their severest censors. And theirreligious profession is sincere enough, however blinded their eyes mayhave become as regards some obvious Christian duties.
Prayer is offered in almost every Dutch household morning and evening toAlmighty God. The Sunday is given up to the strictest religiousobservances; the periodical communions are punctually and reverentlyattended. If the curse of slavery could be torn out by the roots, andthe natives recognised by them as of equal value with themselves in thesight of Heaven, there would be few worthier races to be found on theface of the earth than they.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
"Here is a letter for you, George," said Mrs Mansen, as the formerentered the parlour at Umtongo, about three months after his arrival athis mother's house. "It looks like Mr Rogers' handwriting. But Ibelieve Mr Rogers is still in England."
"It is from him, though," said George when he had finished reading theletter. "He has returned to Dykeman's Hollow--has been there about afortnight, he says."
"What has made him come back so much sooner than he had intended? Hewrote us word that his business in England was prospering, but he wouldbe obliged, he thought, to remain another twelvemonth."
"Ah, but there is, it appears, a total change of things in England.Another Government has come in, and is likely to reverse altogether thepolicy of the old one. He says, too, that a lot of people have taken upCetewayo's cause, and declare that he is a very ill-used man, that henever hurt or wronged anybody, and if we had left him alone, he wouldhave left us."
"Do they?" said Mrs Mansen. "I wish some of them had been Cetewayo'sneighbours, as we were."
"Well, the upshot is, that Mr Rogers thought it was of no use for himto stay any longer in England, so he has come back. And now he wants meto go back to Dykeman's Hollow, and take up my old work as schoolmasterand teacher."
"Well, I hoped you were going to settle here," said Mrs Mansen. "Thereis as much need for your services here as there could be at Dykeman'sHollow. And my husband would be willing, as you know, to give you apart of this farm to look after,--quite as large as you could manage,--and to build you a house to live in, or rather, I should say, enlargethe small house at Droopsdorf. Two more rooms would make it acomfortable house."
"He and you are very kind, mother. But, you see, I engaged myself toMr Rogers, and I ought to keep to my engagement."
"Yes, but that was a year and a half ago, and things have happened sincethen which make all the difference. Mr Rogers didn't know that we hadremoved from Spielman's Vley, and that you, by engaging yourself to him,would be, not half an hour's ride from us, but a good week's journey atleast, and you didn't know it, and couldn't guess it, either."
"No doubt that is true, mother; and I must allow that if I had knownthat there would be all the width of the Transvaal between you and me, Ishouldn't have made the agreement. But, you see, I did make it."
"Yes, but I don't think Mr Rogers could refuse to cancel it. It wouldbe very unhandsome of him if he did. Then again, I don't suppose he hasheard of your long illness. He thinks you have been living with usnearly six months, as Mr Margetts has; whereas for three months, or fortwo at all events, you didn't come here at all, and for a good monthmore you were quite an invalid. I haven't had more than two real monthsof you yet, my dear boy, and after so long a separation,--I may sayafter what seemed like a recovery of you from the grave--I can't affordto part with you. Isn't that reason, Thyrza?"
"Yes," answered Thyrza. "I think Mr Rogers would at least give you alonger holiday, if he didn't consent to your staying here altogether. Iknow father thinks so too."
"I am sure I don't want to leave you," said George, lookingaffectionately at his mother and sister. "I have never been made sohappy by anything as by finding you."
Mrs Mansen and her daughter were indeed two relatives of whom any onemight be proud. The mother was a little past middle age, but was stillstrikingly handsome, and though her dress differed in some particularsfrom that of an English lady, she would have passed muster, both asregards appearance and manners, in good English society. Her daughternearly resembled her in height and feature; and if the reader could haveseen her, he would not have been surprised that even the ponderousRudolf Kransberg should have been captivated by her charms. She was alively girl in her nineteenth year, and, as yet, fancy-free. It hadnever occurred to her that Mynheer Rudolf had viewed her with anysentiment of admiration; and we are afraid that, if the idea had enteredher head, it would have had no other effect than that of affording herunmixed amusement.
"And it isn't father only," pursued Thyrza, "who wants you to remain atUmtongo. There's another person--"
"Redgy Margetts, I suppose," interrupted George. "I have no doubt helikes his quarters well enough--"
"Mr Margetts!" broke in Thyrza hastily, and with a little accession ofcolour; "I wasn't thinking about him. I don't suppose he knows his mindon that subject or any other. No, it is a different personaltogether--"
"My dear Thyrza," interposed Mrs Mansen, "there is your father out inthe garden, beckoning. He wants you, I am pretty sure. Go out andspeak to him."
Thyrza departed, and Mrs Mansen, after a pause of a minute or two,addressed her son in a tone of some embarrassment.
"I am sorry you said that about Mr Margetts," she said--"sorry for tworeasons. In the first place, I fancy--if indeed it is only fancy--thathe is attracted by Thyrza."
"Redgy is as easily attracted by a handsome girl as a bee is by ahoneysuckle," said George; "but his attachment does not generally lastmuch longer."
"I hope you may be right," returned his mother; "but I own I thinkotherwise. I grant Thyrza either does not see, or does not much carefor, his preference. But how long that might continue, I do not know."
"Well, mother, even if it were so, what objection is there to RedgyMargetts? He is a gentleman by birth, well educated, and a capitalfellow every way. Thyrza might do much worse."
"No doubt. But he is, I understand, in no position to marry. He is ayounger son, with no fortune, only a precarious allowance, and hisfamily would probably be opposed to such a marriage."
"That is true," assented George; "but then Redgy is too honourable afellow to engage Thyrza's affections, if he did not see his way tomarrying her."
"Very likely. He would not intentionally make her fond of him. But hemight do so, nevertheless. No, George, it is certainly better that _he_should leave Umtongo; and my idea is that he should go and take yourplace at Dykeman's Hollow."
"We had both better go," said George. "There is a reason--"
"Yes, I think I understand it," interrupted Mrs Mansen. "And I wasgoing to say I was sorry you introduced Mr Margetts' name, because itled to Thyrza's remark. You would not like her to speak to you on thesubject. But may not I do so?"
George again coloured and walked once or twice across the room. Then hespoke.
"I do not affect to misunderstand you, mother. I know to whom Thyrzameant to refer. But--"
"But hear me for a moment, George. I can understand your unwillingnessto address Miss Vander Heyden, knowing, as you do, her brother's rooteddislike to the English. But you do not know all that I know. When thebrother and sister reached their home, several months ago, we were justbeginning to be seriously anxious about you. Rumours reached us, first,that you had been one of a party attacked near Heidelberg, and secondly,that you had left your friends on the day after the attack, and had setout for Umtongo. What had become of you during the last month? Ofcourse we were anxious and alarmed, and the alarm soon spread. MissVander Heyden herself came over here to inquire. Her distress hadcompletely broken down all the barriers of reserve. She did not,indeed, tell us of her attachment to you, but it was impossible for usnot to see it. After another month of continual inquiry, we were allconvinced that you must have perished in the bush. Then Annchen spoketo me--she could not, in fact, keep it to herself. Considering you asno longer belonging to this world, she told me of the vows of affectionwhich had been
interchanged between you."
"They never ought to have been," said George. "I was to blame. But Ishould be still more culpable if I allowed myself to be influenced bywhat you have told me. It cannot be, and that is all I have to say.
"Yet," he resumed a few minutes afterwards, "I am not sorry that we havehad this conversation, painful as it has been. You know now my mainreason for wishing to return to Dykeman's Hollow. It has been very nicebeing with you and Thyrza. But Umtongo is too near Pieter's Dorf for meto fix my