Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-16

to their ankles, and. on their feet they
wore homemade "vel-schoen."
They sat under a shelving rock. on
the surface of which were still visible
some old Bushman paintings, their red
and black pigments having been pre-
served through long years from wind
and rain by the overhanging ledge
,grotesque oxen, elephants. rhinoceroses
and one horned beast such as no man
ever has seen or ever shall see.
The girls sat with their backs to the
paintings. In their laps were a few
fern and ice plant leaves. which by
dint of much searching they had gath
cred under the rocks.
Elm took off her big brown kappje
and began vigorously to fan her red
face with 1t, but her companion bent
low over the leaves in her lap and at
last took up an ice plant leaf and fas-
tened it on to the front of her blue pima
fore with pin.
Diamonds must look as these drops
do" she said. carefully bending over
the leaf and crushing one crystal drop
with her delicate little nail. "Whcn L."
she said. IAN grown up. shall wear
real diamonds exactly like these in my
hair"
Her companion opened her eyes and
wrinkled her low forehead.
where will you find them, Lyndall?
The stones are only crystals that we
picked up yesterday. Old Otto says
So"
"And you think that am going to
stay here always?"
The lip trembled scornfully.
"Ah, mop said her companion. ~
suppose some day we shall go some
where, but now we are only 12, and we
cannot marry till we are II. Four
years, five-that is long time to wait.
And we might not have diamonds IL
we did marry"
"And you think that am going to
stay here till then?"
well, where are you going?" asked
her companion.
The girl crushed an ice plant leaf be-
tween her fingers.
''Tant' Sannie is miserable old wo-
man." she said. "Your father married
her when he was dying because he
thought she would take better care of
the farm and of us than an English
woman. He said we should be taught
and sent to school. Now she saves ev-
cry farthing for herself. buys us not
even one old book. She does not i'll use
US. Why? Because she is afraid of
your fathers ghost. Only this morn
ing she told her Hottantot that she
would have beaten you for breaking
the plate but that three nights ago she
heard a rustling and grunting behind
the pantry door and knew it was your
father coming to 'spcok' her. She is
miserable old woman" said the girl,
throwing the leaf from her. "But I in
tend to go to school,"
"And IL she won't let you?"
81 shall make her."
"How?"
The child took not the slightest no.
tice Of the Inst question and folded her
small arms across her knees. j.
But why do you want to go, Lyn-
dall?"
There is nothing helps in this
world" said the child slowly, but to
be very wise and to know everything
to be clever"
"But I should not like to go to
school" persisted the small freckled
face.
And you do not need to. When you
are II, this Boer woman will go. You
will have this farm and everything
that is upon it for your own. But L."
said Lyndall, will have nothing. /
must learn"
"Oh, Lyndall! l will give you some
of my sheep" said En-, with sudden
burst of plying generosity.
Il do not want your sheep" said the
girl slowly. II want things of my own.
When l am grown up" she added, the
flush ON her delicate features deepen
ing at every word. there will be moth
Ing that l do not know. l shall be
rich. very rich, and l shall wear not
only for best, but every day, pure
white silk and little rosebuds, like the
lady in Tant' Sannie's bedroom, and
my petticoats will be embroidered, not
only at the bottom, but ali through"
The lady in Tant' Sannie's bedroom
was a gorgeous creature from a fash
Ion sheet which the Boer woman, some
where obtaining. had pasted up at the
foot of her bed to be profoundly ad-
mired by the children.
ut would be very nice" said En-, but
1t seemed a dream of quite too tran
scendent glory ever to be realized.
AT this instant there appeared at the
foot of the "kopie" two tgures-the
one. dog, white and sleek. one yellow
ear hanging down over his left eye; the
other. his master, lad Of IA and no
other than the boy Waldo. grown into
a heavy, slouching youth. The dog
mounted the "kopje" quickly. His
master followed slowly. lie wore an
aged jacket. much too large for him
and rolled up at the wrists, and, as of
old, pair Of dilapidated "yel-schoens"
and n felt hat. He stood before the
two girls at last.
"What have you been doing today? ?"
asked Lyndall, lifting her eyes to his
face.
looking after ewes and lambs be-