The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-03-14

| not feel inclined to put much faith in
| the diamond business. Moreover, l had
no wish to lose my passage, as assured
| ly would be the case if l Jagged behind
| to dissect my friend. Also, he had
| chosen the most awkward possible time
III which to die-just as everybody was
| on the alert to inspan and prepare Tor
the days trek.
| But perhaps the heaviest argument OF
| all against the likelihood of the thlng
consisted in the fact of my having seen
| the fence he said he climbed-the Dig
| barrier that the illicit diamond buyers
| had forced the De Beers Company TO
| erect around their shoal of amalaSa-
mated mines-fourteen feet of gaivan-
lied iron with three barbed wires
strained along the top of it. Why,
lizard couldn't have scaled it, much less
a WORKOUT old Kaffir-we call them all
Kaff1rs there, Pondos, Basutos, Bechu-
anas, Griquas and the rest. However,
as 1 turned over and fell asleep l de-
termined to at least go across in the
morning, and if he had pegged out, as
he said he would, bury him as l prom
Used, diamonds or no diamonds.
I slept late, and was only awakened
| ny OIu oOl1l I1ellu1 iChS oilehhiiAo liz. 49,
macht.' he growled. Arise, and don't
let the blessed sun Of the Lord Coo
roast you alive!"
Until after breakfast there was no
chance to slip away, for, like the oth-
ers, l had my share of camp duty TO
perform.
But at last I managed to get over to
the tree. Sure enough, there lay my
kaffir, already stiffening, with the flies
beginning to swarm in black clouds all
about him.
| However, going to the wagon, L got
| d spade and a pick, and despite the
! jeers and laughter of the Beers, when
they saw what my intentions were, l
planted the poor old beggar pretty deep
and huddled up, with his face towards
Swaziland. Just at that time L dldn [
feel inclined to do any more towards
Iproving my legacy.
Perhaps, as | trampled the earth upon
him, some faint notion possessed me OF
returning in the future, for l took the
bearings from the big tree, noticing es-
pecially as l did so a curious triangu-
lar patch of white stone near the sum
nit Of the koppie.
But in Agoa Bay I got ship and
came across to Australia, and as the
years passed the remembrance or the
incident grew weaker; still, strange TO
say, at long intervals a sort of feeling
would momentarily seize upon me, tax
ing full possession of my mind, ana
urging me vehemently to go and dig
I'D what was waiting for me under the
old tree.
1t was a haunting sort of sensation,
quite too vague to define, kind OF
small pressing inward voice that kept
on telling me that was fool for neg
Letting such a chance of fortune. But
as I noticed that the phenomenon gen
orally occurred when 1 was hard up, l
put it down to natural causes. Osborne,
however, was otherwise impressed, and
ascribed it to "a reaction of psychic
will matter" and wrote a paper on it.
Indeed, if it had not been for that
kindly enthusiast, I hardly think
should ever have been bound Africa
ward to look for a five-year-old dead
Kaffir. fG
And as I lay on the foc'sle-head and
smoked. and thought of what an awful
ly forlorn sort of hope 1T was, growing
more forlorn and more doubtful with
every gliding neave of the big steamer
that brought the testing of it nearer, ]
got up, and, knocking the ashes out OF
my pipe on the capstan, called myself
a fool and several other things. Ii
was the purpose with which l had
started away that appeared so much
more idiotic here. within 800 miles of
Cape Agulhas, than it had done on
Sandridge pier.
Among the saloon passengers was
Mr.. Johnston, formerly free-se-
lector in New South Wales. He had
emigrated many years ago to South
Africa, and there, after some time
4 spent in hunting and digging, he final
~ settled on large farm in the Trans
vaal. where In those early days good
land was to be had for half-a-crown an
acre.
He was big, jolly, frank, outspoken
man of about 50, a widower, with one
child, a pretty girl of Is, who accom-
panied him. And he was now return
ing to his adopted country with a fine
selection of stud rams and ewes for
his f1ocks up there on the high veldt of
the African tableland. In my former
wanderings 1 had often heard his
name mentioned as a suspect" and an
object of dislike to the Boer Govern
ment at Pretoria. Indeed, during the
war he was more than once nearly
shot out of hand, not only for his op-
position to being commandment but
for the remarkably free way in which
he aired his opinions on the subject of
Boer and Basuto-Dutch leige though
he nominally was.
: Happening once to attract his notice
by something ! said respecting sheep,
while / watched him feeding them, we
often after that to have a yarn to-
gether.
! With pretty Mary Johnston I also ex-
changed at odd times a word or two
: when she brought for'ard dainties for
her pet eve And one day, in very
: rough weather the vessel, diving, took
a tremendous sea over her foe isle head
: and Mary, venturing alone along the
deck, was caught by the rushing tor
rent and swept like a feather into the
main rigging. Luckily, to escape a wet
ting, / had jumped upon one of the
| main-hatch sheep pens. It was a long
bound from there into the rigging; but
in those days l was young and smart
and I managed just as the weight of
water was proving too much for her
Another minute and she would have
! let go and been carried overheard. II
? really was narrow shave, so narrow
that the skipper, watching from the
bridge, grew pale and tre1nbled, think
: ing that all was over, as his fingers
: pushed the telegraph to stop"
, Old Johnston didn't say much. But
t I felt that if should want friend in