Chris heard that it
was generally known that the Portuguese officials, who had long been
influenced by Boer money extracted from the Uitlanders, were still
winking at the practice, although it was a breach of neutrality. So much
indignation was expressed on the subject at Maritzburg that Chris, one
day when the party assembled at the spot where their horses were
tethered, said:
"I want to have a serious talk with you all. You have all heard that
immense quantities of arms and dynamite are passing through Lorenzo
Marques. Now, at present we don't see much for us to do here. My idea
is, that if we could manage to blow up the bridge across the river that
divides Portuguese territory from the Transvaal, we should do an
infinitely greater service than by killing any number of plundering
Boers."
His troop looked at each other in surprise.
"You are not really in earnest, Chris?" Peters said; "it would be a
tremendous business."
"It would be a big business, no doubt, but I was never more earnest in
my life than in proposing it. Now that we know how strong the Boers are
round Ladysmith, and what terribly hard work it will be for an army to
fight its way through all those hills, we can see that the first
calculations as to the time when it can be relieved are a good deal
short of the mark.
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