Having completed his observations, Eugene joined his companions in the shooting-hole, and reported that he had seen Uncle Dick go into the camp, and that he and his two friends were alone in their glory. The sudden silence that fell on the party when Eugene said this, was evidence that there was not near as much fun in being alone in their glory as they thought there was. How plainly they could hear the voices of the Kaffirs as they shouted at the oxen! And when the oxen were all driven in and the voices ceased, how still it became all at once, and how dark, too! They tried hard to shake off their feelings of awe and to find something to talk about, but both efforts were failures. They could not converse, for their lowest whispers were wonderfully distinct, and seemed to them loud enough to frighten away any animal that might be approaching the fountain. For an hour they remained almost motionless in their hiding-place, holding their weapons in readiness, and keeping their gaze directed over the edge of the bank toward the water, and then Fred gave a sudden start and placed his hand on Archie’s shoulder. “There’s something there!” he whispered, excitedly.
The others listened, and could distinctly hear a faint lapping sound, made by some animal in drinking; but he was invisible in the darkness. They could not obtain the slightest glimpse of him.
“It must be a lion,” whispered Fred. “You know Uncle Dick told us that he has heard lions drinking within ten yards of him, and couldn’t see them. They can’t be seen in the dark.”
“But they make a very loud noise in drinking,” said Archie, “and this animal we can scarcely hear. It must be something else.”
“I can see him now,” said Eugene, as he pushed his double-barrel slowly and cautiously over the bank. “Be ready to give him a broadside in case I don’t kill him at the first shot. I am not accustomed to shooting in the dark, you know.”
The other two could see the animal now, but not plainly enough to determine what it was. It was moving swiftly on the other side of the fountain, and the boys thought it was looking directly towards their hiding-place. It circled around to their right, Eugene following all its movements with his rifle, and only waiting for it to become stationary for a moment so that he could make a sure shot, and presently it reached the top of the bank at the rear of the shooting-hole, and stood out in bold relief against the sky. Then it got the “wind” of the young hunters, and, with a whisk of its tail and a toss of its head, it backed quickly down the hill out of sight, at the same time setting up a chorus of yelps that awoke the echoes far and near, and made the cold chill creep all over the boys.
“It’s a sneaking jackal,” exclaimed Fred, in great disgust.
“Yes, and I’d rather see almost anything else,” said Eugene. “Just hear what a yelping he keeps up! He’ll bring the lions down on us as sure as the world.”
The boys, being well versed in natural history, were acquainted with the habits of this animal before they ever saw one, and of late they had had a little experience with some of his tribe. They knew that the jackal is a sort of scout for the lion. Whenever he finds any game that he is afraid to attack himself, he sets up a terrific yelping, and any hungry lion who may be within hearing of the signal comes up and kills it, the jackal standing by and looking on until the lordly beast has satisfied his appetite and gone away, when he makes a meal of what is left. One day, just before they reached the house of the “surly Boer,” our three friends, in company with Frank Nelson, were hunting elands along the route, and in the excitement of the chase they followed them so far away that it was night before they rode into camp, to which they were directed by the firing of signal guns. Shortly after it began to grow dark, and while they were yet five miles from the wagon, they were discovered by a jackal, which followed them within sight of the campfire, yelping all the while and trying his best to call the lions to them. The cunning animal seemed to know what a gun was, for he took care to keep at a respectful distance from the boys, and whenever one of them halted and tried to shoot him, he would take to his heels and be out of sight in a moment.
“There he is,” continued Eugene, as the jackal cautiously raised his head above the top of the bank and looked down at them; but before the double-barrel could be brought to bear on him he had dodged back out of sight.