The doctor touched the horses with the whip, and they sped along the road. There was silence for a few moments, when Kate broke it by saying:
“I shall remember this ride with pleasure, Doctor, as it will probably be the last one I shall take with you before my departure for other scenes.”
The reins fell idly on the doctor’s lap, and the horses dropped into a walk. Horses have a trick of accommodating themselves to the moods of their drivers.
The doctor’s face lost its look of enthusiasm.
“When do you go, and where do you go?” he asked.
“I want to leave the Fields during the hot Christmas holidays, and have arranged to go to that pretty little spot not far away—Bloemfontein.”
“I am sorry you are going away,” said the doctor, “but I should be sorrier if it were further from Kimberley. It seems a short time since you came here.”
“Short stays make long friends,” said Kate.
“Then I shall come and make short stays,” exclaimed the doctor, with a return to something like gaiety.
“Do—” said Kate. “I mean do come. I don’t mean make short stays!”