Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (microsoft ebook reader TXT) 📖

Chapter 13

As evening approached, the bears’ paws, which were stewing for supper,

sent forth savoury odours; and we sat talking round the fire, while

listening anxiously for sounds heralding the return of our young

explorers.

 

At last the tramp and beat of hoofs struck our ears; the little troop

appeared, crossing the open ground before us at a sharp trot, and a

shrill ringing cheer greeted us as we rose and went to meet them.

 

They sprang from their saddles, the animals were set at liberty to

refresh themselves, and the riders eagerly came to exhibit their

acquisitions and give an account of themselves.

 

Funny figures they cut! Franz and Jack had each a young kid slung on

his back, so that the four legs, tied together, stuck out under their

chins.

 

Fritz’s game-bag looked remarkably queer—round lumps, sharp points,

and an occasional movement seemed to indicate a living creature or

creatures within.

 

`Hurrah, for the chase, father!’ cried Jack. `Nothing like real

hunting after all. And just to see how Storm and Grumble go along over

a grassy plain! It is perfectly splendid! We soon tired out the little

antelopes, and were able to catch them.’

 

`Yes, father,’ said Franz, `and Fritz has two angora rabbits in his

bag, and we wanted to bring you some honey. Only think! Such a clever

bird—a cuckoo, showed us where it was!’

 

`My brothers forget the chief thing,’ said Fritz. `We have driven a

little herd of antelopes right through the Gap into our territory; and

there they are, all ready for us to hunt when we like—or to catch and

tame!’

 

`Well done!’ cried I. `Here is indeed a list of achievements. But to

your mother and me, the chief thing of all, is God’s goodness in

bringing you safe back to us. Now, let us hear the whole story that we

may have a definite idea of your performances.’

 

`We had a splendid ride,’ said Fritz, `down Glen Verdant, and away to

the defile through our Rocky Barrier, and the morning was so cool and

fresh that our steeds galloped along, nearly the whole way, at the top

of their speed. When we had passed through the Gap we moderated our

furious pace and kept our eyes open on the look-out for game; we then

trotted slowly to the top of a grassy hill, from whose summit we saw

two herds of animals, whether antelopes, goats or gazelles, we did not

know, grazing by the side of the stream below us.

 

`We were about to gallop down and try to get a shot at them, when it

struck me that it would be wiser to try and drive the whole herd

through the Gap into our own domain, where they would be shut up, as it

were, in a park, free and yet within reach.

 

`Down the hill we rode as hard as we could go, formed in a semicircle

behind the larger herd magnificent antelopes—and, aided by the dogs,

with shouts and cries drove them along the stream towards the Gap; as

we came near the opening they appeared inclined to halt and turn like

sheep about to be driven into the butcher’s yard; and it was all we

could do to prevent them from bolting past us; but, at length, one made

a rush at the opening and, the rest following, they were soon all on

the other side of the frontier and inhabitants of New Switzerland.’

 

`Capital,’ I said, `capital, my boy! But I don’t see what is to make

them remain inhabitants of our domain, or to prevent them from

returning through the Gap whenever they feel inclined.’

 

`Stop, father,’ he replied, `you interrupted me too soon; we thought of

that possibility too, and provided against it. We stretched a long line

right across the defile and strung on it feathers and rags and all

sorts of other things, which danced and fluttered in the wind, and

looked so strange that I am perfectly certain that the herd will never

attempt to pass it; in fact, Levaillant, from whom I learnt the trick,

says in his Voyage au Cap de Bonne Esperance that the Hottentots make

use of the method for penning in the antelopes they have caught in the

chase.’

 

`Well done,’ said I, `I am glad to see that you remember what you have

read. The antelopes are welcome to New Switzerland, but, my boy,’ I

added, `I cannot say the same for the rabbits you have there; they

increase so rapidly that if you establish a colony of the little

wretches your next difficulty will be to get rid of them.’

 

`True,’ he replied, `but my idea was to place them upon Whale Island,

where they would find abundant food, and at the same time in no way

trouble us. May I not establish a warren there? It would be so useful.

Do you know my eagle caught these pretty little fellows for me? I saw a

number of them running about and so unhooded him, and in a few minutes

he brought me three—one dead, with whose body I rewarded him, and

these two here, unhurt.’

 

`Now, father,’ said Jack, interrupting him, `do listen to me and hear

my story, or else Fritz will begin upon my adventures and tire you out

with his rigmarole descriptions.’

 

`Certainly, Jack,’ I said, `I am quite ready to listen to you. First

and foremostly, how did you bring down those beautiful little animals

you have there?’

 

`Oh, we galloped them down. The dogs sniffed about in the grass while

Fritz was away after the rabbits, out popped these little fawns and

away they went bounding and skipping, at the rate of thirty miles an

hour, with Storm, Grumble and the dogs at their heels. In about a

quarter of an hour we had left the dogs behind and were close upon our

prey. Down went the little creatures in the grass, and, overcome with

terror and fatigue, were at our mercy. So we shouted to Fritz, and—’

 

`My dear boy,’ said I, `according to your statement, Fritz must have

been seven miles and a half off.’

 

`Oh, well, father, perhaps we did not ride for quite a quarter of an

hour, and, of course, I can’t say exactly how fast we were going; and

then, you see, the fawns did not run in a straight line; at any rate

Fritz heard us, and he and Franz and I leashed the legs of the pretty

creatures, and then we mounted again, and presently saw a wretch of a

cuckoo, who led us ever so far out of our course by cuckooing and

making faces at us and then hopping away. Franz declared it must be an

enchanted princess, and so I thought I would rid it of its spell; but

Fritz stopped me shooting it, and said it was a “Honey Indicator”, and

that it was leading us probably to a bees’ byke, so we spared its life,

and presently, sure enough, it stopped close by a bees’ nest in a

hollow tree.

 

`This was capital, we thought, and, as we were in a great hurry to

taste the honey, I threw in a lot of lighted lucifer matches, but

somehow it did not kill the bees at all, but only made them awfully

angry, and they flew out in a body and stung me all over. I rushed to

Storm and sprang on his back, but, though I galloped away for bare

life, it was an age before I got rid of the little wretches, and now my

face is in a perfect fever. I think I will get mother to bathe it for

me,’ and off rushed the noisy boy, leaving Fritz and me to see to the

fawns and examine the rabbits.

 

With these latter I determined to do as Fritz proposed, namely, to

colonize Whale Island with them. I was all the more willing to do this

because I had been considering the advisability of establishing on that

island a fortress to which we might retreat in any extreme danger, and

where we should be very thankful, in case of such a retreat, to possess

means of obtaining a constant supply of animal food.

 

Having ministered to the wants of the antelopes, I tried to interest

the boys in my discovery of the block of talc, but just then their

mother summoned us to dinner.

 

The principal dish in this meal consisted of the bears’ paws—most

savoury-smelling delicacies, so tempting that their close resemblance

to human hands, and even the roguish `Fee-fo-fum’ from Jack, did not

prevent a single member of the family from enjoying them most heartily.

 

Supper over, we lit our watch-fire, retired to our tent and slept

soundly.

 

We had been working very diligently; the bears’ meat was smoked, the

fat melted down and stored, and a large supply of bamboos collected.

But I wished to make yet another excursion, and at early dawn I aroused

the boys.

 

Fritz mounted the mule, I rode Lightfoot, Jack and Franz took their

usual steeds and, with the two dogs, we galloped off—first to visit

the euphorbia to collect the gum, and then to discover whether the

ostrich had deserted her eggs in the sand.

 

Ernest watched us depart without the slightest look or sigh of regret,

and returned to the tent to assist his mother and study his books.

 

Our steeds carried us down the Green Valley at a rapid rate, and we

followed the direction we had pursued on our former expedition. We soon

reached Turtle Marsh, and then, filling our water-flasks, we arrived at

the rising ground where Fritz discovered the mounted Arabs.

 

As Jack and Franz wanted a gallop, I allowed them to press forward,

while Fritz and I visited the euphorbia trees. A quantity of the red

gum had exuded from the incisions I had made, and as this had

coagulated in the sun, I rolled it into little balls and stored it in a

bamboo jar I had brought with me for the purpose.

 

As we rode after the boys, who were some way ahead, Fritz remarked,

`Did you not tell me that the juice of that tree was poisonous, father;

why have you collected such a quantity?’

 

`I did indeed say so,’ I replied, `it is a most deadly poison. The

inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope use it to poison the springs where

wild animals assemble to quench their thirst; and they thus slaughter

an immense number of the creatures for the sake of their hides. I

intend, however, to use it to destroy the apes should they again commit

depredations, and also in preparing the skins of animals to protect

them from the