Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-02-13
CHAPTER IV-Continued.

Where did that buck come from" he
asked. looking at the dead creature.
Rachel told him the story with She re-
suit that. as her mother had expected.
ne was very indignant with her. 1t was
most unkind. and. indeed. un-Chr:stian. he
said. not to have asked this very cour-
teous gentleman into the camp, as he
would much have liked to converse with
him. He had often reproved her hapii
of Judging by eNterudlS, and IN the Eeldi
lion and zebra skis furnished "A very
suitable covering. should remember
that such were given to our first parents
ooh. | know father" broke in Rachel,
when the climate grew too cold Tor ieai
petticoats and the rest. Now. don't be-
gin to sCnld me. because ! must so to
cook the dinner ] didn't like the look
of the man. besides he rode off. Then II
wasn't my business TO ask him here. but
mothers, who stood staring at him ana
never said single word. II you wan,
to see him much, you can go 10 call
uron him tomorrow. only don't take me.
please And now will you send Tom to
skin the buck"
Mr. Dove answered that Tom was busy
with the fence and. ceasing from argu-
ment which he felt to be useless with
Rachel, suggested doubtfully that he had
better be his own butcher.
NO. no. she replied; you know you
hate that sort of thing. AS / do Let IT
be till the Kaffirs have time. We have the
cold meat left for supper, and / will boil
some mealies. Go and help with the
fence. father. while light the fire
Usually Rachel was the best of SleeperS
So soon as she laid her head upon what t
ever happened to serve her for pillow,
generally it was a saddle, her eyes shut
to open no more till daylight came On
this night. however. it was not so. She
had her bed in little flap tent which
looked on to the side of the wagon thai
was occupied by her parents. Here she
lay wide awake for a long while. listen
ing to the Kaffirs. who. having partaken
heartily of the buck, were now making
themselves drunk by smoking dakka. or
Indian hemp habit Of which Mr.. Dove
had tried in vain to break them. Al
length the fire around which they sal
near the thorn fence on the farther side
of the wagon grew low. and their inco-
herent talk ended in silence. punctuated
by shores. Rachel began to doze, but
was awakened by the laughing cries OF
hvenaS quite close to her. The brutes
had scented the dead buck and were wan
dering round the fence in the hope of a
midnight meal. Rachel rose. and. tak1ni
the gun that lay at her side. threw a
cloak over her shoulders and left the
tent.
The moon was shining brightly and by
it's light she saw the hyenas. two OF then
wolves as they are called In Soutf
Africa-long gray creatures that proWlet
round the thorn fence hungrily. causing
the oxen that were tied to the trek tow
and the horses picketed on the other side
of the wagon to low and whinny in ar
uneasy fashion. The hyenas saw her also
for her head rose above the rough renee
and, being cowardiy beasts, skunk away
She could have shot them II she chose
but did not. first because she hated killing
anything unnecessarily. even a wolf, ant
secondly because 1t would have aroused
the camp So she contented herself Will
throwing more dry wood on the nre
stepping over the Kaffirs. who slept lik'
logs. in order to do so. Then. resting
upon her gun like some Amazon on guard
she gazed a while at the lovely moonli
sea and the long line of game trekkine
silently to their drinking place, until. see
ing no more of the wolves or other dan
serous beasts. she turned and sought he
bed again.
She was thinking of Mr.. Ishmael and
his zebra-skin trousers: wondering VIII!
the man should have filled her with Suci
an unreasoning dislike. If she had dis
liked him at a distance Of fifty PAGES
how she would hate him when he was
near! And yet he was probably only
one of those broken soldiers of fortune o
whom she had met several who took Il
the wilderness as last resource and b.
degrees sank to the level of the savage:
among whom they lived. person wh'
was not worth a second thought. So
she tried to put him from her mind. ano
by way of an antidote. since still sh'
could not sleep. filled it with her recollec
tions of Richard Darrien. Some year:
had gone by since they had met. ant
from that time to this she had neve
heard a word of him in which she coult
put the slightest faith. She did not evel
know whether he were alive or dead
only she believed that if he were dead sh
would be aware of it. No. she had neve
heard of him, and it seemed probable
that she never would hear of him again
Yet she did not believe that. either. Ha'
she done so her happiness-for on thu
whole Rachel was happy girl-woult
have departed from her. since this once
seen lad had never left her heart, no.
had she forgotten their farewell kiss.
Rejecting thus at length. Rachel fell of
to sleep and began to dream. still of Rich
ard Darrien 1t was a long dream. where
of afterward she could remember bu
little but in it there were shoutings. anC
black faces. and the flashing of spears
also the white man Ishmael was presen
there One part. however. she did remem
changed and yet the same. leaning owe
her, warning her of danger to come
warning her against this man Ishmael.
She awoke suddenly to see that thu
light of dawn was creeping into her tent
that low. soft light which is so beautiful
in southern Africa. Rachel was dis
turbed she felt the need of action, o
anything that would change the curren
of her thoughts. No one was about yet
What should she do? She knew; TIN
sea was not more than a mile away. Sh'
would go down to it and battle and b'
back before the rest of them were awake