"
I remember that I did not much like his tone at the time, but set it
down to an attack of low spirits, to which he grew very subject as the
years went on. I went down to the kraal and watched till within an hour
of sunrise; then, as no thieves appeared, returned to the station. As I
came near I was astonished to see a figure sitting in my father's chair.
At first I thought it must be a drunken Kaffir, then that my father had
fallen asleep there.
And so he had,--for he was dead!
CHAPTER II
THE FIRE-FIGHT
When I had buried my father, and seen a successor installed in his
place--for the station was the property of the Society--I set to work to
carry out a plan which I had long cherished, but been unable to execute
because it would have involved separation from my father. Put shortly,
it was to undertake a trading journey of exploration right through the
countries now known as the Free State and the Transvaal, and as much
further North as I could go. It was an adventurous scheme, for though
the emigrant Boers had begun to occupy positions in these territories,
they were still to all practical purposes unexplored.
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