By this time Denis and Percy were near enough to fire with effect.
Denis knocked over one of the dogs, and the rest, frightened by the report, turned tail and scampered off. The lads rushed forward, eager to obtain some of the flesh of the gnu. The animal was already dead, so they were saved the trouble of shooting it. They at once cut off some slices, while the two dogs, who had refused to remain with Gozo, ate a hearty meal.
"We must take some of this back to the poor fellow we left under the tree," said Denis.
Percy agreed; and much revived themselves, they set off by the way they had come. They hurried on, hoping to find Gozo still alive. As they approached they shouted out to give him notice that they were coming.
The dogs on this ran forward; but as they got near to the spot, stopped and gazed towards it, and then came back.
"What can have happened?" asked Percy. "Surely Gozo cannot have died during the short time we have been absent, yet otherwise the dogs would have remained."
They hurried on to find Gozo lying at full length where they had left him. His eyes were open, but staring meaninglessly. Denis called him by name. He made no reply. He lifted his hand, it felt cold and clammy, and fell as he let it go; his heart had ceased to beat.
Notwithstanding this, he pressed some of the juice from the flesh they had brought, into his mouth. They lifted up his head, they rubbed his feet, but all in vain. They saw with sorrow that they had been too late to save him. To remain longer would be useless, and already the journey back had occupied some time.
"We must hurry on to save our own lives," said Denis; "if we don"t find water in an hour or two, we shall be badly off indeed."
They therefore left the body of the Kaffir where it lay, his rifle by his side, but they wisely carried off his ammunition, in case their own should run short. Sometimes they thought they saw shrubs which could only grow near water, but on getting up to them they were disappointed at not finding the slightest signs of moisture. Although the flesh of the gnu had greatly revived them, still in a short time their thirst returned. They pressed onward as before, the dogs ranging on either side, apparently aware of what they were in search of, or prompted by instinct to look out for themselves. Still there were no signs of water. They went on for fully an hour more, during which time they could have got over only between two or three miles, for they could not walk very fast.
They had gone some way farther when Percy caught sight of some objects moving over the plain, now stopping, now going on again.
"They are small animals of some sort," said Denis, to whom he pointed them out. "We must try and get near them without putting them to flight. Depend upon it they are not likely to be far from water."
There were some bushes at a little distance, to which the lads made their way, in order to get near the creatures without being seen.
"Why, I believe they are baboons!" cried Denis; "the Kaffirs call the creature the chacma. They are hunting for babiana root, which is always full of water. We can drive them off just as they have begun to dig, and before they have got hold of the roots we shall secure as many as we want for ourselves. Had we seen them only a few hours ago, poor Gozo"s life might have been saved."
They were now getting near to the bushes, and the baboons, being very busy, had fortunately not perceived them. They crept on cautiously until they had got within fifty yards of the animals. There were a couple of dozen at least. Some had got hold of roots which they were eagerly eating, others were busily digging away in the sand. The lads had some difficulty in keeping back the dogs; for as soon as they saw the baboons they made efforts to rush at them, and very probably would have suffered severely in consequence.
"Now," whispered Denis, "I see three or four have been digging away not far off, evidently expecting to find roots. In a few seconds we"ll fire, then shout, and let slip the dogs."
They did as he proposed. The baboons, frightened at the unusual sounds, and seeing the unknown creatures coming towards them, scampered off as hard as they could go. Denis and Percy rushed forward to the holes which the baboons had made, and digging eagerly with their hands, each of them soon came to a root, and rubbing off the sand which adhered to the outsides, put them to their mouths. Perfectly refreshing and cool was the pulpy substance, full of the purest water. The dogs eagerly gobbled up the portions they threw away. They went to another and another hole, in each of which a root was found. The effect was almost instantaneous; they at once felt refreshed and strengthened. Having satisfied their own thirst, they found two more roots, which they gave to the dogs; but the baboons had already extracted the roots from the other holes, and after searching for some time they could find no more.
Although they themselves felt revived, they did not forget the object of their expedition, and resolved to continue on; but it occurred to Denis that as the baboons had come to the place to obtain roots, it was not likely that they would find any water in the neighbourhood.
"That makes it more important that we should push on as fast as possible," said Percy; "but I say, Denis, do you think there"s any chance of our getting back to the waggon to-night? It is already late."
Denis looked at the sun, which was sinking towards the west.
"Faith! I was not thinking how time was pa.s.sing," he answered; "and, to say the truth, I"m pretty sure we shan"t get back, and we must make up our minds to camp out. If we keep up a good fire to scare away the lions and other savage beasts, there will be no danger and no great hardship."
Percy, who did not like the thought of pa.s.sing the night in the wilderness, proposed that they should strike away to the right, or about due east, in the expectation of falling in with the track of the waggon, which he hoped might have been able to move on. Denis was of opinion that there was no chance of their getting as far before nightfall, and that it was very possible the oxen might not have been found, or if they had been found, that they would have been able to make much progress towards the north.
"We shall be wiser if we continue our search for water, and look out for some food; for now--thanks to the roots--my thirst is quenched, and I am getting very peckish," he added.
"So am I," said Percy; "but I am too anxious to get back to the waggon to think much about my hunger."
"You"ll not be so indifferent about food before long, let me tell you,"
observed Denis. "You"ll then feel that you"d rather bring down a springboc, or gnu, or any other animal we may come across, than see the waggon moving ever so merrily along. I know what it is to be starving, and to feel that one"s life depends on bringing down the game one is chasing. Come, move on! we will keep our eyes about us on the chance of finding something to shoot. When the sun gets lower, we will look out for a clump of trees or bushes which will shelter our camp from the night wind, and give us fuel for our fire."
"I would rather find a stream or water hole," said Percy.
"So would I, provided we could afterwards get something to eat and fuel to cook it; but if not, we must make the best of circ.u.mstances. Many people have been in a worse situation than we are, so don"t let us begin to complain yet," said Denis.
His indomitable spirits encouraged Percy, and they trudged on in the direction they were before going, looking eagerly about them, both for signs of water and for any animal which might appear near enough to give them a chance of shooting it. Denis was sure that Hendricks, should he find water, would at once set off on horseback in search of them in the direction he had desired them to take, and by his experience would quickly come upon their spoor and follow them up, or if he could not come himself, that he would send Umgolo. They were, of course, very sorry for the loss of poor Gozo, who would have been of great a.s.sistance both in obtaining food and searching for water, if any existed in the neighbourhood. Meantime the sun was sinking lower and lower, but neither game nor signs of water had they discovered. In vain Raff and Fangs ranged widely on either side of them, as eager as they were to find it.
Some way to the left there appeared a wood. The trees were not very high, but they would afford them the shelter and fuel they required, and Denis proposed that they should make towards them.
"It cannot be helped; we shall have to go without our suppers, I fear; but we must hope to find something for breakfast," said Denis.
Percy groaned. He had become, as Denis guessed he would, very hungry, and the lower limb of the sun had almost reached the horizon. They knew that soon after it had set darkness would come on, when it would be difficult to select a suitable spot for camping, or obtain time for collecting fuel. They had not gone far when Percy exclaimed, "Hallo, what"s that? What an enormous bird!" And Denis, looking to the right, in which direction Percy pointed, saw an ostrich scampering away across the plain.
Both the dogs instantly started off in chase, but the ostrich quickly outstripped them; and Denis, fearing that they might lose themselves or get exhausted to no purpose, called them back.
"Did you mark the spot it started from?" he asked eagerly. "We must try to find it. The chances are it was sitting on its eggs, and if they are tolerably fresh, they will serve us for food and liquid too."
"I think I can calculate the whereabouts of the place it rose from,"
said Percy; and they hastened on, keeping a little apart, that they might be able to examine a wider extent of ground than if they had been together. Denis could see nothing like a nest, and he began to fear that the ostrich had been merely resting after being chased, and that their hunt would be fruitless.
"It can"t be helped; we must make for the wood, or we shall not be able to see our way," he shouted to Percy.
Just then the latter exclaimed, "Hurrah! hurrah! five magnificent eggs!"
and he held up one of them with both hands.
Denis hurried to the spot. There, sure enough, resting in the centre of a clump of dry gra.s.s, with otherwise very little protection, were four large white eggs besides the one Percy had in his hand, each large enough to afford a good meal to them both.
Their hunger would have prompted them then and there to sit down and eat the contents raw, but Denis wisely advised that they should restrain their appet.i.tes and hasten on to the clump of trees. They accordingly each secured two in their handkerchiefs and Percy carried the fifth in his hand.
Although the sun had sunk by the time they got close to the wood, there was still light sufficient to enable them to collect a supply of broken branches and leaves for their fuel.
"Take care that you do not catch hold of a snake, fancying you are about to pick up a stick," cried Denis. "I nearly did so just now.
Fortunately the creature wriggled off more frightened at me than I was at it."
"You may trust me for that," said Percy; "but what do you say, instead of sleeping on the ground, to climbing up into a tree? I see one with the branches sufficiently low to enable us to get into it without difficulty. We should at least be out of the reach of lions."
"Yes, I agree with you it will be the safest place, although not the most comfortable, and we must remember to carry our guns with us, or we may chance to be besieged there as I once was," answered Denis, coming along with a bundle of sticks. "We"ll light our fire first, and cook an egg. If that is the tree you propose, let us pitch our camp beneath it;" and he threw down the sticks, while Percy hastened to bring those he had collected and left at a little distance.
"Holloa! I saw one of the branches move in a curious fashion," he exclaimed, looking up at the tree in which they proposed to form their resting-place for the night.
"A branch! why that"s a boa or snake of some sort, big enough to eat us both up, if so disposed," cried Denis.
They had fortunately not gone sufficiently close to enable the creature to spring down upon them, or the consequences might have been serious.
"We must dislodge that fellow, if we are to get up the tree," said Denis, raising his rifle. "I can see his head." And he fired.
The huge snake gave some convulsive struggles, trying to coil itself round and round the branch, but its folds speedily relaxed, and its head hung down towards the ground, still it clung on by its tail, the folds of its huge body twisting and writhing in a manner truly terrific as seen in the dim light beneath the deep foliage of the tree.
"We must put a stop to that fellow"s performances, or he may be doing us some mischief still," cried Percy; and raising his rifle he fired. In a few seconds down fell the big snake to the ground; its tail, however, still kept moving, and Denis, who had reloaded his rifle with small shot, stepping forward, discharged it at the tail end of the body. The effect was instantaneous--its struggles ceased--the huge snake lay dead.
"I only hope there may not be more up the tree. You see we might have been in as much danger among the branches as on the ground," said Denis.
They both looked up, going round and round the tree, but could discover nothing moving, so they came to the conclusion that the boa had been its only occupant.