Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner
do."
The third man lay on his back again, lazily examining his hand, which heheld above his face. "What's that in the Bible," he said, slowly, "aboutthe statue, whose thighs and belly were of brass, and its feet of mud?"
"I don't know much about the Bible," said the keen man, "I'm going tosee if my pot isn't boiling over. Won't yours burn?"
"No, I asked the Captain's boy to keep an eye on it--but I expect hewon't. Do you put the rice in with the mealies?"
"Got to; I've got no other pot. And the fellows don't object. It's atasty variety, you know!"
The keen-faced man slouched away across the square to where his fireburnt; and presently the other man rose and went, either to look at hisown pot or sleep under the carts; and the large Colonial man was leftalone. His fire was burning satisfactorily about fifty feet off, andhe folded his arms on the ground and rested his forehead on them, andwatched lazily the little black ants that ran about in the red sand,just under his nose.
A great stillness settled down on the camp. Now and again a stickcracked in the fires, and the cicadas cried aloud in the tree stems;but except where the solitary paced up and down before the littleflat-topped tree in front of the captain's tent, not a creature stirredin the whole camp; and the snores of the trooper under the bushes mightbe heard half across the camp.
The intense midday heat had settled down.
At last there was the sound of someone breaking through the long grassand bushes which had only been removed for a few feet round the camp,and the figure of a man emerged bearing in one hand a gun, and in theother a bird which he had shot. He was evidently an Englishman, and notlong from Europe, by the bloom of the skin, which was perceptible inspite of the superficial tan. His face was at the moment flushed withheat; but the clear blue eyes and delicate features lost none of theirsensitive refinement.
He came up to the Colonial, and dropped the bird before him. "That isall I've got," he said.
He threw himself also down on the ground, and put his gun under theloose flap of the tent.
The Colonial raised his head; and without taking his elbows from theground took up the bird. "I'll put it into the pot; it'll give it theflavour of something except weevily mealies"; he said, and fell toplucking it.
The Englishman took his hat off, and lifted the fine damp hair from hisforehead.
"Knocked up, eh?" said the Colonial, glancing kindly up at him. "I've afew drops in my flask still."
"Oh, no, I can stand it well enough. It's only a little warm." He gavea slight cough, and laid his head down sideways on his arm. His eyeswatched mechanically the Colonial's manipulation of the bird. He hadleft England to escape phthisis; and he had gone to Mashonaland becauseit was a place where he could earn an open-air living, and save hisparents from the burden of his support.
"What's Halket doing over there?" he asked suddenly, raising his head.
"Weren't you here this morning?" asked the Colonial. "Didn't you knowthey'd had a devil of a row?"
"Who?" asked the Englishman, half raising himself on his elbows.
"Halket and the Captain." The Colonial paused in the plucking. "My God,you never saw anything like it!"
The Englishman sat upright now, and looked keenly over the bushes whereHalket's bent head might be seen as he paced to and fro.
"What's he doing out there in this blazing sun?"
"He's on guard," said the Colonial. "I thought you were here when ithappened. It's the best thing I ever saw or heard of in my whole life!"He rolled half over on his side and laughed at the remembrance. "Yousee, some of the men went down into the river, to look for fresh poolsof water, and they found a nigger, hidden away in a hole in the bank,not five hundred yards from here! They found the bloody rascal by alittle path he tramped down to the water, trodden hard, just like aporcupine's walk. They got him in the hole like an aardvark, with a bushover the mouth, so you couldn't see it. He'd evidently been there a longtime, the floor was full of bones of fish he'd caught in the pool, andthere was a bit of root like a stick half gnawed through. He'd beenpotted, and got two bullet wounds in the thigh; but he could walkalready. It's evident he was just waiting till we were gone, to clearoff after his people. He'd got that beastly scurvy look a nigger getswhen he hasn't had anything to eat for a long time.
"Well, they hauled him up before the Captain, of course; and he blewand swore, and said the nigger was a spy, and was to be hanged tomorrow;he'd hang him tonight, only the big troop might catch us up thisevening, so he'd wait to hear what the Colonel said; but if they didn'tcome he'd hang him first thing tomorrow morning, or have him shot, assure as the sun rose. He made the fellows tie him up to that little treebefore his tent, with riems round his legs, and riems round his waist,and a riem round his neck."
"What did the native say?" asked the Englishman.
"Oh, he didn't say anything. There wasn't a soul in the camp could haveunderstood him if he had. The coloured boys don't know his language. Iexpect he's one of those bloody fellows we hit the day we cleared thebush out yonder; but how he got down that bank with his leg in the stateit must have been, I don't know. He didn't try to fight when they caughthim; just stared in front of him--fright, I suppose. He must have been abig strapping devil before he was taken down.
"Well, I tell you, we'd just got him fixed up, and the Captain was justgoing into his tent to have a drink, and we chaps were all standinground, when up steps Halket, right before the Captain, and pulls hisfront lock--you know the way he has? Oh, my God, my God, if you couldhave seen it! I'll never forget it to my dying day!" The Colonial seemedbursting with internal laughter. "He begins, 'Sir, may I speak to you?'in a formal kind of way, like a fellow introducing a deputation; andthen all of a sudden he starts off--oh, my God, you never heard such athing! It was like a boy in Sunday-school saying up a piece of Scripturehe's learnt off by heart, and got all ready beforehand, and he's notgoing to be stopped till he gets to the end of it."
"What did he say," asked the Englishman.
"Oh, he started, How did we know this nigger was a spy at all; it wouldbe a terrible thing to kill him if we weren't quite sure; perhaps he washiding there because he was wounded. And then he broke out that, afterall, these niggers were men fighting for their country; we would fightagainst the French if they came and took England from us; and theniggers were brave men, 'please sir'--(every five minutes he'd pull hisforelock, and say, 'please sir!')--'and if we have to fight against themwe ought to remember they're fighting for freedom; we shouldn't shootwounded prisoners when they were black if we wouldn't shoot them if theywere white!' And then he broke out pure unmitigated Exeter Hall! Younever heard anything like it! All men were brothers, and God loved ablack man as well as a white; Mashonas and Matabele were poor ignorantfolk, and we had to take care of them. And then he started out, that weought to let this man go; we ought to give him food for the road, andtell him to go back to his people, and tell them we hadn't come to taketheir land but to teach them and love them. 'It's hard to love a nigger,Captain, but we must try it; we must try it!'--And every five minuteshe'd break out with, 'And I think this is a man I know, Captain; I'mnot sure, but I think he comes from up Lo Magundis way!'--as if any borndevil cared whether a bloody nigger came from Lo Magundis or anywhereelse! I'm sure he said it fifteen times. And then he broke out, 'I don'tmean that I'm better than you or anybody else, Captain; I'm as bad a manas any in camp, and I know it.' And off he started, telling us all thesins he'd ever committed; and he kept on, 'I'm an unlearned, ignorantman, Captain; but I must stand by this nigger; he's got no one else!'And then he says--'If you let me take him up to Lo Magundis, sir, I'mnot afraid; and I'll tell the people there that it's not their land andtheir women that we want, it's them to be our brothers and love us. Ifyou'll only let me go, sir, I'll go and make peace; give the man to me,sir!'" The Colonial shook with laughter.
"What did the Captain say?" asked the Englishman.
"The Captain; well, you know the smallest thing sets him off swearingall round the world; but h
e just stood there with his arms hanging downat each side of him, and his eyes staring, and his face getting redderand redder: and all he could say was, 'My Gawd! my Gawd!' I thoughthe'd burst. And Halket stood there looking straight in front of him, asthough he didn't see a soul of us all there."
"What did the Captain do?"
"Oh, as soon as Halket turned away he started swearing,
The third man lay on his back again, lazily examining his hand, which heheld above his face. "What's that in the Bible," he said, slowly, "aboutthe statue, whose thighs and belly were of brass, and its feet of mud?"
"I don't know much about the Bible," said the keen man, "I'm going tosee if my pot isn't boiling over. Won't yours burn?"
"No, I asked the Captain's boy to keep an eye on it--but I expect hewon't. Do you put the rice in with the mealies?"
"Got to; I've got no other pot. And the fellows don't object. It's atasty variety, you know!"
The keen-faced man slouched away across the square to where his fireburnt; and presently the other man rose and went, either to look at hisown pot or sleep under the carts; and the large Colonial man was leftalone. His fire was burning satisfactorily about fifty feet off, andhe folded his arms on the ground and rested his forehead on them, andwatched lazily the little black ants that ran about in the red sand,just under his nose.
A great stillness settled down on the camp. Now and again a stickcracked in the fires, and the cicadas cried aloud in the tree stems;but except where the solitary paced up and down before the littleflat-topped tree in front of the captain's tent, not a creature stirredin the whole camp; and the snores of the trooper under the bushes mightbe heard half across the camp.
The intense midday heat had settled down.
At last there was the sound of someone breaking through the long grassand bushes which had only been removed for a few feet round the camp,and the figure of a man emerged bearing in one hand a gun, and in theother a bird which he had shot. He was evidently an Englishman, and notlong from Europe, by the bloom of the skin, which was perceptible inspite of the superficial tan. His face was at the moment flushed withheat; but the clear blue eyes and delicate features lost none of theirsensitive refinement.
He came up to the Colonial, and dropped the bird before him. "That isall I've got," he said.
He threw himself also down on the ground, and put his gun under theloose flap of the tent.
The Colonial raised his head; and without taking his elbows from theground took up the bird. "I'll put it into the pot; it'll give it theflavour of something except weevily mealies"; he said, and fell toplucking it.
The Englishman took his hat off, and lifted the fine damp hair from hisforehead.
"Knocked up, eh?" said the Colonial, glancing kindly up at him. "I've afew drops in my flask still."
"Oh, no, I can stand it well enough. It's only a little warm." He gavea slight cough, and laid his head down sideways on his arm. His eyeswatched mechanically the Colonial's manipulation of the bird. He hadleft England to escape phthisis; and he had gone to Mashonaland becauseit was a place where he could earn an open-air living, and save hisparents from the burden of his support.
"What's Halket doing over there?" he asked suddenly, raising his head.
"Weren't you here this morning?" asked the Colonial. "Didn't you knowthey'd had a devil of a row?"
"Who?" asked the Englishman, half raising himself on his elbows.
"Halket and the Captain." The Colonial paused in the plucking. "My God,you never saw anything like it!"
The Englishman sat upright now, and looked keenly over the bushes whereHalket's bent head might be seen as he paced to and fro.
"What's he doing out there in this blazing sun?"
"He's on guard," said the Colonial. "I thought you were here when ithappened. It's the best thing I ever saw or heard of in my whole life!"He rolled half over on his side and laughed at the remembrance. "Yousee, some of the men went down into the river, to look for fresh poolsof water, and they found a nigger, hidden away in a hole in the bank,not five hundred yards from here! They found the bloody rascal by alittle path he tramped down to the water, trodden hard, just like aporcupine's walk. They got him in the hole like an aardvark, with a bushover the mouth, so you couldn't see it. He'd evidently been there a longtime, the floor was full of bones of fish he'd caught in the pool, andthere was a bit of root like a stick half gnawed through. He'd beenpotted, and got two bullet wounds in the thigh; but he could walkalready. It's evident he was just waiting till we were gone, to clearoff after his people. He'd got that beastly scurvy look a nigger getswhen he hasn't had anything to eat for a long time.
"Well, they hauled him up before the Captain, of course; and he blewand swore, and said the nigger was a spy, and was to be hanged tomorrow;he'd hang him tonight, only the big troop might catch us up thisevening, so he'd wait to hear what the Colonel said; but if they didn'tcome he'd hang him first thing tomorrow morning, or have him shot, assure as the sun rose. He made the fellows tie him up to that little treebefore his tent, with riems round his legs, and riems round his waist,and a riem round his neck."
"What did the native say?" asked the Englishman.
"Oh, he didn't say anything. There wasn't a soul in the camp could haveunderstood him if he had. The coloured boys don't know his language. Iexpect he's one of those bloody fellows we hit the day we cleared thebush out yonder; but how he got down that bank with his leg in the stateit must have been, I don't know. He didn't try to fight when they caughthim; just stared in front of him--fright, I suppose. He must have been abig strapping devil before he was taken down.
"Well, I tell you, we'd just got him fixed up, and the Captain was justgoing into his tent to have a drink, and we chaps were all standinground, when up steps Halket, right before the Captain, and pulls hisfront lock--you know the way he has? Oh, my God, my God, if you couldhave seen it! I'll never forget it to my dying day!" The Colonial seemedbursting with internal laughter. "He begins, 'Sir, may I speak to you?'in a formal kind of way, like a fellow introducing a deputation; andthen all of a sudden he starts off--oh, my God, you never heard such athing! It was like a boy in Sunday-school saying up a piece of Scripturehe's learnt off by heart, and got all ready beforehand, and he's notgoing to be stopped till he gets to the end of it."
"What did he say," asked the Englishman.
"Oh, he started, How did we know this nigger was a spy at all; it wouldbe a terrible thing to kill him if we weren't quite sure; perhaps he washiding there because he was wounded. And then he broke out that, afterall, these niggers were men fighting for their country; we would fightagainst the French if they came and took England from us; and theniggers were brave men, 'please sir'--(every five minutes he'd pull hisforelock, and say, 'please sir!')--'and if we have to fight against themwe ought to remember they're fighting for freedom; we shouldn't shootwounded prisoners when they were black if we wouldn't shoot them if theywere white!' And then he broke out pure unmitigated Exeter Hall! Younever heard anything like it! All men were brothers, and God loved ablack man as well as a white; Mashonas and Matabele were poor ignorantfolk, and we had to take care of them. And then he started out, that weought to let this man go; we ought to give him food for the road, andtell him to go back to his people, and tell them we hadn't come to taketheir land but to teach them and love them. 'It's hard to love a nigger,Captain, but we must try it; we must try it!'--And every five minuteshe'd break out with, 'And I think this is a man I know, Captain; I'mnot sure, but I think he comes from up Lo Magundis way!'--as if any borndevil cared whether a bloody nigger came from Lo Magundis or anywhereelse! I'm sure he said it fifteen times. And then he broke out, 'I don'tmean that I'm better than you or anybody else, Captain; I'm as bad a manas any in camp, and I know it.' And off he started, telling us all thesins he'd ever committed; and he kept on, 'I'm an unlearned, ignorantman, Captain; but I must stand by this nigger; he's got no one else!'And then he says--'If you let me take him up to Lo Magundis, sir, I'mnot afraid; and I'll tell the people there that it's not their land andtheir women that we want, it's them to be our brothers and love us. Ifyou'll only let me go, sir, I'll go and make peace; give the man to me,sir!'" The Colonial shook with laughter.
"What did the Captain say?" asked the Englishman.
"The Captain; well, you know the smallest thing sets him off swearingall round the world; but h
"What did the Captain do?"
"Oh, as soon as Halket turned away he started swearing,