Off to the Wilds Part 19

d.i.c.k had gone on first, and turning a corner he had found quite a rugged shelf running alone the steep side of a ravine, the bottom of which was carpeted with flowers that grew amongst the stones.

It was a very interesting spot, but as it seemed to lead right away into the heart of the mountain he was about to turn back and rejoin his party, when he caught sight of a gracefully-shaped large-eared gazelle about fifty yards away, gazing apparently in another direction.

He could have shot it easily, but it seemed so quiet and tame that he did not raise his piece, though if it had attempted to run, the thought of the delicious roast it would make would undoubtedly have made him bring it down.

Besides he wanted all the practice he could get with his rifle, and a shot at a running antelope or gazelle was not to be missed.

Half wondering why it did not feed, he remained watching it, supposing that it had heard some of the party lower down; when all at once the sun's rays seemed to glance off something glistening and bright, and straining forward to get a better view, d.i.c.k became aware of the fact that a large serpent was twining fold after fold one over another, and as, half petrified, he watched the reptile, he suddenly saw a monstrous neck and head reared up in front of the gazelle.

The creature seemed to be all glistening umber brown and dusky yellow, and its surface shone like burnished tortoisesh.e.l.l in the glowing sun, while to the boy's eyes it seemed, from the height to which the swaying head was raised, that the body, half hidden from him by the herbage, must be monstrous.

And all the time, fascinated as it were, or more probably paralysed by fear, the gazelle stood perfectly still, watching the undulations of the serpent's neck, and calmly awaiting its end.

d.i.c.k was so interested that he forgot that he held a rifle and shot-gun in his hand. He knew that the serpent was, as it were, playing with its prey before seizing it, feeling probably, if it thought at all, quite certain of the trembling creature whenever it felt disposed to strike, and preparing itself for its banquet by writhing its body into a more convenient place.

It was a horrible sight, and d.i.c.k waited to see the serpent seize the gazelle, wrap round it and crush its quivering body out of shape, and then slowly swallow it, till it formed a knot somewhere in the long tapering form, and go to sleep till it was hungry again.

"Ugh, you beast!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed d.i.c.k; and the sound of his own voice seemed to break the fascination of interest by which he had been held.

The next instant he was pitying the gazelle, and as he saw the serpent draw back its head he laid the barrel of his piece against a block of stone, waited until the quivering head was still and the jaws began to distend, and then his trembling hand grew firm, and he drew the trigger.

The puff of smoke obscured everything for the moment, and he could not start forward or he would have gone over the precipice, so he had to wait till the vapour had pa.s.sed away, when, to his great disgust, he could see nothing.

The gazelle and serpent were both gone; so he began to load again, wishing he could take better aim, when he heard a shout, and Chicory came running up, followed by Coffee.

"Boss d.i.c.k shoot um? Boss d.i.c.k shoot noder lion?" cried Chicory.

"No," said d.i.c.k; "it was a miss this time."

"No," cried Coffee; "I see um. Look, boss, look!"

Mr Rogers and Jack came hurrying up just then, and looking in the direction pointed out, there was the serpent, writhing and twining in the most horrible manner down in a narrow rift, out of which it now glided in a blind purposeless way, writhing, whipping the herbage with its tail, and tying itself in what seemed to be impossible knots.

"Coffee and Chick go and kill um," said the latter, letting himself down the face of the precipice, followed by his brother; and, apparently quite without dread of the monster, they scrambled down over the rough stones till they came to the serpent, when, watching his opportunity, Coffee seized its tail and tried to drag it, but the creature seemed to whip him off, and Coffee uttered a yell as he was driven staggering back.

"Go down, d.i.c.k, and try and give the monster another shot," said Mr Rogers. "No, stop; I dare say the boys will finish it."

For just then, evidently enraged at the treatment his brother had received, Chicory drove his a.s.segai through the serpent, and then again and again, the creature's struggles being blind of purpose, for its head had been shattered by d.i.c.k's shot; while fiercely leaping up, Coffee raised his own a.s.segai, and holding it chopper fashion, he waited his time till the serpent's head was handy, when he hewed it off.

The writhings now grew faint; and the General coming up, and descending with Mr Rogers and his sons and the dogs, which kept making rushes at the waving form and not biting it, the serpent was dragged out full length and measured, Mr Rogers making seven fair paces by its side, and setting it down at about eighteen feet in length.

"A nice monster to meet, Master d.i.c.k," he said. "I congratulate you upon your success."

"Have it skinned, father," exclaimed Jack eagerly. "It would be such a capital thing to have, stuffed and coiled up, at home."

Mr Rogers glanced at the great faintly-writhing monster, with its tortoisesh.e.l.l markings, and shook his head.

"No, my boy," he said; "I must confess to too great a dislike to the serpent race to care to carry about their skins. Besides, if we are going on like this, killing a lion a day, we shall have only room for the skins of our big game. Let's leave the creature here."

They climbed up out of the ravine, and after a couple of hours' more walking, full of interest if not of incident, they went slowly back, glad to get in the shade of the trees beneath which the waggon was halted, and finding everything right.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

HOW THE LITTLE GINTLEMEN INTERFERED WID DINNY.

A few days were very pleasantly spent here collecting, for Mr Rogers was an enthusiastic naturalist. Birds of brilliant feathering were shot, skinned, preserved with a.r.s.enical paste, filled with cotton wool, and laid to dry with their heads and shoulders thrust into paper cones, after which they were transferred to a box which had to be zealously watched to keep out the ants. Certainly scores of these were killed through eating the poison smeared upon the skins, but that was little satisfaction if they had first destroyed some delicate bird.

b.u.t.terflies, too, and beetles were obtained in great numbers, being carefully killed, and pinned out in boxes lined with camph.o.r.ed cork.

These insects the two Zulu boys soon learned to capture with the greatest ease, and after a little teaching they would bring in a handsome b.u.t.terfly or moth, without crushing and disfiguring it first so that it was useless for preservation.

Bok or antelope of various kinds were plentiful enough to make the party sure of plenty of food; and both d.i.c.k and Jack were getting so skilful with the rifle that they could be depended upon to bring down a koodoo or springbok at four or five hundred paces.

The kraal had been strengthened, so that they felt no fear of a lion getting through; but fires were kept up every night, wood being plentiful, and the bright glow seemed to give confidence to the occupants of the camp, as well as to the horses and oxen. Watch was kept too, but though lions were sometimes heard at a distance they did not molest the travellers, and but for the stern suggestions of the General they would have grown careless in the extreme.

For experience and skill in the use of fire-arms made d.i.c.k and Jack more confident. They had looked upon a lion as a monster of such prowess, and of so dangerous a character, that they were quite surprised at the ease with which a good shot with a rifle could hold the king of beasts at his mercy.

As for Coffee and Chicory, the General several times punished them for being so daring and running such risks, especially as they were in a part of the country where lions really were plentiful, although, so far, little molestation of the travellers had taken place.

It had been decided that upon the next day they would trek onward for some distance, and perhaps on and on for days, according to the attractiveness of the country they were pa.s.sing through, and the plentifulness of the game.

The General heard Mr Rogers' decision with a smile of satisfaction.

"I want to take you where the great tusker elephants are," he said, "and let you shoot the giraffe and rhinoceros. We have hardly begun yet."

He made the boys' eyes glow with excitement as he told them of the size of the hippopotami and elephants they would encounter, the height of the giraffes, and the furious nature of the rhinoceros, which beast seemed to be always mad if it saw a human being.

As they were going to start next day it was decided to let the horses graze in peace with the oxen, which, after a fortnight's rest, looked sleek-coated and in far better condition; but Peter, Dirk, and Dinny were bidden to keep a strict watch over the cattle, for just before starting the General announced that he had seen a lion-spoor, apparently two days old.

The day was pa.s.sed very pleasantly, collecting, by Mr Rogers and his sons, several very beautiful birds falling to their guns, and their boxes being filled with splendidly burnished beetles; and at last tired out, they turned to get back to the little camp by midday, hoping to find a satisfactory meal ready, for the General had gone out with a rifle in search of a bok; and his two boys had taken their kiris and a.s.segais, to see if they could not knock down a few of the large partridge or quail-like birds.

What was their disappointment then to find that neither the General nor his sons had returned, while Dinny was in great distress.

"Sure," he said, "I thought I'd take a fishing-line and a shtick, and go to the big pool by the little river over yonder, and catch a few of the fish things; bad cess to 'em, they're no more like the fine salmon and throut of my own country than this baste of a place is its aiqual."

"Well, Dinny, and you went and didn't catch anything," said d.i.c.k.

"Sure, Masther d.i.c.k, an' you weren't there," said Dinny; "but ye're right there; I didn't catch a single fish, for the little gintlemen wouldn't let me."

"Little gentlemen, Dinny?" said Mr Rogers eagerly. "Did you see any natives?"

"An' is it natives ye'd call the dirthy undersized little craytures?"

cried Dinny indignantly. "Sure I'd take a couple of 'em up under my arms and run away wid 'em."

"But you say they interfered with you, and wouldn't let you fish," said Mr Rogers.

"Faix, sor, an' that's what they did. Ye know the big pool."