The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-01-18

until he went with him for the sheep The man displayed no desire to de- part, but pulleld out red-clay pipe
 and proceeded to emulate his new ac- quaintances.
 After dinner the Boers set about
 flashing the wagons together into 9
 laager, and filled up all open inter vals with Instructions. Then they spread out their blankets and lolled in the shade Of the wagons. Ii was then that Sam Goodall accom- panied the herder on his quest for fresh meat.
 Old Esthuisen watched him go from his bed under the wagon. As soon as he was out of sight he rose from his blankets and went over to
 his two nephews, with whom he held a long and animated conversation. Nor, at it's conclusion, did he or they return to their rest, but sat around
 furtively watching the woods beyond
 the river. Their manner was cx- pectant, doubtful, like men who are aware that something is about to happen in which they are concerned. and yet are not fully cognizant of its nature.
 Sam GoodalI was standing beside a kraal of wachtein-beche bush
 watching the Kaffir herder, who, as- sisted by two small naked urchins and
 lang-haired yellow dog, was driv-
 ing the flock of goats and sheep into it for his selection. Behind him
 stood a wattle hut, in the doorway of which crouched an aged Kaffir and
 his vrouw.
 He was at the top of the hill be- yond the river, where a plateau of
 high veldt stretched out before him. The woods were behind, and to the
 right and left the plateau fell away
 in long grassy slopes.
 He watched the Kaff1r's manoeu- vres with interest. The boy was the
 indefatigable in his efforts, as were
 the children and the dog. But the
 goats were obstinate, and the sheep as silly as only sheep can be. The
 creatures would steadily approach
 the kraal entrance, and the leaders would even enter it. Then some
 thing would startle the rest, and they
 would head off at right angles, and
 the work would have to be begun
 over again.
 The herder's patience seemed inex-
 haustible. Again and again he
 brought the stupid creatures up only
 to see them break away again. Sam
 Goodall was getting tired of it. He had already spent nearly an hour looking on at the boys succession of failures. His impatience brought him an idea. Why not shoot the sheep he had selected, a fine fat beast with a tail trailing almost upon the ground. He felt for his revolver; He remembered hanging it on the buck" of the wagon.
 He decided to lend hand, and
 called to the Kaffir. But even as he did so he became rooted to the spot The ominous crack of many rifles
 reached him from down in the hol- low where his wagons were out
 spanned. He listened. Then he turned abruptly, and, as he did so, two powerful Kaff1rs sprang out of the bush and leapt upon him, pin-
 ming his arms to his sides and bear ing him to the ground with the force of their impact. In a few moments he was securely trussed with raw
 hide rimpjes and stretched prone and helpless upon the trampled grass, while the fierce din of fighting down at the camp below struck painfully
 upon his straining ears.
 He knew he had been trapped, and, even in the first rush of realization he wondered by whom. But he was given little time for reflection. The two great niggers who had bound
 him now picked him up and bore him into the wattle-hut, where he was un-
 tremendously flung upon the ground and left to himself.
 Do Cnpfip,,od.