Dick followed her, crying like a child, but master of himself; he got his people about her, and half carried her in again; then shut the door in all their faces.
He got the poor creature to sit down, and she began to rock and moan, with her apron over her head, and her brown hair loose about her.
“Why should he be dead?” said Dick. “Don't give a man up like that, Phoebe. Doctor, tell us more about it. Oh, man, how could you let him out of your sight? You knew how fond the poor creature was of him.”
“But that was it, Mr. Dale,” said Staines. “I knew his wife must pine for him; and we had found six large diamonds, and a handful of small ones; but the market was glutted; and to get a better price, he wanted to go straight to Cape Town. But I said, 'No; go and show them to your wife, and see whether she will go to Cape Town.'”
Phoebe began to listen, as was evident by her moaning more softly.
“Might he not have gone straight to Cape Town?” Staines hazarded this timidly.
“Why should he do that, sir? Dale's Kloof is on the road.”
“Only on one road. Mr. Dale, he was well armed, with rifle and revolver; and I cautioned him not to show a diamond on the road. Who would molest him? Diamonds don't show, like gold. Who was to know he had three thousand pounds hidden under his armpits, and in two barrels of his revolver?”
“Three thousand pounds!” cried Dale. “You trusted HIM with three thousand pounds?”
“Certainly. They were worth about three thousand pounds in Cape Town, and half as much again in”—