etter than he really is.
Eventually, however, by hook or by crook, I got back to Mac Mac.
MacLean went on to Pilgrim's Rest. I collapsed, and lay in my patrol
tent, alone and untended, for several days. Then Mr. (afterwards Sir
Drummond) Dunbar and his kind wife look me in, and tended me like truly
Good Samaritans. I was as tough as nails. The attack proved to be a
comparatively light one, so I managed to pull through.

CHAPTER XI

Weakness after fever--I engage in commerce--Bats--The commandeered cat--My
commercial ineptitude--Tom Simpson surprises--Wolff--Close of my
commercial career--Saulez--His thrashing of the bullies--Gardiner holds up
the bank--Nicknames--Conferring a patent of nobility--"Old Nelly"--"A poor
man's lead"--"Charlie Brown's Gully"--Swindled by my partner--My discovery
on the mountain--A lonely time--Waiting for rain--Disappointment and
despair--Abandonment of my work--Departure--Once more a tramp.

After rallying from my bout of fever I felt terribly weak. I was kindly
looked after for a few weeks by some friends, but it was imperatively
necessary that I should, at the earliest possible date, once more begin
to earn a livelihood. I was now absolutely penniless. Manual labor was,
for the time, quite out of the question. The least physical exertion,
more especially if it involved bending down, caused a sickening sense
of dizziness and loss of vision. For some little time I resembled one
of those dolls whose eyes disappear when placed in any but an upright
position.

A Natal firm, R. T. N. James & Co., had a store on top of the steep
hill, just where the up-creek road left the Lower Camp. Mr. Shepperd,
the manager, was a friend of mine. One day he saw me at Mac Mac, and,
taking pity on my condition, offered me work in the shop. I jumped at
the chance.

So next Sunday I started for Pilgrim's Rest. The path, which could only
be traversed on foot, led over the big divide, and involved a heavy
climb, followed by a steep descent. I took all day for the journey of
nine miles. It necessitated a terrible effort. Fortunately, however,
the day was cool. Several times I was on the point of fainting, and was
obliged to lie down. Strangely enough, it was the descent that I found
more distressing than the climb. The tendons just above my knees had
become slackened through weakness, and refused to act as a brake. I
shall never forget that walk.

The business was a general one in the most comprehensive sen