Diamond Dyke Part 12

But at last the feeding was done, the hens in attendance on the nest of eggs visited, where all seemed satisfactory, and then the horses were saddled, and Jack and Duke summoned.

The latter dashed up instantly; but Jack made no reply.

"Yes, he is spoiled," said Emson. "It has always seemed to be so much less trouble to saddle our own horses than to see that he did it properly; but we ought to have made him do it, little un."

"Of course we ought," said d.y.k.e. "It isn't too late to begin now?"

"I'm afraid it is," said Emson.--"Here! Hi! Jack," he shouted; and the dog supplemented the cry by running toward the house, barking loudly, with the result that the Kaffir woman came out, saw at a glance what was wanted, and turned back.

The next minute there was a scuffling noise heard behind the place, accompanied by angry protesting voices, speaking loudly in the Kaffir tongue.

Then all at once Jack appeared, carrying three a.s.segais, and holding himself up with a great deal of savage dignity; but as he approached he was struck on the back of the head by a bone. He turned back angrily, but ducked down to avoid a dry cake of fuel, and ended by running to avoid further missiles, with his dignity all gone, for Tanta Sal's grinning face peeped round the corner, and she shouted: "Jack bad sick, baas. All eat--seep."

"Yes; that's what's the matter, Jack," said Emson, shaking his head at him. "Now take hold of the horse's mane, and I'll give you a good digestive run."

There was no help for it. Jack seized the mane and trotted off beside the horse, while a derisive shout came from behind the house, and Tanta's grinning face re-appeared.

This was too much for Jack, who turned to shake his a.s.segais at her: the movement was unpropitious, for he stumbled and fell, but gathered himself up, caught up to the horse, and trotted on again, keeping on in the most untiring way, till a flight of carrion birds was sighted, hovering about the granite boulders, and perching here and there, as if ready for the banquet to come.

Duke charged forward at this, and the birds scattered, but did not go far; while the dog's approach started half-a-dozen jackals from among the bushes to which they had retired, and they now began scurrying over the plain. "I wonder how they find out that there's anything dead, Joe," said d.y.k.e; "we did not see a single jackal or bird this morning."

"Eyesight," said Emson quietly. "The vultures are sailing about on high, and one sees the dead animal; then other vultures see him making for it, and follow."

"And the jackals see the vultures, and follow too?"

"That seems to be the way, old fellow. Anyhow, they always manage to find out where there's anything to eat."

"I say, don't he look big?" said d.y.k.e, as the carca.s.s of the dead lion lay now well in sight.

"Yes; he's one of the finest I have seen. You ought to get the teeth out of his head, little un; they'd do to save up for your museum."

"I will," said d.y.k.e.

The next minute they had dismounted, and were removing the horses'

bridles to let them pick off the green shoots of the bushes. The rifles had been laid down, and Duke had gone snuffing about among the rocks, while Jack was proceeding to sharpen the edge of one of his a.s.segais, when the dog suddenly gave tongue. There was a furious roar, the horses pressed up together, and from close at hand a lion, evidently the companion of that lying dead, sprang out and bounded away, soon placing itself out of shot.

"Ought to have been with us this morning," said d.y.k.e, as he called back the dog.

"Couldn't have done better if we had had him," said Emson, quietly rolling up his sleeves, an example followed by the boy.

"Think that one will come back again?" was the next remark.

"Not while we are here," was Emson's reply; and then, as the evening was drawing on, he set to work helping Jack, who was cleverly running the point and edge of his a.s.segai through the skin from the lion's chin to tail, and then inside each leg right down to the toes.

A busy time ensued, resulting in the heavy skin being removed uninjured, and rolled up and packed across Emson's horse.

"You'll have to leave the teeth till another day," said Emson, as the stars began to peep out faintly, and they trotted homeward; but before they had left the carca.s.s a couple of hundred yards, a snapping, snarling, and howling made Duke stop short and look inquiringly up at his masters, as much as to say:

"Are you going to let them do that?" But at a word he followed on obediently, and the noise increased.

"Won't be much lion left by to-morrow morning, Joe," said d.y.k.e.

"No, boy. Africa is well scavengered, what with the jackals, birds, and flies. But we'd better get that skin well under cover somewhere when we are back."

"Why? Think the jackals will follow, and try and drag it away?"

"No; I was feeling sure that the other lion would."

Emson was right, for d.y.k.e was awakened that night by the alarm of the horses and oxen, who gave pretty good evidence of the huge cat's being near, but a couple of shots from Emson's gun rang out, and the animals settled down quietly once again, there being no further disturbance that night on the lonely farm.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

THE DESERT HERDS.

"I tell you what, little un," said Emson some mornings later, "I'm going to start a crest and motto, and I'll take a doubled fist for the crest, and _Nil desperandum_ for motto."

"And what good will that do you?" said d.y.k.e, hammering away as he knelt on the sand with the lion's skull held between his knees.

"What good! Why, I shall always have my motto before me--'Never despair,' and the doubled fist to--"

"To show that you are always ready to punch Kaffir Jack's head," cried d.y.k.e quickly; and bang went the hammer on the end of the cold chisel the boy held.

"No," said Emson, laughing--"to denote determination."

"'Inasmuch as to which?' as the Yankee said in his book.--Pincers, please. Here, what have you done with those pincers, Joe?"

"Haven't touched them. They're underneath you, stupid."

"Oh, ah! so they are," said d.y.k.e; and picking them up, he took careful hold of one of the lion's tusks, after loosening it with the hammer and chisel, and dragged it out without having injured the enamel in the least.

The two sharply-pointed fangs had been extracted from the lower jaw, and d.y.k.e was busily operating on the skull, which was, like the bones scattered here and there, picked quite clean, the work of the jackals and vultures having been finished off by the ants; and as d.y.k.e held up the third tusk in triumph, his brother took the piece of curved ivory and turned it over in his hand, while Duke and the horses seemed to be interested spectators.

"Magnificent specimen of a canine tooth," said Emson thoughtfully.

d.y.k.e laughed.

"I know better than that. It can't be."

"Can't? But it is," replied Emson. "What do you mean?"

"Canine means dog, doesn't it? Dog's teeth can't grow in a big cat.

It's a feline tooth."

"They can grow in human jaws--in yours, for instance. You have four canine teeth, as the naturalists call them; so why can't they grow in a lion's?"

"Because it's unnatural," said d.y.k.e, beginning to chip away some of the jawbone from around the last tusk. "Canine teeth can grow in my jaws, because you said one day that I was a puppy."