istened
when he spoke; and even the gross, hot-eyed women dulled
their terrible speech when he stood before them. The eyes
of Emmanuel, propped in his bed, his blankets wet with the
wine he spilled from his glass, were ever upon him. I think
the boy admired him. Whenever he stirred, sovereigns
dribbled to the floor, but he looked not once after them;
he was all for watching Walters, who barely turned towards
him. Ah, but he was very sick, our Emmanuel! His breath
rasped as he drew it; there was a fire in his great eyes
that made one tremble--that fire that makes you think of
hell-fire and naked souls writhing in it. A look of savage
hunger, but far off, as though desiring things not of
earth!'

"A strange scene, was it not, for a chamber overshadowed by
the wings of death. Towards midnight, Emmanuel sighed, and
slipped down a little. Peter moved to lift him and started
at the pinch of death on his face. His exclamation drew
most of the others to look, but as they crowded near
Emmanuel opened his eyes.

"'Walters,' he said faintly.

"'Well, my boy,' said Walters.

"'What-do-you-think-of-this?' Emmanuel asked, his weakness
watering his speech.

"Walters laughed quietly. 'I'll tell you in the morning,'
he said. 'But you're a good actor, my friend.'

"You'll see,' whispered Emmanuel, and closed his eyes
again.

"Then Barend bade them all go forth, and after awhile, when
he had taken one lewd man in his hands and cast him on the
stair, they went, and the noise of their voices, raw and
ungentle, filtered away. The two Boers were left at the
bedside, among the bottles and the gold and the strewn
clothes; and Emmanuel lay rigid, with a buzz in his throat
and a spot of blood on his lips. Peter kneeled and prayed.

"But in a couple of hours, when his face had grown thin and
his nose sharp, and his hands cold as clods, they saw he
was dead, and spoke together of what they must do. They
knew nothing of that treacherous web of law and custom
which is the life of a city; they knew only that their feet
were among pitfalls, and that they must move quickly if
they would take Emmanuel away to the farm and the kraal. So
while Peter went forth to bring three horses, Barend sought
among the garments scattered about the room and dressed the
thin body in them, and put his own broad-brimmed hat on the
fair head that should henceforth need no shelter from the
sun. When he had done, Peter returned, and came up the
stairs quietl