It made me choke : it was the first I knew of such 

 things, and the horror of it was unbearable ; but 

 the man who had spoken before a good man too, 

 straight and strong, and trusted by black and white 

 said, " Sonny, you must not interfere between a man 

 and his boys here ; it's hard sometimes, but we'd 

 not live a day if they didn't know who was baas." 



I think we counted eighteen ; and then everything 

 seemed going to burst. 



* # * * * 



The white man looked about at the faces close to 

 him and stopped. He began slowly to untie the 

 out-stretched arms, and blustered out some threats. 

 But no one said a word ! 



The noises died down as the night wore on, until 

 the stillness was broken only by the desultory barking 

 of a kaffir dog or the crowing of some awakened 

 rooster who had mistaken the bright moonlight for 

 the dawn and thought that all the world had overslept 

 itself. But for me there was one other 

 sound for which I listened into the 

 cool of morning with the quivering 

 sensitiveness of a bruised nerve. Some- 



times it was a lone catchy sigh, andf/J^j 

 i i " 



sometimes it broke into a groan just 



audible, like the faintest rumble of \\ 

 most distant surf. Twice in the long 

 night there came the same request 

 to one of the boys near him, uttered 

 in a deep clear unshaken voice and in 

 199 



