The Young Colonists: A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars
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too. Now hurry away, and tell thefighting-men to run up as quick as they can. When you have seeneverything in readiness, join Tom, and warn him to be ready to fall backto the waggons as soon as the flood comes."
Dick ran down the ravine. It was not until he issued from it that hewas aware how tremendously the rain was pouring down. In the defile hehad been conscious only of a slight mist, with an occasional drop ofheavy rain, for very few of the rain-drops which entered the gap farabove descended to the bottom, almost all striking against the sides.In the comparatively open valley, however, the rain was coming down in aperfect cataract. Dick at once sent all the fighting-men to the front,and three minutes later the report of musketry told that they wereengaged with the enemy.
Dick now set to work with ten of the natives to select the spot on whichto place the waggons. The bottom of the valley was very flat, and thesand between the boulders showed that when the water was high the wholewas covered. He, however, found a spot on the left-hand side, aboutmidway between the two defiles, which was some feet higher than therest. The hill-side behind at this point rose somewhat less abruptlythan elsewhere, and it was probable that the rise in the bottom wasformed by a slip which had taken place at some past period. Here thewaggons were arranged side by side in two rows, the wheels of the threeinner waggons close against the slope above them. The cattle weregathered closely round.
Dick then joined Tom, whom he found in high spirits, the hunters havingalready told him that the flood would very soon come to their relief.The party was hotly engaged. About thirty or forty yards intervenedbetween them and their enemy, who, crouching behind rocks, were shootingtheir arrows high into the air, so that they came down almostperpendicularly upon the defenders. One of these had been killed andthree severely wounded by the missiles; while they themselves could onlyget an occasional shot at a limb exposed beyond the shelter of theboulders.
Not having received orders to stay by Tom, Dick retraced his steps upthe valley to the party above. From the cliffs at the side of thevalley waterfalls were leaping down, and a stream of water was alreadybeginning to flow down its centre. The bed of the defile was perfectlydry, the stones being scarcely wetted by the fine mist from above. Dickfound Mr Harvey and the natives engaged in keeping up a hot fire at thetop of the obstacle, lying at a distance of forty or fifty yards from itamong the rocks. One or two dead natives were stretched on the top ofthe rock; the rest were not to be seen, but the arrows whistled fastover his head, showing that they were lying down just behind it.
"The rain is tremendous outside," Dick said, as he joined Mr Harvey."You can have no idea what it is here. The water is pouring so fastinto the valley that a stream is forming there already, and will soon berunning two or three feet deep down the lower pass. I wonder it has notbegun to make its way down from above."
"It has begun, Dick; look at those little threads of water between thestones. When it comes, it will come with a rush; that is always the waywith these gorges. Jumbo is listening; it will come with a roar likethunder. He has just told me I had better send most of the men back atonce, keeping only four or five to continue firing to the last moment.You see the enemy, who are there on a sort of platform, will not noticethe water that is making its way down. See how fast it rises; it isankle-deep already--and, I tell you, we shall have to run when the timecomes."
All the natives, with the exception of Jumbo and two other men, weresent back.
"I don't see anything to fire at," Dick said.
"No," Mr Harvey agreed; "it is a pure waste of ammunition, except thatit occupies their attention. They can hardly be conscious yet howtremendously it is raining. If they were they would not remain wherethey are, but would make a rush upon us, however great the risk."
"Listen!" Jumbo exclaimed suddenly.
They listened and were conscious of a dull, heavy, roaring sound. Jumboleapt to his feet.
"Come!" he said; "run for your lives."
They started up and took to their heels. A terrible yell was heardbehind them, and, glancing over his shoulder, as he turned the corner,Dick saw the natives climbing down from their defence, and even leapingfrom the top in their terror. Fast as Dick was running, the roar behindrose louder and louder.
"Quick, Dick," Mr Harvey shouted, "or you will be too late."
Dick hurried to the utmost, but the stream was already rising rapidly,and was running knee-deep between the stones. Stumbling and slipping,and cutting himself against the rocks, Dick struggled on. The mightyroar was now close behind him, and seemed to him like that of a heavytrain at full speed. He reached the mouth of the ravine; the water wasalready up to his waist. Mr Harvey and Jumbo dashed in, seized him bythe arms, and dragged him out.
"Run!" they said.
They were not fifty yards from the mouth, when Dick, looking round, sawa mighty wall of water, fifteen feet high, leap from it, pouring as fromhuge sluice-gates into the valley. He did not stop running until hejoined the rest gathered by the waggons.
Tom and his party were already there, for the rising water had soonwarned their assailants of the danger, and the fire had suddenly ceased.Already the greater part of the valley was covered with water, down thecentre of which a foaming torrent was flowing. Here and there could beseen numerous dark objects, which, he knew, were the bodies of theIndians who had defended the upper defile, caught before they couldreach its mouth by the wall of water from above. They had instantlybeen dashed lifeless against the rocks and boulders, and not one couldbe seen to make towards the comparatively still waters on either side ofthe centre stream.
Driven back again by the narrow entrance to the lower defile the waterin the valley rose rapidly, as with an ever-increasing violence itpoured in from above. There it was rushing out in a solid, dark-browncataract, which Dick judged to be fully forty feet in height. In aquarter of an hour from its first outburst the water had already reachedthe feet of those standing upon the little knoll of ground in thevalley. The oxen lowing and stamping with terror pressed more and moreclosely together. The young ostriches were placed in one of thewaggons, for although their height would have left their heads wellabove water, they would probably have succumbed to the effects of aprolonged submersion of their bodies.
"If it goes on like this for another quarter of an hour," Mr Harveysaid, "the oxen will be washed away, if not the waggons. Thank God, Ithink we can all manage to climb up the slope. Jumbo, tell the men eachto load themselves with five or six days' provisions. Let half a dozentake boxes of ammunition, and as many bales of the best cloth. Let therest take as many bundles of the best ostrich feathers as they cancarry. Let them lay them all on the slope, twenty or thirty yards up,wherever they can find place for them, and then come down again, andmake as many trips with the best goods as they can."
All hands worked hard; inch by inch the water rose; Mr Harvey, assistedby the boys and teamsters, fastened ropes together, and with thesesurrounded the closely-packed throng of cattle. The water was now morethan waist-deep, and was still rising; soon the cattle on the outsidewere lifted off their feet. There was no current here, and they floatedwith their heads on the backs of those in front of them; higher andhigher the water rose, till the whole of the cattle were afloat. Atfirst a few struggled, but soon they subsided into quiet, and the wholemass floated together, with only their heads above water.
On every available ledge on the hillside were placed bundles and balesof all kinds, and here the whites and natives stood, watching theprogress of the flood. The thunder-shower had ceased soon after thewater first burst through the gorge, but Mr Harvey knew that some hoursmust elapse before the flood would begin to abate.
"I don't see why the water should not run off as fast as it comes in,"Dick said.
"It all depends, Dick, upon the question whether in the lower defilethere is any place narrower than the mouth, through which the water isrushing from above. According to appearances this is so; for, could thewater escape faster than it comes in, the lake here
would cease to rise.I think now the water has reached a level, where the outflow nearlyequals the inflow. I have been watching the wheels of the waggons, andfor the last ten minutes I do not think it has risen above an inch ortwo."
"I will get down and watch," Dick said, and he scrambled down to thewater's edge.
Two minutes later he shouted up,--
"It has not risen at all since I came here!" The teamsters had takentheir station on the outside waggons, and continued to talk and shout tothe oxen, exhorting these to be patient and quiet, as if the animalswere capable of understanding every word they said.
For three hours there was no change in the situation. Then all thoughtthat there was a slight decrease in the height of the torrent of waterpouring from the defile, and half an hour later a slight but distinctsubsidence in the level of the water could be perceived. In