CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
A SINGULAR ESCAPE.
As the moments passed, Hendrik's thirst grew fiercer, and his impatiencestronger. He had already examined the cliff above him--in hopes that hemight have found a way by which it could be scaled. To no purpose didhe look up. There were other ledges, it is true, but they were beyondhis reach. The shelf he stood upon ran along the face of the cliff formany yards, but narrowed at both ends until it could be followed nofarther. He had not moved from the spot where he ascended, as that wasthe broadest part, and where he was most out of reach of the elasticsnout and long horns of the keitloa.
He now remembered that, while battling about below, he had noticed adark spot above the ledge, which he had conjectured to be the entranceof a cave, or a hole in the cliff. He had thought of it once again, butas creeping within a cave would not render him more secure than he wasout on the rock, he had not gone towards it.
Now it occurred to him that he might examine the cave, and enter it iflarge enough to admit him. It would, at least, be pleasanter there, ashe would be sheltered from the hot rays of the sun--an importantconsideration at that moment.
But there was another consideration that influenced him still more; andthat was, the thought that were he once _out of sight_ the rhinoceros_might forget him_. He knew that the old adage, "out of sight, out ofmind," had a good deal of meaning when applied to the borele, the lion,and many other dangerous animals; and perhaps the proverb would alsohold good of the keitloa--though what he had heard of this creature gavehim very little ground to hope. At all events, he could test the thing.It would not cost much time to make the trial; and even should it proveof no service in that way, the change from his present stand upon thehot ledge for a seat within a cool cavern could not otherwise thanbetter his condition. To the cave then!
Fixing his eye upon the keitloa, he commenced moving along the terrace,towards the point where he remembered having noticed the dark fissure inthe cliff.
The keitloa followed, keeping with him step for step; and apparentlyroused to fresh vigilance, as if it feared that its victim was about toattempt an escape. All the way it followed him; and as the ledge grewnarrower, it became necessary for Hendrik to proceed with great caution.Not that he was in danger of falling from it, but rather of _beingdragged_--for the rhinoceros, by standing on his hind-legs, was now ableto stretch his broad muzzle above the edge of the rock, and to protrudehis elastic snout across the ledge within a few inches of the wallbeyond. It therefore required "gingerly" stepping on the part ofHendrik. Notwithstanding all the menacing efforts of his adversary,Hendrik succeeded in reaching the entrance of the cave.
It was a cavern deep and dark, with a mouth sufficiently large to admitthe body of a man in a bent position.
Hendrik was about stooping to enter it, when a loud "purr" sounded inhis ears that caused him to start erect again, as if some one had run aneedle into his back! The "purr" was quickly followed by a "roar," sodeep and terrible, that in his first moments of alarm, the hunter felthalf inclined to leap to the ground, and risk the horns of therhinoceros, which, at that instant, were gleaming above the ledge,within twenty inches of his feet!
There was no mystery in what caused the alarm. There was no mistakingthat roar for any other earthly sound. The cave was tenanted by a lion!
The tenant did not remain much longer within his house. The roaringcontinued; and every moment sounded nearer and clearer. The huge clawscaused a rattling among the dry pebbles that strewed the bottom of thecave. The lion was coming forth!
With the nimbleness of a klipspringer, Hendrik bounded to one side, andran back along the ledge, looking fearfully behind him.
This time he was not followed by the keitloa. The rhinoceros, whetherterrified by the roar of the lion, or whether his attention was solelytaken up by it, remained standing where he had taken up his position,with his head projected over the rock, and his snout pointed towards theentrance of the cavern.
Next moment the shaggy front of the lion filled the mouth of the cave,and the king of beasts and the "king of brutes" came face to face!
For some moments they remained gazing at each other; but the eyes of thelion seemed to intimidate the keitloa, and the latter drew his headback, and dropped on all fours to the ground. Perhaps he would havegone off from the spot without an encounter; but the ire of the dreadmonarch had been aroused by this intrusion upon his rest. For a momenthe stood lashing his tawny sides with his tail; and then, crouchinguntil his breast touched the rock, he launched himself out from theledge, and came down with all the weight of his body upon the broad backof the keitloa!
But, king as he was, he had mistaken the character of that "subject," ifhe thought he was going either to mangle him badly, or put him toflight. Sharp as were his claws, and strong his arms to strike, theybarely scratched the thick hard hide of the pachyderm; and although hetried to "fix" himself on the shoulders of the latter, he could notmanage to stick. Had it been a buffalo, or an antelope, or even thetall giraffe, he would have ridden it to death; but to ride a rhinoceroswas a different affair; and he found it so. Although he used both teethand claws to keep him in the position he had taken, neither would servehim, and he was dismounted almost in an instant. The moment the keitloafelt the fierce rider on its back, it made a desperate rush outward fromthe rocks, and shaking its huge body like an earthquake, it cast thelion to the plain.
The lion crouched as if again to spring; but the latter, suddenlyturning upon his antagonist, stood face to face with him before he couldeffect his purpose.
The rhinoceros did not pause a moment, but rushed on his antagonist withhis horns set like couched lances. The weight of his body, with theimpetuosity of the charge, would have driven those hard sharp weaponsthrough the toughest skin that lion ever wore, and through his ribs aswell. The lion seemed to be troubled with some such idea; for, insteadof awaiting the onset of his enemy, he turned tail--the cowardlybrute!--and made off up the pass, the keitloa chasing him as if he hadbeen a cat!
Hendrik, all the while, had watched the combat from the ledge; but henever knew how it ended, or whether the rhinoceros overtook the lion ornot. The moment he saw the two great brutes in full run _up_ the pass,he leaped from the ledge and ran _down_ it, with all the speed he couldtake out of his legs.
On reaching the angle, he hesitated a moment which way to take--whetherto follow back the spoor of the hunt, or the later tracks of his horse--but at length he decided on following back his own spoor over the openplain. He ran along it as fast as he was able, looking over hisshoulders at very short intervals, and still fearful that the greatblack body would show itself in his rear. He was agreeablydisappointed, however. No keitloa followed in pursuit; and soon anotheragreeable fact came under his notice--he perceived that his horse hadalso gone back the same way. On rounding a clump of bushes somedistance farther on, he saw the horse browsing a little way off upon theplain.
The latter permitted himself to be caught; and Hendrik, once moremounting to the saddle, pursued his way towards the camp. The spoor ofthe hunt guided him in a direct line; for the blesboks, it will beremembered, ran all the while to windward, thus following a straightcourse. Hendrik had no difficulty in following the track; and, aftertwo hours' riding, got back to camp, having picked up most of the dogson his way back.
Hans and Arend _did_ laugh at him. Groot Willem did _not_. The latterremembered how his rival had acted after his own tumble over the burrowof the aard-wolf; and now reciprocated Hendrik's handsome behaviour onthat occasion. Groot Willem and Hendrik were likely to become greatfriends.