United States or Chad ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Are you better acquainted with the law than I am? But stay, where is the father, Henri Marais?" Someone thrust Marais forward, and there he stood quite silent, staring at us with a queer look upon his face and his gun in his hand, for he, too, was ready to ride. "Take away that gun," said Retief; "it might go off and cause disturbance or perhaps accidents," and somebody obeyed.
"Horrocks is to spare no expense in tracking Retief down." She laughed silently. "Lablache is to pay. They are going over the old ground again, I guess. The tracks of the cattle. Horrocks is not to be feared. We must watch Lablache. He will act. Horrocks will only be his puppet." Bill pondered before he spoke. "Yes," he said thoughtfully at last, "that is the best of news. The very best.
That lead block up there " The man motioned with his head toward a one-foot cube suspended by a thick cable. "It's rigged to drop every now and again. Averages five minutes. A warning light flashes first. You can take a chance; sometimes the light's a bluff. You can set the clock back on it by dropping another chip or you can let go the grip." Retief looked at the massive block of metal.
Well, he went I know not where, and so strong was public opinion against him that I do not think that even his uncle, Henri Marais, sought him out to console him. When Pereira was gone, our party and that of Retief fell into talk, and we had much to tell.
"I'll take the chance. How do we get to the casino?" "We follow this street. It twists around and goes under a couple tunnels. When we get to the Drunkard's Stairs we go up and it's right in front of us. A pink front with a sign like a big Luck Wheel." "Give me your belt, Magnan," Retief said. Magnan handed it over. "Lie down, Illy," Retief said. The servant looked at Retief.
"Vug and Toscin will be glad to see me," he said. "But they'll never believe me." He lay down. Retief strapped his feet together and stuffed a handkerchief in his mouth. "Why are you doing that?" Magnan asked. "We need him." "We know the way. And we don't need anyone to announce our arrival. It's only on three-dee that you can march a man through a gang of his pals with a finger in his back."
When the fire was at its height Retief again addressed his taunting language to the man beside him, and Lablache writhed under the lash of that scathing tongue. "I've heerd tell you wer' mighty proud of this place of yours. Spent piles o' bills on it. Nothin' like circulatin' cash, I guess. Say now, how long did it take you to fix them shacks up?" No answer. Lablache was beyond mere words.
As if in answer to the pistol-shot a fire had been lit against the side of the house. It was no ordinary fire, either, but a great pile of hay. The flames shot up with terrible swiftness, licking up the side of the red pine house with lightning rapidity. Lablache understood. The house was to be demolished, and Retief had given the signal.
Colonel Benson now appeared as the new "Boer-stalker," and after making several unsuccessful attempts to surround them almost captured the Government in the mountains between Piet Retief and Spitskop.
Baptisms occupy a few hours during the afternoon, and the most common names for youthful burghers are Gert, Barend, Paul, Piet, and such like. The Boers do not believe in departing from the time-honoured names of their forefathers. Piet suggests the immortal name of Piet Retief, and Paul well, there is Oom Paul.
Word Of The Day