It came about in this way. Quite early in the morning--at sun-up,
indeed--the Englishmen rose, and coming out of the little guest-chamber,
drank the coffee that I had made ready for them, and talked together
for a while. Then the young lord--Ralph's cousin--said that as they
journeyed yesterday at a distance of about an hour on horseback from the
farm he had noticed a large _vlei_, or _pan_, where were many ducks and
also some antelope. To this _vlei_ he proposed to ride forward with one
servant only, and to stay there till the others overtook him, shooting
the wild things which lived in the place, for to be happy these
Englishmen must always be killing something. So he bade me farewell,
making me a present of the gold chain which he took off his watch, which
chain I still have. Then he rode away, smiling after his fashion; and
as I watched him go I was glad to think that he was no knave but only an
easy tool in the hands of others. We never met again, but I believe that
death finished his story many years ago; indeed, all those of whom I
tell are dead; only Jan and I survive, and our course is well-nigh run.

When Suzanne awoke at length, having heard from a Kaffir girl that the
strangers had ordered their horses, but not that the young lord had
ridden forward, she slipped from the house silently, fearing lest I
should stay her, and hid herself in a little patch of bush at the corner
of the big mealie field by which she knew the Englishmen must pass on
their return journey. Presently she heard them coming, and when she
saw that the young lord was not with them, she went to the lawyer, who
pulled up his horse and waited for her, the rest of the party riding on,
and asked where his master was, saying that she wished to talk with him.
And here I must say, if I have not said it before, that Suzanne could
speak English, though not well. The Hollander tutor had instructed her
in that tongue, in which Ralph also would converse with her at times
when he did not wish others to understand what they were saying, for he