The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-08-30

necessary articles. The bedding con
J sisted of cheap Kafir blankets and {
rug or two, while the portmanteau was
packed with all their Oldest clothes, one
decent suit for town visit, and sucr other
comforts as could be taken without
oVercrowding the space. As it was they
had been compelled to erect a rough
earth enclosure covered with grass
} winch served as a storeroom for super
lluous paraphernalia.
of course" added the boss, "our
great difficulty has been to make our
proVender fit in with our means. Meth
CT OF US have any income, beyond a
stray sovereign or so raised at inter
Vals. We have only two meals day
this at noon and supper about o'clock,
This is forced on us by cold and econo.
my. The nights are so bitterly cold
That We sit up as long as possible, and
get our sleep after sun-up. You called
in just after breakfast. time-a cup of
coffee. The last few nights we nave
been compelled to drink coffee every
hour through the night, or we should
nave been frozen. 1t is expensive
though we burn only one candle, and
use 'Boer coal for our KETTLE
i know of ten ways of cooking mealies
and a dozen ways of making beans pal
atable. and though the menu isn't quite
up to Frascati standard, we are making
flesh on it." said the boss.
What about fresh supplies, such as
milk and vegetables?'
We'll, We don't get as much as we
should like, but the farmers about cle
very good natured and we sometimes
get such luxuries for nothing, as we
can't afford to pay for them. Our
greatest want is whiskey and reading
matter. We are teetotalers on compul-
| sion, and Jim is already reformed
character, but we have read up all we
brough in the way of light literature.
Then, how do you kill time?"
bill and are learning land survey
ing from this handbook, but, as we
have no instruments, it's more theory
than practice. Bill is also tackling
Kafir, and I am reading a manual on
assaying."
What does Jim do?'
II am making collection of butter
flies, which will be worth fifty 1uid
when it's complete. Catching them is
better than loafing around Commission
err street." answered Jim cheerfully
How is the collection growing?"
"Oh, first rate: only want four more
to complete my first half-dozen.'
Jim is the humorist of the.party.
How long do you reckon to stay |
here?
TITS all a question of funds. Our
capital is melting, of course, though we |
look at every tickey and buy nothing
that we can do without. So Ear we
have managed to have meat every day
and have not had to do without a single
necessary, and our expenses work cut
at 1Ss. Cd. per week for three. We are
In splendid health, ard even if at the end
We worked on these lines till the
of another month things have not i'm
proved we shall be in a much better
position than if we had tried to ride
out the storm in johannesburg. At any
rate we have preserved our self-respect,
our health and our clothes, to say nc
thing of having kept out of politics and
saved Jim from a drunkards grave"
And then we had dejeuner-the very
finest meal I have ever eaten in the weld,
cooked in weld style, and consisting CT
a good thick bean soup, followed by an
Irish stew and stewed peaches and
coffee. The conversation over the
meal and for some time after consist
ed of an attempt to figure out the exact
cost of the meal per head. We should
have got at it all right but for Jim, who
having once been a store-keeper on a
mine, insisted that the proper way to
arrive at net cost was to allow For ori-
ginal capital outlay on entire stock.
We kept OH these lines till the blank
leaves and edges of all the reading mat
ter In the tent had become an eruption
IF figures, and when we had agreed it
1T 4sd per caput. Jim refused to assent,
IN the ground that deduction uat
De made for depreciation of plant.
When the party had escorted me INTO
he frightening shadows and over the
Hills to Krugersdorp, they returend to
inish calculations and prepare to re
he watches of the night over coffee and
and Diggers News
johannesburg.