knoll, which lay at a distance of a few hundred yards. Thefarmer, who had been on the point of dismounting, put his horse inmotion, and rode in company with the driver to the spot indicated. Hereturned in a few minutes, and ordered the cattle to be outspanned andcarefully secured inside a small thicket which lay close at hand.
"Have you ever seen one of our South African storms?" he asked ofGeorge, when he had finished these preparations.
"No," was the answer. "But surely you cannot apprehend a storm now, MrBaylen! It is one of the most calm and beautiful days I ever rememberto have witnessed."
"Ay, I daresay you think so," returned the farmer. "But nevertheless weare going to have it sharp and strong, as the saying is, and that withina quarter of an hour. The suddenness with which storms come on, andpass away again, is one of the peculiar features of Southern Africa.You had better get inside the waggon, and that without loss of time.The women have been wise enough to take shelter already."
While the farmer was speaking, he had been engaged in carefully securinghis horse by a strong rheim, and then, climbing up after Redgy andGeorge into the waggon, drew down and fastened the curtain in front.While this conversation was going on, the air had perceptibly darkened,and there came a rush of cold wind from the north, the precursorapparently of the hurricane. Then the storm broke out with a suddennessand violence which fairly took George's breath away. The wind sweptdown with such force that, but for the shelter of the trees, neither mannor horse could have stood against it. The air grew so dark that theycould hardly discern each other's faces; and the hail, or rather theblocks of ice, poured down from the skies, beating against the coveringof the cart with such violence, that George expected every moment to seeit driven in. Presently the hail ceased and a deluge of rain followed.The men had been careful to place the waggon on a piece of ground whichwas slightly raised above the rest. But for this the water would haverisen almost to the level of the floor of the waggon; and the ground onboth sides of them was soon converted into a small river, which pouredalong with the fury of a mountain torrent, sweeping away shrubs andsmall trees, and even large stones, as though they had been so manystraws. It was two hours good before the storm was over. Then theclouds dispersed, the sun came out again, and no other trace of the furyof the elements was left, but what was supplied by the uprooted shrubsand the streams of water which continued to pour along with unabatedforce.
"We shan't be able to proceed any farther to-day," remarked the farmer."The ground will be too soft to travel upon for ten or twelve hours,even under this hot sun. We must make ourselves as comfortable as wecan for the night."
The necessary arrangements were accordingly made. The horses werehobbled, and turned out to graze. A fire was lighted, at which supperwas cooked; and after the meal the males of the party sat down to smoketheir pipes by it, for the night air after the rain was chilly. MrsBaylen and Clara retired to rest in their waggon.
"I should like to hear the history of your life in South Africa," saidGeorge, as he threw another log on the fire. "I think you said you cameinto these parts when you were quite a lad, and that, I judge, cannot beless than fifty years ago. You must remember a great many changes, andprobably have gone through some strange adventures. If you don't feeldisposed for sleep just yet, I wish you would give us the benefit ofyour experiences. Redgy and I would be greatly interested to hearthem."
"Father won't object to that," said Wilhelm with a smile. "Nothingpleases him better than to tell us stories about his young days."
"And they're worth hearing too," added Ernest. "I suppose I've heardmost of 'em more than once, but I always like to hear them again. Ionly wish Clarchen were with us. She enjoys them even more than I do."
CHAPTER SEVEN.
"Well, Mr Rivers," began Farmer Baylen, "I don't know why I shouldn'tgratify your fancy. It is certain that I and mine have been a long timein the colony, and know pretty well all that has happened in it duringthis century. And what has happened there during this century is prettynearly all the history it has. Between the time when my mother'sancestors first settled at the Cape, and the time when the Englishcaptured it, it can hardly be said to have had any history at all."
"It was a period of a hundred and fifty years, though, wasn't it?"suggested George.
"Yes, but one day was just like another day, and one year like anotheryear, and one generation like another generation all that time. TheDutch occupied the land, and made the natives work for them; and whenmore land was wanted, they took more land, and enslaved more natives.So they went on, spreading farther into the country, until the Englishcame.
"My father--I believe his name was Andrew Bailey--was a ship's carpenteron board one of the line-of-battle ships in Sir Home Popham's fleet.There was very little resistance offered to the English. It wasgenerally believed that when the European wars came to an end the colonywould be restored to Holland, as it had been before. Consequently theDutch regarded the English as visitors, rather than masters.
"A good many men got their discharge after the fighting was over, andamong them my father. He liked the country, and found plenty ofemployment, and higher wages than he could get at home. He was askilled workman, particularly clever at house-building. An Englishsettler wanted a house built at Stellenbosch, and my father undertookthe job. He lodged, while employed in the work, in the house of a Dutchfarmer named Van Schuylen, and there he soon became very intimate. Thefarmer was a kind and hospitable old man, as the old Hollanders for themost part were."
"Kind to the whites, that is," interpolated Redgy.
"Ay, Mr Margetts, I understand what you mean, and I am afraid there istoo much truth in it. There is a prejudice against `black blood,'which, with all the years that I've lived in this land, I cannotunderstand. `Black blood!' the very words to me seem to be a denial ofwhat the Bible says, that `God has made of _one_ blood all the nationsof the earth.' Yes, you are right about Farmer Van Schuylen. He'd makeno more of putting a native to do the most unwholesome work, that mightkill him outright, than he would of pitching a stone into a pond. Andif they were fractious or lazy, he'd stand by and see them flogged withthe jamboks--the rhinoceros whips, that is--till their backs were cut toribbons. But my father was a free man and an Englishman, and VanSchuylen had none but friendly words for him.
"Well, as I've said, my father became intimate with his family, and byand by fell in love with Rose, the only daughter, and she with him. Theold man did not object, but Cornelius Van Schuylen, her brother, did notlike the match. He was an out-and-out Hollander. He thought theEnglish had no business in the colony. They were interlopers, he said,and jeered at our ways. He and my father had had some high words, Ifancy, about the natives, very soon after they came to Stellenbosch.But Rose, though she was very fond of her brother, took my father'spart. He was a handsome and well-made man of five-and-twenty, and shewould have had him, I believe, even if her father had objected.Fortunately Cornelius lived ten or twelve miles away. I sayfortunately, for there certainly would have been a hot quarrel betweenhim and his brother-in-law, if he had had any share in the business. Myfather became a great favourite with the old man, and in a few yearsnearly the whole management of the farm was left to his son-in-law, whopersisted in showing favour to the blacks. He wouldn't overwork them,and wouldn't allow them to be flogged. What was worse, he allowed themto attend the church services, and to have their children baptised."
"That was no offence, I suppose, sir," said Redgy.
"On the contrary, it was one of the greatest he could commit," saidBaylen. "By the Dutch law, all baptised Christians were free.Therefore baptising a native was the same thing as setting him free, andthe presence of free blacks in the colony was what they could notendure. There had been differences with the English authorities on thissubject; but little had come of them, because the English were onlyholding the colony for a time. Two or three years after my father'smarriage, however, there came the downfall of Napoleon, and a generalpeace. To the sur
prise and indignation of the Dutch, the colony was notrestored to Holland, but given permanently over to the English."
"Well," said George, "I must say they had some right to complain ofthat. I heard what Moritz said about it, and I couldn't help agreeingwith him."
"I think the English would have acted more wisely if they had retainedsimply a naval station, with a fort or two to guard it," said thefarmer. "Well, when it was seen that the occupation of the English wasto be permanent, and that the English discouraged slavery, and allowedthe baptism of the natives, there was great discontent, whichoccasionally broke out into rebellion. Cornelius was among those whowere hottest against