Forging the Blades Part 5

Undhlawafa whispered caution. Then he ordered his followers to remain where they were--if anything to retire a little way back. He did not want to set up any more scent than was necessary. Then, cautiously, they advanced to the edge and peered forth.

In front lay an open s.p.a.ce. It was swampy ground, caused by the trickle of a small stream which here expanded into reed-fringed pools. These were barely a hundred yards from where the stalkers lay concealed. At present there was no sign of life in the clearing, unless it were the occasional croak of a frog. Then something moved, and a small shape came stealing across the open to the water. It lapped a little, but was evidently uneasy, for it kept lifting its head and listening. Then, having hurriedly completed its drink, the jackal made for dark cover as last as its legs could carry it.

"Wonder if it could have winded us," whispered Ben Halse. "Yet we are on the right side for wind, too."

"I'm to have first shot, remember," returned Verna. Her father nodded.

A large owl floated across the open, hooting loudly and dismally. There was a hot stuffiness in the still, yellow, moonlit air, which was depressing. Then two hyenas came out to drink at the pool. They, at any rate, were under no misgivings, for, having drunk, they sat on their haunches and bayed the moon long and hideously. This performance concluded they began chasing each other, to the accompaniment of much snarling, till they, too, disappeared within the depths of the farther forest.

Now came a period of tense waiting, during which nothing stirred.

Conversation, even in the faintest of whispers, was of course out of the question. Then a sound, unmistakable to these, bred among the sounds of the wilderness, was borne to their ears, the tramp of approaching hoofs.

"More than one," whispered Ben Halse.

He was right. Advancing from the upper end of the open s.p.a.ce were three large animals. Nearer--and lo! standing forth in the moonlight the splendid koodoo bull paced slowly down to the water. He was leading the way--half as large again as the two cows. A thrill of irrepressible eagerness ran through the watchers, the younger of them especially.

At the edge of the water the n.o.ble animal paused a moment before lowering his head to drink. His immense spiral horns reached far over his broad back, and the white stripes upon his dark hide were visible in the clear moonlight. Then Verna's rifle spoke.

The effect, crashing through the stillness of the night, was almost appalling. The echoes roared through the silent forest from point to point, and the rush and thunder of flying hoofs seemed to shake the ground as the two cows sped for cover at lightning speed. But the bull--the splendid "record" bull--he made one mighty, powerful plunge into the air, then dropped over onto his side, and after one harsh half-bellow, half-groan, lay still.

"Well done, little girl, well done!" cried Ben Halse enthusiastically.

"I never saw a cleaner shot. He's got it bang through the heart, by the way he fell."

"That's where I aimed, dear," she answered, flushed with the feeling of the thorough sportsman, that life could hardly contain better moments than this.

"_Inkosikazi_!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed old Undhlawafa admiringly. "_Mame_! A wonder!"

They went over to the fallen animal, which lay motionless and stone dead. It was even as her father had said; Verna's bullet had drilled clean through the heart of the mighty beast--a neat and sportsmanlike shot as ever was delivered.

"_That_ pair of horns'll stand us in for close on a hundred pounds,"

p.r.o.nounced Ben Halse. "Why, they must be the world's record! I never saw any to come up to them in all my experience."

"So the world's record has been accounted for by only a girl," said Verna merrily. "But you were a darling to let me have first shot."

"Oh, as to that I was afraid you'd miss--women are so nervy and excitable."

"Especially this woman!"

"Well, it doesn't much matter who fired the shot, the point is we've got the horns, and they'll be worth quite what I said, if not more."

"Father, I'm ashamed of you. That's a nice sportsmanlike way of talking, isn't it?"

The other Zulus had now crowded up, and were firing off many e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns of amazement and admiration. It is possible that some of them remembered the occasion on which the bullet hole had been drilled in the wall of Ben Halse's store. The butchery part of it devolved upon them. But this was a form of amus.e.m.e.nt they thoroughly enjoyed, and, moreover, they would have a big meat feast. The larger kind of buck, with the exception, perhaps, of the eland, is apt to be coa.r.s.e and tasteless, and except for the more delicate part of this one, such as the saddle, Ben Halse wanted none. He, however, waited to see that the head, with its invaluable pair of horns, was properly taken care of. So they went to work merrily, and in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time the carcase was duly quartered, and a big fire was lighted and a big roast started, by way of a preliminary, for there was no chance of interruption. There was nothing on earth to draw a patrol of that fine corps the Natal Police into the depths of the Lumisana forest at that unG.o.dly hour of the night, short of very strong and very definite "information received." Ben Halse and Verna, after their hours of tramping and the tension of waiting, took their share of the roast with keen and healthy appet.i.tes.

"Oh, I love this!" said the latter, cutting into a strip of the hissing grill with a pocket-knife and a sharpened stick for a fork. "Why, it's worth all the sitting-down meals in the world!"

"Isn't it?" rejoined her father. "Here, Undhlawafa. Here is something to send it down with." And he produced a large flask of "square face"

gin, and poured a goodly measure into the cup. The old Zulu's face lit up.

"_Nkose_! It is good, _impela_!" and he drained it at two gulps.

"The worst of it is," went on Verna, "the record pair of koodoo horns can't be ticketed with my name. Because this is a poach, you know."

"Oh, but it can--and shall. Denham has undertaken to indemnify me in any risks I run in procuring him specimens. This'll stand us in for a hundred pounds at least. Why, the horns are a record! And I shall stick out that he placards on them a notice, that they were shot by you--shot fair and clean, by G.o.d! as I've never seen anything better shot."

"All right, dear," answered the girl. "Then some fine day the record leaks out that we have been shooting koodoo on a Government game preserve without a permit. What then?"

"What then? Why, I'm fined--say a hundred pounds. Denham makes that good, and--makes good the other hundred for the horns. But the chances are a thousand to one against the news ever reaching the proper quarter over here, for all purposes of prosecution, I mean. You see, it doesn't specify _where_ the thing was shot."

"No; there's something in that," said Verna. "But I'd like to figure, if only in a rich man's private museum, as having shot the record koodoo in the world." And she laughed merrily.

The Zulus were busy cutting up the great antelope, which task they accomplished in a surprisingly short s.p.a.ce of time, chattering and laughing among themselves as they devoured various portions of the tid-bits raw. In process of the talk Undhlawafa contrived to say something to Ben Halse--something "dark." That worthy nodded.

"Stay here, Verna. I shall be back directly," he said.

She looked at him for a moment full in the moonlight. Some instinct was upon her. Once before, the same instinct had moved her to intervene in a certain transaction of his, to intervene right at the critical moment, with the result of saving him from a disastrous fate as the outcome of what that transaction would have involved. The thing had hung in the balance; but her instinct had rung true, her intervention had availed.

He had been saved. Now that same instinct was upon her again. She could not for the life of her have defined its meaning, still--there it was.

"I'll be back directly," he went on. Then he and Undhlawafa disappeared within the black shades of the forest.

Verna, left there, set herself out to await her father's return with that tranquil philosophy which was the result of her wild life and no particular upbringing. She watched the butchery proceedings in the clear, full moonlight, but with no interest. They were rather disgusting, but she had seen enough of that sort of detail for it to have little or no effect on her. She gazed forth upon the swampy, miasmatic open s.p.a.ce and the sombre forest line bounding it, and gave a direction or two to the natives as to the head and horns of the trophy.

Then she began to wonder when her father was coming back.

The latter and Undhlawafa had reached a spot in the forest where the trees were thin at the top, letting through a broad network of moonlight. Bending down the induna drew forth from some place of concealment a bag made of raw hide. It was heavy, and its contents clinked.

"Count these, U' Ben," he said, untying the _reimpje_ that fastened it.

The trader's eyes kindled and his pulses quickened somewhat as he picked up a handful out of the ma.s.s of golden sovereigns, letting it fall back through his fingers in a stream which flashed in the moonlight. This he did again and again--and the rich metallic clink of the falling coins was music to his ears. All this could be his for the taking--his, now and here, and in return an easy and not particularly risky service.

Undhlawafa, the while, was reading his face.

"Is it not enough?" he said, in a tone that implied that more might conceivably be forthcoming in the event of a negative reply. "Yet-- count the pieces."

But Ben Halse did not do this. He continued to trickle the coins through his fingers, without replying. Why should he let go this opportunity of making a rich haul? If he did not take it somebody else would, and the result would be the same. Besides, no Zulu, or any other native for that matter, could hit a house with firearms unless he were locked up inside it, and then his bullet would probably miss it and go through the window. He was far more dangerous with his own native a.s.segai--in fact, the possession of firearms rendered him less efficient with even that. These were the salves he applied to his conscience as he looked upon the ma.s.s of sovereigns shining in the moonlight, and played lovingly with them, and longed to possess them.

But the other side of the argument would obtrude itself. The mere possession of arms breeds the desire to use them--and this holds good especially of savages. He thought of the women and children scattered about at different centres throughout the land, and realised, as he had often done before, how any carefully planned, concealed and concerted outbreak would simply spell ma.s.sacre for the lot in a single night. He thought of Verna--his Verna--and the land contained other people's "Vernas." No, he could not do it. He knew, of course, that he could send her out of the country at any time if things became too sultry--he would receive ample warning. But that consideration struck home. He could not do it.

"Where are you, father? Oh, there."

The sweet, clear, fluty voice came upon him like an omen, and then the girl stepped to his side where he sat. One quick glance at the bag of gold, another at her father's face, and instinct supplied the rest. She knew his particular weakness, but she said nothing then.

"We were talking over a certain deal, dear, Undhlawafa and I. The terms are good."

"Well, I've interrupted you. But to-morrow will do as well, won't it?"

she answered carelessly. "Let's go home."

The induna sat tranquilly taking snuff. He, for his part, felt pretty sure that his offer would be closed with--if not to-night, why, then, to-morrow. Verna, for her part, felt rather more sure that it would not. But Ben Halse got up to leave, and the bag containing two hundred golden sovereigns still remained in the possession of Undhlawafa.