CHAPTER XIII
THE TREE-LION
The next day they came to the end of the trail that Muata hadfollowed with the river-man; but the scent was still on the ground,and for a mile or so the jackal led the way, slinking along like ashadow with his nose down and his bushy tail drooping. Then hestopped, and, after a look up into the face of his master, stretchedhimself out, as much as to say his part was over.
"They have gained on us," said Mr. Hume.
"They rose early and travelled fast," said Muata. "The scent iscold, but there is the trail marked on the tree;" and he pointed toa slight cut in the bark, from which had oozed a thick juice, nowcaked hard.
"Some one pierced the bark."
"It is the sign of the wise woman, and she made it, maybe, with awire from her armlets."
They went on more slowly, guided only by the faint cuts at intervalson tree-trunks, all of which "bled," giving out a milky sap; andthen again the sign failed. About them were the trees in endlesscolumns, overhead was the roof of leaves, and on the ground was atangle of undergrowth and decaying vegetation, that gave out a moistearthy smell, which set the lungs labouring for oxygen. The boyswere uncomfortable. Their skins were clammy, their eyes were heavy,and their limbs languid. Mr. Hume was glad to sit down, and evenMuata showed the effect of the muggy atmosphere in a dulling of hisskin. The river-man, sullen and silent, was alone apparentlyunaffected; but they did not reckon him one of the party, for no oneof them had broken through his apathy.
Muata began patiently to make casts in that labyrinth that seemed tohold no living thing but themselves, and as he went slowly throughthe undergrowth, the boys went off to sleep, from which they awoke,heavy and unrefreshed, at the cry to "fall in."
The trail had been recovered fifty yards further on, the interveningground having been covered apparently by the cannibals withoutleaving a sign. Venning blundered on a little way before hediscovered that he had left his bundle behind.
"I'll wait for you," said Compton, sitting down on a tree-stump,while Mr. Hume, who had left his position in the rear to consultwith Muata, had his back turned.
Venning recovered his bundle, and turned to retrace his steps, butfor the time his heavy eyes were no longer faithful guides, and,instead of taking the right direction, he entered a likely lookingopening through the trees to the left and hurried on. When he hadcovered a distance that should have brought him to Compton, hestopped.
"Halloa! halloa!" he cried.
There was no answer.
"Compton! I say, no larks. Where are you?"
A little in advance he heard the rustle of leaves, and went onquickly. When he reached the place where the sound came from therewas nothing there, and he gathered his wits together. With a littlelaugh at his carelessness, he began to retrace his steps, but therewas a problem to be dealt with at every step, for he could seenothing familiar. In that multitude of trees, planted so closetogether, each tree seemed alike. He put his hand to his mouth anduttered a long "coo-ee." The call seemed to be shut in, sounding inhis ears very weak and quavering.
"Coo-ee!"--and again "coo-ee!" Ah, that was an answer; and with aglad shout he set off in the direction whence came an answer to hiscall, forced his way through the undergrowth, tripped and fell overa dead branch with a thud that made his head throb so that he wasglad to sit back with closed eyes.
When he opened them again he heard a rustling of the leaves, andmoved his lips to call out. "Compton!"
There was unmistakably the sound of some one jumping aside as ifstartled.
"Over here!" said Venning; and then he closed his eyes again with afeeling of languor. Compton, in the meanwhile growing impatient,walked a few steps in the direction his chum had taken. The rest ofthe party had moved on, thinking, no doubt, he was following, and heknew that neither he nor Venning could pick up the spoor if theylost touch. He peered through the scrub for some time without seeingany one, and then he heard a low cry--a strangled sort of cry, as ifVenning were calling in a very feeble voice. Unshipping his Lee-Metford carbine from the loop, by which it hung at his side, hedashed forward, fully expecting to find his friend in the hands ofman or beast.
But at the last stopping-place there was no sign of his friend; and,with head bent, he listened for some sound, his mouth firmly set,and his dark eyes glancing from under his well-marked, brows.
He could hear the beating of his heart, and the innumerable creepingsounds that seemed to have no origin. He was about to shout, whenagain he heard a thin cry, and, suppressing the shout, he began toadvance cautiously from tree to tree, planting his steps carefully.In the soft mould he saw now the footmarks left by Venning as he hadhurried, the print of his heel at one spot, a little further on abroken branch, and next, some dislodged moss from a huge tree. Hepeered round this, examining the ground ahead, then stepped out intoa little clearing, across which Venning had walked. He started ashe looked down, then threw up his gun, with a quick glance round,for on the ground, side by side with the footprints, were the pugsof a lion or leopard.
Venning was in danger, then! With an involuntary action he pressedhis hat down firmly on his head, then moved forward, swiftly andsilently, to another tree beyond. Looking round this, he saw atonce through the twining tendrils the form of an animal, movingslowly, with flattened ears and twitching tail.
This did not surprise him, for he was prepared by the spoor; butwhat surprised him was to see that the brute was advancing towardshim--not retreating. For a moment he felt sick at the thought thathe was too late, that his friend had been already attacked, and thatthe beast had left Venning for the new-comer.
The brute was unmistakably stalking some one. Its body was stretchedout, the forearms reaching out in long stealthy strides, the roundhead sunk low, with a fixed snarl that bared the white teeth. Aleopard it was in form, but without the black rosettes on a greyground, the colour being of a uniform yellow along the sides, withblack markings down the muscular shoulders, and a streak of whitefrom the throat under the belly. The eyes were large, and of agreenish hue. They were fixed in a steadfast stare on some spot tothe left. Compton glanced in that direction, and, to his joy, he sawVenning, alive, seated with his chin on his breast, and his back toa fallen stump. As Compton looked, the boy's eyes opened, and hishead turned as if he had heard some noise.
Compton's distress left him. A feeling of great thankfulness sweptover him when he saw that he was not too late, that his friendlived; and with firm nerves he stepped clear of the tree to shoot.The movement caught the notice of the leopard. It had crouched downas Venning turned, but now it lifted its round head to view the new-comer. With a low growl it made a sudden leap forward, covering anincredible distance, which brought it nearer to Compton, and as itgathered itself together he fired, then sprang aside. There was arush through the air, a thud, and a tearing noise. There, almostwithin reach of him, with the blood running over its face from ascalp-wound, and its fore-paws tearing the moss from a tree, was theleopard; and, swift as thought, Compton fired from his hip at theshoulder. The leopard rolled over, growling, then tried to dragitself by its powerful paws towards Compton, its mouth wide open. Hefired again, into the gaping jaws, the muscles relaxed, the beastfell, and he ran towards Venning.
"Are you all right, old chap?"
Venning held on to his friend's arm, and as they stood, the leopardscreamed.
"He is quite done, old fellow. Come and see."
Venning went forward quietly, as if still in a daze, and they lookeddown on the leopard, struggling in the death-throes. It raised itstorn head, and again the scream rang out from its red jaws--aterrible cry, and out of the forest came the answer, shrill andfearsome. With a low growl the leopard fell forward, dead; but theycould hear an animal advancing rapidly, with fierce grunts; thoughfrom what direction it was impossible to tell.
"It must be the mate," said Compton, with an anxious look atVenning. "How do you feel?"
"I'm all right now;" and he passed his hand over his forehead. "Ican
help you this time. If it is the mate, it will go first to itsdead."
"Then we'd better crouch down by that tree."
They knelt side by side a little way off, with their rifles ready;but, though the noise made by the advancing animal grew louder, theycould see no movement whatever.
Then an extraordinary thing occurred. A bough above shook heavily,and a large flattened body shot down from one branch to another,tail, neck, and legs at the full stretch, alighting easily on therounded branch. It paused for a moment, then flew right across fromone tree to another, a distance of about thirty feet, when again itgathered itself together for another flying leap to the ground,alighting with singular ease within a few paces of the spot wherethe dead leopard was lying.
With outstretched neck and twitching nose, it stepped to its mate,sniffed, then threw its head up with bristling hair and emitted aterrible scream of rage, ending in a harsh cough.
As Compton pressed the trigger it bounded aside, as if it had seenhim, and an instant later had reached the trunk of a tree.
"Where is it?"
"Went up that tree," said Venning, rising and stretching his neck.
"You take that side, I this."
They moved slowly, finger on trigger and eyes swiftly scanning thebranches, but they made the circuit of the tree without a glimpse ofthe yellow and black body that had so swiftly come and gone.
"Where the dickens has it gone?"
"Maybe into a hole up there."
They stood staring up in bewilderment, but there was not a movementanywhere, and presently they wandered around examining the treesnear. The beast had vanished as completely as if it had been nobigger than a fly.
"Well," said Compton, with a short laugh, "I'm going to take theskin off the dead one, before it disappears too."
They set to work stripping the skin off the muscular body, stoppingoften to listen and glance around. The work, however, was completedin peace, and then, suddenly remembering their position, theyhastened to retrace their steps. Slowly they hit off the trail, andfinally arrived as far as the place where Venning had first missedhis bundle.
"It's after us, Dick!"--in a whisper.
"Where?"
"Up among the branches. I saw it spring across as I looked back."
They looked up into the trees, and then at the dark shadows beforethem, for the afternoon was slipping away.
"I don't like it. The beggar may spring on us at any moment."
"Or it may wait bill it is too dark for us to see."
"Yes, by Jove!"
"It is bad; but I am afraid we do not know the worst."
"What do you mean?"
"Mr. Hume must have missed us a long time back; and he would havecome after us if----"
"I see," said Compton, gravely. "You think that something hashappened to them?"
Venning nodded. "It's all my fault, Dick."
Compton was glancing up into the trees. "We must dispose of thatbrute first. But how?"
"I have an idea," said Venning, after a long pause. "One of us willgo on. Animals can't count. Seeing one of us moving, he may showhimself to the other, who remains hidden."
"Good. I will go on;" and at once Compton, taking the more dangerouspost, advanced slowly, leaving Venning standing against a tree.
A few moments later the watcher saw a dark form flitting through thebranches high up, without, however, offering a ghost of a mark, andthere was nothing left for him but to follow Compton and explain.
"And I suppose it's watching us now?" said the latter, gloomily."Any good to climb up a tree?"
"I should think not. Why, it's at home up there. You can see thatfrom the length of the claws, and the length of the tail, which actsas a steerer, a balancing-pole, and a brake. You see when it bringsthe tail down---?"
"No, I don't; but I do see that we are in a fix, and that the othersmust be in a worse position."
"I cannot imagine Mr. Hume being caught in a trap, especially whenhe has the jackal."
"And Muata!"
"And the black chap!"
"By Jove! suppose that fellow has proved treacherous;" and the twoturned this unpleasant thought over in their minds until a lightsound attracted their notice. Looking up, they caught the glare offierce green eyes.
"We've got him now!" yelled Compton. "Round that side."
Venning dashed round the tree, and three shots were fired in rapidsuccession at a vanishing object.
"Missed again!"
"By gum, yes; and if we go on playing hide-and-seek any longer,we'll be missing ourselves. We've got to build a camp at once.That's the place, between those three trees. I'll cut, and youbuild."
Compton, rolling up his sleeves, cut down saplings, and Venningbuilt a low roof, using the long tendrils of the creepers to bindit. Then the spaces in between the trunks were filled in, and largechunks of tinder were cut out of a fallen tree and placed at theentrance, a fire of dry wood being made in a hole inside. There wasenough water in their flasks for a "billy" of tea, and by the timethey had finished their meal the darkness was on them. No sooner hadthey settled down to watch than their foe was down, sniffing out theposition, and they were thankful they had acted in time. They beardit at the back first, then overhead, and next at the side, itspresence indicated by low growls. Then it was in the front, andCompton fired at a momentary gleam of two luminous spots. It boundedright on the roof, which shook to its weight, then clawed up a tree,detaching fragments of moss, and again leapt to the ground, emittingthis time a ferocious roar. It seemed as if its long patience wereexhausted, and that it was lashing itself into a fury, for it washere and there with lightning quickness, striking blows at thefence, and at times seizing a branch in its teeth, but so quick thatthey could not move their weapons smartly enough to cover the pointof attack.
It was nervous work for the watchers. Every moment they expected tofind themselves under the claws and teeth of the maddened beast,with the odds all against them, for in such a small enclosure theywould be helpless. It was bad enough when the brute was emitting histerrible roars and screams, but the spells of silence were worse.
In one of these spells Venning felt for the raw skin of theslaughtered leopard, and threw it out into the darkness. There werestealthy footsteps, the noise of sniffing, followed by the sound ofan animal rolling on the ground, and they fired together. With asnarl the leopard bounded right to the very mouth of the opening,knocking over the smouldering tinder and sending out a shower ofsparks. Venning fired. Compton lunged forward with his big knife,and the leopard leapt aside.
"Hit him that time, I bet," muttered Venning, who was shaking withexcitement.
Then followed a weary time of waiting in complete silence, brokenonly by the soft melancholy murmur of the forest. They refilled themagazines of their carbines, built up the tinder fire, and stretchedtheir ears to catch the first warning note of danger. Then thewhisperings swarmed in upon them. A creak of a branch, the turn of aleaf, the scraping of creeping insects, the whizzing of moths, andthe murmur of the forest, all seemed to them the whisperings ofstealthy foes. Every now and again they moistened their lips, whichdried after the repeated spells during which they held their breath,while intently listening for the footfalls of the enemy.
Then, with a feeling of relief, they heard an unmistakable wouf!That, at least, was a tangible sound--the sound of a startledanimal.
Presently they heard its footsteps, as it came cautiously forward, alittle way at a time. Once more the fingers coiled round thetriggers, and the barrels were raised.
Then came a yelp, this time of fear, followed by the leopard'sterrible scream. Some animal darted by the opening, so close thatthey could see the gleam of its eyes as it glanced in upon them, andafter it with a bound went a larger form. They listened to thedwindling noise of the chase, and Compton stirred up the fire.
"What's up now, eh?"
"It," said Venning, referring to the leopard, "is after something,don't you think?"
"I hope to goodness it wil
l have a good run, then."
But even as he spoke the sound of the chase grew; the smaller animalflashed by again with the savage pursuer at its heels, flew roundthe trees, and leapt inside--leapt in and pressed itself down behindthe two of them. With a snarl, the leopard stopped before thesmouldering logs, and then sprang on to the roof, at which itstruck two or three tremendous blows before bounding off again.
"Where's my knife?" yelled Compton.
Venning felt a warm tongue on his hand, and drew it away with a cry,as if he had been stung.
"Use your knife, man. I'm blinded."
"All right," gasped Venning.
"Feel for it first, or you'll be hitting me. Quick! I say."
"What is it?" cried Venning, alarmed at the sudden change inCompton's tones from rage to alarm.
"Something's pulling me. It's got its arm through the side."
There was a sudden fierce yap and a snapping of jaws. Compton'sshirt gave way with a tear, and outside in the dark the leopardscreamed. Inside the cry was answered by the howl of a jackal.
"It's our jackal," shouted Venning.
"Where--what?"
"Here;" and Venning laughed hysterically. "Poor old chap!" then,"Good old jacky!"
"Nonsense!" said Compton; but his band groped out in the dark, andwhen he felt the rough tongue, he joined in the laugh. They were aspleased as if Mr. Hums or Muata had returned.
"Did the brute really hook you?"
"Forced his paw through," said Compton, shuddering, "but the jackalbit him."
The jackal's tail thumped the ground, then they felt it stiffen, andwere again on the alert. Venning ran his fingers lightly along thejackal's back till he reached the nose, which was pointing straightup. Without a moment's delay he raised his rifle and fired.
At the same moment the saplings forming the roof snapped and fell inupon them with an added weight, which knocked them flat. They weredimly conscious of a tremendous struggle, but when they had crawledout of the litter, they were thankful to find that each was stillalive. After the first hurried words, they faced the darknessapprehensively, for their shelter was gone, and their rifles wereunder the branches.
"Quick!" said Compton, "help pull the branches away."
Guided by the tinder, they felt for the branches and pulled, but letgo at once and fell back, for a fierce growl greeted them almost intheir faces.
"By Jove!" muttered Compton, "it's all over now. Don't run; let usstick together."
"I'm not running," said Venning. "We've got our sheath-knives."
They drew their knives, and, holding each other by the disengagedhand, fell back step by step, till they found the support of a tree-trunk, when they waited for the attack. From time to time the lowgrowls gave warning of the enemy's close presence, and to them eachsound was as a death-knell; for what were their knives against a foeso powerful, who had, too, the advantage of sight?
For perhaps two hours of awful suspense they stood, and then Comptonlost patience.
"I can't stand this," he said. "That brute's playing with us, andI'm going to finish it."
"Wait; when the morning comes we can see."
"Will it ever come? No."
Compton struck a match, cradled it in his hand till it caught, then,with his face showing rigid by the reflection, he moved forward.Venning went too, shoulder to shoulder. Each held his knife, pointup, every muscle on the strain. A snarl greeted each step, andpresently they saw two glowing spots before the match went out.Another match was struck by a steady hand, and this time the spotsblazed out from the blackness.
Venning felt for his log-book, tore out a sheet, screwed it up, litit, and held the flame up.
There, less than six feet away, was the leopard, its mouth open, thegleaming fangs showing their full length--a sight so forbidding thathe dropped the paper and sprang back.
"Light another," said Compton, steadily.
This was done. He went down on his knees, reached out, seized thebutt of a rifle, and drew it forth. A second later a bullet crashedinto the brain of the leopard, and then, worn out by the strain theyhad been under so long, they sat with their backs to the trees.
"I'm going to sleep," said Compton.
"I wonder what's become of the jackal?" muttered Venning, drawing uphis knees with a sigh of relief.
"Don't know, and don't care, for he's better off than we are. Goodnight."
"Good night, old chap; and it was awfully good of you to turn back."
Snore! Venning yawned, and in five minutes they were both asleep inthe forest, without so much as a twig to cover them. But they werenot altogether unprotected, for when they rubbed the sleep out oftheir eyes in the morning, they found the jackal curled up at theirfeet, with one ear cocked and one eye open. But a very differentjackal he was from the graceful animal they knew so well. His bodywas distended to enormous proportions, and it was clear how hisabsence was to be accounted for. While they had stood in the dark,expecting every moment to be pounced upon, he had been gorging onthe dead leopard. They now looked at their foe of the night, andfound why it was that it had left them uninjured. There were threewounds on the body--the bullet-hole in the forehead, a fleshy woundon the hind leg, and a hit on the spine, which had disabled it justas it was in the act of springing down upon the roof.
"It's your bag," said Compton. "To think that we stood shivering andshaking for two mortal hours, while all the time the beggar washelpless!"
Venning did not echo the complaint; he was too much occupiedexamining his prize, and taking exact measurements with a tape,which he entered in his log' book, together with a description ofthe markings.
"It's a new species," he said, with the pride of an explorer whodiscovers a new mountain. "I will call it a tree-lion--leoarboriensis Venningii--that is, if you don't wish it called afteryou."
"Call it anything you like, old fellow; but I should say it was justan ordinary leopard."
"You never saw a leopard with those markings."
"And no one ever saw a climbing lion."
"It has adapted itself to changed conditions. The markings matchthe colouring of the branches, and there has been a change in theformation of the claws"--holding up a huge paw--"while the forearmis a little curved, and the skin between the elbow and the bodybears a resemblance in its growth to that found on the so-called'flying-squirrel.'"
"It's a tough customer, whatever it is, and I hope that it is thelast of its kind. Do you know that we have no more water?"
"I shall examine the contents of the stomach, and I fully expect tofind that its usual prey is the monkey."
"It had a great hankering for white man, at any rate. Did you hearme say there was no water?"
"Its hind legs are very much longer than the fore legs--anotherproof of an arboreal existence. It's a most important find. I wishMr. Hume were here."
"So do I," said Compton, heartily, stirring the jackal with hisfoot.
That sagacious animal rose slowly, stretched itself, one leg at atime, sniffed at the dead leopard, or tree-lion, whatever it was,and then curled itself up again.
"Coo-ee--coo-ee!" came out of the woods.
"Coo-ee!" replied Compton, to the glad sound. "Coo-ee!" and he firedoff his gun.
Muata's shrill whistle pierced through the files of trees, and thejackal slunk away.
"Hurrah!" yelled Compton, taking off his cap. "Hurrah! Here we are--all safe!"
"All safe, thank God;" and Mr. Hume hurried forward, with his eyesbeaming. "Thank God."
"It is as I thought. Here is the hind leg of a monkey, with some ofthe hair still attached;" and Venning held up a disgusting-lookingobject.
Mr. Hume looked at the dead animal, the broken hut, and back atCompton.
"We shot it last night, and its mate in the afternoon."
Then he pulled Venning to his feet and shook him. "Believe he's goneoff his head."
"I've not," said Venning; and he held out a blood-stained hand toMr. Hume, who took it with a great happy laugh. "Have
you seen abeast like that before, Muata?"
"Any one would think," said Compton, "that nothing had happened--that we had not been lost, and that he had not brought us into thismess."
"Steady," said Mr. Hume, with a smile.
"Dick is right, sir. If it had not been for him, I should have beendead. I am a little bit excited now; but I will tell you all soon.Well, Muata?"
"Wow!" exclaimed the chief, who had been talking with the river-man."One of these I have seen, and he also. It was a great thing to killtwo; of all things that walk they are the fiercest."
"And I am very thirsty," said Compton.
"Their home is in the trees," continued Muata.
Venning nodded. "Leo arboriensis."
"Venningii," added Compton, as he took his lips from a water-bottle."And now we'll have breakfast, if you don't mind."
In Search of the Okapi Page 13