Part 13 (2/2)
”Your mother,” said Mr Daveney, ”has had my instructions these three days; she has an able coadjutor in you; but Marion is faint-hearted, I am afraid.”
Excellent arrangements had indeed been made, in preparation for defence, if besieged by the savages, which Mr Daveney could not think was probable, from various circ.u.mstances.
The enemy had got so much plunder lately, that he considered they could scarcely have disposed of it with sufficient security to enable them to go openly to war. He had many other arguments against a sudden attack; but he was an old soldier, who knew that _there is nothing so likely to keep a foe away as to be always ready to receive him_. Furthermore, he never disdained advice, or scoffed at information, and he had lately heard of immense stores of ammunition finding their way into Kafirland in a manner incredible to him, but perfectly intelligible to the reader.
The house, then, had been duly set in order. Arms and ammunition were stored in a large closet adjoining the dining-room; small bags, filled with sand, were ready to be placed against all apertures left to give light; a room had been prepared by Mrs Daveney for the wounded, a table spread with lint, tourniquets, and various salves and styptics; provisions had been collected together in a store-room, where also stood several barrels of water; and, in short, it would be quite possible to hold out against a.s.sailants for many days.
Unfortunately, the cattle, horses, and sheep were unprotected; the stone wall and blockhouses, begun some weeks back, were yet unfinished. The plan was admirable, but, owing to want of hands, required much time to carry it out.
But I must defer my description of these buildings till a future occasion. May disappeared in the same frantic way he had entered, and the master of the house having, with quiet decision, repeated his instructions to his princ.i.p.al servants, and succeeded in calming his younger daughter's terrors, proceeded to the _stoep_ of the house, cautioning the inmates about displaying lights, and followed by his daughter Eleanor.
On emerging from the house, a scene was presented, so brilliant, yet so terrific, as to mock the efforts of my poor pen in describing it. In a few minutes the whole household were drawn together by one impulse in the verandah; all the servants cl.u.s.tered in a group at the foot of the steps.
The plains which the travellers had journeyed over had to them been invisible till now, that they were fairly lit up for miles round. The mountains, stretching, as I have observed, from the left of the homestead, and extending in a south-westerly direction, were enwreathed with fire, clearly defining their shape and alt.i.tude against the glowing sky. Some rose proudly to the heavens; some formed a dark but distinct foreground; some were covered, others only dotted with burning bush, and, from the most distant peak, crowned with its diadem of basaltic rock, to the nearest acclivity, sloping seawards, these wreaths of vivid flame blazed with steady splendour, illuminating acres of trackless country. From the mountain-tops in the back-ground, great tongues of flame shot up from time to time, lit the air for a few minutes, and raided into darkness; anon, some answering light gleamed out from a distant height, and so disappeared; thus, in all directions, these luminous telegraphs sparkled and died away, while on the plains, at no great distance from the settlement, a s.h.i.+mmer here and there proved that the savages were astir in all directions.
Mr and Mrs Daveney stood together, and held a parley; their guests surprised at the steady reasoning of the lady, no less than at the close calculations of the host.
”These fires,” said Mrs Daveney, ”are the forerunners of an open declaration of war; but I doubt their attacking the settlement, especially to-night, for the scouts ere this will have told the tale of a reinforcement at Annerley; you have been tracked hither.”
”The drought of this year has been nothing considerable,” remarked her husband, ”and therefore I am inclined to attach some importance to these illuminations, which are common at this period, when the earth is parched, and the Kafirs improve the vegetation by burning the old gra.s.s out of the pasture. Still, as there has been no public proclamation of war--I, as a magistrate, must have received notice of it if there had been--I can scarcely believe these to be signals of open defiance to our authorities, however the enemy may translate them between themselves.”
”Ah! father,” interposed Eleanor Daveney, who had wound her arm round the trembling Marion's waist, ”the rivers may have risen, the post-riders may be shot, or their despatches seized.”
”Right, Eleanor--we know not what intelligence these luminous telegraphs may convey from the Fish River to the Kei, while our poor heralds lie dead in the bush. We may be thankful,” continued the host, bowing to Frankfort and Ormsby, ”for our gallant reinforcement. Marion, are you a soldier's daughter, and afraid?”
The light--for it was clear as day beyond the house, the verandah shading the group out partially--fell on the upturned face of the frightened girl.
”Not only for myself,” said his daughter; ”what would become of hundreds in the district if you fell in a conflict with these savages?”
Her father put aside the ringlets from her brow and kissed her. ”Let us hope for the best,” said he. ”If these demonstrations be hostile, troops from the garrisons must be on the march; the colony is ill prepared for war, and the Dutch farmers, to say the least, are uncertain; but, if once the word to arm is given, thousands of brave and ready burghers will be up and stirring; for, however incredulous the authorities may have been, the settler has slept with arms in hand: and now, let us hold a council of war.”
So saying, he opened a door leading from the stoep to the eating-room, and, desiring Griqua Adam to arm the trustiest herds, and place them as sentinels in the kraals and angles of the outbuildings, he sat down with his family and guests to confer as speedily as might be on the present emergency.
What it was immediately necessary to guard against was the stealthy advance of the enemy on the right; certain duties were also a.s.signed to the ladies; poor Marion's white lips sadly belied the readiness with which she obeyed her father in telling off percussion-caps by dozens.
To be sure, Ormsby seated himself beside her to a.s.sist her in the task, and the calmness of her mother and elder sister was her best incentive to courage.
A strange sight it would have been to English eyes to see Mrs Daveney and her elder daughter bringing the muskets from the store-room, Mr Daveney and Frankfort piling them in readiness for those whom Griqua Adam had summoned to receive them in a trellised pa.s.sage at the back of the dining-room.
In a few minutes a very fair plan of operations was sketched out for the instruction especially of the two officers, each having a particular post allotted him.
Poor May, who had been patiently sitting on the stoep awaiting his master's decision, at last tapped in despair at the door, which Mr Daveney, a little disconcerted by the interruption, opened.
”Ah! sir,” said the poor bushman, ”I am heart-sore for my wife and child; they must be in danger, for these schelms are all round us. Come out, sir, once more. Oh! master,” observing Frankfort advancing, ”the _vrouw_ and the _kiut_ will be murdered;” and thereupon poor May-- merry-hearted, honest, hopeful, keen-witted May--sat down upon the ground, and cried like a child.
”Something must be done, certainly, for this poor fellow,” said Mr Daveney; ”let us at once arm the people, and steal out cautiously to reconnoitre.”
Advancing to the right of the mansion, the two gentlemen looked up towards the kloof; it was in profound darkness; but, on the krantz above it, the dark figures of Kafirs, looking more like, demons than human beings, were seen flitting about, and leaping from ledge to ledge of the rocky precipices with firebrands in their hands. Below the _stoep_ some of the Hottentots and Fingo servants of the farm, stood watching these creatures, and calculating the meaning of every movement with a coolness that gave Frankfort great confidence in their courage and sagacity.
The distant signals still shot up at intervals like sky-rockets, and, as May affirmed, were evidently questions and answers pa.s.sing between the Gaika and T'Slambie tribes.
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