“I think we have seen the last of them for to-night,” continued Uncle Dick. “Now when we resume our journey we must make all haste, for when these fellows go back to their own country their king will send an army after us, and Dick may not be able to frighten them away again.”
As soon as the Zulus were gone the Griquas came out of their hiding-places and gathered about the tent, all clamoring to know how it happened that the dreaded enemy had been driven off so easily. When Uncle Dick gravely informed them that his conjuror had found means to send them away, their gratitude knew no bounds. Then most of them dispersed at once, and when they returned, brought presents of milk and corn—articles for which they had hitherto demanded the highest prices in beads and wire—and tremblingly placed them on the ground before the great medicine-man. Groups of them stood about the fire until ten o’clock that night, watching every move he made; and Dick had only to stand erect, look toward the stars, extend an arm at full length and pull the other back to his shoulder as if he were drawing a bow, to send them scampering away at the top of their speed.
The next morning the travellers were astir at an early hour, all eager to begin the journey to the coast; but now another difficulty was presented. The Griquas who had been engaged to fill the places of the Kaffirs were nowhere to be found. The boys were dismayed, but Uncle Dick was as serene as usual. “I expected it,” said he. “They were frightened by that visit from the Zulus. We must depend upon the oxen to guide us back.”
“Do they know the way home?” asked George.
“No, but they made a trail coming here, and their instinct will lead them to follow that trail back.”
“Why, it must be obliterated by this time.”
“No matter for that. They will find and follow it in the darkest of nights.”
Inspanning was a task the boys did not like, and they hoped they had assisted in it for the last time; but as there was no one to do the business for them they set to work with a will, and by ten o’clock the wagon was in motion. Contrary to their expectations, not a Griqua followed them out of the village. They were afraid of the Zulus, and so was Uncle Dick, if one might judge by the way he disposed of his forces, and the arrangements he made for repelling an attack. He and Frank went on ahead as usual, the two trappers brought up the rear—there were no loose cattle and horses to drive now—and the others rode beside the wagon, Eugene being instructed in case of difficulty to take his brother up behind him. The travellers moved in this order until the middle of the afternoon, when they entered the dry bed of what had once been a stream of considerable magnitude. The high banks on each side were thickly lined with bushes and rocks, affording excellent ambush for an enemy, and as the bed of the stream was only forty feet wide, and the road ran through the middle of it, it was impossible for the travellers to get out of range of the javelins of the Zulus should they chance to be awaiting them here. And they were waiting for them, just as Uncle Dick expected they would be. The chief of the Zulus, having recovered from his fright, had made a wide detour around the village during the night, and concealed his warriors along the banks of the stream among the rocks and bushes. When the passage was about half completed he made his presence known. The signal for attack was a loud yell given by the chief, who suddenly appeared on the top of one of the high rocks on the bank; but no sooner had he gained a footing there, than a bullet from Bob Kelly’s ready rifle brought him headlong into the bed of the stream. His warriors however, promptly obeyed the signal. They arose from their concealments on both sides of the road, and the way the spears whistled through the air for a few minutes was surprising. The majority of these weapons seemed to be aimed at the two trappers—the warriors, no doubt, believing that if the conjuror could be killed the rest of the travellers could be easily managed—and it was a wonder how they escaped being pierced by them. Their horses were struck down almost instantly, but the trappers landed on their feet, and sheltering themselves behind convenient rocks in the road, opened a hot fire on the savages.
All these things happened in less than a minute. Although the attack was not altogether unexpected, it was still a surprise, it was made so suddenly. As soon as Uncle Dick had time to think he began to issue his orders.
“Leave the wagon, boys,” said he, “and run for that high hill you see yonder.”