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SPORT IN WAR 
 
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WITHIN THE HAI.O OK OUK WATCHKIKES 
 
 Frontis/iiece 
 
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 .5.- ^.v; 
 
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 SPOUT' iN WAR :*!' 
 
 
 
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WITHIN •nif M/ir ■ !)!•■ Ot,'K WAT':ilKIVt- 
 
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SPORT IN WAR 
 
 BY LIEUT.-GENERAL 
 
 R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL, 
 
 FiR>G«S< 
 
 H^'itk Nineteeti Illustrattotts by the Aut/ior 
 
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 VA 
 
 Toronto 
 GEORGE N. MORANG ^ CO. LTD f, 
 1900 
 
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T2^.^\^4S 
 
 
PREFACE 
 
 J T seems desirable to write a few words 
 of preface to this book\ chiefly with 
 the object of stating ivhat it is : a reprint 
 of sketches which have appeared in the 
 Badminton Magazine. Before the first 
 number was published in August 1895, 
 / was gratified by receiving from Major 
 R. S, S. Baden-Powell the offer of an 
 article about Pig-sticking, illustrated as 
 well as ivritten by himself and called 
 " The Sport of Rajahs:^ I kneu that 
 
 159068 
 
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 he wrote and drew as well as he did a 
 great variety of things, and gladly 
 accepted the paper, which appeared as 
 the first article in the second number. I 
 told him I should always be delighted to 
 receive anything he cared to send, and 
 from time to time other contributions 
 followed. Then came a pause, ivhile 
 this most wonderful of all-round men 
 ivas occupied with sterner work. This 
 is not the place to dilate upon the feverish 
 earnestness and anxiety with which for 
 many months the eves of the civilised 
 world were turned to Mafeking, nor 
 upon the almost delirious joy ivith which 
 news of the relief ivas at last welcomed. 
 The Commander of the little town has 
 
 8 
 
 Sr^ 
 
m 
 
 made for himself an imperishable naf, .?, 
 not only by the gallantry ar^d mafvellous 
 resource that marked his defence of the 
 place, but by the unfailing cheerfulness 
 with which he sustained and revived the 
 spirits of soldiers and civilians under his 
 charge. The personality of the General, 
 all that he said and did, had said and 
 done, became matters of intense interest, 
 and naturally induced me to turn up 
 these sketches, only again to be delighted 
 by their freshness, vigour and charm. 
 To preserve them in book form became 
 at once my keen desire. The only point 
 to be considered was the author^s views 
 on the subject. I therefore cabled to 
 Maf eking, and after a long wait, which 
 
 H: 
 
 
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 li t 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 made iiir fear that the message must 
 have gone astray^ his laconic consent 
 came from Rustenbmg, in the single 
 word: YES. And here is the little 
 book, proving the General to he not less 
 master of pen and pencil than of the 
 sword. 
 
 ALFRED E. T. WATSON 
 {Editor, Badminton Magazine). 
 
I 
 
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Within the halo of our watchfircs 
 
 Slowly moving over the boulden of the river-bed 25 |M»/7^< 
 
 Watching the river-bed 
 
 He turned about, growling savagely 
 
 The Uitspan is the scene of our meet 
 
 Members of our motley field .... 
 
 George acting as leading hound 
 
 They stream away before us . 
 
 A veteran hand at the game .... 
 
 Lutchman, the shikaree, standing on his 
 
 elephant, holloas the party on . 
 Calvert rolls the boar head over heels with a 
 
 crashing stroke ... 
 
 m 
 
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V < 
 
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 IM' 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 She looked almost as if she ivcfe nesting ajtev a 
 
 bout of tennis {from a photogntph) . 
 The King of Eastern Sports .... 
 
 The hunters hunted 
 
 He was able to grip the spear 
 
 Tommy Atkins pig-sticking . . . . 
 
 The captain, who was leading, pushed in first . 
 
 It was a great fight 
 
 Hadj Am's camp 
 
 Hadj Ano 
 
 PAGE 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 HAT sort of sport did 
 you have out there ?" 
 is the question with 
 which men have, as 
 a rule, greeted one on return from 
 the campaign in Rhodesia ; and one 
 could truthfully say, "We had ex- 
 cellent sport." For, in addition to 
 the ordinary experiences included 
 under that head, the work involved 
 in the military operations was sufiti- 
 ciently sporting in itself to fill up a 
 good measure of enjoyment. 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 In the first place, scouting played 
 a very prominent part in the pre- 
 liminaries to major operations, and 
 gave opportunities for the exercise 
 of all the arts and resources of wood- 
 craft, coupled with the excitement 
 incidental to contending against wild 
 beasts of the human kind — men of 
 special cunning, pluck, and cruelty. 
 
 This scouting, to be successful, 
 necessitated one's going with the 
 very slenderest escort — frequently 
 with one man only, to look after the 
 horses — and for long distances away 
 from our main body, into the dis- 
 tricts occupied by the enemy. Thus, 
 one was thrown entirely on one's 
 own resources, with the stmiulating 
 knowledge that if you did not main- 
 tain a sufficient alertness of observa- 
 
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 rtanaatfrf^ffsmm 
 
I 
 
 SPORT IN WAR 
 tion and action, you stood a very 
 good chance indeed, not only of 
 failing to gain information which 
 you were desired to seek, but also of 
 getting yourself wiped out, as many 
 a better man had been before, by the 
 ruthless, bloodthirsty foe. 
 
 "Spooring," or tracking, was our 
 main source of guidance and infor- 
 mation, and night the cover under 
 which we were able to make our way 
 about the enemy's country with im- 
 punity. For a pastime involving all 
 the points that go to make up 
 " sport" in the eyes of the Briton — 
 viz., hard wovk, adventure, general 
 discomfort, and genuine fun — com- 
 mend me to scouting. 
 
 Then the actual tackling the enemy 
 was not, especially during the latter 
 
 19 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 part of the operations, of the ciit- 
 and-dricd order of tactics. Tlieic 
 was no drawing up of opposin;^ 
 forces in battle-array, or majestic ad- 
 vancin|4 of earth-shaking squadrons 
 to the clash of arms ; but you had to 
 approach a koppie or peak of piled- 
 up granite boulders, where not an 
 enemy was visible, but which you 
 knew was honeycombed with caves ^^ 
 and crannies an full of watching 
 niggers lingering guns of every kind 
 and calibre. You were ex[)ected to 
 climb up this loopholed pyramid to 
 gain the entrance to its caves, which 
 was somewhere near tlu; top, as a 
 rule, and if you were lucky enough 
 to escape an elephant bullet from one 
 side or another, or a charge of slugs 
 from a crevice underfoot, you had 
 
 zo 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 the privilege of firing a few shots 
 down the drain-like entrance to the 
 cave, and of then lowering yourself 
 quickly after them into the black un- 
 certainty below. Although I never 
 appreciated this form of sport at its 
 proper worth, there were many in 
 our forces who did. It cannot be 
 denied that there was a "glorious 
 uncertainty " about it, such as could 
 not be surpassed in any other variety 
 of amusement. 
 
 Then, when the enemy had been 
 hard hit and driven from their posi- 
 tions, it became necessary to hunt 
 them up with flying patrols and 
 small columns. This took us into 
 wild and distant corners of the 
 country, and, until their surrender 
 was obtained, this man-hunting 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 afforded us plenty of excitement and 
 novel experience. 
 
 In addition to military operations 
 such as these, we saw something of 
 the actual sport proper of the country, 
 since supplies, especially of meat, 
 were very scarce with us. Therefore 
 the game-laws were by special ordin- 
 ance suspended, and we availed our- 
 selves of every opportunity to get 
 buck or other food. In many dis- 
 tricts we found it sufficiently abun- 
 dant, while in others the fatal scourge 
 of rinderpest had done its work — 
 especially among the koodoo — and 
 had decimated the former troops of 
 game. 
 
 We got, at various times, koodoo, 
 sable, and roan antelope, wildebeeste, 
 hartebeeste, reit-buck, stein-buck, 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 duyker, hares, wild-pig, quagga, and 
 twice our patrols saw giraffe. Then 
 of birds we saw ostriches and shot 
 paauw, korhan, so-called pheasants, 
 partridges, guinea-fowl, duck, and 
 plover. And in many of the streams 
 the mei. caught fish, which, though in 
 London they might be considered 
 somewhat overcharged with bones 
 and mud, yet served as a pleasing 
 variation to our daily fare of tinned 
 ration beef. 
 
 The pleasures of the pursuit of 
 game were all the more enhanced by 
 the knowledge that the meat was 
 really necessary to us, and especially 
 by the fact that we often carried out 
 our sport at the risk of being our- 
 selves the quarry of some sneaking 
 band of rebel warriors. 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 Moreover, to all our fun a season- 
 ing was added in the shape of lions, 
 whose presence or propinquity was 
 very frequently impressed upon us 
 at nights by deep-toned grunts or 
 ghostly apparitions within the halo 
 of our vvatchlires. In defiance of 
 the rules of war — which forbid the 
 use of fires by night, as guiding an 
 enemy's night attack — we had a ring 
 of bright fires burning round our 
 bivouac to scare away the lions. 
 Frequently our sentries fired upon 
 them as they kept a waiting watch, 
 prowling from point to point outside 
 our line of men. But, in spite of 
 such precautions, on one occasion 
 they took one of our horses, and on 
 another they carried off a mule. 
 By day we saw them too. One 
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SPORT JN WAR 
 
 piitrol, indeed, came upon d group 
 of nine lying dozing in the hush ; 
 and when the nine arose and yawned 
 and stretched their massive jaws and 
 limbs, the patrol, remembering the WiM 
 old maxim concerning the rela- 
 tions between discretion and valour, 
 changed the course of their advance 
 and took another line. 
 
 One time, when I was patrolling 
 the bank of the Shangani River with 
 three men, the massive form of a 
 lion was seen slowly moving over 
 the boulders of the river-bed. The 
 corporal and I jumped off our horses 
 in a moment, and fired a vollev // 
 (Icitx, at about i8o yards. One shot 
 thudded into him, the other striking 
 the ground just under his belly. He 
 sprang with a hghi bound over a rock 
 
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SPORT IN WAR 
 
 and disappeared from our view. 
 Posting one man on a high point on 
 the bank to watch the river-bed, and 
 leaving the other in charge of our 
 horses, the corporal and I made our 
 way down to where we had last seen 
 the lion. We were armed with Lee- 
 Metford carbines, and we turned on 
 our magazines in order to have a 
 good running lire available should 
 our quarry demand it. 
 
 Meantime our main body, coming 
 along the opposite bank of the river, 
 had seen our manoeuvre, and an 
 officer and one man had come down 
 into the river-bed from their side to 
 help us. 
 
 Gradually and cautiously we sur- 
 rounded the spot where we guessed 
 the lion to be — cautiously, at least, 
 
 28 
 
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 i'm»0mt* 
 
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 ^tM 
 
 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 as far as three of us were concerned ; 
 the fourth, the man who had come 
 from the main body, was moving 
 in a far freer and more confident 
 manner than any of us could boast ; 
 he clambered over the rocks and 
 sprang with agility into the most ^ 
 likely corners for finding a wounded 
 lion lying ambushed, and his sole 
 weapon was his revolver — for he was 
 a farrier. Such is Tommy Atkins ; 
 whether it is the outcome of sheer 
 pluck, or of ignorance, or of both 
 combined, the fact remains that he 
 will sail gaily in where danger lies, 
 and as often as not sail gaily out 
 again unharmed. 
 
 However, to continue : at last we 
 were on the spot, but no lion was 
 there — an occasional splash of blood, 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 and here and there, where sand lay 
 between the rocks, the impress of a 
 mighty paw, showed that he had 
 moved away after being hit. But 
 soon all traces ceased, and though 
 we searched for long we could iind 
 no further sign of him. 
 
 We halted on the river-bank during 
 the intense heat of the day, and before 
 resuming our march in the evening 
 we sallied out once more to search 
 the river-bed and an islet grown with 
 bushes, where we hoped he might 
 yet be. And while we searched the 
 hussar, who had been assigned to 
 me to hold my horse, and who was 
 the man who, in the morning, had 
 been posted to watch the river-bed, 
 asked, " How many lions are there 
 supposed to be here?" I told him 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 "Only the one we fired at this 
 morning." 
 
 Whereupon he grimly said, " Oh, 
 I saw him go away up the river when 
 3'ou went down into it. He was a- 
 dmggi}ig his hindquarters after him." 
 
 It appeared that the man thought 
 he had been posted to guard against 
 surprise by an enemy, and did not 
 realise that we, being down among 
 the rocks, could not see the lion 
 which was so visible from his look- 
 out place. And so we lost that lion. 
 
 But I had better luck another 
 time. 
 
 It stands thus recorded in my 
 
 be marked 
 
 Matabele Campaign, 1896, 
 
 '-'1 
 
li 
 
 
 
 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 with a red mark when I can ^et a 
 red pencil.) Jackson and a native 
 * boy ' accompanied me scouting this 
 morning ; we three started off at 
 3 A.M. In moving round the hill 
 that overlooks our camp we saw a 
 match struck high up near the top 
 of the mountain. This one little 
 spark told us a good deal. It showed 
 that the enemy were there ; that they 
 were awake and alert (I say 'they/ 
 because one nigger would not dare 
 to be up there by himself in the dark) ; 
 and they were aware of our force 
 being at Posselt's (as otherwise they 
 would not be occupying this hill). 
 
 *' However, they could not see any- 
 thing of us, as it was then quite dark. 
 And we went farther on among the 
 mountains. In the early morning 
 
 ' 
 
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 '!<m 
 
 ^ 
 
 Sl'ORT IN WAR 
 li^ht we crossed the deep river-bed 
 of the Umchingwe River, and, in 
 doing so, noticed the fresh spoor of 
 <i Hon in the siind. We went on and 
 had agood look at the enemy's strong- 
 hold ; and on our way back, as we 
 approached this river-bed, agreed to 
 go i^uietly, in case the lion should 
 be moving about in it. On looking 
 down over the bank, my heart jumped 
 into my mouth when I saw a grand 
 old brute just walking in behind a 
 bush. Jackson did not see him, but 
 was off his horse as quickly as I was, 
 and ready with his gun : too ready, 
 indeed, for the moment that the lion 
 appeared, walking majestically out 
 from behind the bush that had hidden 
 him, Jackson lired hurriedly, striking 
 the ground under his foot, and, as we 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 
 afterwards discovered, knocking off 
 one of his claws. 
 
 "The lion tossed up his shaggy 
 head and looked at us in dignified 
 surprise. Then I fired and hit him 
 with a leaden bullet from the Lee- 
 Metford. He reeled, sprang round, 
 and staggered a few paces, when 
 Jackson, who was using a Martini- 
 ;5) Henry, let him have one in the 
 shoulder. This knocked him over 
 sideways, and he turned about, 
 growling savagely. 
 
 *' I could scarcely believe that we 
 had got a lion at last, but resolved to 
 make sure of it ; so, telling Jackson 
 not to fire unless it was necessary 
 (for fear of spoiling the skin with the 
 larger bullet of the Martini), I went 
 down closer to the beast and fired a 
 
 36 
 
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 HK TURNED ABOUT, GROWMNG SAVAGKLY 
 
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 SPORT IN WAR 
 shot at the back of his neck as he 
 turned his head momentarily away 
 from me. The bullet went through 
 his spine and came out through the 
 lower jaw, killing him. 
 
 '•' IVc were pretty delighted at our 
 success, but our nigger was mad with 
 happiness, for a dead lion — provided 
 he is not a man-eater — has many 
 invaluable gifts for a Kaffir, in the 
 shape of love-philtres, charms against 
 disease or injury, and medicines that 
 produce bravery. It was quite de- 
 lightful to shake hands with the 
 mighty paws of the dead lion, to 
 pull at his magnificent tawny mane, 
 and to look into his great, deep, 
 yellow eyes. Then we set to work 
 to skin him ; two of us skinning 
 v/hile the other kept watch in case 
 
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 SPORT JN WAR 
 of the enemy sneaking up to catch 
 us while we were thus occupied. 
 We found that he was very fat, and 
 also that he had been much wounded 
 by poixupines, portions of whose 
 quills had pierced the skin, and 
 lodged in his flesh in several places. 
 Our nigger cut out the eyes, gall- 
 bladder, and various bits of the lion's 
 anatomy, as fetish medicine. I filled 
 my carbine-bucket with some of the 
 fat, as I knew my two 'boys,' Diamond 
 and M'tini, would very greatly value 
 it. Then, after hiding the head in a 
 neighbouring bush where we could 
 find it again, we packed the skin on 
 to one of the ponies and returned 
 to camp mightily pleased with our- 
 selves." 
 
 40 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE CAPE 
 FOXHOUNDS 
 
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 HE setting sun is slowly 
 withdrawing his broad 
 warm hand from off 
 the land as we stear 
 out by the evening train from the 
 chill and darkling shadow of Table 
 Mountain, and rattle off across the 
 " Flats " for the hunting - ground 
 beyond. 
 
 Our Colonial railway system may 
 not be so speer'y as tliose at home, 
 but it is infinitely more advanced in 
 
 43 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 one particular : its hunting rates for 
 horses, hounds, and men are of the 
 very lowest. Therefore, with bless- 
 ings on a directorate so sporting, 
 we seldom fail to largely patronise 
 the rail for hunting meets. But to- 
 night we are not many in the train ; 
 besides the Master and myself (who 
 act as whip) there are no members 
 of the hunt aboard. To-morrow a 
 new Governor is to arrive from 
 England, and all the garrison must 
 be there to see him safely in. But, 
 in order that the farmers of the 
 district may not miss their fun, a 
 special dispensation from parade has 
 been granted to the Master and 
 myself, and thus we tind ourselves 
 travelling forth to take up our night's 
 quarters at Maasfontein, in readiness 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 for daybreak hunting ere the dew 
 has left the grass and the sun has 
 parched the scent. 
 
 In less than an hour we have 
 reached the lonely little station, 
 and, after disembarking hounds and 
 horses, we jog away in the gathering 
 darkness over the two miles that 
 separate us from the village. Our 
 baggage we carry with us, as the 
 custom of the country is, in saddle- 
 bags. In a hollow in the open 
 downs we come upon the village, 
 and as we pass its single, long, tree- 
 shaded street, the men and house- 
 wives peer out from their lamplit 
 doors. We lodge both hounds and 
 horses in the stables of the single- 
 storeyed village inn, and here we find 
 a number of our hunting farmers 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 who have come over in their wag- 
 gons for the meet ; for every Dutch- 
 man's waggon forms his travelling 
 home for markets, meets, or fairs. 
 And, while we tackle supper, they sit 
 around and smoke, and talk of what 
 the sport will be. 
 
 What quaint old fellows are these 
 rugged bearded Dutchmen ! Slow, 
 well-nigh to denseness, outwardly, 
 yet in reality full of sporting in- 
 stinct, and also quick enough to see 
 [\ '{ and to resent any display of English / t 
 
 hauteur or attempt to patronise. 
 They have simply to be treated as 
 equals and as friends ; the true free- 
 masonry of sport will do the rest. 
 It is a pleasure to see how their dull 
 faces can light up and their whole 
 demeanour change as they begin to 
 
 46 
 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 talk on sport. After giving a hopeful 
 view of prospects for the morrow, 
 the conversation turns on other Unes, 
 and soon we are thrilled with vivid 
 tales of bygone days when lions and 
 tuskers formed the quarry in these 
 same districts, where now we scarce 
 can find a jackal. 
 
 But these sportsmen are not late 
 sitters, and just as one is beginning 
 to think whether it is quite good 
 enough to hear another lion story at 
 the risk of being asphyxiated with 
 the reek of gin and Boer tobacco, 
 they rise, and, with their hoarse 
 "Goode-nachts," they clatter out into 
 the darkness towards their several 
 travelling bedrooms. Nor do we long 
 outsit them, for, as the pig- sticking 
 song says, 
 
 47 
 
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 After a final sup of whisky from our 
 private stock, and a glance round 
 the stable and the temporary kennel 
 in the wash-house, we turn into 
 our beds in the one bare empty 
 room. 
 
 Our sleep is soon slept. The un- 
 rest natural to night before a hunting 
 day, like John Peel's cry, soon "calls 
 me from my bed," and I slip out and 
 indulge in a glorious "tub" in the 
 horse-trough in front of the inn. It 
 is just daybreak, or, as the Dutchmen ^5!^ 
 term it, "the light for seeing the ;V^ 
 horns of an ox " ; a glow is in the 
 sky behind the eastward hills, and on 
 the village camp-ground the twin- ij^ 
 kling fires show that the farmers' y^^ 
 
 
 
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 ^^^^ CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 "boys" arc preparing the morning 
 coffee. 
 
 An hour later this same camp- 
 ground, or " uitspan," as it is called, 
 is the scene of our meet. 
 
 The farmers soon join us, mounted 
 on tlieir wiry unkempt Httle horses, 
 / .^^ their rusty bits and stirrups being as 
 unhke the turn-out of the English 
 hunting-field as are the riders' cor- 
 duroy trousers, hobnailed boots, and 
 wide flapping hats. But, dirty and 
 ragged though they be, the horses 
 are both clever and quick in bad 
 ground, and wiry and enduring to 
 an extent that would hardly be 
 expected from their narrow chests 
 and quarters ; while the riders, stolid 
 and grumpy as is their demeanour, 
 will rouse up like schoolboys and go 
 
 49 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 
 with the keenest when once there is 
 fox afoot. 
 
 Cups of coffee from the ox-dung 
 camp-fires ^re passed around, and 
 then the e\ erlasting pipes come out 
 and are filled by the simple method 
 of plunging them into the capacious 
 coat-pocket, which is kept filled with 
 loose "Boer" tobacco. The strong 
 aroma hangs as heavily as its blue 
 smoke on the raw morning air, nr-d 
 promises a fine scenting morning as 
 we trot away from the uitspan towards 
 our hunting-ground. 
 
 Our hoimds would perhaps look 
 strange at home — their best admirer 
 could scarcely call them a level lot ; 
 but this need not be wondered at 
 when it is remembered that we have 
 to take what we can get from kind- 
 
 50 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 hearted Masters all over England. 
 The fatal "dog-sickness" of South 
 Africa plays such havoc in the course 
 of a season as to necessitate a fresh 
 draft from home everyyear. Shipping 
 charges are very high, and the funds 
 of the hunt are per contra very low, 
 so it is not surprising that our pack 
 is a somewhat mixed one. But, 
 although "a rum 'un to look at," it 
 is a "good 'un to go," and every 
 hound in it, this line huntingmorning, 
 looks hard and fit for anything. 
 
 At their head rides our Master, as 
 line a specimen of the British soldier- 
 sportsman as you would meet in a 
 day's march. (Poor Turner ! he 
 gave up the hounds not long after 
 the day I am here describing, and 
 he now lies buried on the banks of 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 
 the Sabi, away there beyond Masho- 
 naland.) 
 
 Beside myself rides George, our 
 whip, a Cape lad of nondescript 
 breed, but especially useful in our 
 hunting-Held from his proficiency in 
 the art of " spooring " or tracking 
 the jackal over the frequent sand 
 patches, which do not carry scent. 
 
 As we rise the hill above the village 
 the neighbouring country unfolds 
 itself before us in a succession of 
 undulations of [frass and fallow land 
 and occasional patches of low scrub 
 and heather. There are no fences 
 l3eyond occasional boundary banks, 
 drainage ditches, and dry water- 
 courses. Away to the east and 
 north the downs run up into moun- 
 tains, while to the westward lie the 
 
 54 
 
 
MM 
 
 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 " Flats," sandy heath-covered plains, 
 some eight miles in extent, with the 
 grey-blue mass of Table Mountain 
 rising stark and sheer from out the 
 sea beyond them. 
 
 Look where you will — except for 
 two or three widely distant clumps 
 of trees, with their white farm- 
 buildings among them — there is 
 little to show that the country is a 
 populous colony. Most of the farms 
 and villages, being built near water, 
 lie hidden in the folds of the ground. 
 
 The long, broad shadows cast by 
 the rising sun across the dewy downs 
 are slowly growing shorter as we jog 
 along towards the dark heath-grown 
 hillside that is our tirst cover. But 
 ere we reach it a fresh delay occurs. 
 Over the brow before us there rise 
 
 55 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 
 lirst the white tilt and then the 
 nodding horses of a "Cape cart" 
 trotting fast to meet us. Within it 
 is De VilHers, or, as ihe rest pro- 
 nounce it, "Filjee,"a sporting-hearted 
 farmer, who, although he does not 
 ride himself, loves to see others do 
 it boldly if not well, and to that end 
 he never fails to bring a good supply 
 of "jumping powder" and other 
 similar aids to horsemanship. 
 
 In the present case this diversion 
 is particularly conducive to sport, as 
 it serves to keep our usually over- 
 energetic field well occupied while 
 hounds are drawing cover. The 
 Master waves them in, and George 
 and I take up our places at opposite 
 corners to view the fox away. From 
 where I stand below the crest 1 see 
 
 56 
 
 ^:^ 
 
m. 
 
 
 M 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 but little of the cover and of hounds 
 at work within it, but other entertain- 
 ment comes to me. Anon there is 
 the slightest rustle in the bush, and 
 stealthily a hare slips out and squats 
 quite motionless a few yards from 
 me ; she hearkens backward, her 
 great dark eyes bright-glistening in 
 the sunlight ; then she turns and 
 hunches in again, but a minute later 
 the Master's cheering voice again 
 sends her palpitating on to the open ; 
 a moment's pause, and then away 
 she lits adown the slope and scampers 
 off to other hiding-places. Now 
 creeping up towards me, close along 
 the heather's edge, there comes a 
 string of brown-grey partridges all 
 scuttling fast in frightened hurry. I 
 wonder who gives them their orders ? 
 
 57 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 
 They act upon thorn instantaneously. 
 " Halt ! " they all crouch. " Heads 
 up ! " " Fly 1 " Whirr ! and the whole 
 brown covey are off together down 
 across the ravine ; Hien, with stiffened 
 wings, they rise the other slope : a 
 sudden wheel, then slide up and up 
 the grassy shoulder without a I'.ingle 
 flutter till they overtop 
 
 Hark — a whimper! No — yes — 
 another ! Followed by the anxious 
 cry of others owning to it. 
 
 "Tally-ho! Gone away!" 
 screeches George at the bottom 
 corner. 
 
 With a horse like my old "Toulon," 
 who knows his business, my shortest 
 way is smack through the cover. So 
 into it we go ; plunging here, jump- 
 ing there, through the heavy heath 
 
 58 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 and scrub. As we come over the 
 hill-top the fun is spread before us. 
 Just in time we are to view him cross 
 the ridge in front — a fine old fox, 
 looking somewhat like the little rover 
 of Old England, but, being longer in 
 the leg, he does not stretch himself 
 so close along the ground. 
 
 Hounds in cheery chorus a'*e 
 stretching after him, gleaming white 
 and mottled on the green grass slope. 
 And George, not far behind them, in 
 his pink and leathers, riding a bright 
 bay gelding, completes a hunting 
 picture of the brightest colouring, 
 that in the instant photographs itself 
 upon the mind. 
 
 And now the Master is through the 
 brook-bog in the bottom, and in our 
 turn we scramble through, bringing 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 
 on the last tail hounds from out the 
 cover. Then, while we breast the 
 slope, a backward glance shows all 
 our motley field are tearing down to 
 follow us. Now we top the rise and 
 find an open stretch before us ; scent 
 is good, and hounds are racing well | 
 together. 'Tis grand to gallop thus 
 over such good ground, with hounds 
 lying well away before us, and the 
 field coming equally well behind ; 
 while the keen morning air, lighten- 
 ing up the lungs to the extremity of 
 buoyancy, gives one a taste of life 
 that is divine. 
 
 The going is chiefly rough, long 
 grass, whose only fault is treachery, 
 in the shape of "ant-bear holes." 
 These are the burrows of the ant- 
 eater, more commonly known as the 
 
 62 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 ant-bear or ardvark (" earth-hog "). 
 Luckily, they are not in this district 
 so plentiful as in Natal and Zululand ; 
 and yet one hole is quite enough to 
 spoil your hunting for the day, if not 
 for ever. The ant-heaps, too, are 
 obstacles, but honest ones, because 
 they are not invisible. But on we 
 fly, as though such things existed 
 not, and the pace is good enough to 
 take us clean away from all our 
 following ; but, luckily for them, 
 before we've had two miles of this 
 most glorious burst, a cowboy heads 
 the fox. He turns his line and takes 
 adown a valley to our left, and here 
 he finds a thick and scrubby cover 
 from which lead many blind ravines. 
 A check, while hounds endeavour 
 to worry out the line, gives pause for 
 
 63 
 
 '•* J"*— ^■•»-*»^-.«%'%».* 4^ 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 the field to come bustling up. Then 
 some dismount to ease their blowing 
 nags, while others ride around to 
 help, as they suppose, the non- 
 plussed hounds. Their noisy babel, 
 as they talk about the run and chaff 
 late-comers, would annoy one were 
 it not so ludicrous to see how much 
 a gallop moves these Dutchmen from 
 their cold stolidity. 
 
 Now one young hand, supposing 
 all is over, off-saddles, as his custom 
 is, and leaves his horse to roll ; but 
 at that moment hounds once more 
 hit off the line, and helter-skelter, oft" 
 we pelt, leaving this young man to 
 gain experience. Onward down the 
 long hillside we press, now bending 
 right, now swinging left, but ever 
 edging on towards the " Flats." A 
 
 64 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 ditch and boundary bank next cause 
 i(S'^ some grief, and farther on an ugly 
 dry ravine brings down the Master 
 
 -^ and turns a large proportion of the 
 
 '^ lield to seek another way. 
 
 Hounds now are tailing off a bit. 
 
 iS^ Young Ranger leads the rest, as is his 
 wont, by quite a hundred yards : 
 he's far too fast, but we cannot well 
 afford to trim our pack, else might 
 we well dispense with Colleen, too — 
 a small dark bitch, whose only place 
 is at the Master's heels ; and even 
 when he's down, she waits to see him 
 safely up again. 
 
 Our fox iOw runs us through a 
 farmstead, where, among the cattle- 
 kraals, we get some stone-wall lep- 
 ping. At length we reach the tract 
 of heath and dunes that forms the 
 
 65 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 " Flats," and scent falls light and 
 catchy. Slow hunting here becomes 
 the order of the day, with now and 
 then a sudden burst along some 
 grassy bottom. The field, though 
 much reduced in numbers, is more 
 than ever keen, and follows close — 
 too close — upon the hounds. 
 
 " Now, Wanderer, my lad, what is 
 it ? Lame ? " No, worse I Ay, 
 poor old hound, he leaves the line, 
 with drooping head and stern, and 
 walks aside, just glancing up, as if to 
 say, " Don't mind me, old friend, go 
 on and see it out " ; and he flings 
 himself, quite helpless, down behind 
 a bush. A little Kaffir tending cows 
 close by agrees to nurse him, and, if 
 he lives, to bring him home ; but 
 the hunt will never see old Wanderer 
 
 66 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
k:'*' 
 
 m 
 
 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 again. Dog-sickness always for its 
 victims seems to take the best. 
 
 With sorrow at my heart, I push 
 along to overtake the bobbing crowd 
 in front, and find them checked 
 beside a stretch of open sand. Here 
 all scent fails, and George, on foot, 
 is taking up the spoor, hounds 
 following in an interested group. 
 Upon the sand the tracks show 
 where the fox has stopped to listen 
 and then has doubled on his trail. 
 Into the bush once more, and — 
 Tally-ho ! — he jumps up right before 
 us. What a screech of men and 
 hounds ! Old Piet Nielmann rushes 
 past me, lambasting his fully-blown 
 horse with a heavy sjambok, till a 
 sturdy tussock stretches both the 
 rider and his horse upon the sand. 
 
 67 
 
 Mi 
 
 'i 
 
 
A RUN WITH THE 
 The crowd go racing on. Over 
 yonder rise our fox is viewed ; a 
 minute later we are there, and see 
 the fun below. He doubles in some 
 grass, and round the beauties come, 
 just like a flock of pigeons wheeling 
 — a crash, a snarl, and they roll him 
 over in the bottom. Whowhoop ! 
 
 And while he is broken up in the 
 good old way, the knot of panting 
 men and horses is gradually added 
 to by stragglers coming up to join 
 the chatter and the talk about the 
 run. 
 
 Then pipes are lit, and, in the best 
 of moods, we make our way once 
 more towards the upland, where the 
 farm of " VWjee " stands out white 
 upon the hillside, bare except for 
 this one group of trees and build- 
 
 68 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 ings. On drawing near \vc find a 
 plain-faced single-storeyed house, 
 with windows blinded by a formal 
 row of pollard-trees set close in front. 
 Upon the stoep or terrace-step, De 
 Villiers and his frau receive us. 
 Within the steamy room (whose 
 windows never open) we find a 
 plentiful repast laid out, of beef, 
 black bread, and succotash, backed 
 by an imposing display of bottles '^"^ 
 liolding " square-face " gin, pontac, 
 and van-der-Hum. But little time is 
 lost in reconnoitring this formidable 
 array, and our hungry sportsmen 
 spring to the attack as hounds from 
 leash. Once at it, they are fixed. 
 Still, we know the scent which has 
 favoured us so far may not last all 
 day, so, after a welcome snack and a 
 
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 toast +o our sporting entertainer, a 
 few o '1 nove out to go afield 
 again. Bui not so the majority : 
 with them the U.ich is half the 
 hunt : they feel they've had their 
 
 ^ run, and now enjoy its complement. 
 
 j; So as we jog away to covers 
 higher in the hills, we find our field 
 reduced to three, and those three 
 not likely, with their overweighted 
 mounts, to carry on for long if the 
 run has any pace. At the cross a 
 spruit running out of a little bushy 
 glen, hounds suddenly break and 
 feather on a trail, and, bustling up 
 the ravme, they pick up a gradually 
 improving scent. Forrard ! Forrard ! 
 On to a long swelling down we go, 
 over the level for a space, and then a 
 heavy breather up to the top ; those 
 
 7« 
 
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 ).4, 
 
 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 whose mounts are well shouldered 
 have the best of it striding down the 
 further slope. Through a network 
 of dry watercourses, where the scent 
 falls light, they hit it off on a grand 
 level plateau beyond. Then we get 
 a real good ding-dong gallop that 
 soon polishes off our little field, 
 and leaves us three alone to follow 
 hounds, while praying that we too 
 may not get left. The line has led 
 us straight, without a swerve, towards 
 a conical hill, whose pointed heath- 
 clad top has often served us for a 
 landmark ; and hounds are tailing 
 out a bit on the lower slopes as the 
 line takes us round its base. Now 
 Ranger, who is far ahead, swerves 
 suddenly, then circles round, the 
 others cast about. A check at last I 
 
 73 
 
 1 
 
 1 'h 
 
. 
 
 A RUN WITH THE 
 the first in thirty minutes. Ranter 
 lias it I but for a moment only ; lie 
 brings it up a watercourse, and 
 there's the earth before us in an 
 overhanging bank. 
 
 It should be an easy one to dig, 
 " had we but weapons handy." Antl 
 so they are. Over the next rise 
 there peeps some trees — the trees of 
 Swartzkop Farm. George canters 
 off, and soon is back with pick and 
 spade. We link our three horses all 
 together with their reins, and, while 
 George and I proceed to dig, the 
 Master holds the pack away. 
 
 Quick work we are making with 
 the bank when, without a moment's 
 warning, through a cloud of dust be- 
 tween us, there springs out the great 
 red " Jack," and flies away before 
 
 74 
 
 H^ 
 
^ 
 
 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 the very noses of the pack. For one 
 short instant they scarce reaHse tlie 
 case, but then they swoop upon the 
 Une with a screaming chorus that 
 would wake the dead. Indeed, it 
 wakes something more important 
 than the dead : it causes our horses 
 to throw up their heads, and, with- 
 out a moment's hesitation, to start in 
 pursuit, in no Httie gaiety of heart at 
 finding themselves without the usual 
 burden of their rider-:. Helplessly 
 we, in our turn, start to follow ; but 
 they are streaming away over the 
 shoulder before us, while we, pound- 
 ing in our top-boots throvgh heavy 
 grass and heather, find ourselves 
 well pumped within a hundred 
 yards. The hounds are gone, the 
 horses top the sky-line, still tied head 
 
 75 D 
 
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 A RUN WITH THE 
 to licud, but }4allopin^ with nil their 
 mi^ht ; thuy disappear, and after 
 them, more faithful to the Master's 
 horse tlian Master, there j*oes Col- 
 leen. They're yone I We pause, and, 
 lilovving hard, we make a few appro- 
 priate remarks. And tlien we turn ^ 
 lo cHmb the peak in hopes, at least, jjfeV s^j 
 of seeing how the hunt may end. f^^J^' 
 We struggle up and clamber, none '/^ 
 Wm^ the better for our boots and spurs 'Jij fj 
 and feverish haste. Anon we pause jgfcJ^; 
 I for breath, when lo, bchiiul us, the |/4% 
 51 fox is pounding heavily up the hill ! '^"Z\i 
 He has completely circled round it, 
 and again is making for the earths [JfTiJ: 
 that lie beside us. But close upon -^^Jgj 
 his brush there follows Ranger, ever i^^ 
 to the fore, with all the ruck not j!S^< 
 many yards behind. Now Ranger's r *-l! 
 
 76 
 
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 CAPE FOXHOUNDS 
 
 almost on him ; he turns upon his 
 foe. 
 
 Each rears on end with an angry 
 worry at the other's throat, but in a 
 second more the white and mottled 
 avalanche is on them, and it is a 
 struggling mass of tugging, growling 
 hounds that we spring into with 
 "Whowhoop!" 
 
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 )N the deep shade of a 
 mango tope, in the 
 Meerut Kadir, a camp 
 was pitched for the 
 Christmas pig-sticking meet. Among 
 some adjoining trees a few more 
 tents formed the temporary home of 
 some ladies who had come out to 
 the jungle to witness the sport. 
 
 Among these were Edna Clay and 
 her mother. 
 
 (Had they been English people 
 
 m 
 t 
 
 83 
 
 ;^ 
 
 
 mm^im^.^kmjm. 
 
 »4..^V«JlKt. 
 
 t 
 
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 THE ORDEAL 
 
 I should possibly have referred to 
 them in the reverse order ; but 
 with Americans the relative import- 
 ance of the members of a family is, 
 as a rule, in an inverse ratio to that 
 which obtains in England. The 
 American fathers and brothers come 
 at the back-end of the list, while the 
 daughter of the house leads at the 
 hend.) 
 
 The Clays had been wintering in 
 Meenit, where the good climate and 
 the social cheeriness of the large 
 military station contributed to make 
 it an agreeable substitute for the 
 usual Continental watering - places 
 that form the habitat of Americans 
 blizzarded out of their own country. 
 
 Having many friends among the 
 6th Hussars at Meerut,the ladies had 
 84 
 
-X 
 
 w^Mb 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 
 been readily persuaded to come and 
 try what camp life was like, and to 
 see a little of this wonderful sport 
 which they found from experience 
 was apt to draw men away from their 
 most solemn engagements. " Pig- 
 sticking " was a talisman that appa- 
 rently entitled men to break off an 
 acceptance to dinner, or to disappear 
 in the middle of a dance, to drive off 
 in their dak gharri to some distant 
 meet. 
 
 The light rains which usually fell 
 about Christmas-time had not come, 
 consequently in the middle of the 
 day the sun was powerful, and pig- 
 sticking was only carried out in the 
 mornings and afternoons. 
 
 To-day, although none of the heat 
 of the midday sun was able to pene- 
 
 85 
 
 4 
 
I I 
 
 !,'■ ^ 
 
 
 S 
 
 m 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 trate through the massive foliage of 
 the mango-trees and the double fly g^j 
 of the roomy tent beneath them, >^:i 
 Miss Edna seemed in a restless 
 mood. She could not sit down to 
 write, as her mother did, long screeds 
 to their men-kind at home, nor was 
 she gifted with the power to sketch 
 the sunny view outside their door ; 
 her banjo lay neglected in its case, 
 and the latest novels failed to-day to 
 attract her. 
 
 " What is it, my dear ? " asked 
 the patient mother for the fourth 
 time, looking up from her letter- 
 ^ writing. 
 
 " It is this, mamma. I am not 
 going to leave India — I know it." 
 She WHS standing at the moment, 
 with her hands clasped behind her, 
 
 86 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 •O', 
 
 '^\ 
 
 X, 
 
 ill 
 
^ 
 
 
 
 ■l /' 
 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 
 staring out at the sunlit scene ; then 
 she turned suddenly to her mother, 
 and with unwonted vehemence ex- 
 claimed, " I've been a fool. I can- 
 not help it. I have let myself fall in 
 love. I never thought about it — I 
 
 never foresaw it. And now " she 
 
 paused, looking out again across the 
 sea of yellow grass. 
 
 Her mother had laid aside her pen 
 and taken off her glasses, scarcely 
 surprised, but beaming, anxious to 
 hear more. "Well, my dear, and 
 why not ? I have long seen ho^v he 
 admires you. And as for not leaving 
 India — that would be about the first 
 thing you xvoithl do. He has told 
 me how he wants to retire from the 
 army as snon as he can |4et a good 
 excuse — to go and live in his own 
 
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THE ORDEAL 
 
 family mansion, a superb place from 
 what " 
 
 " Mamma," interrupts poor Edna, 
 almost tearfully, " it is not * the 
 Devil ' I am in love with — I wish it 
 were ! It is the ' Deep C. ! '" 
 
 To say that she was taken aback 
 would scarcely express the state of 
 mind into which Mrs. Clay was 
 thrown by this avowal. In vain she 
 sought for words to express her pro- 
 test ; this match between her daughter 
 and the Honourable Jack Austin, 
 better known among his friends as 
 " the Devil," she had fondly pictured 
 to herself, and secretly and very 
 cautiously had furthered to the best 
 of her ability. For what other reason 
 had she, at her time of life, left the 
 comforts of a well-ordered house in 
 
 I' I 
 
 
 i 
 
 ~ .^._t-iii?S«t,;<iiU_jLj 
 
 i*iCJrr-- 
 
 i^ii~tjtcsaii~* 
 
mm^mmm 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 
 Meerut for the unknown ills of camp 
 
 life, but that Jack Austin would be 
 
 of the party of pig-stickers in whose 
 
 company she and Edna were to be 
 
 thrown ? Her dream, which had 
 
 ^ seemed about to culminate in reality, 
 
 >n^ had been shattered at one blow, and 
 
 ^f^ she could scarcely for the moment 
 
 realise the fact. 
 
 i 
 
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 fe 
 
 ^ "And the 'Deep C too— of all 
 ^ people!" This was Major Calvert 
 
 ^kJ^ of the 6th, a dark, handsome, but 
 
 
 "k 
 
 m 
 
 %m 
 
 taciturn man. "Whatever could Edna 
 see in him ? " were points that sug- 
 gested themselves to her mind. 
 
 " But, my dear child," she urged 
 aloud, considerately putting in the 
 second place that which she con- 
 sidered very much in the first, 
 " Major Calvert is so — so staid ; and 
 
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 THE ORDEAL 
 Mr. Austin is Lord Ravensham's 
 heir, you know." 
 
 " I know, I know all that. And I 
 like 'the Devil' better than I liked 
 any one before. He is, for one thing, 
 a gentleman. Only yesterday he was 
 telling me all about his home and his 
 people. His mother and sisters must 
 be sweet. And I thought then how 
 lovely it would be — but to-day, I see 
 that it is impossible." 
 
 Edna here sank down into a low 
 chair, and, after toying for an instant 
 with a paper-knife, resumed her 
 troubled gaze on the distant scene, 
 resting her chin upon her hand. 
 
 The mother, in her confusion of 
 mind, remained silent, and the girl 
 presently continued her almost sad 
 confession. 
 
 90 
 
 1^1 
 
 » " 
 
 u ' 4^ 
 

 !Sk^ 
 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 
 "Yes; I had always looked on 
 Major Calvert as the best of my 
 friends, as he was Mr. Austin's. 
 Indeed," she added, with a slight 
 laugh, " I would almost sooner have 
 gone to him for advice in a difficulty 
 than to you, mamma. With him 1 
 always felt that I was with an old 
 friend. To-day, coming back from 
 pig-sticking on the elephant with 
 him, I was chaffing him for bein^ so 
 staid, when in reality his mind is full 
 of fun. Then I saw a look cross his 
 eyes that made me ask— without 
 thinking — if he was in any trouble. 
 He told me then the sad sorrowful 
 little story of his life, which he has 
 never spoken of, even to Mr. Austin. 
 And when he told me that it was my 
 kindness and sympathy had drawn 
 
 $1 
 
 J' " 
 
V 
 
 
 t-' 
 
 '• : r 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 him out, I thought what a prize he 
 would be to any one as her helpmeet 
 for life. Now I know that I love him 
 as I never cared for any man before. 
 And yet " — with a fluttering sigh of a 
 laugh — " I suppose he would not 
 look at me I " 
 
 In the meantime, while this con- 
 versation was going on between Mrs. 
 Clay and her daughter, in the neigh- 
 bouring camp Jack Austin and Cal- 
 vert were, by way of smoking to- 
 gether, in the latter's tent. I have 
 never heard who first called them ' - the 
 Devil" and the "Deep Sea." Though 
 unlike each other in very many 
 ways, they were an unusually good 
 pair of friends. If you fell out with 
 one — which was not an easy thing 
 
 92 
 
OF THE SPEAR 
 to do — you fell out with both. Jack 
 Austin, "the Devil," was a cheery, 
 light-hearted, typical British sub- 
 altern, ready for any game that was 
 going, while Major Calvert, "the 
 Deep C," though a keen sportsman 
 and full of dry and — what is not 
 always the same thing — kindly hu- 
 mour, was of a quiet disposition, 
 avoiding rather than courting society, 
 and was therefore credited with 
 having some character below the 
 surface. Many a man, indeed, has 
 passed as a clever one before the 
 world simply because he has been 
 wise enough not to let out to what 
 extent he is a fool. 
 
 Why the two men should have 
 become such peculiarly good friends 
 it is difficult to see, as theoretically 
 
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 THE ORDEAL 
 
 like to the like is the proper apposi- 
 tion ; but, as a matter of fact, this 
 does not work out in practice, where 
 like with the unlike very often hit 
 it off completely and satisiactorily. 
 Such had, in fact, happened in this 
 case. 
 
 In their tent this morning, after 
 the events of the morning's pig- 
 sticking had been discussed, there 
 had been very little conversation 
 between them ; both had sat silently 
 smoking for some time, which, after 
 II all, is the way of good friends. Sud- 
 denly the Devil broke the silence by 
 exclaiming, " Look here, Bloggs " — 
 Bloggs was the name by which he 
 usually addressed Major Calvert 
 when not on parade — " I am tired of 
 soldiering. I've hung on a bit hoping 
 
 94 
 
OF THE SPEAR 
 
 to see a little service, but British 
 cavalry seem to be too carefully 
 bottled up nowadays for one to have 
 a chance of it. You have been lucky, 
 and so, perhaps, you can't enter into 
 my feelings. But that's how it is, 
 and I'm going to send in my 
 papers ! " 
 
 " My dear chap, I quite agree with 
 you about our fine old crusted 
 cavalry, but a day may yet come 1 
 And besides, I don't see exactly why 
 this sudden resolution, noWf with the 
 pig-sticking and polo tournament 
 just coming on. You haven't had to 
 do orderly officer *more than three 
 days a week on an average,' as Mr. 
 Glimmer would say — what has put 
 your back up ? " 
 
 "Nothing has put my back up. 
 
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 THE ORDEAL 
 It's the other way. I'm going to ask 
 Miss Clay to be my wife." 
 
 "Good heavens!" This came 
 with so sharp a change of tone 
 from Calvert that Austin almost 
 jumped round in his chair to look 
 at him. 
 
 " What is it, old chap ? Do you 
 know anything against it ? " cried 
 Austin. 
 
 " No — at least, not exactly — except 
 that — well, I had intended to do the 
 same thing myself." 
 
 "You!" 
 
 " Yes, but it never struck me that 
 yon were meaning anything that way. 
 I never thought " 
 
 Then both relapsed into silence 
 for a moment, till Austin summed up 
 the situation with the remark ; 
 
,*.^*^*5. *.A'.w»«**-«^- 
 
 A VETERAN HAND AT THE GAME 
 
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 OF THE SPEAR 
 
 " Well, by gum, we are in a queer 
 luit I What is to be done ? " 
 
 There was then a silence for so 
 long that Austin, coming back to 
 the actual situation first, exclaimed, 
 " Bloggs, are you asleep ? " Calvert, 
 who was lying back in an armchair, 
 no longer smoking, merely flung 
 back the word with some scorn in 
 his tone, " A-sleep ! " 
 
 The Devil, finding that he had an 
 audience, proceeded to give out his 
 views: "Well, I've been thinking it 
 over, and I don't see a way out of the 
 difficulty. You haven't asked her, 
 you say ; have you broken ground at 
 all?" 
 
 •* Yes, 1 have in a way broken the 
 ice." 
 
 "Well, then, we're no better off 
 99 
 
» 1 
 
 J^.i^ 
 
 
 ^i 
 
 ::.7' 
 
 ^ 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 than before. For I've been prepar- 
 ing her by telling her all about my 
 people and prospects, and so on, 
 though I've not asked her right out. [ig 
 But it seems to me she is very young, 
 you know, and you're getting on a '-^ 
 bit " 
 
 "Thanks, Jack, but I'm not so old 
 as all that ; and even if she took a 
 man of my age, it would be better for 
 her than being shackled on to a 
 flighty young Devil like you." Ifil^' 
 
 The Devil gave up this argument 
 with a sigh, and lay back in his chair 
 with his arms behind his head, star- 
 ing at the ceiling for further inspira- 
 tion. 
 
 Presently Calvert continued : " No, 
 my boy, I am perfectly fixed on it. 
 But are you quite sure that you mean 
 
 100 
 
 ■> »»- •• 
 
OF THE SPEAR 
 business ? May it not be with you 
 one of those fascinations which 
 you'll allow do come to you now and 
 then?" 
 
 " No ; in those affairs I never 
 speak of my people and prospects," 
 retorted the Devil with proper pride. 
 
 "Quite right. I even found a 
 difficulty in speaking of my pros- 
 pects, so gave her more of my past, 
 from which she could herself evolve 
 my character." 
 
 " Your past I Oh, by George I 
 then I give in. A man with a past 
 is a hopeless chap to contend against. 
 A girl will jump at him like a trout 
 at a fly ; she don't care what his 
 future is likely to be provided he has 
 got a past. Well, it seems to me that 
 we are as we were." 
 
 lUl 
 
 
'.^fc 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 
 " We shall have to leave it to her 
 to decide. But, look here, it is tea- 
 time over there ; we ought to be 
 going. I don't see any use in cutting 
 each other's throats over it ; but it is 
 a hat ! " 
 
 A few minutes later they were 
 wending their way across to the 
 ladies' camp, when Austin, who had 
 been silent for some time, suddenly 
 stopped Calvert and excitedly began, 
 " Bloggs, I see a way ! I was think- 
 ing how evenly matched we are at 
 this new game, just as we are said to 
 be at polo and pig-sticking. If we 
 leave the settlement of the thing to 
 her we shall be working against each 
 other all the time, we shall both ask 
 her, which will be very unctjmfort- 
 able for her, and she'll have to say 
 
 i 
 
} 
 
 I 
 
 ( 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 
 *No' to one of us, which will be 
 -d uncomfortable ^or him. One 
 is almost inclined to draw lots about 
 it, but that is so jolly unsatisfactory 
 for the loser. What do you say to 
 having a match after a pig, you and 
 I, and whoever wins to have first 
 right to ask her ? I'm lighter than 
 you, but then they say that a man 
 over thirty is better at pig-sticking 
 and polo than a young 'un, so that 
 about makes us level. Your little 
 
 Arab is " 
 
 Calvert, who had smiled curiously 
 at this new idea of the boy's, while 
 his eyes sparkled at the sporting 
 smack of it, now suddenly grasped 
 Jack's hand and laughingly said, 
 " Right you are, old boy ; let's have 
 it that way. The ordeal of the spear 
 
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 THE ORDEAL 
 
 shall decide who has the first right 
 to ask her." 
 
 That night at dinner it was known 
 that "the Devil " and the " Deep C." 
 were to ride a match after pig for a 
 wager the following morning. An 
 umpire was detailed to start them 
 and to see fair play. Bets were 
 made among such sportsmen as were 
 that way inclined according to their 
 several fancies, but on every hand it 
 was admitted that there was not 
 much to choose between the two 
 competitors. 
 
 At an early hour the beat was 
 under way. The line of beaters was 
 backed up by an imposing show of 
 elephants. Upon these were mounted 
 most of the sportsmen who were 
 keen to see this match run off. In 
 
 104 
 
 w 
 
 PJ 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 H 
 
 fm 
 
 
 I'JMP 
 
OF THE SPEAR 
 front of the centre of the line rode 
 Jack Austin on his keen little Waler 
 mare, " Lovelei," and Major Calvert 
 on his Arab " Kismet," and in close 
 attendance rode " old " Baynton, the 
 collector of the district, a veteran 
 hand at the game, and still hard to 
 beat as a straight-going, deadly man 
 after a pig. 
 
 The ladies were not yet out, but 
 an elephant had been left at their 
 camp to bring them on when ready. 
 
 The line slowly and quietly beat 
 its way through the long grass of the 
 Kadir plain, working gradually away 
 from the tree jungle and the nullahs 
 that fringe the edge of it. A few 
 small pig were soon afoot, but 
 nothing that Baynton considered 
 rideable. 
 
 t?i* 
 
 *•■ «, V* - — ^ 
 
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 * I I 
 
 wy 
 
 «^ 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 
 Suddenly there arises a loud yelling 
 from the beaters on the extreme 
 flank of the line. Old Lutchman, 
 the shikari, knowing of the match, is 
 for once in his life excited. Standing 
 on his elephant he holloas the party 
 on, " IVnh jata hat! buira dant- 
 wallah ! " 
 
 Baynton, clapping spurs to his 
 horse, leads the way in the direction 
 indicated, closely followed by the 
 two riders. In a minute or so he is 
 able to point out to them the form 
 of a fine young boar louping away 
 through the yellow grass, back in 
 the direction of the nullahs. 
 
 " Do you all see him ? " he cries : 
 " then, ride ! " And away go Jack 
 and Calvert with an even start. 
 
 The pig has got a good offing, and 
 
m 
 
OF THE SPEAR 
 is going at a very fair pace, so that 
 they have a long, straight gallop 
 before them to begin with. What 
 are their thoughts at this moment it 
 is hard to say, but possibly the sense 
 of the importance of the occasion is 
 already drowned in the more palpable 
 delight of a racing gallop with the 
 game in view. 
 
 That they are both putting on an 
 extra turn of speed is evident from 
 the way they are leaving old Baynton 
 behind, though he is by no means 
 undermounted. Gradually, however, 
 slowly and surely the weight begins 
 to tell, and Jack shows a little ahead 
 of his rival. Elated he presses on, 
 steadily improving his lead. 
 
 They are now nearing the boar, 
 and he, laying back his ears and 
 
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 4- ' 
 
 ; I 
 
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 ! 1 
 
 
 ipv) 
 
 
 v>2 
 
 
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 THE ORDEAL 
 giving a backward glance from the 
 tail of his eye, cracks on his better 
 pace and leads them a burster. 
 
 Closer and closer to him draws 
 Jack on Lovelei, with Calvert some 
 three or four lengths behind. 
 
 Now Jack gets ready his spear, 
 and letting in knees and spurs, lifts 
 Lovelei with a rush to the pig. At 
 the same time the boar seems for a 
 second to shorten his stride, but the 
 next moment, when the horse is at 
 its fastest and he at his most collected 
 pace, he suddenly shoots off at right 
 angles to his line, thereby gaining 
 several lengths before his pursuer 
 can turn. But this manoeuvre lets 
 up the second man ; Calvert, quickly 
 turning on to the new line, now 
 rides the boar. Gradually and 
 
 no 
 
i^^ 
 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 steadily he comes up to him ; his 
 spear is ready ; the boar pricks his 
 ears and gallops high as he shortens 
 his stride. Calvert knows that a 
 "jink " is coming, collects his horse, 
 and is ready for it when the pig sud- 
 denly turns across his front. Round 
 he comes on the instant in the same 
 direction, and Jack, who is close 
 behind, similarly turns to the left ; 
 but before they have gone two 
 strides the pig twists abruptly round 
 again and leaves them both several 
 lengths to the bad as once more he 
 heads for the nullahs. 
 
 Again it is a neck-and-neck race 
 between the two riders, Calvert hav- 
 ing a little the best of the start. In- 
 deed, it is a ding-dong race between 
 all three, for the boar has his head 
 
M 
 
 i 
 
 • r 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 set for the tree-jungle, which is now 
 not far distant, and he knows that 
 there Hes his only chance of escape. 
 As they near the jungle, the ele- 
 phant bearing Miss Clay comes out 
 from .among the trees, and she thus 
 has an excellent view of the race, 
 though little she knows how much 
 its issue may afifect her own future. 
 Calvert is closing on the pig, and 
 another stride or two should land 
 him within spearing distance, when 
 suddenly — whether in a buffalo- 
 wallow or over a hard tussock — 
 Kismet pecks heavily, almost on to 
 his head; but though he recovers 
 himself in a trice, the momentary 
 check lets up Jack on Lovelei. 
 Nor is he slow to take his chance ; 
 cramming his horse to the front with 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 : <■ 
 
I 
 
 OF THE SPEAR 
 one extra spurt, he comes on the pig 
 with a rush, and leaning low he 
 drives his spear-point into the burly 
 flank. It is not a good spear, but it 
 counts as " first." 
 
 At this moment for the first time 
 he sees that Miss Clay, now close 
 above them, is spectator of the 
 game. The magnitude of what he 
 had, in winning first spear, won, 
 now dawns upon him, and as he 
 tosses high his spear, his lungs give 
 vent to an ear-piercing " who-hoop " 
 of exultation. 
 
 Calvert, probably too engrossed in 
 the matter in hand to realise his loss, 
 dashes in, and with a crashing stroke 
 rolls the boar head over heels. But 
 .the trees are near ; the pig is up 
 again and quickly in among them. 
 
 113 ¥ 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 KS 
 
 
 THE ORDEAL 
 Here he gains a little on the men 
 until an open glade is reached, 
 where, finding that they press him 
 still, he turns, and beginning with a 
 shambling trot, breaks into a gallop, 
 and with ears pricked and fire in his 
 eye comes in at the charge. It is 
 met with all the shock of a firmly 
 held spear and a fast-moving horse, 
 and he reels back repulsed but not 
 daumed ; a second time he hurls 
 himself against a foe, and a second 
 time the deadly spear crashes into 
 him. He can do no more. Dis- 
 abled, he sinks on his haunches, his 
 jaws, champing in anger, drop foam ^^ 
 and blood. As his enemies once 
 more approach he turns to face 
 them, his little eyes gleaming red 
 with rage, but he cannot rise, and a 
 
 114 
 
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 OF THE SPEAR 
 merciful spear through the heart 
 drops the gallant beast dead. 
 
 While Jack is loosing Lovelei's 
 
 girths, he feels a kindly pat on the 
 
 shoulder as Calvert says to him, 
 
 * Well done, old boy ; go in and try 
 
 your luck. It was a good run, wasn't 
 
 it?" 
 
 * « * « 
 
 As they led their tired horses 
 slowly back towards the open a 
 native came hurriedly towards them 
 from some neighbouring huts. With 
 a scared face he told his story. 
 
 In a few minutes they were stand- 
 ing beside the body as it lay upon 
 a common native charpoy. She 
 looked almost as if she were resting 
 after a bout of tennis. Her white 
 frock and gay silk blouse were fresh 
 
 TT7 
 
 ■ if. 
 
y 
 
 ORDEAL OF THE SPEAR 
 
 and scarcely dishevelled ; but there 
 was an awkward uprightness about 
 the small brown shoes ; her form 
 seemed flattened down into the cot, 
 and the unnatural sternness about 
 the waxen face, with its half-closed 
 eyes and parted lips, showed that 
 Edna Clay was dead. 
 
 Her elephant, frightened at the 
 final rush and turmoil of the race, 
 had turned and fled among the trees, 
 to the instant destruction of the 
 howdah and its occupant. 
 
 Xi8 
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^K 
 
 
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THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
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 <.i:.:Tt-i 
 
THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 N the smoking-room at 
 Norreys Court, the 
 other night, we had 
 a great pig - sticking 
 " buck." 
 
 As is usual where a few Britons 
 are gathered together, several of the 
 party had visited India and knew 
 something of the subject, but it 
 struck me forcibly how ignorant, 
 as a rule, are home-keeping sports- 
 men of this and kindred Eastern 
 sports. 
 
 i 
 
 ivF 
 
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 »-*•« , »A » *i— ■ 4. • 
 
lit 
 
 in 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 They seem to understand that 
 some sort of sunshine of sport lies 
 behind the veil of distance which 
 separates England from India, but it 
 is only occasionally that a ray breaks 
 through the cloud — in the shape of a 
 book or article — and gives them a 
 glint of the glamour that lies beyond. 
 India, in the matter of sport, has 
 stood the test of time far better 
 than any of her rivals. In early 
 ages India and America proved 
 equally attractive to adventurous 
 sportsmen. But in America bison, 
 grizzly, deer, and Redskin came to 
 be gradually and effectively wiped 
 out under the deadly bead-drawing 
 of "Old Rube " and his kind. 
 
 Then arose South Africa as a rival, 
 and although her day has been a 
 
 124 
 
 \ '-^ 
 
 „ •••*•*•',>.•.. 
 
I 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 happy one, its sun is setting ; ere the 
 next century has well begun, ad- 
 vancing civiiisation and improved 
 breechloaders will have cleared off 
 the elephant, rhino, lion, and buck 
 that have made Africa so happy a 
 hunting-ground these past sixty years. 
 Yet India still maintains her head 
 of game, and bids fair to do so for 
 many years to come. From the 
 North, with its Oves ammon and 
 poli, bears and ibex, to the South, 
 with its tiger, buffalo, sambur, and 
 boar, the sportsman finds game 
 worthy of his steel, in addition to 
 abundance of the lesser kind of 
 buck and bird, and fish and fowl. 
 But, as an old doggerel has it, 
 
 The sport that beats them o'er and o'er 
 Is that wherein we hunt the boar. 
 125 
 
 ill 
 
 I 
 
»- 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 Pig-sticking is the acknowledged 
 king of Eastern sports, and there are 
 many reasons why it should and 
 must be so. 
 
 For one thing, it demands the 
 assistance of the horse, and this in 
 itself commends it more particularly 
 to the Anglo-Saxon race. Then it is 
 one of the few sports in which the 
 hunter is almost always associated 
 with others of his kind. In most 
 big-game expeditions the shooter is 
 attended only by a few trackers or 
 beaters — more guns would spoil 
 sport ; and, although there may be, 
 and is, a certain charm for a time in 
 such solitary life, yet eventually the 
 sportsman cannot but long for com- 
 panionship of his fellows in his 
 evening camp. Nor is it good for a 
 
 126 
 
 * * **. **• -a « . #• ^ ■*'*^* wJ** 'tmt «)*u 0^ 
 
 r. », :.lT-'<1>.it ♦■*-":t J 
 
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 THE KING OF EASTERN SFOKTS 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 man to become accustomed to a 
 solitary life ; Englishmen are already 
 misanthropical and reserved enough 
 in all conscience, without such fur- 
 ther training. In pig-sticking, on 
 the other hand, the hunters live, 
 and move, and hunt in parties ; and 
 yet individual excellence is as 
 necessary as ever to success, 
 while it gains the additional spice 
 born of friendly rivalry with one's 
 fellows. 
 
 Again, the risks and chances, 
 which after all form a great part 
 of the charm of most wild sports, 
 are in pig -sticking incomparably 
 greater than those in ordinary tiger- 
 shooting ; that is to say, tiger-shoot- 
 ing from an elephant, for I do not 
 look on that carried out on foot as 
 
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 Jf 
 
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THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 anything but foolhardiness, except 
 under special circumstances. 
 
 Moreover, the quarry is not only 
 fast and crafty, but he is also plucky, 
 powerful, and cruel ; he enters fully 
 into the spirit of the chase, and he 
 will generally give you a good fight 
 as well as a good run for your 
 money. 
 
 That pigsticking has an affinity to 
 the sport of all true British sports- 
 men — viz., fox-hunting — cannot be 
 denied, but that there exists a neck- 
 and-neck resemblance between them 
 is not so easy to see. Yet much 
 midnight oil and gas, liquid and 
 tobacco smoke, have been consumed 
 in country-house billiard-rooms over 
 the discussion and comparison of 
 their respective merits. 
 
 130 
 
1 I- 
 
 1 1'. I 
 
 THE SPORT OF KAJAHS 
 As a matter of fact, pi^-sticking 
 may equally claim an affinity with 
 polo and with racing. And to the 
 glorious attractions of these it adds 
 a taste of the best of all hunts — 
 namely, the pursuit, with a good 
 weapon in your hand, of an enemy 
 whom you want to kill. 
 
 In pig-sticking every man rides to 
 huntf whereas in fox-hunting the 
 majority (although for some occult 
 reason they will seldom own to it) 
 hunt to ride. The first part of a pig- 
 sticking run partakes rather of the 
 nature of a point-to-point race, since 
 each man is endeavouring to be first 
 to come up with the pig, and so to 
 gain the honours of the run ; and, 
 while keeping one eye on the object 
 in view, he has to keep the other on 
 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 the doings of his rivals, so far as the 
 elation of a glorious gallop will allow 
 him. 
 
 When the "first spear" has been 
 won, the dodging and turning and 
 I quick rallies required for fighting the 
 boar have no little resemblance to 
 the galloping melee of the polo-field, 
 till, with your worser passions roused 
 as the grizzled old tusker pits himself 
 against you, you meet charge with 
 charge, and, blind to all else but the 
 strong and angered foe before you, 
 wit/ your good spear in your hand, 
 you rush for blood with all the ecstasy 
 of a fight to the death. And then : 
 
 All's blood, and dust, and grunted curses. ("J 
 
 Well — this is a different thing from 
 the pleasurable enjoyment to be 
 
 132 
 
HnI 
 
 m 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 derived from a gallop with hounds 
 in a peaceful English county. Yet 
 in the Indian sport — for all its ex 
 citement — you do not get the home 
 surroundings, the stretching gallop 
 over fences a.id grass, the keen air, 
 the neighbourly pageant, and all the 
 halo of Old Englishness that go to 
 make fox-hunting the lovable sport 
 it is. Indeed it is only after testing 
 other sports that you really appreciate 
 to the full the beauty of this more 
 homely one. 
 
 I suppose that in all the notable 
 events of a man's life he remembers 
 his first better than any subsequent 
 experience. On me personally my 
 first hog-hunting day is very indelibly 
 impressed : not that it was a specially 
 eventful day as hog-hunting days go, 
 
 I 
 
 k 
 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 but the novelty of the sport appealed 
 to me very forcibly, and the picture 
 remains. I see now the sunny yellow 
 grass jungle, and the brown, strong- 
 shadowed coolies beating through it 
 with their discordant jangle of cries 
 and drums. Suddenly a " sounder " 
 of smallish pig tumble out and file 
 away across the open. My first view 
 of wild pig, and a most disappointing 
 one! Was this, then, the "mighty 
 boar " they talked of so much ? But 
 a moment later a form, that at first 
 looked like that of a donkey, caught 
 my eye as he stood surveying the 
 country from the edge of the jungle. 
 This ivas a boar. He was watching 
 one of our keenest beginners rest- 
 lessly hovering about in a way that 
 would have successfully headed back 
 
 134 
 
h 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 any timid-minded animal; but this 
 boar was an old warrior ; with an 
 inquisitive look he stepped into the 
 open and trotted towards our trio ; a 
 moment later he started into a louping 
 gallop with ears pricked forward and 
 head low, and before our friend could 
 manage to turn his spear in the 
 enemy's direction the pig had dashed 
 in, cut his horse's legs from under 
 him, and had sent steed and rider 
 rolling in the dust. Then he turned 
 with a knowing shake of his head, 
 and trotted gaily back to the cover, 
 whence all further persuasion failed 
 to move him. 
 
 Later on a party of us, all griftins, 
 got away after a full-sized pig ; in 
 turn we managed to get up to him 
 and to plant our spears in his body 
 
 135 G 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 and back ; but we planted and left 
 them there as beginners are prone to 
 do, so that in a few minutes our pig 
 somewhat resembled the fretful por- 
 cupine or a giant pincushion, while 
 we could only ride near him empty- 
 handed. Whenever he faced us we 
 fled, not exactly from fear, but from 
 a desire to save our teeth and noses 
 from the leaded spear-butts that 
 nodded and swayed above him. 
 Finally, getting tired of the sport, he 
 dropped a spear, which enabled us 
 to give him his coup de grace. And 
 then, to our horror, we discovei cd 
 that he was not a " he," but a " she," 
 after all I And so heinous a crime 
 is the killing of a sow that we swore 
 to keep our misadventure dark, 
 although we had every excuse for 
 
 136 
 
 m 
 
 ,^«VU ! i i^kf-.»i 
 
THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 our mistake, since she looked all over 
 like a boar and, as is often the case 
 with barren sows, carried tushes. 
 The crime happened many years ago 
 but the shame of it has hung over 
 my life ever since, and now in con- 
 fessing to it openly for the first time 
 I feel a heavy cloud is lifted from my 
 conscience. 
 
 Among the several spears *^anging 
 in honourable retirement on my wall 
 there is one whose shaft is split for 
 some three out of its six feet of 
 length. And by that split there 
 hangs a tale. 
 
 Two of us were out in camp 
 together, more for shooting than for 
 pig-stick' ng ; still we had our horses 
 and spears with us. Our tents were 
 pitched in a delightful spot on the 
 
 137 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 high-wooded bank of the Jumna. 
 Close to us lay our hunting-ground, 
 rough grass country with occasional 
 strips of thick jungle and frequent 
 " nullahs " or dry watercourses. A 
 preliminary glance at the ground 
 overnight revealed signs of pig — in 
 acres of upturned earth — so abun- 
 dantly that we were forced to forego 
 our shooting for the first day in 
 favour of trying for a boar instead. 
 
 Thus the early dawn found Naylor 
 and myself posted at the point of one 
 of the covers, while the coolies began 
 to beat it from the farther end. Wait- 
 ing in a state of keen expectancy, we 
 could hear their shouts drawing 
 slowly nearer and nearer, and our 
 horses' hearts were beating quick 
 and tremulous between our knees. 
 
 138 
 
THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 Suddenly both horses fling round 
 their heads with ears pricked ; they 
 are trembling in every limb with 
 excitement. There he stands — not 
 thirty yards from us — a grand grey 
 boar with yellow curling tushes, and 
 his cunning savage little eye glisten- 
 ing in the broad morning sunlight. 
 He is listening to the distant sounds 
 of the beaters, and does not see us. 
 We — scarce daring to breathe — sit 
 motionless as statues, with all our 
 eyes, all our senses fixed on him. 
 He moves a few paces forward, and 
 pauses again to listen. Will he 
 never go ? 
 
 At last an extra loud chorus from 
 
 the approaching line decides him ; 
 
 he swings round, trots for a few 
 
 uid then breaks into a rouifh 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 tumbling canter away across the 
 open. 
 
 Now we cautiously gather up our 
 reins, slide our feet home, and pre- 
 pare to follow so soon as he has got 
 sufficiently far from the cover as not 
 to be tempted to double back on 
 finding himself hunted. It is a case 
 of Mr. Jorrocks counting twenty-one 
 very much drawn out, till Naylor at 
 length gives the word to go, and we 
 bound away together after the great 
 louping form now distant a good 
 ^ quarter of a mile away over the 
 yellow grass. Our horses are mad 
 keen for the fray, and as one tears 
 through the fresh cool air all bodily 
 weight seems to leave one's extre- 
 mities and to be concentrated into a 
 great heartful of elation. One realises 
 
 14Q 
 
 i ■ 1 
 
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 53 
 
 m 
 
 r;»-> 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 then how good it is to be alive. On 
 we go with little to check our pace 
 but an occasional grip to fly ; pre- 
 sently, however, my horse begins to 
 show that, whatever my own impres- 
 sions may be, he, at any rate, does 
 not realise any material change in my 
 actual avoirdupois, and 1 gradually 
 find myself dropping behind Naylor 
 iri the race. Nearer and nearer we 
 draw to the pig, and at last Naylor 
 turns his spear (we are riding with 
 the short or over-hand jobbing 
 spear) ready to take the first blood. 
 
 But there's many a slip. The old 
 pig is still cantering along in his de- 
 liberate yet far-reaching stride, look- 
 ing to a novice as though he had not 
 seen us ; but he knows, his ears are 
 laid back, and one eye or the other 
 
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 /♦.. •*..>-v._l. 
 
 -♦'Trr' 
 
THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 is continuously j^lancin^ behind him 
 to watch our moves. 
 
 At last Naylor's chance comes. 
 Closer and closer he edges to the* 
 boar ; an extra spurt, and he is 
 nearly on to him. The boar gives a 
 half-turn to the right, and quick as 
 thought Naylor's horse has turned 
 with him — but the boar's half-turn is 
 but for one stride ; in the next he 
 whips round at a right angle to his 
 former course, and Naylor's spear- 
 head dives bloodless into the sand a 
 yard behind him. Riding twenty 
 yards behind Naylor I am able to 
 turn my horse more rapidly on to 
 the new direction, and I gain a good 
 start by cutting the corner to head 
 my quarry. As 1 approach his in- 
 tended line the boar cocks his ears, 
 
1 
 
 ':^OS;: 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 alters his course a point toii'unls me, 
 and, as though projected by some 
 hidden spring, is suddenly close 
 under my horse's girths. My spe.ir- 
 point is just down in time ; by good 
 luck rather than good management 
 it plunges in between his shoulder- 
 blades, anc. 1 crash it down with all 
 my force, while my horse cleverly 
 jumps the snorting monster. But 
 the spear is jammed in the boar, and 
 as he rushes beneath me he tears it 
 from my hand, and staggers onward 
 with the shaft standing on him. Nor 
 does he go far, for his blood is up, 
 and when Naylor hastens gaily after 
 him, intent to kill, the enraged old 
 brute turns staunchly to him and, 
 with every bristle pricked and tushes 
 chapping, makes towards his enemy. 
 
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 ' ■"'^'-'-^■. 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 But Naylor's horse, with staring eyes 
 and frightened snort, whips sharply 
 round, and will not face this fear- 
 some foe. For a moment the pig 
 marks the man's discomfiture, and 
 then turns to profit by it. At 
 ^ sturdy trot he pursues his way 
 towards the jungle looming large 
 ahead. Once more, and yet again, ^ 
 does Naylor try a fresh attack, 
 always v.'ith the same result. Each 
 defeat, however, has brought the 
 boar much nearer to his refuge, so as 
 a last resource I ^ake over Naylor's g^ 
 spear and press with all the speed I 
 can command to overtake the pig. ^ 
 He has but twenty yards to go when 
 I am on him. He flics along, nor 
 deigns to turn. Ah, friend, I have 
 thee now, upon the hip ! I close 
 
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 ... fm •r-K'O, »-••►#.■ 
 
THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 with him, and jam the spear down 
 fiercely on his burly back ; the spear- 
 head slips aside. Again I try, with 
 like result, and an instant later the 
 thorny bushes close behind him and 
 bar my farther way. 
 
 We quickly make our plans, and, 
 posting ourselves en vedette on either 
 side of the cover in which he hides, 
 we watch against his least attempt at 
 escape. 
 
 Presently the coolies join us, and 
 while one goes back to the camp for 
 a fresh spear for me, we get the blunt 
 one fined upon a local sharpening- 
 stone. A grateful interval of refresh- 
 ment, and then, re-armed and rested, 
 we set the beaters on to drive him 
 forth once more. But this is no easy 
 job. He cares not for their drums 
 
 147 
 
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 -*«,,>%*►-.„,,*'-■ •-"*,.. 
 
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 '■4 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 and threats, but when they near him 
 charges and breaks through their 
 Hne, to nestle into some thick bush 
 behind them. They turn again and 
 treat him to an infernal serenade. 
 Suddenly their monotonous yelling 
 takes another tone ; there is a con- 
 fused babble of talking, a hush, and 
 then a succession of somewhat more 
 coherent shouts, from which we can 
 gather that " old Buldoo is killed by 
 the boar." The beating ceases, an 1 
 the coolies come huddling out of the 
 bushes carrying one of their number 
 between them. Of course he is not 
 killed, nor anything like it ; but his 
 friends hope that he is, seeing in his 
 decease a possible division among 
 them of eighty rupees consolation 
 money from us sahibs. Poor Buldoo 
 
 ^i-' 
 
 „./•••■-•-♦, 
 
'S 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 has, however, a horrid circular gash 
 inside the thigh, which has lifted a 
 flap of flesh from a sufficient depth 
 to show the bone. Such a wound on 
 a white man would make a ghastly 
 show, but not so on the darker 
 Hindu skin, nor indeed is there 
 much flow of blood. Such as there 
 is we soon stop, and, using the 
 needles and silk, carbolic, and com- 
 press from the handy little St. John's 
 Ambulance wallet in our belt, we 
 soon have him well patched up and 
 homeward bound, comfortably in- 
 stalled upon a native bedstead from 
 a neighbouring melon - gardener's 
 hut. 
 
 Then for the first time my shikari 
 steps forward, grinning, and holding 
 in his hand the spear I had lost in 
 
 149 
 
''•>3 
 
 *m 
 
 m 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 the pig. The boar, in ch?irgin[f 
 Buldoo, had brushed close past 
 himself, so that he was able to grip 
 the spear with both hands and to 
 wrench it out. But the shaft was 
 spHt beyond repair. Once more the 
 coolies form to beat the cover, and, 
 whether it is some innate pluck or a 
 stoical submission to fate that guides 
 them, one cannot but admire the 
 way in which they proceed, unarmed 
 and on foot, to tackle a brute who 
 has ten to one the best of them in 
 the jungle. Nay lor, too, dismounts, 
 and is going in with them, spear in 
 hand, leaving me to ride the boar 
 should he break ; but at this moment 
 excited shouting from a shepherd on 
 a neighbouring knoll informs us that 
 our wily quarry has taken advantage 
 
 150 
 
 ,</ n 
 
HE WAS ABLE TO GRIP THE SPEAR 
 
% 
 
 w 
 
THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 of our preoccupalion and has quietly 
 slipped away. In a few seconds we 
 are on the knoll, and thence we see 
 our friend lobliing away across the 
 plain (as Mr. Cruickshank used so 
 expressively to describe it), "like a 
 carpet-bag tumbling along end over 
 end." For a second time we have a 
 glorious but an all too short burst in 
 the open, and again Naylor forges 
 well ahead of me. However, the 
 pig is in no humour to give us a 
 gallop ; when he finds that we are 
 overtaking him, he stiffens his stride, 
 and, dodging in his course for a 
 moment or two, he suddenly turns 
 and comes at Naylor "like a thousand 
 of bricks," " with murder in his eye." 
 But he has not reckoned on the 
 sharpened spear, and as he bounds 
 
 153 
 
 B 
 
 •1 
 
 i'i 
 
 'I' 
 
I 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 for the horse with his head on one 
 side to deliver the gash of his razor- 
 sharp tusk, the srcar-point catches 
 hiin fair in the slioulder and rolls 
 him over in the dust. He is on his 
 legs again immediately, and, furious 
 with rage, turns and comes at once 
 for nie. He is a grand specimen 
 ^|i5 of sturdy savage pluck as he bristles 
 up l.u^ge towards me ; but he gives 
 one little time for admiration as lie 
 plunges headlong at the horse. A 
 ^ood point into his back scarcely 
 stops the impetus of his rush, and a 
 quick upward twist of his head, as if 
 merely to look at me, results in an 
 ugly slit in my horse's shoulder. 
 But the boar himself is now sorely 
 stricken. Close to him is one of 
 those curses of the Indian hunting 
 
 154 
 
 I' t 
 
^WgJI^MS^ 
 
 I 
 
 W^. 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 countries, a deep "nullah" or dry 
 watercourse some twenty feet wide 
 and ten feet deep, with steep sides. 
 Into this he plunges, and when we 
 reach the edge we see him creeping 
 into the cover of a big thorn- bush in 
 the bottom. We note that imme- 
 diately above the bush the sides 
 have toppled in and have completely 
 blocked the ravine. So, moving a 
 few yards down the bank, we dis- 
 mount, leave our horses,and scramble 
 down, spear in hand, into the bottom 
 of the nullah. Then we advance 
 shoulder to shoulder towards the 
 bush, and from a distance of ten 
 yards or so we hurl two or three 
 clods into it. Presently there is a 
 rustle, and our friend quietly sneaks 
 out on the far side, trotting lamely 
 
 155 H 
 
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 ■ 'I 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 up the nullah till he finds his ror.d 
 barred by the fallen walls. Then he 
 turns and faces us, his little eyes 
 sparkling red with rage, blood well- 
 ing and glistening down his shoulder, 
 his broad nose dry and dusty, and 
 blood and slime dropping from 
 his panting jaws. His picture is 
 photographed on my mind, but the 
 photograph is an instantaneous one ; 
 for in a moment more his ears are 
 pricked, his mane is on end, and 
 he comes towards us at a sham- 
 bling trot ; at five yards distance 
 he changes to a gallop, and rushes 
 blindly at us. Our spears are low, 
 there is a shock, we are both hurled 
 back against the side of the ravine. 
 Then in the cloud of dust we see 
 the boar on his knees at our feet, 
 
 A 
 
11 
 
 >(;';AM|vj 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 both spears planted in his chest and 
 shoulder. He essays to rise, but falls 
 back upon his side, and one more 
 spear-thrust into his heart finishes 
 off as game a boar as ever ran. 
 
 Well ! this is not fox-hunting, but 
 it is something that is very good. 
 
 In regimental orders one evening 
 there appeared the notice that the 
 regiment was to parade, mounted, 
 next morning at daybreak, carrying 
 full water-bottles and ten rounds of 
 blank ammunition per man ; rations 
 to go out by cart ; and, last but not 
 least, "officers and troop sergeant- 
 majors may carry hog-spears in place 
 of swords." A most unique and 
 eventful field-day resulted. 
 
 The jungle, a large tract of heavy 
 grass and jhow (tamarisk) bush, was 
 
('»:- 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 attacked with all military precaution 
 and completeness. 
 
 The regiment proceeded through 
 it in line at half-open files ; patrols 
 of four officers each were posted or 
 moved well in advance of the line, 
 so that when a boar was scared by 
 the noise of the approaching line, 
 then one of these patrols nearest to 
 him would ride after him and en- 
 deavour to bring him to account. 
 
 So successful was the operation 
 that in a short time each of the 
 parties was away after its separate 
 boar. Still pigs were seen to be 
 running away ahead of the line with 
 no one to hunt them, till the colonel, 
 who had hitherto been directing the 
 operations generally, gave the order 
 for certain non-commissioned officers 
 
 158 
 
 yi 
 
TOMMY ATKINS PIG-STICKING 
 
 

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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 to take patrols of men with them and 
 
 see what they could do with their 
 
 swords against the pigs. In a short 
 
 time several of such parties were to 
 
 be seen scouring across country in 
 
 full pursuit of the common foe. To 
 
 say that they enjoyed it would in no 
 
 way express their excitement and 
 
 delight. 
 
 They galloped here, they galloped there, 
 They fought, they swore, they sweated. 
 
 In a word, they had a glorious time, 
 albeit when the "Rally" sounded ^^ 
 the bag — beyond those killed by the 
 spear parties — was not a large one. 
 Still, when all was over, the horses 
 groomed and fed, and the men at 
 their dinners and free to talk, the 
 babel in the bivouac was almost 
 ludicrous, since every man at once 
 
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 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 was keen to tell his tale of personal 
 adventure with the Indian pig. 
 Here one was stating how his troop- 
 mare, C i6, had turned her tail upon 
 the advancing foe, and with her iron- 
 shod heels had sent his front teeth 
 rattling down his throat. And there 
 another, a budding Munchausen, was 
 relating how he stood the attack of 
 "not only one, but four bloomin' 
 swine, all of a go," and how all 
 single-handed and alone he had 
 beaten them off. It was a day that 
 was talked of for months afterwards 
 in the regiment ; and though this 
 one experience can have done no 
 more than give the men a momentary 
 taste of the ecstasy of a fighting 
 gallop, pig-sticking is nevertheless 
 par excellence a soldier's sport ; it 
 
 162 
 
w 
 
 'iM 
 
 THE SPORT OF RAJAHS 
 
 tests, develops, and sustains his best 
 service qualities, and stands without 
 rival as a training-school for officers ; 
 nor is it ever likely to languish for 
 want of votaries so long as boars and 
 Britons continue to exist. 
 
 
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HADJ ANO 
 
 HE sun had set and 
 darkness was comt 
 on apace by the time 
 we sighted the wel- 
 come lights of Brown's farm. 
 
 It was the second evening after 
 landing in Tunisia, and the previous 
 two days had been spent in journey- 
 ing hither from Bizerta, through de- 
 lays incident to mud, swollen rivers, 
 poor mounts, and erratic guides. 
 
 " We " consisted of my interpreter- 
 servant and myself. He was a Mai- 
 
 
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 tese whom I had taken on at Bizerta 
 on the recommendation that he 
 knew Arabic and had been a fireman 
 on board an English steamer. He 
 only joined me just as I was starting 
 on the march with my two ponies. 
 I presently found that his Arabic 
 was merely the Maltese dialect of it, 
 and his English was limited entirely 
 to such words as he had been accus- 
 tomed to hear in his capacity as 
 stoker ; he had a very fairly com- 
 plete vocabulary of oaths, and a few 
 such phrases as " Stoke up," " Bank 
 the fires," " Go ahead," " Stop her," 
 and so on. It is true he had one 
 extraneous English sentence, "She 
 walks in the street," but this he used 
 more as a form of salutation than 
 anything else. 
 
 i68 
 
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 HAD] ANO 
 
 " Stoke up " came to mean, with 
 us, " Pack up and march " ; " Bank 
 the fires" imphed we might halt and 
 encamp ; and with this limited lan- 
 guage, eked out with signs, we got 
 along very well — all things con- 
 sidered. At any rate, we succeeded 
 in arriving at the right place — wet 
 and tired, it is true, but satisfied in 
 the result. 
 
 On reaching the farm I found a 
 note from Bm'vn bidding me wel- 
 come, and explaining that in his 
 enforced absence in Tunis two 
 French officers, who were also 
 guests of his, wovld be glad to help 
 me in the matter of sport. The 
 officers, in fact, received me at the 
 door, and did the honours of the 
 
 house with the greatest goodwill ; 
 
 169 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
 but I missed from the scene the 
 famihar form of Hadj Ano, whom I 
 had known there on previous visits. 
 He was an educated, high-caste 
 Arab, who acted as farm bailiff to 
 Brown. He was an Algerian Arab, 
 and therefore a sportsman and a 
 gentleman, and very far superior to 
 the more servile local Tunisian 
 natives. 
 
 The following morning, soon after 
 dawn, saw us on our way to the 
 snipe ground which lay at the foot 
 of Jebel Ishkel. This was a moun- 
 tain whose purple crags rose high 
 above the plain, very much like ^^^ 
 Gibraltar in appearance. 
 
 What curiosities to me my French 
 companions were ! And I, no doubt, 
 was equally an object of interest to 
 
 170 
 
ike 
 
 HADJ ANO 
 
 them. Their get-up for snipe-shoot- 
 ing was their uniform k^pi and 
 jacket, with baggy linen overalls, and 
 capacious game-bags and guns slung 
 on their backs, and they rode their 
 corky, half-bred stallions in regi- 
 mental saddles. 
 
 The open yellow grass plains and 
 the distant rounded mountains, in 
 the crisp, clear atmosphere of the 
 early morning, brought out a strong 
 resemblance between this northern- 
 most part of Africa and its southern 
 extremity. As I jogged along with 
 my two foreign companions, I 
 seemed to be once more with my 
 old Boer friends starting out on 
 shooting horses for the veldt. But 
 instead of the silent whiffing of Boer 
 \ obacco there came from my com- 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 panions an incessant jabber, and a 
 string of questions as to whether, in 
 passing through Paris and Marseilles, 
 I had seen this or that singer or 
 danseuse, and what were the latest 
 stories now being told. 
 
 This seemed to be the only 
 interest, not only of this pair, but 
 of half the officers one met in the 
 colony. My present friends were a 
 captain and his subaltern, both of 
 them far older than would be the 
 case in the similar grades in our 
 army, and the captain was pretty 
 well furnished with adipose tissue. 
 Probably both of them had risen 
 from the ranks ; at any rate, their 
 intellectual training was not of a 
 very high order, and their ability ar 
 horsemen was on a par with it. 
 
\n 
 
 THK CAPTAIN, WHO WAS LEADING, PUSHED IN KIKST 
 
.'" ...... . 
 
 HADJ ANO 
 Presently we reached a river 
 which had to be crossed before we 
 came on our ground ; it was about 
 fifty yards wide, and just fordable by 
 a man on horseback. The captain, 
 whok was leading, pushed in first, 
 while Pierre, the subaltern, jibbed 
 on the bank. As the captain's horse 
 began to clamber up the far bank he 
 placed his back at such an incon- 
 siderate angle as to permit of the 
 rider slipping off over his tail into 
 the muddy stream. Having thus de- 
 posited his burden, the horse turned 
 round and recrossed to rejoin us. 
 As he ranged up near me I caught 
 him and led him over again. Mean- 
 time Pierre was still niggling vainly 
 at his mount, which steadily de- 
 clined to brave the water, and even- 
 
 175 I 
 
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 05 
 
 HADJ ANO 
 tually I had to go back and fetch 
 him along. 
 
 At last we arrived near the snipe 
 ground, and, when we had off- 
 saddled and tied up our horses, we 
 started to walk the bog in line. We 
 had hardly taken our places before 
 the birds began jumping up in front 
 of us, and the promise of sport 
 raised our spirits to the high^'st ; 
 still, the birds were wilf^, and at fir 
 my shots were few and far i); iweeii. 
 Not so th' 0'=^ of the Frenchmen, who 
 fired on sight at tvery bird, distance 
 being no obiect. :>ut suddenly our 
 sport was interrupted : a fiendish 
 noise of neighing, screams, and 
 snorting rose from the group of 
 bushes where we had left our horses. 
 The captain, who was nearest to that 
 
 176 
 
HADJ ANO 
 point, climbed on to the intervening 
 bank, and, giving a mighty yell, 
 dashed forward in the direction of 
 the noise, quickly followed by Pierre 
 and myself. And then we found that 
 Pierre's horse had slipped his head- 
 collar and the captain's had brokien 
 away from the twig to which he had 
 been tied, and the pair of them were 
 now having a good set-to — hoof and 
 tooth — as hard as they could go. It 
 was a great fight, and was all the 
 more amusing to watch, as the two 
 owners kept skipping round, at a 
 very safe distance, hurling stones 
 and abuse with equal futility at their 
 pugilistic quads. 
 
 At length, by using huge branches, 
 we succeeded in separating and se 
 curing the combatants ; and althoug.. 
 
 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
 they were covered with scratches, 
 bites, and contusions — happily none 
 of them were very serious — having 
 tied them properly and out of sight 
 of one another, we once more re- 
 sumed our shoot. But it was in 
 reality a hopeless game, for as we 
 walked on we had to wait continually 
 for one or other of the Frenchmen. 
 The fat one was a slow mover, and 
 the other was desperately afraid of 
 getting bogged ; both talked inces- 
 santly at the top of their voices, and 
 fired whenever they could find an 
 excuse ; consequently the snipe, of 
 which there appeared to be any 
 number, kept jumping up at eighty 
 yards in front of us in a most dis- 
 gusting manner. However, I noticed 
 with great satisfaction that they did 
 
IT WAS A GRKAT FIGHT 
 
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HADJ ANO 
 not go far ; the majority of them 
 pitched again in the end of the long 
 narrow bog we were walking. 
 
 Presently Pierre, through exces- 
 sive caution, got bogged ; finding the 
 ground on which he was standing 
 quaky and yielding, he had stood 
 still, fearing to move in any direction 
 instead of stepping off ; and when he 
 felt himself sinking his first act was 
 to jam his gun-muzzle downwards 
 into the mud, and his second to issue 
 a succession of piercing yells which 
 speedily brought us to his assistance. 
 We soon lugged him and his gun 
 from the slime — which, after all, was 
 not by any means a dangerous bog 
 — and deposited him on the bank to 
 recover. Presently he reported him- 
 self fit to proceed, but he elected to 
 
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 move in line with us, remaining 
 himself on terra Jirma. I earnestly 
 begged silence now, as we were 
 drawing up to the end of the beat, 
 and for a short distance all went well 
 save for the noisy floundering of the 
 captain, who was rapidly getting 
 rather done in spite of our slow pace 
 through the hummocky reeds. 
 
 Presently a great common heavy 
 hawk flapped his way lazily over — a 
 shout of warning from Pierre, and 
 bang ! bang 1 bang ! bang ! — four 
 barrels of snipe-shot at fifty yards' 
 distance had the effect of making 
 him smile as he winked the other 
 eye. It did not make me smile, 
 especially when one of them, noticing 
 that I had not taken part in the 
 volley, said, in a tone of remon- 
 
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HADJ ANO 
 
 strance, "Surely it amuses to shoot 
 the large bird ? " But I had my eye 
 the while on the smaller bird, Mr. 
 Snipe, and I could see him slipping 
 away in twos and threes, and soaring 
 high for a distant flight. 
 
 At length, step by step, we drew 
 up towards the end of the beat — it 
 would soon be a matter for standing 
 still to let the birds get up one by 
 one : slower and slower we went. 
 Suddenly Pierre on the bank began 
 a hurried appeal at the top of his 
 voice to us to come for a real chance 
 of "gibier," and he started running 
 along the bank past the end of the 
 bog ; a moment later and the captain 
 was pounding and splashing after 
 him straight through the middle of 
 the cover. Snipe were rising like a 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 cloud of flies all round him ; the air 
 was full of their " scape " of alarm. 
 For a moment or two I could not 
 find words adequate to the occasion, 
 and then I took myself, figuratively 
 speaking, by the throat and held 
 myself down till I was calmer. 
 
 And what are these two idiots 
 after ? I looked over the bank to see 
 them stalking with elaborate pre- 
 caution towards a bush on which 
 were perched a flock of starlings ! I 
 left them to their fun, and walked 
 back myself through the bog, and 
 succeeded in getting a few shots at 
 birds we had walked over, and found 
 myself with three couple in the bag 
 by the time I got back to the horses. 
 
 Here I was presently joined by my 
 friends, who had succeeded in getting 
 
 184 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
 a brace and a half of starlings, half a 
 couple of snipe, and the same number 
 of greenfinches. 
 
 Then we saddled up and recrossed 
 the river, this time without accident. 
 Then when I proposed trying another 
 little bog I knew of, the Frenchmen 
 would not hear of it — for one thing 
 they were evidently quite beat with 
 their exercise up to date, and for 
 another they argued that dijeuner 
 would now be awaiting us at the 
 farm. So I determined to try the 
 bog by myself, in reality much 
 relieved at their determination. 
 
 I had not turned from them many 
 minutes ere I noticed a small Arab 
 evidently trying to overtake me. I 
 waited for him, expecting he might 
 have marked down some game near 
 
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 by, but he said not a word until he 
 had come sufficiently close to touch 
 my stirrup. Then, in a low voice, 
 he asked in Arabic if I were English ; 
 on my satisfying him on that score, 
 ) he merely said, in a lower voice than 
 before, " Hadj Ano," and pointed to 
 a distant clump of trees. I guessed 
 that my friend must be there, and had 
 sent this mysterious little messenger 
 to tell me. So, accompanied by the 
 boy, I rode in that direction, and 
 as we approached the place a figure 
 came out to meet us, which I soon 
 recognised as Hadj Ano himself. 
 He was a fine, tall, well-propor- 
 tioned man of about forty, with 
 the typical high-caste Arab features. 
 Except for a turban, he was dressed 
 in European shooting clothes, and 
 
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HADJ ANO 
 
 carried in his hand a gun belonging 
 to Brown. He cordially greeted me 
 (he spoke French like a Frenchman) 
 and led the way to the grove. Here 
 I found a delightful little camp of 
 two Arab tents, one of which was 
 occupied by the Hadji himself, the 
 other by some three or four Arabs 
 who were with him. 
 
 In a few minutes some of these 
 men had taken my horse and were 
 grooming and feeding him, while 
 another was preparing some food for 
 me. 
 
 After some mutual inquiries I 
 asked the Hadji how he came to 
 be camped out here instead of living 
 in the farm as usual, whereat he 
 laughed and said that he did not 
 care for French officers, and while 
 
 187 
 
 » I 
 
3 
 
 HADJ ANO 
 
 they occupied the farmhouse he 
 preferred to camp outside ; and, 
 knowing the dislike the Algerians 
 have for their French masters, I 
 thought no more of the matter. 
 He said he had heard of my arrival, 
 and had sent the boy to bring 
 me to him if I should be working 
 alone. 
 
 We had an excellent dijeuner of 
 Arab dishes, in which " khus-khus " 
 (a kind of semolina and chicken 
 curry) figured as the piece de rhist- 
 ance, and after a short rest we 
 started out for a bit of ground 
 which Hadj Ano recommended — 
 open stony ground with patches of 
 tufty, coarse grass and clumps of 
 thorn bushes, through which there 
 meandered a stream which every 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 now and then opened out into a 
 green, tussocky bog. 
 
 It was ground that might and, as 
 we very soon found out, did contain 
 many varieties of game. Shortly after 
 commencing our beat, with two Arab 
 boys as game-carriers, we put up a 
 fine Httle covey of partridges some 
 distance out of shot, and almost 
 immediately afterwards the Hadji 
 knocked over a hare very neatly. 
 Then there fluttered up from a bush 
 between us a woodcock, and cross- 
 ing me gave me an easy shot which 
 brought him into the larder. A little 
 farther another hare fell to my com- 
 panion. Then we came to a small 
 hollow, evidently well watered, filled 
 with thorn bush, rank yellow grass, 
 and a few green bushes which looked 
 
 191 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
 like holly. Hadj Ano and I stationed 
 ourselves outside this cover and sent 
 the boys in to act as spaniels. Pre- 
 sently, with a silent whisk, a rich 
 brown woodcock flitted past me, 
 and then so suddenly changed his 
 course as to escape the shower of 
 shot with which I saluted him. But 
 no less than three more birds came 
 out of the same spinny, two to me 
 and one to the Hadji, and these were 
 all accounted for. As we went on a 
 tempting reach of reedy swamp re- 
 ceived our attention, and here we 
 had some very pretty snipe-shooting. 
 Alert they were as in the morning, 
 but they did not fly far on the first 
 rise, and my present companions, 
 keen and silent, were very different 
 from the noisy Frenchmen. As a 
 
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 &T* 
 
HADJ ANO 
 consequence we soon began to run 
 up quite a little bag. We had no 
 dog, but slow and careful walking 
 got the birds up nicely, and the Arab 
 boys were as sharp as needles in 
 marking and retrieving fallen game. 
 Anon we came to a long and narrow 
 belt of thorn bushes lining both banks 
 of the streamlet. Ha'^j Ano took 
 one side and I the other, the boys 
 working along in the bush, tapping 
 as they went. Four shots at intervals 
 from Hadj Ano's gun began to make 
 me impatient of my own silence, but 
 at last along bill rose within the thorns 
 and came to my side, and gave an 
 easy shot as he turned to wing along 
 the side of the cover ; almost where 
 he fell another rose, and gave a long 
 shot for my left barrel. I should 
 
 193 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
 probably have missed him had it 
 been my right, but, as it was, he too 
 bit the dust. 
 
 On and on we went, getting every 
 now and then a shot at cock, until 
 at length the sun began to sink 
 towards his setting, and we had 
 wandered far from camp. Then we 
 turned and, as far as the light would 
 allow us, shot our way back towards 
 the tents. Out of a reedy pool we 
 got a mallard and his mate, and a 
 little farther on a woodcock, probably 
 a wounded one, rose from bare 
 ground at our approach, and fell, 
 after a twisty flight, to my second 
 barrel. Soon after the sun had set a 
 whistle of golden plover sounded sud- 
 denly near, and as they rushed over- 
 head we stopped a couple and a half. 
 
 194 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
 That was our last and perhaps most 
 satisfactory shot of what had been in 
 the end a very satisfactory day. 
 
 Darkness had set in before we 
 reached the trees where lay our 
 camp. As this was still some five 
 miles from the farm, and my pony 
 was feeling one of his legs after the 
 marching from Bizerta, I gave way 
 to the suggestion of Hadj Ano, and 
 made up my mind to spend the night 
 in camp. 
 
 A note to this effect was despatched 
 by one of his men to quiet the 
 anxiety of my French friends at the 
 farm, and I sat down with a clear 
 conscience and an appreciative appe- 
 tite to the repast prepared by the 
 Hadji's cook-boy. Hadj Ano had 
 meanwhile changed his shooting 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 clothes for his native Arab dress, 
 which he always were at home. 
 
 Then followed one of those de- 
 lights which only come too seldom 
 into one's experience — to lie at one's 
 ease in the cold, clear night by a 
 warm and cheerful camp fire. The 
 restfulness of it appeals to every 
 joint in the tired sportsman's frame, 
 while his mind is amused by the 
 quaint tales and plaintive songs with 
 which the Arabs pass away an hour 
 or two. 
 
 Then, warm and sleepy, one rolls 
 into one's blanket to sleep off all 
 fatigue and gather fresh energy from 
 the pure fresh air of one's bedroom 
 under the stars. 
 
 Often during the night, as is my 
 wont, I awoke to glance around, and 
 
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 ly 
 
 l^>M 
 
 HADJ ANO 
 
 every time I did so I saw a watch- 
 ful figure sitting near, or standing 
 looking out across the plain be- 
 yond the trees, it was only later 
 on that I found out the reason for 
 this vigil. 
 
 Early in the morning I shot my 
 way back to the farm alone, for 
 Hadj Ano laughingly declined to 
 accompany me to see the French- 
 men. We parted with a cheery 
 hand-wave, meaning soon to meet 
 again ; but we have never met. 
 
 A few months after this I chanced 
 to read La DepSche TunisiennCf and 
 came across a column describing 
 how the police had made a raid on 
 Brown's farm with the object of 
 capturing "the renowned convict 
 Hadj Ano." My friend, it appeared. 
 
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 MM 
 
HADJ ANO 
 had been a chief of h.^h standing in 
 Algeria, where, in accordance with a 
 tribal custom, he had worked off an 
 old family blood-feud with a neigh- 
 bouring tribe, and, after a well- 
 fought single combat, had slain his 
 man. But he had forgotten that 
 Algeria was now a civilised country 
 — a part of France in fact — and the 
 result was that 
 
 The coroner he came, and the justice too, 
 With a hue and a cry and a huUaballoo, 
 
 and poor Hadj Ano was sent across 
 the seas to expiate his crime on board 
 the hulks in New Caledonia. 
 
 By some means he ultimately 
 effected his escape and returned to 
 his people ; but, finding Algeria too 
 dangerous to live in, in safety, with 
 
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 HADJ ANO 
 
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HADJ ANO 
 a few trusted followers he moved 
 across the mountains into Tunisia. 
 Here he made the acquaintance of 
 Brown, and his sportsmanlike and 
 gentlemanly character, combined 
 with his intelligence and education, 
 made him at once a useful bailiff and 
 a pleasant companion on the farm. 
 His faithful people watched over and 
 guarded him, and the country Arabs 
 for miles round knew his story and 
 passed him warning when French 
 ofiBcials of any kind were moving in 
 the direction of Brown's farm. At 
 length fate went against him. Some- 
 how, whether by bribery or other 
 means I have never heard, the police 
 managed to keep their movements 
 secret, and having surrounded the 
 farm during the night, seized poor 
 
 aoi 
 
HADJ ANO 
 '^***»* Hadj Ano at the dawn of day, and | 
 HT^ took him back to prison. 
 
 What was his subsequent fate 1 '^ 
 have never heard. 
 
 Printed by Ballantvne, Hanson £r> Co. 
 London &> Edinburgh 
 
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