100 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



foundered during their first voyage. He spoke of Hurling- 

 ham, Ascot, Cowes, and other well-known resorts of the 

 English world of leisure. But when telling of the good days 

 he had spent with horse, gun, and rod amongst the heather- 

 clad valleys and tors of the home of his boyhood, and of 

 the wild red deer, Exmoor, it was that the hard, world- 

 weary face softened, and the deeply sunken eyes lost 

 something of their usual hunted expression. Then came 

 a blank page in the stranger's book, and he spoke no 

 more of the land which Jack knew his heart yearned for. 



Of his life in South Africa G said but httle, but from 



that little Jack gathered that after squandering the greater 

 part of the few hundreds which his father had given him 

 to start afresh in a new world, he had found his way up 

 to Kimberley, where with a fellow adventurer, he seemed 

 to have done fairly well at the ' poor man's diggings.' 

 Having sold his share of the claim to his partner, he 

 journeyed to Natal with the intention of trading amongst 

 the Zulus and Basutos. For a time he thrived in his new 

 venture, and it was during one of his expeditions to Zulu- 

 land that he met with his faithful servant Boo win. His 

 gambling spirit once more got the upper hand of him, 

 however, and between horse-racing and cards he lost 

 nearly every ' tickey ' {^d.) of his hard-earned savings. 

 Then, as he grimly remarked, he crossed the Transvaal 

 border ' for the benefit of his health ' — there was no 

 extradition treaty between Natal and the Transvaal in 

 those days. At length, after experiencing many hardships 

 on the journey, he made his way to Pretoria, and became 

 driver of a mail-coach running between that town and 

 Pietersburg. How long he held the post or his reason for 

 leaving it did not transpire. From coach-driving he 



