Hendricks the Hunter; Or, The Border Farm: A Tale of Zululand

by William Henry Giles Kingston

“No, no; we must not despise them too much,” answered Captain Broderick. “If they saw a small force coming, they would to a certainty turn, and probably surround and cut us off. We are secure within our stockade as long as we keep a watch to prevent surprise, and here we must remain until our enemies grow tired and give up the attempt to destroy us, or until the authorities at Natal hear of the position in which we are placed, and send a sufficient force to our relief. But as the messenger I despatched cannot yet have got to Maritzburg, I fear it will be many a long day before we can rely on assistance from that quarter.”

The movements of the Zulus were watched with considerable anxiety. They continued to retreat until they were completely out of sight, but whether or not they had recrossed the river it was impossible to ascertain without sending out scouts. This Captain Broderick was unwilling to do, as they would run a great risk of being cut off by the enemy, who would, to a certainty, be on the watch for them, and good men could ill be spared from the garrison.

The hours went by. Night came on. Nothing more had been seen of the enemy. The captain, as he went his rounds, charged the sentries to keep a bright look-out. It was arranged that Rupert and Crawford should keep one watch, while Percy and Lionel, or rather Walter, as his family called him, kept the other. Biddy was very indignant at being sent back to the kitchen.

“Sure I’ve bin a gineral all day, an’ fought as well as the best of ye, and now I’m to be turned back into a cook an’ an old woman, when I’d be watching as sharply as any of the men lest those spalpeens of black-a-moors should be coming back at night to attack us,” she exclaimed, as she sheathed her sword and doffed the captain’s coat and hat.

The young ladies had long before put off their martial attire. They now set to work to assist Biddy in preparing supper, of which the garrison stood greatly in need. Only one portion could partake of it at a time, so that Biddy and the young ladies had work enough in running backwards and forwards with the dishes. The fare was ample, there being no lack of food in the fort; and as soon as the men had supped, they returned, some to their posts and others to lie down until it was their turn for duty.

Rupert and Crawford kept the first watch, but no enemies were seen, nor did even the dogs give warning that any strangers were in the neighbourhood. They then aroused Percy and Lionel, who sprang from their couches with all the zeal of young soldiers.

“This reminds me of many a night’s watch we have had together when travelling with Hendricks,” said Percy. “I thought when I came to the farm that I should have had too quiet a life of it, but I like this sort of thing, and I hope we shall give the Zulus a lesson which will teach them we are not to be molested with impunity.”

“We must keep a very strict watch, then,” said Lionel. “I know how cunning they are, and that their great object will be to throw us off our guard. I have not the slightest expectation that they will come to-night or to-morrow night either. They may wait days and weeks until they think they can catch us unawares, and then they will come down like a thunder-clap on the farm. They are not aware, however, that our father has sent to Maritzburg, and my hope is that they will put off the attack until we get assistance, and they will have to hurry away as fast as they can run. I have no wish to see the poor savages killed. They are urged on by their chiefs, and know no better.”

Lionel was right in his conjectures that the fort would not be attacked, for the sun rose once more, and the whole country looked peaceful and smiling as ever. Not a Zulu was to be seen with the naked eye, and the only sign of their having been near the fort was the trampled grass, stained here and there with the blood of their wounded warriors.

Percy took a look through the telescope. He observed that a body of men remained at their former camping-place at the foot of the hills to the eastward, and in the distance to the south he made out several black heads on the move, showing that the Zulus were still waiting for an opportunity either of attacking the farm to advantage, or of capturing the fugitives. They were of course not aware of the powerful instrument which enabled the garrison to watch their movements, while their sharp eyes could scarcely see even the fort itself.