Hair-Breadth Escapes: The Adventures of Three Boys in South Africa

by H. C. Adams

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  FRANK, LORD-PARAMOUNT--AN ANT VILLAGE--AMIABLE BEES--A HASTY DRAUGHT--SEARCH FOR WATER--A STRANGER.

  It was the second day after the narrow escape of our travellers asrelated in the last chapter. The boys, attended by Lion, who seemedquite strong again, were sitting under the shade of some gum trees, inthe immediate neighbourhood of what appeared to be a deserted village,only that the houses were much larger and more solidly built than thosedescribed in a previous chapter. They were awaiting the arrival of thedoctor, who had loitered behind to take leave of Omatoko, and make surethat he had set off on his return to the Hottentot kraal. Frank had hadvery great difficulty in parrying the importunity of the Hottentots, whowere fully convinced that the prosperity of the tribe would be securedfor ever, if he would but consent to take upon himself the chiefship,from which they were prepared to eject Umboo without further ceremony.When they found that his determination on the subject could not beovercome, their chagrin was so great, that nothing but theirsuperstitious fears of Frank's influence with their deity restrainedthem from using force to compel him to conform to their wishes. But hehad, by Lavie's advice, adopted a very curt and lofty demeanour withthem, refusing to listen to any argument, and peremptorily insistingthat all the arms belonging to the party should be restored, on pain ofhis heavy displeasure. This demand was no sooner made known, throughOmatoko, than it was complied with. All the Hottentots who hadpossessed themselves of the guns, shot-belts, powder-flasks, watches,etc, bringing them back, and laying them at his feet with the humblestexpressions of contrition. Umboo was among the suppliants, his coweringfigure presenting a curious contrast to the haughty and merciless aspecthe had exhibited only a few hours previously. Frank raised him up, andgravely assured him of his forgiveness; but added that all the strangerswould depart on the following day, with provisions for one day'sjourney, and Omatoko, as their guide, for the same space of time. Butafter that, he said, the tribe must make no further inquiry respectingthem, under penalty, once more, of his displeasure! Umboo (who in hisheart, perhaps, was not unwilling to be rid of Frank, notwithstandingthe overwhelming advantages that would have attended his rule), answeredsubmissively, that the pleasure of the "favoured one" should be fullyexecuted; and accordingly, on the next day, the travellers had all leftthe village and journeyed northwards, towards the spot known as theElephant's Fountain. Omatoko, who had been as much terrified as hiscountrymen, waited on them during the journey with abject servility.His time was now up, and he had been despatched on his returnhomewards--Lavie (as the reader has heard) accompanying him some way, tomake sure that, after all, he did not intend to follow them.

  "Well, Frank, you did it well, I must say," observed Nick, "and keptyour countenance a deal better than I should have done, when you talkedto them of the danger there was of your being displeased, if they failedto perform any particular of your sovereign pleasure. I wonder whatthey thought _would_ have happened, if you had been angry with them!"

  "Oh, they thought that there would come a murrain, and cut off thecattle; and a blight, and destroy the fruit; and a pestilence, and killthemselves. I had only to order, and I might pitch it into them any wayI liked! Omatoko told me so."

  "Did he, the rascal! Well, upon my honour, Frank, if I had been you,I'd have ordered them to give him six dozen, and Umboo nine dozen, andLeshoo twelve. It is not one bit more than they deserved, and it wouldhave been a sight to see! The Hottentots would have laid it on, andwith a will too!"

  "You don't mean what you are saying, Nick, I am sure," struck in Warley."I wonder you don't feel that this is not a thing to be made a jokeof."

  "You're right, Ernest," said Frank; "we ought not to take it in thatway. Indeed, I am sure I am thankful enough for the mercy shown us, andshould be sorry if you thought otherwise. And so does Nick, too, I'llanswer for it."

  "Of course I'm thankful," said Gilbert. "And I dare say I am too apt toturn things into jest. Well, we'll drop the matter now, at all events.And by the same token, here comes the doctor. Now, I suppose, we shallhear whether this place will do for our halt for the night or not.Well, doctor, is the rascal really gone?"

  "Yes, I am satisfied he is. I doubted, at first, whether Omatoko reallybelieved in the beetle. He has lived so long among the Dutch, that Ithought he might have learned better. But he hasn't, I am persuaded.Yes, he has really gone back. He daren't follow us."

  "That is well, at all events. Well, what do you think of this as ahalting-place? It's an abandoned kraal, I suppose, only it must havebelonged to some tribe of savages, who took more pains with theirhouse-building than those Namaquas."

  "Kraal, Nick? Do you suppose these houses, for such they may certainlybe called; do you suppose these houses to be the handiwork of men?"

  "To be sure I do," returned Nick; "who but men could have built them?"

  "They are nests of white ants," said Lavie, "and if we were to stay hereall night, our clothes, our knapsacks, our belts, and everything thatcould be devoured by them, would be gnawed to pieces!"

  "Ants, doctor! You are joking, surely. What--that hut there, orwhatever it is, is a good twenty feet high, and thirty, I'll go bail forit, in diameter? Ants make that! It isn't possible."

  "It's true, anyhow," said Lavie. "I know they have been found more thana hundred feet in circumference. It is the enormous number of the antsthat enables them to construct such huge dwellings. And, after all,their work is nothing compared with that of the coral insect of thePacific."

  "Don't they sometimes build in the trunks of trees?" asked Warley.

  "Very frequently," answered the surgeon. "Their mode of going to work,when they do, is very much like their house-building. In the lattercase, they heap together an immense mass of earth, which they form intoinnumerable galleries, all leading, inwards, to the central chamber ofthe structure. When they choose a tree, and they generally pitch uponone of the largest trees they can find--a baobab, perhaps, or a giantfig--they simply eat these galleries out of the wood, taking care neverto disturb the outer bark. In this manner they will sometimes destroythe whole inside of a vast fruit tree so completely, that it crumbles todust as soon as touched."

  "Well, it is very wonderful," said Frank, "I wonder how it happens thatwe have seen nothing of them during the two hours or so that we havebeen here."

  "That is because they work only by night. It is supposed, I believe,that they are torpid by day."

  "Well, then, I suppose we must shift our quarters," remarked Nick. "Itwould not be pleasant to have the clothes eaten off one's back,certainly. We had better start, hadn't we, or it will be late?"

  "Stop a moment," said Lavie, who had been carefully noting oneparticular ant-hill for some minutes. "Ay, I thought so," he addedpresently, "there is a bees' nest in yonder mound, and most likely alarge accumulation of honey. If you are fond of honey, you may sup offit without difficulty."

  "I am very particularly fond of honey," answered Nick, "but I don't knowabout there being no difficulty. The last time I assisted at the takingof a hive, there was a very considerable `difficulty.' I was stung, infact, so badly, that I vowed never to go near bees again. However, if_you_ don't mind--"

  "None of us need mind," said the surgeon; "these bees are different fromour English bees. They never sting people. There isn't even anynecessity to smoke them."

  "Really!" returned Nick. "Now that I call the height of amiability.But are you sure, doctor? It seems too good to be possible."

  "You'll soon see," said Lavie, walking up to the mound he had marked."Ay, there is the hole where the bee went in. Just hand me the knife,Ernest." He cleared away the earth, avoiding, as much as possible, anyinjury to the work of the bees, and presently laid bare a great mass ofcomb, full of honey and pollen; of this he cut off several large pieces,as much as they could conveniently carry; the bees, in completejustification of his assurances, offering no kind of interference--afact which drew forth a second eulogium from Nick, w
ho only deplored, hesaid, that they couldn't be conveyed to England, to instruct theirbrethren there.

  They now resumed their journey, resolving to camp for the night at thefirst spot where shade and water were to be found. But their quest wasnot fortunate. The afternoon was unusually scorching and dry; andthough they came to several patches of trees and shrubs, they could findneither fount nor pool. At length the sun had declined so low in thehorizon, that it was plain that scarcely more than an hour of daylightremained; and they would have to pass the night without having quenchedtheir thirst, unless water should very speedily be discovered.

  Under these circumstances they were greatly rejoiced to see Lion, whohad been trotting along soberly by Frank's side ever since they left theant-hills, suddenly throw up his head and snuff the air, which were hismodes of indicating that there was a spring at no great distance.

  "Hurrah! old fellow," shouted Frank; "off then, and find it. We'll havea race, Nick, which shall reach it first."

  They started off, the other two following at a somewhat slower pace.Lion soon went ahead, directing the course of the boys towards a smallkloof, visible about a mile off, containing a grove of palms and datetrees, with a thick belt of underwood surrounding it. Heedless of theheat, which by this time, however, was a little tempered by the coolbreeze that had sprung up at sunset, they bounded gaily along, andpresently reached the kloof. It appeared to Frank--who, closelyfollowing Lion, was the first of the four to enter it--quite a littleParadise. Under the shade of the palms, surrounded by deliciousverdure, was a large spring bubbling up from the ground, and stealingaway in a brook, which ran babbling through the thicket, until lost tosight.

  "Hurrah!" he shouted. "Now for a jolly drink! What is the matter, oldboy?" he added a moment afterwards, as Lion instead of plunging into thecool water, as was his ordinary habit, stood still on the brink, lookingup into Frank's face, with a perplexed and wistful look. "What's thematter, Lion, why don't you drink? I suppose, poor beast," he added,"he hasn't quite recovered even yet. Get out of the way, Lion; what areyou about? If you are not thirsty, at all events I am!"

  He pushed the mastiff out of the way as he spoke, and throwing himselfon his hands and knees, took a long and delicious draught. "You don'tknow what is good, Lion," he said. "It's a rum colour, and there is anodd sort of taste about the water; but it is beautifully cool andrefreshing. Come, drink, old chap; it will do you a heap of good."

  The dog, however, persistently refused to touch the water; and Nick, whoby this time had reached the grove, was so struck by the animal'sdemeanour, that he paused before stooping to the waterside, and eyed itwith mingled doubt and curiosity. The next minute Lavie's voice washeard--

  "Don't any of you touch the water till I come."

  "I am afraid that warning comes rather late in the day for me," saidFrank, laughing, though he felt, nevertheless, a little uneasy. "I'vehad a delicious draught already. Why isn't one to touch it, Charles?"he continued, as the doctor approached.

  "I came upon a gnu, a minute or two ago, lying dead in the thicket. Ithad no wound, and I suspected it had been poisoned. I know it is veryoften the practice of the Bushmen to mix poisons of one kind or anotherwith the wells, and so kill the animals that drink at them. But verylikely the water is all right; only I had better examine it before--stay, what is this? Won't Lion drink it?"

  "No, he won't," said Frank; "and, Charles, I am sorry to say, I havedrunk a good deal of it before you called out I am afraid there issomething wrong. I feel very queer, anyhow."

  "How do you feel?" asked Lavie, taking his pulse.

  "I feel a giddiness in my head, and a singing in the ears, and am veryshaky on my legs. I had better lie down. I dare say it will go offpresently." He sank, as he spoke, rather than lay down, on the bank.

  "Put your fingers down your throat, and try if you can't bring the wateroff again," said the doctor. "Unluckily, I have no emetic in myknapsacks. The Hottentots emptied out all the drugs, while they hadpossession of our things."

  Frank obeyed his directions, but with very little effect. He becamepresently very drowsy, and Lavie, making a bed for him under a mimosa,covered him up with all the spare garments of the rest of the party, andsome heaps of long dry grass. In a few minutes Frank seemed to beasleep.

  "Do you think he is very bad?" inquired Warley earnestly.

  "I don't like the look of things, I must say," was the answer; "we don'tknow what the poison is which the Bushmen have mixed with the water, andtherefore it would be difficult to apply the antidote, even if it couldbe found here. Generally these poisons work very slow in the instanceof men, whatever they may do in animals. The best chance, I think,would be to give him large draughts of fresh wholesome water, if wecould find it. It would probably dilute the poison and carry it off,and it would anyway be good for him, as his pulse shows him to be veryfeverish."

  "We'll go and hunt for water," said Warley, "Nick and I; you stay withFrank."

  They took their guns, and went off in different directions. Warleydirected his steps towards another kloof, about two miles off, betweentwo high and stony hills. Trees and grass seemed to be growing in italmost as abundantly as in that which he had just left, and if so, therewas probably either a brook, or water underground, which might beobtained by digging. He hurried on as fast as he could, for thedarkness was fast coming on, and was within a hundred yards of thekloof, when a fine gemsbok, with its tall upright horns, came boundingdown the narrow path at its utmost speed. The creature checked itselfthe moment it saw Ernest. The hills on either side were too steep to bemounted, unless at a foot-pace, and the gemsbok's instinct taught itthat this would place it at the mercy of an enemy. As soon therefore asit could stop itself, it turned short round and galloped back into thekloof. Warley fired after it, but his nerves were discomposed, and thelight was so bad that he could hardly have hoped to hit. He could hearthe bok rushing along with unabated speed, the sound of its feet dyingoff in the gorge of the mountain; but two minutes afterwards there cameanother sound, which seemed like the crack of a ride, though at aconsiderable distance.

  If this was so, there must be some person, beside their own party,somewhere about; for the shot could not have been fired by either Lavieor Nick. At another time, Warley would have hesitated before going insearch of a stranger in so wild a region as that of the Kalahari. Theshot might have come from a party of Bushmen or Bechuanas; some few ofwhom, he knew, had possessed themselves of European firearms. In thatcase, himself and his whole party would run a very imminent risk ofbeing seized and murdered for the sake of their rifles. And even if theperson should prove to be a European, it was as likely as not, that hewas an escaped convict from the Cape prisons, who might be even moredangerous to encounter than the savages of the desert. But Frank'ssituation forbade any considerations of this kind. To secure even thechance of obtaining help for him, was enough to overpower all othercalculations.

  He hurried on accordingly in the direction whence the sound had come asfast as possible, and after half an hour's exertion, was rewarded byseeing a long way off the figure of a man carrying a gun over hisshoulder. Even at that distance, and in spite of the uncertain light,Ernest could perceive that he was a European. Somewhat assured by this,he shouted at the top of his voice, and presently saw the stranger stop,and look behind him. The sight of Ernest seemed to surprise him, forafter looking fixedly at him for a few moments, he walked rapidly downthe glen to meet him. As they approached nearer, Warley coulddistinguish that the new comer was a man advanced in life, but of ahardy frame, and his features showed traces of long exposure to theextremes of cold and heat His dress was peculiar. It consisted of ahunting-coat of some dark woollen material, with breeches and gaiters tomatch, and a broad leather belt, in which were stuck a variety ofarticles, which might be needed in crossing the desert:--a drinking-cupof horn, a flint and steel, a case containing apparently small articlesof value, together with a powder-flask and shot-case. His long gu
n hecarried slung over his shoulder; and a large broad brimmed hat, the roofof which was thick enough to resist the fiery rays of even an Africansun, completed his attire. He was not a hunter, that was plain. Hecould hardly be a farmer or an itinerant trader, and tourists in thosedays were persons very rarely to be met with. Moreover, his firstaddress showed him to be a man of superior education to any of these.

  "I wish you good day, sir," he said in correct English, though withsomething of a foreign accent. "I did not know that there was any othertraveller in this neighbourhood, or I should have sought his society.May I ask your name, and whether you are alone, or one of a party?"

  "There are four of us," answered Warley, "we are Englishmen, who havebeen wrecked on the western coast, and are now trying to make our way toCape Town."

  "Indeed," returned the stranger, "but you are aware, I presume, thatthis is not the nearest way from the west coast to the town you name.You have come a long distance out of your way and chosen a veryundesirable route."

  "No doubt," said Ernest, "but we could not help ourselves. We fell inwith a Hottentot tribe, and have had a narrow escape from their hands.But we are in a great strait now. One of our party has incautiouslydrunk a quantity of water at a fountain near here, which we have sincediscovered to be poisoned; and none of us--"

  "What the spring in the kloof, about two miles back, I suppose,"interrupted the stranger. "I passed it two or three hours ago. Inoticed that it had been poisoned--poisoned by euphorbia juice. Yourfriend cannot have had much experience of the Kalahari, or he would havedetected it at once. You may always know water poisoned in that mannerby its clay-like appearance. How much did he drink?"

  "A long draught, I am afraid," said Ernest. "I was not present, but hesaid so."

  "How long ago?"

  "I should think two hours."

  "There is no time to be lost, if his life is to be saved," observed theunknown. "Happily, the antidote is easily found in these parts. When,indeed, are God's mercies ever wanting in the hour of need!"

  He spoke the last sentence to himself, rather than to his companion.Drawing forth his flint and steel, he struck a light, by which hekindled a small lantern, which was one of the articles appended to hisbelt. By the help of these, he began searching among the herbage whichgrew thickly on either side of the path. Presently he lighted on theplant of which he was in quest. It was shaped something like an egg,which it also nearly resembled in size. He pulled up two or threespecimens of this, and shook the dirt from the roots. Then he againaddressed Warley.

  "Where is your friend?" he said. "At the kloof, where he drank thewater, I suppose? You had better take me to him as quickly aspossible."

  Warley complied in silence. Lost in wonder at the strangeness of theadventure, he led the way down the glen, up which he had mounted an houror so before.

  The elder man seemed as little inclined for conversation as himself.They proceeded in almost unbroken silence until they had arrived withina quarter of a mile of their destination. Warley stepped on a little inadvance as they approached the kloof, and Charles came out to meet him.

  "How is Frank?" asked Warley in a low tone.

  Lavie shook his head. "Nick has found water, but we cannot get anyquantity down his throat I have tried everything I can think of, but invain."

  "I have fallen in with a man who seems to understand the matter, andthinks he can save him."

  "A man--what, here in the Kalahari? What do you mean?"

  Warley hurriedly related what had occurred. "Of course, Charles," hesaid, "I can't answer for his knowledge and skill But hadn't we betterlet him try what he can do?"

  "Yes, I suppose we had," said Lavie, after a pause. "I can do nothingfor him; and though it is true that the poison is slow in its action,yet it is fatal unless its effects are checked. I'll go and speak tothe man."

  He stepped up to the stranger, and in a few hurried words described thecondition of his patient. The newcomer nodded his head.

  "Euphorbia poison," he said; "but I trust we shall be in time. Have youany means of heating water?"

  "I have some water nearly boiling in the iron pot here."

  "That is well. Be so good as to put some into this cup; rather morethan half full, if you please."

  He took one of the egg-shaped fruits, and pounded it in the hot water.When it had been reduced to a fluid state, he signed to Lavie to liftFrank's head, and then poured the mixture down the lad's throat. Thencovering him up as warmly as he could, he sat down by his side, and tookhis hand.

  He sat there, without speaking, for nearly three-quarters of an hour;then he looked up and said--

  "Let us give thanks to God. The boy's life will be spared. He isbeginning to sweat profusely. We have now only to keep him warmlycovered up, and the effects of the poison will pass off."