As the moments passed, Hendrik's thirst grew fiercer, and his impatience
stronger. He had already examined the cliff above him--in hopes that he
might have found a way by which it could be scaled. To no purpose did
he look up. There were other ledges, it is true, but they were beyond
his reach. The shelf he stood upon ran along the face of the cliff for
many yards, but narrowed at both ends until it could be followed no
farther. He had not moved from the spot where he ascended, as that was
the broadest part, and where he was most out of reach of the elastic
snout and long horns of the keitloa.
He now remembered that, while battling about below, he had noticed a
dark spot above the ledge, which he had conjectured to be the entrance
of a cave, or a hole in the cliff. He had thought of it once again, but
as creeping within a cave would not render him more secure than he was
out on the rock, he had not gone towards it.
Now it occurred to him that he might examine the cave, and enter it if
large enough to admit him. It would, at least, be pleasanter there, as
he would be sheltered from the hot rays of the sun--an important
consideration at that moment.
But there was another consideration that influenced him still more; and
that was, the thought that were he once _out of sight_ the rhinoceros
_might forget him_. He knew that the old adage, "out of sight, out of
mind," had a good deal of meaning when applied to the borele, the lion,
and many other dangerous animals; and perhaps the proverb would also
hold good of the keitloa--though what he had heard of this creature gave
him very little ground to hope. At all events, he could test the thing.
It would not cost much time to make the trial; and even should it prove
of no service in that way, the change from his present stand upon the
hot ledge for a seat within a cool cavern could not otherwise than
better his condition. To the cave then!
Fixing his eye upon the keitloa, he commenced moving along the terrace,
towards the point where he remembered having noticed the dark fissure in
the cliff.
The keitloa followed, keeping with him step for step; and apparently
roused to fresh vigilance, as if it feared that its victim was about to
attempt an escape. All the way it followed him; and as the ledge grew
narrower, it became necessary for Hendrik to proceed with great caution.
Not that he was in danger of falling from it, but rather of _being
dragged_--for the rhinoceros, by standing on his hind-legs, was now able
to stretch his broad muzzle above the edge of the rock, and to protrude
his elastic snout across the ledge within a few inches of the wall
beyond. It therefore required "gingerly" stepping on the part of
Hendrik. Notwithstanding all the menacing efforts of his adversary,
Hendrik succeeded in reaching the entrance of the cave.
It was a cavern deep and dark, with a mouth sufficiently large to admit
the body of a man in a bent position.
Hendrik was about stooping to enter it, when a loud "purr" sounded in
his ears that caused him to start erect again, as if some one had run a
needle into his back! The "purr" was quickly followed by a "roar," so
deep and terrible, that in his first moments of alarm, the hunter felt
half inclined to leap to the ground, and risk the horns of the
rhinoceros, which, at that instant, were gleaming above the ledge,
within twenty inches of his feet!
There was no mystery in what caused the alarm. There was no mistaking
that roar for any other earthly sound. The cave was tenanted by a lion!
The tenant did not remain much longer within his house. The roaring
continued; and every moment sounded nearer and clearer. The huge claws
caused a rattling among the dry pebbles that strewed the bottom of the
cave. The lion was coming forth!
With the nimbleness of a klipspringer, Hendrik bounded to one side, and
ran back along the ledge, looking fearfully behind him.
This time he was not followed by the keitloa. The rhinoceros, whether
terrified by the roar of the lion, or whether his attention was solely
taken up by it, remained standing where he had taken up his position,
with his head projected over the rock, and his snout pointed towards the
entrance of the cavern.
Next moment the shaggy front of the lion filled the mouth of the cave,
and the king of beasts and the "king of brutes" came face to face!
For some moments they remained gazing at each other; but the eyes of the
lion seemed to intimidate the keitloa, and the latter drew his head
back, and dropped on all fours to the ground. Perhaps he would have
gone off from the spot without an encounter; but the ire of the dread
monarch had been aroused by this intrusion upon his rest. For a moment
he stood lashing his tawny sides with his tail; and then, crouching
until his breast touched the rock, he launched himself out from the
ledge, and came down with all the weight of his body upon the broad back
of the keitloa!
But, king as he was, he had mistaken the character of that "subject," if
he thought he was going either to mangle him badly, or put him to
flight. Sharp as were his claws, and strong his arms to strike, they
barely scratched the thick hard hide of the pachyderm; and although he
tried to "fix" himself on the shoulders of the latter, he could not
manage to stick. Had it been a buffalo, or an antelope, or even the
tall giraffe, he would have ridden it to death; but to ride a rhinoceros
was a different affair; and he found it so. Although he used both teeth
and claws to keep him in the position he had taken, neither would serve
him, and he was dismounted almost in an instant. The moment the keitloa
felt the fierce rider on its back, it made a desperate rush outward from
the rocks, and shaking its huge body like an earthquake, it cast the
lion to the plain.
The lion crouched as if again to spring; but the latter, suddenly
turning upon his antagonist, stood face to face with him before he could
effect his purpose.
The rhinoceros did not pause a moment, but rushed on his antagonist with
his horns set like couched lances. The weight of his body, with the
impetuosity of the charge, would have driven those hard sharp weapons
through the toughest skin that lion ever wore, and through his ribs as
well. The lion seemed to be troubled with some such idea; for, instead
of awaiting the onset of his enemy, he turned tail--the cowardly
brute!--and made off up the pass, the keitloa chasing him as if he had
been a cat!
Hendrik, all the while, had watched the combat from the ledge; but he
never knew how it ended, or whether the rhinoceros overtook the lion or
not. The moment he saw the two great brutes in full run _up_ the pass,
he leaped from the ledge and ran _down_ it, with all the speed he could
take out of his legs.
On reaching the angle, he hesitated a moment which way to take--whether
to follow back the spoor of the hunt, or the later tracks of his horse--
but at length he decided on following back his own spoor over the open
plain. He ran along it as fast as he was able, looking over his
shoulders at very short intervals, and still fearful that the great
black body would show itself in his rear. He was agreeably
disappointed, however. No keitloa followed in pursuit; and soon another
agreeable fact came under his notice--he perceived that his horse had
also gone back the same way. On rounding a clump of bushes some
distance farther on, he saw the horse browsing a little way off upon the
plain.
The latter permitted himself to be caught; and Hendrik, once more
mounting to the saddle, pursued his way towards the camp. The spoor of
the hunt guided him in a direct line; for the blesboks, it will be
remembered, ran all the while to windward, thus following a straight
course. Hendrik had no difficulty in following the track; and, after
two hours' riding, got back to camp, having picked up most of the dogs
on his way back.
Hans and Arend _did_ laugh at him. Groot Willem did _not_. The latter
remembered how his rival had acted after his own tumble over the burrow
of the aard-wolf; and now reciprocated Hendrik's handsome behaviour on
that occasion. Groot Willem and Hendrik were likely to become great
friends.