This was an inducement for her soldier-husband to lay down the sword and turn "vee-boor," or stock farmer, which he consequently did.
These incidents occurred many years previous to the English becoming masters of the Cape colony.

When that event came to pass, Hendrik Von Bloom was already a man of influence in the colony and "field-cornet" of his district, which lay in the beautiful county of Graaf Reinet.

He was then a widower, the father of a small family.

The wife whom he had fondly loved,--the cherry-cheeked, flaxen-haired Gertrude--no longer lived.
History will tell you how the Dutch colonists, discontented with English rule, rebelled against it.

The ex-lieutenant and field-cornet was one of the most prominent among these rebels.