“She laughed at you, did she?” said Swart Piet; “well, I laugh at her, for neither she nor anyone who breathes shall stand between me and this girl, who has preferred the suit of another man to mine.”

“Ah, master!” said the Kaffir, with admiration, “you are a great one, for when a fruit pleases you, you do not wait for it to drop into your lap, you pluck it.”

“Yes,” said Swart Piet, striking his breast with pride, “if I desire a fruit I pluck it as my father did before me.  But now go you and sleep, for to-morrow you will need all your wit and strength.”

When the herd Zinti had heard this talk he crept away, heading straight for the farm, but his foot was so bad, and he was so weak from want of food, that he could only travel at the pace of a lame ox, now hopping upon one leg and now crawling upon his knees.  In this fashion it was that at length, about half-past eight in the morning, he reached the house, or rather the hut of Sihamba, for she had sent him out, and therefore to her, after the Kaffir fashion, he went to make report.  Now, when he came to Sihamba, he greeted her and asked for a little food, which she gave him.  Then he began to tell his story, beginning as natives do at the first of it, which in his case were all the wanderings of the cow which he had followed, so that although she hurried him much, many minutes went by before he came to that part of the tale which told of what he had heard in the wood some eight hours before.

So soon as he began to speak of this, Sihamba stopped him, and calling to a man who lingered near, she bade him bring to her Jan’s famous young horse, the roan schimmel, bridled but not saddled.  Now this horse was the finest in the whole district, for his sire was the famous stallion which the Government imported from England, where it won all the races, and his dam the swiftest and most enduring mare in the breeding herds at the Paarl.  What Jan gave for him as a yearling I never learned, because he was afraid to tell me; but I know that we were short of money for two years after he bought him.  Yet in the end that schimmel proved the cheapest thing for which ever a man paid gold.

Well, the Kaffir hesitated, for, as might be guessed, Jan was very proud of this horse, and none rode it save himself, but Sihamba sprang up and spoke to him so fiercely that at last he obeyed her, since, although she was small in stature, all feared the magic of Sihamba, and would do her bidding.  Nor had he far to go, for the schimmel did not run wild upon the veldt, but was fed and kept in a stable, where a slave groomed him every morning.  Thus it came about that before Zinti had finished his tale, the horse was standing before Sihamba bridled but not saddled, arching his neck and striking the ground with his hoof, for he was proud and full of corn and eager to be away.

“Oh! fool,” said Sihamba to Zinti, “why did not you begin with this part of your story?  Now, to save five from death and one from dishonour, there is but a short hour left and twenty long miles to cover in it.  Ho! man, help me to mount this horse.”