Then the young lord--Ralph's cousin--said that as they journeyed yesterday at a distance of about an hour on horseback from the farm he had noticed a large _vlei_, or _pan_, where were many ducks and also some antelope.

To this _vlei_ he proposed to ride forward with one servant only, and to stay there till the others overtook him, shooting the wild things which lived in the place, for to be happy these Englishmen must always be killing something.

So he bade me farewell, making me a present of the gold chain which he took off his watch, which chain I still have.

Then he rode away, smiling after his fashion; and as I watched him go I was glad to think that he was no knave but only an easy tool in the hands of others.

We never met again, but I believe that death finished his story many years ago; indeed, all those of whom I tell are dead; only Jan and I survive, and our course is well-nigh run.
When Suzanne awoke at length, having heard from a Kaffir girl that the strangers had ordered their horses, but not that the young lord had ridden forward, she slipped from the house silently, fearing lest I should stay her, and hid herself in a little patch of bush at the corner of the big mealie field by which she knew the Englishmen must pass on their return journey.