' he said; 'I'll have
to resign. And it's a pity, for the place suits my health fine. You
see I know too much, and I haven't your whinstone nerve and total lack
of imagination.'

I told him that it was simply fancy, and came from reading too many
books and taking too little exercise. But I made him promise to say
nothing to anybody either by word of mouth or letter, without telling
me first. Then I made him a rummer of toddy and sent him to bed a
trifle comforted.

The first thing I did in my new room was to shift the bed into the
corner out of line with the window. There were no shutters, so I put
up an old table-top and jammed it between the window frames. Also, I
loaded my shot-gun and kept it by my bedside. Had Wardlaw seen these
preparations he might have thought more of my imagination and less of
my nerve. It was a real comfort to me to put out a hand in the
darkness and feel Colin's shaggy coat.

CHAPTER VI

THE DRUMS BEAT AT SUNSET

Japp was drunk for the next day or two, and I had the business of the
store to myself. I was glad of this, for it gave me leisure to reflect
upon the various perplexities of my situation. As I have said, I was
really scared, more out of a sense of impotence than from dread of
actual danger. I was in a fog of uncertainty. Things were happening
around me which I could only dimly guess at, and I had no power to take
one step in defence. That Wardlaw should have felt the same without
any hint from me was the final proof that the mystery was no figment of
my nerves. I had written to Colles and got no answer. Now the letter
with Japp's resignation in it had gone to Durban. Surely some notice
would be taken of that. If I was given the post, Colles was bound to
consider what I had said in my earlier letter and give me some
directions. Meanwhile it was my business to stick to my job till I was
relieved.

A change had come over the place during my absence. The natives had
almost disappeared from sight. Except the few families living round
Blaauwildebeestefontein one never saw a native on the roads, and none
came into the store. They were sticking close to their locations, or
else they had gone after some distant business. Except a batch of
three Shangaans returning from the Rand, I had nobody in the store for
the whole of one day. So about four o'clock I shut it up, whistled on
Colin, and went for a walk along the Berg.

If there were no natives on the road,