Dawn of the following morning, which in that latitude preceded the
rising of the sun by but a bare quarter of an hour, witnessed the
awakening of the white men's camp to a scene of brisk activity; for the
after-dinner conversation of the previous evening between Dick and
Grosvenor had resulted in their arrival at a decision to make an
immediate start on the long trek which they hoped would end in their
discovery of the mysterious white race, which rumour persistently
asserted to exist somewhere in the far interior of the great Dark
Continent, and the approximate situation of which they had gleaned from
their friend Mitchell, the Natal sugar planter.
Breakfast was soon over; and while Jantje and 'Nkuku were away,
rounding-up the cattle and driving them in, preparatory to inspanning,
Dick and Grosvenor opened a case and proceeded to reward munificently
the gang of Makolo labourers who had helped them in the acquisition of
the rubies, with a generous distribution of beads, brass wire, empty
tobacco tins, lengths of coloured print, and toys, finally dismissing
them happy in the possession of what, to these simple savages, was
wealth beyond anything that they had ever ventured to dream of. Then,
the cattle being inspanned, the little party headed away inland, in a
north-westerly direction, striking a small stream by which they
outspanned, three hours later. On that day week they struck a river of
some importance flowing through an exceedingly fertile country abounding
in game, and the upward course of this river they followed for the next
eight days, although it led them somewhat out of their way; for they
found, upon scouting in the direction which they wished to pursue, that
their direct course would soon carry them into an arid, waterless
district, infested, moreover, by tsetse fly, to enter which would
infallibly result in a serious loss of cattle. And the preservation of
their cattle was now, or very soon would be, a matter of vital
importance to them.
At length the two leaders of the expedition, industriously scouting
daily toward the direction in which they wished to travel, found that
they had reached a point where it would be safe for them to leave the
river and strike away toward the west and north-west, and they
immediately did so, the country in that direction being free from fly,
and consisting of wide-rolling plateaux, rising one beyond another,
somewhat like broad, shallow steps, with a solitary, lofty hill rising
in the extreme distance. This district was well watered by a number of
tiny rivulets, and was clothed with rich young grass thickly dotted with
clumps of mimosa, palmetto, and other tropical growth, amid which game
of various kinds could be seen moving, including a small herd of
giraffes.
This was much too good an opportunity to be missed. The friends
therefore, after taking careful note of the spot where the immense
animals were feeding, returned to the wagon and, having provided
themselves with an abundant supply of ammunition, changed their saddles
from the horses that they had hitherto been riding to the two which had
been presented to them by King Lobelalatutu, and cantered off, after
giving Mafuta--whom they left in charge of the wagon and stock--strict
injunctions to make for a certain indicated spot, and there outspan and
await them.
The light breeze which was blowing happened to be favourable to their
approach, and they had arrived within a hundred yards of the large clump
of mimosa in which they had last seen the giraffes feeding, when a heavy
swishing and crashing of branches caused them to draw rein; and the next
moment an enormous elephant emerged from the thicket, and stood looking
about him as he flourished a great branch of foliage in his trunk, with
which he seemed to be keeping the flies at bay. For a few seconds he
seemed to be unaware of the presence of the hunters, and stood angrily
switching the branch about his head and back, grunting and grumbling to
himself, as though he was not in precisely the best of tempers. He was
an immense tusker, by far the biggest that the travellers had thus far
encountered, and that he was the hero of many battles seemed evident,
for both his tusks were broken off short, leaving only about a foot of
jagged ivory protruding from each jaw. The first impulse of the two
hunters was to swing themselves gently out of their saddles and take a
shot at him, for the huge beast was standing in a very favourable
position, nearly broadside on; but Grosvenor, happening to notice the
broken tusks, settled back into his seat again, murmuring, as he did so:
"Let's leave the poor beggar alone, Dick; he's not worth shooting. See
his tusks?"
It was practically impossible for the animal to have heard Grosvenor's
voice, for he purposely spoke in low tones, in order to avoid attracting
the elephant's attention; yet as the words were spoken the huge brute
faced sharply round toward the two horsemen, and stood attentively
regarding them for a moment. Then, tossing aside the branch with which
he had been whisking himself, he threw up his trunk, and, trumpeting
savagely, charged straight toward them.
"No use waiting; let's scatter!" shouted Grosvenor, and, obedient to a
touch of the heel and bridle, the two magnificent horses which the
friends bestrode swerved round as though upon pivots, and dashed off in
a direction at right angles to each other. For an instant the great
beast seemed disconcerted at this manoeuvre, and appeared unable to make
up his mind which enemy he would pursue, first following one of them for
a yard or two, and then turning in pursuit of the other; but presently
it seemed to dawn upon him that he could not possibly hope to overtake
both, and his final choice was Grosvenor, whom he settled down to chase
in grim earnest, his long trunk outstretched to its utmost limit, his
immense ears flapping furiously, and his small eyes sombre with
concentrated hatred. As soon as Dick saw that the brute had definitely
marked down Grosvenor as his prey he turned his bridle and rode in a
direction parallel with that which was being followed by pursued and
pursuer, and began to shout loudly, in the hope of again causing the
elephant to hesitate, even if he could not altogether divert him from
his pursuit of Grosvenor; but the ruse was vain, the monster glanced
viciously once in Dick's direction, but refused to be diverted from his
fell purpose.
At the beginning of this singular race there had not been the slightest
doubt in Dick's mind as to its ultimate result; he felt absolutely
confident that, suberbly mounted as they were, they would be able to
gallop away from their pursuer and elude him with the utmost ease; but
now, to his consternation, he began to realise that, so far at least as
Grosvenor was concerned, escape was distinctly doubtful, unless
something could be done toward altering the existing conditions. For,
strong and speedy as were the horses, they were frightfully handicapped
in the race by the grass, which at this particular spot happened to be
unusually long--reaching as high as the horses' shoulders--tough, and
tangled, rendering it exceedingly difficult for them to force a passage
through it, while to the huge bulk and momentum of the elephant it
seemed to offer no obstacle at all. The great beast was rapidly gaining
upon Grosvenor, and as rapidly forging ahead of Dick, upon whom it began
to dawn that, unless something were speedily done to prevent it, a
tragedy must inevitably ensue.
He looked anxiously about him, and saw that, at a distance of about a
mile, the patch of long rank grass came to an end and was succeeded by
short smooth turf, over which the going would be everything that could
be desired; but it was much too distant to be of any service in the
present emergency. For the elephant was gaining at every stride and
must inevitably overtake the fugitive long before he could reach it,
while the horses were already beginning to show signs of distress as
they plunged panting through the obstructing tangle, in the midst of
which they were constantly stumbling as their outflung feet encountered,
and were caught in, some especially tough patch of the knotted
vegetation.
What was to be done? Something; and that right quickly if-- As the
thought was flashing through Dick's brain he saw his friend's horse
stumble heavily, make a desperate effort to recover himself, and finally
roll over and disappear completely with his rider in the dense ocean of
greenish-grey vegetation, while the elephant, a bare fifty yards in the
rear, threw up his outstretched trunk and trumpeted a loud blast of
savage exultation. There was now but one thing to be done, and the only
question in Dick's mind was whether there was time enough left and,
excited as he was, whether he had the necessary steadiness of hand to do
it. But it must be attempted, at any rate, so, unslinging his rifle, he
set it at full cock as he galloped, held it pistol-wise in his hand,
pointed it full at the huge bulk of the elephant, and pulled the
trigger. The jar of the recoil nearly dislocated his elbow, and for a
fraction of a second he feared that all was lost. But even as the fear
gripped his heart, turning him sick and faint, the enormous beast
suddenly halted, swayed unsteadily for a moment on his great pillar-like
legs, and then collapsed in a heap. As he did so Dick, to his intense
relief, saw the prostrate horse and rider scramble to their feet almost
within arm's length of the fallen monster.
"Mount and ride, you duffer!" shrieked Dick, as he saw Grosvenor stand,
apparently stupefied, staring at the prostrate beast; "he may be only
stunned; and if he gets up again nothing can save you. Or, better
still, empty your magazine into his skull as he lies."
"There is no need, my dear chap," answered Grosvenor calmly; "it would
only be a sinful waste of valuable cartridges. The brute is as dead as
mutton; your bullet caught him behind the ear all right, and is no doubt
deeply embedded in his brain. It was a splendid shot, especially
considering that it was fired from the saddle, and at full gallop too.
I congratulate you on it, old man. And, before I forget it, let me
thank you for saving my life. If you had not fired as promptly as you
did he would have had me, sure as fate, and I should have been a goner--
eh, what?"
Although Grosvenor spoke in a tone of light raillery it but thinly
disguised the depth of feeling that stirred him, as Dick fully realised
when he pulled up alongside his friend and they exchanged hand-grips.
Lightly as he spoke of the incident, Phil knew right well that he was on
the very edge of disaster at the moment that Dick pulled trigger, and
though he would fain have treated the whole adventure as a joke he was
none the less grateful to Dick for his timely intervention, and the
pressure of his hand was quite as eloquent as much outpouring of words.
"By Jove," exclaimed Dick, as he swung out of his saddle and loosened
the girths, to enable his horse the more readily to recover his wind,
"what a monster! He is far and away the biggest elephant that I have
ever seen; and if his tusks had been unbroken they would have been a
prize worth having, if only as curiosities. As it is, I don't think it
will be worth while to waste time in cutting out the stumps; do you?
Poor beggar, he must have been suffering pretty badly from toothache;
see how tremendously that left gum is swollen. That means an abscess at
the root of the tusk that must have been dreadfully painful. No wonder
that he was in such a dickens of a bad temper! Well, he is of no value
to us, except as a contribution to our larder, so we may as well be
going. We will mark the spot where he lies, and send Mafuta and Jantje
for one of his feet, which will furnish us with an epicurean dinner to-
night. And now I suppose we may as well go and look for the wagon, for
of course the giraffes cleared out directly the rumpus began."
They camped that night in the midst of a wide plateau dotted here and
there with low _kopjes_ of outcropping granite, and clothed for the most
part with _melkboom_ interspersed with patches of low thornbush and sun-
dried grass; and, from the fact that they had met with no water since
noon, they greeted with much satisfaction the discovery of a shallow
water-hole of some two acres in extent, within about half a mile of
which they outspanned for the night, an hour before sunset. They did
not care to approach nearer to the water than this, for upon inspecting
the place they became aware, from the spoor in the mud all round the
margin, that it was the favourite if not the only drinking place for all
the animals in the neighbourhood, and past experienced had taught them
that the nocturnal sounds emanating from such a spot were the reverse of
favourable to sleep. Moreover, they had detected among the most recent
spoor that of lions; and for the sake of their cattle they preferred to
keep at a respectful distance from a place frequented by such formidable
animals.
At one spot this miniature lake was bordered by a patch of reeds of
considerable extent, which looked as though it might harbour a few wild
duck; therefore, as soon as the wagon was outspanned, the two friends
took their shot guns and a couple of dogs which had manifested some
talent at retrieving, and made their way toward the reeds, warning
Jantje to be careful to water the cattle as far as possible from the
spot toward which they were making. Leo, the lion cub, by this time
very nearly half-grown, would fain have accompanied the sportsmen, for
he had developed an extraordinary attachment to both of his white
masters. He loved nothing better than to accompany them on their
rambles, and was as obedient as any of the dogs, with whom he was on the
best of terms; but it was deemed best on this occasion that he should be
taken to water on a leash, with the cattle, and return with them to the
wagon. He was therefore left behind, much to his disgust.
Choosing what seemed to be advantageous positions, the two sportsmen,
each accompanied by a dog, carefully ambushed themselves among the reeds
at a distance of about a hundred yards from each other and, crouching
low, patiently awaited the course of events. They had not long to wait
for proof of the soundness of their judgment, for they had not been in
position more than half an hour--by which time the sun, magnified to
twice his size by the evening vapours through which he glowed,
palpitating like a ball of white-hot steel, hung upon the very edge of
the horizon--when a whirring of wings warned them to be on the alert,
and a moment later a flock of some fifty teal, which must have been
feeding on some far-off marsh during the day, settled down upon the
surface of the water, with much splashing and loud quacks of
satisfaction at having once more reached what they doubtless believed to
be a haven of safety. But if they really entertained any such belief
they were most deplorably mistaken, for that fate which rules the
destiny of wild duck ordained that they should settle on the precise
patch of water that was fully commanded by both sportsmen, and some
three seconds later both guns spoke practically at the same instant, and
up went the teal again with a great whir of wings and loud cries of
consternation, leaving behind them a round dozen or more of dead and
wounded floating upon the rippled surface of the water.
By the time that the whole of the "bag" had been retrieved the dusk was
deepening into darkness, and star after star was twinkling into view
from the vast, cloudless, purple dome above. The two friends,
therefore, scrambled forth from their hiding places and, perfectly
satisfied with themselves and all things else, prepared to make their
way back to the wagon.
They had not progressed above two dozen paces beyond the margin of the
reeds, however, when Grosvenor, who was leading the way along a narrow
track through the coarse grass, uttered a sharp ejaculation, and halted
suddenly in his tracks, the next moment stamping violently on something
just before him.
"What is the matter, old chap?" demanded Dick, stepping quickly to his
friend's side.
"Snake!" replied Grosvenor briefly, and in a rather tremulous tone of
voice; "trod on him--unintentionally of course--and the beggar turned
sand bit me. Take that--and that--and that, you brute--"
"Where is the thing?" demanded Dick anxiously.
"There," responded Grosvenor, pointing to a writhing, twisting something
that squirmed on the grass as he ground the heel of his heavy boot on
it.
"Take your foot away, man, and let me have a look at it," commanded
Dick; and as the other did as he was ordered Maitland bent down and
directed a quick, keen glance at the reptile, about six inches of whose
body was crushed almost to a jelly. Then, quickly pinning the flat,
heart-shaped head to the ground with the muzzle of his gun, he pulled
the trigger, and thus effectually put an end to the creature's
existence. With the barrel of his weapon he deftly whisked the still
writhing body half a dozen yards away into the long grass, and then
turned sharply to his friend.
"Sit down, old chap, quick," he said, "and show me where you were
bitten."
Somewhat startled by his companion's abrupt manner, Grosvenor seated
himself on the ground and drew up his left trouser leg, pulled down his
sock, and revealed two small punctures close together in the lower part
of the calf of the leg, barely visible in the fast-decreasing light.
"I see," ejaculated Dick, fumbling in his waistcoat pocket as he spoke.
"Take your pocket handkerchief, quick; tie it round your leg below the
knee, and with the barrel of your revolver twist it as tight as you
possibly can, tourniquet fashion, so as to stop the passage of the blood
into your body. Now," as he drew forth and opened a penknife, the blade
of which he made a point of always keeping razor-keen, "I am going to
hurt you a little bit, so set your teeth and bear it, old man."
"All right; go ahead," responded Grosvenor. "Was the brute venomous,
then?"
"Can't say," responded Dick evasively, as he quickly slashed the flesh
across and across over the two punctures; "but we are not taking any
more chances to-day, my boy."
The blood, instead of spurting from the knife wounds, oozed forth thick
and sluggishly; whereupon Dick, without a second's hesitation, applied
his lips to the gashes, which were close together, and sucked strongly
for about a quarter of an hour, spitting out the blood which gradually
began to flow a little more freely. Finally, when the flow had ceased,
he groped in his pocket and produced a small case containing a stick of
lunar caustic; then from another pocket he drew forth a box of matches,
which he handed to Grosvenor.
"I'll relieve you of this," he said, laying his hand upon the revolver,
the barrel of which Phil had twisted in the handkerchief and had been
holding in place all this while, "and you can start striking matches, so
that I may see what I am doing." Then, giving the revolver an extra
twist or two, he pulled out his own handkerchief and deftly secured the
weapon in place, after which he proceeded, by the light of the matches
which Grosvenor struck, one after the other, carefully and thoroughly to
cauterize the wounds.
"There," he remarked cheerfully, with a sigh of relief as he finished
his task, "that is as much as we can do here. The next thing is to get
you back to the camp as soon as possible."
"All right," assented Grosvenor. "But," he added, as he attempted to
rise, "I'm afraid I shall have to get you to help me, old chap; I
couldn't possibly--"
"Of course you couldn't," responded Dick, "and I don't mean that you
shall try. Just sit where you are for a little while longer, and leave
me to arrange things." Therewith he drew a whistle from the pocket of
his hunting shirt, and upon it blew three piercing blasts in quick
succession that, in the breathless stillness of the night, might have
been heard at least a mile away. He repeated the signal at brief
intervals for about ten minutes, when answering shouts were heard,
whereupon he drew three or four matches from the box, bunched them
together, ignited them, and held the tiny torch aloft to guide Mafuta
and Jantje, whose voices he recognised. A minute later they both
arrived upon the scene, anxious to know what was amiss, and received
Dick's hurried explanation with many _Au's_! of surprise and
apprehension. Then, in obedience to his brief but concise instruction,
they hurried away again at a run, to return with very commendable
celerity, bearing Grosvenor's hammock and a long pole, hacked from the
nearest tree they could find. The hammock having been spread upon the
ground, the patient was, under Dick's anxious supervision, laid very
carefully upon it, so that there might be as little movement of his body
as possible; and finally, the hammock having been securely lashed to the
pole, the whole was raised upon the shoulders of the two blacks and by
them borne to the camp. Arrived there, the hammock was, still with the
utmost gentleness and care, slung inside the tent, the lamp was lighted,
and Dick proceeded to examine his patient afresh.
By this time the wounded limb had become terribly swollen, and Grosvenor
complained of severe pain about the injured region. This, of course,
was not to be wondered at, considering the rather heroic treatment to
which the leg had been subjected, and Dick was not very greatly
concerned about it. But what caused him to look very grave was the fact
that his patient also complained of feeling cold, and manifested
symptoms of approaching delirium, while his whole body was now beginning
to be convulsed, at rapidly shortening intervals, by spasms of violent
and uncontrollable twitching. Without wasting a moment Dick now had
recourse to alcohol, freely dosing his patient with neat brandy, in the
hope of inducing a condition of intoxication--for he knew that if he
could succeed in this the excess of alcohol in the system would
neutralise the venom, and his patient would be saved. But it was not
until he had administered nearly a quart of the spirit that the desired
symptoms began to appear; and it was long past midnight before the
twitching convulsions entirely ceased and the patient sank into a
deathlike sleep; by this time also the swelling of the limb was
perceptibly subsiding; and when at length Dick turned down the lamp and
disposed himself to take such rest as he might be able to snatch in a
folding chair by the side of his friend's hammock, he had the
satisfaction of knowing that the crisis was past and Phil would live.
Up to this moment the young doctor had been far too busy and altogether
too deeply preoccupied in attending upon his patient to give any
attention to, or indeed be more than vaguely aware of, what was
happening outside the tent, although there certainly had been moments
when sounds of a more than usually alarming character had reached his
ears so distinctly and obtrusively as partially to distract his
attention for the fraction of a second or so; but now that Grosvenor was
asleep and safe, and Dick began to feel that he also would be the better
for a little rest, outside sounds began to obtrude themselves upon him
with a force and persistency that would not be denied, and he awoke to a
consciousness of the fact that something quite out of his ordinary
experience was happening.
At first he was disposed to attribute the babel of sound that reached
his ears to the fact that the party were outspanned in close--almost too
close--proximity to the only water that, so far as he knew, existed for
many miles round, and which was consequently the regular drinking place
for every living creature in the neighbourhood, as he and his chum had
already ascertained. Indeed the incessant bellowing, snorting,
trumpeting, roaring, splashing, and squealing that, slightly mellowed by
distance, penetrated to the interior of the tent, was quite enough to
justify such an idea. But he had scarcely settled himself in his chair
beside Grosvenor's hammock, and closed his eyes in the hope of wooing
sleep to them, than he became aware of other and nearer sounds,
dominating the first, the sound of crackling flames, frequent low,
muttered ejaculations, the occasional soft thud and swish of feet
running through long grass, followed by a shout or two which was almost
invariably responded to by a low, angry snarl, while the clashing of
horns, the rattling of the trek chain, the almost continuous lowing and
moaning of the oxen, the stamping of the horses tethered to the wagon,
and the whining of the dogs, indicated the extreme restlessness and
uneasiness of the animals. The disturbance was so much greater than
usual that Dick finally felt called upon to investigate. So, rising
from his chair, he cast a quick glance at his patient which assured him
that all was well there, and then, raising the flap of the tent, stepped
forth into the open air.
The first sight that greeted him was that of about a dozen fires
arranged in a circle round about the tiny camp, in the ruddy-yellow,
flickering glare of which he saw Mafuta, Jantje, and 'Nkuku flitting
hither and thither, tending the fires and feeding them from an enormous
stack of thorns and branches piled up near the wagon, while Ramoo Samee,
the Indian groom, stood with the horses, talking to them, caressing
them, and soothing their excitement by every means in his power. Most
of the oxen, instead of lying down, were on their feet, their tails
swishing agitatedly from side to side, their heads turning quickly this
way and that, their ears twitching, their nostrils distended, sniffing
the air, their hoofs stamping the earth impatiently, while their eyes
glowed and shone in the light of the fires, and ever and anon one or
another of them would throw up his head and give vent to a low, moaning
bellow, which told, as eloquently as words, their state of terror. As
for the dogs, they were all huddled together beneath the wagon,
shivering with fear, their tails between their legs, and their lips
drawn back, revealing their fangs, in a sort of snarling grin. Leo was
the only animal who did not seem very greatly perturbed, but even he was
awake, and lay crouching at the extreme end of his tether, his eyes
lambently aglow, and his tail softly beating the earth now and then.
"Ho there, Mafuta!" called Dick, as he stood taking in the scene and
admiring the generally romantic effect of it all--the glowing fires, the
wavering columns of smoke, the uneasy animals, the flitting figures, the
great bulk of the wagon with its white canvas tent aglow with the
firelight, and the mellow stars raining down their soft radiance; "what
is all the disturbance about?"
"Lions, baas," answered the Kafir as he paused for a moment, his arms
filled with a great bundle of branches which he was carrying to the
fires, and his great bronze body shining with perspiration; "we are
beset by them; and if the fires were allowed to die down they would rush
in upon us, and kill or stampede the whole of the oxen and horses. See
there--and there--and there," he added, pointing into the darkness
beyond the glow of the fires.
Dick looked, but could at first see nothing, his eyes as yet being
dazzled by the light of the flames, but presently, looking in the
direction toward which Mafuta pointed, he caught sight of first one pair
of greenishyellow orbs, and then another, and another, gleaming out of
the darkness, until finally he counted no less than seven pairs of eyes,
all intently staring inward. By the flitting to and fro of some of
these pairs of eyes Dick perceived that certain of the lions were
regularly making the circuit of the camp, some in one direction, some in
the other, apparently searching for an unguarded spot at which they
might venture to make a dash; but there were three pairs of eyes that
remained stationary, as though their owners were patiently awaiting a
signal of some sort. These, Dick decided, were the most dangerous of
their foes, and at the same time the most easy to deal with, because of
their immovability; so, returning to the tent he first cast a quick
glance at the still soundly sleeping form of Grosvenor. Then he took up
his bandolier, threw it over his shoulder and adjusted it in position,
seized his rifle and satisfied himself that it was fully loaded, and
again made his way outside.
It took a minute or two for his eyes again to adjust themselves to the
peculiar conditions of the light, but presently he again caught sight of
one of the motionless pairs of eyes, and, sinking upon one knee, he
raised his rifle to his shoulder, carefully brought its two sights
accurately in line with a point midway between the two glowing orbs, and
pressed the trigger. The sharp, whip-like crack of the weapon was
answered by several low, snarling growls, and a swishing of the grass
suggestive of several heavy bodies bounding away through it, while the
stationary and moving pairs of eyes vanished, as if by magic; and a
minute or two later some four or five of the oxen lay down where they
were tethered to the trek chain, with a sigh of obvious relief.
"They are gone, baas," remarked Mafuta, as he again passed with more
fuel; "but we must keep up the fires; for they are almost certain to
come back again. They are young lions who have been driven away from
the pool, and not allowed to hunt there by the old ones, and they are
hungry. Yes, they will come back again; and you will perhaps have to
kill two or three more before they will go away and leave us alone."
"Do you think, then, that I got the fellow I fired at?" demanded Dick.
"Yes, baas," answered Mafuta with confidence. "I heard the bullet
strike. You will find the beast, dead, out there, when the day breaks.
But see, yonder, baas, they are slinking back; there is one pair of eyes
over there, and I saw another in that direction--yes, there they are
again. Ah! now they are gone--but, look there, baas, see you those two
pairs? No, no, do not shoot yet; wait until they come quite close;
then--shoot and kill. Where is that _schelm_, Jantje, and why is he not
feeding the fires? If they are not kept up we shall yet lose half our
oxen!"