'Tween Snow and Fire: A Tale of the Last Kafir WarMitford, Bertram
History
'Tween Snow and Fire: A Tale of the Last Kafir War
Mitford, Bertram
South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 -- Fiction
More than one comical scene was enacted as the line of horsemen,
extended so as to gradually work the herd away from the bush, drove
their charge forward. Now and then a cow, with a calf at her side, or
haply missing her progeny, would turn and furiously charge the line of
horsemen, causing an abrupt scatter, and in one or two instances the
utter and ignominious flight of the doughty warrior singled out, who
perchance was only too thankful to lay her out with a revolver shot in
the nick of time to save himself and his steed, or both, from being
ripped up or impaled by those vicious horns. But the best fun of all
was afforded by a huge old black-and-white bull.
Jack Armitage, we have said, was bursting with animal spirits;
consequently when the aforesaid quadruped took it into his massive
cranium to suddenly break away from the herd and start off on his own
account at right angles thereto, it followed, as a matter of course,
that Armitage, being nearest to him, should spur away in pursuit. The
bull's vicious little eyes began to roll wickedly, and from a trot he
broke into a wild gallop. Then madcap Jack, madder than ever with the
excitement of the day's events, was seen to range his horse alongside,
and bending over in the saddle and placing his bugle almost against the
animal's ear he blew a hideous and terrific blast. There was a
ferocious bellow--down went the brute's head, and, lo, in a twinkling
horse and man were rolling on the ground, and the bull galloped away
unimpeded.
Roars of laughter arose from the discomfited one's comrades, which did
not decrease as they watched the savage brute in the distance charging
one of the retreating Kafirs, who seemed almost as much disconcerted by
this new enemy as he had been by the missiles of his human foes.
Finally both disappeared within the bush.
"Hurt, old man?" cried Hoste, riding up as the fallen one found his feet
again, and stood rubbing his shoulder and looking rather dazed with the
shock. The horse had already struggled up. Fortunately for it, the
bull's horns were short and blunt, and it seemed none the worse for the
tumble.
"No. Had a devil of a shake-up, though. A bottle of doctor's stuff's a
fool to it."
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast--sings the poet. In this
case it hadn't," said Eustace. "Those ancients must have been awful
liars. Eh, Armitage?"
"You bet. Hallo! Where's my old post-horn?" he went on, looking round
for his instrument, which he discovered about a dozen yards off,
unharmed, save for a slight dent. Putting it to his lips he blew a
frightful fanfare.
"I say, Jack, you'll have the old bull back again," said Brathwaite.
"Better shut up. He's dead nuts on that old trumpet of yours. And now,
the farther we get into the open, the better. We mustn't camp anywhere
that'll give Johnny Kafir a chance of cutting out the cattle again."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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