Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-10-31

Before reaching Scio Pans, therefore, we turned right handed and struck into the bush with one wagon, the other, in charge of our head driver, being sent on to the water, there to await om coming.
 We had some Masarwa bushen with us, and they were as keen as hawks at the prospect of showing us heavy game and getting a liberal supply of flesh. Northward we trekked steadily through wild desolate country for the best part of one day and outspanned by a desert pool for the night. Here we were great ly disappointed to find no spoor of ele- phant, although giraffe, ostrich, gems bok and hartebeest were fairly plenti- ful. Next day at dawn we again push ed doggedly on, Angus and taking different directions and riding some miles ahead of the wagon on the look out for elephant spoor. I rode behind a Masarwa at a steady pace all morning without finding the least sign of the game we wanted, and after an off sad dle at midday once more pushed on in a northwesterly direction
 Rather suddenly we came upon a klOmpje of giraffe, and as the elephants seemed very much in the air and we wanted meat I rammed the spurs in and galloped headlong for the camels. It was desperately hot. and we were shut up in thick, thorny bush in which not breath of wind stirred, and con- sequently had not got my coat on. The beast l rode for, a fat, fresh young COW, led me pretty dance of two miles, hell for leather, ut n terrific pace through the very thorniest jungle she could pick, and although l presently ranged close up to her trump and with my third bull let, firing from my horse, brought her down with a crash, she had taken pret- ty heavy toll of me. My flannel shirt was torn to ribbons, and my chest and shoulders were rarely gashed about. Never hunt camel, gentlemen, in a thick bush without a stout coat on. That's the advice of an old veldtman, and it's worth remembering. I ought to have known better that day, but was not prepared for game at that par ticular moment
 Well. I stuck my knife into the cows back and found her well covered with fat, and the Masarwa coming up soon after we set to work to skin and N0N nav Ah6 AdSNthNu about 20 pounds of meat to my saddle and carrying the long. prehensile tongue dangling far below my belt, saddled up, leaving the Masarwa, who had a calabash of water, to finish the job and wait for the wagon to pick him up the next morning.
 II myself took q sweep north north east, with the intention of working round to the wagon before sundown. ''I had not left the Masarwa half an hour when l suddenly, to my intense surprise, cut the spoor of n wagon run ming pretty we'll east and west and go- ing westward. It was not fresh, but at the same time not very old either. It might have been n month or two old at most. Now thought I, what in the mischief docs this mean?' Very few hunters use this veldt. I knew Khama had sent no wagons that way this sea | son, and the only white man in front of us this year was Dirk Sarreberg, one of | the few Dutch hunters to whom khama gave permission to hunt in his veldt. 'Starrchcrg's wagon it could only be And yet 1t struck nc as strange that Dirk, whom l knew well-for he was a noted interior huntCr-should be trek king in this vcldt. He was, knew, | bound for tine Victoria falls Probably, like ourselves, enticed by the unwonted water supply and the possibility of a slap at the elephants, he had turned of | somewhere between Nata river and Daka and pushed across for the Chobe | Thus reasoning, l turned my horse $ head, and with the wcstcrins sun now l nm, ri CyInt H..r,lr the wagon. I rode on for half mile and then came another strange thing. | As l crossed an open glade saw con- ing toward me the figure of man. knew i'll a moment who it was. The slouching walk. the big, burly form, the vast red beard, the rife carried-as Dirk always carried his-by the muzzle end, with the stock poised behind his shoulder-it was none but Dirk Stare berg himself. But there was something amiss with him. He looked worn and troubled. almost distraught, it seemed to me, at that distance, and he gazed neither to the right nor left of him, but passed hurriedly and very swiftly in front of me at a distance of about So paces.
 Hello, Dirkr shouted. 'Allemag- tig, war loup jij2 Yacht cen bitje. Dirk r ;Almighty. where are you off to? Wait a little, Dirk To my utter astonish- ment. the man took not the slightest no- tice, but passed on. I became indig. nant and yelled: Dirk, Dirk, have you no manners? It's me, George Kenstone. want you. Stopr Still the man passed on. In another moment he had reached the bush again. He turned now, beck oned to me with his right hand, and il another instant had disappeared into the low forest.
 II was extremely annoyed, and aftel staring like fool for second to twt struck in spurs rather sharply and gal loped after him. was not three sec onds in reaching the bush where he haC enterea but to my surprise Dirk hat vanish !. Isearched hither and thither shouted-aye, swore-but still no Dirk came back at length to the point wher had last seen the Boer. Surprise No 8. There was my own spoor as plain a pikestaff in the red sand, but of Dir Starreberg not one trace of spoor was t be seen.
 ''Now, spoor, as you all know, is
 thing that never lies. had seen Dir cross the clearing and enter the bush a this point. Where were his tracks?
 got off my horse and hunted careful, every bit of the way across the glad
 where had seen Dirk pass. I am req sonably good veldtman, but-so help m
 God!-I never could find one trace c the mans spoor, this way or that.
 rubbed my eyes. It was incomprehensi
 ble. I searched again and again care 1 fullY and methndically with tha sam