"Here they come. Is the whole of that lot to be done to-day, Xuvani?"
"Ja, Baas," replied that worthy, swinging back the ponderous gate of the
cattle enclosure where he and Jeffreys were standing.
For the ground echoes a low rumble, drawing nearer every moment. It is
the trample of many hoofs, and Jeffreys and his swart companion fix
their attention upon a troop of cattle coming up the kloof. They are
mostly young beasts, and skittish. Now and then one will leave the rest
and attempt to strike out a line for itself, but lo, one of the two
horsemen riding behind is down on it like lightning; a shout and a crack
of the whip, and the recreant is back in the ways of the herd again.
Peradventure half-a-dozen will start off headlong down some well-known
track, and with frolicsome bellow and heels tossed in the air away they
go, refusing to hear the voice of the driver; but the spirited horse
darts beneath the spur like a greyhound from the leash; over ant-heap
and through rhinoster bush straight as an arrow he flies; and behold,
suddenly, from around that clump of spekboem, appears the form of one of
the drivers. A shout, half-a-dozen appalling whip-cracks, the errant
beasts stop short, heads go up and eyeballs dilate upon the unlooked-for
apparition with startled inquiry, then wheeling round they scamper back
to their comrades, helter-skelter, and the unruly mass moves swiftly on,
urged by the horsemen, eyes glaring, horns clashing, and now and again
an aggrieved "moo" as some quarrelsome brute playfully prods his nearest
neighbour, in the crush. One young bull especially, a fine, well-made
animal with curving wicked-looking horns, and not a speck of alien
colour on his glistening red hide, is inordinately given to leading the
rest astray, nor does he take kindly to correction, but puts his head
down and throws his horns about as if he had more than half a mind to
charge his drivers; but he is not quite used to that terrible cracking
whip, and thinks better of it.
"That brute'll make things lively for some of us to-day," remarked
Hicks, as his companion fell behind after "collecting" it for about the
twentieth time.
"Shouldn't wonder. The interesting quadruped appears to be getting his
hand in. That last time I had fully made up my mind for a roll, and
should have got it too. `Sticks' is an awful fool at getting out of
anything's way."
"Well, we're in now," said Hicks. "Hey, Xuvani!" he called out, darting
forward to head the animals into the kraal, "Look out over there!"
The Kafir gave a couple of bounds and threw up his arms. He was just in
time; two seconds later and the whole troop would have streamed past him
and galloped away across the _veldt_, which meant that a large part of
the morning's work would have to be done over again. The animals
stopped short, glared at the sudden obstacle, then looked wildly round
on one side and on the other, but they were hemmed in; the rear part of
the herd cannoned against the leaders, who at length made for the only
egress open, and amid much crush and plunging, interlacing of horns, and
starting eyeballs, the whole crowd poured through the wide gateway, the
pungent dust rising in clouds from the trampling hoofs.
"Whew! that's warm work!" said Claverton, as Xuvani made fast the huge
gate and drew a heavy beam across above the top of it for additional
security. "Now for breakfast, I suppose. Hallo, Jeffreys.
Good-morning."
"Mornin'," replied Will, shortly, as they turned towards the stable to
off-saddle their horses.
Mr Brathwaite was somewhat unwell that day, and not at all sorry to
have the assistance of Will Jeffreys in the morning's operations. So
with many cautions to Hicks about this and that, more by way of showing
that he didn't let everything slide because of a little indisposition,
than for any misgivings as to his lieutenant's skill, he made up his
mind to remain quiet in his room. Rheumatism is no respecter of
persons, the only wonder being that the old farmer, after such a life of
hardship and exposure, should be let down as easily as he was.
"Mr Claverton," said Ethel, as they were all seated round the
breakfast-table, "Laura and I are going to see the branding, so I hope
you'll show us some fun."
"Are you? That determination I should advise you to reconsider."
"But we won't. Aha, I know why you don't want us. You have never done
that sort of thing before, and you don't want us to see you make a bad
shot and run round the kraal with a cow after you. That's it, isn't it,
Mr Jeffreys?" turning to him. She was in a bright, teasing mood, and
looked bewitchingly pretty.
Jeffreys chuckled to himself at Claverton's expense, as he thought, and
mumbled something about "it being dangerous for her."
"Dangerous! Not a bit of it. We shall stand outside and look over the
gate, and we shall be perfectly safe."
Hicks looked up from his plate with a low whistle.
"Perfectly safe!" he reiterated. "Why, it was only last branding that
that big black and white ox of Jim's, after chevying Tambusa twice round
the kraal and knocking him down, jumped the gate, charged a big hencoop
that was pitched close by and threw it fifty feet in the air, and then
streaked off to the bush like a mad buffalo."
"What nonsense, Ethel! Of course you can't go," said her aunt, who had
re-entered the room during this conversation. "Why, the things often
break out of the kraal."
"Very well, aunt, I don't want to be a witness to poor Mr Claverton's
discomfiture;" and she cast at him a glance of petulance, mingled with
compassion, whose effect upon the object thereof was absolutely nil.
A business-like appearance was that of the scene of operations. The
animals were standing quietly about the large enclosure seventy yards in
diameter, with its solid, bristling thorn-fence eight or nine feet high
and its massive five-barred gate. In the centre burnt--or rather
smouldered, for it was of the red-hot glowing order--a great fire, over
which bent the bronzed form of Xuvani, the cattle-herd, superintending
the due heating of the branding-irons and gossiping in subdued gutturals
with the other "hands"--two Kafirs and a smart, wiry little Hottentot,
who, with the _penchant_ of his race for scriptural appellations,
rejoiced in the time-honoured and patriarchal one of Abram. Xuvani was
a man of between fifty and sixty, of middle height, and of powerful,
almost herculean build; the muscles stood out upon his limbs like great
ropes, and a blow from his fist--that is, if he had known how to make
use of his fists, which Kafirs very seldom do know--would have sufficed
to fell an ox. He was rather light in colour, and his beard and woolly
head were just shot with grey; there was shrewdness in his rugged
features, and a twinkle of satiric humour lurked in his eye. He had
been a long time in the service of his present master, who had found him
a cut above the average Kafir in honesty and trustworthiness. Moreover,
he was greatly looked up to by the other natives, not only on account of
his great physical strength, but also as one who had shown his prowess
in a marked manner during the wars which have been alluded to. Although
far from quarrelsome by nature, Xuvani never needed a second challenge.
His kerries were all ready, as more than one party of Fingoes passing
Seringa Vale in search of employment could testify, to its sorrow.
Indeed, once he had expiated his share in one of these African
Donnybrooks by a sentence of several months in gaol.
"Well, Xuvani!" sang out Hicks, as they slipped off their jackets and
flung them on to the kraal fence--"Got the iron hot? All right, let's
begin. Now then, Piet--what the devil are you standing there for,
grinning like a Cheshire cat? Lay hold of the _reim_ and catch that
heifer."
Piet, a stalwart Kafir, grinned all the harder, and drawing out the
running noose of the _reim_ he made a cast, then, as the heifer ran over
it, with a mighty jerk he drew it taut and the animal, noosed by the
hind leg, fell. Before it could rise again they all threw themselves
upon it, and in a trice its legs were securely bound while two men
firmly held its head. In a second Hicks had taken the branding-iron
from one of the Kafirs, and held it for half a minute lightly but firmly
pressed against the fleshy part of the thigh. The poor brute groaned
and struggled violently as it felt the hot iron; there was a sharp,
hissing sound from the singeing hair, a foetid smoke arose, diffusing a
smell of burnt flesh, and the operation was complete. Whatever danger
there is in the performance generally falls to the lot of him who
releases the victim, which not unfrequently, as soon as it feels its
logs again, fiercely charges its emancipator, all the others having
previously withdrawn themselves behind some of the other cattle standing
about the kraal. The first animal, however, was not of an inherently
vicious nature. Consequently, no sooner was it free than it ran off
among its kindred, greatly scared and bewildered. All went merrily
enough till they had got a fine black and white cow under the iron. She
lay still, but there was rage mingled with pain in her groaning.
"She'll be at some of us when she gets up," said Jeffreys, exerting all
his strength to restrain the frenzied plunges of her pointed horns.
They stood aside, as, with a rapid turn of the wrist, Xuvani deftly cast
loose her bonds. She sprang to her feet in a twinkling, and, lowering
her head, furiously charged the old cattle-herd, who, there being no
room for dodging, was constrained to run, with his late victim after
him, head down, all ready to fling him a dozen feet in the air. But the
consummate coolness and agility of the Kafir was to the fore. He
zigzagged as he ran, to avoid a charge, then, seizing his opportunity,
he sprang aside, and placing one hand between the animal's shoulders he
vaulted lightly over her back as she sped past him and got in among the
rest. A cheer broke from the spectators at this splendid feat, but
before it had time to die, a shout of "Look out, she's coming this way,"
sent them all scattering; and sure enough, singling out Jeffreys, she
made at him like a streak of lightning. He just avoided her charge by
dodging round the rear of a great trek ox, who was standing quietly
wondering what the deuce all the hubbub was about. The furious charge
of the maddened cow into his unoffending flanks may, or may not, have
enlightened him on the point; anyhow, he resented the familiarity by
lashing out with his heels, one of which coming in violent contact with
the chin of his assailant had the effect of somewhat modifying that
exuberant animal's spirits, and she slunk off in aggrieved fashion, all
thoughts of vengeance at an end.
"By Jove!" said Claverton. "Xuvani's a smart fellow. That's one of the
neatest things I ever saw done."
The old Kafir grinned a little, and they went on with the programme.
After two or three more beasts had been branded, Jeffreys remarked:
"Now then, you fellows, there are lively times in store. It's that
bull's turn. I've been watching him, and he looks wicked--devilish
wicked." He pointed to the young bull which had been troublesome in the
morning.
"All right," said Claverton. "That's my speciality. I made up my mind
to have the burning of that chap when I turned him back twenty-one times
this morning."
"The branding's nothing; it's the letting him up that's the fishy part,"
said Jeffreys, with a thinly-veiled sneer.
Noose in hand the Kafirs advanced towards the bull, who was standing in
a corner of the kraal, pawing up the ground, with his head down, and
rolling his eyes viciously.
"Look out," warned Hicks, "he's all ready for a charge!"
Scarcely were the words out of his mouth than the animal sprang forward
as the noose was thrown down in front of him; then, as he rushed over
it, the thong was tightened, and he fell sprawling on all-fours and
roaring hideously. He plunged and struggled as for dear life, but
another jerk of the _reim_ threw him, and in ten seconds he was lying
bound and helpless.
"Now then, Tambusa, bring the iron. Sharp's the word!" cried Claverton;
then receiving it, he deliberately imprinted a neat B upon his prostrate
foe, whose frenzied roars drowned the hissing of burnt flesh, as the
moist steam rose in clouds from his tortured thigh.
"By Jove, there's a spree sticking out!" said Hicks, emphatically. "We
_shall_ have to mind our eye when he gets up. Are you ready, Xuvani?"
"No, he isn't. _I'm_ going to loosen the _reim_," answered Claverton,
preparing to make good his words.
"Bosh, old chap! Better let him do it, he's used to it," remonstrated
Hicks.
"Devil a bit. Now! Stand aside!" and as the others made themselves
scarce, he drew off the noose, and the bull, springing to his feet,
vented his feelings in an appalling roar as he glared round in search of
somebody to pulverise. As luck would have it, at this moment a cow
behind which Tambusa had taken refuge quietly walked away, thus
disclosing that unfortunate aboriginal to the full view of the
infuriated beast, which came straight at him there and then. Now
Tambusa was a youthful Kafir, and naturally of a mild and unaggressive
disposition, and when he saw the fierce brute making for him, he lost
nerve and blindly fled. The kraal gate towered in front of him, and
with the energy of despair he half leaped, half scrambled over it, and
his foot catching the topmost bar he was hurled headlong, half-stunned
and wholly bewildered, a dozen yards off upon the smooth green sward
outside. His pursuer, without pausing, cleared the gate like a stag,
and there he lay entirely at the mercy of the infuriated bull. Another
minute, and he would be gored and torn in pieces. But a cool brain and
determined heart was between him and certain death. Seizing his jacket
from the hedge whereon it had been flung, Claverton was through the
kraal gate in a twinkling, and not one second too soon, for the bull,
who had been carried on some fifty yards by the impetus of his leap, had
now turned, and with head lowered was thundering down upon his prostrate
prey, "brilling" [Note 1] savagely. At this juncture Claverton darted
in front of him, and throwing out his jacket, after the manner of the
_cappa_ of a _torero_, he succeeded in drawing off the headlong charge,
which temporary respite Xuvani was able to make the most of by lugging
his young compatriot through the gate again. Then the bull stopped,
glared for a moment, and with a terrific roar came at Claverton again.
This time he nimbly leapt aside, striking the animal across the eyes
with the jacket. Had the bull charged at that moment it would probably
have gone hard with him, for what with the violent exertion and the
tension of the nerves, he was somewhat exhausted; but it did not. And
what a picture was that upon the smooth sward. There stood the red
savage brute, the sun glistening on his sleek hide and white horns,
lashing his tail and pawing up the ground with his hoofs; the foam
dropping from his mouth as with head lowered he gathered himself for one
more terrific rush. Facing him ten yards off--his intrepid adversary,
unarmed and exposed to his full fury. The spectators might well hold
their breath. And yet as he slowly retreated step by step, and though
he never took his eyes off the bull, Claverton was aware of every single
movement that went on around him. He knew that the doorway leading into
the garden was thronged, mistress and servant alike being attracted by
the frenzied roars of the maddened beast. He saw Ethel faint dead away,
and then summoning up nerve and strength for one final effort, he flung
the coat right upon the gleaming horns of the ferocious brute, as with a
new fury begotten of its short respite it made its deadly charge.
Suddenly blinded, the bull stopped and began turning round and round in
its efforts to free itself, for the jacket had caught firmly on its
horns; but taking advantage of his dexterous _coup de main_, Claverton
was over the gate again and safe, while his antagonist, having amused
himself by tearing the garment to ribbons, trotted away down the kloof,
growling in baffled wrath.
"Well, he can go, we've done with him this time, but Heaven help any
nigger that has the ill luck to cross that chap's path within the next
quarter of an hour," were Claverton's first words. He was panting and
breathless, but wanted to create a diversion from the string of
congratulations which he knew was forthcoming; for, of all things, he
hated a scene, and didn't see what there was to make a fuss about
because a fellow had had a little spree with a bull, to divert his
attention from a young idiot of a nigger who had been ass enough to
tumble head-over-heels just at the wrong moment. Whatever his faults,
there wasn't a grain of vanity in the man.
"Now then, Xuvani--Piet!" he went on sharply, as the Kafirs, with a
chorus of emphatic "whouws," were gazing after the retreating form of
the cause of all the shindy. "What the devil are you fellows staring
at? Come on--fall to--we've lost enough time already."
They resumed operations. Now and then a beast, when it was let up,
would run at the Kafirs, but in a bewildered, half-hearted sort of a
way, and without doing any damage; and all the younger cattle were
disposed of. There yet remained four or five large oxen who had come
into their present owner's possession late in life, and who were to be
sealed. These were not thrown down, however, but their heads made fast
to a post by a _reim_ round their horns, while with another _reim_ the
leg to be operated on was drawn out at tension. They were sober, sedate
creatures who had undergone plenty of the troubles of life, common to
their race, in the shape of heavy loads, scarcity of water and often of
grass in dry seasons, but, as if to make up for it, a plentiful
allowance of whip; and took this additional affliction philosophically
enough.
The result of the day's doings was to open Jeffreys' eyes. His
estimation of the other had undergone a considerable change since the
previous evening. The dressed-up, finicking carpet skipper was fully
his own equal in pluck, and in cool-headedness immeasurably his
superior. This he could not but recognise, though he regarded Claverton
with no increase of cordiality.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, life would flow pleasantly enough in this unruffled fashion,
thought Claverton, as they were all strolling in the garden towards
sundown. After the stirring events of the day, the quiet and rest of a
perfect evening seemed more than ordinarily grateful. All was so still,
and calm, and soothing, and such sound as reached them seemed so
softened and mellowed by distance as to harmonise rather than to
disturb. A dove cooed softly from an adjacent thorn-brake, and bees
returning to the old basket hive set in a nook in the wall, made a
tuneful hum upon the sensuous air. Yonder a dragon-fly zigzagged on
gauzy wing above the glassy surface of the dam, seeking its prey among
the gnats whose chrysalids were hatched beneath the overhanging weeds.
Suddenly this idyllic scene was invaded by a brace of Kafirs. They were
Xuvani and Tambusa, and they began to accost Claverton.
"What on earth do they want? Something to do with that eternal bull, I
suppose. I wish the brute had found its way into some butcher's shop
long ago! Here, Hicks I come and interpret, there's a good fellow!"
"He says Tambusa is his sister's child, and that you saved his life,"
interpreted Hicks; "that is to say you saved his--Xuvani's life, Kafir
way of putting it, you know--and not only did you save his life, or
rather both their lives," went on Hicks, manfully unravelling the
native's long-winded oration; "but you nearly lost your own."
"That all?"
"No--don't interrupt him. He says that they are grateful--both he and
the boy. That the future is uncertain, and that we never know what turn
events will take--"
"He never spoke a truer word than that, anyhow."
"And that if ever at any time he or Tambusa can render you any service
they will do so, even should it be at the risk of their lives--a life
for a life--and that they are glad to have looked upon such a howling
big swell," concluded Hicks, with the result that Ethel was obliged to
turn away to stifle her laughter.
"Bosh, Hicks! He didn't say that, you know."
"He did, upon my word. At least, to be more literal, he said he was
glad to have looked upon so great a chief. But my rendering was more
euphonious--more poetical, don't you see?"
Then Tambusa knelt down and kissed his rescuer's foot, and the two
Kafirs withdrew. Claverton looked after them with a curious expression.
"That's all too thickly laid on," he said. "Gratitude, `lively sense of
favours to come,' _i.e._ prospective 'bacco. H'm! much too thick!"
"What a dreadful person you are!" expostulated Ethel. "Why shouldn't
they mean what they say? I declare that speech of Xuvani's was a
perfect flower of savage poetry, and you don't know what a good fellow
he is. I think it's quite horrid of you to throw cold water on him."
"So it would be if I had. The noble savage don't affect that fluid much
as a rule in any state of temperature."
Did the Kafir mean what he said? We shall see.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. Frontier term for the growling noise which is neither roar nor
bellow, made by enraged cattle.