THE DERELICT 103 



on that serious charge, he managed to elude the law — 

 and perchance the ' Breakwater ' — by crossing over the 

 Transvaal border. Then — as he himself told — he drove 

 the mail-coach between Pretoria and Pietersburg, but so 

 frequently was his charge held up and robbed that the 

 authorities began to entertain suspicions that he was 

 imphcated in the outrages, until at length things grew 

 so hot for him that he was obliged to fly, and nothing had 

 been heard of him for some years. 



" ' It's long odds that he " jumped " those mules, 

 for he's got the cheek of the Devil, and has no more 

 care for his neck than a Kafir,' said the Scot, helping 

 himself to a four-finger peg of ' Black and White ' from 

 the bottle. 



" Four months later Jack made the return journey 

 from Bulawayo to Pretoria by Cape cart, for the purpose 

 of bringing up another lot of transport, while I remained 

 to ' boss ' the railway contract. He did not forget his 



promise to G , and took a goodly store of the best 



provisions, hquid and sohd, obtainable in the town of 



Bulawayo. Mortimore saw no sign of either G or 



Boowin as he chmbed up the kopje; but upon gaining 

 the plateau, the first object that met his eyes was a heap 

 of stones piled up on the bank of the little fern-fringed 

 stream which flowed below the hut. Then he knew that 



either G or his faithful henchman had trekked to his 



last uitspaan. The Zulu, hearing footsteps on the pebbly 

 path, now appeared on the scene carrying his knohkerrie, 

 blanket, and cooking pot, and coming towards Jack, 

 he exclaimed, ' The great and good white Induna passed 

 to the happy hunting-grounds as the sun dropped behind 

 the hills last night. Boowin returns to the land of his 



