The Penn's Grove record., 1897-04-02

whip red with Topknot's bl God and
made MS If he would strike me. /
seized the fellow by the waist and, lift.
ing him, bodily up. sent him crashing
among the pots and pans inside the
wagon. When he pulled himself to.
gethe r he was simply livid with rage,
and he swore Gas only a Boer can
s.~ear) that he would be even with me
I ONE day or other. L said nothing,
bat cut the thongs that bound Top
knot to the wheel.
For three months after that nv
Boer partner never spoke to me unless
through sheer necessity. For my
part, 1 ins tictively avoided him.
"Well, matters came to q head ct last.
At the end of that year our partnership
was to be dissolved under the terms
of our agreement, and we would then
go u several ways. The end was
but a week off, and one day. remem-
Der it was Christmas eve-I found my
self quite alone in camp. Stofel and
the boys were out seeking our Christ
mas dinner. I looked at the sky and
saw the black clouds gathering for a
storm. Then l lighted my pipe and
planted my back against a wagon
wheel to have a good think. I suppose
| must have fallen asleep. At any rate
L had a most peculiar dream, a dream
which haunts me to this day.
81 dreamt that I was Jonah, the chap
who's mentioned in the Bible, you
know. I thought I stood on the deck
of a ship, with the spray of an angry
sea beating upon me. / thought the
sailors all looked threateniugly upon
me, and tho remarkable fact about
this dream was that the face of every
man Jack on board was the face of my
partner Stoffell Then 1 imagined
that 1 heard tho sailors cry: 1--WE
will endure it no Iongeri Cast the
eyildoer into the seal And with q
loud cry they lifted me on high and
cast me with all their might into the
raging sea. I felt the cold waves
about me, and ms l rose to the surface
q great sea monster foated toward me.
Then, as it grippod me by the waist,
/ shrieked aloud in my agony and
awoke, to find myself saturated with
rain and Stoffel, my partner, standing
over me with q devilish leer upon his
face.
az tried to rise. but I could not
move. A leathern rein had been
passed twice around my body, and 1
was securely dashed to the wagon
wheel. For a moment 1 could not
grasp the situation. Then I remem-
bered how Stoffel had sworn to be re-
venged upon me. The heavens were
lurid, and the rain was descending in
torrents. 1 tried to move in vain.
Then l said: 'Stoffel, what is the
meaning of thisl' 1T means he re-
piled, with peculiar huskiness in his
voice, that your time has come. I
swors to be revenged upon you, and I
will keep my word. Your boys are
drowned in the sluice yonder, and if
you shout your loudest you will never
be hoard save by me. You shall see
what good marksmen we Bo ers are
With that he went to the wagon and
took a loaded rifle -mine-that always
hung there. 1 was too astonished to
speak. 1 found myself wondering
what he would do next. 4 give you
two minutes, he said, 'to make your
peace above. Even Englishmen, L
suppose, have hopes of an ever after
"a tried to speak, but could not"
continued old Dan, "and those two
minutes seemed like ar eternity. The
lightning flashed in the far distance,
and the rain fell in sheets. l felt. in
deed, that my last hour had come.
Now said Stoffel, at length, you'll
see how straight a Boer can shoot at
so PAGES So saying, he turned his
back upon me and strobe away from
me full 80 PAGES. Then he turned
round and, raising his rife, seemed
to me to point it deliberately at my
heart There was a loud crash, and I
felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder;
Stoffel stepped back and once again
pointed his weapon at me. As he did
SO, however. the sharp report of a rifle
rang ont, and ! beheld Stoffel throw
up bis arms and fall with a s~ickening
thusl face forwards oSthe earth. The
next moment my Mashona boy Top
knot, had cut the rein which bound
me to the wheel and set mo free.
Gentlemen" added the old hunter, 81
blessed the day when first I taught
that Kafir the way to handle a rife"
80 I should think, Dan," said
Charlie, a~pprovingly; land Stoffel-
what of him? Was he dead?"
"As dead as a doornail, sir; the bull
/, let had penetrated his brain"
"And what became of poor Top
knott" asked jack.
t Poor chapl' said old Dan, with a
tremor in his voice. "He was drowned
a few months afterwards as We were
fording the Shangaui. The Golden
4 Penny.
Freak OF an Orange Tree.
Nature has performed an interest