Part 25 (2/2)
Now into Roden's heart, to inspire him with renewed hope, came two considerations One was the possibility of rescue Such a conflagration as this would show for a great distance, and would certainly attract attention, and possibly a strong patrol The other consideration was a superstitious one That voice--thatvoice, which had thrice co, could not be destined to fail in its h its oere standing there visible before hi day Never could that startling and signal triple warning have been conveyed to him in vain--never, never could it have been sent to rescue hiht succuround for hope, but he held on to it firmly for all that
Then when the frenzy of the war-dance was at its wildest, fiercest pitch, the bright, gushi+ng flah, as, with a roar like thunder, the roof fell in A volume of dense, reddened smoke shot upward to the heavens, while a vast cataract of whirling sparks fell around in a seething, fiery hail The uproarious ed into wild yells of alarm and dis e at once the hare, they quickly crowded up again, hter, as they chaffed each other vociferously over the scare they had undergone
For a little while they stood staring at the s volubly Then Roden, crouching half-buried in his ditch, could feel the vibration of the sod wall, could hear the approach of voices now sounding almost in his ear Ah! They had discovered his presence With heart beating and teeth locked together he held his revolver ready in his right hand His hour had cole, the crash of a shot or two, then the searing anguish of the sharp blades buried in his vitals, the sickening gasp for life, and--his being would have ceased
Again the ground shook above hiht he couldover the sod wall They dropped into the garden, right on, right over the spot where he had at first lain concealed Well indeed was it that he had changed his position And now the object of this new move became manifest No suspicion of his presence had led to it Another motive was at work, which it was as well he had not till then thought of, else had he risked certain detection in flight, rather than trust to a hiding-place under the circumstances so transparently insecure They had co there, drawing down the laden branches and stripping theling sound of their jaws as they bit into the ripe peaches and apricots, thrusting the the stones at each other in horseplay, like so hs on a Bank holiday In sheer wantonness they tore off great boughs covered with fruit and heaped theround, till soon every tree was as nearly as possible stripped, and they were gorged almost to repletion Then others caain in his throat, for a bevy of them swarmed over the wall just where he lay, the ankle of one even co into hard contact with the crown of his head But the warrior, thinking he had kicked a stone, did not look twice, and that peril was passed Yet, lying there, liable to be butchered at any , and not far short of an equivalent for dying a hundred deaths
By this ti in the eastern horizon, and the Kaffirs, now replete, began to depart Still,up the fruit in their skin tobacco bags and blankets, and the ray of hope which had coain into a darkness that bordered on despair Would they never go? Every ht less than half that of the light of day Roden's hiding-place would afford concealment no more He would be discovered in an instant
They had all gone at last, and their receding voices were decreasing in sound and volume; all except one, and this confounded fellow see along the quince hedge, sa-place
Twenty--ten--five yards--then so close that the latterjust above reach see--seized the fruit, and, , stumbled and fell backward bodily on top of the concealed white man
Roden was up in a moment With the quickness of a snake he had seized the Kaffir by the throat before the latter could rise, and had pressed the muzzle of his revolver to thewhich arose to the lips of the savage died in his throat The black, h hih already he felt the contents
The countenance of his white adversary was terrific in its fell fury of purpose, for it was the face of a thoroughly desperateunsteadily on the brink of that precipice, which is Death
”One sound,” whispered Roden, in Boer Dutch ”Only one sound!” and his look supplied the rest
Kaffirs are the most practical of e, and were it a hand to hand tussle with his white adversary in which th alone counted, would have stood every chance But the first er, and a head blown to ato around him, and the white man would be cut to ribbons in ahiain his own head, shattered to a thousand fragments; wherefore he deemed it sound policy to lie still as ordered
But as he lay there, breathing hard and staring with protruding and amazed eyeballs at the face of the man who threatened him, even the terror of his position could not restrain a shty astonishment And his a light, now recognised in the countenance of this ferocious-looking and ochre-sood-humoured and civil store-boy, Tonised the other now--Toation of that unscrupulous rascal Sonnenberg, to endeavour to entrap hirant violation of the aun--Tom who had so deftly turned the tables afterwards upon his scoundrelly eun now, for there it lay beside the assegais, which had escaped from his hand as he fell
”I know you, Too away and don't tell the others I'm here”
The Kaffir stared ”_Auf_!” he exclai”
Roden looked into the dark, ochre-suise it had an honest look
”I trust you, Tom,” he said ”Listen, I have not seen you here, you understand, when I return to Doppersdorp, and you--you have not seen me now”
The other nodded violently
”Go then, Tom I trust you”
The Kaffir, released, rose to his feet, and seized his weapons It was a critical moment for Roden So were those which followed
For now, footsteps were heard returning, the footsteps of several persons, and voices
”Hey, Geunkwe!” called out one of the latter, ”Have you not had enough yet? Wait, ill come and have some more, too”
”No, no!” cried To We had better not linger here The smoke will attract white men, and the country is too open Let us hurry on after the others, before it is too late” And springing over the sod wall, he joined those still outside the garden who had returned to look for him; and with inexpressible relief Roden could hear their deep voices receding into distance and silence