He walked slowly up past us, to " take a squint at 

 things," as he put it, and see if it was possible to get 

 past the stuck waggons ; and a little later he started, 

 making three loads of his two and going up with single 

 spans of eighteen oxen each, because the other waggons, 

 stuck in various places on the road, did not give him 

 room to work double spans. To us it seemed madness 

 to attempt with eighteen oxen a harder task than we 

 and others were essaying with thirty ; we would have 

 waited until the road ahead was clear. 



We were half-way up when we saw old Charlie 

 coming along steadily and without any fuss at all. 

 He had no second driver to help him ; he did no 

 shouting ; he walked along heavily and with difficulty 

 beside the span, playing the long whip lightly about 

 as he gave the word to go or called quietly to individual 

 oxen by name, but he did not touch them ; and when 

 he paused to l blow ' them he leaned heavily on his 

 whip-stick to rest himself. We were stopped by some 

 break in the gear and were completely blocking the 

 road when he caught up. Any one else would have 

 waited : he pulled out into the rough sideling track 

 on the slope below, to pass us. Even a good span 

 with a good driver may well come to grief in trying to 

 pass another that is stuck for the sight and example 

 are demoralising but old Charlie did not turn a 

 hair ; he went steadily on, giving a brisker call and 

 touching up his oxen here and there with light flicks. 

 They used to say he could kill a fly on a front ox or on 

 the toe of his own boot with the voorslag of his big 

 whip. 



226 



