The " piety " of President Kruger, though probably genuine,
is not, it appears, of the kind which kills out super- stition. He trusts in the Lord, but nevertheless consults soothsayers. One of them, a lad, whose prediction, it is said, has made a deep impression upon the Boers, tells him that Pretoria will fall, that peace will be made on June 14th, and that he himself will die three months after that event. A Cassandra usually turns up just before a great defeat, but in this instance the young Dutch seer probably had his instruc- tions. There is a party among the burghers who think that the President's obstinacy is ruining their fortunes, which are invested in mines and public works, and they very cleverly try to work on Mr. Kruger's mind on its weakest side. The fact that if your seer is worth anything you cannot avert the fate he foretells never seems to strike the curious, who when told by the Cagliostro of the hour that they must die, immediately take pills.
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