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All this she had done, and still continued to walk along the shore. On one side of the lake, and that the farthest from the nwana-tree, a low spit of land projected into the water. It had once been but a sand-bar, but grass had grown upon it, until a green turf was formed. There was not over a square perch of it altogether, but it was not square in shape.
This time the antelope headed in a new direction, making for a point in the cliffs; and as the chase now passed very near to the nwana-tree, everybody had a fine view of it.
It is true his property was not restored to him; but that mattered little now. He had created a new property, as was testified by the vast pyramid of ivory that stood under the shadow of the great nwana-tree! Nothing remained but to transport this shining pile to a market, and a splendid fortune would be the result. And Von Bloom's ingenuity found the means for bringing it to market.
He was seated on a little platform that had been constructed very high up near the top of the nwana-tree from which a view could be had of the whole country around. It was a favourite resort of the field-cornet his smoking-room, in fact where he went every evening to enjoy a quiet pull out of his great meerschaum.
Now the bird which had so opportunely appeared between Jan and Truey, and had no doubt saved one or the other, or both, from the deadly bite of the spuugh-slang, was a serpent-eater, one that had been tamed, and that made its home among the branches of the great nwana-tree.
When it recovered the use of its wings, it refused to leave the society of its protectors, but remained habitually in the camp although it made frequent excursions into the surrounding plains in search of its favourite food. It always, however, returned at night, and roosted among the branches of the great nwana-tree.
Totty was on the platform in the great nwana-tree, which commanded a view of the corn-patch, and also of the plain beyond, as far as the bottom of the cliffs. She was busied about "house" affairs, when her attention was called off, by some singular noises that came from that direction. She parted the branches and looked through. A singular scene was before her eyes a spectacle of no common kind.
What protection would a frail house afford against the man-eater? Not much, indeed. Von Bloom was puzzled and perplexed. He could not commence his hunting excursions until this question was settled. Some place must be prepared, where the children would be safe during his absence. While revolving the subject in his mind, he happened to cast his eyes upward among the branches of the nwana-tree.
What protection would a frail house afford against the man-eater? Not much, indeed. Von Bloom was puzzled and perplexed. He could not commence his hunting excursions until this question was settled. Some place must be prepared, where the children would be safe during his absence. While revolving the subject in his mind, he happened to cast his eyes upward among the branches of the nwana-tree.
In less that six months from that time, several of them were in the field, and trained to the chase of the elephant, which duty they performed with all the courage and skill that could have been shown by hounds of the purest breed! For several years Von Bloom led the life of an elephant-hunter. For several years the great nwana-tree was his home, and his only companions his children and domestics.
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