Meanwhile it was my business to stick to my job till I was relieved.
A change had come over the place during my absence.

The natives had almost disappeared from sight.

Except the few families living round Blaauwildebeestefontein one never saw a native on the roads, and none came into the store.

They were sticking close to their locations, or else they had gone after some distant business.

Except a batch of three Shangaans returning from the Rand, I had nobody in the store for the whole of one day.