Part 11 (1/2)
Re the incident of the afternoon, this sarcasm reduced Marais to silence
”Well,” went on h I am fond of Marie, and know her to be a sweet and noble-hearted girl, neither do I wish that she should lish woed into the net of the Boers and their plottings Still, it is plain that these two love each other with heart and soul, as doubtless it has been decreed that they should love This being so, I tell you that to separate thee upon one of them is a crime before God, of which, I ae things o, Henri Marais Will you not, then, be content to leave your child in safe keeping?”
”Never!” shouted Marais ”She shall accompany me to a new home, which is not under the shadow of your accursed British flag”
”Then I have no more to say On your head be it here and hereafter,”
replied my father soleer I broke in:
”But I have, mynheer To separate Marie and myself is a sin, and one that will break her heart As for , more perhaps than you think, and in this rich country wealth can be earned by those ork, as I would do for her sake The ive her showed his true nature this day, for he who can play so low a trick to win a wager, will play worse tricks to win greater things
Moreover, the scheme must fail since Marie will not marry him”
”I say she shall,” replied Marais; ”and that whether she does or not, she shall accolish boy”
”Accompany you I will, father, and share your fortunes to the last But marry Hernando Pereira I will not,” said Marie quietly
”Perhaps, ain you will be glad of the help of an 'English boy'”
The words were spoken at random, a kind of ejaculation fro of Marais's cruelty and insults, like the cry of a beast beneath a blow Little did I kno true they would prove, but at times it is thus that truth is e hidden in our souls
”When I want your help I will ask for it,” raved Marais, who, knowing hi with violence
”Asked or unasked, if I live it shall be given in the future as in the past, Mynheer Marais God pardon you for the woe you are bringing on Marie and on an to weep a little, and, unable to bear that sight, I covered my eyes with my hand Marais, hen he was not under the influence of his prejudices or passion, had a kind heart, was hness He swore at Marie, and told her to go to bed, and she obeyed, still weeping Then my father rose and said:
”Henri Marais, we cannot leave here to-night because the horses are kraaled, and it would be difficult to find them in this darkness, so we must ask your hospitality till dawn”
”_I_ do not ask it,” I exclaio to sleep in the cart,” and I liether
What passed afterwards between theathered that my father, hen roused, also had a teer man, told Marais his opinion of his wickedness and folly in language that he was not likely to forget
I believe he even drove hi the that he had sworn before God that his daughter should never lishman Also he said that he had promised her solemnly to Pereira, his own nephehom he loved, and could not break his word
”No,” answeredmad with the madness that runs before destruction, you prefer to break Marie's heart and perhaps becouilty of her blood”
Then he left hiroped my way to the cart, which stood where it had been outspanned on the veld at a little distance fro heartily, so ht for another attack and make an end of me
When I reached it and lit the lantern which ays carried, I was astonished to find that, in a rough fashi+on, it had been made ready to sleep in The seats had been cleared out, the hind curtain fastened, and so forth Also the pole was propped up with an ox-yoke so as to uely who could have done this, Hans cli two karosses which he had borrowed or stolen, and asked if I was cooing to sleep in the cart?”
”Baas,” he replied, ”I was not; I prepared it for you How did I know that you were co? Oh, very simply I sat on the stoep and listened to all the talk in the sitkammer Thehas never been mended, baas, since the Quabies broke it God in Heaven! what a talk that was