The Judgment House

and romantic in this wild invasion: a few hundred men, with no commissariat and insufficient clothing, with enough ammunition and guns for only the merest flurry of battle, doing this unbel

gnificent; but it w

plenty of admiration for the pluck and boldness, for the careless indifference with which the raiders risked their lives; for the romantic side of the dash from Pitsani to the Rand; but t

he had arranged, "The Partners" and himself met at his chambers, around which had gathered a crowd of reporters and curious idlers; and from that time till the grey dawn he and they had s

and an unwrinkled forehead; prematurely aged from lack of exercise and the exciting air of the high veld; from planning and scheming while others slept; from an inherent physical weakness due to the fact that he was one of twin sons, to his brother being given great physical strength, to himself a powerful brain for finance and a frail if ample body. Wallstein knew little and cared less about politics; yet he saw the use of politics in finance, and he did not stick his head into the sand as some of his colleagues did when political activities hampered their operations. In Johannesburg he

n which compelled him to make good every step of the way before him, and so cultivate a long sight financially and politica

authority on cooking, and on brewing a punch, and a master of commissariat in the long marches which Rhodes made in the days when he trekked into Rhodesia. It was indeed said that he had made his first ten thousand pounds

in that, for this thing or for that-cheques written very often on the backs of envelopes, on the white margin of a newspaper, on the fly-leaf of a book or a blank telegraph form. The Master Man was so stirred by half-contemptuous humour at the sycophancy and snobbery of h

A man who could be so subterranean in his own affairs would no doubt be equally secluded in their business. Selfishness would make him silent. And so it was that "the dude" of the camp and the kraal, the factotum, who in his time had brushed Rhodes' clothes when he brushed his own, after the Kaffir servant had messed them about, came to be a millionaire and one of the Partners. For him South Africa had no charms. He was happy in London, or at his country-seat in Leicestershire, where he followed the hounds with a temerity which was at base vanity; where he gave the county the best food to be got outside St

accident, some by a force which disregarded anything in their way, and some b

; always protesting against this and against that, always the critic of authority, whether the authority was friend or foe; always smothering his own views in the moment when the test of loyalty came; always with a voice like a young bull and a heart which would have suited a Goliath, there was no one but trusted Barry, none th

hand in the pockets of the world. In truth he was none of these things, save that he was of German birth, and of as good and honest German origin as George of Hanover and his descendants, if not so distinguished. Wallstein's eye was an eye of kindness, save in the vision of business; then it saw without emotion to the advantage of the country where he had made his money, and to the perpetual

sibilities for Barry, when two new mines were opened-to Barry's large profit. It was characteristic of Barry, however, that, if they had not disguised their action by financial devices, and by making him a Partner, because he was needed professionally and intellectually and for other business reasons, nicely phrased to please

th only a real instinct for money-making and a capacity for constructive individualism. Of them the most conspicuous was Clifford

lstein. Wallstein was inspired by the dreams and daring purposes of Empire which had driven Rhodes from Table Mountain to the kraa

t rebellion or raid is always a revolution in the archives of a nation. These men were of a class who run for cover before a battle begins, and can never be kept in the fighting-line except with the bayonet in the small of their backs. Others were irritable and strenuous, bitter in their denunciations of the Johannesburg conspirators, who had bungled their side of the bu

cal sense and intuition; and these, to their credit, were more concerned, at this dark moment, for the political and national consequences of the Raid, than for the certain set-back to the mining and financial enterprises of the Rand. A few of the richest of them were

the sordid deliberations of this stern conference. In a full-blooded and manly appeal he begged them "to get on higher ground." If he could but have heard it, it would have cheered the heart of the broken and discredited pioneer of Empire at Capetown, who had received his death-warrant, to take effect within five years, in the

rnkop, which became a tragedy. What would happen to the conspirators of Johannesburg? What would happen to Jameson and Willoughby and Bobby White and Raleigh Gre

ll dank mo

owned face wi

ning seldom had brok

them. But it was his duty to offer to go; and he felt that he could do good by going, and that he was needed at Johannesburg. He, more than all of them, had been in open conflict wit

to quiet their nerves, or drunk hard all night to keep up their courage. How many times they had done the same in olden days

or a moment his dark eyes glowed with a look of evil satisfaction. But his immobile face showed nothing, and he moved lik

up, but without avail; and now Barry eyed the half-caste with a resentful determination. He knew that Krool had heard Byng's words, for he was sitting opposite the double doors, and had seen the malicious eyes light up. Instantly, however, that light vanished. They all might have been wooden men, and Krool but a wooden servitor, so mechanical and concentrated were his actions. He seem

ively: "Byng, it's all damn foolery your keeping tha

ked with a contemptuous little laugh. "Sugar-what?" He pushed

you comfortabl

nd blows; and if it isn't the east wind, it's some other wind. We're living on a planet which has to take the swipes of the universe, beca

nt any wreckers on the shore," was th

he heavy seas, all

. England has to take a hand in the game now with a venge

world, we'll not need fear any spies. I'm not afraid of Krool. We'll not be sold by him. Thou

, and more than one man loo

r the light of day, and then we need

t to prevent any one taking advantage of us; but our actions are justifiable. I'm going to do nothing I'm ashamed of; and when it's neces

a moment after he had en

t you should go? You wan

e of us-or two of us-ought to go. There's plenty to do here; but if

s approvingly fixed on Byng, half rose from his chair and fell forward, his thick, white hands sprawling on the mahogany t

a sofa. Barry's hand felt the breast of the prostrate figure, and Byng's fingers sought his wrist.

aid Byng, p

ad?" whisper

resently caught the glass from Whalen's hand and poured some brandy

ple of nurses," Byng said, sharply, and Krool nodded and vanished. "Perha

stein needs to let up for a

Barry Whalen. "It means that Byng stays in London," he added,

wever, only saw a silent, magically adept figure stooping over the sick man, adjusting the body to greater ease, arranging skilfully the cushion under the head,

said, meaningly, in an u

ned Barry, as meaningly and very stubbornly: "

?" Byng asked, mechanically, an

e London. You're the only real politician amo

-Bar

irl. Besides, I don't carry enough w

caught Whalen's arm in a grip of friendship. "All right, dear old man," he said, ki

of an arrest of all motion in the half-caste's lithe frame. Then Krool turned, and their eyes

he did not understand, though it was not quite a doubt. He reassured himself. "Well, it's na

us of the perfume from Jasmine's cloak searching his senses, even in this ho