Swiss Family Robinson Part 41

My wife saw this subst.i.tute for gla.s.s with unfeigned satisfaction, declaring, that although she would not complain, yet the want of gla.s.s for windows had been a downright trouble to her.

Chapter 13

As evening approached, the bears' paws, which were stewing for supper, sent forth savoury odours; and we sat talking round the fire, while listening anxiously for sounds heralding the return of our young explorers.

At last the tramp and beat of hoofs struck our ears; the little troop appeared, crossing the open ground before us at a sharp trot, and a shrill ringing cheer greeted us as we rose and went to meet them.

They sprang from their saddles, the animals were set at liberty to refresh themselves, and the riders eagerly came to exhibit their acquisitions and give an account of themselves.

Funny figures they cut! Franz and Jack had each a young kid slung on his back, so that the four legs, tied together, stuck out under their chins.

Fritz's game-bag looked remarkably queer--round lumps, sharp points, and an occasional movement seemed to indicate a living creature or creatures within.

'Hurrah, for the chase, father!' cried Jack. 'Nothing like real hunting after all. And just to see how Storm and Grumble go along over a gra.s.sy plain! It is perfectly splendid! We soon tired out the little antelopes, and were able to catch them.'

'Yes, father,' said Franz, 'and Fritz has two angora rabbits in his bag, and we wanted to bring you some honey. Only think! Such a clever bird--a cuckoo, showed us where it was!'

'My brothers forget the chief thing,' said Fritz. 'We have driven a little herd of antelopes right through the Gap into our territory; and there they are, all ready for us to hunt when we like--or to catch and tame!'

'Well done!' cried I. 'Here is indeed a list of achievements. But to your mother and me, the chief thing of all, is G.o.d's goodness in bringing you safe back to us. Now, let us hear the whole story that we may have a definite idea of your performances.'

'We had a splendid ride,' said Fritz, 'down Glen Verdant, and away to the defile through our Rocky Barrier, and the morning was so cool and fresh that our steeds galloped along, nearly the whole way, at the top of their speed. When we had pa.s.sed through the Gap we moderated our furious pace and kept our eyes open on the look-out for game; we then trotted slowly to the top of a gra.s.sy hill, from whose summit we saw two herds of animals, whether antelopes, goats or gazelles, we did not know, grazing by the side of the stream below us.

'We were about to gallop down and try to get a shot at them, when it struck me that it would be wiser to try and drive the whole herd through the Gap into our own domain, where they would be shut up, as it were, in a park, free and yet within reach.

'Down the hill we rode as hard as we could go, formed in a semicircle behind the larger herd of magnificent antelopes--and, aided by the dogs, with shouts and cries drove them along the stream towards the Gap; as we came near the opening they appeared inclined to halt and turn like sheep about to be driven into the butcher's yard; and it was all we could do to prevent them from bolting past us; but, at length, one made a rush at the opening and, the rest following, they were soon all on the other side of the frontier and inhabitants of New Switzerland.'

'Capital,' I said, 'capital, my boy! But I don't see what is to make them remain inhabitants of our domain, or to prevent them from returning through the Gap whenever they feel inclined.'

'Stop, father,' he replied, 'you interrupted me too soon; we thought of that possibility too, and provided against it. We stretched a long line right across the defile and strung on it feathers and rags and all sorts of other things, which danced and fluttered in the wind, and looked so strange that I am perfectly certain that the herd will never attempt to pa.s.s it; in fact, Levaillant, from whom I learnt the trick, says in his Voyage au Cap de Bonne Esperance that the Hottentots make use of the method for penning in the antelopes they have caught in the chase.'

'Well done,' said I, 'I am glad to see that you remember what you have read. The antelopes are welcome to New Switzerland, but, my boy,' I added, 'I cannot say the same for the rabbits you have there; they increase so rapidly that if you establish a colony of the little wretches your next difficulty will be to get rid of them.'

'True,' he replied, 'but my idea was to place them upon Whale Island, where they would find abundant food, and at the same time in no way trouble us. May I not establish a warren there? It would be so useful.

Do you know my eagle caught these pretty little fellows for me? I saw a number of them running about and so unhooded him, and in a few minutes he brought me three--one dead, with whose body I rewarded him, and these two here, unhurt.'

'Now, father,' said Jack, interrupting him, 'do listen to me and hear my story, or else Fritz will begin upon my adventures and tire you out with his rigmarole descriptions.'

'Certainly, Jack,' I said, 'I am quite ready to listen to you. First and foremostly, how did you bring down those beautiful little animals you have there?'

'Oh, we galloped them down. The dogs sniffed about in the gra.s.s while Fritz was away after the rabbits, out popped these little fawns and away they went bounding and skipping, at the rate of thirty miles an hour, with Storm, Grumble and the dogs at their heels. In about a quarter of an hour we had left the dogs behind and were close upon our prey. Down went the little creatures in the gra.s.s, and, overcome with terror and fatigue, were at our mercy. So we shouted to Fritz, and--'

'My dear boy,' said I, 'according to your statement, Fritz must have been seven miles and a half off.'

'Oh, well, father, perhaps we did not ride for quite a quarter of an hour, and, of course, I can't say exactly how fast we were going; and then, you see, the fawns did not run in a straight line; at any rate Fritz heard us, and he and Franz and I leashed the legs of the pretty creatures, and then we mounted again, and presently saw a wretch of a cuckoo, who led us ever so far out of our course by cuckooing and making faces at us and then hopping away. Franz declared it must be an enchanted princess, and so I thought I would rid it of its spell; but Fritz stopped me shooting it, and said it was a "Honey Indicator", and that it was leading us probably to a bees' byke, so we spared its life, and presently, sure enough, it stopped close by a bees' nest in a hollow tree.

'This was capital, we thought, and, as we were in a great hurry to taste the honey, I threw in a lot of lighted lucifer matches, but somehow it did not kill the bees at all, but only made them awfully angry, and they flew out in a body and stung me all over. I rushed to Storm and sprang on his back, but, though I galloped away for bare life, it was an age before I got rid of the little wretches, and now my face is in a perfect fever. I think I will get mother to bathe it for me,' and off rushed the noisy boy, leaving Fritz and me to see to the fawns and examine the rabbits.

With these latter I determined to do as Fritz proposed, namely, to colonize Whale Island with them. I was all the more willing to do this because I had been considering the advisability of establis.h.i.+ng on that island a fortress to which we might retreat in any extreme danger, and where we should be very thankful, in case of such a retreat, to possess means of obtaining a constant supply of animal food.

Having ministered to the wants of the antelopes, I tried to interest the boys in my discovery of the block of talc, but just then their mother summoned us to dinner.

The princ.i.p.al dish in this meal consisted of the bears' paws--most savoury-smelling delicacies, so tempting that their close resemblance to human hands, and even the roguish 'Fee-fo-fum' from Jack, did not prevent a single member of the family from enjoying them most heartily.

Supper over, we lit our watch-fire, retired to our tent and slept soundly.

We had been working very diligently; the bears' meat was smoked, the fat melted down and stored, and a large supply of bamboos collected.

But I wished to make yet another excursion, and at early dawn I aroused the boys.

Fritz mounted the mule, I rode Lightfoot, Jack and Franz took their usual steeds and, with the two dogs, we galloped off--first to visit the euphorbia to collect the gum, and then to discover whether the ostrich had deserted her eggs in the sand.

Ernest watched us depart without the slightest look or sigh of regret, and returned to the tent to a.s.sist his mother and study his books.

Our steeds carried us down the Green Valley at a rapid rate, and we followed the direction we had pursued on our former expedition. We soon reached Turtle Marsh, and then, filling our water-flasks, we arrived at the rising ground where Fritz discovered the mounted Arabs.

As Jack and Franz wanted a gallop, I allowed them to press forward, while Fritz and I visited the euphorbia trees. A quant.i.ty of the red gum had exuded from the incisions I had made, and as this had coagulated in the sun, I rolled it into little b.a.l.l.s and stored it in a bamboo jar I had brought with me for the purpose.

As we rode after the boys, who were some way ahead, Fritz remarked, 'Did you not tell me that the juice of that tree was poisonous, father; why have you collected such a quant.i.ty?'

'I did indeed say so,' I replied, 'it is a most deadly poison. The inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope use it to poison the springs where wild animals a.s.semble to quench their thirst; and they thus slaughter an immense number of the creatures for the sake of their hides. I intend, however, to use it to destroy the apes should they again commit depredations, and also in preparing the skins of animals to protect them from the attacks of insects.'

The two boys were still at some distance from us, when suddenly four magnificent ostriches rose from the sand where they had been sitting.

Jack and Franz perceived them, and with a great shout, drove them towards us. In front ran a splendid male bird, his feathers of s.h.i.+ning black, and his great tail plume waving behind. Three females of an ashen grey colour followed him. They approached us with incredible swiftness, and were within gun-shot before they perceived us. Fritz had had the forethought to bind up the beak of his eagle so that, should he bring down an ostrich, he might be unable to injure it.

He now threw up the falcon which, towering upwards, swooped down upon the head of the foremost bird, and so confused and alarmed him, that he could not defend himself nor continue his flight. So greatly was his speed checked that Jack overtook him, and hurling his la.s.so, enfolded his wings and legs in its deadly coils and brought him to the ground.

The other ostriches were almost out of sight, so leaving them to their own devices we leaped from our steeds and attempted to approach the captured bird. He struggled fearfully, and kicked with such violence right and left, that I almost despaired of getting him home alive.

It occurred to me, however, that if we could cover his eyes, his fury might be subdued. I instantly acted upon this idea, and flung over his head my coat and hunting bag, which effectually shut out the light.

No sooner had I done this than his struggles ceased, and we were able to approach. We first secured round his body a broad strip of sealskin, on each side of which I fastened a stout piece of cord, that I might be able to lead him easily. Then, fastening another cord in a loop round his legs that he might be prevented from breaking into a gallop, we released him from the coils of the la.s.so.

'Do you know,' said I to the boys, 'how the natives of India secure a newly captured elephant?'

'Oh, yes!' said Fritz. 'They fasten him between two tame elephants.

We'll do that to this fine fellow, and tame him double quick.'

'The only difficulty will be,' remarked Jack, 'that we have no tame ostriches. However, I daresay Storm and Grumble will have no objection to perform their part, and it will puzzle even this great monster to run away with them.'

So we at once began operations. Storm and Grumble were led up on either side of the rec.u.mbent ostrich, and the cords secured to their girths. Jack and Franz, each armed with a stout whip, mounted their respective steeds, the wrappers were removed from the bird's eyes, and we stood by to watch what would next occur.

For some moments after the return of his sight he lay perfectly still, then he arose with a bound and, not aware of the cords which hampered him, attempted to dash forwards. The thongs were stout, and he was brought to his knees. A fruitless struggle ensued, and then at length seeming to accommodate himself to circ.u.mstances, he set off at a sharp trot, his guards making the air re-echo with their merry shouts. These cries stimulated the ostrich to yet further exertions, but he was at length brought to a stand by the determined refusal of his four-footed companions to continue such a race across loose sand.

The boys having enjoyed the long run, I told them to walk with the prisoner slowly home, while Fritz and I returned to examine the ostrich's nest. The eggs were quite warm, and I was certain that the mother had quite recently left the nest; leaving about half, I packed the rest of the eggs in a large bag I had brought for the purpose, and slung it carefully on the saddle before me.

We soon caught up our advance guard, and without other notable incident reached our tent.