Master of the Game Read Online Free PDF

wagon, ja?”
    “No. Post cart.”
    The old man turned to study the boy again. He said, finally, “We talk about it.”
    They talked about it at dinner that evening in the room in back of the store that was the Van der Merwe living quarters. It was a small room that served as a kitchen, dining room and sleeping quarters, with a curtain separating two cots. The lower half of the walls was built of mud and stone, and the upper half was faced with cardboard boxes that had once contained provisions. A square hole, where a piece of wall had been cut out, served as a window. In wet weather it could be closedby placing a board in front of it. The dining table consisted of a long plank stretched across two wooden crates. A large box, turned on its side, served as a cupboard. Jamie guessed that Van der Merwe was not a man who parted easily with his money.
    Van der Meerwe’s daughter moved silently about, preparing dinner. From time to time she cast quick glances at her father, but she never once looked at Jamie. Why is she so frightened? Jamie wondered.
    When they were seated at the table, Van der Merwe began, “Let us have a blessing. We thank Thee, O Lord, for the bounty we receive at Thy hands. We thank Thee for forgiving us our sins and showing us the path of righteousness and delivering us from life’s temptations. We thank Thee for a long and fruitful life, and for smiting dead all those who offend Thee. Amen.” And without a breath between, “Pass me the meat,” he said to his daughter.
    The dinner was frugal: a small roast pork, three boiled potatoes and a dish of turnip greens. The portions he served to Jamie were small. The two men talked little during the meal, and Margaret did not speak at all.
    When they had finished eating, Van der Merwe said, “That was fine, Daughter,” and there was pride in his voice. He turned to Jamie. “We get down to business, ja?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Van der Merwe picked up a long clay pipe from the top of the wooden cabinet. He filled it with a sweet-smelling tobacco from a small pouch and lighted the pipe. His sharp eyes peered intently at Jamie through the wreaths of smoke.
    “The diggers here at Klipdrift are fools. Too few diamonds, too many diggers. A man could break his back here for a year and have nothing to show for it but schlenters.”
    “I—I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that word, sir.”
    “Fools’ diamonds. Worthless. Do you follow me?”
    “I—Yes, sir. I think so. But what’s the answer, sir?”
    “The Griquas.”
    Jamie looked at him blankly.
    “They’re an African tribe up north. They find diamonds—big ones—and sometimes they bring them to me and I trade them for goods.” The Dutchman lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I know where they find them.”
    “But could you nae go after them yourself, Mr. van der Merwe?”
    Van der Merwe sighed. “No. I can’t leave the store. People would steal me blind. I need someone I can trust to go up there and bring the stones back. When I find the right man, I’ll supply him with all the equipment he needs.” He paused to take a long drag on the pipe. “And I’ll tell him where the diamonds are.”
    Jamie leaped to his feet, his heart pounding. “Mr. van der Merwe, I’m the person you’re looking for. Believe me, sir, I’ll work night and day.” His voice was charged with excitement. “I’ll bring you back more diamonds than you can count.”
    Van der Merwe silently studied him for what seemed to Jamie to be an eternity. When Van der Merwe finally spoke, he said only one word. “Ja.”
    Jamie signed the contract the following morning. It was written in Afrikaans.
    “I’ll have to explain it to you,” Van der Merwe said. “It says we’re full partners. I put up the capital—you put up the labor. We share everything equally.”
    Jamie looked at the contract in Van der Merwe’s hand. In the middle of all the incomprehensible foreign words he recognized only a sum: two pounds