Rock and frowning krantz rolled back the reverberations in swooping1 echo as the first seven-pounder spoke2, launching its whistling shrapnel across the deep, thickly-bushed valley of the Tsolo River. Hardly had the echoes died away than the second gun spoke.
Simultaneously3 with its roar, branches and stones were seen to split and fly, on the opposite hillside, some six hundred yards away. Simultaneously, too, a deep-chested ejaculation of wonderment broke from the throats of more than double that number of human beings. But the mere4 handful of brown-clad, helmeted men stood calm and alert, feeling perhaps a little grim, as they marked the effect of the gun practice upon the ochre-smeared groups which dotted the hillside hard by. More and more Kafirs came hurrying up from near and far, eager to witness the fun of what was to them an entirely5 new experience. For this was no battle, only a “demonstration” on the part of the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police, whose recently formed battery of artillery6 was delighted to have a chance of showing the turbulent inhabitants of the Transkei what they might hope to expect in case of—accidents.
With each successful shot—and the new artillerymen were making wonderfully good practice—a gasp7 of admiring amazement8 ran through the entranced spectators like the breaking of a wave on the shore. These had increased till there could not have been less than a couple of thousand, reddening the slopes like a swarm9 of ants. They were not armed, except with sticks; and without his kerrie a Kafir rarely moves. The Police Commandant had sent word to all the principal chiefs, inviting10 them to witness the gun drill, and some had accepted. Besides the artillery, there were three full troops of mounted men.
Tall and bearded, his stature11 and smart uniform and shining sword impressing the savages12 no less than his calm imperturbability13 of demeanour, the Commandant stood, among three or four Inspectors14. Two others made up the group, and these, old friends of ours—Harley Greenoak and his charge, Dick Selmes. A little way from these squatted16 a knot of chiefs and councillors, eagerly discussing, in a low hum, the effect of every shot. They were all old or elderly men, differing outwardly in no way from the commonest of their people. They wore the same red blanket, and some the massive ivory armlet. But the faces of all were remarkably17 shrewd and intelligent.
“Well, Greenoak, so you couldn’t induce old Kreli to show up?” said the Commandant, naming the great and paramount18 chief of all the Transkeian, and also of the Kafir tribes within the Colonial border. “Even you couldn’t manage that, eh?”
“Not even me,” was the laconic19 reply.
“Well, I never supposed you would. He’s got a long memory, and that warns him that it may be no safer for his father’s son within a white man’s camp than it was for his father before him.”
“Why? What happened to his father, Commandant?” eagerly struck in Dick Selmes, scenting20 a yarn21.
“Shot—‘while trying to escape.’”
“But wasn’t he trying to escape?” said Dick, upon whom a certain significant cynicism of tone underlying22 this remark was not lost.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t, and history agrees that he was,” answered the Commandant, drily. “But then, you see, Kreli can’t read history, and wouldn’t believe it if he could. So he’d rather be excused coming to see the new Police artillery make very fair gun practice, and I for one don’t blame him. Why, there’s my old friend, Botmane,” he broke off, as his glance rested on the group of potentates23 above mentioned. Then to an orderly, “Bring him here, Harris, I must have a talk with him.”
“Who’s he?” asked Dick.
“One of Kreli’s big amapakati, or councillors,” answered Greenoak. “In fact the biggest.”
“Oh!” and he looked with vivid interest as the Kafir, an old man with a pleasant face, rose from his place in the group and strode forward, which interest deepened as he listened to the subsequent conversation. This he was able to do, as the Commandant, though perfectly24 at home in the vernacular25, chose, for reasons of his own, to use an interpreter. But the said conversation was of no political importance, being a mere exchange of compliments, with here and there a reminiscence. The old Kafir expressed unbounded wonder at the gun practice. The white people could do anything—he declared, as he was shown the working of the guns—could kill men as far distant as anybody could see. “What was it done with?”
“Show him the powder,” said the Commandant.
This was done, and the old councillor dipped his fingers, not without awe26, into the black, large-grained stuff. No wonder the guns could shoot so far with stuff like that, he remarked.
“Give him a big handful to take borne and show his chief. He can tell him what he has seen to-day,” said the Commandant.
Most savages are more or less like children over the acquisition of a novelty, and now as old Botmane rejoined his brother magnates the whole group of these craned eagerly forward to look at this mysterious and wonderful stuff which he held in the corner of his blanket, and many a deep-toned exclamation27 of suppressed excitement rose above the hum of animated28 discussion. The Police looked on in semi-contemptuous amusement.
The practice was over now, and the swarms29 of red-ochred savages began to melt away; though a goodly proportion remained on the ground to discuss what they had seen. Meanwhile, the Police were mounting for their return march.
With them went Harley Greenoak and Dick Selmes. The bulk of the patrol would return across the Kei to the Colonial side, but A. Troop would remain behind in camp to keep an eye on a particularly unreliable and turbulent chief named Vunisa. The officer in command of this, Inspector15 Chambers30, and Greenoak were old friends, and it was arranged that the latter and his charge should camp with them for awhile.
At that time the Transkei was in a state of simmer, and the same might be said of the tribes inhabiting British Kaffraria. Chiefs were known to be calling in their followers31; and this was done by a system that worked with marvellous rapidity. At night mysterious beacons32 flashed answering messages to each other from this or that lofty hill-top, and it was known that war-dancing on a real scale was going on in this or that disaffected33 chief’s location; and notably34 in that of Vunisa, situated35 in the Gudhluka Reserve. This Vunisa was the chief over an important section of the Gcaleka tribe.
In front of the officers’ mess hut in the A. Troop camp, a group of four sat chatting.
“Pity we can’t find out something more definite, Greenoak,” Inspector Chambers was saying. “I believe I’d be justified36 in arresting Vunisa on my own responsibility.”
Harley Greenoak laughed drily.
“Don’t you do it, Chambers. You’d stoke up the whole country then and there. Even if you didn’t—what price the Government? Too much zeal37 isn’t encouraged in the Police any more than in other departments, I take it.”
The Inspector and his sub. laughed ironically.
“Not much,” said the latter. “And these devils are war-dancing every night right bang under our noses. It’s genuine too, for I’ve seen it before, as you know.”
“By Jove! I would like to see a real war-dance,” struck in Dick Selmes. “I say, Inspector, couldn’t some of us go over some night and have a look in? Why not to-night?”
“Tired of life yet, Selmes?” answered Chambers, good-naturedly. “Because if a few of us went to have a look in at it none of us would come back—in their present state of mind. If a lot—why, there’d be no war-dance.”
“Bother!” said Dick.
The conversation rolled on; then came dusk—then dinner. Life in the open makes men drowsy38. It was not long before the camp of A. Troop—bar the sentries—was fast asleep.
The night was moonless, but the blue black of the unclouded sky was beautiful with its myriad39 golden stars, shining as they only can shine in Southern skies. The loom40 of the hills was perceptibly defined, notably in one direction, where a faint glow brought into relief the V-shaped scarp of converging41 slopes, constituting, as it were, a portal to the country lying beyond. Hence sounds were borne, distant but indescribably weird42. But the Police were accustomed to such by this time. There was war-dancing going on in the Gudhluka Reserve.
We said that the camp was fast asleep. Dick Selmes constituted an exception. Lying on his blanket outside one of the huts—he preferred to sleep in the open for the sake of freshness—he was planning out an extraordinarily43 mad scheme. Why should he not steal out, make his way over to Vunisa’s location, and witness the fun? It would be a chance he might never get again. As for the risk, old Chambers was probably exaggerating. Even if he were discovered, they wouldn’t hurt one man all alone. He would just give them tobacco and tell them to go on with the programme; and, acting44 on this idea, he rose quietly and stole out of the camp.
“Halt! Who goes there?”
Hang it! He had forgotten the confounded sentry45.
“Oh, it’s all right, old man,” he answered genially46. “It’s only me, and I’m taking a walk. Here, fill your pipe, I’ll be back soon,” putting a coin into the man’s hand.
Trooper Carter was not one of the best men in the Force, and F.A.M. Police pay was none too liberal in those days. The weight of a sovereign felt good.
“All right, sir. Don’t be too long, though.”
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收听单词发音
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1
swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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imperturbability
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| n.冷静；沉着 | |
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inspectors
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| n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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16
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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scenting
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| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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potentates
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| n.君主，统治者( potentate的名词复数 )；有权势的人 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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vernacular
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| adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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30
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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31
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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beacons
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| 灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台 | |
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disaffected
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| adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的 | |
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notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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40
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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41
converging
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| adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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42
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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43
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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44
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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45
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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46
genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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