I was glad to hear these remarks, and trusting that Natty would find a friend in Mr Fraser, I lay down to enjoy a sounder rest than I had for very long obtained.
Leo was much better in the morning, and David told me that though he was seriously ill, yet he trusted that he would shortly regain sufficient strength to travel. I begged of Stanley that he would allow me to accompany him to convey Natty to the camp. To this he willingly agreed, and it was arranged that Timbo was to take a third horse and act as interpreter, and that we were to travel during the bright moonlight hours of night.
I was anxious to set off immediately; but the horses were so tired with their hunting expedition of the previous day, that Stanley considered it was necessary to give them a couple of days’ rest before they would be fit to start.
“When did you ride last, Mr Crawford?” inquired Donald Fraser of me the following morning. “Because it strikes me that, unless you are a good horseman, you’ll be little fit to take the journey the captain proposes, at the rate he goes over the ground.”
I confessed that some years had passed since I had mounted a horse, though in my father’s prosperous days I had owned one, and was then a fair rider.
“Well, then, we’ll just take a canter across the plain this afternoon. It will not tire the horses, and it will help to get your muscles into play for the exertion you’ll have to make by-and-by,” he said.
I was very glad to accept his offer. After dinner, with our rifles at our backs—to be ready for any lion, panther, elephant, or rhinoceros which might cross our path—we set out for an hour’s ride towards the south, Stanley cautioning us not to go far and fatigue the horses.
“Never fear, captain,” answered Mr Fraser. “We’ll just go far enough to stretch our steeds’ legs, and see how our young friend here sticks to his saddle.”
As we rode along my companion gave me many valuable hints with regard to the journey I was about to undertake.
“Keep your horse well in hand,” he observed, “your eyes about you, and your ears open; never press him unnecessarily; and then, should you meet a lion or be attacked by savages, you will be ready for action, and do what in my opinion is the wisest thing under such circumstances—get out of their way.”