第4章

"But though we talked thus,we neither of us liked to hint at what was in both our minds,namely,that misfortunate had overtaken the poor Hottentot.

"'Mashune,'I said at last,'go down to the water and bring me of those green herbs that grow there.I am hungered,and must eat something.'

"'Nay,my father;surely the ghosts are there;they come out of the water at night,and sit upon the banks to dry themselves.An Isanusi told it me.'

"Mashune was,I think,one of the bravest men I ever knew in the daytime,but he had a more than civilized dread of the supernatural.

"'Must I go myself,thou fool?'I said,sternly.

"'Nay,Macumazahn,if thy heart yearns for strange things like a sick woman,I go,even if the ghosts devour me.'

"And accordingly he went,and soon returned with a large bundle of watercresses,of which I ate greedily.

"'Art thou not hungry?'I asked the great Zulu presently,as he sat eyeing me eating.

"'Never was I hungrier,my father.'

"'Then eat,'and I pointed to the watercresses.

"'Nay,Macumazahn,I cannot eat those herbs.'

"'If thou dost not eat thou wilt starve:eat,Mashune.'

"He stared at the watercresses doubtfully for a while,and at last seized a handful and crammed them into his mouth,crying out as he did so,'Oh,why was I born that I should live to feed on green weeds like an ox?Surely if my mother could have known it she would have killed me when I was born!'and so he went on lamenting between each fistful of watercresses till all were finished,when he declared that he was full indeed of stuff,but it lay very cold on his stomach,'like snow upon a mountain.'At any other time I should have laughed,for it must be admitted he had a ludicrous way of putting things.Zulus do not like green food.

"Just after Mashune had finished his watercress,we heard the loud 'woof!woof!'of a lion,who was evidently promenading much nearer to our little skerm than was pleasant.Indeed,on looking into the darkness and listening intently,I could hear his snoring breath,and catch the light of his great yellow eyes.We shouted loudly,and Mashune threw some sticks on the fire to frighten him,which apparently had the desired effect,for we saw no more of him for a while.

"Just after we had had this fright from the lion,the moon rose in her fullest splendour,throwing a robe of silver light over all the earth.

I have rarely seen a more beautiful moonrise.I remember that sitting in the skerm I could with ease read faint pencil notes in my pocket-book.As soon as the moon was up game began to trek down to the water just below us.I could,from where I sat,see all sorts of them passing along a little ridge that ran to our right,on their way to the drinking place.Indeed,one buck--a large eland--came within twenty yards of the skerm,and stood at gaze,staring at it suspiciously,his beautiful head and twisted horns standing out clearly against the sky.I had,I recollect,every mind to have a pull at him on the chance of providing ourselves with a good supply of beef;but remembering that we had but two cartridges left,and the extreme uncertainty of a shot by moonlight,I at length decided to refrain.The eland presently moved on to the water,and a minute or two afterwards there arose a great sound of splashing,followed by the quick fall of galloping hoofs.

"'What's that,Mashune?'I asked.

"'That dam lion;buck smell him,'replied the Zulu in English,of which he had a very superficial knowledge.

"Scarcely were the words out of his mouth before we heard a sort of whine over the other side of the pool,which was instantly answered by a loud coughing roar close to us.

"'By Jove!'I said,'there are two of them.They have lost the buck;we must look out they don't catch us.'And again we made up the fire,and shouted,with the result that the lions moved off.

"'Mashune,'I said,'do you watch till the moon gets over that tree,when it will be the middle of the night.Then wake me.Watch well,now,or the lions will be picking those worthless bones of yours before you are three hours older.I must rest a little,or I shall die.'

"'Koos!'(chief),answered the Zulu.'Sleep,my father,sleep in peace;my eyes shall be open as the stars;and like the stars watch over you.'

"Although I was so weak,I could not at once follow his advice.To begin with,my head ached with fever,and I was torn with anxiety as to the fate of the Hottentot Hans;and,indeed,as to our own fate,left with sore feet,empty stomachs,and two cartridges,to find our way to Bamangwato,forty miles off.Then the mere sensation of knowing that there are one or more hungry lions prowling round you somewhere in the dark is disquieting,however well one may be used to it,and,by keeping the attention on the stretch,tends to prevent one from sleeping.In addition to all these troubles,too,I was,I remember,seized with a dreadful longing for a pipe of tobacco,whereas,under the circumstances,I might as well have longed for the moon.

"At last,however,I fell into an uneasy sleep as full of bad dreams as a prickly pear is of points,one of which,I recollect,was that Iwas setting my naked foot upon a cobra which rose upon its tail and hissed my name,'Macumazahn,'into my ear.Indeed,the cobra hissed with such persistency that at last I roused myself.

"'/Macumazahn,nanzia,nanzia!/'(there,there!)whispered Mashune's voice into my drowsy ears.Raising myself,I opened my eyes,and I saw Mashune kneeling by my side and pointing towards the water.Following the line of his outstretched hand,my eyes fell upon a sight that made me jump,old hunter as I was even in those days.About twenty paces from the little skerm was a large ant-heap,and on the summit of the ant-heap,her four feet rather close together,so as to find standing space,stood the massive form of a big lioness.Her head was towards the skerm,and in the bright moonlight I saw her lower it and lick her paws.