"Oh, but don't you remember," the lady replied, "I kept you waiting outside for at least a quarter of an hour? You can't imagine what prodigies of setting things to rights we did in those fifteen minutes."
"Well, we didn't accomplish ours in any fifteen minutes, I assure you," I answered; "to be frank about it, we were at work all yesterday forenoon."
"We appreciate the compliment, I am sure; do we not, Miss Boland?" was the reply.
"Certainly we do," said the young lady; "and I almost feel conscience-stricken for having put you to so much trouble."
"The trouble has been a great pleasure," Jack responded; "it has been more than a pleasure—it has called us back to civilization, which we were rapidly forgetting, and so becoming like the barbarians around us. No visit of men could have raised in us the energy to do what we have done—nothing short of a visit of fair women. I have often thought that if Adam had been left in Eden without the presence of Eve he would have become as great a barbarian as a South African hunter, and the only security for the animals which abounded there was that he didn't have any firearms."
"Oh, but he could have dug a pitfall for them, just as the natives do here," said Miss Boland; "or perhaps he would have driven them into a kraal and slaughtered them by wholesale."
The conversation went on in this way for a little while, and then, as I saw our three personal attendants standing near the table, I rose and asked the ladies to walk into the dining-hall, offering my arm to Mrs. Roberts and requesting Mr. Delafield to escort Miss Boland. I remark by the way that the question of the division of two ladies among three men had previously been decided by a "toss-up," Harry being left out in the cold by this appeal to Fortune. I had Mrs. Roberts at my right; Jack came next; next was Miss Boland; and between Miss Boland and myself Harry was placed. This was about the best arrangement we could make. Harry had suggested that another woman might be obtained, so as to make the party an evenly-balanced one, by washing and dressing one of the Kafir women. Jack inquired whether she would be dressed with butter or olive-oil, and then the subject was dropped.
To tell the whole story of the visit would be tedious, and I forbear. Considering that we were in South Africa, we had an excellent luncheon; while the cooking was not up to the Delmonico standard, the food was abundant and by no means poor in quality. Our visitors praised it rapturously, and declared they had not sat down to as fine a table since they started from Walvisch Bay. Jack's salad was a success of the highest order, and received the sincere praise of everybody.
When the quail were brought Jack begged to be excused for a few moments while he went to the kitchen. He came back with five glasses, filled to the top with ice, on a battered tray which he carried in one hand, while in the other he held a bottle of champagne. Placing the tray on the table, he cut the string and allowed the cork to escape from its confinement with its well-accustomed sound. Then he filled the glasses with champagne and passed them around to our surprised visitors and to ourselves.
I say "surprised"—they were more than surprised; they were paralyzed, as Jack predicted they would be. They sat in speechless astonishment looking at the bubbles rising around the lumps of ice, and I think both of them brought their hands to their foreheads to make sure whether they were awake or dreaming.