Bloemfontein, the beautiful. Have you seen Bloemfontein? No? Well you
must do so before you leave Africa. In this lovely place, its streets
shaded by trees, whose luxurious foliage is kept in perennial verdure by
purling streams, had Kate Darcy chosen a resting-place. What a change
from the dirty, dusty, noisy Fields, with streets filled with hungry
worshippers of Mammon, to this crystallised mirage, for one would
scarcely realise that so beautiful a garden could rise out of a desert,
except in imagination.
Here in the midst of a garden of roses, encircled by a hedge of cactus,
stood the house in which Kate Darcy had chosen to make her home for the
nonce. Its owner, a wealthy Hollander, who had come out as a
missionary, and availed himself of the opportunities of trade with great
success, was now visiting Europe with his family. The house was
luxuriously furnished, and a Scotchwoman, as housekeeper, watched over
all the barbaric creatures--servants on the place.
One morning, a few weeks after her arrival, Kate was listlessly swinging
in a hammock shaded by a fig-tree, when Margaret appeared, saying:
"A gentleman to see you, Miss Darcy."
"Who is it, Margaret?"
"Here is his card."
As Kate read the name of C.A. Fox--Kimberley, she said:
"Show him the way to the garden, Margaret. I will receive him here."
When the doctor reached the veranda that overlooked this charming spot,
he stood lost in admiration. Before him was the woman he had dreamed
of, thought of, loved--since the hour he first met her. Never before
had he seen so beautiful, so idyllic a picture. She looked sweet and
restful under the trees, with the sunlight striking the trembling leaves
which threw playful shadows over her face.
At his approach, she rose from her hammock to greet him. Taking both
her hands in his, and looking into her eyes, as if he would read her
inmost thoughts, he said: "I hope that you are glad to see me?"
"Indeed I am," said Kate, heartily. "I was beginning to feel a little
secret restlessness, and a desire for the society of a congenial soul.
What good angel has brought you to Bloemfontein? Ah, I know," she
continued, for the doctor seemed for once in his life at a loss for
words; "the angel of mercy. Some poor stricken sufferer has heard of
your skill and sent for you. Is it a case for the surgeon, or
physician?"
"I have not fully diagnosed the case."
"It is not a hopeless one, I trust?" said Kate.
"I fear it is."
"Let us hope that with your skill, aided by kind Providence, all will be
well."
"I will say Amen, to that, but, as it is a case for the metaphysician, I
fear I shall lose the patient."
"Ah, Doctor! and you whose happy cures are so frequently the result of
mental action. By the way, is the patient one of your own sex?"
"Yes; and therein lies the danger."
With one accord they began to walk slowly over the grounds. As they
walked, they talked, and in the midst of their talk, they would cease to
walk; standing still to enjoy some thought of the moment, and then begin
to pace over the green sward.
"I thought, Miss Darcy, that I would leave the Fields during the hot
Christmas season, and visit you."
"You have done quite right. We will try to entertain you as best we
know how. Instead of the usual Christmas turkey with its accompanying
cranberry sauce, we will serve up to you some of those delightful dishes
our Coolie cook knows so well how to prepare, with a feast of rare
fruit, such as I think you have never tasted."
"I see you think of the inner man?"
"Why, certainly! You, like the rest of your brothers, love to be well
fed. You see that I wish you to be amiable while you are here.
Experience has taught me that a good dinner makes a man much better
company than he would be without it."
"Miss Darcy, I think your presence would always make a man feel at his
best."
"Tut! Tut! what nonsense. I am more of a philosopher than you. There
is nothing equal to a good dinner to make a man feel at peace with all
the world."
"How are you off for servants?"
"I have not the slightest idea how many Margaret has on her staff. When
meal time comes around, there will be a quorum or more Kafirs around the
kitchen door. Always enough to come to a decision on the merits of the
cook, cuisine, and condiments. They are an amusing study. They come in
all sorts of garbs: in blankets, old military jackets once owned by some
brave Englishman, and a variety of garments too absurd to mention. One
Kafir came with a stovepipe hat turned upside down, so that he could
have carried all his worldly possessions in it if he had wished to do
so. The hat was held on his head by fastening a string to each side of
the rim, and tying them under his chin. In addition to that he had on a
paper collar, and a pair of old pantaloons half way up to his knees. He
had a knob-kerrie in his hand, and walked much as a Broadway dandy would
walk."
"Miss Darcy," said the doctor, laughingly, "you should fill a
sketch-book with all these strange characters you see. Your powers of
observation are so developed that you perceive things which others would
pass blindly over."
"I have not the slightest talent for sketching. These scenes will have
to remain imprinted on the photographic tablet of my memory."
"I trust your housekeeper suits you?"
"Margaret is all one could ask for, and such an honest body. I know she
doesn't `pretty much'!"
"One could not truthfully say that she is handsome! You are perfectly
safe while she is your body-guard. Has she raised that moustache since
you met her?"
Kate laughed merrily, for Margaret always reminded her of an old mouser.
It seemed as if she never could have been young, and her clothes had a
home-made-in-a-hurry sort of look about them. But Margaret filled her
niche in the world.
"Let us take a drive before dinner," said Kate, "and let me show you
through this beautiful little town of ours, which we think compares
favourably with those havens of rest around Cape Town. You must have
seen at the hotel the Englishmen, who are enjoying poor health, and
losing their old dreaded belief in consumption."
"I did, and found them agreeable company. You have pleasant
neighbours?"
"I don't know. I should be sorry to find that I have not, so I do not
try to gratify any curiosity I may have on the subject."
They had reached the house, and Kate, having given orders for the horses
to be harnessed to the Victoria, excused herself for a few moments.
When she returned she wore a plain cream-coloured cashmere dress. A
wide-brimmed Leghorn hat, with drooping feathers, sat gracefully on her
head.
After driving through the miniature city, with its imposing banks,
churches, House of Parliament, and handsome residences, they struck the
road leading along the edge of a line of hills that overshadowed the
town, passing several neatly-kept vineyards. For an hour they kept up a
running fire of conversation on every topic except the one nearest their
hearts; then the doctor turned the horses, and the spirited creatures
put their noses down and enjoyed the run home over the hard, smooth
road, as much as did the occupants of the carriage behind them. Dinner
was ready when they reached the house, and they sat a long time chatting
over the viands before them, unmindful of everything outside those four
walls. After dinner the garden was again visited, and Kate swung idly
in her hammock, while the doctor sat near by and told her the news of
the Kimberley world. A cool breeze sprang up at sunset, and the moon
rose in all her silvery glory.
They were both content. The day had brought its full amount of
happiness, and was one to be kept in memory.