CHAPTER XXXV
THE SCHIMMEL'S LAST RACE
Ralph cleared the mountain slope, but before he had covered a mile ofway the darkness began to fall, till presently the night was black. Nowhe must ride slowly, steering his path by the stars, and searching thedim outline of the mountains with his eyes.
But search as he would Ralph could not see the saw-edged rock. Hereached the range indeed, and for hour after hour roamed up and down it,his heart torn with helpless haste and fears, but it was of no use, soat last he dismounted, and holding the _schimmel_ by the bridle allowedhim to eat a little grass while he waited for the moon to rise. Oh!never was the moon so long in coming, but at length it came, and withit clear, soft light. He looked, and there, not half a mile away, justshowing in the shadows, was the saw-edged rock he sought.
"There is little time to lose," Ralph muttered to himself as thestallion swept across the plain towards the rock. "In three hours itwill be dawn, and these mountains are sheer and wide."
Now he was in the pass and galloping up its rocky steeps as fast as thehorse dare travel and not fall. Up he went through the moonlit silencethat was broken only by the distant roaring of lions; up for one hourand for two. Now he was at the crest of the mountains, and beneathhim, miles away, lay the dim veldt, and there--yes, there in the fardistance--the moonbeams sparkled upon a white-topped koppie and thewaters of a river that washed its base. Miles and miles away, and butone hour left to cover them. One short hour, and if it was not enoughthen death by the Zulu assegai would be the portion of Suzanne and ofthose among whom she sheltered. For a moment Ralph breathed the horse,then he shook the reins, and with a snort of pride the _schimmel_started upon his last gallop.
Ah! what a ride was that. Had ever man the like of it? Rushing downan untrodden mountain way swifter than others dare travel on a plain,bounding from rock to rock like a buck, dashing through streams, andleaping dim gullies at a stride. On, on went the _schimmel_, with nevera slip and never a stumble. On, swifter than a sassaby and surer-footedthan a fox; now the worst of the road was passed, and a long, smoothslope, almost free from stones, led them to the grassy plain beneath.The _schimmel_ swept down it at a fearful pace and reached the levelland in safety, but the strain of that mad gallop told its tale uponhim, for he was drenched with sweat, his eye was red with blood, and thebreath whistled in his throat.
Ralph raised himself in his stirrups and scanned the sky, which began tobrighten with the coming dawn.
"There is time," he muttered, "for the koppie is near, and the Zuluswill not attack till they can see the white moons upon their fingernails."
Now he was speeding up a long rise, for here the land lies in waveslike a frozen sea. He topped it, and in an instant--almost before he sawthem--he had swept through a Zulu impi marching stealthily in a tripleline with companies thrown forward to the right and left. They shoutedin astonishment, but before they could harm him or the horse he was outof reach of their spears and galloping forward with a glad heart, fornow he thought the danger done with.
Down the slope he thundered, and the sound of his horse's hoofs came tothe ears of Suzanne, who, frozen with terror, crouched in the grass nearthe spring at the foot of it. Turning her eyes from the ridge whereshe had seen the Zulus, she looked behind her. At first she couldsee nothing except a great horse with a man upon its back, but as shestared, presently she recognised the horse--it was the _schimmel_, andnone other.
And the man. Whose shape was that? No, this one had a golden beard. Ah!He lifted his head, from which the hat had fallen, and--did she dream?Nay, by Heaven, it was her husband, grown older and bearded, but stillher husband. In the piercing agony of that happiness she sank backhalf-fainting, nor was it till he was almost upon her that she couldgain her feet. He saw her, and in the dim light, mistaking her fora Zulu soldier who way-laid him, lifted the gun in his hand to fire.Already he was pressing the trigger when--when she found her voice andcried out:
"Ralph, Ralph, I am Suzanne, your wife."
As the words left her lips it seemed to her as though some giant hadthrown the big horse back upon its haunches, for he slipped pasther, his flanks almost touching the ground, which he ploughed withoutstretched hoofs. Then he stopped dead.
"Have I found you at last, wife?" cried Ralph, in a voice of joy sostrange that it sounded scarcely human. "Mount swiftly, for the Zulusare behind."
Thus, then, these two met again, not on the Mountain of the Man's Handindeed, as the vision had foretold, but very near to it.