When we heard the reports of her rifle we came over the slope at a gallop, and away we went in pursuit of the herd. Miss Boland exchanged David for her horse as soon as the after-rider arrived, and joined in the chase with us. She lost a little time in mounting, and so we distanced her as we pursued the fleeing game.

CHAPTER XVII.

MRS. ROBERTS KILLS A GIRAFFE—HUNTING THE
RHINOCEROS—MISS BOLAND SECURES A PET.

Jack brought down a giraffe, and so did Harry. I might have done as well, perhaps, but felt that politeness required me to look after Mrs. Roberts. She disclaimed all intention of trying to kill a giraffe, unless it came around in her way. After her exploit at stalking, Miss Boland joined us, and said she would leave the fleeing herd to the gentlemen, as she thought she had already had enough glory to satisfy her for that day. So we took places in the rear of Jack and Harry, and it was not long before they were out of sight.

We were jogging demurely along, and I suppose half an hour had passed, when I saw a cloud of dust away to the southward. I was at first doubtful about it, but looking a second and a third time, I was satisfied as to its character.

"You are to have your chance now, Mrs. Roberts," I said, doubtless with a good deal of animation.

"How so?" she asked.

"Why, there comes the herd!" I answered; "you said you wouldn't shoot a giraffe unless it came in your way, and there's a lot of them coming now."

"All right, then; if they're coming I'll take a shot."

The plain was quite open where the giraffes were running, and they seemed to be headed directly for a clump of trees a quarter of a mile or so to our right.

"Come on," I shouted, as I led the way to the clump of trees. "The giraffes will go there for security, and that will give you a chance for a shot at them."

We reached the trees easily and dismounted, I holding the horses while the ladies took up their positions behind trees that would screen them well. On came the herd, and it did exactly what I expected it would do—sought the shelter of the trees. One of the animals passed within ten yards of the muzzle of Mrs. Roberts's rifle; she fired at the right time, and her shot was successful. The bullet passed through the cervical column, just above the shoulder, and brought the animal to the ground, where a second shot finished him. Miss Boland refrained from firing, and so did I, as we felt that game enough had been slaughtered for the day, and none of us believed in wanton destruction.

Not far behind the herd came Harry and Jack; they reported, as I have already said, that each had slaughtered a giraffe, and it was then unanimously voted to bring the hunt to an end. Our camp was much nearer than that of the ladies; we invited them to our establishment for luncheon, and they graciously accepted. Mrs. Roberts relieved any possible embarrassment of ours by saying:

"We sha'n't expect any such lunch as you gave us the other day—that is too much to look for more than twice in a season. We will go to your camp with pleasure, and take whatever pot-luck happens to be in order."

"Yes," echoed Miss Boland; "I am hungry enough for whatever you offer us, from hippopotamus to buffalo or giraffe; anything will be welcome."

"Thank you very much," said Jack. "We've a bit of surprise in store for you; at least, I think we have; but I'll keep it a secret till we get to camp."

When we reached the camp we gave up our tent to our guests, sent their horses to the kraal to be fed and cared for, and then proceeded to interview our cook. Table was set, and in due time we sat down to a feast, the principal dish being an elephant's foot, which the reader already knows about. Our guests had never seen or tasted of this dish, and they praised it so warmly as to bring the blushes all over the cheeks of Jack Delafield, who had supervised its preparation.

We had several other things in the luncheon, including buffalo-steaks and rhinoceros-stew; but they received very little attention, the elephant's foot being the pièce de résistance of the occasion.

We lingered a reasonable while over the table, and then it was proposed that the three from our camp should accompany the two from the other on their homeward way, and possibly do a little hunting while making the journey.

We discussed the propriety of attempting to stalk gemsbok or koodoo on the way, and Miss Boland said if she had her favorite ox David along, she would show us what could be done in the pursuit of gemsbok; but the probabilities were that the after-rider, Kleinboy, had returned to the wagons with the ox; and unless a herd of game animals could be found in the neighborhood of the camp, it would be altogether too late in the day for a hunt of that sort.

I went away from the table while the hunting-question was being settled, and went out to find Mirogo. He was regaling the cook with stories of his prowess and the wonderful things he had accomplished in previous excursions up-country with white men. Mirogo was a judicious liar, as he always placed his remarkable achievements at times and localities where it was impossible to confute him. If he found, while telling a story, that any of his auditors had the least knowledge of the affair, he subsided at once. In everything concerning our own affairs, and particularly in reports of game that had just been sighted, he was quite exact—as exact as one could possibly expect a native of South Africa to be.

When I questioned Mirogo as to the chances of game in the direction where we were going, he said he did not think there was much there just at that time. The elephants seemed to have crossed the river and gone farther north, while the buffaloes appeared to have worked away quite a distance to the westward. Some natives had told him about two or three troops of rhinoceroses, and the presence of these animals was a pretty fair indication that the elephants had gone elsewhere.

I have already stated that the elephant and rhinoceros are not friends, and generally fight when they meet. The rhinoceros and buffalo get along very well together, and I have repeatedly seen mixed herds of these two animals living on the most friendly terms. But it is not all peace and happiness with them, as they occasionally get into difficulties with one another; and when a couple of bulls get to fighting, it is generally a fight to the death.

On one occasion, when I was pursuing one of these mixed herds through some low bushes, my attention was attracted by the vultures that were assembling from all directions near a certain spot. I rode to the place, and found a rhinoceros and a buffalo—both powerful bulls—in the agonies of death. No, they were not in agonies, as the buffalo had just died, and the rhinoceros was breathing his last. The latter had cut fearful gashes in the buffalo with the single horn that protrudes from his nose; and at the same time the buffalo had made vigorous use of those powerful horns that adorn his ugly head. I looked a few moments at the spectacle, and then went away, knowing that the vultures would very soon go at their work.

When I announced to my friends the hunting-prospects, nobody seemed particularly elated; the ladies said they had never hunted rhinoceros, and Mrs. Roberts asked if it would be proper for them to do so. I told her everything was game in Africa, and if she felt any compunctions of conscience about shooting the beasts, she might look on and see somebody else perform the work. So we mounted our horses and went off in the direction where the game was to be found.

A sturdy bull-rhinoceros is pretty nearly as dangerous when you hunt him as an elephant is. His body is unwieldy and very clumsy in appearance, but when his temper is up he can get around with it pretty rapidly. Sometimes, when he sees a hunter coming toward him, he does not wait to be fired at before charging, but goes in for the charge at once. This being the way of the animal, I suggested to the ladies that two of our party would begin the fight, while they, with the third one, could stay in the rear and look on.

It was my quiet intention to be that third one myself; but before I said so, Jack and Harry had each volunteered to look after our fair charges. Seeing that there might be some dispute on the subject, Mrs. Roberts suggested that they would take care of themselves, and all three of us might attack the game. This was a very sensible proposition, as it gave us an equal chance all around—that is, an equal chance at the rhinos, and no chance whatever for any of us to stay back and say sweet things to the ladies.

Sure enough, we found the game—about twenty rhinos of all sizes and ages. There was one cow with a calf, the calf a good-sized fellow, who ought to have been going around independently by himself. Some of the rhinos were black, and others white. The white rhinoceros is valuable for his horn, which is much superior to that of the black rhino, and his hide is also of a better quality. In fact, the black rhinoceros is of so little value that a great many hunters pass him by, and do not waste ammunition upon him. They shoot him occasionally in order to give the natives meat, or when they have the fever in their blood, and the feeling that they must kill something.

About half the animals in this herd were white, and so we went in pursuit of them. We each singled out our game, and rode up to it as closely as we could without being discovered. Then we dismounted, leaving the horses in the care of our after-rider, and stalked our way up to the game. The brute I had chosen was standing under a tree, and appeared very uneasy; he seemed to scent the danger in the air, but could not tell from what direction it was coming. I got up to within twenty yards of him, and gave him a shot behind the shoulder, which brought him to the ground. He was up and off in a moment; or rather, he was up, but went off only two or three steps till I finished him with another shot.

Harry and Jack were less successful than I, as they had a long chase, Harry losing his animal altogether; but Jack succeeded in capturing his game just as he was entering the edge of the forest. When Harry found he would lose his, he turned in pursuit of the cow and calf that I mentioned. He stalked up within fifty yards of the cow, when she suddenly perceived him. She turned and trotted straight toward him, her manner indicating that his room would be much preferable to his company, and that it was her intention to secure his immediate departure. He had views of his own on the subject, and so gave her a shot in the chest as she approached. The calf bore quite a resemblance to a good-sized hog; his ears were sharp and pointed, his skin was very smooth and fat, and it shone like a freshly polished boot.

When the shooting was over, and those of the herd that we had not brought down had disappeared in the distance, the ladies joined us to look at our game. We cut out the horns and the tongues of the animals, and Harry suggested to the ladies that we would present them with the young rhinoceros; in fact, he would have that honor, as the game belonged to him. To this we readily assented, and told the after-rider to get a half-dozen or so of the Kafirs to carry away the little brute—not so little, either, as he weighed pretty nearly three hundred pounds!

"Wait a moment," said Miss Boland; "before you send for the men to carry him, let us consider what we can do with him."

"Oh, make a pet of him, Miss Boland," said I; "a young rhinoceros is a delightful pet."

"If it's all the same to you," she replied, "I think a fox-terrier or a pug would be preferable. It looks not altogether unlike a pug; perhaps he is really a gigantic dog of the pug species—who knows?"

"I'm afraid his habits of life," I replied, "are not altogether puggish; and certainly the way his mother charged at Harry just as he was about to fire indicated anything but the disposition of that inoffensive member of the canine race. Perhaps, after all, he wouldn't make a good household pet, but would do as an ornament to the kraal."

"Possibly I can tame him and use him for saddle purposes," the young lady continued. "What do you say to that, Mrs. Roberts?"

"A saddle-rhinoceros would certainly be a novelty," the other lady answered, "but I don't think it would be of much use for hunting-purposes. On seeing its kindred it might dart off and carry you among them, without giving you a chance to slip from the saddle and escape. One's life wouldn't be worth much in a herd of these creatures."

CHAPTER XVIII.

TRANSPORTING A YOUNG RHINOCEROS—HARRY AND JACK IN
LOVE—ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE—JACK'S BOAT.

"Well," said Miss Boland, after a moment's pause, "I'll accept him, with many thanks, and use him as the basis of a menagerie. We'll keep him as long as we can around the kraal, and it is possible that we'll be able to take him to Walvisch Bay on our return. It will give him a chance to see something of the world; I judge from his youthful appearance that he has never traveled far away from home, and he may yet have an opportunity to visit the Tower of London."

"Or, more likely, the Zoological Garden," said Jack. "He will feel more at home there than in the Tower, as no wild animals have been kept there for many and many a year."

"Oh, I may get up a show of my own; and should I do so, it will be pleasant to remember its origin. This young rhinoceros will be an excellent beginning; but I think you're going to have a hard time to get him to our camp."

"Oh, not at all," said I; "we'll show you how it will be done."

While the conversation was going on I spied a troop of hartbeest about a mile away from us, toward the east. Accompanied by Mirogo and Kalil, I made a circuit in their direction, coming in under the cover of some bushes, and then stalking up to the herd to single out one of the largest. I got close up to him, and finished him with a single shot. Then I had Mirogo remove his skin, while I went slowly back to where the young rhinoceros was still surrounded by the group.

Meantime the Kafirs had arrived. Under my directions the after-rider tied the feet of the young rhino—tied them firmly, so that he could not move; then he laid him, with his back downward, in the skin of the hartbeest, and finally slung the skin, by means of holes cut along its edge, on a stout pole. Three Kafirs took each end of this pole on their shoulders; they were six in all, and thus had a weight of only fifty pounds each to carry, which is a mere trifle for a Kafir. Raising the pole to their shoulders, they went off at a swinging pace; and thus we demonstrated to our friends how a young rhinoceros could be transported. The fellow kept up a tremendous squealing all the time, and evidently did not like that mode of travel; yet it was not a question of his like or dislike, but of finding him a suitable home after his unfortunate bereavement.

We accompanied the ladies until we were in sight of their camp. Then, as the hour was getting late, we turned in the direction of our own wagons, and rode for them at a smart canter, reaching home just about dusk.

I had expected Jack and Harry would be enthusiastic and loquacious over the experiences of the day; on the contrary, they were decidedly moody and silent, and I came to the conclusion that both were in love and unwilling to admit it. What made the case a little awkward was that they were both in love with one woman. Had they respectively been in love with the two women they would undoubtedly have been more talkative; but when their devotion was fastened upon one and the same individual it gave a fine chance for that verdant-eyed monster known as Jealousy. They were jealous up to the eyes—jealous all over; and from being the best of friends, they seemed to have developed, all in a day, a very pronounced feeling of hatred. Their silence toward each other drove me into a condition of taciturnity, and as we sat down to supper we were as sociable as mourners at a funeral feast where each expects that he has been left out in the will of the deceased, and the rest have got it all.

After we had eaten awhile in such profound quiet, I suggested that the method of stalking with oxen might be followed with other game than giraffes.

Silence prevailed for half a minute or more, when Harry spoke, saying, "Do you think so?"

Jack uttered not a word.

"Yes," I replied, "I certainly think so; it might be a good way to get close up to buffaloes or rhinoceroces, and possibly to elephants."

"Yes," said Jack, suddenly, "and lions too!"

"No trouble about that," I answered; "you wouldn't have to get up to the lions; the lions would get up to you very quickly, and the ox would make off as fast as he could. I am afraid it would be a bad business, both for the ox and the hunter, so far as lions are concerned."

"That reminds me," I remarked, "of the last time before this when I came on a hunting-expedition up-country. We were trekking, one day, through an open sort of plain, where there were sufficient trees to afford cover up to within a hundred yards of the road. We had nine yoke of oxen hauling the wagon, and about twelve extra oxen driven along behind the wagon—the way, in fact, that most expeditions come up from the coast. I was on my best horse, and the other horses were ridden by the fore-looper, after-rider, manager, and others of our party. Everybody was in his place; and as we had not seen any large game, I was carrying my small rifle, ready to pick off any ordinary thing that came in our way.

"We were not very far from the settlements, and not a lion had been seen, nor the spoor of one. Suddenly a big lion came bounding out of the forest, making straight for the loose bunch of oxen at the rear of the wagon. He started from the cover of a bush which may have been fifty yards from the trail; I don't think it was more than that. You know in what a short time a lion can go fifty yards when he gives his whole mind to it; it didn't seem to me ten seconds from the time we saw the brute till he sprang on one of the oxen, killing him by a single stroke of his enormous paw, and setting his teeth in the neck of the unfortunate beast. It was all the work of a few seconds. The men ran in all directions except toward the lion; I brought my small rifle to bear, and gave the fellow a shot. It was enough to anger him, and nothing more. He gave a fierce growl, and seemed half inclined to come at me; and my only salvation was that he was very hungry and fell at once to devouring the ox."

Here I paused purposely, to compel one of my comrades to say something. Harry broke the silence by asking me what I did.

"I rode to the wagon just as quickly as I could," said I, "and got one of my large rifles; then I came out, and was accompanied, very reluctantly, by one of my men. I dismounted, gave my horse to the man, walked up to within twenty yards of the lion, who was busy satisfying his hunger, and gave him a shot through the heart."

"Well," said Jack, "you lost an ox and made a lion."

"That's time," I replied; "but the loss was much greater than the gain. A lion's skin doesn't equal the value of an ox, and I doubt if you would find any hunter who would be willing to make trades of that sort."

"No indeed," said Jack; "to lose one's traveling-equipment in an expedition like this is virtually to lose everything."

In this way I managed to break the ice and get the two men more amiable to each other. Perhaps I added a little fuel to the fire in both cases by praising the skill which Miss Boland had shown in her hunting-work that day. Then I changed to the subject of the young rhinoceros, and speculated as to what use she would be able to make of the beast. I remarked that I was afraid she would never be able to teach him drawing-room manners, as he did not seem to be adapted to a higher education. Harry said he could not see why the rhinoceros could not be educated up to the same point as the elephant, with the difference that he was not as large as the elephant, and consequently not capable of holding as much knowledge.

"Hold on, Harry!" said Jack; "that doesn't make any difference at all; it's a question of brain-capacity, and not of size. The dog is the equal of the elephant in intelligence, and you could make a hundred dogs out of one elephant—yes, a thousand of them—so far as size is concerned."

This led them into a discussion as to the respective intelligence of dogs and elephants. Harry took the side of the elephant, and Jack that of the dog, each claiming that the animal he favored was more intelligent than the other. I put in a word occasionally, the fellows forgot their differences and their loves, and altogether we had a very pleasant evening.

Our conversation would have been very enjoyable to a party of young folks, and I wish I could repeat the instances that were narrated of the display of unusual intelligence on the part of those two animals. Each of the champions told stories of performances which certainly bordered upon reason, and nearly every story was inexplicable on the ground of instinct only. Jack claimed that the intelligence of both beasts was distinctly human. Harry opposed him, and quoted the argument of some distinguished naturalist, who said that the line between human and animal intelligence was illustrated by means of fire. No animal, however intelligent, has yet been known to light a fire, or even to keep one going after it was lighted. On the other hand, the lowest of savages can produce fire, and also can keep it going.

Jack admitted the force of the point, and then conversation drifted to our schemes for the next day.

After discussing the whereabouts of the various kinds of game, we concluded that the best available place, with our present information, was the hippopotamus-ground. The hippos had not been disturbed very recently, and perhaps we could bag two or three without much trouble.

"Before I go on any hippopotamus-hunt," said Jack, "I'm going to have a boat! Without a boat you can't do much."

"As to that," replied Harry, "there isn't a boat that one of us would trust himself in in all this part of South Africa. Do you propose to send back to the settlements for a boat?"

"No, I don't propose anything of the kind," said Jack; "I'll make a boat, and I'll do it to-morrow morning, so that it will be ready for use by noon!"

We laughed at his suggestion, but Jack said quietly, "Just you wait and see."

Before going to bed that night, Jack got out four of our largest buffalo-hides, and put them to soak in a tub, so that they would be soft and pliable by morning. He was up bright and early, and before breakfast he went out to the nearest bush and cut some poles about ten feet long and an inch and a half in diameter. He took along two of our Kafirs, who brought the poles into camp; and by the time they did so, and Jack was back from his tour, breakfast was ready.

After breakfast he marked out on the ground a space which represented the size of his boat at the gunwales. Then he split the sticks he had cut, just as a "hoop-pole" is split for its uses. Then each hoop was sharpened at the ends, and the ends were stuck in the ground at equal distances marked along the curves indicating the gunwales of the boat. When the hoops or sticks were all in place they resembled the framework of a very low and oblong Eskimo hut. Harry suggested that Jack was making a hen-coop to keep the dogs in, to which Jack replied, as before, "Wait and see."

The next move was to take the now softened buffalo-hides and spread them over the framework, straightening the places where they met by means of a sharp knife. When the hides had been properly trimmed they were sewn together, and then stretched over the framework, which they fitted, as Harry said, "like paper on the wall." I should have remarked that the series of hoops which formed the framework were braced longitudinally by longer and stronger pieces of wood, one taking the place of the keel and two others forming the gunwales, all of them firmly tied in place by a strong cord. When the hide covering was stretched over the woodwork and securely fastened at the gunwales, the boat was complete. It was lifted from its inverted position and turned right side up, the points of the sticks were cut away, and odd pieces of the hide were bound around the edge to strengthen it.

"I told you to wait and see," said Jack, "and now you see it!"

CHAPTER XIX.

TWO NARROW ESCAPES FROM CROCODILES—STALKING ELANDS
WITH LIONS IN COMPANY—GOOD RECORD FOR AN AFTERNOON.

Harry and I admitted that Jack's effort at boat-building was highly successful, and we could see no reason why it would not serve a good purpose in hunting hippopotami.

"I got the idea of this craft," said Jack, "up among the natives of the Arctic circle. They make boats of walrus-hide, and sometimes of reindeer-skin, in just this way: they build a framework and fasten the skins around it. You have to be very particular in moving around in one of their boats, and always step on one of the timbers; never let your feet rest entirely on the hide that forms the cover, or you may make a hole through it. There's no danger of any mishap of that kind with this tough old buffalo-skin, except at the places where it is sewn together; but it will be well to observe the same rule with this craft as with those I have mentioned."

In the afternoon we got our Kafirs together—a dozen of them—and transported the boat to the river. We had previously made some paddles out of pieces of board, and the boat was also provided with two long poles for propelling it in shallow places. It floated like a duck on the water, and we all felt proud of Jack's achievement. We took along several hippopotamus-spears, together with our rifles, and it was decided that two of us in the boat, with two natives to paddle it, would be as large a crew as she could easily sustain. The plan was to launch the boat some distance up the river, while I took my station on the bank, sitting down on a pile of reeds, and waiting for a shot at the first hippo that came along. The rest of the party moved slowly up along the river-bank, the Kafirs carrying the boat, and Jack and Harry preceding them to indicate the spot where they would launch out upon the waters.

It was very quiet sitting there all by myself, and after a little while I felt the soothing effect of the stillness, and, leaning my head forward, fell asleep. I was sitting just at the edge of the river; my feet were not three inches from the water, and my cushion of reeds was a low one. I heard nothing, saw nothing, and felt nothing until I was roused by the report of a rifle, seemingly close at hand.

Of course I was awake in an instant, and when I waked the water in front of me was whirling and churning violently, and there was a whirling and churning around my head, mingled with shouts from my friends, whose voices I recognized. They came paddling rapidly toward me with the boat, and I could see that both of them were in a state of great excitement.

"You've had a narrow escape from a horrible death!" said Jack, as the boat touched the bank and he sprang ashore.

"Why, what's the matter?" said I.

"A minute more," said Jack—"yes, half a minute—and you would have been in the jaws of a crocodile!"

I felt my hair standing on end at this announcement, which I could not fully comprehend; and I replied to it with the question, "What do you mean?"

"I mean just this," said Jack: "when we came in sight of you we saw from your position that you had probably fallen asleep. As we came nearer we saw that the river in front of you was full of crocodiles; there must have been a dozen of them close to you, and a dozen more only a little distance away. They probably stopped at first to look at you out of curiosity, and then made up their minds that you would be good to eat. We saw two or three of them creeping up in your direction, and the foremost of the lot had his nose within less than a yard of your feet. We could see that he was preparing to seize you. Others were moving along in his direction, and the probabilities are that when one of them had grabbed you and pulled you into the water the others would have taken a share in the work. We fired at one of them, but not the one nearest you, for fear that in his sudden whirling about he would sweep you into the water. Immediately after firing we shouted, and the shouts and the report of the rifle drove the crocodiles away."

I then realized the dangerous position in which I had been, and made a vow never to run the same risk again. I kept that vow faithfully for a week, when I was one day out duck-shooting, and had ornamented my belt with five or six ducks. I wanted to cross the river where the water was not very deep, and thought I could do so with safety. I started in, the ducks hanging at my side, and I holding my gun between my chin and chest so as to keep it from getting wet. The water was very nearly at my neck, and I was getting slowly along, when suddenly I saw a crocodile—an immense fellow—coming in my direction like a steamboat, not twenty yards away, his ugly snout protruding from the water.

I dropped my gun instantly, and struck out with both hands for the shore. Partly swimming and partly wading, I reached it, and got on dry land with the monster's nose about six feet behind me! That was about as close a call as the other one.

I was quite alone, and there was no way in which I could recover my gun without an almost certain risk of becoming the prey of the crocodiles. The next day all hands of us went there, and by keeping up a great noise we drove the saurians out of the way, and got a chance to drag for the gun. We worked there two or three hours, and finally recovered it. The reader may ask why we did not dive for it; but I beg him to remember that the proximity of crocodiles or alligators is not encouraging to divers, although in waters no more than five or six feet in depth.

We did not get any hippos that afternoon by means of our boat, but we killed two that were feeding on shore by cutting them off from their line of retreat to the river. They were of a very fair size, and it did not take long for our people to skin them, cut them up, and transport the meat to camp.

While we were on our way home Harry and I made a detour to the westward, partly to use up the time and partly in the hope of finding something worthy of our attention.

In a little nook at the edge of the forest we caught sight of three or four elands. It was rather unusual to see them as near as this to the forest, and we flattered ourselves that we would be able to bring down at least two of them; so we told our trackers and gun-bearers to drop back behind us, while we crept forward to stalk the elands, which we could do with ease, on account of their nearness to the wooded country. The only drawback to the business was that there was a patch of wait-a-bit thorns exactly between them and the forest. However, we were not going to let this impediment daunt us, and felt sure we would find some way of circumventing it.

We worked our way along pretty well among the creepers and other growths that covered the ground, and had got within about sixty yards of the nearest of the elands when we were startled by a very emphatic growl that seemed to come from almost under our feet. I do not know whether I turned pale or not; Harry says I did, and I know he did. It was enough to make any one turn pale; for there, within twenty yards of us, were two lions that were engaged in a rival occupation to ours. They were stalking those very elands, and they did not relish the idea of interference. One of the lions was standing up and looking in our direction; the other was crouching with his nose pointed toward the elands.

I sidled over to Harry, meantime putting my gun at full cock and standing ready in case of a charge, and Harry doing the same thing.

"What shall we do?" whispered Harry. "Shall we back out or shoot the lions?"

"Do neither," said I; "stand where we are, backing just a little, enough to signify that we give up the chase; then I don't think the lions will molest us."

"Do you believe they'll tackle the elands, then?"

"Yes," I answered, "they probably will; and if we work it right, and the lions do what we want them to do, we'll bag the elands and the lions at the same time. See, that fellow's taking his gaze off us now, and they'll make a spring very soon."

We stood and watched and waited, but we did not have to wait long. The lions chose two of the elands—at least they acted as if they had done so, as they made a bound simultaneously; and in less time than it takes me to tell it they were on the backs of two of those animals. Both the elands fell, struck senseless by the blows of the lions' paws and by the grip of the powerful teeth just forward of the shoulder. The other elands ran away.

"Now's our chance," I said to Harry; "you get a bead on the one to the right, and I'll take the fellow on the left. They'll be so intent on their eating that they won't be likely to leave it to make a charge upon us. All the same, we'll keep under cover as much as we can."

We moved about till we got up in pretty close range. I said to Harry that we wanted to fire together as well as we could, but of course I realized that we might not get a good aim at the same time.

I was just raising my rifle to the shoulder in readiness to fire when I heard a crashing in the bush almost behind me. It sounded like a large animal, and was coming almost in my direction. I had not time to look around before a third lion bounded past me, not four feet away, and sprang upon one of the lions' as he was beginning his repast on the eland he had brought down!

It seemed to me that the air was getting rather thick with lions, and it would be well for us to dispose of what we had before any more arrived. The new-comer joined the lion which I had selected for my game, and therefore I had a double task before me. I waved my hands to Harry, trying to indicate that under the circumstances I had better fire first. He understood me, and withheld his shot until I had disposed of one of my beasts.

The animal gave me a good chance to do so, as he fell to quarreling with the possessor of the prize. I killed one of the lions at the first shot; the second one I wounded badly, and it took no fewer than three shots to finish him. By good luck I had my Winchester along, and poured the lead in with great rapidity. Harry was also carrying his Winchester, which he fired three times before silencing and quieting his Hon. There was no need of wasting any ammunition on the elands, as they were already dead from the work of the lions. When this was completed we came out into the open and surveyed our game.

"Pretty good business," said Harry, "just for an afternoon walk."

I agreed with him that it was pretty good business, and now the question arose with Harry as to what we should do about it.

"Oh, that's very simple," I answered: "send one of the trackers to the wagon, and get all the men we can to skin the lions and cut up and carry home the elands. We'll have rather an abundance of meat in camp now, but there won't be any of it wasted. What with dogs, Kafirs, and ourselves, we can get away with a goodly amount."

"But won't Jack be jealous of us," remarked Harry, "when he finds what we've done in our little detour while going home from the river!"

"Oh, I don't think he will be jealous exactly," I answered; "he will be sorry he wasn't along, and I'm sorry he wasn't. I don't know that we could have got any more game if he'd been with us, but he might have had the satisfaction, at any rate, of shooting one of the lions."

We waited on the spot until the men came to take charge of our prizes; then we proceeded to camp, where we found Jack, who had already heard the story of our success. He congratulated us heartily, and, as I knew he would, wished he had been along.

"You've reversed the old adage," said he, "about the odd things you see when you haven't got a gun. You certainly saw a lot of very odd things, and had your guns along at the same time."

CHAPTER XX.

AN ALARM—THE LADIES MISSING—WHAT HAPPENED TO
THEM—THE RESCUE.

We dined that night on eland-steak and boiled hippopotamus, and found both dishes excellent; and we pieced out the dinner with some tinned peaches, which Jack drew from the recesses of the wagon. Blessings on the head of the man who invented tinning, or canning, edible things! They have softened the asperities of life in rough regions to a wonderful extent, and have rendered it possible for men to live a long time away from fresh meats and fruits without danger of that terrible disease, scurvy. And furthermore, they have enabled the traveler in distant lands to imagine himself in his own home when he sits down to a table containing the fruits and meats to which he was accustomed in his boyhood days.

This can of peaches recalls to my mind a Fourth-of-July dinner at which half a dozen of us Americans once sat down, far in the interior of China, on the upper waters of the Yang-tse-Kiang. We had chicken-soup, boiled salmon, roast turkey, boiled corned beef, two or three kinds of vegetables, and a plum-pudding, each and every thing having been tinned in America, and shipped thence to the Celestial Empire. And it was by no means a shabby dinner; on the contrary, it would have been a good one in New York or Boston. The turkey was not cut up and put into a small can, as you might imagine, but was served whole, the can having been made to fit him as though he were a Fifth Avenue "swell" and the tinsmith were a fashionable tailor.

We had our smoke after dinner, and then retired. During our smoke we laid our plans for the next day; but it is hardly necessary to say what they were, as they were not carried out.

Just as we were sitting down to breakfast, Kleinboy, the after-rider of our amazon friends, came riding into camp at full speed. We knew something was wrong, and immediately stepped out to meet him.

"What is the matter?" I asked, as soon as he drew rein and brought his panting horse to a halt.

"The ladies are missing!" he answered, "missing since yesterday!"

"Missing!" we exclaimed. "How is that?"

"They went away hunting yesterday afternoon," said Kleinboy; "said they were going after elands, giraffes, or anything else they could find; they carried their rifles, and had plenty of cartridges."

"Did they have their trackers or anybody else with them?"

"No," replied Kleinboy; "the trackers started with them, but went only a mile or two; they told the trackers they would have no use for them, and it would be impossible for them to keep up, as they were going to ride at a gallop."

"And they haven't come back yet, either of them?"

"No, neither of them."

"Nor their horses?"

"Oh yes, I forgot; the horses came back alone a little after dark; both of them came up to the kraal and made a noise, so we went out and brought them in."

"Couldn't you follow the spoor of the horses and make out where they went?"

"The manager is going to try that; but he thought the first thing to do was for me to come over here and let you gentlemen know."

"All right," I answered. Then I called our manager, and told him to see that Kleinboy had some breakfast, unless he had already breakfasted.

Jack was for starting off instantly, without waiting for breakfast or anything else; in fact, he gave the order for our horses to be saddled at once.

"No hurry about it," I said to Jack; "let us eat our breakfast, as that will only make a few minutes' difference in our starting, and if we go without it we might become faint and drop down when we most need our strength. Take in a good meal, and then we'll be off."

Harry and Jack admitted the common sense of my suggestion, and sat down to the repast. Both were quite nervous, and I think their appetites were somewhat disturbed. I told our cook to put up a piece of whatever cold meat there was, and some bread—enough to make a good lunch for all of us; and I took, on my own account, a flask of brandy. Then we started, and rode at a good pace—at the same time being careful to preserve our horses—to the camp of the amazons.

When we reached there we found that the manager had followed the spoor of the horses for a mile or more to the southward; there the ground became very hard and broken, and it was no longer possible to track the animals. He returned to the camp and waited our arrival; in fact, he came out half a mile or more to meet us.

During the ride from our camp the three of us had hardly spoken to one another, partly because the opportunities for conversation are very limited in a ride like that, and partly because each was occupied with his own thoughts.

When we met the manager we drew rein and proceeded at a walk, listening to the account of what he had done, and asking him what he suggested. He could not suggest anything except that we should ride toward the south, following the spoor of the horses as far as we could, and then continuing on in the same general direction. I was unable to add anything else, and so were Jack and Harry. We made our plans to ride to the south, and after losing the spoor we were to stretch out and zigzag along the way until we picked up the spoor again.

Just as we reached the camp Jack said:

"I have a suggestion that I think may be useful."

"What is that?" I asked.

Turning to the manager, Jack asked if the horses which the ladies rode were the most intelligent of the outfit.

"Yes," said the manager; "they were their favorite horses."

"They pet them a good deal, do they not?"

"Oh yes," said the manager, "you should see them; they are constantly petting those horses, and the animals seem much attached to them."

"All right," said Jack; "bring out the horses, put on the same saddles they had on yesterday, leave the bridles loose, and throw the reins over the horses' necks."

The horses were saddled and bridled, and brought out, in compliance with Jack's orders. We dismounted, patted the horses on the necks, and endeavored in every way we could think of to show them that we were their friends and the friends of their owners. They were a little shy of us at first, but by talking to them and petting them they quieted down, rubbed their noses against our faces, and became entirely friendly.

When this point was reached Jack said:

"Now, in our saddles again; turn those horses loose, first heading them to the south."

The horses—the loose ones—started off at a brisk trot, as if they knew perfectly well where they were going. We followed a dozen yards or so behind them; and sometimes they went at such a speed that they got a considerable distance ahead. Then they stopped, looked around at us, whinnied, and proceeded again. They seemed to be saying, as plainly as if in so many words: "Come on; we're taking you the way you want to go. We know you're going to get our owners out of trouble, and we'll lead the way."

On and on we went, till we had reeled off at least a dozen miles behind us; then the loose horses paused, and seemed to be a good deal alarmed. They no longer led the way, but appeared to yearn for our close companionship. We spread out so as to inclose them between us, and then they went along with decidedly more boldness. Every little while they stopped, snorted, and pawed the ground; and once one of them started to run back; but he went only a short distance.

"I think we had better take hold of their bridles," said Jack; "I'm afraid they'll get a sudden scare, and start back at full speed."

Jack took one of the bridles and I the other, and then we went on in the direction indicated by the horses. The ground was open, dotted here and there with small trees, and occasionally with a large one; but the large trees were few and far between. The smaller trees were perhaps a foot in diameter, some of them with limbs close to the ground, and others with no limbs until six or eight feet above it. After a time the horses paused, and refused to go any farther; and our horses also showed signs of uneasiness.

"We're getting close to the spot," said Harry; "one of us had better stay behind with these two horses, while the others go ahead and reconnoiter."

We left the horses with the manager, and we three fellows went ahead, carefully scanning the ground in every direction as we did so.

Suddenly I caught sight of something white fluttering in a tree—a small tree—perhaps a quarter of a mile away. It looked as if it might be a woman's handkerchief waved as a signal.

"There they are, boys; there they are!" I shouted; "we've found them at last!"

"There they are?" said Jack—"where?"

"Why, don't you see? Look at that tree there—that small tree between two larger ones, just the way our horses' heads are pointed."

"Yes, there it is, sure enough!" said Jack, and at the same instant Harry made an identical exclamation.

We went forward at full speed, you may be sure. The fluttering of that handkerchief in the tree was nothing to the fluttering of our hearts—I do not make any exception for Jack's, Harry's, or mine; it was a moment of great excitement to us all.

As we neared the tree we saw tawny forms at its base; at the sound of our hoof-beats the forms rose and resolved themselves into lions, which slunk away in the direction opposite to which we had come. We rode for them, but they quickened their pace and disappeared. As soon as they did so we drew rein under the tree.

There were both the women in the limbs of the tree! They had not fainted, but both were crying, and the elder one was hysterical.

"We knew you would come," said Miss Boland; "we knew you would come; but oh, the time has been so long!"

"Of course we would come," said Jack, "just as soon as we heard of it; what else could you expect of us?"

"We were afraid you couldn't find the way," she replied, drying her tears and regaining her self-possession.

"We were guided here by your clever horses," Jack replied; "had it not been for them it would have been a very difficult matter for us to find you. But come, come down from the tree; you're perfectly safe now."

Mrs. Roberts quickly recovered herself, and then the two came down to the solid ground.

As soon as they reached it I begged them to excuse me a moment, while I rode away to call the manager with the horses. I did not have far to go, as he had followed slowly on our track from the moment we left him. Then I rode back to the tree and joined the group.

"You must be very hungry," said Jack; "how long have you been in that tree?"

"We've been there since more than an hour before sunset—yes, nearly two hours before—and without a thing to eat or drink!"

"It was a lucky trick I brought along some brandy," I remarked, as I produced my flask; "some brandy and water will do you good."

Each of us had a bottle of water at his saddle-bow; in fact, we always made it a rule to take water along. In a very few moments the ladies were regaled with a drink, and then we brought forth our lunch and bade them satisfy their hunger.

"While you are doing so," I said, "you can make it less monotonous by telling how you came to get into that tree."

CHAPTER XXI.

RESCUING THE LADIES FROM LIONS—ON THE WAY TO
CAMP—FIGHT WITH A ROGUE ELEPHANT.

"It's a very short story," said Miss Boland. "We halted under this tree for a little rest, as we had been in the saddle for some time; we had no luck in hunting, all the game keeping a long distance away from us. When we reached this point we decided to turn back, and before doing so thought we would give the horses and ourselves a little rest.

"We were lying on the ground, and our horses were grazing a little distance away, when suddenly they gave a start and fled like the wind.

"Of course that brought us to our feet, and we looked around to see what had startled them. Coming straight toward us we saw three lions—and big ones they were, too. Our impulse was to spring into the tree, the lower limbs just affording us a chance to catch them and swing up. We left our rifles lying on the ground, but got into the tree safely. Oh, if we had only been able to take one of those rifles with us, we would have made short work of those fellows! The lions didn't seem to think it worth their while to pursue the horses; they stopped beneath the tree, and stayed there until you drove them away just now. And that's the whole story. They kept up a snarling and growling all night to let us know they were there, and there they have been ever since the horses went away from us."

By this time the manager had arrived with the horses; and when we told the ladies how the intelligent animals had shown us the way to rescue them, they hugged and petted the creatures as though they had been sisters who had just arrived after ten years' separation. I think Jack and Harry would willingly have been transformed into Miss Boland's horse for the sake of the caresses it received. The horses seemed delighted to find their owners again, and manifested their joy by little whinnies, and in other equine ways.

When the caressing of the horses had ended, Miss Boland referred again to the cause of their imprisonment, and said she was surprised at the persistence of the lions in staying near them so long. "I never knew," said she, "that lions were so keen after the human race; I thought their preference was for quadrupeds."

"So it is," I answered; "at least as a general thing. When lions come into one's camp they are usually in search of oxen or horses, and don't disturb human beings unless the latter happen to be in their way; but occasionally there is a lion which has tasted human flesh, and learned how easily a man can be overpowered and killed; and learned also, at the same time, that a man's flesh is excellent eating. Such a lion is apt to disdain, from that time forth, the pursuit and capture of quadrupeds; in fact, he becomes a man-eater."

"I've heard of man-eating tigers," said Mrs. Roberts, "but I don't know that I ever heard of man-eating lions. Oh yes, now you speak of it, I think Cumming mentions them in his book."

"Man-eating lions are mentioned by Cumming and some other writers," said Jack, "but they are not very prominent. Now, referring to your case, the probabilities are that one or two, and perhaps all three, of those lions that chased you into the tree were man-eaters. The fact that they stayed by and watched so long would confirm that belief; of course it is just possible that they were after the horses, and not yourselves; but as the horses ran away and you were left behind, they took whatever fate had in store for them."

"I hope you slept well in the tree," said Harry, "though the accommodations were rather poor for a night's lodging."

"Slept well!" said Mrs. Roberts. "We didn't either of us close an eye during the night; and I don't believe any one of you three could have slept had you been in our places."

Harry admitted the probable correctness of her surmise, and after a little more jocularity, to enable the ladies to forget their recent horrible predicament, the lunch being finished, we suggested a return to the wagons. The proposition was accepted, and in a few minutes we were in the saddle and away.

We reached the camp of the ladies without any incident worthy of note, and glad enough they were to be at home again. All their followers were out to greet them, and the manifestations of joy were quite in keeping with the Kafir character. They shouted and yelled and danced, and if etiquette and custom had permitted, they would have embraced their employers with tears of joy in their eyes. Mrs. Roberts suggested that we should remain with them for luncheon; but we excused ourselves by telling a few polite falsehoods, and went back to our own camp. We felt that they would prefer to be left to themselves for the rest of the day, as they had been under a great mental strain, and ought not to be submitted to the fatigue of entertaining visitors.

On our way back to our own camp we paid no attention to hunting, chiefly for the reason that we were not properly equipped for it. We had brought, in addition to revolvers, our light rifles only, which would have done good work with small game, but were quite unsuited to elephants or buffaloes. We saw a herd of elands three or four miles away—at least we supposed them to be elands, though we were not near enough to make them out. When within about a mile of camp we saw an elephant—and a big one he was—standing under a large tree fully half a mile distant from any other protection, the nearest trees being the forest that skirted the river.

Of course we were all eager to go in pursuit of that beast, and hurried on to camp as fast as we could. I was the first to see the elephant, and therefore the choice of first shot was given to me. I took my heaviest rifle, buckled my cartridge-case around my waist, and started in the direction of the elephant, Mirogo and Kalil following, with instructions not to keep too close to me—an instruction which they were very likely to obey; in fact, I think they would have preferred to remain in camp and hear about the hunt later. Harry and Jack kept about a quarter of a mile behind me, ready to bear a hand in case of necessity.

The beast was there just as we had left him, not having moved a yard. Not another elephant was in sight, and I speedily made up my mind that the creature was what is called a "rogue." Perhaps you do not know what a rogue elephant is. Well, he is an elephant that for some reason—nobody knows why—has become separated from his herd, and is not allowed to rejoin it. Should he seek to come into any herd of elephants, all will turn upon him and drive him away. He seems to be an outcast, like a man who has been cut by all his acquaintances and is positively forbidden to enter decent society anywhere. All the other elephants seem to know him, and shun him. When elephants are driven into a corral and captured, if a rogue happens to be among them, the captives, while caressing and condoling with one another, keep as far as possible away from the unfortunate pariah.

Whether his temper has been injured by this treatment, or whether the treatment has been caused by his bad temper, I am unable to say; but certain it is that the rogue elephant is far more vicious than the herd elephant. In cultivated regions, where the elephants sometimes destroy the gardens of the natives by coming in the night and eating up growing things, a rogue elephant will do ten times as much damage as any other; and when it comes to fighting, he will fight as long as breath remains.

Fully convinced that the animal which I was after belonged to the rogue species, I approached him with great caution. I was careful in getting to leeward of him, to prevent his catching my wind; and it so happened that a leeward position placed the trunk of the tree between me and the creature's head. There was an advantage and a disadvantage in this. The advantage was that he could not sight me, while there was this disadvantage—that I was cut off from my favorite shot. The reader already knows that my favorite place for planting a heavy bullet in an elephant is between the eye and ear. I was cut off from this by the tree, and the next best shot I could get was behind the shoulder.

My horse entered into the spirit of the business very well; he saw the elephant and knew what I was after. I had some difficulty in repressing in him a desire to snort, which would have aroused the game at once and revealed his danger. I patted him on the neck and encouraged him, and he kept on until I was within about thirty-five yards of the tree.

I dismounted, took steady aim just back of the fore-shoulder, and fired. Then, without waiting to see the effect of my shot, I sprang into the saddle; my horse whirled as if on a pivot, and darted away as fast as his legs could carry him.

The elephant's being behind the tree, and obliged to turn to come out from beneath it, gave me a little start, but not much. I think that just about as my horse began his flight the elephant started on in pursuit. He trumpeted viciously. I looked back over my shoulder, and saw his trunk elevated in the air, and the animal coming on at full speed. The ground at this point was pretty nearly level, and comparatively free from bushes or other growths. Glancing back every few moments, I could see that the elephant was gaining on me, and I must try some sort of tactics to escape him.

An eighth of a mile or so away to the right there was a little hill; I pulled on my bridle-rein and made for the hill. "If I can get to that hill all right," I said to myself, "I'll have this old brute in a box."

I reached the hill, and as I went up the elephant lost distance. In an uphill chase a horse, even with a rider, can out-run an elephant; but when it is a downhill race the elephant has the best of it.

When about half-way up the hill I checked my horse a little, so as to let my pursuer get nearer. Then I turned and went around the hill, the elephant following me. A side-hill is not a good place for a man to run upon, nor is it good for horse or elephant; but it is much worse for the elephant than for either of the other two.

My horse made very good time going around the hill, but not so the elephant. His legs were so short in proportion to his body that it was very difficult for him to brace himself. He screamed with rage, evidently realizing the predicament into which he had been drawn. I reduced my speed, bringing the horse to a halt, and then I took shot after shot at my pursuer, vainly endeavoring to hit the one spot in the front of his head where he is vulnerable. I turned and faced him, letting him come within twenty yards of me, then gave him another shot, and turned my horse down the hill.

It was the elephant's turn to think he had me now, as he whirled and followed at a great rate. Before reaching the foot of the hill I turned my horse quickly to one side, and the elephant, unable to stop, went crashing by me, giving me a chance to plant a couple of bullets behind his shoulder.

Then I wheeled and went a little way up the hill, and next made a quarter-turn to go around it again. There were places on the hill which were steeper than others, and I led my pursuer into the worst spots I could find. One of them was altogether too much for him, his legs on one side being so much heavier than those on the other that he lost his balance, rolled over on his side, and kept on rolling and sliding till he reached the bottom of the hill. If he had been an ordinary herd elephant I think he would have given up at this point, and made off as fast as he could; but with his unusually ugly disposition he was not discouraged at the mishap, but resumed his pursuit of me as soon as he got to his feet.

I may remark by the way that not only is the elephant an unwieldy beast on a side-hill, but a loaded one is very unwieldy when ascending a steep hill. Of course we do not have loaded elephants in Africa, where the animal is not domesticated; but in Asia they are a very common sight. It has happened, and by no means infrequently, when troops have been marching in the mountain regions of India with their heavy baggage carried on the backs of elephants, that the huge beasts have tumbled over backward while ascending steep hills. Observe the next elephant you see in a menagerie, or look at the picture of one, and you will see that his hind legs have a bent and weak appearance, which makes them, at least to the eye, shorter than the forelegs. With his weak hind legs, and a large portion of his body lying aft of his waist, the poor creature has all he can do to keep from going over when ascending a steep incline without any burden whatever. Place a heavy load upon his back, and his equilibrium is gone.