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"Speak on," said Ralph. "What is it?" "Baas," replied Gaasha, "it is this; I want a week or ten days leave of absence to visit my people." "You mean that you want to desert," I put in. "No, lady," answered Gaasha; "you know that I love the Baas who saved my life far too well ever to wish to leave him.
Have you anything to eat about you, baas?" As it chanced, in my saddle-bags I had some biltong that I had saved against emergencies. I gave it to him, and he devoured it as a famished hyena might do, tearing off the tough meat in lumps and bolting them whole. When it was all gone he licked his fingers and his lips and stood still staring at me. "Tell me your story," I repeated.
Slipping from the bed, I felt for my pistol, as it was quite dark, crept to the window, opened it, and keeping my head below the level of the sill, fearing lest its appearance should be greeted with an assegai, asked who was there. "Me, baas," said the voice of Hans, our Hottentot servant, who, it will be remembered, had accompanied me as after-rider when first I went to Maraisfontein.
"Yes, Baas; but I did not waken you to tell you that. I have a message for you, Baas, from Mameena, wife of Saduko, whom I met about four hours ago upon the plain yonder." I bade him set it out.
Of course, after this there was nothing else to be done, so, having summoned the scratched Scowl, who seemed to have no heart in the business, we started on the spoor of the herd, which was as easy to track as a wagon road. "Never mind, Baas," said Scowl, "they are two hours' march off by now."
Ah! they were fools; they did not understand that it wants someone cleverer than I to make people so ugly." "Never mind all that," said Leonard, who understood however that the dwarf was talking thus in order to give himself time to think before he answered. "Show me your mind, Otter." "Baas, what can I say? I know nothing of the value of that red stone.
But when we came to the belt of thorns at the bottom of the hill, we found that the doctor Baas had either lied to us or he had not seen. For there suddenly the tall grass on either side of the path grew spears; yes, everywhere were spears. In a minute the two voorloopers were assegaied.
"What do you want that clumsy thing for," I said, "when there are plenty of sticks about?" "New journey, new stick! Baas. Also this kind of wood is full of air and might help me to float if we are upset into the water." "What an idea!" I exclaimed, and dismissed the matter from my mind.
"Otter, you idiot," broke in Leonard brusquely, "you had better stop talking and get something to eat, for it will be the last meal that you will wish to see for many a day." "The Baas is right," replied the dwarf; "moreover, I am hungry, for sorrow has kept me from food for these two days.
It is very good to get drunk when one has to be sober, and perhaps dead, for a long time afterwards. It would be nice to remember when one is a spook, or an angel with white wings, such as the old baas, your father, used to tell us about in school on the Sabbath." At this point, finding Hans hopeless, I got up and walked away, leaving him to finish our preparations.
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