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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Off to the Wilds, by George Manville Fenn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Off to the Wilds
+       Being the Adventures of Two Brothers
+
+Author: George Manville Fenn
+
+Illustrator: Hildibrand
+
+Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21359]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OFF TO THE WILDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Off to the Wilds, Being the Adventures of Two Brothers, by George
+Manville Fenn.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+The setting is the northern part of what is now South Africa, in the
+middle of the nineteenth century.  Mr Rogers is a British settler in
+South Africa, a "cottage farmer".  The earlier Dutch farmers and
+settlers are called Boers.  The two teenage sons, Jack and Dick, have
+often asked if they could all go out on a trek to visit the northern
+parts of the country, for a natural history collecting expedition.  They
+had come out to South Africa for the health of Mrs Rogers, but she had
+died, and of the two boys, Dick was not very strong, while Jack was very
+robust.
+
+Off they go, together with two Zulu boys who live on their land, the
+Zulu boys' father, who is a Chieftain whom they nickname "The General",
+and an Irish cook, who is always getting into trouble in every
+situation, in a most infuriating manner.  There is also Peter the
+driver, and Dirk who is a foreloper, the man who walks ahead of the oxen
+to guide them into the best way.
+
+They expect to pay for the trip with ivory from elephants, feathers from
+ostriches, animal skins, etc.
+
+The various adventures include encounters with snakes, rhino, hippo,
+giraffes, elephants, crocodiles, cataracts, tsetse fly, marauding native
+tribes, a bush fire, hundreds of miles of dreary grinding effort taking
+many months just to cover the ground, scorching heat, and sometimes
+cold.  And more besides.
+
+As usual with this author there is sustained tension throughout the
+book.  An interesting and instructive book.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+OFF TO THE WILDS, BEING THE ADVENTURES OF TWO BROTHERS, BY GEORGE
+MANVILLE FENN.
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+COFFEE AND CHICORY, BUT NOT FOR BREAKFAST.
+
+"Just look at him, Dick.  Be quiet; don't speak."
+
+"Oh, the dirty sunburnt little varmint!  I'd like the job o' washing
+him."
+
+"If you say another word, Dinny, I'll give you a crack with your own
+stick."
+
+"An' is it meself would belave you'd hurt your own man Dinny wid a
+shtick, Masther Jack?  Why ye wouldn't knock a fly off me."
+
+"Then be quiet.  I want to see what he's going to do."
+
+"Shure an' it's one of the masther's owld boots I threw away wid me own
+hands this morning, because it hadn't a bit more wear in it.  An' look
+at the dirty unclane monkey now."
+
+"He'll hear you directly, Dinny, and I want to see what he's going to
+do.  Hold your tongue."
+
+"Shure an' ye ask me so politely, Masther Jack, that it's obliged to be
+silent I am."
+
+"Pa was quite right when he said you had got too long a tongue."
+
+"Who said so, Masther Jack?"
+
+"Pa--papa!"
+
+"Shure the masther said--and it's meself heard him--that you was to lave
+your papa at home in owld England, and that when ye came into these
+savage parts of the wide world, it was to be father."
+
+"Well, father, then.  Now hold your tongue.  Just look at him, Dick."
+
+"It's meself won't spake again for an hour, and not then if they don't
+ax me to," said Dennis Riley, generally known as "Dinny," and nothing
+more.  And he, too, joined in watching the "unclane little savage," as
+he called him, to wit, a handsome, well-grown Zulu lad, whose skin was
+of a rich brown, and who, like his companion, seemed to be a model of
+savage health and grace.
+
+For there were two of these lads, exceedingly lightly clad, in a
+necklace, and a strip of skin round the loins, one of whom was lying on
+his chest with his chin resting upon his hands, kicking up his feet, and
+clapping them together as he watched the other, who was evidently in a
+high state of delight over an old boot.
+
+This boot he had found thrown out in the fenced-in yard at the back of
+the cottage, and he was now seated upon a bank trying it on.
+
+First, he drew it on with a most serious aspect, held out his leg and
+gave it a shake, when, finding the boot too loose, he took it off and
+filled the toe with sand; but as the sand ran out of a gap between the
+upper leather and the sole close to the toe and as fast as he put it in,
+he had to look out for something else, which he found in the shape of
+some coarse dry grass.  With this he half filled the boot, and then,
+with a good deal of difficulty, managed to wriggle in his toes, after
+which he drew the boot above his ankle, rose up with a smile of
+gratified pride upon his countenance, and began to strut up and down
+before his companion.
+
+There was something very laughable in the scene, for it did not seem to
+occur to the Zulu boy that he required anything else to add to his
+costume.  He had on one English boot, the same as the white men wore,
+and that seemed to him sufficient, as he stuck his arms akimbo, then
+folded them as he walked with head erect, and ended by standing on one
+leg and holding out the booted foot before his admiring companion.  This
+was too much for the other boy, whose eyes glittered as he made a snatch
+at the boot, dragged it off, and was about to leap up and run away; but
+his victim was too quick, for, lithe and active as a serpent, he dashed
+upon the would-be robber, and a fierce struggle ensued for the
+possession of the boot.
+
+John Rogers, otherwise Jack, a frank English lad of about sixteen,
+sprang forward to separate the combatants, but Dinny, his father's
+servant, who had been groom and gardener at home, restrained him.
+
+"No, no, Masther Jack," he cried, "let the young haythens fight it out.
+It'll make them behave betther by-an'-by."
+
+"I won't; I don't like to see them fight," cried Jack, slipping himself
+free, and seemingly joining in the fray.
+
+"Don't, Masther Jack," cried Dinny; "they'll come off black on your
+hands.  Masther Dick, sir, tell him to lave them alone."
+
+The lad appealed to, a pale delicate-looking youth, clenched his fists
+and sprang forward to help his brother.  But he stopped directly and
+began to laugh, as, after a short scuffle, Jack Rogers separated the
+combatants, and stood between them with the boot in dispute.
+
+For a moment it seemed as if the two Zulu lads were about to make a
+combined attack, but there was something about the English lad which
+restrained them, and they stood chattering away in their native tongue,
+protesting against his interference, and each laying claim to the boot.
+
+"Speak English," cried Jack.  "And now you two have got to shake hands
+like Englishmen, and make friends."
+
+"Want a boot! want a boot! want a boot!" the Zulu lads kept repeating.
+
+"Well, you do as I tell you, and you shall each have a pair of boots."
+
+"Two boot?  Two boot?" cried the boy who had lost his treasure.
+
+"Yes; two boots," said Jack.  "You've got an old pair, haven't you,
+Dick?"
+
+"Yes; they can have my old ones," was the reply.  "Go and get them,
+Dinny."
+
+"And my old lace-ups too," said Jack.
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated Dinny, spitting on the ground in token of disgust.
+"Ye'll both repint being such friends with cannibal savages like them,
+young gentlemen.  They'll turn round on ye some day, and rend and ate ye
+both."
+
+"Not they, Dinny," laughed Jack.  "They'd prefer Irishmen, so we should
+be safe if you were there."
+
+"Ah, ye may laugh," said Dinny, "but they're a dangerous lot, them
+savages, and I wouldn't trust 'em the length of my fut."
+
+Dinny went towards the back door of Mr Rogers' roomy,
+verandah-surrounded cottage farm, high up in the slopes of the
+Drakensberg, and looking a perfect bower with its flowers, creepers, and
+fruit-trees, many being old English friends; and Jack proceeded to make
+peace between the two Zulu boys.
+
+"Now look here, Sepopo, you've got to shake hands with your brother," he
+cried.
+
+"No!" cried the Zulu boy who had been lying down when he snatched the
+boot, and he threw himself in a monkey-like attitude on all fours.
+
+"Now you, Bechele, you've got to make friends and shake hands,"
+continued Jack, paying no heed to Sepopo's defiant attitude.
+
+"No!" cried the last-addressed, emphatically.  "'Tole a boot!  'Tole a
+boot!"  And he too plumped himself down upon all fours and stared at the
+ground.
+
+"I say yes!" cried Jack; when, as if moved by the same influence, the
+two Zulu boys leaped up, ran a few yards, and picked up each his "kiri,"
+a short stick with a knob at the end nearly as big as the fist, ran back
+to where the English lads were standing, and with flashing eyes began to
+beat the sand with their clubs.
+
+"Come along, Dick!" cried Jack.  "They shan't fight.  You take Sepopo,
+I'll take Bechele.  No; don't!  It will make you hot, and you're not
+strong.  I'll give it them both."
+
+Jack, who was very strong and active for his age, made a dash at the
+young Zulus just as they began threatening each other and evidently
+meaning to fight, when for a few moments there was a confused struggle,
+in which Jack would not have been successful but for his brother's help,
+he having overrated his strength.  But Dick joined in, and in spite of
+their anger the Zulu boys did not attempt to strike at their young
+masters, the result being that they allowed their kiris to be wrenched
+from their hands, and the next minute were seated opposite to each other
+on the ground.
+
+"They're as strong as horses, Dick," panted Jack.  "There!  Now, you
+sirs, shake hands!"
+
+"No!" shouted one.
+
+"No!" shouted the other; and with a make believe of fierceness, Jack
+gave each what he called a topper on the head with one of the kiris he
+held.
+
+"Now will you make friends?" cried Jack; and again they shouted, "No!"
+
+"They won't.  Let them go," said Dick, languidly; "and it makes one so
+hot and tired."
+
+"They shan't go till they've made friends," said Jack, setting his
+teeth; and thrusting his hand into his pocket he brought out a piece of
+thick string, the Zulu boys watching him intently.
+
+They remained where Jack had placed them, and going down on one knee he
+seized the right hand of each, placed them together, and proceeded to
+tie them--pretty tightly too.
+
+"There!" cried Jack.  "Now you stop till you're good friends once more."
+
+"Good boy now," cried one on the instant.
+
+"Good boy now," cried the other.
+
+"Then shake hands properly," said Jack.
+
+"Give him the boot," cried Sepopo, as soon as his hand was untied, and
+he had gone through the required ceremony with his brother.
+
+"No, no; give him the boot," cried the other.
+
+"Hold your tongues," cried Jack.  "I say, Dick, let's call them
+something else if they are going to stop with us, Sepopo!  Bechele!
+What names!"
+
+"Well," said Dick, languidly, as he sat down in a weary fashion: "one's
+going to be your boy, and the other mine.  Let's call them `Black Jack'
+and `Black Dick.'"
+
+"But they are brown," said his brother.
+
+"Yes, they are brown certainly," said Dick, thoughtfully.  "Regular
+coffee colour.  You might call one of them `Coffee.'"
+
+"That'll do," said Jack, laughing, "`Coffee!' and shorten it into
+`Cough.'  I say, Dick, I'll have that name, and I can tell people I've
+got a bad `Cough.'  But what will you call the other?"
+
+"I don't know.  Stop a moment--`Chicory.'"
+
+"And shorten it into `chick'.  That will do, Dick; splendid!  Cough and
+Chick.  Now you two, one of you is to be Cough and the other Chick; do
+you hear?"
+
+The Zulu boys nodded and laughed, though, in spite of the pretty good
+knowledge of the English language which they had picked up from their
+intercourse with the British settlers, it is doubtful whether they
+understood the drift.  What they did comprehend, however, was, that they
+should make friends; and this being settled, there was the old boot.
+
+"Give me boot, and show you big snake," cried Chicory.
+
+"No, no, give me; show more big snake," cried Coffee.
+
+Just then Dinny came up with two old pairs of the lads' boots, which he
+threw down upon the sandy earth; and reading consent in their young
+masters' eyes, the Zulu lads pounced upon them with cries of triumph,
+Coffee obtaining the two rights, and Chicory the two lefts, with which
+they danced about, flourishing them over their heads with delight.
+
+"Come here, stupids!" cried Jack; and after a little contention, the
+boys being exceedingly unwilling to part as they thought with their
+prizes, he managed to make them understand that the boots ought to go in
+pairs; and the exchange having been made, each boy holding on to a boot
+with one hand till he got a good grip of the other, they proceeded to
+put them on.
+
+"Ugh! the haythen bastes," said Dinny, with a look of disgust.  "Think
+of the likes o' them wearing the young masthers' brogues.  Ah, Masther
+Dick, dear, ye'll be repinting it one of these days."
+
+"Dinny, you're a regular prophet of evil," said Dick, quietly.
+
+"Avic--prophet of avil!" cried Dinny.  "Well, isn't it the truth?
+Didn't I say avore we left the owld counthry that no good would come of
+it?  And avore we'd been out here two years didn't the dear misthress--
+the saints make her bed in heaven--go and die right away?"
+
+"Dinny! how can you!" cried Jack, angrily, as he saw the tears start
+into his brother's eyes, and that in spite of the sunburning he turned
+haggard and pale.
+
+"Don't take any notice, Dick," he whispered, in a tender, loving way, as
+he laid one arm on his brother's shoulder and drew him aside.  "Dinny
+don't mean any harm, Dick, but he has such a long tongue."
+
+Dick looked piteously in his brother's face, and one tear stole softly
+down his cheek.
+
+"I say, Dick," cried Jack, imploringly, "don't look like that.  It makes
+me think so of poor mamma.  You look so like her.  I say don't, or
+you'll make me cry too; and I won't," he cried, grinding his teeth.  "I
+said I'd never cry again, because it's so childish; and I won't."
+
+"Then I'm childish, Jack," said Dick, as he rubbed the tear away with
+one hand.
+
+"No, no.  You have been so weak and delicate that you can't help it.
+I'm strong.  But I say, Dick, you are ever so much stronger than when we
+came out here."
+
+"Yes," said Dick, with a wistful look at his brother's muscular arms.
+"I am stronger, but I do get tired so soon, Jack."
+
+"Not so soon as you did, Dick; and father says you'll be a strong man
+yet.  Hallo! what's the matter?  Look there."
+
+The brothers turned round, and hardly knew whether to laugh or to be
+alarmed; for a short distance away there was Dinny dancing about, waving
+his arms and shouting, while Coffee and Chicory, each with his kiri,
+were making attacks and feints, striking at the Irishman fiercely.
+
+"Ah, would you, ye black baste?" shouted Dinny, as roaring now with
+laughter the brothers ran back.
+
+"Shoo, Shoo! get out, you dirty-coloured spalpeen.  Ah, ye didn't.  Kape
+off wid you.  An' me widout a bit of shtick in me fist.  Masther Dick,
+dear!  Masther Jack! it's murthering me the two black Whiteboys are.
+Kape off!  Ah, would ye again!  Iv I'd me shtick I'd talk to ye both,
+and see if your heads weren't thick as a Tipperary boy's, I would.
+Masther Dick!  Masther Jack! they'll murther me avore they've done."
+
+As aforesaid, the two Zulu boys had picked up a great deal of the
+English language, but their understanding thereof was sometimes very
+obscure.  In this instance they had heard Dinny talking to his young
+masters in a way that had made the tears come in Dick's eye, and driven
+him and Jack away.  This, in the estimation of the Zulu boys, must be
+through some act of cruelty or insult.  They did not like Dinny, who
+made no attempt to disguise his contempt for them as "a pair of
+miserable young haythens," but at the same time they almost idolised the
+twin brothers as their superiors and masters, for whom they were almost
+ready to lay down their lives.
+
+Here then was a cause for war.  Their nature was to love and fight, as
+dearly as the wildest Irishman who was ever born.  Dinny had offended
+their two "bosses"--as they called them, after the fashion of the Dutch
+Boers, and this set their blood on fire.
+
+Hardly had the brothers walked away than, as if moved by the same
+spirit, they forgot the beauty of the old boots in which they had been
+parading--to such an extent that they kicked them off, and kiri in hand
+made so fierce an attack upon unarmed Dinny that, after a show of
+resistance, he fairly took to his heels and ran back to the house, just
+as the brothers came up.
+
+"Popo give him kiri," cried Chicory.
+
+"Bechele de boy make Boss Dinny run," cried the other, his eyes
+sparkling with delight.  "No make de boss cry eye any more."
+
+"No make Boss Dick cry eye any more," repeated Chicory.
+
+The brothers looked at each other as they comprehended the meaning of
+the attack.
+
+"Why, Jack," said Dick, "what faithful true fellows they are.  They'll
+never leave us in a time of trouble."
+
+"No, that they won't," cried Jack; and just then a tall, stern, sunburnt
+man, with grizzled hair and saddened eyes, came up to where they stood.
+Laying his hand affectionately on the shoulder of Dick,--
+
+"Come, my boys," he said, "dinner is ready.  Let's be punctual while we
+are leading a civilised life."
+
+"And afterwards, father, as punctual a life as we can," said Dick,
+smiling.
+
+"Hurray!" cried Jack, giving his cap a wave in the air.  "Only another
+week, and then, father--"
+
+"Yes," said Mr Rogers, with a quiet, sad look, "then, my boy, good-bye
+to civilisation."
+
+"Only for a time, father," said Dick, quietly.
+
+"Till you win health and strength, my boy," said Mr Rogers, with an
+affectionate glance.
+
+"And that we'll soon find," cried Jack; "for we are off to the wilds."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+WHY THEY WENT AWAY.
+
+It was about two years before this that Mr Edward Rogers, a gentleman
+holding a post of importance in the City of London, had purchased some
+land and come out to dwell in Natal.  For physician after physician had
+been consulted, seaside and health resort visited, but as the time
+glided on the verdict of the doctors became more and more apparent as a
+true saying, that unless Mrs Rogers was taken to a warmer climate her
+days would be few.
+
+Even if she were removed the doctors said that she could not recover;
+but still her days might be prolonged.  What was more, they strongly
+advised such a course in favour of young Richard, who was weak and
+delicate to a degree.
+
+"Then you really consider it necessary?" said Mr Rogers to the great
+physician who had been called in.
+
+"I do indeed.  As I have said, it will prolong your wife's days, and
+most probably it will turn that delicate, sickly boy into a strong man."
+
+On being asked further what country he would recommend, he promptly
+replied,--
+
+"South Africa."
+
+"Natal is the place," he continued.  "There you have the Drakensberg,
+and you can choose your own elevation, so as to get a pure, temperate
+climate, free from the cold of the mountains and the heat of the
+plains."
+
+Mr Rogers was a man of prompt action, for the health of those dear to
+him was his first consideration.  The consequence was that after rapidly
+making his arrangements, and providing the necessaries for his new home,
+he took passage to Durban, arrived there in safety with his wife, two
+sons, and Dennis; then made his way to Maritzburg; and soon after he had
+purchased an extensive tract of land, and a pleasantly situated home,
+with garden in full perfection, the owner of which, having made money in
+the colony, wished to retire to England.
+
+Here for a time Mrs Rogers had seemed better, and undoubtedly her life
+was considerably prolonged.  Gardening, farming, and a little hunting
+formed the occupations of the father and sons, and for a time all was
+happiness in the sunny far-off home.  Then the much-dreaded day came,
+and they were left to mourn for a tender wife and mother, whose loss was
+irreparable.
+
+Richard, who partook greatly of his mother's nature, was, like his
+father, completely prostrated by the terrible loss; and though time
+somewhat assuaged his grief, he seemed to have gone back in his health,
+and lost the way he had made up since he left England, and he had become
+so weak and delicate that Mr Rogers had consulted the doctor, who from
+time to time visited their far-off home.
+
+"Medicine is of no use, my dear sir," he said frankly.  "I can do him no
+good.  I suppose he sits indoors a good deal and mopes?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Then look here, my dear sir, give him a thorough change.  You are not
+tied to your farming in any way?"
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"Then fit up a waggon, take your horses, and have a few months' campaign
+in the wilds yonder.  You want a change as badly as the boy, and you
+will both come back, I'll venture to say, doubled in strength.  Why, the
+ivory and skins you'll collect will pay your expenses.  I wish I had the
+chance to go."
+
+It was settled then, and the waggon was being fitted up with ammunition
+and stores; horses, guaranteed to be well-salted, had been purchased for
+Mr Rogers and his boys.  The two young Zulus who had been hanging about
+the place for months, making little trips with Dick and Jack, were to
+go; and in addition a couple of trustworthy blacks, experienced as
+waggon-driver and foreloper, had been engaged; so that in a very few
+days they would say good-bye to civilisation for months, and go seek for
+health in the far-off wilds.
+
+The boys were delighted, for Mr Rogers proposed that they should aim
+for the Zambesi River, and seek some of the seldom-traversed lands,
+where game abounded, and where the wonders of nature would be opened to
+them as from an unsealed book.
+
+If Dick and Jack were delighted, the two Zulu boys were half mad with
+joy.  As soon as they knew that they were to be of the party they seemed
+to have become frantic, going through the actions of hunting and
+spearing wild beasts--knocking down birds with their kiris, which they
+threw with unerring aim--pantomimically fighting lions, one of them
+roaring and imitating the fierce creature's "oomph, oomph," in a way
+that sounded terribly real, while the other threatened him with his
+assegai.
+
+Then they were always showing their cleverness as hunters by stalking
+people--crawling up to them through the long grass, taking advantage of
+every irregularity of the ground or shrub to get nearer, and grinning
+with delight on seeing the surprise and fear of the person stalked.
+
+For it was only during the past year that they had been so much amongst
+the settlers in Natal.  Their early days had been spent with their tribe
+in the north, their father being a redoubtable chief; but he had given
+great offence to the king, and had been compelled to fly for his life,
+finding refuge amongst the English, with his boys.
+
+Mention has been made of well-salted horses, which to a sailor would
+immediately suggest commissariat beef in pickle in good-sized tubs; but
+pray don't imagine that the satisfactory condiment, salt, has anything
+to do with a salted horse in South Africa.  A salted horse is one that
+is seasoned to the climate by having passed through the deadly horse
+sickness, a complaint so bad and peculiar to the land that very few of
+the horses seized with it recover.  When one does recover he is called a
+salted--that is, seasoned--horse, and his value is quadrupled.
+
+Mr Rogers had spared no expense in getting together good cattle.  His
+team of little Zulu oxen were the perfection of health and strength, and
+far more docile than is generally the case with these animals; though
+even these, in spite of their good behaviour, were exceedingly fond of
+tickling each other's ribs with their long horns, and saving the driver
+trouble, for the pair nearest the waggon would stir up the pair in front
+of them, and as these could only retaliate on their aggressors with
+their tails, they took their revenge on the pair in front; these again
+punished the pair in front; and so on, and on, to the leading oxen, the
+result of the many applications being a great increase of speed.
+
+Then the horses were excellent.  Mr Rogers had three for his own
+riding; a big bay, a dark grey, and a soft mouse-coloured chestnut, more
+famous for speed than beauty, and with a nasty habit of turning round
+and smiling, as if he meant to bite, when he was mounted.
+
+Dick was clever at names, and he immediately suggested "Smiler" as an
+appropriate name for the chestnut.  The dark grey he called "Toothpick,"
+because of his habit of rubbing his teeth on the sharp points of the
+fence; while he called the big bony bay the "Nipper," from his being so
+fond of grazing on, and taking nips from, the manes and tails of his
+companions, when he could get a chance.
+
+Mr Rogers provided three horses for his own riding, but it was with the
+idea of giving either of his sons an extra mount when necessary, for it
+was certain that there would be times when the arch-necked swift little
+cobs purchased for his boys would want a rest.
+
+It was a stroke of good fortune to get such a pair, and the boys were in
+ecstasies when they were brought up from Maritzburg, for a handsomer
+pair of little horses it would have been hard to find.  They were both
+of that rich dark reddish roan, and wonderfully alike, the differences
+being in their legs; one being nearly black in this important part of
+its person, the other having what most purchasers would call the blemish
+of four white legs--it being a canon amongst the wise in horseflesh that
+a dark or black-legged horse has better sinews and lasting powers.  In
+this case, however, the theory was wrong, for white legs was if anything
+the stronger of the two.
+
+The lads then were delighted, and this became increased when they found
+the little nags quite ready to make friends, and willing to eat apples,
+bread, or as much sugar out of their hands as they would give.
+
+"That's right, my boys," said Mr Rogers, who found his sons making
+friends in this way with the new arrivals; "always feed your horses
+yourselves, and treat them well.  Pet them as much as you like, and win
+their confidence by your kindness.  Never ill-use your horse; one act of
+ill-treatment and you make him afraid of you, and then perhaps some day,
+when in an emergency and you want to catch your horse, he may gallop
+away.  Go on like that, and those cobs will follow you about like dogs.
+But you must each keep to his own horse.  Which one would you like,
+Jack?"
+
+"Oh! the--"
+
+Jack stopped, and glanced at his brother, whose face was slightly
+flushed.
+
+Dick was weak and delicate, while Jack was the perfection of boyish
+vigour; and feeling that his brother did not enjoy life as he did
+himself, he stopped short just as he was going to say White Legs, for
+there was something in the cob's face that he liked, and the little
+horse had let him stroke its velvet nose.
+
+"Poor old Dick has taken a fancy to him," he said to himself; "and the
+other will do just as well for me."
+
+"Let Dick choose first," he said aloud.
+
+"Very well," said Mr Rogers.  "Now then, Dick, which is it to be?
+though you can't be wrong, my boy, for there is not a pin to choose
+between them, and they are brothers."
+
+"Should you mind if I chose first, Jack?" asked Dick.
+
+"Not a bit," said Jack, stoutly, though his feeling of disappointment
+was keen, for he felt now that he would dearly love to have the
+white-legged cob.
+
+You may guess then his delight when Dick declared for the black-legged
+one.
+
+As soon as he heard the decision Jack had his arm over the white-legged
+cob's neck and had given it a hug, the horse looking at him with its
+great soft eyes, and uttering a low snort.
+
+"Up with you then, my boys, and have a canter."
+
+"Without a saddle, father?" said Dick, nervously.
+
+Jack was already up.
+
+"Have it saddled if you like, my boy," said Mr Rogers, kindly.
+
+But Dick flushed, gave a spring from the ground, and was on the little
+cob's back.
+
+They were both skilled riders, but Dick's illness made him timorous at
+times.  He, however, fought hard to master his weakness; and when Jack
+cried, "Come on, Dick; let's race to the big tree and back," he stuck
+his knees into the cob's plump sides and away they went, with the wind
+rushing by their ears, and the cobs keeping neck and neck, rounding the
+big tree about a mile away on the plain, and then making the dusty earth
+rise in clouds as they tore back, and were checked with a touch of the
+bridle by the home field.
+
+"Why, Dick, my boy, I would not wish to see a better seat on a horse,"
+cried Mr Rogers, patting the cobs in turn.  "Jack, you set up your back
+like a jockey.  Sit more upright, my boy."
+
+"All right, father; I'll try," said Jack, throwing himself right forward
+so as to hug his cob's neck.  "But I say, father, isn't he lovely?  I
+felt all the time as if I was a bit of him, or we were all one."
+
+"You looked like it, my boy," said Mr Rogers, smiling in his son's
+animated face.  "I wish Dick had your confidence, and you a little more
+of his style."
+
+"All right, father, we'll try and exchange a bit a-piece," laughed Jack.
+"But I can't half believe it, father, that these are to be our own
+horses."
+
+"You may believe it, then," said his father.  "And now get them to the
+stable."
+
+"Oh, I say, Dick, what beauties!" cried Jack.  "What shall you call
+yours?"
+
+"I don't know yet," replied his brother.  "He's very fast.  `Swift'
+wouldn't be a bad name; and we might call yours `Sure.'"
+
+"Hum!  I don't think much of those names.  Hold up!" he continued,
+examining the hoofs of his brother's nag.  "I say, Dick, what fine thick
+shoes he has got."
+
+"That's a good suggestion," said Dick, laughing, and looking brighter
+than he had seemed for weeks.  "Let's call him `Shoes,' and his brother
+with the white legs `Stockings.'"
+
+"Shoes and Stockings!" cried Jack; "but those are such stupid names.  I
+don't know though but what they'll do."
+
+The question was not discussed, for the lads busied themselves in
+bedding down their own horses; and for the rest of that, day the stable
+seemed to be the most important part of the house.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY.
+
+"What is it ye're doing?" said Dinny, a day or two before that proposed
+for the start.
+
+Coffee and Chicory looked up from their task, grinned, and then went on
+sharpening the points of a couple of assegais upon a heavy block of
+stone, which they had evidently brought from a distance.  Their faces
+glistened with perspiration; their knees were covered with dust; and
+they were in a wonderful state of excitement.  Resuming their work on
+the instant, they tried to bring the weapons to a keen point.
+
+"Kill lion," said Coffee, laconically; and he worked away as if the lion
+were round the corner waiting to be killed.
+
+"Then ye may just as well lave off, ye dirty little naygars; for it's my
+belafe that you're not going at all."
+
+Dinny went off into the house leaving the two boys apparently paralysed.
+They dropped the assegais, stared at each other, and then lay down and
+howled in the misery of their disappointment.
+
+But this did not last many seconds; for Coffee sprang up and kicked
+Chicory, who also rose to his feet, and in obedience to a word from his
+brother they took their assegais and hid them in a tree which formed
+their armoury--for out of its branches Chicory took the two kiris or
+clubs; and then the boys ran round to the front, and stood making signs.
+
+The brothers had such a keen love of anything in the way of sport that,
+expecting something new, they ran out and willingly followed the two
+young blacks out into the grassy plain about a mile from the house, when
+after posting their young masters behind a bush, Coffee and Chicory
+whispered to them to watch, and then began to advance cautiously through
+the grass, kiri in hand, their eyes glistening as they keenly peered
+from side to side.
+
+"What are they going to do?" said Dick.
+
+"I don't know.  Show us something.  I wish we had brought our guns.
+Look out!"
+
+There was a whirring of wings, and the two Zulu boys struck attitudes
+that would have been models for a sculptor; then as a large bird similar
+to a partridge rose up, Coffee sent his knobbed club whizzing through
+the air; another bird rose, and Chicory imitated his brother's act; and
+the result was, that the cleverly thrown kiris hit the birds, which fell
+in amongst the long grass, from which they were retrieved by the lads
+with shouts of triumph--the birds proving to be the coranne, so called
+from the peculiarity of their cry.
+
+"Well done, boys!" cried Jack.  "They'll be good eating."
+
+"Boss Dick, Boss Jack take Zulu boys, now?" said the kiri-throwers,
+eagerly.
+
+"Why, of course.  You know you are going," replied Dick.
+
+"Dinny say Zulu boys not going," cried Chicory.
+
+"Then Dinny knows nothing about it," said Dick, angrily.  "If he don't
+mind he'll be left behind himself."
+
+Coffee sent his kiri spinning up in the air, Chicory followed suit, each
+catching the weapon again with ease; and then they both dashed off
+across the plain as if mad, and to the astonishment of the brothers, who
+took the brace of birds and walked back towards the house, to continue
+the preparations for the start.
+
+For there was so much to do, packing the great long tilted waggon with
+necessaries, in the shape of tea, sugar, coffee, and chocolate.  Barrels
+of mealies or Indian corn, and wheaten flour, besides.  Salt too, had to
+be taken, and a large store of ammunition; for in addition to boxes well
+filled with cartridges, they took a keg or two of powder and a quantity
+of lead.  Then there were rolls of brass wire, and a quantity of showy
+beads--the latter commodities to take the place of money in exchanges
+with the natives--salt, powder, and lead answering the same purpose.
+
+It was a delightful task to the boys, who thoroughly enjoyed the
+packing, and eagerly asked what every package contained, when they had
+no opportunity of opening it; while Mr Rogers looked on, smiling at the
+interest they took.
+
+"Here y'are, young gentlemen," said Dinny.  "The masther seems to think
+that you're going to do nothing but suck sweet-stuff all the time you're
+out."
+
+"Why, what's that, Dinny?" cried Dick, who had just brought out a heavy
+box.
+
+"Sure, it's sugar-shticks and candy," said Dinny; and he went off to
+fetch something else.
+
+"Why, so it is, Dick," said Jack.  "I say, father, are we to pack this
+sweet-stuff in the waggon?  We don't want it."
+
+"Indeed, but we do," said his father, coming up.  "Why a handful of
+sweet-stuff will make friends with a Boer, when everything else fails.
+Here, put this in the fore box.  Perhaps, when I bring this out you'll
+be glad to get at the sweet-stuff."
+
+"What is it, father?" said Dick.
+
+Mr Rogers opened the little deal case and turned it out, to begin
+packing it again.
+
+"Here's a bottle of chloroform, and another of castor oil; two bottles
+of chlorodyne; a pound of Epsom salts; four large boxes of pills; a roll
+of sticking-plaster; a pot of zinc ointment; and a bottle of quinine and
+one of rhubarb and magnesia."
+
+Jack's countenance was a study.  For as his father carefully repacked
+the little box the lad's face grew into a hideous grimace.  He waited
+till Mr Rogers had finished his enumeration, and then clapping his
+handkerchief over his mouth, he uttered a loud "Ugh!" and ran and stood
+a few yards away.
+
+"I shan't go," he cried.
+
+"Why not?" said Mr Rogers, smiling.
+
+"Why the waggon will smell, of nothing but physic.  What's the good of
+taking it, father?"
+
+"The good?  Well, my boy, there's nothing like being prepared; and we
+are going far away from doctors, if we wanted their help.  We may none
+of us be unwell, but it is quite likely that we may, either of us, get a
+touch of fever.  Besides, we might meet with an accident; and for my
+part, as I have a little knowledge of medicine and surgery, I know
+nothing more painful than to find people sick and to be unable to give
+them the remedy that would make them well.  We shall be sure to find
+some sick people amongst the natives, and they have a wonderful
+appreciation of the white man's medicine."
+
+"Well, look here," said Jack, "if you'll shut the box up very tightly,
+I'll consent to come."
+
+Mr Rogers smiled, and did shut the little box up very tightly, after
+which the preparations went on; and it was perfectly wonderful to see
+what that waggon would hold.
+
+There was a moderate case of wines and spirits, also to act as
+medicines; several dozens of coloured blankets for presents; waterproof
+sheets.  A cask of paraffin oil was swung under the floor, and by it a
+little cooking-stove, while beside these swung a long box containing
+spades and shovels, for digging the waggon-wheels out of holes, tools
+for repairs, wrenches, and jacks and axes, till it seemed as if there
+would be no end to the stores and material.
+
+Then leather slings were nailed up under the tilt for the rifles and
+guns, so that they might always be ready to hand; for they were going
+into the land of wild beasts and savage men.  Above all, their stores
+had to be so packed that their positions could be remembered, and they
+could be obtained when wanted, and yet leave space for blankets to be
+spread, and the travellers find room to sleep beneath the tilt upon the
+top.
+
+The preparations went on; the black driver who was to manage the oxen
+busied himself along with the foreloper, whose duty it is to walk with
+the foremost oxen, in getting their great whips in trim, and in seeing
+the trek-tow and dissel-boom--as the great trace and pole of the waggon
+are called--were perfect; and they practised the team as well.
+
+Many of the readers may not know that for an expedition like this, where
+the waggon party expect to be travelling for months, perhaps for a year,
+through a country where roads are almost unknown, and where the great
+heavily-laden, but wonderfully strongly-made waggon, has to be dragged
+over rocks, through swamps, and into and out of rivers, a team of
+fourteen, sixteen, or, as in this case, even twenty oxen, will be yoked
+to the great chain or rope called the trek-tow.  For some of the poor
+animals are sure to succumb during the journey; or they may be killed
+for food, the loss being not so much felt when a superabundant number is
+taken.
+
+With the leading pair of oxen walks the foreloper, whose duty it is to
+choose the best road, and to avoid stones and marshy places where the
+wheels would sink in; and the success of an expedition depends a good
+deal upon having a good foreloper.
+
+In this case Mr Rogers had secured a trusty Kaffir, who had been
+frequently into the interior; but his appearance was against him, for he
+had lost one eye, from a thrust of a bullock's horn.  But Dinny said
+that the one left was as good as two, for when Dirk looked at you, it
+seemed to go right through your head and tickle the hair behind.
+
+Off to the Wilds--by George Manville Fenn
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+INSPANNING FOR THE TRIP.
+
+The eventful morning at last!  Bright, clear, and the dew lying thick
+upon the thirsty earth.  All the arrangements had been made; the waggon
+stood ready.  Peter the driver was upon the box in front of the waggon;
+the boys were mounted, and a couple of neighbours had ridden over to see
+them start; but to the infinite vexation of Dick and Jack, the young
+Zulus had not returned.  They had started off on the day when they
+killed the coranne, and that was the last that had been seen of them.
+
+"Now, Dinny, you may let the dogs loose," cried Dick, who looked
+brighter and better, his father thought, than he had been for days.
+Dinny at once obeyed; when, yelping and barking with delight, the four
+dogs--Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and Rough'un--came bounding about,
+leaping up at their masters, and taking short dashes out into the plain
+and back.
+
+"Where are those two boys?" said Mr Rogers suddenly.  "I haven't seen
+them for days."
+
+"Dinny offended them," said Jack petulantly, as he patted the arched
+neck of Stockings.  "He told them they shouldn't go."
+
+"Sure I only hinted to the black young gintlemen that it was just
+possible the masther might lave them behind, when they took themselves
+off in the most ondacent way; and that's all I know, sor."
+
+"Here they are!" cried Jack suddenly, "Hi-yi-yi-yi--Coff!  Hi-yi-yi-yi--
+Chick!"
+
+"Hi-yi-yi-yi-yi!" echoed back; and the two boys came running up, one on
+either side of a fierce-looking, very powerfully-built Zulu--a handful
+of assegais, and his long, narrow, oval shield in one hand, and for
+costume a fringe of skins round the waist, a sort of tippet of the same
+over his back and chest, and smaller fringes just beneath each knee.
+His back hair was secured in a knot behind, and depending from it were
+some feathers, one of which drooped right down his back.
+
+He was a noble-looking specimen of humanity, and as he came up he gazed
+almost haughtily round at the party, seeming as if he had come as an
+enemy, and not as a friend.
+
+"Been fetch de father," cried Coffee, pushing the great Zulu towards Mr
+Rogers.  "Father going to boss.  Kill and hunt lion."
+
+Mr Rogers raised his eyebrows a little, for he had not reckoned upon
+this; but one more or less on such an expedition did not matter, for
+plenty of provisions would be killed; and a man like this was no little
+addition to their strength.
+
+"Oh, very good," he said.  "Dinny, run into the house, and fetch the
+bread and meat we left.  I daresay the boys are hungry."
+
+Coffee and Chicory understood that, and they began to grin and rub their
+"tum-tums," as they called a prominent part of their persons; but the
+next moment they had dragged their father to introduce him to Boss Dick
+and Boss Jack, smiling with delight on seeing their young masters shake
+hands with the Zulu warrior.
+
+Dinny did not look at all pleasant as he brought out the bread and meat,
+which was rapidly shared by the Zulu and his boys, who evidently meant
+to eat the food as they went along; so after one more look round, and a
+glance at the two great water-casks swung behind the waggon, Mr Rogers
+gave the word, Peter the driver stood up on the great chest strapped in
+front, cracking his whip with both hands, and Dirk the foreloper
+followed suit.
+
+"Trek Hans!  Trek Buffler!  Trek Zulu!  Trek boys!  Trek!" shouted
+Peter, dancing about on the chest in his excitement.
+
+"Trek, beauties!  Trek, beauties!  Trek!  Trek!  Trek!" yelled Dirk.
+
+The oxen slowly tugged at their yokes, the great trek-tow tightened, the
+wheels of the fine new waggon creaked; and as Mr Rogers mounted the big
+bay, his sons took off and waved their caps, giving a loud cheer, for
+now they were really off to the wilds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+A TASTE OF SOMETHING TO COME.
+
+There was but little in the way of incident for some time.  The dogs
+seemed to be never weary of hunting here and there, thrusting their
+noses under every rock, their heads into every hole; but they found
+nothing till after the midday halt, when a furious barking from the
+setter Rough'un took the attention of all, and Mr Rogers and the boys
+cantered up to a thin cluster of trees, where, on what seemed to be at
+first a broken stump, but which on nearer inspection proved to be a tall
+ragged ant-hill, a vicious-looking snake was curled, swinging its head
+about threateningly, and darting out its forked tongue at the dog, which
+kept its distance, barking furiously.
+
+"A poisonous fellow--cobra evidently.  Now, Dick, bring it down."
+
+"No; let Jack shoot, father," said Dick.  "My head aches, and I'm tired.
+Well, yes, I will."
+
+"That's right, my boy.  I want you to master this weakness," said his
+father.  "And besides, I want you to try how your horse stands fire.
+Nip him tightly with your knees."
+
+Dick cocked his double-barrelled breechloader--fired--and the serpent
+hissed loudly and began to descend, but a shot from Jack's rifle laid it
+writhing on the ground, when, before it could be prevented, Rough'un
+seized it behind the head, worrying it furiously.
+
+Fortunately the creature was mortally wounded, or it might have gone
+hard with one of the dogs, its poison being very violent; and the others
+coming up soon tore it to pieces.
+
+"Your horses behaved admirably," said Mr Rogers.  "You must train them,
+my boys, so that they will stand where you leave them, and take no more
+notice of a shot fired over their heads than at a distance."
+
+They halted directly after for a midday meal, the oxen finding a
+plentiful supply of fresh grass and water, and after a good rest they
+were once more on the way, the horses behind under the care of Dinny and
+the Zulu warrior.
+
+Mr Rogers and his sons were close to the oxen, Coffee and Chicory were
+close behind, and they were inspecting the team, which was pulling
+steadily and well, when Mr Rogers said,--
+
+"Well, boys, we may as well get our guns.  We shall soon be in the
+hunting country now."
+
+"Hi!  Yup-yup-yup!" shouted Coffee.
+
+"Ho!  Yup-yup-yup!" yelled Chicory.  The dogs began to yelp and bark;
+and in the excitement, as they saw an animal like a great long-eared
+spotted cat dash out of a clump of trees and make for some rocky ground,
+all joined in the chase; Mr Rogers ran as hard as the rest, forcing his
+pith hunting-helmet down over his head.  Coffee got well in front,
+waving his arms and shouting; but Chicory trod upon a thorn and began to
+limp.  As for Jack, in his excitement he tripped over a stump, and fell
+sprawling; while Dick had hard work to save himself from a similar
+mishap.  Last of all, whip in hand, came the foreloper, who had left the
+oxen in his excitement, flourishing and cracking his lash.
+
+There was a sharp hunt for a few minutes, during which the followers
+toiled on over the rocky ground, seeing nothing after their first
+glimpse of the lynx--for such Mr Rogers declared it to be; then they
+met the dogs coming back, looking very stupid, and quite at fault.
+
+Rough'un, however, went on with Coffee, and Jack followed, to find that
+the lynx had evidently gone down a deep rift, where it was impossible to
+follow it; so they went back to the waggons, both Jack and his father
+determining that in future they would never be without either gun or
+rifle in hand.
+
+Every minute, almost, as they journeyed on, the boys realised the value
+of having the waggon made in the best manner, and of the strongest wood
+that could be obtained, for it bumped and swayed about, creaking
+dismally beneath its heavy load, and making the casks and pots slung
+beneath clatter together every now and then, as it went over some larger
+stone than usual.  They saw too the value of a good foreloper; for if a
+careless man were at the head of the oxen, the waggon might at any
+moment be wrecked over some rugged rock or sunk to the floor in a black
+patch of bog.
+
+The dogs seemed rather ashamed of themselves after the chase of the
+lynx, and went with lolling tongues to trot behind the waggon, Pompey
+now and then making an angry snatch at Caesar, while Crassus threw up
+his muzzle and uttered a dismal yelp.  Rough'un, too, did not seem
+happy, but to have that lynx on his conscience; for he kept running out
+from beneath the waggon, and looking back as if bound to finish the
+chase by hunting the cat-like creature out; but he always altered his
+mind and went under the waggon once more, to walk close to the heels of
+the last pair of oxen, one of which looked back from time to time in a
+thoughtful meditative way, with its great soft eyes, as if in
+consideration whether it ought to kick out and send Rough'un flying.
+
+This act made Rough'un run forward, and as the ox bent down snuffing at
+it, the dog leaped up at its muzzle, then at that of the next ox, and
+went on right along the whole span, saluting all in turn without getting
+trampled, and ending by retaking his place beneath the waggon front.
+
+For Rough'un was a dog of a different breed to his fellows, and though
+he hunted with them he did not associate with them afterwards, but kept
+himself to himself.
+
+There was not much to interest the boys after the first excitement of
+the start was over, for they had to travel over plain and mountain for
+some distance before they would reach ground that had not been well
+hunted over by the settlers; but every step took them nearer, and there
+were endless matters to canvass.  For instance, there were the
+capabilities of their horses, which grew in favour every time they were
+mounted; the excellences of their guns, presented to them by their
+father for the expedition, light handy pieces, double-barrelled
+breechloaders, the right-hand barrel being that of an ordinary shot-gun,
+the left-hand being a rifle sighted up to three hundred yards.
+
+It would be hard to say how many times these guns were loaded and
+unloaded, slung across their owners' backs and taken down again, while
+the eagerness with which they looked forward to some good opening for
+trying their skill was notable.
+
+But beyond an occasional bird which fled with a loud cry at the approach
+of the waggon, and a little herd of springbok seen upon the edge of a
+low hill quite a mile away, there was little to break the monotony of
+the journey over the hot sandy waste, and every one was pretty weary
+when, just at sundown, they came in sight of a low house, the abode of a
+Boer who had settled there some years before, and who, with his large
+family, seemed to be perfectly content, and who smiled with satisfaction
+on being presented with some sweets in return for his civility in
+pointing out the places where the out-spanned oxen could find an
+abundance of grass and water.
+
+Here the first experience of sleeping in a waggon was gone through, and
+very comical it seemed to boys who were accustomed to the comforts of a
+well-regulated home.
+
+Dick laughed, and said that it was like sleeping in the attic, while the
+servants slept in the kitchen, for the drivers and the three Zulus made
+themselves snug under the waggon, Dinny joining them very unwillingly,
+after a verbal encounter with Dick, who, however much he might be
+wanting in bodily strength, was pretty apt with his tongue.
+
+"Sure, Masther Dick, sir, Dinny's the last boy in the world to grumble;
+but I'm a good Christian, and the blacks are as haythen as can be."
+
+"Well, Dinny, and what of that?"
+
+"Why, ye see, Masther Dick, I'm a white man, and they are all blacks;
+and," he added with a grin, "I shouldn't like to catch the complaint."
+
+"What complaint, Dinny?"
+
+"Why, sure, sir, it would be very painful to you and Masther Jack there,
+and the masther himself, if you found poor Dinny get up some fine
+morning as black as a crow."
+
+"Get along with you," cried Jack.
+
+"Oh, be easy, Masther Jack, dear," cried Dinny; "and how would you like
+to slape under a waggon wid five sacks of smoking and living coals like
+them Zulus and Kaffirs is?"
+
+"I wouldn't mind," replied Jack.  "We are on a hunting expedition, and
+we must take things in the rough."
+
+"Sure an' it is rough indade," grumbled Dinny.  "I'm thinking I'd rather
+go sthraight home to my poor owld mother's cabin, and slape there dacent
+like, wid nothing worse in it than the poor owld pig."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+A FALSE ALARM.
+
+Mr Rogers had felt a little hesitation in giving the fierce-looking
+Zulu permission to make one of the party, but as they journeyed on
+across the apparently interminable plains between the Vaal and the Great
+Crocodile rivers, he awoke more and more to the fact that he had secured
+a valuable ally.  For the old warrior entered into the spirit of the
+expedition at once, helping with the oxen or to extricate the waggons in
+difficult places, showing himself quite at home in the management of
+horses, and being evidently an excellent guide, and above all a hunter
+of profound knowledge and experience.
+
+As soon as he realised the intentions of Mr Rogers, he became most
+earnest in his endeavours to get the party well on their way farther and
+farther into the wilds, making the eyes of the boys dilate as he told
+them in fair English of the herds of antelope and other game he would
+soon show them in the plains; the giraffes, buffaloes, elephants, and,
+above all, the lions, whose haunts he knew, and to which he promised to
+take them.
+
+Whenever the father began to talk in this strain his two sons grew
+excited, and started to perform hunting dances, in which the number of
+imaginary lions and buffaloes they slew was something enormous.  Every
+now and then, too, the boys killed some imaginary elephant, out of whose
+unwieldy head they made believe to hack the tusks, which they invariably
+brought and laid at their young masters' feet, grunting the while with
+the exertion.
+
+Dick soon grew tired of it however.
+
+"It's all very well," he said; "but if that is the way we are to load
+the waggons with ivory, we shall be a long time getting enough to pay
+the expenses of the journey."
+
+Mr Rogers joined them one day as they were walking along in advance of
+the slow-moving waggon, and began to question the Zulu about the game in
+the wilds north of where they were; and in his broken English he gave so
+glowing an account that his hearers began to doubt its truth.
+
+He said that when he had had to flee from his own people for his life,
+he had at first gone right away into the hunting country, and stayed
+there for a year, finding out, in his wanderings, places where hunting
+and shooting people had never been.  Here, he declared, the wild
+creatures had taken refuge as in a sanctuary; and he declared that he
+should take the boss who had been so kind to his boys, and both the
+young bosses, to a wild place where they would find game in abundance,
+and where the forests held the great rhinoceros, plenty of elephants,
+and amongst whose open glades the tall giraffe browse the leafage of the
+high trees.  There in the plains were herds of buffalo too numerous to
+count, quagga, zebra, gnu, eland, and bok of all kinds.  There was a
+great river there, he said, full of fish, and with great crocodiles
+ready to seize upon the unwary.  The hippopotamus was there too, big and
+massive, ready to upset boats or to attack all he could see.
+
+Mr Rogers watched his sons attentively as the Zulu narrated his
+experience of the land, and he was delighted to see how much Dick was
+already leaving off his dull languid ways, and taking an interest in
+what was projected.  One thing the father wished to arrive at, and that
+was whether Dick would be frightened through his weakness, and the
+hunting parties consequently do him more harm than good.  But just then
+a question put by his son showed him that he was as eager as his brother
+for an encounter with the wild creatures of the forest and plains.
+
+"And do you say there are lions?" said Dick.
+
+"Yes, plenty lion," said the Zulu.  "They come to camp at night, and try
+to get the ox and horse."
+
+"Oomph! oomph! oomph!" growled Coffee, in an admirable imitation of the
+lion's roar.
+
+"Keep big fire," said the Zulu, "then no lion come."
+
+"Well, Dick," said Mr Rogers, "how do you feel?  Ready for the fray?"
+
+"Yes, father, I am longing for the time when we shall get amongst the
+wild beasts.  I want to try my gun; and I want to grow strong and manly,
+like Jack."
+
+"All in good time, my boy," replied Mr Rogers, smiling.  "We shall soon
+be leaving civilisation almost entirely behind, and then you shall make
+your first attempts at becoming a mighty hunter."
+
+Comparatively uninteresting as the journey was, they still had plenty to
+take their attention--grand views of distant mountains; wondrous
+sunsets; great flights of birds; but the absence of game was remarkable;
+and twice over, in spite of their being so well armed and provided, Mr
+Rogers was glad to purchase a freshly-killed springbok of a Boer, at one
+of the outlying farms that they passed.
+
+On the seventh night out though, their fortune was better, for they had
+out-spanned, or loosened their oxen from the waggon, just by a clump of
+trees in a wide plain, and the Zulu went off the moment they stopped.
+
+Both Peter and Dirk began to complain, for they expected help from their
+black companion; but upon this occasion they had their work to do
+without aid, Coffee and Chicory having also gone off with their kiris in
+search of game.
+
+Mr Rogers and his sons started off to see if they could provide
+anything palatable for supper; but though there was a swampy lagoon
+about a mile away, they did not catch sight of a single duck, and were
+returning tired and disappointed when they caught sight of the Zulu
+signalling to them to come.
+
+"He has found something," cried Jack eagerly; and they hastened over the
+rugged intervening space, to find that the father of Coffee and Chicory
+was evidently a keen hunter, and ready enough in knowing where to look
+for creatures that would do for food.
+
+With almost unerring instinct he had found out this clump of trees,
+evidently one where guinea-fowl came to roost; and full of hope that
+they would now obtain a good addition to the larder, or, in plain
+English, a few birds to roast for supper, guns were supplied with
+cartridges, and the little party waited for the coming of the spotted
+birds.
+
+The pleasurable anticipations of the boys, who had a lively recollection
+of the toothsome bird with a flavour half-way between roast fowl and
+pheasant, seemed likely to be damped, for they had been waiting quite
+half an hour without hearing or seeing anything, when suddenly the Zulu
+laid his hand upon Jack's arm, and pointed in a direction opposite to
+the waggon.
+
+"Well, what are you pointing at?" said Jack.  "I can't see anything.
+Yes, I can; there they are, father.  Look out!"
+
+Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
+
+Half-a-dozen rapid shots, and then, amidst the whizzing of wings and
+cries of the birds, some of which flew off, while others ran through the
+short grass at an astounding rate, Coffee, Chicory, and their father ran
+out beneath the trees; and the result of the firing was brought in--ten
+fine plump birds for their supper.
+
+This was the first night that they had passed in the open, the previous
+halts having been made at some farm; so after the supper the blacks were
+set to gather in more wood, the fire was well made up, and the oxen
+secured, it being decided to begin at once upon the regular plan that
+they would have to adopt in the enemy's country, the enemy being formed
+of the various wild creatures against whom they were having their
+campaign.
+
+Years back the spot where they were encamped had been famous for lions,
+but from what Mr Rogers had heard, none had been seen here now for a
+considerable time.  Still he thought it better to take precautions, the
+party being divided into three watches, the first of which he took
+himself, with Chicory for a companion; Jack was to take the second, with
+the Zulu; and Dick, Coffee, and Dinny were to form the third.
+
+The oxen and horses having been all secured, the fire was piled up, and
+those who were to rest gladly availed themselves of the opportunity, and
+in a very short time nothing was to be heard but the fluttering noise
+made by the burning fire, and the snorting sigh of one or the other of
+the horses.
+
+In due time Jack was aroused, to sit up and stare at his father.
+
+"What's matter?" he said sleepily.
+
+"Nothing, only that it is your turn to watch," said his father.
+
+"Why, I've only just lain down," replied Jack.  "It can't be time yet."
+
+But a good rub at his eyes seemed to bring a little thoughtfulness as
+well, and he climbed put of the waggon and descended to the ground.
+
+"I don't think you will have anything to alarm you, my boy," said his
+father.  "Wake me up though if there is the slightest sign of danger."
+
+Jack promised, and, shivering and uncomfortable, he crept up to the
+fire, which the Zulu renewed; but though he roasted his face and knees,
+his back felt horribly cold, and he heartily wished himself at home, and
+in his snug bed.  But the Zulu began to look round at the cattle, to
+satisfy himself that all were safe; and then seating himself with his
+assegai across his knees close to the fire, he began to tell the young
+Englishman about the dangers that would have surrounded them if they had
+encamped here a few years earlier; and, then he lapsed into such vivid
+accounts of his own hunting adventures and escapes, that the four hours'
+watch seemed to have passed like magic, and Jack was ready to finish the
+next; but recalling the last injunctions he had received from his
+father, he went to the waggon, roused up Dick, and from under it Dinny
+and Coffee, and soon after left them to finish the morning watch.
+
+Jack felt as if it would be of no use to try and sleep again; but
+knowing that their next day's journey would be very fatiguing, he lay
+down in his brother's place, found the blankets very warm and cosy, and
+then, with the sound of Dinny yawning loudly, he fell fast asleep.  He
+seemed hardly to have closed his eyes, when a shout aroused him, just as
+he heard his father seize his double rifle, and go to the front of the
+waggon.
+
+Jack did likewise, with as much speed as his sleepy confusion would
+allow; and on reaching the opening he found that it was still dark, so
+that he could not have been long asleep, the fire was burning
+brilliantly, and every one was on the alert.
+
+"Yes, I seemed to hear it myself in my sleep," said Mr Rogers, in
+answer to some words spoken by Dick.  "Did it sound near?"
+
+"Sure, sor, it was close by, and I thought the bastes had got one of the
+bullocks."
+
+The Zulu was with them now, having sprung from his place beneath the
+waggon, asking eagerly what was wrong.
+
+"They heard a lion prowling round," replied Mr Rogers.
+
+"No, no," said the Zulu.  "No lion here."
+
+"But I heard it quite plainly," said Dick, who felt angry at being
+doubted.
+
+"Sure and I did too, so close to me shoulder that I could feel the
+baste's breath blow over on to me chake."
+
+"No, no," said the Zulu.  "Look! see!"
+
+He pointed towards the oxen and horses in turn.
+
+"But it would be impossible to see it in this darkness," said Mr
+Rogers.
+
+"Yes, but the oxen," said the Zulu.  "They would not lie quiet if there
+was a lion."
+
+"Of course not," said Mr Rogers, envying the savage his knowledge.
+"Then what caused the alarm?"
+
+There was no reply; and after satisfying themselves that all was safe,
+and piling up the rest of the wood upon the fire--for the streaks of the
+coming dawn could be seen--the tired watchers returned to the waggon,
+and slept until roused for breakfast, when the secret of the alarm came
+out, Coffee having been afraid to confess at the time that he knew it
+was his brother imitating the lion's cry in his sleep, his proximity to
+Dick and Dinny making it seem the more real.  Feeling sure that he would
+be punished if he spoke, Coffee had remained silent, and so the matter
+ended, Dick laughing heartily at the false alarm, though Dinny would not
+believe that the cry emanated from the boy.
+
+"Jist as if I was such a biby as to belave that story, Masther Jack," he
+said.  "I tell ye it was the lion himself attacking the bastes, and
+you'll see he'll be about the camp now every night, as regular as
+clockwork.  It's very good of the masther to try and put one at his aise
+about the wild bastes; but that there was a lion--I know it was; and if,
+Masther Jack, dear, I'm missing some night, ye may know that there's a
+lion aiting of me; and I hope ye'll take me bones back and give me a
+dacent burying somewhere among Christians, and not lave them kicking
+about out here in a foreign land."
+
+"But how can you be so stupid, Dinny?  Father says it was Chicory, and
+you know how he imitates the wild beasts."
+
+"Ah, do ye take me for a baby, Masther Jack?" said the man,
+reproachfully.  "There, let it go.  I'm your father's servant, and he
+must have his own way; but it's cruel work this coming out into such
+savage lands; and there's one man as will niver see home parts again."
+
+When once Dinny had got an idea in his, head, to use his own words, "a
+shillelagh would not knock it out;" so he remained perfectly certain
+that the camp had been attacked by a lion; and he went about prophesying
+that the coming night would produce two.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+HOW THE BOYS FOUND IT WAS NOT EASY TO SHOOT.
+
+The oxen were in-spanned and the horses saddled, on as glorious a
+morning as ever shone over the great African continent.  The breakfast
+things had been stowed away, a glance given round to see that nothing
+had been left behind; the driver's and foreloper's whips cracked; and
+with loud shouts of, "Trek, boys, trek!" the great waggon slowly went on
+its course, every one forgetting the troubles of the disturbed night, in
+the glorious sunshine and dew-glittering herbage.
+
+Coffee and Chicory ran and bounded and spun their kiris in the air,
+catching them again, and then running on beside the cantering horses of
+their young masters, while their father ran beside Mr Rogers' big bay.
+Above all, the dogs showed their delight by barking, yelping, and making
+insane charges here and there, Rough'un's great delight being to run his
+head into one or other of the holes made by the burrowing animals of the
+plains, and then worrying and snapping at nothing until he was called
+away.
+
+As the waggon lumbered on, father and sons wandered off to left or
+right, exploring, examining the trees and strange plants, and sometimes
+bringing down some bright-plumaged bird, which was carefully laid in a
+tin case carried for the purpose by the Zulu, ready to be skinned and
+dressed to keep as a specimen on their return.
+
+That they were approaching the game country was now hourly becoming
+plainer, for from time to time little knots of bok could be seen upon
+the hills; but when Dick or Jack eagerly drew the attention of the Zulu
+to the fact, he laughed, and said it was nothing, bidding them to wait.
+
+"We must have some venison for dinner to-day, boys," said Mr Rogers,
+cantering up; "so one of you had better try your rifle.  Who's it to
+be?"
+
+"Let it be Jack, father," said Dick, quietly; "my hands are not steady
+yet."
+
+"Very good," said Mr Rogers; while the Zulu listened attentively,
+trying to comprehend every word.  "Now then, Jack, how shall you go to
+work?  There is a little herd of half-a-dozen springbok there, on that
+hill, nearly a mile away."
+
+"Get close and shoot them," replied Jack, stoutly.
+
+"Say, if you can, my boy," replied Mr Rogers, smiling.  "Now look here,
+Jack, this is the way the Boers shoot springbok, and I don't think you
+will find a better plan.  Have a few cartridges handy, so that you can
+load quickly, and then gallop easily towards the herd, which will begin
+playing about, till they grow too alarmed to let you get nearer, and
+then they'll bound off.  This is your time: gallop up as close as you
+can, and when you see they are about to go, leap from your horse and
+fire--reload, and fire again.  If you are very quick you may get three
+shots at the herd before they are out of range."
+
+"But suppose I miss, father?" said Jack.
+
+"Don't suppose anything of the kind, my boy," said Mr Rogers, smiling;
+"but go and do it.  Time enough to consider failure when you have
+failed."
+
+Jack nodded, opened the breech of his gun, placed half-a-dozen
+cartridges ready, leaped down to tighten the girths of his saddle, the
+cob standing perfectly still.  Then mounting once more, he waved his
+hand, touched his horse's sides with his heels, and away it went like
+the wind.
+
+As he started, Chicory, who seemed to have adopted him as his leader,
+made a bound at the saddle, caught hold of the pommel, and ran by his
+side with marvellous speed.
+
+The springbok seemed to pay not the slightest heed to their approach,
+and Jack was beginning to feel excited with the chase, and to calculate
+how far they should be able to get before having to dismount, when all
+at once there was a sudden check; he went flying over his horse's head,
+his double barrel escaped from his hand, and he found himself lying on
+the hard sandy earth, confused and puzzled, with Chicory trying to pull
+him up; and Stockings standing close by, snorting and shivering with
+fear.
+
+Jack got up, and limped to where his rifle lay, feeling stupid, and
+wondering how it was that he had been thrown; and he had but regained
+his piece, and was ruefully examining it, when his father and Dick came
+galloping up.
+
+"Much hurt, my boy?" cried Mr Rogers, eagerly.
+
+"Only my leg and arm a little," said Jack, rubbing first one and then
+the other; "but I did think I could ride better than that, father."
+
+"Ride, my boy?  Why, no one could have helped that.  Don't you know how
+it was?"
+
+"I know Stockings threw me," replied Jack.
+
+"Threw you?  Nonsense, boy!  He set his fore feet in an ant-bear hole,
+and turned a complete somersault.  We were afraid that he had rolled
+upon you."
+
+"Then a good rider couldn't have helped it, father?"
+
+"Helped it?  No, my boy."
+
+"Oh, I feel better now," said Jack, laughing; and, limping up to his
+horse, he patted its neck and remounted, though not without difficulty.
+"Where's the bok, Chicory?"
+
+Chicory pointed to where they were, nearly a mile away, and looking
+exceedingly small, but quite clear in the bright African atmosphere; and
+without a word he set off again.
+
+"Ought he to go, father?" said Dick.
+
+"Yes, my boy.  He is not much hurt, and it will be a lesson to both him
+and his horse.  I am glad to see that he has so much spirit."
+
+A short chuckle close by made Mr Rogers turn his head, and he saw that
+the Zulu understood his words, and was smiling approval.
+
+"Brave boy!  Make big hunter warrior, some day," said the Zulu.
+
+"Boss Dick big brave hunter too," cried Coffee indignantly, as he went
+and laid a hand upon the neck of Dick's horse.  "Boss Dick go shoot
+bok?"
+
+"Not now, Coffee," replied Dick, smiling; and then the little group
+remained watching Jack, who was in full chase of the springbok, which,
+as he came nearer, began to skip and bound and gambol together, leaping
+over each other's backs, but all the time watching the coming enemy.
+
+It was an exciting time for Jack, and in it he forgot the pain in his
+shoulder and the stiffness of his leg.  He had the rifle-barrel ready
+cocked, and his feet out of the stirrups, and at last, when he had
+galloped up to within a couple of hundred yards, he saw such evident
+preparations for flight on the part of the little bok, that he leaped
+down, dropped upon one knee, and fired straight at the flying herd.
+
+Before the smoke had risen he had another cartridge in the rifle, and
+fired again.  Once more he threw open the breech and loaded--and fired,
+though by this time the bok were seven or eight hundred yards away.  But
+in spite of the care in the aim taken, no bok fell struggling to the
+ground, and Jack rode back slowly to join his father, wondering whether
+the bore of his rifle was true, for he knew, he said to himself, that he
+had aimed straight.
+
+When he hinted at the possibility of the rifle being in fault, his
+father smiled, and Dick gave him so comical a look that Jack said no
+more, but rode on silently by the side of the waggon, till, seeing his
+disappointment, his father joined him.
+
+"Why, you foolish boy," he exclaimed, "it was not likely that you would
+hit one of those flying bok.  It is a matter of long practice; and even
+the Boers, who have studied such shooting for years, often miss."
+
+"But you see, father, I did make such a dreadful mess of it," pleaded
+Jack.  "I came off my horse; and then I shot over and over again, and
+missed.  I can't help feeling what a muddle I made."
+
+"Well, for my part," said his father, "I am rather glad that you failed.
+If you had succeeded, my boy, without effort at the first trial, it
+would have made you careless.  These failures will teach you the
+necessity for using care, and trying to perfect yourself as a marksman."
+
+"But there'll be no bok for dinner," said Jack ruefully.
+
+"Never mind," replied Mr Rogers.  "I daresay the boys will bring in
+something."
+
+He was right, for Coffee and Chicory brought in six great plain
+partridges, which they had knocked down with their kiris, and these were
+roasted at the midday meal, and eaten with the appetite found in the
+desert.
+
+As the day wore on, and after the refreshed oxen were once more doing
+their duty, the effects of the last night's scare began to show itself,
+Peter, Dirk, and Dinny declaring that they had seen lions creeping after
+the waggon in the distance, ready to pounce upon the oxen as soon as it
+was dark.
+
+Dirk reported this to Mr Rogers, who gave them all a good, talking to
+about their cowardice.
+
+"Why, look at these Zulu boys," he cried; "they don't show any fear,
+while you grown men are almost as bad as children."
+
+"Sure, sor, an' the Zulu boys don't know any better," said Dinny.
+"They're little better than the bastes themselves."
+
+"Well, there are my own boys," exclaimed Mr Rogers.  "They are not
+afraid.  I wonder at you, Dinny, an Irishman, and to set such a bad
+example to these blacks."
+
+"And is it afraid?" said Dinny.  "Not a bit of it.  I'm not a bit afraid
+at all; but I can't help thinking of what my poor mother's feelings
+would be if she came to know that her only son Dennis had been aiten up
+by wild bastes.  I don't mind a bit, but I wouldn't hurt her feelings
+for the world."
+
+"Then oblige me, Dinny, by holding your tongue, for if I hear any more
+complaints I shall send you back."
+
+"Sind me back!" ejaculated Dinny, as soon as his master had gone.  "Sind
+me back across the big desert all alone by meself.  Why, it would be
+worse than murther.  It's meself wishes I hadn't come."
+
+Whatever he may have wished, these sharp words had the effect of
+silencing Dinny for the time being; but when the Zulu had led them at
+last, just at sundown, into a dense patch of forest, where the
+overhanging trees made the gloom quite oppressive, Dinny's eyes showed
+white circles round them; and if it had not been for the fact that they
+found a Boer and his family encamped by the water they had been seeking,
+the Irishman would have probably turned, and at all risks have fled.
+
+People are ready enough to make friends out in the desert, and the Boer
+gladly offered the use of the fire he had made, and a part of the
+springbok he had shot, on receiving a share of some of the good things
+brought by the newcomers.  Then, with the great camp-kettle simmering
+over the fire, and with the boys patiently waiting for their share of
+the provisions, guns were cleaned and laid ready for use, the men the
+while busily attending to the oxen and horses, while the Zulu and his
+boys collected wood into a pile to keep up the fire.
+
+"Sure an' it's a dreadful melancholy-looking place," said Dinny with a
+shudder.  And then he listened attentively while the Boer expressed his
+belief that there were lions in the neighbourhood, though they were not
+often seen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+HOW NATURE WAS STRONGER THAN TRAINING.
+
+Days and days of steady travel, and the slowly gained miles mounted up
+till they had journeyed far into the interior.  Mr Rogers, yielding to
+the importunities of his boys, had several times over been ready to come
+to a halt; but the Zulu still pointed forward, and feeling that there
+must be much truth in his declarations regarding the game country on
+ahead, he was allowed to act as guide.
+
+It was a long journey, but though they did not have much sport, it was
+not monotonous, for Mr Rogers was a good naturalist, and eager to
+collect everything curious in beetle, butterfly, and bird, so that all
+hands were pretty busy from dawn to dark.  Coffee and Chicory, after
+they had been taught not to pull off the feathers, became very clever at
+skinning birds, some of which had been denizens of the woods, some of
+the lagoons and marshes they had passed, and which were shot at
+daybreak, or else after sunset, from amongst the great beds of reeds.
+Then if they were ducks, the bodies became occupants of the great pot;
+if they were not considered eatable they fell to the share of the dogs.
+
+That great iron pot, which was always suspended from three poles over
+every fire that was made, became an institution.  The idea was taken
+from a hint given by a hunting-party, one of the gentlemen forming it
+telling Mr Rogers that, upon returning weary and exhausted to camp,
+there was nothing so restorative us good rich soup.  Consequently,
+whenever a buck was shot, great pieces of its flesh were placed in the
+pot, and allowed to stew till all their goodness was gone, when the
+blacks considered them a delicacy, the rich soup being the portion of
+the hunting-party.
+
+Game was scarce, but they got a sufficiency of either small bok or birds
+to supply their wants; and, whether it was the constant change, the
+fresh air, the rich meat essence which Dick partook of with avidity, or
+whether it was a combination of the effect of all these, the change in
+the boy was magical.  He could take a long ride now without feeling
+weary, and wanting in appetite; he was ready to buckle to and help when
+the waggon was stuck, literally putting his shoulder to the wheel with a
+will, and in place of hanging back, he was now the first to spy out
+game, and set off in chase, making Jack quite envious by coming back in
+triumph with a couple of springbok hanging from his saddle-bows, both
+having had to succumb to his rifle.
+
+But this was not to be borne; and Jack at once took Chicory into his
+confidence.
+
+"I must shoot a springbok, Chick," he said.  "Dick has shot two."
+
+"Boss Jack shoot springbok to-morrow," said the boy, decisively; and
+soon after daybreak roused his young master, and pointed out across the
+plain towards the rising sun.
+
+"Bok," he said laconically; and while Jack was giving a finishing touch
+or two to his dress, the boy ran off, and began to saddle Stockings,
+having the little horse ready by the time Jack was prepared to mount.
+
+The others were not awake, saving the Zulu and Dick, who had the morning
+watch; so Jack got off unquestioned, and rode away in the direction
+pointed out by Chicory, whose dark eyes made out the presence of the
+little bok long before they could be seen by his young master, who began
+to think that he had been deceived, and expressed his doubts upon the
+point.
+
+But Chicory smiled, and laid his hand upon Jack's arm, pointing to where
+some shadow shapes of animals could be seen through the faint mist
+hanging over a low clump of hillocks; and with a cry of joy the boy
+pressed his horse's sides, and went off at a swinging canter, without
+discomposing Chicory in the least, for the boy held on to a strap at the
+pummel of the saddle as before, and there being no ant-bear hole in the
+way, or, the horse having learned better through his fall, they rapidly
+neared the little herd, which began the antics peculiar to these
+animals, till the lad was getting close up, when they began to flee at a
+tremendous rate.
+
+Quick as thought, Jack had sprung from his saddle, and sent a bullet
+after the herd; then another, and another; but all apparently without
+result.  Then disappointed and vexed, Jack turned to Chicory as if it
+was his fault.  But the boy had climbed an old ant-hill, and was
+watching the flying herd with his eyes shaded by his hand.
+
+"One down--two down," he cried, sending joy through Jack's breast; for,
+on galloping after the herd, it was to find one bok lying dead, and
+another so badly wounded that it became an easy capture.
+
+It was with no little importance then that Jack rode back with his two
+bok, ready to receive the congratulations of his father, for his
+manifest improvement in handling his rifle, and in hunting the bok
+according to the accepted plan.
+
+At last their guide, after looking-on with something almost supercilious
+in his face at this, to him, puny style of hunting, and contentment with
+such small game as birds, springbok, and the like, announced that the
+next day they would be entering upon what he termed his hunting country.
+
+The travellers had now reached a more rugged tract of land, scored with
+deep ravines, along which, at some time or another, small rivers must
+have coursed, while now the narrow stony tracks were found convenient
+for waggon tracks, though often enough the way was cruelly difficult,
+and all had to set to and clear a passage for the wheels by bodily
+removing some of the worst of the stones.
+
+There was no hesitation or hanging back at such times, for all had to
+set to, even Dinny playing a pretty good part, considering that he
+abhorred manual labour.
+
+Quite a change seemed to have come over the General, as Dick aptly
+dubbed their Zulu guide; for though he gave way in everything connected
+with the management of the waggon, and was exceedingly respectful to Mr
+Rogers, no sooner did any hunting matter come to the front, or a
+question of the best direction to take, than he seemed to take the lead
+as if in spite of himself.
+
+At first Mr Rogers felt annoyed, and ready to put the man down; but in
+a very short time he saw that the Zulu's sole thought was for the
+success of the expedition, and that his actions were the natural results
+of his former life; for, savage though he was, and servant to this
+expedition, he had been a prince in his own tribe, and a leader amongst
+the people.
+
+The night was coming on fast, when one day, after a long and weary trek,
+the heavily-laden waggon was approaching a belt of elevated forest-land,
+where the General had assured Mr Rogers they would find water.
+
+It had been a toilsome day, hot and dusty, and at their midday rest
+there had been hardly a mouthful of herbage for the tired oxen, while
+water there was none.  The contents of the two casks swinging behind the
+waggon were jealously guarded for the travellers' use; but so miserable
+did the cattle seem that the two boys asked their father to tap one of
+them for the oxen and horses.
+
+"It will be but a taste a-piece," he said; "but perhaps you are right,
+boys."
+
+Then the tap being set running, every ox and horse had a refreshing
+taste, though it was hard work to get the pail away from each thirsty
+mouth.
+
+Then all through that long parching afternoon they had toiled on, with
+the draught cattle growing more listless, the horses sluggish and
+restless; and a general feeling of weariness seemed to have seized upon
+all.
+
+The result was shown in the silence with which they progressed.  The
+driver and foreloper ceased to shout and crack their whips; the Zulus
+trudged slowly on behind the waggon; and out of compassion for their
+horses, Mr Rogers and his sons walked beside the weary beasts.
+
+"You are sure we shall find water at sundown?" said Dick to the General.
+
+"Nothing is sure out in the wilds, young master," said the Zulu gravely.
+"There should be water there.  If there is not, we must trek on through
+the night, to the first river or spring."
+
+"But will there be water there?"
+
+"We shall be in the game country then, and I can soon find where the
+game goes to drink, and can lead you there."
+
+This was satisfactory, and they trudged on and on, with the land
+gradually rising, making the pull more heavy for the oxen, whose tongues
+were lolling out, and whose efforts at last became so painful that Mr
+Rogers at once accepted his sons' proposal, which was that the horses
+should help.
+
+A halt was called, and great stones were placed beneath the wheels to
+make sure that there should be no running backwards on the part of the
+waggon, and then the tethering ropes were fastened to the horses'
+saddles; the Zulus and the boys took their head; the word was given to
+start; the ropes that had been secured to different parts of the waggon
+tightened; and though the horses could not pull as if they were properly
+harnessed, the impulse they gave relieved the weary oxen, and after half
+an hour's toilsome drag, the waggon was drawn to the top of the incline,
+and the travellers had the pleasure of seeing that a tolerably level way
+lay before them.
+
+But there was no sign of water, and Mr Rogers looked serious as he
+swept the dimly seen country before him with his glass.
+
+"Had we not better outspan here?" he said, "and let the oxen rest.  We
+could start again at daybreak."
+
+But the General shook his head.
+
+"No, boss," he replied.  "Let us go on.  We may find water yet."
+
+Mr Rogers gave way, and in a listless, weary fashion the heavy waggon
+was dragged on.
+
+"Oh, I am so tired," cried Jack; "and I'd give anything to be able to
+walk right into a big pond and drink, and soak myself outside.  My skin
+feels as if it was cracking."
+
+"I'm very tired, too," said Dick; "but not so tired as I thought I
+should be.  Why I must have walked twenty miles to-day.  I wonder
+whether that means that I am growing stronger."
+
+"You need not wonder," said Mr Rogers, who had heard his words.  "You
+may be sure, my boy.  But how dark it is growing!  There are the stars."
+
+"What's the matter with the bullocks?" cried Jack suddenly.  "Why,
+father, they're gone mad with thirst."
+
+"Water," cried the General, pointing ahead.  "They smell the water."
+
+The sensitiveness was caught up by the horses, which, like the oxen,
+quickened their pace, craning with outstretched muzzles, their fine
+instinct telling them that there was water on ahead, towards which they
+struggled to get.
+
+Great care was needed now lest the water should prove to be merely a
+well or pool, into which the bullocks would rush, muddying the water,
+and perhaps trampling one another to death in their efforts to reach the
+refreshing liquid.  But strive hard as they would, it proved to be
+impossible to keep the thirsty creatures back.  The waggon had not
+proceeded so fast since they started; and the speed was growing greater,
+causing the great lumbering vehicle to rock and sway in a most alarming
+fashion.  If they had encountered a rock, however small, there must have
+been a crash.  But as it happened, they came on very level ground,
+sloping gently towards the north.
+
+Klipmann, the foremost ox, a great black fellow with long horns, had
+proclaimed the find, and communicated the fact with a deep-mouthed
+bellow; and the next minute all was excitement and shouting, as the
+great waggon thundered and groaned along.
+
+The first thing to be done was to detach the horses, which was no sooner
+done than they seemed to take fright, and went off at a gallop into the
+gloom ahead; then, amidst the yells and shoutings of Peter and Dirk, who
+danced about as if mad, efforts were made to check the oxen; but the
+poor beasts were frantic with thirst, and any serious attempt to stop
+them would have meant goring, trampling down, or being crushed by the
+wheels of the ponderous waggon.
+
+The wild race lasted for a mile, during which every moment threatened to
+be the waggon's last.  The oxen lowed and trotted on, the waggon
+creaked, and the loose articles rattled and banged together.  Mr Rogers
+and his sons panted on at the sides, momentarily expecting to see it go
+over, and Coffee and Chicory, who had been very slow and silent for
+hours, whooped and yelled and added to the excitement.
+
+"It's all over with our trip, Jack," panted Dick.  "We shall have to
+pick up the pieces to-morrow and go back."
+
+"Wait a bit, and let's see.  Why, what's the General going to do?"
+
+For all at once the Zulu had darted on ahead after snatching a kiri from
+Chicory's hand, seized the foremost bullock, old Klipmann, by the horn,
+and, at the risk of being impaled or trampled down, he beat the stubborn
+bullock over the head with the club, and treating the other, its
+yoke-fellow, the same, he forced them into taking a different course,
+almost at right angles to that which they were pursuing.
+
+"Stop, stop!" roared Mr Rogers.  "You will upset the waggon."
+
+But he was too late.  The course of the leading oxen being changed, the
+others swerved round, giving such a tug at the dissel-boom that the
+waggon's wreck seemed certain.  The whole team taking, as it did, a
+different course, the waggon was dragged side-wise, and for a few
+seconds tottered on its two nearside, or left-hand, wheels.
+
+It seemed as if it must go over crash--that nothing could save it; and
+Jack uttered a cry of dismay, and warning to his brother to get out of
+the way.  Then, as if by a miracle, it fell back with a heavy thud on to
+the other wheels, and bumped and jolted on after the long team of oxen
+into the obscurity.  And then, when ruin seemed to have come completely
+upon the expedition, _wish-wash_! _splish-splash_! the foaming of
+water--the crunching of wheels over stones and sand--a quick rush--and
+the waggon was standing, axletree deep, in a swiftly flowing river, down
+whose shelving bank it had been dragged, and in whose cool waters the
+oxen and horses were washing their legs, and drinking deeply with
+delight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+AN AWFUL FORD TO CROSS.
+
+It was a wonderful relief, and following the example of the animals,
+every one waded into the cool stream above the oxen, and drank deeply of
+the delicious water.
+
+"Oh, I say, father," cried Jack, "I never thought water was so good
+before.  This _is_ a river."
+
+And really Jack had an idea that he had tumbled upon a stream whose
+waters were wine-like in their flavour; and but for a few words of
+warning he would have gone on drinking more deeply still.
+
+"Thank goodness!" cried Mr Rogers, as soon as he could gain his breath.
+"But what an escape!  The waggon nearly went over.  Where is that
+scoundrel of a Zulu?  Oh there you are," he cried excitedly.  "How dared
+you touch the oxen, sir!  Your mad folly nearly spoiled our journey."
+
+The General looked back at Mr Rogers, drawing himself up in savage
+pride, and his eyes seemed to flash in the darkness; but he did not
+speak, only turned away with a dignified look of displeasure.
+
+"I know why he did it, father," cried Dick, excitedly.  "Look, don't you
+see?  The ground slopes down here to the water.  Up there it's all rock,
+and the team would have gone over a precipice.  See, it's twenty feet
+deep."
+
+"Of course!  To be sure!" cried Mr Rogers eagerly.  "His keen sight
+showed him the danger.  I beg your pardon, my man," he cried, "I did not
+know the reason, and ought not to have acted and spoken so rashly."
+
+He held out his hand to the stern scowling Zulu, as he spoke; but for a
+moment the savage hot blood that had been roused by his leader's
+injustice refused to be tamed down, and he remained with his arms
+folded; but glancing at Dick's eager countenance, and recalling how it
+was due to him that the real truth of his actions was made known, the
+General let his better feelings prevail, and snatching Mr Rogers' hand
+in his, he held it for a moment to his broad breast, and then let it
+fall.
+
+"Why you saved the waggon," said Mr Rogers, after walking to the edge
+of the sudden descent where the rock went down sheer to the water, which
+bubbled and foamed against its side.
+
+"Yes; all gone over together," said the General quietly.  "Now all go
+across."
+
+"But is it wise--is it safe--to attempt to cross to-night?" said Mr
+Rogers.
+
+"Will see," replied the General; and going down into the water, he
+walked straight out past the heads of the oxen, literally disappearing
+into the darkness as he waded on.
+
+"Isn't he very brave to do that, father?" asked Jack, who had watched
+the Zulu go from where they stood by the hind part of the waggon, whose
+back wheels were on the dry sand.
+
+"Coffee no 'fraid to go," said that young gentleman.
+
+"Chicory go too after father," said his brother; and the two boys dashed
+into the rushing water past the oxen, and then disappeared.
+
+"What madness!" said Mr Rogers.  "Why the stream runs swiftly enough
+for them to be swept away."
+
+Both Jack and Dick gazed eagerly out over the swift river; but the black
+figures of the young Zulus seemed to disappear in the darkness, and for
+some few minutes there was an excited pang while they listened to the
+bubbling of the water against the fore wheels of the waggon, or the
+plashing made by the oxen as they lazily moved their legs, apparently
+enjoying the pleasant coolness of the water after their toilsome march.
+
+"I ought not to have allowed them to go," said Mr Rogers suddenly.
+"Here, Dinny, bring me the bay.  I'll mount, and try and ride over to
+their help."
+
+"Bring the what, sor?" said Dinny.
+
+"The bay," cried Mr Rogers.  "Quick, man! quick!"
+
+"An' how'll I be getting at him, sor?" said Dinny.  "Sure he's standing
+out there in the wather catching cowld, and I couldn't reach him widout
+getting very wet."
+
+"Why you did wade in to drink," cried Jack, indignantly.
+
+And with a rush and a splash he ran into the water, to where he could
+dimly make out the form of the big bay; and catching it by the halter,
+he drew it after him, the rest of the thirst-quenched horses coming
+_plash_! _plash_! out of the water, and following the bay like so many
+sheep.
+
+Mr Rogers was about to mount, when the General's voice was heard
+hailing Peter and Dirk; and directly after their hearts were set at rest
+about Coffee and Chicory, who could be heard laughing in the darkness.
+
+"All shallow water," cried the General.  "Trek, Peter; trek, Dirk.  Good
+place all across."
+
+Mr Rogers hesitated as to the advisability of crossing in the darkness;
+but the oxen were already in, the waggon was also nearly in the river,
+and if allowed to stay for a few hours it would probably sink deeply in
+the sand.  So, leaving his men to pursue their own course, he also waded
+in, while Dirk cracked his whip, Peter mounted on to the box and
+followed suit, and Klipmann, the black bullock, headed on into the
+stream.  The shadowy-looking team could be dimly seen to straighten out;
+there was a heavy pull at the waggon, and another, and another, before
+its fore wheels were extricated from the sand in which they were sinking
+fast, showing the wisdom of at once proceeding; and then, _plash_!
+_plash_! and with the water rushing against them, the party began to
+cross.
+
+"My! how strong the current is," cried Jack.
+
+"Take hold of the waggon, my boy," said Mr Rogers.
+
+But as the water did not come up to his waist, Jack did not mind.  And
+so the heavy load was dragged slowly through the stream.
+
+"I say, Jack," said Dick, suddenly, just as they started, "there are
+crocodiles in these rivers, ain't there?"
+
+"Oh, murther!" ejaculated Dinny, who had gone into the water very
+unwillingly, and had wanted to ride, but Mr Rogers had refused to have
+the waggon loaded any more, preferring himself to walk.
+
+Then there was a rush and a splash, that passed unnoticed in the bustle
+of crossing; and at the end of ten minutes, by the General's guidance
+the team was led to a gentle slope, which they easily mounted, and
+dragged the dripping waggon forth on to a level grassy plain.
+
+The horses had followed, to stand about snorting and stamping, fresh and
+bright with their bathe; and it was now determined, dark as it was, to
+trek on for a couple of miles to a rich grassy spot that the General
+said was ahead, and would be a good place for outspanning and camp, when
+a dismal yell was heard from the farther shore.
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed Mr Rogers.
+
+But no one answered.
+
+"Some one must be in the river," cried Dick, excitedly.  "Where's
+Coffee?"
+
+"Here Coffee," cried the Zulu boy, who had quite accepted his name.
+
+"Then who is it?" said Jack, looking round in the darkness.  "Here's
+Chicory."
+
+"Why, it's Dinny," cried Dick.  "Ahoy!  Dinny!"
+
+"Ahoy!  Help now, Masther Dick, sor," came from some distance off.
+
+"The poor fellow is being swept down the river," exclaimed Mr Rogers,
+leaping on the bay to ford or swim down to the drowning man.  "Dinny!
+Shout, man!  Where are you?" he cried.
+
+"Sure, I'm here.  How'll I get over at all?" came back.
+
+"What!  Are you ashore?" cried Mr Rogers.
+
+"Yis, sor."
+
+"Then wade across, man.  It isn't deep."
+
+"Sure, sor, and I daren't."
+
+"Dare not!" cried Jack.  "Why we did."
+
+"Yis, sor; but a great baste of a thing laid howlt o' me, and I had to
+go back."
+
+"Are there any crocodiles here?" said Mr Rogers, to the Zulu.
+
+"No, boss; no crocodile.  All in Limpopo river."
+
+"I thought so.  Here, Dinny."
+
+"Yis, sor."
+
+"Come across directly, man!  There's nothing to be afraid of!"
+
+"Sure, sor, I'm not afraid a bit!" yelled Dinny.
+
+"Then come over."
+
+"If I did, sor, the crockydiles would be aiting me, and thin what would
+you do?"
+
+"Let me fetch him, father," cried Jack.  "I'll wade over."
+
+"No, let me," said Dick.  "I'm not afraid."
+
+"I don't think a second wetting will do either of you any good," replied
+their father.  "Here, Dick, take the bay and go across, and make the
+stupid fellow hold on by your stirrup-leather.  Take care to go
+straight."
+
+"Help.  What'll I do now?  Are ye going to lave me?" cried Dinny, in
+piteous tones.
+
+"He really deserves to be left," said Mr Rogers.  "We shall have to
+cure him of this cowardice.  Go on, Dick."
+
+Dick leaped into the saddle, touched the willing bay's sides, and the
+horse began to ford the rapid stream, hesitating just a trifle as they
+reached the middle, where the current pressed most hardly against his
+flanks; but keeping steadily on till he was safe across.
+
+"Ah, Masther Dick, dear!" whined Dinny.  "An' it's you, thin?"
+
+"Yes, it's me, my brave Irish boy!" said Dick.
+
+"An' ye didn't bring another of the horses for me, sor?"
+
+"No, Dinny, I didn't," replied Dick, smiling at the other's cowardice.
+"My father said you were to hold on by the stirrup-leather."
+
+"What, and walk acrost?"
+
+"To be sure."
+
+"Saints alive!  I daren't do it, Masther Dick, dear.  Sure the bottom of
+the say--I mane the river--there's paved wid crockydiles; an' every step
+I took I could feel them heaving up under me."
+
+"What, as you were going across, Dinny?"
+
+"Yis, sor.  Not as I minded as long as they kep' quiet; but whin one
+hungry baste laid howlt toight o' me trousers, and scratched me leg wid
+his ugly teeth, I felt that it was time to be off back, and I jist
+escaped."
+
+"Hoi, there, Dick!  Look sharp!"
+
+"Coming!" roared Dick.  "Now then, Dinny.  There are no crocodivils
+here."
+
+"Hark at him now!" cried Dinny.  "Why the river swarms wid 'em.  Did
+they ate the black boys?"
+
+"No, of course not.  What nonsense!  Come, catch hold, and let's go."
+
+"Masther Dick, dear, I've a mother at home in the owld country, and if
+anything was to happen to me, she'd never forgive the masther."
+
+"Catch hold, Dinny.  I tell you there's nothing to fear."
+
+"Sure, Masther Dick, dear, an' I'm not afraid--not the laste bit in the
+worrld; but I couldn't go across there to-night.  Wouldn't ye fetch one
+of the horses, Masther Dick?"
+
+"No," cried Dick impatiently.  "I couldn't do that.  Here, I'll get down
+and wade, and you can ride."
+
+"Thank ye, Masther Dick, dear.  Sure, it's an honourable gintleman ye'll
+make, if ye don't let the crockydivils get ye before your time.  That's
+betther," he said, mounting.  "Howlt on very tight to the horse's mane,
+Masther Dick; and if ye feel one of the bastes feeling and poking ye
+about wid his nose before getting a good grip, jist you call out, and
+I'll put on the speed to drag ye away."
+
+"I wouldn't let my feet dabble in the water, Dinny," said Dick,
+wickedly.  "The crocodiles snap at hands or feet held over in their
+track."
+
+"What'll I do, then?" cried Dinny, in alarm.
+
+"I'd put my feet in my pockets, if I were you," said Dick.
+
+"Sure, an' it's a boy ye are for a joke, Masther Dick," cried Dinny
+grimly.  "I'll howlt me legs up very high.  Ah! what are ye shouting
+about?  We're coming."
+
+"Make haste there, Dick.  Is anything wrong?"
+
+"No, father!" shouted back Dick.  "There, get along with you.  Give him
+his head, Dinny, and he'll go straight across."
+
+"I'd better make him canter, hadn't I, Masther Dick, dear?"
+
+"Canter?  Nonsense!  Why, the poor thing has enough to do to keep his
+feet walking."
+
+"Then it isn't safe at all crossing the river, Masther Dick, dear.  And
+ah, I daren't go like this, wid me riding the good honest baste and you
+walking.  What'll the masther say?"
+
+"That you are a terrible coward, Dinny," replied Dick.
+
+"Be aisy, Masther Dick.  It isn't being a coward, it's thinking av my
+poor mother, and taking care of meself for the poor owld sowl's sake.
+Whisht, Masther Dick, dear, jump up behind and hold on by me, and the
+baste'll carry us both over."
+
+"It's rather hard on the horse, Dinny, but I don't want to get wet, so
+here goes.  Hold tight."
+
+Dick took a leap, "fly the garter" fashion, and came down astride the
+bay, but startling it so that it began to rear and plunge.
+
+"Aisy, Masther Dick, dear, or I'll be off.  Be quiet, ye baste.  What's
+the matter wid ye?  Quiet, now!"
+
+"Is anything the matter there?" came from out of the darkness across the
+river.
+
+"No-o-o-o!" roared Dick, drumming the bay's ribs with his heels.  "Trek!
+go on, old fellow."
+
+"Oh, take care, Masther Dick, dear, whatever ye do," whined Dinny.
+
+"Oh, I'll take care," cried Dick, assuming the lead, and leaning forward
+so as to get the reins.  "There, I'll guide; you hold him tightly with
+your knees.  Go on, bay."
+
+On went the bay steadily enough; and there was no disposition to waver
+now, even in the sharpest parts of the stream, for the extra weight upon
+his back made him firmer.  But just as they reached the middle of the
+river a mischievous idea entered Dick's head, and suddenly with one foot
+he made a splash, while with the other he pressed Dinny's leg against
+the horse's side.
+
+"Murther!  Help!" yelled Dinny.  "He's got me at last!" and throwing
+himself in the opposite direction, Dick only managed to save himself by
+nipping the horse.  As for Dinny, he went head over heels into the
+running stream, being borne back, however, by the current against Dick's
+legs, when, grasping him by the collar, Dick urged the horse on, Dinny
+supplementing his young master's hold by a most tenacious grasp, till
+the horse's hoofs began to plash in the shallower water, and poor Dinny
+was dragged out on to dry land.
+
+"Why, what have you been about, Dinny?" cried Mr Rogers angrily.  "Why
+didn't you come over with us?"
+
+"Sure, sor, I'm kilt entoirely," groaned Dinny, rubbing his leg.  "Twice
+over the savage bastes have had hold of me, and if I hadn't thrown
+meself on the other side of the bay horse, it's this minute they'd be
+aiting of me up."
+
+"Jump up and come along," cried Mr Rogers.  "It's my belief, Dinny,
+that you are a great coward.  Here, make haste, the waggon's nearly a
+mile ahead."
+
+"Oh, masther, it was a narrow escape," groaned Dinny, who did not
+attempt to move.
+
+"It will be a narrower one, Dinny, if you stay there, for the Zulu tells
+me that this is a favourite spot for lions to lie in wait for the bok
+and zebra that come down to drink."
+
+"Oh, masther dear, why didn't ye say so before?" cried Dinny, jumping up
+with alacrity.  "Sure I'd be the first to tell a man if he was in
+danger."
+
+Mr Rogers did not reply, but went on with his son, Dinny keeping very
+close behind, till they overtook the waggon just as it reached the
+camping-place, where a fire was soon burning, and the oxen contentedly
+cropping the ample supply of excellent grass.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+A GLORIOUS SIGHT FOR A HUNTER.
+
+Watch was set in the usual manner, so that the fire might be well kept
+up, and after a good dry, and a hearty meal--such a one as is made by
+those who have toiled all day in the open air--those who were at liberty
+so to do soon sought their blankets, and slept soundly and well.
+
+To Dick and Jack it seemed that they had only just lain down, when there
+was a firm hand laid upon them, and they were awakened by the General,
+who signed to them in the grey morning light to get up.
+
+They crept out of the waggon yawning, but that sign of slothfulness was
+soon chased away, and their father joining them, they took their guns
+and followed the General, leaving Dinny with orders to wake the boys,
+and to get breakfast ready by their return.
+
+"Where are we going, father?" asked Dick.
+
+"I can't say, my boy.  The Zulu awakened me as he did you.  He has
+something to show us, I suppose."
+
+Their way lay up a woodland slope, where the trees had a park-like
+aspect, and beneath their shade it was still quite dim, but here and
+there they caught glimpses of the sky, which was flecked with little
+clouds of orange, and vermilion, and gold, while the light was rapidly
+growing in the east.
+
+The General went on rapidly, as if quite sure of his route, and it
+seemed that the point at which he was aiming was the highest part of a
+ridge.
+
+And so it proved, for when he had reached the summit the Zulu chief
+walked cautiously along for a short distance, and then stopped and
+stooped down, motioning to those who followed to do the same.
+
+They obeyed him implicitly, preparing their pieces at the same time.
+Then creeping up to him cautiously, they found that they were on a ridge
+looking down into a widespread valley, flooded with the light of the
+approaching sunrise.
+
+It was a glorious scene, and worth all the trouble and patience of their
+long journey to see.  It was almost breathlessly that they gazed at the
+broad, grassy valley, with its clumps of trees, patches of wood, and
+portions dotted with masses of rock, whose tops were bathed in the amber
+morning tints, while in the direction where the little party gazed the
+shadows of tree and stone lay dark.
+
+Facing them in the east the clouds were now gorgeous in their hues, one
+layer forming a grand arch of light, towards which darted upwards the
+rays of the coming sun.
+
+But it was not only the sunrise that was glorious in the extreme, nor
+the beauty of the broad valley that held the spectators' eyes, but the
+occupants of the scene below.
+
+The General had undertaken to guide them to what he called the great
+game country, and he had kept his word.  For below them--to right, to
+left, and away towards the golden burst of glory where the sun was about
+to rise--the land was literally alive with game.
+
+Down to their right spread broad marshy lagoon after lagoon, in which
+swam, dived or waded, countless ducks and crane.  Here, writhing its
+snaky neck and curious head and beak, was the flamingo, all white and
+rose; there, soft grey cranes and others, with a lovely crest, as if in
+imitation of the rays of the rising sun.
+
+But it was not the wondrous variety of birds alone that took their
+attention, but the large game, feeding, gambolling, and careering in
+countless herds.  To the left were zebras, and beyond some quaggas, or
+wild asses, the peculiar bray or cry of _quay-gah_! _quay-gah_! reaching
+to their ears.  On their right there were gnus, or wildebeestes, as the
+Boers called them, brindled and the blue--curiously fierce-looking
+little animals, partaking both of the character of the deer and the
+buffalo.  Some grazed placidly in the morning light, others were engaged
+in tilting at each other with their horns, while their companions looked
+on as if waiting for their turn; and every now and then the sound of the
+striking horns ascended to the woody ridge with a loud crash.
+
+But while these creatures contended together, groups of antelopes were
+dotted here and there, while others careered at lightning speed over the
+plain.
+
+The sight was wonderful, and the boys felt as if they would never tire
+of watching the evolutions of the graceful creatures, which, with their
+skins glistening and horns looking golden in the morning light, seemed
+to be going through a series of military evolutions with the greatest
+precision.
+
+"Koodoo, pronghorn," said Mr Rogers, looking at the herd through his
+glass.  "There are a dozen elands too," he continued, and then passed
+the glass to his sons.
+
+"Oh, this is grand," cried Dick enthusiastically.  "I could stay here
+for ever watching the graceful creatures."
+
+"So could I," said Jack, after breakfast.  "I say, father, hadn't we
+better shoot something--the stock's getting low?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr Rogers quietly; and he longed to go himself and bring
+down a good fat buck for the replenishment of the larder; but the
+expedition was for his sons, and he gave place to them.  "Now, Dick," he
+continued, "here is a chance for you to try and stalk one of those
+hartebeestes; or better still, a nice fat antelope.  Pick out one with a
+fine head of horns, and then aim straight at the shoulder, and be sure
+and bring him down."
+
+"At what distance would you fire, father?" asked Dick.
+
+"I'd get as close as I could, my boy, but I'd fire at six or seven
+hundred yards sooner than miss a shot.  Now go!"
+
+Dick crept off, his father giving him a warning word about not losing
+his way, but to impress the land-marks upon his memory, so as to
+recognise them if he went astray.
+
+As he disappeared down the valley side of the slope, Mr Rogers turned
+to Jack.
+
+"Well, my boy, would you like a try as well?"
+
+Jack's whole face, as well as his tongue, said yes, and Mr Rogers
+smilingly pointed down into the valley, in the other direction.
+
+"Be careful," he said, "and don't fire either in our direction or in
+your brother's, for a rifle-bullet flies far."
+
+"All right, father," cried Jack; and he too crept down the slope from
+bush to bush, to try and stalk one of the bok that came nearest to the
+clump of wood upon his right.
+
+"So this is the game country?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Yes, boss, this the game country, but only bit outside.  I show you big
+game yet--elephant, lion, all the big animal, only wait."
+
+Mr Rogers was ready to set self aside in every way in his efforts to
+educate his sons, so he took out his glass and sat down beside the
+General, watching the various herds of wild animals in the glowing
+morning light, and thinking how grateful he ought to be to see his boys
+daily growing in health, strength, and confidence.  For it was
+unmistakable; Dick, the weak, half-consumptive lad, was altering
+rapidly, and the anxious father's heart rejoiced as the dark shadow that
+had hovered over his life seemed to be chased away.
+
+As he sat there thinking, and bringing his glass to bear upon the
+various herds, while waiting for them to take the alarm, he could not
+help feeling that Dick and Jack were managing uncommonly well to have
+gone on so long without alarming the game.  It showed thoughtfulness,
+and ability in the hunter's craft; not, of course, that he wished them
+to turn out hunters, but he believed in thoroughness, and he used to say
+that if it was only play it ought to be done well.
+
+He was letting the glass rest upon his knees, with his eyes running
+dreamily over the landscape, when he became aware of the fact that the
+Zulu was watching him intently, as he sat there with a couple of
+assegais across his knees.
+
+"I am sorry I was so unjust to him that night," thought Mr Rogers.  "It
+is a pity one's nature prompts one to be so hasty and suspicious."
+
+Then as his eyes met those of the General, as it was fast becoming the
+custom to call him, he cudgelled his brains for some way of showing his
+confidence in him, who was so completely their guide.
+
+Suddenly a soft smile beamed on the Zulu's fierce countenance, and he
+said gently,--
+
+"Boss thinking about his boys.  Fine brave boys; make big warriors and
+chiefs.  Zulu wish his boys here too.  Love his boys same as white man."
+
+Mr Rogers stretched out his hand to the Zulu on the instant, for he had
+touched the chord of their common humanity, and white man and black man,
+as their hands joined in one firm grip, felt that henceforth they would
+be friends who could trust each other to the end.
+
+"Look!" cried the Zulu suddenly; and he pointed down into the plain,
+where the alarm had been taken in the direction taken by Dick.
+
+Antelopes that had been feeding, suddenly threw up their heads and
+galloped together, seeming to form square--first with horns outward to
+resist attack; then they reformed, and charged in one direction; halted,
+turned, and charged in another--as if alarmed, and yet not knowing which
+way to go.
+
+The wildebeestes that had been fighting stopped, erected their tails,
+pawed the ground, and then, throwing their heads side-wise, began to
+plough it with one horn, but only to snort loudly and tear over the
+plain; while the zebras and quaggas began to toss their heads and tear
+about over the grassy wild, kicking and plunging, and scattering the
+light antelopes like the wind.
+
+Suddenly there was a puff of smoke from a clump of bushes quite a mile
+away, and after an interval the faint crack of a rifle.
+
+"That's Dick's gun, General," said Mr Rogers, bringing his glass to
+bear upon a little herd of antelopes that must have formed the object of
+the shot; but not one of them fell, neither did either of them seem to
+be lamed.
+
+"Miss, this time," said the General, quietly.
+
+Just then there was another report, evidently a shot at long range; but
+the only effect was to drive the game more in the direction of Jack's
+position, or what they supposed to be Jack's position.
+
+Seeing then that Dick was not likely to get another shot, Mr Rogers
+turned his glass in the other direction; but there was nothing to see
+but the great herds of game, going more and more towards a clump of
+timber--trees that were of glorious shades of green in the morning sun.
+But, all at once, as a troop of gnus were trotting by, three or four
+large birds came rushing out, as if alarmed, and the gnus took fright,
+tearing off at a frantic pace.  But before they had gone far there was a
+white puff of smoke from the end of the clump.
+
+"Well done!" cried Mr Rogers.  "He did well to get so far.  But it is
+another miss.  We must not depend on the boys yet for our dinners."
+
+The whole plain seemed to be now alive, and herd after herd of game,
+that had been hidden from them by the trees, had rushed into sight, and
+was now careering onward, and away from the dangerous proximity to the
+woods.
+
+"Poor boys!  All their trouble for nothing," said Mr Rogers, closing
+his glass.  "I wish I had gone too.  I might have hit something."
+
+"Boss Jack has hit," said the Zulu, pointing.
+
+And just then, to the father's great delight, he saw one of the curious
+antelopes suddenly stop short, the rest of the herd galloping onwards.
+Then it shook its head, turned, and seemed giddily to gallop back, and
+finally fell dead.
+
+Almost at the same moment they saw Jack run out from the clump of
+timber, gun in one hand, cap in the other, which latter he began to wave
+frantically above his head.
+
+"Well done, boy!  A good shot," cried Mr Rogers.  "Ah, there's Dick."
+
+For Dick now showed himself, a mile away to the left, and began to cross
+the open to join his brother, whose success he must have seen.
+
+"The next thing is to get the game home," said Mr Rogers.  "We'll go
+back, and send Peter and Dirk."
+
+He placed a shrill little whistle to his lips as he spoke, and as its
+piercing note rang out, the boys, who had been making for the fallen
+gnu, turned to come back.
+
+"I'll go!" said the General.  "Mustn't leave the game.  Look, boss."
+
+He pointed, and in the distance there was a great vulture winging its
+way towards the fallen gnu; and, directly after, another and another
+came into sight, sailing heavily along upon its great dusky flapping
+wings.
+
+It seemed as if telegrams had been sent in all directions to the
+vultures' roosting-places that there had been a wildebeeste slain; and
+it was so evident that, if steps were not taken to save it, the vultures
+would destroy the provisions of three or four days, that Mr Rogers
+rapidly blew twice upon his whistle--a preconcerted signal, which made
+the boys turn and go towards the game.
+
+As it was, a vulture would have reached the fallen animal before them
+but for a shot from Dick's gun, which had the effect of more than
+scaring it as it was just alighting, for, evidently hit by the bullet,
+it flew a few yards, and then fell, flapping its wings for a few
+moments, and then lay still.
+
+This checked the others for the time, and Mr Rogers waited till the
+General should set the boys at liberty, when he meant to return to the
+waggon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+GETTING INTO WORK.
+
+It seemed some little time before the Zulu appeared at the bottom of the
+slope; but when he emerged from the woods, Mr Rogers could see that he
+had been cutting some sticks, and on bringing the glass to bear he made
+out that the Zulu was straightening them as he ran.
+
+The boys saw him coming, and waved their caps; while, when the General
+joined them, they all bent over the game together, the Zulu apparently
+being very busy, and making Mr Rogers impatient, for he wanted to get
+back to breakfast, which must then be ready.
+
+"There is some reason for it, I dare say," said Mr Rogers, gazing
+through his glass.  "Why, they are all coming away!  The animal will be
+devoured.  It is bad, perhaps."
+
+He waited patiently, seeing the little party return; and as they left
+the fallen gnu he saw the vultures come dropping down from the trees
+where they had been waiting, till there were over twenty by the game,
+round which they formed a circle, but they did not approach near.
+
+"Strange!" thought Mr Rogers.  "I wonder they don't tear it up.
+Perhaps it is still alive.  If so they ought to have put the poor thing
+out of its misery.  I shall speak sharply to Master Dick about such
+wanton cruelty."
+
+Mr Rogers wanted his breakfast, and, as he had had no excitement, he
+felt cross, so that it seemed as if the boys would get what Jack
+irreverently called a wigging.  But the sight of his sons' bright
+excited faces as they ran up the slope, drove away his ill-humour.
+
+"Why, Dick!" he cried, "how you run!"
+
+"Do I, father?" cried the boy, excitedly, "But did you see what a
+splendid shot Jack made?  I missed twice, but he brought his gnu down.
+It's a fine young bull."
+
+"Then you are not jealous of his luck?" said his father.
+
+"Oh, no," laughed Dick.  "It will be my turn next time."
+
+"Bravo, Jack!" cried Mr Rogers.  "But why did you leave the game to the
+vultures?  Dick says it was a fine young bull."
+
+"Oh, it's all right, father," cried Jack, who now ran panting up to his
+father's side.  "The General has cut it up partly, and has brought the
+liver and kidneys, and a bit or two to cook for breakfast."
+
+"But it was a pity to leave so much good meat, my boys; I don't like
+wanton waste."
+
+"But it's all right, father," said Dick.  "The General has stuck some
+pieces of wood round and over it, and he says the vultures won't go near
+it for hours, for fear it should be a trap."
+
+Mr Rogers opened his glass, and looked at the fallen game; and sure
+enough there sat the vultures in a ring, contemplating the sticks that
+the General had stuck up round it, but not one went near.
+
+The Zulu smiled as he came up, bearing the delicate portions of the gnu
+skewered upon one of his assegais; and hurrying back to the camp, Peter
+and Dirk were given full directions which way to go, and sent off with
+three oxen, and a roughly-contrived carriage for the game formed by
+cutting down a great forked branch of a tree to attach to the oxen
+yokes.  But when ready for starting they suggested the advisability of
+their having guns, which being supplied, they started off, looking
+rather longingly though at the preparations for breakfast.
+
+A good fire was burning, and coffee was made, Dinny looking very
+disconsolate and miserable; but the sight of the fresh meat seemed to do
+him good, for a broad grin expanded his features, and getting the
+frying-pan out of the box that held the cooking apparatus, he soon had
+some savoury morsels peppered, salted, and sputtering on the fire.
+
+"I feel as if I could eat heaps," said Jack.  "Oh, I say, father, isn't
+breakfast lovely out here under these green trees?"
+
+Mr Rogers agreed that it was; and certainly nothing could have been
+more glorious than the scene--the deep blue sky, the glorious sunshine,
+the bright green of the trees, the chirping, whistling, and screaming of
+the birds that thronged the brambles, and above all the delicious
+fragrance of the endless flowering shrubs and flowers.
+
+It was all enjoyable in the extreme, the abundant breakfast adding
+wonderfully to the pleasure.  Even the oxen and horses seemed perfectly
+happy, for there was an abundance of short, sweet grass for them to
+crop, while the little Zulu party seemed happiness itself.
+
+A goodly portion of the gnu had been given over to the General, and
+despising the frying-pan, he and his boys toasted the pieces of flesh in
+the fire, and ate them hissing hot; the effect upon Coffee being that he
+did nothing but grin, and rub the portion of his brown person which he
+called his "tum-tum," while his brother gave vent to his excitement and
+pleasure by either lying down and rolling himself over and over, or else
+by trying to stand upon his head, a very agreeable style of acrobatic
+trick, but decidedly inconvenient at breakfast-time.
+
+As, however, just when he had arrived at a perfect equilibrium, and had
+his heels straight up in the air, he overbalanced himself, and instead
+of coming back upon his toes he went over upon his heels, which he
+planted in the hot ashes, Chicory thought the performance had gone
+sufficiently far, and went on eating his breakfast in what Dinny called
+a more Chrishtanly-like way.
+
+Just as they had finished, and Jack had thoroughly recovered from a
+violent fit of coughing and choking, consequent upon seeing Chicory
+stick his heels in the fire, while he--Jack--was drinking his coffee,
+there came from behind them the crack of a whip, and Peter's harsh voice
+shouting, "Trek, boys! trek!" accompanied by the rustling, scrambling
+noise made by a great branch being drawn over the ground; and directly
+after the slow, patient oxen came into sight, chewing away at their
+cuds, as they used their tails to whisk away the flies, and dragged
+Jack's game into camp.
+
+It proved to be a splendid young gnu, and the boys examined with
+curiosity its shaggy head, with its curiously bent down and curved up
+horns, and general likeness to horse, antelope, and bull, as if it were
+related to each.  Then the Zulu, with Dirk's help, rapidly skinned it;
+portions were set apart for immediate use, some of the best cut up in
+strips by the General, and hung in the sun upon the bushes to form what
+is called "biltong," that is, strips of sun-dried meat, the sun baking
+it up so quickly that it has not time to go bad, and the rest was left
+for another fate.
+
+For it was most amusing to watch the dogs, sitting all four in a row,
+hungrily looking at the skinning and cutting up of the gnu.  They
+watched with the most intense interest the whole process, following the
+General to and fro, and thankfully swallowing any scraps he threw them.
+
+When the skin was taken off and spread upon the waggon-tilt to dry,
+Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus followed, as if to see that it was properly
+spread out, Rough'un being the only one who protested against the plan,
+for his look plainly said that he wanted to lick that skin on the fleshy
+side; and as he was not allowed to go through that process, he kept
+uttering low, dissatisfied whines, to Jack's great delight; while, when
+he saw Peter climb up, and Dirk hand him the skin, he uttered a yell of
+disappointment at what he evidently considered to be the waste of so
+much good fat.
+
+This yell from Rough'un had its effects upon Pompey, Caesar, and
+Crassus, which triumvirate did not behave at all after the manner of the
+stolid, patient, noble Romans whose names they bore; but one and all set
+up their noses as high as they could, getting mouth and throat in a
+direct line, and sang a trio--but so dolefully out of tune, that Dinny
+picked up the General's assegai, and gave each one a tap on the head
+with the handle.
+
+At least he meant to do so.  He certainly hit Pompey and Caesar sounding
+cracks; but Crassus made a movement, and received his blow on the neck--
+so unfair a place, he evidently supposed, that it roused his temper, and
+he snapped at and seized the handle of the assegai in his teeth.
+
+Now Dinny's hands were greasy with helping to skin the gnu, and the
+handle of the assegai kept slipping through his fingers, and threatening
+to cut them against the blade; to avoid which, as the dog tugged
+fiercely and dragged at the handle, Dinny kept taking a fresh hold hand
+over hand, as if he were hauling rope, abusing the dog at the same time.
+
+"Ah, get out, ye dirty baste," he cried.  "Let go, will ye?"
+
+_Worry_! _worry_! _worry_! growled Crassus, holding on with all his
+might of jaw, which was really great; and seeing the successful effort
+made by their companion, Pompey and Caesar began to bark and bay at
+Dinny on either side of Crassus.
+
+"Oh, here's a game, Dick!" cried Jack, holding his sides and laughing.
+
+"Call 'em off, will ye?" cried Dinny.  "Ah, get out, ye dirty, yelping
+bastes."
+
+"Serve you right, for hitting them in that cruel way," said Dick
+cynically; while seeing the fun, as they seemed to consider it, Coffee
+and Chicory each seized his kiri, and began to perform a war-dance round
+Dinny and the dogs.
+
+"Lave go, will ye?" cried Dinny to Crassus.  "Sure it's a taste of the
+other end I'll be giving ye dreckerly."
+
+Crassus evidently believed him, for he held on all the tighter.  Dinny
+dragged hard, but the dog's jaws had closed upon the wood like a steel
+trap, and though Dinny dragged him here and there, he did not leave go;
+and so sure as the man began to obtain a little advantage, Pompey and
+Caesar made such a desperate attack upon his rear that he immediately
+lost ground, and the French and English tug-of-war continued, the dogs
+barking, Dinny abusing them, and the boys, black as well as white,
+shouting with delight.
+
+This was very good fun for the latter, but anything but pleasant for
+Dinny.  In fact, so bad was his case, and so threatening the aspect of
+the dogs, that any one who would have insured the legs of Dinny's
+trousers from being torn by the dogs, would have been guilty of a very
+insane act, especially as Rough'un, after sitting up on end encouraging
+Crassus to hold on to the assegai staff by a loud bark now and then,
+suddenly took it into his head to join in the fray.
+
+For Dinny had not been particularly friendly to him since they started.
+Upon one occasion Dinny had tickled him--so he called it--with Peter's
+whip, the tickling consisting in giving the dog so severe a flick that
+it seemed like taking out a piece of the flesh; while no later than that
+morning Rough'un felt that he had been misused in the matter of the skin
+that he wanted to lick.
+
+So, unable to bear matters any longer, Rough'un, who had momentarily
+grown more excited, suddenly made an open-mouthed onslaught upon the
+assegai stock.
+
+"Carl him off, Masther Dick, Masther Jack.  Oh, murther, what'll I do.
+Ah! get out--get--"
+
+Dinny said no more, but loosed his hold of the assegai, and fled,
+leaping on to the front box of the waggon, and then climbing in beneath
+the tilt, while the dogs chased him, barking and baying him furiously.
+
+This did not last, however, for the denuding of the gnu's bones was
+pretty well ended, and one of the oxen dragged the remains into the
+forest, when the dogs were called up, and Dinny was forgotten.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+A BUFFALO RUN.
+
+The General owned that there would be good hunting here, but he wanted
+to get the party well into the interior, where, taking up a central
+position, they could make excursions in any direction according to the
+way in which the game lay.  If they stayed where they were, all they
+would do would be to drive the game away, and it would grow more scarce.
+
+The boys were as eager as the General, and looking upon the interior as
+a land of mystery and romance, they readily backed up the proposal to go
+farther.
+
+"Well, my boys, I hardly know what to say," replied Mr Rogers.  "I want
+for you both to grow sturdy, manly, and inured to danger; but I scarcely
+like running the risk of taking you where we may be constantly
+encountering the lion, the rhinoceros, and the elephant and
+hippopotamus."
+
+"But we shall be very careful," said Jack.
+
+"And we are growing better marksmen every day, father," exclaimed Dick.
+
+"Yes, my boys, I dare say you are," replied Mr Rogers.  "But please
+remember that taking aim at and shooting a timid deer is one thing;
+standing face to face with some fierce beast ready to take your life,
+quite another."
+
+"Oh, yes, father, I know that," said Jack; "and I dare say I should be
+horribly frightened, but I wouldn't run away."
+
+"It might be wiser to do so than to provoke the animal by firing," said
+Mr Rogers, smiling.  "What do you say, Dick?"
+
+"I say I should like to go on, father, in spite of the risk," replied
+Dick.  "Now we have come so far, I want to see more of the wonderful
+Central African land, and I should like to shoot a lion, an elephant, a
+rhinoceros, and a hippopotamus."
+
+"And a giraffe, a crocodile, and a boa-constrictor," said Jack.
+
+"And would you both like to make that bag in one day, young gentlemen?"
+said Mr Rogers, smiling.
+
+"Ah, now you are laughing at us, father," said Dick.  "Of course we
+don't expect to shoot all those creatures, but we should like to try."
+
+"Yes," added Jack; "that's it, Dick.  We should like to try."
+
+"Then you shall try," said Mr Rogers, quietly; "on condition, mind,
+that you will neither of you do anything rash, but follow out either my
+advice or that of the General, whom I feel disposed to trust more and
+more."
+
+The country seemed to grow more romantic and grand the farther they
+trekked on away from civilisation, and they travelled now very few
+hundred yards without seeing something new and full of interest.  Game
+was so abundant that there was no difficulty in keeping up a plentiful
+supply.  Dinny even threatened to lose the frying-pan, for, as he said,
+he was frying steak morning, noon, and night; but as he loved dearly to
+fry one particularly juicy piece always for a gentleman named Dinny,
+there was not much fear of his keeping his word.
+
+But somehow Dinny did not add to the harmony of the expedition.  He
+proved himself again and again to be an arrant coward; and, coward-like,
+he tried to tyrannise over the weaker.
+
+He was afraid of the General; and when, upon one or two occasions, he
+had quarrelled with Peter or Dirk, those gentlemen had displayed so much
+pugnacity that Dinny had prudently resolved to quarrel with them no
+more.  He, however, made up for this by pouring out his virulence upon
+Coffee and Chicory, the dogs having been too much for him; and the Zulu
+boys bore it all in silence, but evidently meant to remember Dinny's
+behaviour when the time came.
+
+One day, soon after entering the game country, the General, who was on
+ahead alternately scanning the horizon and the ground, while the oxen
+slowly lumbered on behind, suddenly stopped, and began to examine some
+footprints in a marshy piece of ground which he had just told Dick to
+avoid.
+
+"What is it?" said Dick, coming up.
+
+"Look," said the General, pointing to the great footprints.
+
+"Why, it looks as if a great cat had been here," said Dick.
+
+"Yes; great cat; lion!" said the Zulu.
+
+And when Mr Rogers and Jack had cantered up, and seen the spoor, as
+such footprints were generally termed in South Africa, they knew that
+there would be real danger now hovering about their nightly camps.
+
+That afternoon, as they were passing through a woody portion of the
+country, Chicory, who was well ahead, assegai in hand, eagerly looking
+out for game, was heard suddenly to yell out as if in agony; and as all
+ran to his help, he was found to be rolling on the ground, shrieking the
+native word for "Snake! snake!"
+
+Mr Rogers was the first to reach him, being mounted, and as he drew
+rein by the prostrate boy, he saw a long thin snake gliding away.
+
+He was just in time, and leaning forward he took rapid aim with his
+fowling-piece; and as the smoke rose, a long thin ash-coloured snake was
+seen writhing, mortally wounded, upon the ground.
+
+The General caught the boy by the shoulder, and proceeded to divide his
+jet-black hair, examining his scalp carefully, but without finding any
+trace of a wound; though Chicory declared that he was killed, and that
+the snake had seized him by the head as he was going under a tree.
+
+He had felt it, and when he threw himself forward to avoid it, the
+creature writhed and twisted about his neck, till in his horror he
+rolled over and over, partly crushing the reptile, which was making its
+escape when Mr Rogers's gun put an end to its power of doing mischief.
+
+The General having satisfied himself that his boy was not hurt, sent him
+forward with a cuff on the ear, before giving his master a grateful look
+for destroying a virulently poisonous serpent--one, he assured them,
+whose regular practice was to hang suspended by the tail from some low
+branch, and in this position to strike at any living creature that
+passed beneath.
+
+"He would have been dead now," said the General, "if the snake's teeth
+had gone through his hair."
+
+It was with no little satisfaction then, after this adventure, that the
+hunting-party passed through the woody region they were then in, and
+came into the open, for during the last few hours everybody's eyes had
+been diligently directed at the overhanging branches of the trees, Dinny
+being so observant that he two or three times tripped over prostrate
+boughs, and went down upon his nose.
+
+As they passed out into the open they were in a rough plain, covered as
+far as they could see with coarse herbage; and hardly had the waggon
+emerged before Mr Rogers, who was using his glass, drew the General's
+attention to some dark objects upon a slope some distance ahead.
+
+The Zulu glanced at the dark shapes for a few moments, and then cried
+eagerly,--
+
+"Buffalo!"
+
+"Come along, Dick," shouted Jack.
+
+"Stop, stop!" exclaimed their father.  "What are you going to do?"
+
+"Shoot a buffalo, father."
+
+"If we can," added Dick.
+
+"But you must be careful.  These buffalo are pretty fierce creatures,
+and dangerous at times."
+
+"Yes, very dangerous," assented the Zulu.  "Boss Jack--Boss Dick shoot
+one, and the boys drive one to him."
+
+The General undertaking to do his best to keep his sons out of danger,
+Mr Rogers consented to let them go; and soon afterwards, having made
+his plans, the General started off with his boys, pointing out a course
+for Jack and Dick to take upon their cobs, advising them both to fire at
+the same buffalo as it galloped past them, and then to keep hidden till
+the herd had gone by.
+
+This they undertook to do; and away they cantered in one direction, the
+General and his boys going in another, so as to get ahead of the herd,
+and then show themselves, and that, they expected, would drive them
+towards the young hunters.
+
+All turned out exactly as anticipated.  Dick and Jack sat like statues,
+in a low hollow, with rifles cocked, and cartridges handy for a second
+shot, waiting for the coming of the herd; and at last, just as they had
+given up all expectation of seeing them, there was a low rushing sound
+in the distance as of wind--then a roar, ever increasing, until it was
+like thunder; and then down came the vast herd of heavy animals,
+surprising the boys at first by their number, so that they had nearly
+all gone by before either of the brothers thought of firing.
+
+Dick was the first to rouse himself from his surprise.
+
+"Now then, Jack," he cried, as their horses stood motionless, watching
+the passing drove; "fire at that slate-coloured bull.  Now then, take
+aim together--fire!"
+
+The two rifle-shots pealed almost like one, and, to the delight of the
+boys, they saw the young bull they had shot stagger forward on to its
+knees, and then roll over upon its side.
+
+"Hurray!  First buffalo!" cried Jack; and together the boys cantered out
+into the plain, when, to their intense astonishment, instead of the herd
+continuing its flight, about a dozen bulls stopped short, stared at
+them, pawed the ground, stuck up their tails, wheeled round, uttered a
+fierce roar, and charged.
+
+Even if the boys had felt disposed to meet their enemies with a couple
+more shots, the cobs would not have stood still.  They were well-broken,
+and trusty; day by day they had seemed to gain confidence in their
+riders, and they would stand perfectly still if their bridles were drawn
+over their heads and allowed to trail upon the ground; while if Jack or
+Dick liked to make a rifle-rest of their backs, they were perfectly
+content, and stood as rigidly as if carved out of stone.
+
+But there are bounds even to the confidence of a horse.  When the little
+steeds saw the fierce looks of the buffaloes, heard their angry
+bellowings, and found that with waving tails, menacing horns, and hoofs
+that seemed to thunder as they tore up the ground, the bulls were coming
+nearer and nearer, and evidently with the full intent of burying those
+sharp horns in their chests, Shoes and Stockings snorted violently,
+turned round so suddenly that had not Jack and Dick been excellent
+horsemen they would have been thrown, and tore away over the plain.
+
+This was a reverse of circumstances; and naturally feeling startled at
+such a change, their boys gave their horses their heads, sat well down,
+and kept giving furtive glances behind to see if the bulls were gaining
+upon them.
+
+At the end of a few moments, though, it occurred to Dick that their
+speed was greater than that of the buffaloes, and consequently that they
+would have no difficulty, failing accidents, in galloping away.  Then he
+began to think of his rifle and ammunition, but felt that under the
+circumstances fire-arms were useless.
+
+Last of all he began to feel very much ashamed of his position, in being
+hunted like this.
+
+The same feeling seemed to have affected Jack, who looked at his brother
+as they raced on side by side.
+
+The consequence was that all of a sudden they both sat up more erect in
+their saddles, and took a pull at the reins, bringing Shoes and
+Stockings by degrees into a hand gallop, instead of the _ventre a terre_
+progress they were making before.
+
+"This won't do," cried Dick, as he glanced back to find that the bulls
+were still lumbering on behind them, snorting savagely, and shaking
+their horn-armed fronts.
+
+"No," said Jack, "we are taking them right down on the waggon, and
+they'll charge straight over the camp."
+
+"Yes; let's turn off to the left," shouted Dick; and as if by one
+impulse they wheeled round to the left, and galloped on over the plain.
+"I tell you what," he cried, as a happy idea struck him; "let's wheel
+round to the right now."
+
+"What for?" shouted back his brother.
+
+"So as to ride round and round the waggon in a circle.  Father will
+bring one or two of them down."
+
+For answer Jack wheeled to the right, and if the manoeuvre had been kept
+up it would have answered; but, as it happened, Mr Rogers had gone away
+from the waggon in search of some beautifully plumaged birds which had
+settled in the trees above the camp, and then gone on to a grove a mile
+or so away.
+
+The General and his boys were of course far away out on the plain, where
+they had been driving the buffalo, and therefore Dinny was the principal
+man in camp.
+
+He was busy with the frying-pan frizzling himself a venison steak, when,
+hearing the thunder of hoofs, he dropped the pan in the wood ashes, and
+stood staring with horror.
+
+"What'll I do now?" he cried.
+
+Then a bright idea seized him, and pulling his knife from his belt, he
+dashed at the place where his enemies the dogs were tied up by stout
+thongs to the waggon-wheels, and divided them one by one.
+
+"There, ye bastes," he cried, "be off and get tossed."  And as the dogs
+rushed off, delighted with their freedom, Dinny chose what he thought
+was the safest place in the camp, namely, the space between the four
+wheels beneath the waggon, and there lay down and wished himself back
+safely in his mother's cabin.
+
+The dogs had been for some moments past tearing at their thongs to get
+away, so that no sooner were they freed than, barking and baying
+fiercely, they raced down after the buffaloes, and Dinny never did a
+better act in his life.  Certainly it was prompted by cowardice; but it
+had its good fruits, for it was the saving of poor Dick's life.
+
+The boys had galloped on as had been suggested, gradually inclining to
+the right, so that they drew the little herd of bulls into following
+them in a circle; and in this way they had nearly gone round the waggon
+at about a couple of hundred yards' distance, wondering why their father
+did not shoot, when, all at once, just as the baying of the dogs reached
+their ears, Dick turned a piteous look at his brother.
+
+"I'm--I'm not strong, yet, Jack," he faltered.  "Ride on fast."
+
+To Jack's horror he saw his brother's eyes close, and that he fell
+forward upon his horse's neck; the next moment he had glided as it were
+out of his saddle, and fallen--his horse, from its good training,
+stopping short by his side.
+
+The buffaloes were only about thirty yards behind, and as Jack reined
+in, and turned to help his brother, the bulls lowered, their horns, and
+in another moment or two they would have been trampled and gored,
+perhaps killed; but just as the great shaggy animals were upon them, the
+dogs made their attack, Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus each seizing a bull
+by the lip, while Rough'un kept up a furious barking as he tore at the
+various animals' heels.
+
+The effect was magical upon the buffaloes, which tossed their heads
+furiously in the air, and dislodging their assailants, turned and rushed
+off, with the dogs now biting their heels or leaping viciously at their
+flanks, all attack now being changed to flight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+"OOMPH!  OOMPH!  OOMPH!"
+
+"Are you much hurt, Dick?" cried Jack anxiously, as he knelt on one knee
+by his brother.
+
+"No, I think not," panted Dick, opening his eyes.  "I came over all
+giddy, and couldn't sit my horse.  Did he throw me?"
+
+"No: you fell."
+
+"But where are the buffaloes?"
+
+"Yonder they go," replied Jack.  "Don't you hear the dogs?  There, lean
+on me, and let's walk in to the camp."
+
+"Oh, no," cried Dick.  "I'm better now."
+
+"No, no; don't try to mount."
+
+"Yes, I shall," was the reply.  "I was overdone from being weak; but I'm
+better now, and I'm going with you to bring in the buffalo we shot."
+
+"Oh no, Dick, don't try," cried his brother anxiously.
+
+But Dick would not be persuaded, and, mounting his horse, he rode with
+his brother up to the waggon, gave the necessary instructions to Peter
+and Dirk, and in a few moments those sable gentlemen were leading a
+small ox-team over the plain to where the General and his boys were
+busily dressing the fallen bull; and by the time Mr Rogers reached the
+waggon, the choicest parts of the buffalo were there, the remainder
+having been left for the vultures and wild creatures of the plain.
+
+They trekked on for some miles that evening, and soon after sundown
+halted by the side of a wood, whose edges were composed of dense thorns,
+and here, at the General's suggestion, all set to work, after the waggon
+had been drawn up in a suitable position, to cut down the bushes so as
+to make a square patch, with the dense thorns on three sides and the
+waggon on the fourth, the lower part of the waggon being fortified with
+the bushes that were cut down.
+
+The object was to form a sound enclosure, which was duly strengthened,
+so as to protect the horses and bullocks from the wild beasts that
+haunted the neighbourhood.
+
+It was very hard work, and Dinny grumbled terribly, till Dick said
+quietly to his brother, in Dinny's hearing,--
+
+"I wonder that Dinny don't work harder.  The General says this part
+swarms with lions; and they'll be down upon us before we've done if he
+don't make haste."
+
+Dinny seemed to be turned for the moment into stone, at the bare mention
+of the word lion; but directly after he was toiling away with feverish
+haste, and in quite a state of excitement, bullying Coffee and Chicory
+for not bringing in more dead wood for the fire.
+
+By dint of all working hard, however, a satisfactory place was
+contrived, into which, after a good long feed, and a hearty drink of
+fresh water from a bubbling stream, the bullocks and horses were shut,
+the horses having a division of their own, where they would be safe from
+the horns of their friends as well as the teeth and claws of their
+enemies.  Then the blazing fire in front of the waggon was utilised for
+cooking purposes, and buffalo steaks and thick rich soup from Dinny's
+big pot soon restored the losses felt by the little party in their
+arduous evening toil.
+
+The waggon was on the very edge of the forest, and a couple of trees
+stood out on either side, spreading their branches over it as shelter,
+while the ruddy fire that was being steadily fed to get it into a good
+glow, with a bright blaze free from the blinding smoke emitted by
+burning wood, seemed to turn the waggon and trees into gold.
+
+"I'll take the first watch, my boys," said Mr Rogers, who, after their
+hearty supper, had read his sons a lecture about the necessity for care
+in hunting, "for," said he, "but for the dogs your lives would certainly
+have been sacrificed."
+
+"Yes, father, we'll be more careful; but how is it the dogs have not
+come back?"
+
+"They overtook and pulled down one of the buffaloes," said Mr Rogers.
+"They will glut themselves, and, after a long sleep, take up our trail
+and follow us.  I dare say they'll be here to-morrow."
+
+The boys, who were fagged out, gladly crept into the waggon, the last
+thing they saw being Dinny putting some pieces of buffalo flesh and half
+a pail of water in the big pot, so as to let it stew by the fire all
+night.  Then they drew up the canvas curtains of their tent-bed as they
+called it, leaving Mr Rogers and Peter to keep up the fire, and to call
+them in four hours' time, the boys having begged that they might keep
+one of the watches together.
+
+They were fast asleep directly, and in five minutes' time--so Jack
+declared--Mr Rogers aroused them to relieve guard.
+
+"Come, boys," he said, "be quick.  Do you know how long you've been
+asleep?"
+
+"Five minutes," said Jack, sleepily.
+
+"Nearly five hours, sir."
+
+"Then they weren't good measure," grumbled Jack.
+
+"There's plenty of wood, Dick," said Mr Rogers, "and I'd keep up a good
+blazing fire.  I have not heard a sound; but if you are alarmed, a piece
+of blazing wood thrown in the direction is better than firing at random;
+but keep your rifles ready."
+
+These words drove drowsy sleep from the boys' eyelids, and clambering
+out of the waggon, the fresh cold night air finished the task.
+
+They saw Mr Rogers climb into the waggon and their black followers
+crawl under it; then taking the rifles, they saw to there being a ball
+cartridge in each, and big slugs in the shot barrel; and after throwing
+on a few sticks to make the fire blaze, they walked slowly up and down.
+
+"How dark and strange the forest looks, Jack," said Dick, "I say, I'm
+not ashamed to say that it does make one feel timid."
+
+"It makes two feel timid," said Jack, sturdily.  "Look at the dark
+shadows the fire throws.  Why it almost looks as if there were all sorts
+of horrible creatures watching us.  If I didn't feel that father had
+been sitting here watching, and wasn't afraid I'd give it up."
+
+"Perhaps he did feel afraid," said Dick.
+
+"Not he," said Jack sturdily.  "If he had felt afraid, he wouldn't have
+let us watch here."
+
+"Oh, yes, he would," said Dick thoughtfully.  "Father wants us to grow
+up manly and strong, and ready to laugh at what would alarm some lads.
+Hark! what's that?"
+
+He caught his brother's arm, for just then, apparently from beneath
+their feet, they heard a peculiar noise.
+
+"Oomph! oomph! oomph!" a peculiar, vibrating, shuddering, deep-toned
+cry, which seemed to make the air, and the very earth beneath them,
+vibrate.
+
+There was no mistaking it.  Over and over again they had heard Coffee
+and Chicory imitate the cry; but how pitiful their attempts seemed now,
+as compared to the noise heard there in the solemnity of the silent
+night!  "Oomph! oomph! oomph!" a peculiar grunting, shuddering roar,
+which made a perfect commotion in the strongly-made cattle-kraal or
+enclosure, the oxen running about in their dread, and the horses
+whinnying and stamping upon the hard ground.
+
+"How close is it!" whispered Jack, stretching out his hand to get hold
+of his rifle.
+
+"I don't know.  It seems sometimes just by this patch of bushes, and
+sometimes ever so far away.  Hark! there's another."
+
+"Yes, and another."
+
+"Or is it all made by one lion?" said Dick.
+
+"I don't know," replied Jack, in an awe-stricken whisper.
+
+"Shall we call father, and tell him there are lions about?"
+
+"No," said Dick sturdily.  "He'd laugh at us for cowards.  We've got to
+get used to lions, Jack; and it's our own doing--we wanted to come."
+
+"Yes, but I didn't know they'd come so close," replied Jack.  "Hark at
+that!"
+
+There was a deep-toned quivering roar, apparently from the other side of
+the fire, and Dick felt his heart beat rapidly as he threw a handful of
+small twigs upon the fire to make it blaze up.
+
+"Let's go and talk to the horses," he said.  "Yes; that's right," for
+Jack had also added an armful of dry wood to the fire, which now blazed
+up merrily.
+
+They went to the thorny hedge which protected the horses, and on making
+their way through to where they were haltered to a pole, carried on the
+waggon for the purpose, they found the poor creatures trembling, and
+with dripping flanks, while when they spoke to them they rubbed their
+noses against their masters' hands, and whinnied with pleasure, as if
+comforted by the presence of the boys.
+
+"What's that, Dick?" cried Jack excitedly, for there was a crashing
+noise as if something had leaped at the hedge.
+
+The answer came in the panic of the bullocks and the dread of the
+horses; and, without hesitating, Jack lowered his piece in the direction
+of the sound, to fire both barrels rapidly one after the other.
+
+There was a savage roar for response, and a rush as of some creature
+bounding through the bushes.  Then all was silent.
+
+"I wonder whether I hit him," said Jack, proceeding to throw out the
+empty cartridges and reload.
+
+"Is anything wrong?  Shall I come?" shouted Mr Rogers, from within the
+waggon.
+
+"No, father," replied Dick steadily.  "You needn't come.  We only fired
+at a lion."
+
+But as they reached the fire again, a tall dark figure crawled to their
+side, and nodded to them gravely.
+
+"Plenty of lion here.  I stop and help you."
+
+It was the General, and glad enough the boys were of his company.
+
+Almost before they had seated themselves they heard a sound on the
+right, and taking a burning stick from the fire the General whirled it
+in the direction, the wood blazing up in its rapid passage through the
+air, and falling amongst some dry grass, which it set on fire, to burn
+for a few moments vividly, and then leave the surroundings apparently
+darker than before.
+
+As the burning brand fell in the forest there was an angry snarl, and
+these snarls were repeated again and again as from time to time the
+General skilfully threw the wood wherever his quick ears told him there
+was one of the lurking beasts.
+
+"Is there more than one lion?" said Dick, in a whisper at last.
+
+"Three, four, five," said the General.  "They want horse or bullock.
+Hist! look! see!"
+
+He pointed to a dark patch at the edge of the forest, where, upon Dick
+directing his eyes, he could see nothing; but the next moment there was
+the reflection of the fire to be seen in a couple of glaring orbs.
+
+"Can you shoot him?" said the General.
+
+"Let me by, Dick.  My hand's steady," whispered Jack.  "I think I could
+hit him."
+
+"Go on," was the whispered reply.
+
+To fire it was necessary for Jack to take aim across the Zulu, who
+leaned forward so that the barrel of Jack's rifle rested upon his
+shoulders; while, kneeling, the boy took along and careful aim, right
+between the two glowing orbs, and drew trigger.  There was the sharp
+report, a furious roar, a rush, the falling of some heavy body, and the
+scattering of the fire-brands.  Then all was silent; and they rapidly
+collected the scattered embers to make the fire blaze up again; for the
+lions, far from being scared by the noise of the shot, renewed their
+awe-inspiring "Oomph! oomph!" on all sides; and the fear of the cattle
+was such that they threatened to break out of the kraal.
+
+Again Mr Rogers roused himself, and asked if there was any need for him
+to come.  But Dick replied steadily that there was not--feeling as he
+did pretty confident, in spite of his dread, that they could keep the
+lions at bay.
+
+The fire blazed up so brightly, that the boys glanced anxiously at the
+supply of wood, thinking of the hours they had yet to pass before
+daylight, and what would be the consequences if the fire went out.
+
+One thing was very certain, and that was that a large fire would be
+necessary now every night.  And though the boys felt a strange kind of
+tremor as they felt the risks they were incurring, there was so much
+romantic excitement in the life they were leading, that they would not
+have given it up on any consideration.
+
+The lions roared and prowled about them during the remainder of the
+night, sometimes coming very close, sometimes retreating, for the fire
+was very bright.  And then came the two boys, Coffee and Chicory, with
+Peter the driver, to relieve them, just as day was breaking, and the
+young travellers gladly went back into the waggon for a sleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+TRACKED BY AN ENEMY.
+
+They did not have a long sleep, for Mr Rogers soon roused them to say
+that breakfast was ready; which meal being discussed, the oxen were
+in-spanned, and the horses mounted, so as to have a good long trek
+towards the Limpopo, or Crocodile River, before the heat of the day.
+
+Before leaving their camp the boys had a good look round with the
+General, in the expectation and hope of seeing the lion at which Jack
+had shot, lying dead.  But though he felt certain that he had hit the
+monster, and though footprints were about in all directions, there was
+no dead lion, and they had to hope for better luck the next time.
+
+"I don't care," said Jack discontentedly; "I'm as sure as can be that
+this gun don't shoot straight."
+
+"Try again, Jack," said his father, laughing.
+
+And on they walked, over what was now a plain covered with great coarse,
+reedy grass, such as would afford plenty of cover for game.
+
+This, however, was scarce, and beyond the boys knocking down three or
+four large birds of the partridge kind, there was very little done.
+
+The General, for some reason which he did not explain, had taken his
+great Zulu shield from where it hung behind one of the waggon-wheels,
+and, armed with a couple of assegais, kept making expeditions to right
+and left--and quite as often hung back, watchfully keeping an eye to the
+rear.
+
+It was a case of man's cunning against that of a beast; and after being
+away some hours, he came up with the not very pleasant information that
+a huge lion, one of the ferocious maneless kind, was tracking the
+waggon, and would no doubt hang upon their trail until it had pounced
+upon one of the horses, and carried it off.
+
+"Oh, that would be horrible," cried Jack.  "I'd almost sooner that he
+would take me than my horse."
+
+"Have you seen it, General?" said Dick; "or do you think it is following
+us, from its footprints?"
+
+"I have seen it," said the General gravely.  "I felt sure from some
+footmarks I had seen that some great beast was following us--one of
+those that scented the horses last night.  Once or twice I thought the
+steps might be those of some lion that had passed this way; but, after
+watching, I found them so often that at last I lay down amongst the long
+grass, covered myself with my shield, and waited.  It was very, very
+long, and nothing came, and I thought again that I was mistaken; but I
+knew that if it was a lion, tracking down the horses and bullocks, he
+would come close between the wheel marks of the waggon, and there slay."
+
+"And did you mean to kill him, General?" said Dick eagerly.
+
+"One man cannot kill a lion with an assegai, Boss Dick," said the Zulu,
+"and live afterwards and hunt with his friends.  It takes the little
+bullet from a gun to kill a lion well, for you can stand and shoot
+farther off than a lion can spring.  No, I only wanted to know and be
+sure; and if I was sure I said, Boss Dick or Boss Jack will shoot him.
+So I waited till I thought he would not come, and then I was going to
+follow the waggon, when I heard something come steal--steal--steal
+along; and when at last I looked from under my shield, there he stood
+amongst the grass, close to me, watching the waggon.  If I had stood up
+I could have speared him; but I was lying down, and if I had tried to
+get up he would have sprung upon me, the great thing; so I held the
+shield more over me, like an animal with a shell, and crept a little way
+on to meet him, and then made a jump at him, and he roared and dashed
+away."
+
+"But why didn't he seize you?" said Jack.
+
+"He did not see I was a man, and he did not understand what the long
+thing with black legs was that jumped at him; and a lion is big and
+strong, but he is a coward about what he does not understand."
+
+"And have you frightened him right away?" asked Dick.  "Fancy
+frightening away a lion!"
+
+"No," said the Zulu; "only a little way.  He is following the waggon
+now, crawling softly through the grass; and I am sure it is the one Boss
+Jack has shot last night, for there was a mark and blood upon his
+forehead.  It is a great lion, with no mane; and he is savage and wild,
+and will follow the waggon always till he is killed.  We must kill that
+lion soon."
+
+"An' is he following us up, Muster Gineral?" said Dinny, who had heard
+some of the last words.
+
+The Zulu nodded; and Dinny looked from one to the other with such a look
+of hopeless dread in his countenance, that even Mr Rogers could not
+forbear to smile.
+
+"Sure it's the onsafest place I iver came noigh, sor; and it's not
+meself that will stir away from the front of the waggon till that great
+baste is killed."
+
+The General's account of his proceedings, and his conversation as a
+rule, was not in the plainest of English, so it is more convenient to
+give it in ordinary colloquial form; but he was very earnest, and tried
+hard to make himself understood.
+
+When Mr Rogers consulted him as to the best means of getting rid of so
+unpleasant a follower, the Zulu said that the only way would be to ride
+on in front of the waggon, and then suddenly strike off to right or
+left, form a wide curve, and ride inward so as to strike the track of
+the waggon quite a mile behind.
+
+By this means, the General said, they would probably get a shot at the
+monster as he was crawling furtively after the horses, and probably
+bring it down.
+
+"It is a risk," said Mr Rogers thoughtfully; "but it will be impossible
+for us to go on with an enemy like that always in our wake."
+
+"When do you think he will try to attack us, General?" said Dick.
+
+"When the sun has gone down, Boss, and the horses and oxen are having
+their evening feed."
+
+"And he might take my beautiful Shoes," said Dick.
+
+"Or my lovely old Stockings," cried Jack, quite unconscious of how
+absurd his words sounded.
+
+"We shall have to follow out the Zulu's plan, my boys," said Mr Rogers;
+"and the sooner we try the better."
+
+The midday halt was called by a beautifully transparent pool of water,
+where some richly succulent grass awaited the cattle, and which for some
+hours they cropped, the heat being intense, and any object exposed to
+the full power of the sun soon becoming hot enough to burn the hand.
+
+Hot as it was, Dinny, being assured that the lion was not likely to
+attack in open daylight, lit a roaring fire, and soon had the pot
+simmering with its rich thick meat gravy, a basin round of which, and a
+portion of a cake made and baked upon an iron plate brought for the
+purpose, formed their dinner.
+
+Then there was a siesta, and at last, the most fiery hours being gone
+by, broad-brimmed straw hats were taken from the waggon--for it was
+still intensely hot--and the Zulu undertaking to lead the team on
+between two mountains through which the broad valley ran, the horses
+were saddled, rifles taken, and father and sons mounted to go on what
+might prove to be a very dangerous adventure.
+
+The first thing done was to carefully take in the bearings of the
+country, and then, after a few words of advice from the General--whom
+Mr Rogers would have liked to have, only his presence was necessary
+with the waggon, he being the most trustworthy of their followers--they
+rode on at a brisk canter through the crisp long grass, and amongst the
+bushes, and always onward towards the head of the valley, where,
+towering up, stood the twin mountains, which were like the ends of a
+couple of ridges or chains.
+
+Scrupulously following out the General's advice, they struck off to the
+left, and taking quite a two-mile circuit, they saw the waggon crawling
+along in the distance, while they cantered on, feeling wonderfully free
+and light in spite of the heat, till they were a long distance behind
+the waggon, when they halted and carefully swept the surface of the
+country.
+
+"Nothing in sight," said Mr Rogers.
+
+"I hope we shan't have our trip for nothing, father," replied Dick.
+
+"Are you eager to meet with the lion, then?" said his father, smiling.
+
+"I don't know, father; but I should like to shoot him," replied Dick
+quietly.
+
+"Well, my boys, I hope we shall shoot the animal; and as we are now a
+couple of miles at least behind the waggon, if he is following it he
+should be before us now, so come along."
+
+Rifles were cocked, and every eye carefully scrutinised the dry
+drabby-yellow grass through which the lion would be stealing its way,
+and so much like the withered stems in colour that, unless moving, it
+was quite possible to miss seeing such a creature as they rode along.
+
+The plan arranged was, that no sooner was the lion sighted than they
+were all to dismount, and fire as opportunity occurred, loading again as
+rapidly as possible for a second shot.
+
+But though they followed steadily on in the waggon track, riding all
+three abreast, and scanning every clump and bush, they had approached
+the bend of the valley without seeing anything but a few bok, which
+offered tempting marks now that they did not want to shoot.
+
+The waggon had evidently passed through the opening, for it was quite
+out of sight, and the sinking sun was casting long shadows.  So at last
+Mr Rogers grew impatient and spoke out,--
+
+"We had better ride on, my boys, and catch the waggon.  I want to halt
+early and form a good stout fence for our protection.  We shall see
+no--"
+
+"Lion!" said Dick sharply.  "Dismount."
+
+He threw himself from his horse on the instant, and stood ready to fire,
+his father and brother imitating his example.
+
+"Where?" said Mr Rogers quietly.  "I see nothing, Dick."
+
+"There," replied Dick, "fifty yards away, stealing through those thick
+sedgy grasses.  Don't you see?"
+
+"Yes," said his father, "I see the monster now.  Keep cool, boys, and
+make your shots tell.  If he is wounded and charges, you must stand firm
+and fire again."
+
+Mr Rogers waited a few moments, during which the lion, a monstrous
+yellow, maneless fellow, was half-crawling, half-creeping, through the
+long sedgy grass; and at last he showed so plainly that Mr Rogers took
+careful aim, fired, and evidently hit, for the lion uttered a furious
+roar, and made a tremendous bound to escape, with the result that Dick's
+cob started, and threatened to dash off; but a few words from its master
+calmed it; and taking advantage of the good view he had of the lion,
+Dick now fired, a shot from Jack's rifle following directly after.  But,
+so far from the monster being crippled, it ceased its efforts to escape,
+and turning, took a few steps forward, crouched like a cat, and then
+bounded at Jack.
+
+"Stand firm and fire!" cried Mr Rogers.
+
+Jack obeyed, and as he fired the lion was in the air launching itself at
+him, but falling short, rolling over upon its side, and beginning to
+tear and gnaw at the dry grass in its death agony.
+
+Mr Rogers approached, but drew back in favour of Dick.
+
+"Go and give it the _coup de grace_, my boy," he said.  "You may as well
+have the honour of killing the monster, for a monster it is."
+
+Dick had replaced his empty cartridge with a full one, and was
+approaching boldly to fire the necessary shot, when, to his horror and
+astonishment, the lion rose, crouched, and showed its glistening teeth.
+But in spite of the terror that seized him he stood firm, took careful
+aim, fired, and with a savage roar, the lion rolled over, dead.
+
+It was indeed a monster, and its glistening fangs were very long, while
+upon examination there was the mark of Jack's last night's bullet, which
+had ploughed up the skin between the creature's ears, though the wound
+was now half dry.
+
+The shots brought the Zulu into sight with his boys, for the waggon was
+halting at a pleasant spring at the foot of one of the mountains not a
+mile away, for here were wood and a good place for forming a kraal.
+
+The General and his sons raced down, and the boys danced round the lion
+and called it names.  But there was no time to lose, and it was
+impossible to stop and skin the animal that night, so the General stuck
+some branches round it, and then led the way to camp, which was rapidly
+formed.  And though they heard lions in the distance, they had a less
+disturbed night than the preceding one, greatly to the satisfaction of
+all, especially Dinny, who declared that it was a blessing that the lion
+was killed, for now they would be at peace.
+
+But Dinny was wrong, for there were other lions in the land.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+GOOD PRACTICE FOR GUNNERS.
+
+The day had hardly broken before Coffee and Chicory were shouting at the
+opening of the waggon for Boss Dick and Boss Jack to "come and 'kin a
+lion."
+
+They wanted but little rousing up, and after a good souse in the pure
+cool spring, that ran bubbling over and amongst some rocks with
+delicious-looking broad-fronded ferns drooping gracefully over, they
+went and rubbed their horses' muzzles, patted their arched necks, and
+gave each a taste of sugar--for which Shoes and Stockings regularly
+looked now, and would follow their masters like dogs to obtain--they
+shouldered their rifles, and followed the General to the place where the
+lion lay.
+
+Rested and refreshed, everything around looked lovely, for they were at
+the head of a very fertile valley, where flowers bloomed in profusion,
+and the springs that rose in the sides of the mountains sent down
+moisture enough to keep miles of the country round of a perpetual green.
+
+"Plenty game here," said Chicory, pointing to a bare, muddy spot by a
+water-hole.
+
+The General turned aside, and stooped down to look at the hundreds of
+footprints in the soft mud.
+
+"Koodoo," he said, "eland, buffalo, bok, wildebeeste, quagga, zebra,
+lion," and he pointed out in turn the spoor, or footprints, of the
+various beasts he named.  "Yes, plenty of game here."
+
+As they went on, the boys noticed the abundance of the pretty little
+whidah bird, a lovely little creature, about the size of a lark, but
+with a tail of such enormous length that in a breeze the power of the
+wind upon the tail drives the bird to take flight into shelter, so that
+it shall not be blown away.  Pigeons in abundance flew over their heads,
+and parrots of such gaudy colours that Dick felt obliged to shoot three
+or four as specimens, to skin and add to their collection.
+
+But the lion pretty well filled the thoughts of all, and Jack was
+intensely eager to see the monster that he took to himself the credit of
+having shot.
+
+As they drew near the place where the adventure of the previous night
+had taken place, the verdure began to give place to brown, parched-up
+sedgy grass, and the boys could not help noticing how much it seemed to
+harmonise with the skin of the beast of prey they had slain.
+
+As they drew nearer there was no difficulty in finding the spot, for a
+party of great, dusky, bare-necked vultures were sitting about, gazing
+hungrily at the dead beast, but afraid to approach on account of the
+sticks and branches stuck about to imitate a trap.
+
+They were so near now that they could make out the shape of the lion
+amongst the dry grass, when, apparently always upon his guard, the
+General suddenly presented the point of his assegai.  Coffee and Chicory
+said nothing, but they did the same; and Dick and Jack, fully under the
+impression that the lion had come back to life, cocked their rifles and
+stood ready to fire.
+
+Just then there was a low muttering growl, a moving of the long grass as
+if something was passing through, and a smooth-coated lion bounded into
+sight, gazing at them menacingly, and lashing its sides with its tail.
+
+Wisely or no, the boys' rifles were at their shoulders on the instant,
+and they fired together as Coffee and Chicory threw their spears.
+
+There was a tremendous roar, a bound, a crash, and then silence, broken
+only by the clicking of the mechanism of the rifles, as the boys rapidly
+reloaded them with heavy ball.
+
+As the smoke cleared away the General beckoned Dick and Jack to his
+side, and they advanced cautiously through the grass, which they pushed
+aside with the assegai and the muzzles of the rifles, till they saw, a
+short distance off, the handle of an assegai sticking up.
+
+"There him is," shouted Coffee; "my assegai!"  And he seemed ready to
+run forward and get it, but was checked by a sign from his father.
+
+The young hunters raised their rifles to their shoulders, ready to fire
+again, at the sight of the lion; but the staff of the assegai did not
+even quiver; and, gaining confidence, the General went closer and parted
+the grass, for his young companions to fire.
+
+The next moment he had sprung forward, and shouted and waved his spear
+above his head; for there, upon its side, lay the lion, quite dead, the
+second within twenty-four hours.
+
+"That was your shot, Dick," said Jack.
+
+"No, no: yours," said Dick.
+
+"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 Dick 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 mass 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 Dick.
+
+"More need to practise our shooting.  Dicky, I shall always aim at their
+eyes."
+
+"I want to get back and tell father," said Dick.  "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 Dick'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 grass 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 grass,
+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 Dick 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 Crassus
+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 sturdy fellow dragged him for
+yards before Rough'un let go.
+
+Altogether, for a few minutes there seemed to be what Dick 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 compass 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 clusters 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 Dick'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 space 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 Dick.
+
+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 Dick 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 assuring Dick 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, Dick had attempted
+to pick it up, when Coffee and Chicory threw themselves upon him, and a
+short struggle ensued, which made Dick very angry, and he was very
+nearly coming to blows.
+
+"The boys are quite right," said Mr Rogers sharply.  "Dick, you ought
+to have known better.  Don't you know what that thick, short serpent
+is?"
+
+"No, father," said Dick, 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 Dick,
+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 Dick 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 assegai.
+
+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."
+
+Dick 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 butterflies seemed to have found these rifts a perfect
+paradise.
+
+Dick 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, Dick 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 tortoiseshell 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.
+
+Dick 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 Dick 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!" ejaculated Dick; 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 passed 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 Dick shoot um?  Boss Dick shoot noder lion?" cried Chicory.
+
+"No," said Dick; "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, Dick, 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 assegai through the serpent, and then again
+and again, the creature's struggles being blind of purpose, for its head
+had been shattered by Dick's shot; while fiercely leaping up, Coffee
+raised his own assegai, 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 Dick," 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
+tortoiseshell 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 arsenical 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.
+
+Butterflies, too, and beetles were obtained in great numbers, being
+carefully killed, and pinned out in boxes lined with camphored 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 butterfly 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 Dick 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 Dick 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 passing 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 passed 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
+assegais, 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 Dick.
+
+"Sure, Masther Dick, 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."
+
+"To be sure," said Mr Rogers.  "There are silurus in it."
+
+"Are there though, sor?" said Dinny.  "And there's the big rocks up
+behind it, where the prickly trees wid red flowers and no leaves at all
+grow."
+
+"Yes, I know the place," said Mr Rogers impatiently; "go on."
+
+"Well, sor, I sits meself down comfortable, baits my hook wid a nice bit
+of fresh mate as any dacent fish would like to have, and then I says to
+meself, `Dinny,' I says, `while ye're waiting to hook a nice fish for
+the masther's dinner, I'd have jist a whiff o' tibakky if I were you.'
+`Ye're right and I will,' I says; and I outs wid my pipe, fills it, and
+was just going to light up, when _splash_!  There was a great big stone
+thrown in the wather.
+
+"`Ah, be aisy, Masther Jack,' I says, for I knew it was you."
+
+"Why, I was away with my father," cried Jack.
+
+"To be sure ye were, Masther Jack, dear; but don't ye see I thought it
+was your thrick; and bang comes another big stone down be me side.
+
+"`I'll tell the masther if ye don't lave off,' I says.  `That's you,
+Masther Dick, as throwed that.'
+
+"Splash comes another, and then I recklected as ye'd both be far away,
+and that it must be one of them dirthy little varmints, Coffee or
+Chicory.  So I lays down me rod and line, as nice and sthrait a rod as
+ye'd cut out of the woods anywhere, ye know, sor, and I picked up my bit
+of stick ready for them.
+
+"`I'll wait till ye throw again, me beauties,' I says; and just as I
+says it to meself, a big stone hits me on the back, and another goes in
+just by me line.
+
+"`Now ye shall have it, ye wicked little villains,' I says; and jumping
+up I was going to run at 'em, when, murther! there was about a dozen of
+the craytures coming down from the rocks, shouting and chattering, and
+throwing stones.
+
+"`Will ye be off?' says one, `ye've no business fishing there widout
+lave.'"
+
+"How do you know he said that?" said Dick dryly.
+
+"Sure an' what else would he say, Masther Dick, dear?  An' ah, ye never
+saw such ugly little divils, widout a bit of nose to their dirty faces,
+and a grin as if they were all teeth.
+
+"`Sure I was only catching a fish for the masther's dinner, gintlemen,'
+I says, when, murther! if they didn't run at me like mad, and if I
+hadn't walked away I belave they'd have killed me.  As it was one
+cowardly villain instead of hitting me dacently on the head wid his
+stick like a Christian, comes at me and bites me in the leg."
+
+"Let's look, Dinny," said Dick, for Mr Rogers listened but did not
+speak.
+
+"Oh ye can look, Masther Dick.  He tuk a pace out of me throusis, and
+he'd have tuk a pace out of me leg as well, if I hadn't expostulated wid
+him on the head wid me shtick.  Sure I was obliged to run then or they'd
+have torn me to pieces; and it's my belafe they've been using the
+fishing-line ever since."
+
+"And so you've had an interview with the natives, have you, Dinny?" said
+Mr Rogers dryly.
+
+"Ah, I wouldn't call them natives, sor," said Dinny.
+
+"What then, baboons?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Sure, sur, I don't know the name of the thribe, but they're a
+dirthy-looking little lot, and as hairy as if they never shaved
+themselves a bit."
+
+"Why he's been pelted by monkeys," cried Dick, indignantly; and Jack
+burst out laughing.
+
+"Faix, Masther Dick, dear, they behaved like monkeys more than men, and
+they're an ugly little thribe of natives; and if I'd had a gun I'd have
+given some of them the headache, that I would."
+
+"Ah, here's the General," cried Mr Rogers, as the great Zulu came
+striding up with a bok over his shoulder.
+
+As he entered the little camp he threw down the bok, and began to skin
+it, looking about for Coffee and Chicory.
+
+"Where are the boys?" he said at last.
+
+"Sure they haven't come back," said Dinny; "and I hope they never will,"
+he added, taking the bok to cut up and cook a portion, for Dinny's leg
+was very sore and bleeding from a severe bite, and his temper was also a
+little more sore from the doubt with which his story had been received.
+
+The Zulu darted a fierce glance at him, but he did not speak.  He only
+walked to the waggon, where Mr Rogers was examining some of the
+specimens he had killed, and said simply,--
+
+"May I take the rifle, boss, and go and find my boys?"
+
+"Yes, of course," exclaimed Mr Rogers.
+
+"I'll go with you, General," cried Jack eagerly.
+
+"But you are too tired," said his father.
+
+"Oh, no," cried Jack.  "I don't mind.  I'll go with the General."
+
+The Zulu darted a grateful look at Jack, and the latter took his rifle
+and bullet cartridges, starting off directly after in the way that the
+boys had been seen to go.
+
+Jack began chatting to the Zulu as they went along, but after a few
+remarks he noticed that the General was very quiet and reserved, while
+when he glanced at his countenance it looked so strange that Jack felt
+startled, and began to think of how awkward his position would be if the
+Zulu were to prove unfaithful, and turn upon him.
+
+But the next minute he was reassured, and found that it was anxiety upon
+the General's part about his boys.
+
+"I am afraid, Boss Jack," he said hoarsely.  "It frightens me to think.
+They may be killed."
+
+"Oh, no," cried Jack hopefully.  "They have only gone farther away, and
+have not had time to return."
+
+The Zulu shook his head, but he glanced eagerly at the speaker as if to
+silently ask him if he really felt like that.
+
+"No," he said softly; "one of them would be back by now, I am afraid."
+
+Jack tried again, but it was of no avail; and the Zulu having struck the
+boys' trail, he had to be left to follow it without interruption, and
+this he did, all through the heat of that glowing afternoon.
+
+Several times poor Jack felt as if he would faint, but his spirit kept
+him up, and at last they came upon Chicory, sitting down by a little
+pool of water with his assegai beside him, bathing his bleeding feet.
+
+The Zulu uttered a low sigh of satisfaction as he saw one of his boys,
+and Chicory jumped up, and seizing his assegai, ran to meet them.
+
+"My brother; has he got back?" he asked in his own tongue.
+
+"No; I came to find you both.  Where is he?" said the General sternly.
+
+"Lost," said Chicory disconsolately.  "We got no birds and would not go
+back without, and we went on and parted.  He is lost."
+
+"Lost!" said the Zulu scornfully; "my boy lost!  Go find him.  Watch the
+spoor.  He must be found."
+
+Poor Chicory turned without a word, and in obedience to his father's
+order he went off in the direction where he and his brother had
+accidentally parted, and at last led them to a beautiful park-like tract
+of land.  Forest-trees sprang up in every direction, for the most part
+draped with creepers; clumps of bushy growth, and clusters of prickly
+succulent plants, grew on every side.  It was in fact a very nature's
+garden, but though they searched in all directions through the lovely
+glades, golden with the rays of the scorching sun, there was no trace of
+poor Coffee; and after separating, when they met again from time to time
+poor worn out Chicory looked his despair.
+
+Again they separated, Jack following, however, pretty closely upon poor
+Chicory's steps, till the excitement that had kept him up so long began
+to fail, and he sat down pretty well exhausted, with his rifle across
+his knees and his back against a tree.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+JACK ROGERS GOES TO SLEEP.
+
+Jack could hardly tell afterwards how it all happened, for he felt that
+he must have gone off fast asleep from utter exhaustion, but his sleep
+could not have lasted above an hour, for when he awoke with a start the
+sun had only just dipped down out of sight, and there was a faint glow
+still amongst the trees.
+
+All was very silent and he was drowsy, but a feeling of alarm now began
+to oppress him, and he wondered whether Chicory and the General would
+soon be there.
+
+His next thought was about his rifle, which still lay across his knees;
+and feeling that he might at any moment be called upon to use it in his
+defence, he cocked both barrels, and was then about to get up and shout,
+when, not a hundred yards away down a broad vista of the open forest, he
+saw something which made him present his rifle and then sit motionless,
+with his heart going thump, thump, heavily beneath his ribs.
+
+For there, stealing softly along, with its belly almost sweeping the
+ground, was a huge lion--not a smooth, maneless lion, such as the two
+they had slain, but a big-muzzled, rugged-maned, hairy monster, such as
+he was familiar with in pictures--the natural history lion that he had
+seen a hundred times.
+
+To have attempted to fire would have been madness at that distance, and
+it was evident that he was at present in no danger, for seated as he was
+in the shadow, with his back to the trunk of a great tree, the lion had
+not seen him.
+
+The next moment Jack saw why he passed unnoticed.
+
+The lion was cautiously stalking some dark animal that was softly
+gliding through the bushes, following it step by step awaiting the time
+to spring.
+
+It was an interesting sight, though painful; and Jack thought of his
+brother's adventure with the serpent, and whether he was not in duty
+bound to save this animal from its pursuer as his brother saved the
+gazelle.
+
+The next moment Jack's heart seemed to stand still, for the dark animal
+passed out of the bushes into sight, and he saw that it was no wild
+animal, but poor Chicory, bending down, and evidently carefully tracing
+some spoor, perhaps his brother's, while the lion was following to
+strike him down.
+
+It was a terrible position; for young as he was in woodcraft, Jack had
+not yet acquired the firmness in critical moments that comes to the old
+hunter, and for the time he felt paralysed.
+
+He was a brave, self-denying boy, but in that emergency he could only
+sit there, turned as it were to stone, and watch the motions of poor
+Chicory, and the merciless beast that was stealthily creeping along in
+his wake without a sound.
+
+Jack knew that Chicory's position was critical in the extreme, and that
+if he did not save him by a lucky shot the lion would strike him down;
+but he could not move; the muscles of his whole body refused to act, as
+if he was in a nightmare; all he could do was to move his eyes and watch
+the terrible tragedy about to be enacted.
+
+The boy felt as if he would have given worlds to be able to fire, or
+even shout; but he could do nothing but wait, and see Chicory creeping
+patiently along in and out among the trees and bushes, now hidden, now
+coming into sight for a few moments, but always so intent upon the
+footprints he was examining, that he did not hear his enemy.
+
+And what an enemy!  There was the great powerful beast, with glaring
+eyes and horrent mane, creeping along with its fur brushing the grass,
+and every foot touching the ground like velvet.  At times Jack could see
+the great muscles moving beneath its skin, and the pliant tail swaying
+and quivering as it softly lashed it to and fro.
+
+Several times over it crouched down, as if about to spring, but a quick
+movement on the part of the Zulu boy caused it to pause--and still the
+hunt went on.
+
+As Jack sat there the great drops of perspiration gathered upon his
+forehead, and trickled down his face.  The sun's light reflected from
+the glowing clouds grew less, and there was a grey gloom gathering
+round, which made the scene before him more painful.  At one time he
+thought that as darkness came on Chicory might give up, become aware of
+his danger, and so escape.  Even now, if he could have warned him the
+boy would have doubtless bounded into a tree, for he was as quick and
+active as a monkey; but no warning passed from Jack's lips, and the
+strange weird scene went on.
+
+The forest glade before him might have been a maze whose path Chicory
+was trying to thread, and the lion some faithful attendant beast,
+watchfully following in his very steps.  But though Jack's body was as
+it were enchained, his mind was in a fearful state of activity; and not
+only did he follow as if fascinated every step, but his thoughts even
+went in advance, and he felt sick as he thought of the catastrophe about
+to happen, seeming to see the lion make its final crouch and spring,
+hearing too the boy's death-shriek; and as the actors in the terrible
+scene drew nearer to him, Jack strove with all his might to cast off his
+inaction.
+
+On still, and in and out, in a heavy weary way, as if he could hardly
+put one leg before the other, went poor Chicory; and slowly and
+carefully followed the lion, the massive jaws thrust forward, and each
+great paw raised and set down without a sound.
+
+It could not have lasted more than a few minutes, this exciting scene,
+but it seemed never ending to Jack as he sat there, till in one instant
+he was roused back into action, and to try and the poor boy.
+
+In his wanderings in and out, as has been said, Chicory came nearer to
+where his young master sat, with his back to the trunk of the great
+forest-tree, and more than once Jack wondered that the lion had not seen
+him; though this was easily explainable--he remained perfectly
+motionless, and the animal was intent upon his prey.
+
+Chicory had come on nearer and nearer then, till he was not above thirty
+yards from Jack, when, turning in amongst some long grass, the positions
+were suddenly reversed, for in place of following the Zulu boy, the lion
+crept round a clump of bushes so as to come face to face with him, and
+then crouched ready to spring--just as Chicory stopped short, leaning
+forward over something in the long grass, and, dropping his assegai,
+uttered a piercing shriek.
+
+Not thirty yards away, and just in face of where Jack was; and he knew
+that Chicory had come upon something terrible, perhaps the body of his
+brother, while he, Jack, had been sitting there quite unconscious, and
+had even in his ignorance gone to sleep.
+
+It was that cry that roused Jack into action, for, almost as the boy
+dropped his assegai and leaned over that something in the long grass,
+the lion gathered itself for its spring, and the watcher's rifle rose to
+his shoulder.  There was one quick aim--the sharp crack, followed by a
+multitude of echoes; and Jack sprang to his feet and on one side, to
+avoid the charge should the lion come his way.
+
+There was a deafening roar, and the lion, which had fallen short in his
+spring and rolled over, evidently badly hit, struggled to his feet, and
+made at Jack, who sheltered himself behind the nearest tree; and when
+the great brute came on, with distended claws and bristling mane, he
+fired again, at a distance of a couple of yards, forgetting that his
+charge was but small shot.
+
+At that distance, though, small shot were as good as a bullet, and the
+lion fell in his tracks, snarling and growling horribly, as he struck
+impotently at his slayer; then his head fell back, the mighty paws grew
+inert, and he lay over more upon his side--for with a furious cry of
+rage Chicory forgot his weariness, and picking up his assegai, drove it
+deep into the animal's chest.
+
+Hardly believing it true, Jack rapidly reloaded, congratulating himself
+upon what he had done, when he heard the rustling of leaves, and
+presented his piece, fully expecting that it was the lion's mate.
+
+But no: it was the General, who ran panting up, having heard the sound
+of the rifle, and as he reached them Chicory took his hand, and led him
+to the patch of grass without a word.
+
+Jack followed, instinctively knowing that something terrible was there.
+And then his heart seemed to stand still, as he heard a deep groan burst
+from the General's breast, and he sank down by the body of the son he
+had come to seek.
+
+"Is--is he dead?" said Jack, in a hoarse whisper, as he gazed down in
+the gathering darkness at poor Coffee's bleeding form.
+
+For answer the General was feeling the boy's chest, and he then laid his
+ear against his side.
+
+"No, not dead!" he cried excitedly.
+
+Then lifting the boy in his arms, he started off back towards the
+waggon, Jack and Chicory following behind, but not until the latter had
+rushed back to where the lion lay, and plunged his assegai once more
+deeply into the monster's chest.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+THE CAPTURE OF A CAT.
+
+It was a long and toilsome walk back, for the night had come on quickly,
+and every now and then the roar of some beast of prey, or the crash of
+some animal through the trees, was heard.  But nothing interfered with
+them; and when from time to time they halted for a few moments, the
+General gladly made use of the strips torn by Jack from his handkerchief
+and shirt to bind up the poor boy's bleeding wounds.
+
+It seemed wonderful to Jack that strength and determination on the part
+of the General, almost as wonderful as the unerring instinct with which
+he made straight for the camp.
+
+He did not speak once, but there was something exceedingly tender in the
+way in which he tried to carry the wounded boy, so as not to cause him
+pain; for he did not realise that poor Coffee was quite insensible to
+suffering, and had not felt anything since he had been struck down.
+
+At last, when Jack felt that he could no longer plant one leg before the
+other, there was the bright glow of the fire at the little camp, where
+they found Mr Rogers in a terrible state of uneasiness at their
+prolonged absence.
+
+The moment, however, he found what was wrong, his surgical skill, which
+was not slight, was brought to bear, and the terrible gaping wounds of
+the poor boy were sewn up and bandaged.
+
+Read by the light of all that Jack had to tell, it was plain enough what
+had befallen poor Coffee.  He had been stalked, by the same lion
+probably as that which Jack had shot.  The monster had sprung upon him,
+clawing his bare back and shoulder; and then, probably being surfeited
+with devouring some unfortunate beast, he had left the boy, and had been
+roused again by another intruder upon his domains, while, but for Jack's
+rifle, poor Chicory would have shared his fate.
+
+"But a' didn't kill Chick, Boss Jack.  Boss Jack kill um, and Boss Jack
+and Chick go and kill all a lion now, and not leave not one."
+
+This was the next morning, when the events of the past night had been
+talked over, and Mr Rogers had expressed a hope that the boy might
+live.
+
+But, as he told his sons, it was very doubtful, for he had been horribly
+clawed by the lion, though fortunately upon his back.  Had the creature
+seized him in front, he must have lost his life.
+
+All attempts at continuing the journey were of course put off, a
+comfortable bed being made up for Coffee where he would feel the cooling
+breeze and be sheltered from the sun, while his father took his place by
+him, and sat and kept the bandages over the wounds wet and cool.
+
+It was Chicory who proposed that the lion's skin should be fetched in;
+and after a promise to be careful, the boys started off, taking with
+them Peter to skin the lion, Mr Rogers feeling that he could not leave,
+with Coffee in such a state.  In fact he hesitated about letting his
+sons go, after such a shock, though he could not help feeling that they
+were beginning to display a courage and decision that was most
+praiseworthy, especially as it was linked with so much self-denial.
+
+"But the skin would be such a trophy, father," said Jack.  "I should
+like to have it."
+
+"Go and get it, then," said Mr Rogers; "but don't stop.  You may as
+well shoot a few birds, though, or any small bok, if you can.  We must
+make our beef-tea of venison, Dinny says," he added with a smile, "for
+the invalid must have plenty of support."
+
+Jack went to have a look at poor Coffee as he lay there insensible, and
+softly placed his cool hand upon the poor boy's burning head.
+
+Then he started, for, to his surprise, the General was at his feet with
+his arms round his legs, and embracing them closely.
+
+He did not understand it then, but the Zulu was swearing fidelity, and
+to lay down his life for him who had saved, as he felt, both his boys.
+
+Just then there was a yelping and baying amongst the dogs, a snarling
+noise, and Dinny's voice heard shouting--when Jack ran out, just in time
+to see something yellowish and spotted rush among the trees, sending the
+oxen into a terrible state of excitement, and making the horses gallop
+up to the waggon for protection.
+
+Mr Rogers was out in the open with a gun--but it was too late, there
+was nothing to shoot, and the dogs, which had been off after the animal,
+came trotting back.
+
+"What was it, Dinny?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Sure, sor, an' it was a great big yellow tom cat, wid splashes like
+brown gravy all over his dirthy body; an' he came sneaking out of the
+wood and made a pounce on Rough'un there; but the dog was too quick for
+him, an' run bechuckst the big waggon-wheels, an' thin I threw a pot at
+him and aff he went, and the dogs after him."
+
+"How big was it, Dinny?" cried Dick excitedly.
+
+"About as big as ten tom cats, Masther Dick, if they was all biled down
+and made into one."
+
+"Get along," cried Dick.  "What would it be, father--a leopard?"
+
+"Yes, my boy, undoubtedly.  They are very fond of dogs, and will dash
+under the waggons sometimes after one.  Rough'un has had a narrow
+escape.  We must look out, for the creature may come again."
+
+It was a long walk to the glade where the lion was shot, but they killed
+a couple of the dangerous puff-adders, and shot three or four beautiful
+birds, besides bringing down a small gazelle, which they protected with
+sticks to keep off the vultures.  But the most interesting part of their
+journey was during the first mile of their way.  They had all separated
+so as to look out for game, and were crossing a patch of dense dried-up
+yellow grass where they expected to spring a large bird or two, when,
+all at once, something of a rich yellow and brown darted out before
+Dick, leaving one clump to make for another, closely followed by a
+little dun-coloured animal, evidently its young.
+
+Dick's rifle was to his shoulder on the instant, and a bullet through
+the animal laid it low, while the young one leaped upon it, and turned
+and snarled, and spat at its mother's slayer.
+
+"Why it's the leopard that came after poor Rough'un, I'll be bound,"
+cried Jack, coming up.  "It has got a young one, and that's what made it
+so daring.  Hullo, little chap!  We'll take you back for a pet."
+
+But the young leopard was already in a pet, and it scratched, and swore,
+and behaved so cat-like, that it was no easy task to secure it.  This,
+however, was done in a strong game-bag, which was hung in a tree while
+the mother was skinned for the sake of her beautiful hide.
+
+As they neared the place where Jack's lion lay, Dick drew his brother's
+attention to the vultures that were winging their way overhead.
+
+"You'll see if they haven't been at your lion," he said.
+
+He proved a true prophet, for as they drew near the glade--Jack feeling
+a strange chill of horror as he recalled the last night's adventure--
+first one and then another vulture flew up, and when Chicory made a dash
+forward they rose in a cloud.
+
+"Your skin's spoiled, Jack," said his brother.
+
+But he was wrong, for the vultures had found two assegais leaning
+against a bush, and looking so ominous with their bright blades where
+the General had left them, that they had not dared to touch the lion,
+and the consequence was that a magnificent skin was obtained, one that
+proved to be no light load for Peter and Chicory, who carried it
+swinging from a pole resting upon their shoulders.
+
+The load was increased as they picked up the skin of the leopard, while
+the boys carried the game.
+
+The young leopard proved to be quite safe in the game-bag, which formed
+a comfortable hammock for it as it hung in a tree, but no sooner was it
+swung from Jack's shoulder, and felt the motion of the walker, than it
+became furious, spitting and tearing, and trying to get out.
+
+One way and another they were so loaded that the sight of the waggon
+proved very welcome, and all were only too glad to partake of a good
+basin of what Mr Rogers called "Dinny's restorative," namely the rich
+thick venison soup always stewing in the great pot, and being added to
+every day.
+
+And it was wonderful how invigorating this rich meat essence proved.  No
+matter how weary they were, a basin of it could be enjoyed, and its
+effect seemed to be almost instantaneous.
+
+After a good dinner in the shade of the big tree by the waggon, both
+Jack and Dick had another look at poor Coffee, to find that he slept a
+good deal, and quite easily, Mr Rogers saying that he was less
+feverish.
+
+"Well, boys, what do you think of the medicine-chest now?  Was I not
+right in being prepared for emergencies?"
+
+The boys agreed that it was right, and hoped all the same that they
+would never have to make any demands upon it, either for doses or lint
+and plaister--invaluable in poor Coffee's case now.
+
+Then the lion's skin was admired, and laid out to dry.  The leopard's
+followed, and was greatly praised by Mr Rogers; and indeed it was
+beautiful in the harmony of its brown and creamy-yellow tints.
+
+"Bedad and that's the very baste," cried Dinny.  "I know him by that
+spot at the back of his left ear, and the payculiar twisht of his tail."
+
+"Now, Dinny," said Dick, "how could you tell it again when you saw it
+for a moment only."
+
+"An' d'ye think it takes half-an-hour for one of me eyes to catch soight
+of a craythure like that, Masther Dick?  Sure I knowed it the moment I
+set oise upon it as the very same baste."
+
+"Then you must have excellent eyesight, Dinny," said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Sure an' I have that same, sor," said Dinny proudly, as the boys next
+brought out the young leopard, which had to be held pretty tightly by
+the back of the neck to keep it from taking its departure, while the
+dogs gathered round muttering growls, and longing to take revenge upon
+the young leopard for the insult put upon them that morning by the
+mother.
+
+"I think Dinny's right, boys," said Mr Rogers, as he looked at the
+clumsy young leopard, which had a peculiarly heavy kittenish aspect.  "I
+should say it was undoubtedly the mother that dashed in after the dogs,
+her young one making her the more daring."
+
+"Sure an' I knew I was right," said Dinny complacently.  "It was an
+avil-looking baste, in spite of its foine skin."
+
+"What are you going to do with the leopard?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Keep it, of course, father," said Jack.
+
+"I don't see any, `of course,'" he replied, smiling; "but try and keep
+it if you can, though I'm afraid you will find it an awkward customer to
+tame."
+
+"Well, let us try," said Jack; and setting to work he soon contrived a
+collar of stout wire, which was wrapped round and round with thin
+leather, a dog-chain attached, and then the dogs were called by Dick.
+
+"I say, what are you going to do?" cried his brother; "they'll kill the
+poor little thing."
+
+"Oh no, they will not," said Dick confidently.  "I'm going to give them
+a lesson."
+
+The dogs came bounding up, having been driven away during the
+manufacture of the collar; and now, evidently under the impression that
+they were to kill the young leopard, they became in a high state of
+excitement.
+
+"Oh, Dick!" cried Jack.  "Mind what you are about."
+
+"Down, down, down!" cried Dick sternly; and the dogs all crouched,
+awaiting the order to attack.  "Now, Rough'un, smell him."
+
+Rough'un sprang up, and Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus made a rush; but a
+tap each from the stick Dick held stopped them, and laying hold of
+Rough'un's ear, Dick pushed the dog's nose close to the vicious-looking
+little leopard.
+
+"Now, sir, you're not to touch him; do you hear?"
+
+Rough'un evidently heard, and after smelling at the little animal, he
+looked up in a puzzled way at his master.
+
+"Lie down, sir," said Dick, 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, Crassus 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 Crassus 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 grass.
+
+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
+Dick 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 Dick, 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 Dick
+sarcastically.  "He could have caught the ostriches for us."
+
+"Caught 'em, Masther Dick.  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 Dick 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
+Dick; 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, glasses 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.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+DRUMSTICKS AND LIONS.
+
+Chicory came back the next day, for his brother's assegais, having lost
+his own, as he said, sticking in an ostrich's back.
+
+"Bring him back soon," he said, as he sat down and ate tremendously for
+about an hour, after which he lay down and went to sleep by his wounded
+brother, and did not awake till his father came back with a little bok
+slung over his shoulder, and stirred him with his foot.
+
+Chicory sprang up as if pricked, and in reply to his father's angry
+words in the Zulu tongue, the boy made a reply which calmed the
+General's wrath directly, and then went away.
+
+When breakfast was ready the next morning, and Dinny brought a number of
+skewers of wood laden with hot sputtering venison cutlets, to place
+before each hungry meal-seeker, Chicory was not visible; and on being
+asked, Coffee said his brother had gone as soon as the lions had left
+off roaring; but he came back before evening in a wonderful state of
+excitement, begging Dick and Jack to mount their horses and come to
+fetch in the ostrich he had speared.
+
+"Where is it?" cried Dick.
+
+The Zulu boy pointed towards the east, and just then Mr Rogers came up.
+
+"He has speared an ostrich, father," cried Dick eagerly.
+
+"Indeed!  How did you manage it, Chicory?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"So!" said the boy, throwing himself into a peculiar attitude, and
+holding up one arm with the hand bent down, so that side-wise his figure
+took something of the aspect of the long-necked bird.
+
+"Then the ostrich must have been stupid," cried Jack, laughing.
+
+"Yes, 'tupid bird," said Chicory, grinning.  "Never be 'tupid any more.
+Come fetch him."
+
+The horses were soon ready, and they were about to start when Dinny
+expressed a desire to go.
+
+"Shure, I haven't sthretched me legs these three days, Masther Dick,
+dear, and I wouldn't mind exercising one of the big horses if the
+Masther loiked."
+
+But "the masther" didn't "loike," not feeling disposed to trust a
+valuable animal to Dinny's tender mercies; so that gentleman turned upon
+his heel, and went back to the waggon-fire in disgust, and sat over it
+to "warrum" himself, though every one else was complaining of the heat.
+
+It was a long ride, but Chicory did not seemed tired.  He laid hold of
+the mane of Dick's or Jack's horse, and ran easily along by the side.
+And had there been any doubt of the spot in which the game lay, the
+vultures going straight in one direction would have pointed it out.
+
+The sun was getting very low as they neared the place to which Chicory
+pointed; and when they came up a perfect crowd of vultures rose, having
+been seated at a respectful distance, watching the bower of sticks with
+which Chicory had surrounded his prize.
+
+It proved to be a full-grown ostrich, but it was in wretched plumage,
+and a little examination showed that there was a reason for Chicory's
+success, the bird having been shot at and a good deal injured.
+
+It was such a miserable object that it would have been left behind had
+not the little party known that the General wanted it for a particular
+purpose; so it was strapped on to the back of Mr Rogers's saddle, to
+the great discomfort of the big bay, which immediately began to kick
+furiously.
+
+This kicking process caused the ostrich's long legs and neck to fly
+about and belabour the horse's sides, driving it almost frantic, and had
+he not been securely held he would have gone off at full gallop over the
+plain, probably to go on till he dropped or was pulled down by the
+lions.
+
+"Look at the old drum," cried Dick eagerly; "and how the drumsticks are
+giving it to his sides," a remark which ensured for the old bay horse
+the nickname of the "Drum" to the end of the journey.
+
+Fortunately for the party the moon in its first quarter was well
+advanced, and as the sunlight faded in the west they had the advantage
+of the soft silvery rays to guide them on their way.  But all the same,
+the journey back was toilsome and dangerous; for no sooner did they
+attempt to go fast--Chicory being mounted in turn behind one or other of
+the boys, than, as Dick said, the sticks began to beat the drum, and the
+drum began to go mad, and snort and kick most violently.
+
+"Ah, father," cried Jack, "what a shame it was you did not lend Dinny a
+horse; it would have been such fun to have seen him with the ostrich
+tied on behind."
+
+"Shure, he'd have been kilt intoirely," said Dick, mimicking Dinny's
+accent.
+
+"I should not envy him his ride if it would have been anything like
+mine," said Mr Rogers drily.  "Hark, boys! there's a lion."
+
+"Oomph! oomph!" came the low deep roar, like muttering thunder at home
+on a summer's night; and over and over again they noticed the
+peculiarity of the deep-toned growl.  For it was as if some
+ventriloquist were imitating the cry in different parts of the
+wilderness.  Now it sounded close by, and the horses shivered and pawed
+the ground impatiently; then it seemed a little farther off; and again
+it was close by.
+
+They would gladly have galloped on if it had not been for the
+drumsticks, as Dick called the ostrich's neck and legs, these
+necessitating a very gentle progress; and all the time the deep roar of
+the lion grew nearer.
+
+"Want the horses," said Chicory.  "Two--three--four lion."
+
+He pointed his hand in different directions; and now it was quite
+evident that that was no animal ventriloquism, but several lions
+attracted by the horses were cautiously approaching so as to make a
+successful spring.
+
+At last their unpleasant neighbours grew so demonstrative, that Mr
+Rogers gave the word, and they drew rein at the edge of a patch of wood,
+where there was an abundance of dry brush and grass.
+
+"We must not go any further, boys," exclaimed Mr Rogers.  "Dick, sit
+fast, and hold the reins of Jack's and my horses.  We'll jump down and
+make a fire.  Come, Chicory, dead dry grass."
+
+The boy no sooner understood what was wanted than he began rapidly to
+gather up the dry grass into a heap, while Jack and his father drew
+their heavy hunting-knives and chopped off the brushwood; but it was
+nervous work, for the low, muttering roar came ominously close, and at
+any moment Dick felt that one of the great cat-like creatures, which
+have a terrible hunger after horseflesh, might spring upon one of the
+poor creatures, which trembled and whinnied, and tugged at the reins.
+
+"I shan't do much good, father," cried Dick, "but I'm going to shoot
+where I think the lions are."
+
+"Yes, fire," cried his father, who was down upon his knees, vainly
+trying to get the dry grass to burn; "fire as quickly as you can load."
+
+_Bang_, _bang_, went Dick's double gun on the instant; and apparently
+comforted by the noise, and perhaps an instinctive knowledge that the
+firing was for their protection, the horses ceased to embarrass their
+caretaker by tugging to get away, and crowded together, pressing one
+upon the other in their dread.
+
+There was a pause of about a minute's duration, and then the lions' cry
+was heard again a little more distant, but coming nearer and nearer; and
+still the fire would not burn, but kept on emitting a dense blinding
+smoke, which hid one great beast from Dick's eyes, where he had
+distinctly seen the animal creeping along towards them.  Directly after,
+though, he saw another quite plainly in the bright moonlight, creeping
+cautiously onwards, and stooping from time to time as if about to
+spring.
+
+Dick had reloaded by this time, and taking careful aim he fired again,
+when there was a furious roar, and they all heard quite plainly the snap
+and gnashing of the monster's teeth.
+
+"You've hit him, Dick.  Keep it up, my boy.  Chicory, here!  Come and
+blow.  I can't get this fire to burn."
+
+Chicory threw himself upon his hands and knees, and as Dick, with
+agitated fingers, hastily reloaded, and tried to see the next lion so as
+to have a shot at it, there came a deep-mouthed roar from behind.  Then
+another and another, and the horses grew frantic, for the beasts were
+evidently going to make their attack.
+
+Dick raised his piece to his shoulder and prepared to fire, longing the
+while for some relief, when, all at once, there was a bright flash, and
+the fire that had refused for so long to burn, burst into a brilliant
+flame, showing three lions quite plainly, creeping along at a short
+distance; and as soon as they were a little farther off, they began
+growling again.
+
+Jack and Chicory had, however, gathered together a goodly portion of
+combustible wood, and there was plenty more at hand, so that a roaring
+fire was soon casting its light away from the wood, which somewhat
+sheltered them behind; and as soon as some of the good-sized pieces of
+bush were well ablaze, Chicory began to send them flying in the
+directions where a low ominous growl or two told that the lions were
+waiting their time.
+
+Farther progress was impossible, and, with the knowledge before them
+that they would have to pass the night where they were, a steady
+onslaught was kept on at the trees and bushes, goodly pieces of which
+were hacked off and used to feed the fire.
+
+Every now and then, in spite of the blaze, some hungry lion would make a
+charge, one which Dick, being pretty well experienced in such matters
+now, met by hurling a blazing stick at the beast, several of which
+sticks he kept burning and ready to his hand.
+
+For firing in the deceptive light at creatures whose colour assimilated
+so with that of the ground, was not only doubtful but dangerous, from
+its likelihood to wound and infuriate the savage beasts.  When it was
+tried before the fire blazed up, it was as a last resource, and in the
+hope that the flash might help to intimidate, which, as it happened, in
+this case it did.
+
+There was very little rest, for, being unprovided with an axe, it was
+hard work to hack off the boughs with the hunting-knives, but as the
+night wore on and their enemies made no determined attacks, but, as it
+were, kept on skirmishing, one of the party did have a bit of a nap from
+time to time, though the horses neither ate nor slept, but stood
+shivering together, most probably longing, like their masters, for the
+morning light.
+
+It was only natural that Mr Rogers should feel sincere regret that he
+had left the camp so late in the day, but he told himself that it was a
+lesson, hard as it was to learn; and the boys pretty well took it to
+heart as they sat there listening to the fierce muttering growls that
+came from all around.  Nearer and nearer when the fire was allowed to
+burn a little lower, more distant when the blaze sprang up, and a few
+burning pieces were sent whizzing through the air like fireworks, Dick
+being particularly clever at making the burning brands spin round
+Catherine-wheel fashion, blazing furiously as they flew.
+
+That weary night seemed as if it would never end, and to the dismay of
+all, it became very plain that the lions were madly excited at the
+presence of the horses, and that their hunger was beginning to make them
+think less of the fire and the burning brands.
+
+So close were two or three of the rushes that it was all Mr Rogers and
+his sons could do to keep the horses from dashing away, one lion in
+particular coming so well into sight that Jack could not resist the
+temptation to fire; and so well placed was the bullet that the lion fell
+paralysed, and lay struggling impotently, till a second well-aimed
+bullet put an end to its pain.
+
+This was one enemy the less, but matters looked more ominous than ever,
+for the supply of wood within reach was exhausted, and the last armful
+had produced more smoke than blaze.
+
+There seemed to be nothing else for it then but to mount and ride for
+their lives, irrespective of the darkness, and trust to their good
+fortune to bring them safe away.
+
+"When I give the word `Mount!' leap on your horses, and dash off," said
+Mr Rogers at last, for the mutterings of the lions were growing nearer
+and nearer.
+
+"And how about you, father?" asked Dick.
+
+"I shall be close behind you, my boy."
+
+"And Chicory?" said Jack.
+
+"I shall cut the ostrich loose, and Chicory will jump up behind me, and
+hold on as best he can."
+
+"Let him come behind me, father," said Dick.
+
+"No, behind me," cried Jack.
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed Mr Rogers.  "There is no time for argument.  Be
+ready.  We'll all throw at the lions together as they come on, and then
+mount and off before they recover from their confusion."
+
+Each stood to his horse's head then, and held a piece of blazing wood
+ready--when Mr Rogers uttered a thankful sigh.
+
+"Morning at last, my boys!" he exclaimed, as a faint light began to make
+the trees around visible; and by rapid degrees the fire began to pale,
+and the various objects grow more plain.
+
+Then there were a few golden clouds high up above their heads; and the
+big bay suddenly uttered a loud neigh, which was answered by a roar
+close at hand.  But Dick hurled his burning brand in that direction, and
+there was a savage snarl, after which the weary party had peace, for the
+lions seemed to have departed.  While the moment the sun's edge appeared
+above the plain, all mounted, and keeping a sharp look out, went off at
+full gallop towards the camp.
+
+They reached it without molestation, the horses seeming almost to fly;
+and there they found that all had been very uneasy, and that they had
+passed the night keeping up a blazing fire, and firing guns at
+intervals, so as to guide them back.
+
+"But it's a wonder ye found us at all at all, sor," said Dinny.
+
+"Why?" asked Mr Rogers.
+
+"Shure, sor, the lions have been rampaging around the waggon the whole
+night through, and I had to kape them off by throwing burning sthicks
+and shouting at 'em, for Pater and Dirk were about as much good as a
+couple of babbies, and the big Sooloo went to slape and snored."
+
+"That's just what I'm going to do, Dinny," said Jack, yawning.
+
+And to show that he meant it, no sooner had he tied up and seen to his
+horse, than he threw himself down, his example being followed by the
+others, so that it was getting close upon noon before breakfast was
+attacked.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+A LESSON IN OSTRICH HUNTING.
+
+That same afternoon Dick, who had taken the glass and mounted a tree for
+a look round, announced ostriches in sight, and the General smiled and
+said it was his turn now.
+
+While the others had slept he had been very busy, skinning the ostrich,
+and stuffing its long neck, and, to the astonishment of Dinny, he placed
+four or five little assegais ready, and then threw the skin of the
+ostrich over his head and shoulders, holding up the head by means of a
+stick run through the neck, and then, turning on one side, only his bare
+legs were visible.
+
+Jack burst into a roar of laughter, and Chicory began to get rid of his
+superfluous excitement in his usual way--by dancing round and round and
+indulging in a few kicks and jumps.
+
+It was a very clumsy imitation of an ostrich, but experience had often
+proved it to be sufficiently near to beguile the great birds, especially
+when, after stalking along for a short distance, the head was lowered to
+the ground, for there were the head, neck, and feathers, and that seemed
+enough for the birds.
+
+Thus accoutred, then, the General moved out of camp, laughingly asking
+that no one should follow and shoot him by mistake for one of the birds.
+
+The three boys followed, Dick carrying a glass; and poor Coffee
+wistfully watched their departure.
+
+They could not, however, go far, lest they should scare the birds, so
+they kept in the cover of the wood for nearly a mile, and then stood
+watching the proceedings of Chicory's father.
+
+The General went steadily on, with the ostrich's head held well erect;
+but every now and then he paused, lowered the long neck, and seemed to
+be engaged in feeding; and at such times he walked side-wise and away
+from the little group of three ostriches, which were feeding about a
+mile away.
+
+As the Zulu got to be more distant, his motions had a very natural
+appearance; so much so that Dick and Jack began to feel that had they
+seen him without being prepared, they would certainly have had a shot at
+him, believing him to be the real thing.
+
+He took advantage of every bit of cover he could see, passing amongst
+the trees and bushes, and whenever he was out of sight, hastening his
+steps till he was nearly abreast of the ostriches, when he came into
+sight again.
+
+As he did so the three birds paused in their feeding, ran together, and
+for a moment it seemed as if all the labour was about to be lost.  It
+was very plain that they were diligently scrutinising the new comer; and
+this was the critical time.  A moment's haste, the slightest false move,
+and the three birds would have gone off like the wind.  But as they saw
+the stranger turn a little away from them, lower its head, and
+apparently make a dart at some great beetle or locust amongst the
+herbage, and then hunt out another and another, their timidity passed
+away, they troubled themselves no more about the new comer, and went on
+feeding.
+
+It was very interesting to watch the disguised Zulu, apparently feeding
+away from the ostriches, but all the time softly edging himself nearer
+and nearer.
+
+"Oh, I say! what stupids they are!" said Jack.  "Look at his legs.  They
+arn't a bit like ostrich legs, and yet they don't see."
+
+"All 'toopids," said Chicory delightedly.  "Wait a bit."
+
+From where they stood the General now seemed to be touching the wary
+birds; but this could not be the case they knew; and they stood watching
+attentively, taking the greatest of care not to show themselves, lest
+they should alarm the ostriches, for experience had shown them that they
+would dash off if they saw any one a mile away.
+
+"Now look," cried Dick excitedly.  "Look!"
+
+For the biggest bird of the group had suddenly seemed to take umbrage at
+the appearance of the stranger, and stalking straight up to it darted
+its head sharply, evidently giving a vicious peck.
+
+The next instant it was seen to make a bound forward, and fall over upon
+its side, apparently kicking feebly.
+
+The other two raised their heads and seemed alarmed; but one began
+feeding again, and the other stalked gravely up to continue the
+punishment the first had commenced.
+
+This time, by the help of the glass, Dick saw the Zulu stoop down, and
+deliver a thrust with an assegai, and this bird toppled forward and
+fell.
+
+The third seemed alarmed, but it did not take flight, only stood still
+while the General, imitating the gait of the other birds, ran up
+alongside it, and seemed to be staring like the other at the fallen
+birds.
+
+This time they saw no motion on the General's part, only that the third
+he struck suddenly took to running at a tremendous rate, but dropped
+like a stone before it had gone a quarter of a mile, and the General rid
+himself of what must have been a very hot and uncomfortable disguise,
+and mounting an ant-hill signalled to them to come.
+
+"Three ostriches," cried Dick delightedly; "their feathers ought to be
+worth a great deal.  Run back and fetch my father, Chicory."
+
+But there was no need, for Mr Rogers had seen the manoeuvres of his
+follower, and now came out of the camp, followed by Dinny.
+
+"Ah," said the latter to the boys, "it was moighty well done, and I've
+come to help pick the big birds.  They tell me that some of the payple
+here kape the horse-stretches like chickens in Connaught, and that they
+lay beautiful foine new-laid eggs.  Bedad, one of them ladies ought to
+lay a dacent-sized egg, and I wouldn't mind having one for breakfast by
+way of a change."
+
+It was with no little delight then that Dick pointed out the fact to
+Dinny that they were all cock-birds, when they got up and found each had
+been pierced through the heart with an assegai.
+
+Their plumage was splendid, and after a great deal of tough, hot work
+several bundles of the valuable feathers were made up and carried to the
+camp, to spread out and dry and then store away, to help pay for the
+expenses of the trip.
+
+The party had hardly turned their backs upon the denuded birds before
+the vultures, which had been gathering for some time, suddenly began to
+drop down to act their part of scavengers; and before night fell, there
+were only a few scattered bones to show where the ostriches had been.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+LOOK BEFORE YOU STEP: 'WARE SNAKES.
+
+Coffee was gathering strength every day, and the wounds in his healthy
+young flesh healing rapidly.  So much better was he that there was no
+occasion to study him any longer on the question of danger in moving, so
+the well-fed oxen were in-spanned, and a few more treks brought the
+party to one of the tributaries of the Limpopo, whose main stream they
+hoped to reach on the following day.
+
+The country here was much less regular, and the work for the oxen grew
+more difficult, but they found capital quarters, with plenty of good
+grass, strong thorn bush for a kraal; and as the place promised sport,
+and plenty of natural history specimens amongst the rocks and rifts into
+which the land was broken, Mr Rogers determined to rest here for a day
+or two.
+
+So a kraal was formed, the cattle sent to graze; the boys mounted Shoes
+and Stockings, and starting to get something in the way of game, were
+pretty successful, bringing in a plump young bok; and as evening came on
+and they were resting, Dinny suddenly made his appearance with a long
+stout stick and a line.
+
+"I've been looking," he said, "and there's some moighty foine water
+close by here, and a bit of salmon wouldn't be amiss."
+
+"There are no salmon here, Dinny," said Dick.
+
+"Then there are some good big fish, anyhow," said Dinny; and he went off
+some fifty or sixty yards to where the narrow little stream ran at the
+bottom of rather a steep declivity.
+
+"Mind you don't have any of the gintlemen throwing stones at you,
+Dinny," shouted Dick.
+
+"Ah, you'd better be careful," said Mr Rogers, smiling; "Those rocks
+look a likely place for baboons."
+
+"Whist, schah!" exclaimed Dinny contemptuously; "as if I'd be afraid of
+a monkey;" and he soon disappeared from sight.
+
+The soft coolness of the evening was creeping on, the occupants of the
+little camp were restfully listening to the _crop_, _crop_! of the
+cattle, and Mr Rogers was about to give orders for them to be driven
+into the kraal, when the peace of the camp was broken by a loud cry from
+towards the little river.
+
+"Murther! help! masther dear.  Help, or it's dead I'll be!" yelled the
+familiar voice of Dinny.
+
+Guns always lay handy, and they were seized, and all ran towards where
+Dinny was yelling for help, a sharp look out being kept for baboons.
+
+"I dare say they've attacked him," said Mr Rogers.  "They are very
+vicious, and tremendously strong.  Why, where is he?  Dinny!  Dinny!"
+
+"Hee-ar!  Help!" cried Dinny.  And running in the direction of the
+sound, they came upon Dinny's boot-soles, and were just in time to save
+him from gliding into the little river, head first, the tuft of grass to
+which he was clinging having given way.
+
+"An' did ye see the murthering baste?" cried Dinny, who looked white
+through his sunburning.
+
+"No, I saw nothing," cried Mr Rogers.
+
+"Ah, but he's down there in the muddy water.  Shure I'd caught one great
+ugly fat fish like an overgrown son of an eel; there he lies where he
+wriggled himself," said Dinny, pointing to a fine silurus lying in a
+niche of the rock.  "And I'd hooked another, when a great baste of a
+thing wid the wickedest oi ye ever see, and a smile as wide as the mouth
+of the Shannon, came up and looked at me.  `Oh, murther!'  I says; and
+he stared at me, and showed me what a fine open countenance he had; and
+just then the big fish I'd hooked made a dash, and gave such a tug that
+I slipped as I lay head downwards, bechuckst thim two bits o' bushes,
+and I couldn't get meself back agin."
+
+"Why, there's the fish on the line still," cried Jack, seizing the rough
+rod, and trying to land the captive of Dinny's hook.
+
+"Ah, and ye'll take care, Masther Dick, for I belave it's that great
+baste has swallowed the fish, and ye'll be pulling him to land."
+
+Dinny was not right; and full of excitement, Jack was trying hard to
+land the fish, when there was a rush and a swirl in the water, and as
+they caught sight of the head and jaws of a good-sized crocodile the
+line was snapped, and the little party stood gazing at the muddy stream.
+
+"Shure an' that's him," said Dinny.  "Did ye ever see such a baste?"
+
+"A warning not to bathe," said Mr Rogers; and after watchfully waiting
+to see if the reptile would give them an opportunity for a shot, they
+walked back to the camp, Dinny carrying his fish, and bemoaning the loss
+of the other and his tackle.
+
+"How big should you think that was, father?" said Dick.
+
+"About twelve feet long, to judge from the size of his head," said Mr
+Rogers.  "You must be careful, boys, and mind that the cattle are
+watched when they go down to drink.  The crocodiles are most
+objectionable beasts, and I suppose the Limpopo and its tributaries
+swarm with them."
+
+They seemed now to have got into quite a reptilian paradise.  Low down
+by the river the land was swampy, hot, and steamy to a degree; and here
+amidst the long rank reeds, canes, and herbage the crocodiles revelled,
+while water-lizards of great size made their tracks along the banks.
+Higher up out of the ravine where the river ran, the land was rocky and
+full of nooks and corners, which the sun seemed literally to bake.  Here
+came flies innumerable, buzzing and stinging viciously when their abode
+was invaded, and over and about the sun-parched rocks the various kinds
+of lizards swarmed, and preyed upon the flies and beetles.
+
+They were very beautiful, these flies and beetles, and lizards--the
+former with their brilliant colours and gauzy wings, the latter in their
+jewelled and polished armour, often of the most brilliant metallic
+tints, and always glistening in the sun.
+
+Hundreds of the brightly armoured beetles were captured, and transferred
+to the boxes kept for the purpose; but it was dangerous work, for
+poisonous snakes lurked amongst these sun-baked rocks, twisted in sleepy
+knots, and so like in hue to the stones amongst which they lay that a
+foot might at any moment be inadvertently placed upon them.
+
+Jack had an adventure of this kind the very day after their arrival.
+
+There had been some talk of going, as the General proposed, after one or
+other of the herds of antelope feeding upon a plain a couple of miles
+distant; but Mr Rogers said the larder was well filled, and his idea of
+a pleasant hunting trip was not one where mere butchery was the rule,
+but where a sufficiency was killed for their daily use.
+
+"By all means, let us destroy such noxious animals as we come across,"
+he said; "and I am keen sportsman enough to want to shoot some of the
+large game; but let us be naturalists, boys, and not simply slayers of
+all we see."
+
+The result was that they spent that day collecting insects and small
+reptiles, Chicory accompanying them to carry a large open-mouthed bottle
+of spirits with stopper and sling, and the glass protected by a stout
+network of soft copper wire.
+
+Into this spirit-bottle little vipers, scorpions, spiders, and similar
+creatures, were dropped, Chicory holding the stopper, and throwing back
+his head and grinning with delight as some wriggling little poisonous
+creature was popped in.  In fact, Chicory was an indefatigable hunter of
+great things and small, taking readily to natural history pursuits; but
+he had his drawbacks, one of which was a belief that the little snakes
+and tiny lizards dropped into the spirits of wine were to make some kind
+of soup; and he had to be stopped just in time to prevent his well
+amalgamating the contents of the great flask by giving it a good shake
+up.
+
+"Dere's one, Boss Dick.  Dere's nother one, Boss Jack," he kept on
+saying, his quick restless eyes discovering the various objects long
+before his English companions.
+
+They were up in one of the superheated rifts among the rocks, with the
+sun pouring down so powerfully that the whole party were very languid
+and disposed to seek the first shelter, when an incident that might have
+had a fatal termination came upon them like a shot.
+
+Jack was in advance, and about to climb up to a shelf of rock in pursuit
+of some brilliant little lizards that were darting in and out of the
+crevices when Chicory shouted out,--
+
+"Boss Jack! mind snake!"
+
+It was too late.  There was a great dust-coloured puff-adder lying in
+his way, with its thick clumsy body nestled in amongst the hot stones;
+and even as the Zulu boy's warning was uttered, Jack's boot pressed
+heavily upon the lower part of the dangerous reptile's body.
+
+Sluggish and dull before, this assault brought the reptile into a state
+of activity that was almost wonderful, and before Jack could realise his
+peril the short thick viper had struck twice at his leg.  Before,
+however, it could strike again, its head lay upon the stones, cut off by
+a blow from Chicory's long-bladed assegai, and the body of the dangerous
+beast was writhing amongst and rattling the stones.
+
+"Chicory 'fraid he broke a bottle," said the boy, who had dropped it in
+his excitement.
+
+But the flask and its natural history contents formed a very minor
+consideration just then.
+
+"Are you hurt, my boy?" cried Mr Rogers quickly.  "Sit down there.
+Here, Dick, the spirit-flask.  Now then, draw up your trouser-leg."
+
+Jack obeyed, and Mr Rogers immediately stripped down the lad's rough
+worsted stocking, taking out his penknife and preparing to make the tiny
+punctures bleed freely, and to suck the fatal poison from the wounds.
+
+"Does it pain you much?" said Mr Rogers excitedly; and his hands
+trembled for a moment, but only to grow strong directly.
+
+"No," said Jack stoically.
+
+"Don't be afraid, my boy; be a man.  Now where was it?"
+
+"I won't be afraid," replied Jack.  "I won't mind the knife, father."
+
+"Quick!  Show me.  Where was the wound?" exclaimed Mr Rogers.
+
+"I don't know.  It bit at me twice," replied Jack; "somewhere below the
+knee."
+
+"These creatures' teeth are like needles," said Mr Rogers.  "Look,
+Dick; can you see? two tiny punctures together?"
+
+"Would it bleed, father?" said Dick.
+
+"Most likely not."
+
+"I don't see the wound, father."
+
+"Nor I, my boy; but my head swims, and I feel giddy.  It is as if there
+was a mist before my eyes.  Oh, my boy! my boy!"
+
+"Snake never bite um at all," cried Chicory sturdily.  "All swellum and
+look blue by dis time.  Only bite leggum trousers."
+
+Jack burst into a roar of laughter, and a strange reaction took place,
+for Chicory was undoubtedly right: the loose trouser-leg had caught the
+virulent little reptile's fangs, and averted the danger.
+
+For there was no gainsaying the matter.  Jack felt nothing the matter
+with him, when, if he had been injured, he would have been under the
+influence of the terribly rapid poison by then, whereas he was ready to
+jump up and laugh at the mistake.
+
+He did not laugh much, however, for his father's serious looks checked
+him.  And soon after, when they were alone, Mr Rogers said something to
+his son about thankfulness for his escape which brought the tears into
+the boy's eyes.  The next minute, though, father and son joined hands,
+and no more was said.
+
+It was another warning to be careful, and of the many dangers by which
+they were surrounded, and the boys promised to temper their daring with
+more discretion for the future.
+
+They afterwards called that the reptile day, for the number of scaly
+creatures they saw was prodigious.
+
+"But I want to see one of those tremendously great boa-constrictors,"
+said Dick, "one of the monsters you read of in books."
+
+"As big round as the mast of a man-of-war, and as long, eh?" said his
+father.
+
+"Yes," said Dick.
+
+"Then I'm afraid, my boy, that you will be disappointed, for from my own
+experience I think those creatures exist only in the imaginations of
+writers.  I dare say they may grow to thirty feet long, but you may take
+a boa of eighteen or twenty feet as a monster, and as big as you are
+likely to see.  That was a very large serpent you shot in the valley
+there."
+
+"Oh," said Dick; "I don't call that a long one."
+
+"This is just the sort of place to find a large one, I should say,"
+continued Mr Rogers.  "Hot, dry, stony places for basking, and dense,
+hot, steamy nooks down by the little river and lagoons where it would be
+likely to lie in wait for its prey."
+
+But though they looked well about, they saw nothing, and the heat having
+now become intense, they found a clump of trees close by a trickling
+streamlet that ran along from the rocks to the river, and sat down to
+rest and eat their lunch.
+
+They felt too drowsy and tired with their morning's walking to care to
+do much in the afternoon, and they were quietly looking over their
+captures after shifting their places twice to get out of the sun as the
+shadow swept on, when Dick suddenly caught his father's arm, and pointed
+towards the rocks.
+
+"What's that shining over there?" he said quickly.
+
+Chicory had been asleep the moment before, but Dick's movement and
+question roused him on the instant, and he glanced in the direction
+indicated.
+
+"Big snake," he said decisively.  "Chicory go and kill um."
+
+The boy ran towards the rocks, and, picking up their guns, the rest
+followed--to see that it was a large serpent from whose scales the sun
+had gleamed.  They could not even guess at its length it was so knotted
+up in folds; but its body was nearly as big round as that of Chicory,
+who seemed in nowise afraid of the great reptile, but picked up a mass
+of rock larger than his head, balanced it on one hand, and advanced
+towards the sleeping serpent, which had chosen one of the hottest
+portions of the rock for its siesta.
+
+"_Yap_! _yap_! _yap_!" shouted Chicory; and the creature moved slowly,
+its whole body seeming to be in motion.
+
+This was not enough for Chicory, who drew his kiri out of his waistband,
+and threw it heavily at the reptile.
+
+This seemed to rouse it into action, and after a more rapid gliding of
+one coil over the other, the creature's evil-looking head rose up,
+hissing menacingly at its disturber, who raised the piece of rock with
+both hands above his head, and dashed it down upon the serpent's crest,
+crushing it to the ground, after which the boy nimbly leaped away, to
+avoid the writhing of its body and the fierce whipping of the creature's
+tail.
+
+"Well done, Chicory, my brave boy," cried Mr Rogers, patting the Zulu
+lad upon the shoulder.
+
+"Yes, Chicory very brave boy," said the lad, smiling complacently, and
+quite innocent of his words sounding conceited.  "Chicory kill all big
+snake for boss.  Boss boys very kind to Coffee, and father love 'em."
+
+This was a long speech for Chicory, who nodded and smiled, and ended by
+waiting his opportunity, and then seizing the boa's tail and running
+away with it to stretch the creature out.  But it was too heavy, and its
+writhings continued even after the boys had fired a charge of small shot
+at close quarters through the reptile's head.
+
+They wanted to measure it, but that was impossible from its writhings.
+Mr Rogers, however, made an approximate calculation, and then said,
+quietly,--
+
+"I should say it was as near as can be nineteen feet long, and unusually
+large in girth."
+
+"Oh, father," cried Jack; "it must be thirty-nine feet long."
+
+"Ah, Jack, my boy," replied his father, laughing, "that's old
+travellers' measurement--and they always allowed six feet to the yard--
+that is, twenty-four inches to the foot; and that's why ourang-outangs,
+and whales, and serpents were always so large."
+
+But they had not yet arrived at the end of their reptile adventures.
+
+They waited for some time to see if the boa would cease its writhings;
+but the muscular contractions still continuing, and the dark
+tortoiseshell-like markings of brown and yellow and black glistening in
+the sun quite two hours after the creature might reasonably have been
+said to be killed, they gave it up and went further afield.
+
+"Suppose we leave this series of red-hot rocks, boys, and go down
+towards the water.  From the appearance of the country over yonder I
+fancy that the stream widens out into a lake."
+
+"How do you know, father?" asked Dick.
+
+"From the character of the trees and other growth.  Don't you see how
+much more leafy and luxuriant it looks.  Keep your eyes well opened and
+your pieces ready.  I dare say we may meet with a rare bird or two,
+perhaps some kind of water-buck--ready for the camp to-morrow!"
+
+As Mr Rogers had predicted, a couple of miles walking brought them to
+what in parts was quite a marsh full of canes and reeds; but every here
+and there were beautiful pools of breeze-rippled water, spread with
+lovely lilies and other water-plants, while the edges were fringed with
+willow-like wands and waving sedges.
+
+So beautiful was the scene where the little river widened, and wound
+through the low ground, that as they wandered about amongst the firmer
+ground they forbore to shoot, but paused from time to time to watch the
+lovely plumage of the various ducks and cranes that made the lagoons
+their home.
+
+Not a shot then had been fired, and as they wandered in and out they
+found plenty to take their attention.  Every here and there Chicory
+found for them some nest in amongst the reeds--the nursery of duck or
+crane.  But the most interesting thing that they saw in the shape of
+nests was that of a kind of sociable grossbeak, a flock of which had
+built a town in a large tree, quite a hundred nests being together in
+common; while in another tree, whose branches drooped over the water,
+there were suspended dozens of a curiously woven bottle-shaped nest,
+with its entrance below, to keep the young birds from the attack of
+snakes.
+
+"What's that noise?" said Jack, suddenly, as he was on about a quarter
+of a mile ahead with his brother, Mr Rogers being busily transferring
+some water-beetles to Chicory's spirit-bottle, which escaped breaking
+after all from the toughness of the wire.
+
+"I don't know," replied Dick.  "It sounds like some animal.  And there's
+a scuffling noise as well.
+
+"It's just like a cow moaning, a very long way off.  I wonder what it
+is?"
+
+"I don't think it's a long way off.  It seems to me to be pretty close."
+
+They moved about among the reeds and bushes, but could see nothing.
+
+"I know what it is," said Jack, laughing.  "It's some kind of big frog
+or toad: they live in such marshy places as this, and they croak and
+make noises that seem to be ever so far-off, when they are close by."
+
+"Oh!  Look, Jack!  Oh, poor thing!" cried his brother.
+
+"Where?  Where?"
+
+"Over yonder, across the water."
+
+Jack caught sight of the objects that had taken his brother's attention,
+and for a few moments the boys seemed passive spectators of the horrible
+scene.
+
+Across the lagoon, and some fifty yards away, a beautiful antelope, with
+gracefully curved spiral horns, had apparently come out of the bushes to
+drink, at a point of land running a little way into the lake, when it
+had been seized by a hideous-looking crocodile.  The monster's
+teeth-armed jaws had closed upon the unfortunate antelope's muzzle, and
+a furious struggle was going on, during which, as it uttered its piteous
+feeble lowing noise, something between the cry of a calf and a sheep,
+the crocodile, whose tail was in the water on the side of the point
+farthest from where the spectators stood, was striving to drag its prey
+into the lagoon.
+
+The antelope made a brave struggle, but the tremendous grip of the
+reptile and its enormous weight, rendered the efforts of the poor beast
+vain: and as the boys gazed across, they saw the poor brute dragged down
+upon its knees and chest, and the crocodile shuffling slowly back into
+the water, an inch at a time.
+
+"Oh, the poor, poor beast!" cried Dick piteously.  "Oh, Jack, how
+dreadful!"
+
+"Poor old crocodile!" said Jack coolly, for he had now recovered
+himself.  "If he's going to eat all that buck for his dinner he'll
+suffer from indigestion.  I say, Dick, let's give him a couple of
+pills."
+
+As he spoke, Jack sank upon one knee in the reeds so as to rest his
+rifle well, and catching at his brother's idea, Dick followed suit.
+
+"Take a good, steady aim, Dick, right behind his eye, so as not to hit
+the antelope: and when I say fire, pull trigger as softly as you can.
+Take it coolly.  Ready?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Fire!"
+
+It was none too soon, for the antelope was being dragged along, growing
+more helpless and its struggles more faint moment by moment, while the
+body of the crocodile was disappearing backwards down the slope of the
+point of land.
+
+But that loathsome-looking head was still visible, dragging the
+helpless, striving antelope, whose piteous rolling eyes could be plainly
+seen by the boys.
+
+The next instant, though, they had concentrated their gaze on the
+gleaming orb of the crocodile, thrown all their power of nerve into that
+aim, and, so as not to disturb their rifle-sights by the slightest
+movement, softly drew trigger.
+
+The reports of the rifles were almost simultaneous, and for a few
+moments the boys could see nothing for smoke: but as the tiny cloud of
+vapour lifted, they looked eagerly across.
+
+There was nothing to be seen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+AN INTERFERENCE WITH WASHING, AND THE RESULT.
+
+"Oh," cried Jack, "we both missed, and he has drawn the poor thing in."
+
+"I don't believe I missed," said Dick.  "No: look, Jack!"
+
+For at that moment they saw a movement amongst the undergrowth behind
+where the antelope had been kneeling; and the poor beast, with bleeding
+nostrils and starting eyes, staggered down to the water's edge, drank
+with avidity, and then bounded back as another or the same crocodile
+half leaped out of the water to catch it.
+
+But the antelope, weak and exhausted though it was, escaped, and bounded
+away into the dense reeds, while Jack as he coolly reloaded his
+rifle-barrel said,--
+
+"Nice place this, Dicky.  Let's take our clothes off and have a bathe."
+
+"Ugh!" shuddered Dick.  "The monsters!"
+
+"What have you shot, boys?" said Mr Rogers, hurrying up.  "I was afraid
+it was an accident, the two rifles went off like one."
+
+They told him, and being eager to see if there was any trace of the
+crocodile, they went round the shores of the little lake to the other
+side of the point, for the river wound so that the incident took place
+on their own bank; but for a few minutes they could see nothing but
+muddy water.
+
+"I'm afraid you did not kill him, boys," said Mr Rogers.
+
+"But we frightened him off," cried Jack; "and that's something."
+
+"Chicory find him; look!" cried the boy, pointing where he stood.
+
+They went to his side, and there sure enough, with its light underparts
+showing, lay a great crocodile, its tail moving feebly to and fro, and,
+most satisfactory sight of all to the boys, a couple of threads of blood
+rising slowly from the monster's head through the clear water.
+
+"Hah!"
+
+It was Chicory who shouted, and as he did so he struck back his young
+masters.  For his quick eyes had seen what looked like a dark shadow in
+the river; and his effort was just in time, for a huge crocodile threw
+itself half out of the water, disappearing again with a sullen plunge as
+it missed its prey.
+
+"I think that will do for to-day, boys," said Mr Rogers.  "Let's get
+back to the waggon.  For my part I feel disposed to spend the rest of
+our time shooting crocodiles, so as to try and rid the country of a few
+of the pests."
+
+"Only all we could kill would be as nothing, would they, father?" said
+Dick.
+
+"No, they would hardly count," replied Mr Rogers; and they made the
+best of their way back to the waggon, only too glad of the meal Dinny
+had ready for them, roast and boiled.
+
+Chicory turned a rough kind of somersault as he caught sight of his
+brother sitting up and doing that which was dear to Chicory's own
+heart--eating; and as there was a good share of food beside Coffee, the
+tired brother made no scruple about going to join him and help him eat.
+
+It was wonderful what that boy could eat when he was thoroughly hungry.
+Dinny would stare at him, rub his ears, and screw up his face with a
+look of disgust, while the very dogs seemed envious of his powers.
+Rough'un would wait patiently for some time bearing it all apparently as
+he abided his own time; but when he saw Chicory keep steadily on he
+began to bark furiously, as if such behaviour were not to be borne.
+
+"Shure, Masther Dick, it's my honest belafe," said Dinny, "that if you
+put down enough mate before them two Sooloo boys they'd kape on aiting
+till they got to be hungry again."
+
+In spite of the heat of the weather, the performances of Dick and Jack
+upon strong venison essence and roast gazelle were enough to startle any
+housekeeper of small income and an anxiety about the state of the
+butcher's bill.  But of course the outdoor life and constant exertion
+produced a tremendous appetite; and as Mr Rogers noted the change in
+Dick, whose palate had to be tempted only a short time back, he felt
+thankful to see the difference.
+
+Dinny had outdone himself that day in the matter of cookery; and a
+hearty meal having been eaten, the boys spent half-an-hour with their
+pets, the leopard being so far particularly docile, and their horses
+whinnying with satisfaction as soon as they heard their masters' steps.
+Then there were the cattle to look at, all of which were sleek and well;
+and lastly, the various specimens to arrange before going to rest.
+
+The sun was getting low by this time, and the stillness of the wilds was
+only broken by the twittering of a little flock of birds in the adjacent
+trees, when Dinny came running from the river-side--
+
+"Hoi, sor! bring the roifles, an' ye plaze.  Here's Pater being
+swallowed down by one of thim great crocodivils!"
+
+"Quick, boys!" cried Mr Rogers; but there was no need to speak, for the
+rifles had been already seized, and away the little party ran, towards
+the river.
+
+The water was not visible till they were close upon it, on account of
+the conformation of the land; but when they did come in sight, the scene
+was so curious that they halted with cocked pieces, gazing down from the
+rocks at black Peter the driver.
+
+Peter being a particularly cleanly man had taken a pair of his linen
+drawers down to the stream to wash, with Dinny sitting on the edge of
+the rock smoking his pipe, and looking-on.  All had gone well till Peter
+was beating the garment about in the water for a final rinse, when
+suddenly the jaws of a huge crocodile were protruded from the surface,
+not a yard away.
+
+As might have been expected, Peter dropped his drawers, and darted back,
+while the crocodile remained staring at him, and Dinny rushed off
+shouting for help.
+
+They learned afterwards that what they had now seen had been repeated
+several times.  For just as they paused, Peter was creeping cautiously
+forward towards where his drawers lay upon the sand, stooping with
+outstretched hand to seize them, when there was the slightest
+disturbance possible in the water, and the head of a monstrous crocodile
+appeared.
+
+Back darted Peter, and the head of the crocodile sank slowly beneath the
+water, when, unaware that help was at hand, Peter waited a minute or
+two, and then once more stole gently and on tiptoe towards his
+much-coveted garb.
+
+This time his hand was almost upon it when out came the crocodile's
+head, and Peter nimbly darted back, but only to come on again as quietly
+as possible, apparently quite ignorant of the fact that it was by the
+eye that the reptile distinguished his coming, and not by ear.
+
+Twice more was this watched, when Mr Rogers, feeling alarmed lest the
+driver should be too venturesome, whispered to his sons to shoot.
+
+"No, father," whispered back Dick; "we want to see you shoot this one."
+
+Mr Rogers hesitated a moment, and then lying down upon his chest he
+rested the barrel of his rifle on the edge of the rock where it went
+perpendicularly down to the little strand, and waited for the next
+appearance of the dangerous monster.
+
+He had not long to wait, for Peter seemed to be determined this time to
+make sure of his garment, and cautiously stealing forward he had almost
+touched it, when out came the crocodile's head once more, and as Peter
+darted back it remained stationary, its hideous eyes watching the black
+driver, when Mr Rogers' rifle spoke out, and Peter fell upon his back,
+yelling for help; while the stream, that had quietly rippled over where
+the crocodile lay, was suddenly beaten by the monster's struggles into a
+tempest of foam.
+
+"Are ye kilt, Pater, ma black bouchal?" cried Dinny piteously, as he
+leaped down to the aid of his fellow-servant.
+
+"Mind the crocodile, Dinny," shouted Dick maliciously.
+
+"Oh! murther!" roared Dinny; and he scrambled up the rock again, and sat
+there panting, as the boys roared with laughter.  "Ah, and it's moighty
+funny, I've no doubt, Masther Dick, sor, but how would you fale yourself
+if one of the great crocodivils had got hold of ye?"
+
+"Very bad, Dinny," said Dick.  "There, go and help Peter; he isn't hurt,
+only frightened."
+
+"Thought boss shot me," said Peter, making a rush, and then triumphantly
+waving his drawers over his head, before withdrawing to a place of
+safety, where he could watch with the others the dying struggles of the
+crocodile, which grew weaker and weaker, and then ceased; and the stream
+flowed calmly on, sweeping away the mud and sand, and revealing the body
+of the monster, apparently quite dead, at the bottom of the shallow
+water.
+
+Generally speaking these reptiles get away into the depths of the
+rivers, or into some deep hole beneath the banks, but this one had
+apparently been hit so badly that it had not had time to get away, and
+the sight of the monster so excited the boys, that they begged hard to
+have it dragged out on to the strand.
+
+"But it is of no use, and its musky odour will be very offensive," said
+Mr Rogers.
+
+"But we want to see it, father--to measure it, and see how long it is,
+and how big round."
+
+"Very well," said Mr Rogers, "then you shall.  Peter, get one of the
+oxen and a rope, and we'll drag the brute ashore.  Dinny, go and ask the
+General to come."
+
+The Zulu chief, and Peter with his ox, arrived at about the same time,
+when no sooner did the former hear what was wanted than he made a big
+loop, waded into the water, and slipped the noose over the monster's
+head.
+
+This noose was pulled tight, the rope attached to the yoke of the ox,
+the word given, and the crocodile drawn not only out of the water on to
+the strand, but through an opening in the rock and on to the firm ground
+above.
+
+Here the General proceeded to unfasten the rope, Mr Rogers curiously
+examining the mark made by his bullet just behind the creature's eye,
+when, to the astonishment of all present, the reptile made a tremendous
+snap with its awful jaws, and as the General darted aside, the creature
+began to thrash the air with its tail, sweeping it from side to side,
+and snapping its jaws as it began to move off towards the edge of the
+little cliff.
+
+Both Dick and Jack stood there paralysed for a few moments, for they had
+believed the reptile dead; but Dick soon recovered, and as the crocodile
+was slowly progressing, snapping its jaws menacingly as it went, the boy
+went close up and fired at its eye.
+
+There was a terrible convulsion; then the monster levelled shrubs and
+herbage in all directions, after which it suddenly seemed to succumb,
+when getting Peter to help him, the Zulu thrust one of the reptile's
+legs beneath it, got hold of the other, and the crocodile was hauled
+over upon its back, and the keen knife of the Zulu cut its head nearly
+off, and ripped it open from end to end.
+
+"He'll never get over this," said Jack.  "I dare say this wretch has
+killed hundreds of innocent creatures in its day, and I'm glad it's
+done."
+
+They were not disturbed by lions that night, but the mosquitoes and
+sand-flies made up for it, tormenting them so that morning was gladly
+hailed, and Jack and Dick went off with a measuring tape to get the
+length and girth of the great reptile as a trophy.
+
+"I say eighteen feet long," said Jack decidedly, as they walked along.
+
+"Do you remember what father said about the travellers' measurements?"
+said Dick drily.  "No, Jack, he is not eighteen feet long, nor sixteen.
+I should say fifteen feet."
+
+"But I read that they grow to twenty-five and thirty feet long," said
+Jack.
+
+"Perhaps they do," replied Dick, "but our one hadn't time to grow so
+long, and--hallo!"
+
+"Hallo!" said Jack.
+
+"Hallo!" said Dick again.
+
+"Father must have had it dragged back into the stream, so let's go back.
+Pah! how busy the vultures have been."
+
+They had evidently been gorging themselves upon the crocodile's vitals
+since daybreak, and a perfect flock of them flew sluggishly away as the
+boys made sure that the reptile was not where it had been left, and then
+went back to ask their father about the monster.
+
+"No," he said, "I have not had the creature touched.  I'll go with you.
+Here, General."
+
+The Zulu strode up, and Chicory followed; and thus strengthened they
+went back to the place where the crocodile had been left, and the
+General pointed out the exact spot where it had lain.  Then bending
+down, he pointed with his finger to certain marks leading to the edge of
+the little cliff, and then showed that it was evident that the crocodile
+had struggled to the edge, and fallen over some six feet on to the sand
+and stones below.
+
+"But he couldn't have gone down there," cried Dick.  "Father shot him
+dead, and then I did."
+
+"Was that you speaking, my boy, or Dinny?" said Mr Rogers, smiling.
+
+"Ah, but you know what I mean, father," cried the boy; and then they all
+looked down on to the strand, but not without keeping a watchful eye
+upon the water.
+
+Here the General showed the impression made by the crocodile in the
+sand, and also the marks of its claws and tail as it crawled into the
+river, and then they all stared at each other.
+
+"Why, it must have come to life again," said Jack.
+
+"No kill some crocodiles," said the Zulu solemnly; and then, after a
+little more examination of the spot, Mr Rogers turned back towards the
+camp, Dick and Jack remembering that it was breakfast-time, and feeling
+quite ready for another hearty meal.
+
+"But could the crocodile come to life again, father?" asked Jack.
+
+"Certainly not, my boy.  It could not have been killed; and horrible as
+its injuries were, it seems to have had life enough to enable it to
+crawl back into the river, where probably it now lies dead at the bottom
+amongst the mud."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+JACK ROGERS AND THE RUNAWAY HERDS.
+
+The General found a shallow fording-place, when the Limpopo itself was
+reached; and no little excitement was displayed by Dinny at the thought
+of recklessly plunging into a river that was as full as a Pay shuck, he
+said, of crocodivils.
+
+But the river had to be crossed; and when all was ready the order
+"Trek!" was given, Peter's whip cracked, and the team went down a slope
+into the river at a trot, Dirk bravely walking by the side of the
+foremost oxen on finding Jack and Dick, on horseback, ready to lead the
+way.
+
+Dinny groaned, and crept into the waggon unseen by any one; while
+Coffee, Chicory, and the General took over the horses side by side with
+Mr Rogers.
+
+The stream ran fast, but it was very shallow, and the bottom was hard,
+so that the waggon was got over in safety, the oxen dragging it well up
+on the other side before they were allowed to halt; and so successful
+had the passage been that there might not have been a crocodile in the
+river.
+
+The fact was of course that the trampling and disturbance of so many
+hoofs kept the reptiles at a distance; but as the waggon was halted, and
+Mr Rogers gave a glance under to see that all was right, the dogs began
+running and snuffing about amongst the reeds and grass at the side, when
+Pompey suddenly uttered a hideous yell, and bounded away, careering over
+the plain with his tail between his legs, having had a very narrow
+escape from a small and active crocodile, which had literally thrown
+itself out of the water in its endeavour to catch him.
+
+The land presented an entirely different aspect now, vast plains running
+away towards the horizon; and in places it looked rather ominous, for it
+was parched and dry.  Plenty of good grass and water were absolute
+necessities for the success of their expedition, so Mr Rogers paused to
+consult with the General, who pointed to the fact that there were great
+herds of game upon the plain, a sign which indicated that there must be
+pasture and water, and as he expressed his thorough conviction that
+plenty of grass would be found on in advance, the order was given once
+more to trek.
+
+"But where's Dinny?" cried Mr Rogers; "surely we have not left him
+behind."
+
+"No, sor," said a whining voice; "shure I was putting things a bit
+sthrait in the waggon.  Are we safe across the wather yet?"
+
+"Safe?" cried Dick contemptuously; "no! not a bit.  Look out, Dinny, or
+we shall have one of the crocodiles pursuing us on horseback on purpose
+to have a snap at you."
+
+"Shure an' ye's joking," said Dinny thrusting his head out of the back
+of the waggon; "and maybe he'd prefer you, Masther Dick, as being
+tinderer to his teeth and more gintale."
+
+The journey during the next few days was more laborious than
+interesting.  It was intensely hot; water was scarce, so was pasture;
+and but for the wise provision of the couple of goodly-sized tubs strung
+behind the waggon, there would have been a great deal of suffering.
+Nobody knew the position of those tubs better than Pompey, Caesar, and
+Crassus, unless it was Rough'un, for no sooner did they become thirsty,
+and fail to discover water, than they took their places behind the
+waggon and watched the barrels, "dhrinking 'em dhry wid their eyes," so
+Dinny said, and barking loudly whenever a drop was drawn.
+
+The plains they crossed seemed to be endless, so did the herds of
+various kinds of game; and one evening the party separated in search of
+something for the larder, which had become low.
+
+The General went in one direction with Dick, Mr Rogers went in another
+with Chicory, and in a very independent spirit Jack shouldered his
+rifle, and went off by himself to see what he could bring down.
+
+About a mile from the bank he came upon what promised to be a capital
+place for stalking one or other of the herds grazing on the plain,
+namely, the bed of a nearly dried-up river, dotted with pools of water,
+one which had cut its way in stormy seasons through the rocky soil,
+leaving on either side a steep well-marked bank of about four feet high.
+
+The bed of the little river was dotted with tall clumps of
+feathery-flowered grass, which with the bank would form excellent cover,
+so that the hunter could go for miles either way in a natural trench,
+towards whose water pools the antelopes would most probably graze.
+
+It was a great advantage, but the place had its disadvantages as well,
+and Jack found them out before long.
+
+At first he started full of hope, congratulating himself on the fact
+that he had on his high riding-boots, and could wade dry shod through
+some of the pools.  But before he had gone far he began wishing that he
+had brought the dogs, to search the different clumps of high grass,
+every one of which looked to be a certain lurking-place for a lion; and
+knowing now full well what capital stalkers they were, he kept glancing
+over his shoulder at the various clumps, fully expecting to see an
+enemy.
+
+There were two or three rushes and rustling noises to make him start,
+but as they only proved to be made by water-lizards Jack grew more
+confident, and creeping cautiously along, he began to make for a couple
+of herds feeding upon the plain--one, the gnu, or wildebeeste as the
+Boers call them; the others, the graceful, shapely blessbok.
+
+The appearance of the fierce shaggy gnu is not such as to give promise
+that he will prove good eating, so Jack naturally turned his attention
+to the blessboks, creeping cautiously along so as to get within shot;
+but though he was perfectly certain that he had not shown so much as the
+barrel of his gun, the blessbok suddenly took alarm, and went off like
+the wind.
+
+Their very first dash alarmed the gnu, some thirty strong, and they
+dashed off in another direction.
+
+"And I was so careful!" cried Jack passionately; but the next instant,
+just as he was about to show himself, and get out of the cramped
+position he had occupied close to a clump of grass, he had the
+satisfaction of seeing that the blessboks had not been alarmed at him,
+for they had suddenly wheeled round, and were coming right for him as
+hard as they could gallop.
+
+"Well, I shall get one this time," cried Jack, bringing his rifle to
+bear, and waiting for an opportunity as the beautiful animals galloped
+along; when a heavy beating noise behind him caught his ear, and turning
+he found that the gnus had also altered their course, and were coming
+back, with their heads down, tails up, and their horns half pointed, as
+if to charge the young hunter where he crouched.
+
+There was no mistake about it; the gnu herd was coming straight for him,
+and in another minute they would have leaped down into the half dry
+watercourse, and trampled him into the sand.
+
+It was a time for displaying a little presence of mind, and to show the
+power of man--in this case, boy--over the beasts of the field.  If the
+gnus had kept on, they would have crushed Jack on the instant, each one
+being in strength much more than a match for a man; but on seeing him
+start up on one knee, and shout and wave his gun, they swerved off to
+the right, and thundered by, just as a lighter beating noise of feet was
+heard; and as Jack turned, there to his disgust was the last of the
+little herd of blessboks, almost close to him, galloping by.
+
+Running round to the other side of the patch of grass he went down on
+one knee and fired; but the excitement had disarranged his nerves, and
+the bullet went over the last blessbok's back; while before he could get
+in another cartridge and climb out of the watercourse, his chance was
+gone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+NEARLY A WAGGON-WRECK.
+
+There were no temptations to tarry much upon these plains, where there
+were certainly plenty of antelopes, quagga, and zebras, but little else
+to interest them.  Lions were pretty common, but somehow they did not
+trouble the travellers much, being pretty well supplied from the herds
+of antelopes and the like; but the hyaenas proved to be a perfect pest,
+howling about the cattle-kraal of a night, and harrying the oxen so that
+they could not rest in peace.  Upon two successive nights it was hard
+work to save the cattle from making a regular stampede, for the poor
+creatures were so alarmed that they broke down the thorn fence and would
+have galloped over the plains but for the efforts and voices of their
+drivers and the Zulus.
+
+So bad did the hyaenas become, that the first moonlight night it was
+resolved to lie in wait and try and shoot two or three.
+
+The boys were delighted with the idea, but the sole result was the loss
+of the night's rest, for though they could hear the ugly brutes uttering
+their dismal howl all round the camp, not one was seen; and Dick at last
+declared that they were ventriloquists, and lay in a hole and sent their
+voices all around.
+
+The next day's trekking was very arduous, for the ground was dry and
+sterile, awkward pieces of rock, each big enough to wreck the waggon,
+protruding from the sand in all directions.  The dryness, too, was
+excessive, and they seemed to have got into a most terribly sterile
+tract, which now and then was cut by great deep crevices, which were as
+if the ground had cracked, each of these cracks being big enough to
+swallow waggon and team if they had inadvertently gone in.
+
+The poor beasts suffered terribly from thirst; but as evening was coming
+on, the black clouds gathered, and it soon become evident that before
+long there would be a perfect deluge of rain.
+
+It was upon them before they knew it, almost literally streaming down,
+and soaking everything; but in spite of the discomfort it was delightful
+to see the thirsty oxen stop to drink with avidity from the great pools
+that the rain soon formed.  In fact, the storm was so cooling and
+refreshing that Chicory seemed to revel in it, his dark skin shining
+with moisture; and the boys themselves did not seem to mind getting wet;
+but as the night came on intensely dark, and in addition to the pitiless
+rain there set in a tremendous thunderstorm, with deafening peals, and
+vivid lightning cutting the black clouds in all directions, the position
+of the travellers began to get uncomfortable.
+
+The General promised a good halting-place further on; but the darkness
+grew so intense that the foremost oxen had to be led, and Mr Rogers,
+and the General, armed with a long pole, went on in advance.
+
+If they could have halted where they were they would gladly have done
+so; but it seemed madness to stop in that wretched wilderness, and so
+they crept slowly on, drenched, depressed, and miserable, the thunder
+deafening them with its peals, and the lightning seeming to crackle as
+it fell in jagged lines from the skies.
+
+Even the oxen seemed to participate in the general depression, for they
+went on very slowly, step by step, as if helping their leaders to find a
+suitable track, so as not to overturn the waggon against some piece of
+rock.
+
+Suddenly the General gave a warning cry, one that was echoed by Mr
+Rogers, and the bullocks were pulled up short just as they touched the
+leaders.
+
+The warning was needed, for as he felt his way onward with the pole the
+General had suddenly felt it go down into a rift stretching right across
+their road; and as it proved to be bottomless as far as he could tell,
+and went to right and left for some distance, there was nothing to be
+done but to camp just as they were, and wait through the cold wet night
+for morning.
+
+It was a pitiless and a bitter night, and those who believe in Africa
+being a land of intense heat would have felt their preconceived ideas
+shaken had they sat and shivered in that waggon, through whose double
+tilt covering the wind seemed to pierce as though it was so much open
+canvas.  Far worse was it beneath, where, sheltering themselves as best
+they could, the black servants, Dinny, and the Zulus huddled together
+for mutual warmth.  Even the dogs refused to be excluded, and, in spite
+of Dinny's rather unmerciful kicks, kept crawling under the waggon, till
+Chicory took pity upon them and curled up in company, forming such a
+knot that it was hard to make out which was Chicory and which was dog.
+But the Zulu boy said it was nice and warm, all but one little place
+where there was no Pompey, and one leg which he couldn't get under
+Crass.
+
+Fortunately the roar of the elements was sufficient to keep the
+predatory beasts in their lairs, or they would have had an easy task to
+seize upon oxen or horses, for it was as impossible in the darkness to
+find thorns and build a kraal, as it was in the wet to get a fire to
+burn.
+
+Dick said the night was "as miserable as mizzer," and that Jack got all
+the blanket; but, like all other things, that miserable night came to an
+end, and as the sun rose up warm and bright, up sprang the spirits of
+all with it; and as the steam reeked from the soaked waggon, they turned
+from it to look with a curious sense of shrinking at the narrow escape
+they had had.
+
+For where the foremost oxen had been checked, consequent upon the
+General's warning, there was a great crack right across their path, some
+twenty feet wide, double that distance deep, and running for several
+hundred yards right and left.
+
+But for the General's timely warning the whole team would have gone in,
+dragging after them the waggon, and the horses which were haltered on
+behind, producing such an awful wreck that the expedition must have
+stopped; and then there would have been the problem to solve, how should
+they get back to Natal.
+
+As the sun grew warmer, and a fire had been lighted, food cooked, and a
+hearty breakfast made, the troubles of the past night were forgotten,
+and in the best of spirits they went on again, after a detour to avoid
+the chasm, the moistened earth smelling delicious, and the birds
+twittering and singing joyously in every tree.
+
+So far they had avoided the kraals or villages of the various peoples of
+these parts of Africa, but now the General announced that they were at
+last approaching the big river, where they would have to ask the black
+king's permission to hunt, and make him a present for his concession.
+
+For in his land there were the giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and
+elephant--huge beasts, the names of which made the boys' pulses throb
+with excitement.
+
+There were crocodiles too in plenty in the big river, so the General
+said; and it was there that the river fell.
+
+The idea of seeing the wondrous falls of the Zambesi had long been
+nurtured in Mr Rogers' heart; and as they had in their many months'
+journey come so far, he determined that they would if possible reach
+that part of the river, and see the falls, even if they did not go
+farther.
+
+There seemed to be no reason why they should not, for every one, thanks
+to his care and management, was in the best of health, the change in
+Dick being wondrous.  Certainly there was poor Coffee: but he was
+growing stronger day by day, and vowing vengeance against every lion in
+the land.
+
+That they were approaching a more inhabited tract they soon had warning
+in the increasing scarcity of the game.  In place of the vast herds they
+had so often encountered, the herds were small, and so shy that it was
+only by lying in ambush, while the others went miles round to show
+themselves and make the antelopes take flight in the direction of the
+hidden hunters, that a sufficiency was obtained for the daily needs.
+
+The boys, however, managed to supplement the animal food with the birds
+that were shot, or knocked down with kiris; and fishing became a
+favourite pursuit in some one or other of the rocky pools in the
+river-beds that they had to cross, silurus and other kinds being
+frequently captured with a hook and line.
+
+They were curious fish these silurus, and, of course in happy ignorance
+of the meaning of angling, readily took the bait thrown to them in the
+deep pools; but when hooked their behaviour was almost startling, from
+the tremendous rushes they made in all directions.  Being very much of
+the same configuration as the eel, they partook of that long, lithe
+fellow's strength in the water; so that it was no uncommon thing for one
+that was hooked, and had been played for some time, to break away and
+carry with it half of a good line.  Several were lost, but many were
+taken, and found famous when cooked, though Dinny avoided them as
+"avil-looking bastes."
+
+Game grew scarcer still; and Mr Rogers, the boys, and Chicory were
+sitting in the long grass, partaking of some lunch they had brought,
+after a long toilsome walk in search of hartebeeste, a herd of which
+curiously-formed animals had been seen from a distance, when Chicory
+suddenly pricked up his ears, leaped to his feet, and then signed to his
+white companions to look.
+
+About a mile away, but coming on at a tremendous rate, was a little herd
+of zebras, whose beautiful forms and clearly-marked stripes could easily
+be distinguished as they ran through the long grass.
+
+Just about the size of an ordinary donkey, but with the build and sturdy
+shapeliness of a well-bred pony, they literally spurned the ground with
+their hoofs in their efforts to get away, for after them in swift chase
+came three Kaffirs, well-mounted upon sturdy cobs, and armed with
+assegais.
+
+As they came abreast of Jack and Dick, the pursuers were close upon the
+tail of the herd, the speed and stride of the horses telling in a long
+race; and as they passed, the boys could see that the Kaffirs were nude
+all but a loin-cloth, and that in place of a saddle they used for their
+horses merely a small skin.
+
+The pace was tremendous.  And growing excited at what they saw, Dick and
+Jack, while longing for their own cobs, so as to join in the chase, set
+off at a run, followed by their father and Chicory.
+
+As they ran on they saw one of the Kaffirs overtake the hindmost zebra,
+ride alongside for a few moments, and then spear it, the unfortunate
+beast stumbling as the assegai was driven home, and then falling
+headlong to the ground.
+
+The Kaffir's companions kept on the chase, singling out two more of the
+zebras, one of which was directly after brought down by a well-directed
+spear-thrust, but the other managed to escape, the hunters being content
+with their success.
+
+The approach of the party of whites was looked upon as dangerous, and
+getting together, spear in hand, the three hunters seemed to be
+preparing to meet the white strangers as men of war.
+
+Seeing this, Mr Rogers sent Chicory on as an ambassador to assure the
+strangers of their friendly feelings: and on seeing the Zulu boy advance
+alone, they waited, heard what he had to say, and then cantered up,
+holding out a hand in token of friendship.
+
+They were fine manly-looking young fellows, and said through Chicory
+that they had come many journeys after zebras; and they smiled with
+delight on being presented each with a common pocket-knife.
+
+The coming of the General somewhat disturbed their equanimity; but on
+hearing his friendly words they readily accepted his help in skinning
+the zebras, whose hides, with some of the choicest portions of the meat,
+they packed in front of them upon the horses: and after a little
+conversation respecting the town upon the river to which they were
+bound, the three Kaffirs rode off; and the great flap-winged vultures
+swept down, one after the other, attacking the unfortunate zebras: and
+shortly there was nothing left but a few scattered bones.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+HOW DINNY HEARD A LION WID A BAD COWLD.
+
+"They're avil-looking birruds thim vultures, Masther Dick," said Dinny,
+as he saw the great flap-winged birds sailing slowly through the air,
+some of them always being in attendance upon the waggon, knowing,
+apparently by instinct, that the companionship of the hunting-party
+meant food for them.
+
+They kept at a respectful distance, though; not on account of the guns
+and rifles, for they seemed to know that they would not be molested, but
+because of the dogs, who resented their attendance as an insult, and as
+likely to deprive them of many a pleasant bone.
+
+Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus would make a dash at the great birds
+whenever they saw them upon the plain, charging down upon them
+open-mouthed, while Rough'un went at them in a way full of guile,
+hanging his head down, and keeping his nose close to the ground, as if
+in search of something he had lost.  He never seemed to be taking the
+slightest notice of the vultures, even turning his head away, but all
+the time he was sidling nearer and nearer, till feeling that he was
+within easy reach, he would make a dash at the nearest bird.
+
+But Rough'un succeeded no better than Pompey and his brethren, for the
+vultures would take a few hops, spread their wings, and float up in the
+air, as the dog rushed under them, leaving him barking most furiously at
+the birds as they went.
+
+"Ah, they're avil-looking birruds, thim vultures," said Dinny, "and we'd
+never suffer 'em in ould Oireland.  Shure, Saint Pathrick would have
+dhruv out ivery mother's son of 'em before he'd set his foot in the
+counthry.  They're avil-looking bastes.  I'll be asking the masther to
+lind me a gun, and I'll go out shooting of 'em."
+
+"I don't think father will let you, Dinny," replied Dick.  "They're very
+useful in their way, and clear off all the foul decaying carcases of the
+animals that die on the plains."
+
+"Shure and the flies would do all that a dale nater and claner," cried
+Dinny.  "And, oh, murther, Masther Dick, but it's hard work to keep the
+flies off the mate out here.  They come in shwarms, and I'm doing
+nothing all day but kill 'em.  I say, Masther Dick, dear, whin are we
+going back?"
+
+"Going back?" cried Dick.  "I don't know.  Not yet for months, I hope."
+
+"Oh, murther, an' what'll become of us all?  Sure we're never going near
+any more of thim rivers, Masther Dick?"
+
+"But we are, Dinny, we're trekking straight for one now."
+
+"Not one with thim murthering crocodivils in it, Masther Dick?"
+
+"Yes, Dinny; the Zambesi swarms with them, I believe, and they run very
+large."
+
+"Och, mother, mother! and it's a good thing ye don't know where yer poor
+boy is all among black haythens, and lines, and crocodivils, and other
+foreign bastes of prey.  I niver thought I'd come to such a thing as
+this.  Shure it's a horrid counthry altogether."
+
+"I think it a grand country, Dinny," cried Dick; "and I shall ask father
+to stop out here for long enough."
+
+"Ah, be aisy, Masther Dick, dear, and don't demane yerself to stop out
+here among the dirty blacks.  Shure ye're meant for better things.  Jist
+think of it, darlin', out here in the wildherness all these long months,
+and never once tasted mutton or beef."
+
+"But you've been living on prime venison and other game, Dinny."
+
+"An' is it living ye call it--aiting thim bucks and doe things, like a
+black, or a wild baste?" said Dinny in tones of contempt.  "Not so much
+as a pitaytie even or a pay.  Shure I call it shtarving," grumbled
+Dinny.  "Look at that now."
+
+"That" was poor Coffee, who was so much better that he had been out once
+or twice upon short hunting expeditions, and was now tramping behind the
+waggon with his brother, engaged in what cannot better be described than
+as a game of romps with the dogs.
+
+For these welcomed the advances of the Zulu boys with delight, racing
+and careering round them, making fierce attacks, and allowing themselves
+to be seized and thumped and rolled over, in what at times was a regular
+tangle of dogs and boys, after which there was a run to overtake the
+waggon.
+
+Dinny, in spite of his grumbling, was a good deal pleased upon this day,
+for the route of the waggon took them by several salt-pools, whose
+waters the dogs rushed to lap, but came back shaking their heads and
+barking furiously, growling at Dick and Jack, who laughed at them, as if
+they were resenting a trick that had been played at their expense.
+
+These salt-pools were very interesting, the salt forming in quite a
+crust, like ice, some inches below the surface; while to the surprise of
+Mr Rogers, he found beautiful palm and the queerly-shaped baobab-trees,
+flourishing in the salt-impregnated soil.
+
+The long weary trek brought them in sight of the fine broad river along
+whose banks they had now to journey till they reached the black king's
+town; and they had not gone far before they saw in the distance a couple
+of canoes upon the water, while directly afterwards they passed a clump
+of trees and came upon a fishing-party, three of the number being in a
+large dug-out canoe, the other upon a mass of rock surrounded by reeds.
+
+So intent were the fishermen upon their work amongst the great
+water-lilies that dotted the quiet surface of the river close in shore,
+that they did not see the approach of Dick and Jack, closely followed by
+Mr Rogers to protect them from harm.  The sight was so novel that the
+young Englishmen stood still amongst the reeds watching the blacks, one
+of whom managed the canoe by means of a pole, while the others watched
+their opportunity, and then darted their long slender fish-spears down
+into the transparent water, and several times over brought up a
+good-sized fish.
+
+They were strong, well-built savages, whose belief in clothing went as
+far as a little apron; and one of them had his hair carefully twisted,
+and tied up into an absurd-looking pigtail, which stood straight up from
+the back of his head.
+
+The English party stood watching them for some minutes, and then
+advanced towards the shore, making signs.  But the moment their presence
+was discovered the men in the canoe uttered a shout, and their companion
+on the shore plunged into the water to join them, the whole party
+paddling rapidly off as soon as their companion was hauled in to the
+bottom of their canoe, a feat not performed except at great risk of
+overturning the heavy clumsily-formed boat.
+
+The General was beckoned up to join them by Mr Rogers, but they paid no
+more heed to him than to the Englishman, their sole thought being how
+best they could make their escape.
+
+"They'll go and announce our coming as that of enemies, I suppose," said
+Mr Rogers, who longed for a better knowledge of the people's tongue.
+
+There was no help for it; and as decidedly the best plan was to journey
+through on to the royal city, the waggon was kept going, and that night
+they camped at a short distance from the river, hearing no lions.  But
+as they sat by their watch-fire, there was a peculiar hoarse loud
+bellowing noise, evidently coming from the river-side.
+
+As very often happened to be the case when there was anything unusual
+heard, Dinny was sitting with Jack keeping the first watch, and a good
+blazing fire.
+
+"Hark at that now!" he said.  "Hark at that, Masther Jack!"
+
+And he half rose and made as if to flee to the shelter of the waggon.
+
+"Yes, I heard it, Dinny," said Jack quietly.  "It was pretty loud wasn't
+it?"
+
+"Loud, Masther Jack?  It was horrid, shure!  And why don't ye shoot?"
+
+"Because there's nothing to shoot at."
+
+"Nothing to shute at?  Jist hark at him!  Why, there it is again."
+
+As Dinny said, there it was again; and certainly the noise was terrible
+and awe-inspiring, heard in the stillness of the night by the crackling
+of the great fire, whose glow lit up waggon and trees around in a
+strange way, casting grotesque shadows behind.
+
+"Well, it's ever so far-off; and I don't know what it is.  Perhaps it's
+an elephant," said Jack.
+
+"An illephant!" said Dinny, in tones of disgust; "jist as if an
+illephant ever made a noise like that!  Why, it's a lion, Masther Jack."
+
+"Nonsense, Dinny!  Lions don't make a noise like that."
+
+"Shure, an' arn't we close to the river, where it's mortial damp?"
+
+"To be sure we are; but it isn't damp here, Dinny."
+
+"Shure, but it is!" cried Dinny.  "There's a hoarse roar for ye!"
+
+The peculiar noise came again, and was repeated from a distance, and
+again in the other direction.
+
+"That's no lion, Dinny," said Jack.
+
+"Not a lion?  Bedad, and I'd bet me head that it is, and a lion that's
+hoarse wid a horrid bad cowld--jist the same as meself, and a sore
+throat in the bargain, after that wet night we had the other day."
+
+"No, that can't be a lion," said Jack again.  "Hulloa! who's there?"
+
+The _click_-_click_ of Jack's gun was heard as a dark form was seen
+approaching.  But the familiar voice of Mr Rogers made the boy lower
+his piece.
+
+"I thought I'd come and have a look at you, my boy," said Mr Rogers.
+"Do you hear the hippopotamus?"
+
+"Shure, no, sor; but there's a great big lion wid a terrible cowld,
+roaring away for his mate; and I'd thank ye kindly if ye'd shute him at
+once.  There he goes, sor!"
+
+"That's not a lion, Dinny.  That's a hippopotamus," replied Mr Rogers,
+smiling.
+
+"Shure, an' if he can roar like that, he'll be worse than a lion, sor,"
+said Dinny, "so hadn't ye betther shute at once?"
+
+"Dinny doesn't want you to shoot at the hippopotamus, father," said
+Jack, laughing.  "He wants you to shoot at shadows!"
+
+Mr Rogers laughed, and after staying a little while by the fire,
+listening to the distant noises of the huge amphibious animals that
+abounded in the great stream, he quietly went back to the waggon.
+
+The departure of his master was the signal for the renewal of Dinny's
+fears, which he showed in a very peculiar way.
+
+Jack had just thrown a few more pieces of wood upon the fire, which
+blazed up directly; and then, taking his place again, he was making
+himself comfortable, when there was a tremendous hollow roar, made by a
+hippopotamus, apparently pretty close to them.
+
+Dinny immediately shifted his position, getting close up to Jack, who
+did not say anything, but feeling uncomfortably warm dodged a little
+farther off.
+
+That was of no avail, for Dinny followed him, getting closer still, with
+the result that in the course of the next hour Jack was driven right
+round the fire; and he was just about to commence a second tour when the
+General came, with Dick, to relieve the watch, and Jack went off to bed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+MARKED DOWN BY VULTURES.
+
+They were still many miles from King Moseti's town, and the larder being
+again low, consequent upon the impossibility of keeping meat, a
+hunting-party was instituted, and Mr Rogers was about to go off with
+the boys; but on second thoughts, as they had been seen by the people on
+the river, no doubt the news of their coming was known all through the
+country, and it was possible that some of the natives might come down.
+
+This he felt would be unsatisfactory if he was away, so he decided to
+stop; and then feeling that it would be better to have some trustworthy
+man to help guard the waggon, and not feeling that either Dinny, Peter,
+or Dirk, was that man, he decided to tell the General to stay.
+
+So the hunting-party consisted of the four boys, who were warned not to
+go too far, but to be sure and get something in the shape of meat as
+soon as they could.
+
+They went off in high glee, Coffee being delighted to be able to take
+his place in the party; and nothing would do but he must perform all
+sorts of feats, to show how strong he had grown once more.
+
+Acting upon Mr Rogers' advice, they made straight for the high, open,
+park-like land, about a couple of miles south of the river; and here
+Coffee soon showed his talent as a tracker, by pointing out some
+footprints in a patch of soft earth and mud close to a clear pool of
+water.
+
+"Lion!" he said, pointing to the great round impression: and he spat and
+stamped, and then struck the ground fiercely with his kiri.
+
+"Elfant!" cried Chicory just then; and his discovery so far transcended
+his brother's, that there was a rush to see the huge round footprint,
+that looked as if some one had been standing portmanteaus on end all
+over the bog, and leaving their impressions there.
+
+Then there were buffalo tracks, and the footprints of innumerable other
+beasts that had been to drink, or else gone on, making a complete
+roadway in the direction of the big river.
+
+Just then Coffee pulled Jack's sleeve and pointed to quite a
+freshly-made series of footprints.
+
+"Why, that's some kind of antelope," cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, big bok--eland," cried Coffee.  "Come along."
+
+This was as good as saying that the animal had lately been there to
+drink: and in fact its tracks looked surprisingly fresh, so much so that
+the boys, after glancing at their guns, followed Coffee as he trotted on
+ahead with his eyes fixed upon the footprints, which were here and there
+so clearly-marked in the soft earth that he followed them at a run.
+
+Knowing what he did of the habits of animals, and that the great
+antelope might be many miles away by this time, Dick was about to
+protest against such an exercise of speed, feeling that a slow and sure
+progress would be the safest: but Coffee proved to be right, for before
+they had gone half-a-mile, he slopped short and made signs to the others
+to close up.
+
+They were in a wooded tract of land sprinkled with bushes and fine
+timber trees; and as the boys came up, there, about a hundred yards in
+front, was a magnificent eland, and so great was the surprise of both as
+they saw the size of the animal, equal in bulk as it was to an ox, only
+longer and more gracefully-shaped, that they forbore to fire; when the
+great antelope, catching sight of them, went off at full speed, and they
+had to renew the chase.
+
+Quite an hour elapsed before a sign from Coffee announced that he could
+once more see the game.
+
+This time both Dick and Jack were more upon the alert; and creeping
+cautiously up through the bushes, they caught sight of the eland
+grazing, just at the edge of a patch of forest about a hundred and fifty
+yards away.
+
+This they felt was a long shot at so large an animal; but it was
+impossible to get nearer on account of the intervening open ground; so
+kneeling together they took careful aim at the shoulder, and fired
+almost simultaneously.
+
+"Hit," cried Jack, as he jumped up and ran forward beyond the reach of
+the smoke; but there was no eland lying in its tracks; and as the Zulu
+boys came up, they made out that it had dashed through a patch of dense
+growth, and there its footprints were lost in a broad trail made by
+thousands of animals on their way to and from the river.
+
+Both Coffee and Chicory exerted themselves to the utmost; but their
+efforts were in vain, and at last they turned to Dick shaking their
+heads.
+
+"No good gun," said Coffee.  "Ought to shoot um dead."
+
+"It's a bad job," said Jack; "but it's of no use to grumble.  Come,
+boys, we must hunt out something else."
+
+"I wish we had brought the dogs, Jack," said Dick.
+
+"Coffee find him soon--that way."
+
+He pointed with an exultant look in his face at a great flap-winged
+vulture flying directly over his head, and for a moment both Jack and
+Dick were puzzled; but seeing the boys both set off at a run, they
+followed, recalling as they went what they had seen and heard about the
+vultures tracking the wounded or sickly game, and it was evident that
+the bird they had seen was on the track of the wounded eland.
+
+An hour's tramp decided the point, Coffee and Chicory coming up with the
+wounded beast, defending itself with its horns against the attacks of
+the vultures that were collecting round and making furious darts at its
+eyes.
+
+A merciful bullet ended the poor creature's miseries, and as the animal
+was so fine it was decided to load up with as much as they could
+conveniently carry, then place sticks about the carcase, and leave it to
+be fetched in by Peter and Dirk with a yoke of oxen.
+
+All this was done, and they were about half-way back when, to their
+utter astonishment, a party of about half-a-dozen blacks, armed with
+assegais and clubs, rushed out from behind some bushes, and began to
+advance with fierce and threatening gestures.
+
+"I say, Dick, what's to be done?" said Jack.  "Shall we throw down the
+meat and run away?"
+
+"No," said Dick, who looked very pale.
+
+"Shall we offer them our guns and ammunition if they will let us go?"
+
+"No," replied Dick.  "If we do that they will strip us to the skin."
+
+"What shall we do then?"
+
+"Show fight," said Dick.  "I don't want to, but we must."
+
+"But they are big fighting men, and we are only boys," said Jack.
+
+"But we are English boys, and they are only savages," retorted Dick; "so
+come along."
+
+Meanwhile the Matabele warriors--for such it afterwards proved they
+were--kept on advancing, shouting savagely, while Coffee and Chicory had
+been watching their masters attentively, waiting to see what course they
+would take.
+
+They took their dues from the behaviour of the young Englishmen, and in
+place of cowering behind, they ran to the front, flourishing their
+kiris, striking the ground with them, and shouting in their own tongue
+the while.
+
+"Out of the way, black dogs!" cried Coffee.  "Let my lords the big
+lion-killers with their wonder-guns, come by."
+
+Feeling that they must put on a bold front, the two boys advanced with
+rifles ready; and, seeing this, and hearing the words of Coffee and
+Chicory, which they understood, the black warriors stopped short, spoke
+to one another for a few moments, and then, changing their tone, began
+to beg for some of the meat.
+
+"Say they're very hungry.  Want meat," said Chicory.
+
+Dick spoke to Jack, and then told Coffee to be the interpreter of their
+wishes, explaining to him what to say.
+
+Coffee jauntily flourished his kiri, and with a bold, defiant bearing,
+marched close up to the warriors, and showing them the scars made by the
+lion's claws, told them that they were made by the biggest lion in the
+world, and his young masters went and killed it with their wonder-guns.
+
+"And now the young kings say you may go and eat the big eland they shot,
+and fill yourselves full."
+
+The men set up a shout, flourished their weapons, and began to dance,
+after which they threw themselves upon the ground, as if they wanted to
+make themselves into black door-mats, Dick said; and ended by taking up
+and turning back on the little hunting-party's trail till they found the
+eland.
+
+"Yes," said Mr Rogers, as they related their experience; "you were
+quite right.  These people seem to me more like children than men, and a
+good bold front will generally make them respect the white man;
+especially, my boys, if he is firm and, above all, perfectly just."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+THE VISIT TO THE BLACK KING.
+
+The good dinner of eland, and the rest the oxen and horses had had
+amidst abundant grass and water, made all ready for the afternoon trek.
+Several natives had been to the little camp; and as they would be
+expected at the king's town, the oxen were in-spanned, the horses
+mounted to make the party look imposing, and they moved off, keeping
+along the open ground about half a mile from the river's bank.
+
+At the end of a few miles they came in sight of the town, a collection
+of thatched huts in the midst of some trees, evidently a sort of summer
+residence, for they could see on the right a couple of men, busily tying
+together the uprights to form a fresh hut.
+
+There were plenty of people about, but no one seemed to take notice of
+their approach, till suddenly the firing of guns made all start and
+halt, so as to be prepared for attack.
+
+The General, however, warned Mr Rogers that it was only friendly
+firing, for the king was evidently coming to meet them; and directly
+after there was a little procession seen to be on the way.
+
+Under these circumstances Mr Rogers drew up his little force, every one
+being well armed, and with the horses that were not mounted held by the
+head.
+
+Then they waited.
+
+"Don't laugh, my boys," said Mr Rogers, as the procession drew nearer.
+"He is a ruler over his people, so deserves respect.  If you ridicule
+what will no doubt seem very absurd, we shall make an enemy instead of a
+friend."
+
+"We'll try and behave rightly, father," said Dick quietly; and so both
+he and his brother did, but it was hard work.
+
+His Majesty King Moseti, had evidently determined to impress the white
+men with a sense of his greatness; so he came attended by his band and
+body-guard, while he himself wore his regal robes, which consisted of an
+ordinary English Oxford-cut blue coat and waistcoat, with white flannel
+cricketing trousers, and a straw hat.  He had on patent leather boots,
+and carried a handsome ebony walking-stick; but his majesty, probably on
+account of the heat of the climate, wore no shirt.  He had, however, a
+couple of rows of common glass beads round his neck, walked with his
+left-hand in his pocket, and stared about him as if the visitors were
+not of the slightest consequence, so that his appearance was
+sufficiently imposing.
+
+"Jist look at 'em now," said Dinny; "call themselves men, and to go
+about like that, widout a bit o' rag to their backs, and only a scrap of
+a skin apron hanging before and behind.  Oh, go along now wid ye, ye
+ought to be ashamed of yourselves."
+
+"Hold your tongue, Dinny," cried Mr Rogers.
+
+"Certainly, sor," said Dinny.  "An' murther, hark at the music.  Hadn't
+I better go and take the gun away from that naygur as keeps letting it
+off, sor?  He'll be shuting some one directly."
+
+"Well yes, Dinny," said his master, to Dinny's great astonishment; "go
+and take away his gun.  We'll go on.  Do you hear?"
+
+"Shure, sor, he mightn't like it if I did," said Dinny.
+
+"Then stop where you are, and don't brag," said Mr Rogers sharply.
+
+"Hark at that now," muttered Dinny.
+
+Meanwhile the king and his court was approaching, with one of the
+body-guard loading and firing an old musket in the air as fast as he
+could.  In front came a couple of men, hugging what at first sight
+looked like cannons, but which proved to be drums, about four feet long,
+secured round their necks by a skin strap, and which drums they bestrode
+as they beat them with their hands.
+
+Next came a couple more with evidently the kettle-drums, hung from their
+necks and beaten, like an Indian tom-tom, at both ends.  Then the chief
+musician came with a large wooden harmonicon hung from his neck.  This
+instrument, the marimba, he beat with a couple of round hammers,
+bringing forth a barbarous, modulated kind of music, not unlike that of
+the marrow-bones and cleavers of the London butcher-boys, as given by
+them on old-fashioned state occasions.
+
+The instrument took Dick's attention a good deal, and he saw that it,
+and another in the band, were formed by fastening so many dry hollow
+gourds in a frame, over which were placed a graduated scale of pieces of
+hard wood, which emitted a musical metallic sound when struck.
+
+There was another drummer, who worked hard to earn his salary, whatever
+it might be; and then came the body-guard, armed with axes, assegais,
+and kiris, one and all looking, as Dinny said, as if they were the
+finest fellows under the sun.
+
+"Shure, and I'd bate the whole lot wid one stick," he muttered; and then
+aloud,--
+
+"Oh, the dirty haythen; what a noise to call music!  Faix, I'd pay
+something if Teddy Flaherty was here to give 'em one lilt o' the pipes.
+They'd know then what music was."
+
+The marimba players beat their instruments more loudly as they
+approached the waggon, the drummers drubbed the skins of their drums,
+the man behind fired his gun, the horses snorted and grew uneasy, and
+Rough'un threw up his head and uttered a most dismal howl, tucked his
+tail between his legs, and ran off as hard as he could go; an example
+followed by Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, as far as the howling was
+concerned, the chains by which they were secured to the waggon
+preventing any running away.  They, however, made up for it by barking
+with all their might.
+
+The king seemed to take it as a compliment, for he came up, shook hands,
+and condescended to drink a glass of wine, and to eat some sweet
+biscuits and sugar-sticks, speaking in pretty good English, which he had
+picked up from the missionaries, and ending by inviting Mr Rogers and
+his sons to dinner.
+
+The present of a sporting knife at the end of his visit quite won his
+heart, and he seemed never weary of opening and shutting the blades,
+pulling out the toothpick, tweezers, corkscrew, and lancet, with which
+it was provided.  After this he took his departure in the same style as
+that in which he came.
+
+"Well, we may as well pay him a barbarous compliment, boys," said Mr
+Rogers.  "Fire off all your barrels at once.  Now, make ready! fire!"
+
+Six shots went off in rapid succession, followed by six more from Mr
+Rogers' revolver.
+
+The result was different from what was intended, for, evidently under
+the impression that they were being attacked in the rear, the royal
+party made a rush to escape, the king heading the flight, and, like his
+warriors, getting on pretty well; but the marimba players fell over
+their instruments, and the drummers got into worse difficulties still.
+
+All at once, as there was no more firing, the king found it was a false
+alarm, and came back laughing, to bang his musicians about with his
+cane, and call them cowards.  After which he came back to the waggon and
+asked to see the revolver let off, flinching very little, and then
+strutting off before his people, as much as to say, "See what a fine
+brave fellow I am!"
+
+"Look at that now," said Dinny complacently.  "Why of all the cowards I
+ever see--"
+
+"I say, Dinny," said Dick, "I wonder whether the king's afraid of
+lions?"
+
+"Shure an' I'd go an' ask him, Masther Dick, if I was you," said Dinny
+sulkily; and the subject, a very sore one with Dinny, was dropped.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+THE GENERAL IS OVERCOME BY GIN--A TRAP.
+
+A very quiet-looking black came up directly after, to say that the king
+had sent him to show the party where to camp: and he led the way to a
+pleasant little grove, where there was a pool of water, and ample grass
+for the cattle; and after the new arrivals were settled down--far too
+near the "naygurs" to satisfy Dinny's sensitive nature, a return visit
+was paid to the king, who readily gave his permission for the party to
+hunt when and where they pleased in his dominions.
+
+This was satisfactory, and it was determined that no time should be lost
+in getting amongst the large game, but not until they had had a shot or
+two at the large hippopotami, which were abundant in the marshes about
+the river.
+
+Still they would be obliged to remain for a few days at their present
+camp out of civility to the king, who, they found, would be perfectly
+willing to accept a few donations of meat, the supply kept up by his own
+hunters being intermittent, so that his majesty had frequently to go
+without.
+
+All the same, though, the king's hunters were ingenious and clever in
+their schemes, as Mr Rogers and his sons found out before many hours
+had passed.
+
+The king presented his visitors with fried fish and Kaffir beer in a
+calabash, and as everything seemed very clean and satisfactory, Dick and
+Jack made no scruple about eating heartily.  After this they had to be
+admired and have their heads patted by the queens, who declared that
+they were capital boys.
+
+At last they returned to the waggon, where, there being no necessity to
+put up a fence to keep off lions, so near the town, the rest of the
+evening was spent in a thorough good clean up and oiling of the guns.
+
+The General was absent, or he would have willingly helped; but Coffee
+and Chicory said that he had gone off to get birds, so it was concluded
+that he would be back before long.
+
+The oxen were all secured to the dissel-boom and trek-tow; and the
+horses were haltered up to the wheels, everything being made safe and
+sound.  Then a fire was lit, and preparations made for passing the
+night; but still the General did not come back.
+
+His two boys, however, did not seem to be in the slightest degree
+uncomfortable about his absence, saying that he would be back before
+long; so, as they knew their father's ways better than he, Mr Rogers
+concluded that there was no cause for anxiety, for the Zulu warrior
+would return in his own good time.
+
+Dick and Chicory kept the first watch, and then called Mr Rogers, who
+relieved them, with Peter.  But there was nothing to report, only that
+there had been a great deal of drumming and tomtoming up in the town,
+and that when the music and singing had ceased, the hippopotami on the
+river's brink had commenced roaring, snorting, splashing, and making
+noises that were quite startling in the silence of the night.
+
+Fully expecting to see the Zulu warrior return every minute, Mr Rogers
+replenished the fire, and sat listening to the monsters on the river's
+bank, and wishing that he were lying ensconced there in some sheltered
+position where he could get a shot at one of the huge beasts; but that
+was a pleasure to come, and one which he hoped to give his sons.
+
+His watch went by, and then Jack and Coffee were roused up to relieve
+him, and being weary Mr Rogers was glad to find his blanket once more,
+lying till he was roused by Dinny for breakfast.
+
+"Has the General come back?" asked Mr Rogers, as he joined Dick and
+Jack.
+
+"No, father, and the boys are getting anxious about him.  They're gone
+off to find him, and I am expecting them back."
+
+So said Dick, and as he spoke the two Zulu boys came running up in a
+terrible state of excitement.
+
+"Want our father," they exclaimed angrily.  "Father killed.  Come and
+find."
+
+There was something so tragic in the words of the boys that Mr Rogers
+and his sons seized their guns, and telling Coffee and Chicory to lead,
+they went straight for the forest-land towards which Coffee said he had
+seen his father go.
+
+Coffee was quite right, for the General had started off in this
+direction, assegai in hand, and a kiri in his skin belt, partly to see
+what hunting capabilities the land possessed, partly to try and obtain a
+few birds or a small gazelle.
+
+He went straight off to the forest, and with all the instinct of a good
+hunter he examined the spoor of the animals going to and from the water,
+and also made himself acquainted with the drinking-spots, taking in at a
+glance the suitability of the places for a hunter to lie in ambush, and
+then he went on once more.
+
+To his great satisfaction, he found in addition to the spoor of
+antelopes of all kind, those of the hippopotamus near the river,
+elephants, giraffes, and the rhinoceros.  There, too, he found an
+abundance of footprints of buffalo, so that there would be ample game
+for his masters to exercise their skill.
+
+But he was not satisfied yet, and regardless at last of the coming
+darkness, he went on with the instincts of the true hunter who has spent
+the greater part of his life in the woods, searching here, examining
+there, and he grew more and more elate and satisfied.
+
+He had obtained nothing for the waggon larder, but that did not trouble
+him, as he had made so many satisfactory discoveries; and at last, just
+as the moon was shining brilliantly through the trees, he entered a
+broad drink-trail, one used by the animals on the way through the forest
+to the river, and prepared to make the best of his way back.
+
+The course was pretty open, and he paused for a moment to listen whether
+he could hear anything coming; but all was perfectly still, and he
+started again, increasing his walk to a trot over the well-trodden
+track, and this trot to a greater speed, when all at once he felt the
+ground giving way beneath his feet, and instinctively making a spring
+forward, he tried to clear the hollow; but he had no power in his start,
+and he only touched the farther side, and then fell with a crash through
+the screening brushwood into a deep hole.
+
+He fell so heavily that for the moment he was stunned, and lay there
+perfectly helpless, listening to a furious snarling howl, and feeling
+the scuffling and twining about of a number of reptiles which his fall
+had disturbed.
+
+The Zulu knew well enough where he was, and that he had been unfortunate
+enough to leap into one of the many pitfalls some tribes dig in the
+woods to capture large game.
+
+He knew exactly how such a pit would be dug, widening out from the top
+to the bottom, so that the creatures which fell in would be unable to
+escape; and he understood the hideous snarling of some beast, for as he
+cautiously rose to a standing position the moonlight showed him, impaled
+upon the horribly sharp stake formed by fining down a good-sized tree
+and planting it in the bottom, a hideously wolfish-looking hyaena,
+which, less fortunate than himself, had fallen upon the sharp spike,
+which had gone completely through the wretched animal's body, leaving it
+writhing, snarling, and clawing the air with its paws in its vain
+efforts to get free.
+
+It was a terrible neighbour to have in such close proximity, and for the
+moment the General thought of thrusting it through and killing it out of
+its misery; but his assegais had quitted his hand in his fall, and to
+have found them again meant to search amidst the broken twigs and bushes
+at the bottom of the pit, where he could feel and hear the snakes.
+
+Even as he thought all this he could feel the cold scaly bodies of the
+reptiles gliding over his feet, and against his bare legs; and hence he
+was obliged to stand perfectly motionless, lest--though he had escaped
+when he fell, his sudden dash having alarmed them, no doubt--the
+slightest movement of his feet might be followed by a bite, for amongst
+so many as he could feel there were, some were certain to be of a deadly
+nature.
+
+So there he stood, unarmed, with the serpents gliding about the bottom
+of the pit, the moonlight glinting in through the trees, and only a foot
+or two from his face that hideous snarling animal, which snapped at him
+angrily, evidently looking upon him as being the cause of its
+sufferings.  Even if he had dared to move it would have been very
+doubtful whether the General could have clambered out of the cunningly
+contrived pitfall; but situated as he was, and surrounded by such
+dangerous enemies, the Zulu made a virtue of necessity, and stoically
+determined to wait for daylight before making any attempt to escape.
+
+But all the same it was a terrible position, and required all the
+firmness and nerve of a strong man to stand there patiently, feeling the
+hideous little serpents gliding about his bare feet, and listening to
+the hideous howlings of the hyaena.
+
+But the longest and most painful nights have an end, and in due time the
+day broke, and the Zulu began to consider how he could get out.  With
+the broad daylight he saw the wisdom he had practised in waiting, for
+several very dangerous serpents were amongst those which had fallen in,
+and their number was great enough to make even him, a thorough hunter,
+shudder.
+
+But the General was not destined to suffer much longer; soon after
+sunrise he fancied he heard a well-known call, and then there was no
+doubt about it; the call was repeated, and he sent forth a stentorian
+reply.
+
+These calls and answers soon brought Coffee and Chicory to the mouth of
+the pitfall, closely followed by Mr Rogers and the boys, and amongst
+them by help of their guns the unfortunate General reached the track in
+safety, and leaving the hyaena dead, they set off back to the waggon,
+the General congratulating himself on having escaped from a terrible
+death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+THE KING'S HUNTING-PARTY.
+
+There was no mistaking the joy of Coffee and Chicory at finding their
+father safe and sound, and they showed it by performing some most
+ridiculous antics, making even the stern warrior smile with
+satisfaction.
+
+Mr Rogers also noticed it a good deal, and from that time the two Zulu
+boys stood far higher in his estimation than of old.
+
+They had a visit at the camp that morning from the king, one of the
+first of whose questions, as he partook of a sugar-stick with great
+gusto, was, had they heard the hippopotami shouting in the night, and
+were they frightened?
+
+Both Dick and Jack declared that they were not in the least alarmed; and
+thereupon the king, who seemed to get on far better with them than with
+their father, proposed that they should come up the little river, and
+see his warriors hunt the great river-horse.
+
+Mr Rogers consented with a nod; and taking their rifles, the boys
+accompanied the king back to the town, where, orders being given, his
+majesty's big canoe was prepared, and half-a-dozen great hunters, armed
+with throwing-spears, each entered a canoe of his own--a frail
+rickety-looking affair, that threatened to turn over at any moment, even
+with the weight of one man, but which its occupant sent through the
+water at a famous rate, by his clever management of a long paddle.
+
+The king's boat was none too safe a structure, and the boys laughed the
+one at the other as they took their seats before their host.
+
+"If we are overturned, Jack, make for the shore at once, and try and
+save your rifle."
+
+"To be sure, Dick.  But how about the crocodiles?"
+
+"And the hippos, Jack?"
+
+"Feel afraid?"
+
+"No.  Do you?"
+
+"Not a bit!"
+
+The king seemed a little nervous about the boys' rifles when he saw the
+deadly weapons in their hands, and he asked if they were safe.
+
+"A deal safer than your boat, Mr King," said Dick, laughing.
+
+"Yes, that they are," said Jack, giving the boat a sway to and fro.
+
+Then the king laughed, and the boys laughed again, and distributed some
+more acid-rock sticks, of which his majesty highly approved.  Then he
+gave the word, the rowers dipped their paddles, and six men propelled
+the canoe pretty swiftly.
+
+"I say, Dick," whispered Jack, "black kings are not such bad fellows
+after all, are they?"
+
+"Not at all.  I like this one.  But don't whisper; it will make him
+think we are talking about him.  How many cartridges have you got?"
+
+"Twenty four.  How many have you?"
+
+"Two dozen."
+
+The boys laughed and compared their cartridges, when the king, who had
+felt suspicious of their whispering, also smiled, and took great
+interest in the breech-loading guns, exhibiting quite a childish delight
+in seeing the breech opened, and in being able to look right through the
+shining barrels.  After which he had the pleasure of thrusting in the
+cartridges with his own fingers; but when they were closed he expressed
+his opinion that they were not safe.
+
+Meanwhile, after being propelled for some distance up the great river,
+the canoes were turned off into a side stream of no great width, and
+whose sluggish waters serpentined amidst muddy beds of reeds, with a
+palm-tree raising its ornamental fronds here and there to relieve the
+monotony of the scene.
+
+The canes and reeds seemed to swarm with ducks and other water-fowl; and
+here and there, riding in the calm reaches, they saw for the first time
+that curious water-bird, the darter, swimming with its body nearly
+submerged, and its long, snaky neck ready to dart its keen bill with
+almost lightning rapidity at the tiny fish upon which it fed.
+
+"Oh! what a splendid place for a day's fishing, Dick!" whispered Jack.
+"This place must swarm, I know.  I wish I had brought the tackle."
+
+"There's something more interesting than fishing to see," replied Dick.
+"Look! look!"
+
+He pointed to the side of the river, a hundred yards ahead, where a
+huge, clumsily-formed hippopotamus slowly waded into the water and sank
+out of sight.
+
+"What a brute!" said Dick.  "Why, he could upset us.  I say, King
+Moseti, couldn't one of those fellows upset the boat?"
+
+"Yes," said the king; "then all swim ashore if he no catchee."
+
+"That's pleasant," said Dick.  "But look, Jack! what's that?"
+
+He pointed ahead to something black, seen just above the surface of the
+water, and several feet in front of it two prominences; then two more
+appeared slowly above the water.  There was a sort of gasping sigh, and
+a couple of little puffs like those emitted by a small steam-engine, and
+the black knobs and the black surface disappeared.
+
+"What a monster!" cried Jack.
+
+"Now going to begin," said the king.
+
+But they paddled on another half-mile before they really began.
+
+They were in a very winding part of the river now, the serpentine curves
+being so sharp that the banks seemed to be a succession of muddy points
+and reedy bays.
+
+On one of these points a large, broad-nosed hippo was standing, looking
+as shapeless as if it had been roughly modelled in mud, and set upon
+four legs of the shortest and squattiest kind.  Nearer to them, and in
+the water, several of the great amphibious creatures were playing about,
+raising their heads occasionally, sometimes only their eyes and
+nostrils, which the boys could see opened and shut like a valve, to
+admit air and keep out the water.
+
+The canoes now stopped, and it was not a very pleasant feeling, to be
+aware that beneath them, and all around, these monstrous beasts were
+walking about at the bottom of the muddy river, ready to rise up at
+will, and upset the canoes, or perhaps take a piece out with their
+teeth.
+
+"Now going to begin," said the king.
+
+And in obedience to a signal made with his stick, three of the little
+canoes went in advance, their occupants managing the paddles with one
+hand, their assegais with the other, and gliding cautiously over the
+surface of the river, to the attack of one of the great hippopotami.
+
+"I wish they hadn't got such long names," said Jack, who was getting
+deeply interested; "it's quite a mouthful."
+
+"Never mind, they've got good broad backs and heads," said Dick.  "I
+say, Jack, look at that one!  What a mouth!  It's like a great leather
+portmanteau being opened."
+
+"Or a big carpet-bag," replied Jack; "and what teeth!"
+
+They were indeed monstrous, and as the animal raised its ears and eyes
+above the water, and just displayed a portion of its prominent nostrils,
+it was plain to see why the ancients called them river-horses; for, seen
+like this, the head bore a remarkable resemblance to that of some large
+horse.
+
+"Now look!" said the king, who then started, for the boys involuntarily
+cocked their rifles.  For one of the canoes, with the hunter therein,
+approached the great beast just named, the hunter standing up to work
+his paddle, and holding his assegai poised for throwing, while the huge
+brute upon the point of land where he stood out as if displaying his
+mighty proportions, kept uttering grunts of dissatisfaction.
+
+Just as the canoe approached the beast in the water, it allowed itself
+slowly to subside; but it rose again directly after, a few yards farther
+off, when, giving his paddle a sweep, the hunter poised and hurled his
+assegai with such force, and so true an aim, that it was seen sticking
+in the hippo, just where the neck joins the shoulder.
+
+The moment he had thrown, the hunter stooped and picked up another
+spear; but even as he did so the hippopotamus made a dash at his canoe,
+bit at the side, shook it, and the man was precipitated into the water.
+
+In another instant the hippopotamus would have had him in his jaws; but
+now was the time for the other hunters, whose canoes skimmed over the
+surface side by side, and before the animal could reach the man in the
+water, first one and then another spear was hurled, taking effect in its
+neck.
+
+This took off the monster's attention for a few moments; just sufficient
+to enable the owner of the overturned canoe to get ashore, right his
+boat, pour out all the water, and once more return to the attack.
+
+Meanwhile, the other three canoes had gone into the _melee_, each man
+sending a spear into the neck or shoulder of the huge hippopotamus
+whenever he pressed one of the other hunters too hard.
+
+This went on for some time, with the monster growing weaker in his
+resistance, the plan adopted being to weary him out by constant assault;
+and all this time the great fellow on the mud point had looked on,
+giving a fierce grunt now and then, and at times prolonging this grunt
+into a deafening bellow.  He evidently mightily disapproved of what was
+being done to his fellow; but it did not seem to enter into his brain
+how he was to help him.
+
+The idea seemed to come at last; for, turning his head towards the
+king's canoe, he opened his mouth to its fullest extent displaying the
+great worn-down tusks, and uttered a tremendous roar, that can only be
+rendered on paper by a repetition of the words, "Hawgnph! hawgnph!" sent
+through a huge waterpipe, by the blast of a steam-engine of mighty
+power.
+
+This done he closed his mouth with a tremendous chop, and rushed into
+the water and disappeared.
+
+"What a brute!" cried Dick.
+
+"He's coming right for us, I know," cried his brother.  "You see if he
+don't come up close here."
+
+The king seemed to expect it too, and he gave orders to his men; but
+before the large canoe could be got under weigh the monster rose quite
+close to them, opened its huge jaws, its little pig-like eyes glowing
+with fury, and took a piece out of the canoe.
+
+Half the paddlers leaped overboard in their dread, as the monster opened
+its huge jaws for a second bite, this time close to where the two boys
+and the king were seated, the latter seeming paralysed at the imminence
+of the danger.
+
+No word was spoken, one will seeming to guide both Dick and Jack, who,
+without raising their rifles to their shoulders, rested them
+pistol-fashion upon the side of the canoe, and fired straight into the
+monster's mouth.
+
+There was a tremendous clap-to of his jaws, but not upon the side of the
+canoe; and then the huge head slowly sank down out of sight, as a couple
+of fresh cartridges were thrust into the rifles.
+
+But now there was a fresh danger, water was coming in over the side
+where the piece was taken out; and it took a great deal of shouting, and
+no little help with the spare paddles, given by his majesty and his two
+visitors, to get the canoe run aground before she could sink.
+
+Wet legs were the worst misfortune, and as they leaped ashore the men
+set to, hauled up the canoe, and emptied out the water, and in an hour
+they had sewn on a thick skin so as to temporarily keep out the water at
+the side, thin canes answering for needle and thread, after which they
+embarked.
+
+It was none too soon; for as the last man got on board and the canoe was
+pushed off, there was a loud snorting and rustling in the reeds, and a
+hippopotamus rushed at them, giving the lads such an opportunity that
+they both sent a bullet into it as it entered the water, and they saw it
+no more.
+
+Meanwhile the six hunters had not only killed their hippo, but had seen
+the monster shot by the boys aground, quite dead, upon one of the sandy
+bits of land, and they had steered their own trophy to its side, where
+they were busy drawing out the spears with which it bristled, as the
+king's canoe came up.
+
+A rope was made fast to each of the monsters then, and they were towed
+down stream and out into the big river, where, upon their reaching the
+town, an attack was made upon the great beasts, and the flesh hewed off
+amidst a great deal of shouting, singing, and drumming, the boys feeling
+no great temptation to eat hippopotamus, but being proud enough to
+display the head of the monster they had shot--a head that was even
+startling in its size and weight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+A ROW UP STREAM, AND A RUN DOWN.
+
+Naturally attracted by his sons' success, Mr Rogers agreed to go up the
+river with the king on an expedition to last a couple of days, during
+which they were to shoot hippopotamus, crocodile, and perhaps get a shot
+at a giraffe; and in due time a couple of large canoes were got ready,
+and in one was placed a tub of spirit for curiosities, and a chest to
+hold the skins of any choice birds that might be shot.
+
+In the other Mr Rogers had his guns and ammunition, with necessary
+stores in a chest; and so as to superintend and direct the men, it was
+settled that the king should go in one boat, Mr Rogers and Dinny in the
+other, each boat having four stout rowers to handle the long paddles
+they used.
+
+All in good time they started, greatly to Dinny's disgust; for he felt
+certain that the canoe would sooner or later overturn, and that he
+should be shot right into the mouth of one or other of the crocodiles.
+
+"They'll know fast enough, Masther Dick," he said piteously; "and you'll
+see if they don't come following the canoe like sharks afther a boat.
+Oh, murther, it was a sad day whin I took sarvice with the masther."
+
+Dinny took care, however, that Mr Rogers should not hear any of his
+plaints, and in due time the canoes started, and went well for the first
+part of the journey, the men paddling and singing, and a halt being made
+for midday and evening meal, which was made savoury with the large ducks
+that abounded in the reed beds, close in shore.  Two or three good shots
+sufficed to provide enough for the whole party, and the men were in high
+glee, laughing and chatting as they picked the birds, which Dinny
+roasted before a good fire.
+
+At night they halted and drew up the canoes, proceeding afterwards to
+make a couple of large tents of reeds, which they cleverly cut, tied in
+bundles, and secured together--no mean shelter in a journey through the
+wilds; but Dinny found terrible fault with the arrangements, and had to
+be severely snubbed to bring him to a more patient state.
+
+They started in good time the next morning, so as to be early at the
+ground where the king promised game; but here the character of the
+country had altered, and in place of the swift, smoothly-flowing river,
+they had entered upon a part where it was broken up with rapids, long
+ranges of rocks stretching across the river like weirs and keeping the
+waters back, but making a series of rapids, down which the river rushed
+at a furious rate.
+
+"Shure, sor, my mother's name is--"
+
+"Hold your tongue, you foolish fellow," cried Mr Rogers, as Dinny half
+rose in dismay, and asked if the boats were going up there.
+
+"Shure, sor, I only wanted ye to know my pore mother's direction, so as
+ye could sind her word I was dhrowned in the big river out in Afrikky."
+
+"Will they be able to take us up there, king?" said Mr Rogers.  "Hadn't
+we better land, and let them drag the canoes round?"
+
+The king laughed, and clapped his hands for the men to bend to their
+task, when they made the paddles flash in and out of the water, but it
+was soon evident that they would not surmount the rapids.
+
+The boat Mr Rogers was in got half-way up, and then was carried back at
+a tremendous speed, being swept round by an eddy beneath some trees, to
+one of the branches of which Mr Rogers held on, and so steadied the
+canoe, while a stalwart black thrust down his paddle from the bows, and
+kept the great vessel steady.
+
+Just then Dinny, who followed his master's actions as nearly as he
+could, laid hold of a goodly branch from the stern; but instead of
+taking the boat with him he thrust it away, and the next moment he was
+hanging from his branch, shouting "Masther!" and "Masther, dear!" with
+all his might.
+
+"Faix and I knowed it would come to it," he yelled, as the branch swayed
+up and down, and his legs went lower and lower in the water.  "There's a
+great crocodivil coming.  Masther, darlin', bring back the boat."
+
+This was done at last, but the black could scarcely paddle for laughing,
+and when the boat was under him poor Dinny hardly dared let go.  He let
+himself subside in the bottom at last, and was wiping the perspiration
+from his face, and squeezing the water from his legs, when a shout from
+the big man in the bows drew Mr Rogers' attention, and he ran forward
+to see that the other canoe was upset, and that the men were being
+pitched into the rapids.
+
+For they had made three efforts to get up, each time being driven back;
+and at the fourth they were so much weakened and so weary, that when
+about half-way up they wavered, the stream caught the head, twisted it
+broadside, and, in a moment, king, subjects, box, and barrel were tilted
+out, and all went floating rapidly down the stream.
+
+The stalwart black in the bows needed no telling, and the boat Mr
+Rogers was in was sent down and across the stream below the rapids,
+picking up the king first, and then man after man, till Dinny, who was
+emptying the water out of his boots, declared that the boat was too
+full, and must sink.
+
+It did not, however, and the overturned boat being guided ashore, it was
+soon emptied and afloat again, with its crew looking none the worse,
+for, as Dinny said, it did not take their clothes long to dry.
+
+The king was of Dinny's opinion, for his garments of English make being
+very clingy and uncomfortable, he imitated the uniform of his subjects,
+and as everything that had floated out had been recovered, they were
+once more ready for an attack upon the rapids.
+
+But the king said no; they wanted more rowers; and Dinny uttered a loud
+"Hurroo!" as the canoes were allowed to float back towards the town,
+where they at last landed, to Dinny's great delight, safe and sound.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+WARM WORK IN THE WILDS.
+
+"It was all through taking you, Dinny, that father had such bad sport, I
+know," said Dick.
+
+"Shure the ongratitude of the human being is wonderful," said Dinny,
+addressing nobody.  "Here, I save his parint's life by keeping him from
+going any farther and getting himself dhrowned."
+
+"Ah, well, Dinny, you're not going to be drowned any more," said Dick;
+"father has decided to go on with the waggon to-morrow."
+
+"Back home?" cried Dinny, slapping the shrunken leg of his trousers.
+
+"No: farther away; after elephant and rhinoceros."
+
+"Bad luck to the illiphant and rhinoceros!" cried Dinny.  "But anyhow,
+we shall be on dhry land."
+
+The king was disappointed at the party going so soon; but a present of a
+bottle of sweets, and some ammunition, brought smiles into his face--
+smiles that grew broader as he heard that they would stop if possible at
+the town as they came back.
+
+They started at sunrise, so as to get a good trek over before the heat
+of the day should commence, and with oxen well rested and in excellent
+condition they got over the ground pretty swiftly for an oxen-team.  The
+horses too were fresh, and so full of excitement and fun that the dogs
+were taken, after the particular mountain to which they intended to make
+had been marked down; and the boys had a good canter, Coffee and Chicory
+thoroughly enjoying the excitement, and keeping up with the two cobs
+with the greatest ease.
+
+The mountain was reached in due time, a midday halt indulged in, and
+after a good long rest they continued their journey, so as to get well
+beyond reach of Moseti's town, and away from the interruptions that
+might have resulted in their being too near the king.  But the General
+had no intention of going far after the fine promise he had seen for
+game; and two days' march away from the town he proposed that they
+should halt, and make a good strong kraal for the horses in the place he
+selected.
+
+It was admirably adapted for the purpose, there being an abundance of
+thorns, with a steep rocky escarpment to act as the back of the kraal.
+Besides this, there was a spring of beautifully clear water gushing from
+amongst the rocks, which rose right up here into mountains.
+
+The General's advice had always proved so good that the halt was called,
+and quite a fortification of thorns made, large enough to protect the
+cattle.
+
+The fire was started again, and as much care taken as if they had been
+in an enemy's country.  And so they soon found that they were, though
+their enemies were not near.
+
+The very first night at the new camp they were visited by lions, which
+were audacious enough, in spite of the fire, to pretty well frighten the
+oxen into a stampede; but they were ultimately calmed down; while the
+poor horses suffered so that they were haltered up to the side of the
+waggon, with their heads so near the tilt that they could hear their
+masters' voices; and this had the effect of calming them, when the lions
+were most daring.
+
+Snakes too proved to be more plentiful here than they had been found
+since they left the glen at the head of the valley, where Jack had his
+imaginary bite.  They were principally the puff-adder, which would come
+out from among the stones to get within reach of the fire, where it
+would lie and bask, quite regardless of the presence of the people; and
+several of these creatures had to pay dearly for their temerity.
+
+The day after they had settled here they found another unpleasant
+neighbour, in the shape of a boa, this being the third of these large
+serpents they had met with in their journey.
+
+The General saw the creature up in the mountain amongst the stones,
+about a quarter of a mile from the camp, and came back to announce his
+discovery.
+
+There was magic to the boys in the word snake, and catching up their
+guns, they followed the Zulu up the rocks--quite a stiff climb in the
+hot sunshine--and there upon a little sandy plain lay the monster,
+knotted together, apparently asleep.
+
+They had been afraid to bring the dogs lest one of them should be
+crushed by the great boa, and now, as it lay so passive, they had to
+attempt some plan for rousing it so as to make it raise its head for a
+shot; and on being warned of what was wanted, the General offered to go
+up and rouse the creature with the handle of his assegai.
+
+But this Mr Rogers would not permit, bidding the Zulu throw stones at
+the reptile.
+
+This the General did, the second he pitched being so well-aimed that it
+struck the serpent right amongst its thickest folds, when, in an
+instant, the creature was all in motion, with its scales glittering in
+the sun, and its head raised in angry menace, though it did not seem to
+see who had disturbed it, and ended by striking fiercely at the
+offending stone.
+
+It would have been easy enough to have shot the creature now, but every
+one was so much interested in watching its actions that they forebore,
+though their guns were presented, ready to fire at the slightest
+indication of danger.
+
+The serpent writhed, and turned itself over and over, and seemed too
+angry to settle itself down again to rest: but at the end of a few
+minutes the warmth of the sun, and the sand upon which it was gliding
+about, were so pleasant, that it coiled itself up once more, laying its
+head over two or three of the coils in the centre, and then appeared to
+be settling down once more to sleep.
+
+Another stone from the General threw it into violent agitation once
+more; the body writhed about upon the sand, the tail lashed it, the
+broad head rose up with a loud angry hiss, and began to undulate and
+menace the party; and when the General took a step or two forward, as if
+to strike it, the serpent made darts, as if measuring the distance
+before trying to throw round him a coil of its muscular body.
+
+So menacing did the creature grow at last that Mr Rogers gave the word,
+and there was a rapid double shot, the reptile falling to Dick's gun,
+and lying shot through the head, and writhing upon the sand.
+
+This serpent measured just over twenty feet in length, and its girth was
+enormous; so thick and heavy was it that the amount of muscular power in
+its body must have been tremendous.  So rapid and graceful was every
+motion, and so full of strength was it even now, with its head
+shattered, and when it might reasonably have been looked upon as dead,
+that it was dangerous to approach within reach of its coils, Dick having
+a very narrow escape.
+
+They worked hard now collecting the lovely birds that abounded in the
+forest, and the gloriously tinted beetles and butterflies, Coffee and
+Chicory having by this time grown invaluable as collectors.
+
+Then there was the regular hunting to do for supplying the needs of the
+camps, and this generally fell to the lot of Dick and Jack, both of whom
+were wondrous expert on horseback, as they had grown to be with a rifle.
+
+"But mind," Mr Rogers had said, "no wanton slaughter.  Kill as many
+dangerous creatures as you meet, but only shoot the innocent game as we
+need it for food."
+
+The boys kept to their word, and many a tempting shot was given up,
+because they felt that it was not necessary, the larder being stocked.
+
+Game was abundant here, but though they could have shot eland, koodoo,
+blesbok, gemsbok, quagga, hartebeeste, zebra, and gnu, they had not seen
+elephant or giraffe, and these latter were in the boys' minds
+continually.
+
+"Well," said Mr Rogers, "I'll take the glass and have a ride out with
+you to-day.  Perhaps we may have better luck.  We must have a skin or
+two of the giraffe to take back."
+
+"And we haven't seen a buffalo yet, father," cried Jack.  "Isn't game
+scarce?"
+
+"Go and look at the footprints by the pool, my boy, and answer that
+question for yourself," said Mr Rogers, smiling.
+
+But Jack did not go.  He knew that he had asked a foolish question, so
+he passed it off.
+
+The day was wonderfully hot, and quietly as they went, they felt
+scorched, while Pompey and Caesar, who were taken as a treat, ran with
+their tongues lolling out, and stopped to drink at every pool they
+passed.
+
+The route chosen was a different one this day, leading over a wide
+undulating plain covered with an enormous thickness of rough herbage,
+and dotted here and there with bushes.  It was just the place to expect
+to find a lion--offering the beast abundant chances for concealment; but
+after being out four hours, they had seen nothing but antelopes, at
+which they did not care to fire, since it would only have been to add a
+fresh skin to their collection, and glut some of the vultures flying
+slowly overhead.  The glass was used again and again in vain, and at
+last, so as to cover a wider view, Mr Rogers rode away about a mile to
+the left, bidding his sons mind the land-marks so as to be able to reach
+the waggon again.
+
+Dick and Jack did not separate, and after a glance round to see if they
+could make out any game, they resigned themselves to their fate, and
+rode gently along.
+
+"I'm hotter and more tired than I have ever been since we came out,"
+cried Jack.
+
+"So am I," said Dick.  "Let's sling our guns over our shoulders.  Oh,
+isn't it hot."
+
+"If we sling our rifles we shall come upon a lion, or something big."
+
+"Well, let us.  I'm too hot to shoot, and he'd be too hot to attack.
+What does that little bird keep flying to us for, and then going away?"
+
+"Got a nest somewhere here, and afraid we shall take its young."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Dick lazily.  "No, it isn't.  I know what it is," he
+cried excitedly, forgetting the heat and his idle languor.
+
+"Well, what is it?" said Jack.  "I know.  It's a bird."
+
+"It's the honey-guide," cried Dick, watching the twittering little thing
+as it flew to him and then back, trying hard to draw their attention,
+and to get them to follow it.
+
+"I don't believe it would take us to any honey if we went after it."
+
+"Well, let's try," said Dick.  "Where's father?"
+
+"Oh, right over there: a mile away.  You can just see him."
+
+"Well, we'll follow the bird," cried Dick.  "I should like some honey.
+It would be quite a treat."
+
+"Come along, then," said Jack.  "I'll do anything if it isn't too much
+trouble.  Come along.  What's old Pomp found?"
+
+They turned their horses, and were about to ride after the honey-guide,
+when Pompey suddenly began baying furiously at a clump of very high
+ferns and bushes, and Caesar went and joined him.
+
+"Get your gun ready, Jack," said Dick excitedly.  "It's a lion."
+
+"Not it," replied Dick, "or those dogs wouldn't face it as they do.
+They've only found a lizard.  Here, here, here, Pomp, Caesar, Pomp.
+Hey, dogs, then!  Look out, Jack!  Gallop?"
+
+Dick fired a random shot at something that charged at them from out of
+the high grass.  The next instant their horses had swerved round and
+were galloping away over the rough surface as hard as they could go.
+
+They had been grumbling at not being able to find any large game.  Now
+they had found some with a vengeance, for a monstrous rhinoceros had
+been disturbed by the dogs, and with all its angry passions roused it
+was charging down upon the young horsemen as hard as it could go.
+
+It seemed incredible that so great and clumsy an animal could gallop so
+fast; but gallop it did, at a tremendous rate, paying no more heed to
+the bitings and yelpings of the dogs than if they had been flies.  But,
+tossing its curious snout, armed with two horns, high in the air, it
+uttered a loud, angry, snorting noise as it thundered along threatening
+to overtake the horses at every stride.  The dogs behaved very well, but
+they might as well have snapped at the trunk of a tree as at that horny
+hide, and at last in despair they contented themselves with galloping on
+by the animal's side.
+
+To shoot was impossible; to avoid the creature, just as impossible; and
+so the boys used their whips more than once to try and get their cobs
+faster over the ground.
+
+It went against the grain to use a whip to the sleek sides of the cobs,
+but the rhinoceros was gaining upon them, and to be overtaken meant to
+be trampled to death.
+
+"Come along, Jack; use your whip again," cried Dick.  "We can't shoot."
+
+"Shall we separate?" said Jack back from his horse, as they tore over
+the grass.
+
+"No, no; let's keep together."
+
+"Very well, then; but where shall we go?  Which way shall we turn?
+Shall we try for that wood in front?"
+
+"No, no, no," cried Dick.  "We should not be able to get through, but
+that beast would go past bushes as if they were paper.  That's a thorn
+wood, too."
+
+"Where's father, I wonder?" cried Jack.
+
+Dick looked over his shoulder.
+
+"There he comes, full gallop.  He sees what a mess we are in."
+
+"But he can't help us," cried Jack.  "Sit close, Dick, old fellow; and
+look out for holes in front, whatever you do."
+
+Away they went in their mad gallop, longing for the rhinoceros to give
+up his hunt of the hunters, but the huge beast came thundering along in
+the most persistent way, close at their heels, but now, to the delight
+of the boys, not gaining upon them.  The only thing they had to fear
+then was a slip or a stumble, or that in its pertinacious hunt the
+rhinoceros would tire their horses down.
+
+"He's gaining on us now," cried Dick suddenly.  "Jack, we must separate,
+and let him run after one while the other fires at him."
+
+"You couldn't do it, Dick.  No, no, let's keep together, and we shall
+beat him yet."
+
+"But we mustn't take him down to the camp.  Oh, thank goodness, at
+last."
+
+"No, no, don't say that, Dick," cried Jack, in agony, as the rhinoceros
+suddenly stopped, whisked round, and went straight back upon its trail.
+"Let's hunt him now, for he's going straight for father.  Don't you
+see?"
+
+"Yes," said Dick; and turning their trembling half-blown cobs, they
+galloped after the rhinoceros in turn.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
+
+THE TABLES TURNED.
+
+The rhinoceros did not see Mr Rogers at first, but went straight back
+upon its own trail, lowering its head from time to time, and literally
+ploughing its way through the tangled grass with its horn, which, driven
+by the weight behind, scattered the roots and fragments on either side.
+
+The dogs, rejoicing in the change of position, snapped and barked at its
+heels; and as the boys galloped on, with their rifles ready and at full
+cock, they could note more at their ease the peculiarity of the animal's
+make.  This was ponderous to a degree, and the great folds of skin at
+the shoulders and haunches as they worked while the beast galloped
+along, made it look as if the greater part of its body was covered by a
+huge shell like that of a tortoise.
+
+But now all at once the monster seemed to have caught sight of Mr
+Rogers and the big bay, for it uttered a peculiar hoarse squeal, gave
+its little tail a twist, tossed its head as it leaped clumsily from the
+ground, and then, lowering its horn, dashed straight at the new enemy
+before it.
+
+Upon seeing this change of front Dick leaped from his horse, and Jack
+did likewise, the cobs standing perfectly still, with the reins thrown
+over their heads to trail upon the ground at their feet.  Then going
+down upon one knee as the rhinoceros, instead of being tail on, now
+presented its side, they took careful aim and fired.
+
+_Crack_! _thud_!
+
+_Crack_! _thud_!
+
+The reports of the two rifles were followed by what seemed to be a dull
+echo, telling them plainly enough that their shots had told.
+
+The rhinoceros stopped short and shook its head, and they saw it try to
+turn it, as if to touch a tender or ticklish place with its nose.
+
+The next moment there was another report, as Mr Rogers fired, and the
+thud that followed told of a fresh hit.
+
+The rhinoceros shook its head again, whisked round in the most absurd
+way, and went off at a clumsy gallop, followed by a couple more shots
+from the boys' rifles.
+
+"Waste of lead! waste of lead!" cried Mr Rogers, cantering up.  "Well,
+what do you think of the rhinoceros?"
+
+"Oh, what a brute, father!" cried Dick, remounting.  "Let's go on after
+it.  He's badly hit."
+
+"He's hit, certainly," said Mr Rogers; "but unless you can well choose
+your spot those shots of ours would do very little more than make a sore
+place under the creature's hide.  He's like an old-fashioned man-at-arms
+in his buff jerkin."
+
+"But let's go after it, father," cried Jack.
+
+"No, I would not to-day, my boy.  `Discretion,' you know, is the better
+part of valour, and the horses are overdone as it is.  We shall know
+where to go another time, so let it rest for the present."
+
+"But that great brute will be rushing out at us at all sorts of times,"
+said Jack.
+
+"Then you must keep the better look out.  If you fire at it again, you
+must aim before the shoulder, mind; take him as he's coming, if you
+don't feel too nervous."
+
+Jack looked at his father, and then at Dick, and then they both laughed.
+
+"Well father, it does make you feel queer to have that great brute
+thundering down upon you," said Dick.
+
+"You would be curious beings if you did not," said Mr Rogers, laughing.
+"But you must take care, boys, for the rhinoceros is a very dangerous
+beast; and it will charge at anything, even at a tree if it is in its
+way."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!" laughed Jack.
+
+"What are you laughing at?" said his father.
+
+"I was just thinking that I should like to see that great brute after
+Dinny, and Dinny scuffling up a tree to get out of its way."
+
+"Yes, it would be good fun," said Dick; "but I should like Dinny to have
+a good start."
+
+"He would need it," said Mr Rogers gravely; and they rode on gently
+back to the camp.
+
+There was fresh news here, for both the General and Coffee had to report
+that they had seen rhinoceros, and upon comparing notes, it was very
+evident that it could not be the same, unless the creature could have
+been in three places at once.
+
+This was promising, for, in spite of the danger, they all wanted to
+number one of the great beasts in the list of the game they shot.
+
+But during the next few days, with the exception of the daily shooting
+of an antelope for the larder, they saw no great game, even failing to
+put up the big rhinoceros when they rode over the same ground again.
+
+They found the lair in amongst the thick bushes and dried grass, the
+dogs running through it from side to side, while the three hunters sat
+with presented pieces, ready to shoot at the first charge.  They kept
+well apart too, so as to be ready to help the one at whom the rhinoceros
+came; but they saw nothing of the beast, and it was evident that it had
+shifted its quarters.
+
+The weather had been intensely hot and dry, so that the long reedy grass
+crackled and rustled as they passed along, and in places the tramp of
+the horses' hoofs sent the dust flying in clouds.
+
+One evening towards sunset they were about ten miles from the camp, and
+wearied out with the heat and sultriness of the air which for days past
+had threatened a storm; they were riding listlessly across a wide plain
+that was being rapidly turned into a regular desert for want of
+refreshing rain.
+
+Nobody had spoken for some time, when suddenly Jack exclaimed,--
+
+"Look! the plain is on fire."
+
+The horses were reined in, and as they gazed in the direction pointed
+out, it was evident that there was what seemed to be a very large fire
+rolling across the plain; the white smoke-clouds rising quite high.
+
+"Is it the grass on fire?" said Dick, as Mr Rogers brought his little
+double glass to bear.
+
+"It is no fire at all," said his father, "but dust.  There is a great
+herd of buffalo crossing the plain, and we ought to get a shot."
+
+Click! click! went the lock of Jack's rifle, and he leaped down to
+tighten his girths.
+
+"No!" said Mr Rogers; "they are oxen and horsemen.  It is a large party
+crossing the plain--an emigration of Boers, I'll be bound."
+
+They rode gently on towards the long line of dust-clouds, which was
+passing at right angles to them; and as they drew nearer they could
+plainly see beneath the lurid sky figures of men on horseback, blacks
+mounted on oxen, and waggon after waggon with its enormously long team.
+
+As they approached, some of the sun-tanned, dejected-looking men riding
+in front turned their heads, and stared sullenly at the little party,
+but they seemed to have no desire for any friendly intercourse; and when
+Mr Rogers spoke to them they replied sullenly in broken English mixed
+with Dutch, that they were going north.
+
+They were curious-looking men from an English point of view, and would
+have been greatly improved by the use of a pair of scissors to their
+long, abundant, fair hair.  Each man carried his rifle ready for the
+first enemy that might cross his path, and their numerous black servants
+trudged on with loads or rode the oxen.
+
+These blacks, too, took the attention of the boys, one being a perfect
+giant in his way, a great square shouldered fellow of quite six-feet-six
+in height; while another, mounted upon an ox, had his hair twisted up
+into a couple of points, standing up from his head like the horns of an
+antelope.
+
+Every one looked jaded and worn out, as if with a long journey; and the
+dejected aspect of the masters was traceable even in their dogs, one of
+which went on in front with his head, down and tongue lolling out,
+aiming evidently at some particular point.
+
+So surly were the leaders of the party that Mr Rogers made no further
+effort to be friendly, but sat with his sons looking-on, till the whole
+troop, extending several hundred yards, had filed by, under the cloud of
+dust shuffled up by the oxen's feet; and then, as the little
+hunting-party rode on, they could see as it were a cloud go rolling
+slowly over the plain, the emigrant party being quite hidden by its
+folds, till the dreary dust-covered plain was passed.
+
+"How are we to get at these rhinoceroses?" said Mr Rogers, as they rode
+homeward.  "We must have one, boys; but I don't want to have out the
+Zulus to track, for fear of their getting injured."
+
+"Perhaps we shall come across one, father, when we don't expect it,"
+said Dick.  "Let's try to get a giraffe or two, and we may find a
+rhinoceros without hunting for it."
+
+"Very wisely said," replied Mr Rogers; "perhaps we shall."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
+
+HOW THE WAGGON WAS PUT STRAIGHT.
+
+The remark made by Dick as he rode home with his father was much nearer
+fulfilment than he expected.
+
+The morning broke dark and lowering, with great thunder clouds in the
+north; and as it was evident that it was raining hard, as it can rain
+sometimes in South Africa, and they might get caught, it was decided to
+spend the morning at home, and devote that day to a general clean up of
+arms, and a repacking of the waggon, which needed doing sadly.  Besides
+which there were cases of stores that they had not yet been able to get
+at; and these it was advisable to have, especially a whole barrel of
+fine flour, which was right at the bottom.
+
+Arms were cleaned, then, till Dinny announced breakfast, with three hot
+roast quails, that had been knocked down by Chicory that morning.
+
+These were a delicious treat, being about three times the size of the
+little English quail; and the hearty breakfast having come to an end,
+Mr Rogers climbed into the waggon, followed by the boys, the General
+and his sons went off to collect wood for firing, while Peter and Dirk,
+with a yoke of bullocks, brought it to the camp and made a stack, upon
+which Dinny soon began to make inroads for culinary purposes, as he had
+cakes to bake, and a large joint of eland to cook for an early dinner--
+for if it seemed likely to hold up, an expedition was determined on in
+search of giraffes for the afternoon.
+
+It was very busy and very warm work under the tilt of the waggon, but
+the two boys toiled away with a will, and package after package of
+forgotten luxuries was unearthed, and placed where it could be used.
+
+"Hurray, father!" cried Jack, "here's a box of cornflour."
+
+"And here's another bag of rice," cried Dick.
+
+"Better still," said Mr Rogers, laughing.  "Here's something that will
+suit you, Dick."
+
+"What?  More sugar, father?"
+
+"No.  You were grumbling about always drinking your coffee without milk;
+here's a case of Swiss condensed."
+
+"If the sugar ran out," said Jack, "we could get honey."
+
+"Yes," said his father.  "You boys must be on the look out for the
+honey-guide."
+
+"Why, we saw one, father," cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, and the rhinoceros drove it out of our head," said Dick, "and--"
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" cried Mr Rogers.  "Rifles, boys!"
+
+They were just engaged in moving a big chest, and had the greater part
+of the waggon's contents piled up on one side, that nearest the kraal of
+growing and piled up thorns, when there was a loud yelping of the dogs,
+a peculiar grunting snort, a tremendous crash, and the dissel-boom was
+driven on one side, and the fore part of the waggon itself actually
+lifted and nearly overturned.
+
+There was a tremendous crash, and splinters flew as it was struck; and
+another crash as it came down upon the earth again, one wheel having
+been lifted quite a couple of feet.
+
+Then, as Jack held on by the great laths of the waggon cover, and looked
+over the chests, he saw the shoulders of a great rhinoceros, as it
+wrenched its horn out of the woodwork that it had driven it through;
+then it whisked round, and charged straight at the fire, rushing through
+it, trampling the embers, and tossing the burning sticks in all
+directions.
+
+"Murther! master, help!  Here's a big thief of a--Murth--"
+
+Dinny did not finish his sentence, for, seeing him standing there
+shouting as his cooking-place was "torn all to smithereens," as he
+afterwards expressed it, the rhinoceros dashed at him, and with one lift
+of his horn sent poor Dinny flying into the thorny hedge of the
+cattle-kraal.
+
+The rhinoceros now stood snorting and squeaking, in search of some other
+object upon which to vent its rage; and seeing this in some newly-washed
+clothes laid out to dry upon a bush, it charged at them, dashing through
+the bush, and carrying off a white garment upon its horn, with which it
+tore right away, never stopping once while it was in sight.
+
+"Well, when you have done laughing, young gentlemen," said Mr Rogers,
+"perhaps you will let me pass and see what damages we have suffered."
+
+"Laugh!" cried Jack.  "Oh, father, I ache with laughing.  Did you ever
+see such a comical beast?"
+
+"It certainly has its comical side," said Mr Rogers; "but it is
+terribly mischievous and dangerous."
+
+"But you should have seen it toss Dinny, father," said Dick, wiping his
+eyes.  "I hope he wasn't hurt."
+
+They leaped out of the waggon rifle in hand, just as a piteous groan
+came from the top of the kraal fence.
+
+"Ah, masther, and that was the only dacent shirt I had left.  Oh,
+masther, dear, help me down.  I'm kilt and murthered here wid the great
+thorns in my back."
+
+The boys could hardly help for laughing, poor Dinny's aspect was so
+ludicrous; but by dint of placing the broken dissel-boom up to where he
+was sitting, and crawling up to him, Dinny was aided to drag himself
+out.
+
+"Aisy then, Masther Jack, aisy," he cried; "don't ye see the nasty
+crukked thorns have got howlt of me?  Ye'd be pulling me out of my
+clothes, instead of my clothes out of the thorns.  Arrah, sor, d'ye
+think that great pig baste wid a horn on his nose will ever bring me
+clane shirt back?"
+
+"Very doubtful, Dinny; but are you much hurt?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"An' am I much hurt?" cried Dinny, "whin there isn't a bit of me as big
+as saxpence that hasn't got a thorn shtuck in it?"
+
+"Oh, never mind the thorns," said Mr Rogers, laughing.
+
+"Shure, I don't, sor; they moight all be burnt for the bit I'd care.
+But shure, sor, it isn't at all funny when you've got the thorns in ye."
+
+"No, no, of course not, Dinny," said his master, "and it is unfeeling to
+laugh.  But are you hurt anywhere?"
+
+"Shure, sor, I'm telling ye that I'm hurt all over me, ivery-where."
+
+"But the rhinoceros--"
+
+"The which, sor?  Sure, I didn't know that any part of me was called a
+rhinoceros."
+
+"No, no, I mean the animal that charged you."
+
+"An' that's a rhinoceros is it, sor?  Shure, I thought it was a big
+African pig wid a horn in his nose."
+
+"Yes, that's a rhinoceros, Dinny.  Come, did it hurt you when it charged
+you?"
+
+"Shure, I'd like to charge it the price of me best shirt, I would,"
+grumbled Dinny, rubbing himself softly.  "No, he didn't hurt me much; he
+lifted me up too tinderly wid his shnout; but that was his artfulness,
+the baste; he knew what the crukked thorns would do."
+
+"Then you have no bones broken, Dinny?" said Dick.
+
+"An is it a pig I'd let break me bones?" cried Dinny, indignantly.  "A
+great ugly baste!  I'd like to have the killing of him any day in the
+week.  Just look at me fire flying all over the place.  Shure, I'll be
+very glad when we get home again;" and he went grumbling away.
+
+The damage to the waggon was not serious.  The horn of the great beast
+had gone right through the plank of the forepart, where the chest
+generally stood on which the driver sat, and that could easily be
+repaired; while they were carpenters enough to splice the broken
+dissel-boom, or if needs be, cut down a suitable tree and make another;
+so that altogether there was nothing much to bemoan.  A good deal of
+laughter followed, Dick and Jack being unable to contain their mirth, as
+they thought of Dinny's discomfiture.
+
+"Oh, yis; it's all very foine, Masther Jack; but if you'd been sent
+flying like I was then, it isn't much ye'd have laughed."
+
+"No, I suppose not, Dinny," said the lad frankly; "but never mind about
+the thorns."
+
+"Shure, it isn't the holes in me shkin," said Dinny; "they'll grow
+again.  I was thinking about me shirt."
+
+"I'll ask father to give you one of his, Dinny," said Dick.
+
+"One o' thim flannel ones wid blue sthripes?" said Dinny eagerly.
+
+"Yes, one of those if you like, Dinny."
+
+"Whoop! good luck to the big pig and his horn on his nose," cried Dinny.
+"He's welkim to me owld shirt; for it was that tindher that I had to
+put on me kid gloves to wash it, for fear it should come to pieces,
+Masther Dick.  But, Masther Dick, asthore, d'ye think the big baste will
+come back and thread on me fire again?"
+
+"I think we shall have to be on the look out for him to stop him," said
+Dick.  "But his skin's so thick there's no getting a bullet through."
+
+"An' is it a pig wid a shkin as thick as that!" said Dinny,
+contemptuously.  "Arrah, I'll be after shooting the baste meself.  I
+wouldn't go afther the lines, but a big pig!  Shure, if the masther will
+let me have a gun and powther, I'll go and shute the baste before he
+knows where he is."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
+
+HOW DINNY HANDLED HIS GUN.
+
+In expectation of another visit from the rhinoceros, the greatest
+precautions were taken; but the days went by, and hunting and collecting
+took up plenty of attention, and no more visits from the rhinoceros were
+received.
+
+The boys were certain that this was not the animal that had charged them
+out upon the grass plain, and proof of this was found one day when, in
+company with their father, the boys were following a honey-guide.
+Coffee and Chicory were with them, and eagerly joined in the pursuit,
+till the bird which had been flitting from bush to bush, and from tree
+to tree, suddenly perched itself upon one at the edge of a patch of
+forest.
+
+Then Chicory ran right to a particular tree, and pointed to a spot
+where, about twenty feet from the ground, the bees could be seen flying
+in and out.
+
+To the great disappointment of the bird, the wild hive was left for that
+occasion, it being a pity to waste any of the honey, so they returned by
+another route towards the camp, the bird twittering and showing no
+little excitement at what it evidently looked upon as the folly of men
+at neglecting the sweet treasure.
+
+The place was, however, marked, and with the intention of returning next
+day, armed with hatchet, fire, and a couple of zinc buckets to hold the
+spoil, they rode round the other side of the forest-patch, looking out
+for brightly-plumaged birds, whose skins could be added to the
+collection already made.
+
+"Yes," said Mr Rogers, "it is a curious natural history fact, but there
+it is, plainly enough.  The bird knows that man can get at the honey
+when it cannot, so it leads him to the place hoping to get its share of
+the spoil."
+
+"Then you don't think it is done out of love for man, father?" said
+Jack.
+
+"What do you think, Dick?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"I think it's done out of kindness to the bird," said Dick, smiling.
+
+"So do I," replied his father, "and that bird its own self."
+
+"Look at the vultures," cried Jack, just then, as quite a cloud of the
+great birds rose from a clump of trees on their left; and upon riding up
+there lay a great rhinoceros, or rather its remains, for, in spite of
+its tough hide, the carrion birds had been busy at it; but not so busy
+but that the marks of a couple of bullets were seen in its neck and
+fore-shoulder, from the effects of which it had evidently died.
+
+"That's our rhinoceros," cried Jack eagerly.
+
+"You shall have your claim, boys," said Mr Rogers drily; "my shot shall
+not count."
+
+"I said `our,' father; so let's share it amongst us."
+
+The boys would have liked to have the horn hacked off, but the animal
+was in such a terrible state that their father thought it unfair to set
+either of the Zulus to execute the task; so they had to be content with
+the trophy in expectation; the boys promising to have off the horn from
+the next that was shot.
+
+While they were enjoying a hearty meal after their return to the camp,
+Dinny suddenly began to make advances to Chicory, giving him pieces of
+cake, and choice bits of meat, which he had roasted, and all to the
+boy's great surprise, for heretofore Dinny had been anything but civil
+to him.  But Chicory took it all in good part, and smiled and nodded;
+and when at last Dinny signed to him to come away from the camp, the boy
+followed without a word.
+
+"Look ye here, my little naygur," said Dinny confidentially, as soon as
+they were in the shelter of the trees; "d'ye undherstand what I'm saying
+to ye?"
+
+Chicory nodded eagerly.
+
+"Yes, yes; understand," he said.
+
+"Then look here, ye dark-looking little image; I want ye to help me."
+
+"Yes; help," said Chicory wonderingly.
+
+"Iv ye'll help me, I'll help you, little naygur; and ye shall always
+have plenty of what's good out of the pot, and roast mate, and cake.
+D'ye understand that?"
+
+"Yes; Chicory know.  Give him plenty meat."
+
+"That's right, my young son of a dark night," cried Dinny.  "Well, now
+then, look here.  Ye know that grate big pig wid the horn on his nose
+came and upset me fire, and run away wid me wardrobe?"
+
+Chicory shook his head.
+
+"Well then, wid me clane shirt.  D'ye undherstand now?"
+
+"Yes, yes," said Chicory, laughing.  "Don't know big pig."
+
+"Yes, yes, you do, my young piece of black velvet; the big rise
+nosserus."
+
+"Yes, rhinoceros, big beast, big horn.  Oorrr! houk! houk! houk!"
+
+This was supposed to resemble the noise made by the great animal; and
+Chicory illustrated his cry by going down on hands and knees in a clumsy
+gallop, which ended with a toss of the head in the air.
+
+"Yes; that's him," said Dinny.  "Well, I want ye to find the way to
+where he lives by his futmarks, and then come and tell me, and I'll go
+and shute him."
+
+Chicory nodded his head, and they went back to the waggon, where Dinny
+presented himself to his master all at once with a request for a gun.
+
+"A gun, Dinny?  And what do you want with a gun?"
+
+"Shure, sor, everybody else learns how to shute, and I thought I'd like
+to be able to shute a line or a hippo--what's his name, or any other of
+the savage bastes if they came near the waggon while ye were away."
+
+"Well, Dinny, I have no objection, if you promise to be careful."
+
+"But I want one o' them that shutes big bullets, sor, and not the little
+pishtol things that only shutes small shot, sor."
+
+"You shall have a good rifle, Dinny," said his master.  "Dick, get the
+Snider--the short Snider--out of the waggon, and give him twenty
+cartridges."
+
+This was done, and the rifle placed in Dinny's hands.
+
+"You must be very careful how you shoot with it, Dinny," said Mr
+Rogers.
+
+"Shure and I will, sor."
+
+"But be particularly careful not to fire in the direction where any one
+is coming.  Remember a Snider is dangerous at a mile."
+
+"Is it now?" said Dinny.  "But shure, sor, I want a gun, and I don't
+care for your Sniders at all.  What's a Snider to do wid me?  It's a gun
+I want."
+
+"To kill wild beasts, Dinny?"
+
+"That same, sor."
+
+"Well, then, take that Snider-rifle; it will kill at a tremendous
+distance."
+
+"What, that little bid of a thing, sor?"
+
+"To be sure, man.  Now take care, and you'll have to keep it clean and
+free from rust as well."
+
+"Thanky, sor, and I will, and it will have too much to do for it to get
+rusty."
+
+"Well, Dinny, I trust you, mind, so be careful with your weapon."
+
+"Shure, sor, and I will," said Dinny; and taking the Snider very
+carefully in his hands, he asked Jack to give him "a bit of showing how
+to trim thim," and this Jack did till he was perfect, when Dinny went
+off with the rifle, muttering to himself.
+
+"Think o' that now!" he kept on saying, "that bit of a thing shooting a
+baste at a mile!"
+
+Nothing more was said by Dinny, who had made his plans, and he kept his
+own secret of what he intended to do.  On the following afternoon
+Chicory came to him in high glee, to claim the roast meat and cake
+promised, and he announced that he had found where the rhinoceros lived.
+
+"How did you find him out?" said Dinny doubtingly.
+
+"Track.  Follow spoor," said Chicory proudly.
+
+"Oh, ye followed his spoor, did ye?" said Dinny.  "Very well thin, it's
+going to be a bright moonlight night, so ye can follow his spoor, and
+tak' me wid ye."
+
+Chicory nodded eagerly, and in the course of the evening he came and
+beckoned to Dinny, who took the Snider, and put the cartridges in his
+pocket.
+
+"Where are you going, Dinny?" said his master.
+
+"Shure, jist for a bit o' pleasure, sor," he replied.
+
+"Well, look out for the lions," said Dick maliciously.
+
+"Shure I niver thought o' the lines," muttered Dinny, "and they goo out
+a-walking av a night.  I'd better shtay at home.  Bother!" he cried
+angrily.  "Shure the young masther did it to frecken me, and it'll take
+a braver boy than him to do it anyhow."
+
+So Dinny marched off, and following Chicory, the boy led him at once
+over a rugged mountainous hill, and then into a part of the forest that
+was particularly dark, save where the moon, pretty well at its full,
+threw long paths of light between the trees.
+
+Enjoining silence, the boy went cautiously forward, threading his way
+through the dark forest, till he halted beside a fallen monarch of the
+woods, a huge tree of such enormous proportions, that its gnarled trunk
+and branches completely stopped further progress; for it formed a stout
+barrier breast high, over which a man could fire at anything crossing
+the moonlit glade beyond.
+
+The shape of the tree was such that a branch like a second trunk ran
+almost parallel to the main trunk, arching over the head of whoever used
+the old tree for a breastwork, and forming an additional protection
+should the occupant of the breastwork be attacked by any large animal.
+
+"Stop there, you see noseros," whispered Chicory.
+
+"But shure ye wouldn't have a man shtand there by himself, and all in
+the dark?  Faix, there's some wild baste or another shlaying me now."
+
+"See noseros then shoot," whispered Chicory.  "I stay here."
+
+The boy caught hold of a branch and swung himself up into a tree, where
+he perched himself and waited.
+
+"Faix, he's just like a little monkey, and not fit for the shociety of
+Christians," muttered Dinny as he took his place by the great barrier,
+and, resting his rifle upon the trunk, waited.
+
+Dinny felt in anything but a courageous mood, but as he had come so far
+upon his mission, he strung himself up to go on with it, and watched the
+open space before him, lit up by the moon which shone full upon his
+face.
+
+"Maybe he's only playing wid me, the black little haythen," thought
+Dinny, "and there's no big pig to be seen here at all.  But he shan't
+see that I'm a bit freckened annyhow, for I'll shtand my ground till he
+comes down and says we'd better go."
+
+So Dinny stood watching there till he began to feel drowsy, and this
+made him lean against the great trunk, his head began to nod, and twice
+over he was pretty well asleep.
+
+"Shure, an' I'll catch cowld if I do that," he said to himself, as he
+gave himself a bit of a shake.  "I don't see what's the good o' waiting
+here, and--murther! look at that now."
+
+Dinny felt as if cold water was being poured over him as, all at once,
+he saw the great proportions of a rhinoceros standing out quite black
+against the bright moonlight, the animal being as motionless as if
+carved from the rock that lay in great masses around.
+
+"Shure an' it's a big shtone, and nothing else, and--murther, it's
+moving, and coming here."
+
+Dinny hardly knew himself how he did it, but in a kind of desperation he
+took aim at the rhinoceros, and drew trigger.
+
+The result was a sharp crack, that seemed to echo into distance far
+away, and mingled with the echoes there was a furious grunting roar.
+
+For Dinny had hit the rhinoceros.  In fact, aiming at it as he did, with
+the barrel of his piece upon the large trunk, it would have been almost
+impossible to miss.  But as he heard the roar Dinny turned and ran,
+stumbled, saved himself, and hid behind a tree.
+
+"Murther, but it's awful work," he muttered, as his trembling fingers
+placed a second cartridge in the rifle.
+
+Then, all being silent, Dinny stole out, and peering cautiously before
+him, crept towards the prostrate tree.
+
+"Shure, I belave I've shot him dead," he muttered, as he peered out into
+the open glade; but as he showed his face in the moonlight there was a
+furious snort, and Dinny turned and fled; for the rhinoceros charged
+right at the white face behind the prostrate tree, thrusting its
+monstrous head between the two huge limbs; and then, in spite of its
+prodigious strength being unable to get any further, it drew back,
+charged again, placed one hoof on the tree--but its efforts were in
+vain.  Then it wrenched its head back, and retiring a short distance
+charged once more, Dinny watching it from behind a tree with blanched
+face and hands, trembling with excitement.
+
+A practised hunter would have sent bullet after bullet crashing into the
+monster's brain; but Dinny was not practised, and it was not until he
+had thoroughly convinced himself that the animal could not get through,
+that he stole out, and bending down, cautiously advanced nearer and
+nearer to the huge beast, which snorted, and grunted, and squealed in
+its futile efforts to get at its assailant.
+
+If it had gone twenty yards to its left, it could easily have passed the
+obstacle; but it was pig-like enough in its nature to keep on trying to
+force itself through the obstacle it had tried to pass, and seeing this,
+Dinny went on, gaining a little courage the while.
+
+"Shure I'll go close enough to make quite sartain," he muttered; "but
+it's like having a bad dhrame, that it is.  Now where had I better shute
+him--in the mouth or the eye?"
+
+He decided for the eye, and raising the rifle at last he took a long aim
+at not six feet distance, when the great beast uttered so furious a roar
+that Dinny turned once more, and fled behind the tree.
+
+"Shure and what'd I be freckened of?" he said angrily.  "Not of a baste
+like that."  And walking out once more he repeated his manoeuvres,
+approaching cautiously; and as the rhinoceros began straining, and
+sprang to force its way through, Dinny took careful aim at the monstrous
+beast, and fired.
+
+"Shure it's aisy enough," he said, as the beast started back; and
+placing a fresh cartridge in his piece, he fired again at where the
+animal stood in the full moonlight swaying its head to and fro.
+
+It was impossible to miss; and Dinny fired again and again, nine shots
+in all, growing encouraged by his success; and the result was that the
+monster fell over upon its side at last with a heavy thud, just as
+Chicory dropped to the ground, and made the hero jump by touching him on
+the back.
+
+"Ah, be aisy; what are ye thrying to frecken a man for like that?" said
+Dinny.  "But look at that, ye little haythen; that's the way to shute.
+Now let's go back and tell them they needn't be alarmed about the big
+pig, for its Dinny himself that has done the thrick."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
+
+DINNY RELATES HIS ADVENTURE.
+
+Dinny's story was hardly believed when he walked into camp, but Chicory
+was there to corroborate his words, and the astonishment felt was
+intense.
+
+"You--you shoot a rhinoceros, Dinny!" said his master.
+
+"Shure and why not, yer hanner?" said Dinny.  "Didn't I borry the gun a'
+purpose for that same? and didn't the big baste stale my gyarments in
+the most ondacent way?"
+
+"But how?  Where?  Where?" was asked by father and sons, in a breath.
+
+"Shure an' I'm the laste bit weary wid my exertions," said Dinny, "and
+I'll jist light me pipe and sit down and rest, and tell ye the while."
+
+All in the most deliberate way, Dinny proceeded to light his pipe and
+rest; and then, with Chicory sitting in front with his arms tightly
+embracing his knees, and his eyes and mouth open, Dinny related his
+adventure with the rhinoceros.
+
+The late Sir Walter Scott in speaking of embellishing and exaggerating a
+story called it adding a cocked-hat and walking-stick.
+
+Dinny put not merely a cocked-hat and walking-stick to his story, but
+embellished it with a crown, sceptre, and royal robes of the most
+gorgeous colours.  It was wonderful what he had done; the furious
+conduct of the rhinoceros, the daring he had displayed, the precision
+with which he had sought out vital parts to aim at.  A more thrilling
+narrative had never been told, and Chicory's eyes grew rounder and his
+mouth wider open in his astonishment and admiration, the hero going up
+wonderfully in the boy's esteem, especially as he read in Dinny's looks
+the promise of endless snacks and tastes when he was hungry.
+
+But all the same, Dinny's flights of fancy grew a little too lofty for
+his other hearers.
+
+"Oh, I say, Dinny, come now," said Dick, as his father sat back
+listening with a good-humoured smile upon his lip.  "I'm not going to
+believe that a rhinoceros rose up on its hind legs and fought at you
+with its fore paws, while you stood still and aimed at it."
+
+"Shure, Masther Dick, dear, did you ever know me say anything that
+wasn't thrue?  If ye doubt me word, there's Masther Chicory there, as
+brave a boy as ever stepped in--I mane out of shoe leather, and spread
+his little black toes about in the sand.  He was there all the toime,
+and ye can ax him if he didn't see it."
+
+"Yes," said Chicory, "nosros try to get through big tree, and Dinny
+shoot um."
+
+"There," said Dinny triumphantly, "what did I tell you?  Why, if ye
+don't believe me, there's the baste itself lying as dead as a hammer
+where I shot him."
+
+"Then it's only a little pig or a young rhinoceros, Dinny," said Jack.
+
+"Little pig!" cried Dinny.  "By this an' by that, he's as big as the
+waggon there, tub an' all.  Sure a bigger and more rampaging baste niver
+fought wid a human man, and tried hard to ate him."
+
+"Why that shows what stuff you are telling us, Dinny.  A rhinoceros
+wouldn't eat a man; he'd trample him to death," cried Dick, who had been
+a studious boy for years.  "A rhinoceros is an herbivorous beast, and
+has a prehensile upper lip."
+
+"A what sort o' baste?" said Dinny, staring.
+
+"Herbivorous."
+
+"Shure an' what's that got to do wid it?  I tell you it tried to ate me
+at one mouthful, in spite of his what sort o' upper lip.  Shure the poor
+baste couldn't help having that the matter wid his lip.  Why as soon as
+I set eyes on him, `Ah, Dinny,' I says, `yer work's cut out, me boy,' I
+says, `for if ever there was a baste wid a stiff upper lip that's the
+one.'"
+
+"But I said a prehensile upper lip, Dinny," cried Dick.
+
+"Shure I heard what ye said, Master Dick.  I know.  And a pretty
+rampaging baste he was.  Wirra!  If ye'd seen him foight.  If ye'd heard
+him roar, and saw how I battled wid him till I'd laid him low wid tin
+bullets in his jacket.  Ah, it was wonderful.  But ye shall see the
+baste."
+
+"Yes, I want to see him, Dinny," said Jack.
+
+"Shure an' I'll be glad to take ye, Masther Jack, as soon as it's light.
+But he was a brave baste, and fought well; and I felt sorry-like when I
+seen him go down."
+
+"Did you though, Dinny?"
+
+"Shure an' I did, Masther Dick, for I says to myself, `Ye're a brave
+boy, an' I dessay ye've got a mother somewhere as is very proud of ye,
+just as I've got wan meself.  But I must shute ye,' I says, `for the
+sake of the gintlemen wid the waggon, and the mischief ye've done,' and
+so I did; an' there he lies, Masther Dick, stretched out on his side;
+and pace to his ashes.  I've done."
+
+"Well, boys," said Mr Rogers, speaking for the first time for some
+minutes, "I think we ought to congratulate ourselves upon the great
+accession we have discovered in Dinny.  In future he shall accompany us
+in our attacks upon the lions and other furious beasts.  I should not
+think of going after elephant now without Dinny."
+
+That gentleman's face was a study, as he listened to his master's words.
+His nostrils twitched, his brows grew full of wrinkles, and his jaw
+dropped, letting his pipe fall from his lips; and though he picked it up
+directly after, the tobacco had gone out, and Dinny looked as if all the
+enjoyment had gone out of his life.
+
+Beyond the roaring of a lion or two, the night passed off very quietly,
+and as soon as it was broad day Chicory stood ready to lead the party to
+see the rhinoceros.
+
+"Come, Dinny, aren't you ready?" cried Dick.
+
+"Shure an' I don't want to go, Masther Dick.  I seen enough of the baste
+last night."
+
+"Yes, but you must come and show us."
+
+"Shure an' Masther Chicory there will lade you to the very spot, and I
+couldn't do any more.  He lies did bechuckst two big lumps of sthone,
+an', as I said, he's as big as a waggin."
+
+"Oh, but Dinny must come," said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Shure an' how will I get the breakfast riddy if I come, sor?" persisted
+Dinny.  "I did my duty last night.  You gintlemen must go and fetch him
+home."
+
+But Dinny's protestations passed unheeded, and he had to go with the
+party, shouldering his rifle like a raw recruit, but glancing uneasily
+to right and left as they went along.
+
+Dick observed this, and said quietly,--
+
+"What a lot of poisonous snakes there are amongst these stones!"
+
+Dinny gave a spasmodic jump, and lifting his feet gingerly, deposited
+them in the barest places he could find; and for the rest of the journey
+he did not once take his eyes off the ground.
+
+As it happened they had not gone fifty yards farther before they came
+upon a great swollen puff-adder, lying right in their path.
+
+Chicory saw it first, and shouted a word of warning, which made Dinny
+wheel round, and run away as hard as he could go, till the shouts of the
+others brought him back, looking terribly ashamed.
+
+"Oh, it's wan o' thim things, is it?" he said, looking at the writhing
+decapitated viper.  "Shure I thought it was the jumping sort that
+springs up at yer ois, and stings ye before yer know where ye are.
+There was a cousin, of me mother's went to live in Hampshire, and she
+got bit by wan o' thim bastes in the fut, and it nearly killed her.  Ye
+can't be too careful."
+
+Dinny felt as if he was being laughed at for the rest of the way, and
+looked quite sulky; but the sight of the great fallen tree, and the huge
+rhinoceros surrounded by vultures busily working a way through the tough
+hide, revived him, and he marched forward to examine his bullet holes
+with the look of pride worn by a conqueror.
+
+It was quite refreshing to see him walk up the hind leg of the
+rhinoceros, and then along its huge horny-hided body to the shoulder,
+where, lowering the rifle he carried, Dinny placed the stock upon the
+creature's neck, and rested his arm upon the barrel, regarding his
+fallen foe in quite a contemplative manner.
+
+"Mind that rifle don't go off, Dinny," cried Jack.
+
+Dinny leaped off the rhinoceros and stared.
+
+"It's a very dangerous thing to rest your arms on the muzzle of a gun,"
+said Dick, who enjoyed poor Dinny's discomfiture.
+
+"Well, Dinny," said his master, "I congratulate you upon having slain a
+monster.  Where did you stand?"
+
+"Oh, over yonder somewhere," said Dinny cavalierly.  "Anywhere to get a
+good soight ov him."
+
+"Stood here behind tree where nosros no get at um," said Chicory,
+innocently, in his eagerness to explain all he could.
+
+"Ah, ye avil little baste," muttered Dinny.  "See if I give ye the laste
+taste of anything I've got.  Ah, yes," he said aloud, "I did get one
+shot at him from behind that big tree; but I cud see him best out in the
+open yander.  Shure an' how big is the baste, sor?" he added, as Mr
+Rogers ran a measuring tape along the animal from nose to tail.
+
+"Just over eleven feet, Dinny," said Mr Rogers; and leaving the General
+to hew off the great blunt horn, they returned to breakfast.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
+
+DICK TRIES THE VEGETABLE FISH-HOOKS.
+
+Directly breakfast was over they started--this time without Dinny, who
+seemed to be very nervous for fear he should be asked to go--to get some
+of the honey, Coffee and Chicory each carrying a zinc pail, and the
+General a small tub.
+
+Long before they reached the patch of forest-trees the little bird came
+fluttering and twittering about them, having apparently forgiven their
+past neglect, and then went on, and flew from bush to bush, leading them
+straight to the big trees, perching as before upon one close by, and
+then silently watching the manoeuvres of the party.
+
+The General was about to take the lead, but Coffee and Chicory uttered
+such a strong protest in their native tongue, that he smilingly handed
+his hatchet to Coffee; while Chicory collected some tolerably dry peaty
+growth, struck a light and set it on fire, causing a dense cloud of
+smoke to rise up round the tree that contained the wild honey, and
+stupefying and suffocating the bees that flew to and fro.
+
+The boys grinned with delight at their task, and danced about, heaping
+up the smoke-producing leaves and stalks, till feeling satisfied that
+they might ascend, there was a bit of an altercation as to who should
+go, ending in Chicory giving way to his brother as he had been ill.
+
+Coffee then took the axe and stuck it in his loin-cloth, and a patch of
+burning turf in his hand.  Then nimbly climbed up to the hole, where he
+held the smoking turf before him, to keep off the bees from his naked
+body, and clinging tightly with his legs, he proceeded to ply the axe so
+vigorously, and with such skill, that the rotten bark soon gave way, the
+tree being little more than a shell, and he laid bare range upon range
+of the beautiful comb.
+
+A little more tearing away of the bark was necessary, and then Coffee
+descended for a pail and a knife, dispensing now with his burning turf,
+and going up to return with the pail full of delicious comb.
+
+This was turned into the General's tub, and the boy ascended again,
+filled his pail and descended, and once more going up filled the other.
+
+The General then solemnly took a piece of the comb and placed it in the
+fork of a tree for the honey-guide, assuring those who looked on, that
+it was necessary to propitiate the bird and pay it for its services--a
+plan of which the little thing seemed highly to approve, for it flew to
+the comb at once, and began to feed.
+
+Enough having been procured to fill the pails and tub, Chicory,
+evidently approving of his brother's sticky state, went up the tree in
+turn, and cut out three combs for present use, offering some to each of
+his masters, and then dividing the remainder between his father,
+brother, and self.
+
+In fact, after removing to a little distance from the hive-tree, all sat
+down and had a good feast of the delicious honey, Coffee and Chicory
+grinning with delight as they munched up the wax and sweet together.
+
+"Well, of all the sticky objects I ever saw, they beat everything," said
+Dick, laughing.  "Why, Coffee's all over honey."
+
+"Yes, tick all over," said the boy, rubbing his finger down his chest,
+and then sucking it, for he had got to be pretty thickly smeared in
+carrying the honey down.
+
+"Didn't the bees sting?" said Jack.
+
+"Only tiddlum's back;" said Coffee, giving himself a writhe.
+
+"Yes, tiddlum's back," said Chicory, applying honey to three or four
+places upon his arms.  "Don't mind."
+
+"No, don't mind," assented Coffee; and they filled their mouths full of
+honey and wax and cried, "Good, good, good."
+
+They had spent so long over the journey for the honey that evening was
+coming on fast as they began to ride slowly back, Dick and Jack making
+excursions here and there in search of something fresh as they crossed a
+bushy plain strewn with great masses of stone, which rendered their
+progress very slow, any attempt at a trot or canter being absolutely
+madness, unless they wished to lame their steeds.
+
+"I wish we had got father's glasses," said Jack, "we might have seen
+something from this high ground."
+
+"I have got them," said Dick, gazing through the binocular at the
+prospect of undulating plain, across which his father and the Zulu were
+making their way now, quite a mile in advance.  "I've got them, but I
+can only see some quagga right over yonder."
+
+"I can see something close by," cried Jack, pointing at a tall, dimly
+seen object that slowly passed out of a clump of bushes, and then went
+slowly forward into another.
+
+"What can you see?" said Dick.
+
+"Giraffe!" cried Jack.
+
+"Nonsense!  Where?"
+
+"It just went into that clump of bushes there.  Come on."
+
+"No," said Dick, "father's making signals for us to go to him."
+
+"But it's such a pity to miss a chance," cried Jack, unslinging his
+rifle.
+
+"Yes," said Dick, "so it is, but I shouldn't like father to think we did
+not attend to his signals.  Mark the clump.  There, we shall know it by
+these stones on this high ground; and--yes, Jack, you're right.  That
+must be a giraffe."
+
+They stood watching the tall neck passing amongst the bushes, but it was
+getting very dark now, and they hurried on, so as to overtake the
+honey-bearers, reaching camp afterwards quite safely, where, over their
+late dinner, the coming of the giraffes was discussed.
+
+"I'd have breakfast at daybreak, boys, if I were you," said Mr Rogers,
+"and be off directly after."
+
+"But you'll come too, father?" said Jack.
+
+"No, my boys, I thought you would like to have a hunt by yourselves,"
+said Mr Rogers; when, seeing how disappointed the lads looked, he
+consented to come.
+
+The General stopped to keep the camp, and Coffee and Chicory seemed
+terribly disappointed at not being of the party; but upon receiving
+permission to take the dogs for a run, and a hunt all to themselves,
+they brightened up, and saw their masters go off without a murmur.
+
+It was a ride of some hours' duration to get to the high ground where
+the giraffe had been seen, the fact of there being one, Mr Rogers said,
+showing that there was a little herd somewhere close by, and so it
+proved, for after cautiously approaching the place, riding with the
+greatest care, so as to avoid the great masses of stone hidden amongst
+the grass, three tall heads were seen peering about in a patch of trees
+quite half a mile away.
+
+A quiet approach was contrived, the hunters making, their way round to
+the far side of the clump of bushes, where some higher trees sheltered
+their approach--very barely though, for the giraffe's long necks enabled
+them to peer over bushes and saplings of no mean height.
+
+But for this shelter the little herd would have been off at once, and
+they could have followed them at little better than a walk, on account
+of the rough stones and masses of rock.
+
+Practice had made them skilful at stalking, and keeping pretty close
+together, they gradually approached the patch of tall growth, when, in
+obedience to a signal from Mr Rogers, they separated, Dick and Jack
+going in opposite directions, and Mr Rogers waiting for a few moments
+to let the boys get a start, and then entering the bush himself.
+
+So well had the arrangement been timed, that father and sons met
+together just upon the other side, staring the one at the other.
+
+"Why, where are the giraffes?" cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, where are they?" said Dick, looking at his father, as if he
+thought he had taken them away.  "Haven't you seen them?"
+
+"Not I," said Mr Rogers, laughing.  "Why, boys, we must be sharper than
+this another time."
+
+"But when did they go?" cried Dick.
+
+"I cannot tell," replied his father, "unless it was when we were out of
+sight.  They must have suspected danger, and gone off at full speed."
+
+"What's to be done now then?" said Jack.
+
+"Get up to the top of the nearest hill, and look round with the glass,"
+suggested Dick; and this was so evidently the best plan, that they
+started for an eminence about a mile away.
+
+Here they had not been a moment, and Mr Rogers had not had time to get
+out the glass, before Jack cried,--
+
+"There they go: I see them: scudding along through those bushes in the
+hollow there."
+
+Stalking having proved unsuccessful the last time, they almost gave it
+up on this occasion, save that they trotted down the side of the hill
+away from the giraffes, and then cantered on so as to reach the same
+point as that for which the giraffes seemed to be making a long sweep of
+open plain, where they could put their horses to full speed.
+
+This time the giraffes were in sight as they rounded the corner of the
+hill, and shouting to the boys to each pick out one, Mr Rogers pushed
+his horse forward, and selecting the tallest of the herd, galloped on to
+cut it off from the rest of the herd.
+
+This needed little care, for the tall ungainly beast realised directly
+that it was being pursued, and separating from the herd, went off at a
+clumsy gallop, its neck outstretched, and its tail whisking about as it
+kept looking back at its pursuer.
+
+Jack picked out another, which made for the denser part, where the trees
+were thick, and in his excitement he gave his cob the rein, and away
+they went at racing pace.
+
+But Jack did not gain much upon the giraffe he had chosen, for almost
+before he had seen the colour of its spots at all closely, his horse,
+participating in its master's eagerness, went at full speed under a
+long, low branch, and came out on the other side of the wood, but
+without Jack, who was swept violently out of his saddle by the low
+bough, which swung violently to and fro for a few moments, and then
+deposited Jack softly in a sitting posture upon the ground.  The boy
+rose to rub his chest very softly, and then feeling to see whether he
+was all right, he went on in chase of his horse, which he overtook
+standing very patiently just outside the patch of forest, looking
+wonderingly at him, as if asking why he had left its back.
+
+"What a nuisance!" grumbled Jack; "and I daresay they've both shot
+giraffes by this time.  How unlucky, to be sure!"
+
+He lifted the reins from his horse's feet, and thrusting them over its
+head, mounted again, but not comfortably, for Jack felt very sore across
+the chest where the bough had struck him.
+
+From this post of vantage he could see his father in the distance still
+in chase of the giraffe; but though he looked in various directions,
+there was no Dick.
+
+"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoop!"
+
+Jack started to look in the direction from whence the sound had come,
+but he could see nothing.  He, however, responded to the call, and it
+was repeated, evidently from a patch of wood half a mile distant.
+
+As he cantered towards it, the signal rang out again.
+
+"Dick's brought down his giraffe very quickly," said Jack.
+"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoop!"
+
+"Here!  Hoi!  Jack!" came now from pretty close to him--but in a dense
+part of the patch of trees; and riding up, there was Dick, with his
+horse standing perfectly still and looking at him.
+
+"Come along," cried Jack.  "Where's your giraffe?"
+
+"I don't know.  Where's yours?"
+
+"Miles away.  I galloped under a tree, and was pulled off my horse, such
+a bang."
+
+"We came right into these thorns," said Dick, "and have been here ever
+since."
+
+"What! can't you get out?"
+
+"Get out?  No.  It's horrible.  I'm caught all over, and poor old Shoes
+just the same.  Directly I try to make him stir, he begins to kick, and
+when he kicks it's awful.  They're like fish-hooks, and I'm torn to
+pieces."
+
+Jack began to laugh.
+
+"Ah, yes, you may laugh," said his brother; "but you wouldn't like it."
+
+"No," laughed Jack, "but you do look such a jolly old guy stuck up
+there, I can't help laughing."
+
+"But do try and help me out."
+
+"How?" said Jack.
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  Stand still, Shoes, do!  Oh, I say, don't kick
+again, pray don't!  Good old horse then."
+
+Shoes whinnied as his master patted and talked to him, but the thorns
+pricked him so at even this light movement, that the poor animal stamped
+angrily, and snorted as he pawed the ground.
+
+In spite of his intense desire to laugh, Jack saw that matters were
+really serious for his brother; and leaping off, he threw down his reins
+at his horse's feet, whipped out his great hunting-knife, and proceeded
+to cut and hack away the thorns by which his brother and his horse were
+surrounded.
+
+They were indeed like fish-hooks, and so sharp and strong, that once in
+amongst them no one could have escaped without having clothes and skin
+ploughed and torn in a terrible way.
+
+Shoes stood perfectly still now.  He snorted at times and twitched the
+skin of his withers, turning his great eyes appealingly to Jack, who
+plied his heavy sheath-knife so effectively that at last the mass of
+thorns was sufficiently hacked away to allow horse and rider to move.
+
+Fortunately for Dick, he was a clever horseman.  Had he ridden like some
+people, who hang a leg on each side of a horse and call that riding, he
+must have been thrown.  For at the first touch to start him, Shoes was
+so eager to get out of the thorny torture to which he had been
+subjected, that he made a tremendous bound, and alighted clear,
+trembling and sweating profusely.
+
+"Oh, I say, Jack, I am scratched," grumbled Dick, giving himself soft
+rubs all over.  "Don't laugh.  It does hurt so."
+
+"But I feel as if I can't help it," cried Jack, who burst into a fresh
+roar.
+
+"I don't think I should have laughed at poor old Dinny, if I had known
+how it hurts.  Those thorns are nearly as sharp as needles."
+
+"Well, there, I won't laugh any more; but you weren't tossed up on the
+thorns by a rhinoceros.  Come along.  Let's go after father;" and they
+set off, but very gently, for Dick's face was screwed into a fresh
+grimace at every motion of the horse, while the poor beast itself was
+marked with little tiny beads of blood all over its satin skin.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.
+
+FATHER SHOOTS A GIRAFFE.
+
+Meanwhile, believing that the boys were in full chase of a giraffe
+a-piece, Mr Rogers had galloped on after the great creature he had cut
+off from the herd, though for a time he could not gain upon it at all.
+The beast's mode of progression was very ungainly, and its great stilted
+legs moved in an awkward manner, but it got over the ground very fast.
+
+Still the plain was open and offered good galloping ground, and after a
+very long stern-chase Mr Rogers saw tokens of the great beast beginning
+to give way, and thereupon pushed forward, the bay responding to the
+calls he made upon it, so that he was soon alongside.
+
+His rifle was ready, but he hesitated to use it, preferring to gallop on
+and watch the great creature which towered up to double the height he
+sat upon his horse.  It kept panting on, whisking its tail, and once or
+twice it made an awkward side-wise kick at the horse, but it was
+ill-directed and of none effect; while at last feeling that he was
+torturing the great beast, he levelled his gun, but his sight was
+disarranged by another fierce kick, which made the horse bound aside.
+
+Again they thundered on for some distance, when, steadying his horse so
+as to get a good aim, Mr Rogers levelled, fired, and the monster came
+down with a crash, shot through the head.
+
+As the great giraffe lay motionless, Mr Rogers leaped down, after
+looking to see if his boys were coming; and then loosening his horse's
+girths he let it graze amongst the rich grass that grew in patches here
+and there, while, after refreshing himself a little, he drew his
+hunting-knife and proceeded dexterously to skin the great animal, which
+must have stood about nineteen feet from horn to hoof.
+
+For the skin of the giraffe--if a fine one--is worth three or four
+pounds, and this was in magnificent condition.
+
+It was a hard task that skinning, but the long legs acted as levers when
+he wanted to turn the creature over, and the busily employed time
+skipped away, quite three hours having elapsed before Dick and Jack rode
+up.
+
+"Why, what a magnificent skin, father," cried Dick, as he stood admiring
+the creamy drab, splashed and spotted with great patches of a rich
+yellowish brown.  "What a monster, and what a height!"
+
+"Yes," said Mr Rogers.  "But I've had enough of this, boys.  The great
+gentle beast looked so piteous and appealing at me that I feel ashamed
+of having killed it.  You must shoot one a-piece I suppose, but after
+that let's get to the savage animals again.  One feels to have done a
+good deed in ridding the country of one of those brutes.  Did you both
+kill yours?"
+
+"No, father," they cried in chorus; and after helping to cut off the
+marrow-bones of the great beast to carry home, for a roast, the marrow
+being esteemed a delicacy; the heavy skin was mounted before Mr Rogers,
+and a couple of marrow-bones a-piece proving a load, they rode slowly
+for the camp, Mr Rogers listening to the account of his boys' mishaps,
+both showing traces of having been in the wars.
+
+Evening was coming on fast, and their progress was necessarily slow; but
+it was not until it had turned quite dark, that the fact became evident
+that they had lost their way out there on that great wild.
+
+They drew rein and looked around, but not a single familiar landmark was
+in sight.  On the contrary, all loomed up strange and peculiar.
+
+To have gone on meant only wearying themselves in vain, and perhaps an
+unpleasant encounter with lions; so they made straight for the nearest
+patch of wood, secured their horses, and rapidly hacked off and
+collected enough wood for a fire, to do duty in a threefold way--giving
+them warmth, safety from prowling beasts, and cooking the huge
+marrow-bones, which were soon set down to roast, and formed, with the
+biscuits they carried, no despicable meal.
+
+Such nights passed by a blazing fire on the edge of a wood sound very
+romantic, but they lose their attraction when tried.  Hot as Africa is
+by day, icy winds often blow by night, and they will freeze the hunter
+inside the shelter of a tent; the coolness then of a night without
+shelter can be understood.  The fire burnt one side, but, as Jack said,
+without you made the fire all round you, it was no good, and that they
+could not do.
+
+No one felt disposed to sleep, so they sat and warmed themselves as best
+they could, drawing the great giraffe skin round them for warmth.  Then
+they talked till they were weary, and afterwards got up to pat and
+comfort their horses.
+
+It was very wearisome that night, but free from adventure; and the
+moment it was light they mounted and rode to the nearest eminence, from
+which they made out land-marks which enabled them to find their way back
+to camp, where the General and his two boys were missing, having gone
+out, as they said in their trouble, because Mr Rogers and the boys had
+not returned--"to look for Boss;" their joy knowing no bounds when they
+came back in a couple of hours, without finding those they had sought,
+and seeing them waiting there.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
+
+HOW DICK CAPTURED FOUR YARDS OF ANIMAL.
+
+Mr Rogers' description of the death of the gentle, harmless beast--its
+piteous looks, the great tears rolling from its expressive eyes, and its
+many struggles to get away, somewhat damped the ardour of Dick and Jack,
+who settled in council that it was too bad to shoot giraffe, and as they
+had a skin of the great creature, which was stretched out to dry, they
+would shoot no more.
+
+As for that magnificent skin, Rough'un seemed to consider that it was
+placed there for his especial benefit; and to the great disgust of
+Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, who were tied up and could not join, but
+had to be content at straining at their chains and looking-on, Rough'un
+amused himself by licking the skin, especially where there were little
+bits of fat, till he was tired, and then creeping under the hairy side
+to sleep.
+
+This he kept up for a whole day.  The second day he gave it up, for the
+skin was rapidly assuming the character of a hard board; but the
+triumvirate were as impatient as ever, and barked incessantly.
+
+This annoyed Dinny, who borrowed Peter's great whip to administer
+punishment; but at the first crack and howl, Rough'un, who was loyalty
+itself to his kind, left the hard skin that he had been smelling and
+scratching with his forepaw, and flew at Dinny, exclaiming in dog
+language,--
+
+"Let them alone, you coward; you wouldn't dare to hurt them if they were
+free."
+
+"Ah, get out, ye ugly murthering baste," roared Dinny, cracking the
+whip, but in no way intimidating Rough'un, who seemed to know that he
+was perfectly safe, the whip being only available for use at long
+distances, and Rough'un keeping close to, and baying and charging at
+Dinny's legs.
+
+"Be off, or I'll be the death of you," said Dinny, cracking the whip
+again; but in nowise dismayed, Rough'un kept up the attack, till Dinny
+literally turned, and fled to obtain his rifle; when Rough'un gave a
+final bark, and growled at the triumvirate, and the triumvirate were so
+much obliged that they growled at Rough'un, who coiled himself up in the
+sun on the malodorous skin and went to sleep.
+
+Dick and Jack were busy saddling their horses while this took place, and
+stood laughing and enjoying the scene.  They were joined directly after
+by their father, who with the help of Dick had been doing a little
+amateur farriery work, and freshly nailing a couple of loose shoes on
+his horse's hoofs.  Then, after providing themselves with some dried
+meat and biscuit, they rode off through the forest on to the plain,
+leaving the General, Coffee, and Chicory, to provide something for the
+larder.
+
+This was to be their last day here, for Mr Rogers was anxious that they
+should get on, for the twofold object of seeing the great falls of the
+big river, and also getting amongst the elephant.
+
+He could not help smiling with satisfaction, as he saw Dick raise one
+foot to the stirrup, and spring into the saddle; the boy seeming to have
+grown lithe and strong as the young leopard with his healthy life in the
+open air.
+
+There was no need to coax his appetite now with luxuries, for his father
+used to banter him laughingly about its wolfishness, and compare his
+food-assimilating powers to those of Coffee and Chicory--boys who could
+literally graze upon meat by the hour together, and then grin, and show
+their teeth with satisfaction.
+
+With his returning health, Dick had grown daring to a degree that was
+almost rash, so that Jack felt at times quite thrown into the shade.
+
+Dick winced a little upon this occasion, for the tremendous scratching
+he had had from the thorns had left him rather sore; but he soon forgot
+all this, and away the party rode, to have a sort of naturalists'
+equestrian ramble, to see if they could pick up anything fresh before
+they went away.
+
+They rode right off to the plain, noting the various birds among the
+bushes, and snakes and lizards wherever there was a dry sandy patch
+amongst rocks and stones.  As they reached the part where the trees were
+scattered in park-like patches they encountered one of the
+bees'-honey-guides too; but as they had an ample supply at the waggon,
+and all the buckets being, to Dinny's great annoyance, still in use, the
+bees were left in peace.
+
+Game seemed to be scarce upon the plain that morning; but after a time
+as they rode round the edge of a clump of trees, so beautiful in their
+disposition that they seemed to have been planted there for ornament,
+Mr Rogers saw, a couple of miles away upon the open plain, a herd of
+something different to any of the animals they had before encountered.
+
+He took out his glass and carefully inspected them, but declared himself
+no wiser.
+
+"Well, boys," he said, "whether we shoot one or no, we'll have a canter
+after them.  Let's keep down in that hollow, and round the little hill
+there, so as to approach unseen.  Look out for ant-bear holes.  And now,
+one--two--three--forward!"
+
+A touch from the heel made the beautiful animals they rode bound away,
+but with a cry of pain Dick reined in.
+
+"My dear boy, what's the matter?" said Mr Rogers, pulling up, while
+Jack returned with a blank look of dismay upon his face.
+
+"Thorns!" cried Dick viciously, as he gave a writhe in his saddle.
+
+"Stop and pick 'em out with a pin," cried Jack.  "Come along, father.
+Haw! haw! haw!  I thought he was hurt!"  Then sticking his knees into
+his nag's side, he bounded off.
+
+"Poor old fellow!" cried Mr Rogers, laughing.  "You'll soon forget
+them."  And he too galloped off, to try and circumvent the herd.
+
+"Go on! ugly old Jack," shouted Dick, as he sat fast, checking his
+horse, which wanted to follow.  "You'll get a thorn or two in yourself
+some day."
+
+He might have shouted this through a speaking trumpet, and his brother
+would not have heard, as, sitting well down in his saddle, he led the
+way into the hollow, his father close behind, and both thoroughly
+enjoying their gallop.
+
+"I don't care!" cried Dick sulkily, as he sat and watched them.  "Pick
+out the thorns with a pin, indeed!  See if I don't stick a pin in old
+Jack when he's asleep to-night--and how will he like it?"
+
+Dick gave another writhe as he watched the two riders out of sight, and
+then muttering in an ill-used way, "Pick 'em out with a pin indeed!" he
+half turned in his seat, lolling in his saddle, and patting and playing
+with his horse, when lazily turning his eyes round amongst the clumps of
+trees, he saw something moving amongst the leaves.
+
+"Boa-constrictors!" he cried in his astonishment.  "Monsters!  Ugh!  No,
+they're those great long-necked giraffes.  They looked just like huge
+snakes raising themselves amongst the trees."
+
+Dick forgot all about the thorns as he nipped his nag's sides with his
+knees, turned its head, and went off at a canter for the place where the
+giraffes, seven or eight in number, were browsing upon the lower
+branches of the trees, their long necks seeming to writhe in and out
+amongst the branches in a way that quite justified Dick's idea of their
+being serpents, for their bodies were invisible among the undergrowth.
+
+For a few minutes the great animals did not see the approach of the
+young hunter; but the moment they caught sight of the fleet cob bounding
+over the sunburnt grass, they went off at a clumsy, waddling gallop,
+scattering as they went, their necks outstretched and eyes rolling;
+while the cob seemed to single out a beautifully marked calf, about
+two-thirds grown, whose creamy skin was regularly spotted with rich
+light brown.
+
+Dick's rifle was slung over his back, but he never once thought of using
+it.  In fact, he hardly knew in the excitement of the chase what he
+intended, and so he raced on past patch after patch of scattered trees,
+and past clumps of thorns, which both he and the cob carefully avoided.
+
+Now they gained a little; but directly after the giraffe whisked its
+tail straight up over its back and put on more power, leaving the hunter
+some distance behind; and so the race went on for a couple of miles,
+Dick never once remembering his thorns, as he knew that it was only a
+question of time to run the great animal to a stand.
+
+"Why, I could catch it then," cried Dick excitedly; and sticking his
+heels into his horse, away they went over the grassy plain, gaining
+rapidly now; and though the giraffe kept on making an effort to increase
+the distance, it was of no avail, for the cob raced on closer and
+closer, and then avoiding the vicious kicks of the creature, delivered
+with tremendous force by its bony legs, the cob raced on alongside.
+
+There was a wonderful difference in the progress of the two animals--the
+one awkward, and seeming as if running on stilts; the other compact,
+muscular, and self-contained, evidently possessing double the endurance
+with an equal speed to the giraffe.
+
+On still and on, with the cob's sides flecked with foam, and the giraffe
+blundering now as it progressed.  Once it turned sharp off to the left,
+but without a touch the cob wheeled as well, and kept alongside,
+watchfully keeping clear whenever he saw the giraffe about to kick,
+which it tried to do if there was a chance.
+
+Dick was excited with the chase, so was the cob, which stretched out
+more and more greyhound fashion as it raced along.
+
+Fortunately, the grassy prairie-like stretch of land was clear of
+obstacles, no ant-bear or other burrow coming in their path, or horse
+and rider would have fallen headlong; the eyes of both being fixed upon
+the beautiful spotted coat of the giraffe, which, after rolling heavily
+in its gait for a while, made one more effort to wheel round and
+distance its pursuers, but stumbled in the act, and fell heavily upon
+its flank.
+
+The cob stopped as if by instinct; and hardly knowing what he was about,
+Dick leaped down, avoided a kick by a quick jump, threw himself on to
+the giraffe, kneeling upon its neck, and treating it as people do a
+fallen horse, holding down its head upon the ground.
+
+"Ah, you may kick and plunge," muttered Dick, panting and hot with his
+exertions; "if a horse can't get up with his head held down, you can't."
+
+And so it proved, for though the unfortunate giraffe kicked and plunged
+as it lay upon its flank, going through the motions of galloping, it was
+completely mastered without much call for effort.  Certainly Dick's gun
+was in his way, but he managed to unsling it with one hand, and threw it
+and his hat upon the grass, while the cob stood by, snuffing, snorting,
+and excited for a few moments at the giraffe's plunges, but settled down
+directly after to graze.
+
+The grass was torn up by the giraffe's hoofs, but finding its efforts
+vain, it soon lay perfectly still, uttering a piteous sigh, as much as
+to say, "There, kill me out of my misery!" to which Dick responded by
+patting its neck and stroking its nose, as he gazed in the great
+prominent appealing eye, and noted the gentle mien of the tall animal.
+
+Just as he had made the giraffe be perfectly still, he heard a distant
+hail, and looking up, there was Jack coming up at full gallop, waving
+his gun over his head, and with his father close behind; for,
+unknowingly, the race had led Dick somewhat in the direction taken by
+his father and brother, who, after an unsuccessful gallop after a very
+wild herd, had drawn rein and witnessed the end of the giraffe chase
+through the glass.
+
+"Why, Dick, where are the thorns?" cried his father, as they cantered
+up.
+
+"Forgot all about 'em, father.  Isn't he a beauty?"
+
+"Where is he shot?" said Mr Rogers.
+
+"Shot?  He isn't shot.  I ran him down," cried Dick.
+
+"Don't kill him, then," cried Jack.
+
+"Not I.  Shall I let him go?"
+
+"No, no," cried Jack.  "Let's take him back, and tame him."
+
+"I think the taming is already done," said Mr Rogers.  "Here, halter
+him round the neck, and muzzle him with this, and you can tie another
+thong on at the other side."
+
+As he spoke he took a tethering halter from his saddle-bow; it was
+slipped over the giraffe's head, another cord attached so that it could
+be held on either side; and when this was done, Mr Rogers held one
+rope, Jack the other, and Dick got off the giraffe on the side farthest
+from its legs.
+
+But there was no more kick left in the tall creature, which raised its
+head, looking humbly at its captors, and then slowly rose, shivering,
+and as gentle as a lamb.
+
+"There, Dick, sling your gun and mount," cried his father; "unless you
+would rather ride the giraffe."
+
+"Oh, no, thank you," said Dick, slinging his gun and picking up his hat,
+prior to mounting his docile cob, after which his father handed him the
+end of the rope.
+
+After a sniff or two at their tall companion, the two cobs walked gently
+on forward, with the giraffe towering up between.  The poor beast made
+no objection to its captivity, beyond sighing a little, but gazed
+dolefully at its leaders in turn; the only difficulty experienced in
+getting it to the waggon, being how to accommodate the horses' stride to
+that of the captive, which stalked contentedly along, with Mr Rogers
+bringing up the rear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY.
+
+ONWARD TO WONDERLAND.
+
+"Bedad, an' his mother must have wathered him well whin he was a babby,
+to make him grow like that," cried Dinny, as he saw the tall captive
+haltered to a tree by the waggon, and contentedly beginning to browse
+upon the tender shoots within its reach.  "Is thim legs rale, Masther
+Dick?"
+
+"Real?  Of course, Dinny," said Dick, laughing.
+
+"Shure, an' I didn't know there was any av coorse in the matther," said
+Dinny sententiously.  "I thought the injanious baste might have been
+brought up in a wet place, and made himshelf shtilts."
+
+"What nonsense, Dinny!" cried Jack.
+
+"Ah, an' I dunno about nonsense, Masther Jack; for I've seen some
+wondherful things since I've been in these parts.  An' so we're going to
+pack up and go home to-morrow, ain't we?"
+
+"We're going to pack up and go farther into the wilds," said Dick.
+
+"Oh, murther!"
+
+"There's the great fall to see yet, and we've got elephants to shoot."
+
+"Shure an' I don't want any great falls, or for anny one to see it."
+
+"Nonsense, Dinny.  I mean to see the cataract," said Dick.
+
+"Shure, an' it's you as is talking the nonsense now, Masther Dick; for
+how could ye see if ye'd got a catharact?"
+
+"What do you mean, Dinny?"
+
+"What do I mane?  Shure it was my own cousin by me mother's side that
+had a couple o' bad catharacts in his eyes, and couldn't see a bit till
+they took him to the hoshpittle and had 'em out.  Ah, they're mortial
+bad things, Masther Dick."
+
+"No, no; I mean a cataract or fall of the river, where it tumbles over
+rocks."
+
+"An' what would a river go tumbling off rocks for, Masther Dick?  Why
+don't it go along quietly?"
+
+"Ah, you'll see when we get there," said Dick.  "It's a fall like that
+where you nearly got drowned, only hundreds of times as big."
+
+"An d'ye expect me to get in a boat at a place like that, Masther Dick?
+Now, by this and by that, ye don't if I know it."
+
+"Never mind then, Dinny.  You shall take your gun and shoot elephants.
+You know what they're like?"
+
+"Shure, I sin a picture o' one wance," said Dinny.  "It was a little
+thing wid two tails, one at aych ind; and the boy as showed me telled me
+as they're made of ingy-rubber."
+
+"Ah, yes, they're very little things," said Dick, laughing; and then
+they went to their dinner under the tree.
+
+That evening the new pet was well attended to; and the leopard, now
+growing a fine sleek beast that loved to roll and gambol with the dogs,
+given his evening meat; and the remains of the daylight were spent in
+packing.
+
+Next morning early, with the skin secure on the waggon-tilt, the sleek
+oxen were once more in-spanned, and the waggon rolled merrily on towards
+the falls of the Zambesi.
+
+Four days trekking through a beautiful country brought them to where a
+continuous vibrating roar was always in the air, and in the distance
+what seemed to be one continuously changing cloud, which was lit up by
+the sun in a wondrous succession of hues.
+
+The boys grew excited with expectation; and Dinny's face became very
+blank as he whispered to Dick,--
+
+"Shure, the river don't always go on tumbling like that, Masther Jack,
+do it?"
+
+"Always, Dinny," said Jack, as he too listened, with a feeling of awe,
+to the falling water.
+
+"Thin it must be giving itself a moighty hard whack upon the shtones it
+falls on, to make it roar like that," said Dinny in a serio-comic
+fashion, and he went off to attend to the fire as, the General having
+pointed out a capital place for a halt, Mr Rogers gave the word, and
+the camp was rapidly formed.
+
+They had come through plenty of beautiful scenery, but the rich verdure
+and beauty of the palms, ferns, and other foliage-growths, watered as
+they were by the soft hazy spray that came from the mighty falls, was
+beyond anything they had yet seen, and fully justified Mr Rogers'
+remark, half made aloud,--
+
+"What a glorious place this world is after all!"
+
+A strong thorn kraal was formed, and after a good feed the horses and
+oxen were secured, and resisting the temptation to go that night to
+inspect the falls--a very dangerous experiment in the dark--the fire
+blazed up, watch was set, and the sight deferred to the following day.
+
+All that night Dick and Jack, when they they were not on watch, dreamed
+of roaring lions, and falls of water, and then of thunderstorms; but
+towards morning the heavy dull hum lulled them to sleep, a sleep so
+sound that Coffee and Chicory amused themselves for ten minutes tickling
+their noses with strands of grass, before they could get them awake.
+
+Then they both jumped up in an ill-temper, each seizing a
+dark-complexioned tormentor to punch and bang; but the sight of the Zulu
+boys' merry laughing faces, lit up by their bright eyes and white teeth,
+disarmed all anger, and Dick and Jack rubbed the last relic of the
+night's sleep out of their eyes, and went to breakfast.
+
+The General had been at the falls before, and as soon as the camp was
+considered straight, Dinny, Peter, and Dirk were left behind, and the
+three bosses, as Chicory called them, went off, with the father to
+guide, the Zulu boys carrying a basket of food.
+
+The brilliancy of the greens of the various trees around gave an
+additional charm to what was always a very beautiful landscape, for here
+it was never dry, and the consequence was that every tree, plant, and
+tender herb was in the highest state of luxuriance.
+
+They kept a sharp look out for enemies in the shape of large animals,
+but nothing was seen; and following the General in single file, they
+went on and on, with the awful thunder in the air growing deeper and
+louder at every step.
+
+No water was in sight as they went carefully through the trees and huge
+fronded ferns; nothing but verdure of the richest hues, the sun shining
+through it, and making the dewy leaves glisten with a sheen like that of
+many precious stones.
+
+So loud though was the roar of the water that they knew that they must
+now be near, when all at once they reached an opening in the forest, and
+Mr Rogers and his sons involuntarily paused, to gaze at a rainbow of
+such beauty, and apparently so near that it was hard to believe that by
+stretching out the hand it could not be touched.
+
+Even as they gazed it disappeared, but only to appear again a little
+farther off, and in a slightly different position.  Then it was gone
+again, and so on and on, a dozen times or so; but always beautiful
+beyond the power of description.
+
+When they were weary of gazing the General smiled, and went on again
+towards a soft pearly-looking mist, almost like the thinnest smoke; and
+for this the boys took it, till Mr Rogers whispered that it was the
+fine spray rising in clouds from the falls.
+
+On they went, slowly, down amongst fern-hung rocks, and narrow ravines
+full of rich foliage, while tall palms stood up every here and there
+like columns; and then all at once the General stood aside, and the
+party, with the earth trembling beneath their feet, passed through a
+screen of trees, and stood gazing at one of the wonders of the world.
+
+Right and left, as far as they could see for the trees, and
+comparatively close to them, the waters of the great river were passing
+over and between a vast barrier of rocks, forming numberless cataracts,
+some small, some of large volume.  In places these fell in a smooth
+glassy body of water towards them, in a glistening curve, down far below
+and out of their sight, while others fell from rocky shelf to shelf, to
+be broken up into foam and spray as, glistening and white, they hurried
+down to join more broken water, as far down as they could see.
+
+Where they stood was thirty or forty feet below the level of the river
+before it made its spring; but how far down it fell into the awful gulf
+at their feet they could not tell, but the depth seemed to be immense.
+Mr Rogers afterwards said it was 400 feet.
+
+The first instinct of the boys was to go nearer, but, with a look of
+alarm, the General grasped Jack by the arm, and showed him that the
+ground sloped so and was so slippery, that to get near enough to see the
+bottom of the fall would have been to run the greatest risk of falling
+headlong into the awful abyss.
+
+In mute amazement then they stood, watching the long line of cataracts,
+endless as it were in the beauty and variety of their forms.
+
+Wonder upon wonder seemed to greet the eye in the colour of the waters
+as they flashed in the sun, some descending in huge solid glassy masses
+of water, others in tiny spirts that seemed to make a leap on their own
+account into the vast chasm, falling at last like a shower of fine rain.
+
+"I could stand and look at it for ever, father," said Dick, in a low,
+awe-inspired voice.  "Look at the foam there! look at that spray!  The
+water is quite white there!  And that great fall there, see how it
+glistens!  Oh, how I should like to be below, and see where the water
+strikes, and churns up together.  Could a boat get there?"
+
+Mr Rogers smiled, and shook his head.
+
+"Then I should like to be a bird," said Dick quietly, "and fly softly
+through that great gulf."
+
+"Till the water made your wings wet, and you fell in and were drowned,"
+said matter-of-fact Jack.  "I shouldn't; but I should like to get close
+to the edge, and see the falls from the bottom to the top."
+
+But the General shook his head, and said that it could not be done.
+
+As they grew more used to the scene, they made out that the range of
+cataracts was much farther away than they had at first thought, being
+quite a couple of hundred yards; but the awful thunderous roar, the
+trembling of the earth beneath their feet, and the strange vibration in
+the air, seemed to confuse them, so that everything seemed unreal and
+strange, and the whole vision like some dream.
+
+They gazed on, never weary of the beauty of the great falls; and then,
+following their guide, he led them from place to place, so that they
+could see the huge serpentine gorge in which the river ran after its
+fall, rushing wildly between two grand walls of rock, its rage becoming
+the more furious from its being a mighty broad river above the falls,
+and then having to compress itself into a gorge not a thirteenth part of
+its original width.
+
+The speed of the river as it foamed along in this terrible ravine,
+seemed absolutely frightful, and in places where the rocks had to bear
+the brunt of the current as it made some sudden turn, the din was
+terrific.
+
+Hours were spent in gazing at the verdure-carpeted rocks, the brilliant
+rapids, the wondrous twining creepers, and, above all, at the beauties
+of this wonder of the world; and then at last they tore themselves
+unwillingly away, to attend to such ladly matter-of-fact affairs as
+eating and drinking.  After this, as sunset was growing near, they
+stopped to see the gorgeous tints upon the clouds of vapour, and the
+fresh rainbows that kept coming and going as if by magic.
+
+At last they tore themselves away, silent and awe-inspired at the
+wonders upon which they had gazed, the deep thunder of the falling
+waters rolling in their ears as they journeyed on, and keeping up its
+solemn boom night and day.
+
+Now as the wind wafted it towards them it came in a deep roar, but only
+to soften and become distant, swelling, and rising, and falling, filling
+their dreams again, as they lay beneath the shelter of the canvas tilts,
+and seeming to wake them at the break of day.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
+
+ONWARD FROM WONDERLAND.
+
+They lingered about the falls for days, to revel in the beauties of the
+mighty cataract and the great gorge through which the waters afterwards
+ran.  Then unwillingly the oxen were in-spanned, and their course was
+directed up the river, beyond the beautiful islands, and on mile after
+mile, till the bright transparent river flowed smoothly downward, and
+from its reedy banks plenty of game was obtained, the birds being
+plentiful, and very welcome as a change.
+
+It was rather a dangerous haunt here on account of the crocodiles, but
+Jack was so passionately fond of fishing that he was humoured at times,
+and some transparent nook was chosen where the others could keep a look
+out for crocodiles; and as Jack fished, Dick would lie down upon the
+bank, with his face at times close to the water, and gazing through its
+limpid depths he tried to trace the long stalks of the water-lilies
+which rose from the depths to expand their broad leaves and cap-like
+flowers on the surface.  The great reeds, too, rising joint by joint
+till their arrowy heads and green streamer-like leaves were in the broad
+sunshine, seemed to be moving and to quiver in the clear water.
+
+This sub-fluvial growth was so beautiful that Dick never grew weary of
+watching it; while the coming and going of the many brightly-tinted
+fish, darting about among the water-plants or hanging poised in the
+sunlit depths, with their burnished scales flashing silvery and
+steel-blue rays, added greatly to the interest of the scene.
+
+"Let us know when you see one coming," Jack would say; and now and then
+Dick would whisper that a large perch-like fish, or perhaps one of the
+huge eely siluri, was approaching; though just as often Coffee or
+Chicory would utter a word of warning, when a rifle-bullet would be sent
+to startle some great crocodile, floating in fancied security down the
+calm waters, its hideous eyes turned from side to side in search of
+prey.
+
+Once only did they succeed in getting the monster ashore, the others,
+when hit, sinking sullenly to the bottom, or descending with a rush that
+made the water foam.
+
+The want of a boat prevented them from having far more sport upon the
+river; but, as Mr Rogers said, they had come upon a land expedition,
+and their horses were getting fresh for want of work.  So Jack had to
+bring his fishing to an end; though, truth to tell, it was not much of a
+loss, for his additions to the larder in the way of fish were not
+particularly large, nor so toothsome as they might have been.
+
+The good old round-hand copy slip, "Familiarity breeds contempt," is
+thoroughly exemplified in South Africa; and it is fortunate that this is
+the case, or it would be hard work travelling across a country where
+every stone may conceal a poisonous serpent, every clump of rocks hold
+the lurking-place of a boa-constrictor, and every patch of grass its
+prowling lion or fierce rhinoceros--where a walk along a river's bank
+may invite a charge from the fierce hippopotamus, and no man can bathe
+without running the risk of being pulled under water and devoured by
+that loathsome saurian lizard the crocodile.
+
+But familiarity breeds contempt, and after the first nervousness has
+worn off people go about in South Africa in a calm matter-of-fact way,
+without troubling themselves about their hidden enemies, otherwise than
+by taking ordinary precautions, and keeping what a sailor would call a
+sharp look out for squalls.
+
+If this were not so life would be almost intolerable, and every one
+would exist in a state of nervous trepidation as hard as that of the
+classical gentleman who passed his time with a keen sword suspended over
+his head by a single hair--no doubt of a kind such as would make an
+admirable roach-line for a fisherman.
+
+The members of Mr Rogers' hunting expedition thus passed their time
+happily enough in the continuous round of excitement, taking the
+pleasure and the pain turn and turn as they came; not grumbling at
+thorns, or weariness, or mosquito bites; resting when they grew weary,
+and putting up with hard couches, hunger, and thirst, as they came,
+without a murmur.  They looked out for danger in a sharp matter-of-fact
+way, and by consequence rarely had a mishap; while Dinny, who was a
+perfect slave to his fears, and never stirred without taking the most
+wonderful precautions, generally managed to come in for the worst of the
+misfortunes that affected the camp.
+
+It was he who would manage to run his head in the dark amidst the
+prickly euphorbias.  If there was a cloud of vicious gnats, Dinny
+generally got bitten.  If there was a poisonous snake anywhere near the
+camp, Dinny tried to put his foot upon it; and over and over again when
+near the crocodile-haunted streams he sauntered regularly into the
+ferocious creature's way.
+
+The General and his boys saved him from several perils, over and over
+again.  But Dinny never seemed to realise that his own want of care got
+him into trouble, always declaring that it was "a baste of a place," and
+no more to be compared to Ould Oireland than a beggar was to a king.
+
+Dinny's grumblings would soon have proved to be a nuisance, but for a
+certain quaintness of humour in the man, which supplied matter for mirth
+when he was most disagreeable; and in spite of his defects, he was very
+useful in his way.
+
+While camp was kept up near the great falls, Jack and Chicory had some
+splendid nesting expeditions, the pendulous weaver, birds' nests coming
+in largely for their attention.  They disturbed very few though, for, as
+Jack said, it was hard upon the poor birds, seeing what a lot of enemies
+they had--artful monkeys slipping down the long thin branches, till they
+could hang by one hand, and thrust the other little thin brown extremity
+up the bottle-neck shaped opening, to forage for eggs or young birds, as
+the case might be.
+
+Then there were the snakes--long, thin, twining creatures, a yard or a
+yard and a half long, but no thicker than the finger.  These showed no
+little cleverness in ascending trees, and proceeding along the branches
+till they found their way to a nest, where, in spite of the frantic
+cries and flutterings of the birds, the little serpent would glide in,
+and the parents might go and start afresh, for their labours would prove
+to have been only to find the little snake a pleasant larder, where it
+could coil up and glut itself with food.
+
+Many of these twining little creatures fell victims to Jack's shot-gun,
+as well as to that of his brother, the guns being constantly in use as
+well to bring down the brilliantly plumaged birds that abounded in the
+rich forest growth of this well-watered land.
+
+The glorious scenery of wood, rock, and water had to be left, though, at
+last; and at the General's suggestion, and by way of change, the more
+rugged part of the country was now sought; though even here there was
+plenty of wood, and they passed along the banks of a pleasant stream
+that had its rise somewhere in the mountainous region ahead.
+
+And now Mr Rogers began to look out anxiously for a danger that, though
+small, was terribly insidious, and one which, if not avoided, would
+bring a misfortune upon them that they would have given anything to
+avoid.
+
+This danger was the notorious tsetse fly, whose bite was generally fatal
+to horses, the poisonous nature of the little creature so infusing
+itself in the blood of the unfortunate horses bitten that they gradually
+died off without their owners being able to do anything to save them.
+
+Fortunately the limits of the land occupied by these dangerous little
+creatures is pretty well-known, and those who venture upon it with
+horses do so at their own risk.
+
+Game had been rather scarce for some days, when, mounting their horses,
+Dick and Jack left their father with the waggon, and went in search of
+something suitable for present use.
+
+Partly for the sake of their help, but more particularly to give them a
+change, Pompey and Caesar were let loose, the latter following Dick down
+to the low land at the side of the stream.
+
+It was a tolerably open place, dotted with willow-like trees rising from
+amongst the thick grass; and they had not gone far before, after a good
+deal of rustling about among the reeds and grass, Caesar started
+something, which, however, refused to come into sight, but kept running
+from cover to cover, till at last, as Caesar was diligently hunting it
+by scent, Dick caught sight of a dark back, and a head bearing a pair of
+stout, fully-ringed horns, curved back in a remarkable way, and ending
+in very sharp points.
+
+It was but a moment's glance, and he had no time to fire before the
+creature was out of sight again; and he rode on right to the very edge
+of the stream, where he arrived just in time to see the antelope leaving
+the water, across which it had swum, and Caesar puffing and panting as
+he swam on in the creature's wake.
+
+The antelope looked so playful and full of life as it shook its head to
+get rid of the water that streamed from it, with the drops flashing in
+the sun, that Dick sat like a statue upon his cob; and though he held
+his rifle ready, he forgot to fire, but let the buck bound out of the
+shallow water on to the bank and disappear amongst the trees, where it
+went off at a tremendous rate, while Caesar, as he reached the bank in
+turn, paused to get rid of some water by a good shake, and then stood
+and gazed at his master, and howled with disappointment that he should
+not have attempted to shoot.
+
+The consequence was that Dick, after a long ride returned empty to camp,
+where Jack, however, had preceded him, having been less scrupulous, and
+bearing before him a good-sized springbok, which he had brought down
+with the longest shot he had ever made.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY TWO.
+
+A QUARREL BETWEEN TWO ENEMIES.
+
+They struck off next day into a wilder portion of the country still, the
+oxen trekking up close to the foot of the mountains, the intention being
+to leave the plains for the present, their attractions beginning to
+fail, especially as the party had no desire to keep on slaughtering the
+many varieties of antelope that offered themselves as easy victims to
+their rifles.
+
+"Let's have something more exciting and manly, father," exclaimed Dick.
+"Of course we must keep on shooting for the pot, just as a sheep has to
+be killed now and then at home.  But we don't want to turn butchers."
+
+The General nodded approval, and said that they would now be amongst the
+lions again, while on the other side of the stretch of rocky country in
+which they were, he was sure that they would find elephant and buffalo.
+
+The elephants had kept so long out of their sight that the boys began to
+despair of ever coming in sight of one of the monsters; but when they
+said so to the old Zulu warrior, he only laughed, and said, "Wait."
+
+"It seems to me as if they have all been shot," said Jack.
+
+But the General shook his head.
+
+"Plenty of elephants," he said; "only wait."
+
+Pieces of stone had to be used in addition to thorns to make the
+cattle-kraal where they now halted, for the land was comparatively
+sterile after the lush vegetation of the plains; but a little valley
+supplied ample pasturage for the cattle, and abundant water, and the
+rocky defiles around promised sport of a different kind to any they had
+before enjoyed.
+
+Hardly had they pulled up at the spot chosen for the temporary camp,
+before Dick called his brother's attention to a couple of huge birds,
+sailing round and round upon extended motionless wings over and about
+the rocky crags and points far above their resting-place.
+
+"Eagles!" cried Jack excitedly.
+
+And as he spoke the boys saw one of the great birds swoop down behind a
+peak and disappear, rising almost directly after with something dark in
+its talons, and flying straight off to a shelf of rock far away.
+
+This was new game indeed, and the boys were eager to go off after the
+great birds; but they had to help settle camp-matters first, the rule
+being that at every halt the first thing attempted was to put the place
+in a state of defence.
+
+When this was done there were the pets to see to--the leopard and
+giraffe, both of which had grown perfectly tame, the leopard being as
+playful as a kitten, and the giraffe calmly bringing its head down low
+enough to have its nose rubbed, while it munched at the handful of fresh
+tender shoots offered as a token of good will.
+
+Then there were the horses to watch and tend, wood to cut, and fire to
+make; so that there was plenty of work for all.  But "willing hands make
+light work," as the saying goes, and they were just congratulating
+themselves upon the successful nature of their arrangements, the little
+camp presenting all they required as a centre from which to start upon
+hunting expeditions--to wit, good pasturage, abundant water, and
+security against the attack of lions who might mistake their cattle for
+the wild creatures of the plains.
+
+"This place ought to do for a week, boys," said Mr Rogers; "and now
+we'll take our rifles and have a look round to see what game we are
+likely to find, and also keep a sharp look out for danger."
+
+"Danger?" said Jack.  "What sort?"
+
+"Well, I should say there would be plenty of serpents in amongst those
+sun-baked crags up above, probably a lion or two, plenty of eagles,
+and--ah, it is impossible to say what we may meet with in a place like
+this."
+
+"I shall tell Dinny that crocodiles very likely swarm up here, that they
+come up out of the river at this season of the year, and lie in wait
+amongst the rocks."
+
+"I think I would confine myself to the truth, Jack," said his father
+drily.  "Now, are you both loaded?  Then come along."
+
+It was a steep climb upwards, far more so than it looked from below, and
+they were toiling up over the sunburnt grass towards where the rocks
+rose up precipitously on either side of the narrow gully, when a word of
+warning from the General arrested them, and the rifles of all were held
+ready.
+
+For all at once, from behind a mass of rock a couple of hundred yards in
+front and above them, a large black rhinoceros trotted into view,
+holding up its head, and displaying its two horns against the grey rock
+behind him; and then seeing the hunting-party, it snorted and squealed
+in a most peculiar pig-like fashion, and began to trot towards them.
+
+"Don't fire unless you have a good chance," cried Mr Rogers; "and mind,
+everybody must make for the rocks, and climb up for safety."
+
+But there was no need for flight.  Hardly had the clumsy-looking monster
+commenced its headlong charge, when the precipitous rocks echoed to a
+hollow roar, and a patch of dry grass seemed to have been suddenly
+endowed with life, and to fling itself upon the shoulders of the
+charging beast.
+
+No one thought of firing; but the whole party stood there watching the
+novel sight, as a huge lion, which might have made one of them its
+victim, fixed its teeth and claws in the neck and shoulders of the
+rhinoceros; and as the furious frightened beast tore on down the defile,
+dragging the lion with it, the latter seemed to give a spring, and fixed
+its hind quarters firmly upon the tough pachyderm's back.
+
+"Big lion much hungry," said Coffee quietly.  "Nosros' skin very hard."
+
+As he spoke Jack had gone down upon one knee, and sent a bullet after
+the fast-receding pair, the echoes of the rifle report mingling with the
+hoarse snorting bellow of the rhinoceros.
+
+Dick, roused by his brother's example, also took aim and fired, his
+father following last.
+
+Then the two animals disappeared from view, evidently passing pretty
+near the waggon, but fortunately missing the little valley where the
+cattle were grazing.
+
+"Coffee is right," said Mr Rogers; "that lion must have been ravenous,
+or it would not have attacked such a beast as that.  Well, boys, you
+must keep a bright look out, for we, shall have to meet the enemy here."
+
+"Hadn't we better go after the rhinoceros?" said Dick.
+
+"What would be the use?" said his father; "the monster is going at a
+tremendous rate.  No: let's go higher up amongst the rocks."
+
+They passed several snakes, and found one boa-constrictor, a
+comparatively small one though, which Coffee and Chicory attacked as it
+lay basking in the sunshine, its bright brown and yellow markings
+glistening in the bright light.
+
+The boys made their arrangements very quickly, and without the slightest
+hesitation Coffee walked up to the reptile, and as it raised its head
+menacingly he struck it down with a blow of his kiri, and a dexterous
+chop from Chicory's long-bladed assegai took off its head.
+
+What had before seemed a sluggish inert body, now, as in a former case,
+became instantly endowed with spasmodic life, leaping from the stones,
+twisting, twining, knotting itself, and then unfolding and reknotting
+itself in the most extraordinary manner, the grey rocks around being
+spattered with the blood from the bleeding neck, while the severed head
+lay slowly gasping, and biting impotently at a few dry blades of grass.
+
+Dick and Jack seemed as if they would have never tired of watching the
+reptile, but their father suggested a move onward.
+
+"How long do you think that was, father?" said Dick, as they climbed on,
+each step bringing them to a more toilsome way.
+
+"Probably a dozen feet, and a good deal thicker than my arm," replied
+Mr Rogers.  "I should like to see one seize its prey, though, and watch
+the whole course of its constricting and swallowing the animal it has
+caught.  And now, boys, I think we will go up as far as the end of this
+narrow pass, and then turn back and close the camp for the evening."
+
+They went to the end, always rising, with the scenery growing wilder and
+more grand at every step; and at last Mr Rogers paused.
+
+"Oh, let's go up to the top now," cried Dick eagerly.
+
+"You can, boys; but make haste," said their father.
+
+"The top" was the edge of a ridge some four hundred feet above their
+heads, and as Mr Rogers sat down to rest, the boys climbed on, finding
+the difficulties of the ascent greater than they had expected; but they
+kept on, manfully helped by Coffee and Chicory, who were always ready to
+push, to pull, or hold a rifle, and in this way they reached what proved
+to be quite a narrow edge, with some jagged pinnacles on their right,
+and a steep slope in front.  But what took their attention most was an
+eagle in full pursuit of a lovely little slender-legged gazelle, which
+was straining every effort as it came up a long narrow defile to escape
+from its terrible enemy.
+
+The gazelle was quite a hundred yards below them to their left as they
+saw it first, and they watched its progress with a fascinated interest
+as it came nearer as if to pass them, with the eagle gliding along over
+it as it bounded along, and then making dart after dart at it with its
+tremendous claws.
+
+The eagle looked as huge as the gazelle looked graceful and tiny; and
+each moment the boys made sure that it was struck, but the baffled eagle
+rose again and again for another swoop, till, unable to bear it longer,
+Dick threw himself upon his face, rested his rifle upon the ridge in
+front, took a careful aim, fired; and Jack shouted "Hurray!" for as the
+smoke rose, and the echoes died away in the distance, the eagle could be
+seen lying flapping its wings upon the ground, raising a cloud of dust
+about it, and the gazelle disappeared round some rocks; while Coffee and
+Chicory, kiri in hand, were sliding down the rocky face of the
+precipice, to cross a narrow chasm below, bent upon finishing the
+monstrous bird's struggles with the kiris they grasped in their hands.
+
+The place they descended was almost dangerous at times, but the two Zulu
+boys made nothing of it, and were soon approaching the spot where the
+bird had fallen.
+
+As it saw them approach, it left off flapping its wings, turned itself
+upon its back, and struck at them savagely with its powerful talons.
+
+The boys were not daunted though, and making a dash in, Coffee struck at
+the bird and missed it, receiving, in return for his intended blow, an
+ugly scratch from the eagle, which was about to bury its beak in his leg
+when Chicory's kiri struck it heavily upon the neck, and the fight was
+over; the bird's head dropping upon one side, and its powers of doing
+mischief for ever gone.
+
+Then each seized a wing, and they bore it in triumph to their young
+leaders, who in turn helped to carry the majestic bird down to where Mr
+Rogers was waiting, ready to take great interest in their prize, but
+also eager to hurry them back to the waggon, where they arrived to find
+all right, and the cattle carefully secured in their kraal.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY THREE.
+
+DINNY IN "THROUBLE" AGAIN.
+
+"An' if there was one there was over a thousand of thim, sor," cried
+Dinny, a day or two later, when he had been out with Peter to bring back
+a strayed ox.  "Ye niver see such savage little men in yer loife, sor.
+They came at us shouting bad language, and calling us all the blayguards
+they could lay their tongues to; and then one avil-looking owld
+reprobate ups wid a shtone and throws it at me.  That was jist what the
+others wanted--a bad patthern, sor--and they began shying shtones as
+hard as they could, till Pater and me was obliged to re-threat."
+
+"And you ran away, Dinny?" said Dick; "you let the baboons drive you
+back?"
+
+"The which, sor?"
+
+"The baboons, Dinny; the apes."
+
+"Ah, ye can call 'em by that name, Masther Dick, if ye loike; I calls
+'em little stumpy men, and as ugly as anything I iver see."
+
+"Well, we shall have to go and pepper them," said Jack.  "Let's go and
+tell father, Dick."
+
+"Shure, ye may pepper and salt 'em too, Masther Jack," said Dinny,
+grinning, "but ye'll niver make anything of 'em but the toughest mate ye
+iver saw in yer loives."
+
+"Ah, well, Dinny, we'll see," said Jack; and the two boys went and told
+Mr Rogers of Dinny and Peter having been attacked by a troop of
+baboons, that were close up to the camp amongst the rocks.
+
+"How much of it is exaggeration?" said Mr Rogers, who was busy filling
+out some choice bird-skins, the bright plumed coverings of some of the
+natural history treasures he had secured.
+
+"Some of it, of course, father," replied Dick.  "But they are both cut
+about the faces with stones."
+
+This being the case, it was decided to try and scare off the little
+vicious animals with a few charges of duck-shot, reserving the bullets
+in their rifles in cases of extremity.
+
+Dinny said he was too much hurt to go to the attack; but the rest of the
+forces were collected, and, led by Peter, they made their way up over
+the ridge into the next valley; but no baboons were in sight, and though
+they went on their trail for some little distance, it seemed to be a
+useless task; so, sending part of their little company back, Mr Rogers
+went in one direction, the boys in another, to pass round a rocky hill
+and meet upon the other side.
+
+Everything was very silent in the stillness of the hot midday, and what
+with the sun's torrid beams, and the reflection from the rocks, progress
+was very slow, till a faint bleating noise, that seemed to come from
+behind a patch of rocks, made the boys cock their pieces, and approach
+cautiously.
+
+They were so accustomed to hunting now, that they had no difficulty in
+stalking up to the clump of rocks, and there, sheltered behind some
+bushes, they stood with presented pieces, ready to fire, but hesitating
+for a time before the novelty of the scene.
+
+Just in a depression amongst the rocks, where there was an open patch of
+fine grass, crouched an antelope, with a glossy black skin, and a pair
+of the longest and most beautifully curved horns they had ever seen.
+
+Dick knew it in a moment as the swart vitpense, or lion-killer, as it
+was called by the Boers; and sure enough it was there at bay before a
+large tawny lion, crouched ready to spring, but hesitating to bound and
+impale itself upon those two finely pointed horns, which the antelope's
+lowered head pointed straight for the charge.
+
+Twice over the monster seemed about to spring, but each time it
+hesitated, shuffling its feet beneath it, and altering its position more
+to the right; but the antelope had no intention of being taken in flank,
+and kept changing front so as to meet the attack.
+
+Then for the first time, they saw that the antelope had its little one
+beneath it, and with all a mother's instinct she was protecting it with
+her horns.
+
+This roused the boys on the instant.  They had no sooner seen the head
+of that antelope and its wondrously beautiful horns, than they made up
+their minds to add it and its skin to their collection.  But the brave
+mother's defence of her offspring won the young hunters to her side, and
+they had just levelled their rifles for a deadly shot at the lion, when
+it took them unawares, making a sudden spring, meaning to seize the
+antelope on the shoulder; but she had twisted a little round, so that
+the great cat threw itself right upon the two keen points, which passed
+completely through its body.
+
+At the same moment the little antelope dashed away, and there was a
+horrible struggle going on upon the patch of grass, the lion growling
+and snarling hideously as it struck at the antelope, and then strove to
+get free from the horns which the swart vitpense dragged out, and then
+stood up shivering by its assailant, which, far from thinking of
+attacking again, lay upon its side, biting the grass and tearing at the
+ground in its impotent fury.
+
+Dick would have fired, but the monster had evidently received its death
+wound; and it was well he and his brother reserved their charges, for,
+as the injured lion lay wallowing in its blood, making the rocks echo to
+its agonised roar, and as the poor torn antelope stood shivering and
+bleeding there, another fierce roar was heard, and a second lion bounded
+into the depression, crouched, and sprang.
+
+But quick as he was, the wounded antelope was quicker.  Dropping upon
+her knees, her head was lowered, and the second lion leaped right upon
+her horns, dragging itself back, spitting and snarling with rage and
+pain, and then rolling over with a couple of bullets through its
+shoulder.
+
+The boys loaded, and fired again at the second lion, which, though half
+paralysed, strove furiously to get at its aggressors; but in vain, for a
+third bullet made it roll over dead.
+
+The first lion was already at its last gasp, and there was no longer any
+need for caution; so, running forward, Dick made for the black antelope
+that was lying upon its side, horribly torn, and with its eyes fast
+glazing; for the weight of the second lion in its bound upon her horns
+had dislocated her neck.
+
+"Poor creature!" cried Dick.  "Oh, Jack, I'd give something to be able
+to bring the poor thing back to life."
+
+"Why, Dick?" asked his father, who had heard the firing and ran with the
+General to join them.  "Yes," he said, when he had heard his sons'
+narrative; "poor brave creature!  I would gladly see it bounding over
+the plains again.  Why, boys, you are growing quite mighty hunters in
+the land.  Only," he added, smiling, "the antelope would have killed the
+lions without your help.  But what a head--what horns!  That skin must
+be taken off carefully, boys, and the head preserved as our greatest
+trophy.  Yes," he said, measuring, "the horns are quite--no--three
+inches short of five feet long, and as sharp as needles at the points.
+You know what it is, of course?"
+
+"Yes," said Dick, admiring the jetty black skin and white underneath
+parts, "the swart vitpense."
+
+"Yes, or sable antelope," said Mr Rogers.  And then all set to work
+skinning, and a hard, hot, weary task they had before the two lions' and
+the sable antelope's skins, were lying upon the ground, when the
+vultures, patiently waiting at a distance, were allowed to come on to
+their banquet.
+
+By this time Coffee and Chicory had come up on their trail, and helped
+to carry back the spoil.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.
+
+ELEPHANTS IN SIGHT.
+
+In spite of their searching, the baboons were not seen till camp was
+being moved again to cross the ridge and descend into the plain, when
+the vicious little animals made so desperate an attack upon the party,
+throwing stones with such accuracy, that they had to be treated to a
+volley, and then to a second, before the troop, quite a hundred strong,
+took to flight; and the dogs killed the wounded left upon the ground,
+but only at the expense of some vicious bites from the dying apes.
+
+They were fired at with no little compunction, for mingled with their
+dog-like aspect there was a great deal that was terribly human, and
+after shooting one of the largest and fiercest, Dick said he felt as if
+he had committed a murder.
+
+It was, however, a work of necessity, and nothing but a vigorous attack
+sufficed to drive the malicious little monsters away.
+
+"Anywhere near the Boer settlements these creatures do infinite
+mischief," Mr Rogers said, "watching for, and destroying the lambs to a
+terrible extent."
+
+Days of weary trekking across plains before they came into pool-strewn
+land, where the footprints of buffalo were here and there obliterated by
+the monstrous round track left by the elephant.
+
+And now for the last time before beginning the return journey they
+formed camp, and prepared for some of the most serious part of their
+hunt.
+
+The General said that the elephants must be plentiful, and promised to
+show them the next day; but the boys seemed hardly to have sunk into a
+profound slumber, when they were roused by Chicory to tell them that
+there were elephants in the open forest close at hand.
+
+The news was electrical, and in a very few minutes they were standing
+ready with their father; and strict silence being enjoined, they
+followed the Zulu warrior through the thin forest by the light of the
+moon, till, advancing very cautiously, the General made an observation
+or two, and then came back and led the little party to where they could
+peer from amidst the trees and dimly see, looming up from the edge of a
+great pool, the bodies of twenty or thirty elephants of all sizes,
+busily drawing up water in their trunks and squirting it into their
+mouths.
+
+This they continued for some time, grunting, snorting, and uttering a
+peculiar sigh now and then, when, to Dick's surprise, he suddenly seemed
+to see the huge bodies of the elephants more plainly, and knew that the
+day was breaking.
+
+There was one great beast standing not forty yards from him, swinging
+its trunk to and fro, and flapping its enormous leather-like ears
+against its neck; when, unable to resist the temptation, and without
+pausing to consider whether it was wise or no, he took a quick aim at
+the back of the huge creature's head; there was a flash, and as the
+report of Dick's piece rang out, a tremendous rush, and the elephant
+herd had gone thundering over the plain.
+
+But not all.  The large tusker had fallen over upon its side by the
+pool, and on making a circuit so as to get at it from the side of the
+plain, Dick advanced to find that he had made a most fortunate shot, and
+as he drew near felt struck with wonderment at the huge proportions of
+his first elephant.
+
+After feasting their eyes, the party returned to camp for something
+substantial in the way of breakfast, made toothsome with guinea-fowl, of
+which they shot several; and directly after the General went off to chop
+out the splendid pair of tusks, Dinny accompanying him to have a look at
+the "ingy-rubber."
+
+This done, they started to follow up the trail of the elephants, for it
+was Jack's turn now, and his father wished to add a few tusks to the
+load of treasures in skins they were to take back.
+
+A long and wearisome following of the trail had no result, for it was
+evident that they had been so scared by the loss of their companion that
+they had gone straight off without pausing to feed, in search of safer
+ground.
+
+The heat was terrible, and at last they were compelled to halt beneath
+the shade of a clump of trees to rest and refresh.
+
+This was followed by a nap, and afterwards, they felt so disheartened
+and footsore that they decided to return.
+
+"Let's go back, father," Dick had said, "and come on to-morrow morning
+with the horses."
+
+"To be sure," said Jack.  "We could canter straight here without loss of
+time."
+
+"What do you say, General?" asked Mr Rogers.
+
+"I say it would be wise," replied the Zulu.  "The elephants leave their
+path behind them, and you can come up rested and ready to fire."
+
+Even without these remarks Mr Rogers would have returned, for the dread
+of over-fatiguing Dick, would have been quite sufficient to make him
+pause.  The boy had altered wonderfully; but still there were limits to
+the fatigue he could bear.
+
+They went quietly back, then, as the sun was getting low, and contented
+themselves with a few shots at the guinea-fowl which came over by
+hundreds, on their way to particular spots to roost.
+
+Before daylight, though, the next morning, they were in the saddle,
+carrying with them provisions and water; and they were miles along the
+track before the sun showed, by a robe of orange and a crown of ruddy
+rays, that he was about to flood the earth once more with light.
+
+The consequence was that they reached the spot where they had left off
+tracking quite early in the morning, the General, Coffee, and Chicory,
+although they had run all the way, seeming to be as fresh as when they
+had started, and laughing at the idea of their feeling fatigue.
+
+Mr Rogers, however, decided that it would be better to proceed with
+judgment, so a second breakfast was eaten under the shade of the trees
+where they had rested on the previous day, there being a limpid pool of
+water close at hand.
+
+"That's the best way to carry food, Dick," said Jack, laughing.  "I like
+to have mine in my inside pocket, where it isn't in the way;" and he
+laughed, as he took a great bite out of a piece of cake baked on an iron
+plate.
+
+"Ready, boys?" said Mr Rogers, just then.
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Mount then, and off."
+
+They were in their saddles on the instant, and made a fresh start, with
+the two Zulu boys following the track at a run, till, the sun, growing
+exceeding hot, a fresh halt was made, but not until the General had
+declared from sundry signs he saw that the elephants had been going
+leisurely now, and that he did not think that they were many miles
+ahead.
+
+The boys were for immediate pursuit, but common sense suggested a wait,
+for a pleasant grove was found close to where the forest seemed to
+commence in a very dense thicket, and here a good halt was made.
+
+The sun poured down here with greater violence than they had felt
+before, and after lightening their load once more by reducing their
+stock of provisions, in spite of their efforts such a drowsiness set in
+that in a very short time the whole party were asleep.
+
+Dick was awakened by Coffee laying his hand upon his mouth and shaking
+him, whispering the word "Elephant!" in his ear, as he opened his eyes;
+while at the same time, Chicory and the General were performing the like
+duty for Jack and his father.
+
+Obeying the advice of the General, they all stole off cautiously towards
+the dense thicket close at hand, from which came the noise of breaking
+branches, and strange snorts and sighs mingled with the squirting and
+splashing of water.
+
+In a few words the General explained that the elephants had returned
+upon their track to the forest in front, and upon cautiously creeping
+from bush to bush to stalk them, each of the party under the guidance of
+a Zulu, they found that the dense thicket was a mere band, and that all
+beyond it was open park-like land, with several pools scattered about,
+in which the elephants were standing, splashing the water, sucking it up
+and squirting it over their dark skins, uttering a low sigh of
+satisfaction from time to time.
+
+Dick was in an unlucky position, for, while both his father and Jack
+were so placed as to get an easy shot at an elephant, he could only fire
+at long range.  This, however, he decided to do as soon as his father
+and brother had had a shot.
+
+Meanwhile Mr Rogers had marked out for himself a fine young elephant
+with moderate tusks.  There was one with bigger tusks behind, but not
+being armed with an elephant gun he felt that it would be better to make
+sure of the smaller one than risk the loss of all; so approaching
+cautiously he did not perceive that the ground before him was swampy,
+and fell headlong in the mud and water.
+
+He lay perfectly still, though, and fortunately--unfortunately for him--
+the herd did not take flight, but attributing the noise to one of their
+fellows, they went on splashing and cooling their sides, breaking off
+boughs to tuck into their capacious mouths, writhing and twisting their
+probosces about the while.
+
+After a few moments Dick saw his father rise, walk forward to the side
+of some bushes, take aim at the elephant he had marked down, and just as
+it was passing along towards one of the pools he fired.
+
+The piece made such a strange noise that it alarmed Jack and the
+General.  As for Dick, to his horror he saw the rifle fly to pieces, and
+his father fall backwards upon the grass.
+
+Dick took no notice of the elephants, which went crashing amongst the
+trees, Jack getting a bullet home as they broke towards Dick, nearly
+trampling him down in their course as he ran to his father's side.
+
+To his horror Mr Rogers was insensible, surrounded by the fragments of
+his shattered gun, his face bleeding profusely, and for the moment Dick
+was ready to stand there wringing his hands.
+
+But common sense prevailed.
+
+There was no running into the next street to fetch a doctor, so he
+hastily knelt down, and began to pour the contents of his bottle upon
+his handkerchief, washing away the blood, and bandaging up the cuts upon
+his father's forehead.
+
+This cooling application of water had the effect of making the injured
+man open his eyes, and reply to the eager inquiries of his sons.
+
+"Only a bit stunned, my boys, and a few cuts," he said.  "It is a mercy
+I was not killed."
+
+"What a bad rifle!" exclaimed Jack indignantly, as he helped his father
+to rise.
+
+"What a bad sportsman, you should say, my boy," replied his father,
+whose face now looked less pallid.  "I ought to have known better.  My
+rifle must have been plugged with mud from my fall, and I did not
+examine it first.  That would burst the best gun ever made."
+
+He found he could walk without assistance, and after kneeling down by a
+pool that had been left unsullied by the elephants, and having a good
+drink and bathe at his wounds, he rose up refreshed, and turned with the
+boys to see what was the result of their shots.
+
+Better than they had expected.  Two elephants were badly wounded, and
+Chicory had marked them down in a clump of trees half a mile away.
+
+It required caution now to approach them, for the beasts would probably
+be furious; but by skilful management they were staked, and the boys,
+after two or three shots a-piece, succeeded in laying the monsters low,
+each falling over upon its side with a terrible crash.
+
+The General soon hacked out the good-sized tusks, and these were borne
+to the grove where the horses had been left to graze.
+
+"It never rains but it pours," said Mr Rogers quietly, as he slapped
+the flanks and neck of his horse rapidly.  "Quick, boys, look at your
+own, and if they have nothing on them--no little flies something like
+house flies--take a tusk each, and ride back along the track as quick as
+you can go."
+
+The boys eagerly obeyed, and seeing no trace of flies, mounted, each
+with a tusk before him, and cantered away, Mr Rogers following more
+slowly with the bay and the Zulus--for the mischief was done; the
+terrible tsetse fly had attacked the fine old horse, and it was only a
+question of days or weeks before the poison would have finished its
+work.
+
+As it proved the two cobs had escaped almost by a miracle; but the
+adventure was a warning to the party not to venture further, for they
+had evidently made their way into a part of the country where this
+terrible enemy to horses abounds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.
+
+A FLIGHT FROM A FLY.
+
+There was no time to lose, for, to the dismay of all, Peter announced
+that he had found tsetse fly that afternoon upon the two horses that had
+been grazing near the waggon.
+
+"Three horses gone, boys," said Mr Rogers.  "It is a bad job; but it
+would have been worse if it had happened to your pets.  We must be well
+on the way back into a more wholesome country before day, so lie down
+and have a rest at once.  The General or the boys shall go on with you,
+so that you may try to save your nags.  I'll come on with the rest."
+
+"But your horses don't seem any the worse for it, father," said Dick.
+
+"No, my boy, and it may not show for days; but the poison will work, and
+they will gradually grow weaker and weaker.  They are all doomed."
+
+"But is there no cure for it, father?"
+
+"None that I know of, my boys; and it must act as a preventative to the
+opening out of this grand country to civilisation, unless man can
+improve these poisonous little pests off the face of the earth."
+
+"It is wonderful," cried Dick; "such a little fly to do so much
+mischief."
+
+Coffee and Chicory aroused them hours before it was day, and with the
+understanding that they were to keep on till night straight back upon
+their old track, the boys started, enjoying to a certain extent the
+journey without the waggon, but feeling the awful loneliness of the
+country now more and more.
+
+They made the best of their way on, however, getting over all the ground
+possible, not halting till it was almost dark, and hardly leaving
+themselves time to collect enough wood for a roaring fire, which they
+kept blazing turn and turn, for they were in a place where from the
+sounds they heard lions seemed to be plentiful once more.
+
+The next morning they were able to add some guinea-fowl and a little
+gazelle to their scanty store of dried meat, and as they had nothing now
+to do but wait for the coming of the waggon, they amused themselves by
+exploring a little here and there as their horses grazed, their ramble
+resulting in the discovery of many beautiful flowers and insects, such
+as they had not seen before.
+
+That day went by, but still no waggon arrived; and as they again made up
+their roaring fire, the boys felt no little uneasiness, till they began
+to recall what a slow leisurely crawl was that of the ox-team, and that
+they had come over the greater part of their journey at a brisk canter,
+with which, by holding on to the cob's mane, the two Zulu boys seemed to
+have no difficulty in keeping up.
+
+But all doubts were solved the next morning by the arrival of the
+waggon, those who accompanied it being only too ready to join in the
+roast ready for breakfast.
+
+There had been no delay; the length of time was only due to the slow
+progress of the oxen; and this slow progress continued, as, avoiding the
+back track, they made their way by another route to where King Moseti
+was ready to receive them with open arms, and was made happy by the
+presentation of some of the surplus store of beads and other trifles,
+Mr Rogers retaining merely enough for their wants on the way back.
+
+The king was eager enough to be generous in turn, presenting his guests
+with several tusks aid some beautiful skins and ostrich feathers, which
+added in no little decree to the travellers' store.
+
+Here Mr Rogers shot a couple of hippopotami, and the boys made some
+good practice amongst the hideous crocodiles that were every day killing
+some one or other of the king's subjects.  Now it was a girl gone down
+to draw water; at another time a boy venturing to bathe.  And the
+travellers could not help admiring the love of cleanliness amongst these
+people, for too often they had to risk their lives for the sake of a
+bathe.
+
+The horses had now begun to show signs of having been bitten by the
+tsetse fly, the chestnut and grey displaying roughened skins and a
+general uneasiness; while the bay, though slightly roughened about the
+coat, still held out.
+
+They lost no time then in getting on with their journey southwards,
+meeting with plenty of vicissitudes in the shape of hunger, heat, and
+thirst, but taking these calmly, along with the good things; and at last
+the Limpopo was once more reached.
+
+The reader of this, who knows how easily a person may have his tea in
+London and his breakfast the next morning in Scotland--400 miles--may be
+surprised to hear that to get over such a distance in South Africa with
+a heavy waggon and an ox-team takes over a month; and a driver and
+foreloper would consider that they had done well if they had achieved so
+much.
+
+For hurrying means losing ground.  The oxen must be kept well-fed with
+good pasture, and not overworked, or in a few hours sores will be
+produced by the harsh yokes that will take a month to cure, if they ever
+heal at all.
+
+But the country was grand, and the weather exceptionally lovely, as they
+made their way southward, crossing the Limpopo without accident, in
+spite of the crocodiles, Dinny managing to get a place on the top of the
+waggon-tilt just before they started to ford the stream.
+
+"Why, what are you doing there, Dinny?" cried Dick, who was the first to
+see him.
+
+"Shure, Masther Dick, dear, I was feared for these valuable skins that
+lie stretched out here, for I says to meself, `Dinny,' I says, `if the
+masther was to have thim skins slip off into the dirthy river, he'd
+never forgive himself.'"
+
+So amidst a good deal of laughter Dinny crossed over the crocodile river
+on the top of the tilt; while, as much alarmed as he, the dogs, taught
+by experience, kept close behind the aftermost oxen's heels, swimming
+with the protection of the waggon-wheels on either side.
+
+Mr Rogers proposed that they should go back by way of the district
+where there were some curious caves, saying that it would be a pity to
+be within reach and not to see them.  So with the intent of making a
+halt near them, the General announcing his intention of finding the
+place, though he had never been there before, the return journey was
+continued.
+
+This return journey was, as maybe supposed, one of months, but it was
+not uneventful.  The constant demands of the larder rendered hunting
+necessary almost every day; and in these hunting expeditions beautiful
+skins, and horns of great size and peculiarity, were obtained.  Every
+day, too, added to the collection of gorgeously-plumaged birds and
+bright beetles; several times over, too, they were able to add a goodly
+bundle of ostrich plumes to the store.
+
+It may sound strange, but over this even Dinny felt aggrieved, coming to
+Dick coolly enough one night, just before sleeping time, with,--
+
+"Would ye mind handing me out two or three of thim bundles o' feathers,
+Masther Dick, dear?"
+
+"What for, Dinny?" he asked in astonishment.
+
+"An' is it what for?" said Dinny indignantly; "shure, an' ye wouldn't
+have a boy slape on the bare flure, when ye've got hapes of feather to
+make beds with inside?"
+
+Poor Dinny was sent to the right about, and the feathers had a very
+narrow escape the very next day from being burned to blackened ashes.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY SIX.
+
+THE BAY RUNS HIS LAST RACE.
+
+During the long backward journey, poor Smiler the chestnut and Toothpick
+the grey succumbed to the poison of the tsetse fly, gradually waning
+away so, poor beasts, that Mr Rogers felt glad when on one occasion a
+lion leaped upon the half-dead chestnut and dragged it down--dying in
+the act though, for Dick's rifle sent a bullet crashing through the
+monster's head.
+
+There was the same feeling about poor Toothpick the grey, which lay down
+to rest one night, and was found stretched out dead the next morning.
+
+The bay, however, held out; and it was wonderful what vitality he
+possessed.  Poor beast! he was faithful to the end, his last act being
+the saving of his master's life.
+
+They had out-spanned one night at the edge of avast plain, meaning to
+start again early the next morning; but as they rose and gazed at the
+vast expanse of sun-dried grass and bushes, dotted all over with great
+herds of pallah, koodoo, hartebeeste, and springbok, with zebras and
+quaggas, more than they had before seen, both Mr Rogers and the boys
+felt that they must have one more day's hunting amongst them; and, each
+with his faithful Zulu, they set off to try and stalk one of the herds.
+
+The horses were brought into requisition, and the miles of space
+intervening was got over before, by means of his glass, Mr Rogers saw
+that they were not alone in the field.
+
+He could just discern horsemen and a waggon on the far side of the
+plain, miles away, but their shapes distinctly visible with the glass in
+that pure atmosphere, as they lay on a distant ridge, the waggon
+standing out against the sky.
+
+They had excellent sport, consequent upon the party on the other side
+driving the game in their direction, and, lured on by the fascination of
+the pursuit, Mr Rogers had gone farther and farther, till suddenly he
+heard a shout from the General.
+
+He needed no telling why the Zulu had been guilty of so unsportsmanlike
+a proceeding, for on his right, travelling before the wind at a
+tremendous rate, was a perfect hurricane of fire.  By some means the
+Boers on the other side had set light to the thick dry grass and bushes,
+and to his horror Mr Rogers saw that unless he could get back to where
+he had left his horse and gallop off, he would be overtaken by the
+flames.
+
+What was worse, he found that the fiery tempest might overtake his sons
+unawares, for the probabilities were that the horses would not stand.
+
+Signing to the Zulu to run to the horse, he set off himself, with the
+air becoming thick and murky with smoke, so that he feared that he had
+lost his way.  But, to his intense delight, upon turning the corner of a
+clump of bushes there stood the faithful bay where he had left it, and
+with the Zulu at its head holding the reins.
+
+Mr Rogers leaped into the saddle, the General caught hold of the mane,
+and away they went at a rapid trot in the direction in which the boys
+were believed to be.  But the fire gained upon them so fast that the
+rider insisted upon the Zulu mounting behind him, in spite of his
+remonstrances.
+
+"Quick!" he cried angrily.
+
+On this the General leaped up behind, and they went at full gallop,
+tearing over the ground, the bay straining its sinews to the utmost,
+while, as he saw the fire gaining upon him fast, Mr Rogers' heart sank
+within him, for he could see no sign of either Dick or Jack, and yet he
+was obliged to dash on, for the fire was wrapping round from his left as
+if to cut him off.
+
+"Where are the boys?" he groaned as he reached the top of a small
+eminence, and drew rein to look around.
+
+"There!" cried the Zulu, pointing.
+
+To his great relief Mr Rogers saw the boys galloping towards him,
+evidently coming to his aid.
+
+Waving his hand to them to go back, he galloped down, and before long
+had overtaken them, and they rode on side by side, each with a Zulu
+behind his saddle, for the fire seemed to come on now with lightning
+speed.
+
+"The waggon stands just in the way of the fire, boys," groaned Mr
+Rogers, "and we shall never save it unless the oxen are already
+in-spanned."
+
+It seemed to be only too true, and they urged on the horses to their
+fullest speed.
+
+It was a race for life, and they could hear the flames roaring hungrily
+behind them as they tore along, the horses needing neither whip nor spur
+to send them at their best pace over the crackling grass.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Jack.  "I see the waggon."
+
+"And the oxen?" cried Mr Rogers.
+
+"Yes, father--in-spanned.  And they are flying from the fire!"
+
+Mr Rogers uttered a prayer of thankfulness as he rode on, till at the
+end of a quarter of an hour they were close up with the waggon, while
+the oxen, with Dirk the foreloper at the head and Peter on the box, were
+going along in a clumsy gallop, urged by the shouts of their drivers and
+their natural dread of the fire, coming after them with the fury of a
+whirlwind.
+
+The smoke was now blinding, the heat increasing, and it was hard work to
+check the horses, who strove to gallop madly away as soon as they were
+lightened of half their loads; for Coffee and Chicory followed the
+example of their father in leaping down and running to the side of the
+team to help urge on the frightened oxen, till they plunged along in
+their clumsy race.
+
+Faster and faster in the wild race for life! the flames roaring as they
+came nearer! the waggon thundering over the ground, swaying from side to
+side, and threatening each moment to overturn!
+
+Twice it ran upon two wheels for some distance, and the boys knew that
+if a stone of any size was met the waggon must be irretrievably wrecked,
+and they saw in anticipation the flames overtaking it, scorching up the
+valuables it contained, and ending by reaching the ammunition, when
+everything must be blown to atoms.
+
+Mr Rogers felt that the case was hopeless.  The flames were close upon
+them, and he was about to shout to the people to cut loose the oxen and
+leave the waggon to its fate, when he saw Dick spring forward to the
+side of the Zulu, who was with Dirk the foreloper, by the leading oxen.
+
+Mr Rogers could not hear what his son said in the deafening roar, but
+he saw him point, and the foreloper and the General urged the leading
+oxen out of the course they were taking before the flames to one nearly
+at right angles, turning them so sharply that the waggon again nearly
+overset.  It rose upon two wheels, but sank back on the others with a
+crash; the oxen lumbered along in their awkward gallop, and the whole
+business seemed madness.
+
+Five minutes later, though, the leader saw that his son's act had been
+guided by sound reasoning, for he had directed the team into a broad
+open space where there was nothing to feed the flames.  The consequence
+was that as the wall of fire reached the edge of the opening it
+gradually flickered out there, but rushed along on either side in two
+volumes of flame, which joined hands, as it were, below them, and the
+fire went roaring along as swiftly as before.
+
+Where they were grouped, in the midst of the open space, they felt the
+scorching, were blinded by the smoke, and had a hard matter to keep the
+beasts quiet, the leopard howling dismally, and the giraffe thrusting
+its head beneath the back of the waggon-tilt, while the horses snorted
+and plunged, and the oxen shook their heads, elevated their tails, and
+behaved unpleasantly to each other with their horns.
+
+But the danger was past, and at the end of an hour they were able to
+trek on over the blackened plain, till they reached the first pool,
+where, unpromising as everything was, they were glad to outspan and rest
+for a few hours before once more resuming their journey.
+
+But there was no renewal of the journey for the bay.  Poor beast, it had
+used up its remaining strength in that, last gallop, and when the time
+had come for the renewal of the journey the bay was lying down.
+
+Mr Rogers spoke to it, and the poor animal made an effort to rise, but
+merely laid its head quietly down again, uttering a low sigh--and the
+faithful beast was dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.
+
+HOW DINNY WAS LOST UNDERGROUND.
+
+"I shall be glad to get back home, boys," said Mr Rogers the next
+morning, "for the pleasure seems to have gone out of the trip now my
+horses are all gone.  Still there is one good thing, boys, yours are
+safe."
+
+This was as they were at last getting out of the course of the fire and
+on to a tract of grass, so little scorched by the sun and so fertilised
+by the stream that ran through that the oxen were out-spanned for a good
+feed, as it was doubtful when they might obtain another.
+
+Then followed days and weeks of trekking before they reached the part of
+the country where the caverns were, and out-spanned one night at
+Wonderfontein, where, for a promise of payment, the son of a Boer living
+hard by undertook to provide lights and to show them the wonders of the
+underground region.
+
+The Boer lad said that they would require a light-bearer besides
+himself, so Dinny was told to come, and after a little opposition he
+followed his master and their guide to the extent of about a mile, when
+the lad began to creep and slide down a well-wooded place in the plain
+that looked like the crater of an old volcano.
+
+Here Dinny began to hesitate again.
+
+"An' is it go down there, sor?" he asked.  "Shure and suppose the place
+has no bottom to it at all."
+
+"Go on.  Dinny, and don't be stupid," cried Dick; and poor Dinny found
+himself pretty well hustled down to the bottom of the funnel-like place,
+which seemed to bend round at the bottom and to lead into a little
+brook.
+
+Here the guide lit a couple of roughly-made torches: he handed one to
+Dinny and retained the other, advising all the party to tuck up their
+trousers; and the reason for this was soon evident, for the floor of the
+grotto they were about to explore formed the bed of the transparent
+little river that had found its way into this strange crack in the rock,
+and gradually enlarged it to give itself more room.
+
+"Ah, bedad, and the wather's cowld," cried Dinny.  "Shure, Masther Dick,
+we're niver going on along there?"
+
+"Indeed we are, Dinny, with you to light us, like the brave, man you
+are," said Dick.
+
+Then Dinny growled out something about its being a shame to make such a
+naygur of a white man, and seeing no alternative, went on behind the
+guide, being followed by Mr Rogers, the boys bringing up the rear.
+
+The first part of their journey was for some distance through narrow
+passages, where they often had to bend double, with only an opportunity
+now and then for straightening themselves upright; but by degrees, as
+they went on splash, splash, through the water, the roof rose higher and
+higher, till its summit seemed to be lost in gloom, while the grey walls
+looked wild and romantic in the extreme.
+
+A glance to right and left of the narrow way showed that in some great
+convulsion of nature, the rock had been split and separated to a small
+extent, and the result was the formation of this cavern; for so similar
+were the sides that had the natural action been reversed, the two sides
+would have fitted together, save where the water had worn the rock away.
+
+It was a weird journey, made the more mysterious by the guide, who
+pointed out side passages where the water grew deeper, which passages,
+he said, had never been explored; and at last, after they had been
+travelling slowly along the solemn echoing place, Dinny appealed to his
+master to go back.
+
+"Shure I'm not a bit freckened," he said; "but, sor, there's danger to
+us all if we go on there."
+
+"Absurd, Dinny," cried his master.  "Go on.  What is there to be afraid
+of?"
+
+"Oh, nothing at all, sor.  It isn't that I mind, but we shall be coming
+upon some great big water-baste or a wather-shnake or something, and
+then what'll we do at all?"
+
+"Let it eat us, Dinny," shouted Dick; and his voice sounded echoing and
+strange.
+
+"Oh, an' is it ate us, Masther Dick?  Shure ye'll have--murther!
+murther! murther!" shrieked Dinny.  "I towld ye so.  Oh!  Help, here!
+Help!"
+
+Down went Dinny's torch into the water, to be extinguished upon the
+instant, and the scared fellow kept on yelling with all his might.
+
+"What is the matter?" cried his master angrily.
+
+"Shure I towld ye so.  A great big thing, wid awful black wings, flew at
+me and bit at me face, sor, and I belave he'd ha' killed me if I hadn't
+put me light out so as he shouldn't see where I was."
+
+"Oh, Dinny, Dinny.  If I were you I wouldn't be frightened of a bat,"
+cried Dick.
+
+"An' is it freckened of a bat I'd be, Masther Dick?  I tell ye it was a
+great big thing as large as a man, wid long black wings, an' it sent a
+shudder all through me, sor, to see the great baste come at me."
+
+"Which did you see, Dinny, the bat or the shadow?" asked Dick.
+
+"Ah, ye're laughing at me," said Dinny; "but wait a bit and ye'll see."
+
+Dinny's torch was fished out of the water, and after a good deal of
+beating and shaking to get rid of the moisture they managed to get it to
+burn once more, when Jack volunteered to carry it, and Dinny grumblingly
+took his place in the rear.
+
+"Ah," he muttered, in Dick's hearing, "it's a dirthy counthry this
+Afrikky.  Wild bastes, and shnakes, and holes under the airth.  Faix, it
+isn't fit for a dacent boy to live in at all."
+
+Dinny and his mutterings were little heeded, and they went on and on
+through the interminable place, following its windings and zigzag turns,
+where the rock had split, till they were tired, and Dick said that they
+had seen no more during the last hour than during the first five
+minutes, for the place was almost all alike--one great jagged rift with
+the little stream flowing over the floor.  Now the roof looked far above
+them in the gloom, and now again it was close enough to crush their
+heads, while by the same rule there were times when they could touch the
+walls on either side by stretching out their hands, while at others the
+sides receded so that the space was quite a chamber.
+
+"Well, then," said Mr Rogers, "suppose we turn back.  Dinny, as you are
+last now you'll be first going back, and ought to make a good leader; so
+take the light."
+
+Dinny did not reply.
+
+"Do you hear what my father said, Dinny?" cried Dick.
+
+Still there was no answer.
+
+"Why, father," cried Dick; "he is not here!"
+
+"Nonsense! absurd!" cried Mr Rogers.  "Here, Dinny!" he shouted.
+
+"Ny-ny-ny-ny!" came softly repeated like a mockery of his cry.
+
+"Dinny!" cried Mr Rogers again; and once again the echo was the only
+answer.
+
+"Dinny!" shouted Dick and Jack together, with all their might; but the
+echo was the only response; and a cold chill of horror began to run
+through the little party as they stood there.
+
+"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mr Rogers; "surely he has not sunk down
+fainting from fright.  Oh, surely not; the idea is too horrible!
+Dinny!"
+
+He shouted with all his might, and the boys took up the cry, but there
+was nothing but the echo to reply.
+
+"Has anybody ever been lost here?" said Mr Rogers, turning sharply on
+the Boer guide.
+
+"Dot one dat I know," said the Boer lad.  "Dere was leedle mans lost one
+days, bud dey found der leedle mans again fasd ashleep on der rock."
+
+"He has grown tired, boys; quick!" said Mr Rogers.  "Let's make haste
+back, and we shall find him sitting down somewhere."
+
+Though he said this, he did not feel at all hopeful; but still there was
+the chance of finding that Dinny, taking advantage of being behind, had
+climbed on to one of the big shelves of rock to await their return,
+though Mr Rogers felt that it was very doubtful, and that the poor
+fellow would be too great a coward to sit there alone in the dark.
+
+It was then with sinking hearts, and a horrible sense of finding that
+their expedition had a terrible ending, that they hurried along the dark
+passages of the weird grotto, pausing every now and then to shout, as
+they searched the side-turnings with their light, and shouted down them
+in case the poor fellow had strayed away by mistake, though the chances
+were very small, for it seemed impossible that Dinny could have followed
+any route but the one indicated by the light in front.
+
+No, think of the matter how they would, there seemed no other
+explanation of Dinny's disappearance than that he had sunk down in the
+water where it was deeper than usual, and been drowned from sheer
+fright.
+
+"It seems so shocking," said Dick, in a whisper, that, low as it was,
+seemed to run on before them; "that after going through all that
+journey, and escaping from lions and crocodiles, and all sorts of
+dangerous beasts, we should lose one of our party in such a miserable
+way."
+
+Dick had unconsciously spoken his father's thoughts as they went on
+redoubling their exertions till, to their horror, they reached the
+bottom of the funnel-shaped entrance without finding a vestige of him
+they sought.
+
+"Back again!" cried Mr Rogers; and returning, they again searched the
+gloomy passages for hours, till they were obliged to return to the mouth
+of the cavern for fresh lights.
+
+The Boer lad looked horrified, and he anxiously ran off for fresh
+torches, feeling himself to blame as guide, for having lost one of the
+party.
+
+"Jack," said Mr Rogers hoarsely, "run to the waggon, and fetch some
+biscuits, a little brandy, and the two large lamps, with a few extra
+candles.  Be quick!"
+
+"I'll go too, father," cried Dick eagerly.  And the boys were about to
+start, when Dick added, "Shall I bring over the General, father?"
+
+"Yes, and his boys.  We must find Dinny."
+
+Dick and Jack, weary and wet as they were, ran off to the little camp,
+the smoke of whose fire they could see, and on reaching it, panting and
+exhausted, the first object they saw was Dinny, lying under a tree with
+his mouth open, fast asleep.
+
+"Oh, I am glad," cried Jack.
+
+"So am I," cried Dick; "and sorry--and cross," he added, running up to
+Dinny, and giving him a kick in the ribs.
+
+"Aisy there," said Dinny, yawning and opening his eyes.  "Shure, I'm
+coming.  Ah, Masther Dick, and have ye got back out of the black hole?"
+
+"How came you here?" cried Dick angrily.
+
+"How kim I here, Masther Dick?  Shure it was on me own handsome pair o'
+legs."
+
+"But we thought you were lost."
+
+"Lost! bedad, not I.  Shure, I sez, they're going to carry the light
+themselves, an' they don't want me anny longer; so I just sat down on a
+big shtone, while I took out me matchbox, and lit me morsel of candle I
+had in me pocket, and I kim back, and afther getting me dinner ready, I
+laid down for a rest."
+
+"Oh!" cried Dick wrathfully.
+
+He could say no more; but his brother spoke for him in a way that made
+Dinny uncomfortable, as the boys turned sharply and ran back, reaching
+the mouth of the cavern just as the Boer lad came up with his torches.
+
+Mr Rogers started up.
+
+"Where are the lanterns?" he cried.  Then, seeing that the boys had
+something to say he eagerly listened; and the next moment, with his brow
+knotted with anger, he strode off to the waggon.
+
+"Jack," whispered Dick, "I never saw father look so cross as that."
+
+He was angry indeed, and they saw him seize Dinny by the throat, force
+him upon his knees, and raise his clenched fist to strike; but the next
+moment education and manliness prevailed, his hand dropped to his side,
+and he stood there talking to Dinny for some time in a way that made
+that gentleman slink away and go about his work with a very hangdog
+expression of countenance.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT.
+
+THE LAST ADVENTURE.
+
+Days of slow, steady trekking homeward, and then, to the consternation
+of all, they learned from a Boer, fleeing with his waggon and belongings
+to another part of the country, that it would not be safe to go farther,
+for a war had broken out between a powerful Zulu tribe and the
+Amaswazis, both sides taking advantage of the disturbed state of the
+country to rob and plunder in every way they could.
+
+"Dey dake away all dose caddles," said the Boer, "and kill you all.  I
+go away."
+
+He went away, and the General was called into consultation.
+
+"What shall we do?" said Mr Rogers, who, without fearing for their
+lives, had a horror of losing the fruits of their long journey into the
+interior.
+
+"Go straight on home like brave men," said the Zulu, sturdily.  "The
+boss may not see enemies in the way.  If he does, we shall see the boss,
+who can fight lions, will not be afraid of men.  Man sees boss not
+afraid, he will not fight."
+
+"I shall take your advice, General," said Mr Rogers; and to the horror
+of Dinny, who from that moment began to contrive a hiding-place in the
+biggest chest, the order was given, "Forward!"
+
+They came upon danger sooner than they expected, for, steadily trekking
+on, they had halted for the day in an open plain, when, to Mr Rogers'
+horror, he found that he had inadvertently halted in what was about to
+be the battle-ground of the contending tribes.
+
+It was almost like magic.  One hour the valley was empty, the next it
+was swarming with contending men.
+
+Escape was impossible, and in a very short time the waggon was put in as
+good a state of defence as could be, and they were surrounded by the
+enemy; but before hostilities between them could commence, the Zulu
+tribe came swarming down from the hills behind them, advancing with a
+regular dancing tramp, forming themselves into a crescent, and dashing
+on to the attack.
+
+The Amaswazis who had first surrounded the waggon were largely armed
+with rifles; but in spite of the superiority this gave them, they gave
+way before the determination of the assegai-armed Zulu warriors, who
+came trooping by the waggon, the greater portion of them thorough
+counterparts of the General, till some fifty remained about the waggon
+in company with three fierce-looking chiefs.
+
+"What are we to do, General?" said Dick stoutly, as he stood there with
+his rifle--"fight?"
+
+"Wait and see," said the General calmly; and followed by Coffee and
+Chicory, he walked out from the waggon to meet the Zulu chiefs.
+
+A short conference ensued, and then the three chiefs came back with the
+General, to hold out their hands to Mr Rogers and his sons.
+
+"They say I am to tell you that they thank you in the name of our people
+for making us your brothers in the hunt," said the General quietly, "and
+that they will all fight for you and see you safe."
+
+Then, in obedience to the General's directions, the oxen were
+in-spanned, ready to go forward if necessary, or to retreat with the
+Zulu tribe should it be beaten.
+
+This latter misfortune, however, did not occur, for before a quarter of
+an hour had elapsed the Amaswazis tribe was being chased by the Zulus,
+and seeking safety in flight; while after making presents to the chiefs,
+to the General's great pride and gratification in spite of his calm
+demeanour, they parted with mutual feelings of goodwill.
+
+"Saved from wreck," said Dick, who had made the principal chief happy,
+by taking off his belt with the stout, keen hunting-knife and sheath,
+and himself buckling it on, the others receiving similar gifts from Mr
+Rogers, and Jack.
+
+Three weeks' long journey was yet before them, during which the oxen
+suffered much from the prevailing drought, but there was little of
+adventure upon the rest of their road; and it was with no little relief
+that the familiar land-marks in the neighbourhood of their home were at
+last made out, the oxen trekking well during the last few miles, as if
+they scented plenty of water and fresh green pasture at the farm.
+
+The full moon was shining brightly as the waggon trekked up to the
+house, several friends having ridden out to welcome them, as soon as it
+was known that the hunters were in sight; and then once more, as soon as
+the dumb creatures were seen to, they sat down at a table to an
+old-fashioned English meat tea with their friends, glad to be able to
+recount that they had returned without a single loss, save that of the
+horses from the dreaded tsetse, while the prime object of their journey
+had been attained--Dick sat amongst them completely restored, and
+glowing with vigorous health.
+
+"I should think, boys, you will be glad to sleep once more in a soft
+bed," said Mr Rogers, smiling; but before either Dick or Jack could
+answer, Dinny presented himself at the door.
+
+"Av ye plaze, sor--"
+
+"Well, Dinny?"
+
+"I'd thank ye to come and shpake to the naygurs.  We've put up a bed and
+blankets for them in the best barn, and they won't go there, but are
+making up a camp again, wid a fire, under the waggon."
+
+"Well, Dinny, if it pleases them, let them alone," said Mr Rogers
+quietly.
+
+"Shure, sor, I don't mind," said Dinny; "but it's the naybours, sor, and
+what they'll think."
+
+"Never mind what the neighbours think," said his master.  "Dick, go and
+see that the General and his boys have everything they want."
+
+"Av ye plaze, sor," said Dinny, "I want to ax ye a favour."
+
+"What is it, Dinny?"
+
+"Shure, sor, we've had a long journey, and I'm moighty toired."
+
+"Then go to bed and have a good sleep."
+
+"That's just what I'm axing of yer honour.  I want a holiday."
+
+"What for, Dinny?"
+
+"To go to shlape for a week."
+
+Dinny had as much sleep as he liked, but he contented himself with
+twenty-four hours, and then helped to unpack the treasures from the
+waggon, the store of feathers, skins, and curiosities far more than
+paying the cost of the expedition, even counting the loss of the horses.
+The boys' pets too, the leopard and giraffe, had to be sold, for they
+could not keep them; but they fetched handsome sums for exportation to
+Europe.
+
+At last there was nothing to do but to recompense the General and his
+sons; not that they were going away, for they preferred staying about
+the farm.
+
+Mr Rogers took his sons into his confidence, and the result was the
+presentation to the three Zulus of gifts which they esteemed most highly
+of anything they could receive, and these were the three double rifles
+of the father and sons, whose accuracy the Zulus had so often seen
+proved.
+
+Dick was right when he said the present was better than diamonds, for
+the stern old warrior's face lit up with joy, and when Coffee and
+Chicory could be made to understand that they were to have the rifles to
+keep, their excitement was something wonderful to see.
+
+"Shure an' the master must be aff his head to give them boys such
+things," grumbled Dinny to Peter and Dirk, who were quite content with
+the presents they had received in clothes additional to their pay.
+
+Right or wrong, he gave great satisfaction on all sides; and health
+being restored, and the sorrows of the past somewhat assuaged, the
+regular duties of civilised life were resumed, and many a long evening
+was spent in arranging the various natural history objects brought home.
+Now and then, so pleasant were the recollections of the exciting trip,
+the boys have brought the blood flushing into the dusky cheeks of Coffee
+and Chicory, and a flash into their father's eyes, on saying that they
+wonder whether their father will ever organise another such trip, while
+Dinny has been heard to say spitefully that they may drive in that
+waggon to Novy Sembley, New Zealand, or the big islands of the say, he
+don't care a sthraw, so long as they'll only lave him at home.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Off to the Wilds, by George Manville Fenn
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