

A VERY MODEST LADY. 177 



bullocks, and he thought her leg was broken ; any- 

 how, his wife was suffering intense pain. I do not 

 like this bastard Dutch breed much better, and 

 more truthfully, I may say, not at all ; still, it was 

 impossible to refuse to give what aid was in my 

 power to the sufferer. So, as the waggons started, 

 I mounted my roan mare, with splints, bandages, 

 and a bottle of chlorodyne in my pocket. The 

 distance was not far, and I noticed particularly 

 that the unfortunate uttered no complaint until she 

 heard her husband and myself outside' her waggon ; 

 | then her lamentations became heartrending. I have 

 known similar eccentricities occur not so very far 

 from home. However, I was duly introduced to 

 [ the sufferer by her husband, who also acted as 

 interpreter. 



This ceremony, trifling as it may appear, 

 , brought on additional and more severe paroxysms 

 ; of pain ; in fact, so loud were her groanings that 

 I the native boys (all servants are called boys here, 

 i however old they may be) stood still, as if awe- 

 stricken. The patient was a good-looking young 

 woman, about five and twenty, but inordinately 

 I stout. In her belief, her leg was broken at the 

 knee, and its utility was gone for ever and ever. 

 I requested to see the injured member. Show 

 it ! no, that she would not. Did ever mortal 

 hear of such an immodest request ? Did I think 

 I she, a Boer, was a Hottentot, a Kaffir, or a 



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