Chapter Forty Four.

Chapter Forty Four.Elephants in Sight.In spite of their searching, the baboons were not seen till camp was being moved again to cross the ridge and descend into the plain, when the vicious little animals made so desperate an attack upon the party, throwing stones with such accuracy, that they had to be treated to a volley, and then to a second, before the troop, quite a hundred strong, took to flight; and the dogs killed the wounded left upon the ground, but only at the expense of some vicious bites from the dying apes.They were fired at with no little compunction, for mingled with their dog-like aspect there was a great deal that was terribly human, and after shooting one of the largest and fiercest, Dick said he felt as if he had committed a murder.It was, however, a work of necessity, and nothing but a vigorous attack sufficed to drive the malicious little monsters away.“Anywhere near the Boer settlements these creatures do infinite mischief,” Mr Rogers said, “watching for, and destroying the lambs to a terrible extent.”Days of weary trekking across plains before they came into pool-strewn land, where the footprints of buffalo were here and there obliterated by the monstrous round track left by the elephant.And now for the last time before beginning the return journey they formed camp, and prepared for some of the most serious part of their hunt.The General said that the elephants must be plentiful, and promised to show them the next day; but the boys seemed hardly to have sunk into a profound slumber, when they were roused by Chicory to tell them that there were elephants in the open forest close at hand.The news was electrical, and in a very few minutes they were standing ready with their father; and strict silence being enjoined, they followed the Zulu warrior through the thin forest by the light of the moon, till, advancing very cautiously, the General made an observation or two, and then came back and led the little party to where they could peer from amidst the trees and dimly see, looming up from the edge of a great pool, the bodies of twenty or thirty elephants of all sizes, busily drawing up water in their trunks and squirting it into their mouths.This they continued for some time, grunting, snorting, and uttering a peculiar sigh now and then, when, to Dick’s surprise, he suddenly seemed to see the huge bodies of the elephants more plainly, and knew that the day was breaking.There was one great beast standing not forty yards from him, swinging its trunk to and fro, and flapping its enormous leather-like ears against its neck; when, unable to resist the temptation, and without pausing to consider whether it was wise or no, he took a quick aim at the back of the huge creature’s head; there was a flash, and as the report of Dick’s piece rang out, a tremendous rush, and the elephant herd had gone thundering over the plain.But not all. The large tusker had fallen over upon its side by the pool, and on making a circuit so as to get at it from the side of the plain, Dick advanced to find that he had made a most fortunate shot, and as he drew near felt struck with wonderment at the huge proportions of his first elephant.After feasting their eyes, the party returned to camp for something substantial in the way of breakfast, made toothsome with guinea-fowl, of which they shot several; and directly after the General went off to chop out the splendid pair of tusks,Dinny accompanying him to have a look at the “ingy-rubber.”This done, they started to follow up the trail of the elephants, for it was Jack’s turn now, and his father wished to add a few tusks to the load of treasures in skins they were to take back.A long and wearisome following of the trail had no result, for it was evident that they had been so scared by the loss of their companion that they had gone straight off without pausing to feed, in search of safer ground.The heat was terrible, and at last they were compelled to halt beneath the shade of a clump of trees to rest and refresh.This was followed by a nap, and afterwards, they felt so disheartened and footsore that they decided to return.“Let’s go back, father,” Dick had said, “and come on to-morrow morning with the horses.”“To be sure,” said Jack. “We could canter straight here without loss of time.”“What do you say, General?” asked Mr Rogers.“I say it would be wise,” replied the Zulu. “The elephants leave their path behind them, and you can come up rested and ready to fire.”Even without these remarks Mr Rogers would have returned, for the dread of over-fatiguing Dick, would have been quite sufficient to make him pause. The boy had altered wonderfully; but still there were limits to the fatigue he could bear.They went quietly back, then, as the sun was getting low, and contented themselves with a few shots at the guinea-fowl which came over by hundreds, on their way to particular spots to roost.Before daylight, though, the next morning, they were in the saddle, carrying with them provisions and water; and they were miles along the track before the sun showed, by a robe of orange and a crown of ruddy rays, that he was about to flood the earth once more with light.The consequence was that they reached the spot where they had left off tracking quite early in the morning, the General, Coffee, and Chicory, although they had run all the way, seeming to be as fresh as when they had started, and laughing at the idea of their feeling fatigue.Mr Rogers, however, decided that it would be better to proceed with judgment, so a second breakfast was eaten under the shade of the trees where they had rested on the previous day, there being a limpid pool of water close at hand.“That’s the best way to carry food, Dick,” said Jack, laughing. “I like to have mine in my inside pocket, where it isn’t in the way;” and he laughed, as he took a great bite out of a piece of cake baked on an iron plate.“Ready, boys?” said Mr Rogers, just then.“Yes, father.”“Mount then, and off.”They were in their saddles on the instant, and made a fresh start, with the two Zulu boys following the track at a run, till, the sun, growing exceeding hot, a fresh halt was made, but not until the General had declared from sundry signs he saw that the elephants had been going leisurely now, and that he did not think that they were many miles ahead.The boys were for immediate pursuit, but common sense suggested a wait, for a pleasant grove was found close to where the forest seemed to commence in a very dense thicket, and here a good halt was made.The sun poured down here with greater violence than they had felt before, and after lightening their load once more by reducing their stock of provisions, in spite of their efforts such a drowsiness set in that in a very short time the whole party were asleep.Dick was awakened by Coffee laying his hand upon his mouth and shaking him, whispering the word “Elephant!” in his ear, as he opened his eyes; while at the same time, Chicory and the General were performing the like duty for Jack and his father.Obeying the advice of the General, they all stole off cautiously towards the dense thicket close at hand, from which came the noise of breaking branches, and strange snorts and sighs mingled with the squirting and splashing of water.In a few words the General explained that the elephants had returned upon their track to the forest in front, and upon cautiously creeping from bush to bush to stalk them, each of the party under the guidance of a Zulu, they found that the dense thicket was a mere band, and that all beyond it was open park-like land, with several pools scattered about, in which the elephants were standing, splashing the water, sucking it up and squirting it over their dark skins, uttering a low sigh of satisfaction from time to time.Dick was in an unlucky position, for, while both his father and Jack were so placed as to get an easy shot at an elephant, he could only fire at long range. This, however, he decided to do as soon as his father and brother had had a shot.Meanwhile Mr Rogers had marked out for himself a fine young elephant with moderate tusks. There was one with bigger tusks behind, but not being armed with an elephant gun he felt that it would be better to make sure of the smaller one than risk the loss of all; so approaching cautiously he did not perceive that the ground before him was swampy, and fell headlong in the mud and water.He lay perfectly still, though, and fortunately—unfortunately for him—the herd did not take flight, but attributing the noise to one of their fellows, they went on splashing and cooling their sides, breaking off boughs to tuck into their capacious mouths, writhing and twisting their probosces about the while.After a few moments Dick saw his father rise, walk forward to the side of some bushes, take aim at the elephant he had marked down, and just as it was passing along towards one of the pools he fired.The piece made such a strange noise that it alarmed Jack and the General. As for Dick, to his horror he saw the rifle fly to pieces, and his father fall backwards upon the grass.Dick took no notice of the elephants, which went crashing amongst the trees, Jack getting a bullet home as they broke towards Dick, nearly trampling him down in their course as he ran to his father’s side.To his horror Mr Rogers was insensible, surrounded by the fragments of his shattered gun, his face bleeding profusely, and for the moment Dick was ready to stand there wringing his hands.But common sense prevailed.There was no running into the next street to fetch a doctor, so he hastily knelt down, and began to pour the contents of his bottle upon his handkerchief, washing away the blood, and bandaging up the cuts upon his father’s forehead.This cooling application of water had the effect of making the injured man open his eyes, and reply to the eager inquiries of his sons.“Only a bit stunned, my boys, and a few cuts,” he said. “It is a mercy I was not killed.”“What a bad rifle!” exclaimed Jack indignantly, as he helped his father to rise.“What a bad sportsman, you should say, my boy,” replied his father, whose face now looked less pallid. “I ought to have known better. My rifle must have been plugged with mud from my fall, and I did not examine it first. That would burst the best gun ever made.”He found he could walk without assistance, and after kneeling down by a pool that had been left unsullied by the elephants, and having a good drink and bathe at his wounds, he rose up refreshed, and turned with the boys to see what was the result of their shots.Better than they had expected. Two elephants were badly wounded, and Chicory had marked them down in a clump of trees half a mile away.It required caution now to approach them, for the beasts would probably be furious; but by skilful management they were staked, and the boys, after two or three shots a-piece, succeeded in laying the monsters low, each falling over upon its side with a terrible crash.The General soon hacked out the good-sized tusks, and these were borne to the grove where the horses had been left to graze.“It never rains but it pours,” said Mr Rogers quietly, as he slapped the flanks and neck of his horse rapidly. “Quick, boys, look at your own, and if they have nothing on them—no little flies something like house flies—take a tusk each, and ride back along the track as quick as you can go.”The boys eagerly obeyed, and seeing no trace of flies, mounted, each with a tusk before him, and cantered away, Mr Rogers following more slowly with the bay and the Zulus—for the mischief was done; the terrible tsetse fly had attacked the fine old horse, and it was only a question of days or weeks before the poison would have finished its work.As it proved the two cobs had escaped almost by a miracle; but the adventure was a warning to the party not to venture further, for they had evidently made their way into a part of the country where this terrible enemy to horses abounds.

In spite of their searching, the baboons were not seen till camp was being moved again to cross the ridge and descend into the plain, when the vicious little animals made so desperate an attack upon the party, throwing stones with such accuracy, that they had to be treated to a volley, and then to a second, before the troop, quite a hundred strong, took to flight; and the dogs killed the wounded left upon the ground, but only at the expense of some vicious bites from the dying apes.

They were fired at with no little compunction, for mingled with their dog-like aspect there was a great deal that was terribly human, and after shooting one of the largest and fiercest, Dick said he felt as if he had committed a murder.

It was, however, a work of necessity, and nothing but a vigorous attack sufficed to drive the malicious little monsters away.

“Anywhere near the Boer settlements these creatures do infinite mischief,” Mr Rogers said, “watching for, and destroying the lambs to a terrible extent.”

Days of weary trekking across plains before they came into pool-strewn land, where the footprints of buffalo were here and there obliterated by the monstrous round track left by the elephant.

And now for the last time before beginning the return journey they formed camp, and prepared for some of the most serious part of their hunt.

The General said that the elephants must be plentiful, and promised to show them the next day; but the boys seemed hardly to have sunk into a profound slumber, when they were roused by Chicory to tell them that there were elephants in the open forest close at hand.

The news was electrical, and in a very few minutes they were standing ready with their father; and strict silence being enjoined, they followed the Zulu warrior through the thin forest by the light of the moon, till, advancing very cautiously, the General made an observation or two, and then came back and led the little party to where they could peer from amidst the trees and dimly see, looming up from the edge of a great pool, the bodies of twenty or thirty elephants of all sizes, busily drawing up water in their trunks and squirting it into their mouths.

This they continued for some time, grunting, snorting, and uttering a peculiar sigh now and then, when, to Dick’s surprise, he suddenly seemed to see the huge bodies of the elephants more plainly, and knew that the day was breaking.

There was one great beast standing not forty yards from him, swinging its trunk to and fro, and flapping its enormous leather-like ears against its neck; when, unable to resist the temptation, and without pausing to consider whether it was wise or no, he took a quick aim at the back of the huge creature’s head; there was a flash, and as the report of Dick’s piece rang out, a tremendous rush, and the elephant herd had gone thundering over the plain.

But not all. The large tusker had fallen over upon its side by the pool, and on making a circuit so as to get at it from the side of the plain, Dick advanced to find that he had made a most fortunate shot, and as he drew near felt struck with wonderment at the huge proportions of his first elephant.

After feasting their eyes, the party returned to camp for something substantial in the way of breakfast, made toothsome with guinea-fowl, of which they shot several; and directly after the General went off to chop out the splendid pair of tusks,Dinny accompanying him to have a look at the “ingy-rubber.”

This done, they started to follow up the trail of the elephants, for it was Jack’s turn now, and his father wished to add a few tusks to the load of treasures in skins they were to take back.

A long and wearisome following of the trail had no result, for it was evident that they had been so scared by the loss of their companion that they had gone straight off without pausing to feed, in search of safer ground.

The heat was terrible, and at last they were compelled to halt beneath the shade of a clump of trees to rest and refresh.

This was followed by a nap, and afterwards, they felt so disheartened and footsore that they decided to return.

“Let’s go back, father,” Dick had said, “and come on to-morrow morning with the horses.”

“To be sure,” said Jack. “We could canter straight here without loss of time.”

“What do you say, General?” asked Mr Rogers.

“I say it would be wise,” replied the Zulu. “The elephants leave their path behind them, and you can come up rested and ready to fire.”

Even without these remarks Mr Rogers would have returned, for the dread of over-fatiguing Dick, would have been quite sufficient to make him pause. The boy had altered wonderfully; but still there were limits to the fatigue he could bear.

They went quietly back, then, as the sun was getting low, and contented themselves with a few shots at the guinea-fowl which came over by hundreds, on their way to particular spots to roost.

Before daylight, though, the next morning, they were in the saddle, carrying with them provisions and water; and they were miles along the track before the sun showed, by a robe of orange and a crown of ruddy rays, that he was about to flood the earth once more with light.

The consequence was that they reached the spot where they had left off tracking quite early in the morning, the General, Coffee, and Chicory, although they had run all the way, seeming to be as fresh as when they had started, and laughing at the idea of their feeling fatigue.

Mr Rogers, however, decided that it would be better to proceed with judgment, so a second breakfast was eaten under the shade of the trees where they had rested on the previous day, there being a limpid pool of water close at hand.

“That’s the best way to carry food, Dick,” said Jack, laughing. “I like to have mine in my inside pocket, where it isn’t in the way;” and he laughed, as he took a great bite out of a piece of cake baked on an iron plate.

“Ready, boys?” said Mr Rogers, just then.

“Yes, father.”

“Mount then, and off.”

They were in their saddles on the instant, and made a fresh start, with the two Zulu boys following the track at a run, till, the sun, growing exceeding hot, a fresh halt was made, but not until the General had declared from sundry signs he saw that the elephants had been going leisurely now, and that he did not think that they were many miles ahead.

The boys were for immediate pursuit, but common sense suggested a wait, for a pleasant grove was found close to where the forest seemed to commence in a very dense thicket, and here a good halt was made.

The sun poured down here with greater violence than they had felt before, and after lightening their load once more by reducing their stock of provisions, in spite of their efforts such a drowsiness set in that in a very short time the whole party were asleep.

Dick was awakened by Coffee laying his hand upon his mouth and shaking him, whispering the word “Elephant!” in his ear, as he opened his eyes; while at the same time, Chicory and the General were performing the like duty for Jack and his father.

Obeying the advice of the General, they all stole off cautiously towards the dense thicket close at hand, from which came the noise of breaking branches, and strange snorts and sighs mingled with the squirting and splashing of water.

In a few words the General explained that the elephants had returned upon their track to the forest in front, and upon cautiously creeping from bush to bush to stalk them, each of the party under the guidance of a Zulu, they found that the dense thicket was a mere band, and that all beyond it was open park-like land, with several pools scattered about, in which the elephants were standing, splashing the water, sucking it up and squirting it over their dark skins, uttering a low sigh of satisfaction from time to time.

Dick was in an unlucky position, for, while both his father and Jack were so placed as to get an easy shot at an elephant, he could only fire at long range. This, however, he decided to do as soon as his father and brother had had a shot.

Meanwhile Mr Rogers had marked out for himself a fine young elephant with moderate tusks. There was one with bigger tusks behind, but not being armed with an elephant gun he felt that it would be better to make sure of the smaller one than risk the loss of all; so approaching cautiously he did not perceive that the ground before him was swampy, and fell headlong in the mud and water.

He lay perfectly still, though, and fortunately—unfortunately for him—the herd did not take flight, but attributing the noise to one of their fellows, they went on splashing and cooling their sides, breaking off boughs to tuck into their capacious mouths, writhing and twisting their probosces about the while.

After a few moments Dick saw his father rise, walk forward to the side of some bushes, take aim at the elephant he had marked down, and just as it was passing along towards one of the pools he fired.

The piece made such a strange noise that it alarmed Jack and the General. As for Dick, to his horror he saw the rifle fly to pieces, and his father fall backwards upon the grass.

Dick took no notice of the elephants, which went crashing amongst the trees, Jack getting a bullet home as they broke towards Dick, nearly trampling him down in their course as he ran to his father’s side.

To his horror Mr Rogers was insensible, surrounded by the fragments of his shattered gun, his face bleeding profusely, and for the moment Dick was ready to stand there wringing his hands.

But common sense prevailed.

There was no running into the next street to fetch a doctor, so he hastily knelt down, and began to pour the contents of his bottle upon his handkerchief, washing away the blood, and bandaging up the cuts upon his father’s forehead.

This cooling application of water had the effect of making the injured man open his eyes, and reply to the eager inquiries of his sons.

“Only a bit stunned, my boys, and a few cuts,” he said. “It is a mercy I was not killed.”

“What a bad rifle!” exclaimed Jack indignantly, as he helped his father to rise.

“What a bad sportsman, you should say, my boy,” replied his father, whose face now looked less pallid. “I ought to have known better. My rifle must have been plugged with mud from my fall, and I did not examine it first. That would burst the best gun ever made.”

He found he could walk without assistance, and after kneeling down by a pool that had been left unsullied by the elephants, and having a good drink and bathe at his wounds, he rose up refreshed, and turned with the boys to see what was the result of their shots.

Better than they had expected. Two elephants were badly wounded, and Chicory had marked them down in a clump of trees half a mile away.

It required caution now to approach them, for the beasts would probably be furious; but by skilful management they were staked, and the boys, after two or three shots a-piece, succeeded in laying the monsters low, each falling over upon its side with a terrible crash.

The General soon hacked out the good-sized tusks, and these were borne to the grove where the horses had been left to graze.

“It never rains but it pours,” said Mr Rogers quietly, as he slapped the flanks and neck of his horse rapidly. “Quick, boys, look at your own, and if they have nothing on them—no little flies something like house flies—take a tusk each, and ride back along the track as quick as you can go.”

The boys eagerly obeyed, and seeing no trace of flies, mounted, each with a tusk before him, and cantered away, Mr Rogers following more slowly with the bay and the Zulus—for the mischief was done; the terrible tsetse fly had attacked the fine old horse, and it was only a question of days or weeks before the poison would have finished its work.

As it proved the two cobs had escaped almost by a miracle; but the adventure was a warning to the party not to venture further, for they had evidently made their way into a part of the country where this terrible enemy to horses abounds.

Chapter Forty Five.A Flight from a Fly.There was no time to lose, for, to the dismay of all, Peter announced that he had found tsetse fly that afternoon upon the two horses that had been grazing near the waggon.“Three horses gone, boys,” said Mr Rogers. “It is a bad job; but it would have been worse if it had happened to your pets. We must be well on the way back into a more wholesome country before day, so lie down and have a rest at once. The General or the boys shall go on with you, so that you may try to save your nags. I’ll come on with the rest.”“But your horses don’t seem any the worse for it, father,” said Dick.“No, my boy, and it may not show for days; but the poison will work, and they will gradually grow weaker and weaker. They are all doomed.”“But is there no cure for it, father?”“None that I know of, my boys; and it must act as a preventative to the opening out of this grand country to civilisation, unless man can improve these poisonous little pests off the face of the earth.”“It is wonderful,” cried Dick; “such a little fly to do so much mischief.”Coffee and Chicory aroused them hours before it was day, and with the understanding that they were to keep on till night straight back upon their old track, the boys started, enjoying to a certain extent the journey without the waggon, but feeling the awful loneliness of the country now more and more.They made the best of their way on, however, getting over all the ground possible, not halting till it was almost dark, and hardly leaving themselves time to collect enough wood for a roaring fire, which they kept blazing turn and turn, for they were in a place where from the sounds they heard lions seemed to be plentiful once more.The next morning they were able to add some guinea-fowl and a little gazelle to their scanty store of dried meat, and as they had nothing now to do but wait for the coming of the waggon, they amused themselves by exploring a little here and there as their horses grazed, their ramble resulting in the discovery of many beautiful flowers and insects, such as they had not seen before.That day went by, but still no waggon arrived; and as they again made up their roaring fire, the boys felt no little uneasiness, till they began to recall what a slow leisurely crawl was that of the ox-team, and that they had come over the greater part of their journey at a brisk canter, with which, by holding on to the cob’s mane, the two Zulu boys seemed to have no difficulty in keeping up.But all doubts were solved the next morning by the arrival of the waggon, those who accompanied it being only too ready to join in the roast ready for breakfast.There had been no delay; the length of time was only due to the slow progress of the oxen; and this slow progress continued, as, avoiding the back track, they made their way by another route to where King Moseti was ready to receive them with open arms, and was made happy by the presentation of some of the surplus store of beads and other trifles, Mr Rogers retaining merely enough for their wants on the way back.The king was eager enough to be generous in turn, presenting his guests with several tusks aid some beautiful skins and ostrich feathers, which added in no little decree to the travellers’ store.Here Mr Rogers shot a couple of hippopotami, and the boys made some good practice amongst the hideous crocodiles that were every day killing some one or other of the king’s subjects. Now it was a girl gone down to draw water; at another time a boy venturing to bathe. And the travellers could not help admiring the love of cleanliness amongst these people, for too often they had to risk their lives for the sake of a bathe.The horses had now begun to show signs of having been bitten by the tsetse fly, the chestnut and grey displaying roughened skins and a general uneasiness; while the bay, though slightly roughened about the coat, still held out.They lost no time then in getting on with their journey southwards, meeting with plenty of vicissitudes in the shape of hunger, heat, and thirst, but taking these calmly, along with the good things; and at last the Limpopo was once more reached.The reader of this, who knows how easily a person may have his tea in London and his breakfast the next morning in Scotland—400 miles—may be surprised to hear that to get over such a distance in South Africa with a heavy waggon and an ox-team takes over a month; and a driver and foreloper would consider that they had done well if they had achieved so much.For hurrying means losing ground. The oxen must be kept well-fed with good pasture, and not overworked, or in a few hours sores will be produced by the harsh yokes that will take a month to cure, if they ever heal at all.But the country was grand, and the weather exceptionally lovely, as they made their way southward, crossing the Limpopo without accident, in spite of the crocodiles, Dinny managing to get a place on the top of the waggon-tilt just before they started to ford the stream.“Why, what are you doing there, Dinny?” cried Dick, who was the first to see him.“Shure, Masther Dick, dear, I was feared for these valuable skins that lie stretched out here, for I says to meself, ‘Dinny,’ I says, ‘if the masther was to have thim skins slip off into the dirthy river, he’d never forgive himself.’”So amidst a good deal of laughter Dinny crossed over the crocodile river on the top of the tilt; while, as much alarmed as he, the dogs, taught by experience, kept close behind the aftermost oxen’s heels, swimming with the protection of the waggon-wheels on either side.Mr Rogers proposed that they should go back by way of the district where there were some curious caves, saying that it would be a pity to be within reach and not to see them. So with the intent of making a halt near them, the General announcing his intention of finding the place, though he had never been there before, the return journey was continued.This return journey was, as maybe supposed, one of months, but it was not uneventful. The constant demands of the larder rendered hunting necessary almost every day; and in these hunting expeditions beautiful skins, and horns of great size and peculiarity, were obtained. Every day, too, added to the collection of gorgeously-plumaged birds and bright beetles; several times over, too, they were able to add a goodly bundle of ostrich plumes to the store.It may sound strange, but over this even Dinny felt aggrieved, coming to Dick coolly enough one night, just before sleeping time, with,—“Would ye mind handing me out two or three of thim bundles o’ feathers, Masther Dick, dear?”“What for, Dinny?” he asked in astonishment.“An’ is it what for?” said Dinny indignantly; “shure, an’ ye wouldn’t have a boy slape on the bare flure, when ye’ve got hapes of feather to make beds with inside?”Poor Dinny was sent to the right about, and the feathers had a very narrow escape the very next day from being burned to blackened ashes.

There was no time to lose, for, to the dismay of all, Peter announced that he had found tsetse fly that afternoon upon the two horses that had been grazing near the waggon.

“Three horses gone, boys,” said Mr Rogers. “It is a bad job; but it would have been worse if it had happened to your pets. We must be well on the way back into a more wholesome country before day, so lie down and have a rest at once. The General or the boys shall go on with you, so that you may try to save your nags. I’ll come on with the rest.”

“But your horses don’t seem any the worse for it, father,” said Dick.

“No, my boy, and it may not show for days; but the poison will work, and they will gradually grow weaker and weaker. They are all doomed.”

“But is there no cure for it, father?”

“None that I know of, my boys; and it must act as a preventative to the opening out of this grand country to civilisation, unless man can improve these poisonous little pests off the face of the earth.”

“It is wonderful,” cried Dick; “such a little fly to do so much mischief.”

Coffee and Chicory aroused them hours before it was day, and with the understanding that they were to keep on till night straight back upon their old track, the boys started, enjoying to a certain extent the journey without the waggon, but feeling the awful loneliness of the country now more and more.

They made the best of their way on, however, getting over all the ground possible, not halting till it was almost dark, and hardly leaving themselves time to collect enough wood for a roaring fire, which they kept blazing turn and turn, for they were in a place where from the sounds they heard lions seemed to be plentiful once more.

The next morning they were able to add some guinea-fowl and a little gazelle to their scanty store of dried meat, and as they had nothing now to do but wait for the coming of the waggon, they amused themselves by exploring a little here and there as their horses grazed, their ramble resulting in the discovery of many beautiful flowers and insects, such as they had not seen before.

That day went by, but still no waggon arrived; and as they again made up their roaring fire, the boys felt no little uneasiness, till they began to recall what a slow leisurely crawl was that of the ox-team, and that they had come over the greater part of their journey at a brisk canter, with which, by holding on to the cob’s mane, the two Zulu boys seemed to have no difficulty in keeping up.

But all doubts were solved the next morning by the arrival of the waggon, those who accompanied it being only too ready to join in the roast ready for breakfast.

There had been no delay; the length of time was only due to the slow progress of the oxen; and this slow progress continued, as, avoiding the back track, they made their way by another route to where King Moseti was ready to receive them with open arms, and was made happy by the presentation of some of the surplus store of beads and other trifles, Mr Rogers retaining merely enough for their wants on the way back.

The king was eager enough to be generous in turn, presenting his guests with several tusks aid some beautiful skins and ostrich feathers, which added in no little decree to the travellers’ store.

Here Mr Rogers shot a couple of hippopotami, and the boys made some good practice amongst the hideous crocodiles that were every day killing some one or other of the king’s subjects. Now it was a girl gone down to draw water; at another time a boy venturing to bathe. And the travellers could not help admiring the love of cleanliness amongst these people, for too often they had to risk their lives for the sake of a bathe.

The horses had now begun to show signs of having been bitten by the tsetse fly, the chestnut and grey displaying roughened skins and a general uneasiness; while the bay, though slightly roughened about the coat, still held out.

They lost no time then in getting on with their journey southwards, meeting with plenty of vicissitudes in the shape of hunger, heat, and thirst, but taking these calmly, along with the good things; and at last the Limpopo was once more reached.

The reader of this, who knows how easily a person may have his tea in London and his breakfast the next morning in Scotland—400 miles—may be surprised to hear that to get over such a distance in South Africa with a heavy waggon and an ox-team takes over a month; and a driver and foreloper would consider that they had done well if they had achieved so much.

For hurrying means losing ground. The oxen must be kept well-fed with good pasture, and not overworked, or in a few hours sores will be produced by the harsh yokes that will take a month to cure, if they ever heal at all.

But the country was grand, and the weather exceptionally lovely, as they made their way southward, crossing the Limpopo without accident, in spite of the crocodiles, Dinny managing to get a place on the top of the waggon-tilt just before they started to ford the stream.

“Why, what are you doing there, Dinny?” cried Dick, who was the first to see him.

“Shure, Masther Dick, dear, I was feared for these valuable skins that lie stretched out here, for I says to meself, ‘Dinny,’ I says, ‘if the masther was to have thim skins slip off into the dirthy river, he’d never forgive himself.’”

So amidst a good deal of laughter Dinny crossed over the crocodile river on the top of the tilt; while, as much alarmed as he, the dogs, taught by experience, kept close behind the aftermost oxen’s heels, swimming with the protection of the waggon-wheels on either side.

Mr Rogers proposed that they should go back by way of the district where there were some curious caves, saying that it would be a pity to be within reach and not to see them. So with the intent of making a halt near them, the General announcing his intention of finding the place, though he had never been there before, the return journey was continued.

This return journey was, as maybe supposed, one of months, but it was not uneventful. The constant demands of the larder rendered hunting necessary almost every day; and in these hunting expeditions beautiful skins, and horns of great size and peculiarity, were obtained. Every day, too, added to the collection of gorgeously-plumaged birds and bright beetles; several times over, too, they were able to add a goodly bundle of ostrich plumes to the store.

It may sound strange, but over this even Dinny felt aggrieved, coming to Dick coolly enough one night, just before sleeping time, with,—

“Would ye mind handing me out two or three of thim bundles o’ feathers, Masther Dick, dear?”

“What for, Dinny?” he asked in astonishment.

“An’ is it what for?” said Dinny indignantly; “shure, an’ ye wouldn’t have a boy slape on the bare flure, when ye’ve got hapes of feather to make beds with inside?”

Poor Dinny was sent to the right about, and the feathers had a very narrow escape the very next day from being burned to blackened ashes.

Chapter Forty Six.The Bay runs his Last Race.During the long backward journey, poor Smiler the chestnut and Toothpick the grey succumbed to the poison of the tsetse fly, gradually waning away so, poor beasts, that Mr Rogers felt glad when on one occasion a lion leaped upon the half-dead chestnut and dragged it down—dying in the act though, for Dick’s rifle sent a bullet crashing through the monster’s head.There was the same feeling about poor Toothpick the grey, which lay down to rest one night, and was found stretched out dead the next morning.The bay, however, held out; and it was wonderful what vitality he possessed. Poor beast! he was faithful to the end, his last act being the saving of his master’s life.They had out-spanned one night at the edge of avast plain, meaning to start again early the next morning; but as they rose and gazed at the vast expanse of sun-dried grass and bushes, dotted all over with great herds of pallah, koodoo, hartebeeste, and springbok, with zebras and quaggas, more than they had before seen, both Mr Rogers and the boys felt that they must have one more day’s hunting amongst them; and, each with his faithful Zulu, they set off to try and stalk one of the herds.The horses were brought into requisition, and the miles of space intervening was got over before, by means of his glass, Mr Rogers saw that they were not alone in the field.He could just discern horsemen and a waggon on the far side of the plain, miles away, but their shapes distinctly visible with the glass in that pure atmosphere, as they lay on a distant ridge, the waggon standing out against the sky.They had excellent sport, consequent upon the party on the other side driving the game in their direction, and, lured on by the fascination of the pursuit, Mr Rogers had gone farther and farther, till suddenly he heard a shout from the General.He needed no telling why the Zulu had been guilty of so unsportsmanlike a proceeding, for on his right, travelling before the wind at a tremendous rate, was a perfect hurricane of fire. By some means the Boers on the other side had set light to the thick dry grass and bushes, and to his horror Mr Rogers saw that unless he could get back to where he had left his horse and gallop off, he would be overtaken by the flames.What was worse, he found that the fiery tempest might overtake his sons unawares, for the probabilities were that the horses would not stand.Signing to the Zulu to run to the horse, he set off himself, with the air becoming thick and murky with smoke, so that he feared that he had lost his way. But, to his intense delight, upon turning the corner of a clump of bushes there stood the faithful bay where he had left it, and with the Zulu at its head holding the reins.Mr Rogers leaped into the saddle, the General caught hold of the mane, and away they went at a rapid trot in the direction in which the boys were believed to be. But the fire gained upon them so fast that the rider insisted upon the Zulu mounting behind him, in spite of his remonstrances.“Quick!” he cried angrily.On this the General leaped up behind, and they went at full gallop, tearing over the ground, the bay straining its sinews to the utmost, while, as he saw the fire gaining upon him fast, Mr Rogers’ heart sank within him, for he could see no sign of either Dick or Jack, and yet he was obliged to dash on, for the fire was wrapping round from his left as if to cut him off.“Where are the boys?” he groaned as he reached the top of a small eminence, and drew rein to look around.“There!” cried the Zulu, pointing.To his great relief Mr Rogers saw the boys galloping towards him, evidently coming to his aid.Waving his hand to them to go back, he galloped down, and before long had overtaken them, and they rode on side by side, each with a Zulu behind his saddle, for the fire seemed to come on now with lightning speed.“The waggon stands just in the way of the fire, boys,” groaned Mr Rogers, “and we shall never save it unless the oxen are already in-spanned.”It seemed to be only too true, and they urged on the horses to their fullest speed.It was a race for life, and they could hear the flames roaring hungrily behind them as they tore along, the horses needing neither whip nor spur to send them at their best pace over the crackling grass.“Hurrah!” cried Jack. “I see the waggon.”“And the oxen?” cried Mr Rogers.“Yes, father—in-spanned. And they are flying from the fire!”Mr Rogers uttered a prayer of thankfulness as he rode on, till at the end of a quarter of an hour they were close up with the waggon, while the oxen, with Dirk the foreloper at the head and Peter on the box, were going along in a clumsy gallop, urged by the shouts of their drivers and their natural dread of the fire, coming after them with the fury of a whirlwind.The smoke was now blinding, the heat increasing, and it was hard work to check the horses, who strove to gallop madly away as soon as they were lightened of half their loads; for Coffee and Chicory followed the example of their father in leaping down and running to the side of the team to help urge on the frightened oxen, till they plunged along in their clumsy race.Faster and faster in the wild race for life! the flames roaring as they came nearer! the waggon thundering over the ground, swaying from side to side, and threatening each moment to overturn!Twice it ran upon two wheels for some distance, and the boys knew that if a stone of any size was met the waggon must be irretrievably wrecked, and they saw in anticipation the flames overtaking it, scorching up the valuables it contained, and ending by reaching the ammunition, when everything must be blown to atoms.Mr Rogers felt that the case was hopeless. The flames were close upon them, and he was about to shout to the people to cut loose the oxen and leave the waggon to its fate, when he saw Dick spring forward to the side of the Zulu, who was with Dirk the foreloper, by the leading oxen.Mr Rogers could not hear what his son said in the deafening roar, but he saw him point, and the foreloper and the General urged the leading oxen out of the course they were taking before the flames to one nearly at right angles, turning them so sharply that the waggon again nearly overset. It rose upon two wheels, but sank back on the others with a crash; the oxen lumbered along in their awkward gallop, and the whole business seemed madness.Five minutes later, though, the leader saw that his son’s act had been guided by sound reasoning, for he had directed the team into a broad open space where there was nothing to feed the flames. The consequence was that as the wall of fire reached the edge of the opening it gradually flickered out there, but rushed along on either side in two volumes of flame, which joined hands, as it were, below them, and the fire went roaring along as swiftly as before.Where they were grouped, in the midst of the open space, they felt the scorching, were blinded by the smoke, and had a hard matter to keep the beasts quiet, the leopard howling dismally, and the giraffe thrusting its head beneath the back of the waggon-tilt, while the horses snorted and plunged, and the oxen shook their heads, elevated their tails, and behaved unpleasantly to each other with their horns.But the danger was past, and at the end of an hour they were able to trek on over the blackened plain, till they reached the first pool, where, unpromising as everything was, they were glad to outspan and rest for a few hours before once more resuming their journey.But there was no renewal of the journey for the bay. Poor beast, it had used up its remaining strength in that, last gallop, and when the time had come for the renewal of the journey the bay was lying down.Mr Rogers spoke to it, and the poor animal made an effort to rise, but merely laid its head quietly down again, uttering a low sigh—and the faithful beast was dead.

During the long backward journey, poor Smiler the chestnut and Toothpick the grey succumbed to the poison of the tsetse fly, gradually waning away so, poor beasts, that Mr Rogers felt glad when on one occasion a lion leaped upon the half-dead chestnut and dragged it down—dying in the act though, for Dick’s rifle sent a bullet crashing through the monster’s head.

There was the same feeling about poor Toothpick the grey, which lay down to rest one night, and was found stretched out dead the next morning.

The bay, however, held out; and it was wonderful what vitality he possessed. Poor beast! he was faithful to the end, his last act being the saving of his master’s life.

They had out-spanned one night at the edge of avast plain, meaning to start again early the next morning; but as they rose and gazed at the vast expanse of sun-dried grass and bushes, dotted all over with great herds of pallah, koodoo, hartebeeste, and springbok, with zebras and quaggas, more than they had before seen, both Mr Rogers and the boys felt that they must have one more day’s hunting amongst them; and, each with his faithful Zulu, they set off to try and stalk one of the herds.

The horses were brought into requisition, and the miles of space intervening was got over before, by means of his glass, Mr Rogers saw that they were not alone in the field.

He could just discern horsemen and a waggon on the far side of the plain, miles away, but their shapes distinctly visible with the glass in that pure atmosphere, as they lay on a distant ridge, the waggon standing out against the sky.

They had excellent sport, consequent upon the party on the other side driving the game in their direction, and, lured on by the fascination of the pursuit, Mr Rogers had gone farther and farther, till suddenly he heard a shout from the General.

He needed no telling why the Zulu had been guilty of so unsportsmanlike a proceeding, for on his right, travelling before the wind at a tremendous rate, was a perfect hurricane of fire. By some means the Boers on the other side had set light to the thick dry grass and bushes, and to his horror Mr Rogers saw that unless he could get back to where he had left his horse and gallop off, he would be overtaken by the flames.

What was worse, he found that the fiery tempest might overtake his sons unawares, for the probabilities were that the horses would not stand.

Signing to the Zulu to run to the horse, he set off himself, with the air becoming thick and murky with smoke, so that he feared that he had lost his way. But, to his intense delight, upon turning the corner of a clump of bushes there stood the faithful bay where he had left it, and with the Zulu at its head holding the reins.

Mr Rogers leaped into the saddle, the General caught hold of the mane, and away they went at a rapid trot in the direction in which the boys were believed to be. But the fire gained upon them so fast that the rider insisted upon the Zulu mounting behind him, in spite of his remonstrances.

“Quick!” he cried angrily.

On this the General leaped up behind, and they went at full gallop, tearing over the ground, the bay straining its sinews to the utmost, while, as he saw the fire gaining upon him fast, Mr Rogers’ heart sank within him, for he could see no sign of either Dick or Jack, and yet he was obliged to dash on, for the fire was wrapping round from his left as if to cut him off.

“Where are the boys?” he groaned as he reached the top of a small eminence, and drew rein to look around.

“There!” cried the Zulu, pointing.

To his great relief Mr Rogers saw the boys galloping towards him, evidently coming to his aid.

Waving his hand to them to go back, he galloped down, and before long had overtaken them, and they rode on side by side, each with a Zulu behind his saddle, for the fire seemed to come on now with lightning speed.

“The waggon stands just in the way of the fire, boys,” groaned Mr Rogers, “and we shall never save it unless the oxen are already in-spanned.”

It seemed to be only too true, and they urged on the horses to their fullest speed.

It was a race for life, and they could hear the flames roaring hungrily behind them as they tore along, the horses needing neither whip nor spur to send them at their best pace over the crackling grass.

“Hurrah!” cried Jack. “I see the waggon.”

“And the oxen?” cried Mr Rogers.

“Yes, father—in-spanned. And they are flying from the fire!”

Mr Rogers uttered a prayer of thankfulness as he rode on, till at the end of a quarter of an hour they were close up with the waggon, while the oxen, with Dirk the foreloper at the head and Peter on the box, were going along in a clumsy gallop, urged by the shouts of their drivers and their natural dread of the fire, coming after them with the fury of a whirlwind.

The smoke was now blinding, the heat increasing, and it was hard work to check the horses, who strove to gallop madly away as soon as they were lightened of half their loads; for Coffee and Chicory followed the example of their father in leaping down and running to the side of the team to help urge on the frightened oxen, till they plunged along in their clumsy race.

Faster and faster in the wild race for life! the flames roaring as they came nearer! the waggon thundering over the ground, swaying from side to side, and threatening each moment to overturn!

Twice it ran upon two wheels for some distance, and the boys knew that if a stone of any size was met the waggon must be irretrievably wrecked, and they saw in anticipation the flames overtaking it, scorching up the valuables it contained, and ending by reaching the ammunition, when everything must be blown to atoms.

Mr Rogers felt that the case was hopeless. The flames were close upon them, and he was about to shout to the people to cut loose the oxen and leave the waggon to its fate, when he saw Dick spring forward to the side of the Zulu, who was with Dirk the foreloper, by the leading oxen.

Mr Rogers could not hear what his son said in the deafening roar, but he saw him point, and the foreloper and the General urged the leading oxen out of the course they were taking before the flames to one nearly at right angles, turning them so sharply that the waggon again nearly overset. It rose upon two wheels, but sank back on the others with a crash; the oxen lumbered along in their awkward gallop, and the whole business seemed madness.

Five minutes later, though, the leader saw that his son’s act had been guided by sound reasoning, for he had directed the team into a broad open space where there was nothing to feed the flames. The consequence was that as the wall of fire reached the edge of the opening it gradually flickered out there, but rushed along on either side in two volumes of flame, which joined hands, as it were, below them, and the fire went roaring along as swiftly as before.

Where they were grouped, in the midst of the open space, they felt the scorching, were blinded by the smoke, and had a hard matter to keep the beasts quiet, the leopard howling dismally, and the giraffe thrusting its head beneath the back of the waggon-tilt, while the horses snorted and plunged, and the oxen shook their heads, elevated their tails, and behaved unpleasantly to each other with their horns.

But the danger was past, and at the end of an hour they were able to trek on over the blackened plain, till they reached the first pool, where, unpromising as everything was, they were glad to outspan and rest for a few hours before once more resuming their journey.

But there was no renewal of the journey for the bay. Poor beast, it had used up its remaining strength in that, last gallop, and when the time had come for the renewal of the journey the bay was lying down.

Mr Rogers spoke to it, and the poor animal made an effort to rise, but merely laid its head quietly down again, uttering a low sigh—and the faithful beast was dead.

Chapter Forty Seven.How Dinny was lost Underground.“I shall be glad to get back home, boys,” said Mr Rogers the next morning, “for the pleasure seems to have gone out of the trip now my horses are all gone. Still there is one good thing, boys, yours are safe.”This was as they were at last getting out of the course of the fire and on to a tract of grass, so little scorched by the sun and so fertilised by the stream that ran through that the oxen were out-spanned for a good feed, as it was doubtful when they might obtain another.Then followed days and weeks of trekking before they reached the part of the country where the caverns were, and out-spanned one night at Wonderfontein, where, for a promise of payment, the son of a Boer living hard by undertook to provide lights and to show them the wonders of the underground region.The Boer lad said that they would require a light-bearer besides himself, so Dinny was told to come, and after a little opposition he followed his master and their guide to the extent of about a mile, when the lad began to creep and slide down a well-wooded place in the plain that looked like the crater of an old volcano.Here Dinny began to hesitate again.“An’ is it go down there, sor?” he asked. “Shure and suppose the place has no bottom to it at all.”“Go on. Dinny, and don’t be stupid,” cried Dick; and poorDinny found himself pretty well hustled down to the bottom of the funnel-like place, which seemed to bend round at the bottom and to lead into a little brook.Here the guide lit a couple of roughly-made torches: he handed one to Dinny and retained the other, advising all the party to tuck up their trousers; and the reason for this was soon evident, for the floor of the grotto they were about to explore formed the bed of the transparent little river that had found its way into this strange crack in the rock, and gradually enlarged it to give itself more room.“Ah, bedad, and the wather’s cowld,” cried Dinny. “Shure, Masther Dick, we’re niver going on along there?”“Indeed we are, Dinny, with you to light us, like the brave, man you are,” said Dick.Then Dinny growled out something about its being a shame to make such a naygur of a white man, and seeing no alternative, went on behind the guide, being followed by Mr Rogers, the boys bringing up the rear.The first part of their journey was for some distance through narrow passages, where they often had to bend double, with only an opportunity now and then for straightening themselves upright; but by degrees, as they went on splash, splash, through the water, the roof rose higher and higher, till its summit seemed to be lost in gloom, while the grey walls looked wild and romantic in the extreme.A glance to right and left of the narrow way showed that in some great convulsion of nature, the rock had been split and separated to a small extent, and the result was the formation of this cavern; for so similar were the sides that had the natural action been reversed, the two sides would have fitted together, save where the water had worn the rock away.It was a weird journey, made the more mysterious by the guide, who pointed out side passages where the water grew deeper, which passages, he said, had never been explored; and at last, after they had been travelling slowly along the solemn echoing place, Dinny appealed to his master to go back.“Shure I’m not a bit freckened,” he said; “but, sor, there’s danger to us all if we go on there.”“Absurd, Dinny,” cried his master. “Go on. What is there to be afraid of?”“Oh, nothing at all, sor. It isn’t that I mind, but we shall be coming upon some great big water-baste or a wather-shnake or something, and then what’ll we do at all?”“Let it eat us, Dinny,” shouted Dick; and his voice sounded echoing and strange.“Oh, an’ is it ate us, Masther Dick? Shure ye’ll have—murther! murther! murther!” shrieked Dinny. “I towld ye so. Oh! Help, here! Help!”Down went Dinny’s torch into the water, to be extinguished upon the instant, and the scared fellow kept on yelling with all his might.“What is the matter?” cried his master angrily.“Shure I towld ye so. A great big thing, wid awful black wings, flew at me and bit at me face, sor, and I belave he’d ha’ killed me if I hadn’t put me light out so as he shouldn’t see where I was.”“Oh, Dinny, Dinny. If I were you I wouldn’t be frightened of a bat,” cried Dick.“An’ is it freckened of a bat I’d be, Masther Dick? I tell ye it was a great big thing as large as a man, wid long black wings, an’ it sent a shudder all through me, sor, to see the great baste come at me.”“Which did you see, Dinny, the bat or the shadow?” asked Dick.“Ah, ye’re laughing at me,” said Dinny; “but wait a bit and ye’ll see.”Dinny’s torch was fished out of the water, and after a good deal of beating and shaking to get rid of the moisture they managed to get it to burn once more, when Jack volunteered to carry it, and Dinny grumblingly took his place in the rear.“Ah,” he muttered, in Dick’s hearing, “it’s a dirthy counthry this Afrikky. Wild bastes, and shnakes, and holes under the airth. Faix, it isn’t fit for a dacent boy to live in at all.”Dinny and his mutterings were little heeded, and they went on and on through the interminable place, following its windings and zigzag turns, where the rock had split, till they were tired, and Dick said that they had seen no more during the last hour than during the first five minutes, for the place was almost all alike—one great jagged rift with the little stream flowing over the floor. Now the roof looked far above them in the gloom, and now again it was close enough to crush their heads, while by the same rule there were times when they could touch the walls on either side by stretching out their hands, while at others the sides receded so that the space was quite a chamber.“Well, then,” said Mr Rogers, “suppose we turn back. Dinny, as you are last now you’ll be first going back, and ought to make a good leader; so take the light.”Dinny did not reply.“Do you hear what my father said, Dinny?” cried Dick.Still there was no answer.“Why, father,” cried Dick; “he is not here!”“Nonsense! absurd!” cried Mr Rogers. “Here, Dinny!” he shouted.“Ny-ny-ny-ny!” came softly repeated like a mockery of his cry.“Dinny!” cried Mr Rogers again; and once again the echo was the only answer.“Dinny!” shouted Dick and Jack together, with all their might; but the echo was the only response; and a cold chill of horror began to run through the little party as they stood there.“Poor fellow!” exclaimed Mr Rogers; “surely he has not sunk down fainting from fright. Oh, surely not; the idea is too horrible! Dinny!”He shouted with all his might, and the boys took up the cry, but there was nothing but the echo to reply.“Has anybody ever been lost here?” said Mr Rogers, turning sharply on the Boer guide.“Dot one dat I know,” said the Boer lad. “Dere was leedle mans lost one days, bud dey found der leedle mans again fasd ashleep on der rock.”“He has grown tired, boys; quick!” said Mr Rogers. “Let’s make haste back, and we shall find him sitting down somewhere.”Though he said this, he did not feel at all hopeful; but still there was the chance of finding that Dinny, taking advantage of being behind, had climbed on to one of the big shelves of rock to await their return, though Mr Rogers felt that it was very doubtful, and that the poor fellow would be too great a coward to sit there alone in the dark.It was then with sinking hearts, and a horrible sense of finding that their expedition had a terrible ending, that they hurried along the dark passages of the weird grotto, pausing every now and then to shout, as they searched the side-turnings with their light, and shouted down them in case the poor fellow had strayed away by mistake, though the chances were very small, for it seemed impossible that Dinny could have followed any route but the one indicated by the light in front.No, think of the matter how they would, there seemed no other explanation of Dinny’s disappearance than that he had sunk down in the water where it was deeper than usual, and been drowned from sheer fright.“It seems so shocking,” said Dick, in a whisper, that, low as it was, seemed to run on before them; “that after going through all that journey, and escaping from lions and crocodiles, and all sorts of dangerous beasts, we should lose one of our party in such a miserable way.”Dick had unconsciously spoken his father’s thoughts as they went on redoubling their exertions till, to their horror, they reached the bottom of the funnel-shaped entrance without finding a vestige of him they sought.“Back again!” cried Mr Rogers; and returning, they again searched the gloomy passages for hours, till they were obliged to return to the mouth of the cavern for fresh lights.The Boer lad looked horrified, and he anxiously ran off for fresh torches, feeling himself to blame as guide, for having lost one of the party.“Jack,” said Mr Rogers hoarsely, “run to the waggon, and fetch some biscuits, a little brandy, and the two large lamps, with a few extra candles. Be quick!”“I’ll go too, father,” cried Dick eagerly. And the boys were about to start, when Dick added, “Shall I bring over the General, father?”“Yes, and his boys. We must find Dinny.”Dick and Jack, weary and wet as they were, ran off to the little camp, the smoke of whose fire they could see, and on reaching it, panting and exhausted, the first object they saw was Dinny, lying under a tree with his mouth open, fast asleep.“Oh, I am glad,” cried Jack.“So am I,” cried Dick; “and sorry—and cross,” he added, running up to Dinny, and giving him a kick in the ribs.“Aisy there,” said Dinny, yawning and opening his eyes. “Shure, I’m coming. Ah, Masther Dick, and have ye got back out of the black hole?”“How came you here?” cried Dick angrily.“How kim I here, Masther Dick? Shure it was on me own handsome pair o’ legs.”“But we thought you were lost.”“Lost! bedad, not I. Shure, I sez, they’re going to carry the light themselves, an’ they don’t want me anny longer; so I just sat down on a big shtone, while I took out me matchbox, and lit me morsel of candle I had in me pocket, and I kim back, and afther getting me dinner ready, I laid down for a rest.”“Oh!” cried Dick wrathfully.He could say no more; but his brother spoke for him in a way that made Dinny uncomfortable, as the boys turned sharply and ran back, reaching the mouth of the cavern just as the Boer lad came up with his torches.Mr Rogers started up.“Where are the lanterns?” he cried. Then, seeing that the boys had something to say he eagerly listened; and the next moment, with his brow knotted with anger, he strode off to the waggon.“Jack,” whispered Dick, “I never saw father look so cross as that.”He was angry indeed, and they saw him seize Dinny by the throat, force him upon his knees, and raise his clenched fist to strike; but the next moment education and manliness prevailed, his hand dropped to his side, and he stood there talking to Dinny for some time in a way that made that gentleman slink away and go about his work with a very hangdog expression of countenance.

“I shall be glad to get back home, boys,” said Mr Rogers the next morning, “for the pleasure seems to have gone out of the trip now my horses are all gone. Still there is one good thing, boys, yours are safe.”

This was as they were at last getting out of the course of the fire and on to a tract of grass, so little scorched by the sun and so fertilised by the stream that ran through that the oxen were out-spanned for a good feed, as it was doubtful when they might obtain another.

Then followed days and weeks of trekking before they reached the part of the country where the caverns were, and out-spanned one night at Wonderfontein, where, for a promise of payment, the son of a Boer living hard by undertook to provide lights and to show them the wonders of the underground region.

The Boer lad said that they would require a light-bearer besides himself, so Dinny was told to come, and after a little opposition he followed his master and their guide to the extent of about a mile, when the lad began to creep and slide down a well-wooded place in the plain that looked like the crater of an old volcano.

Here Dinny began to hesitate again.

“An’ is it go down there, sor?” he asked. “Shure and suppose the place has no bottom to it at all.”

“Go on. Dinny, and don’t be stupid,” cried Dick; and poorDinny found himself pretty well hustled down to the bottom of the funnel-like place, which seemed to bend round at the bottom and to lead into a little brook.

Here the guide lit a couple of roughly-made torches: he handed one to Dinny and retained the other, advising all the party to tuck up their trousers; and the reason for this was soon evident, for the floor of the grotto they were about to explore formed the bed of the transparent little river that had found its way into this strange crack in the rock, and gradually enlarged it to give itself more room.

“Ah, bedad, and the wather’s cowld,” cried Dinny. “Shure, Masther Dick, we’re niver going on along there?”

“Indeed we are, Dinny, with you to light us, like the brave, man you are,” said Dick.

Then Dinny growled out something about its being a shame to make such a naygur of a white man, and seeing no alternative, went on behind the guide, being followed by Mr Rogers, the boys bringing up the rear.

The first part of their journey was for some distance through narrow passages, where they often had to bend double, with only an opportunity now and then for straightening themselves upright; but by degrees, as they went on splash, splash, through the water, the roof rose higher and higher, till its summit seemed to be lost in gloom, while the grey walls looked wild and romantic in the extreme.

A glance to right and left of the narrow way showed that in some great convulsion of nature, the rock had been split and separated to a small extent, and the result was the formation of this cavern; for so similar were the sides that had the natural action been reversed, the two sides would have fitted together, save where the water had worn the rock away.

It was a weird journey, made the more mysterious by the guide, who pointed out side passages where the water grew deeper, which passages, he said, had never been explored; and at last, after they had been travelling slowly along the solemn echoing place, Dinny appealed to his master to go back.

“Shure I’m not a bit freckened,” he said; “but, sor, there’s danger to us all if we go on there.”

“Absurd, Dinny,” cried his master. “Go on. What is there to be afraid of?”

“Oh, nothing at all, sor. It isn’t that I mind, but we shall be coming upon some great big water-baste or a wather-shnake or something, and then what’ll we do at all?”

“Let it eat us, Dinny,” shouted Dick; and his voice sounded echoing and strange.

“Oh, an’ is it ate us, Masther Dick? Shure ye’ll have—murther! murther! murther!” shrieked Dinny. “I towld ye so. Oh! Help, here! Help!”

Down went Dinny’s torch into the water, to be extinguished upon the instant, and the scared fellow kept on yelling with all his might.

“What is the matter?” cried his master angrily.

“Shure I towld ye so. A great big thing, wid awful black wings, flew at me and bit at me face, sor, and I belave he’d ha’ killed me if I hadn’t put me light out so as he shouldn’t see where I was.”

“Oh, Dinny, Dinny. If I were you I wouldn’t be frightened of a bat,” cried Dick.

“An’ is it freckened of a bat I’d be, Masther Dick? I tell ye it was a great big thing as large as a man, wid long black wings, an’ it sent a shudder all through me, sor, to see the great baste come at me.”

“Which did you see, Dinny, the bat or the shadow?” asked Dick.

“Ah, ye’re laughing at me,” said Dinny; “but wait a bit and ye’ll see.”

Dinny’s torch was fished out of the water, and after a good deal of beating and shaking to get rid of the moisture they managed to get it to burn once more, when Jack volunteered to carry it, and Dinny grumblingly took his place in the rear.

“Ah,” he muttered, in Dick’s hearing, “it’s a dirthy counthry this Afrikky. Wild bastes, and shnakes, and holes under the airth. Faix, it isn’t fit for a dacent boy to live in at all.”

Dinny and his mutterings were little heeded, and they went on and on through the interminable place, following its windings and zigzag turns, where the rock had split, till they were tired, and Dick said that they had seen no more during the last hour than during the first five minutes, for the place was almost all alike—one great jagged rift with the little stream flowing over the floor. Now the roof looked far above them in the gloom, and now again it was close enough to crush their heads, while by the same rule there were times when they could touch the walls on either side by stretching out their hands, while at others the sides receded so that the space was quite a chamber.

“Well, then,” said Mr Rogers, “suppose we turn back. Dinny, as you are last now you’ll be first going back, and ought to make a good leader; so take the light.”

Dinny did not reply.

“Do you hear what my father said, Dinny?” cried Dick.

Still there was no answer.

“Why, father,” cried Dick; “he is not here!”

“Nonsense! absurd!” cried Mr Rogers. “Here, Dinny!” he shouted.

“Ny-ny-ny-ny!” came softly repeated like a mockery of his cry.

“Dinny!” cried Mr Rogers again; and once again the echo was the only answer.

“Dinny!” shouted Dick and Jack together, with all their might; but the echo was the only response; and a cold chill of horror began to run through the little party as they stood there.

“Poor fellow!” exclaimed Mr Rogers; “surely he has not sunk down fainting from fright. Oh, surely not; the idea is too horrible! Dinny!”

He shouted with all his might, and the boys took up the cry, but there was nothing but the echo to reply.

“Has anybody ever been lost here?” said Mr Rogers, turning sharply on the Boer guide.

“Dot one dat I know,” said the Boer lad. “Dere was leedle mans lost one days, bud dey found der leedle mans again fasd ashleep on der rock.”

“He has grown tired, boys; quick!” said Mr Rogers. “Let’s make haste back, and we shall find him sitting down somewhere.”

Though he said this, he did not feel at all hopeful; but still there was the chance of finding that Dinny, taking advantage of being behind, had climbed on to one of the big shelves of rock to await their return, though Mr Rogers felt that it was very doubtful, and that the poor fellow would be too great a coward to sit there alone in the dark.

It was then with sinking hearts, and a horrible sense of finding that their expedition had a terrible ending, that they hurried along the dark passages of the weird grotto, pausing every now and then to shout, as they searched the side-turnings with their light, and shouted down them in case the poor fellow had strayed away by mistake, though the chances were very small, for it seemed impossible that Dinny could have followed any route but the one indicated by the light in front.

No, think of the matter how they would, there seemed no other explanation of Dinny’s disappearance than that he had sunk down in the water where it was deeper than usual, and been drowned from sheer fright.

“It seems so shocking,” said Dick, in a whisper, that, low as it was, seemed to run on before them; “that after going through all that journey, and escaping from lions and crocodiles, and all sorts of dangerous beasts, we should lose one of our party in such a miserable way.”

Dick had unconsciously spoken his father’s thoughts as they went on redoubling their exertions till, to their horror, they reached the bottom of the funnel-shaped entrance without finding a vestige of him they sought.

“Back again!” cried Mr Rogers; and returning, they again searched the gloomy passages for hours, till they were obliged to return to the mouth of the cavern for fresh lights.

The Boer lad looked horrified, and he anxiously ran off for fresh torches, feeling himself to blame as guide, for having lost one of the party.

“Jack,” said Mr Rogers hoarsely, “run to the waggon, and fetch some biscuits, a little brandy, and the two large lamps, with a few extra candles. Be quick!”

“I’ll go too, father,” cried Dick eagerly. And the boys were about to start, when Dick added, “Shall I bring over the General, father?”

“Yes, and his boys. We must find Dinny.”

Dick and Jack, weary and wet as they were, ran off to the little camp, the smoke of whose fire they could see, and on reaching it, panting and exhausted, the first object they saw was Dinny, lying under a tree with his mouth open, fast asleep.

“Oh, I am glad,” cried Jack.

“So am I,” cried Dick; “and sorry—and cross,” he added, running up to Dinny, and giving him a kick in the ribs.

“Aisy there,” said Dinny, yawning and opening his eyes. “Shure, I’m coming. Ah, Masther Dick, and have ye got back out of the black hole?”

“How came you here?” cried Dick angrily.

“How kim I here, Masther Dick? Shure it was on me own handsome pair o’ legs.”

“But we thought you were lost.”

“Lost! bedad, not I. Shure, I sez, they’re going to carry the light themselves, an’ they don’t want me anny longer; so I just sat down on a big shtone, while I took out me matchbox, and lit me morsel of candle I had in me pocket, and I kim back, and afther getting me dinner ready, I laid down for a rest.”

“Oh!” cried Dick wrathfully.

He could say no more; but his brother spoke for him in a way that made Dinny uncomfortable, as the boys turned sharply and ran back, reaching the mouth of the cavern just as the Boer lad came up with his torches.

Mr Rogers started up.

“Where are the lanterns?” he cried. Then, seeing that the boys had something to say he eagerly listened; and the next moment, with his brow knotted with anger, he strode off to the waggon.

“Jack,” whispered Dick, “I never saw father look so cross as that.”

He was angry indeed, and they saw him seize Dinny by the throat, force him upon his knees, and raise his clenched fist to strike; but the next moment education and manliness prevailed, his hand dropped to his side, and he stood there talking to Dinny for some time in a way that made that gentleman slink away and go about his work with a very hangdog expression of countenance.

Chapter Forty Eight.The Last Adventure.Days of slow, steady trekking homeward, and then, to the consternation of all, they learned from a Boer, fleeing with his waggon and belongings to another part of the country, that it would not be safe to go farther, for a war had broken out between a powerful Zulu tribe and the Amaswazis, both sides taking advantage of the disturbed state of the country to rob and plunder in every way they could.“Dey dake away all dose caddles,” said the Boer, “and kill you all. I go away.”He went away, and the General was called into consultation.“What shall we do?” said Mr Rogers, who, without fearing for their lives, had a horror of losing the fruits of their long journey into the interior.“Go straight on home like brave men,” said the Zulu, sturdily. “The boss may not see enemies in the way. If he does, we shall see the boss, who can fight lions, will not be afraid of men. Man sees boss not afraid, he will not fight.”“I shall take your advice, General,” said Mr Rogers; and to the horror of Dinny, who from that moment began to contrive a hiding-place in the biggest chest, the order was given, “Forward!”They came upon danger sooner than they expected, for, steadily trekking on, they had halted for the day in an open plain, when, to Mr Rogers’ horror, he found that he had inadvertently halted in what was about to be the battle-ground of the contending tribes.It was almost like magic. One hour the valley was empty, the next it was swarming with contending men.Escape was impossible, and in a very short time the waggon was put in as good a state of defence as could be, and they were surrounded by the enemy; but before hostilities between them could commence, the Zulu tribe came swarming down from the hills behind them, advancing with a regular dancing tramp, forming themselves into a crescent, and dashing on to the attack.The Amaswazis who had first surrounded the waggon were largely armed with rifles; but in spite of the superiority this gave them, they gave way before the determination of the assegai-armed Zulu warriors, who came trooping by the waggon, the greater portion of them thorough counterparts of the General, till some fifty remained about the waggon in company with three fierce-looking chiefs.“What are we to do, General?” said Dick stoutly, as he stood there with his rifle— “fight?”“Wait and see,” said the General calmly; and followed by Coffee and Chicory, he walked out from the waggon to meet the Zulu chiefs.A short conference ensued, and then the three chiefs came back with the General, to hold out their hands to Mr Rogers and his sons.“They say I am to tell you that they thank you in the name of our people for making us your brothers in the hunt,” said the General quietly, “and that they will all fight for you and see you safe.”Then, in obedience to the General’s directions, the oxen were in-spanned, ready to go forward if necessary, or to retreat with the Zulu tribe should it be beaten.This latter misfortune, however, did not occur, for before a quarter of an hour had elapsed the Amaswazis tribe was beingchased by the Zulus, and seeking safety in flight; while after making presents to the chiefs, to the General’s great pride and gratification in spite of his calm demeanour, they parted with mutual feelings of goodwill.“Saved from wreck,” said Dick, who had made the principal chief happy, by taking off his belt with the stout, keen hunting-knife and sheath, and himself buckling it on, the others receiving similar gifts from Mr Rogers, and Jack.Three weeks’ long journey was yet before them, during which the oxen suffered much from the prevailing drought, but there was little of adventure upon the rest of their road; and it was with no little relief that the familiar land-marks in the neighbourhood of their home were at last made out, the oxen trekking well during the last few miles, as if they scented plenty of water and fresh green pasture at the farm.The full moon was shining brightly as the waggon trekked up to the house, several friends having ridden out to welcome them, as soon as it was known that the hunters were in sight; and then once more, as soon as the dumb creatures were seen to, they sat down at a table to an old-fashioned English meat tea with their friends, glad to be able to recount that they had returned without a single loss, save that of the horses from the dreaded tsetse, while the prime object of their journey had been attained—Dick sat amongst them completely restored, and glowing with vigorous health.“I should think, boys, you will be glad to sleep once more in a soft bed,” said Mr Rogers, smiling; but before either Dick or Jack could answer, Dinny presented himself at the door.“Av ye plaze, sor—”“Well, Dinny?”“I’d thank ye to come and shpake to the naygurs. We’ve put up a bed and blankets for them in the best barn, and they won’t go there, but are making up a camp again, wid a fire, under the waggon.”“Well, Dinny, if it pleases them, let them alone,” said Mr Rogers quietly.“Shure, sor, I don’t mind,” said Dinny; “but it’s the naybours, sor, and what they’ll think.”“Never mind what the neighbours think,” said his master. “Dick, go and see that the General and his boys have everything they want.”“Av ye plaze, sor,” said Dinny, “I want to ax ye a favour.”“What is it, Dinny?”“Shure, sor, we’ve had a long journey, and I’m moighty toired.”“Then go to bed and have a good sleep.”“That’s just what I’m axing of yer honour. I want a holiday.”“What for, Dinny?”“To go to shlape for a week.”Dinny had as much sleep as he liked, but he contented himself with twenty-four hours, and then helped to unpack the treasures from the waggon, the store of feathers, skins, and curiosities far more than paying the cost of the expedition, even counting the loss of the horses. The boys’ pets too, the leopard and giraffe, had to be sold, for they could not keep them; but they fetched handsome sums for exportation to Europe.At last there was nothing to do but to recompense the General and his sons; not that they were going away, for they preferred staying about the farm.Mr Rogers took his sons into his confidence, and the result was the presentation to the three Zulus of gifts which they esteemed most highly of anything they could receive, and these were the three double rifles of the father and sons, whose accuracy the Zulus had so often seen proved.Dick was right when he said the present was better than diamonds, for the stern old warrior’s face lit up with joy, and when Coffee and Chicory could be made to understand that they were to have the rifles to keep, their excitement was something wonderful to see.“Shure an’ the master must be aff his head to give them boys such things,” grumbled Dinny to Peter and Dirk, who were quite content with the presents they had received in clothes additional to their pay.Right or wrong, he gave great satisfaction on all sides; and health being restored, and the sorrows of the past somewhat assuaged, the regular duties of civilised life were resumed, and many a long evening was spent in arranging the various natural history objects brought home. Now and then, so pleasant were the recollections of the exciting trip, the boys have brought the blood flushing into the dusky cheeks of Coffee and Chicory, and a flash into their father’s eyes, on saying that they wonder whether their father will ever organise another such trip, while Dinny has been heard to say spitefully that they may drive in that waggon to Novy Sembley, New Zealand, or the big islands of the say, he don’t care a sthraw, so long as they’ll only lave him at home.The End.

Days of slow, steady trekking homeward, and then, to the consternation of all, they learned from a Boer, fleeing with his waggon and belongings to another part of the country, that it would not be safe to go farther, for a war had broken out between a powerful Zulu tribe and the Amaswazis, both sides taking advantage of the disturbed state of the country to rob and plunder in every way they could.

“Dey dake away all dose caddles,” said the Boer, “and kill you all. I go away.”

He went away, and the General was called into consultation.

“What shall we do?” said Mr Rogers, who, without fearing for their lives, had a horror of losing the fruits of their long journey into the interior.

“Go straight on home like brave men,” said the Zulu, sturdily. “The boss may not see enemies in the way. If he does, we shall see the boss, who can fight lions, will not be afraid of men. Man sees boss not afraid, he will not fight.”

“I shall take your advice, General,” said Mr Rogers; and to the horror of Dinny, who from that moment began to contrive a hiding-place in the biggest chest, the order was given, “Forward!”

They came upon danger sooner than they expected, for, steadily trekking on, they had halted for the day in an open plain, when, to Mr Rogers’ horror, he found that he had inadvertently halted in what was about to be the battle-ground of the contending tribes.

It was almost like magic. One hour the valley was empty, the next it was swarming with contending men.

Escape was impossible, and in a very short time the waggon was put in as good a state of defence as could be, and they were surrounded by the enemy; but before hostilities between them could commence, the Zulu tribe came swarming down from the hills behind them, advancing with a regular dancing tramp, forming themselves into a crescent, and dashing on to the attack.

The Amaswazis who had first surrounded the waggon were largely armed with rifles; but in spite of the superiority this gave them, they gave way before the determination of the assegai-armed Zulu warriors, who came trooping by the waggon, the greater portion of them thorough counterparts of the General, till some fifty remained about the waggon in company with three fierce-looking chiefs.

“What are we to do, General?” said Dick stoutly, as he stood there with his rifle— “fight?”

“Wait and see,” said the General calmly; and followed by Coffee and Chicory, he walked out from the waggon to meet the Zulu chiefs.

A short conference ensued, and then the three chiefs came back with the General, to hold out their hands to Mr Rogers and his sons.

“They say I am to tell you that they thank you in the name of our people for making us your brothers in the hunt,” said the General quietly, “and that they will all fight for you and see you safe.”

Then, in obedience to the General’s directions, the oxen were in-spanned, ready to go forward if necessary, or to retreat with the Zulu tribe should it be beaten.

This latter misfortune, however, did not occur, for before a quarter of an hour had elapsed the Amaswazis tribe was beingchased by the Zulus, and seeking safety in flight; while after making presents to the chiefs, to the General’s great pride and gratification in spite of his calm demeanour, they parted with mutual feelings of goodwill.

“Saved from wreck,” said Dick, who had made the principal chief happy, by taking off his belt with the stout, keen hunting-knife and sheath, and himself buckling it on, the others receiving similar gifts from Mr Rogers, and Jack.

Three weeks’ long journey was yet before them, during which the oxen suffered much from the prevailing drought, but there was little of adventure upon the rest of their road; and it was with no little relief that the familiar land-marks in the neighbourhood of their home were at last made out, the oxen trekking well during the last few miles, as if they scented plenty of water and fresh green pasture at the farm.

The full moon was shining brightly as the waggon trekked up to the house, several friends having ridden out to welcome them, as soon as it was known that the hunters were in sight; and then once more, as soon as the dumb creatures were seen to, they sat down at a table to an old-fashioned English meat tea with their friends, glad to be able to recount that they had returned without a single loss, save that of the horses from the dreaded tsetse, while the prime object of their journey had been attained—Dick sat amongst them completely restored, and glowing with vigorous health.

“I should think, boys, you will be glad to sleep once more in a soft bed,” said Mr Rogers, smiling; but before either Dick or Jack could answer, Dinny presented himself at the door.

“Av ye plaze, sor—”

“Well, Dinny?”

“I’d thank ye to come and shpake to the naygurs. We’ve put up a bed and blankets for them in the best barn, and they won’t go there, but are making up a camp again, wid a fire, under the waggon.”

“Well, Dinny, if it pleases them, let them alone,” said Mr Rogers quietly.

“Shure, sor, I don’t mind,” said Dinny; “but it’s the naybours, sor, and what they’ll think.”

“Never mind what the neighbours think,” said his master. “Dick, go and see that the General and his boys have everything they want.”

“Av ye plaze, sor,” said Dinny, “I want to ax ye a favour.”

“What is it, Dinny?”

“Shure, sor, we’ve had a long journey, and I’m moighty toired.”

“Then go to bed and have a good sleep.”

“That’s just what I’m axing of yer honour. I want a holiday.”

“What for, Dinny?”

“To go to shlape for a week.”

Dinny had as much sleep as he liked, but he contented himself with twenty-four hours, and then helped to unpack the treasures from the waggon, the store of feathers, skins, and curiosities far more than paying the cost of the expedition, even counting the loss of the horses. The boys’ pets too, the leopard and giraffe, had to be sold, for they could not keep them; but they fetched handsome sums for exportation to Europe.

At last there was nothing to do but to recompense the General and his sons; not that they were going away, for they preferred staying about the farm.

Mr Rogers took his sons into his confidence, and the result was the presentation to the three Zulus of gifts which they esteemed most highly of anything they could receive, and these were the three double rifles of the father and sons, whose accuracy the Zulus had so often seen proved.

Dick was right when he said the present was better than diamonds, for the stern old warrior’s face lit up with joy, and when Coffee and Chicory could be made to understand that they were to have the rifles to keep, their excitement was something wonderful to see.

“Shure an’ the master must be aff his head to give them boys such things,” grumbled Dinny to Peter and Dirk, who were quite content with the presents they had received in clothes additional to their pay.

Right or wrong, he gave great satisfaction on all sides; and health being restored, and the sorrows of the past somewhat assuaged, the regular duties of civilised life were resumed, and many a long evening was spent in arranging the various natural history objects brought home. Now and then, so pleasant were the recollections of the exciting trip, the boys have brought the blood flushing into the dusky cheeks of Coffee and Chicory, and a flash into their father’s eyes, on saying that they wonder whether their father will ever organise another such trip, while Dinny has been heard to say spitefully that they may drive in that waggon to Novy Sembley, New Zealand, or the big islands of the say, he don’t care a sthraw, so long as they’ll only lave him at home.

|Chapter 1| |Chapter 2| |Chapter 3| |Chapter 4| |Chapter 5| |Chapter 6| |Chapter 7| |Chapter 8| |Chapter 9| |Chapter 10| |Chapter 11| |Chapter 12| |Chapter 13| |Chapter 14| |Chapter 15| |Chapter 16| |Chapter 17| |Chapter 18| |Chapter 19| |Chapter 20| |Chapter 21| |Chapter 22| |Chapter 23| |Chapter 24| |Chapter 25| |Chapter 26| |Chapter 27| |Chapter 28| |Chapter 29| |Chapter 30| |Chapter 31| |Chapter 32| |Chapter 33| |Chapter 34| |Chapter 35| |Chapter 36| |Chapter 37| |Chapter 38| |Chapter 39| |Chapter 40| |Chapter 41| |Chapter 42| |Chapter 43| |Chapter 44| |Chapter 45| |Chapter 46| |Chapter 47| |Chapter 48|

Back to IndexNext