Journeys Through Bookland Volume Iii Part 23

I wished Fritz to keep close to us, that we might all arrive together; but I yielded to his earnest wish to return alone as he came; he longed to act as our avant-courrier, and announce our approach to his mother; so he was soon skimming away over the surface of the water, while we followed at a slower rate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WALRUS]

Black clouds meanwhile gathered thick and fast around us, and a tremendous storm came on. Fritz was out of sight, and beyond our reach.

We buckled on the swimming belts, and firmly lashed ourselves to the boat, so that we might not be washed overboard by the towering seas which broke over it.

The horizon was shrouded in darkness, fearful gusts of wind lashed the ocean into foam, rain descended in torrents, while livid lightning glared athwart the gloom. Both my boys faced the danger n.o.bly; and my feelings of alarm were mingled with hope on finding how well the boat behaved.

The tempest swept on its way, and the sky began to clear as suddenly as it had been overcast; yet the stormy waves continued for a long time to threaten our frail bark with destruction, in spite of its buoyancy and steadiness.

Yet I never lost hope for ourselves--all my fears were for Fritz; in fact, I gave him up for lost, and my whole agonized heart arose in prayer for strength to say, "Thy will be done!"

At last we rounded the point, and once more entering Safety Bay, quickly drew near the little harbor.

What was our surprise--our overwhelming delight--when there we saw the mother with Fritz as well as her little boy, on their knees in prayer so earnest for our deliverance, that our approach was unperceived, until with cries of joy we attracted their notice. Then indeed ensued a happy meeting, and we gave thanks together for the mercy which had spared our lives.

Returning joyfully to Rockburg, we changed our drenched garments for warm, dry clothes; and, seated at a comfortable meal, considered and described at our ease the perils of the storm.

Afterward, the head of the walrus was conveyed to our workshop, where it underwent such a skilful and thorough process of cleaning, embalming, and drying, that ere long it was actually fixed on the prow of the cajack, and a most imposing appearance it presented.

The strips of hide, when well tanned and prepared, made valuable leather.

Much damage had been done by the late storm. The heavy rain had flooded all the streams, and injured crops which should have been housed before the regular rainy season. The bridge over Jackal River was partly broken down, and the water tanks and pipes all needed repair. So our time was much occupied in restoring things to order.

The return of the fishing season again gave us busy days. Large takes of salmon, sturgeon and herring rewarded our exertions, and our storeroom again a.s.sumed a well-stocked appearance.

X

THE BOYS ON THE SECOND EXCURSION

Many quiet, uneventful days pa.s.sed by, and I perceived that the boys, wearied by the routine of farm work at Rockburg, were longing for a cruise in the yacht or an expedition into the woods, which would refresh both mind and body.

"Father," said Fritz at length, "we want a quant.i.ty of hurdles, and have scarcely any more bamboos of which to make them. Had we not better get a supply from Woodlands? And you said, too, the other day, that you wished you had some more of the fine clay; we might visit the Gap at the same time."

I had really no objection to propose; and it was shortly afterward settled that Fritz, Jack and Franz should start together; and that Ernest, who had no great desire to accompany his brothers, should remain with his mother and me, and a.s.sist in the construction of a sugar mill, the erection of which I had long contemplated.

They were ready to start, when I observed Jack quietly slip a basket containing several pigeons, under the packages in the cart.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LATEST NEWS BY PIGEON POST]

The weather was exquisite; and, with exhortations to prudence and caution from both me and their mother, the three lads started in the very highest spirits. Storm and Grumble, as usual, drew the cart, and were ridden by Fritz and Franz; while Hurry carried Jack swiftly across the bridge in advance of them, followed by Floss and Bruno, barking at his heels.

The sugar mill occupied us for several days, and was made so much like our other mills that I need not now describe it.

On the evening of the first day, as we sat resting in the porch at Rockburg, we naturally talked of the absentees, wondering and guessing what they might be about.

Ernest looked rather mysterious, and hinted that he might have news of them next morning.

Just then a bird alighted on the dovecot, and entered. I could not see, in the failing light, whether it was one of our own pigeons or an intruder. Ernest started up, and said he would see that all was right.

In a few minutes he returned with a sc.r.a.p of paper in his hand.

"News, father! The very latest news by pigeon post, mother!"

"Well done, boys! what a capital idea!" said I, and taking the note I read:

"DEAREST PARENTS AND ERNEST:

"A brute of a hyena has killed a ram and two lambs. The dogs seized it. Franz shot it. It is dead and skinned. We are all right. Love to all. "FRITZ.

"WOODLANDS, 15th instant."

"A true hunter's letter!" laughed I; "but what exciting news. When does the next post come in, Ernest?"

"To-night, I hope," said he, while his mother sighed, and doubted the value of such glimpses into the scenes of danger through which her sons were pa.s.sing, declaring she would much rather wait and hear all about it when she had them safe home again.

Thus the winged letter-carriers kept us informed from day to day of the outline of adventures which were afterward more fully described.

On approaching the farm at Woodlands, the boys were startled by hearing, as they thought, human laughter, repeated again and again; while, to their astonishment, the oxen testified the greatest uneasiness, the dogs growled and drew close to their masters, and the ostrich fairly bolted with Jack into the rice swamp. The laughter continued, and the beasts became unmanageable.

"Something is very far wrong!" cried Fritz. "I cannot leave the animals; but while I unharness them, do you, Franz, take the dogs, and advance cautiously to see what is the matter."

Without a moment's hesitation, Franz made his way among the bushes with his gun, closely followed by the dogs; until, through an opening in the thicket, he could see, at a distance of about forty paces, an enormous hyena, in the most wonderful state of excitement; dancing round a lamb just killed, and uttering, from time to time, the ghastly hysterical laughter which had pealed through the forest.

The beast kept running backward and forward, rising on its hind legs, and then rapidly whirling round and round, nodding its head, and going through most frantic and ludicrous antics.

Franz kept his presence of mind very well; for he watched till, calming down, the hyena began with horrid growls to tear its prey; and then, firing steadily both barrels, he broke its fore leg, and wounded it in the breast.

Meanwhile Fritz, having unyoked the oxen and secured them to trees, hurried to his brother's a.s.sistance. The dogs and the dying hyena were by this time engaged in mortal strife; but the latter, although it severely wounded both Floss and Bruno, speedily succ.u.mbed, and was dead when Fritz reached the spot. They raised a shout of triumph, which guided Jack to the scene of action; and their first care was for the dogs, whose wounds they dressed before minutely examining the hyena. It was as large as a wild boar; long, stiff bristles formed a mane on its neck, its color was gray marked with black, the teeth and jaws were of extraordinary strength, the thighs muscular and sinewy, the claws remarkably strong and sharp altogether. But for his wounds he would certainly have been more than a match for the dogs.

After unloading the cart at the farm, the boys returned for the carca.s.s of the tiger-wolf, as it is sometimes called, and occupied themselves in skinning it during the remainder of the day, when, after dispatching the carrier-pigeon to Rockburg, they retired to rest on their bearskin rugs, to dream of adventures past and future.

The following day they devised no less a scheme than to survey the sh.o.r.es of Wood Lake, and place marks wherever the surrounding marsh was practicable, and might be crossed either to reach the water or leave it.

Fritz in the cajack, and the boys on sh.o.r.e, carefully examined the ground together; and when they found firm footing to the water's edge, the spot was indicated by planting a tall bamboo, bearing on high a bundle of reeds and branches.

They succeeded in capturing three young black swans, after considerable resistance from the old ones. They were afterward brought to Rockburg, and retained as ornaments to Safety Bay. The young hunters seemed to have lived very comfortably on peccary ham, ca.s.sava bread and fruit, and plenty of baked potatoes and milk.

After collecting a supply of rice and cotton, they took their way to Prospect Hill; "and," said Fritz, as he afterward vividly described the dreadful scene there enacted, "when we entered the pine wood, we found it in possession of troops of monkeys, who resolved to make our pa.s.sage through it as disagreeable as possible, for they howled and chattered at us like demons, pelting us as hard as they could with pine cones.

"They became so unbearable, that at last we fired a few shots right and left among them; several bit the dust, the rest fled, and we continued our way in peace to Prospect Hill, but only to discover the havoc the wretches had made there.

"Would you believe it, father? The pleasant cottage had been overrun and ruined by apes just as Woodland was last summer! The most dreadful dirt and disorder met our eyes wherever we turned, and we had hard work to make the place fit for human habitation; and even then we preferred the tent. I felt quite at a loss how to guard the farm for the future; but seeing a bottle of the poisonous gum of the euphorbia in the tool chest, I devised a plan for the destruction of the apes which succeeded beyond my expectations.

"I mixed poison with milk, bruised millet, and anything I thought the monkeys would eat, and put it in cocoanut sh.e.l.ls, which I hung about in the trees, high enough to be out of reach of our own animals. The evening was calm and lovely; the sea murmured in the distance, and the rising moon shed a beauty over the landscape which we seemed never before to have so admired and enjoyed. The summer night closed around us in all its solemn stillness, and our deepest feelings were touched; when suddenly the spell was broken by an outburst of the most hideous and discordant noises. As by one consent, every beast of the forest seemed to arise from its den, and utter its wild nocturnal cry.

Snorting, snarling, and shrieking filled the wood beneath us.