I was accepted by these men for exactly what I professed to be.

Stumm might suspect me of being a rascal, but it was a Dutch rascal.

But all the same I was skating on thin ice.

I could not sink myself utterly in the part, for if I did I would get no good out of being there.

I had to keep my wits going all the time, and join the appearance and manners of a backveld Boer with the mentality of a British intelligence-officer.