WHAT McCANN DID.
There was little sleeping done in the camp that night. McCann kept his
place behind the fore-chest, the Hottentots never showed themselves or
made their whereabouts known, and the young hunter and his Kaffir
interpreter stood guard, kept the fires blazing, and listened to the
noise made by the animals that were constantly going to and from the
fountain. There seemed to be no end to them.
If there were any faith to be placed in one's sense of hearing, Oscar
had seen but a very small portion of the game that inhabited that
section of the country. Sometimes the noise made by their hoofs
continued for ten minutes at a time without the least interruption.
After the lions had finished their battle and quenched their thirst
there was quiet for an hour, and then the other animals began coming in.
First came the small antelopes, then the larger ones, such as the
wilde-beests, elands, and harte-beests; then the zebras, quaggas, and
buffaloes; and if there had been an elephant or a rhinoceros in the
neighborhood he would have come last.
The hour selected by the lion depends entirely upon circumstances. If
the moon rises late he comes to the fountain soon after dark; and if it
rises early he postpones his visit until near morning, unless he has had
a hearty supper, and then he drinks whenever he happens to feel thirsty.
While Oscar was listening, and wishing it was daylight, so that he could
see the immense herds that were constantly passing by within less than
two hundred yards of his wagon, he was treated to another contest.
It did not frighten him as the first one did, for he knew that the
animals which engaged in it were not much to be feared; still it made
him nervous and timid, it was so wild and unearthly. It sounded, for all
the world, as though a dozen or so demented persons were joining in a
hearty laugh over something.
It was enough to try anyone's nerves, and it was no wonder that the
terror-stricken after-rider drew himself into a smaller compass behind
the fore-chest, and cried out that another such night would be the death
of him.
"There's nothing to whine over," said Oscar. "A pack of laughing hyenas
have found poor Major's body--that's all."
Major was the name of the mastiff that had been killed by the buffalo.
"Yes, and after they get through with him they may take it into their
heads to see what there is under the wagon," replied McCann.
"Let them come," said Oscar. "These fires throw out a good deal of
light, and I'll knock over the first one I can draw a bead on. But look
here, Mack. You have heard all these sounds before, and how does it come
that they have such an effect on you to-night? They scare you more than
they do me."
"The reason is just this," answered McCann: "The trading expeditions I
have accompanied through here have never consisted of less than four or
five wagons, and sometimes we have had as many as twenty men with us.
The lion will not bother such a crowd as that if he is left alone. If
anything happens to-night there are only two of us to do the fighting."
"And who are they?" asked the young hunter.
"Why, you and me, of course. Who else is there? Big Thompson couldn't do
anything with his little spears, even if he had the courage to face a
lion; the Hottentots would take to the nearest trees, and----"
McCann paused, and Oscar finished the sentence for him by saying:
"You would climb to the top of the wagon, leaving me to get out of the
scrape the best way I could."
Oscar put his feet upon the fore-chest, leaned back against the arches
that supported the tent, and, although he did not expect to close his
eyes in slumber, he was fast asleep in a very few minutes.
He awoke at daylight, and found his servants already astir. The
Hottentots had turned up safe and sound, and were watering the stock at
the fountain; the Kaffir was busy at one of the fires, cooking their
breakfast and his own; and McCann, having dished up a frugal meal for
his employer, was on the point of calling him, when Oscar stepped down
from the dissel-boom, with a towel and a piece of soap in his hand.
The boy looked at his after-rider in great surprise. The exciting events
of the night must have had a terrible effect upon his nerves, for he
seemed to have grown ten years older since the sun went down. He was
pale and haggard, his eyelids drooped, and he moved as though he had
scarcely strength enough left to stand upon his feet.
"What's the matter, Mack?" asked Oscar cheerfully. "Did the concerts to
which we listened last night scare all the life out of you?"
"Oh, no, sir!" replied the man, who was bolder now that it was daylight
and the lions were gone. "I am going to have rheumatic fever, I am
afraid."
"That's bad," said Oscar; but still there was not much sympathy in his
tones. He shrewdly suspected that the only thing that troubled his
after-rider was an utter lack of courage, and that he was feigning
sickness for some purpose of his own. "Hadn't you better take something
for it? You know where the medicine-chest is. I suppose you can't go
with me to follow up the spoor of that buffalo Big Thompson wounded
yesterday?"
"Indeed, I can't," replied McCann in a weak voice. "I couldn't sit in
the saddle for half an hour to save my life. It will be no use for you
to follow up the spoor, for you will find nothing but bones when you get
to the end of it. The lions, hyenas, and jackals have made a meal of him
before this time."
"I suppose they have; but we may find some beast which has not yet
satisfied his appetite hanging around the carcass, you know," said Oscar
as he kneeled on the ground and plunged his head into the water-bucket
that served him as a wash-basin.
That was just what McCann was afraid of, and it was one reason why he
did not want to go with his employer when the latter left the camp to
follow up the spoor; but, of course, he did not say so.
"As soon as the cattle come up put the saddles on Little Gray and
Leichtberg, and tell Thompson that I want him to go with me to act as
trailer and after-rider," said Oscar, drawing his head out of the bucket
long enough to take breath. "Tell him, also, to put ropes and collars on
Ralph and Rover. We will take them with us and leave the rest of the
pack in camp."
Leichtberg was the name of one of Oscar's new horses, and Ralph and
Rover were the two deer-hounds which had been presented to him by Mr.
Lawrence.
Oscar had noticed that these high-toned animals would not hunt well when
in company with the other members of the pack, and he wanted to see what
they could do by themselves.
"I want to get away from here as soon as I can, and consequently I must
improve every hour. By this time next week we shall be fifty miles
deeper in the wilderness," said Oscar as his head went down into the
bucket again.
McCann, who was quite well enough to obey these orders, walked off
toward the Kaffir's fire, muttering to himself:
"Here's one who won't be fifty miles deeper in the wilderness by a week
from to-day. I don't think you will go any further, either; but if you
do you will find me missing on the morning you get ready to start. Mind
that!"
Big Thompson, whose courage was equal to McCann's cowardice, made all
haste to carry out his employer's instructions, working to such good
purpose that by the time Oscar had finished his breakfast the horses he
had named were saddled and waiting, the two deer-hounds had been put in
the leash, and the rest of the pack were tied under the wagon.
Having provided the Kaffir with one of his best rifles and a belt full
of ammunition, Oscar armed and equipped himself and then mounted Little
Gray.
"Now, Mack," said he, "as soon as you have eaten your breakfast set to
work with the Hottentots and gather a good supply of firewood. Heap it
up as high as the wagon if you want to, for what we don't burn to-night
we can burn some other night, you know."
McCann promised obedience, and Oscar and the Kaffir rode away.
The man watched them as they passed the fountain and ascended the
opposite bank of the water-course, and when they disappeared from his
view he arose from the camp-chair in which he had been sitting, with his
elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his hands.
He did not look or act much like a sick man now. His step was light and
quick, his eyes were wide open, and there was a smile of triumph on his
face.
"I've had about enough of this," said he as he placed his foot on the
dissel-boom. "I ought never to have come out here with that boy, for I
ought to have known that he hadn't sense enough to keep him out of
trouble. I never would have come with him, either, if I had had any idea
that he had so much determination. I was sure I could frighten him and
make him turn back; but since I can't do that I can do the next best
thing."
McCann climbed into the wagon and began rummaging about in the hanging
pockets.
The first contained towels, soap, a brush and comb, and other toilet
articles; but they were not the things McCann wanted to find. Neither
did he take two looks at the writing materials in the second, or the old
newspapers in the third; but when he came to the fourth he uttered an
exclamation, indicative of the greatest satisfaction.
Plunging his hand into it, he drew out a large brown envelope, which he
had seen so often that he recognized it at once as the article he was in
search of.
He opened it and took out a folded paper, on which was traced, in inks
of different colors, a neat and comprehensive map of the country beyond
Zurnst.
The red line showed the route Mr. Lawrence had pursued when he was on
his last hunting expedition, the blue pointed out the position of the
mountains on each side of the track, and the black dots indicated where
the best water and camping grounds were to be found.
"This thing has stood in my way long enough," said McCann as he
replaced the map and deliberately tore it and the envelope into four
pieces. "If he hadn't had this in his possession I could have lost him
on the plain and made him turn back before he had left Zurnst a week's
journey behind him; but every time I tried to draw him out of his course
this map always set him right. He'll not consult it any more, I bet you!
He'll miss it, of course, but he'll think he lost it somewhere along the
route. I shall see home again in less than two months, and then Mr.
Preston will fork over the balance of my twenty-five pounds, or I'll
have him up before a magistrate."
Talking in this way to himself, McCann got out of the wagon, and walking
up to the nearest fire threw the map into the flames; and then, without
waiting to see what became of it, he took possession of his employer's
chair and proceeded to eat a hearty breakfast.
It might have interested him somewhat to know that, of the four pieces
into which he had torn the map, only three were consumed, the other
being caught by the wind just as it was about to drop into the coals,
and carried out into the grove.
It remained there a day or so, moving about from point to point under
the influence of every little breeze that struck it, and finally it was
blown out upon the plain, from which it returned most unexpectedly to
confront McCann with proofs of his guilt.