rofited
so largely out of the land which was ours, but so it often chances that
those whose hearts are small and mean reap the reward of the courage and
misfortunes of braver men. Nor should we grumble indeed, seeing that the
Lord has blessed us greatly in land and goods.

Ah! It was a sad home leaving. The day before we trekked Ralph rode
to visit his mother's grave for the last time, and then, following the
track which he had taken as a child, he went to the kloof where Suzanne
had found him, and sat down upon that stone on which as a child he had
knelt in prayer, and where in after years he and his lost wife had told
their love. Jan accompanied him upon this dismal journey, for to speak
truth we did not like to leave him more alone than we could help, since
his manner remained strange, and when he set out on his solitary rides
we could not be certain that we should ever see him come back again.

Next morning we trekked away, and my eyes were so full of tears as I sat
beneath the tent of the first waggon that the familiar landscape and the
home where I lived for twenty years and more were blotted from my sight.
But I could still hear the long-nosed spy who had bought the farm, and
who as waiting to enter into possession, talking to Jan.

"Good-bye, Heer Botmar," he said, "and good fortune to you upon your
journey. For my part I cannot understand you emigrants. The English
Government is an accursed Government, no doubt; still I would not sell
a farm and a house like this for fifty pounds and an old waggon in order
to wander in the wilderness to escape from it, there to be eaten by
lions or murdered by Kaffirs. Still, good-bye, and good luck to you, and
I hope that you are as content with your bargain as I am with mine."

"The Lord will be our guide, as He was to the Israelites of old,"
answered Jan in a somewhat troubled voice.

"Yes, yes; they all say that, Heer Botmar, and I trust that they are
right, for you will need nothing less than a cloud by day and a pillar
of fire in the darkness to protect you from all the dangers in your
path. Also I hope that the hosts of Pharaoh, in the shape of English
soldiers, will not fetch you back before you cross the border, for then,
when you have sold your birthright in Egypt, and are cut off from the
Promised Land, your lot will be hard, Heer Botmar."

"The Lord will guide and protect us," repeated Jan, and gave the word to
trek.

In my heart at the time I was inclined to