Retief went and studied all the birds, taking them up one by one. Then
he threw down the last with a curse and cried in a great voice:

"Mynheer Pereira, why do you bring shame on us before these two
Englishmen? I say that you have been using loopers, or else bullets
that were sawn in quarters and glued or tied with thread. Look, look!"
and he pointed to the wounds, of which in one case there were as many as
three on a single bird.

"Why not?" answered Pereira coolly. "The bargain was that we were to
use bullets, but it was never said that they should not be cut.
Doubtless the Heer Allan's were treated in the same way."

"No," I answered, "when I said that I would shoot with a bullet I meant
a whole bullet, not one that had been sawn in pieces and fixed together
again, so that after it left the muzzle it might spread out like shot.
But I do not wish to talk about the matter. It is in the hands of the
Heer Pieter Retief, who will give judgment as it pleases him."

Now, much excited argument ensued among the Boers, in the midst of which
Marie managed to whisper to me unheard:

"Oh! I am glad, Allan, for whatever they may decide, you won, and the
omen is good."

"I don't see what geese have to do with omens, sweetheart," I
answered--"that is, since the time of the ancient Romans. Anyhow, I
should say that the omens are bad, for there is going to be a row
presently."