“As, one arter the other, these big chaps riz up from the ground, and went striding off about their jobs which the ole man had set them a-purpose, the Kaffir looked more an’ more s’prised.
“‘Sit and eat,’ sed the ole baas.
“‘Inkosi,’ sed the Kaffir; and he squatted down to the fire, with his hands out to the blaze, and his black eyes half-closed; while the meat spluttered on the coals, giving off a fine smell.
“‘Willie,’ sed the ole man; ‘fetch out the guns and give ’em a clean up.’
“Willie sprang up—nearly six foot of him—and the Kaffir looked roun’ the fire at the other two boys.
“‘Yoh,’ he said, ‘these men are like trees;’ and his eyes shone in the light, and on his breast there gleamed white a string of tiger claws.
“So he sot and eat, and then he said he were going on to the Kasouga to see his brother, who was herding cattle for a white man.
“When he went the ole man laughed in his beard. ‘I guess,’ he sed, ‘he’ll see we’re too much of a mouthful in case they mean trouble.’
“‘I hope we haven’t frightened him,’ sed Harry; ‘things are gettin’ too quiet.’
“‘The quieter the better,’ sed Jake; ‘we don’t wan’t any Kaffirs swooping down here. I didn’t like the look of that fellow; he said too little.’