"Generally," he said, "I go with six waggons, but I was very unlucky last time; the tze-tze-fly attacked my animals, most of which died, and the natives took advantage of my position to make an attack upon me. I beat them off, but was finally obliged to pack all my most valuable goods in one waggon, to make my way back with it, and abandon everything else to the natives. Now, Humphreys, why don't you join me? You have got a waggon, and you can buy stores at Newcastle, not of course as cheap as at the seaside, but still cheap enough to leave a large marginal profit on the trip." "I cannot leave the farm," Mr Humphreys said. "Nor can his wife spare him, Mr Harvey," Mrs Humphreys put in. "Well, why don't you send your son, here, with the waggon?" Mr Harvey asked. "The man who generally travels with me as partner broke his leg the other day, down at Durban, and I should be very glad of one or two white companions. Two or three white men together can do anything with the natives, but if there is only one, and he happens to knock up, it goes very hard with him." "Well, I don't know," Mr Humphreys said, as Dick looked eagerly towards him; "it is a sort of thing that wants thinking over." "Oh! father," Dick exclaimed excitedly, "it would be a glorious trip, especially if Tom Jackson would go too. I heard Mr Jackson only yesterday say that his draught-oxen are eating their heads off, and that he must put them on the road to do some freighting. You see, if Mr Jackson did not care about going in for the trading himself--and I know, from what he said the other day, that his money is all employed on the farm--you might hire his waggon for the trip. In fact that and your own--" "That sounds easy and satisfactory enough, Dick," Mr Humphreys said, laughing; "but one does not jump into these things in a moment. There, you go off to bed, and I will talk the matter further over with Mr Harvey."