as a younker, with a pack
at my back and a rifle in my hand. Never have I made a more successful
trip; for I have returned with the waggon so loaded that I sometimes
feared the stout wheels would give way under the weight they carried."

"What young stranger have you brought here?" asked the dame, after the
first salutations were over. "A fine little child, by my troth!"

Hendricks briefly described how Lionel had come into his hands. "And I
want you, my good sister, to take charge of him, and bring him up, until
by some means we may discover his parents. He will repay your trouble
if I judge rightly of his disposition; and although he has no large
amount of English at his command at present, he will soon chatter away
fast enough to afford you plenty of amusement."

Kind Mistress Jansen, taking the boy by the hand, and drawing him
towards her, answered, "That I'll do with all my heart, and we shall be
good friends at once, shall we not, my boy?"

The little fellow did not answer, but looked up at Hendricks as if
asking him to reply. The hunter spoke a few words in Zulu, on hearing
which the child's eye brightened.

"I have told him that you will be a mother to him Susannah, and he seems
well pleased at the thought."

That matter being settled, the hunter having taken a cup of tea with his
good sister, and enjoyed a little further conversation, left his young
_protege_ with her, and returned to where his waggon and followers were
encamped to make arrangements for the disposal of his cargo. Finding,
however, that it would be well worth his while to proceed to D'Urban, he
the following day set off for that town, to dispose of the produce of
his hunting, and to procure fresh goods for his next journey. According
to his promise, he made a present of a good rifle and stock of
ammunition to the young chief Mangaleesu, giving him authority to
procure a further supply of powder and shot when that was exhausted.

Lionel was soon perfectly at home with Mistress Jansen. He showed an
amiable disposition, and willingly obeyed her, but at the same time she
discovered that he had several savage habits and customs to be cured of.
Young as he was, he showed a fearless and independent spirit, but she
endeavoured by kind and judicious treatment to keep him in good order.
He paid almost a daily visit to Denis Maloney to be taught his lessons;
but Mistress Jansen took upon herself to give him instruction in
religious truth, of