As soon as poor Coffee showed the slightest sign of amendment, he was
carefully lifted on to a comfortable bed made for him at the back of the
waggon, where he lay patiently smiling at those who came to look at him;
the oxen were in-spanned, and once more the waggon creaked and groaned
over the rough land towards a fresh halting-place.
Game was plentiful enough, and Dinny always had an ample supply for his
iron pot, but more than once the difficulties with regard to water were
very serious, and very long treks had to be made before a spring or
river could be reached.
But they pushed steadily on, the excitement of their hunting and
shooting excursions making them forget the troubles of their journey.
Whenever Mr Rogers talked of halting and making some snugly-sheltered
position their headquarters, the General smiled and pointed north,
promising more wonders if they kept on, and finer game.
Coffee did not seem to suffer much, his greatest trouble being his
weakness, and the difficulty his surgeon had to deal with that of
keeping him in his bed; but he was very patient, and grateful for what
was done, while the General seemed to wait on Mr Rogers' every look and
word as if he would never be weary of attending to him.
They were getting close to the neighbourhood of the river Limpopo, when
one evening, towards sundown, Mr Rogers became separated from his sons
as they were journeying back towards the waggon, in his anxiety to shoot
one of the curious fox-like animals that he had several times seen but
had never had a chance to hit. They were beautifully marked, with long
ears almost like those of a hare, and carried brushes that would have
made an English fox envious; but even out there in the African wild they
seem to partake of the cunning of their European relatives, and the more
Mr Rogers tried, the less likely he seemed to succeed.
Upon this occasion he had seen one or two, and in his anxiety to obtain
a shot he had dashed off into the bush, where the little animals seemed
to delight in luring him on, showing for a moment and then disappearing.
It was a glorious evening, and the sky was one glow of warmly-tinted
cloud, while his proximity to the waggon, which he knew was not far-off,
kept him from feeling uneasy about the others getting back.
"There it is again," he exclaimed, as he saw the little fox-like animal
dart amongst the bushes; and going cautiously in pursuit, he went on
till the gathering mists of the coming night warned him to return.
He had hardly turned to make for the waggon when he saw something that
completely enchained his attention, for looming up through the mist, and
appearing of almost gigantic size, he saw what appeared to be three
large ostriches; but while he gazed they seemed to fade away into the
evening darkness, and were gone.
He had not gone far on his way back before he heard voices, and luckily
came upon the boys and the General, Chicory having been left behind to
attend to his brother.
"I think I have seen ostriches this evening," said Mr Rogers. "Are
there many here, general?"
The Zulu said No, but that there might be a few. If there were any he
thought they might get a shot at them for the sake of their glorious
plumes; and promising to be on the look out for their footprints, they
went on chatting about them till the waggon was reached, to find that a
couple more waggons, the property of an ivory-trader travelling south,
had been out-spanned close by, so that there would be company for the
night.
The ivory-trader proved to be an intelligent man, and he said that there
were plenty of elephants in the neighbourhood, but warned them to beware
of the rhinoceros and crocodile, while he declared that one or two of
the tribes farther north were worse than either.
Lions were heard in the distance, but the fires kept up proved
sufficient to warn them off, and a very good night was spent; but just
as breakfast was being got ready Peter gave the alarm, Chicory echoed
it; there was a rush for rifles and guns, and a general state of
excitement, for five ostriches had suddenly made their appearance, right
up close to the camp, their tall necks with their flat stupid-looking
heads undulating like snakes above the long grass.
For a few moments they had appeared to be perfectly astounded at the
sight of the various strange objects, the waggons and their
accompaniments. Then the shouts alarmed them, and as the guns were
handed out of the waggons and the huntsmen prepared to fire, the
ostriches were getting up speed, running faster and faster, till, as
Dick said, their legs seemed to twinkle; and the shots that were sent
after them, though they might have whistled past, had not the good
fortune to bring them down.
"Well," exclaimed Dinny who was standing by the fire. "Of all the
things I ever did see run, them there do beat, and no mistake."
Certainly the speed with which their long, powerful legs sent the large
birds over the ground was wonderful, and in a very short time, long
before horses could have been saddled, they were out of sight.
"Why, thim birds can run almost as fast as my big brother," said Dinny
musingly, as the last ostrich disappeared.
"Could he run fast, Dinny?" asked Dick, smiling at his brother, as much
as to say, "Now you listen to him, and hear what he says."
"An' is it run fast, he asks?" cried Dinny. "Why, he was the fastest
runner in Oireland, and they used to make races for him to run, and
match him against toime, and he always won. Why, wheniver he run he
came in widout his boots."
"Came in without his boots?" said Jack, laughing.
"To be sure he did, sor, always. They managed to kape up wid him
ginerally about half the way, and thin they got so slow he always had to
lave thim behind."
"It's a pity we haven't got your big brother here, Dinny," said Dick
sarcastically. "He could have caught the ostriches for us."
"Caught 'em, Masther Dick. I should think he would, in no time."
"Would he have been as much afraid of the lions as you are, Dinny?"
"Hark at him, now," said Dinny, looking round at the dogs, which had had
a race after the ostriches, and had now come back, with their tongues
out and curled up at the tip as they sat there panting. "Hark at him
now. Jist as if I was the laste taste of a bit afraid of all the lions
in Africky. Why I says to meself, `Dinny,' I says, `ye'll have to tak'
care of yerself,' I says, `and not let the wild bastes ate ye till ye
come back; for what would poor weeny, sickly Masther Dick do widout a
good cook to make broth and stews to kape him alive? Take care of
yerself, Dinny, for the poor sick gossoon's sake,' and so I do, Masther
Dick; for it's not on account of meself, only for you."
"Why you said the other day, Dinny, that it was because of your mother,"
cried downright Jack.
"And small blame to a man for being fond of his mother, Masther Jack.
Sure I always was a good son."
Dinny was always ready with an excuse, and in spite of his idleness and
downright cowardice, he was generally merry and good-humoured, and the
first with a laugh.
The coming of the ostriches was, however, quite an excitement, and there
was plenty of talk about how to get hold of some of them for their
plumes; but nothing was done until the strangers had gone, when, after
moving on to a more suitable place for a few days' camp, and cutting
down and piling up the thorns for a good safe kraal, whose fence would
keep marauding beasts from molesting the cattle, glasses were got out,
and the beautiful park-like plain at whose edge they were now encamped,
was scanned for game.
There was no difficulty found in supplying the big pot, and finding
pieces for a good roast; for little herds of various kinds of antelope
were often in sight, and with a fair amount of stalking one could
generally be brought down. But the great aim now was to obtain a few
ostriches, and try how they would, these wary birds refused to let them
get within shot.
"If we shoot one," said the General quietly, "I get plenty."
But the job was to shoot the first one. The General tried creeping
continually from bush to bush, out and over the plain; but either the
ostriches saw the glint of the sun upon the gun-barrel, or caught a
glimpse of his dark skin, for they were off swift as the wind, with
their legs twinkling like the spokes of a carriage wheel as they ran.
Then Mr Rogers tried again and again with the boys; but they had worse
luck than the Zulu, for they never got near enough for anything but very
doubtful long shots at many hundred yards, with the sole result of
making the birds more shy.
If they could have known where the ostriches were likely to appear, and
could have gone and lain wait, the task would have been easy; but the
birds came into sight in the most out-of-the-way places, and at the most
unexpected times, and not a plume came to be stuck up as a valuable
trophy in the waggon.
The General, clever hunter as he was, felt hurt at his ill-success, and
pointed out the reason; and that was that the few birds about them had
taken refuge here from the pursuit of hunters, having been chased most
persistently in all the country round.
"You must get an ostrich, Chicory," he said to his son in his own
language, as the boy was squatted down by his brother, who was
recovering with rapid strides.
"Chicory shoot one," said the boy.
And without a word he went to Dinny, and obtained some strips of dried
bok for provender, and then started off upon his quest.