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diff --git a/2730-h/2730-h.htm b/2730-h/2730-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e66bae --- /dev/null +++ b/2730-h/2730-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1051 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Long Odds, by H. Rider Haggard + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Long Odds, by H. Rider Haggard + +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: Long Odds + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: March 31, 2006 [EBook #2730] +Last Updated: September 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LONG ODDS *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + LONG ODDS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by H. Rider Haggard + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h4> + This is the second PG version of Long Odds, also see Etext #1918. + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + The story which is narrated in the following pages came to me from the + lips of my old friend Allan Quatermain, or Hunter Quatermain, as we used + to call him in South Africa. He told it to me one evening when I was + stopping with him at the place he bought in Yorkshire. Shortly after that, + the death of his only son so unsettled him that he immediately left + England, accompanied by two companions, his old fellow-voyagers, Sir Henry + Curtis and Captain Good, and has now utterly vanished into the dark heart + of Africa. He is persuaded that a white people, of which he has heard + rumours all his life, exists somewhere on the highlands in the vast, still + unexplored interior, and his great ambition is to find them before he + dies. This is the wild quest upon which he and his companions have + departed, and from which I shrewdly suspect they never will return. One + letter only have I received from the old gentleman, dated from a mission + station high up the Tana, a river on the east coast, about three hundred + miles north of Zanzibar. In it he says they have gone through many + hardships and adventures, but are alive and well, and have found traces + which go far towards making him hope that the results of their wild quest + may be a “magnificent and unexampled discovery.” I greatly fear, however, + that all he has discovered is death; for this letter came a long while + ago, and nobody has heard a single word of the party since. They have + totally vanished. + </p> + <p> + It was on the last evening of my stay at his house that he told the + ensuing story to me and Captain Good, who was dining with him. He had + eaten his dinner and drunk two or three glasses of old port, just to help + Good and myself to the end of the second bottle. It was an unusual thing + for him to do, for he was a most abstemious man, having conceived, as he + used to say, a great horror of drink from observing its effects upon the + class of men—hunters, transport riders, and others—amongst + whom he had passed so many years of his life. Consequently the good wine + took more effect on him that it would have done on most men, sending a + little flush into his wrinkled cheeks, and making him talk more freely + than usual. + </p> + <p> + Dear old man! I can see him now, as he went limping up and down the + vestibule, with his grey hair sticking up in scrubbing-brush fashion, his + shrivelled yellow face, and his large dark eyes, that were as keen as any + hawk’s, and yet soft as a buck’s. The whole room was hung with trophies of + his numerous hunting expeditions, and he had some story about every one of + them, if only he could be got to tell them. Generally he would not, for he + was not very fond of narrating his own adventures, but to-night the port + wine made him more communicative. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, you brute!” he said, stopping beneath an unusually large skull of a + lion, which was fixed just over the mantelpiece, beneath a long row of + guns, its jaws distended to their utmost width. “Ah, you brute! you have + given me a lot of trouble for the last dozen years, and will, I suppose, + to my dying day.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell us the yarn, Quatermain,” said Good. “You have often promised to + tell me, and you never have.” + </p> + <p> + “You had better not ask me to,” he answered, “for it is a longish one.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” I said, “the evening is young, and there is some more port.” + </p> + <p> + Thus adjured, he filled his pipe from a jar of coarse-cut Boer tobacco + that was always standing on the mantelpiece, and still walking up and down + the room, began— + </p> + <p> + “It was, I think, in the March of ‘69 that I was up in Sikukuni’s country. + It was just after old Sequati’s time, and Sikukuni had got into power—I + forget how. Anyway, I was there. I had heard that the Bapedi people had + brought down an enormous quantity of ivory from the interior, and so I + started with a waggon-load of goods, and came straight away from + Middelburg to try and trade some of it. It was a risky thing to go into + the country so early, on account of the fever; but I knew that there were + one or two others after that lot of ivory, so I determined to have a try + for it, and take my chance of fever. I had become so tough from continual + knocking about that I did not set it down at much. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I got on all right for a while. It is a wonderfully beautiful piece + of bush veldt, with great ranges of mountains running through it, and + round granite koppies starting up here and there, looking out like + sentinels over the rolling waste of bush. But it is very hot—hot as + a stew-pan—and when I was there that March, which, of course, is + autumn in this part of Africa, the whole place reeked of fever. Every + morning, as I trekked along down by the Oliphant River, I used to creep + from the waggon at dawn and look out. But there was no river to be seen—only + a long line of billows of what looked like the finest cotton wool tossed + up lightly with a pitchfork. It was the fever mist. Out from among the + scrub, too, came little spirals of vapour, as though there were hundreds + of tiny fires alight in it—reek rising from thousands of tons of + rotting vegetation. It was a beautiful place, but the beauty was the + beauty of death; and all those lines and blots of vapour wrote one great + word across the surface of the country, and that word was ‘fever.’ + </p> + <p> + “It was a dreadful year of illness that. I came, I remember, to one little + kraal of Knobnoses, and went up to it to see if I could get some <i>maas</i>, + or curdled butter-milk, and a few mealies. As I drew near I was struck + with the silence of the place. No children began to chatter, and no dogs + barked. Nor could I see any native sheep or cattle. The place, though it + had evidently been recently inhabited, was as still as the bush round it, + and some guinea fowl got up out of the prickly pear bushes right at the + kraal gate. I remember that I hesitated a little before going in, there + was such an air of desolation about the spot. Nature never looks desolate + when man has not yet laid his hand upon her breast; she is only lonely. + But when man has been, and has passed away, then she looks desolate. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I passed into the kraal, and went up to the principal hut. In front + of the hut was something with an old sheep-skin <i>kaross</i> thrown over + it. I stooped down and drew off the rug, and then shrank back amazed, for + under it was the body of a young woman recently dead. For a moment I + thought of turning back, but my curiosity overcame me; so going past the + dead woman I went down on my hands and knees and crept into the hut. It + was so dark that I could not see anything, though I could smell a great + deal, so I lit a match. It was a ‘tandstickor’ match, and burnt slowly and + dimly, and as the light gradually increased I made out what I took to be a + family of people, men, women, and children, fast asleep. Presently it + burnt up brightly, and I saw that they too, five of them altogether, were + quite dead. One was a baby. I dropped the match in a hurry, and was making + my way from the hut as quick as I could go, when I caught sight of two + bright eyes staring out of a corner. Thinking it was a wild cat, or some + such animal, I redoubled my haste, when suddenly a voice near the eyes + began first to mutter, and then to send up a succession of awful yells. + </p> + <p> + “Hastily I lit another match, and perceived that the eyes belonged to an + old woman, wrapped up in a greasy leather garment. Taking her by the arm, + I dragged her out, for she could not, or would not, come by herself, and + the stench was overpowering me. Such a sight as she was—a bag of + bones, covered over with black, shrivelled parchment. The only white thing + about her was her wool, and she seemed to be pretty well dead except for + her eyes and her voice. She thought that I was a devil come to take her, + and that is why she yelled so. Well, I got her down to the waggon, and + gave her a ‘tot’ of Cape smoke, and then, as soon as it was ready, poured + about a pint of beef-tea down her throat, made from the flesh of a blue + vilderbeeste I had killed the day before, and after that she brightened up + wonderfully. She could talk Zulu—indeed, it turned out that she had + run away from Zululand in T’Chaka’s time—and she told me that all + the people whom I had seen had died of fever. When they had died the other + inhabitants of the kraal had taken the cattle and gone away, leaving the + poor old woman, who was helpless from age and infirmity, to perish of + starvation or disease, as the case might be. She had been sitting there + for three days among the bodies when I found her. I took her on to the + next kraal, and gave the headman a blanket to look after her, promising + him another if I found her well when I came back. I remember that he was + much astonished at my parting with two blankets for the sake of such a + worthless old creature. ‘Why did I not leave her in the bush?’ he asked. + Those people carry the doctrine of the survival of the fittest to its + extreme, you see. + </p> + <p> + “It was the night after I had got rid of the old woman that I made my + first acquaintance with my friend yonder,” and he nodded towards the skull + that seemed to be grinning down at us in the shadow of the wide + mantel-shelf. “I had trekked from dawn till eleven o’clock—a long + trek—but I wanted to get on, and had turned the oxen out to graze, + sending the voorlooper to look after them, my intention being to inspan + again about six o’clock, and trek with the moon till ten. Then I got into + the waggon, and had a good sleep till half-past two or so in the + afternoon, when I rose and cooked some meat, and had my dinner, washing it + down with a pannikin of black coffee—for it was difficult to get + preserved milk in those days. Just as I had finished, and the driver, a + man called Tom, was washing up the things, in comes the young scoundrel of + a voorlooper driving one ox before him. + </p> + <p> + “‘Where are the other oxen?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + “‘Koos!’ he said, ‘Koos! the other oxen have gone away. I turned my back + for a minute, and when I looked round again they were all gone except + Kaptein, here, who was rubbing his back against a tree.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You mean that you have been asleep, and let them stray, you villain. I + will rub your back against a stick,’ I answered, feeling very angry, for + it was not a pleasant prospect to be stuck up in that fever trap for a + week or so while we were hunting for the oxen. ‘Off you go, and you too, + Tom, and mind you don’t come back till you have found them. They have + trekked back along the Middelburg Road, and are a dozen miles off by now, + I’ll be bound. Now, no words; go both of you.’ + </p> + <p> + “Tom, the driver, swore, and caught the lad a hearty kick, which he richly + deserved, and then, having tied old Kaptein up to the disselboom with a + reim, they took their assegais and sticks, and started. I would have gone + too, only I knew that somebody must look after the waggon, and I did not + like to leave either of the boys with it at night. I was in a very bad + temper, indeed, although I was pretty well used to these sort of + occurrences, and soothed myself by taking a rifle and going to kill + something. For a couple of hours I poked about without seeing anything + that I could get a shot at, but at last, just as I was again within + seventy yards of the waggon, I put up an old Impala ram from behind a + mimosa thorn. He ran straight for the waggon, and it was not till he was + passing within a few feet of it that I could get a decent shot at him. + Then I pulled, and caught him half-way down the spine; over he went, dead + as a door-nail, and a pretty shot it was, though I ought not to say it. + This little incident put me into rather a better humour, especially as the + buck had rolled over right against the after-part of the waggon, so I had + only to gut him, fix a reim round his legs, and haul him up. By the time I + had done this the sun was down, and the full moon was up, and a beautiful + moon it was. And then there came down that wonderful hush which sometimes + falls over the African bush in the early hours of the night. No beast was + moving, and no bird called. Not a breath of air stirred the quiet trees, + and the shadows did not even quiver, they only grew. It was very + oppressive and very lonely, for there was not a sign of the cattle or the + boys. I was quite thankful for the society of old Kaptein, who was lying + down contentedly against the disselboom, chewing the cud with a good + conscience. + </p> + <p> + “Presently, however, Kaptein began to get restless. First he snorted, then + he got up and snorted again. I could not make it out, so like a fool I got + down off the waggon-box to have a look round, thinking it might be the + lost oxen coming. + </p> + <p> + “Next instant I regretted it, for all of a sudden I heard a roar and saw + something yellow flash past me and light on poor Kaptein. Then came a + bellow of agony from the ox, and a crunch as the lion put his teeth + through the poor brute’s neck, and I began to realize what had happened. + My rifle was in the waggon, and my first thought being to get hold of it, + I turned and made a bolt for it. I got my foot on the wheel and flung my + body forward on to the waggon, and there I stopped as if I were frozen, + and no wonder, for as I was about to spring up I heard the lion behind me, + and next second I felt the brute, ay, as plainly as I can feel this table. + I felt him, I say, sniffing at my left leg that was hanging down. + </p> + <p> + “My word! I did feel queer; I don’t think that I ever felt so queer + before. I dared not move for the life of me, and the odd thing was that I + seemed to lose power over my leg, which had an insane sort of inclination + to kick out of its own mere motion—just as hysterical people want to + laugh when they ought to be particularly solemn. Well, the lion sniffed + and sniffed, beginning at my ankle and slowly nosing away up to my thigh. + I thought that he was going to get hold then, but he did not. He only + growled softly, and went back to the ox. Shifting my head a little I got a + full view of him. He was about the biggest lion I ever saw, and I have + seen a great many, and he had a most tremendous black mane. What his teeth + were like you can see—look there, pretty big ones, ain’t they? + Altogether he was a magnificent animal, and as I lay there sprawling on + the fore-tongue of the waggon, it occurred to me that he would look + uncommonly well in a cage. He stood there by the carcass of poor Kaptein, + and deliberately disembowelled him as neatly as a butcher could have done. + All this while I dared not move, for he kept lifting his head and keeping + an eye on me as he licked his bloody chops. When he had cleared Kaptein + out he opened his mouth and roared, and I am not exaggerating when I say + that the sound shook the waggon. Instantly there came back an answering + roar. + </p> + <p> + “‘Heavens!’ I thought, ‘there is his mate.’ + </p> + <p> + “Hardly was the thought out of my head when I caught sight in the + moonlight of the lioness bounding along through the long grass, and after + her a couple of cubs about the size of mastiffs. She stopped within a few + feet of my head, and stood, waved her tail, and fixed me with her glowing + yellow eyes; but just as I thought that it was all over she turned and + began to feed on Kaptein, and so did the cubs. There were four of them + within eight feet of me, growling and quarrelling, rending and tearing, + and crunching poor Kaptein’s bones; and there I lay shaking with terror, + and the cold perspiration pouring out of me, feeling like another Daniel + come to judgment in a new sense of the phrase. Presently the cubs had + eaten their fill, and began to get restless. One went round to the back of + the waggon and pulled at the Impala buck that hung there, and the other + came round my way and commenced the sniffing game at my leg. Indeed, he + did more than that, for my trouser being hitched up a little, he began to + lick the bare skin with his rough tongue. The more he licked the more he + liked it, to judge from his increased vigour and the loud purring noise he + made. Then I knew that the end had come, for in another second his + file-like tongue would have rasped through the skin of my leg—which + was luckily pretty tough—and have tasted the blood, and then there + would be no chance for me. So I just lay there and thought of my sins, and + prayed to the Almighty, and reflected that after all life was a very + enjoyable thing. + </p> + <p> + “Then all of a sudden I heard a crashing of bushes and the shouting and + whistling of men, and there were the two boys coming back with the cattle, + which they had found trekking along all together. The lions lifted their + heads and listened, then bounded off without a sound—and I fainted. + </p> + <p> + “The lions came back no more that night, and by the next morning my nerves + had got pretty straight again; but I was full of wrath when I thought of + all that I had gone through at the hands, or rather noses, of those four + brutes, and of the fate of my after-ox Kaptein. He was a splendid ox, and + I was very fond of him. So wroth was I that like a fool I determined to + attack the whole family of them. It was worthy of a greenhorn out on his + first hunting trip; but I did it nevertheless. Accordingly after + breakfast, having rubbed some oil upon my leg, which was very sore from + the cub’s tongue, I took the driver, Tom, who did not half like the + business, and having armed myself with an ordinary double No. 12 + smoothbore, the first breechloader I ever had, I started. I took the + smoothbore because it shot a bullet very well; and my experience has been + that a round ball from a smoothbore is quite as effective against a lion + as an express bullet. The lion is soft, and not a difficult animal to + finish if you hit him anywhere in the body. A buck takes far more killing. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I started, and the first thing I set to work to do was to try to + discover whereabouts the brutes lay up for the day. About three hundred + yards from the waggon was the crest of a rise covered with single mimosa + trees, dotted about in a park-like fashion, and beyond this was a stretch + of open plain running down to a dry pan, or waterhole, which covered about + an acre of ground, and was densely clothed with reeds, now in the sere and + yellow leaf. From the further edge of this pan the ground sloped up again + to a great cleft, or nullah, which had been cut out by the action of the + water, and was pretty thickly sprinkled with bush, amongst which grew some + large trees, I forget of what sort. + </p> + <p> + “It at once struck me that the dry pan would be a likely place to find my + friends in, as there is nothing a lion is fonder of than lying up in + reeds, through which he can see things without being seen himself. + Accordingly thither I went and prospected. Before I had got half-way round + the pan I found the remains of a blue vilderbeeste that had evidently been + killed within the last three or four days and partially devoured by lions; + and from other indications about I was soon assured that if the family + were not in the pan that day they spent a good deal of their spare time + there. But if there, the question was how to get them out; for it was + clearly impossible to think of going in after them unless one was quite + determined to commit suicide. Now there was a strong wind blowing from the + direction of the waggon, across the reedy pan towards the bush-clad kloof + or donga, and this first gave me the idea of firing the reeds, which, as I + think I told you, were pretty dry. Accordingly Tom took some matches and + began starting little fires to the left, and I did the same to the right. + But the reeds were still green at the bottom, and we should never have got + them well alight had it not been for the wind, which grew stronger and + stronger as the sun climbed higher, and forced the fire into them. At + last, after half-an-hour’s trouble, the flames got a hold, and began to + spread out like a fan, whereupon I went round to the further side of the + pan to wait for the lions, standing well out in the open, as we stood at + the copse to-day where you shot the woodcock. It was a rather risky thing + to do, but I used to be so sure of my shooting in those days that I did + not so much as mind the risk. Scarcely had I got round when I heard the + reeds parting before the onward rush of some animal. ‘Now for it,’ said I. + On it came. I could see that it was yellow, and prepared for action, when + instead of a lion out bounded a beautiful reit bok which had been lying in + the shelter of the pan. It must, by the way, have been a reit bok of a + peculiarly confiding nature to lay itself down with the lion, like the + lamb of prophecy, but I suppose the reeds were thick, and that it kept a + long way off. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I let the reit bok go, and it went like the wind, and kept my eyes + fixed upon the reeds. The fire was burning like a furnace now; the flames + crackling and roaring as they bit into the reeds, sending spouts of fire + twenty feet and more into the air, and making the hot air dance above it + in a way that was perfectly dazzling. But the reeds were still half green, + and created an enormous quantity of smoke, which came rolling towards me + like a curtain, lying very low on account of the wind. Presently, above + the crackling of the fire, I heard a startled roar, then another and + another. So the lions were at home. + </p> + <p> + “I was beginning to get excited now, for, as you fellows know, there is + nothing in experience to warm up your nerves like a lion at close + quarters, unless it is a wounded buffalo; and I became still more so when + I made out through the smoke that the lions were all moving about on the + extreme edge of the reeds. Occasionally they would pop their heads out + like rabbits from a burrow, and then, catching sight of me standing about + fifty yards away, draw them back again. I knew that it must be getting + pretty warm behind them, and that they could not keep the game up for + long; and I was not mistaken, for suddenly all four of them broke cover + together, the old black-maned lion leading by a few yards. I never saw a + more splendid sight in all my hunting experience than those four lions + bounding across the veldt, overshadowed by the dense pall of smoke and + backed by the fiery furnace of the burning reeds. + </p> + <p> + “I reckoned that they would pass, on their way to the bushy kloof, within + about five and twenty yards of me, so, taking a long breath, I got my gun + well on to the lion’s shoulder—the black-maned one—so as to + allow for an inch or two of motion, and catch him through the heart. I was + on, dead on, and my finger was just beginning to tighten on the trigger, + when suddenly I went blind—a bit of reed-ash had drifted into my + right eye. I danced and rubbed, and succeeded in clearing it more or less + just in time to see the tail of the last lion vanishing round the bushes + up the kloof. + </p> + <p> + “If ever a man was mad I was that man. It was too bad; and such a shot in + the open! However, I was not going to be beaten, so I just turned and + marched for the kloof. Tom, the driver, begged and implored me not to go, + but though as a personal rule I never pretend to be very brave (which I am + not), I was determined that I would either kill those lions or they should + kill me. So I told Tom that he need not come unless he liked, but I was + going; and being a plucky fellow, a Swazi by birth, he shrugged his + shoulders, muttered that I was mad or bewitched, and followed doggedly in + my tracks. + </p> + <p> + “We soon reached the kloof, which was about three hundred yards in length + and but sparsely wooded, and then the real fun began. There might be a + lion behind every bush—there certainly were four lions somewhere; + the delicate question was, where. I peeped and poked and looked in every + possible direction, with my heart in my mouth, and was at last rewarded by + catching a glimpse of something yellow moving behind a bush. At the same + moment, from another bush opposite me out burst one of the cubs and + galloped back towards the burnt pan. I whipped round and let drive a snap + shot that tipped him head over heels, breaking his back within two inches + of the root of the tail, and there he lay helpless but glaring. Tom + afterwards killed him with his assegai. I opened the breech of the gun and + hurriedly pulled out the old case, which, to judge from what ensued, must, + I suppose, have burst and left a portion of its fabric sticking to the + barrel. At any rate, when I tried to get in the new cartridge it would + only enter half-way; and—would you believe it?—this was the + moment that the lioness, attracted no doubt by the outcry of her cub, + chose to put in an appearance. There she stood, twenty paces or so from + me, lashing her tail and looking just as wicked as it is possible to + conceive. Slowly I stepped backwards, trying to push in the new case, and + as I did so she moved on in little runs, dropping down after each run. The + danger was imminent, and the case would not go in. At the moment I oddly + enough thought of the cartridge maker, whose name I will not mention, and + earnestly hoped that if the lion got <i>me</i> some condign punishment + would overtake <i>him</i>. It would not go in, so I tried to pull it out. + It would not come out either, and my gun was useless if I could not shut + it to use the other barrel. I might as well have had no gun. + </p> + <p> + “Meanwhile I was walking backward, keeping my eye on the lioness, who was + creeping forward on her belly without a sound, but lashing her tail and + keeping her eye on me; and in it I saw that she was coming in a few + seconds more. I dashed my wrist and the palm of my hand against the brass + rim of the cartridge till the blood poured from them—look, there are + the scars of it to this day!” + </p> + <p> + Here Quatermain held up his right hand to the light and showed us four or + five white cicatrices just where the wrist is set into the hand. + </p> + <p> + “But it was not of the slightest use,” he went on; “the cartridge would + not move. I only hope that no other man will ever be put in such an awful + position. The lioness gathered herself together, and I gave myself up for + lost, when suddenly Tom shouted out from somewhere in my rear— + </p> + <p> + “‘You are walking on to the wounded cub; turn to the right.’ + </p> + <p> + “I had the sense, dazed as I was, to take the hint, and slewing round at + right-angles, but still keeping my eyes on the lioness, I continued my + backward walk. + </p> + <p> + “To my intense relief, with a low growl she straightened herself, turned, + and bounded further up the kloof. + </p> + <p> + “‘Come on, Inkoos,’ said Tom, ‘let’s get back to the waggon.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘All right, Tom,’ I answered. ‘I will when I have killed those three + other lions,’ for by this time I was bent on shooting them as I never + remember being bent on anything before or since. ‘You can go if you like, + or you can get up a tree.’ + </p> + <p> + “He considered the position a little, and then he very wisely got up a + tree. I wish that I had done the same. + </p> + <p> + “Meanwhile I had found my knife, which had an extractor in it, and + succeeded after some difficulty in pulling out the cartridge which had so + nearly been the cause of my death, and removing the obstruction in the + barrel. It was very little thicker than a postage-stamp; certainly not + thicker than a piece of writing-paper. This done, I loaded the gun, bound + a handkerchief round my wrist and hand to staunch the flowing of the + blood, and started on again. + </p> + <p> + “I had noticed that the lioness went into a thick green bush, or rather a + cluster of bushes, growing near the water, about fifty yards higher up, + for there was a little stream running down the kloof, and I walked towards + this bush. When I got there, however, I could see nothing, so I took up a + big stone and threw it into the bushes. I believe that it hit the other + cub, for out it came with a rush, giving me a broadside shot, of which I + promptly availed myself, knocking it over dead. Out, too, came the lioness + like a flash of light, but quick as she went I managed to put the other + bullet into her ribs, so that she rolled right over three times like a + shot rabbit. I instantly got two more cartridges into the gun, and as I + did so the lioness rose again and came crawling towards me on her + fore-paws, roaring and groaning, and with such an expression of diabolical + fury on her countenance as I have not often seen. I shot her again through + the chest, and she fell over on to her side quite dead. + </p> + <p> + “That was the first and last time that I ever killed a brace of lions + right and left, and, what is more, I never heard of anybody else doing it. + Naturally I was considerably pleased with myself, and having again loaded + up, I went on to look for the black-maned beauty who had killed Kaptein. + Slowly, and with the greatest care, I proceeded up the kloof, searching + every bush and tuft of grass as I went. It was wonderfully exciting work, + for I never was sure from one moment to another but that he would be on + me. I took comfort, however, from the reflection that a lion rarely + attacks a man—rarely, I say; sometimes he does, as you will see—unless + he is cornered or wounded. I must have been nearly an hour hunting after + that lion. Once I thought I saw something move in a clump of tambouki + grass, but I could not be sure, and when I trod out the grass I could not + find him. + </p> + <p> + “At last I worked up to the head of the kloof, which made a <i>cul-de-sac</i>. + It was formed of a wall of rock about fifty feet high. Down this rock + trickled a little waterfall, and in front of it, some seventy feet from + its face, was a great piled-up mass of boulders, in the crevices and on + the top of which grew ferns, grasses, and stunted bushes. This mass was + about twenty-five feet high. The sides of the kloof here were also very + steep. Well, I came to the top of the nullah and looked all round. No + signs of the lion. Evidently I had either overlooked him further down, or + he had escaped right away. It was very vexatious; but still three lions + were not a bad bag for one gun before dinner, and I was fain to be + content. Accordingly I departed back again, making my way round the + isolated pillar of boulders, beginning to feel, as I did so, that I was + pretty well done up with excitement and fatigue, and should be more so + before I had skinned those three lions. When I had got, as nearly as I + could judge, about eighteen yards past the pillar or mass of boulders, I + turned to have another look round. I have a pretty sharp eye, but I could + see nothing at all. + </p> + <p> + “Then, on a sudden, I saw something sufficiently alarming. On the top of + the mass of boulders, opposite to me, standing out clear against the rocks + beyond, was the huge black-maned lion. He had been crouching there, and + now arose as though by magic. There he stood lashing his tail, just like a + living reproduction of the animal on the gateway of Northumberland House + that I have seen in a picture. But he did not stand long. Before I could + fire—before I could do more than get the gun to my shoulder—he + sprang straight up and out from the rock, and driven by the impetus of + that one mighty bound came hurtling through the air towards me. + </p> + <p> + “Heavens! how grand he looked, and how awful! High into the air he flew, + describing a great arch. Just as he touched the highest point of his + spring I fired. I did not dare to wait, for I saw that he would clear the + whole space and land right upon me. Without a sight, almost without aim, I + fired, as one would fire a snap shot at a snipe. The bullet told, for I + distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound caused by the passage of + the lion through the air. Next second I was swept to the ground (luckily I + fell into a low, creeper-clad bush, which broke the shock) and the lion + was on the top of me, and the next those great white teeth of his had met + in my thigh—I heard them grate against the bone. I yelled out in + agony, for I did not feel in the least benumbed and happy, like Dr. + Livingstone—who, by the way, I knew very well—and gave myself + up for dead. But suddenly, as I did so, the lion’s grip on my thigh + loosened, and he stood over me, swaying to and fro, his huge mouth, from + which the blood was gushing, wide open. Then he roared, and the sound + shook the rocks. + </p> + <p> + “To and fro he swung, and suddenly the great head dropped on me, knocking + all the breath from my body, and he was dead. My bullet had entered in the + centre of his chest and passed out on the right side of the spine about + half-way down the back. + </p> + <p> + “The pain of my wound kept me from fainting, and as soon as I got my + breath I managed to drag myself from under him. Thank heavens, his great + teeth had not crushed my thigh-bone; but I was losing a great deal of + blood, and had it not been for the timely arrival of Tom, with whose aid I + loosed the handkerchief from my wrist and tied it round my leg, twisting + it tight with a stick, I think that I should have bled to death. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it was a just reward for my folly in trying to tackle a family of + lions single-handed. The odds were too long. I have been lame ever since, + and shall be to my dying day; in the month of March the wound always + troubles me a great deal, and every three years it breaks out raw. + </p> + <p> + “I need scarcely add that I never traded the lot of ivory at Sikukuni’s. + Another man got it—a German—and made five hundred pounds out + of it after paying expenses. I spent the month on the broad of my back, + and was a cripple for six months after that. And now I’ve told you the + yarn, so I will have a drop of Hollands and go to bed. Good-night to you + all, good-night!” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Long Odds, by H. Rider Haggard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LONG ODDS *** + +***** This file should be named 2730-h.htm or 2730-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/3/2730/ + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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