiet way—more, probably, than falls to the lot of the daughters of most incumbents with slender incomes; and as we are intimate with all the gentry round, I am sure that none of those we care about knowing will turn a cold shoulder on us because we have, without any fault of our own, what is called 'come down in the world.' Those who like us for ourselves will continue to do so; those who only cared for us because of our garden parties and dinners can be very well dispensed with. We have always been a very happy family, and, if we choose, can be the same in the future. As to Yorke, I must myself take charge of his education in future."
"Thank you, father!" Yorke said quietly. He was about to say something more, but he checked himself.
"Of course we must give up the idea of going to the skat[Pg 4]ing party in Sir William Morton's park to-morrow," Mrs. Harberton said.
"I see no reason for our doing so," the rector said gently. "We can't sell our horses and carriage in twenty-four hours, and I should certainly prefer to go. It would be but a bad example to our neighbours if it were seen that we are broken in spirit by a worldly misfortune. Many of them know that my income was chiefly drawn from the bank. I am always preaching patience and contentment to our congregation, very many of whom have suffered heavily from agricultural distress, and what I preach we can practise, and without undervaluing the advantages of money, we can show them that we have no idea of grieving over its loss. One of my greatest regrets is that in future we shall be somewhat stinted in our means of helping our neighbours."
The next day, accordingly, the rector, his wife, and daughters drove over to the skating party, and although a few knew how great was the change effected in their circumstances by the crash at the bank, the majority believed that the report that the greater part, if not the whole, of the rector's private property had been swept away, had been grossly exaggerated, for there was nothing in their manner or appearance to afford any indication of their changed position. Yorke said that he would rather stay at home, and, when the others, started, went to the stables, and patted and talked to the horses. He had ridden all of them; for, three years before, he had been promoted from his pony, and in his holidays took long rides with his father. He had learned also to take the horses over hurdles erected in the field behind the house, and, under the instruction of his father's coachman, who had once been a stud groom, had acquired an excellent seat.
"And what are you going to do, Master Yorke?" the man asked, for he had already heard from Mr. Harberton that circumstances had occurred that would oblige him to give up his carriage and horses, but that he would try to find him another situation.
[Pg 5]
"I am not going back to school, that is quite settled. Of course it is a beastly nuisance, but it can't be helped. My father says that he intends to teach me himself; but, what with parish work, and one thing and another, I know it would be a very tiresome job for him. But even if he did, I don't see that it would be of any great use to me. Of course I cannot go up to the University now; I am not altogether sorry for that, for, you know, my father always wished me to go into the church, and although, so far, I have said nothing against it, I don't feel that I am in any way cut out for the job. Anyhow, I don't like the thought of being a drag on his hands, for after I had done with work with him there would be a terrible difficulty about getting me a berth of some kind.
"I would rather do anything in the world than be a clerk and be stuck in an office all day. That is the worst of going to a public school, you get to hate the idea of an indoor life. I would rather a hundred times go to sea or enlist in the army, when I am old enough; at any rate in the army I should see something of the world and keep myself, and at the end of my five years' service might find some opening. Then there is my father's cousin out at the Cape. When he was here last year, I know he offered to take me out with him. Of course father would not hear of it then, there was no reason why he should; but things have changed, and I don't see why I should not go now. I am getting on for sixteen, you know, and can ride and all that sort of thing, and I shot regularly last winter, and brought down some partridges too."
"Not many, master," the man said with a grin.
"No, not many," the boy admitted; "still, it was my first year, and I had only a single barrel; father himself said I did very fairly, and that he had no doubt that I should make a good shot in time."
"I have no doubt that you would, Master Yorke," the man said heartily. "You have learned to ride well, and a man with a good seat on a horse is generally good behind a gun."
[Pg 6]
Yorke Harberton was, as he said, nearly sixteen, and was a typical public-school boy—straight and clean-limbed, free from all awkwardness, bright in expression, and possessed of a large amount of self-possession, or, as he himself would have called it, "cheek;" was a little particular about the set of his Eton jacket and trousers and the appearance of his boots; as hard as nails and almost tireless; a good specimen of the class by which Britain has been built up, her colonies formed, and her battle-fields won—a class in point of energy, fearlessness, the spirit of adventure, and a readiness to face and overcome all difficulties, unmatched in the world. His thoughts were turned into a fresh channel by his conversation with William, and he strolled away with his hands deep in his pockets and his mind busy.
"Well, Yorke, what have you been doing with yourself?" was his father's first question when he returned.
"I don't know that I have been doing anything, father."
"Which does not mean that you have been in mischief, I hope?"
"No," the boy laughed, "I haven't. I went to the stables first, and since then I have been walking about the garden."
"That is quite a new amusement, Yorke, especially in winter," one of his sisters said in a tone of astonishment. "Fancy you walking round and round the garden! Wonders will never cease!"
"Well, it is quite as sensible, anyhow, Lucy, as tearing about the grass playing lawn tennis on a hot summer's day."
Like most boys of that age, Yorke, though very fond of his sisters, regarded them as mere girls, and especially objected to being in any way, as he considered, patronized by them.
"But you know, my dear," his mother said gently, "it is not often you do walk about the garden by yourself, so it was natural that Lucy should be surprised."
"Quite natural, mother," Yorke admitted frankly. "Well, I have been thinking over something."
[Pg 7]
"And what conclusion have you arrived at, Yorke?" his father asked.
The boy hesitated. "I will tell you after breakfast to-morrow," he said, "it is too long to talk about now." Then he asked questions about the afternoon they had spent, and the subject was not alluded to before him until the next morning, although he was the chief topic of conversation between his father and mother that night.
"The boy has something in his head," Mr. Harberton said. "There can be no doubt that this very unfortunate business affects him more seriously than the rest of us. To us it means a quieter life, less gaiety, and a little pinching; to him it means a great deal more—it is a change in his whole prospects, a change in his career. I think that would have come anyhow; Yorke has never said that he disliked the thought of going into the church, but the mere fact that it was a topic he always avoided is quite sufficient to show that his heart was not in it. I should in no case have exercised any strong influence in the matter, for unless a man feels he has a call to the vocation it is better that he should not enter it. Now, I should be still more unwilling to put any pressure whatever upon him. Certainly I shall not be able to afford to send him to college, unless he could gain an open scholarship that would go far towards paying his expenses. But of that I see no prospect whatever.
"Yorke is no fool, but he has no great application, and his school reports show that, although not at the bottom of his form, he is never more than half-way up. If viewed merely as a worldly profession, the church is now the worst that a young man can enter. The value of the livings has long been falling off, owing to the drop in value of tithes and land. The number of curates is immensely larger than that of livings, and the chance of preferment, unless through powerful patronage, is but slight. In other professions a man's value is in proportion to his age. In the church it is otherwise. No incumbent likes having a curate older than[Pg 8] himself, and a man of fifty will obtain less pay than one of five-and-twenty; and I see no prospect whatever of any improvement. While some classes have become more wealthy, the landed gentry, who may be considered the best supporters of the church, have become poorer, owing in part to the fall in the value of land, and to the very heavy death and succession duties. It would need much national effort to make any real improvement in our condition, and I see no hope of such a national effort being made. I should not be greatly surprised if, as a result of his cogitations to-day, Yorke tells me to-morrow that he has made up his mind to give up all idea of entering the church."
"I should be sorry," Mrs. Harberton said almost tearfully; "I have so looked forward to it."
"I doubt whether he would have gone in any circumstances," her husband said, "and I certainly should not have urged him to do so had he expressed any reluctance. It is in my opinion the highest and noblest career that man can adopt, but it must be only taken up with the highest motives. Yorke is a good lad, but neither studious nor serious in his disposition. Possibly, had I kept him at home and had a tutor for him, he would willingly have fallen in with our hopes and wishes; but it was on that very account that I sent him to a public school. There is nothing more unfortunate than that a man should too late discover that he has mistaken his avocation. As it is, his decision, if it is his decision, has been quickened by this crash. The path to the church is no longer easy for him, and I fancy that while we were away to-day he has been laying his own plans for the future."
"He is so young to have any plans at all, John."
"He is nearly sixteen," the rector said decidedly, "and a public-school boy of that age has learned to think more for himself, and to be more independent, than one two years older who has always been kept at home, or perhaps educated with two or three others by a clergyman. I have always[Pg 9] taught him to be self-reliant, have let him ride my horses, and generally act on his own devices. As long as I was in a position to maintain and advance him in any career he might choose, I had a right to a very considerable influence over him. I still retain the right to advise and to warn; but I should no longer oppose his wishes, providing that these were not altogether impracticable."
"You would not let him go to sea, surely?" his wife said. "All boys seem to want to go to sea."
"I should certainly be sorry if he set his mind on that. He is too old for the Royal Navy, but I could afford to pay the usual premium required for his entry as an apprentice, as it is called, in a good firm of ship-owners. I should be sorry, because we should see him so seldom; otherwise, personally, I have no objection to the life. I had a younger brother in the merchant service. He died a few months before I married you. But his death had nothing to do with the sea service; he liked it very much, and never regretted having entered it. However, we can wait till we know what Yorke says in the morning."
When breakfast was over, the rector said: "Now, Yorke, come into my study and we will have a grand council. Now, sit down comfortably," he went on, "and tell me exactly what you have been thinking of. It is only natural that you should have considered seriously the changes that this unfortunate affair has necessitated, and as you have plenty of common sense, we will gladly hear your views about it."
"It is evident that I cannot go back to Rugby, father."
"I fear that is the case, Yorke. I don't see how it could be done. I shall have but a very small balance left after paying the calls that will be made upon me, and I must set apart a portion of my income to insure my life for the benefit of your mother and sisters, in case I should be called away. At the same time that need not necessarily deter you from carrying out your plan of entering the church. I took a second class at Oxford, and could work with you at home and push[Pg 10] you forward, and I have no doubt that our bishop would ordain you when the time arrived."
"Thank you, father," Yorke said quietly, "but the more I think of it the less willing I am to enter the church. I don't think that I am fit for it, and I am sure that I should never make a good clergyman. I cannot fancy myself working for years, perhaps, among the poor in some manufactory town. I meant to tell you so before long in any case. I am sorry, because I know that you and the mater have always wished it."
"That is so, but I should not press you, Yorke," his father said. "In the church, above all other careers, a worker must be a willing worker, and his heart must be in it. If it is not, he is far better out of it. You have not surprised me at all. And now let us consider that settled. I suppose you have been thinking of something else?"
"I have been thinking of all sorts of things, father. I thought about going to sea, but I am not sure that I should like it. Besides, I want to get on; I want to be a help instead of a burden—not, of course, at first, but in something where there is a chance of making one's way, and in case—in case—You know what I mean, father?—I might be able to provide a home for the mater and the girls."
"Quite right, Yorke," his father said encouragingly. "Of course you are very young yet, and I am, so far as I know, a strong and healthy man. Still, life is always uncertain, and even if I am spared for many years, it is hardly likely that I shall be able to make any great provision for them. Certainly, I shall not be able to afford to insure my life for any adequate sum for their comfortable maintenance. I shall do my best. Still, I am in hopes that in the meanwhile your sisters will be married and provided for. Well, what were you thinking of, Yorke?"
"I was thinking that as my cousin, Herbert Allnutt, offered last year to take me back to the Cape with him for a year or two, it would be a good thing to go out there. If I[Pg 11] were to stay with him for a couple of years, I should have got to know the country. You see, as he has been out there for so long, he must have lots of friends, and he would be able to give me plenty of introductions. He is near the railway from Cape Town, and he must know people up in the mining district, so I might get a good berth through him. What sort of post, of course, I cannot guess; but from what one hears, a young fellow who is steady, and so on, is sure to make his way. Of course I should never think of settling down to farming, as he has done, but there must be plenty of other openings. Out there, at any rate, I shall be able to earn my own living to start with, which is more than I could do here, and I would a thousand times rather lead that sort of life than take a place as a clerk."
Mr. Harberton was silent for a minute or two.
"The greatest objection I see to it," he said at last, "is that the state of things there is very unsettled. Ever since the Jameson raid, matters seem to have been getting worse. That expedition was a very unfortunate one. It was ill-advised and premature, but it was the outcome of great wrong. There is no doubt that the Europeans in the Transvaal are abominably treated by the Boers. Still, now that Chamberlain has taken up the matter, something must be done, and no doubt when the white colonists are placed on the same footing as the Boers, matters in the Transvaal will be greatly improved. Your cousin was saying that there are gold-fields yet untouched, because the amount of extortion on the part of the Boer people, the necessity for large bribes, the tremendous taxation, and the cost of powder and other matters, which are the subject of monopolies, are so great, that all fresh industries are stopped, and the existing ones crippled. When these are abolished, as they must be sooner or later, there will be an immense impetus to business.
"It may be two or three years before matters are placed upon a proper footing, and by the time you are old enough to avail yourself of such chances, things may have settled[Pg 12] down, and there will be a rush of immigration. I do not know much about these matters, but I believe that steady and energetic young men, acquainted with the country, will have great opportunities. From what your cousin said, the Boers have for years been quietly building fortifications and collecting arms; but I can hardly think they will be mad enough to defy the demands of England for the fair treatment of the class they call Uitlanders, especially as the latter were guaranteed all rights of equality by the last treaty. Well, I will think it over, Yorke. It is quite a new idea to me, but at the first blush I am not inclined to reject it. There can be no doubt that a young fellow, fairly well educated, energetic, and above all, steady and well-conducted, has a far greater chance of making his way in South Africa than he would have in older, or at least more established, colonies. It would be a great advantage to you to have two or three years' experience there before you set out for yourself, and the benefit of Allnutt's introductions would, no doubt, be considerable."
A week passed before the subject was resumed. Yorke felt almost like a culprit. His mother and sisters had evidently been told about his project, and went about the house with faces far more gloomy than those they had shown when they first heard of the bank failure. Yorke felt that the girls, at any rate, highly disapproved of his plan, and kept out of their way as much as possible. At last he was called again into the study, and on this occasion his mother was also present.
"We have talked this matter over very seriously, Yorke," his father began, "and although at first your mother was very much against the idea, she has come to see that it is probably the best that could be done under the circumstances. She acknowledges that she would be less anxious about you than if you were at sea. She sees, also, that with your somewhat restless disposition, and the ideas with which you have been brought up, you would really never be happy in a London[Pg 13] office, even if we could obtain a berth there for you. In that way I have no influence whatever; besides, you are two or three years too young for it. We have therefore agreed, that, at any rate for that time, you could not do better than be acquiring experience in South Africa. By the time you are eighteen you will be better able to estimate your chance of getting on there.
"You will then have acquired a knowledge of the world, so that, should you decide to come home, no harm will have been done, for you will not be too old to make a fresh start in some other direction. I am sure your cousin will be glad to see you, his invitation was a very hearty one. I hope you may remain with him for some time; but should you not do so, I have no doubt he will make comfortable arrangements for you elsewhere. I say this because I am sure, that though personally he would in all ways do his best to make you happy, I do not think he is a very strong man, and I fancy, from words that he let drop, that his wife is the head of the partnership. She is a Dutch woman, and her family are, as he told me, among the leaders of what is called the Africander party. What their wishes and intentions may be I really don't know, for I have scarcely given a thought to the matter, and seldom read the Cape news. However, I know that they hold that the Dutch party ought to be predominant at the Cape. However, this need not affect you, and certainly you could have no occasion to take any interest in the politics of the Cape for some years to come.
"Well, my boy, it is a very grave step to take; but I own that it does appear to me the best that is open to you, and should it turn out otherwise, you will have plenty of time to remedy it. I shall pay fifty pounds into a bank at the Cape in your name, so that if at any time you decide that you have made a mistake, you can take your passage home again, and you will certainly be none the worse for having spent a year or two out there."
"Thank you both heartily, father. I hope I sha'n't come[Pg 14] back like a bad penny. I feel sure that the life will just suit me; and when I have once learned to make myself useful on a farm I shall have no difficulty in getting employment elsewhere, if, as I hope will not be the case, I do not get on well with Mr. Allnutt's wife."
"Your father says the climate is very good, Yorke," Mrs. Harberton said tearfully. "It seems to me a terrible thing for a boy like you to go out there alone; but going to a relation is not like going among strangers, and I know you liked Mr. Allnutt when he was here."
"Yes, I thought him very jolly, and I am sure I shall get on capitally with him. Of course I had no fancy for going out when he spoke to me, because things were different; but I thought of it at once when I began to wonder what would be the best thing for me to do."
"I should have liked you to stay at home for a time, Yorke," his mother said, with a quiver in her voice, "but your father is of opinion that as you are to go, the sooner you go the better."
"I think so, mother. The horses will be sold next week, and I should only be idling about the house and doing no good; and it would be just as painful saying good-bye three months hence as it is now."
"Yes, and we should be looking forward to it all the time. Besides, we want you to see if you like the business, and whether you think that you will be able to get on; and if you don't, we want you back again in time for anything that may turn up. Therefore, in all respects, the sooner you go the better. I don't suppose there will be much trouble about your outfit. You will want two or three suits of rough, strong material, coats made like shooting-jackets, with big pockets, also flannel shirts and a good supply of stout boots and strong stockings coming up to the knees. You had better have your trousers made knickerbocker fashion, and get a couple of pairs of soft leather gaiters.
"I will get you a double-barrel small-bore gun, they are[Pg 15] coming into fashion now; and though I would rather have a twelve-bore, they say the smaller ones make very good shooting, and they are a good deal lighter to carry. It will be time enough for you to think of getting a rifle in a couple of years, if you decide to stay there. Besides, as everyone seems to use rifles out there, and no doubt you will practise at a mark—Mr. Allnutt will lend you one. We will drive over to Yeovil this afternoon and get you measured for the clothes. Mother will go with us to see about the shirts, and so on. To-morrow I will write to Donald Currie's people and secure a second-class berth for you. The more occupied we are the less time there will be for fretting. I shall lose no time in writing to your head-master stating why I am obliged to take you away. I dare say you will have letters to write to your chums."
From that moment all was busy. In spite of the assurances that the Cape was a warm climate, the girls applied themselves to knitting comforters and mittens. There was a general overhauling of Yorke's clothes, as white shirts and English clothes would probably be required on Sundays.
"We shall not get you any more things of this sort," his father said. "It is of no use your carrying about more clothes than you want, and it is likely that you will outgrow those you have before you wear them out. I shall give you a letter to post to Mr. Allnutt as soon as you land, and then you can stop two days at Cape Town before starting, and won't come upon him altogether by surprise. I hope you will get on well with his wife—there is no fear of your getting a hearty welcome from him—but I shall tell him that if, after you have been with him a short time, he finds that his wife is not pleased with the arrangement, as his cordial invitation was given without consultation with her, he should take you to some nice people—English, of course—where the work you might do in the first place would be considered an equivalent for your board—for, naturally, whether you stay with him or anyone else, you will have to work."
[Pg 16]
"Certainly, father; that is what I am going out for. If I wasn't to work, I might as well stop here and idle my time away as at the Cape. I suppose one of the first things to do will be to learn Dutch and something of the native language, for although in farming one might be able to get on well without it, one would certainly want it if one were going into any business in the mining regions. I will get a Dutch grammar if I can before I start, and learn as many words as I can on the voyage."
"It might be very well worth your while, Yorke. I believe that the language spoken is a sort of dialect they call taal. Still, it is founded upon Dutch, and anything that you can learn of it would help you."
"Well, I shall make a point of working hard at it, father. My own idea is to go up to Kimberley or Johannesburg, when I have been out a couple of years, with an introduction from Mr. Allnutt to some store-keeper or manager of mines there, and then work my way up. Of course I don't expect to make much money for a time, but I shall certainly lay by every penny I earn over and above keeping myself."
"Whatever you do, don't be too sanguine, because if you do you will assuredly meet with severe disappointment."
"I don't mean to, father; once I get into a thing that seems likely to turn out well, I will stick to it patiently. There is one comfort—I have read that out in the colonies men do not care what they turn their hands to; no one thinks the worse of a young man for doing any honest job, so that he keeps himself straight. I mean to keep myself straight. I am determined that I will never touch liquor of any kind unless I am ill, or under extraordinary circumstances."
"You could not make a better resolution, Yorke. I believe that in the colonies, even more than here, drink is the bane of too many young men, and it is certainly an obstacle to success with all. I know your cousin, when he was here, said nineteen out of twenty of the young fellows who go to the bad, after arriving full of hope and energy, owe their down[Pg 17]fall solely to drink. The life at the back stations is lonely, there is an entire absence of amusement, and it is especially dull of an evening. The temptation, therefore, to take drink to cheer up the spirits is strong, and when he has once yielded to it a man is almost sure to go from bad to worse. 'In my experience,' he said, 'I have known of no instance where a young man who resisted all temptations to drink was a complete failure. He may suffer very heavily from droughts, and have misfortunes over which he has no control, but he can keep his head afloat and so do fairly well in the end.' The native spirit, that is to say, the Boer spirit—Cape smoke it is called—is vile, and is simply liquid poison. However, the Dutch are not a drunken set, and do not very often drink to excess; perhaps the very badness of the liquor keeps them from it. That being the case, Yorke, it is evident that you cannot be too careful, and it would be a comfort both to your mother and me to know that you have set out with a stern resolution to avoid liquor—except, of course, in case of illness or in exceptional circumstances, such as a long journey in a pouring rain, when a small amount of spirits may prevent bad consequences. But Mr. Allnutt said that even then it was more effective if you stripped, poured some of it into your hand, and thoroughly rubbed yourself with it."
"That is a good idea, father, and I will try it under such circumstances."
A week later, after a tearful parting from his mother and sisters, Yorke went up to town accompanied by his father, who took him on board one of the Castle Line steamers, and remained with him until she went out of dock. The voyage was altogether uneventful. There were several young fellows, sons of gentlemen, going out in the second class. Yorke was three or four years younger than any of them, but they all took to him, and he had a pleasant time. For three or four hours a day he worked steadily at Dutch, and received a good deal of assistance in the pronunciation from a Dutch gentleman returning home from a visit, who took an interest[Pg 18] in the boy who so steadily sat apart from the rest and studied his language. Yorke also made the acquaintance of several of the third-class passengers, miners, carpenters, and other workers, who had been back to the old country to see their friends, and from them he learned a good deal more of the colony than he had hitherto known.
"I don't say that it is not necessary to learn Dutch," one of them said in answer to a question, "if you are going into a store or mean to farm, but in the towns it is not much needed, for we and the Dutch don't have much to do with each other. Very few of them are engaged at the mines or even in the stores. They treat us as dirt under their feet. But the general idea is that it won't be very long before there is a change. England is a long while making up her mind to see us righted, but she will do so some day. When she does, she will find it a tougher job than she expects. For the past four or five years they have been importing arms and ammunition of every sort. No one can understand out there why England does not put a stop to it. She will certainly pay heavily for it in the future. The Boers have an idea that we cannot fight. That is a big mistake, you know, but with such a great country, with hills—big hills, too—and passes, and that sort of thing, the Boers, who are mostly good shots, will be able to make a desperate resistance, even if it is only the Transvaal. But there is a general idea that the Orange Free State will join them, and in that case it will be a big job, especially as there are Dutch all over Cape Colony, who likely enough will rise also. People in England do not seem to have an idea what a big place South Africa is. Why, it is as big as England and Scotland and Ireland and France all thrown together, and you can count your miles by the thousand instead of the hundred. All these fellows, too, have horses, any number of them, and men marching on foot would not have a ghost of a chance of catching them. I tell you it will be a big business if it ever begins."