Part 29 (1/2)
The Captain who coruntled and horribly disillusioned e
Like so many officers of the cavalry tradition, the anne blanche of the are of hi, reckless warrior The dress uniforht breeches with a scarlet silk stripe down the outside of the leg, soft black riding boots and silver spurs, a tightly fitting buold lace and heavy epaulets, a short cloak worn carelessly over one shoulder and a tall black shako This was the picture he cherished of hier
Here he was in some devil-conceived, God-cursed desert, where day after day he and his beloved fighting machines were sent out to find wild anialoe it was doing his tanks, the grinding wear on tracks running hard over rough terrain and through diae his pride was suffering
He had been reduced to nothing but a gamekeeper, a beater, a peasant beater The Captain spent e of tears, the tears of deep hu he protested to theday found hi wild ani had consisted of a dozen lions and wild dogs, and e antelope By the time these were delivered to where the Count waited, they were almost exhausted, lathered with sweat, and with a froth of saliva drooling fro chase across the plains
The condition of the game detracted not at all froiven specific orders to run the gauns docile and winded After his alarer to take foolhardy risks An easy shot and a good photograph were his yardsticks of the day's sport
The greater the bag, the greater the pleasure and the Count had enjoyed himself immensely since the arrival of the tanks However, the wastes of the Danakil desert could not support endless quantities of ani had fallen off sharply in the last few days as the herds were scattered and annihilated The Count was displeased
He told the Captain of tanks so forcibly, adding to the e
The Captain of tanks found the old bull elephant standing alone, like a tall granite monument, upon the open plain He was enormous, with tattered ears like the sails of an ancient schooner, and tiny hating eyes in their webs of deep wrinkles One of his tusks was broken off near the lip, but the other was thick and long and yelloorn to a blunt-rounded tip at the end of its curve
The Captain stopped his tank a quarter of a h his binoculars while he got over the shock of his size then the Captain began to smile, a wicked twist of the mouth under his handsome mustache, and his dark eyes sparkled
”So, ame,” he whispered
”You will have it I assure you” He approached the elephant carefully froerly towards the animal, and the old bull turned and watched the trunk sucked and coiled into his lands in his top lip as he groped for the scent of this strange creature
He was a bad-tempered old bull, who had been harried and hunted for thousands of miles across the African continent, and beneath his scarred and creased old hide were the spear-heads, the pot legs fired fros froe was to be left alone he wanted neither the de cows, the ile-minded pursuit of the men who hunted hi days and coarse vegetation to find that solitude, and noasslowly down to the Wells of Chaldi, water which he had last tasted as a young breeding bull twenty-five years before
He watched the buzzing growling things creeping in towards him, and he tasted their rank oily s his ears like the crash of canvas taking the wind on a new tack, and he squealed a warning
The growling huainst his chest, he cocked his ears half back and curled the tips but the tank Captain did not recognize the danger signals and he kept on coed, fast and ainst the earth like the beat of a bass drum, and he was so fast, so quick off the ht the tank If he had he would have flicked it over on its back without having to exert all his th But the driver was as quick as he, and he swung away right under the outstretched trunk, and held his best speed for half a ave up the pursuit
”My Captain, I could shoot it with the Spandau,” urged the gunner anxiously He had not enjoyed the chase
”No! No!” The Captain was delighted
”He is a very angry, dangerous and ferocious anihed happily, rubbing his hands together with glee ”He is ift to the Count” After the fifth approach by the tanks, the old bull grew bored with the unrewarding effort of chasing after thely, his stubby tail twitching irritably, and the , wet smear down his dusty cheeks, he allowed hi line of cavalry tanks but he was still a very angry elephant
You're not going to believe this,” said Gareth Swales softly ”I'm not even sure I believe ita full squadron of Eyetie tanks straight to us”
”I don't believe it,” said Jake ”I can see it happening but I don't believe it They must have trained it like a bloodhound Is that possible, or aest we get ready to htfully close, old son” Jake jumped down to the crank handle, while Gareth dropped into the driver's hatch and swiftly adjusted the ignition and throttle setting
”All set,” he said, glancing anxiously over his shoulder
The great elephant was less than a thousand yards away
Co stride, a pace between a walk and a trot that an elephant can keep up for thirty ht hurry it up, at that,” he added, and Jake spun the crank Priscilla e Jake as he wound the crank frantically
After a full , and doubled over with hands on his knees as he sucked for air
”This bloody infernal enuine alar at her, or she'll never start,” he cautioned Gareth, and he stooped to the crank handle again ”Coht on the crank
Gareth took another quick glance over his shoulder The bizarre procession was closer, much closer He leaned out of the driver's hatch and patted Priscilla's engine-cowling tenderly
”There's ,party sat out in collapsible camp chairs under the screens, double canvas to protect them froht refreshments, and a random breeze that flapped the canvas occasionally was sufficient to keep the temperature bearable
The Count was in an expansive mood, host to half a dozen of his officers, all of the clothes, ar rifles and the occasional service rifle
”I think we can rely on better sport today I believe that our beaters will be trying harder, after entle adhed dutifully ”Indeed, I a-”
”My Count My Count” Gino rushed breathlessly into the tent like a frenzied gnoe”
”Ah!” said the Count with deep satisfaction ”Shall we go down and see what our gallant Captain of tanks has for us this tilass of white Wine in his hand, while Gino rushed over to help hi hi the dust covers from the Rolls
The small procession, headed by the Count's Rolls, Royce, wound down the slope of the low ridge to where the blinds had been sited in a line across the width of the shallow valley The blinds had been built by the battalion engineers, dug into the red earth so as not to stand too high above the low desert scrub They were neatly thatched, covered against the sun, with loopholes froa waits between drives, a small but well-stocked bar, ice in insulated buckets, a separate screened latrine in fact all the comforts to make the day's sport more enjoyable
The Count's blind was in the centre of the line It was the largest and reat ame would bunch upon this point His junior officers had earlier learned the folly of exceeding the Colonel's”
personal bag or of firing at any ani across their front towards the Count The first offender in this respect had found hier invited to the hunt, and the second was already back in Massariting out requisition forms in the quartermaster's division
Gino handed the Count from the Rolls, and helped him down the steps into the sunken shelter Giuseppe saluted and cli away and bue and over the skyline
The Count settled hih, he unbuttoned the front of his jacket, and accepted the damp face cloth that Gino handed him
While the Count wiped the film of sweat from his forehead with the cool cloth, Gino opened a bottle of Lacrima Cristi frolass of the wine on the folding table at the Count's elbow Next, he loaded the Mares from a freshly opened packet
The Count tossed the cloth aside and leaned forward in his chair to peer through the loophole in front of hi plain where the small dark desert scrub danced in the heat
”I have a feeling we shall have extraordinary sport today, Gino”
I hope so indeed, eant and stood to attention behind his chair with the loaded Mannlicher held at the ready across his chest
o from his chin on to his shi+rt front as he stooped over the crank handle and spun it for the hundredth time
”Don't let us doeetheart” Gareth scra despairing glance back over the turret He felt soht