use, all night.
One of the residents brought in a fine young antelope, which they bought
and cooked, and they suppered royally on antelope, hard tack and coffee.
Next morning they returned to the mine, reaching there early in the
afternoon. They had been out from Port Natal seventeen days, had found
and sampled the mine, and explored a natural pass for a road.

How to proceed was the next question. Sedgwick's idea was that both
should return to the seashore, proceed to England, and order a mill from
San Francisco, because they knew that there were no good patterns for
quartz mill machinery on the continent; and both agreed that should the
mill be built in England and shipped thence to South Africa, the fact
would be published and all their plans would be interfered with.

Jordan was silent for awhile; at last he said: "Jim, I ken understand
thet ther thot uv goin' back ter London ez mighty enchantin' ter yo'. But
thet's a game girl, thet thar young wife o' yourn; she listed fo' this
wah ez well ez yo,' er she'd never let yo' cum away. Yo' must go by ther
straightest track fer San Francisco and bring ther mill. I'll stay and
hev some rock ready for crushin' when ther mill cums."

"But, dear old friend," said Sedgwick, "it will take a year, perhaps, to
get a mill here from San Francisco. To leave you here--you would die of
the horrors with no company but these Boers."

"How d' yer know but I'd make a pretty good Boer or Kaffir my own self
with er little practice?" asked Jordan. "We'll stay over ter-morrer and
git some work goin'; then I'll go with yer ter the coast and get some men
and things I need. I'll cum back; you'll go ter Frisco, and everything'll
be lovely."

"No," said Sedgwick, "you go to San Francisco, and I will stay and work
the mine. It was I who proposed this thing; of right I should meet the
heaviest sacrifices." But Jordan was obstinate, declaring that he would
enjoy himself at the mine, and after a long discussion his programme was
agreed to. In the morning Jordan took the engineer and three natives
to the top of the hill, where the mine was covered with debris; walked
along to where the mountain, as it sloped to the west, was very abrupt,
and there set the Boers to making an open surface cut.

They went to work, and Jordan and the engineer went to measuring to see
where, down the hill, a tunnel would have to be started to tap the lode
500 feet deep. It was so sharp a hillside that the tunnel site w