By the time he had been at
Piquetberg Road for two days, he knew the name and face of every man
in his squadron. A week later he could tell to a nicety which of his
men were engaged to girls at home, which of them had heard of one
Rudyard Kipling, and which of them could be counted upon in an
emergency. The two latter counts Weldon filled absolutely. In regard
to the first, Frazer permitted himself a moment of acute uneasiness.
It had been in a spirit of unmitigated joy that Frazer had met Ethel
Dent in Cape Town, on the morning of New Year's day. In London he
had known the girl just well enough to admire her intensely, not
well enough, however, to have found out that she had any permanent
connection with South Africa. His joy had lasted until the hour of
his calling upon her, three days later; then it had received a
sudden check. Ethel had been as cordial as ever; nevertheless, her
talk had been full of the young Canadian whom he had met in the
drive. Frazer was intensely human. After a year of separation he
would have preferred to bound the talk by the experiences of their
two selves.
As a natural consequence, he had developed a strong prejudice
against Weldon; but Weldon, all unconsciously, had done much to
remove that prejudice.
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