"You think me a fool, but I am
not. Many years ago I knew a little maid who was the daughter of a
teacher, and who, if she lives, must have grown into such a woman as Quabi
describes. Well, I joined you Boers last year in order to look for that
maid, and I am going to begin to look for her across the river yonder."
As the words reached whatever sense of Rachel's it was that heard them, of
a sudden, in an instant, laager, Boers, and Richard vanished. In her sleep
she tried to recreate them, at first without avail, then the curtain of
darkness appeared to lift, and in the still water of the pool she saw
another picture, that of Richard Darrien mounted on a black horse with one
white foot, riding along a native path through a bush-clad country, while
by his side trotted the spy whose name was Quabi.
They were talking together, and she heard, or, at any rate, knew their
words.
"How far is it now to Umgugundhlovo?" asked Richard.
"Three days' journey, Inkosi, if we are not stopped by flooded rivers,"
answered Quabi.
For one second only Rachel saw and heard these things, then they, too,
passed away, and she awoke to see in front of her the pool empty save for
its lilies, and above to hear the whispering of the evening wind among the
trees.
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