Jock Of The Bushveld by sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 17 )( Page 8 ) Buffalo Bushfire and Wild Dogs

They seemed to be passing half a mile away from us; but in the stillness of the night sound travels far, and one can only guess.  Again a little while and the cries sounded nearer and as if coming from one quarter--not moving round us as before; and a few minutes more, and it was certain they were still nearer and coming straight towards us.  We took our guns then, and I called Jock back to where we stood under the tree with our backs to the fire. The growing sounds came on out of the night where all was hidden with the weird crescendo effect of a coming flood; we could pick them out then--the louder harsher cries; the crashing through bush; the rush in grass; the sobbing gasps in front; and the hungry panting after.  The hunt came at us like a cyclone out of the stillness, and in the forefront of it there burst into the circle of light an impala ewe with open mouth and haunting hunted despairing eyes and wide spread ears; and the last staggering strides brought her in among us, tumbling at our feet. A kaffir jumped out with assegai aloft; but Teddy, with the spring of a tiger and a yell of rage, swung his rifle round and down on assegai arm and head, and dropped the boy in his tracks. "Go-sh!--Da-ll!  Cr-r-r-i-miny!  What the Hex are you up to?" and the fiery soft-hearted old boy was down on to his knees in a second, panting with anger and excitement, and threw his arms about the buck. The foremost of the pack followed hot foot close behind the  uck-- oblivious of fire and men, seeing nothing but the quarry--and at a distance of five yards a mixed volley of bullets and assegais tumbled it over.  Another followed, and again another: both fell where they had stopped, a dozen yards away, puzzled by the fire and the shooting; and still more and more came on, but, warned by the unexpected check in front, they stopped at the clearing's edge, until over twenty pairs of eyes reflecting the fire's light shone out at us in a rough semicircle. The shot guns came in better then; and more than half the pack went under that night before the others cleared off.  Perhaps they did not realise that the shots and flashes were not part of the camp fire from which they seemed to come; perhaps their system of never relinquishing a chase had not been tried against the white man before. One of the wild dogs, wounded by a shot, seemed to go mad with agony and raced straight into the clearing towards the fire, uttering the strangest maniac-like yaps.  Jock had all along been straining to go for them from where I had jammed him between my feet as I sat and fired, and the charge of this dog was more than he could bear: he shot out like a rocket, and the collision sent the two flying apart; but he was on to the wild dog again and had it by the throat before it could recover. Instantly the row of lights went out, as if switched off--they were no longer looking at us; there was a rustle and a sound of padded feet, and dim grey-looking forms gathered at the edge of the clearing nearest where Jock and the wounded dog fought.  I shouted to Jock to come back, and several of us ran out to help, just as another of the pack made a dash in.  It seemed certain that Jock, gripping and worrying his enemy's throat, had neither time nor thought for anything else; yet as the fresh dog came at him he let go his grip of the other, and jumped to meet the new-comer; in mid-spring Jock caught the other by the ear and the two spun completely round--their positions being reversed; then, with another wrench as he landed, he flung the attacker behind him and jumped back at the wounded one which had already turned to go. It looked like the clean and easy movement of a finished gymnast.  It was an affair of a few seconds only, for of course the instant we got a chance at the dogs, without the risk to Jock, both were shot; and he, struggling to get at the others, was haled back to the tree. While this was going on the impala stood with wide spread legs, dazed and helpless, between Teddy's feet, just as he had placed it.  Its breath came in broken choking sobs; the look of terror and despair had not yet faded from the staring eyes; the head swayed from side to side; the mouth hung open and the tongue lolled out; all told beyond the power of words the tale of desperate struggle and exhaustion.  It drank greedily from the dish that Teddy held for it--emptied it, and five minutes later drank it again and then lay down. For half an hour it lay there, slowly recovering; sometimes for spells of a few minutes it appeared to breathe normally once more; then the heavy open-mouthed panting would return again; and all the time Teddy kept on stroking or patting it gently and talking to it as if he were comforting a child, and every now and then bursting out with sudden gusty execrations, in his own particular style, of wild dogs and kaffirs.  At last it rose briskly, and standing between his knees looked about, taking no notice of Teddy's hands laid on either side and gently patting it.  No one moved or spoke.  Jock, at my feet, appeared most interested of all, but I am afraid his views differed considerably from ours on that occasion, and he must have been greatly puzzled; he remained watching intently with his head laid on his paws, his ears cocked, and his brown eyes fixed unblinkingly; and at each movement on the buck's part something stirred in him, drawing every muscle tense and ready for the spring--internal grips which were reflected in the twitching and stiffening of his neck and back; but each time as I laid a hand on him he slackened out again and subsided. We sat like statues as the impala walked out from its stall between Teddy's knees, and stood looking about wonderingly at the faces white and black, at the strange figures, and at the fire.  It stepped out quite quietly, much as it might have moved about here and there any peaceful morning in its usual haunts; the head swung about briskly, but unalarmed; and ears and eyes were turned this way and that in easy confidence and mild curiosity. With a few more steps it threaded its way close to one sitting figure and round a bucket; stepped daintily over Teddy's rifle; and passed the koodoo's head unnoticed. It seemed to us--even to us, and at the moment--like a scene in fairyland in which some spell held us while the beautiful wild thing strolled about unfrightened. A few yards away it stopped for perhaps a couple of minutes; its back was towards us and the fire; the silence was absolute; and it stood thus with eyes and ears for the bush alone.  There was a warning whisk of the white tail and it started off again--this time at a brisk trot--and we thought it had gone; but at the edge of the clearing it once more stood and listened.  Now and again the ears flickered and the head turned slightly one way or another, but no sound came from the bush; the out-thrust nose was raised with gentle tosses, but no taint reached it on the gentle breeze.  All was well! It looked slowly round, giving one long full gaze back at us which seemed to be "Good-bye, and--thank you!" and cantered out into the dark.