3 66 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



good one and a cheap one, we are young and strong, 

 .and ought to be as happy as any Afrikanders in the 

 Colony." 



" Yes, Stephen," said his wife, " I thought there 

 was something queer in what the young man said, 

 but it could have been only fancy. I am sure we 

 ought to be happy and contented, and with you by 

 my side I shall always be so." 



In a few weeks time Goodrick had increased his 

 .stock of goats, and had bought a sufficient number 

 of horses to start a stud farm upon the mountains 

 .around. Things seemed to be going well with him. 

 The pasture was in splendid condition, the valleys 

 .and kloofs that led into the mountains literally 

 blazed with flowers of every conceivable hue, from 

 the great pink or crimson blossomed aloes, that gave 

 warmth to the towering brown rocks above, to the 

 lovely heaths, irises, and geraniums that clothed as 

 with a brilliant carpet the bottom grounds. The house 

 had been thoroughly cleansed, put into order, and the 

 new furniture settled into it, and young Mrs. Goodrick 

 busily employed her days in household duties. Her 

 husband had had several good days shooting about 

 the hills, and had brought in two koodoos (one of 

 the largest and most magnificent of South African 

 .antelopes), whose noble heads and heavy spiral 

 horns now adorned the dining-room, besides many a 

 head of smaller antelopes and innumerable francolins, 

 pheasants, ducks, and other feathered game. 



Yet somehow, though things had so far gone 

 well, the young couple were not quite comfortable. 

 The disturbances among the horses, although 

 not repeated for several nights, had occasionally 

 Jiappened ; the same horrid scream had been heard, 



