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24 - Jock of the Bushveld by Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick · Jock of the Bushveld

0:00
Speaker 1: The fighting baboon on the way to Leidenburg. Not many
0:06
Speaker 1: tricks from Paradise Camp. We were outspanned for the day.
0:10
Speaker 1: Those were the settled parts. On the hills and in
0:14
Speaker 1: the valleys. About us were the widely scattered working of
0:16
Speaker 1: the gold diggers, or the white tents of occasional prospectors.
0:22
Speaker 1: The place was a well known and much frequented public outspan,
0:26
Speaker 1: and a fair sized wayside store marked its importance. After
0:30
Speaker 1: breakfast we went to the store to swap news with
0:32
Speaker 1: the men on the spot and a couple of horsemen
0:34
Speaker 1: who had off saddled there. There were several other houses
0:38
Speaker 1: of sorts. There were rough wattle and door erections, which
0:41
Speaker 1: were called houses as an acknowledgment of pretensions expressed in
0:46
Speaker 1: the rectangular shape and corrugated iron roof. One of these
0:50
Speaker 1: belonged to Seedling, the field cornet and only official in
0:53
Speaker 1: the district. He was the petty local justice, who was
0:57
Speaker 1: supposed to administer minor laws, elect certain revenues and taxes,
1:02
Speaker 1: and issue passes. The salary was nominal, but the position
1:06
Speaker 1: bristled with opportunities for one who was not very particular,
1:10
Speaker 1: and the then occupant of the office seemed well enough
1:12
Speaker 1: pleased with the arrangement. Whatever the public may have thought
1:15
Speaker 1: of it, he was neither popular nor trusted. Many tales
1:20
Speaker 1: of great harshness and injustice to the natives, and of
1:23
Speaker 1: corruption and favoritism in dealing with the whites, added to
1:26
Speaker 1: her bitual drunkenness and uncertain temper, made a formidable tally
1:31
Speaker 1: in the account against him. He was also a bully
1:33
Speaker 1: in a card, and all knew it. But unfortunately he
1:37
Speaker 1: was the law as it stood for us. Seedling, although
1:42
Speaker 1: an official of the Boer government, was an Englishman. There
1:45
Speaker 1: were several of them on the gold fields in those days,
1:48
Speaker 1: and for the most part they were good fellows and
1:49
Speaker 1: good officials. This one was an exception. We all knew
1:54
Speaker 1: him personally. He was effusively friendly, and we suffered him
1:58
Speaker 1: and paid for the drinks. Was in his public capacity.
2:01
Speaker 1: In his private capacity, he was the owner of the
2:04
Speaker 1: fighting baboon of evil and cruel repute. If ever Fate's
2:09
Speaker 1: instruments moved unconscious of their mission and the part they
2:12
Speaker 1: were to play, it is certain that Jock and Jim
2:15
Speaker 1: Machokel did so that day. The day that was the
2:18
Speaker 1: beginning of Seedling's fall and end. It is not very
2:22
Speaker 1: clear how the trouble began. We had been sitting on
2:25
Speaker 1: the little store counter and talking for over an hour,
2:28
Speaker 1: a group of half a dozen, swapping off the news
2:30
Speaker 1: of the gold fields and the big world against that
2:33
Speaker 1: from Delagoa and the Bushveldt. Seedling had joined us early,
2:36
Speaker 1: and as usual began the morning with drinks. We were
2:40
Speaker 1: not used to that on the road or our hunting. Indeed,
2:43
Speaker 1: we rarely took any drink, and most of us never
2:45
Speaker 1: touched a drop except in the towns. The transport rider
2:49
Speaker 1: had opportunities which might easily become temptations, the load often
2:53
Speaker 1: consisting of liquor, easy to broach and only to be
2:57
Speaker 1: paid forward the end of the trip, but we always
2:59
Speaker 1: had before us the lesson of the failures. Apart from this, however,
3:03
Speaker 1: we did not take liquor, because we could not work
3:06
Speaker 1: as well, or last as long, run as fast, or
3:09
Speaker 1: shoot as straight if we did, and that was reason enough.
3:13
Speaker 1: We had one round of his drinks, which was called
3:16
Speaker 1: by one of the horsemen, and then to return the
3:18
Speaker 1: compliment another round, called by one of us. A few
3:22
Speaker 1: minutes later, Seedling announced effusively that it was his shot.
3:26
Speaker 1: But it was only ten in the morning, and those
3:28
Speaker 1: who had taken spirits had had enough. Indeed, several had
3:32
Speaker 1: only taken a sip of the second round in order
3:34
Speaker 1: to comply with a stupid and vicious custom. I would
3:37
Speaker 1: not and could not, attack another bottle of Swerge ginger beer,
3:41
Speaker 1: and thus Seedling's round was reduced to himself and the proprietor.
3:45
Speaker 1: No man, however thirsty, would drink alone. In those days.
3:48
Speaker 1: It was taken as a mark of meanness or evidence
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Speaker 1: of soaking, and the proprietor had to be ready at
3:54
Speaker 1: any time to take one for the good of a house.
3:57
Speaker 1: A quarter of an hour passed, and Seedling, who had
3:59
Speaker 1: said nothing since his shout was declined, turned away and
4:03
Speaker 1: strolled out, with his hands thrust deep in the pockets
4:06
Speaker 1: of his riding breeches and a long, heavy shambock dangling
4:09
Speaker 1: from one wrist. There was silence as he moved through
4:13
Speaker 1: the doorway, and when the square patch of sunlight on
4:16
Speaker 1: the earth floor was again unbroken, the man behind the
4:18
Speaker 1: counter remarked, two long between drinks for m gone for
4:23
Speaker 1: a pull at the private bottle? Is that how it's going? Yeah?
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Speaker 1: All day long? Drink's ear as long as any one
4:30
Speaker 1: will call, but don't do much shutting on his own.
4:33
Speaker 1: I'd tell you that's the first time I've seen him
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Speaker 1: call for a week. He wanted to get you chaps
4:39
Speaker 1: on the go. I reckon, he'll be wrong all day
4:41
Speaker 1: to day. I know him cost him too, Bob for nothing.
4:45
Speaker 1: Eh well, it ain't so much that you see he reckoned.
4:49
Speaker 1: You'd shout your turns and drinks had come regular, but
4:52
Speaker 1: he sees you're not on twig. I'll not complain, and
4:56
Speaker 1: mind you, lord, no, he don't pay anyway. It's all
5:00
Speaker 1: chalked up for him, and I got to wipe it
5:02
Speaker 1: off the slight when the next load comes and he
5:05
Speaker 1: collects my customs duties. His liquors took him wrong to day.
5:09
Speaker 1: You'll see we did see, and that before very long
5:13
Speaker 1: we'd forgotten seedling and were hearing all about the new
5:16
Speaker 1: finds reported from Barberton District. When one of the wagon
5:19
Speaker 1: boys came running into the store, calling to me by
5:22
Speaker 1: my caffeiname and shouting excitedly, bass bass, come quickly. The
5:28
Speaker 1: baboon has got chalk. It will clean. I had known
5:32
Speaker 1: all about the vicious brute and had often heard of
5:34
Speaker 1: Seedling's fiendish delight in arranging fights or enticing dogs up
5:38
Speaker 1: to attack it for the pleasure of seeing the beast
5:40
Speaker 1: kill the overmatched dogs. The dog had no chance at all,
5:44
Speaker 1: for the Baboon remained out of reach in his house
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Speaker 1: on the pole as long as it chose if the
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Speaker 1: dog was too big or the opening not a good one,
5:51
Speaker 1: and made its rush when it would tell best. But
5:54
Speaker 1: apart from this, the baboon was an exceptionally big and
5:57
Speaker 1: powerful one, and it is very doubtful if any dog
6:00
Speaker 1: could have tackled it successfully in an open fight. The
6:04
Speaker 1: creature was as clever as even they can be. Its
6:07
Speaker 1: enormous jaws and teeth were quite equal to the biggest dogs,
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Speaker 1: and it had the advantage of four hands. Its tactics
6:14
Speaker 1: in a fight were quite simple and most effective. With
6:17
Speaker 1: its front feet had caught the dog by the ears
6:19
Speaker 1: or neck, holding the head so that there was no
6:21
Speaker 1: risk of being bitten, and then gripping the body lower
6:24
Speaker 1: down with the hind feet a tall lumps out of
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Speaker 1: the throat, breast and stomach, pushing with all four feet
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Speaker 1: and tearing with the terrible teeth. The poor dogs were
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Speaker 1: hopelessly outmatched I did not see the beginning of Jock's encounter,
6:39
Speaker 1: but the boy's stories, pieced together, told everything. It appears
6:44
Speaker 1: that when Seedling left the store, he went into his
6:46
Speaker 1: own hut and remained there some little time. On coming
6:50
Speaker 1: out again, he strolled over to the baboon's pole about
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Speaker 1: half way between the two houses, and began teasing it,
6:56
Speaker 1: throwing pebbles at it to see a dodge and duck
6:59
Speaker 1: behind the pole, and then flicking at it with the shambock,
7:02
Speaker 1: amused by its frightened and angry protests. While he was
7:07
Speaker 1: doing this, Jock, who had followed me to the store,
7:10
Speaker 1: strolled out again, making his way towards the wagons. He
7:14
Speaker 1: was not interested in our talk. He had twice been
7:16
Speaker 1: accidentally trodden on by men stepping back as he lay
7:19
Speaker 1: stretched out on the floor behind them, and doubtless he
7:23
Speaker 1: felt that it was no place for him. His deafness
7:26
Speaker 1: prevented him from hearing movements except such as caused vibration
7:30
Speaker 1: in the ground, and poor old fellow, he was always
7:33
Speaker 1: at a disadvantage in houses and towns. The baboon had
7:36
Speaker 1: then taken refuge in its box on top of the
7:39
Speaker 1: pole to escape the shambock, and when Seedling saw Jock
7:42
Speaker 1: come out, he commenced whistling and calling softly to him. Jock,
7:47
Speaker 1: of course heard nothing. He may have responded mildly to
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Speaker 1: the friendly overtures conveyed by the extended hand and patting
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Speaker 1: of legs, or more probably simply took the nearest way
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Speaker 1: to the wagon, where he might sleep in peace, since
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Speaker 1: there was nothing else to do. What the boys agree
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Speaker 1: on is that as Jock passed the pole, Seedling patted
8:06
Speaker 1: and held him at the same time calling the baboon,
8:10
Speaker 1: and then gave the dog a push, which did not
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Speaker 1: quite roll him over but upset his balance, and Jock,
8:15
Speaker 1: recovering himself, naturally jumped round and faced Seedling, standing almost
8:20
Speaker 1: directly between him and the baboon. He could not hear
8:24
Speaker 1: the rattle of the chain on the box and pole,
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Speaker 1: and saw nothing of the charging brute, and it was
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Speaker 1: the purest accident that the dog stood a few inches
8:32
Speaker 1: out of reach. The baboon, chained by the neck instead
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Speaker 1: of the waist because it used to bite through all
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Speaker 1: loin straps, made its rush, but the chain bought it
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Speaker 1: up before its hands could reach Jock, and through the
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Speaker 1: hind quarters round with such force against him that he
8:46
Speaker 1: was sent rolling yards away. I can well believe that
8:50
Speaker 1: the second attack from a different and wholly unexpected quarter
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Speaker 1: thoroughly roused him, and can picture how he turned to
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Speaker 1: face it. It was at this moment that Jim first
9:00
Speaker 1: noticed what was going on. The other boys had not
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Speaker 1: expected anything when Seedling called the dog, and they were
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Speaker 1: taken completely by surprise by what followed. Jim would have
9:09
Speaker 1: known what to expect. His crawl was in the neighborhood.
9:12
Speaker 1: He knew Seedling well and had already suffered in fines
9:16
Speaker 1: and confiscations at his hands. He also knew about the Baboon,
9:20
Speaker 1: but he was ignorant, just as I was of the
9:22
Speaker 1: fact that Seedling had left his old place across the
9:25
Speaker 1: river and come to live in the new hut, bringing
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Speaker 1: his pet with him. It was the hoarse, threatening shout
9:31
Speaker 1: of the baboon as a jumped to Jock, as much
9:34
Speaker 1: as the exclamations of the boys that aroused Jim. He
9:37
Speaker 1: knew instantly what was on and grabbing a stick, Maader
9:41
Speaker 1: dashed to save the dog, with the other boys following him.
9:44
Speaker 1: When Jock was sent spinning in the dust, the baboon
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Speaker 1: recovered itself first, and, standing up on its hind legs,
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Speaker 1: reached out with its long, ungainly arms towards him and
9:54
Speaker 1: let out a shut of defiance. Jock, regaining his feet,
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Speaker 1: dashed in, jumped aside, fainted again and again as he
10:00
Speaker 1: had learnt to do when big Orn switched at him,
10:03
Speaker 1: and he kept out of reach, just as he had
10:05
Speaker 1: done ever since the dyker taught him the use of
10:07
Speaker 1: its hoofs. He knew what to do, just as he
10:10
Speaker 1: had known how to swing the porcupine. The dog for
10:14
Speaker 1: all the fighting fury that possessed him, took the measure
10:17
Speaker 1: of the chain and kept outside it. Round and round
10:20
Speaker 1: he flew, darting in, jumping back, snapping and dodging, but
10:23
Speaker 1: never getting right home. The Baboon was as clever as
10:27
Speaker 1: he was. At times it jumped several feet in the air,
10:30
Speaker 1: straight up in the hope that Jock would run underneath.
10:34
Speaker 1: At others it would make a sudden lunge with the
10:36
Speaker 1: long arms, or a more surprising reach out with the
10:39
Speaker 1: hind legs to grab him. Then the baboon began gradually
10:43
Speaker 1: to reduce its circle, leaving behind its slack chain enough
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Speaker 1: for a spring, but Jock was not to be drawn
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Speaker 1: in cleverness. They were well matched, neither scored an attack,
10:54
Speaker 1: neither made or lost a point. When Jim rushed up
10:59
Speaker 1: to save Jock, it was with eager, anxious shouts of
11:02
Speaker 1: the dog's name that warned Seedling and made him turn.
11:04
Speaker 1: And as the boy ran forward, the white man stepped
11:07
Speaker 1: out to stop him. Leave the dog alone, he said,
11:11
Speaker 1: pale with anger, bas bas, the dog will be killed.
11:15
Speaker 1: Jim called excitedly as he tried to get round, but
11:18
Speaker 1: the white man made a jump towards him, and with
11:20
Speaker 1: a back hand slash of the shambock, struck him across
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Speaker 1: the face. Shouting at him again, leave him, I tell you.
11:28
Speaker 1: Jim jumped back, thrusting out his stick to guard another
11:31
Speaker 1: vicious cut. And so it went on with alternate slash
11:34
Speaker 1: and guard, and the big Zulu danced round with nimble bounds, guarding,
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Speaker 1: dodging or bearing the shambock cuts to save the dog.
11:42
Speaker 1: Seedling was mad with rage, for who had ever heard
11:45
Speaker 1: of a nigger standing up to a field cornet. Still,
11:48
Speaker 1: Jim would not give way. He kept trying to get
11:51
Speaker 1: in front of Jock to hit him off the fight,
11:53
Speaker 1: and all the while shouting to the other boys to
11:55
Speaker 1: call me, But Seedling was the field cornet, and not
11:58
Speaker 1: one of them dared to move against him. At last,
12:02
Speaker 1: the Baboon, finding that Jock would not come on, tried
12:04
Speaker 1: other tactics. It made a sudden retreat and rushing for
12:07
Speaker 1: the pearl head behind it as for protection. Jock made
12:11
Speaker 1: a jump and the baboon leapt out to meet him,
12:13
Speaker 1: But the dog stopped at the chain's limit, and the Baboon,
12:17
Speaker 1: just as in the first dash of all overshot the mark.
12:20
Speaker 1: It was brought up by the jerk of the collar
12:22
Speaker 1: and for one second sprawled on its back. That was
12:25
Speaker 1: the first chance for Jock, and he took it with
12:29
Speaker 1: one spring. He was in his head shot between the
12:32
Speaker 1: Baboon's hind legs, and with his teeth buried in the
12:35
Speaker 1: soft stomach, he lay back and pulled, pulled for dear
12:39
Speaker 1: life as he had pulled and dragged on the legs
12:41
Speaker 1: of wounded game. Tugged as he had tugged at the porcupine,
12:44
Speaker 1: held on as he had held on when the Koodoo
12:46
Speaker 1: bull wrenched and strained every bone and muscle in his body.
12:50
Speaker 1: Then came the sudden turn, as Jock fastened on to
12:53
Speaker 1: the baboon, dragging taut the chain while the screaming brute
12:56
Speaker 1: struggled on its back. Seedlings stood for a second, and then,
13:01
Speaker 1: with us strive forward, raised his shambock to strike the dog.
13:05
Speaker 1: That was too much for Jim. He made us spring
13:08
Speaker 1: in and grasping the raised chamboc with his left hand
13:12
Speaker 1: held Seeding powerless, while in his right hand the boy
13:15
Speaker 1: raised his stick on guard. Let him fight, bus, you
13:19
Speaker 1: said it. Let the dog fight, He panted, hoarse with excitement.
13:24
Speaker 1: The white man, livid with fury, struggled and kicked, but
13:28
Speaker 1: the wrist sloop of the shambock held him prisoner, and
13:31
Speaker 1: he could do nothing. That was the moment when a
13:34
Speaker 1: panic stricken boy plucked up the courage enough to call me,
13:38
Speaker 1: And that was the scene we saw as we ran
13:40
Speaker 1: out of the little shop. Jim would not strike the
13:43
Speaker 1: white man, but his face was our muddy gray, and
13:46
Speaker 1: it was written there that he would rather die than
13:49
Speaker 1: give up the dog. Before I reached them, it was
13:52
Speaker 1: clear to us all what had happened. Jim was protesting
13:55
Speaker 1: to Seedling and at the same time calling to me.
13:58
Speaker 1: It was a jumbo, but a jump eloquent enough for
14:01
Speaker 1: us and all intelligible. Jim's excited gabble was addressed with
14:05
Speaker 1: reckless incoherence to Seedling, to me and to Jock. You
14:10
Speaker 1: threw him in. You tried to kill him, he did it.
14:13
Speaker 1: It was not their dog. Kill him, Jock, kill him,
14:16
Speaker 1: leave him, let him fight, you said it. Let him fight,
14:20
Speaker 1: kill him, Jock kill, kill kill. Then Seedling did the
14:25
Speaker 1: worst thing possible. He turned on me with call off
14:29
Speaker 1: your dog, I tell you, or I'll shoot him and
14:32
Speaker 1: your nigger too. We'll see about that. They can fight
14:36
Speaker 1: it out now. And I took the shambuck from Jim's
14:39
Speaker 1: hand and cut it from the white man's wrist. Now
14:42
Speaker 1: stand back, and he stood back. The baboon was quite helpless,
14:47
Speaker 1: powerful as the brute was, and formidable as were the
14:49
Speaker 1: arms and gripping feet, it had no chance. While Jock
14:52
Speaker 1: could keep his feet and had strength to drag and
14:54
Speaker 1: hold the chain tight, the collar was choking it, and
14:58
Speaker 1: the grip on the stomach. The Baboon's own favorite and
15:00
Speaker 1: most successful device was fatal. I set my teeth and
15:05
Speaker 1: thought of the poor helpless dogs that had been decoyed
15:08
Speaker 1: in and treated the same way. Jim danced about the
15:12
Speaker 1: white seam of froth on his lips, hoarse gusts of
15:15
Speaker 1: encouragement bursting from him as he leant over Jock, and
15:18
Speaker 1: his whole body vibrating like an overheated boiler. And Jock
15:23
Speaker 1: hung on in grim earnest, the silence on his side
15:27
Speaker 1: broken only by grunting efforts as the deadly tug tug
15:30
Speaker 1: tug went on. Each pull caused his feet to slip
15:34
Speaker 1: a little on the smooth worn ground, but each time
15:37
Speaker 1: he set them back again, and the grunting tugs went on.
15:41
Speaker 1: It was not justice to call Jock off, but I
15:43
Speaker 1: did it. The cruel brute deserved killing. But the human
15:46
Speaker 1: look and cries and behavior of the baboon were too sickening,
15:49
Speaker 1: and Seedling went into his hut without even a look
15:52
Speaker 1: at his stricken champion. Jock stood off, with his mouth
15:56
Speaker 1: open from ear to ear and his red tongue dangling,
16:00
Speaker 1: blood stained and panting, but with eager feet ever on
16:03
Speaker 1: the move, shifting from spot to spot, ears going back
16:06
Speaker 1: and forward, and eyes now on the baboon and now
16:08
Speaker 1: on me, pleading for the sign to go in again.
16:12
Speaker 1: Before evening, the baboon was dead. The day's excitement was
16:17
Speaker 1: too much for Jim. After singing and dancing himself into
16:21
Speaker 1: a frenzy round Jock, after shouting the whole story of
16:25
Speaker 1: the fight in violent and incessant gabble, over and over
16:29
Speaker 1: again to those who had witnessed it, after making every
16:32
Speaker 1: ear ring and every head swim with his mad din,
16:36
Speaker 1: he grabbed his sticks once more and made off for
16:38
Speaker 1: one of the kraals, there to find drink for which
16:41
Speaker 1: he thirsted body and soul. In the afternoon, the sudden
16:46
Speaker 1: scattering of the inhabitants of a small krawl on the
16:48
Speaker 1: hillside opposite, and some lusty shouting, drew attention that way.
16:53
Speaker 1: At distances of from two to five hundred yards from
16:56
Speaker 1: the hut, there stood figures singly or grouped in twos
16:59
Speaker 1: and three. Up to the highest slopes, they formed a
17:03
Speaker 1: sort of crescent above the kraal and on the lower
17:05
Speaker 1: side of it, hiding under the bank of a river,
17:07
Speaker 1: where a dozen or more, whose heads only were visible,
17:11
Speaker 1: They were all looking towards the kraal like a startled
17:14
Speaker 1: herd of buck. Now and then a burly figure would
17:17
Speaker 1: dart out from the huts with wild bounds and blood
17:20
Speaker 1: curdling yells, and the watchers on that side would scatter
17:23
Speaker 1: like chaff and flee for dear life up the mountain side,
17:26
Speaker 1: or duck instantly and disappear in the river. Then he
17:29
Speaker 1: would stalk back again and disappear to repeat the performance
17:32
Speaker 1: on another side. A little later on, it was all
17:35
Speaker 1: perfectly clear to me Jim had broken out. We were
17:40
Speaker 1: loaded for Laudenberg another weeks trekking through and over the mountains,
17:44
Speaker 1: and as we intended coming back the same way a
17:46
Speaker 1: fortnight later, I decided at once to leave Jim at
17:49
Speaker 1: his kraal, which was only a little further on, and
17:52
Speaker 1: pick him up on the return journey. I nearly always
17:55
Speaker 1: paid him off in live stock or sheep. He had
17:58
Speaker 1: good wages, and for many months at a time he
18:00
Speaker 1: would draw no money. The boy was as splendid worker
18:03
Speaker 1: and as true as steel, so that in spite of
18:06
Speaker 1: all the awful warrior I had a soft spot for Jim,
18:08
Speaker 1: and had taken a good deal of trouble on his account.
18:11
Speaker 1: He got his pay at the end of the triple
18:13
Speaker 1: the season, but not in cash. It was invested for
18:16
Speaker 1: him greatly to his disgust. At the time, I am
18:18
Speaker 1: bound to say in live stock, so that he would
18:21
Speaker 1: not be able to squander it and drink or be
18:23
Speaker 1: robbed of it while incapable. Jim's gloomy dignity was colossal
18:27
Speaker 1: when it came to squaring up, and I invited him
18:30
Speaker 1: to state what he wished me to buy. For him
18:33
Speaker 1: to be treated like an irresponsible child, to be chaffed
18:36
Speaker 1: and cheerfully warned by me, to be met by the
18:39
Speaker 1: giggles and squirts of laughter of the other boys for
18:42
Speaker 1: whom he had the most profound contempt to see the
18:45
Speaker 1: respectable Sam counting out with awkward, eager hands and gleaming
18:49
Speaker 1: eyes the good red gold, while he macor Kla Dazulu
18:55
Speaker 1: was treated like a pikanin Ah. It was horrible, intolerable.
19:03
Speaker 1: Jim would hold aloof in injured gloomy silence, not once
19:06
Speaker 1: looking at me, but standing sideways and staring stonily passed
19:10
Speaker 1: me into the far distance, and not relaxing for a
19:13
Speaker 1: second the expression of profound displeasure on his weather beaten face.
19:18
Speaker 1: No joke or chaff no question or reason would move
19:22
Speaker 1: him to even look my way. All he would do
19:25
Speaker 1: was now and again give a click of disgust, a
19:28
Speaker 1: quick shake of the head and say, ah, hangafula, I
19:32
Speaker 1: do not desire it. We had the same fight over
19:35
Speaker 1: and over again, but I always won in the end. Once,
19:39
Speaker 1: when he would not make up his mind what to buy,
19:41
Speaker 1: I offered him instead of cash, two of the worst
19:43
Speaker 1: oxen in his span, at the highest possible valuation, and
19:47
Speaker 1: the effect was excellent. But the usual lever was to
19:50
Speaker 1: announce that if he could not make his choice and
19:52
Speaker 1: bargain for himself, I would do it for him. In
19:55
Speaker 1: the end, he invariably gave way and bargained with his
19:58
Speaker 1: Kaffir friends for a deal, denting on them by his
20:01
Speaker 1: hard driving and brow beating some of the accumulated indignation
20:04
Speaker 1: which ought to have gone elsewhere. When it was all over,
20:09
Speaker 1: Jim recovered rapidly, and at parting time there were the
20:11
Speaker 1: broadest of grins and a stentorian shout of salagas lenkars,
20:16
Speaker 1: and Jim went off with his springy walk, swinging his
20:19
Speaker 1: sticks and jabbering his thoughts aloud, evidently about me. For
20:23
Speaker 1: every now and then he would spring lightly into the air,
20:25
Speaker 1: twirl the stick, and shout her deep throated anchors, full
20:29
Speaker 1: of the joy of living. A boy going home for
20:32
Speaker 1: his holiday. This time Jim was too fully wound up
20:35
Speaker 1: to be dealt with as before, and I simply turned
20:38
Speaker 1: him off, telling him to come back to the camp
20:40
Speaker 1: in a fortnight's time. I was a day behind the wagons,
20:45
Speaker 1: returning and riding up to the camp towards midday, found
20:48
Speaker 1: Jim waiting for me. He looked ill and shrunken, wrapped
20:52
Speaker 1: in an old coat and squatting against the wall of
20:54
Speaker 1: the little hut. As I passed, he slowly rose and
20:58
Speaker 1: gave his sagabo iron gauze with that curious controlled air
21:03
Speaker 1: by which the kaffer manages to suggest a kind of
21:06
Speaker 1: fatalist resignation or indifference touched with disgust. There was something wrong,
21:12
Speaker 1: So our rode past without stopping. One learns from them
21:15
Speaker 1: to find out how the land lies before doing anything.
21:19
Speaker 1: It was a bad story, almost as bad as one
21:22
Speaker 1: would think possible where civilized beings are concerned. Jim's own
21:27
Speaker 1: story lacked certain details of which he was necessarily ignorant.
21:31
Speaker 1: It also omitted the fact that he had been drunk,
21:34
Speaker 1: But in the main it was quite true. This is
21:37
Speaker 1: what happened, as gleaned from several sources. Several days after
21:41
Speaker 1: our departure, Jim went down to the store again and
21:43
Speaker 1: raised some liquor. He was not fighting, but he was
21:46
Speaker 1: noisy and was the center of a small knot of
21:48
Speaker 1: shouting arguing boys near the store. When Seedling returned after
21:52
Speaker 1: a two days absence, no doubt it was unfortunate that
21:56
Speaker 1: the very first thing he saw on his return was
21:58
Speaker 1: the boy who had defied him, and who was the
22:00
Speaker 1: cause of his humiliation, And that that boy should, by
22:04
Speaker 1: his behavior, give the slenderest excuse for interference, was in
22:08
Speaker 1: the last degree unlucky. Seedling's mind was made up from
22:12
Speaker 1: the moment he set eyes on Jim. Throwing the reins
22:16
Speaker 1: over his horse's head, he walked into the excited, gabbling knot,
22:20
Speaker 1: all unconscious of his advent, and laid about him with
22:23
Speaker 1: the shambock, scattering and silencing them instantly. He then took
22:27
Speaker 1: Jim by the wrist, saying I want you. He called
22:31
Speaker 1: to one of his own boys to bring a rim, and,
22:34
Speaker 1: leading Jim over to the side of the store, tied
22:36
Speaker 1: him up to the horse rail with arms at full stretch.
22:39
Speaker 1: Taking out his knife, he cut the boy's clothing down
22:42
Speaker 1: the back, so that it fell away in two halves.
22:44
Speaker 1: In front of him. Then he took off his own
22:47
Speaker 1: coat and flogged the boy with his shambock. I would
22:51
Speaker 1: like to tell all that happened for one reason. It
22:54
Speaker 1: would explain the murderous man hunting feeling that possessed us
22:57
Speaker 1: when we heard it. But it was too cruel. Let
23:00
Speaker 1: it be only one thing to show the spirit. Twice
23:05
Speaker 1: during the flogging, Seedling stopped to go into the store
23:08
Speaker 1: for a drink. Jim crawled home to find his crawl
23:12
Speaker 1: ransacked and deserted, and his wives and children driven off
23:16
Speaker 1: in panic. In addition to the flogging, Seedling had, in
23:20
Speaker 1: accordance with his practice, imposed fines far beyond the boy's
23:24
Speaker 1: means in cash, so as to provide an excuse for
23:26
Speaker 1: seizing what he wanted. The police boys had raided the kraal,
23:30
Speaker 1: and the cattle and goats, his only property, were gone.
23:34
Speaker 1: He told it all in a dull monotone for the
23:38
Speaker 1: time the life and fire were gone out of him.
23:40
Speaker 1: But he was not cowed, not broken. There was a
23:44
Speaker 1: curl of contempt on his mouth and in his tone
23:46
Speaker 1: that whipped the white skin on my own back, and
23:49
Speaker 1: made it all a disgrace, unbearable that this should be
23:53
Speaker 1: the reward for his courageous defense of Jock seemed too awful.
23:58
Speaker 1: We went inside to talk it over and make our plans.
24:02
Speaker 1: The wagons should go on next day as if nothing
24:04
Speaker 1: had happened, Jim remaining in one of the half tents
24:07
Speaker 1: or elsewhere out of sight of passers by. I was
24:10
Speaker 1: to ride into Ladenburg and lodge information, for in such
24:13
Speaker 1: a case the authorities would surely act. That was the best,
24:18
Speaker 1: or at any rate, the first course to be tried.
24:21
Speaker 1: There was no difficulty about the warrant, for there were
24:24
Speaker 1: many counts in the indictment against Seedling, but even so
24:28
Speaker 1: worthless of Brutus that seemed to have one friend or
24:31
Speaker 1: perhaps an accomplice to give him warning. And before we
24:34
Speaker 1: reached his quarters with the police, he had cleared on
24:37
Speaker 1: horseback for Portuguese territory, taking with him a lead horse.
24:42
Speaker 1: We got most of Jim's cattle back for him, which
24:44
Speaker 1: he seemed to consider the main thing, but we were
24:47
Speaker 1: sorely disgusted at the man's escape. That was the air
24:51
Speaker 1: of the rush. Thousands of newcomers poured into the country
24:55
Speaker 1: on the strength of the gold discoveries, materials and provisions
24:58
Speaker 1: of all kinds were almost un procurable and stood at
25:01
Speaker 1: famine prices, and consequently we the transport riders, reaped a
25:05
Speaker 1: golden harvest. Never had there been such times. Wagons and
25:10
Speaker 1: spans were paid for in single trips, and so great
25:14
Speaker 1: was the demand for supplies that some refused transport and
25:17
Speaker 1: bought their own goods, which they resold on the gold
25:20
Speaker 1: fields at prices twice as profitable as the highest rates
25:23
Speaker 1: of transport. Thus the days lost in the attempt to
25:27
Speaker 1: catch seedling were valuable days. The season was limited, and
25:31
Speaker 1: as early rains might cut us off, a few days
25:34
Speaker 1: thrown away might mean the loss of the whole trip.
25:37
Speaker 1: We hurried down therefore for the bay, doing little hunting
25:40
Speaker 1: that time. Near the crocodile. On our way down, we
25:44
Speaker 1: heard from men coming up that Seedling had been there
25:46
Speaker 1: some days before, but that hearing we were on the
25:49
Speaker 1: way down and had sworn to shoot him, he had
25:51
Speaker 1: ridden on to Cammati, leaving one horse behind, bad with
25:55
Speaker 1: horse sickness. The report abour shooting him was of course ridiculous,
25:59
Speaker 1: probably his own amatus, But it was some comfort to
26:02
Speaker 1: know that he was in such a state of terror
26:04
Speaker 1: that his own fancies were hunting him down at Cammarti,
26:07
Speaker 1: we learned that he had stayed three days at the
26:09
Speaker 1: store of that Goanese murderer, Antonio, The same Antonio who,
26:14
Speaker 1: on one occasion had tried to drug and hand over
26:17
Speaker 1: to the enemy two of our men who had got
26:19
Speaker 1: into trouble defending themselves against raiding natives. The same Antonio
26:24
Speaker 1: who afterwards made an ill judged attempt to stab one
26:27
Speaker 1: Mickey O'Connor in a barbiton canteen, and happily got brained
26:31
Speaker 1: with a bottle of his own doctored spirits for his pains. Antonio,
26:36
Speaker 1: suspecting something wrong about a white man who came on horseback,
26:39
Speaker 1: and dawdled aimlessly three days at Cammarti, drift going indoors
26:43
Speaker 1: whenever a stranger appeared, wormed the secret out with liquor
26:47
Speaker 1: and sympathy, And when he had got most of Seedling's
26:50
Speaker 1: money out of him, by pretense of bribing the Portuguese
26:53
Speaker 1: officials and getting news, made a bold bid for the
26:56
Speaker 1: rest by saying that a warrant was out for him
26:58
Speaker 1: in Delagoa, and he must on no account go on.
27:02
Speaker 1: The evil looking half cast no doubt hoped to get
27:05
Speaker 1: the horse, saddle and bridle, as well as the cash,
27:08
Speaker 1: and was quite prepared to drug Seedling when the time
27:11
Speaker 1: came and slip him quietly into Comautie at night, where
27:14
Speaker 1: the crocodiles would take care of the evidence. Antonio, however,
27:20
Speaker 1: overshot the mark. Seedling, who knew all about him, took fright,
27:24
Speaker 1: saddled up and bolted up the river, meaning to make
27:26
Speaker 1: for the limb Bombo, near the Tembe Drift, where Bob
27:29
Speaker 1: mac nab and his merry comrades ran free of governments
27:32
Speaker 1: and were a law unto themselves. It was no place
27:36
Speaker 1: for a nervous man, but Seedling had no choice and
27:38
Speaker 1: he went on. He had liquor in his saddle bags
27:42
Speaker 1: and food for several days, but he was not used
27:44
Speaker 1: to the bush, and at the end of the first
27:46
Speaker 1: day he had lost his way and was beyond the
27:48
Speaker 1: river district where the Kaffirs lived, so much as believed,
27:52
Speaker 1: though not positively known at any rate. He left the
27:55
Speaker 1: last krawl in those parts about noon and was heard
27:58
Speaker 1: of two days later at a cross under the La Bombo.
28:02
Speaker 1: There he learned that the black umbelousi, which it would
28:05
Speaker 1: be necessary to swim as snowball and sets he had
28:07
Speaker 1: done lay before him, and that it was yet a
28:10
Speaker 1: great distance to Seborguan's, and even then he would be
28:13
Speaker 1: only half way to Bob's. Seedling could not face it
28:16
Speaker 1: alone and turned back for the nearest store. The natives
28:21
Speaker 1: said that before leaving the krawl he bought beer from them,
28:23
Speaker 1: but did not want food, for he looked sick. He
28:26
Speaker 1: was red and swollen in the face, and his eyes
28:29
Speaker 1: were wild. The horse was weak and also looked sick,
28:32
Speaker 1: being very thin and empty. But they showed him the
28:34
Speaker 1: footpath over the hills which would take him to Tom's,
28:37
Speaker 1: a white man's store on the road to de la Goa,
28:40
Speaker 1: and he left them. That was Tom Barnet's at Pissini,
28:44
Speaker 1: where we always stopped, for Tom was a good friend
28:46
Speaker 1: of ours. That was how we came to meet Seedling again.
28:51
Speaker 1: He had made a loop of a hundred and fifty
28:53
Speaker 1: miles in four days in his efforts to avoid us,
28:56
Speaker 1: but he was waiting for us when we arrived at
28:58
Speaker 1: Tom Barnet's. We, who had hurried on to catch him,
29:02
Speaker 1: believing that the vengeance of justice depended on us, forgot
29:05
Speaker 1: that it had been otherwise decreed. Tom stood in the
29:09
Speaker 1: doorway of his stor as we walked up five feet
29:12
Speaker 1: one in his boots, but every inch of it a
29:14
Speaker 1: man with his hands resting idly on his hips and
29:17
Speaker 1: a queer smile on his face as he nodded, welcome.
29:21
Speaker 1: Did a white man come here on horseback during the
29:24
Speaker 1: last few days from the drift? No? On foot? No,
29:29
Speaker 1: not the hallway? Is he here now? Tom nodded, You
29:34
Speaker 1: know about him, Tom Seedling. The chap you're after, isn't it, Yes,
29:39
Speaker 1: we answered, lowering our voices. Tom looked from one to
29:43
Speaker 1: the other with the same queer smile, and then, making
29:46
Speaker 1: a move to let us into the stall, said quietly,
29:49
Speaker 1: he won't clear, boys, he's dead. Some kaffirs coming along
29:54
Speaker 1: the footpath from the bumbo had found the horse dead
29:56
Speaker 1: of horse sickness half a day away, and further on,
30:00
Speaker 1: near a mile or so from the store, the rider
30:02
Speaker 1: lying on his back in the sun, dying of thirst.
30:05
Speaker 1: He died before they got him in. He was buried
30:08
Speaker 1: under a big fig tree, where another and more honored
30:11
Speaker 1: grave was made later on. Jim sat by himself the
30:15
Speaker 1: whole evening and never spoke a word. End of Chapter
30:20
Speaker 1: twenty three