inite glory of the sunset that filled heaven with
changing hues of splendour, that wrapped the mountain and cliffs in
cloaks of purple and of gold, and lay upon the quiet face of the water
like the smile of a god.

Perhaps also the contrast, and the memory of those three awful days
and nights in the hopeless desert, enhanced the charm, and perhaps the
beauty of the girl who walked beside me completed it. For of this I am
sure, that of all sweet and lovely things that I looked on then, she was
the sweetest and the loveliest.

Ah, it did not take me long to find my fate. How long will it be before
I find her once again?

CHAPTER VIII

THE MARBLE KRAALS

At length the last platform, or terrace, was reached, and we pulled up
outside the wall surrounding the central group of marble huts--for so
I must call them, for want of a better name. Our approach had been
observed by a crowd of natives, whose race I have never been able to
determine accurately; they belonged to the Basutu and peaceful section
of the Bantu peoples rather than to the Zulu and warlike. Several of
these ran up to take the horses, gazing on us with astonishment, not
unmixed with awe. We dismounted--speaking for myself, not without
difficulty--indeed, had it not been for Stella's support I should have
fallen.

"Now you must come and see my father," she said. "I wonder what he will
think of it, it is all so strange. Hendrika, take the child to my hut
and give her milk, then put her into my bed; I will come presently."

Hendrika went off with a somewhat ugly grin to do her mistress's
bidding, and Stella led the way through the narrow gateway in the marble
wall, which may have enclosed nearly half an "erf," or three-quarters of
an acre of ground in all. It was beautifully planted as a garden, many
European vegetables and flowers were growing in it, besides others with
which I was not acquainted. Presently we came to the centre hut, and
it was then that I noticed the extraordinary beauty and finish of the
marble masonry. In the hut, and facing the gateway, was a modern door,
rather rudely fashioned of Buckenhout, a beautiful reddish wood that
has the appearance of having been sedulously pricked with a pin. Stella
opened it, and we entered. The interior of the hut was the size of a
large and lofty room, the walls being formed of plain polished marble.
It was lighted somewhat dimly, but quite effectively, by peculiar
openings in the roof, from which th