The War of the Axe; Or, Adventures in South Africa

by J. Percy Groves

home by the upper road to Tulbagh. Now, my boy, jump up, andwe will place George in your arms; you must hold him in as easy aposition as you can. There--now raise his head a little more; that willdo! I will lead the horse."

  To convey a wounded person thirty miles on horseback under a burningSouth African sun is a very dangerous experiment; and, had George Westonbeen taken the whole distance under such circumstances, he wouldcertainly have suffered severely, and probably not have survived thejourney; but happily, before they had gone very far, they fell in withan empty mule-waggon returning to Fort Crause, to which George wasimmediately transferred, and thus he travelled in comparative comfort.

  A week later Major Flinders and Tom, with the servants and horses, madea fresh start, and at the end of five days marched into Rondebosch; butGeorge Weston was detained at Fort Crause for more than a month, and ofcourse his father remained to look after him. At first the doctor gavebut faint hopes of his recovery--for inflammation set in, and it wasfeared that tetanus would supervene; but in the end, youth and a famousconstitution gained the upper hand, and George was able to rise from hissick-bed.

  When, at length, he and his father returned to Rustenburg Farm, theyfound to their satisfaction that the Major had disposed of the younghorses for nearly double the price he paid for them; so, after all,"Kicking Jan" did not dissipate all the profits of the expedition, butwhen every expense had been allowed for there still remained a goodround sum to be placed to the credit of the firm of "Flinders, Weston,and Sons."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  TWO YEARS AFTER--RUMOURS OF WAR--GOOD NEWS FOR TOM--MR WESTON MAKES ANINTERESTING PROPOSAL.

  Nearly two years have passed since the events recorded in the previouschapters, and our hero is once more the guest of Captain Jamieson. TheWestons, too, are at Ralfontein, likewise Patrick Keown and the faithfulHottentot, Black William.

  But not Major Flinders?

  No; the Major is away in England with his wife and daughters, and manymonths must elapse before Tom can hope to see their faces again.

  But let us "hark back," and see what has happened since George Westonwas so nearly done to death by the tree-leopard.

  In the spring of 1845 Mrs Flinders was suddenly seized with a sharpattack of illness which for some time entirely baffled the skill of theCape Town doctors; and when, after weeks of anxiety and watching, theyseemed to get the better of the disease, the poor lady was left almostat death's door. Days went by without the patient showing anyappreciable signs of improvement, and at length the doctors were obligedto confess that though they had checked the disorder they had by nomeans conquered it. The plain truth was, they were altogether out oftheir depth.

  Said the pompous and portly Dr Brownjohn: "Major, you must, I fear,take our interesting patient to England, and--ha--and--"

  "Seek better advice," interrupted plain-spoken Mr Spike, hisbrother-medico. "We can do nothing more, my dear sir. The case isbeyond us, I'm grieved to say."

  "And--hum!--and, I was about to say, the sea voyage may possibly benefither," continued the great M.D., looking "prussic acid and strychnine" athis candid colleague. "As my young friend Spike suggests," he addedafter a pause, "you _might_ consult some well-known London physician.Sir Timothy Glauber and Doctor Peter Bolus are both eminent men--veryeminent men, I may say; you could not do better than seek their valuableadvice."

  "But will my poor wife be able to stand the voyage?" the anxious husbandinquired, glancing from one doctor to the other. "She is lamentablyweak, you know."

  "True--very true!" assented Brownjohn, pursing his lips. "But let ushope for the best--yes, my dear sir, let us hope for the best! Whilethere's life--while there's life!--hum! Pray, what is _your_ opinion,Mr Spike?"

  "That it is her only chance," bluntly responded Mr Spike. "And harkye, Major, take Mrs F to Newman--John Newman of Saint Margaret'sSquare. He is not a fashionable doctor, but there's not a more cleverfellow in the whole College of Physicians, and what is better, he hashad wonderful experience in intricate cases. If any man can pull yourwife through this illness it is John Newman!"

  And thus it came to pass that Major and Mrs Flinders started forEngland by the next steamer, their daughters accompanying them.

  Now shortly before this trouble befell the Major he and Mr Weston(after much consideration and careful weighing of pros and cons) had,with the approval of Mrs Flinders, made up their minds to migrate toRalfontein and enter into partnership with Captain Jamieson; and theformer was on the point of closing with a most advantageous offer forRustenburg Farm, when his wife's illness upset their plans and drove allother ideas from their heads.

  In fact, nothing more was said concerning the projected migration untilDoctors Brownjohn and Spike advised that Mrs Flinders should be takento England. The Major then suggested that (as the above-mentioned offerstill held good) Rustenburg should be sold forthwith, and that theWestons and Tom should proceed to Ralfontein as soon as the necessaryarrangements could be made. To this proposal Mr Weston gave a readyconsent; and accordingly he, Gracie, and the two boys, attended byPatrick Keown and Black William, started for Ralfontein a fortnightafter the mail steamer sailed from Table Bay; and at the time thepresent chapter opens they had been with the Jamiesons upwards of sixmonths.

  And now we can go ahead with our "plain unvarnished tale" without anymore "backing and filling."

  It is a chilly evening in the early part of the Cape autumn, [March,April, and May are the autumn months in South Africa], and CaptainJamieson and his family are gathered round a blazing _castange hout_fire in the general sitting-room of Ralfontein House. The captain looksanxious and fatigued, as well he may do, for he has just returned fromGraham's Town, whither, ten days before, he was summoned by theLieutenant-Governor of the Eastern District to attend a "palaver" withsome troublesome Caffres; and he has ridden upwards of 100 miles over adifficult country in less than fourteen hours--not bad work for a manwho will never see sixty again!

  "So we're in for another Caffre war!" Frank Jamieson said when hisfather informed them that the result of the "palaver" had been far fromsatisfactory. "That makes the third in sixteen years, to say nothing ofminor affairs."

  "I suppose the Caffres have grown `fat' again," observed young James.

  "`Fat!'" exclaimed Mr Weston; "in the name of all that's sensible, whathas their growing _fat_ got to do with their going to war?"

  Captain Jamieson and his sons laughed at their friend's astonishment,and the former replied:

  "You must know, my dear Weston, that our Cape wars rarely arise frompolitical causes, but chiefly from a desire on the part of the young menof the various tribes to distinguish themselves and earn the covetedtitle of `warrior.' When a tribe has been some years at peace with itsneighbours the number of young men increase; this they call growing`fat,' or, in other words, becoming ready to take the field. Once inthis condition the young men never rest until they find a pretext forgoing to war either with us or their neighbours."

  "And what pretext have they now?" inquired Miss Janet.

  "A very simple one, my dear. Two Caffres, warriors of some standing intheir tribe, were lately caught in the act of stealing an axe from aBeaufort storekeeper. They were secured, committed by the magistrate,and in due course were sent down to Graham's Town with some otherprisoners to stand their trial at the criminal court--their escortconsisting of five or six civil constables. Now the highroad betweenFort Beaufort and Graham's Town runs close along the Caffre border; andbefore the constables had gone many miles they were suddenly attacked bya party of Gaikas, who had crossed the border with the express purposeof rescuing their fellow-tribesmen. The escort appear to have made astout resistance, but, overcome by their weight of numbers, they wereforced to beat a retreat and leave their prisoners in the hands of thevictorious Gaikas. Now it so happened that the warriors who were thecause of this attack were handcuffed to two Hottentots; and theirrescuers, not being able to unfasten the handcuffs, and being pressedfor time, deliberately mu
rdered these unhappy men, and, cutting offtheir arms at the elbow-joints, set their rascally friends at liberty.

  "When the lieutenant-governor was informed of this outrage he at oncesent a message to the chiefs of the offending tribe, and demanded thatthe two prisoners should be brought back and the murderers of theunfortunate Hottentots surrendered. But the young `amadodas' of thetribe were eager for war, and, their counsels outweighing the counselsof the older men, the government message was treated with contempt.

  "A `palaver' was, however, subsequently arranged for; and last Wednesdaythe lieutenant-governor, the senior officer at Graham's Town, and Istarted for the Block Drift mission station to meet the Gaika chiefs.They arrived at the