The
sad-looking mother, with three or four children in ragged clothes, was
sitting inside; the father and the eldest boy were walking beside the
oxen. Their apparent misery was depressing, added to which the day,
which all along had been cold and dismal, now began to close in, and,
what was worse, rain began to fall, which soon grew to be a regular
downpour. At last we could hardly see our grey horses, and every moment
I expected we should drive into one of the many pitfalls in the shape of
big black holes with which the roads in this part of the Transvaal
abounded, and a near acquaintance with any one of these would certainly
have upset the cart. At last we saw twinkling lights, but we first had
to plunge down another river-bed and ascend a precipitous incline up the
opposite bank. Our horses were by now very tired, and for one moment it
seemed to hang in the balance whether we should roll back into the water
or gain the top. The good animals, however, responded to the whip,
plunged forward, and finally pulled up at a house dimly outlined in the
gloom. In response to our call, a dripping sentry peered out, and told
us it was, as we hoped, Wolhuter's store, and that he would call the
proprietor. Many minutes elapsed, during which intense stillness
prevailed, seeming to emphasize how desolate a spot we had reached, and
broken only by the splash of the heavy rain. Then the door opened, and a
man appeared to be coming at last, only to disappear again in order to
fetch coat and umbrella. Eventually it turned out the owner of the house
was a miller, by birth a German, and this gentleman very kindly gave us
a night's hospitality. He certainly had not expected visitors, and it
took some time to allay his suspicions as to who we were and what was
our business. Accustomed to the universal hospitality in South Africa,
I was somewhat surprised at the hesitation he showed in asking us into
his house, and when we were admitted he claimed indulgence for any
shortcomings by saying his children were ill. We assured him we should
give no trouble, and we were so wet and cold that any roof and shelter
were a godsend. Just as I was going to bed, my maid came and told me
that, from a conversation she had had with the Kaffir girl, who seemed
to be the only domestic, she gathered that two children were suffering
from an infectious disease, which, in the absence of any medical man,
they had diagnosed as smallpox. To proceed on our journey was o