Why, then, was I so closely watched in the harmless neighbourhood of the store?
I thought for a long time before an answer occurred to me.

The reason must be that going to the plains I was going into native country and away from civilization.

But Blaauwildebeestefontein was near the frontier.

There must be some dark business brewing of which they may have feared that I had an inkling.
They wanted to see if I proposed to go to Pietersdorp or Wesselsburg and tell what I knew, and they clearly were resolved that I should not.
I laughed, I remember, thinking that they had forgotten the post-bag.
But then I reflected that I knew nothing of what might be happening daily to the post-bag.
When I had reached this conclusion, my first impulse was to test it by riding straight west on the main road.

If I was right, I should certainly be stopped.