OFF FOR AFRICA.
Dinner was served at six o'clock in the evening. It took almost an hour
to eat it, and when it had been disposed of the captain was ready for
business, as Oscar thought he would be. He conducted his guest to the
library, and said, as he filled and lighted his well-blackened pipe:
"Now, then, my boy, what are your plans? Be explicit, so that I may know
just how I can aid you."
Oscar replied by repeating his written instructions, which he had read
so often that he knew them by heart.
"All right, so far," said the captain approvingly. "Now where's your
ordnance?"
"In my trunk," answered Oscar.
"In your _trunk_?" repeated the captain, opening his eyes and looking
up at his own tried and trusted "battery" on the walls. "It must be
rather smaller than mine, or else your trunk is larger than any I ever
heard of. Go and get it; I want to look at it."
Oscar left the room, and presently returned with his little
fowling-piece in one hand and his Sharp's rifle in the other. The
captain took the double-barrel and looked critically into the muzzle of
it.
"This will answer for Namaqua partridges--nothing else," said he. "By
the way, those birds may prove to be the best friends you will have when
you reach your hunting-grounds. If you are in want of water, and see a
flock of them on the wing, note the direction in which they go and
follow them, and you will be sure to find a spring. They never stray far
away from water, for they must have it twice a day."
The captain handed back the double-barrel and took the rifle, looking
carefully at that also, to see how large the bore was.
"This will do for spring-buck," said he; "but an eland or a wilde-beest
(naturalists call it a gnu) wouldn't stop for half a dozen such balls
as this weapon carries. Go and get the rest."
"These are all I have," answered Oscar.
"All!" vociferated the captain. "And do you think of going into the
wilds of Africa with only two guns, and pop-guns at that? Why, you might
as well commit suicide and have done with it."
"This rifle has bowled over some of the largest game in America," said
Oscar. "It killed a grizzly bear with one ball as dead as if he had been
struck by lightning."
"A chance shot, undoubtedly. I have killed an elephant with a single
bullet, and a man-eating tiger also--the one that wore the skin on which
you are standing; but such things happen only once in a lifetime."
"There was no 'chance' about my shot, sir," replied Oscar, rather
proudly. "I aimed for his spine, and there was the place I hit him. It
was a good shot, and it was made under the most trying circumstances. If
I had missed my guide would have been torn in pieces before my eyes, and
I should have been left to find my way back to civilization as best I
could."
"Well, you will never go to Africa with that battery by _my_ advice,"
said the captain. "In order to do good work you must have good weapons;
and as your life may some time depend on the way in which they do their
duty, it stands you in hand to mind what you are about. You must have at
least three heavier rifles for yourself--you may lose or break one, you
know--and a Martini-Henry carbine for each of your servants. We will go
down to Birmingham to-morrow and get them. Now sit down and tell me
about your fight with that grizzly bear."
Oscar often thought of the pleasant evening he passed in that library.
The old hunter was full of stories, and every one he told contained some
scraps of valuable information which Oscar treasured up in his memory
for future use.
The hours flew rapidly by, and it was ten o'clock before he knew it. He
began to wonder why his host did not say something about going to bed;
but the latter talked as rapidly as ever, until a servant opened the
door to announce that supper was ready.
Having never been accustomed to eating at that hour of the night, Oscar
did not make a very hearty meal; but the captain went to work manfully,
and no one would have supposed, from the way the eatables disappeared
before his attacks, that he had eaten dinner only five hours before.
It was two o'clock before Oscar went to his room, and ten by his watch
when he awoke.
He put on his clothes with all haste, wondering the while why somebody
had not called him in time for breakfast; but when he went downstairs he
learned that his host had not yet left his bed, and that breakfast would
not be ready for more than an hour.
True to his promise, the captain accompanied his guest to Birmingham
that afternoon, and picked out some weapons for him--three heavy
breech-loading Express rifles, with interchangeable shot barrels, one
ponderous muzzle-loading rifle, carrying twelve bullets to the pound,
and six carbines.
Besides these there was a case of cheap muskets, which were to be used
in trading for any curiosities which Oscar thought the committee would
like to see in the museum.
The carbines and muskets were shipped to London, where they were to
remain until Oscar was ready to start for the Cape, and the rifles he
took to Somerset with him.
That evening while they were seated at the dinner-table the captain
said, with as much enthusiasm as a school-boy would have exhibited:
"That much is done, and to-morrow we'll take a run up into Argyleshire.
I have some intimate friends up there who are acquainted at the Cape,
and in Durban, Maritzburg, Zurnst--in fact, all through the country; and
from them we'll get a letter or two that will make friends for you among
the Africanders. While they are writing them you and I will look over
their preserves, and throw a hook into their well-stocked lakes. Sleep
lightly to-night, for I warn you that I shall have you up in the morning
at a most uncomfortably early hour."
When morning came Oscar found that what was called an early hour in
England would have been called a very late hour in America.
He was up and dressed at five o'clock, and took himself to task for
sleeping so long; but it was eight before the captain made his
appearance, nine when breakfast was served, and eleven when they set out
for Argyleshire.
The two succeeding days were spent in fly-fishing and "fagging after
grouse," as the captain termed it.
Although our hero was not much of a fly-fisher, he was an adept at
shooting on the wing, and his companions were loud in their praises of
the clean and handsome manner in which he cut down his birds.
He made the acquaintance of a good many gentlemen, some of whom were old
East Indian soldiers and sportsmen, and acquainted in America as well as
at the Cape, and from them he received letters which proved to be of the
greatest assistance to him.
Oscar thoroughly enjoyed himself during his short sojourn among the
highlands, for the company into which he was thrown was most agreeable,
the shooting excellent, the game being strictly preserved, and he would
have been glad to remain longer, but duty called him, and he was obliged
to heed the call.
On the Thursday following his arrival at the lodge he took leave of his
kind hostess, and in company with the captain, who took as much interest
in the matter as he would if he had been going to Africa himself, set
out for London, where he spent two very busy weeks in purchasing an
outfit.
The captain proved to be an invaluable assistant, and although Oscar
could not see the use of half the articles he selected for him, he
afterward found that there was not a single useless thing in the whole
collection.
Some idea of the size of his outfit and of the money he must have spent
during those two weeks may be gained when we say that he had, among a
good many other heavy and bulky things, fifteen thousand rounds of
ammunition--seventy-five pounds of powder, three hundred pounds of lead
and as many of shot of different sizes--and that, when the outfit was
boxed and ready for shipment, it weighed over eight thousand pounds.
Having secured his berth and ticket and taken a receipt from the
purser, showing that his goods had been safely stowed away on board the
steamer that was to take them to the Cape, Oscar took the next day to
look about the city.
Eleven o'clock was the hour set for sailing, and long before that time
he and the captain were seated on the steamer's deck, where all was
bustle and confusion.
Porters and cabmen jostled one another, stevedores were shouting
themselves hoarse in giving orders to their perspiring gangs; careless
passengers were searching frantically for missing luggage, and in little
retired nooks and corners, out of earshot of the gay, laughing groups
around them, could be seen a wife taking a tearful leave of a husband,
or a father and mother bidding a fond farewell to a son going out into
the world to seek his fortune.
Presently the captain of the steamer took his stand upon the bridge,
bells began to ring, and a shudder ran through the mighty craft as the
donkey engines were set in motion and began the work of warping her out
of her berth toward the entrance to the dock.
Captain Sterling, who was continually thinking of some important thing
which he had neglected to say to his young friend, talked incessantly,
all the while looking about among the passengers in the hope of finding
a familiar face.
"If I could only run across just one friend for you to talk to it would
shorten the voyage by a good many miles," said he; "but they are all
strangers to me. However, you will not long want for company. Don't
expect too much of sea-sick people. At least wait until you leave
Madeira before you denounce them as a boorish, unsociable set."
At last Gravesend was reached, and there the steamer paused for a few
moments to take breath and summon her strength for the run down the
Channel--at least, that was what Oscar's companion said.
A hoarse voice, which sounded like the sigh of a tired nor'wester,
shouted, "All ashore!" whereupon the kissing and hand-shaking between
friends and relatives who were about to separate were repeated, and the
passengers made a rush for the gangway.
"Good-by, my dear boy! My heart goes with you, and if I had a few years
less on my shoulders I should go with you in person."
The kind-hearted old fellow's voice was husky, and there was a
suspicious look about his eyes, as he took Oscar's hand in both his own,
and wrung it energetically. His short acquaintance with Oscar had
affected him just as the blast of a bugle affects a superannuated
cavalry horse.
It had brought back the memory of old times to him so vividly that he
almost fancied he was young again.
"Good-by, captain!" said Oscar, whose own voice was none of the
steadiest. "I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to you for the
services you have rendered me. I could not have got along without you.
How can I ever repay you for your great kindness?"
"You can do it by making a success of your expedition. I want you to do
that, so that I can take some credit to myself. Don't give up; whatever
happens, don't give up. I assure you I shall not forget you; and I don't
want you to forget me, either. Drop me a line as often as you are within
reach of a post-office. You can send me a letter every two or three
weeks until you reach Zurnst. If you go beyond that place you will
disappear as completely from the gaze of the civilized world as though
you had ceased to live. You will see nobody except your servants, and
perhaps a few wandering bushmen, who will be glad to give you a drink of
water from their ostrich shells in return for a few mouthfuls of dried
meat. Good-by--good-by!"
The bells rang again, the last of the visitors ran for the gang-plank,
the screw began to revolve, and the huge vessel swung around until her
bow pointed down the Channel. Oscar was off for Africa at last.