Swallow: A Tale of the Great TrekHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
History
Swallow: A Tale of the Great Trek
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Historical fiction; South Africa -- History -- Great Trek, 1836-1840 -- Fiction; Transvaal (South Africa) -- Fiction
The lad obeyed, wondering, though he too guessed much of what had
happened, and after a little search they found a place by which they
could descend. Now Sihamba ran to the pool and stood upon its brink
scanning the surface with her eyes, till at length she glanced
downwards, and there, almost at her feet, three parts of his body yet
hidden in the water, lay the man she sought.
Swiftly she sprang to him, and, aided by Zinti, dragged him to dry
ground.
“Alas! lady,” moaned the Kaffir, “it is of no use, the Baas is dead.
Look, he has been shot.”
Taking no heed of the words, Sihamba opened Ralph’s garments, placing
first her hand, then her ear, upon his heart. Presently she lifted her
head, a light of hope shining in her eyes, and said:
“Nay, he lives, and we have found him in time. Moreover, his wound is
not to death. Now help me, for between us we must bear him up the
cliff.”
So Zinti took him on his back as a man takes a sack of flour, while
Sihamba supported his legs, and thus between them, with great toil, for
the way was very steep, they carried him by a sloping buck’s path to
the top of the precipice, and laid him upon the mule.
“Which way now?” gasped Zinti, for being strong he had borne the
weight.
“To the waggon if they have not yet stolen it,” said Sihamba, and
thither they went.
When they were near she crept forward, searching for Swart Piet and his
gang, but there were no signs of them, only she saw the driver and his
companion nodding by the fire. She walked up to them.
“Do you then sleep, servants of Kenzie,” she said, “while the Swallow
is borne away to the Hawk’s Nest and the husband of Swallow, your
master, is cast by Bull-Head back into the sea whence he came?”
Now the men woke up and knew her. “Look, it is Sihamba,” stammered one
of them to the other, for he was frightened. “What evil thing has
happened, Lady Sihamba?”
“I have told you, but your ears are shut. Come then and see with your
eyes,” and she led them to where Ralph lay in his blood, the water yet
dripping from his hair and clothes.
“Alas! he is dead,” they groaned and wrung their hands.
“He is not dead, he will live; for while you slept I found him,” she
answered. “Swift now, bring me the waggon box that is full of clothes,
and the blankets off the cartel.”
They obeyed her, and very quickly and gently—for of all doctors Sihamba
was the best—with their help she drew off his wet garments, and, having
dried him and dressed his wounds with strips of linen, she put a
flannel shirt upon him and wrapped him in blankets. Then she poured
brandy into his mouth, but, although the spirit brought a little colour
into his pale face, it did not awaken him, for his swoon was deep.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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