The Golden Argosy: Tom Gale's Ride — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

a. x 7 a (Ferg - Pad . ry ee >. te - ‘ —_ ie ~ LY 23, 1887. [This story commenced wn No, 233.) By P. T. BARNUM, Author of * Lion Jack,” “‘ Jack in the Jungle,” ‘Struggles and Triumphs o, P. T. Barnum,” ete. CHAPTER XXIX. A ZEBRA HUNT. THE GOLDEN ARGOSY. | to reserve them for cases of actual danger to the lives of the travelers—and such dan- gers were sure to arise. ‘* But he was anxious to join in the chase, and he wanted to find some better weapon than the long heavy spears of the natives. An idea was suggested to him by the sight of an assegai which was carried by a war- rior who was marching near him. ‘Tt was closely wound round, for nearly its whole length, with a narrow strip of what looked like thick, untanned hide, whether for ornament or to strengthen the shaft he could not tell. By means of order his bearers to hurry forward. | tained a loan of this weapon from its owner, , BE) BROADHEAD told Jingo to | Jingo’s services as an interpreter, Dick ob- He was anxious to discover the cause of the disturbance ainong the van-' guard of the Katendi army. ‘“Mhe valley along which the river floweu northward was at this poimt narrower, bounded on either side by rolling hills of no great height, which were covered with short grass and low bushes. On the slope of one of these hills, on the opposite side of the stream, the natives had observed a herd of zebras Mow the zebra, the striped horse of Africa, is an animal which the trav- eler cannot see every day. He keeps almost entirely to mountainous districts, and is only found in wild and untraveled parts of the country. And even when they are met with, zebras are not easy to kill or capture. They are as fleet-footed as the prong- horn of the Rocky Moun- tains, and generally as | and scrutinized it more closely. He found — ee Across the river, all three alighted from their litters, and concealed themselves among the bushes, waiting for the natives who had been sent to drive down the zebras. ‘¢* Why, how did you get that rawhide, Dick?’ asked Griswold, when he saw the lasso that young Broadhead had impro- vised. ‘“*Dick explained, and looking around among the natives who stood near them, he found another Katendi who spear was dec- orated like the one he had borrowed, The owner readily gave up the long leathern thong, Dick making clear by signs the use to which he meant to putit. In this way Griswold was provided with a serviceable that the rawhide thong would answer his | lasso. Carter said he did not think he could | furious shoats, 541 rd ‘‘The frightened animals seemed not to know whither they should flee, and turned first to one side and then to another, or halted for a moment in indecision; then, following the leader, they dashed oft at the top of their speed, striking obliquely down the slope and toward the river. ‘‘The direction of their flight, however, would not bring them near the spot where the travelers were lying in ambush, read to spring out upon them as they passed. The zebras were making fora spot between the hills and river, where there was a gap in the line of huntsmen that surrounded them on other sides. ‘«The natives who were with Dick Broad- head and his friends sprang forward with and tried to head off the escaping animals. They _ were too far away, and the zebras had almost passed beyond the hunters, and gained the open country beyond, when a dark fig- ure sprang up directly in their path, “It was Jingo. The white men had not noticed his absence, but while they were dozing as they lay in ambush for the ze- bras, he had slipped away, and posted himself where he foresaw that he might be able to do good service, ‘* The leader of the herd was close upon him when he leaped from a small hollow in the ground, wav- ing his long arms, and yelling with all his lungs. Dick and his companions thonght they had never heard such a_ hideous noise as the Kaffir made. ‘His tactics were ef- fective. With a snort of terror, the leading zebra turned sharp away and beta awe tes hillonion En aeen, set doepag toe erds on the : ; irectly tow- and station the oldest and ards the spot where the mies cuperienced goire Be white men B ed: crouch- a sentinel, to warn the ing among-tlie bushes. others of any approach- 6 “ae RE 9 ie ing danger. see ‘In thi poe we 3S" ieee | oa seemed to be unusually ri car eee ‘car Gaee bold. They stood fear- eT nn eee lessly upon the grassy is — : slope of the hill, in plain a \ILCK BR OA D- a sight of the Katendis. a HEAD’S fingers Perhaps their curiosity at Ky 4 ‘y tightened around the strange spectacle of the passing army had overcome their timidity, or possibly they relied on S the fact that a river sepa- rated them from the na- tives. ‘The zebra is greatly prized by many of the native tribes of Africa, where he is found, not only for the sake of his flesh, but also, when cap- ~ tured alive and tamed, as a beast of burden. ‘<That the Katendis were not going to pass by the chance thus offered to them, was soon made clear. The joyful shouts with which the warriors who first noticed the zebras announced their discovery, were soon 5l- lenced, and preparations were made for a syste- atic hunt. A body of natives was dispatched along the stream, with orders to swim across it ata point half a mile further down, and by circling round to get behind the herd and drive it toward the lower ground. Arother party of huntsmen was sent in the upposite direction, to intercept the animals’ flight ‘‘The sporting instinct was very strong in Dick Broadhead, and a hunt for such un- usual game as this aroused his interest at once. It would have been a very long shot at the zebras from where he now was, but by crossing the stream he might have got within easy range, if he approached them carefully among the bushes, for the wind was blowing from them to him, and they could not have detected him if he kept out of sight. ‘He did not wish, however, to expend a single one of his seanty stock of cartridges, even though a snecessful shot would prob- ably raise him still higher in the estima- tion of the Katendis. He was determined eS, Lf UST > L ’ j j }' fd » => — H} TWD Tie mie. we tS MUM Y WS AS THE ZEBRA TURNED TO FLEE, DICK SENT THE LASSO HURTLING THROUGH THE AIR. purpose well, and provide him with the weapon he wanted. ‘‘Hastily untwining it from the shaft of the spear, Dick found that it was smooth and flexible, and by tying a running knot in the end he provided himself with a very fair lasso. Dick knew something of the use of the lasso—a deadly weapon in skillful hands—and had formed the ambitious pro- ject of capturing alive zebra, if by good luck the herd came in his direction. ‘‘The first thing to be done was to cross the river. This was accomplished without even wetting the soles of his feet. The na- tives who were carrying Dick’s litter would not let him get out when he began to do so in order to swim or wade across. They bore litter and all to the other bank, ford- ing the stream at a place where the water was very shallow, uot rising above their knees. “Dick shouted to Griswold and Carter to follow his example, and they easily made their bearers understand what was wanted, use one with effect, so he borrowed an asse- ai. we There was a Jong wait before the natives could get round behind the herd to drive it down toward the stream. Dick began to fear that the zebras would escape, as they had moved gradually round the slope of the hill where they had been grazing, and only one or two of them now remained in sight. ‘Nearly an hour had been passed in the broiling afternoon sun, and Dick had almost fallen asleep, when the stillness of the tropical valley was suddenly broken. ‘<One of the zebras, who was probably the sentinel of the herd, raised his head and sniffed the air uneasily for a moment; then with a shrill whinny, he gave the signal of danger, and the stampede began ! ‘It was hastened by a series of yells that arose froin different points along the crest of the hills. The Katendis had done their work skillfully. When the sentinel zebra seented their approach, they had already got behied the herd, and cut off its retreat, the coil of the Jasso as he saw the swift-footed ze- bras charging down upon him. He was crouchinz behind a low thorn bush, and in front of this there was a considerable stretch of open ground, along which the wild horses were rushing. ‘‘The leader was nota half dozen yards from Dick when he sprang for- ward and stood directly in the path of the gallop- ing herd. The anim were running so fast that it seemed as if they couid not possibly stop or turn, and Dick must be knocked’ over and trodden under their feet. ‘“‘Bnt the foremost ze- bra partially stopped him- self, and turned off obliquely. In another moment he would have been ont of reach, but before he could recover his s Dick had swung the coil of rawhide twice around his head, and sent it hurtling through the air. ‘‘The throw was a skillful one, and a luesy one as well. As the zebra, in execut- ing his sudden turn, tossed up his bind legs, the slip noose settled down upon one of his hoofs. ‘For a moment the animal continued its career, and then, as the suddenly tight- ened rawhide pulled its foot from under it, fell rolling over and over on the ground. Dick had braced himself firmly to meet the shock, but he, too, lost his balance, and was dragged down, still holding the end of the lariat. ‘*He was on his feet in a moment, before the zebra could recover itself. Fearing that the rawhide might snap if he held his captive by it, Dick ran to the fallen animal, and grasped it by its head, to which he clung, in spite of all its kicking and strng- Ecomicbooks