Part 8 (1/2)
At length, having surht of a herd of wildebeests or gnus, grazing quietly about a mile from them
Denis was about to dash forward, when Gozo called to him and advised him to make a circuit so as to co their horses' heads, therefore, they descended the hill they had justunder its shelter, et round until they found themselves within a few hundred yards of the herd, in which there could not have been less than sixty or eighty animals Suddenly, however, the leader of the herd, a fine old felloith a flowingdown his breast, perceived the pace, a cloud of dusthunters pursued Denis led the way, Lionel keeping close after hiet ahead of the herd, and turn them, so as to drive them back and enable the lads within the extreme The wildebeests at first ran well ahead of their pursuers
”We shall soon be up to theether, you'll see”
He was right, for after a run of a couple of th Gozo was seen far away in the distance, and well ahead, gradually nearing them
”We'll stop here,” cried Denis, as they came to some thick bushes ”We can conceal ourselves, and the wildebeests won't mind the horses, even if they see the their horses behind the bushes, with their reins on the ground, a sign to the well-trained animals that they were not to move from the spot Percy soon came up, and followed their example They then knelt down so as to be coalloping back, not apparently frightened, and in no hurry, for Gozo having accomplished his object, had pulled in his rein so as to allow them to move at atheir sides with their flowing tails
Sometiround, apparently detere, should an enemy appear; then suddenly he would face about and rejoin the herd Then the whole, which had stopped for a short ti themselves in a cloud of dust which al hunters waited with no little anxiety, lest they should take another direction, but on they came towards the bush, which they were about to pass when Denis whispered to Lionel to fire at the second, while he would take the leader
”Percy, do you aim at the third; I feel sure you'll hit hi, for he felt far fro of the sort, anxious as he was to succeed The lads held their breath Denis was the first to fire, and a loud thud told him that his shot had taken effect Directly afterwards Lionel and Percy pulled their triggers, but hat effect they could not tell, for the herd, frightened by the report, began kicking up the dust, as they scampered off, in a way nearly to conceal them from view All that could be seen was a confusedtails, and occasionally a few heads
”Hurrah!” cried Denis; ”my fellow is down” Not far from them, where the leader had been seen when Denis fired, it now lay struggling on the ground
Denis reloaded, and another shot quickly put it out of its misery
Whether any of the others were hit could not be ascertained, as they all went sca them, and the report of his rifle showed that he, at all events, considered hie of one of them
Denis at once set to work to skin the animal Neither Percy nor Lionel could render hilad when Gozo made his appearance The Kaffir had shot a wildebeest, he said, but he had coreed that the parts of the flesh which orth preserving should be left in the bush, covered up with branches, so as to prevent the hyenas and jackals fro at it until their return
It took them some time, and their task accomplished, they sat down to enjoy soh they ht without sha's sport, they had a wish to secure soa the leaves and herbage near the, there was none
Their lunch over and their thirst quenched with soh there was none for the horses, they again
They had applied so frequently to the water bottles, that their stock was soon exhausted; but supposing that they should speedily arrive at the river, they did not trouble thean to feel the unpleasant sensations of extreme thirst Percy, less accustoreatly
”When shall we reach the river?” he exclaimed at last ”My throat feels like a dust bin I shall choke if I can't pour so”
”Never fear,” answered Denis; ”just try not to think about it I'll ask Gozo how far the river is off It cannot be more than half a mile now, I should think”
The Kaffir, however, did not give a satisfactory answer It was soht be farther than he supposed
”Then the faster we push on the better,” cried Denis
”Whollop-ahoo-ahoo! on we go;” but although he whipped his unfortunate steed, the animal refused to ns of suffering They opened their athering on their lips They were riding on when, as they were approaching a thicket, a sound, as if a battle was going on between sos, snortings, and bellowings
”What can produce that tremendous uproar?” cried Percy
”Gozo says it is a lion belching,” answered Lionel; ”but there's soet out of its way”
They again cautiously rode on
”A lion! a lion!” cried the Kaffir, and looking over soe buffalo cow engaged in battle with the monarch of the wilds Not far off lay the body of a buffalo calf, which at once explained to them the cause of the battle The lion had taken up a position not far from some trees and thick bushes, whose branches were elevated but a short distance froround The buffalo stood with her horns ready to receive her antagonist Suddenly the lion bounded forward, fixing his powerful claws on the face and neck of the buffalo, when instantly, in spite of his weight, she turned, and rushi+ng at the boughs, in a moment the lion was thrown off, and lay on his back with his claws in the air Furiously the buffalo charged at hi aith her horns in a manner which made it seem impossible that any life would be left in hie, the lion,to roll himself over, recovered his feet The buffalo received him as before, on her head He in vain endeavoured to reach her hinder quarters, and once more she bore him into the brushwood In an instant he was knocked off with a crash which it seemed ain on his feet This was more than the lion could stand, and, coward as he was at heart, finding hiht, pursued by the buffalo, ent dashi+ng away after hih the bush