Mrs Nel took some meiboss, and allowed the baby to suck a small piece, which it did with considerable enjoyment. She listened complacently to the general appreciation of this delicious preserve which she made according to a recipe that had been in the family for generations. Mrs Nel's meiboss was unrivalled. "Lekker!" she said to the baby. "It is lekker, eh?" She put her fingers in the jar and drew out another piece. For the first time since she had entered Honor looked in Matheson's direction, looked with a quick gleam of hostility in her eyes, as though expecting to detect in his expression something of the amusement she believed he experienced at the Nels' expense. His steady gaze as it met hers disarmed her resentment. If it was a little unusual to thrust one's fingers into a jar the contents of which others were sharing, it was a practice for which a precedent could be claimed. He helped himself from the jar and passed it to Honor. "Jolly good stuff," he said. "I don't know when I have tasted anything half so good. Made with apricots... They'd like this in England." Mrs Nel proceeded to ply him with elucidatory questions about England. "It is always raining there," she announced by way of comment. "The sun is to be seen on occasions," he returned. "Also cases of heat apoplexy have been known. Still, it is drier on the Karroo." "Ach, the Karroo! Generally we have a drought here. One wishes the Lord had distributed things more evenly. But no doubt. He had His reasons. It would not be well for us to have everything as we would like." The conversation hung after that, until Herman Nel revived it by a discussion of the various accepted methods for raising water: he put forward certain projects of his own in this connexion which Cornelius and Matheson disposed of as impractical. Cornelius was inclined to accept the drought, as the unenlightened Boer accepts scab and other evils, as a visitation of Providence which it would be futile as well as impious to attempt to evade. He was a fairly prosperous man, but the profitable working of the farm was largely owing to the more energetic younger brother, whose keener intelligence and sound judgment co-operated successfully with the other's undoubted skill in, and knowledge of, all branches of farming. Cornelius disapproved of many of his brother's advanced, and what he termed English, ideas; but he was quick to appreciate the advantage when he reaped a profitable return on them. He was shrewd enough to recognise that alone he could not have achieved the prosperity he enjoyed. The conversation shifted from wells to motor-cars. This convenient means of transport had found its way on to many farms. It linked up scattered districts and decreased distances enormously. Herman Nels spoke of getting a car, but his brother, and his brother's wife, opposed the idea energetically.