gratefully. We sold our few household goods, and moved to his
gloomy house in Dundas Street. A few days later he announced
at dinner that he had found for me a chance which might lead
to better things.

'You see, Davie,' he explained, 'you don't know the rudiments
of business life. There's no house in the country that
would take you in except as a common clerk, and you would
never earn much more than a hundred pounds a year all your
days. If you want to better your future you must go abroad,
where white men are at a premium. By the mercy of Providence
I met yesterday an old friend, Thomas Mackenzie, who
was seeing his lawyer about an estate he is bidding for. He is
the head of one of the biggest trading and shipping concerns
in the world - Mackenzie, Mure, and Oldmeadows - you may
have heard the name. Among other things he has half the
stores in South Africa, where they sell everything from Bibles
to fish-hooks. Apparently they like men from home to manage
the stores, and to make a long story short, when I put your
case to him, he promised you a place. I had a wire from him
this morning confirming the offer. You are to be assistant
storekeeper at -' (my uncle fumbled in his pocket, and then
read from the yellow slip) 'at Blaauwildebeestefontein. There's
a mouthful for you.'

In this homely way I first heard of a place which was to be
the theatre of so many strange doings.

'It's a fine chance for you,' my uncle continued. 'You'll only
be assistant at first, but when you have learned your job you'll