The Red Cloud chief., 1900-05-04

Night had just fallen upon the veldt.
The short dusk had suddenly d%eepened
into a heavy, thick obscurity, inn
penetrable for a space until there rose
the rim of a full moon over the edge
of the plain which showed hard ana
clear against the great disk. The ant
hills, that alone broke the m~onotonous
iatness, flung interminable inky shad-
ows as the cold. white glare, electric
in its fierce intensity, shone out Level
across the plains.
BY the edge of the marsh a transport
wagon had %outspanned for the night
and within the circle of hrellSht,
where moon and fame struggled Tor
the mastery, loomed the wavering
outlines of the trek oxen tethered 10
the d%isselboom, and now and again
the figure of a man.
The only sounds were the cracking
chirps of the bullfrogs in the vlei, ana
the voices of two men who sat leaning
back against the kaross of meer-kat
skins flung over one of the wagon
wheels.
No" repeated the elder man, the
transport rider and owner OF the
~wagon-raising his voice. with us
they shall not come-either she or the
brat"
But look, Jakob," persisted the
other: at Is now three weeks, four
weeks, that we are on the trek. n
she has followed all the time, and car
rt,l A. .Lsll Too Lnvy tho nnnr Vlfl
lives | do not know. Take only the
child, Jakob."
How are we to eat? How Is the
vrouw to eat?" demanded the Boer
ENORMOUSLY. Are there not enough
mouths to fill already? And God
knows how much further the span can
go without water in this accursed
country; they have enough TO pull, as
ii is. And why should | feed the wife
and child of every black schelm that
is fool enough to want them? YER
domte swartzkop!" And he spat
angrily into the fire.
But the child" persisted Pet;
that is small and eats but little, not a
quarter as much as a dog. Besides,
Klaus may run away if the girl falls
sick. and he alone knows the road II
the drifts across the river
There was a moments pause. We'll,
then, the brat, in Gods name snap
ped the other. The girl can walk, as
she has walked these three weeks he
added. and rolled himself into his rug
to avoid further surrender.
Piet rose stifiy to his feet: the night
breeze was growing chill. He Knocked
the ashes out of his pipe, kicked some
fuel into the embers Of the fire ana
went around to the other side or the
wagon, where the three Basuto boys
were lying.
"Klaus!" he called. Here a mo-
ment."
A grunt from one OF the blankets
answered him.
"Baas Jakob says a baby may ride
with the vrouw in the wagon, but the
girl must still walk
There was a sudden movement at his
feet and a dark figure rolled out oil
the blanket.
mo, boy, no! Not that" His hand
was being covered with kisses. Pie'
drew 1t sharply away, and, taking
strip OF biltong from his pocket, thrust
it into the Basuto's grasp. Here. TINS
may help for the girl; 1t was all
could get" he answered roughly, ano
turning on his heel he went back tc
where his brother lay sleeping. Baas
Piet was as averse to being generous
as the transport rider, though foi
other reasons.
For a while Klaus lay still.
Presently, carrying the piece OF hare
sundried meat and his own supper o.
boiled mealies, he crept shivering IRON
his blanket and went slowly out to th'
silent veldt, In the direction from
which the wagon had come, as he ha'
o n every night to listen for tn
signal that told him Beta was there
among the ant hills. Then he woult
cheer her up and sit beside her Will
she ca a Of his poor rations