"Of course," he said, "If Dirck dies there must be an enquiry into this. In any case, there must be an enquiry, if you insist upon it. Mr. Allnutt will give us his surety that you will appear if he dies." "I should be well content to drop the matter, sir, if Dirck lives, as I sincerely hope he will. It is a most unfortunate affair, and greatly to be regretted. However, related as he is to Mrs. Allnutt, I certainly have no wish to press the matter against him. I am going away from here, and am not likely to return unless I am obliged to do so. And for my aunt's sake, if for no other reason, I should regret extremely to bring so heavy a charge against one to whom she is so attached." "I thank you, sir. I am the unhappy fellow's uncle, and for my own part and that of the family I feel deeply indebted to you for your forbearance. I am glad, however, that you are about to leave, for the ties of blood here count for a great deal. Although we older men see his fault in the gravest light, there are hot spirits among the young men who might, in spite of the fact that he had been utterly in the wrong, take up his quarrel. I will now ride back with you and hear the surgeon's report." This turned out to be favourable rather than otherwise. Without being able to give any decided opinion, the surgeon said that if all went well, and no fever set in, Dirck might recover. "The ball," he said, "has gone right through, and has undoubtedly passed through the upper part of the lung; but the wound is so small that it will probably heal up without leaving any after effects. If, however, fever sets in, I do not disguise from you that the result may be fatal, although I regard the probabilities as being altogether the other way. As the bullet has passed through there is little for me to do. He must be kept very quiet, and given cooling drinks for some days. I shall ride over and see him to-morrow. If he is going on well, he will be able to take a little nourishment in the way of soup in the course of two or three days." The news was an immense relief to Yorke. He felt that had the affair happened again he could not have acted otherwise; but the thought that he might have taken life was very painful. If it had been done in the course of a battle he would have thought comparatively little of it, but this was altogether different; and although Dirck had been exceptionally rude and discourteous to him, and he would have liked to give him a good thrashing, he would have given much rather than be the cause of his death. When the surgeon had left, and Mr. Van Laun, after a few words with Mrs. Allnutt, had also ridden off, the colonist said: "Now, Yorke, the sooner you are off the better. You will, of course, take Bob. He is the best horse on the farm, and I don't think you will get any better in the colony. And in the work you will have to do, your life may depend upon the speed of your horse." "Will you let me take Hans with me?"