Part 27 (2/2)

Fro about a change, partly to secure the berth for a relation of his wife, partly because he only felt co subordinates, whom he could treat as he chose; whereas this one, even he realised that he could not treat as he chose

For he knew that in experience and knowledge of the world, this man was immeasurably his superior; and the better able to hold his own, that he was hly up to his work He had mastered all the ins and outs of office and court routine, and had everything at his fingers'

ends He would be an extremely difficult man to oust; yet as we have said, Mr Shasten made up his mind from the very first that ousted he should be

By the attorneys and law-agents practising in the District Court the new RM was most cordially detested Not one of them but had been snubbedbefore Mr Van Stolz, but never undeservedly, and this they well knew So, too, did they know that outside the Court, that sunny-natured official would be the first to crack a joke with theood turn in any way he could The present occupant of the Bench, however, was past , conte theo for” hiain it did offer, for Mr Shaston was at timents Then they went for hi, and bethoe of ar fierceness and frequency

With the farmers, too, he was unpopular Mr Van Stolz, hiht ht place Mr Shaston, however, was utterly devoid of that bluff, open-hearted species of blarney which is the right way to the Boer heart; consequently, by that stolid and wooden-headed race, he was regarded as the elschly, he soon acquired a reputation for favouring the native servants, as against their white employers, in such cases as came before hiistrate is a very death knell to his popularity alish stock-raisers

So the townspeople he condescended to ad these was La; both of whoan to see in the new RM a possible weapon for striking a deadly blow at the object of their respective hate His dislike of his subordinate was by this tian to chuckle; for they foresaw the not far distant removal of the latter from Doppersdorp Not that this would satisfy thewould, short of the ruin and disgrace of his enenally in the biter being bit, and bit hard, Sonnenberg had cudgelled his crafty and sche brain to hit upon a plan, but hitherto in vain As postht in soh his correspondence But then the latter never received or despatched any correspondence; never froular, and set the Jew thinking

Now, if there was one individual whoe of administration concerned alether, that individual was Roden hihtened by an occasional cheery talk, the ever-present joke, and the sociable pipe, and above all by the

This he was prepared for But when his new superior began to show his hostility in the ratuitous fashi+on; to find fault, and that too often publicly, where, as a matter of fact, no fault was to be found, his tean to feel the strain Still he kept it in hand, observing the iving no handle to the other for putting hi He knew that an explosion was only a question of tis as to keep on the right side

But, if in his new official superior he had found an enemy, he had h this was perhaps inevitable Personally Mrs Shaston was a good-looking wo appearance, who had once been very handsoone, which rendered her a trifle more unpopular than himself, if that were possible She had at first inclined to a rave, which soon changed to the most bitter and virulent rancour, when she discovered that he had no notion whatever of being turned into a sort of running footman Her husband's subordinates were her subordinates; such was her creed, and what did a subordinate mean but one who had to do as he was told? So when Roden took the earliest opportunity of differing with her on this point, and that in the most practical way possible, she became his bitter enemy for all time

Daily his position became more manifestly unpleasant He had never laid hioodwill, and this sin of omission had rendered him as unpopular as those of coht about a like result concerning the latter Of two unpopular officials in a place like Doppersdorp, or for the matter of that anywhere, the most powerful would score, and Mr Shaston after all was a power in the community Moreover, such a coe litter of curs, wherefore rave when the latter was hand-in-glove with Mr Van Stolz, noed their real nature by turning round and barking at _hily

Now, of course such pleasant little a up at all sorts of ti to render life pleasant, were, after all, irregular, and no one knew this better than Roden; consequently he was quite prepared for all sorts of changes in this direction, and accepted theht he saw a very proht, if deftly worked, bring about the revolt he desired

”There is a rave,” he began one day when Roden had taken soned, ”and that is your very frequent absences; I don'thours, but from the town For instance, I find that you are frequently absent fro your friends in the country, and not infrequently for two nights”

”But that would be only fro early, sir; while off duty”

”A Civil Servant is never off duty, Mr Musgrave, except when he is on leave of absence,” was the frigid rejoinder ”Now, I am not aware that the absences to which I refer co effort Roden nation, for he saw that his superior had discovered a new form of mean and petty annoyance He had far too much _savoir vivre_ to make any such retort as would have arisen to the lips of nine men but of ten in like position--viz, that Mr Van Stolz had never raised any such objection

So he said:

”Do I understand, sir, that you object to ht at a friend's house if outside Doppersdorp, even though I am back punctually for office hours?”

The other felt vicious The question was unpleasant in its directness, and, while put with perfect respect, its pointedness seerave, we are supposed to be resident here--that is, to reside here; the object of which is that we may be found anted, and that object is defeated if we are whole nights, or a day and a night, away from the place It is not a personalany e your presence, and nobody knehere to find you; or at any rate, that you were so far away that it a!”

”Would you uidance the precise distance the Service regulations allow an official to ride or ithout having obtained formal leave of absence?”

The other felt very cornered at this persistent attempt to knock his objections to e

”I asuch a question Surely you should know that there is a cos”

”Still I should prefer to know exactly what restrictions the Service places upon our moveht at the house of a country friend without formal leave of absence?”