meanwhile cooked and ate some food.

Presently the sun rose, and I saw that beneath us was a great stretch of
plain covered with mist, and to the north, on our right, several denser
billows of mist that marked the course of the Crocodile River.

By degrees this mist lifted, tall tops of trees appearing above it, till
at length it thinned into vapour that vanished away as the sun rose. As
I watched it idly, the woman, Jeel, crept up to me in her furtive
fashion, touched me on the shoulder and pointed to a distant group of
trees.

Looking closely at these trees, I saw between them what at first I took
for some white rocks. Further examination, as the mist cleared,
suggested to my mind, however, that they might be wagon tilts. Just
then the Zulu who understood Jeel's talk came up. I asked him as well
as I could, for at that time my knowledge of his tongue was very
imperfect, what she wished to say. He questioned her, and answered that
she desired to tell me that those were the moving houses of the Amaboona
(the Boer people), just where she had seen them nearly two moons ago.

At this tidings my heart seemed to stand still, so that for more than a
minute I could not speak. There were the wagons at last, but--oh! who
and what should I find in them? I called Hans and bade him inspan as
quickly as possible, explaining to him that yonder was Marais's camp.

"Why not let the oxen fill themselves first, baas?" he answered. "There
is no hurry, for though the wagons are there, no doubt all the people
are dead long ago."