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Off to the Wilds, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 27. Marked Down By Vultures |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. MARKED DOWN BY VULTURES They were still many miles from King Moseti's town, and the larder being again low, consequent upon the impossibility of keeping meat, a hunting-party was instituted, and Mr Rogers was about to go off with the boys; but on second thoughts, as they had been seen by the people on the river, no doubt the news of their coming was known all through the country, and it was possible that some of the natives might come down. This he felt would be unsatisfactory if he was away, so he decided to stop; and then feeling that it would be better to have some trustworthy man to help guard the waggon, and not feeling that either Dinny, Peter, or Dirk, was that man, he decided to tell the General to stay. So the hunting-party consisted of the four boys, who were warned not to go too far, but to be sure and get something in the shape of meat as soon as they could. They went off in high glee, Coffee being delighted to be able to take his place in the party; and nothing would do but he must perform all sorts of feats, to show how strong he had grown once more. Acting upon Mr Rogers' advice, they made straight for the high, open, park-like land, about a couple of miles south of the river; and here Coffee soon showed his talent as a tracker, by pointing out some footprints in a patch of soft earth and mud close to a clear pool of water. "Lion!" he said, pointing to the great round impression: and he spat and stamped, and then struck the ground fiercely with his kiri. "Elfant!" cried Chicory just then; and his discovery so far transcended his brother's, that there was a rush to see the huge round footprint, that looked as if some one had been standing portmanteaus on end all over the bog, and leaving their impressions there. Then there were buffalo tracks, and the footprints of innumerable other beasts that had been to drink, or else gone on, making a complete roadway in the direction of the big river. Just then Coffee pulled Jack's sleeve and pointed to quite a freshly-made series of footprints. "Why, that's some kind of antelope," cried Jack. "Yes, big bok--eland," cried Coffee. "Come along." This was as good as saying that the animal had lately been there to drink: and in fact its tracks looked surprisingly fresh, so much so that the boys, after glancing at their guns, followed Coffee as he trotted on ahead with his eyes fixed upon the footprints, which were here and there so clearly-marked in the soft earth that he followed them at a run. Knowing what he did of the habits of animals, and that the great antelope might be many miles away by this time, Dick was about to protest against such an exercise of speed, feeling that a slow and sure progress would be the safest: but Coffee proved to be right, for before they had gone half-a-mile, he slopped short and made signs to the others to close up. They were in a wooded tract of land sprinkled with bushes and fine timber trees; and as the boys came up, there, about a hundred yards in front, was a magnificent eland, and so great was the surprise of both as they saw the size of the animal, equal in bulk as it was to an ox, only longer and more gracefully-shaped, that they forbore to fire; when the great antelope, catching sight of them, went off at full speed, and they had to renew the chase. Quite an hour elapsed before a sign from Coffee announced that he could once more see the game. This time both Dick and Jack were more upon the alert; and creeping cautiously up through the bushes, they caught sight of the eland grazing, just at the edge of a patch of forest about a hundred and fifty yards away. This they felt was a long shot at so large an animal; but it was impossible to get nearer on account of the intervening open ground; so kneeling together they took careful aim at the shoulder, and fired almost simultaneously. "Hit," cried Jack, as he jumped up and ran forward beyond the reach of the smoke; but there was no eland lying in its tracks; and as the Zulu boys came up, they made out that it had dashed through a patch of dense growth, and there its footprints were lost in a broad trail made by thousands of animals on their way to and from the river. Both Coffee and Chicory exerted themselves to the utmost; but their efforts were in vain, and at last they turned to Dick shaking their heads. "No good gun," said Coffee. "Ought to shoot um dead." "It's a bad job," said Jack; "but it's of no use to grumble. Come, boys, we must hunt out something else." "I wish we had brought the dogs, Jack," said Dick. "Coffee find him soon--that way." He pointed with an exultant look in his face at a great flap-winged vulture flying directly over his head, and for a moment both Jack and Dick were puzzled; but seeing the boys both set off at a run, they followed, recalling as they went what they had seen and heard about the vultures tracking the wounded or sickly game, and it was evident that the bird they had seen was on the track of the wounded eland. An hour's tramp decided the point, Coffee and Chicory coming up with the wounded beast, defending itself with its horns against the attacks of the vultures that were collecting round and making furious darts at its eyes. A merciful bullet ended the poor creature's miseries, and as the animal was so fine it was decided to load up with as much as they could conveniently carry, then place sticks about the carcase, and leave it to be fetched in by Peter and Dirk with a yoke of oxen. All this was done, and they were about half-way back when, to their utter astonishment, a party of about half-a-dozen blacks, armed with assegais and clubs, rushed out from behind some bushes, and began to advance with fierce and threatening gestures. "I say, Dick, what's to be done?" said Jack. "Shall we throw down the meat and run away?" "No," said Dick, who looked very pale. "Shall we offer them our guns and ammunition if they will let us go?" "No," replied Dick. "If we do that they will strip us to the skin." "What shall we do then?" "Show fight," said Dick. "I don't want to, but we must." "But they are big fighting men, and we are only boys," said Jack. "But we are English boys, and they are only savages," retorted Dick; "so come along." Meanwhile the Matabele warriors--for such it afterwards proved they were--kept on advancing, shouting savagely, while Coffee and Chicory had been watching their masters attentively, waiting to see what course they would take. They took their dues from the behaviour of the young Englishmen, and in place of cowering behind, they ran to the front, flourishing their kiris, striking the ground with them, and shouting in their own tongue the while. "Out of the way, black dogs!" cried Coffee. "Let my lords the big lion-killers with their wonder-guns, come by." Feeling that they must put on a bold front, the two boys advanced with rifles ready; and, seeing this, and hearing the words of Coffee and Chicory, which they understood, the black warriors stopped short, spoke to one another for a few moments, and then, changing their tone, began to beg for some of the meat. "Say they're very hungry. Want meat," said Chicory. Dick spoke to Jack, and then told Coffee to be the interpreter of their wishes, explaining to him what to say. Coffee jauntily flourished his kiri, and with a bold, defiant bearing, marched close up to the warriors, and showing them the scars made by the lion's claws, told them that they were made by the biggest lion in the world, and his young masters went and killed it with their wonder-guns. "And now the young kings say you may go and eat the big eland they shot, and fill yourselves full." The men set up a shout, flourished their weapons, and began to dance, after which they threw themselves upon the ground, as if they wanted to make themselves into black door-mats, Dick said; and ended by taking up and turning back on the little hunting-party's trail till they found the eland. "Yes," said Mr Rogers, as they related their experience; "you were quite right. These people seem to me more like children than men, and a good bold front will generally make them respect the white man; especially, my boys, if he is firm and, above all, perfectly just." _ |
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