“To see baas Willem; but he no here. Tell him when he come back to wait for Congo. Tell him wait two days, four days,—tell him always wait till Congo come.”
“But Willem will go to the house before he comes here, and you can see him yourself.”
“No; may be I off with the boer oxen. I work there now. Tell baas Willem to wait for Congo.”
“Certainly I shall do so,” answered Hans; “but you are keeping something hid from me. Why do you wish to see your master, if you are so offended as to have forsaken him. What is your reason for staying behind?”
“Don’t know,” vaguely responded the Kaffir. “Dis fool Congo don’t know nuffin’.”
“Der’s one thing I mus say for Congo,” said Swartboy, “he mos allers tell the troof. He jus done so now.”
The Kaffir smiled as though satisfied with Swartboy’s remark.
After again requesting that Willem should be told to wait his return, he hastened away, followed by the dog Spoor’em.
There was a mystery in the conduct of the man that Hans could not comprehend in any other way than by taking the explanation he had himself given. Congo seemed certainly either to be a fool or acting in a very foolish way.
As the morning advanced, Hans began to believe that the trackers had proved successful in their search. The spoor of the giraffes must have been found and followed, or they would have been back before then.