| Show Th1 WAY WTIITRSPASSR I I An Episode On a Foes Farm Showing How TWO Travelers In the Transvaal Suffered the Loss of Supper BY P Y BLACK Copyright 1S9S by P Y Black I r I There are moments and occasions rl when utter strangers greet with effusive effu-sive heartiness and a brotherly leaping I of the heart I do not know that the I apparitjon of my wealthiest friend would have more lightened my spirit I and more quickly have dressed my face in smiles than djd the presence on the roadside of that wandering extrooper j i of the Bechuanaland border police He reclined with an assured ease and a Ii I i liil Y3S nt > surprise to me to find him of education and breeding He was readily read-ily catalogued prodigal and an exile one of the South African army who had left his past perhaps his name in England Eng-land despairingly s eking a new repute 3t is unnecessary he remarked when we had exchanged names to asl if you are for the Rand It is loadstone I said Everybody Every-body is drawing there and for my purposes pur-poses which are pretty vague Johannesburg Johan-nesburg is perhaps the most promising place in South Africa That stretch of road on the Bechuana I side of the Transvaal we may flatter I flat-ter it by calling it rolds terribly monotonous through unwooded veldt sinking to driedup brooks rising to dusty summits wearily interminable We met I remember in over twenty I miles not a living creaturenor Boer nor Kaffir We were fortunate in having cold coffee cof-fee and plenty of tobacco and it was not until we began to feel hungry that I in the proper fashion of the road we I I cast about tor method of providing supper We had < not between us it is to be thought a sixpence Of lodging ve I were well assured Our wide bed spread all about our blankets were ready to unfold at sundown But the taste of fr the mornings stew was dead upon the j i r palate and our n5iher garments hung J I I slackly from the waist We chirruped 1 T not so gladly and began to reconnoitre I the surrounding Veldt with a yearning for the sight of a farmstead t I It neared sundown when we found I e what we sought a mile and more from a th trail a house of comforting proportions iq 4 propor-tions wrapped in art outer cloak of I woods An oblique path led down to it i I and this we took to levy wallabers I I tribute from the farmer The sun sank rapidly as we approached seems nobody Li no-body about and it was dusk when we I halted to consult by a large pond a little f lit-tle distance from the house By this I I the trooper sat him down and grinned at me ily dress he said is obnoxious to the Boer who has shot at such a uniform W uni-form Before and may again You go alone and do your best It does not I l matter if he doesnt speak Enslish Hes oretty sure to understand you f 4 I left him scrasiu j crumbs from his R I pockets to feed the ducks in the pond and went on to the house Rising ground soon hid him from my steht Following the path I was met by a small barefooted boy on whom I lavished lav-ished my smiles The suspicious little rascal did not pause to return them but turned and ran swiftly to the house door Now undoubtedly there was little in my appearance of the attractive A weeks wallaby with a halfgrown I beard had possibly added to the PICture pic-ture quc aspect of my personality but I a Boer least of all men has the artists i I eve I was conscious that a new hat I I and a shave would have increased any farmers liking for me Still 1 trusted to what suavity of speech and manner I could muster 3dy dIsgust was then marked when ten yards from the threshold I was confronted by an enormously big Boer with a beard cut shovelwise who bore a riI1e with a very long barrel and informed in-formed me in a shout that 1 was a verdamter Uitlander He told me other things probably equally discomposing discom-posing but that was all I understood I and between his legs peeped out the tow head of the youngster who had I given the alarma face stretched in i the most delightfully malicious grin 1 I ever beheld I I however was spurred by the I thought of going supperiess and advanced ad-vanced a step with a salute Up went j I the gun to the Boers hip and his abuse j poured faster I ventured to speak the I gun went up to his shoulder I retreated j retreat-ed and I heard the door slam behind j I IK j The trooper was awaiting me with I greatel anxiety to haste away than I 1 imagined lounge by the quiet pond i would iavc excited He received my I I news very calmly J j I I Its a pity the beast wouldnt give 1 us some coftee at least he said but core on I Very uikiIy I followed him through the trecg past a rude barn where lay I exposed some pumpkins and other vegr 1 etabes on a stone floor and into the j j shadows of the quickly falling night When some distance away the trooper j I turned to me and chuckled comfortably j comfort-ably He patted the blanket round his shoulders and smiled Then I noticed j the roll was swelled in the center lilce I a constrictors stomach when it had gulped DI hearty meal 0 man sad the trooper these I ducks were too fatI annexed the fattest fat-test I have frequently noticed in an unfriendly land that Providence never I tails to send supper to the deserving But I said rather alarmed well I go to trouk jail for a certainty if we do this sort of thing Besides its You talk like a recruit said the trooper Kindly recollect that the Boers hate Englishmen therefore tne Transvajl is an unfriendly country therefore foragingforaging please is permissible justifiable according to the rules and in every way eminently pralsowortljy But But a pumpkin would as you were going to say improve the stew greatly It is an excellent suggestion you make and I havestill some pepper and salt You want me to st j Slil No my dear fellow Just slip back to that barn now its dark enough and lev it I I looked at the plump duck and my I nostrils fancied grateful smells I thought of the uncivil Boer nnd I went I I will go on to that spruit we saw from the rdad the trooper said and get things ready and build a fire Bring I the biggest It was dark and silent moonless and still I gained the barn selected a pumpkin pped off with it cuddled in my arms and stepped out again almost on top of the towheaded boy My gaze upon him was momentary and I fled He also There was no explanation explana-tion possible and I ran without a word clinging to my pumpkin my supper The chIld as he darted to the house uttered a yell which aroused the farm even to the distant ducks whom I heard quacking on the ponds banks with I imagined a note of revengeful delight It was now quite dark and I stumbled stum-bled as I plunged along the rough road to the bed of the stream where the trooper was to await me Behind me came a great scrambling of feet and a blether of voice I distinguished the farmers easily It bad a baying note to it which was particularly menacing I knew little of his language but I was j < aware that he was calling on me to stop and probably saw me with the j clearness of night vision a Boer shares i with the savage I i Suddenly there was a pause in the rush behind and a cessation > of his yells In a moment I heard the crack of his unIt sounded horribly near and a bullet zipped over my head I left the path then and sought the shadows of the bush where a few trees i and big rocks might render my safety I more probable Over the uneven ground I dashed panting and heard the I shouts renewed behind me but they seemed to keep to the road Soon they faded away but I did not slacken speed and all the time I stuck obstinately ob-stinately to the big fat pumpkin It was within me a contest between fear and hunger If there were a sinking of the heart there was still as powerful a sinking of the stomaclu When 1 halted at last listening between pants the monster vegetable was still mine and supper yet probable But I was lost In daylight the unaccustomed unac-customed traveler may easily does frequently fre-quently get lost by leaving the track to examine the bush in the darkness of a moonless night it would be madness mad-ness in ordinary cases to step off the road At last I found the thin and trickling stream which in that dry season represented the riven of other months and I followed it down with pain and difficulty now stepptng in a pool now cracking my ankles against the boulders An hour brought me to the ford but there I was confused The faint light of the moon just peeping above the rim of the veldt allowed me to see dimly that the road at the drift broadened out to a great width I comprehended that the wagons passing in the wet season had each sought according to the drivers judgment the safest place to cross In such manner are South African roads first made I stood at one side of the road the N it + I p T < I S < 1 I II I HiL I I V1 i iwSLMi v ho I gai1j f < illxstltfh 1 I HEAED THE CRACK OF HIS GUN I I possession of confidence which on that j lonely veldt fifty miles from an inn In a stranger peopled country rejoined me as with the nearness of a home A I dwarfed tree afforded him shade a nearly dried up path was not far off his blanket was thrown beside him and f a billy of a convenient size reposed between be-tween the extended military breeches I Doubtless an extra sincerity was afforded I af-forded to my cordial greeting by the dainty vapors which arose from tnat billy as I drew near A hot mouthful prevented him fron doing more in the way of invitation than waving me to a eat on the bowtder peppered turi It was enough my knife was hald and I forked from the pot by its aid a tenderly ten-derly stewed birds wing Our eyes therefore sufficed for a space to gratify ot1 any natural curiosity out mouths it 1 uouid have been a rudeness to inter 1 rupt The meat dispatched the trooper pushed the billy my way and in the absence of spoons I drank from it a fair share of the soup which he promptly finished It was then my good fortune to contribute to the repast the last cupful of coffee in my possession I At the pan I cleaned the billy and filled 3 it with fresh water while the trooper placed some more fuel upon the smoul I dering fire r I fear said I that I have no sugar This is a beast of a country said the trooper I havent had any sugar in my coffee for three days Come to think I havent had much coffee either I Well trnre is aways tobacco somehow some-how I am economizing on nativ I have jet a pipe or two of birds eye I was glad 19 say and with that ftp fraternized I It was eoily in the day when we slung ojr blankets about our shoulders and stepped out along the lonely trek cheerfully for to each some companionship I companion-ship was that morning the mot needful I need-ful thing For nearly a week my wy had been entirely one of solitude so that my own voice had sounded startlingly start-lingly in my ears if I had caned out to raise a chance bird in my path So it appeared had been the fortune of the f stranger and it was now a mutual delight II de-light to keep step and chatter He pleased me His gray eyes twinkled twin-kled humorously his laugh rang heart I somely lIe strode athletically forward I with the trank front of one who would meet all ndventures with the confident indifference of alert strength and the consciousness of a will and a liver I equally good Also though he was If garbed in the uniform of a private It I other was possibly half a mile off Whereabouts then in that maze of ruts and blackness should I see the trooper and of more consequence tome I to-me in my starving condition the duck While I hesitated the sound of voices struck my ears once more not far from I me I could not mistake who it was I the words Verdamter Uitlander again came too distinctly across the j trek I slunk back up stream not I willing to stall another shot Crawling Crawl-ing into a little kloof in the bank I lay i still like a hare perhaps considering raid on pond and barna fox would be I the better wordand at last I heard the voices and scrambling steps of the I j hunters returning It alarmed me I afresh however not to distinguish j amidst the sounds the rolling curses II I of the farmer I waited awhile and heard nothing and then the thought of that trooper snuggling in a cozy hidden nook somewhere I some-where overpowered me and I rose and set out to find him bearing my hard won pumpkin still along The moon passed beh nd clouds and j it became pitch dark For a long time j I pottered about afraid to call out for I I knew something of a Bo rs shrewdness shrewd-ness and tenacity and I felt more than uncertain that the farmer was dodging about waiting a chance at me and the I fact that his voice had been absent from these of the party returning made me suspicious and nervous I had accidents I fell into a pool i i and I bruised my knee badly It grew bitterly cold for that land and the dew fell heavilv and above all I began to grow eak and sick from hunger after that twentymile tramp I began to shake and shiver but I held on to the J pumpkin i Then came the culmination of all my I woes It began to grow darker with avery I a-very heaviness of black an almost tangible tan-gible darkness My feet had hitherto engaged ail my attention but I now looked up The moon was high in the sky but there was but little raf it visi ble A black shadow was stealing across itas almost completely over it It was in process of eclipse Then I gave up hope of finding the trooper of finding the trek even in the well of blackness which was near at hand for I was now seeking the trooper off the road and I sought it being now near i midnight a place to rest in and unroll my blanket I stumbled along towards a solitary tree which I thought might keep off seme of the dew and by the last flicker ot moonlight I saw a man seated beneath be-neath it He had his back to mo and was sitting on a stone and I would have sworn I saw the side of a shovel shaped board sticking out above his shoulders Something rested between his knees My conjectures jumped to a certainty it was the farmers gun I was almost upon him I was too hungry and tired and weak to run I stepped upto him stealthily with almost hysterical despair and raised the great pumpkin at arms length and dashed it on his head with all the strength my muscles and my desperation could muster mus-ter betw en them He seemed to groan and fall forward and I turned and staggered away wondering dizzily If I the blow of a pumpkin could be fatal Utter horrible blackness set in and i the eclipse was complete when I dropped I drop-ped at last unable to move a step further I fur-ther All that night I shivered from cold and dozed from weariness but before be-fore break of day the cold grew so great that I had to move on or shiver l to death Somehow I staggered to the trek though I did not know which direction di-rection I was going and stumbled along it afraid to remain still for a moment I felt pretty sure however 11 I was on a road and I followed it In i dumb consciousness it would lead me I somewhere ir i only back whence I started in Bechuanaland At last I came through the blackness to a bank and assumed a stream Die or not to die I could not ford It then and utterly collapsed on the brink I soon fell in a stupor from which I roused at the first cold dawn The water lay at my feet still and current less It seemed broad as I lifted my eyeit seemed familiar I partly choked a yell for it was the farmers duck pond At the cry a figure on the other bank = a shivering miserable prone wretch sat up and groaned It was the trooper and in his right hand he held the duck by the neck But at the sight of me he dropped the duck and came running and threw his arms about me By Jove old man he spluttered I am awfully glad to see you I saw you running and heard that blessed beast shooting It Is i rare for these fellows to miss ami f TTuulR surfs you were dead 4 > I so I vas going to at the duck myself How did you get hre7 I dont know I murmured in bewilderment be-wilderment Ive been walking all night dodging Boers lqoking for you and the duck and at last thoughtor at least hoped I was on the road forward for-ward My case he said weakly I nearly ran into the farmer looking for you and a pumpkin did you come away without with-out a pumpkin then Isat down under ti tree with a club I picked up to bash the Boer with If he BoeI came bothering me and just as the moon was finally eclipsed the tree or something f l on me and I didnt know anything more until I woke up here I believe I thought I was somewhere near Johannesburg Johan-nesburg I am horribly stiff and cold and my necks broken I think by that tree that fell Did you get that pumpkin pump-kin kinI I Iqoked at him consciencestricken I lost the bally thtpg I chattered for I shivered cruelly The then said the trooper chat rIng r-Ing as badly we well broil the duck Wait till I get it and well clear out of i this neighborhood Its too warm for I us hereIn In one sense it was but in another I felt I would never be warm again Before the trooper could move I clutched him and dragged him back and we sank down in some long grass From the house came the towheaded boy and the conscienceless rascal was as bright and cheerful as if he had not been the source of all our woes He had some corn in his hand for apparently appar-ently the ducks but that boys eyes missed nothing Hesaw the dead bird on the bank he picked it up and ran with i yelling back to the house The trooper and I caught at each others hands like lost children and lied together to-gether hungry and heartbroken The sun was well up when we lessened les-sened out pace and listened for the sound of the big Boers pursuing voice but it did not come and we sank exhausted ex-hausted This is a beast of a country said the trooper |
