The covenant - James A. Michener [318]
'Are you happy with him?'
'Are parents ever happy with anyone?'
'Aletta's an impressive girl.'
'I sometimes fear for her. Back in Haarlem she'd be all right. Many young men to court her, for she is pretty. But also many young women just as attractive to break her heart now and then.'
'How are things in Holland?'
'Like everywhere, confused.'
'Will you go back?'
'Me? Leave paradise for those cold winters?' He came from behind his counter and stood with Tjaart. 'They warned us that after Jan Compagnie gave your land to the English, no Dutchman from Holland would be welcomed here. We came anyway. You should give thanks every day that you live in this wonderland.'
In trading, Probenius was a hard man, which accounted for his conspicuous success, but Tjaart was equally difficult, which explained his successful farm. At the end of the Friday negotiation no agreement had even been approached: Tjaart had some of the finest sheep Graaff-Reinet had seen, and Probenius had a new wagon superior in every way to what Van Doorn had been using.
'You don't build wagons,' Tjaart said. 'Where'd you get it?' 'From an Englishman in Grahamstown named Thomas Carleton.' 'I know Carleton. I could get it cheaper by going to Grahamstown.' 'True, but your sheep are here. So you must trade here. And the price is what I said.'
On Saturday, Tjaart brought his family to inspect the wagon, and they found it to be even better than Tjaart had reported. It was a handsome piece of workmanship, so constructed that it could be disassembled for transporting down ravines, and then reassembled easily. It was nicely balanced, too, and the disselboom was so attached to the front axle that the whole would respond quickly to any turning of the oxen. Even the curved hoops that covered the body and to which canvas would be applied were nicely sanded to remove rough edges. It was in every respect superior, and the Van Doorns needed it.
There could be no bargaining on Sunday, of course, nor would there have been much time for it, for in addition to the four-hour service and the acceptance of new members, the predikant offered to conduct a special service for the baptism of those babies who had missed the Saturday rite, and the entire Van Doorn family had to attend because the De Groots were offering their new son for baptism. He was Paulus, a lusty, squared-off little boy with powerful lungs and a rowdy nature. The Scots minister was so taken with him that at the conclusion of the service he kissed the little fellow on the forehead, saying, 'This one will be a staunch fighter for the Lord.' The De Groots were not entirely happy that their son had been welcomed into the Boer church by this Scotsman, but nevertheless they gave the dominee two sheep in thanks for the special service.
On Monday, Tjaart returned to the store for some serious bargaining, and as it happened, Probenius himself was not there, but his daughter Aletta was, and for the better part of an hour Tjaart talked with this lively, attractive girl, noting every particular. She had a musical voice and laughed easily when assuring him that her father never reduced a price, once set: 'You'll face difficulties, Mijnheer, if you pursue that line.'
'I face difficulties in all I do,' he assured her, watching the enchanting way her gingham dress defined her figure when she reached for articles on the higher shelves. 'You people in Graaff-Reinetyou're getting to be a real town. Must be three, four hundred houses here.'
'But it's not like Cape Town, is it? That's where I'd like to go.'
'I wouldn't know. I've never been there.'
At the conclusion of their conversation Tjaart thought that he had never before met a girl so totally charming, and he was somewhat irritated when her father appeared to talk about the wagon: 'Let's get one thing straight, Van Doorn. Once I set a price, I never lower it.'
'Let's get a second thing straight,' Tjaart responded. 'I am perfectly prepared to herd my sheep right back home and go to Grahamstown myself. You may not know it, but last month I served on