The task of cutting out the ivory and the ponderous horn of the
rhinoceros occupied the five men for the remainder of the day, at the
end of which the voyagers dined luxuriously upon the novel and dainty
dish of baked elephant's foot. When the spoils had at length been
safely stowed away, the _Flying Fish_ was removed to a respectful
distance from the huge carcases--over which there would assuredly be
much snarling and fighting during the impending hours of darkness--and
berthed in the midst of a dense clump of bush about half a mile to
leeward of the small shallow lake already mentioned. It was the
intention of the professor and Mildmay to lay up for an hour or two
during the coming night among the rushes on its margin, in the hope of
securing a shot at a unicorn, or, failing that, anything else worth
shooting that might happen to present itself. They spent the quarter of
an hour that preceded nightfall in carefully reconnoitring the position,
and then retired to their cabins to make the necessary changes into
shooting rig before dinner, it being an understood thing that there was
no obligation upon any one to don evening dress if there were good and
sufficient reasons against it, as in the present case, although the
ladies made a point of doing so.
The meal over and the after-dinner cigar duly smoked, Sir Reginald and
his companion elephant-hunters having declared that they were too tired
to enjoy any further sport that day, the professor and Mildmay bade the
rest of the party good-night, and, taking their rifles, set out for the
margin of the lake. As a matter of fact, they ought to have started
nearly three hours earlier than they did, and taken up their position
before nightfall, for many animals drink almost immediately after
sunset, and before the light has entirely gone out of the sky; but they
hoped to be still in time to get a shot, and hurried on, encouraged by
the sounds that floated down to them from the lake telling of animals
still there, drinking and bathing. The bathers were most probably
elephants, but the pair decided not to interfere with them, arguing
that, after all, they were not ivory hunters, and that their object was
the acquisition of new or rare trophies, rather than an indiscriminate
collection of skins, horns, tusks, and what not. Von Schalckenberg,
indeed, declared that if he could not get a unicorn he did not want
anything.
Their progress was slow, for although the sky was cloudless and studded
with stars that beamed with a clear, mellow radiance and brilliancy
unknown in the more humid atmosphere of the temperate zones, the light
that they afforded was sufficient only to reveal to the two men the
clumps of bush and other objects close at hand. Moreover the grass was
long and matted enough to demand the expenditure of a considerable
amount of exertion to force a passage through it, and the night was
close and very hot. To traverse the half-mile between the ship and the
margin of the lake cost them, therefore, nearly twenty minutes of
toilsome walking. At length, however, the professor, who, as the more
experienced hunter, was leading the way, murmured--
"Ah! there is the water at last, thank goodness! And now, my friend, we
must `go slow,' as you say, and be careful where we put our feet, or we
may stumble unawares over something that we have no desire to meet at
quite such close quarters."
The next moment the precise thing of which he had spoken happened. His
foot encountered something bulky and firm that yielded and moved at the
contact, and before the unfortunate man could utter a cry of warning
there occurred a sudden and violent rustling and switching of the long
grass in front of him, something struck him a violent blow on the
shoulder, and in an instant he found himself enveloped in the coils of
an enormous python, the great head of which towered threateningly above
him, as it opened wide its gaping jaws within a foot of his face and
emitted a loud, sibilant, angry hiss. Its hot, foetid breath struck him
full in the face and, in conjunction with the overpowering musky smell
of its body, affected him with a deadly nausea that, of itself, was
quite sufficient to rob him of all power of resistance, apart from the
fact that his arms were bound to his body so tightly by one of the
immense convolutions of the serpent's body--which it seemed to him was
nearly as thick as his own--that it was impossible to move them by even
so little as a single inch. And those deadly coils were tightening
round him, too; he could feel the pressure increasing more rapidly than
he could draw the breath into his already painfully labouring lungs; and
he vainly strove to utter a cry to his companion for help. His elbows
were being forced into his ribs with such irresistible pressure that he
momentarily expected to feel and hear the bones crack beneath it, while
the compression of his chest was rapidly producing a feeling of
suffocation, when, above the loud singing in his ears, he caught the
faint click of Mildmay's weapon. Then the great threatening head
suddenly drooped, the constricting coils relaxed their pressure and
opened out, allowing the professor to struggle free of their encircling
folds, the huge body writhed convulsively, the great tail threshing down
the grass during the space of a full minute or more; then the writhings
gradually subsided, and finally the great reptile lay stretched almost
at full length before them, dead, with a bullet from Mildmay's rifle
through its brain.
"Thanks!" gasped the professor, as he wrung Mildmay's hand, "that was a
narrow escape for me, my friend, and I am indebted to you for my life.
I could do nothing for myself, and even your companionship would have
been of but little avail had you not acted so promptly. Another fifteen
seconds in those great coils would have finished me off altogether. I
thank you, Captain, and if ever the opportunity should occur I will do
the same for you."
"Of course you will, old chap, I know that," answered Mildmay, heartily;
"and likely enough the opportunity may occur ere long. One never knows.
What a monster! Why, he must measure at least five and thirty feet, if
an inch. He is the biggest I have ever seen. Now, how do you feel?
Would you rather go back to the ship, or shall we go on?"
"Oh, we will go on, of course," answered von Schalckenberg. "I am not a
penny the worse for my little adventure, except that I feel bruised all
over, and I expect I shall be too stiff to move to-morrow. The greater
the reason why I should move to-night. Is not that so, my friend?"
"That, of course, is for you to say," laughed Mildmay. "Such a narrow
squeak as you have had is enough to try any man's nerves. But, if you
would rather go on, I am your man."
"Come, then," said the professor; "but let us pick our steps. One
adventure of that kind, in a single night, is enough for any man."
After walking a few yards further the two men found themselves at the
edge of the dip in which lay the lake, with the tall reeds that fringed
the margin of the water rising some half a dozen yards ahead of them.
The surface of the lake was just visible in the soft sheen of the
starlight, and here and there, at no great distance, could be descried
certain bulky forms standing in the water, which, from their size, could
only be those of elephants; while a small pattering sound, as of falling
rain, told the watchers that the great brutes were treating themselves
to the luxury of a shower-bath. The elephants were well out from the
shore, standing apparently knee-deep in the water; hence their
visibility; but the reeds were too tall to permit of animals being seen
if they happened to be drinking at the extreme edge of the water. The
hunters had made what Mildmay characteristically designated "a bad
landfall." What they desired was, to find a spot where there was a gap
in the bed of reeds through which they could at least catch a glimpse of
the various beasts drinking, and they were in the very act of turning to
seek such a spot when von Schalckenberg laid his hand on Mildmay's arm,
whispering excitedly--
"My friend, look there."
Mildmay glanced in the direction indicated and saw, standing on the very
crest of the bank over which they had just passed, a lion, that in the
deceptive starlight appeared to be of enormous proportions. He was
within fifteen feet of them, but it is doubtful whether he saw them, for
they were below him and within the shadow of the reeds; but if he did
not see them it was quite certain that he winded them, for he was gazing
straight toward them, his eyes shining in the darkness like twin moons,
and he was slowly sweeping his tail from side to side, as though asking
himself what strange beings were these whose scent now greeted his
nostrils for probably the first time in his life. But there was no time
to be lost, for even as von Schalckenberg whispered to Mildmay, "You
take him!" the beast crouched in preparation for a spring.
Mildmay wasted no time in argument upon questions of hunting etiquette;
he quite understood that the professor was offering him first shot as
some trifling recognition of the service so lately rendered, and,
throwing up his rifle to his shoulder, he aimed, as well as the darkness
would permit, immediately between but an inch or two above the level of
the eyes, and pulled the trigger. The click of the hammer was instantly
followed by the thud of the bullet; a bulky body hurtled through the
air, knocking Mildmay and the professor right and left backward among
the reeds, and there lay the great beast, stone dead, between them.
"Just in the nick of time!" murmured the professor. "Another second,
and he would have had one of us."
"Yes," agreed Mildmay, with zest. "We are not having such bad sport,
are we, Professor, considering that we have only just come on the
ground?"
"Quite as good as could be expected," assented von Schalckenberg. "But
the sport has not been all on our side. Our friend, here, has at least
had the excitement of _stalking us_."
"Why, you surely do not mean to say that this beggar has been stalking
us?" ejaculated the sailor.
"As surely as that we are standing here," answered the professor. "He
was standing exactly in our tracks, and has undoubtedly been following
our scent, which he probably crossed on his way down here to the water.
It is lucky for us both that he did not come up while we were engaged
with the python. Had he done so, there would probably have arisen a
very awkward complication. Well, let us get on. We shall have to leave
the skinning of him and the snake until to-morrow morning; and I only
hope that the jackals will not spoil the pelts meanwhile."
Feeling their way carefully, they skirted the margin of the lake for
some distance until they came to what they were seeking, namely, a break
in the belt of encircling reeds. It was a good wide break, too, nearly
a hundred yards across, as nearly as they could guess in the uncertain
light; and from the down-trodden appearance of the grass leading to it,
it appeared to be a favourite drinking-place. This conjecture was
confirmed when the two hunters had forced their way into cover, by the
sight of several vaguely defined forms showing at the edge of the water,
about fifty yards away.
Settling themselves comfortably in their bed of dry reeds and grass, the
two hunters now concentrated their attention upon these indistinct and
stealthily moving objects, with the result that, as their eyes gradually
adapted themselves to the new conditions of light--or darkness, rather--
it became possible for them to form some sort of opinion as to the
species of the different animals there congregated together. They
appeared to be chiefly bucks of various kinds, with a zebra or two, none
of which the sportsmen thought worth a cartridge; they were therefore
permitted to pass to and fro unmolested. Gradually the number of
animals coming down to drink grew less and less, until at length no more
came at all, and the spot seemed to be completely deserted. And then,
with the cessation of the coming and going, the vigilance of the
watchers gradually relaxed, and the thought occurred to Mildmay that
they might as well be getting back to the ship. He made the suggestion
to von Schalckenberg, but the latter pleaded so earnestly for an hour or
two longer, urging the possibility of a visit from the unicorns, that
the good-natured sailor readily gave way, with the remark--
"All right, Professor. `In for a penny, in for a pound;' I don't mind.
Only--I suppose a fellow mustn't smoke?"
"Smoke! oh no," answered the professor, in keen distress at thus being
obliged to deny his companion the solace of a pipe. "Do you think I am
not pining for a smoke, too?" argued the scientist. "But were we to do
so, the smell of the burning tobacco would scare everything away.
Nothing would come near us. We will fill ourselves up with smokes when
by-and-by we walk back to the ship."
So Mildmay settled himself down as comfortably as he could once more,
and never knew when sleep overtook him. As for the professor, he was
quite determined to remain where he was until daylight, if need were.
He told himself that the unicorns _must_ drink somewhere, and why not
here? It was as likely a place as any, and quite worth watching, and--
and--yes--um! The professor's eyes closed, his thoughts wandered, and
presently he, too, was asleep.
The grey light of dawn was in the sky when the slumbering pair were
startled into instant and broad wakefulness by the sound of a curious
barking kind of neigh. They had heard it but once in their lives before
this, but they both recognised it in a moment.
"By Jove!" gasped the professor, laying his hand upon Mildmay's arm and
compressing it in a vice-like grasp, "the unicorns!"
Mildmay nodded, and seizing their rifles, the pair, with infinite
caution, parted the veiling reeds just sufficiently to afford them a
glimpse in the direction from which the sound had proceeded. And there,
within half a dozen yards of them, their eager gaze fell upon a troop of
some thirty--horses? Well, they were, in appearance, like the horses
one sees represented in Greek sculpture; rather short in the body, round
in the barrel, with slim, elegantly shaped, but apparently very strong
legs, and they carried their heads high upon thick, muscular, arching
necks. They stood about fourteen hands high, and were of a beautiful
deep cream colour, with short black manes, black switched tails similar
to that of the gemsbok, and their legs were black from the knee
downward. But their most remarkable characteristic was that the
stallions were provided with a single, straight, black, sharply pointed
horn, some three feet in length, projecting from the very centre of the
forehead, two or three inches above the level of the eyes. They were
descending the slope that led down to the water, and were advancing at a
walk, their paces being singularly graceful and easy. Their leader, an
exceedingly fine and handsome animal, was a yard or two in advance of
the rest, and, with arching neck and head carried somewhat low, he came
on, peering alertly right and left, evidently on the watch for possible
enemies.
"We must get a pair--two pairs if we can," murmured von Schalckenberg in
a low tone, rendered hoarse by excitement and anxiety. "You take the
leader and another stallion, I will look out for the mares. Aim for
just behind the shoulder. Are you ready?"
"Yes," breathed Mildmay.
"Then _fire_!" whispered the professor. And, as the rifle-hammers
softly clicked, the thud of the bullets was heard, and the leader and a
handsome mare dropped, shot through the heart. The troop halted
instantly, snorting nervously and glancing quickly to right and left,
clearly puzzled at this sudden and unaccountable fall of two of their
number. Quick as thought the hidden sportsmen each selected a fresh
victim, and ere one could count ten another pair of the beautiful
creatures were down. This was enough; the unicorns now realised that
some mysterious deadly influence was at work among them, and, throwing
up their heads, they swerved short round and dashed off up the slope
again, over the ridge of which they vanished the next moment, uttering
shrill neighs of alarm.
The two hunters rose to their feet and shook hands in mutual
congratulation at their splendid luck ere they stepped out from their
ambush to inspect and admire this magnificent and unique addition to
their "bag." The animals were all superb specimens, in perfect
condition, without a blemish; their coats smooth and glossy as satin,
the horns of the males long, straight, tough, and with points as sharp
as that of a bayonet. The professor was in a perfect ecstasy of
delight; he declared that this was the supreme moment of his life; and
then corrected himself by saying that that moment would arrive when, in
the fulness of time, he would confront his brother Fellows of the
Zoological Society with the skins of a pair of unicorns, properly
prepared and set up by Ward, in confutation of the thinly veiled doubts
and scepticism with which certain of them had dared to receive a former
statement of his that unicorns actually existed, and that he had beheld
them with his own good eyes. They had not scrupled to suggest that
possibly he might have been mistaken! Donner und Blitzen! would they
still think so when they saw those skins? Ha, ha! When he, von
Schalckenberg, next made a definite statement, they would, perhaps, be
less ready to discredit it!
The next question was, would Mildmay be so very obliging as to go back
to the ship and bring her to the spot where the fallen unicorns lay?
The remainder of the party, and especially the ladies, would doubtless
like to see them, just as they were, ere the process of flaying had been
begun; moreover, they would need the assistance of the other men in
securing the skins, to say nothing of that of the lion and, possibly,
the python. As for him, von Schalckenberg, he would remain there on
guard to protect those priceless trophies from depredation and injury by
vultures or wild beasts; they should never leave his sight until they
were safely removed and stowed away. Danger? Ach! what was danger
compared with the saving of those skins in perfect condition? Besides,
he had his rifle and an abundant supply of cartridges; he was not
afraid.
"Very well," said Mildmay, "I shall go." And away he started up the
slope forthwith, leaving the professor full in the open, seated upon the
body of one of the unicorns, with his pipe in his mouth and his rifle in
his hand, glaring round him warily through his gold-framed spectacles,
keenly on the watch for any predatory creature that should dare to
dispute the right of himself and his friend to their lawful spoils.
When Mildmay reached the ship he found Sir Reginald, Lethbridge, and
Sziszkinski already astir and taking their coffee in the dining-saloon.
They greeted his appearance with a shout.
"Hillo, Mildmay," exclaimed the baronet, "where have you sprung from?
Surely you have not been out all night? And yet you look as though you
had. Any luck?"
"_Rather_," answered Mildmay, with emphasis. "Yes, thanks, George," to
the steward, "I'll take a cup of coffee. Yes, the professor and I have
been out all night, although I don't think we really meant to stay so
long, but--"
"Well, but where is von Schalckenberg, then? Did he not come in with
you?" interrupted Sir Reginald.
"No," answered Mildmay; "I left him by the margin of the lake, mounting
guard over four unicorns, and--"
"Unicorns?" ejaculated Lethbridge; "you lucky sailor-man! Surely you do
not seriously mean to say that you have bagged any unicorns?"
"Four unicorns--two males and two females; one lion, and a python. Not
so bad for one night's work, is it? And I came in, Sir Reginald, at the
professor's request, to suggest that we should move the ship over to the
lake forthwith, to give you all a chance to see the beasts before we
start to flay them, and also to place them under the protection of the
ship, so to speak. For now that we have them, the professor is afraid
to take his eyes off them for a moment lest something should get at them
and spoil the pelts."
"I should say so," concurred Sir Reginald. "All right, Mildmay, you cut
away and get your bath. I will take the ship over at once. Whereabouts
shall I find von Schalckenberg?"
"Right at the southern end of the lake," said Mildmay. "You can't very
well miss him. Look for a gap in the reeds, and steer for that. You
will find him there."
And, as Mildmay retired to his cabin to prepare for a bath, the other
three men hurried off to the pilot-house, eager to get a sight of the
professor and his interesting "bag."
As the _Flying Fish_ rose into the air, the occupants of her pilot-house
levelled their powerful binoculars upon the margin of the lake, and
almost immediately Lethbridge cried out--
"I see him! There he is, away to the left, proudly mounting guard over
his spoils. Starboard your helm a trifle, Elphinstone. So; steady as
you go. Do you see him?"
"Ay," said Sir Reginald, "I see him now," as he again raised his glasses
to his eyes. "And, by Jove, he seems to be busy too. Surely he is
using his rifle, isn't he?"
"He seems to be," observed Sziszkinski. "Yes; he is down on one knee,
aiming at something. Ha! look at that! Lucky man! he is getting all
the sport. Surely that was a lion that sprang into the air and fell
back among the rushes!"