'Not I. I have not the slightest wish to see the pour wretches killed or captured, I assure you.'
'Still I hope you'll come,' he urged. 'Your presence, as a stranger, will be even a greater restraint upon them than mine, who am supposed to have an interest in the destruction of these troublesome pests to the squatter. Walters will exert himself to obey the orders he has received, and take them alive; and I must offer these fellows some bribe or other to induce them to behave mercifully, and prevent the slaughter of women and children at least.'
'If you think my presence will have any good effect, I shall, of course, be only to happy to go with you. But the fact is, I am sick of bloodshed after what happened last night,' I said.
'I don't wonder at it; and yet, just look at those fellows,' he added, pointing to where the troopers were enjoying their sweetened tea, damper, and beef. 'What fills us with such loathing is to them a source of the keenest delight. They are in their glory now. Strange, is it not--this dreadful instinct to kill, even in the case of men living far apart, and who never, perhaps, saw each other before? And yet I must not be unjust to them either. They kill because they are under the impression that every death, or sickness, or other misfortune which occurs to themselves or friends, is the work of some distant enemy, who has bewitched or stolen away his kidney fat. But here comes Walters; I suppose he intends making a start.'
In a short time all were ready, our horses driven up to the stockyard and saddled. The troopers, under the guidance of Harris, mounted and started, while Walters and we then entered the hut once more, to look at the two blacks, to whom I had given a dose of something to make them sleep.
'I want to make sure of these fellows,' said the former. 'It would never do if, the moment our backs are turned, one of them jumped up and made off. He could easily reach the camp before daybreak, and all our trouble would be thrown away. Try them again, doctor, please.'
I did so. Little Toby could be roused only with difficulty. Pothook, however, was not so drowsy; and upon shaking him he opened his eyes and fixed them for a moment on Walters and a trooper, who, in their shining accoutrements, stood before him. His head almost instantly fell back, and apparently he was sound asleep again in a moment. Something, however, in the glance aroused my suspicions, and I quietly asked the lieutenant if the blacks here knew him.