88 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



dinner, christening or burying, was complete unless he 

 made one of the party. 



Amongst Z's many friends and acquaintances was Mr. 

 X, the treasurer of the mine, and the official who paid Z 

 his hardly-earned (?) monthly " screw." 



There being no railway available, X had perforce to 

 travel to Johannesburg by road whenever called upon 

 to visit that city of gold and dust and hustle. Day by 

 day the news of some murder or robbery on the veld 

 and in the town reached the ears of the treasurer, and he 

 invited Z, over a glass of grog, to accompany him on his 

 next visit to Johannesburg, casually mentioning the while 

 that the object of his mission was to bring back money 

 from the bank for the working expenses of the mine. 

 Scenting a good luncheon at the club, Z accepted the 

 invitation with alacrity, for to tell the truth he was a bit 

 of an epicure. 



The morning of what was to prove an exciting day for 

 Z and the treasurer at length came round, and shortly 

 after ten o'clock a.m. off they started in a Cape cart drawn 

 by a pair of upstanding " Free Staters " ; a Cape boy, 

 rejoicing in the name of Ticky, acting the part of 

 jehu. 



The eight-mile journey into town proved uneventful 

 enough, and having partaken of lunch at the club, a large 

 sum of money in gold and silver was drawn from the 

 Standard Bank, packed in bags, and stowed away. Then 

 the return journey was begun. 



Johannesburg left behind, the rough boulder-strewn 

 road ran along the base of a short range of rugged kopjes, 

 while on the other hand extended a wide expanse of 

 level veld interspersed with clumps of stunted acacias 



