arded against before it was too late. The
two had been waylaid and set upon suddenly when returning from Trask's,
and while George had been the main object of the vengeance of the
murderers the sudden shock of the surprise had stricken his father dead
through heart failure. That the body of the latter had suffered no
violence after death might have been due to the respect in which he had
been held while living, whereas the noosed ram which had been placed
around the neck of the boy seemed to add a lurid significance to old
Dumela's words, "`_Justice--the white man's justice--has not been done,'
they say_."

Beryl's expression of countenance was unfathomable, as she knelt there
supporting her dead father's head, tenderly stroking back the hair from
the forehead, wiping the cold, marble face with her white handkerchief.
And I, as I stood there gazing down upon the man who had been to me as a
father and a friend, and knew that we should never again hear his voice,
never again see those kindly eyes light up with mirth or recognition,
that his presence was removed from our midst for ever, I believe I
should have broken down and burst out blubbering like a schoolboy but
for what next occurred.

Beryl, having gently lowered the inanimate head, now rose. But no tears
glistened in her eyes. They were dry and hard with the terrible
intensity of the strain. No cry, no burst of agony escaped her breast;
but as she stood there, her tall form drawn to its full height, the look
upon her face was so awful, so blasting in its fury of hate and despair
and menace, that even in that moment of grief and horror I almost
recoiled from her. Heavens! Had her grief in its reaction merged
itself into this intensity, this overmastering impulse of hate and
revenge? If so, it seemed that her brain must give way.

"Come," she said, moving to the side of her horse.

"But, can you leave him--them?" I urged.

Was it a laugh--blood-curdling, maniacal--or was it the snarl of a
bereaved wild beast?

"We can leave them--now," she said. "First--justice. The justice of
revenge. Come."

Gaining her saddle without my aid she led the way from that evil and
accursed spot. But it was the opposite way to that by which we had
come. She uttered no word. But the positions were reversed now. She
led, and I followed--wondering.

We reached the high ridge at the head of the kloof, then descended into
the valley wherein, much higher up, the house