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Prester John-Part6_John Buchan(1875-1940)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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was brilliantly done, for I never caught a glimpse of one of the

stalkers. Wherever I went - on the road, on the meadows of



the plateau, or on the rugged sides of the Berg - it was the

same. I had silent followers, who betrayed themselves now and



then by the crackling of a branch, and eyes were always looking

at me which I could not see. Only when I went down to the



plains did the espionage cease. This thing annoyed Colin

desperately, and his walks abroad were one continuous growl.



Once, in spite of my efforts, he dashed into the thicket, and a

squeal of pain followed. He had got somebody by the leg, and



there was blood on the grass.

Since I came to Blaauwildebeestefontein I had forgotten the



mystery I had set out to track in the excitement of a new life

and my sordidcontest with Japp. But now this espionage



brought back my old preoccupation. I was being watched

because some person or persons thought that I was dangerous.



My suspicions fastened on Japp, but I soon gave up that clue.

It was my presence in the store that was a danger to him, not



my wanderings about the countryside. It might be that he had

engineered the espionage so as to drive me out of the place in



sheer annoyance; but I flattered myself that Mr Japp knew me

too well to imagine that such a game was likely to succeed.



The mischief was that I could not make out who the trackers

were. I had visited all the surroundinglocations, and was on



good enough terms with all the chiefs. There was 'Mpefu, a

dingy old fellow who had spent a good deal of his life in a Boer



gaol before the war. There was a mission station at his place,

and his people seemed to me to be well behaved and prosperous.



Majinje was a chieftainess, a little girl whom nobody was

allowed to see. Her location was a miserable affair, and her



tribe was yearly shrinking in numbers. Then there was Magata

farther north among the mountains. He had no quarrel with



me, for he used to give me a meal when I went out hunting in

that direction; and once he turned out a hundred of his young



men, and I had a great battue of wild dogs. Sikitola, the

biggest of all, lived some distance out in the flats. I knew less



about him; but if his men were the trackers, they must have

spent most of their days a weary way from their kraal. The



Kaffirs in the huts at Blaauwildebeestefontein were mostly

Christians, and quiet, decent fellows, who farmed their little



gardens, and certainly preferred me to Japp. I thought at one

time of riding into Pietersdorp to consult the Native



Commissioner. But I discovered that the old man, who knew the

country, was gone, and that his successor was a young fellow



from Rhodesia, who knew nothing about anything. Besides,

the natives round Blaauwildebeestefontein were well conducted,



and received few official visitations. Now and then a

couple of Zulu policemen passed in pursuit of some minor



malefactor, and the collector came for the hut-tax; but we gave

the Government little work, and they did not trouble their



heads about us.

As I have said, the clues I had brought out with me to



Blaauwildebeestefontein began to occupy my mind again; and

the more I thought of the business the keener I grew. I used



to amuse myself with setting out my various bits of knowledge.

There was first of all the Rev. John Laputa, his doings on the



Kirkcaple shore, his talk with Henriques about

Blaauwildebeestefontein, and his strange behaviour at Durban.



Then there was what Colles had told me about the place being

queer, how nobody would stay long either in the store or the



schoolhouse. Then there was my talk with Aitken at Lourenco

Marques, and his story of a great wizard in the neighbourhood



to whom all Kaffirs made pilgrimages, and the suspicion of a

diamond pipe. Last and most important, there was this



perpetual spying on myself. It was as clear as daylight that the

place held some secret, and I wondered if old Japp knew. I



was fool enough one day to ask him about diamonds. He met

me with contemptuouslaughter. 'There's your ignorant Britisher,'



he cried. 'If you had ever been to Kimberley you would

know the look of a diamond country. You're as likely to find



diamonds here as ocean pearls. But go out and scrape in the




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