"You see those beautiful tusks?"
Yes, of course, they all did.
"Well, do you know their value?"
No. They knew they were worth something. They knew that it was from
elephants' tusks that ivory was obtained, or, more properly, that
elephants' tusks were ivory itself; and that it was used in the
manufacture of hundreds of articles. In fact, little Truey had a
beautiful fan made out of it, which had been her mother's; and Jan had a
knife with an ivory handle. Ivory was a very beautiful material and
cost very dear, they knew. All this they knew, but the value of the two
tusks they could not guess at. They said so.
"Well, my children," said Von Bloom, "as near as I can estimate them,
they are worth twenty pounds each of English money."
"Oh! oh! Such a grand sum!" cried all in a breath.
"Yes," continued the field-cornet; "I should think each tusk is one
hundred pounds in weight, and as ivory at present sells for four
shillings and sixpence the pound weight, these two would yield between
forty and fifty pounds of sterling money."
"Why, it would buy a full span of best oxen!" cried Hans.
"Four good horses!" said Hendrik.
"A whole flock of sheep!" added little Jan.
"But whom can we sell them to?" asked Hendrik, after a pause. "We are
away from the settlements. Who is to give us either oxen, or horses, or
sheep, for them? It would not be worth while to carry two tusks all the
way--"
"Not _two_, Hendrik," said his father, interrupting him; "but _twenty_
it might,--ay, twice twenty, or three times that number. Now, do you
understand what makes me so gay?"
"Oh!" exclaimed Hendrik, as well as the others, who now began to
perceive what their father was so joyed about, "you think we can obtain
more tusks in these parts?"
"Precisely so. I think there are many elephants here. I feel certain
of it from the quantity of their spoor I have already noticed. We have
our guns, and fortunately, plenty of ammunition. We are all pretty fair
shots--why can we not obtain more of these valuable trophies?
"But we shall," continued Von Bloom. "I know we shall, because I
recognise the hand of God in sending us this wealth in the midst of our
misery--after we had lost everything. More will come by the guiding of
the same hand. So be of good cheer, my children! We shall not want--we
shall yet have plenty--we may be _rich_!"
It was not that any of those young creatures cared much about being
rich, but because they saw their father so happy, that they broke out
into something more than a murmur of applause. It was, in fact, a
cheer, in which both Totty and Swartboy joined. It rang over the little
lake, and caused the birds about settling to roost to wonder what was
going on. There was no happier group in all Africa than stood at that
moment upon the shore of that lonely little vley.