es of low grey bush, intermingled with the
vivid-green patches of luxuriant "melkbosch," giving deceptive promise
of non-existent moisture; of level plains, gay with brilliant flowers,
from which long humped ranges of granite rise in serried lines.

A common necessity had drawn two of us white men to a distant and
isolated water-hole, which to our dismay we had found dry and empty.
Neither of us knew of other water within twelve hours' trek, our beasts
were tired, and it was a great relief when Karelse, my Hottentot
driver, declared he knew of good water only about four hours away. I
wondered I had never heard of it before, but Karelse, who knew every
inch of the country, was confident that though he had never been to the
spot we should find plenty of water there; and, sure enough, nightfall
brought us to the place, and there was water in abundance. Here we
shared coffee and biltong, and afterwards sat smoking and yarning by
the cheerful blaze of the dry fire-bush.

The night was wild and stormy, and a cold wind blew in sharp gusts
round the fantastic pile of rocks that rose abruptly from the small
deep pool of black-looking water, sending the sparks swirling upwards
and causing the flames to leap fiercely, whilst the flicker of the fire
shone on the glittering "baviaan-spel" of the rocks, and the black
shadows danced to the whistle of the wind.

Overhead the sky seemed charged with rain the heavy, hurrying clouds
lowered and trailed and seemed as though at any moment they might
launch a deluge upon the parched and yearning veldt; but the promise
was ever an empty one, for not a drop fell, and the rain-charged
phalanxes sped onward and ever onward, to shed their precious burthen
upon distant and more-favored fields. . . .

Jason I had met before. Like myself he was a prospector, and had known
many lands. He was a reserved, reliable man, who possessed a habit of
silence rare amongst men of our fraternity. Our talk had been of
Brazil, where we had both spent many years of our youth, and almost
unconsciously we had fallen into Portuguese a language we both spoke
fluently.

It was then that the Other Man appeared. Suddenly, silently, and alone
he stepped from among the flickering shadows of the rocks, so abruptly
as to cause both Jason and I to start up with an exclamation. By the
uncertain light of the fire he appeared to be an elderly man of medium
size, swarthy, weather-beaten, and bearded to the eyes. He strode to