So there was much kissing and many good-byes; Ralph and Suzanne saying that they would soon be back, which indeed was the case with one of them, till at last they were off, Jan riding with them a little way towards their first outspan by the sea, fourteen miles distant, where they were to sleep that night. When they had gone I went into my bedroom, and sitting down, I cried, for I was sorry to lose Suzanne, even for a little and for her own good, and my heart was heavy. Also my quarrel with the _predicant_ had put me out of temper. When I had got over this fit I set to work to tidy Suzanne’s little sleeping place, and that I found a sad task. Then Jan returned from the waggon, having bid farewell to the young couple, an hour’s trek away, and his head being clear by now, we talked over the plans of the new house which was to be built for them to live in, and, going down to the site of it, set it out with sticks and a rule, which gave us occupation till towards sunset, when it was time for him to go to see to the cattle. That night we went to bed early, for we were tired, and slept a heavy sleep, till at length, about one in the morning, we were awakened by the shoutings of the messengers who came bearing the terrible news. CHAPTER XV. RALPH RETURNS INTO THE SEA Ralph and Suzanne reached their outspan place in safety a little before sunset. I used to know the spot well; it is where one of the numerous wooded kloofs that scar the mountain slopes ends on a grassy plain of turf, short but very sweet. This plain is not much more than five hundred paces wide, for it is bordered by the cliff, that just here is not very high, against which the sea beats at full tide. When the oxen had been turned loose to graze, and the voorlooper set to watch them, the driver of the waggon undid the cooking vessels and built a fire with dry wood collected from the kloof. Then Suzanne cooked their simple evening meal, of which they partook thankfully. After it was done the pair left the waggon and followed the banks of the little kloof stream, which wandered across the plain till it reached the cliff, whence it fell in a trickling waterfall into the sea. Here they sat down upon the edge of the cliff, and locked in each other’s arms, watched the moon rise over the silver ocean, their young hearts filled with a joy that cannot be told. “The sea is beautiful, is it not, husband?” whispered Suzanne into his ear. “To-night it is beautiful,” he answered, “as our lives seem to be; yet I have seen it otherwise,” and he shuddered a little. She nodded, for she knew of what he was thinking, and did not wish to speak of it. “Neither life nor ocean can be always calm,” she said, “but oh! I love that great water, for it brought you to me.” “I pray that it may never separate us,” answered Ralph.