A Soldier's Daughter, and Other Stories

by G. A. Henty

"I should say not the slightest; and now we know what they reckon upon, you may be sure that the whole of them are pretty close round the house at night. They are as cunning as cats at their own work, and a man would be riddled with spears before he had gone twenty yards."

Effie had gone up after her father, and listened in silence to the conversation. Suddenly she said: "You forget the apples, father. Surely they would do to quench our thirst."

"Capital, Effie! I had forgotten all about them. There are six barrels in the cellar, and with their aid we can hold out for a long time. That alters the position altogether." There was a general exclamation of satisfaction from the men; the grimness of their faces relaxed, and they shook hands heartily in their relief at their escape from what they all felt was a terrible danger.

Two days passed. The cordon round the house was steadily maintained. Shots were fired every five minutes, but the natives all lay under shelter, and there was no sign that the firing had had any effect. Several times the possibility of making a dash through them on one of the horses was discussed, but each time was negatived. The alarm would be given as soon as the horse was led out from the stable, and the blackfellows would have time to gather at any point.

Effie went out twice a day with food for the horses, and each time carried a dozen large apples in her apron, which she gave them after they had eaten their corn. On the evening of the second day she took with her a bottle of oil, with which she carefully lubricated the hinges of the door and the padlock. The first day she had said to herself over and over again: "If Jack were here I am sure he would manage to get out." On the second day she said to herself: "If Jack could do so why shouldn't I? We may hold out till they go away, but if we do they will go somewhere else and kill some other settlers; while if we could but give them a lesson they might not come again for a long time." She waited another day in hopes that the blacks would leave. When they did not do so, she decided to make the attempt that night.

On leaving the stable she put the padlock into its place, but did not lock it; then she wrote a line to leave in her room, telling her parents what she had done. She had, during the day, taken out a suit of her brother's clothes, which fitted her fairly well. She had already saddled her horse, and put his bridle on. When she went up to bed she changed her clothes, knowing that it would be far easier to crawl in boy's clothes than in her own. Her window had been open all day, and she now fastened two blankets firmly together, tied one end to the leg of a table by the window, and after waiting until she knew that all the house, with the exception of the two men on guard, were fairly asleep, she slid down the blanket. It was but some ten feet to the ground. She was now within a few yards of the stable, which was built facing the house. She opened the door, noiselessly felt her way to her horse, and led it to the door. Then she laid the reins across his neck, stroked his nose—a signal which he well understood was an order for him to stand still until she whistled for him,—and then she lay down and crawled noiselessly along. She had left her shoes behind her lest they should scrape against the wall while she descended.

The night was pitch dark, and she progressed very slowly, pausing for a moment after each step she made, to listen for the sound of breathing, or for some movement that would tell her she was near one of the enemy. Once or twice she heard slight sounds and changed her course. As it was the stock-yard she was crossing, there was no vegetation by brushing against which she might cause a rustling of leaves. She had, on leaving the stable, made first for the bars dividing the sheep from the horses, judging that the natives would be thickest round the entrance to the horse-pen, as it was through this a horseman would naturally pass on his way out. Once through, she kept for the most part close to the bars, as she would thus be less likely to be observed than if she crossed the open. So she kept on until she came to the outer bars. Here she lay for some time listening intently. She heard murmured sounds on both sides of her, but especially towards the gates of the sheep-yard. At last, convinced that no one could be within some yards of her, she crawled under the lower bar and kept straight on. She had the comfort of knowing that it was not for any slight sound the blacks would be listening, but for the opening of the door of the house or stables. She crawled for a good quarter of a mile before she felt assured that she was well beyond the cordon of natives.

Then she stood up, put the whistle she always carried to her lips, and blew twice, sharply and loudly. In the stillness of the night she could instantly hear the sound of a horse's feet. Then there was a burst of yells and shouts. This continued, but the rapid tramp of hoofs kept on. She whistled again, and a minute later the horse dashed up to her. She sprang on his back with a word of encouragement, patted him on the neck, and then set off at full speed. A hundred yards behind, the blacks were running as hard as they could, filling the air with their shouts, but she felt that she was safe now. The strong steady pace showed her that the horse could not have sustained any serious injury. This indeed was the case. So swiftly was the distant whistle followed by the approach of the galloping horse that the blacks had scarce time to take up their spears and waddies when the animal dashed through them, scattering those in its path like chaff before him. Spears had been thrown, but they were aimed high, at the rider who they believed was in the saddle, and only one had slightly grazed the animal's back. The girl took a circuit, lest some of the blacks should be on the road, and knowing every foot of the country she regained the track two miles farther on, at which time she had eased down to a speed which she knew the horse could maintain for a long time. The forty miles between the Springs and Talbot's farm were performed under four hours. Leaping from the horse she knocked at the door, and a voice from an upper window soon asked: "Who's there, and what is wanted?" A few words explained her errand. She heard Mr. Talbot's voice shouting to the men, and soon the door was opened.

"Besieged for four days by blacks, Miss Roberts! I never heard of their doing such a thing before. Have you had hard fighting?"

"No; they made a rush at first, but we easily beat them off. But they cut off our water-supply, and have been lying round to prevent any of us getting away, making sure that we should have to give in from thirst. Fortunately we have plenty of apples and could keep going for another fortnight. They have a white man with them, and no doubt it was he who put them up to cutting the water-pipe. Will you send out to all the settlers round? I am going to ride on to Pickford to fetch the constabulary there."