As soon as they landed, they hurried up, accompanied by the messenger, to the farm. They found Mrs Broderick in the sitting-room. She eagerly opened the letter, while they anxiously watched her countenance.
“Is our father well?” inquired Helen.
“What does he say about Lionel?” asked Percy.
“I hope no one has come to grief,” exclaimed Rupert.
Mrs Broderick did not reply until she had read through the letter, and then, holding it in her hands, and still glancing at its contents, she said—
“Your father is well, though his journey was a dangerous one. Hendricks seemed much surprised, but received him in a friendly way, until he explained the object of his visit, when the hunter appeared very unwilling to believe that Lionel is the child we lost. He is evidently deeply attached to the boy, and does not wish to part with him. He said, however, that he should be satisfied if Mangaleesu could produce any one of the tribe who was present at the attack on our party, when the nurse was murdered and the child carried off. This, from Mangaleesu’s account, seems impossible, as he declares that the whole of the tribe had joined him, and that every person in the kraal was put to death, with the exception of himself, his wife, and the child. Your father writes, ‘I cannot come away without the boy; for the more I look at him, the more convinced I am that he is our son. A certain expression in the countenance, which all our children possess, is there, though it is difficult to make Hendricks understand this. Still, as he is an honourable and right-minded man, I am convinced that he only requires to be persuaded I have a just claim on the boy, to give him up. He assures me—and I believe him when he says that he loves the boy as if he were his own child—that he has made him his heir, and that he will, he hopes, inherit a fair estate and a good sum at the bank. Of course I am unwilling to deprive the boy of these advantages, which are superior to any I can hope to give him. At the same time, if he accompanies Hendricks, he will be exposed to many dangers, and might not live to enjoy them. I hope, however, that Hendricks will allow me to bring the boy away, when I promise to restore him should he not prove to be our son, or should he desire to return; and I trust he will not under any circumstances alter his intentions towards him. The boy, as it is, has no real claim upon the hunter, who might at any time change his mind, and leave him destitute, though I do not, judging from his character, see any likelihood of his doing that. I however must, at all events, remain here some days, for I have lost two horses on the journey, and my faithful follower, Vermack, has been so severely injured by a lion, narrowly escaping with his life, that he is at present utterly unable to travel, though he declares he shall be as soon as I am prepared to start. He received the injury from which he is suffering on the morning of the day we reached this place. He had got off to tighten the girths of his saddle, but had again mounted, and was following some way behind, when a monstrous animal rushed out from behind a thicket, and sprang on his horse. His side and leg were much lacerated as he threw himself from his saddle, and before he could get on his feet and unsling his rifle, the lion had killed his horse, and was about to leap on him, but the brave old Dutchman was up to the emergency. The sound of his shot, as he fired at the brute’s head, was the first indication we had of his danger.
“‘Galloping back, we saw him on the ground, while the lion lay dead on the top of the horse, close to him. Fortunately, Hendricks had outspanned at no great distance off, and had sent out some hunters, who, coming up directly afterwards, assisted us in carrying the wounded man to the camp. That very night the horses which Denis Maloney and the Kaffir had ridden were attacked by a troop of hyenas, and one was so severely injured that we were obliged to put him out of his misery. Hendricks cannot spare us any of his horses, and it may be some days before I can obtain any fresh ones, though I have sent in all directions. Let me know by bearer of this—Omkomo—who will be ready to set off after a few hours’ rest, how you are all getting on. Bid Rupert not to relax his vigilance, although, from information I picked up on the road, I trust that the Zulus who are in search of Mangaleesu have given up the pursuit, and have returned to their own district. This necessitates a long delay, for which I had not reckoned when I left the farm.’”
Though deeply thankful to hear of her husband’s safety, Mrs Broderick was left in the same state as before regarding Lionel. Her mother’s heart, and the account Percy had given her, convinced her that he was her son.
“I knew my father would see the likeness as soon as he set eyes on him!” exclaimed Percy. “Didn’t you, Crawford? Wouldn’t you be ready to swear that he was our brother?”
Crawford could scarcely help smiling. He thought Lionel something like Rupert and Maud, but he did not consider him to resemble either Helen or Rose.