over their adventures on the road, and great satisfaction was felt among
those who had not been present on hearing how Chris had thrashed the
Boer, and had gone tip to him in spite of his threat to shoot. At their
last meeting at Johannesburg they had elected him their captain, but he
had at the time refused to accept the post, saying that it would be
wiser to decide that afterwards, as one of the others might show himself
better fitted for the position. However, their first step when they sat
down by the bank of the little river outside the town was to again elect
him by acclamation.

"Very well," he said, "as you all wish it I will accept the post. I
suppose we are well provided with funds. Our fathers all said they would
find our outfit, and money enough for all expenses." There was a general
assent. "Well, we start better than we had expected, for we have
thirteen rifles: twelve of them are Mausers, the other we will sell; so
we shall have to buy nine others. That had better be done this morning,
for we may be sure that there will be a rush to the gunsmiths' shops. In
the next place we must each buy a saddle and saddlery. We have agreed
that we will not have any approach to uniform; because, as we all speak
Dutch, we shall be able to pass unobserved, if necessary, among them.
But I have been thinking it over, and it seems to me that if we have
nothing of the sort we shall run the risk of being shot by our own men."

"What are we to do, then, Chris?"

"I think that we had better get flat caps, like the fatigue caps our
soldiers wear. They can be carried in our pockets inside our shirts when
we are in the neighbourhood of the Boers, and when we are riding
anywhere near our own troops we can put them on instead of our felt
hats. It would alter our appearance altogether when riding in groups,