Next, before Jantje could guess what he meant to do, he proceeded to make it practically impossible for his robbery to be discovered, or at any rate very improbable, by lighting a match, and, having first glanced round to see that nobody was looking, reaching up and applying it to the thick thatch wherewith the house itself was roofed, the fringe of which just at this spot was not more than nine feet from the ground.
No rain had fallen at Mooifontein for several days, and there had been a hot sun with wind.

As a result the thatch was dry as tinder.

The light caught in a second, and in two more a thin line of fire was running up the roof.
Hendrik paused, stepped a few paces back, resting his shoulders against the wall, immediately the other side of which was Jantje, and began to chuckle aloud and rub his hands as he admired the results of his labours.

This proved too much for the Hottentot behind him.

The provocation was overmastering, and so was the opportunity.