Adventure stories; Gold -- Juvenile fiction; South Africa -- Juvenile fiction; Young men -- Fiction
"Come on, Poeskop!" cried Guy. "They are still hard at it. We may come
in for more of the fun."
Threading their way through the forest, they trotted for a long half
mile, and then heard, not far in front, the scream of an angry elephant.
Guy was beginning to get somewhat more accustomed to the sound; yet, as
he was always afterwards ready to admit, there are few things in nature
more awe-inspiring than the trumpet of a wounded or infuriated elephant.
They moved forward very cautiously for another few yards, and then came
on the edge of more open ground. To the right they saw an elephant,
manifestly a cow and wounded, shambling towards them. She was going
slowly, and every now and again would stop, spread out her huge ears,
and thrust out her trunk. Twice she picked up dust with her trunk, and
blew it over her shoulders as if bathing herself.
"She is far gone," whispered the Bushman. "We can finish her as she
goes by."
She was now within less than thirty yards of them, and as she came past
each saluted her with a bullet. The cow staggered, came on, thought
better of it, and then turned to make off. As she turned, Tom Blakeney
ran out into the open, fifty yards away, and gave her yet another
bullet. He stood and reloaded quickly, ready to turn and run for the
shelter of the woodland if she should charge again. But the big cow was
finished. She staggered as Tom’s Martini bullet struck her, tried to
save herself, and then with a heavy crash fell over on to her side,
stone dead.
"Hurrah!" shouted Tom, taking off his hat and flinging it up into the
air. "I thought I should never get her. I’ve been after her nearly
half an hour. Thanks for your help, Guy. Where’s the pater?"
"Here, my boy," replied Mr. Blakeney, with a smile, as he too emerged
from the forest. "I have been running on your spoor the last ten
minutes. I was afraid you might get into trouble. However, you’ve got
your cow, and very nice teeth she has. They weigh more than twenty
pounds apiece, I should say."
Tom and his father were now joined by Guy and Poeskop. They held
consultation and compared notes. It had been a great and successful
hunt. Mr. Blakeney had brought down a big bull and a cow with good
teeth. The tusks of the bull he estimated to weigh at least fifty
pounds apiece, those of the cow about eighteen pounds apiece. Leaving
Tom’s dead cow, they now made their way back to the two bulls shot by
Guy. Of these the smaller and more troublesome one, which had hunted Guy
so unmercifully, carried teeth weighing some forty pounds apiece; while
the huge male, so easily bagged at the youngster’s first discharge,
showed a truly magnificent pair of tusks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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