FELIX MCGAVONTY BRINGS DOWN SOME SNAKES
"Well, what do you think of this?" asked Captain Ringgold, turning to Mrs.
Belgrave, as the elephant moved off.
"I don't feel quite at home up here," she replied, holding on with both
hands at the side of the howdah.
"I think it is nice," added Miss Blanche. "It seems very much like riding
on a camel, only there is more motion."
"It is a good place to see everything there is to be seen," suggested
Louis, as he looked about him. "The king is taking us to his palace in high
style. If he meant to astonish us, he has hit the nail on the head."
"But where are Lord Tremlyn and Sir Modava?" asked Miss Blanche.
"They are mounted on a couple of as handsome horses as I ever saw in my
life," replied the commander. "One of them is on each side of the Guicowar,
at the head of the cavalry troop. In England and America the escort goes
ahead of the persons thus honored; but here, as a rule, the king cannot
ride behind anybody. You remember that when we saw the Sultan going to the
mosque in Constantinople he rode at the head of the procession, and all the
great officers of state went behind him; and that seems to be the fashion
here."
"But is he much of a king?" Mrs. Belgrave inquired.
"They all call him a king, and I suppose he is one. He is a Maharajah, a
word written with a capital, and composed of two words, _maha_, which
means great, and _rajah_, a king. The definition is 'a Hindu sovereign
prince,' and that makes a king of him. He rules over a large territory, and
Lord Tremlyn says he is the most powerful of all the native princes. He is
certainly treating us very handsomely."
"I think I could get along without quite so much style," said Mrs.
Belgrave, laughing; and she seemed to feel as though she was taking a part
in a farce.
"All the style is in honor of the distinguished gentlemen we picked up in
the Arabian Sea. But excuse me, Mrs. Belgrave, if I suggest that it is not
wise and prudent to laugh in the midst of such a spectacle as this. The
Hindus are very exclusive until you get acquainted with them, and have a
great many prejudices which we cannot comprehend. They are very sensitive,
and are very likely to misinterpret the expression and the actions of a
stranger; your laugh might be offensive, leading them to believe you were
sneering, or making fun of them, as we should call it."
"Then I will be very circumspect," replied the lady. "But is the Guicowar
really a king, when all this country belongs to the English? Victoria is
the Empress of India."
"He rules over a protected state; but his powers seem to be almost
unlimited. A British officer is always at his court, and is called a
'resident,' who is the representative of the government. But he does not
meddle with the affairs of the state unless occasion requires."
The houses the tourists passed were all of Indian style, and there were
always towers and pagodas in sight. The region as they passed out of the
city was rural; and finally they came to the great gates of the palace,
which they entered. The grounds were covered with great trees and gardens,
in the midst of which was a palace, where they found the cavalry drawn up
and presenting arms. The elephants were made to kneel down as when the
party mounted them, and they descended by means of ladders.
A host of servants ushered them into the palace, which Lord Tremlyn said
had been appropriated to their use. Their luggage had already been sent to
their apartments; and an hour later the company assembled in the grand
salon, dressed to receive the Guicowar. His Highness did not "put on any
style this time," and was as sociable as any common person. He saluted the
commander and Mrs. Belgrave; and then all the rest of the party were
presented to him by the viscount, and Mrs. Blossom had nearly shaken
herself to pieces during the ceremony.
A bountiful collation was then served in another apartment, at which the
Maharajah presided. He spoke English as fluently as any person present, and
was very affable to all. The Italian band played during the repast, and the
Guicowar declared that it was the finest music he had ever heard. General
Noury had been placed on his right as the one highest in rank of any
present.
The king proved himself to be exceedingly well informed in regard to the
United States, and was even able to talk intelligently with the gentlemen
about Morocco. Though he had a wife, a mother, and a young daughter, they
were never presented to the gentlemen of the party, though the ladies were
permitted to make their acquaintance, and learned more from them about
Hindu domestic life than they could have obtained from any others.
"To-morrow will be a great day in Baroda," said Sir Modava to the
commander. "It is the great Sowari, a procession such as none of your
people ever saw, I will venture to say; and his Highness has provided
places for all of you where you can see the whole of it in detail."
The king announced this great state occasion himself before the lunch was
finished, and gave the visitors a cordial invitation to witness the
procession. The "Big Four," a term of which the viscount and Sir Modava had
already learned the meaning, were very impatient to do some hunting. They
had brought their guns with them, and Louis informed the Hindu gentleman of
their desire.
"Is there any place near the palace where we could find any game?" he
inquired.
"Not in the palace grounds, but within a few miles of it a very rugged
region may be reached, and a road-wagon will be provided for you. I will
speak to the Guicowar about it," replied Sir Modava; and he broached the
subject at once.
In half an hour a vehicle was at the door; and the boys were ready, dressed
for the hunt, and with their guns in their hands. Two officers were
appointed to attend them, and both of them spoke English very well. The
vehicle provided was a kind of coach, the floor of which was cushioned, so
that several persons could sleep on it during a long journey. It was drawn
by four high-spirited horses; and, though the road was bad, it was driven
at a high rate of speed; and in less than an hour they alighted in a wild
region, where there was not a building of any kind to be seen.
The two officers directed the servants to take some boards from the top of
the carriage, with which they stated their purpose to make a platform in a
tree, where they could watch for game; but the boys objected to this
arrangement, and declared that each of them would hunt on his own hook.
"But suppose you should come across a tiger, for they have been found here,
though I hardly think you will see one," said one of the officers. "What
would you do then?"
"Shoot him, of course," replied Scott. "What are our guns for?"
"But you may fire half a dozen balls into him without disabling the beast,"
added Khayrat, the principal officer. "Tiger-hunting is dangerous sport,
and you can't be too careful."
But the boys were very confident, and all of them were good shots; but they
had never tried any hunting of this kind. Khayrat said there was plenty of
deer in the vicinity, and they had better confine their attention to them.
If they approached the foothill of the Vindya Mountains, which he pointed
out to them, they might find tigers. With this warning, the "Big Four"
separated, and struck into the jungle. Khayrat followed Louis, for he had
been informed that he was the most important person in the quartet. Adil,
the other officer, kept near Scott, who appeared to be the most reckless of
the four.
Felix was not attended by any one; but he had not gone more than a hundred
yards before he saw a huge cobra directly in front of him, bestirring
himself as though he "meant business." The fellow stood up, and he looked
mad enough to chew up the hunter. But before he had time to discharge his
piece at the monster, for he looked as though he was six feet long, Felix
heard a rustling in the bushes at his left, and a moment later a
disturbance on his right.
[Illustration: "He saw a huge cobra directly in front of him."--Page 242.]
He looked in the direction of the noises, and saw two more cobras lifting
their vicious heads into the air. These were more than he had bargained
for; and, believing that discretion was the better part of valor, he
climbed a tree in which he saw a convenient resting-place. Between him and
the three snakes there was a small pool of water, half concealed by the
bushes, and the reptiles had probably come there to drink or to obtain for
food some of the amphibious creatures that lived there.
The enthusiastic sportsman had hardly begun to climb the tree before he
heard a hissing behind him, and discovered another cobra. Two of the four
in sight were much smaller than the other two, and he could easily believe
he had come upon a family of them. He got a position in the tree, and lost
no time in attacking the enemy. He was a good shot, for he and Louis had
both been thoroughly trained in a shooting-gallery in New York. He gave his
attention to the one nearest to him, and wondered he had not trodden upon
him as he came to the spot.
As this one stood up Felix could see the top of his head, and he decided to
use his revolver first. He fired; and, as the reptile was not ten feet from
him, so skilful a marksman could hardly help hitting him. He did hit him,
and the ball passed through his head. He wriggled a moment, and then
stretched himself out at full length, dead.
One of the larger ones was within twenty-five feet of him, and he used his
repeating rifle this time. He slipped a little in his perch as he
discharged the piece, and the ball went through the snake's body, which was
furiously mad, hissed and shook himself. He held still a moment, and then
Felix fired again. The ball seemed to tear his head all to pieces, and he
dropped down out of sight. He had to fire several times to kill the other
two; for, as he expressed it, they "would not hold still."
But he had killed the four, and felt just as though he had settled the
snake question. Most of the natives, who are oftener the victims of the
cobra than the white people, go about in the dark with naked feet, and it
is not strange that they are bitten. He descended from the tree, and went
to examine the game he had brought down. Cutting some pliable sticks, he
dragged the serpents together, and passed a withe around them behind the
hood, and started back for the rendezvous where they were to take the
carriage. He was determined to convince Scott that he was not afraid of
snakes.
He had already heard several shots, and realized that his companions had
found game of some kind. He waited a full hour for them, when Louis
returned first, with a very handsome deer slung on a pole with Khayrat
carrying the other end. Morris came in with a monkey, which the officers
would not have permitted him to kill if they had been near him. Scott came
in last with only a couple of birds.
"Did ye's mate ony cobrys, Musther Scott?" asked Felix.
"Not a cobra; and I didn't want to meet any," replied Scott, disappointed
at his luck.
"You's air afeered of the schnakes," rallied the Milesian.
"So are you, Flix. If you saw one you wouldn't stop running till you got
back to Baroda," returned the third officer of the ship.
"But I have seen four of them in my little walk, and I'm not doing any
running just now," said Felix triumphantly.
"Go 'way with you, Milesian, and don't tell any fish stories!" replied
Scott, continuing to blackguard him while the servants were putting the
deer on the top of the wagon.
"Do you want to carry those snakes back to the palace?" asked Khayrat.
"What snakes?" asked Scott.
"I'll be most happy to introjuce you to four uv 'em I killed," added Felix;
and Scott was convinced against his will, and the dead serpents were put on
the wagon.
In another hour they reached the palace, and the game was exhibited to a
wondering audience. The officers explained how so many of the cobras
happened to be together; but Felix had reached a correct conclusion before.
Mrs. Blossom scolded him for not running away when he saw the first one;
but he declared he had to prove that a boy with Kilkenny blood in his veins
was not afraid of snakes.