The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-01-11
(Continued.)

Coffee. EN-" he shouted. Then
he turned to his visitor. 'T'he long
trek is over, eh?" he inquired.
Yes. 1 have much to TELL" the
Boer answered In excellent English.
This man was one of that small body
of Boer farmers in Bechuanaland who
had thrown in their lot with the pro-
gressive movement of British pioneers,
and had remained loyal to it through
all the vicissitudes of the recent cam
paign. and the increasing luminosity
OF his countrymen towards the Brit
ish-
The missionary's wife brought in
the coffee and retired at once. She
knew that here was being held a
council in which she could take no
part
Ferman turned inquiringly towards
Jan Kotze.
IT make Pretoria" the Boer said
gutturally. In reply to his mute ques-
ton. while he thoughtfully stirred his
coffee. "and i speak with those we
know. There Is much doing-much
done That man Kruger. Dom Paul
He has a devil. He has a big brain
IN q small space-which is bad Yes.
he reads the Book all day and hates
the -rooi-nek' all night. He has Ger
man friends in Pretoria The Volks-
raad do as he says. They know what
- L
tells them little"
Jan Kotze shrugged his fat should
ers and slipped his coffee noisily.
And these Germans?" asked Fer
man. without apparent interest, while
the missionary looked on in silence
They come and go. They carry
letters and they bring letters"
The Boer gazed into his tin cup.
How are the missions prospecting
up-corntry?" asked verricker. after
a long pause. The Beers black eyes
turned at once on the questioner.
They are troubled because Of many
and make the northern border by the
TransvaaL ] go by the south bank
of the Limpopo. which later cross.
Manicaiand, Mashonaland. Matabele-
land These I pass through. I come
to Chicani, and so to N'gamf. Then
the great thirsts down to Khadna's
and Molopololi, and SO down here. It
IS the same everywhere. Traders
pass through the land everywhere.
German traders I'D
And the trouble?" 1t was Fer
man who spoke. and with curious
sharpness.
Again the heavy shoulders shrug-
ged-
trade is small. They make large
presents to the chiefs. The chiefs
like them. for they give much and
take little So they hunt with the
chiefs. and are friends of the chiefs.
And the traders who trade only, and
who are 'rooi-neks,' they do not like
It. They say the German traders
want concessions of land. The mis-
sionaries say. We don't like the trad
er, but the German worst of ALL
And what conclusion do you
drawn asked Ferman, lighting his
second pipe and passing his tobacco
to the Boer.
Il say that the honey month is in
the wild bees nest"
-And the honey moth will eat the
honey and starve the BEES added
verricker, in his most forceful man.
ner-
But first there win be much kill
ing OF bees" corrected Jan. drawing
heavily at his pipe
There was long silence. Verrick-
er was staring at the papers he had
set aside at his friends coming. Jan
Kotze watched the clouds Of smoke
swirling across his head in the placid
manner OF his race Ferman was
listening to the sounds coming from
Emily verricker's kitchen. But the
clatter of crockery only tickled his
ears. His thoughts were running on
In a channel from which there was
no divergence
How are your cattle?" ne asked
presently. with apparent irrelevance.
They are thin and footsore.. The
fly has been bad. too; many are
dead"
81 have q hundred ready for the
trek"
Jan nodded. Presently he removed
his pipe from his mouth.
There are other things. There is
r. letter going through the country.
1t leaves Pretoria twelve months ago.
/ hear of it. A Kaffir takes it to
Potchefstroom. 1t goes from there
to Kunwana- 1t loses itself there.
One you know tells of 1t. He says
IL would be good to see that letter.
for It is still on its long journey. 1t
is addressed to no one, yet it is read
r,v many