The Young Colonists: A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars Read online

themburning briskly, but it will probably be some hours before they workthemselves up to make an attack upon us."

  As the time went on, the roaring became louder and more continuous.

  "There must be a score of them at least," Mr Harvey said; "they areranging round and round the camp; they don't like the look of thefires."

  By ten o'clock the roaring had approached so closely that Mr Harveythought that it was time to prepare for the defence; he took post at oneside of the square, and placed the boys and Jumbo at the other three;Tony and the other hunter were to keep outside the cattle, and walkround and round. The armed natives were scattered round the square.The drivers and cattle-men were to move about among the animals, and dotheir best to pacify them, for already a perfect panic had seized uponthe draught-cattle, and with starting eyes and coats ruffled by fearthey were tugging and straining at their ropes.

  "Quiet, you silly beasts," Dick said, leaning out of the waggon in whichhe had taken his place; "you are safer where you are than you would beanywhere else. If you got away and bolted out into the plain, as youwant to do, you would be pulled down and killed in no time."

  The fires were now blazing brightly, throwing a wide circle of lightround the camp and making visible every object within fifty yards.

  It had been arranged that so long as the lions kept at a distance andonly approached singly the defenders of the various faces of the squareshould retain their positions; but that, should a formidable attack bemade upon any one side, the white men with two of the natives with themshould hasten to the point attacked.

  Several times, as Dick stood in the waggon, rifle in hand, straining hiseyes at the darkness, he fancied he saw indistinct shadowy forms movingat the edge of the circle of light. Two or three times he raised hisrifle to take aim, but the objects were so indistinct that he doubtedwhether his fancy had not deceived him.

  Presently the crack of Mr Harvey's rifle was heard, followed by a roarof a sharper and more angry nature than those which had preceded it. Asif a signal had been given, three or four creatures came with greatbounds out of the darkness towards the side where Dick was posted.Taking a steady aim, he fired. Tony, who was outside with the cattle onthat side of the square, did the same. The other natives had beenordered to retain their fire until the lions were close enough to ensureeach shot telling. The lion at which Dick had aimed paused for a momentwith a terrific roar, and then bounded forward again. When he camewithin twenty yards of the oxen, the four natives posted by Dick's sidefired. The lion for a moment fell; then, gathering itself together, itsprang on to the back of a bullock, just in front of where Dick wasstanding. The lad had a second rifle in readiness, and leaning forwardhe placed the muzzle within two yards of the lion's head and fired. Theanimal rolled off the back of the bullock, who, with the one standingnext to him, at once began to kick at it endeavouring to get their headsround to gore it with their horns. The lion, however, lay unmoved;Dick's last shot had been fatal.

  The other lions on this side had bounded back into the darkness. Fromthe other sides of the square the sound of firing proclaimed thatsimilar attacks had been made; but, as there was no summons for aid,Dick supposed that the attacks were isolated ones, and so, afterrecharging his rifles, he remained quietly at his post.

  For some hours the attack was not renewed, though the continuous roaringshowed that the lions were still close at hand. Mr Harvey went roundand advised the boys to lie down at their posts and get a little sleep,as the natives would keep watch.

  "I don't think we have done with them yet," he said; "we have killedthree, but I think, by the roaring, the number has considerablyincreased within the last hour. It is probable that an attack will bemade an hour or so before daybreak, and I expect it will be in earnestnext time."

  Dick accordingly lay down to sleep, but he was too excited to close hiseyes.

  After a long time it seemed to him that the roaring was dying away, anda drowsiness was stealing over him, when suddenly Mr Harvey's rifle washeard, and he shouted,--

  "To this side--quick! they are upon us."

  Dick, Tom, and Jumbo, with the six natives, leapt from the waggons, and,running across the little enclosure, scrambled up into those on theother side. There was a momentary silence here, the whole of thedefendants having discharged their pieces, and a number of lionsbounding across the open were already close to the cattle.

  The new-comers at once opened fire. Two or three of the lions sprangamong the cattle; but the rest, intimidated by the noise and flash ofthe guns, and by the yelling and shouting of the natives, turned andmade off again. Those among the cattle were soon disposed of, but notbefore they had killed three of the draught-oxen and seriously torn twoothers.

  The roaring continued until daybreak, gradually, however, growingfainter and more distant, and it was evident that the attack had ceased.

  "Are their skins worth anything?" Dick asked.

  "Yes, they are worth a few dollars apiece, except in the case of oldlions, who are apt to become mangy, and these are not worth skinning.We have killed eight of them, but their skins will not be worth anythinglike so much as the cattle they have killed; however, it is well that itis no worse. An attack by these troops of lions is no joke; they are byfar the most formidable animals of South Africa I don't say that anattack by a herd of wild elephants would not be more serious, but Inever heard of such a thing taking place. They are timid creatures, andeasily scared, and except in the case of wounded animals or of solitarybulls they can scarcely be considered as dangerous."

  When day broke, the natives set to work to skin the lions, with theexception of one whose skin was valueless. As soon as the operation wascompleted, the skins were packed in the waggons, the oxen wereinspanned, and the caravan proceeded on its way, all being glad to leaveso dangerous a locality.

  The next evening they encamped upon a river, and the night passedwithout interruption. The following morning, just as they were about tostart, Tony, who with the other hunters had gone out at daybreak,returned with the news that he had found the spoor of elephants, andthat he believed a herd had passed along only a few hours before.

  Mr Harvey at once decided to halt where he was for another day. Theoxen were again unyoked, and six of the armed natives having been leftto guard the camp, under the direction of Jumbo, the whole of the rest,with the white men, set off in pursuit of the elephants.

  The spoor was quite distinct, and even had this failed, there would havebeen no difficulty in following the track, for there were scattered hereand there trees, and the elephants in passing had broken off manyboughs, which, stripped of their leaves, lay upon the ground they hadtraversed.

  Tony and the other hunter, whose name was Blacking, a sobriquet gainedfrom the extreme swarthiness of his skin, scouted ahead, and presentlyheld up their hands to those following them to advance quietly. Thetrees were very thick here, and Mr Harvey and the boys dismounted andled their horses to the spot where the hunters had halted. They werestanding at the edge of a large circular clearing, three quarters of amile in diameter; it had probably at one time been the site of a nativevillage, for there were signs of cultivation, and a number of scatteredheads of maize rose here and there, the descendants of a bygone mealyplantation. Feeding upon these were a herd of some twenty elephants; ofthese the greater portion were females or young ones, but there werethree fine males--one, a beast of unusual size.

  "That is the master of the herd," Mr Harvey said, "a savage-looking oldcustomer; he has a splendid pair of tusks, although the tip of one," headded, gazing at the elephant through his field-glass, "is broken off.I think that for the present we will leave him alone, and direct ourattention to the other two males. I will take Tom and Jumbo with me;you, Dick, shall have Tony and Blacking. Three of the natives shall gowith each party, but you must not rely upon them much; and, remember,the one fatal spot is the forehead. Fasten your horses up here, andleave two of the natives in charge. Let the other six go round to theopposite side of the cl
earing and advance slowly from that direction,showing themselves occasionally, so as to draw the attention of the herdtowards them. The elephants will probably move leisurely in thisdirection. Take your station behind trees, moving your positioncarefully as they approach, so as to place yourselves as near aspossible in the line of the elephant you have fixed on. We will take upour station a hundred yards to the right of where we are standing; doyou go as far to the left. The natives will take the horses into athicket some distance in the rear. Whichever of the two young maleelephants comes nearest to you is your mark, ours is the other. If theykeep near each other, we shall probably meet again here."

  The two parties moved off to the places assigned to them, and thenatives whose duty it was to drive the elephants started to theirpositions. Keeping some little distance back among the trees, so thatthey could observe the movements of the elephants,