l native, who carried himself proudly, and after a glance
at me, stalked along at my side. He wore curious clothes, for he had a
kind of linen tunic, and around his waist hung a kilt of leopard-skin.
In such a man one would have looked for a ting-kop,[1] but instead he
had a mass of hair, not like a Kaffir's wool, but long and curled like
some popular musician's. I should have been prepared for the face, but
the sight of it sent a sudden chill of fright through my veins. For
there was the curved nose, the deep flashing eyes, and the cruel lips
of my enemy of the Kirkcaple shore.

Colin was deeply suspicious and followed his heels growling, but he
never turned his head.

'The day is warm, father,' I said in Kaffir. 'Do you go far?'

He slackened his pace till he was at my elbow. 'But a short way,
Baas,' he replied in English; 'I go to the store yonder.'

'Well met, then,' said I, 'for I am the storekeeper. You will find
little in it, for it is newly built and not yet stocked. I have ridden
over to see to it.'

He turned his face to me. 'That is bad news. I had hoped for food and
drink yonder. I have travelled far, and in the chill nights I desire a
cover for my head. Will the Baas allow me to sleep the night in an
outhouse?'

By this time I had recovered my nerve, and was ready to play the part I
had determined on. 'Willingly,' I said. 'You may sleep in the
storeroom if you care. You will find sacks for bedding, and the place
is snug enough on a cold night.'

He thanked me with a grave dignity which I had never seen in any
Kaffir. As my eye fell on his splendid proportions I forgot all else
in my admiration of the man. In his minister's clothes he had looked
only a heavily built native, but now in his savage dress I saw how
noble a figure he made. He must have been at least six feet and a
half, but his chest was so deep and his shoulders so massive that one
did not remark his height. He put a hand on my saddle, and I remember
noting how slim and fine it was, more like a high-bred woman's than a
man's. Curiously enough he filled me with a certain confidence.

'I do not think you will cut my throat,' I said to myself. 'Your game
is too big for common murder.'

The store at Umvelos' stood as I had left it. There was the sjambok I
had forgotten still lying on the window sill. I unlocked the door, and
a stifling smell of new paint came out to meet me. Inside there was
nothing but the chairs an