Both at the same instant clutched at the coveted prize--each endeavouring to be the first in securing it.
As one of the birds had got hold of the fish by the head and the other by its tail, a struggle now arose as to which should be the first to swallow its body. Each soon pa.s.sed a portion of it down its capacious throat, until its mandibles met in the middle, and cracked against each other.
As neither would yield to the other, so neither would consent to disgorge, and let go; and for some seconds this curious contention was kept up.
How long it might have continued was not left to the determination of the parties themselves; but to Ossaroo, who, while they were thus occupied, rushed upon the spot; and, flinging wide his arms, enfolded both the birds in an embrace, from which they vainly struggled to get free.
With the a.s.sistance of Karl and Caspar--who had in the meantime tied Fritz to a tree--the huge creatures were soon overpowered, and pinioned beyond the possibility of escaping.
CHAPTER SIXTY.
A LABELLED LEG.
"It is! it is!" cried Karl, stooping suddenly down, and grasping the shank of one of the birds.
"What?" inquired Caspar.
"Look, brother! See what is there, round the stork"s leg! Do you not remember having seen that bit of jewellery before?"
"A bra.s.s ring! Oh yes!" replied Caspar; "now I do remember. In the Botanic Gardens there was an adjutant with a ring round its ankle; a bra.s.s ring, too--just like this one. How very odd!"
"Like!" echoed Karl. "Not only like, but the very _same_! Stoop down, and examine it more closely. You see those letters?"
"_R.B.G., Calcutta_," slowly p.r.o.nounced Caspar, as he read the inscription graven upon the ring. "`_R.B.G_." What do these initials stand for, I wonder?"
"It is not difficult to tell that," knowingly answered Karl. "_Royal Botanical Garden_! What else could it be?"
"Nothing else. For certain, these two birds must be the same we used to see there, and with which we so often amused ourselves!"
"The same," a.s.serted Karl. "No doubt of it."
"And Fritz must have recognised them too--when he made that unprovoked attack upon them! You remember how he used to quarrel with them?"
"I do. He must not be permitted to a.s.sail them any more. I have a use for them."
"A use?"
"Ah, a most important one; so important that these birds, ugly and unamiable as they are, must be cared for, as if they were the prettiest and most prized of pets. We must provide them with food and water; we must tend them by day, and watch over them by night--as though they were some sacred fire, which it was our duty to keep constantly burning."
"All that, indeed!"
"Verily, brother! The possession of these storks is not only important--it is essential to our safety. If they should die in our hands, or escape out of them--even if one of them should die or get away--we are lost. Our last hope lies in them. I am sure it is our last."
"But what hope have you found in them?" interrogated Caspar--puzzled to make out the meaning of his brother"s words, and not without wonder at their apparent wildness.
"Hope? Every hope. Ay, something more than hope: for in this singular incident I cannot fail to recognise the finger of a merciful G.o.d.
Surely He hath at length taken compa.s.sion upon us! Surely it is He who has sent these birds! They are messengers from Heaven!"
Caspar remained silent, gazing earnestly in the eyes of his brother, that were now sparkling with mingled grat.i.tude and joy. But although Caspar could perceive this expression, he was utterly unable to interpret it.
Ossaroo was alike puzzled by the strange looks and speeches of the Sahib Karl; but the Hindoo gave less heed to them--his attention being almost wholly taken up by the adjutants, which he fondled in turns--talking to them and embracing them, as if they had been his brothers!
As soon as the cord had been looped round their ankles, and there was no longer any danger of their getting away, Ossaroo cut up the fish into slices convenient for their gullets; and proceeded to feed them with as much fondness as he could have shown to a brace of human beings, who had arrived from a long journey in a state of starvation.
The storks exhibited no signs of shyness--not the slightest. It was not in their nature to do so. They gobbled up the morsels flung before them, with as much avidity and unconcern, as if they were being fed by the side of the great tank in the Garden at Calcutta.
The sight of Fritz alone had a disturbing influence upon them; but, by the command of Karl, the dog was kept out of view, until they had finished the meal with which Ossaroo had provided them.
Caspar, still in a cloud, once more interrogated the plant-hunter as to his purpose.
"Ho, brother!" answered Karl, "you are not wont to be so dull of comprehension. Can you not guess why I am so joyed by the presence of these birds?"
"Indeed I cannot--unless--"
"Unless what?"
"You expect them to carry a rope up the cliff."
"Carry a rope up the cliff! Nothing of the sort. Yes; perhaps it is something of the sort. But since you have made such a poor guess, I shall keep you in suspense a little longer."
"O, brother!--"
"Nay, I shall not tell you. It is news worth guessing at; and you and Ossaroo must make it out between you."
The two hunters, thus challenged, were about entering upon a series of conjectures, when they were interrupted by Karl.
"Come!" said he, "there is no time now. You can exercise your ingenuity after we have got home to the hut. We must make sure of the storks, before anything else be attended to. This cord is too slight. They may file it in two with their bills, and get free. The very strongest rope we have got will not be more than sufficient. Come, Ossaroo, you take one. Lift it up in your arms. I shall carry the other myself; while you, Caspar, see to Fritz. Lead the dog in a leash. From this time forward he must be kept tied up--lest any misfortune should happen to spoil the best plan that has yet offered for our deliverance."
So saying, Karl flung his arms around one of the adjutants. Ossaroo at the same instant embraced the other; and, despite the roaring that proceeded from their throats, and the clattering made by their mandibles, the huge birds were borne home to the hut.
On arriving there, they were carried inside, and fastened with strong ropes--carefully attached to their legs, and tied to the heavy beams forming the rafters of the roof. The door was to be kept shut upon them at all times when the eyes of the captors were not watching them: for Karl, knowing the importance of having such guests, was determined to make sure of his "game."
CHAPTER SIXTY ONE.
MAIL-CARRIERS ON WINGS.
It was only after they had gone back for their baskets of beans, and once more returned to the hut, that Caspar and Ossaroo found time to indulge in their conjectures. Then both of them set to work in earnest--seated upon the great stones outside the door, where often before they had conjured up schemes for their deliverance. Neither communicated his thoughts to the other; each silently followed the thread of his own reflections--as if there was a rivalry between them, as to who should be the first to proclaim the design already conceived by Karl.
Karl was standing close by, apparently as reflective as either of his companions. But his thoughts were only occupied in bringing to perfection the plan, which to them was still undiscovered.
The storks had been brought out of the hut, and tied to a heavy log that lay near. This had been done, partly to accustom them to the sight of the place, and partly that they might be once more fed--the single fish they had swallowed between them not being deemed sufficient to satisfy their hunger.
Caspar"s eyes wandered to that one that had the ring upon its leg; and then to the ring itself--_R.B.G., Calcutta_.
The inscription at length proved suggestive to Caspar, as the ring itself, on first seeing it, had to his brother. On that bit of bra.s.s there was information. It had been conveyed all the way from Calcutta by the bird that bore the shining circlet upon its shank. By the same means why might not information be carried back? Why--