HENDRICK'S FEAT 93 



without a further effort, so he uncoiled a reim 

 from the head-stall of Bucephalus, tied one 

 end of it round his feet and gave me the other 

 to hold; then he re-entered the dark portal 

 and passed out of sight. Just afterwards I 

 heard, as though from the bowels of the earth, 

 a muffled shout. I hauled strenuously at the 

 reim and Hendrick emerged, the dead jackal 

 in his arms. In that cobra-haunted country I 

 would not have attempted Hendrick's feat for 

 a jackal-skinful of gold. 



After this useful piece of police-work we 

 rode back to camp at an easy pace. Buce- 

 phalus always grew cantankerous at the smell 

 of blood, so the mortal remnants of Autolycus 

 had to be tied behind my saddle, a circum- 

 stance which occasioned a good deal of chaff 

 on the part of Andries. 



That night I spread out my large-scale map 

 of South Africa on boards which I had brought 

 for the purpose. It was my wont to fill in 

 roughly any physical data which I was able to 

 determine. The air was so still that the flame 

 of a lit match hardly flickered. The vicinity of 

 the wagon was as bright as day, for we had 

 built an enormous fire. The flame of the 

 candle-bush shone as clear as the electric arc, 

 and arose in a tall pyramid. Our shooting was 



