CHAPTER SIX.
AN ANGRY LIONESS.
Certainly there was something mysterious about the matter. The lionstill kept his position; no motion could be observed, no sound escapedhim; whereas the lioness uttered incessantly her shrill growling, at thesame time pacing to and fro, round and round, the confused heap ofbodies! She made no attempt to feed, though her prey lay bleedingbefore her. Surely her lord was not the cause of her abstinence! Didhe insist upon having both the carcasses to himself?
Sometimes it is so. Sometimes an old male plays the selfish tyrant, andkeeps the younger and weaker members of his family off, till he hasgorged himself, permitting them to make a "second table" of hisleavings.
In the present instance this was not likely. There were two wholecarcasses,--large fat carcasses,--enough for both. Besides, the lionesswas evidently the lion's own mate--his wife. It was scarcely probablehe would treat her so. Among human beings instances of suchselfishness,--such a gross want of gallantry, are, I regret to say, byno means rare; but the young yagers could not believe the lion guilty ofsuch shabby conduct--the lion, Buffon's type of nobility! No suchthing. But how was it? The lioness still growled and paced about, everand anon stooping near the head of her partner, which was not visiblefrom the camp, and placing her snout in contact with his as if kissinghim. Still there was no sign of any response, no motion on his part;and, after watching for a good while without perceiving any, the huntersat length became satisfied that the lion was dead.
He was dead--as Julius Caesar or a door-nail, and so, too, was the braceof gemsboks. The lioness was the only living thing left from thatsanguinary conflict!
As soon as the hunters became satisfied of this, they began todeliberate among themselves what was best to be done. They wished toget possession of the venison, but there was no hope of their being ableto do so, as long as the lioness remained upon the ground.
To have attempted to drive her off at that moment would have been a mostperilous undertaking. She was evidently excited to madness, and wouldhave charged upon any creature that had shown itself in herneighbourhood. The frenzied manner in which she paced about, and lashedher sides with her tail, her fierce and determined look, and deep angrygrowl, all told the furious rage she was in. There was menace in herevery movement. The hunters saw this, and prudently withdrewthemselves--so as to be near the wagons in case she might come that way.
They thought that by waiting awhile she would go off, and then theycould drag the antelopes up to camp.
But after waiting a good while, they observed no change in the conductof the fierce brute. She still paced around as before, and abstainedfrom touching the carcasses. As one of the yagers observed, shecontinued to "play the dog in the manger,"--would neither eat herself,nor suffer anybody else to eat.
This remark, which was made by little Jan, elicited a round of laughterthat sounded in strange contrast with the melancholy howl of thelioness, which still continued to terrify the animals of the camp. Eventhe dogs cowered among the wheels of the wagons, or kept close to theheels of their masters. It is true that many of these faithful brutes,had they been set on, would have manfully battled with the lioness, bigas she was. But the young yagers well knew that dogs before the paws ofan angry lion are like mice under the claws of a cat. They did notthink of setting them on, unless they had themselves made an attack; andthat, the advice of Hans, coupled with the counsels they had receivedbefore leaving home, prevented them from doing. They had no intentionof meddling with the lioness; and hoped she would soon retire, and leavethe game, or part of it, on the ground.
After waiting a long while, and seeing that the lioness showed nosymptoms of leaving the spot, they despaired of dining on oryx venison,and once more set to broiling their slices of biltong.
They had not yet commenced eating, when they perceived a new arrivalupon the scene of the late struggle. Half-a-dozen hyenas appeared uponthe ground; and although these had not yet touched the carcasses, butwere standing a little way off--through fear of the lioness--theirhungry looks told plainly what their intention was in coming there.
Now the presence of these hideous brutes was a new point forconsideration. If the lioness should allow them to begin their feastupon the antelopes, in a very short while scarce a morsel of eitherwould remain. The yagers, although they had resigned all hope of diningon the gemsbok venison, nevertheless looked forward to making theirsupper of it; but if the hyenas were permitted to step in, they would bedisappointed.
How were the brutes to be kept off?
To drive them off would be just as perilous an undertaking as to driveoff the lioness herself.
Once more Groot Willem and Hendrik talked about attacking the latter;but, as before, were opposed by Hans, who had to use all his influencewith his companions before he could induce them to abandon the rashproject.
At this moment an unexpected proposal put an end to their discussion.
The proposal came from Congo the Kaffir. It was neither less nor morethan that he himself should go forth and do battle with the lioness!
"What! alone?"
"Alone."
"You are mad, Congo. You would be torn to pieces!"
"No fear, Mynheeren. Congo the leuw kill without getting scratch. Yousee, young masters."
"What! without arms? without a gun?"
"Congo not know how use one," replied the Kaffir, "you see how I do'im," he continued. "All Congo ask you not come in way. Young masters,here stay and Congo leave to himself. No danger. Mynheeren, Congo fearif go yonder help him--leuw very mad. Congo not care for that--so muchmad, so much better--leuw no run away."
"But what do you intend to do, Congo?"
"Mynheeren soon all see--see how Congo kill lion."
The hunters were disposed to look upon the Kaffir as about to make areckless exposure of his life. Swartboy would have treated the proposalas a boast, and laughed thereat, but Swartboy remembered the humiliationhe had had in the morning on account of similar conduct; and though hefeared to be farther outstripped in hunter-craft by his rival, he hadthe prudence upon this occasion to conceal his envy. He bit his thicklips, and remained silent. Some of the boys, and especially Hans, wouldhave dissuaded Congo from his purpose; but Groot Willem was inclined tolet him have his way. Groot Willem knew the Kaffir better than any ofthe others. He knew, moreover, that savage as he was, he was not goingto act any foolish part for the mere sake of braggadocio. He could betrusted. So said Groot Willem.
This argument, combined with a desire to eat gemsbok venison for supper,had its effect. Arend and Hans gave in.
Congo had full permission to battle with the lioness.