en and
horses under that lonely bank. Certainly they would not be found before
the _aasvogels_ had picked them clean, and these would be at work upon
them now. And if they were found, the paper would have rotted or
been blown away, or, at the worst, rendered so discoloured as to be
unreadable. For the rest, there was nothing to connect him with the
murder, now that his confederates were dead. Hendrik would prove an
alibi for him. He was a useful man, Hendrik. Besides, who would believe
that it was a murder? Two men were escorting an Englishman to the river;
they became involved in a quarrel; the Englishman shot them, and they
shot the Englishman and his companion. Then the horses plunged into the
Vaal upsetting the cart, and there was an end of it. He could see
now how well things had gone for him. Events had placed him beyond
suspicion.

Then he fell to thinking of the fruits of his honest labours, and
Muller's cheek grew warm with the mounting blood, and his eyes flashed
with the fire of youth. In two days--forty-eight hours--at the outside,
Bessie would be in his arms. He could not miscarry now, for was he not
in absolute command? Besides, Hendrik had read it in his omens long
ago.[*] Mooifontein should be stormed on the morrow, if that were
necessary, and _Oom_ Silas Croft and Bessie should be taken prisoners;
and then he knew how to deal with them. His talk about shooting on the
previous night had been no idle threat. She should yield herself to him,
or the old man must die, and then he would take her. There could be no
legal consequences now that the British Government was in the act of
surrender. It would be a meritorious deed to execute a rebel Englishman.

[*] It is not a very rare thing to meet white men in South
Africa who believe more or less in the efficacy of native
witchcraft, and, although such a proceeding is forbidden by
law, who at a pinch will not hesitate to consult the
witch-doctors.--Author.

Yes, it was all plain sailing now. How long had it needed to win
her--three years? He had loved her for three years. Well, he would have
his reward; and then, his passion satisfied, he would turn his mind to
those far-reaching, ambitious schemes, whereof the end was something
like a throne.

CHAPTER XXVII

SILAS IS CONVINCED

At first Bessie was utterly prostrated by the blow that had fallen on
her, but as time went on she revived a little, for hers was an elastic
and a s