OTTER GIVES COUNSEL When the burial was finished and Thomas Outram slept his last sleep beneath six feet of earth and stones, his brother took out the prayer-book that Jane Beach had given him, which in truth formed all his library, and read the funeral service over the grave, ending it by the glare of the lightning flashes.

Then he and Otter went back to the cave and ate, speaking no word.

After they had done their meal Leonard called to the dwarf, who took his food at a little distance.
"Otter," he said, setting the lantern between them, "you are a faithful man and clever in your way.

I would tell you a story and ask you something.

At the least," he added to himself in English, "in such a matter your judgment is as good as mine." "Speak on, Baas," said the dwarf; "my ears are open;" and he squatted down on the further side of the lantern like some great toad, watching his master's face with his black eyes.
"Otter, the Baas who is dead and I journeyed to this country about seven years ago.