The Jew ran towards the door and said,—
‘Don’t go yet, Mijnheer Hans. I give you what you ask; you make your own price. Or I tell you what, you keep your farm, you just tell me where it is, you show me the place that sample comes from, and I will give you five tousand pound—ten tousand pound,’ eagerly added the Jew, visions of a rich prospector’s mijnpacht floating before his eyes.
Oom Hans was getting tired of this, as well as annoyed at the Jew’s perseverance. He must get rid of him.
‘I will think of it, and let you know to-morrow,’ he said.
‘Where shall I see you?’
‘If I want to do business with you, I will come here at ten o’clock to-morrow,’ was the non-committal reply.
Steve and Oom Hans went to the boarding-house, where they had secured a room. They noticed that the Jews followed them, and after having seen them into the boarding-house, left again, apparently satisfied that they could lay their hands on the old Boer when they wanted him. But they counted without their host. The old man paid his bill before going to bed; and when the sun rose, he and Steve were far on their way home.
CHAPTER V
THE JEW AGAIN—DISCOURAGED
Steve was once more in Pretoria. He had been for a week back in work, when one evening, as he was walking leisurely home from business, he heard an eager exclamation of joy behind him. The next moment his arm was firmly caught hold of, and he heard a Jewish voice, not quite unfamiliar, saying,—