106 Eecollections of Adventures 



Pretoria. I knew nothing of the supposed cause of 

 the war but I was on the Government side. When 

 they commandeered my house, and put several of 

 the other side in the stocks, among others P. J. 

 Marais, Barend Pretorius, a little Hollander " Last- 

 drager " etc. I used to visit and cheer them up with 

 jokes, but they said that jokes were of no use to 

 them, while they were in the stocks. Barend 

 Pretorius, who, when at liberty, was much given to 

 talking big, was specially low-spirited and wept 

 bitterly. Little " Lastdrager " jeered at him for 

 being such a coward, and incensed the jailers by 

 chaffing them. Everything was topsy-turvy, busi- 

 ness at a standstill and Boer patrols riding about the 

 country, instead of attending to their farms. 



During these unsettled times we in Pretoria had 

 some amusing experiences. One night Piet Marais, 

 some others and myself were told off to guard the 

 powder magazine, as Schoeman's commandos were 

 expected to seize it. We got some fiddles and gin 

 and warmed up the guard with dancing, melody 

 and " squareface." In the night we let off a volley, 

 the Commandant, Nikolaas Smit, and the whole 

 town turned out in alarm. While the military 

 council were investigating the cause of the stampede 

 I slipped round and took all the gin out of their 

 quarters as we had run short. I never drank spirits 

 myself but my guard were thirsty, so I had to keep 

 them up to the mark. Later, after the commotion 

 subsided, we explained that we thought we saw 

 horsemen approaching the magazine and pre- 

 pared to sell our lives dearly. It was a touching 

 oration and brought tears into their eyes, especially 

 when they discovered, that, in the stampede some- 

 one had annexed all their gin and on such a trying 

 occasion. While old Hans Steyn was presiding on 



