CHAPTER XVI
BIG GAME
When the New Year had come, all preparations being satisfactorilycompleted, our friends set forth upon their second journey; feelingthemselves so much better equipped, and so much more experienced in bothtravelling, and speaking the necessary languages, that they started inthe highest spirits.
Mr. Gilchrist enforced various strict regulations, with regard to thesafety of his party.
None were to wander alone, far from the rest; none to start off uponindependent explorations; all were to carry upon their persons, at alltimes, suitable firearms, always ready for use; ample supply of chargesfor them; hunting-knives in good order; and a small supply of food, incase of accident.
Native villages were plentifully scattered upon their road,--Englishstations not unfrequent. The weather was agreeable, and all promisedwell.
The party was successful in finding many rare orchids; so that, thoughtheir progress was slow, they were content.
They did not cross the river Salween, preferring to proceed along itsbanks northwards, and to search the rocky country upon its eastern sidefor some distance first, as the plants seemed to be of a differentcharacter there from those which they had already collected; and thecessation of traffic upon the river, in consequence of the frequentrapids in it, rendered a passage across it difficult.
Mr. Gilchrist perceived that, from the solitary character of thisdistrict, it was one in which they might possibly meet with danger fromwild beasts; but he thought it unlikely that any such creatures wouldattack so large a number of people, or could not easily be beaten off ifthey did.
At first the whole party was wary; but, seeing no big game, they becameless apprehensive of danger.
Many peacocks and other birds were met with, and Ralph became quite anadept in shooting them. Their flesh made a welcome variety in thecommissariat department.
One day his gun was heard popping at a short distance; and Wills beganto prepare a peeled wand, to serve as spit upon which to roast theexpected treat, when the lad burst through the bushes in greatexcitement, his blue eyes blazing from his sunburnt, flushed face,beneath his dark waves of hair.
"Come quickly!" he shouted. "Come at once! Here is a whole herd ofelephants crossing the river! Such a sight!"
All hurried after him. It was a fine sight. There must have been twentyor thirty elephants, with their trunks uplifted in air, swimming acrosswhere the water was tolerably quiet and still. One old female had a babyelephant with her, and encouraged the little one as she went with soundsthat the young one might consider words of advice or caution.
"Oh, see, see!" cried Ralph. "There are more young ones, but bigger. Howcarefully the old ones guard them. I wonder why they are going across! Iam glad they are not coming this way."
"They go over to feed on big tree, paya," said one of the Burmese."Elephant like juicy branches of trees like those."
In effect, the whole herd began to feed at once upon reaching thefarther shore. They could reach the tender boughs at the tops of thelargest trees by stretching their trunks. They tore them down, and atethem with vast relish.
None of the Englishmen had ever before seen wild elephants in a naturalstate, and were deeply interested in watching them.
Suddenly a terrible noise was heard approaching them from behind; anangry, surly "Hunf, Hunf," which struck terror into their hearts, evenbefore they saw a huge infuriated elephant coming, crashing and tearingits sullen way through the undergrowth.
"Fly! fly!" cried Mr. Gilchrist.
"Ameh! ameh!" shrieked the Burmans.
"Lord defend us!" exclaimed Osborn.
"Maister Ralph, Maister Ralph! Thee'rt just in his road!" vociferatedWills. The old man rushed forward and fired at the monstrous creature.
The elephant turned and charged down upon his assailant.
"Run, run; I'm all right!" he cried. "Run, my son, run!"
Ralph fled. He was standing a little apart from the rest, and escaped upa gulley or defile among the rocks, in a different direction from thattaken by the others. They made for a group of rocks a little separatedfrom the range among which they were orchid hunting; a few trees grew ina clump hard by. Wills alone was left at the mercy of the ragingcreature.
The trees formed his only chance of shelter, and he doubled, flying backtowards them. Panting, labouring for breath, he just reached the tinygrove, and concealed himself behind a mighty bole. Hidden from immediateview there, he slipped backwards, and doubled again behind another,just as the elephant, with a tramp that shook the earth beneath him, ranfull tilt at the first tree, set his shoulder against it, and levelledit to the ground.
At the same moment, above the crashing and rending of timber, thesplitting of branches, and the trumpeting of the mad brute, came theclear ping! ping! of two rifles, as Mr. Gilchrist and Osborn both tookaim, and hit the creature in the shoulder. Wills fired, at the samemoment, from behind his shelter upon the other side, and a trickle ofred blood upon the elephant's flapping ear bore witness to the justnessof his aim.
In the next moment, Gilchrist's and Osborn's second barrels rang out;and a volley of small shot from the rest of the party peppered the greatmass, which, at such near quarters, it would have been difficult tomiss.
It seemed to be too hot a place for the intruder. With an awful cry ofanger and pain it shambled heavily to the river's bank, plunged into thestream, and swam down it.
The distant echo of a gun was heard at the same moment, up the defile,but no one attended to it, for the form of old Wills was seen to sway,to totter, and to sink upon the ground.
Had he been injured? Had he trod upon a snake? Had some other poisonousreptile or insect attacked him? His friends, in the greatest anxiety,hurried up to him, raised his prostrate figure, and found him in a deepswoon.
Osborn ran for water; Mr. Gilchrist supported him in his arms, andcalled to the chief coolie to fetch his brandy flask.
The Burman implored the master not to arouse the insensible man untilhis "butterfly spirit" returned to its mortal prison-house, but no heedwas paid to him; and presently Wills opened his eyes, with a bewilderedexpression, and looked around.
"Where is the boy?" he asked. "Is the boy safe?"
No one could answer him, for Denham was not there. What had become ofhim?
It was no time for seeking him then, however; none of the men supposedthat he was very far off, or in further danger now that the solitaryelephant had gone down the river.
"He is all right," said Mr. Gilchrist soothingly. "He'll be here in aminute. Let us take you back to the bullock-gharrie, you must lie downin the shade."
Wills offered no resistance, but he could not stand; he was tremblingfrom head to foot. The men constructed a hasty litter with their rifles,some branches, and grass; they laid Wills upon it, and carried him backto the spot where their gharrie was in waiting for them.
Though certainly clear-headed, and quite himself for a few minutes afterhe first came out of his swoon, a confusion seemed to overpower his mindagain, and his speech was not distinct. Mr. Gilchrist felt very uneasy,as he feared that the sudden shock had induced some form of a stroke;and he knew himself wholly unfit to deal with a matter so serious.
He called up the Burman, and asked him where the nearest doctor waslikely to live.
"At English station, paya," replied the man; "one only half-day'sjourney, or a little more, from here. The royal self's lord may reach itby sky shutting-in time, if make haste."
"Is there an English doctor there?"
"Good doctor, paya; half-caste,--wise man."
There seemed nothing to do but to take Wills on to this station withoutloss of time, and Mr. Gilchrist gave orders to prepare.
The day was now far advanced, no more time ought to be lost; but itsuddenly occurred to them all that Ralph was not with them. What hadbecome of the boy?
He had been seen flying from the elephant up the defile, as Wills hadturned the charge of the mad creature upon himself. Some of themrememb
ered now that the discharge of a gun had been heard afterwards upthis defile; but why had the boy not returned?
Mr. Gilchrist sent the chief Burman and some coolies to search for him.Osborn would not leave his friend, over whom either sleep or stuporseemed to be creeping. Gilchrist himself went, with the rest of the menin another direction, ascending a hill which promised to afford a viewup that defile; but nothing could be seen from the thickness of thejungle below.
They shouted, called, fired off blank cartridge,--but no response came.Slowly, and much perplexed, they returned to the gharrie, to find Willsgrowing rapidly worse. The search party came back with no news. Not atrace of the lad could they discover; but they brought in two youngtiger cubs, that they had found lying asleep, to all appearance alone.
It was not to be supposed that two such very young cubs could have beenthere, and their mother be far away; but though there was evidently alair there, no vestige of the parent animal was to be seen. Thecertainty of such creatures being in the neighbourhood, however,hastened the men's return. They had killed the cubs with theirhunting-knives, lest the sound of guns should have brought down thefemale tiger upon them, and then they had hurried back, as fast aspossible, from desire to secure their own safety.
Had Ralph fallen a victim to these creatures? Was the absence of themother from her cubs due to the destruction of the poor young fellow?Mr. Gilchrist shuddered, as he recognised the probability of thisexplanation.
But one shot had been heard, and no further sound,--no cry for help, nocall, no other report of firearms. What could this mean except onething?
And what must he do now? Was it of any use to wait, to search furtherfor Ralph? To save Wills they must push on to the English station. Itwould be best to do so, and return to search for the boy.
There could be little doubt but what he had fallen a victim to thetigress; but at least some evidence to this effect might be found,--hisgun, some portion of his clothing, at least, might be there.
If he had escaped, he could have come back. He had ammunition with him,though it might not be much, for he had shot a good supply of birds thatday. He had some biscuits with him. Finally, Mr. Gilchrist ordered alittle tent to be pitched for him, a large fire to be built up, whichwould serve to mark the place from a distance, and would identify it tohimself when he returned to it. He wrote a few lines upon a piece ofpaper, affixing it to the tent-pole, to desire Ralph to wait there untilhe came back to join him, which should be done as soon as possible.
He would have left some of the men there, but the near neighbourhood oftigers had terrified them out of all discipline, and every one of themutterly refused to remain unless the royal lord stayed himself toprotect them. There was no help for it, therefore; and the party setforth with sad and anxious hearts; the day being so far spent as toplace themselves in some peril from the possible attack of wild beasts,coming down from their rocky fastnesses to drink at the river.
They had to keep near the banks of the stream, too; for the road wasmore open there, and they could not take the bullock-gharrie throughnarrow or tangled paths. As it was, poor Wills was terribly jolted veryoften, but remained in a state of semi-consciousness, wandering in hismind when aroused.
Mr. Gilchrist walked, to leave more room for Osborn to tend his friend;but he kept near the head of the gharrie, where he could hear and seeall that went on in it. The attendants surrounded or followed, bearingflaring torches after the darkness fell, and the anxious hours passedon.