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A young narrator recalls encountering a strange, haunting figure on the Kirkcaple shore, an event that sets him on a life of travel and danger. As he matures, he journeys to the southern veld, falls in with adventurous companions, and becomes involved in a hunt for a lost ancient collar and other treasures hidden among crags, caves, and rivers. The quest leads through treacherous kraals and cliff paths, testing loyalties and horsemanship, while episodes of premonition, peril, and rescue shape outcomes. Ultimately the narrator survives hazardous encounters and returns having turned a modest inheritance into a markedly larger reward.
Time, they say, must the best of us capture,
And travel and battle and gems and gold
No more can kindle the ancient rapture,
For even the youngest of hearts grows old.
But in you, I think, the boy is not over;
So take this medley of ways and wars
As the gift of a friend and a fellow-lover
Of the fairest country under the stars.
J. B.