The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-09-06

CHAPTER v1I.-(continued.

CHAPTER VII.-(Continued.)
They rode all night straight on
without a halt. 1t was desolate
country, uninhabited by native or
white man.; and far removed from any
railway line; but Rothes felt certain
it was the direction taken by Moore in
order to get into the Free State.
1t was in the early dawn that they
came to narrow spruit (stream),
whose banks were different from the
dry, sandy veldt, soft and muddy.
Here they dismounted, and Heinrich,
the little Zulu, examined the mud at
tentively uttered little cry "Baah!
horses and of men! One. two mans
large footmarks, and one small wom-
ans or chllds. We have tracked them
and they are not before us; am sure
of that
Rothes sprang to his side and soon
convinced himself that Heinrich was
right. His excitement could hardly he
kept in check.
I'VE must press on, Henrich!" he
exclaimed. ct is hard Oh the poor
beasts, l know. but there is no time to
be lost. Have a drink of water. boy,
and you can eat your biscuits rid
ing"
Once more they pressed forward. The
marks continued & bit along the dom
ga, or water course, then they rose up
again to the plain, and Of course were
lost there. They were now close to
some of the widest and most precip-
itous of the rocky range of mountains,
and astheyapproached the pass Rothes
felt in doubt as to whether he should
go through it or continue in the di-
rection he had been pursuing. Sud
denly Heinrich, giving low, Kissing
sound between his teeth, turned to his
master, his round, wild eyes blazing.
"Baas, baas, look! Straight before
us! There is horse standing beside
the rock Do you see him? There!
There must be man there, Also"
Rothes' eyes were not so keen, but
as they approached nearer he distinct
ly saw the animal standing motionless
by the rock. AS they pressed their
first pointed out-a mans figure, lying
PROSTATE on tuft of short grass I'M
derneath the rock.
He did not move until they were
close to him. Then Rothes saw he was
a native, and was not dea11bs he had
at first thought. but so asleep.
Quick as thought Rothes N pped out
his revolver and covered the PROSTATE
figure with it. while HenricN obeying
signal from his master, crept stealth
lily to the man, placed his knee on his
chest and pinioned both his hands.
With a yell the man started up.
struggling violently, but the 1.-THE, Zulu
ssa bound hIs = sasas firmly and nd
his head.
Ask him who he is, Heinrich, and
if he has seen man and woman pass
this way" said Rothes. Tell him l
shall shoot him if he does not answer
at once and tell the truth
But the crafty native who was no
other than Gerald Moores boy" was
reader with his answer than Rothes
had hoped.
Give me gold piece-one, two three
and tell you all you want to know,
:. baas,'' he said
Rothes produced the gold.
Il will give you that if you can tell
NE anything about man and wom-
an on horseback who came from New
kelso, near Ladysmith," said he.
The man showed his teeth in a hor-
Iibly ugly smile.
II can tell you more about them
than any one in the world, baas. The
nan was my master, and his name
is Mr.. Moore. He was taking the
woman to Harrismith, and going to
marry her there. But she ran away
from us two days ago. and now my
master, after beating Chipanga, is try
ing to find her. She lose herself and
die of hunger and cold, if wild beast
do not get her."