It was decided by the Executive this same night to commute the death
sentence, but this was not communicated to the condemned men until the
following morning. The night of suspense passed under the eye of the
death watch with a dim light burning was a needless cruelty; it made
the President's subsequent magnanimity more dramatic, but with that I
naturally felt no sympathy.

I have often been asked since if I did not realise that the Boers
would never have _dared_ execute my husband? And many dear friends who
were thousands of miles away assure me now that they never had a
moment's real apprehension for his safety. We however, who were in
Pretoria, at the time, a helpless handful in the power of a primitive
population of narrow experience, a people inflamed by long years of
racial feud and recent victory, were by no means so sure that all
would end well. Two prominent men, standing high in authority,
confessed to me later that they were most anxious and fearful of
results, although at the time their sustaining support helped to keep
my body and soul together. _The gallows was prepared, and the order
was to hang the four victims simultaneously_.

The night following the sentence, Mr. Chapin, the U.S. Consul, and his
wife came to me. They were then and for months afterwards as tender
and faithful as people of my own kindred. Mr. Chapin was tireless in
his efforts in behalf of the Americans in trouble, and the high
personal regard in which he was held by the Boer, as well as
Uitlander, did much subsequently to ameliorate their circumstances.
Mr. Chapin at once interviewed Mr. Wessels, chief advocate for the
Reformers--and he told me immediately after the interview the result
of their meeting. Mr. Wessels distinctly said that, although it was
not put in writing, it was understood between the State Attorney and