The horns were Hendrik's!
So thought Hendrik, when, at the crack of his rifle, he saw the buck
roll backward down the bank into the very jaws of the buck-dog.
He was mistaken, however--as he had reason to think the moment after--
when the antelope, instead of lying still where it had fallen, rose to
its feet again, beat off the dog with its horns, and springing over him,
once more plunged into the river! The dog bounded after, and, swimming
faster than the antelope, overtook it near the middle of the stream,
seizing it by the quarters as he got within reach. The strong buck soon
shook him off, and turning short upon his persecutor, struck at him in
the water. Two or three times the hound was under its horns, but the
water yielding saved Hendrik's favourite from destruction, although more
than once he was forced under the surface.
This struggle was kept up for some moments. The river ran red, blood
pouring from the wound of the bullet, as well as from the flanks of the
antelope, lacerated by the tusks of his canine assailant. The blood of
the hound also helped to colour the current--for the sharp horns of the
buck had been used to some purpose, and several gashes appeared in the
hide of the dog, from which the crimson flood streamed copiously.
After delivering his fire, Hendrik had alighted, not with the intention
of reloading, but merely to secure his prize, which, as he supposed, had
been finished by the shot. He was about tying his bridle to a branch;
but, before he had succeeded in making a knot, the renewed struggle on
the opposite bank, followed by the plunge, caused him suddenly to drop
the reins and again lay hold of his rifle.
He loaded with all haste, and ran forward to the bank.
There was a fringing of willow-bushes along the edge of the river. In
the saddle Hendrik had been able to look over them, and at that
elevation commanded a view of the water. Afoot he could not see it,
except obscurely through the tops of the willows. He could only see
that the water was waving with eddies and covered with frothy bubbles.
He could hear that a struggle was going on between buck and buck-dog,
but the combatants had got close in to the willows, and the leaves
prevented Hendrik from seeing either of them.
At one place there was a break in the willows, where the bank sloped
downward to the water's edge. It was a mere pathway, made by wild
animals in going to drink. On both sides of it the bushes grew thick,
forming a narrow lane or alley.
Hendrik's eye fell upon this path, and the next moment he was hastening
down it. The antelope from the river had also noted the path. It was
the place easiest of access from the water, as there the bank was more
shelving than at any other point; and just at the time the hunter rushed
into it from the woods, the buck was entering its opposite end from the
water!
Both were going at full speed, and in five seconds' time they met face
to face in the narrow pathway!
There was no chance for either to make way for the other. The close
thicket on each side prevented that. There was no chance for either to
retreat; the impetuosity with which they were running rendered it
impossible for either to give back or even halt. They must meet with a
fearful collision!
Such a meeting would be entirely to the advantage of the buck, and,
perhaps, to the total destruction of the hunter.
Hendrik saw this, and would have aimed at the buck and fired had time
been allowed him. But so sudden and unexpected was the encounter that
he had not even time to get his rifle to the level, before the animal
was too near to admit of such delay.
He fired wildly without taking aim. The bullet scored the back of the
antelope, only to add to its fury; and with head lowered and scimitars
set, it rushed onward upon the hunter.
It was a moment of peril for Hendrik. Another moment, and he would have
been impaled upon the sharp horns; but at that instant, as if guided by
an impulse of instinct, he dropped his rifle, and ran forward towards
the buck, as if to fling himself upon its horns!
That was far from being his intention, however. When within about three
feet of these horns, he gave a sudden bound and rose like a springbok
into the air!
That spring saved him. Before he came down again the horns had passed
under him, and he fell heavily across the back of the buck.
The hind-quarters of the antelope sank under his weight, and Hendrik
slipped off; but before he could recover his feet, the furious animal
had turned, and was again springing upon him where he lay.
It would have been all up with Hendrik, had he been left to himself at
that moment. But succour was nigh.
The buck-dog had reached the spot; and just as the antelope was making
his rush, the dog sprang forward, and, seizing it by the throat, hung
fast.
Hendrik received the blow, but the weight of the dog hanging to the
throat of the antelope prevented the latter from giving it with effect,
and the hunter was but slightly injured.
In an instant the buck kicked the dog off with its hoofs, and flung him
to the ground. In another instant it would have finished him with its
horns; but Hendrik, from the sharp blow he had received, was now as
angry as the antelope itself, and was not going to see his favourite
hound killed before his eyes without making an effort to save him.
Warmed to the conflict, he thought no longer of retreating; and, drawing
his hunting-knife, he sprang forward upon the antelope, that, engaged
with the dog, chanced to stand broadside towards him. With his left
hand the hunter grasped one of the horns near its tip; and, using this
as a fulcrum, he turned round upon it, and thrust the long blade between
the ribs of the buck!
It was a home-thrust--for the animal fell dead at Hendrik's feet before
he could let go his hold upon the horn. The blade had passed through
its heart.
As soon as Hendrik had cooled a little from the conflict, he thought of
Groot Willem, who had not yet come up. He began to fear that the latter
might have received some serious injury, and he determined to ride back
to the spot, letting the buck lie where it had fallen. He could return
for it afterwards. Fortunately his own well-trained horse had not run
off--though left with trailing bridle--and Hendrik was soon mounted and
riding back on the spoor of the chase.
There was one thing that mystified Hendrik not a little. While battling
with the buck he had heard the loud report of Groot Willem's roer. What
could he have fired at? Had any of the other antelopes come in his way?
or was it a signal of distress? Hendrik was mystified and felt some
apprehension.
He had not far to go to satisfy himself. On reaching the edge of the
timber, he saw Groot Willem mounted and about starting forward to rejoin
him. This was a joyful sight to Hendrik, as the fact that Groot Willem
was once more in the saddle and the "Camel" upon his legs again, was
good _prima facie_ evidence that neither had sustained any very serious
damage.
Nor had they, as Hendrik ascertained by riding up to the spot. Groot
Willem was not so badly hurt as Hendrik himself, for the latter had one
of his arms well scored by the horns of the buck. Groot Willem's
temper, however, was severely ruffled; and though Hendrik was very much
inclined to laugh at the accident, he forbore doing so, out of regard
for his friend's feelings.
Hendrik now inquired about the report he had heard.
Was it the roer? Groot Willem answered his question in the affirmative,
by a simple nod, at the same time pointing to an odd-looking animal that
lay dead upon the ground, with all the appearance of having been freshly
killed.
Hendrik rode forward, and, bending down in his saddle, for some moments
regarded the animal.
A rare and singular creature it was. It was about the size of a large
terrier, but shaped very differently. It had the drooping hind-quarters
that distinguish the hyenas, and altogether the look of these animals;
but its muzzle was much more slender and pointed, its back more rounded,
and its limbs not so stout as those of the hyena's. It was a more
agreeable creature to look upon, and although its hair was long, it had
a soft woolly appearance. The general colour of the hair was grey with
a reddish tinge, and with black bands running transversely to the body
of the animal. This as much as anything else caused it to resemble the
hyena--that is, the species known as the "striped hyena," (_Hyena
striata_).
It was not a hyena, however, but one of those odd animals that seem to
belong to no class of creatures, but form a connecting link between
several. South Africa is especially prolific in such eccentric forms,
both among its birds and quadrupeds. As an illustration of this, we
might mention the wild-hound, the hyrax, the zerda, the fennec, the
gnoo, and the aard-vark; and among birds, the serpent-eater, the
bateleur eagle, and several other kinds. Most of these odd animals are
only represented by a single species, and that only to be found in South
Africa.
Now the creature that lay stretched out before the eyes of Hendrik was
just one of these zoological puzzles, that has occupied the attention of
the systematists for a long while. Some have classed it among dogs,
others with hyenas, some make a civet of it, and others a fox. With all
these animals it has affinities, both in habits and anatomical
structure, but it is not near enough to any to be regarded either as
dog, fox, civet, or hyena; and hence a genus has been created for
itself--the genus _Proteles_. It was a _proteles_ that lay upon the
ground--_Proteles Delalandii_,--so called from its first describer, the
traveller De Lalande.
Hendrik and Groot Willem knew the animal by the name of "aard-wolf," or
earth-wolf, so called because it lives underground in a burrow of its
own making. They knew it well enough, for it is common through all
South Africa--even in the settled districts, though on account of its
nocturnal and burrowing habits it is not often seen. It makes itself
known to the boor by its evil propensities; and although he may rarely
get his eyes upon it, as it is never abroad by day, he is often called
upon to witness the dire effects of its midnight marauding.
The sheep of South Africa are of a singular breed--singular on account
of their large fleshy tails, consisting of a mass of almost pure fat
which often weighs several pounds, and is used by the colonial
housewives in many operations of cookery. Now these tails, hanging to
the ground are the favourite _bonne-bouche_ of the aard-wolf, whose
jaws, not strong like those of the hyena, compel him to feed upon soft
substances. It is, therefore, no uncommon thing for the vee-boor to get
up in the morning, and find several of his best sheep divested of their
valuable tails, and all through the voracity of the aard-vark.
It was not likely that either Groot Willem or Hendrik was ignorant of
the aard-vark. Neither were they. Hendrik did not ride up to examine
the animal out of curiosity. He had seen such before, and killed them
too. His object in bending over it was to see where Groot Willem's
bullet had hit.
"Where had the creature come from?" he inquired.
Groot Willem replied that it had issued from its burrow--the hole that
had caused the "Camel" to stumble. That it had come out, just as he,
Groot Willem, recovered his feet; and that, provoked at it for having
been the cause of his misfortune, he had sent a bullet through it,
otherwise he would not have reckoned it worth his powder and lead.
This explained the report of the roer.
Hendrik and Groot Willem were now about to return for the buck, with the
intention of carrying as much of the meat to camp as they could manage
upon their horses; when Hans and Arend came up, and the four rode off
together.
They quartered the antelope, and each having packed a quarter upon his
croup, they set out for the camp.
All of them were in good spirits, except perhaps Groot Willem, who had
two reasons for feeling out of sorts,--the loss of his dog, and the loss
of a little of his hunter-fame. And he was not permitted to forget his
accident so easily, for although Hendrik had forborne to give him
further chagrin, yet Hans and Arend did not deal so delicately with him,
but both laughed heartily at his unfortunate tumble.