Читать книгу Caesar & Hussein - Patrick O’Brian - Страница 22

I understood what he meant and I prepared to have a sleepless night. I felt sure that he would not have said ‘on guard’ if he had known how tired I was, and all night I paced up and down, and sometimes lay down, but I never went to sleep, in case a panther, or perhaps a leopard, should come along.

Once or twice I heard the coughing roar of a panther, and again I caught the scent of a leopard, but neither of the creatures attacked me, for which I was extremely thankful, as I could not have held my own against either of them with my paw in the state that it was.

But at last morning came, with one of the most beautiful sunrises that I have ever seen.

Then presently my master woke up, and after harnessing the horse, he set off towards the place where we had left the boar. After taking my chain off, and telling me to have a good sleep, he shut me in the hut.

I heard the noise of the horse die away in the distance and then I went to sleep. Hardly had I closed my eyes, however, when I was awakened by a soft hiss, and starting up I saw a large sized python surveying me with glittering eyes.

I jumped up, and either my eyes were deceiving me or something, for between me and the terrible snake I clearly saw my mother. She looked pale and smoky, but perhaps that was the sleep in my eyes, and I thought I saw her baring her teeth in a snarl at the snake.

The snake glided out of the door, which was slightly ajar.

Then the thought that perhaps she had lived through the fire flashed through my mind, and I started forward with a purr of delight to meet her, but to my horror and amazement there was nothing there. I had gone right through her.

Turning round — I thought perhaps she was hiding, but after searching the hut I was convinced that I must have imagined the whole thing, in a sort of waking dream. But there were still the snake marks in the dust on the floor to explain away, but not the faintest scent of her or a footmark except my own was in the hut.

Greatly puzzled by this incident, I walked up and down trying to solve the mystery, but then almost at once my master came in, with the body of the boar, which he had fetched with the horse.

I suppose he put down my agitation to my wound.

As the cut was practically closed, we set off for the house, and going rather slowly we reached it by midday.

When I was going to my cage I trod on a sharp flint, which opened the cut again, so feeling rather angry and upset I let my master bind it up again, but I soon worried the bandage off as I was feeling rather peevish.

Until nightfall I wondered how to explain the fact that the snake had not appeared at all alarmed at my mother’s presence.

All my explanations to myself that it was a dream were swept away by the fact that the snake marks were so obvious that there was no mistaking them.

As I was unable to come to any satisfactory conclusion, I dismissed the matter entirely from my mind and went to sleep.

Early next morning I was awakened by my master calling to me from outside the cage, and he was carrying what seemed like the shoulder of the boar, which he gave to me. After I had consumed it he came into the cage and inspected my paw, which was healing nicely.

After this I went out into the paddock while he cleaned my cage. My master did not take me out again for nearly two weeks, during which time my paw had quite healed and I was feeling very fit.

Then one day a lot of white men came and looked at me. My master was with them, and he brought one old white man into my cage. I was feeling very happy and good-humoured, so after the stranger had got over his first fears I permitted him to stroke my head, very nervously, with the tips of his fingers, standing as far off as possible, while my master was encouraging him. I looked round and caught my master’s eye. He smiled and nodded and our amusement was mutual.

Soon the little man became rather boring, and as I wanted to play with my master, I decided to get rid of him, so suddenly springing up I gave a frightful snarl, showing all my teeth, and he left quite hurriedly.

After he had gone my master burst into a roar of laughter, and after producing the chain, we went to the garden, where he told me to stay while he harnessed the horse.

I had just jumped up into the lower branches of a tree which was in the corner of the garden, so as to be in the shade, when I heard the voice of our visitor raised in a somewhat agitated manner. Evidently he was walking down the gravel path outside which led to the garden gate.

Then I heard it open, and into the garden walked my mistress and the old man, who was saying, ‘I tell you the beast is not safe. It will be escaping some day and eating somebody.’

Then I jumped down from the tree to meet my mistress, who always made a fuss of me. The old man let out a bellow like a bull buffalo in pain and disappeared with remarkable speed, leaving a cloud of dust.

My mistress appeared a little flustered at first by her guest’s curious behaviour, but just then my master reappeared, and they talked together, and then they both laughed, and my master and I went to the horse, which was getting impatient, and then we went out on to the plain.

This time, however, luck seemed to have deserted us, for in a whole day we sighted only one antelope, and I bungled the stalking of it so badly that it was able to get down-wind of me, and it was off at once.

I thought that I could run it down and set off after it, but I failed dismally, and after I had gone nearly a mile at top speed, and in the end had lost it, I turned and went back to my master, who consoled me with a large piece of the meat which he was eating from a bag.

It had an extraordinary taste, rather interesting, but like no animal that I had ever killed, and there was no blood in it at all. I afterwards found out that men have a curious way of putting their meat over a fire and destroying its delightful original flavour by many quaint devices. Why they did this I could never discover.

Then after the midday siesta we searched for game and followed up many trails but with no success. At last we heard a frightful noise coming from behind a small hill about half a mile distant.

We reached it in a few minutes. Meanwhile the extraordinary noises increased in volume. They mystified and frightened me, and I was wondering what strange beast this might be which howled so horribly, when suddenly we came upon a white man squatting in front of a box which gave out these terrible roars and whines. The beast was evidently imprisoned within it.

The man was not in the least disconcerted by our sudden appearance and continued to belch out smoke from his mouth at intervals. Then he said to my master in a curious kind of voice: ‘Say Bo — taking the cat out for a run?’

My master laughed and they talked for a little while.

Then he tethered the horse, and together they went over to a kind of cart which was standing about twenty feet away.

Up to this time I had been so utterly petrified with amazement that I had stood perfectly still by the horse, but then the animal in the box gave a particularly violent and high-pitched howl which hurt my ears, so I roared at it to silence it.

My master laughed and then said to the man: ‘I’m afraid Cæsar has no ear for radio music.’

Then the stranger came over to the box and either killed the beast within it or something.

Then my master and the stranger began to do something to the cart. At first I thought that the man had lost the bullock for his cart, but when it suddenly gave out a menacing roar I altered my opinion and roared back at it, thoroughly frightening the horse, who plunged and kicked till my master came over and calmed him.

Soon after this we left the man to his roarings and howling companion and went homeward. Before we had got far, however, I heard the cart give a violent roar which I answered, but it easily outroared me, and it never seemed to pause for breath. When I began another roar my master stopped me by saying, ‘Perhaps motor-cars don’t agree with you, Cæsar – but you needn’t tell the whole world about it.’