"I think there will be more weeping here before everything is done," she
said.
Rachel answered, however, that it was as good as any other, since names
could alter nothing. Here, then, at Ramah, Mr. Dove built him a house on
that knoll where first he had pitched his camp. It was a very good house
after its fashion, for, as has been said, he did not lack for means, and
was, moreover, clever in such matters. He hired a mason who had drifted to
Natal to cut stone, of which a plenty lay at hand, and two half-breed
carpenters to execute the wood-work, whilst the Kaffirs thatched the whole
as only they can do. Then he set to work upon a church, which was placed
on the crest of the opposite knoll where the white man, Ishmael, had
appeared on the evening of their arrival. Like the house, it was excellent
of its sort, and when at length it was finished after more than a year of
labour, Mr. Dove felt a proud man.
Indeed at Ramah he was happier than he had ever been since he landed upon
the shores of Africa, for now at length his dream seemed to be in the way
of realisation. Very soon a considerable native village sprang up around
him, peopled almost entirely by remnants of the Natal tribes whom Chaka
had destroyed and who were but too glad to settle under the aegis of the
white man, especially when they discovered how good he was.
Pages:
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125