Mower County transcript., 1903-12-02
CHAPTER l.

CHAPTER l.
Under the scorching rays of an after
noon sun the limitless expanse of the
African veldt lay shimmering and
quivering in torrid heat.
All around there rose, fold upon fold,
an interminable and maddening sue
cession of low, rounded rises, clothed
to their stony SUBMITS with short,
coarse grass and purple karroo bushes,
the reddish soil baked hard by the
drought of the dry season.
Scarcely a sound broke the stiffness
of the wilderness; not wing whirred;
not an insect buzzed. There was no
spoor or sign of game, large or small
most of it had been killed off long ago.
The grass bent languidly to the faint
draught that came out OF the north
as from furnace mouth.
All nature dropped and painted for
nightfall; the desolation was profound;
the silence was oppressive.
Out of the west, following the wind
ings of little kloof, there crept lum-
bering, dusty, and dirty white-topped
wagon, of the kind used by traders or
hunters, innumerable creakings and
groanings and shudderings testifying
to many days journeying with
plentiful lack" of axle-grease.
Four poorly-conditioned oxen drew
the cumbersome equipage. The loll-
ing tongues Of the beasts, their Ian
guild, dragging steps, and their lean
condition told eloquently of hard travel
and scanty forage.
BY the side of the cattle shambled
two Kaffir "boys," each armed with
long goad. In front Of the team strobe
a white man, his naturally white face
tanned to dusky red, his clothing
soiled and travel-stained from many
nights sleeping out, his veldt-schoon
in the last stages of dilapidat1On. Rest
ing in the hollow of his left arm lay a
shining Winchester, the best-kept and
smartest thing in the whole OF his
shabby outfit. For upon the rifle the
little band of adventurers depended
mainly for their subsistence from day
to day. Game was scarce and shy; the
wagon was none too plentifully stocked
with the bare necessaries of flour, SUI
gar, and coffee; poor shot might
mean supperless bed.
He was a giant in stature six
feet two, with the build and Drawn Of
the pioneer. In age he was on the
better side of 80. A great brown beard
swept his chest, and there was taw-
ny mustache to match, while from
under the front peak of his fore-and-
aft pith helmet there cleaned clean
blue eyes of the kind that are apt to
be undimmed by fatigue or undaunted
by disaster.
Slowly the little caravan plodded on,
the Kafirs continually urging the
wearied beasts with throaty, aclicking
sounds, the white "baas' striding stur-
dily along, consulting a pocket-com-
pass from time to time as the wind
ings of the kloof brought the sun now
upon one hand, and anon upon the
other.
Evening was approaching; not more
mained; it was time to be thinking OF
a camp for the night.
After a more than usually heavy as
cent, the oxen of their own accord
stopped to breathe, the Kaftirs squat
ting listlessly under the wagon out OF
the sun. The white man, glancing
back for a moment, strode without
halting to the summit of the nearest
kopje, and there stood shading his eyes
and looking steadfastly northeast
Suddenly he was reused by a loud cry:
water, baas! I smell water!'
shouted one Of the "boys," pointing
in the same direction
simultaneously the dropping oxen
picked up their heads, ands of theil
own accord started onward at q
smarter pace. The "baas' descended
and fell in at the rear of the wagon
for the Katfir instinct is infallible, anl
water was surely not far away. This
meant not only renewed life for thu
cattle, a camping place, and probably
some game for the pot, but also thu
goal of their journey.
Likewise success or another disma
failure!
Half mile was covered in thi'
fashion, the man in the helmet consult
ing rude map as he stumbled through
the slippery veldt grass, after which
with an exclamation of satisfaction, h
called out:
Eve must be nearly there, Joey!"
Scarcely had the words left his lip
than the heavy wagon commenced t.
move more speedily down an cas-
decline, and the weary beasts brol1
into shambling trot.
A sudden turn round the shou]
der of a hill revealed the wider ex
panse of little valley, perhaps hal
mile broad, through which meandere
a thin ribbon of shallow water, border
ed by a narrow expanse of pebbl
beach that in time of flood would b
entirely covered with yellow, swirl
ing torrent.
In a trice the wagon stopped, tn
oxen were unhitched and gallopin
towards the water, into the center {