A CHALLENGE--A STRATAGEM DETECTED--ASSEGAI VERSUS RIFLE--THE FEAST--THE
DANCE--A FORAY--THE BOYS ESCAPE.
Two or three weeks now passed during which nothing of any importance
occurred. Lion continued to mend, though very slowly, and was unable to
walk any distance. A messenger had been despatched southward, and his
return was impatiently looked for. Spies also had gone out to track the
Bushmen, but they too were still absent. Meanwhile the Englishmen were
treated with all civility; Toboo every day supplying their table with
Hottentot luxuries, and the chief, attended by Omatoko as interpreter,
paying them continual visits. It was very amusing to the boys to watch
the asides between their two visitors, which the latter supposed to be
quite unintelligible to their guests, but which were always explained to
them by the doctor, as soon as the Hottentots had departed.
They learned in this way that Umboo was very anxious to possess one, at
least, of the guns which the travellers carried, and was disappointed
that an offer to that effect had not been made to him by one of the
party. They were, therefore, in no way surprised, when one day Toboo
made his appearance, ushering in Omatoko and two of the principal
personages of the village, who announced that they came with a message
from the chief. The latter had heard of their skill with the
"fire-tube," as they styled it, and was desirous of measuring his own
skill as a marksman against theirs. He proposed that a mark should be
set up at the distance of a hundred yards, which the doctor should
endeavour to hit with a bullet from his rifle, and Umboo with his
assegai. Whichever made the more successful shot was to be accounted
the victor, and the weapons employed in the contest were to become his
exclusive property.
"The cunning old rogue," exclaimed Nick, _sotto voce_, to his neighbour,
Frank. "He is determined to get hold of Charles's rifle, if he can.
But I suppose Charles can hardly decline the contest."
"No," said Frank, "and there is no reason why he should. He is
tolerably sure to beat this nigger hollow. But let us hear what he
says."
As soon as Omatoko had delivered the challenge, the doctor replied that
he was quite ready for the trial proposed, and accepted the conditions.
A day was then named, and an invitation given to all the party to dine
with the chief after the settlement of the contest. All preliminaries
having been arranged, the ambassadors withdrew, followed by Omatoko,--
all three apparently greatly pleased at the result of the interview.
"What a flat that Umboo must be," exclaimed Nick, when they had
departed, "to believe that he could throw a spear with a better aim than
Charles can take with his rifle! Why, even Omatoko, with his bow and
arrow, was no match for Charles and his gun; and it is much easier to
hit with a bow and arrow than with a spear, or assegai, as they call
it."
"Well, I don't know that Umboo is so very far wrong," said Lavie. "Some
of these Hottentots can throw the assegai with wonderful skill. If
Umboo is a good performer, as I suppose he is by his challenging me,
he'll surprise you with his skill, I expect, though I hardly think he
will outshoot me."
"Outshoot you! Well, as a fellow is said to take a _shot_ with a spear,
I suppose it may be called shooting, though it is shooting after a very
funny sort," said Warley. "What is the day appointed for this match,
Charles?"
"Wednesday--the day after to-morrow. I suppose two days are allowed for
preparing the banquet with which he means to celebrate the victory he
makes so sure of."
"Probably. But it really is odd that he should feel so confident.
Omatoko must have told him of the affair of the ostriches, and that
would hardly encourage him."
"They're up to some scheme," said Nick, "I have felt sure of that from
the first. They are going to give you something that will make your
hand unsteady, or play some trick with your rifle. If I were you,
doctor, I'd hide my rifle away in some safe place till Wednesday."
"Well, I'll tell you what happened the night before last," said Warley.
"I thought little of it at the time, but it looks different now. You
were all asleep, and I was just going off too, when I fancied I saw
something moving near the door. It might be a snake, I thought--I'm
always fancying snakes are about now--so I lifted my head and looked.
Presently a black head came in at the door, and lay motionless for two
or three minutes. The eyes seemed to be taking stock of everything in
the hut, but particularly of Charles's figure, and his rifle, which was
lying by his side. After a little while the head disappeared as
cautiously as it had come. I thought it was one of the Hottentots,
whose curiosity had been roused by what he had been told, and wanted to
see everything with his own eyes. But it looks now as though there was
something more in it."
"You're about right, Ernest," said Nick. "There's a good deal more in
it. Well, doctor, the first thing I advise is, that you and I change
guns till Wednesday. I don't imagine they know the difference between
one gun and another, and if your belt is fastened to my weapon, and you
carry it about, they'll think you've got your own, and any tricks they
may attempt will be tried on the wrong article. And in the second
place, we'd better take it in turns to keep watch at night till
Wednesday, and so find out what they're up to."
"I think you're right, Nick," said Lavie. "You're such a dodger
yourself, that these fellows can't hold a candle to you. Well, here's
my rifle, and I'll take yours, and put it into my belt. We'd better
watch from about ten o'clock to six in the morning--the same time as
when we were on the journey. What time will you have, Nick?"
"Oh, between twelve and two, if you like," said Nick, "that is the time
I prefer."
The others making no objection, this was agreed to. No disturbance took
place that night or the night following it; but on the Wednesday
morning--the morning of the match--Nick announced to his companions that
the same fellow, no doubt, whom Ernest had watched a few days
previously, had entered the hut last night and carried off, as he
supposed, Lavie's rifle.
"You didn't let him take it away, did you?" exclaimed Frank in surprise.
"I did, though," said Nick, "and let him bring it back again half an
hour afterwards. We had better overhaul it, and see what he has done to
it."
"Hand it here, and I'll examine it," said the doctor.
The gun was passed to him, and he made a careful examination. At first
he could not perceive that there was anything amiss; but on thrusting
down the ramrod it was found that there was something about a half-crown
in thickness at the bottom of the barrel. Probably some thick glutinous
matter had been poured down the gun, and had hardened almost
immediately. This would of course prevent the spark from reaching the
powder, and so render the gun useless.
"We must take this to pieces by-and-by, and clean it," said the surgeon.
"Meanwhile, let us change rifles again. How nicely they will be taken
in, to be sure!"
About an hour afterwards notice was given them by Toboo, that all was
prepared for the match. They stepped out of their hut, and found the
whole kraal present, and in the greatest state of excitement. The large
oval space inside the ring of houses had been chosen as the most
suitable ground. At one end a square piece of dark-coloured wood had
been fastened to a post, and in the middle of the wood, secured by a
peg, was a round piece of white leather, some four inches in diameter.
At the other end was a smaller post, at which the marksmen were to stand
when discharging their weapons. Near this spot one or two lads were
holding bundles of assegais intended for the use of Umboo, who was
leaning against the wall of a cottage a short way off. He was now
divested of all his finery, and looked in consequence a far more
imposing figure. He was a tall and finely formed man, though somewhat
too stout; and the great muscles of his arms and legs might have served
a sculptor for a model. On a row of mats about ten yards distant from
the mark, were seated his wives, fully a dozen in number, all clad in
their most sumptuous apparel in honour of the triumph which their lord
and master was about to achieve. Each of them wore half a dozen heavy
necklaces round her throat, on which were strung beads and shells and
studs; fish bones and birds' eggs; teeth of fishes and wild beasts;
small bells and thimbles, and wooden reels on which thread had been
wound, purchased of European traders and converted to these strange
uses. It was not round their necks only that they wore these
encumbrances; wrists and ankles and waists were similarly loaded, until
it became almost impossible to distinguish any part of their persons,
and they were absolutely unable to stand upright under the heavy burden
of their garniture. The rest of the women and the men formed two long
lines on either side of the scene of the contest, and it was evident
from their looks, that they took the keenest interest in the issue of
the struggle.
"Now you look here," began Omatoko as soon as the chief and the
Englishmen had saluted one another; "you each take weapon you mean to
use--no allowed to change it. Chief throw three assegais, white
medicine-man fire three shots; whoever hit nearest middle white leather,
he win. If white man win, he have three assegais. If chief win, he
have white man's fire-tube. Is it good?"
"All right. I make no objection," said Lavie, with a nod of
intelligence to his companions; and the chief also signifying his
assent, the trial began.
Umboo was the first to step forward. He motioned to one of the
attendants to bring him the bundle of assegais which he carried, and
made a careful examination of them. The lads had never before had a
good sight of this weapon. It was nearly seven feet in length, the iron
head being some eight inches long and two broad. As the spears in
question had been designed for the chief's own use, the best workmen had
been employed upon them, and Lavie was really astonished at the skill
and taste displayed in the manufacture, which could hardly have been
outdone by the best English workman. Having chosen his missiles, Umboo
now prepared to throw them. Brandishing the first of them in the air,
and moving his hand to and fro, until it was exactly poised, he bent
backwards and hurled it with all the force of his herculean frame. It
flew straight to the mark, and buried itself in the dark wood a few
inches from the white leather circle. Some applause was bestowed; but
it was plain, from the faces of the bystanders, that this was not
accounted one of his most skilful efforts. He hastened to mend his
fortune with the second spear, but with no better result than before,
the assegai being fixed in the board, nearly about the same distance
from the centre as the first. With an impatient exclamation he caught
up the third missile, resolved that this time he would not fail His
exertions were successful. A burst of admiration broke forth as the
weapon was seen sticking in the leather itself, though not within an
inch and a half of the actual centre.
It was now Lavie's turn, and as he advanced to the spot which Umboo had
just quitted, he was regarded with the utmost curiosity by the
Hottentots, many of whom had never witnessed the discharge of firearms.
The doctor's rifle was already loaded. He raised it to his shoulder,
slowly lowering it again, until the bead exactly covered the centre of
the leather. Then, instantly drawing the trigger, the crack of the
report was heard, and the bullet passed so exactly through the middle of
the mark, that the wooden pin was driven out, and the leather dropped to
the ground.
The three lads vociferously applauded, and the greater part of the
bystanders could not help lending their voices to swell the shout,
albeit aware that they might incur the wrath of the chief by such a
display of feeling. Umboo was, it was plain, equally astonished and
annoyed. He threw a fierce glance at a man of slight supple figure who
was standing near, and muttered something which the Englishmen did not
understand. For a minute he seemed inclined to resent Lavie's victory
as a personal injury; but he changed his purpose, and observing that, as
the medicine-man's first shot had beaten all three of his, there was no
need for him to shoot again, he withdrew to his hut, followed by the
Hottentot of whom mention has been made; nor did he reappear until the
feast was ready.
This did not take place for some two hours afterwards, by which time his
equanimity appeared to be restored. He placed the four white visitors
on his right hand, each seated on a separate mat, while on his left were
two of his sons, Kalambo and Patoo, Omatoko, and the attendant of the
morning, whose name they had now discovered to be Leshoo. He was an old
favourite of the chief, it appeared, and was disliked and dreaded by his
countrymen generally. He did not seem to bear the Englishmen any
particular goodwill, frequently scowling at them as they sat at the
feast, and whispering remarks into Umboo's ear, which were evidently
disparaging, if not actually hostile.
"I say, Frank," whispered Nick, "that chap there, on the chief's left,
is the one who tried to damage the rifle."
"Is he?" answered Frank. "What makes you think so?"
"I know him by that bald patch on the scalp. He has had a wound there,
I suppose; I noticed that as he crawled out of the door of the hut into
the moonlight. We'd better keep an eye on him."
The feast lasted a long time, the quantity devoured by the Hottentots
being only equalled by the gross greediness with which they seized what
they considered the chief delicacies; and it was a great relief to the
English guests when it was announced that a dance was going to take
place outside the hut in their honour.
"A dance?" repeated Nick; "does any one expect a fellow to dance after a
feed like this?"
"They don't expect you to dance," said Lavie who overheard him. "You've
only to sit by and see them dance."
"That's lucky, at all events," said Nick, "but I should think his
Majesty here and his wives were still less in dancing trim than
ourselves. Why, a boa-constrictor, after gorging an ox, would be as fit
to dance a hornpipe as he."
"Hush, Nick," said Lavie, "somebody may understand you enough to report
your words, and I don't consider our position here over safe as it is.
If it hadn't been that we could not spare the rifle, I would have let
the chief beat me to-day. But there is no need to provoke them more
than can be helped."
Nick promised compliance, and followed the doctor out of the hut into an
open space near the village, under the shade of some large acacias,
which had been selected as the fittest place for the dance. It seemed
that this was to be performed by the Hottentot girls, no men being
visible among them. They were gathered in a circle divested of all
ornaments, indeed of all attire, excepting a linen cincture round the
waist, and a headdress of the same material. Several of them held
melons in their hands, not the large water-melons, with which the party
had been regaled, but a smaller size, about as big as a large cocoa-nut.
The moon, which had risen about an hour before, and was nearly at the
full, poured down a bright light, which rendered every object clearly
distinguishable.
When all had taken their places, Umboo gave the signal, and the dance
began. The spectators clapped their hands, keeping a kind of rude time,
and accompanying the performance with a low monotonous chant, which
swelled louder and louder, as the excitement grew greater. The girls,
whirling their arms and throwing out their legs right and left, flew
about, following each other in a circle, tossing the melons from one to
another, under their thighs, and catching them with wonderful dexterity.
As the dance went on, the rapidity of the movements increased. Their
light figures and animated faces, as they flashed out into the
moonlight, and back into the shade of the acacias, the dark forms seated
round, the wild and somewhat melancholy refrain of the voices, combined
to make up a scene, which was alike strange and striking. At length the
chief threw up his hand; the girls, panting and exhausted, threw
themselves on the ground to recover their breath; and soon afterwards
Umboo retired to his hut, and the others followed his example.
On the following morning, our travellers were no sooner up and dressed,
than they became aware that a great commotion was going on in the
village. Assegais, bows, and quivers full of arrows had been brought
out of the cottages, and several men were employed in rubbing the barbs
with fresh poison. About ten of the stoutest men were smearing their
bodies with fat, over which they spread a yellowish red powder; the two
between them covering their persons as with a second skin. The stench
from this ointment was scarcely bearable; but the boys, on inquiry, were
told that its purpose was to render them supple and active, as well as
to guard them from the stings of insects.
Lavie soon ascertained that the spies had returned, reporting that the
Bushmen were encamped at a distance of not more than twenty miles, and
that it was Umboo's purpose to set out almost immediately, before the
heat of the day came on, intending to attack the Bushmen an hour or so
before sunset. These tidings were soon afterwards confirmed by a
message from the chief, conveyed through Omatoko, desiring their company
in the course of another half-hour. The manner of their quondam guide,
who was now fully armed and equipped for the march, had undergone
considerable change. It was no longer deferential and submissive, but
imperious and threatening. He seemed to expect a refusal, and to be
prepared to take measures for punishing the contumacy of the Englishmen.
But Lavie was too wary to permit this. He returned a civil answer,
informing Umboo that they would be ready at the time named. Then,
calling to the others to follow him, he went into the hut to get ready.
As soon as they were safe inside, and free from the jealous scrutiny of
the Hottentots, the doctor addressed his companions.
"It won't do for us to stay any longer among these fellows," he said;
"our lives won't be safe if we do. I have learned that they mean to use
our help in picking off such of the Bushmen as may be able to escape
them at close quarters. But as soon as we have done their work, they
will strip us of our arms, and knock us on the head, if we resist I
heard that scoundrel Omatoko, and the fellow they call Leshoo, talking
over it. The chief is to have my rifle, and Omatoko Ernest's, while
Leshoo _is_ to have his choice of Frank's or Nick's."
"I'll make him a present of a bullet out of mine," cried Frank, "if I
only have the chance."
"Hush, Frank!" said Ernest, "they'll hear you. But, Charles, how comes
it that their manner towards us is so strangely altered all of a
sudden?"
"Well, in the first place, it appears to be owing to Leshoo's secret
machinations. He is afraid, it seems, of our favour with Umboo. In the
next, the delay in the return, of the messenger sent southward is
interpreted unfavourably to the English, at least Leshoo represents it
so. He says the Dutch must have got the better, or the man would have
been back before this. Umboo has now quite taken up this notion."
"Well, what do you advise, Charles?"
"That we go with them without any apparent reluctance, and accept
whatever service they ask us to undertake. But as soon as the attack on
the Bushmen begins, we will, all of us, make off as fast as we can
southwards. There are not very many of the Hottentots going on the
expedition. They will, almost certainly, be scattered in various
directions, and be too busy to notice our movements; some will probably
be killed or wounded. But even if that be not so, and if at the end of
the fighting we have not got too far to be followed, still they will
hardly dare to attack us. They are notoriously afraid of Europeans, and
have seen what we can do with our guns."
"And if they do attack us?" asked Nick.
"Then their blood be on their own heads. It is our lives or theirs, and
they wantonly provoke the contest."
"We can't do better than follow your advice," said Frank; "I'm your man,
at all events. Poor old Lion! we must leave him behind; but that can't
be helped."
"No," said Warley, "men must be thought of before dogs, however much one
may like them. Well, I agree, Charles, and so I can see does Nick."
"That's right, then," said Charles; "now we had better join them. Don't
let us give the notion that we are hanging back."
They went out accordingly, and found the party just preparing to start.
They were greeted by Umboo with feigned civility, which they returned
with similar politeness, and were requested to take their places in the
march next to him--Lavie and Frank on his right hand, and Warley and
Nick on his left, with Omatoko walking next to Frank and Leshoo to Nick.
In this order they proceeded at a rapid pace for several hours, until
the heat of the sun became overpoweringly oppressive; then they halted
in a place shaded by some trees, and provisions were served out, the
Hottentots digging roots to supply the place of water. Umboo seated
himself on the grass, and motioned to the Englishmen to do the same,
their two attendants, or jailers, as they might more properly be called,
taking the same positions as in the march.
They remained in their resting-place for three or four hours until the
great heat of the day was past, and then resumed their route. About
five o'clock a second halt was made, and Omatoko having spoken a few
words apart with the chief, addressed Lavie. He informed him that Umboo
intended to post them at various places of ambush, in the neighbourhood
of the Bushmen's camp, and their duty would be to pick off any fugitives
who might endeavour to make their escape--adding that Umboo would give a
large reward for every Bushman so killed. Lavie and the others accepted
the commission without the smallest hesitation--again apparently to the
surprise of Omatoko, and the evident disappointment of Leshoo. But
there was nothing more to be said on the subject. It only remained to
conduct the four whites to their several stations. They had now arrived
within a mile of their enemies; who it appeared had just succeeded in
killing two buffaloes, and were about to make a feast on the carcasses.
Just as they were on the point of setting out, Lavie purposely dropped
the case which contained his rifle bullets, which were scattered in all
directions on the ground. His companions ran to pick them up, and as
their heads met, he said in a subdued but perfectly clear tone, "The
large motjeeri to the south, in a quarter of an hour from the present
time."
The boys made no answer except a nod of intelligence, as each moved off
with the guide assigned him. Then the rest of the Hottentots began
creeping through the scrub, as stealthily as serpents, towards a large
rock, under shelter of which a number of the doomed Bushmen might be
seen, seated in a circle and engaged in devouring huge lumps of meat,
which they had roasted at a large fire still smouldering close by.
Lavie watched their dusky figures as they disappeared among the foliage,
and remained motionless at his post for the prescribed number of
minutes. Then hurrying as fast as he could go towards the motjeeri, he
found all three of his companions awaiting him.
"All right!" he exclaimed; "they are just on the point of making their
attack, and won't have eyes or ears for anything else. We must put on
best speed, and not stop till we are five or six miles away at the
least."
A loud yell broke forth from the rock, as they commenced their flight,
and was followed by another and another in quick succession. But they
grew fainter as the boys hurried on, and soon ceased altogether.