Hair-Breadth Escapes Part 15

"Of course, and so might the Kaffirs, who also are like the old Egyptians in many things. But if that were so, surely some traces of them would be found somewhere in Central Africa. They would hardly have pa.s.sed through a vast tract of country in the slow succession of generations, and left no mark of their residence behind."

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

A CHALLENGE--A STRATAGEM DETECTED--a.s.sEGAI VERSUS RIFLE--THE FEAST--THE DANCE--A FORAY--THE BOYS ESCAPE.

Two or three weeks now pa.s.sed during which nothing of any importance occurred. Lion continued to mend, though very slowly, and was unable to walk any distance. A messenger had been despatched southward, and his return was impatiently looked for. Spies also had gone out to track the Bushmen, but they too were still absent. Meanwhile the Englishmen were treated with all civility; Toboo every day supplying their table with Hottentot luxuries, and the chief, attended by Omatoko as interpreter, paying them continual visits. It was very amusing to the boys to watch the asides between their two visitors, which the latter supposed to be quite unintelligible to their guests, but which were always explained to them by the doctor, as soon as the Hottentots had departed.

They learned in this way that Umboo was very anxious to possess one, at least, of the guns which the travellers carried, and was disappointed that an offer to that effect had not been made to him by one of the party. They were, therefore, in no way surprised, when one day Toboo made his appearance, ushering in Omatoko and two of the princ.i.p.al personages of the village, who announced that they came with a message from the chief. The latter had heard of their skill with the "fire-tube," as they styled it, and was desirous of measuring his own skill as a marksman against theirs. He proposed that a mark should be set up at the distance of a hundred yards, which the doctor should endeavour to hit with a bullet from his rifle, and Umboo with his a.s.segai. Whichever made the more successful shot was to be accounted the victor, and the weapons employed in the contest were to become his exclusive property.

"The cunning old rogue," exclaimed Nick, _sotto voce_, to his neighbour, Frank. "He is determined to get hold of Charles's rifle, if he can.

But I suppose Charles can hardly decline the contest."

"No," said Frank, "and there is no reason why he should. He is tolerably sure to beat this n.i.g.g.e.r hollow. But let us hear what he says."

As soon as Omatoko had delivered the challenge, the doctor replied that he was quite ready for the trial proposed, and accepted the conditions.

A day was then named, and an invitation given to all the party to dine with the chief after the settlement of the contest. All preliminaries having been arranged, the amba.s.sadors withdrew, followed by Omatoko,-- all three apparently greatly pleased at the result of the interview.

"What a flat that Umboo must be," exclaimed Nick, when they had departed, "to believe that he could throw a spear with a better aim than Charles can take with his rifle! Why, even Omatoko, with his bow and arrow, was no match for Charles and his gun; and it is much easier to hit with a bow and arrow than with a spear, or a.s.segai, as they call it."

"Well, I don't know that Umboo is so very far wrong," said Lavie. "Some of these Hottentots can throw the a.s.segai with wonderful skill. If Umboo is a good performer, as I suppose he is by his challenging me, he'll surprise you with his skill, I expect, though I hardly think he will outshoot me."

"Outshoot you! Well, as a fellow is said to take a _shot_ with a spear, I suppose it may be called shooting, though it is shooting after a very funny sort," said Warley. "What is the day appointed for this match, Charles?"

"Wednesday--the day after to-morrow. I suppose two days are allowed for preparing the banquet with which he means to celebrate the victory he makes so sure of."

"Probably. But it really is odd that he should feel so confident.

Omatoko must have told him of the affair of the ostriches, and that would hardly encourage him."

"They're up to some scheme," said Nick, "I have felt sure of that from the first. They are going to give you something that will make your hand unsteady, or play some trick with your rifle. If I were you, doctor, I'd hide my rifle away in some safe place till Wednesday."

"Well, I'll tell you what happened the night before last," said Warley.

"I thought little of it at the time, but it looks different now. You were all asleep, and I was just going off too, when I fancied I saw something moving near the door. It might be a snake, I thought--I'm always fancying snakes are about now--so I lifted my head and looked.

Presently a black head came in at the door, and lay motionless for two or three minutes. The eyes seemed to be taking stock of everything in the hut, but particularly of Charles's figure, and his rifle, which was lying by his side. After a little while the head disappeared as cautiously as it had come. I thought it was one of the Hottentots, whose curiosity had been roused by what he had been told, and wanted to see everything with his own eyes. But it looks now as though there was something more in it."

"You're about right, Ernest," said Nick. "There's a good deal more in it. Well, doctor, the first thing I advise is, that you and I change guns till Wednesday. I don't imagine they know the difference between one gun and another, and if your belt is fastened to my weapon, and you carry it about, they'll think you've got your own, and any tricks they may attempt will be tried on the wrong article. And in the second place, we'd better take it in turns to keep watch at night till Wednesday, and so find out what they're up to."

"I think you're right, Nick," said Lavie. "You're such a dodger yourself, that these fellows can't hold a candle to you. Well, here's my rifle, and I'll take yours, and put it into my belt. We'd better watch from about ten o'clock to six in the morning--the same time as when we were on the journey. What time will you have, Nick?"

"Oh, between twelve and two, if you like," said Nick, "that is the time I prefer."

The others making no objection, this was agreed to. No disturbance took place that night or the night following it; but on the Wednesday morning--the morning of the match--Nick announced to his companions that the same fellow, no doubt, whom Ernest had watched a few days previously, had entered the hut last night and carried off, as he supposed, Lavie's rifle.

"You didn't let him take it away, did you?" exclaimed Frank in surprise.

"I did, though," said Nick, "and let him bring it back again half an hour afterwards. We had better overhaul it, and see what he has done to it."

"Hand it here, and I'll examine it," said the doctor.

The gun was pa.s.sed to him, and he made a careful examination. At first he could not perceive that there was anything amiss; but on thrusting down the ramrod it was found that there was something about a half-crown in thickness at the bottom of the barrel. Probably some thick glutinous matter had been poured down the gun, and had hardened almost immediately. This would of course prevent the spark from reaching the powder, and so render the gun useless.

"We must take this to pieces by-and-by, and clean it," said the surgeon.

"Meanwhile, let us change rifles again. How nicely they will be taken in, to be sure!"

About an hour afterwards notice was given them by Toboo, that all was prepared for the match. They stepped out of their hut, and found the whole kraal present, and in the greatest state of excitement. The large oval s.p.a.ce inside the ring of houses had been chosen as the most suitable ground. At one end a square piece of dark-coloured wood had been fastened to a post, and in the middle of the wood, secured by a peg, was a round piece of white leather, some four inches in diameter.

At the other end was a smaller post, at which the marksmen were to stand when discharging their weapons. Near this spot one or two lads were holding bundles of a.s.segais intended for the use of Umboo, who was leaning against the wall of a cottage a short way off. He was now divested of all his finery, and looked in consequence a far more imposing figure. He was a tall and finely formed man, though somewhat too stout; and the great muscles of his arms and legs might have served a sculptor for a model. On a row of mats about ten yards distant from the mark, were seated his wives, fully a dozen in number, all clad in their most sumptuous apparel in honour of the triumph which their lord and master was about to achieve. Each of them wore half a dozen heavy necklaces round her throat, on which were strung beads and sh.e.l.ls and studs; fish bones and birds' eggs; teeth of fishes and wild beasts; small bells and thimbles, and wooden reels on which thread had been wound, purchased of European traders and converted to these strange uses. It was not round their necks only that they wore these enc.u.mbrances; wrists and ankles and waists were similarly loaded, until it became almost impossible to distinguish any part of their persons, and they were absolutely unable to stand upright under the heavy burden of their garniture. The rest of the women and the men formed two long lines on either side of the scene of the contest, and it was evident from their looks, that they took the keenest interest in the issue of the struggle.

"Now you look here," began Omatoko as soon as the chief and the Englishmen had saluted one another; "you each take weapon you mean to use--no allowed to change it. Chief throw three a.s.segais, white medicine-man fire three shots; whoever hit nearest middle white leather, he win. If white man win, he have three a.s.segais. If chief win, he have white man's fire-tube. Is it good?"

"All right. I make no objection," said Lavie, with a nod of intelligence to his companions; and the chief also signifying his a.s.sent, the trial began.

Umboo was the first to step forward. He motioned to one of the attendants to bring him the bundle of a.s.segais which he carried, and made a careful examination of them. The lads had never before had a good sight of this weapon. It was nearly seven feet in length, the iron head being some eight inches long and two broad. As the spears in question had been designed for the chief's own use, the best workmen had been employed upon them, and Lavie was really astonished at the skill and taste displayed in the manufacture, which could hardly have been outdone by the best English workman. Having chosen his missiles, Umboo now prepared to throw them. Brandis.h.i.+ng the first of them in the air, and moving his hand to and fro, until it was exactly poised, he bent backwards and hurled it with all the force of his herculean frame. It flew straight to the mark, and buried itself in the dark wood a few inches from the white leather circle. Some applause was bestowed; but it was plain, from the faces of the bystanders, that this was not accounted one of his most skilful efforts. He hastened to mend his fortune with the second spear, but with no better result than before, the a.s.segai being fixed in the board, nearly about the same distance from the centre as the first. With an impatient exclamation he caught up the third missile, resolved that this time he would not fail His exertions were successful. A burst of admiration broke forth as the weapon was seen sticking in the leather itself, though not within an inch and a half of the actual centre.

It was now Lavie's turn, and as he advanced to the spot which Umboo had just quitted, he was regarded with the utmost curiosity by the Hottentots, many of whom had never witnessed the discharge of firearms.

The doctor's rifle was already loaded. He raised it to his shoulder, slowly lowering it again, until the bead exactly covered the centre of the leather. Then, instantly drawing the trigger, the crack of the report was heard, and the bullet pa.s.sed so exactly through the middle of the mark, that the wooden pin was driven out, and the leather dropped to the ground.

The three lads vociferously applauded, and the greater part of the bystanders could not help lending their voices to swell the shout, albeit aware that they might incur the wrath of the chief by such a display of feeling. Umboo was, it was plain, equally astonished and annoyed. He threw a fierce glance at a man of slight supple figure who was standing near, and muttered something which the Englishmen did not understand. For a minute he seemed inclined to resent Lavie's victory as a personal injury; but he changed his purpose, and observing that, as the medicine-man's first shot had beaten all three of his, there was no need for him to shoot again, he withdrew to his hut, followed by the Hottentot of whom mention has been made; nor did he reappear until the feast was ready.

This did not take place for some two hours afterwards, by which time his equanimity appeared to be restored. He placed the four white visitors on his right hand, each seated on a separate mat, while on his left were two of his sons, Kalambo and Patoo, Omatoko, and the attendant of the morning, whose name they had now discovered to be Leshoo. He was an old favourite of the chief, it appeared, and was disliked and dreaded by his countrymen generally. He did not seem to bear the Englishmen any particular goodwill, frequently scowling at them as they sat at the feast, and whispering remarks into Umboo's ear, which were evidently disparaging, if not actually hostile.

"I say, Frank," whispered Nick, "that chap there, on the chief's left, is the one who tried to damage the rifle."

"Is he?" answered Frank. "What makes you think so?"

"I know him by that bald patch on the scalp. He has had a wound there, I suppose; I noticed that as he crawled out of the door of the hut into the moonlight. We'd better keep an eye on him."

The feast lasted a long time, the quant.i.ty devoured by the Hottentots being only equalled by the gross greediness with which they seized what they considered the chief delicacies; and it was a great relief to the English guests when it was announced that a dance was going to take place outside the hut in their honour.

"A dance?" repeated Nick; "does any one expect a fellow to dance after a feed like this?"

"They don't expect you to dance," said Lavie who overheard him. "You've only to sit by and see them dance."

"That's lucky, at all events," said Nick, "but I should think his Majesty here and his wives were still less in dancing trim than ourselves. Why, a boa-constrictor, after gorging an ox, would be as fit to dance a hornpipe as he."

"Hush, Nick," said Lavie, "somebody may understand you enough to report your words, and I don't consider our position here over safe as it is.

If it hadn't been that we could not spare the rifle, I would have let the chief beat me to-day. But there is no need to provoke them more than can be helped."

Nick promised compliance, and followed the doctor out of the hut into an open s.p.a.ce near the village, under the shade of some large acacias, which had been selected as the fittest place for the dance. It seemed that this was to be performed by the Hottentot girls, no men being visible among them. They were gathered in a circle divested of all ornaments, indeed of all attire, excepting a linen cincture round the waist, and a headdress of the same material. Several of them held melons in their hands, not the large water-melons, with which the party had been regaled, but a smaller size, about as big as a large cocoa-nut.

The moon, which had risen about an hour before, and was nearly at the full, poured down a bright light, which rendered every object clearly distinguishable.

When all had taken their places, Umboo gave the signal, and the dance began. The spectators clapped their hands, keeping a kind of rude time, and accompanying the performance with a low monotonous chant, which swelled louder and louder, as the excitement grew greater. The girls, whirling their arms and throwing out their legs right and left, flew about, following each other in a circle, tossing the melons from one to another, under their thighs, and catching them with wonderful dexterity.

As the dance went on, the rapidity of the movements increased. Their light figures and animated faces, as they flashed out into the moonlight, and back into the shade of the acacias, the dark forms seated round, the wild and somewhat melancholy refrain of the voices, combined to make up a scene, which was alike strange and striking. At length the chief threw up his hand; the girls, panting and exhausted, threw themselves on the ground to recover their breath; and soon afterwards Umboo retired to his hut, and the others followed his example.

On the following morning, our travellers were no sooner up and dressed, than they became aware that a great commotion was going on in the village. a.s.segais, bows, and quivers full of arrows had been brought out of the cottages, and several men were employed in rubbing the barbs with fresh poison. About ten of the stoutest men were smearing their bodies with fat, over which they spread a yellowish red powder; the two between them covering their persons as with a second skin. The stench from this ointment was scarcely bearable; but the boys, on inquiry, were told that its purpose was to render them supple and active, as well as to guard them from the stings of insects.

Lavie soon ascertained that the spies had returned, reporting that the Bushmen were encamped at a distance of not more than twenty miles, and that it was Umboo's purpose to set out almost immediately, before the heat of the day came on, intending to attack the Bushmen an hour or so before sunset. These tidings were soon afterwards confirmed by a message from the chief, conveyed through Omatoko, desiring their company in the course of another half-hour. The manner of their quondam guide, who was now fully armed and equipped for the march, had undergone considerable change. It was no longer deferential and submissive, but imperious and threatening. He seemed to expect a refusal, and to be prepared to take measures for punis.h.i.+ng the contumacy of the Englishmen.

But Lavie was too wary to permit this. He returned a civil answer, informing Umboo that they would be ready at the time named. Then, calling to the others to follow him, he went into the hut to get ready.