The Adventures of Dick Maitland: A Tale of Unknown Africa

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER SIX.

  AN ENCOUNTER WITH LIONS.

  "Um!" murmured Dick, as the feeble throbbing of the man's pulse met hisfinger tips; "quite as I expected. Very low and weak. Evidentlysinking from exhaustion. I must have him out of this into a betterlight, although I am almost afraid to run the risk of moving him.Still, it must be done. I can see nothing here."

  He went to the door of the hut and looked out, the crowd still groupedon the outside of the curve he had described on the ground respectfullymaking way before him. There was a small but densely foliaged treegrowing at no great distance from the hut, and casting a strong shadowupon the ground; that, Dick decided, would be as good a place as any forhis purpose. As he was about to re-enter the hut there arose a slightcommotion upon the outskirts of the crowd, and presently Jantje, theHottentot driver, appeared, endeavouring to force his way through to hismaster. The sight was a welcome one, for Dick felt very much at a losswith no one to interpret for him, and in tones of unmistakable relief helifted up his voice and shouted:

  "Come along, Jantje; you are just the man I wanted." Then, as theHottentot joined him, he continued: "See here, Jantje, I want thewounded man very carefully removed from the hut, and carried over yonderinto the shadow of that tree. Just explain to these fellows, will you,and ask them to help me."

  No sooner said than done; with the passing of the last word throughJantje's lips half a dozen stalwart Kafirs dived into the hut and inanother moment reappeared, bearing between them the unhappy patient,stretched upon an eland's skin. It was an exceedingly awkward job toget the poor fellow out through the low, narrow doorway of the hut, butthey managed it somehow, and in another minute had him satisfactorilydisposed beneath the shadow of the tree. Then Dick approached andproceeded to examine his hurts.

  They had been severe enough to start with; but now, after nearly forty-eight hours of neglect, their condition was so indescribably loathsomethat even Dick, seasoned hand though he was, nearly vomited at the sightof them, while as for Grosvenor, he was compelled to beat a precipitateretreat, but returned gamely, some five minutes later, to see if hecould be of any assistance. Dick, however, although he had never in hislife before beheld anything approaching such a dreadful sight, quicklypulled himself together and, his professional instinct promptlyasserting itself, ordered some hot water to be brought to him, and,while it was being prepared, opened his medicine chest and his case ofsurgical instruments, the rest of the inhabitants of the villagegathering round in a wide, silent, awestruck circle. They had oftenbefore seen similar sights, and were therefore in a measure accustomedto them; they knew what the patient's condition meant, and there was notone among them who did not regard the injured man as already as good asdead. Nevertheless their curiosity was powerfully aroused; for they hadheard many wonderful stories of the white men who had lately come intothe country toward the south, and were eager to see whether or not itwas true that they could perform miracles, as had been asserted.

  As for Dick, he found himself confronted at the outset by a very seriousdifficulty. His patient's condition was such that he could not possiblydo what was necessary without inflicting upon the unfortunate man anamount of suffering that in his low and exhausted condition threatenedto result in collapse and death. The man was too far gone, indeed, tojustify the use of anaesthetics, yet without them Dick feared toproceed. What was he to do? Suddenly he bethought himself ofhypnotism. Yet, how hypnotise a man whose language he could not speak?Then he remembered a very remarkable statement which Humphreys had madewhen discussing this same subject of hypnotism. "It is not the actualwords which you address to a patient," Humphreys had asserted, "but thecommands which your will imposes on him that produce the desired effect,which can be obtained without the employment of words at all, if yourwill be strong enough. And remember, also, that no abnormal strength ofwill is needed if your patient be passive, unresisting." "Surely,"thought Dick, "that ought to meet the present case, and at all events itis well worth trying; so here goes." Therewith he bent over his patientand, fixing the man's gaze in the peculiar manner which Humphreys hadtaught him, silently willed him to sink into so deep a sleep that heshould feel nothing of what was about to be done to him. Almostimmediately the man's eyelids fluttered, closed, and he sank into aprofound sleep, breathing slowly and deeply, as could be seen by theregular rise and fall of his bare, brawny chest.

  "_Wao! 'mtagati_--_'mkulu 'mtagati_ (a wizard--a great wizard)!"murmured the astonished crowd of onlookers behind their hands, gazingwonderingly in each other's eyes.

  Again Dick laid his fingers on his patient's pulse; already it wasstronger and more steady. Very gently he raised one of the man'seyelids and lightly laid his finger upon the eyeball; the patient mighthave been dead for all the effect that the touch had upon him. Then,the warm water opportunely arriving, the young doctor got to workwithout further delay. Strongly impregnating the water with anantiseptic, he proceeded rapidly to cleanse the wounds, taking a pair ofscissors or a knife from time to time and removing the alreadyputrefying flesh; then he proceeded to dress the wounds, one after theother, with healing ointments, drawing the edges together, wherenecessary, with a few stitches; and when at length, after more than anhour's diligent, careful work, his labours came to an end, he orderedthe wagon cartel to be brought to the village, the door of the man's hutto be enlarged, and a window opening to be made; and finally, when allthese things had been done to his satisfaction, he caused a comfortablebed to be arranged upon the cartel, with skins borrowed from other huts,and the man to be laid thereon and taken back to his hut. And all thistime the patient had been sleeping as calmly as an infant! The time hadnow, however, arrived when he must be aroused, in order that an anti-febrifuge might be administered; Dick therefore once more bent over theman, strongly willing him to awake, which he instantly did, when,through Jantje as interpreter, the question was put to him how he felt.He immediately replied, in a wonderfully strong voice, considering hiscondition, that he felt much better, and that his wounds were no longerso painful as they had been; whereupon Dick administered the draught,telling him, still through Jantje, that immediately after taking it hewould again fall asleep and so remain until the evening, when he wouldawake much refreshed and stronger. And while the words were beingspoken Dick strongly willed that they should be fulfilled. The manobediently gulped down the draught, Dick gently lowered the patient'shead to the pillow, and again deep sleep fell upon the poor fellow.

  "Now," ordered Dick, "I want two women to come and watch by this man.They must constantly fan him with leaves, to keep him cool and preventthe flies from troubling him; and when he wakes someone must immediatelyfetch me. I shall be in my tent by the wagon, yonder." Then, turningto Grosvenor, who had remained at his elbow all the time, he said:

  "No more trekking for us to-day, Phil, or for the next week, I expect.I must stay, and pull this poor chap through, if I can, now that I havetaken him in hand."

  "Oh yes! rather; of course; that goes without saying," cheerfullyassented Grosvenor. "But, I say, Dick, old chap," he continued, "youhave astonished me to-day, fairly taken my breath away; I hadn't theslightest notion that you were such a swell at your profession as youhave just proved yourself to be. Never saw anything like it in my lifebefore, y'know, and couldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Why,I wouldn't have given three ha'pence for that Kafir's life when I firstset eyes upon him; but now, dash it all, I believe you're going to sethim on his feet again. If you do, your fame will spread far and widethrough the country, and do us a lot of good. But, I say, it was ajolly lucky thing for you that the poor chap dropped off into that soundsleep just when he did, eh? Because it enabled you to do several thingsthat, it seems to me, you couldn't possibly have done had he remainedawake. What puzzles me is that he continued to sleep all through it.And I noticed that you didn't seem to worry in the least about whetheryou awoke him or not. I suppose it was sleep, was it not?"

  "Oh yes!" answered Dick airily; "it wa
s sleep, right enough; nothing inthe nature of swoon about it, if that is what you mean. But now, whatabout those lions? My patient will sleep for several hours to come, andI can quite well leave him. It is now,"--consulting his watch--"only afew minutes past eleven o'clock, and we ought to be able to organise thehunt and bag the beasts comfortably before tiffin. Are you game?"

  "You bet I am, rather!" responded Grosvenor. "It is just what I wasitching to suggest, but I thought it would seem callous to propose thatyou should leave your patient, and it would not have been sporting tohave proposed to go off alone, leaving you behind."

  "Oh, that is all right!" returned Dick confidently; "my patient will notneed me for hours yet, so let us see about it at once. Where isJantje?"

  Jantje was close at their elbows, and already "putting on side" amongthe villagers upon the strength of being in the service of an _'mkulu'mtagati_. He stepped forward at the question and answered, with an airof proud humility:

  "I'se here, sar. What you please to want?"

  "Mr Grosvenor and I are going to have a try for those lions, Jantje, ifthey are still lurking in the neighbourhood," observed Dick. "I believeyou said that these people report the beasts to be somewhere in yonderclump of bush? Very well. Now, I want a party to enter the bush on thewindward side and carefully beat down-wind in order to drive the brutesinto the open. Mr Grosvenor and I will place ourselves on the down-wind side of the bush, and if the lions can be induced to break cover wewill do our best to bowl them over. We shall also require two steady,reliable men to come with us to carry our spare rifles; but, understandthis, they must be men of courage, who will not be scared out of theirseven senses and bolt, carrying our rifles off with them, if the lionsshould show in the open."

  "Yes, sar," answered Jantje, "I understan' you puffekly. You leaveeveryt'ing to me, sar; I arrange it all, jus' as you wish. An' I willcome wid you myself, sar, to carry gun. I am a brabe man, sar; nopusson in dhis worl' more brabe as me; you shall see, sar."

  "Very well," answered Dick, suppressing a smile at the Hottentot'svainglorious boast; "you, being so exceedingly brave and reliable shallgo with Mr Grosvenor; but you must pick me out a good man to come withme. Just see about it, will you, and bring the whole party to thewagon, where we are now going to get our rifles."

  Puffed up with the honour of having so important a matter confided tohim, the Hottentot saluted, and turned to address the crowd that stillhung about the white men awaiting possible further developments,explaining to them what was required. A few words sufficed, and themoment that the white man's intentions and wishes were understood thecrowd dissolved, as if by magic, the men hurrying away to their huts toprocure their weapons, while Dick and Grosvenor sauntered away towardthe wagon, noting, as they went, that their team of oxen had been drivento a spot where the grass was especially good, close to the banks of theriver, and that it was being zealously watched and guarded by a dozenwell-grown lads armed with hunting assagais and knobkerries.

  Arrived at the wagon, the two friends proceeded to bring forth and dontheir bandoliers, having first satisfied themselves that the belts werefilled with the kind of cartridge required for the particular pattern ofweapon which they were about to employ; and then, having taken down andloaded the four rifles which they intended to use, they awaited thearrival of the beating party, conscious now, for the first time, of apeculiar and not altogether pleasant feeling compounded of excitementand--was it "funk"? No, certainly not, for neither of them would havebacked out of the adventure on any account; yet, if the sensation wasnot "funk", it bore some sort of family resemblance to it, somethingperhaps, in the nature of stage fright. The fact is that each realised,at nearly the same moment, that they were about to embark upon aperfectly new experience, an adventure in which they were as yetuntried, in which courage and the most perfect _sangfroid_ were of theutmost importance, and they were by no means certain how they wouldemerge from the ordeal. To put it plainly, they were just a littleafraid that at the critical moment they might fail to exhibit thatsuperlative coolness and aplomb, the slightest lack of which would causeeach to feel for ever humiliated and disgraced in the eyes of the other.Besides, there were the natives, keen of eye, and quick to observe thesmallest sign of anything approaching to perturbation; it would be awfulbeyond words to fail before them! By a curious coincidence the mind ofeach had been following precisely the same line of thought, and as theysaw Jantje approaching, followed by some forty beaters and every mongrelcur belonging to the village, the same resolution came to each--theysimply would not disgrace themselves and their colour by displaying theslightest sign of nervousness or trepidation in the eyes of thosesavages; so, drawing a deep breath, they pulled themselves together and,resolutely dismissing their apprehensions, prepared to do or die.

  Proudly leading his party of beaters, the Hottentot approached and,giving a sort of semi-military salute, announced that the villagers butawaited the orders of the white chiefs to proceed. Then, leadingforward a tall savage of some thirty-five years of age, of magnificentphysique, he introduced the man as Mafuta, the half-brother of theinjured man, and informed Dick that he, Mafuta, had specially requestedthe honour of being allowed to act as gunbearer to his brother'sbenefactor on this occasion. Dick ran his eye over the man, noted thesplendid development of his thews and sinews, marked several ugly scarson his body and limbs bearing mute testimony to the fact that he hadalready proved himself a warrior, met his unflinching glance, proud andresolute, yet respectful, and instantly decided that here was a man whomight be absolutely trusted. Without hesitation he placed his sparerifle in Mafuta's hands, explaining to him, through Jantje, exactly whathe wished him to do with it; and then issued his final instructions tothe beaters, who at once moved off to work round to the windward side ofthe clump of bush in which the lions were said to be hiding, whileGrosvenor and he, followed respectively by Jantje and Mafuta, took theirleisurely way toward the points where they intended to stationthemselves. For a considerable part of the distance they walkedtogether; and when at length they separated, Dick, who somehow seemed tohave assumed the direction of affairs as a matter of course, withGrosvenor's tacit consent and approval, said:

  "Now, Phil, anything that may break cover to the right of that baobab,as we stand facing it, belongs to you, while anything that emerges tothe left belongs to me, neither of us to interfere with the other'schances unless the brutes seem likely to get away and make good theirescape. And, just one caution, old chap: don't fire until your quarryhas passed out clear of the line of bush, or you may quiteunintentionally shoot one of the beaters. Ah! there are the dogs givingtongue; the beaters are putting them into the bush. To your station,old man, and good luck to you!"

  "Thanks! same to you, old chap," cheerily responded Grosvenor, as hewheeled and strode away to the spot fixed upon as his station.

  The clump of bush in which the lions were said to have secretedthemselves was an isolated one, with nothing in particular todistinguish it from the thousands of other clumps that dotted thevisible country, except that one extremity of it abutted upon the edgeof a small shallow ravine, through which trickled a tiny rivuletdischarging itself into the larger stream which flows through the longvalley that intersected the landscape. Close to the spot where theclump of bush touched the edge of the ravine the rivulet flowed into andthrough a shallow basin of rock, which formed an ideal drinking placefor animals; and it was possibly this circumstance that had caused thelions to take up their temporary abode in that particular clump. Therewas the possibility that the lions, when breaking cover, might attemptto escape by bolting into and up the ravine; and accordingly, when thisfact had been pointed out and explained to Dick, he had very unselfishlyplaced his friend Grosvenor on that side in order that the latter mighthave the benefit of the most likely chances.

  The barking and yelping of the dogs grew steadily louder and moreinsistent, and to it was presently added the shouts and shrillwhistlings of the Kafirs as they forced their way through the
thickundergrowth. A few birds flew out with startled cries, but for about aquarter of an hour there was no further result. Then suddenly the dogsburst into a chorus of sharp, savage barks, entirely different incharacter from their former utterances, and quite sufficient in itselfto inform even the veriest novice that game of some sort was afoot; theKafirs' cries of encouragement were redoubled; an occasional rustlingand crackling of branches became audible to the intent watchers.Presently there arose a terrific outburst of furious snarlings, growls,and yappings, intermingled with the violent swishing and crackling ofdry leaves and twigs, evidence conclusive that a fight was proceeding inthe heart of the bush. Then the sudden, sharp, agonised pow-wow of adog in pain rang out, accompanied by a horrible sound of worrying; astill further increase of the hubbub followed, then a heavy crashing ofbushes, and out sprang a magnificent tawny-maned lion into the open. Hebroke into view immediately opposite to Dick, and not more than twentyyards distant, stopping dead as he sighted the lad standing rifle inhand, with Mafuta like a bronze statue behind him. As the splendidbeast stood at gaze, with blazing eyes, and his tail switching in short,angry jerks from side to side, the feeling of anxiety and nervousnessthat had been oppressing Dick seemed to drop from him like a garment.In an instant he became absolutely cool, steady, and self-possessed, andlifting his rifle to his shoulder with a lightning-like movement, whilethe sights of the weapon seemed to line themselves of their own volitionupon the centre of the beast's broad forehead, right between the eyes,he pressed the trigger. There was a flash, a sharp, whip-like report, afaint puff of smoke, and the lion dropped stone dead where he stood.

  Meanwhile the hubbub in the bush was raging even more fiercely thanever, showing that the beast which had just fallen to Dick's rifle hadnot been the cause of it, and that the sport was by no means over.Dick's weapon was a magazine rifle, and with a quick movement he jerkedanother cartridge into position, just as the uproar grew so loud andnear at hand that it became evident another break was imminent.

  The next instant it occurred. A splendid lioness, carrying a small cubin her mouth, crashed into the open, with a dozen or more yapping andsnarling curs at her heels. She broke cover well on Grosvenor's side ofthe baobab; and, like the lion, came to an abrupt halt as soon as shesaw Grosvenor, straight toward whom she was charging. In an instant thewhite man's rifle leapt to his shoulder, and the next instant he fired.But even as he pressed the trigger, a dog, more valiant or morefoolhardy than the rest, dashed in upon her, and with the rapidity oflightning she turned to meet his rush, dropping her cub, and nearlytearing the miserable cur's head from his shoulders with a single strokeof her powerful fore paw. At the same instant Grosvenor's bullet, aimedat her head, crashed into her flank, passing right through it andutterly paralysing her hind quarters. With a whining, snarling roar thepoor beast rolled over on her side, but instantly recovered herself sofar as to raise herself on her fore legs--between which the cub, but atrifle bigger than a well-grown cat, took refuge--her jaws champing andfoaming, and her eyes blazing lightnings at the dogs, which, recognisingher helplessness, closed in round her.

  "Save the cub!" shouted Dick; "don't let the dogs worry it; I want tokeep the little beast alive." And, leaving his position, he hurriedforward, regardless of danger, to beat off the dogs. Grosvenor andJantje also rushed forward at his shouts, and were quickly joined byMafuta, who seemed to divine what Dick required. Dashing fearlessly inamong the snarling and snapping dogs, the Kafir and the Hottentot atlength succeeded in beating them off, upon which Grosvenor stepped closeup to the lioness and gave her the _coup de grace_ by sending a bulletthrough her brain. As she rolled over dead, Mafuta sprang in andgrabbed the cub by the skin of the neck, despite the fact that itsnarled and spat like an angry cat and struck out viciously with itsclaws, which were already strong enough to inflict quite a painfulscratch, and carried it off to the wagon, tying it to a wheel by a stoutreim.

  Having ensured the safety of the cub, Dick, carrying his own and thespare rifle which he had snatched from Mafuta, hurried back to the pointwhich he had so hurriedly deserted; for the commotion in the heart ofthe bush clearly evidenced the fact that the remaining members of thetroop of lions still clung to cover, and that the beaters and dogs weredoing their utmost to dislodge them. Laying the spare rifle at hisfeet, Dick stood facing the great clump, with the rifle in his hand atthe ready, prepared for any emergency. The noise and confusion,however, seemed to indicate that the next event would occur in the areaunder Grosvenor's jurisdiction, and, sure enough, about a minute lateranother lion and lioness broke cover together, followed by the remainderof the dogs. The noble beasts, both of which were apparently younganimals, and but barely full-grown, evidently intended to make for freshcover in the ravine, but, finding Grosvenor blocking the way, came to asudden halt, upon which the dogs instantly gathered round them, yappingand snarling furiously, while individual members made sudden feints ofdashing in, only to retreat precipitately with their tails between theirlegs as the infuriated beasts turned this way and that to meet the rush.

  The crowding, clamouring dogs, with their quick rushes, and theincessant twists and turns of the regal pair to meet those rushes, wereanything but conducive to good shooting, and Grosvenor, with rifle toshoulder, held his fire, watching for a favourable opportunity.Suddenly it came: a dog more venturesome than the rest sprang at thelion, and was caught by him. Planting both his front paws on the bodyof the unhappy cur, the lion stood for a moment glaring at his foes, andin that moment Grosvenor pulled trigger, the bullet striking the greatbeast full in his massive chest. For perhaps a quarter of a minute thelion stood absolutely motionless, his eyes blazing defiance; then hesuddenly collapsed, and, with a half-whine, half-roar, slowly rolledover on his side, his great head sank to earth, his limbs stretchedthemselves stiffly out, and with a violent shudder he yielded up hislife.

  Grosvenor chose this moment to inject a fresh cartridge into the chamberof his rifle. But something went wrong with the weapon, and while hewas still fidgeting with it, forgetful of the fact that Jantje wasstanding behind him with a second rifle, fully charged, in his hand, thelioness, with a mighty, snarling roar that sent the dogs scuttling inall directions, crouched with the evident intention of springing uponthe slayer of her lord. For a moment Dick, who was interestedlywatching the scene, took no action, for, according to the arrangementcome to between them, the lioness belonged of right to Grosvenor. Then,realising that his friend was in peril, he shouted excitedly:

  "Shoot, Phil, shoot, or the brute will be upon you!" at the same timelifting his own weapon to his shoulder.

  "Can't," returned Grosvenor, still struggling with his rifle; "thebeastly thing's--"

  Crack! Dick instantly pressed the trigger; and as he did so the lionessrose into the air with a curious writhing movement, falling short of thespot where Grosvenor stood by about a foot. As she fell she rolledheadlong, but instantly recovered herself, standing upon three legs,with the fourth broken close to the shoulder, while Grosvenor, steppingback hurriedly in the long grass to avoid her, was tripped up and fellflat upon his back. Fearing that, despite her broken leg, the lionessmight spring upon his prostrate friend and badly maul him, Dickimpetuously sprang forward, injecting a new cartridge as he ran, butstopped short, convulsed with laughter, at the sight of his friend, hislong legs flourishing in the air, rolling with frantic energy out of thereach of the lioness. Then, as Grosvenor finally scrambled to his feet,minus his rifle, which he had dropped during his hurried retreat--whileJantje had incontinently bolted, carrying Grosvenor's second rifle withhim, as the lioness sprang--Dick again levelled his piece and bowled thegreat tawny brute over with a bullet behind the ear, which penetratedthe brain.

  Thus satisfactorily terminated the adventurers' first experience withbig game, each of the sportsmen bagging a lion and lioness, while thecub might be regarded as the joint property of the two. A verysatisfactory feature of the day's sport was that nobody had received somuch as a scratch, the actual
casualties amounting to two Kafir dogsslain. As for the Kafirs, they fell upon the carcasses and withincredible rapidity and skill stripped off the hides and pegged them outpreparatory to treating them in the native fashion, afterwards removingthe heads and carefully depositing each in the near vicinity of an ants'nest, in order that the insects might remove--as they very speedilywould--every atom of flesh from the bones. Then, having rendered thisservice to the champions who had delivered them from their formidableenemies, they departed, dancing, to the village, singing a triumphantsong to the glory of the white men, in which each incident of the recenthunt was graphically described with appropriate gesture.