"Ach, Himmel! What is it?" exclaimed Eric, getting closer to his
brother, who also was at first a bit frightened.
"I sure I don't know," said Fritz, quite perplexed for the moment; but
he was soon reassured, for the animal, which had hitherto presented
itself end on towards them, so that its head and body were humped up
together, now turning sideways, its change of position enabled him
better to judge of its proportions. "Pshaw!" he cried out, "it's only a
goat, after all!"
"A goat?" repeated Eric, still surprised, not catching at once the
meaning of the word.
"Yes; don't you remember that young Glass said there was a flock of
goats on the tableland above the cliff?"
"Oh, I recollect now," said Eric, his mind quite relieved. For the
moment, he really believed that some terrible monster inhabited the
desert island besides themselves; and thought that this unknown animal
might possibly sally forth as soon as the sun set and darkness reigned,
in search of its prey, when he and Fritz would fall victims to its
rapacity. "I did not understand you at first."
"Well, it's all right now, brother, so you need not be afraid. I cannot
wonder at your alarm, however for I was startled, I must confess.
Fancy, me, a soldier, to show such want of nerve! Why, I'm as bad as
you were the other morning when the penguins attacked you!"
"Don't say any more about that, please," pleaded Eric, whose fright of
the birds was still a standing joke with Fritz. "I'm sure when they
rushed at me so fiercely they seemed quite as awful as the sight of that
big brute up there on the cliff, who looked just as if he were going to
leap down on us."
"Very well, we'll let the matter drop, then," said the other, laughing.
"I can't afford to boast of my courage now! If all goes well, laddie,
we will ascend the cliffs to-morrow and have a peep at my gentleman at
closer quarters."
"All right," replied Eric, using his stock phrase for everything; and
then, as it was getting dark, the brothers turned in for the night--the
sailor lad taking particular care, by the way, to see that the door of
the hut was carefully barricaded, a precaution which had been omitted
since the first evening of their taking possession of the little
dwelling.
The next morning was a bright and cheerful one, with no wind to speak
of, save a pleasant breeze, while the sun was warm and cheerful--its
light dancing on the curly little waves that rippled on the beach,
causing the plumage of the penguins as they made their pilgrimages to
and from the rookery to gleam with iridescent colours. This was
especially the case when the birds emerged from the water, the light
just then giving them the tints which the dolphin displays when first
caught and before death has deadened its changing hues.
"A splendid day for our exploring trip!" sang out Eric, the early riser,
waking up Fritz by rolling away the barrels from before their frail
doorway and fussing about the hut. "Rouse up, brother. The old sun has
been up for an hour or more, and it will be soon time for us to start."
"Eh, what? oh, yes," cried Fritz, rubbing his eyes and yawning; but,
Eric, pulling away his blankets, soon made him bestir himself, when his
brother jumped up with his usual alertness--first running down to the
beach and imitating the penguins in having a dip in the sea, to wash the
cobwebs out of his head, as he laughingly said on his return to their
little domicile, when proceeding to dress.
For a sailor, Eric was, strangely enough, not half so fond of a daily
bath; but, as he said in excuse to his brother, this was perhaps owing
to his having so many impromptu and unexpected douches on board ship.
Most seamen, especially those of foreign nationality, have seemingly a
horror of water for ablutionary purposes, in contradistinction to
landsmen.
However, there was one advantage in this, to Fritz at least; for, while
he was performing his swim and making his subsequent toilet, Eric had
lit a fire and was preparing coffee for their breakfast, to which, when
ready, Fritz was able to sit down comfortably without any trouble or
exertion on his part.
A cup of the steaming fluid apiece warmed the two, invigorating them for
the business of the day; and, as soon as the matutinal meal was
finished, they set about getting their traps ready.
"Of course, we'll take our guns, eh?" asked Eric; although, as far as he
was concerned, he had evidently already come to a decision on the point,
for he had carefully selected one of the Remington rifles from their
armoury for his own especial weapon.
"Yes, I suppose we had better take something to shoot with," replied
Fritz. "We need not pot our old friend the goat yet, however. Judging
by his horns and beard, he must be the kaiser of the flock, and so may
be a little tough; still, we may find some daintier morsel to shoot. I
confess I should be glad of a little fresh meat for a change--a real
roast this time, eh, Eric?"
"Oh, bother that roast salt beef; I suppose I'll never hear the end of
it!" cried the lad pathetically, although he could not refrain from
laughing at Fritz's allusion to the unsuccessful banquet. "You just get
me something proper to cook, and I bet you'll not be disgusted with the
way in which I dress it!"
"We'll see," replied Fritz, taking up the fowling piece and slinging a
powder flask and shot case round his neck. "As you're going to carry a
rifle for heavy game, laddie, I'll take this for the benefit of any
likely-looking birds we may come across."
"All right," responded Eric; when the two, packing up some biscuit and
cheese for their refreshment by the way and barricading the door of the
hut from the outside--lest the penguins might chance to pay them a visit
in their absence--set forth towards the base of the waterfall up the
gorge. Here, the Tristaner had told them, they would be able to climb
up by the aid of the tussock-grass should they wish to reach the summit
of the cliff.
It was a tedious ascent, the top of the ridge being over a thousand feet
above the little valley in which they lived.
As for Fritz, he was quite worn-out when they arrived at the head of the
crags above the waterfall; but Eric found the climbing easier work from
his practice in the rigging aboard the _Pilot's Bride_. This was just
as well, for he had to pull his brother up nearly all the way.
However, once arrived at the summit, the two had the whole tableland
exposed to their view. This sight alone well rewarded them for their
trouble, for the plateau stretched like an undulating plain before them,
occupying the entire extent of the island--with the exception of the
three-cornered slice taken out of it by their valley, like a segment cut
from a round cheese. There was, also, a slight depression on the
western side, where there was a little cave, although this was not
nearly so wide as the bay on the east fronting their valley.
Groups of stunted trees grew in the hollows, in which sprang up in great
luxuriance the inevitable tussock-grass; while, amongst the little
thickets that were sparsely scattered over the plain, were grazing large
numbers of hogs, headed by a monster boar. This animal had tusks nearly
a foot long; and he almost impaled Eric against a buckthorn tree, under
the shelter of which he had been lying until surprised by the lad, when,
after making a rush at him, he ran grunting away, followed by his
numerous family.
As the brothers proceeded across the tableland, they also saw numbers of
a small bird, about the size of a bantam, called by young Glass the
"island hen." Its plumage was almost entirely black, and its wings were
so short that they were useless for flight, the bird running in and out
of the long grass and ferns with which the surface of the plateau was
covered in the open, like the partridge does amongst the turnips in
England. Fritz shot a couple of the little things, and the brothers
plucked and roasted them over an extemporary fire which Eric lit with
the box of matches he invariably "carried in his pocket--as a sort of
badge of his culinary office," Fritz said. The birds were found to be
very palatable for lunch, along with the biscuit and cheese which the
brothers had brought with them.
The goats were the main object of the excursion; but Fritz could not see
anything of them until they had nearly made the circuit of the plain.
When they had almost given up the animals as a myth, feeling inclined to
believe that the old "billy" they had seen the evening before was the
creature of their imagination, they suddenly came upon the flock. The
goats were secreted in a thicket of buckthorn trees and tussock-grass,
close to where the tableland sloped to the beach at its western
extremity.
There were twenty-three in all, and must have been the produce of a pair
which some whaling vessel had turned loose on the island; for, they were
every one marked in the same way as the patriarchal-looking male,--
evidently their progenitor. He was a stately old fellow, with a fine
pair of curving horns that nearly reached to his tail; in addition to
which, he could boast of a long silky beard that a Turkish pasha might
have envied.
Seeing three kids amongst the number, Fritz told Eric to shoot one; and
the lad, after a third attempt with the repeating rifle he carried,
succeeded in making a successful shot. There was some excuse for Eric's
not killing his kid at first; for, the old male was extremely wary,
keeping at a very respectful distance from the two sportsmen and making
the flock remain in his rear, while he fronted the intruders--
continually retreating as they advanced, and dexterously shifting his
position, by a flank movement every now and then, so as not to be driven
over the cliffs.
"Master Billy can't be ignorant of men folk or firearms," said Eric,
when he had missed his second shot, "otherwise, he would not remain so
far off!"
"He was probably brought here originally from the Cape," replied Fritz,
telling his brother to aim lower next time, his last bullet having only
missed by too great an elevation. "So, like all animals that have once
heard a gun go off, he knows what it means! Most likely, if I had not
fired twice at those little birds, we might have got up quite close to
the flock; but, the old gentleman must have heard the report and that
has made him so cautious about letting us approach. Look out, Eric;
now's your chance! Only aim low and steadily, and you will bring down
that kid there to the right!"
Puff, bang! No sooner said than done.
"Hurrah!" shouted Eric, "I've got him this time, without fail!"
He had; for, although the flock of goats scampered off from the thicket
they were at that moment occupying towards another woody clump on the
opposite side of the plain, darting away with the rapidity of the wind,
they left one of their number behind.
The unfortunate victim was a pretty little kid, about three months old;
and it lay stretched out, bleeding, on the grass. Its body had been
perforated by the bullet from Eric's rifle.
"That was a capital shot!" exclaimed Fritz, when the two came up to
where the poor little kid lay. "The ball has passed right through its
heart; so, you must have aimed, as I told you, behind the shoulder."
"I did," said Eric, alike proud of his powers and the compliment; "but,
poor little thing, it seems a pity to have killed it!"
"Ah," remarked Fritz the practical, "still, roast mutton will taste nice
after our living on salt meat for so many days, eh?"
"Yes," replied Eric, with much satisfaction, his sympathy for the
slaughtered kid quickly disappearing at the thought of all that young
Glass had told him as to the flavour of the animal when cooked. "It is
better than the tenderest pork, they say."
"Very well, we'll try it for dinner to-morrow and see whether we agree
with that verdict. It will be too late to cook it when we get home this
evening."
"Dear me, I really did not think the time was going so fast! Why, it
must be within a hour of sunset; don't you think so?"
"Not far off," said Fritz; "so, therefore, there's all the greater
reason for our returning down the gully as soon as possible. If the
darkness came on while we were descending, I should never be able to
scramble down."
"Never fear, brother; I'll look after you," cried Eric.
On their approaching the eastern end of the clift again, the sailor lad
first lowered down the dead kid by a piece of rope he had taken with
him, on to one of the niches in the gorge above the waterfall, and then
prepared for the descent of Fritz and himself. "Never fear brother," he
repeated. "Although you may be stronger than I, still my eye is steady
and my hand sure!"
"Good!" said Fritz. "You had better then go down first, and direct me
where to put my feet. After we've been up and down once or twice, of
course, I shall not find it so difficult."
"All right," responded Eric, "here goes!" So saying, he swung himself
over the top of the cliff, when, holding on firmly to the tussock-grass
and half slipping down and half stepping on the projections in the face
of the crag, he reached in a few minutes the first broad ledge over
which the rivulet from above tossed its spray.
"Are you quite safe?" asked Fritz, before adventuring on the descent.
"Certainly," said the other. "Hold on to the grass stems the same as I
did, and let yourself slide over at the corner--there! Now, feel with
your foot for a projecting bit of stone just below where you are
standing and about a yard to the right. Have you got it?"
"Yes," replied Fritz.
"All right, then, let yourself down on it and take a fresh grip of the
tussock-grass, for you will have to bear more to the left this time.
Hold on tight and take a long step down, now, and you'll be beside me;
there you are, you see!"
Eric then proceeded down to the next step, or leap, of the waterfall in
the same way, lowering the kid first, and then descending and directing
his brother's steps; so that, in a much shorter time than they had
ascended, they arrived once more in the valley--although, from the fact
of the tableland being more open and exposed and the cliffs obscuring
the light, the lads found it quite dark when they reached their hut, the
sun having sunk below the western ocean while they were climbing down
the crags.
"Thank goodness, we're here at last!" exclaimed Fritz, when, having got
within their hut, he sank upon the bed in the corner. "I didn't tell
you before, for fear of alarming you; but, as I came down the cliff, I
sprained my ankle fearfully. Once, I thought I should never reach the
bottom alive, laddie. Really, if we had but another step now to go, I'm
certain I would not have been able to limp it."
"Himmel!" ejaculated Eric, "I couldn't see that you walked lame on
account of its being dark; and, you wouldn't tell me, of course, or lean
on my arm so as to let me help you!"
Eric spoke in quite an aggrieved tone, which struck his brother keenly,
although he refrained from answering him; but, while expressing his
sense of hurt feeling at Fritz not asking his aid, the lad was busily
employed in lighting the lamp and examining the injured ankle, which, to
his consternation, he found so badly dislocated that the bone protruded.
The foot, too, was already swollen to more than twice its size!
"It looks awful," he said; "and, just think, if it had given way when we
were descending the crag you might have tumbled down the precipice and
made me brotherless! Why did you not tell me and ask my help?"
"Because," replied Fritz, with some reason, "my doing so might perhaps
have frightened you, causing you to lose your nerve at a moment when the
safety of both of us depended on your keeping cool and steady."
"That might have been so," said Eric; "but, still, I would have been
able to help you more if I had known! However, `everything that is, is
for the best,' isn't that so, brother?"
With this consoling reflection, the sailor lad, under Fritz's
directions, set about bandaging the wounded limb with a long
handkerchief dipped in cold water and wrapped round it as tightly as
possible.
This surgical operation accomplished, the two then went to bed, pretty
well tired with the day's excursion.
They had had a long chase after the wild goats, in addition to first
exploring the tableland above and the exertion of ascending and
descending the cliff--which latter was quite an arduous enough
enterprise in itself and sufficiently dangerous, as was amply proved by
the fact of Fritz's accident, that might lay him up for some time.
However, the next day, the invalid thought roast kid ample payment for
sprained ankle; and he was not sorry for the enforced rest he was
obliged to take after the rough exercise he had undergone since landing
on the island, having now an opportunity of reading and investigating
the little library of books given by Celia Brown to Eric, which he had
not yet had the chance of overhauling.
Indeed, Master Fritz had a nice easy time of it; for Eric not only
waited on him, but saw to everything that had to be done until he was
able to move about again.
"That old billy-goat was bound to do me an injury! I thought so when I
first saw him that evening, standing out against the sunset sky over our
heads," said the elder brother to Eric, when he was once more out of
doors and felt again like his old self. "Aha, though, I've not done
with the old rascal yet! Some day, I'll pay him out, never fear!"
"Right you are!" was Eric's answer, laughing the while.
The lad was really so overjoyed to see his brother on his legs again,
that he went off into fits of laughter every now and then about nothing
at all.
He could not contain himself!