CHAPTER XX.. An Alarm--the Ladies Missing--What Happened to

AN ALARM--THE LADIES MISSING--WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM--THE RESCUE.

We dined that night on eland-steak and boiled hippopotamus, and found both dishes excellent; and we pieced out the dinner with some tinned peaches, which Jack drew from the recesses of the wagon. Blessings on the head of the man who invented tinning, or canning, edible things! They have softened the asperities of life in rough regions to a wonderful extent, and have rendered it possible for men to live a long time away from fresh meats and fruits without danger of that terrible disease, scurvy. And furthermore, they have enabled the traveler in distant lands to imagine himself in his own home when he sits down to a table containing the fruits and meats to which he was accustomed in his boyhood days.

This can of peaches recalls to my mind a Fourth-of-July dinner at which half a dozen of us Americans once sat down, far in the interior of China, on the upper waters of the Yang-tse-Kiang. We had chicken-soup, boiled salmon, roast turkey, boiled corned beef, two or three kinds of vegetables, and a plum-pudding, each and every thing having been tinned in America, and shipped thence to the Celestial Empire. And it was by no means a shabby dinner; on the contrary, it would have been a good one in New York or Boston. The turkey was not cut up and put into a small can, as you might imagine, but was served whole, the can having been made to fit him as though he were a Fifth Avenue "swell" and the tinsmith were a fashionable tailor.

We had our smoke after dinner, and then retired. During our smoke we laid our plans for the next day; but it is hardly necessary to say what they were, as they were not carried out.

Just as we were sitting down to breakfast, Kleinboy, the after-rider of our amazon friends, came riding into camp at full speed. We knew something was wrong, and immediately stepped out to meet him.

"What is the matter?" I asked, as soon as he drew rein and brought his panting horse to a halt.

"The ladies are missing!" he answered, "missing since yesterday!"

"Missing!" we exclaimed. "How is that?"

"They went away hunting yesterday afternoon," said Kleinboy; "said they were going after elands, giraffes, or anything else they could find; they carried their rifles, and had plenty of cartridges."

"Did they have their trackers or anybody else with them?"

"No," replied Kleinboy; "the trackers started with them, but went only a mile or two; they told the trackers they would have no use for them, and it would be impossible for them to keep up, as they were going to ride at a gallop."

"And they haven't come back yet, either of them?"

"No, neither of them."

"Nor their horses?"

"Oh yes, I forgot; the horses came back alone a little after dark; both of them came up to the kraal and made a noise, so we went out and brought them in."

"Couldn't you follow the spoor of the horses and make out where they went?"

"The manager is going to try that; but he thought the first thing to do was for me to come over here and let you gentlemen know."

"All right," I answered. Then I called our manager, and told him to see that Kleinboy had some breakfast, unless he had already breakfasted.

Jack was for starting off instantly, without waiting for breakfast or anything else; in fact, he gave the order for our horses to be saddled at once.

"No hurry about it," I said to Jack; "let us eat our breakfast, as that will only make a few minutes' difference in our starting, and if we go without it we might become faint and drop down when we most need our strength. Take in a good meal, and then we'll be off."

Harry and Jack admitted the common sense of my suggestion, and sat down to the repast. Both were quite nervous, and I think their appetites were somewhat disturbed. I told our cook to put up a piece of whatever cold meat there was, and some bread--enough to make a good lunch for all of us; and I took, on my own account, a flask of brandy. Then we started, and rode at a good pace--at the same time being careful to preserve our horses--to the camp of the amazons.

When we reached there we found that the manager had followed the spoor of the horses for a mile or more to the southward; there the ground became very hard and broken, and it was no longer possible to track the animals. He returned to the camp and waited our arrival; in fact, he came out half a mile or more to meet us.

During the ride from our camp the three of us had hardly spoken to one another, partly because the opportunities for conversation are very limited in a ride like that, and partly because each was occupied with his own thoughts.

When we met the manager we drew rein and proceeded at a walk, listening to the account of what he had done, and asking him what he suggested. He could not suggest anything except that we should ride toward the south, following the spoor of the horses as far as we could, and then continuing on in the same general direction. I was unable to add anything else, and so were Jack and Harry. We made our plans to ride to the south, and after losing the spoor we were to stretch out and zigzag along the way until we picked up the spoor again.

Just as we reached the camp Jack said:

"I have a suggestion that I think may be useful."

"What is that?" I asked.

Turning to the manager, Jack asked if the horses which the ladies rode were the most intelligent of the outfit.

"Yes," said the manager; "they were their favorite horses."

"They pet them a good deal, do they not?"

"Oh yes," said the manager, "you should see them; they are constantly petting those horses, and the animals seem much attached to them."

"All right," said Jack; "bring out the horses, put on the same saddles they had on yesterday, leave the bridles loose, and throw the reins over the horses' necks."

The horses were saddled and bridled, and brought out, in compliance with Jack's orders. We dismounted, patted the horses on the necks, and endeavored in every way we could think of to show them that we were their friends and the friends of their owners. They were a little shy of us at first, but by talking to them and petting them they quieted down, rubbed their noses against our faces, and became entirely friendly.

When this point was reached Jack said:

"Now, in our saddles again; turn those horses loose, first heading them to the south."

The horses--the loose ones--started off at a brisk trot, as if they knew perfectly well where they were going. We followed a dozen yards or so behind them; and sometimes they went at such a speed that they got a considerable distance ahead. Then they stopped, looked around at us, whinnied, and proceeded again. They seemed to be saying, as plainly as if in so many words: "Come on; we're taking you the way you want to go. We know you're going to get our owners out of trouble, and we'll lead the way."

On and on we went, till we had reeled off at least a dozen miles behind us; then the loose horses paused, and seemed to be a good deal alarmed. They no longer led the way, but appeared to yearn for our close companionship. We spread out so as to inclose them between us, and then they went along with decidedly more boldness. Every little while they stopped, snorted, and pawed the ground; and once one of them started to run back; but he went only a short distance.

"I think we had better take hold of their bridles," said Jack; "I'm afraid they'll get a sudden scare, and start back at full speed."

Jack took one of the bridles and I the other, and then we went on in the direction indicated by the horses. The ground was open, dotted here and there with small trees, and occasionally with a large one; but the large trees were few and far between. The smaller trees were perhaps a foot in diameter, some of them with limbs close to the ground, and others with no limbs until six or eight feet above it. After a time the horses paused, and refused to go any farther; and our horses also showed signs of uneasiness.

"We're getting close to the spot," said Harry; "one of us had better stay behind with these two horses, while the others go ahead and reconnoiter."

We left the horses with the manager, and we three fellows went ahead, carefully scanning the ground in every direction as we did so.

Suddenly I caught sight of something white fluttering in a tree--a small tree--perhaps a quarter of a mile away. It looked as if it might be a woman's handkerchief waved as a signal.

"There they are, boys; there they are!" I shouted; "we've found them at last!"

"There they are?" said Jack--"where?"

"Why, don't you see? Look at that tree there--that small tree between two larger ones, just the way our horses' heads are pointed."

"Yes, there it is, sure enough!" said Jack, and at the same instant Harry made an identical exclamation.

We went forward at full speed, you may be sure. The fluttering of that handkerchief in the tree was nothing to the fluttering of our hearts--I do not make any exception for Jack's, Harry's, or mine; it was a moment of great excitement to us all.

As we neared the tree we saw tawny forms at its base; at the sound of our hoof-beats the forms rose and resolved themselves into lions, which slunk away in the direction opposite to which we had come. We rode for them, but they quickened their pace and disappeared. As soon as they did so we drew rein under the tree.

There were both the women in the limbs of the tree! They had not fainted, but both were crying, and the elder one was hysterical.

"We knew you would come," said Miss Boland; "we knew you would come; but oh, the time has been so long!"

"Of course we would come," said Jack, "just as soon as we heard of it; what else could you expect of us?"

"We were afraid you couldn't find the way," she replied, drying her tears and regaining her self-possession.

"We were guided here by your clever horses," Jack replied; "had it not been for them it would have been a very difficult matter for us to find you. But come, come down from the tree; you're perfectly safe now."

Mrs. Roberts quickly recovered herself, and then the two came down to the solid ground.

As soon as they reached it I begged them to excuse me a moment, while I rode away to call the manager with the horses. I did not have far to go, as he had followed slowly on our track from the moment we left him. Then I rode back to the tree and joined the group.

"You must be very hungry," said Jack; "how long have you been in that tree?"

"We've been there since more than an hour before sunset--yes, nearly two hours before--and without a thing to eat or drink!"

"It was a lucky trick I brought along some brandy," I remarked, as I produced my flask; "some brandy and water will do you good."

Each of us had a bottle of water at his saddle-bow; in fact, we always made it a rule to take water along. In a very few moments the ladies were regaled with a drink, and then we brought forth our lunch and bade them satisfy their hunger.

"While you are doing so," I said, "you can make it less monotonous by telling how you came to get into that tree."