If Oscar had been his own master he could have spent a few days very agreeably in looking about the city of Liverpool.
Among other things he wanted to see were the famous docks, of which he had heard and read so much; but his time belonged to the committee, who paid him liberally for it, and he did not consider that he had a right to use any portion of it for his own pleasure.
His first duty was to visit Somerset, a little town about a hundred miles distant, and present some of his letters of introduction to a celebrated hunter and traveller who lived there.
He knew where the town was and how to reach it, for his written instructions and guide-book told him all about it.
Oscar lost no time in securing his ticket, and the first train that left Liverpool for theNorth whirled him away toward his destination, which he reached about midnight.
Everything he saw on the way was new and strange. He did not at all like the idea of being locked in a "carriage"—for that is what a passenger car is called in England.
What if there should be a smash-up? or what if that quiet, dignified gentleman who sat opposite him and who was the only other passenger in that compartment should prove to be an escaped lunatic, who might at any moment become violent?
But the train, although it moved at a high rate of speed, carried him through in safety, and the dignified gentleman on the other seat snored lustily during the entire journey.
Oscar slept soundly at the Hare and Hounds, and awoke the next morning to find it raining in torrents.
He ate an excellent breakfast in a cosey little parlor, and when he had finished he sent for the landlord, who quickly made his appearance.
"Do you know Captain Horatio Sterling?" asked Oscar.
That was not the name of the gentleman to whom the young traveller's letters of introduction were addressed; but we must call him by some name, you know.
"Do I know the greatest hunter in all England?" exclaimed the landlord. "Why, bless you, sir, everybody knows him. He has been all over the world, and killed more tigers, lions, and elephants than any other living man. He lives in that big house on the hill about a mile from here."
"Very well," said Oscar, drawing an official envelope from his pocket. "I would thank you to send this to him at once. There is something for the messenger," he added, placing a shilling in the landlord's hand.
The envelope contained three letters of introduction, Oscar's card, which also bore the name of his hotel, and a note he had written before going to bed, containing the statement that he would be glad to wait upon the captain at any hour of the day or evening when it might be most convenient for the captain to grant him an interview.
Oscar saw the messenger depart on hiserrand, and having the parlor to himself and not knowing what else to do, he began pacing the floor with his hands in his pockets.
About two hours later, while he stood at the window looking out at the lowering sky and the falling rain, he saw a gig, drawn by a high-stepping horse and driven by a hearty old gentleman in greatcoat and muffler, dash into the stable-yard.
A man came up to take the horse, and the driver, alighting from his gig, bounded up the steps with all the agility of a boy and burst into the hall.
Oscar heard the landlord greet him in an undertone, and he also heard the visitor say in a stentorian voice:
"You have a gentleman of the name of Preston stopping with you, I believe?"
"Yes, sir; you'll find him in that parlor, sir," answered the obsequious landlord.
"Why, that must be the captain," thought Oscar. "I did not expect him to come out in all this rain."
The next moment the visitor's form filled the doorway.
He was a man of herculean proportions, and although his hair and mutton-chop whiskers were as white as snow, his face was the picture of robust health, and it was evident from the way he brought his feet down when he walked that he had lost little, if any, of his youthful strength and vigor.
He was a very pleasant-looking man, and Oscar was certain that when he came to know him he should like him.
The visitor looked all about the parlor, giving its solitary occupant merely a casual glance, and said as he turned to go back into the hall:
"I beg your pardon, my lad. I was looking for Mr. Preston, but he doesn't seem to be here."
"My name is Preston, sir," said Oscar. "Have I the honor to address Captain Sterling, the African hunter and explorer, and formerly of the East Indian army?"
The captain started as if Oscar had aimed a blow at him.
He looked hard at the boy for a moment or two, and said in a tone indicative of the greatest amazement and incredulity:
"Are youOscarPreston, from America?"
"I am, sir," replied our hero.
"Didyousend me some letters a little while ago?"
"I did, sir," answered the boy.
"And you have been ordered to go to—— Am I awake or dreaming?" exclaimed the captain, hastily undoing the heavy muffler that was wrapped about his face.
"I assure you that there is no mistake about it," said Oscar, who rather enjoyed the worthy captain's surprise. "I am sent here by the Yarmouth University, and have been ordered to go to Africa to procure specimens of natural history for its museum. I was instructed by some gentlemen in America, who are proud to call themselves your friends, to visit you, and I have done so in the hope that you would give me some assistance in the way of advice and information."
This little speech seemed to banish all the captain's doubts. He came into the parlor and shook Oscar's hand most cordially.
"I always knew that you Americans had more assurance than any other people in theworld," said he; "but this beats me completely. Why, boy, you're crazy; and so are Mr. Adrian and all the rest of them. Help you? Of course I will! I spent some very pleasant months in America. The gentlemen it was my good fortune to meet there couldn't do too much for me, and I am glad to have the opportunity to show them that I appreciate their kindness. It has nearly ceased raining. Put on your greatcoat and go up to the lodge with me. You will be my guest while you remain in England."
"Thank you, sir," replied Oscar heartily. "What shall I do with my trunk?"
"Let it alone. I will send a cart after it as soon as we reach the lodge."
Oscar was only too glad to accept this kind invitation. The captain would certainly be very good-natured and talkative after dinner, if at no other hour of the day, and our hero told himself that that would be just the time for him to gain more light upon certain points concerning which he was now comparatively in the dark.
He hurried on his overcoat, and, afterpaying his bill at the hotel, took his seat in the gig, and was driven rapidly toward the lodge.
Very frequently during the ride he found the captain looking at him with an expression in which both surprise and amusement were blended, and once or twice he broke out with:
"Well, well! thisdoesamaze me, sure! I expected to see aman."
"I hope you are not very badly disappointed," said Oscar.
"Yes, I am," replied the captain, who never hesitated to speak the thoughts that were in his mind. "You will be beset by difficulties the like of which you never dreamed of, and I don't know whether or not you have judgment enough to carry you through. But I admire your pluck. The letters you sent me say that you are a great hunter, as well as an expert taxidermist, and that you have spent some months in the hills. I, too, have hunted in that country, and I am very glad to meet one who can talk to me about the sport to be found there."
The welcome Oscar received from the captain's wife put him at his ease directly. Sheexpressed the greatest surprise when he was introduced to her as the "American hunter," and made Oscar smile when she said, as she took both his hands in her own:
"My poor boy! Whatever could your dear mother have been thinking of when she gave her consent to this thing? Those fierce wild beasts out there in that dreadful country will eat you up at one mouthful."
Oscar found "the lodge" to be an elegant mansion, filled with costly furniture and pictures, and kept in order by a large number of servants, one of whom was directed to keep an eye on the guest and see that he did not want for anything. Every object in and about the building bore evidence of the wealth and taste of its owner.
The kennels were filled with hunting-dogs (the captain, who was an enthusiastic fox-hunter, was master of the Somerset hounds), and the stables contained more thoroughbred horses than any ordinary man could possibly have found use for.
The library was a perfect curiosity shop. The old soldier had industriously collectedsouvenirs of every country he had visited, and Oscar found there assegais, war clubs, skin cloaks, and elephants' tusks from Africa; buffalo and antelope heads and Indian bows and arrows from America; and the floor was covered with rugs made from the skins of the man-eating tigers that had fallen to the captain's rifle in the jungles of Hindustan.
Many of these articles were great curiosities, of course, but it was the captain's "battery" that occupied the most of Oscar's attention.
It was supported by deer's antlers that were fastened against the wall, and consisted of six double-barrelled rifles and one single rifle, carrying four bullets to the pound.
This was the captain's "elephant gun," the one with which he had secured the tusks that now adorned one of his cabinets and the rugs that covered the floor.
Besides these, there were three heavy double-barrelled shot-guns, making ten guns in all. The stocks of all of them were badly battered and scratched; some of the "grips" had been broken and mended with tin, and altogetherthe weapons looked as though they had received the hardest usage, as indeed they had.
As Oscar looked at them, he thought of his own modest "battery," and wondered what the old campaigner would say when he saw it.
Dinner was served at six o'clock in the evening. It took almost an hour to eat it, and when it had been disposed of the captain was ready for business, as Oscar thought he would be. He conducted his guest to the library, and said, as he filled and lighted his well-blackened pipe:
"Now, then, my boy, what are your plans? Be explicit, so that I may know just how I can aid you."
Oscar replied by repeating his written instructions, which he had read so often that he knew them by heart.
"All right, so far," said the captain approvingly. "Now where's your ordnance?"
"In my trunk," answered Oscar.
"In yourtrunk?" repeated the captain,opening his eyes and looking up at his own tried and trusted "battery" on the walls. "It must be rather smaller than mine, or else your trunk is larger than any I ever heard of. Go and get it; I want to look at it."
Oscar left the room, and presently returned with his little fowling-piece in one hand and his Sharp's rifle in the other. The captain took the double-barrel and looked critically into the muzzle of it.
"This will answer for Namaqua partridges—nothing else," said he. "By the way, those birds may prove to be the best friends you will have when you reach your hunting-grounds. If you are in want of water, and see a flock of them on the wing, note the direction in which they go and follow them, and you will be sure to find a spring. They never stray far away from water, for they must have it twice a day."
The captain handed back the double-barrel and took the rifle, looking carefully at that also, to see how large the bore was.
"This will do for spring-buck," said he; "but an eland or a wilde-beest (naturalistscall it a gnu) wouldn't stop for half a dozen such balls as this weapon carries. Go and get the rest."
"These are all I have," answered Oscar.
"All!" vociferated the captain. "And do you think of going into the wilds of Africa with only two guns, and pop-guns at that? Why, you might as well commit suicide and have done with it."
"This rifle has bowled over some of the largest game in America," said Oscar. "It killed a grizzly bear with one ball as dead as if he had been struck by lightning."
"A chance shot, undoubtedly. I have killed an elephant with a single bullet, and a man-eating tiger also—the one that wore the skin on which you are standing; but such things happen only once in a lifetime."
"There was no 'chance' about my shot, sir," replied Oscar, rather proudly. "I aimed for his spine, and there was the place I hit him. It was a good shot, and it was made under the most trying circumstances. If I had missed my guide would have been torn in pieces before my eyes, and I should havebeen left to find my way back to civilization as best I could."
"Well, you will never go to Africa with that battery bymyadvice," said the captain. "In order to do good work you must have good weapons; and as your life may some time depend on the way in which they do their duty, it stands you in hand to mind what you are about. You must have at least three heavier rifles for yourself—you may lose or break one, you know—and a Martini-Henry carbine for each of your servants. We will go down to Birmingham to-morrow and get them. Now sit down and tell me about your fight with that grizzly bear."
Oscar often thought of the pleasant evening he passed in that library. The old hunter was full of stories, and every one he told contained some scraps of valuable information which Oscar treasured up in his memory for future use.
The hours flew rapidly by, and it was ten o'clock before he knew it. He began to wonder why his host did not say something about going to bed; but the latter talked asrapidly as ever, until a servant opened the door to announce that supper was ready.
Having never been accustomed to eating at that hour of the night, Oscar did not make a very hearty meal; but the captain went to work manfully, and no one would have supposed, from the way the eatables disappeared before his attacks, that he had eaten dinner only five hours before.
It was two o'clock before Oscar went to his room, and ten by his watch when he awoke.
He put on his clothes with all haste, wondering the while why somebody had not called him in time for breakfast; but when he went downstairs he learned that his host had not yet left his bed, and that breakfast would not be ready for more than an hour.
True to his promise, the captain accompanied his guest to Birmingham that afternoon, and picked out some weapons for him—three heavy breech-loading Express rifles, with interchangeable shot barrels, one ponderous muzzle-loading rifle, carrying twelve bullets to the pound, and six carbines.
Besides these there was a case of cheapmuskets, which were to be used in trading for any curiosities which Oscar thought the committee would like to see in the museum.
The carbines and muskets were shipped to London, where they were to remain until Oscar was ready to start for the Cape, and the rifles he took to Somerset with him.
That evening while they were seated at the dinner-table the captain said, with as much enthusiasm as a school-boy would have exhibited:
"That much is done, and to-morrow we'll take a run up into Argyleshire. I have some intimate friends up there who are acquainted at the Cape, and in Durban, Maritzburg, Zurnst—in fact, all through the country; and from them we'll get a letter or two that will make friends for you among the Africanders. While they are writing them you and I will look over their preserves, and throw a hook into their well-stocked lakes. Sleep lightly to-night, for I warn you that I shall have you up in the morning at a most uncomfortably early hour."
When morning came Oscar found that whatwas called an early hour in England would have been called a very late hour in America.
He was up and dressed at five o'clock, and took himself to task for sleeping so long; but it was eight before the captain made his appearance, nine when breakfast was served, and eleven when they set out for Argyleshire.
The two succeeding days were spent in fly-fishing and "fagging after grouse," as the captain termed it.
Although our hero was not much of a fly-fisher, he was an adept at shooting on the wing, and his companions were loud in their praises of the clean and handsome manner in which he cut down his birds.
He made the acquaintance of a good many gentlemen, some of whom were old East Indian soldiers and sportsmen, and acquainted in America as well as at the Cape, and from them he received letters which proved to be of the greatest assistance to him.
Oscar thoroughly enjoyed himself during his short sojourn among the highlands, for the company into which he was thrown was most agreeable, the shooting excellent, thegame being strictly preserved, and he would have been glad to remain longer, but duty called him, and he was obliged to heed the call.
On the Thursday following his arrival at the lodge he took leave of his kind hostess, and in company with the captain, who took as much interest in the matter as he would if he had been going to Africa himself, set out for London, where he spent two very busy weeks in purchasing an outfit.
The captain proved to be an invaluable assistant, and although Oscar could not see the use of half the articles he selected for him, he afterward found that there was not a single useless thing in the whole collection.
Some idea of the size of his outfit and of the money he must have spent during those two weeks may be gained when we say that he had, among a good many other heavy and bulky things, fifteen thousand rounds of ammunition—seventy-five pounds of powder, three hundred pounds of lead and as many of shot of different sizes—and that, when the outfit was boxed and ready for shipment, it weighed over eight thousand pounds.
Having secured his berth and ticket and taken a receipt from the purser, showing that his goods had been safely stowed away on board the steamer that was to take them to the Cape, Oscar took the next day to look about the city.
Eleven o'clock was the hour set for sailing, and long before that time he and the captain were seated on the steamer's deck, where all was bustle and confusion.
Porters and cabmen jostled one another, stevedores were shouting themselves hoarse in giving orders to their perspiring gangs; careless passengers were searching frantically for missing luggage, and in little retired nooks and corners, out of earshot of the gay, laughing groups around them, could be seen a wife taking a tearful leave of a husband, or a father and mother bidding a fond farewell to a son going out into the world to seek his fortune.
Presently the captain of the steamer took his stand upon the bridge, bells began to ring, and a shudder ran through the mighty craft as the donkey engines were set in motion andbegan the work of warping her out of her berth toward the entrance to the dock.
Captain Sterling, who was continually thinking of some important thing which he had neglected to say to his young friend, talked incessantly, all the while looking about among the passengers in the hope of finding a familiar face.
"If I could only run across just one friend for you to talk to it would shorten the voyage by a good many miles," said he; "but they are all strangers to me. However, you will not long want for company. Don't expect too much of sea-sick people. At least wait until you leave Madeira before you denounce them as a boorish, unsociable set."
At last Gravesend was reached, and there the steamer paused for a few moments to take breath and summon her strength for the run down the Channel—at least, that was what Oscar's companion said.
A hoarse voice, which sounded like the sigh of a tired nor'wester, shouted, "All ashore!" whereupon the kissing and hand-shaking between friends and relatives who were aboutto separate were repeated, and the passengers made a rush for the gangway.
"Good-by, my dear boy! My heart goes with you, and if I had a few years less on my shoulders I should go with you in person."
The kind-hearted old fellow's voice was husky, and there was a suspicious look about his eyes, as he took Oscar's hand in both his own, and wrung it energetically. His short acquaintance with Oscar had affected him just as the blast of a bugle affects a superannuated cavalry horse.
It had brought back the memory of old times to him so vividly that he almost fancied he was young again.
"Good-by, captain!" said Oscar, whose own voice was none of the steadiest. "I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to you for the services you have rendered me. I could not have got along without you. How can I ever repay you for your great kindness?"
"You can do it by making a success of your expedition. I want you to do that, sothat I can take some credit to myself. Don't give up; whatever happens, don't give up. I assure you I shall not forget you; and I don't want you to forget me, either. Drop me a line as often as you are within reach of a post-office. You can send me a letter every two or three weeks until you reach Zurnst. If you go beyond that place you will disappear as completely from the gaze of the civilized world as though you had ceased to live. You will see nobody except your servants, and perhaps a few wandering bushmen, who will be glad to give you a drink of water from their ostrich shells in return for a few mouthfuls of dried meat. Good-by—good-by!"
The bells rang again, the last of the visitors ran for the gang-plank, the screw began to revolve, and the huge vessel swung around until her bow pointed down the Channel. Oscar was off for Africa at last.
When Gravesend had been left out of sight Oscar, for the first time since bidding adieu to his native land, began to feel lonely and homesick.
The genial captain had won a place in his heart, and he found it hard to part from him. He felt utterly helpless now that the prop on which he had leaned during the past three weeks had been taken away.
He began to realize, as he had never realized it before, that he had undertaken a journey from which many an older and more experienced person than himself would have shrunk in dismay.
"But it can't be helped," said he to himself. "I told them I would go, and it is too late to back out, even if I felt disposed to do so. If I succeed I shall be able to place nearly five thousand dollars in mother'shands. If I fail it will be nothing more than many a better fellow has done before me. But failure is something I shall not allow myself to think of. If I live I shall succeed."
During the first two days Oscar could gain no idea of the number of passengers the vessel carried.
All the female portion of her living freight—and a large share of the male portion, too—had retired to their staterooms, and given themselves up to that malady which, when it attacks a lady, is calledmal de mer, and seasickness when it takes holds of a man.
Those who did not suffer in this way—among whom was Oscar—passed the time in reading, smoking, or lounging about the decks. A most unsociable lot they were, too.
Since taking leave of the captain at Gravesend Oscar had not spoken to anybody except his room-mate,—a burly Englishman,—who, instead of replying to his cheery "Good-morning, sir!" stared at him as if he were astonished at his impudence.
Oscar took the hint, and made the mental resolution that he would not speak again until he was spoken to.
The steamer stopped a short time at Dartmouth, and then turned her prow toward Madeira, which was distant five days' sail.
By this time the most of the passengers had recovered from their indisposition, and began to show themselves on deck.
The appearance of the ladies in their gay costumes made a great change in the looks of things, as well as in the conduct of the men. Pipes and books were thrown aside, little cliques were established here and there, the members of which, being drawn together by kindred tastes, were ever afterward to be seen in company, and soon Oscar was surrounded by noisy, laughing people who seemed to be enjoying themselves, but who paid no sort of attention to him.
The boy was socially inclined, but he did not dare to speak to anybody for fear of being repulsed. He might have secured friends at once by showing his letters, but that was not his way of doing things. He did not careto publish his business to the whole ship's company, for there was no one on board who could have the least possible interest in it—at least he thought so. He passed some of the time in reading, and the rest in watching the flying-fish as they arose in the air to escape the jaws of their dreaded enemies, the albecore and skip-jack.
For once the Bay of Biscay was as smooth as a mill-pond, and after a pleasant run down the coast of Portugal Madeira was reached on time.
As some hours were to be spent here, Oscar went ashore, took a look about the quaint old town, feasted on fruits, and dined sumptuously at the hotel.
When the vessel again turned her prow seaward it was for a voyage of twenty-three days. She was not to touch land again until she reached the Cape, unless she was blown ashore.
The last object of interest she passed was the Peak of Teneriffe, and when that had been left out of sight the long voyage was fairly begun.
On the second day out from Madeira Oscar became aware that he was an object of interest to a passenger whom he had not seen before since leaving Gravesend. He was a dapper little fellow, apparently about thirty years of age, with a haughty, imperious face, and long, wavy whiskers, which he stroked with an air of the greatest complacency.
He wore a gold eyeglass and the most ridiculous little skull-cap imaginable. Why he should adopt that style of head-piece under that broiling sun (they were now beginning to experience tropical weather, and the fruits they had taken on board at Madeira were most acceptable) Oscar could not imagine.
He was seated under an awning, attended by his servant, who, having just handed him an "ice" which he had brought from the bar, took his stand behind his master's chair, and awaited further orders.
The latter took a sip at his glass, and then he looked at Oscar.
"Where in the world have I seen that man before?" said the boy to himself, closing his book and fixing his eyes on a Portugueseman-o'-war which had just spread its tiny sail to the breeze. "His face is certainly familiar, but where I have—— I wonder if I didn't camp near him the second night after I left Ike Barker's ranch? I did!" said Oscar, slapping his book upon his knee. "It's Colonel Dunhaven. Hallo!"
This exclamation was called forth by the actions of the colonel and his servant, who conferred together for a few minutes, looking at Oscar all the while, and then the man left his position behind his master's chair, and came over to the boy's side of the vessel.
"Colonel Dunhaven presents his compliments, and wants to know if he can have a few words with you," said the lackey.
It was right on the point of Oscar's tongue to say that if the colonel wanted to speak to him he could come where he was, but he didn't say it. He picked up his chair, and moved over to the other side of the deck, where the colonel was sitting.
"Aw!" said the latter as Oscar placed his chair to suit him and seated himself in it, "I think I have seen you before."
(The colonel pronounced the last word as though it were spelledbefoah.)
"I was thinking the same in regard to yourself," replied Oscar. "If I am not mistaken, I saw you in America last winter. You were with a party in search of buffaloes."
"Aw, I was there! Beastly country that. The common people have not the remotest idea of the propriety of things. They are altogether too independent!"
"Those plains-guides and huntersarea very independent body of men," answered Oscar; "and when one goes among them he must conform to their customs or suffer for it."
"They're a beastly lot!" said the colonel. "They don't know how to treat a gentleman. My object in asking you over here was to inquire if you secured any game during that trip."
"I did. I could have filled all your wagons, alone and unaided."
"Did you see any bison?"
"Yes," replied Oscar, "I saw thousands ofthem, as I told you that night; but my guide was in so great a hurry to reach the shelter of the hills that I could not stop to secure a specimen. He was afraid of being snowed up. When I returned in the spring there were none to be seen. They had all gone south."
"Well, I and my party never saw one!" exclaimed the colonel angrily. "Those treacherous guides of ours kept us out on the open plain until we were overtaken by a buzzard——"
"Blizzard," corrected Oscar.
"Aw!" said the colonel, who seemed rather surprised at the interruption. "Well, whatever the right name is, we were almost frozen, and it was only after great difficulty and terrible suffering that we got back to the little collection of shanties at Julesburg, by courtesy called a fort. Then our guides coolly informed us that if we would come out there again, and leave what they were pleased to call our airs behind us, they would show us where we could kill more game than our horses could draw away. Did you ever hearof such impertinence? I'll never go back to that country, where every boor one meets considers himself the peer of any gentleman in the land. I am now going on a sporting excursion into the interior of Africa."
As the colonel said this he assumed an air of importance, and looked at Oscar to see what he thought about it.
It was plain, too, that he was talking for the benefit of a party of ladies—who had just then come up and taken their stand under the awning—all of whom turned and looked at the colonel as these words fell on their ears.
"There's just where I am going," said Oscar quietly.
"It is?" cried the colonel, elevating his eyebrows and allowing his eyeglass to fall out of its place. "What business have you got there? Why don't you stay in your own country?"
"If I had been disposed to be impertinent, or to stick my nose into business that did not concern me, I might have asked you that question when I saw you in America huntingfor the buffaloes that you never found," replied Oscar.
"Aw!" said the colonel, who saw the point. "Are you trying to chaff me?"
"No, sir. I spoke in sober earnest."
"It is very extraordinary," said the colonel, languidly accepting his eyeglass, which his servant hastened to pick up and restore to him. "How are you going? I am going alone with my own establishment, which I shall purchase at Durban."
"I am going in the same way," answered Oscar.
"Aw! But I have had experience, my dear fellow, and you have not," said the colonel. "I once belonged to the Honorable East India Company's service, and have hunted tigers in the wilds of Hindustan—tigers, do you hear?"
"And I have hunted grizzly bears in the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains," replied Oscar, who could scarcely refrain from laughing.
"But a bear is not to be compared to a tiger in strength and ferocity, you know, young fellow."
"I am not so sure of that. If you are at all posted, you must know that some naturalists contend that if the grizzly was allotted his proper place in the animal kingdom he would be called the king of beasts instead of the lion."
"It's all the merest nonsense. Why, an old army officer—a college chum of mine—once told me that he had seen a lion trot off with a good-sized heifer in his mouth, carrying it as easily as a cat carries a rat!"
"I don't doubt it; but the bear family do not carry their prey as thefelidædo. They drag it along the ground if it is heavy, or carry it between their paws if it is light. My guide told me that he had seen a grizzly weighing a thousand pounds drag a buffalo weighing eighteen hundred a distance of two miles."
"Aw! he was guilty of the most barefaced mendacity! Another ice, Roberts, and then I will retire to my stateroom."
This was a hint that the colonel desired the interview brought to a close, so Oscar picked up his chair and walked away.
"He will never have a chance to repeatthat," thought the boy, while his face burned with indignation. "The next time he wants to see me he can come where I am. So Big Thompson was guilty of lying, was he? I am of the opinion that there would not be much left of you, my fine gentleman, if he had heard you say so."
The colonel did not trouble him any more, and Oscar was glad of it. He seemed to be a thoroughly selfish as well as a very conceited person, and the boy wanted nothing to do with him.
Still he did not lack for company. The passengers began to inquire who that modest young fellow was who always kept by himself, and seemed to be acquainted with no one on board, and one day the captain, prompted by curiosity, entered into conversation with him, during which he heard some things that made him wonder.
The name of Captain Sterling proved to be an "open sesame," for every passenger on board had heard of that celebrated hunter and traveller, although none of them were personally acquainted with him.
But his name was full of influence. It secured Oscar a seat at the captain's table, and brought him to the notice of a select circle, who never grew weary of listening to what the boy had to say regarding the plains and their inhabitants.
The time never hung heavily on Oscar's hands after that. The days were spent on deck in social converse, and the evenings in the cabin, listening to lectures and singing, or in witnessing amateur theatricals.
The colonel looked on in surprise, but made no effort to renew his acquaintance with Oscar. He was afraid the latter might offer to accompany him on his hunting expedition.
At last, much to the regret of Oscar, who wished that the voyage might be indefinitely prolonged, Table Mountain came into view. As there was no table-cloth on it, the vessel moved into the harbor, and in a few hours was safely moored to the wharf.
As Oscar's freight was all booked for Cape Town, it was necessary that it should go through the custom-house before it could be reshipped on theIvanhoe, the little coasting steamer that was to convey the young hunter and his outfit to Port Natal.
In superintending this transfer Oscar was kept busy, for he was on deck from the time his goods were taken out of the steamer's hold until theIvanhoe'shatches were closed over them.
Then he secured his bunk on board the coasting vessel, and, being free from care and anxiety, was at liberty to accept some of the numerous invitations he had received from those of the steamer's passengers who called Cape Town their home.
He dined with one, ate an eleven o'clocksupper with another, and at three in the morning was sleeping soundly in his bunk, while theIvanhoewas skimming over a dark and threatening sea, with a lowering sky above her, and a strong southerly gale howling through her rigging. But the day dawned bright and clear, and at an early hour Oscar was on deck.
The change from the roomy deck of the steamship to his cramped quarters on board the coasting vessel was not a pleasant one, and neither were his fellow-passengers as agreeable as those of whom he had just taken leave, and in whose company he had passed so many happy hours.
They were a boisterous, good-natured crowd, and acted more like Western men than any he had before met on that side of the Atlantic.
The most of them were roughly dressed, and some carried riding-whips in their hands. They did not seem to be very favorably impressed with the appearance of Colonel Dunhaven (who came on deck about midday, languid and sleepy-looking as usual), for the remarks they made concerning him, some ofwhich he must have overheard, were anything but complimentary.
The colonel looked at Oscar through his eyeglass, but did not seem to recognize him.
"That man has certainly mistaken his calling," thought Oscar as he leaned on the rail and looked down into the water. "He hasn't energy enough to carry him through. If he is so helpless now that he has to have a man to wait on him continually, what will he do when he starts on his journey? He would look nice swinging a heavy ox-whip and wading about in mud, knee-deep, wouldn't he?"
TheIvanhoecame to anchor twice before reaching her destination—once at Port Elizabeth, where some of the passengers who were bound for the diamond fields left her, and the next time at East London.
The captain made all haste to transact his business at the latter town, for the open roadstead in which his vessel was anchored was a dangerous place.
Although there was scarcely any wind stirring, and the sea was comparatively smooth, the surf rolled wildly on the beach, and it wasa mystery to Oscar how the boats ever got through it.
Besides, there was a suspicious-looking bank of clouds off in the southern horizon, of which the captain and his mates kept close watch.
There was wind in those clouds, but it did not touch theIvanhoe. She reached Port Natal in safety, and Oscar made all haste to get ashore, his long sea-voyage being happily ended.
He had accomplished the easiest part of his undertaking. Perils, privations, and discouragements were yet to come.
The next day Oscar handed an invoice of his goods to the custom-house officers, and having obtained a permit to land his guns, and seen all his boxes and bales put safely under lock and key, he took his seat in a post-cart, and, in company with the colonel, his body-servant, and two other passengers, was whirled away toward the town of Durban, which lay three miles inland from Port Natal.
Here he was to deliver two of his letters ofintroduction, which were addressed to Mr. Morgan, the editor of the leading newspaper.
As it was late in the afternoon, he decided to wait until the next morning before he sought out Mr. Morgan.
Having registered his name, and seen his trunk carried to his room, he walked out on the porch, where he was accosted by a "horsey" looking individual, who held a riding-whip in his hand.
Oscar had caught a momentary glimpse of the man when he alighted from the post-cart, and knew, as soon as he laid his eyes upon him, that he belonged to a class with whom Captain Sterling had frequently and earnestly warned him to have nothing to do.
He was a cattle-dealer and speculator—a human shark, who profited by the misfortunes of others.
His first words indicated that he had been looking at the register.
"You're from America, I believe," said he with easy familiarity.
Oscar replied that he was.
"Big nation that, and fine people in it, too. Going up the country?"
"I think some of it," Oscar replied.
"Are you going far up?" asked the man.
"Beyond Zurnst, probably; that is, if I can get there," replied Oscar, taking possession of a chair, and depositing his feet on the railing.
The man opened his eyes and began to look earnest. He ascended the steps, and, taking up a chair, seated himself by the boy's side.
"Are you a clerk?" was his next question.
"No, I'm not a clerk."
"Sportsman, then, most likely?"
"In a small way."
"Then I am just the man you want to see," said the cattle-dealer. "You'll need a wagon, a span of oxen, half a dozen salted horses, and a big lot of supplies."
Oscar said he knew that.
"Well, it's my business to furnish those things to gentlemen who are going up the country, and I will fit you out in good shape without the least trouble to yourself. I havea good, strong wagon—the best in the country—with canvas tent and all complete."
"What is it worth?" asked Oscar.
"A hundred and twenty-five pounds."
"How much do you ask for your oxen?"
"Fifteen pounds apiece."
"Got any salted horses?"
"Plenty of them, and they are worth a hundred each. They are fine runners and good, steady hunters, used to elephants, lions, buffalo, and all that sort of game. You'll be wanting dogs, too," said the man, who began to think he had struck a gold mine.
"Yes; but I don't expect to pay much for them."
"Oh, you'll have to if you get good hunters! You want experienced and well-broken dogs, of course, for green ones would run away the moment they caught sight of big game, and leave you to shift for yourself. Suppose you come over and take a look at that fine outfit."
"I don't believe I care to bother with it to-day. There is no use in rushing things, and I want to rest this afternoon."
"There's no time like the present," said the cattle-dealer earnestly. "Somebody may get the start of you if you don't close the bargain at once, for of course I shall sell to the first man who will give me my price."
"All right," replied Oscar indifferently; "sell if you get the chance. I suppose there is more than one outfit to be had in Durban."
"No, there isn't. Mine is the only good one there is left. It is true there are some rattletrap wagons and broken-down oxen to be had at high prices, but no gentleman would be seen riding after such a turnout. Why, even the Hottentots would laugh at him. Besides," added the man, speaking in a low, confidential tone, "there are a good many swindlers here."
Oscar said he knew that, too.
"They'll sell you a patched-up and freshly painted wagon for a new one, and for salted horses they'll offer you green ones, that have never been further up the country than Maritzburg. If you will take my advice you will come and secure that bargain now."
Just then voices sounded in the hall, andColonel Dunhaven came out, accompanied by three or four cattle-dealers, the indefatigable body-servant bringing up the rear.
As they passed down the steps Oscar caught enough of their conversation to satisfy him that the colonel had been successfully "roped in."
"There," exclaimed Oscar's companion, "your friend is caught! Those men are all swindlers, and they will cheat him out of his eye-teeth."
"He's no friend of mine," said Oscar.
"Why, you came up in the same post-cart, and went into the hotel together."
"That may be; but still he is not my friend. I am alone."
"You are?" exclaimed the cattle-dealer, who was really astonished. "Do you mean to say that you are going so far up the country all by yourself? You can't do it. You will need a first-class man for a companion and adviser. I know one—a brave fellow, a splendid rider, and a dead shot—who will be glad to go with you. I'll engage him if you say so."
"Not to-day," answered Oscar. "I shall need all the things of which you have spoken, but I say again that I'm in no hurry to get them."
"Well, think over what I have said, and let me know what you conclude to do, will you?" said the man, rising from his chair.
He was growing uneasy. Some of his friends had caught a pigeon that they were going to pluck, and he wanted to have a hand in the proceeding.
"Yes," said Oscar; "I'll think of it."
"All right. Remember that that is a promise between gentlemen, and that I am to have the first chance."
"Gentlemen!" thought Oscar as the cattle-dealer sprang down the steps and walked rapidly in the direction in which his friends had gone with the colonel. "I wonder if he calls himself one? My friend Dunhaven has put his foot in it, sure! I wonder that he doesn't go to some of his countrymen here who are experienced, and ask them to assist him in selecting an outfit."
If Oscar had been better acquainted withthe colonel he would not have wondered at it at all.
That gentleman cherished the same opinion now that he did while he was fooling about on the plains. He thought he was fully posted in everything relating to hunting and travelling, and his insufferable egotism and self-conceit would not permit him to ask advice of anybody.
But a few days' experience with unruly cattle, saucy drivers, bad roads, and African treachery changed all this, and he was glad to accept favors at the hands of the boy he had so unmercifully snubbed.
The next morning Oscar despatched a messenger to Mr. Morgan's office with his letters of introduction, and a note similar to the one he had written to Captain Sterling.
Half an hour later the editor answered that note in person. He was profoundly astonished when he saw Oscar, and like everybody else who knew what object he had in view in coming to Africa, gave it as his opinion that our hero was altogether too young in years to engage in any such hazardous enterprise.
But he received him very cordially. He ordered Oscar's trunk to be taken to his house, then led him away to his office.
After conversing with him for an hour or more, and drawing from him all his plans and a short history of his former exploits, Mr. Morgan said:
"You seem to be very confident, my lad, and I glory in your unalterable determination to go through in spite of every difficulty. You are the first American who has ever come here on an expedition of this kind. You would have the hardest kind of work before you even if everybody felt friendly toward you and was willing to lend you a helping hand; but, unfortunately, such is not the case. You will find treachery on all sides of you so long as you remain in the settlement. To begin with, steer clear of all cattle-dealers. Don't let one of them approach you."
"I have already been approached by one of them, who assured me that he had the only serviceable outfit that was to be found in Durban," replied Oscar.
"You didn't buy it?" cried the editor.
"No, sir! Captain Sterling told me to look out for them," said Oscar, who then went on to tell of his interview with the cattle-dealer.
"What sort of looking fellow was he?"
The boy described him.
"That's Barlow," said Mr. Morgan. "He and the most of the gang he runs with live in Maritzburg, and bigger scoundrels never went unhanged."
Oscar thought of the colonel, and made the mental resolution that he would warn him against the cattle-dealers as soon as he could find opportunity to go back to the hotel.
"Those cattle-dealers are good men to let alone," continued Mr. Morgan. "They want money, and they are not very particular where or how they get it, so long as theygetit. They make it a business to do all they can to prevent every traveller from getting beyond the limits of the colony. They will sell you a span of broken-down oxen and a rickety old wagon, charging exorbitant prices for the same, and provide you with servants who are too lazy to earn the salt they eat on their meat. These men are in the pay of the cattle-dealers, and are expected to do everything in their power to discourage you. If they find that you are resolved to go on, they will pound your cattle until they get rusty and refuse to draw the wagon. Theywill drive you into an ant-bear's hole, and break an axle or smash a wheel by running over a rock they might easily have avoided. The town hill, on the other side of Maritzburg, has proved to be an insurmountable barrier to many a would-be sportsman. Just about the time he reached the steepest ascent smash would go the trek-tow, and an examination would reveal the fact that one of the links had been cut half in two. As you are an American, they will be particularly hard on you; and I warn you that eternal vigilance is the price you must pay for your success."
"Captain Sterling told me that," said Oscar. "He also informed me that the object of these swindlers is to disgust the traveller, so that he will sell off his supplies and outfit at a sacrifice."
"That's just it," replied the editor. "Even the men of whom you purchase your oxen, wagon, and goods will set to work to defeat you in order that they may buy the things back for less than they sold them for. My advice to you is to buy your oxen and supplies in Maritzburg. They are much cheaper therethan they are here, and by doing that you will save hauling over a road which just now is in a pretty bad condition, owing to the recent heavy rains. I will give you letters to my friends Donahue and McElroy, who, at my request, will aid you in every way they can and see that you are not imposed upon."
Oscar thanked the editor, and remarked that friends in England had given him letters to these same gentlemen.
"That's all right; but a little additional note from me will not hurt anything," said Mr. Morgan. "You had better buy a wagon here. I know where you can get an excellent one for a hundred and ten pounds, and that includes dissel-boom, trek-tow, yokes, water-butts, fore- and after-chests, and canvas tent."
"That is about seventy-five dollars less than Barlow wants for his wagon," observed Oscar.
"And it is a better one, too," said Mr. Morgan, after he had made a mental calculation to find out how many pounds there were in seventy-five dollars. "I have seen that wagon of his, and I will wager fifty pounds againsta shilling that you would never get over Maritzburg Hill with it, to say nothing of the Drackenburg, which is as much worse than any hill you ever saw as you can imagine."
"What are oxen worth in Maritzburg?"
"About ten pounds."
"Then Barlow wants to cheat me out of about $375 and intends to furnish me with a poor outfit into the bargain," said Oscar. "That money might as well stay in my pocket as to go into his."
"Better—much better!" the editor hastened to reply. "Now, if you will excuse me for a while, I will get through with my morning's work, and then we will go and see that wagon. Come in again in an hour, and you will find me quite at your service."
Oscar left the editorial sanctum and went out on the street. He easily found his way back to the hotel, and there he saw Colonel Dunhaven and his servant, surrounded by the same cattle-dealers he had seen in their company the day before.
The swindlers were determined that their prey should not escape them. As he ascendedthe steps the Englishman and his servant went into the parlor.
"Hello, there!" cried a voice. "Are you ready to keep your promise now?"
Oscar looked up and saw Barlow approaching.
"I have been looking for you all the morning," he said. "Where have you been?"
Oscar was not aware that that was any of Barlow's business, so he made no reply.
"Are you ready to keep your promise now?" repeated the cattle-dealer.
"What promise?"
"Why, to come over and buy that outfit I am going to sell you. It's all here, but the supplies we'll have to get up at Maritzburg."
"I didn't promise to buy any outfit of you," said Oscar.
"You didn't?" cried the cattle-dealer. "Did I not say to you, the last thing before I left you yesterday, 'Remember that that is a promise between gentlemen, and that I am to have the first chance'?"
"You did. And what did I say?"
"You said you would take it."
"You are mistaken. You asked me to think it over, and I told you I would do so."
"What conclusion have you come to?"
"That I don't want any of your things. I can do better."
"Hello! Here's a go. Come, now, that won't go down. It might with some folks, but not with me," said Barlow in a threatening tone. "I have bought six salted horses for you—they cost me a hundred and ten pounds apiece, but I told you that you could have them for a hundred, andIam a man of my word—and hired nine servants for you. I have also engaged that friend of mine of whom I told you, and he is all ready to inspan, and go down to Port Natal after your guns and other truck, just as soon as you give me the stumpy down. Cash in hand was the agreement, you know. Here's the bill, itemized and receipted—all regular," added the cattle-dealer as he drew a folded paper from his pocket, and made an effort to put it into the boy's hand.
"I don't want to see it," said Oscar, who was fairly staggered by the man's effrontery."You must think I have taken leave of my senses. Do you suppose that I would purchase an expensive outfit without seeing it?"
"I told you it was the best in the colony, and you took my word for it and agreed to buy it."
"I did nothing of the kind! I tell you now that I will not take it!"
"Hereisa go, sure enough!" exclaimed Barlow. "What shall I do with these six salted horses?"
"I don't care what you do with them."
"And what shall I say to my friend and to the servants I engaged for you?"
"That is a matter in which I am not interested. If you engaged them at all you did so without any authority from me."
"Come, now," said the cattle-dealer, slapping the folded paper into his open palm, "take the outfit, and I'll knock off half the hundred pounds I have charged you for my services and call it fifty. Can anything be fairer than that? Come, now."
"A hundred pounds!" cried Oscar. "Do you pretend to say that you've done nearlyfive hundred dollars' worth of work since yesterday afternoon?"
"I don't know anything about your dollars; but I told you I would fit you out, fair and square, without any trouble to yourself, and I have kept my word, as I always do. Of course I expect to be paid for doing it, and a hundred pounds is the regular price."
"You'll not get it out of me."
"Well, then, I'll have you up before the justice for breach of contract!" exclaimed Barlow fiercely.
"Do so, and we will see how much you will make out of it. Be good enough to let me pass."
He brushed by the cattle-dealer as he spoke, and once more started toward Mr. Morgan's office, but before he had made many steps Barlow overtook him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Look here, my fine Yankee lad," said he between his clenched teeth, "you had best make a friend of me. I have known more than one traveller to break down before he got over the town hill."
"I know what you mean by that," replied Oscar; "but you had better be careful how you try any tricks on me. If you think you can bluff me into buying a wagon that is ready to fall to pieces, and a team of worthless oxen, you have reckoned without your host. You picked me up for a greenhorn, but I know more than you think I do. Now from this time forward I want you to keep away from me. I shall have nothing more to do with you."
So saying, Oscar walked on again, leaving the baffled swindler alone with his disappointment.
The latter followed him with his eye and looked down at the bill he held in his hand.
"You won't have anything more to do with me, won't you?" said he between his clenched teeth. "Well, then, I shall have something to do with you. You haven't got out of the colony yet, and never will."
If Oscar could have seen the expression Barlow's face wore as he thrust the bill into his pocket and hurried down the street hewould have needed no other evidence to satisfy him that Mr. Morgan knew what he was talking about when he said that eternal vigilance was the price the young hunter must pay to make his expedition successful.