The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'Tween Snow and Fire, by Bertram Mitford

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: 'Tween Snow and Fire
A Tale of the Last Kafir War

Author: Bertram Mitford

Release Date: June 19, 2010 [EBook #32896]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

'Tween Snow and Fire, by Bertram Mitford.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
'TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE, BY BERTRAM MITFORD.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE EPISODE OF THE WHITE DOG.

The buck is running for dear life.

The dog is some fifty yards behind the buck. The Kafir is about the
same distance behind the dog, which distance he is striving right
manfully to maintain; not so unsuccessfully, either, considering that he
is pitting the speed of two legs against that of eight.

Down the long grass slope they course--buck, dog, and savage. The
former, a game little antelope of the steinbok species, takes the ground
in a series of long, flying leaps, his white tail whisking like a flag
of defiance. The second, a tawny, black-muzzled grey-hound, stretching
his snaky length in the wake of his quarry, utters no sound, as with
arrow-like velocity he holds on his course, his cruel eyes gleaming, his
jaws dripping saliva in pleasurable anticipation of the coming feast.
The third, a fine, well-knit young Kafir, his naked body glistening from
head to foot with red ochre, urges on his hound with an occasional
shrill whoop of encouragement, as he covers the ground at a surprising
pace in his free, bounding stride. He holds a knob-kerrie in his hand,
ready for use as soon as the quarry shall be within hurling distance.

But of this there seems small chance at present. It takes a good dog
indeed to run down an unwounded buck with the open _veldt_ before him,
and good as this one is, it seems probable that he will get left. Down
the long grass slope they course, but the opposite acclivity is the
quarry's opportunity. The pointed hoofs seem hardly to touch ground in
the arrowy flight of the