The Blind Lion of the Congo Part 9

CHAPTER VII

CRITCH'S RHINO

"Are we going to have a hunt?" asked Burt as they left the hill and plunged forward into the jungle again at the head of the caravan.

"Not to-day," laughed Mr. Wallace. "We won't get out of this till night, will we?"

"Hardly," replied Montenay. "Once we get out o' this thick jungle and up to those plains we'll have clear sailin'. I'm no meanin' that we'll find no jungle there, mind, for we will. But by night we'll be in more decent veldt-country I'm thinkin'."

They camped at sunset in a gra.s.sy s.p.a.ce clear of trees. As Captain Mac had predicted, the low and malarial jungle was left behind them and they were now getting into the higher lands. These were scattered with patches of dense forest and jungle, but there were also great plains or veldts covered with game and animal life.

"Now we'll make those gun-boys earn their pay," said Mr. Wallace the next morning.

"We'll shoot half a dozen antelope every day to give the bearers meat."

"We'll be shootin' more than that," grimly added Captain Mac as he held up his hand for silence. "Hear that?"

All listened. It seemed to Burt and Critch that in the distance sounded a faint mutter of far-away thunder, and they looked at the older men expectantly.

"Lion," laughed Mr. Wallace shortly. "If we only had ponies we'd land him to-day!"

The advisability of taking horses along had been discussed but the explorer had vetoed it finally. "It would only be an experiment," he had declared. "In other parts of the country it might work but not in the Congo. We have too many jungles to wade through and a horse would be stung to death in a day or two."

Three or four of the Bantu hunters were sent ahead, and toward noon, as they approached a little rise, one of these came running back. He said something to Captain Mac, who translated.

"Get your guns! They've located a herd of wildebeest an' hartebeest just ahead."

The boys excitedly took their second-weight guns from the bearers. The heavy guns were not needed for the antelope. They all moved forward, while the porters halted in charge of John, and after a half hour reached the crest of the rise, wading through the deep gra.s.s and bush.

Here the Bantus made a gesture of caution and carefully parted the gra.s.s ahead of them.

The boys gave a little gasp of surprise. Before them was a plain scattered with high ant hills and trees. Grazing without thought of danger were hundreds of antelope-like animals, some with long curving horns and others with straight spiral ones. As Burt watched them he found himself trembling with feverish excitement.

"Keep cool, lad!" whispered Captain Mac with a slight smile. "See that group to the right? Take the bull hartebeest. Ready, Wallace?"

Mr. Wallace and Critch had selected their animals and the former nodded.

Montenay gave the word and all fired together. Burt saw his bull give one tremendous leap and fall. Critch, who had fired at a small bull, had poorer luck, for his animal bounded off with the others of the herd and was gone in an instant. Both Montenay and Mr. Wallace had dropped hartebeest bucks, and the bearers were jubilant as all ran down the hill.

"Now, Critch," said Mr. Wallace, "it's up to you! You boys stay here with the blacks and we'll go back and bring on the porters and the salt.

Keep the heads of that hartebeest of Burt's and mine. We don't want to fill our empty chop-boxes too fast."

As the tin-lined chop-boxes were emptied they were to be used for packing heads and skins of game and were thus doubly useful. The Bantus took out their knives and while Burt transmitted in French the orders of his chum they set to work. Mr. Wallace and Montenay returned to meet and bring up the caravan, whose advance was necessarily slow.

The skilled blacks first removed the two heads and skinned them carefully. Then they laid aside the skulls for boiling and cut up the three bodies to serve as rations for the porters while the boys stood looking around them. Although the great herds had bounded off at the volley, they had only gone a mile or two away and in the thin clear air seemed half that distance. Burt stood with his eyes glued to his gla.s.ses for a few moments, then saw a jackal a hundred yards to the right, slinking through the gra.s.s. As jackals are invariably destroyed wherever seen he called Critch and took a gun from the pile dropped by the bearers. Luckily for him he grabbed up one of the heavy Winchesters in his haste.

"Come on, Critch! Get over to that ant hill an' we'll bag him."

Not far from the jackal was one of the tall hills made by the white ants. As these are hard as rock and often eight or ten feet high they make excellent shelter for hunters. Critch caught up a gun and ran after Burt hastily.

When they reached the ant hill they located the jackal in a patch of brush below them. Only his head was visible, but the two boys aimed and fired together and he dropped.

"Bet I got him in the eye!" cried Critch as they ran toward the spot.

"Got a dandy bead on him."

"h.e.l.lo! What's that?" Burt stopped suddenly and pointed to a patch of trees a hundred yards farther on. Above the stunted growth they saw a number of little birds flying erratically about.

"Look at that--golly!" whispered Critch. "What's that big black thing--"

"Elephant!" returned Burt fumbling at his gun.

"Elephant nothing! Look at the birds--ain't any birds on elephants--it's a rhino! Come on!"

An indistinct shape showed through the bush as they made their way forward but they could not make out what it was and hesitated to fire.

They knew that the rhinoceros is guarded by numbers of tick birds and concluded from the birds flying above the bushes that this was a rhino.

They got to within eighty yards before alarming the beast. Then came a crashing and swishing of the bush and out stalked a big rhino, sniffing the wind and advancing slowly toward them.

"Get behind that ant hill!" exclaimed Critch. Separating, they took up positions beside two of the conical mounds. "Got your big gun? Go to it!"

Lifting his rifle, Burt fired. He had aimed at the shoulder of the great beast but to his dismay the shot seemed to have absolutely no effect.

Instead of dropping, the rhino threw up its tail and ears, gave a little squeal and started for Burt.

Burt fired again at fifty yards. His bullet struck the rhino in the head and glanced off, serving only to increase the rage of the brute. He broke into a lumbering gallop and Burt yelled to Critch to fire.

The latter obeyed but in his haste missed entirely with his first bullet and with his second only tore the rhino's left ear slightly. Burt raised his own gun and aimed at the eye. Again his shots had no effect, for he missed the delicate mark afforded by the eye and both bullets glanced from the armor.

"Duck!" yelled Critch, dancing up and down. "He can't see! Duck!"

Burt ducked, for the rhino was within ten yards and thundering straight at him. Dropping his gun he sprang behind the ant hill and around it.

But the animal had seemingly antic.i.p.ated this or had turned its charge at Critch, for Burt almost leaped on the tossing horn of the beast.

With one wild spring backward he ploughed headfirst into the gra.s.s. He heard both barrels of Critch's heavy gun. As he wriggled up he saw the rhino, not ten feet away, stop short as the terrific charge struck him behind the shoulder. For an instant he wavered, then sank to the ground dead.

A wild burst of yells sounded behind as Burt arose. The Bantus had observed the affair and when they saw the rhino fall, ran forward with high glee, while just over the crest of the rise appeared the caravan.

Burt walked over to his chum with somewhat shaky steps and held out his hand without a word, for something kept him from speaking.

"Oh, shucks!" said Critch huskily. "You dog-goned idiot! You pretty near scared me to death. Didn't you hear me yell?"

"Didn't hear nothin'," Burt smiled weakly. "I was wishing I was back home and had never seen Africa. If you hadn't shot he'd got me--"

"Come out of it!" replied Critch. "He couldn't see you and was coming for me. Ain't he a big fellow?" As they walked over and stood beside the great black body that lay stretched in the gra.s.s with the Bantus around it, Mr. Wallace and Captain Mac ran up.

"What's this mean?" roared the former as he saw the body. "Haven't you two got sense enough to--"

"Leave 'em alone!" shouted Captain Mac delightedly. "They've killed him!

Hurray!" The exuberant Scotchman seized Burt and whirled him around in a wild dance as the excited porters came up. Burt gave the honor to Critch and when he told of his narrow escape Mr. Wallace at once directed camp to be formed.

"Now see here," he ordered as the skinners collected around the body, "I've had enough of this business. After this you take Burt with you, Montenay, and I'll take Critch. Those young villains are crazy enough to do anything if we leave 'em alone. Understand, boys? If you chase off by yourselves you get sent back home."

Seeing that Mr. Wallace was thoroughly aroused and in earnest, the boys hastily promised that his orders would be obeyed in future. Then they examined the carca.s.s of the rhinoceros carefully. Burt's first shot would have killed the beast in time but it was the two from Critch's rifle at close quarters that had proved fatal almost instantly. By that evening the Bantus had removed the skin from the rhino and were ready to pare it down for transportation.