As Arend came up to the horse that had wandered from the camp, the
animal had arrived at the edge of an extensive thicket, and was
apparently determined upon straying still farther. To avoid being
caught or driven back, it rushed in among trees, taking a path or trace
made by wild animals.
Arend followed.
The path was too narrow to allow of his heading the stray; and,
apprehensive of losing it altogether, the youth followed on in hopes of
coming to a wider track, where he might have a chance of passing the
runaway and turning it towards the camp.
This hope seemed about to be realised, as the truant emerged from the
thicket and entered upon an open plain clothed with low heath,--the
_Erica vestila_, loaded with white blossoms.
The hunter was no longer obliged to follow upon the heels of the
runaway,--the horse; and spurring his own steed, he made an attempt to
get past it. But the horse, perhaps inspired by a recollection of the
pack-saddle and its heavy load, broke off into a gallop.
Arend followed, increasing his own speed in like proportion. When
nearly across the plain, the runaway suddenly stopped and then bolted
off at right angles to the course it had been hitherto pursuing.
Arend was astonished, but soon discovered the cause of this eccentric
action, in the presence of a huge black rhinoceros,--the borele--which
was making a straight course across the plain, as if on its way to the
river.
The runaway horse had shied out of its way; and it would have been well
for the horseman if he had shown himself equally discreet. But Arend
Von Wyk was a hunter,--and an officer of the Cape Militia,--and as the
borele passed by him, presenting a fine opportunity for a shot, he could
not resist the temptation to give it one.
Pulling up his horse, or rather trying to do so, for the animal was
restive in the presence of such danger, he fired. The shot produced a
result that was neither expected nor desired. With a roar like the
bellowing of an angry bull, the monster turned and charged straight
towards the horseman.
Arend was obliged to seek safety in flight, while the borele pursued in
a manner that told of its being wounded, but not incapacitated from
seeking revenge.
At the commencement of the chase, there was but a very short distance
between pursuer and pursued; and in place of suddenly turning out of the
track, and allowing the monster to pass by him,--which he should have
done, knowing the defect of vision natural to the rhinoceros,--the young
hunter continued on in a straight line, all the while employed in
reloading his rifle.
His mistake did not originate in any want of knowledge, or presence of
mind, but rather from carelessness and an unworthy estimate of the
abilities of the borele to overtake him. He had long been a successful
hunter, and success too often begets that over-confidence which leads to
many a mischance, that the more cautious sportsman will avoid.
Suddenly he found his flight arrested by the thick scrub of thorny
bushes, known in South Africa as the "wait a bits", and the horse he was
riding did wait a bit,--and so long that the borele was soon close upon
his heels.
There was now neither time nor room to turn either to the right or left.
The rifle was at length loaded, but there would have been but little
chance of killing the rhinoceros by a single shot, especially with such
uncertain aim as could have been taken from the back of a frightened
horse.
Arend, therefore, threw himself from the saddle. He had a twofold
purpose in doing so. His aim would be more correct, and there was the
chance of the borele keeping on after the horse, and leaving him an
undisturbed spectator of the chase.
The field of view embraced by the eyes of a rhinoceros is not large;
but, unfortunately for the hunter, as the frightened horse fled from his
side, it was he himself that came within the circumscribed circle of the
borele's vision.
Hastily raising the rifle to his shoulder he fired at the advancing
enemy, and then fled towards a clump of trees that chanced to be near
by.
He could hear the heavy tread of the rhinoceros as it followed close
upon his heels. It seemed to shake the earth. Closer and closer he
heard it, so near that he dared not stop to look around. He fancied he
could feel the breath of the monster blowing upon his back. His only
chance was to make a sudden deviation from his course, and leave the
borele to pass on in its impetuous charge. This he did, turning sharply
to the right, when he saw that he had just escaped being elevated upon
the creature's horn.
This manoeuvre enabled him to gain some distance as he started off in
the new direction. But it was not long maintained; for the borele was
again in hot pursuit, without any show of fatigue; while the tremendous
exertions he had himself been making rendered him incapable of
continuing his flight much longer. He had just sufficient strength left
to avoid an immediate encounter by taking one more turn, when,
fortunately, he saw before him the trunk of a large baobab-tree lying
prostrate along the ground. It had been blown down by some mighty
storm, and lay resting upon its roots at one end, and its shivered
branches at the other, so as to leave a space of about two feet between
its trunk and the ground.
Suddenly throwing himself down, Arend glided under the tree, just in
time to escape the long horn, whose point had again come in close
proximity with his posterior.
The hunter had now time to recover his breath, and, to some extent, his
confidence. He saw that the fallen tree would protect him. Even should
the rhinoceros come round to the other side, he would only have to roll
back again to place himself beyond the reach of its terrible horn. The
space below was ample enough to enable him to pass through, but too
small for the body of a borele. By creeping back and forward he could
always place himself in safety. And this was just what he had to do;
for the enraged monster, on seeing him on the other side, immediately
ran round the roots, and renewed the attack.
This course of action was several times repeated before the young hunter
was allowed much time for reflection. He was in hopes that the brute
would get tired of the useless charges it was making and either go away
itself, or give him the opportunity.
In this hope he was doomed to disappointment. The animal, exasperated
with the wounds it had received, appeared implacable; and for more than
an hour it kept running around the tree in vain attempts to get at him.
As he had very little trouble in avoiding it, there was plenty of
opportunity for reflection; and he passed the time in devising some plan
to settle the misunderstanding between the borele and himself.
The first he thought of was to make use of his rifle. The weapon was
within his reach where he had dropped it when diving under the tree; but
when about to reload it, he discovered that the ramrod was missing!
So sudden had been the charge of the borele, at the time the rifle was
last loaded, that the ramrod had not been returned to its proper place,
but left behind upon the plain. This was an unlucky circumstance; and
for a time the young hunter could not think of anything better than to
keep turning from side to side, to avoid the presence of the besieger.
The borele at last seemed to show signs of exhaustion, or, at all
events, began to perceive the unprofitable nature of the tactics it had
been pursuing. But the spirit of revenge was not the least weakened
within it, for it made no move toward taking its departure from the
spot. On the contrary, it lay down by the baobab in a position to
command a view on both sides of the huge trunk, evidently determined to
stay there and await the chance of getting within reach of its victim.
Thus silently beleaguered, the young hunter set about considering in
what manner he might accomplish the raising of the siege.