Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-03-02

came into the hut and pulled us out, the ci1
man, my uncle, my father, my mother and
myself, and tied us up to four mimosa trees,
with buffalo reins. Then the kafiirs went
away, and ON Jacob asked my father where
the cattle were, and my father told him that
he did not know Then he took off his hat
and said prayer to the Big Man in the sky,
and when he had done Baas Frank came up
with gun, and stood quite close and shot
my father dead, and he icll forward and
hung quite over the REIN, his head touching
his feet. Then he loaded the gun again and
shot the old man, my uncle, and he slipped
down dead, and his hands stuck up in the dir
against the REIN. Next he shot my mother,
but the bullet did not kill her, and cut the
REIN, and she ran away, and he ran after
her and killed her. When that was done he
came back to shoot me; but l was young
then and did not know that it is better to be
dead than to live like dog, and begged
and prayed for mercy while he was loading
the gun
"But the baas only laughed, and said he
would teach Hottentots how to steal cattle,
and old ON Jacob prayed out loud to the Big
Man and said he was very sorry for me, but
it was the dear Lords will And then, lust
Us Baas Frank lifted the gun he dropped it
again, for there, coming softly, softly over
the brow of the hill, in and out between the
bushes, were all the sixteen oxen. They had
got out in tho night and strayed away into
some kloof for q change Of pasture, and
come back when they were full and tired of
being alone. ON Jacob turned quite white
and scratched his head, and then fell upon
his knees and thanked the dear Lord for saw
irg my life; and just then tho English
woman, Baas Franks mother, came down
from tho wagon to see what the firing was
at, and when she saw all the people dead and
mo weeping, tied to the tree, and learned
what 1t WINS about, she went quito mad, for
sometimes she had kind heart when she was
not drunk, and said that curse would fall
on them, and that they would all die in blood.
And she took a knife and cut me loose,
though baas FRANK wanted to kill me, so that
might tell no tales; and l ran away, travel
ing by night and hiding by day, for WINS
very much frightened, till got to Natal, and
there l stopped, working in Natal till the
land became English, when Baas Croft hired
me to drive bis cart up from Maritzburg;
and living by here found Baas Frank, look
iSg bigger but just tho same except for his
beard.
"Thcrc, baas, that is the truth, and all tho
truth, and that is why hate Baas Frank,
because he shot my father and mother, and
why Baas Frank hates me, because he cannot
forget that he did it and saw him do it, for,
rs our people say, ono always hates man
one has wounded with a spear:'" and. having
finished his narrative, the miserable looking
little man picked up his greasy old felt hat.
that had leather strap fixed round the
crown, in which were stuck couple Of frayed
ostrich feathers, and jammed it down over
his ears, and then fell to drawing circles on
the soil with his long toes. His auditors only
looked at ono another. Such o CHASTITY tale
seemed to be beyond comment. They never
doubted its truth; tho mans way of telling it
carried conviction with it. And, indeed, two
Of them at any rate, had heard such stories
before. Most people have whe live in the
wilder parts Of South Africa, though they
are not oil to DO taken for gospel.
"You say" remarked old Silas, at last,
@that the woman said that curse would fall
on them and that they would die In bloodi
Sho was right Twelve years ago ON Jacob
and his wife wero murdered by q party Of
Iapoch's Kafiirs, down on the edge Of that
very Lydcnburg veldt. There was q great
noise about 1t ct tho time, remember, but
nothing came Of it. Baas Frank was not
there. He WIS away shooting buck; SO he
escaped and inherited all his fathers farms
and cattle and came to live here"
49," said tho Hottentot. without showing
tho slightest interest or surprise II knew it
would be 30. but wish had been there to
SEQ it / saw that there was O devil in the
woman, and that they would die as she said.
When there Is o devil in people they always
speak tho truth, because they can't help it.
Look, baas, / draw q circle in the sand with
my foot, and l say some words 50, and at
last the ends touch. There, that is the circle
OF ON Jacob and his wife the Englishwoman.
The ends have touched and they are dead.
An old witch doctor taught mo to draw tho
circle Of n mans life and what words to say.
And now draw another Of Baas Frank Ali
there is a stone sticking up in the way The
ends will not touch. But now work and
work and work with my foot. and say the
words and say the words, and so-the stone
comes up and the ends touch now. So it is
with Baas Frank. One day the stone will
come up and the ends will touch, and he, too,
will die in blood. Tho devil In tho English
woman said 30, and devils cannot lie or speak
half the truth only. And now, look, rub
my foot over the circles and they arc gone,
and there is only tho path again. That means
that when they have died in blood they will
be quito forgotten and stamped out Even
their graves will be 1at," and ho wrinkled
up his yellow face into a smile, or rather o
grin, and then added in o matter offact way:
docs the baas wish tho gray marc to have
one bundle of green forage or twof'