Off to the Wilds Part 23

"Lie down, sir," said d.i.c.k, and the dog obeyed. "Now, dogs! Pomp, Caesar, Cras, old boy."

There was a volley of barks here, and the dogs evidently thought that their time had come; but a few stern words and a sharp tap or two from the stick made them perfectly obedient, and they contented themselves with sniffing at the little animal, which, on its part, finding that it was not molested by the dogs, left off its angry demonstrations, gave each one a gentle dab on the nose, and then rolled upon its back and began to play.

The dogs looked more puzzled than before, Cra.s.sus uttering a loud whine and giving his strong jaws a snap; but just then Rough'un accepted the invitation to play, and began to pat and push the little animal, which responded at once by rushing off and dashing back, rolling over, biting playfully, and in less than a minute he and the young leopard were leaping one over the other and gambolling as eagerly as if they were the oldest of friends.

Pompey also played a little, and Caesar and Cra.s.sus looked tolerantly on, but they did not join in themselves, beyond smelling the leopard a few times over. Still there was no fear of their molesting the little captive, which was tied up to a wheel of the waggon, and from that time became one of the occupants of the camp.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

FIRST SIGHT OF OSTRICH.

As soon as poor Coffee showed the slightest sign of amendment, he was carefully lifted on to a comfortable bed made for him at the back of the waggon, where he lay patiently smiling at those who came to look at him; the oxen were in-spanned, and once more the waggon creaked and groaned over the rough land towards a fresh halting-place.

Game was plentiful enough, and Dinny always had an ample supply for his iron pot, but more than once the difficulties with regard to water were very serious, and very long treks had to be made before a spring or river could be reached.

But they pushed steadily on, the excitement of their hunting and shooting excursions making them forget the troubles of their journey.

Whenever Mr Rogers talked of halting and making some snugly-sheltered position their headquarters, the General smiled and pointed north, promising more wonders if they kept on, and finer game.

Coffee did not seem to suffer much, his greatest trouble being his weakness, and the difficulty his surgeon had to deal with that of keeping him in his bed; but he was very patient, and grateful for what was done, while the General seemed to wait on Mr Rogers' every look and word as if he would never be weary of attending to him.

They were getting close to the neighbourhood of the river Limpopo, when one evening, towards sundown, Mr Rogers became separated from his sons as they were journeying back towards the waggon, in his anxiety to shoot one of the curious fox-like animals that he had several times seen but had never had a chance to hit. They were beautifully marked, with long ears almost like those of a hare, and carried brushes that would have made an English fox envious; but even out there in the African wild they seem to partake of the cunning of their European relatives, and the more Mr Rogers tried, the less likely he seemed to succeed.

Upon this occasion he had seen one or two, and in his anxiety to obtain a shot he had dashed off into the bush, where the little animals seemed to delight in luring him on, showing for a moment and then disappearing.

It was a glorious evening, and the sky was one glow of warmly-tinted cloud, while his proximity to the waggon, which he knew was not far-off, kept him from feeling uneasy about the others getting back.

"There it is again," he exclaimed, as he saw the little fox-like animal dart amongst the bushes; and going cautiously in pursuit, he went on till the gathering mists of the coming night warned him to return.

He had hardly turned to make for the waggon when he saw something that completely enchained his attention, for looming up through the mist, and appearing of almost gigantic size, he saw what appeared to be three large ostriches; but while he gazed they seemed to fade away into the evening darkness, and were gone.

He had not gone far on his way back before he heard voices, and luckily came upon the boys and the General, Chicory having been left behind to attend to his brother.

"I think I have seen ostriches this evening," said Mr Rogers. "Are there many here, general?"

The Zulu said No, but that there might be a few. If there were any he thought they might get a shot at them for the sake of their glorious plumes; and promising to be on the look out for their footprints, they went on chatting about them till the waggon was reached, to find that a couple more waggons, the property of an ivory-trader travelling south, had been out-spanned close by, so that there would be company for the night.

The ivory-trader proved to be an intelligent man, and he said that there were plenty of elephants in the neighbourhood, but warned them to beware of the rhinoceros and crocodile, while he declared that one or two of the tribes farther north were worse than either.

Lions were heard in the distance, but the fires kept up proved sufficient to warn them off, and a very good night was spent; but just as breakfast was being got ready Peter gave the alarm, Chicory echoed it; there was a rush for rifles and guns, and a general state of excitement, for five ostriches had suddenly made their appearance, right up close to the camp, their tall necks with their flat stupid-looking heads undulating like snakes above the long gra.s.s.

For a few moments they had appeared to be perfectly astounded at the sight of the various strange objects, the waggons and their accompaniments. Then the shouts alarmed them, and as the guns were handed out of the waggons and the huntsmen prepared to fire, the ostriches were getting up speed, running faster and faster, till, as d.i.c.k said, their legs seemed to twinkle; and the shots that were sent after them, though they might have whistled past, had not the good fortune to bring them down.

"Well," exclaimed Dinny who was standing by the fire. "Of all the things I ever did see run, them there do beat, and no mistake."

Certainly the speed with which their long, powerful legs sent the large birds over the ground was wonderful, and in a very short time, long before horses could have been saddled, they were out of sight.

"Why, thim birds can run almost as fast as my big brother," said Dinny musingly, as the last ostrich disappeared.

"Could he run fast, Dinny?" asked d.i.c.k, smiling at his brother, as much as to say, "Now you listen to him, and hear what he says."

"An' is it run fast, he asks?" cried Dinny. "Why, he was the fastest runner in Oireland, and they used to make races for him to run, and match him against toime, and he always won. Why, wheniver he run he came in widout his boots."

"Came in without his boots?" said Jack, laughing.

"To be sure he did, sor, always. They managed to kape up wid him ginerally about half the way, and thin they got so slow he always had to lave thim behind."

"It's a pity we haven't got your big brother here, Dinny," said d.i.c.k sarcastically. "He could have caught the ostriches for us."

"Caught 'em, Masther d.i.c.k. I should think he would, in no time."

"Would he have been as much afraid of the lions as you are, Dinny?"

"Hark at him, now," said Dinny, looking round at the dogs, which had had a race after the ostriches, and had now come back, with their tongues out and curled up at the tip as they sat there panting. "Hark at him now. Jist as if I was the laste taste of a bit afraid of all the lions in Africky. Why I says to meself, `Dinny,' I says, `ye'll have to tak'

care of yerself,' I says, `and not let the wild bastes ate ye till ye come back; for what would poor weeny, sickly Masther d.i.c.k do widout a good cook to make broth and stews to kape him alive? Take care of yerself, Dinny, for the poor sick gossoon's sake,' and so I do, Masther d.i.c.k; for it's not on account of meself, only for you."

"Why you said the other day, Dinny, that it was because of your mother,"

cried downright Jack.

"And small blame to a man for being fond of his mother, Masther Jack.

Sure I always was a good son."

Dinny was always ready with an excuse, and in spite of his idleness and downright cowardice, he was generally merry and good-humoured, and the first with a laugh.

The coming of the ostriches was, however, quite an excitement, and there was plenty of talk about how to get hold of some of them for their plumes; but nothing was done until the strangers had gone, when, after moving on to a more suitable place for a few days' camp, and cutting down and piling up the thorns for a good safe kraal, whose fence would keep marauding beasts from molesting the cattle, gla.s.ses were got out, and the beautiful park-like plain at whose edge they were now encamped, was scanned for game.

There was no difficulty found in supplying the big pot, and finding pieces for a good roast; for little herds of various kinds of antelope were often in sight, and with a fair amount of stalking one could generally be brought down. But the great aim now was to obtain a few ostriches, and try how they would, these wary birds refused to let them get within shot.

"If we shoot one," said the General quietly, "I get plenty."

But the job was to shoot the first one. The General tried creeping continually from bush to bush, out and over the plain; but either the ostriches saw the glint of the sun upon the gun-barrel, or caught a glimpse of his dark skin, for they were off swift as the wind, with their legs twinkling like the spokes of a carriage wheel as they ran.

Then Mr Rogers tried again and again with the boys; but they had worse luck than the Zulu, for they never got near enough for anything but very doubtful long shots at many hundred yards, with the sole result of making the birds more shy.

If they could have known where the ostriches were likely to appear, and could have gone and lain wait, the task would have been easy; but the birds came into sight in the most out-of-the-way places, and at the most unexpected times, and not a plume came to be stuck up as a valuable trophy in the waggon.

The General, clever hunter as he was, felt hurt at his ill-success, and pointed out the reason; and that was that the few birds about them had taken refuge here from the pursuit of hunters, having been chased most persistently in all the country round.

"You must get an ostrich, Chicory," he said to his son in his own language, as the boy was squatted down by his brother, who was recovering with rapid strides.

"Chicory shoot one," said the boy.

And without a word he went to Dinny, and obtained some strips of dried bok for provender, and then started off upon his quest.