the lounge and
the talk very much." And then Hazel felt more disgusted with herself
still.

"Let's go back to the house," she said. "I believe it's getting rather
hot."

She chatted as they wound their way downwards along the bush-path, but
not so brightly as when they had come up it. Somewhat wonderingly,
Greenoak noted that she displayed no interest in the absent Dick. The
latter arrived not long after themselves.

"There you are, Miss Brandon, I've redeemed my pledge," he cried. "Got
a whacking big bush-buck ram. Do come and look at it."

"Got him just under Bromvogel Nek--eh, Dick?" said Greenoak.

"Yes. But--how did you know?"

"Heard your shot, and the dogs on to something wounded. We took a walk
up there, Miss Brandon and I."

"Oh--" And Dick Selmes stopped short, and then thought what an ass he
was making of himself. So that was why Hazel had been so anxious for
him to go out and hunt! Old Greenoak was coming out of his shell--
coming out with a vengeance.

As they went outside Kleinbooi, the Fingo, was in the act of offloading
the quarry. It certainly was a fine ram, but Dick noticed with inward
disgust and heart-searching that Hazel seemed to show but little
interest in it, or in his own doings. And by this time it had become of
very great importance to him that she should feel interest in his own
doings.

"What would you say to moving on, Dick?" said Greenoak that afternoon.
"We've been here a good while, you know."

The other's face fell.

"Yes, I'm afraid we have," he said. "But where shall we go next?"

Greenoak gave him some inkling of the bearing of the Commandant's
letter, and the idea caught on, but with half the alacrity wherewith it
would have been received had a certain entrancing young person not been
a fellow-guest at Haakdoornfontein.

"When shall we start?" asked Dick, somewhat ruefully.

"How about to-morrow?"

"Couldn't we make it the day after? Come now, Greenoak. A day more or
less can't make any difference."

"Well, no more it can--at this stage," was the enigmatical answer. As a
matter of fact, in the speaker's inner mind it was an ambiguous one,
"We'll break away the day after."

"Going on, are you?" said old Hesketh, when the announcement was made to
him. "Well, I'm sorry. But I suppose our young buffalo hunter's
spoiling to get on to bigger game. Where are you trekking for now,
Greenoak?"

"The Transkei."

"Ho-ho-ho! You may get on to bigg