INETEEN.

FIRST SIGHT OF OSTRICH.

As soon as poor Coffee showed the slightest sign of amendment, he was
carefully lifted on to a comfortable bed made for him at the back of the
waggon, where he lay patiently smiling at those who came to look at him;
the oxen were in-spanned, and once more the waggon creaked and groaned
over the rough land towards a fresh halting-place.

Game was plentiful enough, and Dinny always had an ample supply for his
iron pot, but more than once the difficulties with regard to water were
very serious, and very long treks had to be made before a spring or
river could be reached.

But they pushed steadily on, the excitement of their hunting and
shooting excursions making them forget the troubles of their journey.

Whenever Mr Rogers talked of halting and making some snugly-sheltered
position their headquarters, the General smiled and pointed north,
promising more wonders if they kept on, and finer game.

Coffee did not seem to suffer much, his greatest trouble being his
weakness, and the difficulty his surgeon had to deal with that of
keeping him in his bed; but he was very patient, and grateful for what
was done, while the General seemed to wait on Mr Rogers' every look and
word as if he would never be weary of attending to him.

They were getting close to the neighbourhood of the river Limpopo, when
one evening, towards sundown, Mr Rogers became separated from his sons
as they were journeying back towards the waggon, in his anxiety to shoot
one of the curious fox-like animals that he had several times seen but
had never had a chance to hit. They were beautifully marked, with long
ears almost like those of a hare, and carried brushes that would have
made an English fox envious; but even out there in the African wild they
seem to partake of the cunning of their European relatives, and the more
Mr Rogers tried, the less likely he seemed to succeed.

Upon this occasion he had seen one or two, and in his anxiety to obtain
a shot he had dashed off into the bush, where the little animals seemed
to delight in luring him on, showing for a moment and then disappearing.

It was a glorious evening, and the sky was one glow of warmly-tinted
cloud, while his proximity to the waggon, which he knew was not far-off,
kept him from feeling uneasy about the others getting back.

"There it is again," he exclaimed, as he saw the little fox-like animal
dart amongst the bushes; and going cautiously in pursui