"Come to me this instant," commanded Leopardess.
"Coming, mistress, coming," responded Jackal's voice faintly, for at the
sound of her call he had been alarmed and was trotting off.
"Why, what can be the matter with the brute, trifling with me in this
manner? Here, Dog, take this cub to the crib."
Dog hastened to obey, but Leopardess, whose suspicions had been aroused,
quietly followed him as he entered the doorway leading into the inner
recess of the house where the crib was placed. Having placed the living
near the dead cub in the crib, Dog turned to leave, when he saw his
dreaded mistress in the doorway, gazing with fierce distended eyes, and
it flashed on him that she had discovered the truth, and fear adding
speed to his limbs he darted like an arrow between her legs, and rushed
out of the den. With a loud roar of fury Leopardess sprang after him,
Dog running for dear life. His mistress was gaining upon him, when Dog
turned aside, and ran round the trees. Again Leopardess was rapidly
drawing near, when Dog shot straight away and increased the distance
between them a little. Just as one would think Dog had no hope of
escaping from his fierce mistress, he saw a wart-hog's burrow, into
which he instantly dived. Leopardess arrived at the hole in the ground
as the tail of Dog disappeared from her sight. Being too large of body
to enter, she tore up the entrance to the burrow, now and then extending
her paw far within to feel for her victim. But the burrow was of great
length, and ran deep downwards, and she was at last obliged to desist
from her frantic attempts to reach the runaway.
Reflecting awhile, Leopardess looked around and saw Monkey near by,
sitting gravely on a branch watching her.
"Come down, Monkey," she imperatively commanded, "and sit by this burrow
and watch the murdering slave who is within, while I procure materials
to smoke him out."
Monkey obeyed, and descending the tree, took his position at the mouth
of the burrow. But it struck him that should Dog venture out, his
strength would be unable to resist him. He therefore begged Leopardess
to stay a moment, while he went to bring a rock with which he could
block the hole securely. When this was done Leopardess said, "Now stay
here, and do not stir until I return; I will not be long, and when I
come I will fix him."
Leopardess, leaving the burrow in charge of Monkey, commenced to collect
a large quantity of dry grass, and then proceeded to her house to
procure fire wherewith to light it, and suffocate Dog with the smoke.
Dog, soon after entering the burrow had turned himself round and faced
the hole, to be ready for all emergencies. He had heard Leopardess give
her orders to Monkey, had heard Monkey's plans for blockading him, as
well as the threat of Leopardess to smoke him out. There was not much
hope for him if he stayed longer.
After a little while he crept close to the rock that blocked his exit,
and whispered:
"Monkey, let me out, there's a good fellow."
"It may not be," replied Monkey.
"Ah, Monkey, why are you so cruel? I have not done any harm to you.
Why do you stand guard over me to prevent my escape?"
"I am simply obeying orders, Dog. Leopardess said, `Stay here and
watch, and see that Dog does not escape;' and I must do so or harm will
come to me, as you know."
Then said Dog, "Monkey, I see that you have a cruel heart, too, though I
thought none but the Leopard kind could boast of that. May you feel
some day the deep despair I feel in my heart. Let me say one word more
to you before I die. Put your head close to me that you may hear it."
Monkey, curious to know what the last word could be about, put his face
close between the rock and the earth and looked in, upon which Dog threw
so much dust and sand into his cunning eyes as almost to blind him.
Monkey staggered back from the entrance, and while knuckling his eyes to
nib the sand out, Dog put his fore-feet against the rock and soon rolled
it away. Then, after a hasty view around, Dog fled like the wind from
the dangerous spot.
Monkey, after clearing his eyes from the dirt thrown in them, and
reviewing his position, began to be concerned as to his own fate. It
was not long before his crafty mind conceived that it would be a good
idea to place some soft nuts within the burrow, and roll back the stone
into its place.
When Leopardess returned with the fire she was told that Dog was
securely imprisoned within, upon which she piled the grass over the
burrow and set fire to it.
Presently a crackling sound was heard within.
"What can that be?" demanded Leopardess.
"That must surely be one of Dog's ears that you heard exploding,"
replied Monkey.
After a short time another crackling sound was heard.
"And what is that?" asked Leopardess.
"Ah, that must be the other ear of course," Monkey answered.
But as the fire grew hotter and the heat increased within there were a
great many of these sounds heard, at which Monkey laughed gleefully and
cried:
"Ah ha! do you hear? Dog is splitting to pieces now. Oh, he is burning
up finely; every bone in his body is cracking. Ah, but it is a cruel
death, though, is it not?"
"Let him die," fiercely cried Leopardess. "He killed one of my young
cubs--one of the loveliest little fellows you ever saw."
Both Leopardess and Monkey remained at the burrow until the fire had
completely died out, then the first said:
"Now, Monkey, bring me a long stick with a hook at the end of it, that I
may rake Dog's bones out and feast my eyes upon them."
Monkey hastened to procure the stick, with which the embers were raked
out, when Leopardess exclaimed:
"What a queer smell this is! It is not at all like what one would
expect from a burnt dog."
"Ah," replied Monkey, "Dog must be completely burnt by this. Of that
there can be no doubt. Did you ever burn a dog before that you know the
smell of its burnt body so well?"
"No," said the Leopardess; "but this is not like the smell of roast
meat. Rake out all the ashes that I may see the bones and satisfy
myself."
Monkey, compelled to do as he was commanded, put in his stick, and drew
out several half-baked nuts, the shells of which were cracked and gaping
open. These Leopardess no sooner saw than she seized Monkey, and
furiously cried:
"You wretch, you have deceived and trifled with me! You have permitted
the murderer of my cub to escape, and your life shall now be the forfeit
for his."
"Pardon, mighty Leopardess, but let me ask how do you propose to slay
me?"
"Why, miserable slave, how else should I kill you but with one scratch
of my claws?"
"Nay, then, great Queen, my blood will fall on your head and smother
you. It is better for yourself that you should toss me up above that
thorny bough, so that when I fall upon it the thorns may penetrate my
heart and kill me."
No sooner had Monkey ended, than fierce Leopardess tossed Monkey upward
as he had directed; but the latter seized the bough and sat up, and from
this he sprang upward into another still higher, and thence from branch
to branch and from tree to tree until he was safe from all possible
pursuit.
Leopardess perceived that another of her intended victims had escaped,
and was furious with rage.
"Come down this instant," she cried to Monkey, hoping he would obey her.
"Nay, Leopardess. It has been told me, and the forest is full of the
report, that your cruelty has driven from you Jackal and Dog, and that
they will never serve you again. Cruel people never can reckon upon
friends. I and my tribe, so long servants to you, will henceforth be
strangers to you. Fare you well."
A great rustling was heard in the trees overhead as Monkey and his tribe
migrated away from the district of the cruel Leopardess who, devoured
with rage, was obliged to depart with not one of her vengeful thoughts
gratified.
As she was returning to her den, Leopardess bethought herself of the
Oracle, who was her friend, who would no doubt, at her solicitations,
reveal the hiding-places of Jackal and Dog. She directed her steps to
the cave of the Oracle, who was a nondescript practising witchcraft in
the wildest part of the district.
To this curious being she related the story of the murder of her cub by
Jackal and Dog, and requested him to inform her by what means she could
discover the criminals and wreak her vengeance on them.
The Oracle replied, "Jackal has gone into the wild wood, and he and his
family henceforward will always remain there, to degenerate in time into
a suspicious and cowardly race. Dog has fled to take his shelter in the
home of man, to be his companion and friend, and to serve man against
you and your kind. But lest you accuse me of ill-will to you, I will
tell you how you may catch Dog if you are clever and do not allow your
temper to exceed your caution. Not far off is a village belonging to
one of the human tribes, near which there is a large ant-hill, where
moths every morning flit about in the sunshine of the early day. About
the same time Dog leaves the village to sport and gambol and chase the
moths. If you can find a lurking-place not far from it, where you can
lie silently in wait, Dog may be caught by you in an unwary moment while
at his daily play. I have spoken."
Leopardess thanked the Oracle and retired brooding over its advice.
That night the moon was very clear and shining bright, and she stole out
of her den, and proceeding due west as she was directed, in a few hours
she discovered the village and the ant-hill described by the Oracle.
Near the mound she also found a thick dense bush, which was made still
more dense by the tall wild grass surrounding it. In the depths of this
she crouched, waiting for morning. At dawn the village wherein men and
women lived was astir, and at sunrise the gates were opened. A little
later Dog signalled himself by his well-known barks as he came out to
take his morning's exercise. Unsuspicious of the presence of his late
dread mistress he bounded up the hill and began to circle around,
chasing the lively moths. Leopardess, urged by her anger, did not wait
until Dog, tired with his sport, would of his own accord stray among the
bushes, but uttering a loud roar sprang out from her hiding-place. Dog,
warned by her voice, which he well knew, put his tail between his legs
and rushed through the open gates and alarmed his new masters, who came
pouring from their houses with dreadful weapons in their hands, who
chased her, and would have slain her had she not bounded over the fence.
Thus Leopardess lost her last chance of revenging the death of her cub;
but as she was creeping homeward her mortification was so great that she
vowed to teach her young eternal hostility towards Dog and all his
tribe. Dog also, convinced that his late mistress was one who nourished
an implacable resentment when offended, became more cautious, and a
continued life with his new masters increased his attachment for them.
When he finally married, and was blessed with a progeny, he taught his
pups various arts by which they might ingratiate themselves more and
more with the human race. He lived in comfort and affluence to a good
old age, and had the satisfaction to see his family grow more and more
in the estimation of their generous masters, until dogs and men became
inseparable companions.
Leopardess and her cub removed far away from the house associated with
her misfortune, but though Time healed the keen sore of her bereavement
by blessing her annually with more cubs, her hate for Dog and his kind
was lasting and continues to this day. And thus it was that the
friendly fellowship which reigned between the forest animals during the
golden age of Uganda was broken for ever.
For proof of the truth of what I have said consider the matter in your
own minds. Regard the Ape who, upon the least alarm springs up the
tree, and stays not until he has secured himself far from reach. Think
of the Jackal in his cheerless solitude deep in the bowels of the earth,
or in the farthest rocky recess that he can discover, ever on the watch
against some foe, too full of distrust to have a friend, the most
selfish and cowardly of the forest community. The Leopard is the enemy
at all times, night and day, of every animal, unless it be the lion and
the elephant. As for the Dog, where is the man who is not acquainted
with his fidelity, his courage in time of danger, his watchful care of
his interests by night, and his honest love for the family which feeds
him? My story is here ended.