Hours had gone by in hopeless effort ; but the 

 oxen stood out at all angles, and no two would pull 

 together in answer to the feeble efforts of the fainting 

 men. Then there came a lull in the shouts from the 

 waggon and in answer to the little voorlooper's 

 warning shout, " Pas op, Baas ! " (Look out, Master !), 

 the white men looked round and saw the Zulu driver 

 up on his knees freeing himself from the reims. In 

 another moment he was standing up full height 

 a magnificent but most unwelcome sight : there was 

 a thin line of froth along the half-opened mouth ; 

 the deep-set eyes glared out under eyebrows and fore- 

 head bunched into frowning wrinkles, as for a few 

 seconds he leaned forward like a lion about to spring 

 and scanned the men and oxen before him ; and then 

 as they watched him in breathless silence, he sprang 

 lightly off the waggon, picked up a small dry stick 

 as he landed, and ran up along the span. 



He spoke to the after-ox by name as he passed ; 

 called to another, and touched it into place ; thrust 

 his way between the next one and the dazed white 

 man standing near it, tossing him aside with a brush 

 of his arm, as a ploughshare spurns a sod ; and then 

 they saw how the boy's madness had taken him. His 

 work and his span had called to him in his delirium ; 

 and he had answered. With low mutterings, short 

 words hissed out, and all the sounds and terms the 

 cattle knew shot at them low pitched and with 

 intense repression he ran along the span, crouching 

 low all the time like a savage stealing up for murderous 

 attack. 



458 



