Chapter 4 third chapter

Kripdrift is still the same, but Jamie McGregor is not what he used to be.People looked at him with admiration when he drove into the city in his carriage.The carriage stopped in front of van der Merwe's shop.It was not only his luxurious carriage and tall horses that attracted people's attention, but also the beaming demeanor of this young man.It was the look they had seen in other prospectors who had made a fortune before, and it was the look that so often kindled the flames of hope in their hearts.Passers-by stood and watched Jamie jump out of the carriage. The big black man is still here.Jamie smiled at him. "Hi, I am back."

Without saying a word, Banda tied up the horse and went into the shop.Jamie followed him. Salomon van der Merwe was receiving a customer.The diminutive Dutchman looked up and smiled.Jamie knew that van der Merwe had already heard the news.No one can explain it.But the news of the diamonds always spread across the South African continent at the speed of light. After receiving the customers, Van der Merwe waved his hands and gestured backwards. "Come on, Mr. McGregor." Jamie followed him to the back of the shop.Van der Merwe's daughter was busy making lunch by the stove. "Hello, Margaret."

She blushed and looked away. "Okay! I heard good news." Van der Merwe smiled.He sat at the table and pushed the plates and silverware away to make room. "That's right, sir," said Jamie proudly, then took a wallet from his coat pocket and dumped the diamonds on the kitchen table.Van der Merwe stared greedily at the diamonds, then slowly picked up the diamonds, weighing and weighing.At last they were gathered together, put into a suede bag, placed in a tin safe in the corner, and locked away. Satisfaction was evident when he spoke. "Well done, Mr. McGregor. Really, well done."

"Thank you, sir. That's just the beginning! There's hundreds more out there. I can't even imagine how much they're worth." "Have you registered your property rights?" "It's registered, sir." Jamie reached into his pocket and took out a registration slip. "It was registered in our two names." Van der Merwe examined the receipt carefully, and pocketed it. "You deserve your reward. You wait here." He headed for the door leading to the store. "Come with me, Margaret." She followed him timidly.She looks like a frightened kitten, Jamie thought.

After a few minutes, van der Merwe came back alone. "This is yours." He opened the wallet and carefully counted out fifty pounds. Jamie looked at him in bewilderment. "Why is that, sir?" "For you, boy. It's all yours." "I... I don't understand." "You've worked twenty-four weeks. Two pounds a week. Here's forty-eight pounds, and the other two pounds are your bonus." Jamie laughed. "I don't want bonuses. I have my fair share of diamonds." "Your share of diamonds?" "What? Yes, sir, I have fifty per cent. We are in partnership."

Van der Merwe stared at him. "Partnership? Why do you have this idea?" "How could I...?" Jamie looked at the Dutchman in astonishment. "We've signed the contract." "Yes. Have you read the contract?" "Oh, no, sir. It's in Afrikaans, but you said we were partners, split 50/50." The old man shook his head. "You misunderstand me, Mr. McGregor. I don't need any partnership. You work for me. I outfit you with supplies and send you to find diamonds for me." Jamie was furious. "You gave me nothing. I pay you a hundred and twenty pounds for these things."

The old man shrugged. "I don't want to waste my precious time arguing with you. Do as I say. I'll give you an extra five pounds and we'll be done. I think that's very generous." Jamie yelled angrily. "Our business must not end like this!" His Scottish guttural voice also came out in anger. "I'm entitled to share that property. I must have it. I registered it in two names." Van der Merwe smiled faintly. "Then you're trying to defraud me. I can have you arrested." He pressed the money into Jamie's hand. "Now take your salary and get the hell out of here."

"I want to sue you!" "Can you afford a lawyer? In these parts, I have the final say." This is not what happened to me, is it?This, Jamie thought, was a nightmare.The pain he had endured, the days spent in the scorching desert, the punishing labor from sunrise to sunset—all these came flooding back into his mind.He had come close to death several times, and now this man was trying to cheat him out of his fair share of the fortune. He stared at van der Merwe. "I'm not going to let it go. I'm not leaving Kripdrift. I'm going to let everyone here know what you're doing. I'm going to get my share of the diamonds."

Van der Merwe began to avoid those pale gray eyes, burning with anger. "You'd better get a doctor to treat you, boy," he murmured, "I think the sun must be so hard that you're losing your mind." For a moment, Jamie was so furious that he rushed to Van der Merwe, who picked up the thin old man and held it up to his eyes. "I'm going to make you regret ever thinking of me!" He threw van der Merwe at his feet, dropped the money on the table, and rushed out of the shop. ※※※ By the time Jamie McGregor walked into the Sunset pub, the customers were almost gone.Because many miners went to Pardispan.Jamie was angry and desperate. "It's unbelievable," he thought, "that one minute I was as rich as I was, and the next minute I'm ruined. Van der Merwe is a thief, and I must punish him. But how?" Van der Merwe is right about one thing.Jamie couldn't even afford to hire a lawyer to sue him.The others were unfamiliar, and Van der Merwe was a respected member of the society here.Jamie's only weapon is the truth.He wanted everyone in South Africa to know what Van der Merwe had done.

Bar owner Smit and Jamie say hello. "You're welcome back. We're treating you, Mr. McGregor. What would you like to drink?" "Have a whiskey." Smit poured a double shot and set it in front of Jamie.Jamie drank it down.He was not used to drinking, and the strong liquor burned his throat and stomach badly. "One more." "Come on now. I've always said that the Scots can drink, and no one can drink them." The second drink was easier.Jamie remembered being told by the bar owner that diamond diggers could go to Van der Merwe for help. "Did you know old Van der Merwe was a liar? He tried to cheat me of my diamonds."

Smith was sympathetic. "What? That's terrible. I'm sorry to hear that." "He won't take it easy," Jamie said hoarsely. "Half these diamonds are mine. He's a thief. I'm going to let everybody know." "Be careful. Van der Merwe is the richest and most powerful man in this town," warned the pub-keeper. "If you're going against him, you'll need someone to help you. In fact, I know someone who does. He and You hate Van der Merwe just as much." Looking around, he made sure no one was overhearing. "There's an old stable at the end of the street. I'll take care of everything. Be there at ten o'clock this evening." "Thank you," Jamie said gratefully. "I won't forget you." "Ten o'clock, the old stable." ※※※ The old stable was built randomly with corrugated iron sheets, on the side of the main road on the edge of the city.Jamie got there at ten o'clock, the stable was dark, he felt his way cautiously, no one was around, and he went in quietly. "Hey……" No one answered.Jamie groped slowly.He could make out the shadows of horses swaying in front of the trough.Then he heard a noise behind him, and just as he was about to turn around, an iron rod suddenly hit him on the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.At this time, a wooden stick hit him on the head again, and then a pair of big hands lifted him up, and fists and feet fell on him like raindrops.The beatings were endless, and when he passed out from the pain, a burst of cold water woke him up again.He opened his eyes slightly, and caught a glimpse of Banda, the black servant of Van der Merwe.The beating started again.Jamie felt his ribs crack and another blow to his leg.He heard the sound of bones breaking. At this time, he lost consciousness again. ※※※ His whole body burned unbearably.Someone rubbed his face with sandpaper, and he tried in vain to raise his hands in protest. He tried to open his eyes, but they were swollen like walnuts and he couldn't open them.Jamie lay there with pain in every inch of his body.He tried to remember where it was.He struggled, and the friction started again.He spread his hands and felt that there was a piece of sand beside him.His face was pressed against the hot sand.He crawled forward slowly, enduring unspeakable pain each time he climbed.He tried his best to get up on his knees, trying to see everything around him, but his eyes were so swollen that he could only see some vague scenes.He was somewhere off the beaten track in Caro, stripped naked.It was only morning, but he felt the sun scorching him.He also groped around vaguely, hoping for something to eat or a small bottle of water to drink.Nothing at all.They threw him here and wanted him to die. "Salomon van der Merwe did it, of course, and the bar owner Smit." Jamie threatened van der Merwe, and van der Merwe punished him as he pleased with a child. "But he's going to find out that I'm not a kid," Jamie promised himself. "I'm not a kid anymore. I'm an Avenger. They're going to pay. They're going to pay." There is no strength to sit up again, but for him, breathing is also an unbearable torture.How many ribs did they break? "I have to be very careful not to let them poke my lungs." Jamie tried to get up, but screamed and fell again.His right leg had been broken, so he could only lie there bent.He can no longer walk. But he can climb. ※※※ Jamie McGregor doesn't know where he is.They would have dropped him away from the road where no one could find him.Only desert scavengers, hyenas, heron hawks and black hawks, come to keep his corpse company.The desert is like a vast morgue. He has seen many corpses eaten by birds and beasts. The meat has been eaten up, leaving only a bone.Just as Jamie was thinking about this, he heard the beating of wings and the heart-pounding hiss of a black eagle in the air.Fear gripped his heart.He was almost blind and couldn't see anything.But he can smell them. He started to climb again. The pain prevented him from thinking about anything else, and his whole body felt like it was on fire, and even a little movement made him ache for a while.If he crawled forward in a fixed position, his broken leg would tingle in fits and starts.If I change the posture, my legs feel better, but I can hear the rubbing sound of my ribs again.The pain made it impossible for him to lie still, and the torture of crawling was unbearable. He continued to climb. He heard the hawks hovering in the sky, waiting for him to die with primal, immemorial patience.His mind was in a trance.He sat next to his two brothers, in what seemed to be a clean festive dress, listening to the preacher in a cool church in Aberdeen.His sisters, Mary and Anne Cord, were both in smart summer dresses, and Anne smiled and looked at him.Just as Jamie was about to stand up and walk towards her, his brother held him back and pinched him, which turned into a series of pains.He is still naked and dragging his stumps in the desert.The black hawks in the air croaked louder, and they became impatient. Jamie forced himself to close his eyes slightly to see how close the hawk was.He could see nothing but a blur, which reminded him of hideous hyenas and jackals.The wind blowing in the face seemed to be a hot, sickening breath from these beasts. He crawled on, knowing that if he stopped they would come at him.He had a high fever, his whole body ached, and the hot sand burned his whole body.Even so, he persisted, as long as van der Merwe was not punished, as long as van der Merwe was alive, he would persist. He had lost all sense of time, and could only reckon he had covered a mile, when in reality he had covered less than ten yards, a little while in a circle.He didn't know where he was, and he didn't know in which direction to crawl.He forced his attention to focus on one thing: Salomon van der Merwe. He slowly lost consciousness, then was awakened by a painful pain.Something was stabbing his leg, and it took a second for Jamie to realize where he was and what had happened.He opened one eye, swollen like a walnut, and saw a bald black eagle biting his leg, tearing off his flesh, trying to eat him alive with its sharp beak.Jamie saw its round eyes and filthy ruff, and smelled the sickening stench of the hawk as it landed on him.Jamie tried to scream, but couldn't.He crawled forward desperately, feeling the blood rushing from his legs.He could see the shadows of some giant eagles around him, closing in to eat him.He was so alert that it would be over if he lost consciousness.As soon as he stopped, the birds and beasts were going to eat his flesh again.He continued to climb forward.His mind fell into a trance again.But he heard the louder and louder crackling of the wings of these great eagles as they approached.They came at him in a circle.He was too weak to fight them.He lost the strength to resist.He stopped crawling and lay motionless on the hot sand. The big bird gathered around, wanting to have a good meal.

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