A NOBLE ANCESTRY 131 



seemingly-unconquerable foe. Would he 

 have abandoned honour, riches, comfort, roof- 

 tree and friends for the sake of conscience, — 

 that discipliner whose whip-lash does not, un- 

 fortunately, bite as severely as it once was 

 wont to do? I wondered, and in wondering 

 breathed one of those wishes which are the 

 essence of prayer, that he might never be put 

 to the test. 



The afternoon was young. I decided to 

 stroll on, ahead. I found Danster and Piet 

 Noona's nephew just above the krantz — pre- 

 venting, with some difficulty, the oxen from 

 stampeding to Gamoep, which was now only 

 about ten miles distant. I sent them back to the 

 wagon with instructions to do the thing my 

 heart had failed of, — to waken a human being 

 from that highest condition of well-being — 

 perfect sleep. But it was now time to inspan; 

 for the first time since they had last drunk 

 the oxen were really suffering from thirst. 

 They, too, had their rights. Andries, more- 

 over, was one of those fortunate beings who 

 could slumber at will. 



So I again strolled on. I left the track and 

 climbed to the top of the Koeberg, the hill 

 from which the big beacon — that farthest out- 

 post of the trigonometrical survey on this side 



