The Settler and the Savage, by R.M. Ballantyne

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Title: The Settler and the Savage

Author: R.M. Ballantyne

Release Date: June 6, 2007 [EBook #21701]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SETTLER AND THE SAVAGE ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

THE SETTLER AND THE SAVAGE, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE WILD KARROO.

A solitary horseman--a youth in early manhood--riding at a snail's pace over the great plains, or karroo, of South Africa. His chin on his breast; his hands in the pockets of an old shooting-coat; his legs in ragged trousers, and his feet in worn-out boots. Regardless of stirrups, the last are dangling. The reins hang on the neck of his steed, whose head may be said to dangle from its shoulders, so nearly does its nose approach the ground. A felt hat covers the youth's curly black head, and a double-barrelled gun is slung across his broad shoulders.

We present this picture to the reader as a subject of contemplation.

It was in the first quarter of the present century that the youth referred to--Charlie Considine by name--rode thus meditatively over that South African karroo. His depression was evidently not due to

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