THE KOPJE FARM
By William Johnston
Author of "Tom Graham, V.C.," "With the Rhodesian Horse," etc.
With
Coloured Illustrations
by
Lancelot Speed
COLLINS' CLEAR-TYPE PRESS
LONDON, GLASGOW, AND NEW YORK
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. JACK LOVAT
II. A BOER LAAGER
III. FRINGED WITH FIRE
IV. MR. LOVAT'S ADVENTURE
V. DIAMOND VALLEY
VI. A CAPE REBEL
VII. A WEIRD ADVENTURE
VIII. THE AMBUSH
IX. THE RESCUE
X. THE FARM RECAPTURED
XI. DIAMONDS GALORE
THE KOPJE FARM
CHAPTER I
JACK LOVAT
Those stirring times are days of the past, andthe unsheathed sword has given place to theploughshare, but weird pictures of bloodshedamong man and beast are indelibly impressedon Jack Lovat's brain, and his dreams of to-dayare often linked with the scenes enacted duringthe "White Men's War" beneath the glitteringSouthern Cross.
Jack Lovat was not a Colonial bred andborn, for his boyhood had been passed amidthe peaceful surroundings of a Highland sheepfarm in dear old Scotland. Mr. Lovat, Jack'sfather, had been a laird of substantial means,and was descended from a line of ancestors inwhose veins coursed a strain of royal blood;but bad times came, and Jack, instead ofproceeding to Loretto, took passage as a memberof the Lovat family, in a Castle liner boundfor Cape Town.
Jack was seventeen at the time our storyopens. Rather above the middle height, hewas broad, and his bronzed features testifiedto his three years' sojourn on the South Africanveldt.
The Kaffirs on his father's ostrich farm, nearOrangefontein, had dubbed him "The Strong-armedBaas," only a month later than hisadvent to the holding locally known as "TheKopje Farm."
Pete, the Kaffir who acted as native foremanto Mr. Lovat, declared that "Baas Jack"could fell the biggest ox ever inspanned ina Cape waggon, which of course was anexaggeration of a very bad type, but to whichstatement Pete and the other "boys" employedon the estate pinned implicit faith.
The dogs of war had been let loose inSouth Africa, but Orangefontein had not beentroubled as yet. Ladysmith, Kimberley, andgallant little tin-roofed Mafeking had beenbesieged and relieved, but round the homes ofthe settlers near Ookiep and Orangefonteintranquillity reigned.
On the outbreak of hostilities, Jack Lovathad begged his father to allow him to join aColonial mounted corps, but Mr. Lovat withheldhis permission.
"No, boy," s