Therefore, as war has been declared, the muskets are lawful
spoil taken from a rebel. Now, boys, let's be off."
The cartridges were divided among them; then, with the thirteen guns,
the basket, and pail, they started to rejoin their friends. "Well, that
is a fair capture to begin with," Chris said. "As far as we are
concerned, the war has begun. The Boer has made off, I see. I should not
be surprised if we hear of him and some of his friends again. However,
now we are well armed they can come as soon as they like."
Great was the joy among the women and children when they returned with
the much-needed refreshment.
"I was getting very anxious about you, Chris," his mother said. "We
heard the man fire. But where have you got all these rifles from?"
"The owner of the farm is a Boer, mother, and as he told us, a rebel. As
he began the affair by putting a bullet through my hat, and abusing us
and our nation heartily, we took the liberty of searching his house,
with good success. I need not say that he did not give us this bread and
the pail of milk of his own free-will, but I left the money for them."
His mother had turned pale when he said that a bullet had gone through
his hat, but she said nothing.
"What became of the man?" she asked.
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