CHAPTER XXXVI

Jack’s Adventure and Narrow Escape—A Fountain

An adventure of which Master Jack was the hero diverted the monotony of our existence, divided as it was between new constructions and provisioning our habitation for winter.

Jack had one day set off on an expedition, the intent and purpose of which nobody but himself had any knowledge of; but his absence was not long, for we soon saw him returning, covered from head to foot with a thick, black mud, and dragging after him a bundle of Spanish rushes, likewise covered with mud.

“Where have you been,” said I, “to dirty yourself so?”

“In Flamingo Marsh.”

“Why, what in the name of common sense were you doing there?”

“Alas!” answered the poor boy, as he heaved a deep sigh, “I wanted to get some Spanish osiers to make nests for the pigeons.”

“A praiseworthy intention,” said I. “It was not your fault that the enterprise did not succeed well.”

“Oh, no; and if it had not been for these bundles of rushes I should certainly have lost my life. I wanted some thin, flexible rushes; those on the borders of the swamp were too large, and I advanced farther into the marsh, jumping from hummock to hummock, until I came to a spot where the only footing was a mass of soft, black mud; my feet slipped in, and I found myself up to my knees in the compound; and, gradually sinking deeper, I commenced screaming at the top of my voice; but nobody heard me, except my jackal, who came running up to me, and tried to assist me by howling with all his might.”

“But why,” said Ernest, “did you not try to swim? you excel all of us in swimming.”

“Fine advice, truly; I would like to see you swimming in a swamp, up to your neck in mud, and surrounded by a thick forest of willows. When I perceived that neither my cries nor those of the jackal produced any good, I endeavoured to draw myself out; for I was sinking fast, and had no time to lose. I took my knife from my pocket, and cut, from the willows that surrounded me, two large bundles, and, placing one under each arm, they served me as a sort of hold. I then exerted all my strength, and, by moving my body, my arms, and my legs, I managed to raise myself up a little. All this time my jackal stood on the edge of the marsh, howling with all his might. I whistled him to me, and, grasping hold of his tail at last, with great difficulty, I reached terra firma.”

“God be praised, my poor child,” said I, “that you have been preserved to us! but the risk was great, and you may thank your jackal that you are alive.”

His mother hastened to wash and clean the poor adventurer: his entire suit was put to soak in the Jackal’s River, and we also washed the rushes, as I intended to make use of them. In their present condition they were too long and hard, and we were obliged to cut them in several strips.

I profited by the willows that Jack had brought, to commence the construction of a machine that my wife had long expected of me, viz., a weaving-machine.

Two rushes, split lengthwise, and wound round with packthread, so that they would dry without bending, formed four bars to make that part of the machine called the “combs.” I made my sons cut me a quantity of little pieces of wood, to make the teeth for the combs; and when I had procured these first materials for my construction, I put them aside, saying nothing to anybody concerning their destination, as I wished the machine to be a surprise to my wife, and I proved insensible to all the ridicule showered upon my little sticks, which Ernest facetiously called tooth-picks.

“What are you going to make with all those sticks?” asked my wife, with womanish curiosity.

“Oh, nothing but a whim of mine,” I answered, laughing. “I intend to make you a superb instrument of music, such as the Hottentots have called a gom-gom. Let me alone, and I promise you, you shall be the first to dance to its melodious sounds.”

About this time, our onagra gave birth to a beautiful little ass of its species. It was received with pleasure, for it not only added to our number of useful animals, but also afforded us a courser, that in future time would make quite a figure in our cavalcades. I gave it the name of “Rapid,” as I designed him particularly for the saddle; and we saw with pleasure that his limbs were all beautifully proportioned.

The approach of the rainy season and the remembrance of the trouble we had had in collecting our animals last year, induced us to invent a method to render the service less painful; it was to accustom them to return to their homes at the sound of a conch, in which I had placed a bit of wood, like a flute. The pigs were the only ones that we could not manage. They were unruly and loved their liberty too much to be confined; we willingly abandoned them, as the dogs could easily bring them together if desired.

Among the embellishments and comforts with which we had surrounded our winter habitation, we yet wanted a reservoir of pure water, which we were obliged to bring from the Jackal’s River. The distance was too great in winter, and I wished to remedy the inconvenience before the rains came on. I conceived the idea of bringing a stream of water from the river to the grotto, and to establish a fountain, as we had done at Falcon’s Nest. Bamboo canes, fitted into one another, served us for canals; we rested them on crutches of wood, and a barrel sunk in the ground performed the office of a basin.

We proposed, when time permitted us, to give to this construction the elegance and perfection it wanted. But such as it was, it answered our purpose; and my wife assured me she was just as contented with the little fountain as if it had been built of marble, and surrounded by dolphins and naiads, spouting water from their mouths.