CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
HOW DINNY HANDLED HIS GUN.
In expectation of another visit from the rhinoceros, the greatestprecautions were taken; but the days went by, and hunting and collectingtook up plenty of attention, and no more visits from the rhinoceros werereceived.
The boys were certain that this was not the animal that had charged themout upon the grass plain, and proof of this was found one day when, incompany with their father, the boys were following a honey-guide.Coffee and Chicory were with them, and eagerly joined in the pursuit,till the bird which had been flitting from bush to bush, and from treeto tree, suddenly perched itself upon one at the edge of a patch offorest.
Then Chicory ran right to a particular tree, and pointed to a spotwhere, about twenty feet from the ground, the bees could be seen flyingin and out.
To the great disappointment of the bird, the wild hive was left for thatoccasion, it being a pity to waste any of the honey, so they returned byanother route towards the camp, the bird twittering and showing nolittle excitement at what it evidently looked upon as the folly of menat neglecting the sweet treasure.
The place was, however, marked, and with the intention of returning nextday, armed with hatchet, fire, and a couple of zinc buckets to hold thespoil, they rode round the other side of the forest-patch, looking outfor brightly-plumaged birds, whose skins could be added to thecollection already made.
"Yes," said Mr Rogers, "it is a curious natural history fact, but thereit is, plainly enough. The bird knows that man can get at the honeywhen it cannot, so it leads him to the place hoping to get its share ofthe spoil."
"Then you don't think it is done out of love for man, father?" saidJack.
"What do you think, Dick?" said Mr Rogers.
"I think it's done out of kindness to the bird," said Dick, smiling.
"So do I," replied his father, "and that bird its own self."
"Look at the vultures," cried Jack, just then, as quite a cloud of thegreat birds rose from a clump of trees on their left; and upon riding upthere lay a great rhinoceros, or rather its remains, for, in spite ofits tough hide, the carrion birds had been busy at it; but not so busybut that the marks of a couple of bullets were seen in its neck andfore-shoulder, from the effects of which it had evidently died.
"That's our rhinoceros," cried Jack eagerly.
"You shall have your claim, boys," said Mr Rogers drily; "my shot shallnot count."
"I said `our,' father; so let's share it amongst us."
The boys would have liked to have the horn hacked off, but the animalwas in such a terrible state that their father thought it unfair to seteither of the Zulus to execute the task; so they had to be content withthe trophy in expectation; the boys promising to have off the horn fromthe next that was shot.
While they were enjoying a hearty meal after their return to the camp,Dinny suddenly began to make advances to Chicory, giving him pieces ofcake, and choice bits of meat, which he had roasted, and all to theboy's great surprise, for heretofore Dinny had been anything but civilto him. But Chicory took it all in good part, and smiled and nodded;and when at last Dinny signed to him to come away from the camp, the boyfollowed without a word.
"Look ye here, my little naygur," said Dinny confidentially, as soon asthey were in the shelter of the trees; "d'ye undherstand what I'm sayingto ye?"
Chicory nodded eagerly.
"Yes, yes; understand," he said.
"Then look here, ye dark-looking little image; I want ye to help me."
"Yes; help," said Chicory wonderingly.
"Iv ye'll help me, I'll help you, little naygur; and ye shall alwayshave plenty of what's good out of the pot, and roast mate, and cake.D'ye understand that?"
"Yes; Chicory know. Give him plenty meat."
"That's right, my young son of a dark night," cried Dinny. "Well, nowthen, look here. Ye know that grate big pig wid the horn on his nosecame and upset me fire, and run away wid me wardrobe?"
Chicory shook his head.
"Well then, wid me clane shirt. D'ye undherstand now?"
"Yes, yes," said Chicory, laughing. "Don't know big pig."
"Yes, yes, you do, my young piece of black velvet; the big risenosserus."
"Yes, rhinoceros, big beast, big horn. Oorrr! houk! houk! houk!"
This was supposed to resemble the noise made by the great animal; andChicory illustrated his cry by going down on hands and knees in a clumsygallop, which ended with a toss of the head in the air.
"Yes; that's him," said Dinny. "Well, I want ye to find the way towhere he lives by his futmarks, and then come and tell me, and I'll goand shute him."
Chicory nodded his head, and they went back to the waggon, where Dinnypresented himself to his master all at once with a request for a gun.
"A gun, Dinny? And what do you want with a gun?"
"Shure, sor, everybody else learns how to shute, and I thought I'd liketo be able to shute a line or a hippo--what's his name, or any other ofthe savage bastes if they came near the waggon while ye were away."
"Well, Dinny, I have no objection, if you promise to be careful."
"But I want one o' them that shutes big bullets, sor, and not the littlepishtol things that only shutes small shot, sor."
"You shall have a good rifle, Dinny," said his master. "Dick, get theSnider--the short Snider--out of the waggon, and give him twentycartridges."
This was done, and the rifle placed in Dinny's hands.
"You must be very careful how you shoot with it, Dinny," said MrRogers.
"Shure and I will, sor."
"But be particularly careful not to fire in the direction where any oneis coming. Remember a Snider is dangerous at a mile."
"Is it now?" said Dinny. "But shure, sor, I want a gun, and I don'tcare for your Sniders at all. What's a Snider to do wid me? It's a gunI want."
"To kill wild beasts, Dinny?"
"That same, sor."
"Well, then, take that Snider-rifle; it will kill at a tremendousdistance."
"What, that little bid of a thing, sor?"
"To be sure, man. Now take care, and you'll have to keep it clean andfree from rust as well."
"Thanky, sor, and I will, and it will have too much to do for it to getrusty."
"Well, Dinny, I trust you, mind, so be careful with your weapon."
"Shure, sor, and I will," said Dinny; and taking the Snider verycarefully in his hands, he asked Jack to give him "a bit of showing howto trim thim," and this Jack did till he was perfect, when Dinny wentoff with the rifle, muttering to himself.
"Think o' that now!" he kept on saying, "that bit of a thing shooting abaste at a mile!"
Nothing more was said by Dinny, who had made his plans, and he kept hisown secret of what he intended to do. On the following afternoonChicory came to him in high glee, to claim the roast meat and cakepromised, and he announced that he had found where the rhinoceros lived.
"How did you find him out?" said Dinny doubtingly.
"Track. Follow spoor," said Chicory proudly.
"Oh, ye followed his spoor, did ye?" said Dinny. "Very well thin, it'sgoing to be a bright moonlight night, so ye can follow his spoor, andtak' me wid ye."
Chicory nodded eagerly, and in the course of the evening he came andbeckoned to Dinny, who took the Snider, and put the cartridges in hispocket.
"Where are you going, Dinny?" said his master.
"Shure, jist for a bit o' pleasure, sor," he replied.
"Well, look out for the lions," said Dick maliciously.
"Shure I niver thought o' the lines," muttered Dinny, "and they goo outa-walking av a night. I'd better shtay at home. Bother!" he criedangrily. "Shure the young masther did it to frecken me, and it'll takea braver boy than him to do it anyhow."
So Dinny marched off, and following Chicory, the boy led him at onceover a rugged mountainous hill, and then into a part of the forest thatwas particularly dark, save where the moon, pretty well at its full,threw long
paths of light between the trees.
Enjoining silence, the boy went cautiously forward, threading his waythrough the dark forest, till he halted beside a fallen monarch of thewoods, a huge tree of such enormous proportions, that its gnarled trunkand branches completely stopped further progress; for it formed a stoutbarrier breast high, over which a man could fire at anything crossingthe moonlit glade beyond.
The shape of the tree was such that a branch like a second trunk ranalmost parallel to the main trunk, arching over the head of whoever usedthe old tree for a breastwork, and forming an additional protectionshould the occupant of the breastwork be attacked by any large animal.
"Stop there, you see noseros," whispered Chicory.
"But shure ye wouldn't have a man shtand there by himself, and all inthe dark? Faix, there's some wild baste or another shlaying me now."
"See noseros then shoot," whispered Chicory. "I stay here."
The boy caught hold of a branch and swung himself up into a tree, wherehe perched himself and waited.
"Faix, he's just like a little monkey, and not fit for the shociety ofChristians," muttered Dinny as he took his place by the great barrier,and, resting his rifle upon the trunk, waited.
Dinny felt in anything but a courageous mood, but as he had come so farupon his mission, he strung himself up to go on with it, and watched theopen space before him, lit up by the moon which shone full upon hisface.
"Maybe he's only playing wid me, the black little haythen," thoughtDinny, "and there's no big pig to be seen here at all. But he shan'tsee that I'm a bit freckened annyhow, for I'll shtand my ground till hecomes down and says we'd better go."
So Dinny stood watching there till he began to feel drowsy, and thismade him lean against the great trunk, his head began to nod, and twiceover he was pretty well asleep.
"Shure, an' I'll catch cowld if I do that," he said to himself, as hegave himself a bit of a shake. "I don't see what's the good o' waitinghere, and--murther! look at that now."
Dinny felt as if cold water was being poured over him as, all at once,he saw the great proportions of a rhinoceros standing out quite blackagainst the bright moonlight, the animal being as motionless as ifcarved from the rock that lay in great masses around.
"Shure an' it's a big shtone, and nothing else, and--murther, it'smoving, and coming here."
Dinny hardly knew himself how he did it, but in a kind of desperation hetook aim at the rhinoceros, and drew trigger.
The result was a sharp crack, that seemed to echo into distance faraway, and mingled with the echoes there was a furious grunting roar.
For Dinny had hit the rhinoceros. In fact, aiming at it as he did, withthe barrel of his piece upon the large trunk, it would have been almostimpossible to miss. But as he heard the roar Dinny turned and ran,stumbled, saved himself, and hid behind a tree.
"Murther, but it's awful work," he muttered, as his trembling fingersplaced a second cartridge in the rifle.
Then, all being silent, Dinny stole out, and peering cautiously beforehim, crept towards the prostrate tree.
"Shure, I belave I've shot him dead," he muttered, as he peered out intothe open glade; but as he showed his face in the moonlight there was afurious snort, and Dinny turned and fled; for the rhinoceros chargedright at the white face behind the prostrate tree, thrusting itsmonstrous head between the two huge limbs; and then, in spite of itsprodigious strength being unable to get any further, it drew back,charged again, placed one hoof on the tree--but its efforts were invain. Then it wrenched its head back, and retiring a short distancecharged once more, Dinny watching it from behind a tree with blanchedface and hands, trembling with excitement.
A practised hunter would have sent bullet after bullet crashing into themonster's brain; but Dinny was not practised, and it was not until hehad thoroughly convinced himself that the animal could not get through,that he stole out, and bending down, cautiously advanced nearer andnearer to the huge beast, which snorted, and grunted, and squealed inits futile efforts to get at its assailant.
If it had gone twenty yards to its left, it could easily have passed theobstacle; but it was pig-like enough in its nature to keep on trying toforce itself through the obstacle it had tried to pass, and seeing this,Dinny went on, gaining a little courage the while.
"Shure I'll go close enough to make quite sartain," he muttered; "butit's like having a bad dhrame, that it is. Now where had I better shutehim--in the mouth or the eye?"
He decided for the eye, and raising the rifle at last he took a long aimat not six feet distance, when the great beast uttered so furious a roarthat Dinny turned once more, and fled behind the tree.
"Shure and what'd I be freckened of?" he said angrily. "Not of a bastelike that." And walking out once more he repeated his manoeuvres,approaching cautiously; and as the rhinoceros began straining, andsprang to force its way through, Dinny took careful aim at the monstrousbeast, and fired.
"Shure it's aisy enough," he said, as the beast started back; andplacing a fresh cartridge in his piece, he fired again at where theanimal stood in the full moonlight swaying its head to and fro.
It was impossible to miss; and Dinny fired again and again, nine shotsin all, growing encouraged by his success; and the result was that themonster fell over upon its side at last with a heavy thud, just asChicory dropped to the ground, and made the hero jump by touching him onthe back.
"Ah, be aisy; what are ye thrying to frecken a man for like that?" saidDinny. "But look at that, ye little haythen; that's the way to shute.Now let's go back and tell them they needn't be alarmed about the bigpig, for its Dinny himself that has done the thrick."