placing
of these in a proper manner.

To do all these things would take up a great deal of time; and they must
be all done against the return of the quaggas, else the whole scheme
would be a failure. Should the animals arrive upon the ground before
the pit was covered in and all traces of the work removed, they would
make off without entering the water, and perhaps never visit that vley
again.

Such were the conjectures of the field-cornet. Hans, Hendrik, and
Swartboy, acknowledged their justice. All saw the necessity of going to
work at once, and to work they all went.

Fortunately among the "implements," were two good spades, a shovel, and
a pick-axe, and all of them could be busy at the same time. There were
baskets in which the dirt could be sanded off, and thrown into the deep
channel close by, where it would not be seen. This was also a fortunate
circumstance; for to have carried the stuff any great distance, would
have made the job still heavier, and more difficult to execute in proper
time.

Having marked the outlines of the pit, they went to work with spade,
shovel, and pick. The ground proved tolerably loose, and the pick was
but little needed. The field-cornet himself handled one of the spades,
Hendrik the other, while Swartboy acted as shoveller, and filled the
baskets as fast as Hans and Totty, assisted by Truey and little Jan,
could empty them. These last carried a small basket of their own, and
contributed very materially to the progress of the work, by lightening
the labours of Hans and Totty.

And so the work went merrily on until midnight, and even after that
hour, under the light of a full moon; by which time the diggers were
buried to their necks.

But they were now fatigued. They knew they could easily complete the
pit next day; and so they laid down their implements, and after
performing their ablutions in the crystal water of the stream, retired
to their sleeping-quarters in the tree.

By early dawn they were at it again, busy as bees; and the pit
progressed so rapidly that before they stopped to take breakfast Von
Bloom could scarce see out of it standing on his toes, and the crown of
Swartboy's woolly head was nearly two feet below the surface. A little
more digging would do.

After breakfast they went to work at briskly as ever; and laboured away
until they considered that the hole was sunk to a sufficient depth. It
would have taken a springbok to have leaped out of it; a