“We had no fixed plans. Alida knew no more than I of the country before us. We were on no track, but just steered vaguely northward, taking our direction from the sun and the stars. Water was to be found almost everywhere; besides, the whole desert was strewn with ‘tsamai’ melons, on which we, as well as the cattle, could exist should the water fail. Game was plentiful and tame, so we never lacked meat. Each night as we camped we collected fuel, and built two large fires for the purpose of keeping off the lions, one just behind the wagon and the other in front of the team. The front yoke we used to peg down firmly, to prevent the oxen, which were tied in pairs along the chain, from rushing back on the wagon, in the event of a panic being caused by wild beasts. We divided the night into two watches, of which I took the first. The oxen were well trained, so the services of a leader were not often required, and Alida was thus enabled to sleep for long periods as the wagon crawled slowly over the velvet-like sand.
“Thus passed five days, and on the morning of the sixth old Danster turned up. He had waited for my return a day and a night, and then gone back to the homestead on my spoor, arriving on the evening of the second day after I had left him. He found the house just as we had left it, but feeling that something was wrong, had been afraid to enter, so he took cover close by and waited for daylight, when he traced the wheel-tracks of our wagon down to the river. Little Slinger, his grandson, he could not find, although he searched for him far and near. In the afternoon Piet and Gerrit arrived. Danster stole up to a bush, from which he could observe all that went on near the house. He saw the brothers moving about excitedly and gesticulating wildly. Little Slinger soon afterwards appeared; he had evidently been hiding in the bush, and emerged, driven out by starvation. The boy was seized by Gerrit and dragged into the house. He was shortly afterwards dragged out again, and then Piet shot him dead before the door.
“Danster saw the brothers drive in the mob of horses, saddle up two, and place a small pack upon a third. Then they started on the track of our wagon. Danster followed on foot, and passed the two when camped for the night. Since then he had travelled night and day to overtake us, and he only arrived just in time to give warning. I at once determined to await the approach of our pursuers, who were now so close that we could not hope to escape them. Personally, I had no doubt as to the result of the encounter. I did not want the woman I loved to stain her sinless hands in blood, be it ever so guilty, so I refused her offer of assistance in the conflict. But she took a solemn oath that if I were killed she would take her own life.
“I knew that I should inevitably have to destroy these men, but I, nevertheless, determined not to do so without having absolute proof that they meant to murder me. In the long silent watches of the recent nights, when earth lay speechless to the stars, I had thought out a plan in view of the probable contingency, and this plan I proceeded to put into execution. These men should have their chance, and if they meant anything less than absolute murder, my right hand might perish before I would slay them.
“So I yoked the team to the wagon once more, and drew it onward for a few hundred yards to a spot where two dunes nearly met, and where the drift-sand lay loose and soft. Then I halted the wagon, letting it appear as though the oxen had been unable to draw it any farther. The oxen I unyoked and sent forward in charge of Danster, telling him, if he heard shooting, shortly followed by a shout from me, to bring them back at once.
“Then I gathered a quantity of fuel, carefully selecting a number of logs of heavy, close-grained wood, which might be depended upon to keep alight for hours. I felt so sure that no attack would be made before dark, that I proceeded with my preparations in a most leisurely manner. We built the pile ready for kindling, but waited for sundown before setting it alight.
“In the meantime, Alida had—under my directions—taken a couple of yokes and some pillows, and of these made dummy figures, which she dressed in some of our garments. Then I scooped out a comfortable-looking couch in the soft dune-side, close to the pile of fuel, and in the bottom of it laid a kaross. Upon this we placed the two figures, side by side, and over them we spread another kaross. Above the head of one figure was laid Alida’s ‘cappie,’ with the hood drawn over the face as though to keep off the dew. Over the head of the other my coat was laid in the same manner, my hat being carelessly thrown down alongside. Within arm’s-reach one of my spare guns lay propped upon forked sticks, so as to keep it clear of the sand.
“We finished our preparations just after the sun had sunk, but I afterwards added a slight touch here and there for the purpose of improving the general effect. I remember Alida clinging to my arm in terror, because, just as dusk was setting in, I returned and placed one of my pipes on top of the hat, where the metal top glinted brightly in the firelight. Then we climbed into the wagon, let the canvas flap fall, and sat silently awaiting developments.
“The sides of the canvas cover buttoned to the woodwork of the tilt, but we unbuttoned sufficient of it to give us, when we lifted it slightly, a good view of the fire, the couch with the dummies lying in it, and a considerable space surrounding these.
“I sat in the wagon grasping my double-barrelled gun. My pulse beat no faster than usual. The only emotion I was conscious of was extreme impatience. I was not even uneasy about Danster and the cattle, although I knew there were many lions about. I was quite certain that the two human jackals would fall into the trap I had so carefully set for them, but the waiting, which lasted until after midnight, seemed long and wearisome. It was Alida who first, with the sharp ear of the desert-bred, heard their approaching stealthy steps. She grasped my arm suddenly, and I knew quite well what she meant to convey, so I noiselessly cocked both barrels of my gun. Then she lifted the edge of the canvas a few inches, and I looked cautiously out.