Adventure stories; Gold -- Juvenile fiction; South Africa -- Juvenile fiction; Young men -- Fiction
They watched the two tall figures, on which Poeskop’s eyes were
fastened, coming up the street. The Bushman whispered that Karl
Engelbrecht was the bigger of the two--the man on the right. The
Boers--for they were manifestly both Dutchmen--were now close to the
hotel. Karl Engelbrecht, of whom Poeskop stood in so much terror, was a
typical Boer of Boers--a big, heavy, slouching fellow, six feet in
height, powerfully made, very strong, but slack and loose-limbed. He
wore the usual Boer clothing--short jacket and loose trousers of
moleskin, a flannel shirt, velschoens (field-shoes) of untanned hide,
and a big slouch-hat, ornamented with a single short black-and-white
ostrich plume. His long hay-coloured hair ran over his ears and partly
covered his neck, and he wore a huge untrimmed beard and moustache of
the same dull hue. His hard, pale blue eyes were set deep above broad,
sunburnt, fleshy cheeks. It was an unpleasant face; something in the
lowering brows, the hard, furtive eyes, gave the beholder instantly an
unpleasant impression; and about the man’s whole demeanour there was an
undefinable yet unmistakable air of menace and brutality. The Dutchman
accompanying him was of a much milder and less aggressive type--a big,
dark-bearded, slouching fellow, of dull and heavy countenance, with
nothing much to differentiate him from scores of his fellows of the
Transvaal, Orange Free State, and Cape Colony.
As Karl Engelbrecht strode up to the hotel, his eyes suddenly fell upon
Poeskop. He started, frowned evilly, glowered at the three white men
standing near, and then, taking a step or two forward, seized the
Bushman by the collar of his jacket.
"So, my fine fellow, I have caught you, have I?" he said, in a deep
guttural and manifestly angry voice. As he spoke, he cuffed the
unfortunate Bushman heavily on the head with his huge hand.
Mr. Blakeney was a strong and determined man, and in no mood to stand by
and see his servant knocked about. His blood rose instantly at the
insolent aggression of this bully.
"Let the man alone!" he said angrily in Dutch, snatching Poeskop away so
suddenly and with such force that he freed him from the Boer’s grip.
"He is my servant!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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