Off to the Wilds Part 18

"No; I felt as if I didn't hit it far enough forward," cried Jack. "But we'll soon see."

"Ah, yah, yah! Inyami, Inyami!" shouted Coffee and Chicory; and they began to kick and bang the dead lion with their kiris, till their father stopped them, and bade one of them go and fetch Peter or Dinny to come and help to skin.

As it proved, there was a bullet right in the centre of the second lion's forehead, and another in the shoulder, which ball Jack claimed, so that d.i.c.k had, as he really deserved, the honour of shooting the monster, and he gazed with no little pride at its tremendous proportions.

But big as it was, it was a lioness, and slighter in build than the tawny monster killed upon the previous evening, to which they now turned, looking in awe at its huge claw-armed paws, and legs one ma.s.s of muscle. There was something almost stupendous in the power that seemed to be condensed in its short thick neck, and broad deep shoulders, for, being one of the maneless kind every muscle of the neck, throat, and shoulders could be plainly seen.

"Why, Jack, we should be like rats in the jaws of a cat if he took hold of us," said d.i.c.k.

"More need to practise our shooting. d.i.c.ky, I shall always aim at their eyes."

"I want to get back and tell father," said d.i.c.k. "Oh, look! here he comes."

In effect, Mr Rogers, who had heard the firing, was coming on at a fast run, in dread lest anything should be wrong; but a smile of satisfaction appeared upon his face as he came up, and heard d.i.c.k's joyful cry, "Father, I've shot a lion."

The skinning of the dangerous monsters was a tough job; but in the Zulu's skilful hands it seemed comparatively easy, for he knew exactly where to divide the muscles to make the limbs give way, and how to thrust the point of his knife through various membranes; so that by breakfast-time, with the help of Peter, both trophies were removed, and borne to the camp in triumph.

The place being so lovely, and game being evidently abundant, Mr Rogers decided to stay where they were for a day or two, especially as the work of making a kraal of thorns every night became an arduous task and there was nothing to be gained by hurrying through the wonderful country without stopping to examine its beauties.

Then, too, the abundance of rich fine gra.s.s growing near the rivulets that came down from the mountains was invaluable for the oxen, which had begun to look a trifle thinner; and as the good patient beasts worked so willingly and well, it was a pleasure to see them knee-deep in gra.s.s, placidly munching away at the rich herbage, and in company with the horses.

So holiday for the animals was proclaimed; Dinny, Peter, and Dirk were ordered to keep a watchful eye upon the grazing cattle, and Mr Rogers proposed a short walking, shooting, and natural-history-collecting expedition.

Of course it was all nonsense, but d.i.c.k vowed that Rough'un went and told what was to be; for the dog, who had been looking at his masters with bright, intelligent eyes, suddenly jumped upon all fours and barked twice, after which he trotted off to where Pompey, Caesar, and Cra.s.sus were tied to the wheels of the waggon, put his nose to each, and barked; and in the place of a patient attack upon tormenting flies and fleas, the dogs leaped up, strained at their thongs, and barked and bayed furiously.

"Let them loose, boys," said Mr Rogers, to Coffee and Chicory, who ran to perform his orders, but found it hard work; for the dogs leaped at them, twisted the thongs between and round their legs, and upset them twice; while as soon as they were at liberty they seemed to have mutually agreed that this was one of the dog-days, and that it was their duty to go right off mad.

Their antics were wonderful. First they rushed off as hard as they could tear, as if going straight back home to Mr Rogers' farm; the next minute they were back, as if they had forgotten to kill Rough'un first, for they charged down upon him, rolling him over and over, biting, worrying, and tumbling upon him in the exuberance of their delight; while Rough'un retaliated by biting again, and getting such a good grip with his teeth on Pompey's tail that this st.u.r.dy fellow dragged him for yards before Rough'un let go.

Altogether, for a few minutes there seemed to be what d.i.c.k called a dog-storm, after which they all crouched down, with open mouths, starting eyes, and quivering tongue, staring at the preparations going on, and ready to be off.

"Good old dogs! Old Pomp! old Caesar! What old Cras! Hi, Rough'un!"

cried Jack, caressing all the dogs in turn, and patting their heads, with the effect of making them seize and pretend to worry him, seizing his legs, jumping up, and showing their delight in a dozen ways.

Then the ammunition had to be obtained, satchels stored with provisions, Coffee and Chicory carrying a supply for their own and their father's use; and when the grim-looking old warrior held up a warning finger at them and said they were not to eat the provisions, they brought a smile to his lips by running off together and pretending to devour the contents of the bag.

At last all was ready, and after a few words of warning to Dinny and the others to be watchful, the little party started, Mr Rogers referring to a small compa.s.s he carried in his pocket, and taking the bearings of the two mountains, so as to be sure of their return.

For though the General was with them there was always the possibility of being separated; and missing the way back in the great African wilds may mean missing one's life.

There was plenty to see. Flowers grew in abundance in the rich moist places; fleshy plants abounded in the sterile rocky parts; and in every shady niche the ferns were glorious. The trees alone were enough to satisfy any one with a love of beauty. Great candelabra-shaped euphorbias, with wondrous thorns and lovely scarlet blossoms; huge forest-trees that seemed to have lost their own individuality in the wreathing cl.u.s.ters of creeping flowering plants they bore. Everything was beautiful; and as they walked on in the glowing sunshine, they seemed to have come to one of the most glorious spots of earth.

They had not proceeded far beside one of the little rivers that came bubbling down from the mountain they were approaching before Rough'un began to bark.

_Click_, _click_, went d.i.c.k's rifle.

"Look, father, look! a crocodile!" cried Jack. "I wanted to see a crocodile."

There was a rush, a splash, and a scurry, and Rough'un came out of the water, looking about him and staring up at his masters, as if asking what they had done with the reptile he had chased.

"It was not a crocodile, Jack, but a large water-lizard," said Mr Rogers.

"Plenty of crocodiles soon," said the General, "big as three of me."

He marked off a s.p.a.ce of about twenty feet upon the ground, to show the length the reptiles of which he spoke, and then roughly marked out their shape.

"Not here," he said; "over there." And he pointed to the north.

"Here's another," cried d.i.c.k.

And this time it was Pompey and Caesar who had hunted out a reptile, which hissed, and snapped, and fought vigorously for a few moments when driven to bay, but its defiance was short lived.

While the engagement went on, the reptile looked dragon-like in aspect, with its ruffled and inflated throat, serrated back, and writhing tail; but in a very short time the dogs had obtained the mastery, and the creature was examined, proving to be a kind of iguana, nearly six feet in length, a great deal of which, however, was the attenuated tail.

The cracks and rifts in the hot bare stones as they climbed higher seemed to swarm with lizards of all kinds, ready to dart into their holes upon the approach of the dogs, while several times over the two Zulu boys came running back, beckoning to d.i.c.k and Jack to go and see some snake basking, twisted in a knot in some sunny spot.

Upon one of these occasions Jack was so struck by the peculiar swollen, short appearance of the little serpent that he ran back and hailed his father, who came up just as Coffee and Chicory were a.s.suring d.i.c.k that if he did what he had proposed to do, namely, taken up the short, thick serpent, he would never have gone hunting any more.

In fact as soon as Jack had gone the serpent moved slightly, and wishing his father to see it, and eager to stop its escape, d.i.c.k had attempted to pick it up, when Coffee and Chicory threw themselves upon him, and a short struggle ensued, which made d.i.c.k very angry, and he was very nearly coming to blows.

"The boys are quite right," said Mr Rogers sharply. "d.i.c.k, you ought to have known better. Don't you know what that thick, short serpent is?"

"No, father," said d.i.c.k, in an injured tone.

"Then you ought to know, my boy, for I have described it to you when talking about the reptiles of this part of the world. What do you say it is, Jack?"

"I don't know, father; I'm not sure," replied Jack, glancing at d.i.c.k, and feeling that it would hurt him to profess to greater knowledge than his brother.

"Nonsense! I'm sure you do know," said Mr Rogers impatiently.

"Is it the puff-adder, father?" said d.i.c.k hesitatingly.

"Of course it is, and you ought to have known the deadly pest. No, no, don't waste a charge upon it, and it may alarm any game. Let one of the boys kill it."

That was soon done, for Chicory made a sign to his brother, who touched the puff-adder's tail and began to irritate it, making it turn and strike viciously at the blade of his a.s.segai.

That was what Chicory wanted.

The next moment his blade whished through the air, and the puff-adder's head lay upon the ground.

"You cannot be too careful, boys," said Mr Rogers, picking up the flat spade-shaped head, and opening the jaws with the point of his knife.

"Look, boys," he continued, as he made the jaws gape, and then raised up a couple of keen transparent fangs that lay back upon the roof of the creature's mouth. "Do you see? There are the hollow fangs through which a drop of deadly poison is injected in the blood and causes death.

Don't let's destroy life unnecessarily; but if we want food, or come across any poisonous or dangerous beast, I think it is sentimentality to refrain from ridding the world of such a pest."

d.i.c.k felt very ignorant, and wished he had known better; but he could not help being pleased at his brother's manner; and the incident was forgotten the next moment in one of those natural history adventures of which they had all read, but had little expected to share in their lives.

As they had climbed higher they had found the mountain more rugged, and broken up into deep crevices and defiles, all of which were full of interesting objects--flowers, plants, and foliage--such as they had never before seen; while in the sheltered and often intense heat, beetles and b.u.t.terflies seemed to have found these rifts a perfect paradise.