The General found a shallow fording-place, when the Limpopo itself was
reached; and no little excitement was displayed by Dinny at the thought
of recklessly plunging into a river that was as full as a Pay shuck, he
said, of crocodivils.
But the river had to be crossed; and when all was ready the order
"Trek!" was given, Peter's whip cracked, and the team went down a slope
into the river at a trot, Dirk bravely walking by the side of the
foremost oxen on finding Jack and Dick, on horseback, ready to lead the
way.
Dinny groaned, and crept into the waggon unseen by any one; while
Coffee, Chicory, and the General took over the horses side by side with
Mr Rogers.
The stream ran fast, but it was very shallow, and the bottom was hard,
so that the waggon was got over in safety, the oxen dragging it well up
on the other side before they were allowed to halt; and so successful
had the passage been that there might not have been a crocodile in the
river.
The fact was of course that the trampling and disturbance of so many
hoofs kept the reptiles at a distance; but as the waggon was halted, and
Mr Rogers gave a glance under to see that all was right, the dogs began
running and snuffing about amongst the reeds and grass at the side, when
Pompey suddenly uttered a hideous yell, and bounded away, careering over
the plain with his tail between his legs, having had a very narrow
escape from a small and active crocodile, which had literally thrown
itself out of the water in its endeavour to catch him.
The land presented an entirely different aspect now, vast plains running
away towards the horizon; and in places it looked rather ominous, for it
was parched and dry. Plenty of good grass and water were absolute
necessities for the success of their expedition, so Mr Rogers paused to
consult with the General, who pointed to the fact that there were great
herds of game upon the plain, a sign which indicated that there must be
pasture and water, and as he expressed his thorough conviction that
plenty of grass would be found on in advance, the order was given once
more to trek.
"But where's Dinny?" cried Mr Rogers; "surely we have not left him
behind."
"No, sor," said a whining voice; "shure I was putting things a bit
sthrait in the waggon. Are we safe across the wather yet?"
"Safe?" cried Dick contemptuously; "no! not a bit. Look out, Dinny, or
we shall have one of the crocodiles pursuing us on horseback on purpose
to have a snap at you."
"Shure an' ye's joking," said Dinny thrusting his head out of the back
of the waggon; "and maybe he'd prefer you, Masther Dick, as being
tinderer to his teeth and more gintale."
The journey during the next few days was more laborious than
interesting. It was intensely hot; water was scarce, so was pasture;
and but for the wise provision of the couple of goodly-sized tubs strung
behind the waggon, there would have been a great deal of suffering.
Nobody knew the position of those tubs better than Pompey, Caesar, and
Crassus, unless it was Rough'un, for no sooner did they become thirsty,
and fail to discover water, than they took their places behind the
waggon and watched the barrels, "dhrinking 'em dhry wid their eyes," so
Dinny said, and barking loudly whenever a drop was drawn.
The plains they crossed seemed to be endless, so did the herds of
various kinds of game; and one evening the party separated in search of
something for the larder, which had become low.
The General went in one direction with Dick, Mr Rogers went in another
with Chicory, and in a very independent spirit Jack shouldered his
rifle, and went off by himself to see what he could bring down.
About a mile from the bank he came upon what promised to be a capital
place for stalking one or other of the herds grazing on the plain,
namely, the bed of a nearly dried-up river, dotted with pools of water,
one which had cut its way in stormy seasons through the rocky soil,
leaving on either side a steep well-marked bank of about four feet high.
The bed of the little river was dotted with tall clumps of
feathery-flowered grass, which with the bank would form excellent cover,
so that the hunter could go for miles either way in a natural trench,
towards whose water pools the antelopes would most probably graze.
It was a great advantage, but the place had its disadvantages as well,
and Jack found them out before long.
At first he started full of hope, congratulating himself on the fact
that he had on his high riding-boots, and could wade dry shod through
some of the pools. But before he had gone far he began wishing that he
had brought the dogs, to search the different clumps of high grass,
every one of which looked to be a certain lurking-place for a lion; and
knowing now full well what capital stalkers they were, he kept glancing
over his shoulder at the various clumps, fully expecting to see an
enemy.
There were two or three rushes and rustling noises to make him start,
but as they only proved to be made by water-lizards Jack grew more
confident, and creeping cautiously along, he began to make for a couple
of herds feeding upon the plain--one, the gnu, or wildebeeste as the
Boers call them; the others, the graceful, shapely blessbok.
The appearance of the fierce shaggy gnu is not such as to give promise
that he will prove good eating, so Jack naturally turned his attention
to the blessboks, creeping cautiously along so as to get within shot;
but though he was perfectly certain that he had not shown so much as the
barrel of his gun, the blessbok suddenly took alarm, and went off like
the wind.
Their very first dash alarmed the gnu, some thirty strong, and they
dashed off in another direction.
"And I was so careful!" cried Jack passionately; but the next instant,
just as he was about to show himself, and get out of the cramped
position he had occupied close to a clump of grass, he had the
satisfaction of seeing that the blessboks had not been alarmed at him,
for they had suddenly wheeled round, and were coming right for him as
hard as they could gallop.
"Well, I shall get one this time," cried Jack, bringing his rifle to
bear, and waiting for an opportunity as the beautiful animals galloped
along; when a heavy beating noise behind him caught his ear, and turning
he found that the gnus had also altered their course, and were coming
back, with their heads down, tails up, and their horns half pointed, as
if to charge the young hunter where he crouched.
There was no mistake about it; the gnu herd was coming straight for him,
and in another minute they would have leaped down into the half dry
watercourse, and trampled him into the sand.
It was a time for displaying a little presence of mind, and to show the
power of man--in this case, boy--over the beasts of the field. If the
gnus had kept on, they would have crushed Jack on the instant, each one
being in strength much more than a match for a man; but on seeing him
start up on one knee, and shout and wave his gun, they swerved off to
the right, and thundered by, just as a lighter beating noise of feet was
heard; and as Jack turned, there to his disgust was the last of the
little herd of blessboks, almost close to him, galloping by.
Running round to the other side of the patch of grass he went down on
one knee and fired; but the excitement had disarranged his nerves, and
the bullet went over the last blessbok's back; while before he could get
in another cartridge and climb out of the watercourse, his chance was
gone.