ELANDSBERGEN.
Next morning when the picquet was relieved young Sheldrake, who paid
Hammersley's company in absence of the latter, who was soon expected
with a strong draft from England, said to Florian--
'Look here, MacIan, I've made a stupid mistake. The company's money
I have left among my heavier baggage in the fort beyond Elandsbergen,
and I have got the Colonel's permission to send you back for it.
This is just like me--I've a head, and so has a pin! The
Quartermaster will lend you his horse, and you can have my spare
revolver and ammunition. Have a cigar before you go,' he added,
proffering his case, 'and look sharp after yourself and the money.
There is a deuced unchancy lot in the quarter you are going back to.
We don't advance from this till to-morrow, so you have plenty of time
to be with us ere we cross the river, if you start at once.'
'Very good, sir,' replied Florian, as he saluted and went away to
obtain the horse, the revolver, and to prepare for a duty which he
intensely disliked, and almost doubted his power to carry out, as it
took him rearward through a country of which he was ignorant, which
was almost without roads, and where he would be single-handed, if not
among savages, among those who were quite as bad, for in some of
these districts, as in the Orange Free State and Boerland, there
swarmed broken ruffians of every kind, many of them deserters; and,
says an officer, 'so great, in fact, was the number of these
undesirable specimens of our countrymen assembled in Harrysmith alone
that night was truly made hideous with their howlings, respectable
persons were afraid to leave their houses after nightfall, and the
report of revolvers ceased to elicit surprise or curiosity. I have
been in some of the most notorious camps and towns in the territories
and mining districts of the United States, but can safely assert that
I never felt more thankful than when I found my horse sufficiently
rested here to continue my journey.' There were lions, too, in the
wild plains, for some of our cavalry horses were devoured by them;
the tiger-cat and the aarde-wolf also.
With a knowledge of all this Florian loaded his revolver, looked
carefully to the bridle and stirrup leathers of his horse, received a
note from Mr. Sheldrake to the officer commanding the little fort
near the foot of the Drakensberg, and left the camp of No. 2 column
on his solitary journey, steering his way by the natural features of
the country so far as he could recall them after the advance of the
10th January, and watching carefully for the wheel tracks or other
indications of a roadway leading in a westerly direction; and many of
his comrades, including Bob Edgehill, watched him with interest and
kindly anxiety till his white helmet disappeared as he descended into
a long grassy donga, about a mile from Rorke's Drift.
The evening passed and the following day dawned--the important
12th--when Zululand was to be invaded at three points by the three
columns of Lord Chelmsford; the advance party detailed from Colonel
Glyn's brigade to reconnoitre the ground in front got under arms and
began to move off, and Sheldrake and others began to feel somewhat
uneasy, for there was still no appearance of the absent one.
* * * *
The country through which Florian rode was lonely, and farmhouses
were few and many miles apart. Its natural features were undulating
downs covered with tall waving grass, furrowed by deep, reedy
water-courses; here and there were abrupt rocky eminences, and dense
brushwood grew in the rugged kloofs and ravines.
The air was delightful, and in spite of his thoughts the blood
coursed freely through his veins; his spirits rose, and, exhilarated
by the pace at which his horse went, he could not help giving a loud
'Whoop!' now and then when a gnu, with its curved horns and white
mane, or a hartebeest appeared on the upland slopes, or a baboon
grinned at him from amid the bushes of a kloof.
Before him stretched miles of open and grassy veldt, and the
flat-topped hills of the Drakensberg range closed the horizon. The
vast stretch of plain, across which ever and anon swept herds of
beautiful little antelopes, was covered with luxuriant grass, which
seemed smooth as a billiard-table, and over it went the track, which
he was always afraid of losing. But, if pleasant to look upon, the
veldt was treacherous ground, for hidden by the grass were everywhere
deep holes burrowed by the ant-bears, and into these his horse's
forelegs sank ever and anon, to the peril of the animal and his rider
too. Thus Florian was compelled to proceed at a canter with his
reins loose, while he sat tight and prepared for swerving when his
nag, which was a native horse, prepared to dodge an apparent hole,
which they can do with wonderful sagacity.
So Florian was not sorry when he left the veldt behind him, and after
a ride of about thirty miles saw the earthworks of the small fort at
the foot of Drakensberg appear in front with a little Union Jack
fluttering on a flagstaff.
This was about mid-day.
Anxious to return as soon as he could rest his horse, he lost no time
in delivering Sheldrake's note to the officer in command, and with
the key of a trunk indicated therein among his best uniform, and amid
girls' photos, bundles of letters, old button bouquets, rare pipes,
and an omnium-gatherum of various things, the bag was found, with the
company's money, and delivered to Florian, who, after a two hours'
halt, set out on his return journey; but he had not proceeded many
miles when he found that his horse was utterly failing him, and,
regretting that he had not remained at the post for the night, he
resolved to spend it in the little town of Elandsbergen, towards
which he bent his way, leading the now halting nag by the bridle.
Elandsbergen consisted of a few widely detached cottages studding
both sides of a broad pathway, amid a vast expanse of veldt or
prairie, with fragmentary attempts at cultivation here and there; and
how the people lived seemed somewhat of a mystery. Rows of stunted
oaks lined the street, if such it could be called, and through it
flowed a rill of pure water, at which the poor nag drank thirstily.
Elandsbergen boasted of one hostelry, dignified by the title of the
Royal Hotel, where 'civil entertainment for man and beast' was
promised by the landlord, 'Josh Jarrett.' It was a somewhat
substantial edifice of two storeys, built of baked brick, square in
form, with a flat roof composed of strong lattice-work, covered with
half-bricks and with clayey mortar to render it impervious to the
torrents of the South African rainy season.
In some of the windows were glass panes; in others sheepskin with the
wool off, which, in consequence of extreme tension, attains a certain
transparency. Giving his horse to a Kaffir ostler, whose sole
raiment was a waistcoat made of a sleeveless regimental tunic,
Florian somewhat wearily entered the 'hotel,' the proprietor of which
started and changed colour at the sight of his red coat, as well he
might, for, though disguised by a bushy beard, sedulously cultivated,
and a shock head of hair under his broad-leaved hat, he was one of
the many deserters from our troops, already referred to, and, though
apparently anxious to appear civil, was secretly a ruffian of the
worst kind.
The room into which he ushered Florian was bare-walled, the furniture
was of the plainest and rudest kind, and the floor was formed of
cow-dung over wet clay, all kneaded, trodden, and hardened till it
could be polished, a process learned from the Zulus in the
construction of their kraals.
A fly-blown map of Cape Colony, a cheap portrait of Sir Bartle Frere,
and the skull of an eland with its spiral horns were the only
decorations of the apartment, and the literature of 'the day' was
represented by three tattered copies of the _Cape Argus_, _Natal
Mercury_, and the _Boer Volksteem_.
Josh Jarrett was dressed like a Boer, and in person was quite as
dirty as a Boer; his loose cracker-trousers were girt by a broad belt
with a square buckle, whereat hung a leopard-skin pouch and an ugly
hunting-knife with a cross hilt. In the band of his broad hat were
stuck a large meerschaum pipe and the tattered remnant of an ostrich
feather.
The Kaffir ostler now came hurriedly in, and announced something in
his own language to the landlord, who, turning abruptly to Florian,
said--
'You are in something of a fix, Sergeant!'
'How--what do you mean?' demanded Florian.
'That your horse is dying.'
'Dying!'
'Yes, of the regular horse-sickness.'
Florian in no small anxiety and excitement hurried out to the stable,
in which two other nags were stalled, and there he saw the poor
animal he had ridden lying among the straw in strong convulsions,
labouring under that curse of South Africa, the horse-sickness, a
most mysterious disorder, which had suddenly attacked it.
The animal had looked sullen and dull all morning, and in the stable
had been assailed by the distemper and its usual symptoms, heaving
flanks, disturbed breathing, glassy eyes, and a projecting tongue
tightly clenched between the teeth. Then came the convulsions, and
he was dead in half an hour, and Florian found that he would probably
have to travel afoot for more than twenty miles before he could
rejoin the column on the morrow.
'Where have you come from, Sergeant?' asked Josh Jarrett, when they
returned to the public room.
'The fort at the Drakensberg, last.'
'Taking French leave, eh?' said Jarrett, with a portentous wink and a
brightening eye.
'Not at all!' replied Florian, indignantly.
'Fellows do so every day now in these short-service times.'
'I was going to the front, when my horse fell lame.'
'Belong to the Mounted Infantry?'
'The dismounted now, I think,' replied Florian. 'I should like to
rest here for the night, and push on as best I can to-morrow; so what
can I have for supper?'
Josh Jarrett paused a moment, as if he thought a sergeant's purse
would not go far in the way of luxuries, and then replied:
'Rasher of bacon and eggs, or dried beef and a good glass of
squareface or Cape smoke, which you please.'
'The first will do, and a glass of the squareface, which means
Hollands, I suppose. Cape smoke is a disagreeable spirit,' replied
Florian wearily, as he took off his helmet and seated himself in a
large cane-bottomed chair.
'Won't you lay aside your revolver?' asked Jarrett.
'Thanks--well, no--I am used to it.'
'As you please,' said the other surlily, and summoning in a loud
voice a female named 'Nan,' left the room.
The latter laid the table, brought in the frugal supper, with a case
bottle of squareface, and, instead of leaving the room, seated
herself near a window and entered into conversation, with what object
Florian scarcely knew, but he disliked the circumstance, till he
began to remember that she probably considered herself his equal.
When his hasty repast was over, taking a hint from a remark that he
was weary, she withdrew, and then Florian began to consider the
situation.
He was fully twenty miles from the regiment; a rough country, not to
be traversed even by daylight, infested with wild animals, and many
obnoxious things, such as puff-adders, perhaps Zulus, lay between;
and unless Jarrett would accommodate him with a horse, which was very
unlikely (he seemed such a sullen and forbidding fellow), he would
have to travel the journey on foot, and begin betimes on the morrow
as soon as dawn would enable him to see the track eastward.
He examined Sheldrake's handsome revolver and its ammunition,
reloading the six chambers carefully. Then he thought of the
company's money; and tempted, he knew not by what rash impulse unless
it was mere boyish curiosity, he untied the red tape by which the
paymaster had secured the mouth of the bag to have a peep at the gold.
He had never seen a hundred sovereigns before, and never before had
so much money in his possession. Some of the glittering coins fell
out on the clay floor; and as he gathered them up a sound made him
look round, and from the window he saw a human face suddenly vanish
outside, thus showing that some one had, hitherto unnoticed, been
furtively watching him, and he strongly suspected it to be the woman
Nan, prompted, perhaps, by idle curiosity, and in haste he concealed
the gold.
He was the more convinced of the lurker being she when, soon after,
she entered, retook her seat by the window, through which the evening
sun was streaming now, and began to address him in a light and
flippant manner, as if to get up a flirtation with him for ulterior
purposes; but his suspicions were awakened now, and Florian was on
his guard.
He perceived that she had made some alterations and improvements in
her tawdry dress, and had hung in her ears a pair of large
old-fashioned Dutch ear-rings shaped like small rams' horns of real
gold.
She seemed to be about thirty years of age, and was not without
personal attractions, though all bloom was past, and the expression
of her face was marred by its being alternately leering, mocking,
and--even in spite of herself--cruel. Yet her eyes were dark and
sparkling. She wore a fringe of thick brown hair close down to them,
concealing nearly all her forehead. Her mouth, if large, was
handsome, but lascivious-looking, and Florian, whose barrack-room
experience had somewhat 'opened his eyes,' thought--though he was not
ungallant enough to say so--that her absence would be preferable to
her company, which she seemed resolved to thrust upon him. But
guests were doubtless scarce in these parts, and the 'Royal Hotel,'
Elandsbergen, had probably not many visitors.
She asked him innumerable questions--his age, country, regiment, and
so forth--and all in a wheedling coaxing way, toyed with his hair,
and once attempted to seat herself on his knee; but he rose and
repelled her, and then it was that the unmistakably cruel expression
came flashing into her eyes.
'You are too young and too handsome to be killed and disembowelled by
the big Zulus,' said she after a pause; 'they could eat a boy like
you. Why don't you desert and go to the Diamond Fields?'
'Thank you; I would die rather than do that!'
'And so you serve the Queen, my dear?' she said sneeringly.
'Yes.'
'For what reason do you fight the poor Zulus?'
'Honour,' replied Florian curtly.
'I have read--I have some book-knowledge, you see--that when a Swiss
officer was reproached by a French one that he fought for pay, and
not like himself for honour, "So be it," replied the Swiss, "we each
of us fight for that which he is most in need of."'
'I don't see the allusion in this instance: a soldier, I do my duty
and obey orders.'
'Have a drop more of the squareface--you can't be so rude as to
refuse a lady,' she continued, filling up a long glass, which she put
to her lips, and then to those of Florian, who pretended to sip and
then put the glass down.
He was at a loss to understand her and her advances. Vanity quite
apart, he knew that he was a good-looking young fellow, and that his
uniform 'set him off;' but he remembered the face at the window, and
was on his guard against her in every way. Would she have acted thus
with an officer? he thought; and in what relation did she stand to
the truculent-looking landlord--wife, daughter, or sister? Probably
none of them at all.
Suddenly her mood changed, or appeared to do so, and seating herself
at a rickety old piano, which Florian had not noticed before, she,
while eyeing him waggishly, proceeded to sing a once-popular flash
song, long since forgotten in England, and probably taken out by some
ancient settler, generations ago, to the Cape Colony:
'If I was a wife, and my dearest life
Took it into his noddle to die,
Ere I took the whim to be buried with him,
I think I'd know very well _why_.
'If poignant my grief, I'd search for relief--
Not sink with the weight of my care:
A salve might be found, no doubt, above ground,
And I think I know very well _where_.
'Another kind mate should give me what fate
Would not from the former allow;
With him I'd amuse the hours you abuse,
And I think I'd know very well _how_.
''Tis true I'm a maid, and so't may be said
No judge of the conjugal lot;
Yet marriage, I ween, has a cure for the spleen,
And I think I know very well _what_.'
This she sang with a skill and power that savoured of the music hall,
and then tried her blandishments again to induce Florian to drink of
the fiery squareface; but he resisted all her inducement to take
'just one little glass more.'
Why was she so anxious that he should imbibe that treacherous spirit,
which he would have to pay for? And why did the landlord, who
certainly seemed full of curiosity about him, leave him so entirely
in her society?
Suddenly the voice of the latter was heard shouting, 'Nan, Nan!'
'That is Josh,' said she impatiently; 'bother him, what does he want
now? Josh is getting old, and nothing improves by age.'
'Except brandy,' said Florian smiling, as he now hoped to be rid of
her.
'Right; and squareface, perhaps. Have one glass more, dear, before I
leave you.'
But he turned impatiently away, and she withdrew, closing a scene
which caused Florian much suspicion and perplexity. He remembered to
have read, that 'man destroys with the horns of a bull, or with paws
like a bear; woman by nibbling like a mouse, or by embracing like a
serpent.' And he was in toils here unseen as yet!
The light faded out beyond the dark ridges of the Drakensberg, and
Florian requested to be shown to his sleeping-apartment, which was on
the upper storey.
'You may hear a roaring lot here by-and-by,' said his host; 'but you
are a soldier, and I dare say will sleep sound enough. You will be
tired, too, after your ride.'
The man had now a sneaking and wicked look in his eyes, which avoided
meeting those of Florian, and which the latter did not like, but
there was no help for it then.
'You will call me early if I sleep too long,' said Florian, as
Jarrett gave him a candle.
The hand of the latter shook as he did so--he had evidently been
drinking heavily, and his yellow-balled eyes were bloodshot, and his
voice thick, as he said:
'Good-night, Sergeant; you'll sleep sound enough,' and closed the
door.
With a sigh almost of relief Florian found himself alone. He set
down the sputtering candle, and turned to fasten the door. It was
without a lock, and secured only by a latch, by which it could be
opened from the outside as well as within.
On making this startling discovery, Florian's heart glowed with
indignation and growing alarm! He felt himself trapped!