welcome, for he had heard my father preach in his young days.

Aitken was a strong, broad-shouldered fellow who had been a
sergeant in the Gordons, and during the war he had done

secret-service work in Delagoa. He had hunted, too, and traded
up and down Mozambique, and knew every dialect of the

Kaffirs. He asked me where I was bound for, and when I told
him there was the same look in his eyes as I had seen with the

Durban manager.
'You're going to a rum place, Mr Crawfurd,' he said.

'So I'm told. Do you know anything about it? You're not
the first who has looked queer when I've spoken the name.'

'I've never been there,' he said, 'though I've been pretty
near it from the Portuguese side. That's the funny thing about

Blaauwildebeestefontein. Everybody has heard of it, and
nobody knows it.'

'I wish you would tell me what you have heard.'
'Well, the natives are queer up thereaways. There's some

kind of a holy place which every Kaffir from Algoa Bay to the
Zambesi and away beyond knows about. When I've been

hunting in the bush-veld I've often met strings of Kaffirs from
hundreds of miles distant, and they've all been going or coming

from Blaauwildebeestefontein. It's like Mecca to the Mohammedans,
a place they go to on pilgrimage. I've heard of an old

man up there who is believed to be two hundred years old.
Anyway, there's some sort of great witch or wizard living in

the mountains.'
Aitken smoked in silence for a time; then he said, 'I'll tell

you another thing. I believe there's a diamond mine. I've often
meant to go up and look for it.'

Tam and I pressed him to explain, which he did slowly after
his fashion.

'Did you ever hear of I.D.B. - illicit diamond broking?' he
asked me. 'Well, it's notorious that the Kaffirs on the diamond

fields get away with a fair number of stones, and they are
bought by Jew and Portuguese traders. It's against the law to

deal in them, and when I was in the intelligence here we used
to have a lot of trouble with the vermin. But I discovered that

most of the stones came from natives in one part of the
country - more or less round Blaauwildebeestefontein - and I

see no reason to think that they had all been stolen from
Kimberley or the Premier. Indeed some of the stones I got

hold of were quite different from any I had seen in South
Africa before. I shouldn't wonder if the Kaffirs in the

Zoutpansberg had struck some rich pipe, and had the sense to keep
quiet about it. Maybe some day I'll take a run up to see you

and look into the matter.'
After this the talk turned on other topics till Tam, still

nursing his grievance, asked a question on his own account.
'Did you ever come across a great big native parson called

Laputa? He came on board as we were leaving Durban, and I
had to turn out of my cabin for him.' Tam described him

accurately but vindictively, and added that 'he was sure he was
up to no good.'

Aitken shook his head. 'No, I don't know the man. You say
he landed here? Well, I'll keep a look-out for him. Big native

parsons are not so common.'
Then I asked about Henriques, of whom Tam knew nothing.

I described his face, his clothes, and his habits. Aitken
laughed uproariously.

'Tut, my man, most of the subjects of his Majesty the King
of Portugal would answer to that description. If he's a rascal,

as you think, you may be certain he's in the I.D.B. business,
and if I'm right about Blaauwildebeestefontein you'll likely

have news of him there some time or other. Drop me a line if
he comes, and I'll get on to his record.'

I saw Tam off in the boat with a fairly satisfied mind. I was
going to a place with a secret, and I meant to find it out. The

natives round Blaauwildebeestefontein were queer, and
diamonds were suspected somewhere in the neighbourhood.

Henriques had something to do with the place, and so had the
Rev. John Laputa, about whom I knew one strange thing. So

did Tam by the way, but he had not identified his former
pursuer, and I had told him nothing. I was leaving two men

behind me, Colles at Durban and Aitken at Lourenco Marques,
who would help me if trouble came. Things were shaping

well for some kind of adventure.
The talk with Aitken had given Tam an inkling of my

thoughts. His last words to me were an appeal to let him know
if there was any fun going.

'I can see you're in for a queer job. Promise to let me hear
from you if there's going to be a row, and I'll come up country,

though I should have to desert the service. Send us a letter to
the agents at Durban in case we should be in port. You haven't

forgotten the Dyve Burn, Davie?'
CHAPTER III

BLAAUWILDEBEESTEFONTEIN
The Pilgrim's Progress had been the Sabbath reading of my

boyhood, and as I came in sight of Blaauwildebeestefontein a
passage ran in my head. It was that which tells how Christian

and Hopeful, after many perils of the way, came to the
Delectable Mountains, from which they had a prospect of

Canaan. After many dusty miles by rail, and a weariful
journey in a Cape-cart through arid plains and dry and stony

gorges, I had come suddenly into a haven of green. The Spring
of the Blue Wildebeeste was a clear rushing mountain torrent,

which swirled over blue rocks into deep fern-fringed pools. All
around was a tableland of lush grass with marigolds and arum

lilies instead of daisies and buttercups. Thickets of tall trees
dotted the hill slopes and patched the meadows as if some

landscape-gardener had been at work on them. Beyond, the glen
fell steeply to the plains, which ran out in a faint haze to the

horizon. To north and south I marked the sweep of the Berg, now
rising high to a rocky peak and now stretching in a level rampart

of blue. On the very edge of the plateau where the road dipped
for the descent stood the shanties of Blaauwildebeestefontein.

The fresh hill air had exhilarated my mind,
and the aromatic scent of the evening gave the last touch of

intoxication. Whatever serpent might lurk in it, it was a
veritable Eden I had come to.

Blaauwildebeestefontein had no more than two buildings of
civilized shape; the store, which stood on the left side of the

river, and the schoolhouse opposite. For the rest, there were
some twenty native huts, higher up the slope, of the type

which the Dutch call rondavels. The schoolhouse had a pretty
garden, but the store stood bare in a patch of dust with a few

outhouses and sheds beside it. Round the door lay a few old
ploughs and empty barrels, and beneath a solitary blue gum

was a wooden bench with a rough table. Native children played
in the dust, and an old Kaffir squatted by the wall.

My few belongings were soon lifted from the Cape-cart, and
I entered the shop. It was the ordinary pattern of up-country

store - a bar in one corner with an array of bottles, and all
round the walls tins of canned food and the odds and ends of

trade. The place was empty, and a cloud of flies buzzed over
the sugar cask.

Two doors opened at the back, and I chose the one to the
right. I found myself in a kind of kitchen with a bed in one

corner, and a litter of dirty plates on the table. On the bed lay
a man, snoring heavily. I went close to him, and found an old

fellow with a bald head, clothed only in a shirt and trousers.
His face was red and swollen, and his breath came in heavy

grunts. A smell of bad whisky hung over everything. I had no
doubt that this was Mr Peter Japp, my senior in the store. One

reason for the indifferent trade at Blaauwildebeestefontein was
very clear to me: the storekeeper was a sot.

I went back to the shop and tried the other door. It was a
bedroom too, but clean and pleasant. A little native girl -

Zeeta, I found they called her - was busy tidying it up, and
when I entered she dropped me a curtsy. 'This is your room,

Baas,' she said in very good English in reply to my question.
The child had been well trained somewhere, for there was a

cracked dish full of oleander blossom on the drawers'-head,
and the pillow-slips on the bed were as clean as I could wish.

She brought me water to wash, and a cup of strong tea, while
I carried my baggageindoors and paid the driver of the cart.

Then, having cleaned myself and lit a pipe, I walked across
the road to see Mr Wardlaw.

I found the schoolmaster sitting under his own fig-tree
reading one of his Kaffir primers. Having come direct by rail

from Cape Town, he had been a week in the place, and ranked
as the second oldest white resident.

'Yon's a bonny chief you've got, Davie,' were his first words.
'For three days he's been as fou as the Baltic.'

I cannot pretend that the misdeeds of Mr Japp greatly
annoyed me. I had the reversion of his job, and if he chose to

play the fool it was all in my interest. But the schoolmaster
was depressed at the prospect of such company. 'Besides you

and me, he's the only white man in the place. It's a poor look-
out on the social side.'

The school, it appeared, was the merest farce. There were
only five white children, belonging to Dutch farmers in the

mountains. The native side was more flourishing, but the
mission schools at the locations got most of the native children

in the neighbourhood. Mr Wardlaw's educational zeal ran
high. He talked of establishing a workshop and teaching

carpentry and blacksmith's work, of which he knew nothing.
He rhapsodized over the intelligence of his pupils and

bemoaned his inadequate gift of tongues. 'You and I, Davie,'
he said, 'must sit down and grind at the business. It is to the

interest of both of us. The Dutch is easy enough. It's a sort of
kitchen dialect you can learn in a fortnight. But these native

languages are a stiff job. Sesuto is the chief hereabouts, and
I'm told once you've got that it's easy to get the Zulu. Then

there's the thing the Shangaans speak - Baronga, I think they
call it. I've got a Christian Kaffir living up in one of the huts

who comes every morning to talk to me for an hour. You'd
better join me.'

I promised, and in the sweet-smelling dust crossed the road
to the store. Japp was still sleeping, so I got a bowl of mealie

porridge from Zeeta and went to bed.
Japp was sober next morning and made me some kind of

apology. He had chronic lumbago, he said, and 'to go on the bust'
now and then was the best cure for it. Then he proceeded to

initiate me into my duties in a tone of exaggerated friendliness.
'I took a fancy to you the first time I clapped eyes on

you,' he said. 'You and me will be good friends, Crawfurd, I
can see that. You're a spirited young fellow, and you'll stand

no nonsense. The Dutch about here are a slim lot, and the
Kaffirs are slimmer. Trust no man, that's my motto. The firm

know that, and I've had their confidence for forty years.'
The first day or two things went well enough. There was no

doubt that, properly handled, a fine trade could be done in
Blaauwildebeestefontein. The countryside was crawling with

natives, and great strings used to come through from Shangaan
territory on the way to the Rand mines. Besides, there was

business to be done with the Dutch farmers, especially with
the tobacco, which I foresaw could be worked up into a

profitable export. There was no lack of money either, and we
had to give very little credit, though it was often asked for. I

flung myself into the work, and in a few weeks had been all
round the farms and locations. At first Japp praised my energy,

• welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
• preach [pri:tʃ] v.宣扬；鼓吹 n.训诫 (初中英语单词)
• dialect [´daiəlekt] n.方言，土语，地方话 (初中英语单词)
• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• intelligence [in´telidʒəns] n.智力；消息 (初中英语单词)
• stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• premier [´premiə] n.总理 a.首要的 (初中英语单词)
• majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)
• description [di´skripʃən] n.描写 (初中英语单词)
• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
• prospect [´prɔspekt, prəs´pekt] n.景色；境界 v.勘察 (初中英语单词)
• whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
• schoolhouse [´sku:lhaus] n.校舍 (初中英语单词)
• wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
• blossom [´blɔsəm] n.花；开花期 vi.开花 (初中英语单词)
• pretend [pri´tend] v.假装；借口；妄求 (初中英语单词)
• sleeping [´sli:piŋ] n.&a.睡着(的) (初中英语单词)
• properly [´prɔpəli] ad.适当地；严格地 (初中英语单词)
• tobacco [tə´bækəu] n.烟草(叶)；卷烟 (初中英语单词)
• export [ik´spɔ:t] vt.&n.输出，出口 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• parson [´pɑ:sən] n.教区牧师 (高中英语单词)
• portugal [´pɔ:tjugəl] n.葡萄牙 (高中英语单词)
• appeal [ə´pi:l] vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉 (高中英语单词)
• plateau [´plætəu] n.高原；平稳；托盘 (高中英语单词)
• descent [di´sent] n.出身，家世 (高中英语单词)
• serpent [´sə:pənt] n.大毒蛇；阴险的人 (高中英语单词)
• solitary [´sɔlitəri] a.独居的；孤独的 (高中英语单词)
• litter [´litə] n.杂乱 v.乱丢 (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• indifferent [in´difrənt] a.不关心的；中立的 (高中英语单词)
• baggage [´bægidʒ] n.行李 (高中英语单词)
• indoors [,in´dɔ:z] ad.在屋里 (高中英语单词)
• educational [,edju´keiʃənəl] a.教育(上)的 (高中英语单词)
• fortnight [´fɔ:tnait] n.两星期 (高中英语单词)
• nonsense [´nɔnsəns] n.胡说 int.胡说!废话 (高中英语单词)
• portuguese [,pɔ:tʃu´gi:z] a.葡萄牙的 n.葡萄牙人 (英语四级单词)
• pilgrimage [´pilgrimidʒ] n.朝圣；远游；人生历程 (英语四级单词)
• wizard [´wizəd] n.术士；男巫 (英语四级单词)
• notorious [nəu´tɔ:riəs] a.臭名昭著的 (英语四级单词)
• grievance [´gri:vəns] n.不平；冤情；抱怨 (英语四级单词)
• sabbath [´sæbəθ] n.安息日 (英语四级单词)
• hopeful [´həupfəl] a.有希望的，激励人的 (英语四级单词)
• belongings [bi´lɔŋiŋz] n.所有物；行李 (英语四级单词)
• swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• schoolmaster [´sku:l,mɑ:stə] n.教练；(男)教师 (英语四级单词)
• workshop [´wə:kʃɔp] n.车间；工场；创作室 (英语四级单词)
• countryside [´kʌntrisaid] n.乡下，农村 (英语四级单词)
• aromatic [,ærə´mætik] a.芳香的；芬芳的 (英语六级单词)
• depressed [di´prest] a.消沉的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)
• chronic [´krɔnik] a.慢性的；剧烈的 (英语六级单词)