The Works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 07

te me the first of the two last letters he sent me before his death, he sent also a short statement, sealed in a packet and marked 'Important.' This statement c

e to is that I ought to tell you about the whole business. The shortest and best pl

SSA, GOL

19,

way from him, came to me. I treated him kindly, and he became exceedingly attached to me, and would do anything for me. He speaks Boer Dutch and one or two native languages of his own country, besides a smattering of German. Well, I asked Poeskop what he meant, and where was the gold he spoke of. He took from the bottom of a dirty old pouch he always wore a piece of skin sewn up with sinew. Cutting this open, he took out four small nuggets of gold, manifestly water-worn. He said that where they came from there were plenty more--plenty. He had come across the place years before as a lad, and he had discovered what gold was, and its value, when he was working for some German prospectors in Damaraland. He knew now also the worth of gold money in English, and German, and Portuguese. I asked him how long it would take us to reach the place. He said more than a month. I was then under contract for this work at the Gold Coast, and it was impossible to throw it up, or to spare the time--about three months in all, reckoning the return journey to Mossamedes. I told the man I would return, if possible, the following year (

poor father's writing has become very shaky. But he has under

I'm right, there is a fortune for all of us. If I get through this bout of fever I shall ask you to give up your ranching for six months, and come and join me at Mossamedes in June. If I go under--and something tells me I shall--I beg you to go on my behalf. T

. HARD

ncle, "there's the yarn. Loo

in, with a serious face

n his eyes; "he was ill indeed when he wrote and underscored

omething of my anxiety. If your father's surmises are correct, there is a fortune for us all. And yet any ordinary business man woul

tle sprang

pecially where natives and mining were concerned. He wasn't a mad enthusiast; in fact, I always looked upon him as a very long

; he was, as you thought him, a man of good judgment and much knowledge. Yet there are many difficulties to be surmounted. I don't like lea

tle. I have sometimes thought of repeating the trip; but it's a tough business, and a long and anxious one. If I go with you, we might kill two birds with one stone: go round by sea, and so sa

er was the expedition settled upon than Guy begged his uncle to let Tom accompany them. This Mr. Blakeney refused; Tom, he said, must remain at home to look after his mother and sisters. But, as the lads pointed out, Mr. Blakeney's partner and cousin, George Forster, was coming across to live at Bamborough and take up the management of affairs during his absence. For weeks the lads moved heaven and earth to accomplish their purpose. They at length won over Mrs. Blakeney; and after she had joined for a few da

on the alert. They kept the secret, therefore, severely to themselves. In pursuance of his expressed intention of bringing home some cattle, Mr. Blakeney took with him as wagon-drivers and herds four of his most reliable natives. These were--Jan Kokerboom, a Koranna; Seleti and Mangwalaan, two Bechuanas of the Barolong clan; and September, a Zulu. They were all good herdsmen and horse-masters, fair shots, and, barring various idiosyncrasies and prejudices peculi

stone, and has a picturesque esplanade, lined with palm trees, running along the frontage to the bay. The country surrounding i

o had stayed with him. He remembered also his Bushman servant Poeskop, but neither he nor any of his people had seen him lately in the town. While they were thus waiting, Mr. Blakeney was by no means idle. He spoke with various Trek Boers who were in the place; bought an excellent tent-wagon for ￡80; four fairly good horses, wiry, but in low condition--a useful addition to their stud; and a span

r before dinner, near the landing-place. Mr. Blakeney spent much time there; for he had an idea that if the Bushman

he sat, "I begin to think the man Poeskop is a solar myth, and I

his face, at which his father i

eplied Mr. Blakeney.

under false pretences. The whole thing is a Barney. I've been thinking it all out for days

the lids and innumerable wrinkles at the corners. This odd figure was dressed in an old store suit of faded moleskin, a ragged shirt, and a very battered, broad-brimmed hat. A pair of velschoens covered the man's feet. Before Tom, who stared open-mouthed at the apparition, could proceed with his theory, the little man's sharp eyes had run rapidly over the group before h

had watched t

" he said

nstantly, looking furtively about hi

from his little triumph over

, "your solar myth is instantly exploded. H

e them what had happened. The Bushman followed the story closely, nodding his head, and throwing in a "

earched keenly beneath their droop] "--where my baas wanted me to take him. I see that the young baas is truly the son of my old baas: he has the same blue eyes, and the same look, and the same coloured hair, and though he is young he walks just as walked his father. I saw him yesterday, and watched him; a

of the discovery; "it is so. You shall be my 'boy,' and I will be your baas, a

[food], baas," replied Poeskop, "and some

rned Guy cheerfully; "and I am

a set of splendid teeth, which for the moment strong

--he glanced round again, as if fearing to be overheard--"the Gold Kloof. It is there!" He stretched a forefinger into the air, pointing north-e

a gun? asked Mr. Blakeney. Yes; he had a gun, concealed not far away. He would get it that night, and put it in the wagon. It was a Martini carbine, given to him by Baas

y were talking in front of the place, the three Englishmen asking the little Bushman all sorts of questions as to their route

ong will it take us, trekking steadily and with g

eplied the Bushman. "It is

ll be rather a squeeze for myself and the two young masters here to get

two days' and two nights' trek, then water, but not much; then two days and a night without water; then a water-pit; and then three days' and three nights' thirst. It will be hard to get across this wit

only. I can buy a small tent in the town; that will do for the young baases to sleep in, and I can have

the little Bushman gave them copious information. Suddenly, as he glanced down the

se voice, "there comes Kar

cht?" asked Guy; "and

ushman. "He beat me often with his sjambok, and treated me cruelly;

d face, and stick to me; I'll see that your friend Engelbrecht plays no tricks upon you.

the usual Boer clothing--short jacket and loose trousers of moleskin, a flannel shirt, velschoens (field-shoes) of untanned hide, and a big slouch-hat, ornamented with a single short black-and-white ostrich plume. His long hay-coloured hair ran over his ears and partly covered his neck, and he wore a huge untrimmed beard and moustache of the same dull hue. His hard, pale blue eyes were set deep above broad, sunburnt, fleshy cheeks. It was an unpleasant face; something

He started, frowned evilly, glowered at the three white men standing near, and th

deep guttural and manifestly angry voice. As he spoke, he cuffe

od to stand by and see his servant knocked about. His bloo

ing Poeskop away so suddenly and with such force that

fleshy face like a kick from a horse. The blood instantly gushed from Engelbrecht's nose. With an oath in Dutch the giant rushed upon his assailant, swinging at him some dangerous right-handers; but Mr. Blakeney, although angry enough, was much too good a general to be overcome in this way. He fought very coolly, parried the round-arm blows, and every now and again planted on the Dutchman's face heavy and telling strokes that quickly told their tale. Pausing to get breath, to spit the blood from his mouth, and to wipe