CHAPTER III.
In order to avoid the importunities of Mujahid, the sister of Musaood was obliged to feign illness, that she might not give him umbrage by opposition. The chase was again her brother’s resource to withdraw his royal friend’s thoughts from the indulgence of more criminal passions.
In a mountain some few miles from the capital was a cave, reported to be the haunt of wild beasts. This information had been privately conveyed to Musaood, and he determined to take advantage of the prince’s ignorance of this fact to accomplish the long-cherished purpose of his soul. Mujahid made no objection to another expedition into the forests in search of the lion and tiger, since that was a pastime perfectly congenial with his adventurous spirit. With him excitement was a vital principle. The announcement of peril was music to his ear. He was accompanied by his favourite, Mahmood Afghan, who always attended him in his excursions, whether of war or of pleasure. He went as usual armed with his bow, a well-filled quiver, and his cimeter, which had been tried in many a rough encounter with foes, in whose blood it had been frequently steeped.
Musaood had lost nothing of the prince’s confidence: so admirably did he mask his feelings, that not a creature save his sister knew, and no one suspected his deadly hostility to the son of Mahomed Shah. Nothing could exceed his apparent zeal in seeking to administer to the enjoyments of the prince, who was a perfect slave to his pleasures; and Mujahid acknowledged the professed fidelity of the late spice-bearer’s son with especial marks of favour.
Upon approaching the forest where the pleasures of the chasewere to be enjoyed, the skies began to lower, and to threaten one of those violent elemental conflicts occasionally witnessed within the tropics, and of which even the Alpine storms in Europe can afford but a faint conception. It soon became too evident that a hurricane was to be expected, and the only thing which now occupied the thoughts of the party was where they should find shelter.
The prince was at this time separated from his followers, being accompanied only by Mahmood, Musaood, and a menial attendant. This had been purposely contrived by his foe, to whom, however, not the slightest suspicion of any sinister design attached.
The sun soon became veiled by a succession of coppery clouds which rapidly overspread the sky, opening at intervals in different places, and emitting momentary flashes of lightning. The rain quickly began to fall upon the broad smooth leaves of the trees; the birds flew to the foliage, and chirped dolefully. Snakes and lizards crawled from beneath the bushes, where they had been basking in the genial sunshine, and crept into the tufts of high grass with which the jungle abounded. A gloom passed over the earth, like the sudden setting in of night, and the distant howlings of the forest community gave a strong feature of dreariness to the scene.
The storm was every moment increasing, and the party were by this time anxious to obtain a shelter. They had advanced considerably up the hill. Musaood had taken care to be informed of the exact locality of the cavern, to which he led the way, the prince and his companions following. The ascent was rather steep, and, from there being no regular pathway, not easy to climb. Their anxiety to escape from the pelting of the storm enabled them to overcome all impediments.
They had fastened their horses under trees in a small glen at the hill’s base, as the ascent was too steep to render the attempt on horseback practicable. After about a quarter of an hour’s toil they reached a natural recess in the mountain, within which was the entrance to a cave, no doubt the same that had been described to Musaood. The opening was low, and so narrow that not morethan one person could squeeze in at a time. It was about four feet high, and scarcely more than two wide. Within the darkness was so intense, that the eye could not penetrate to the extremity. Scarcely was the party safely sheltered, when the hurricane poured down with prodigious fury. The rain fell in a confluent stream, forming little cataracts, which gushed over the slope of the hill between the rocks, adding to the rush and roar of the tempest. The entire horizon appeared every moment illumined, and the lightning streamed like a fiery deluge upon the earth. There was the least imaginable pause between the flashes. A large tree in front of the cavern was struck, the trunk severed from the root, as if cleft with an axe by an omnipotent arm, and it fell with an awful crash down the side of the mountain. The thunder rolled with scarcely an interval between the peals, and occasionally burst with such deafening crashes, that the ear could not endure the sound without a positive sensation of pain. Snakes and other reptiles were washed from their coverts, and crawled for shelter into the cavern, as if awed by the fierce convulsion of the elements. They exhibited no signs of reluctance at the propinquity of human beings, of whom they have an instinctive fear, but appeared as if they had laid aside their natural instincts under the terrors by which they were assailed. The savage cobra closed its hood and slunk into a corner of the cavern, as if glad to hide itself from the terrors of the storm. After a while, the lightning flashed less continuously; there were longer intervals between the peals of thunder; it became gradually more remote, and at length the sun glimmered through the clouds, which, rapidly dissipating before its beams, left a beautiful expanse of clear blue sky above the hill.
The gloom of the cavern had now considerably abated, though nothing was distinctly perceptible at the extremity.
As soon as the deafening noise of the tempest had subsided, a singular sound was heard at the end of the cave, like the loud purring of a cat. Mahmood and the attendant groping their way towards it, shortly returned with something in their arms, which when exposed to the light, proved to be the cubs of a lioness.The ferocious parents were evidently abroad, but this discovery was not at all calculated to beget an assurance of safety.
“We had better,” said the attendant, “immediately quit our retreat, or we shall be visited by the parents of these young savages before we have time to escape. They will, no doubt, return now the storm has abated, and we may look for their presence every moment.”
“Well!” said the prince, “you don’t fear to encounter a lion? This will be somewhat reversing the sport; instead of seeking the game, it will seek us; but, upon second thoughts, it will not do to let them come upon us before we are prepared; we shall be cramped in this cave; we must have room to ply our arms. If the lions make good their entrance before we have secured our retreat, we shall stand but a sorry chance for our lives.”
“Suppose,” said Musaood, “I go and climb yonder tree, which commands a view of the entire side of the hill. Should anything approach I can give you a signal; you will have plenty of time to mount the rock just beyond where we now stand, and from that elevation, with the prince’s unerring aim, the lions will prove but contemptible foes.”
“Nay,” said Mahmood Afghan, “I like not this mode of getting hedged by dangers; let us quit the cavern at once, and encounter our enemies in an open field, if they come upon us. I need not tell you that these animals are always the more furious when disturbed near the lair in which they have deposited their cubs.”
“That’s just what I should desire,” said Mujahid; “the more furious the quarry the greater the sport. You say, however, well, Mahmood; let us go and meet these tawny strangers.”
During the raging of the tempest the prince and Mahmood had flung down their bows and quivers upon the floor of the cave; when the attendant took them up in obedience to the command of his master it was found that the cubs had been amusing themselves with the arrows, and had snapped every reed except two. This was a mortifying discovery. It was now held advisable that the party should not seek an encounter with the lions, as they were no longer in a condition to face them, but make the best oftheir way down the hill, obtain a fresh supply of arrows, and return on the following day.
By this time Musaood had quitted the cavern, and climbed a lofty tree not far off, as he had proposed. The prince, with his armour-bearer Mahmood, and the menial attendant, were about to quit their place of refuge, when a huge lion appeared advancing stealthily towards its den, which they had occupied in its absence.
“Hah!” said Mujahid, “we have no chance now, I see, but to struggle at a disadvantage. The foe has taken us by surprise, and we must use the best means of defence which such an emergency has left us. He shall have a warning, however, that we are not to be intruded upon with impunity.”
The prince placed an arrow on the string of his bow, and discharged it as the lion advanced. It struck him in the shoulder, the steel head fixing in the bone. The wounded beast gave a savage howl, tore the shaft from its body, and bounded forward with a roar that made the mountains ring.
Meanwhile the party had rolled a huge fragment of rock, which lay within the cave, before the entrance, and thus excluded the ferocious visitor. Reaching the opening, the lion paused a moment, repeated its roar, and sprang against the stone. This vibrated with the animal’s weight. It repeated its spring, but the prince placing his back against the piece of rock, managed by his immense strength to prevent the lion from forcing an entrance. The savage creature put its paws upon the stone, and thrust its nose into the aperture left between the top of the fragment and that of the entrance. Sensible that enemies had invaded the sanctuary of its home, its howls were terrific, its eyes glared with portentous rage, and it repeatedly rushed against the opposing barrier, in order to force a passage to its offspring. All its attempts, however, were foiled.
“Mahmood,” said the prince, as the enraged beast was standing with its paws upon the stone, licking its rapacious jaws, now covered with foam, “take thy bow, and discharge the arrow which remains into the lion’s eye. You are so close that you may makesure of your aim, and if well taken the steel will enter its brain, and give us a safe delivery.”
Mahmood took the bow; his hand trembled with anxiety, not with fear. He was visible to the lion, which glared upon him with an expression of terrific fury. Its eye was open to the utmost extension. Mahmood placed the barb of his arrow within a few inches from the rolling orb, and hurriedly drew the string. At the instant it escaped from his finger the lion raised its head, and received the shaft through its tongue. Maddened by the pain, it bounded a moment from the opposing rock, and rolled upon its back, snapping the reed with its teeth, and returning with renewed fury to its former position. The foam now dropping from its mouth was dyed with blood. It protruded the lacerated tongue, from which the gore copiously dripped, part of the reed still sticking in the wound.