Caesar & Hussein. Patrick O’Brian

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СКАЧАТЬ very familiar, and I wondered where I had seen it before — when suddenly I remembered this was the place where the tent had been, and looking round I saw the marks made by the tent pegs. I searched for the remains of a fire, but it was outside the little semi-circle of protection and was buried.

      It was evident that my master had gone without me, but where, I wondered, had he gone — up the mountain? If so it was unlikely that he would survive such a storm. If he had gone down the mountain, sheltering among the smaller foothills, he might have lived through it; but then it would be impossible for me to find him. I thought of going back to the house if the storm ever finished, which seemed hardly likely.

      It must have been nearly a hundred miles either south or west to my master’s house. I tried to recall our route on coming up to the mountains, and all the different ways which we had gone in four days, sometimes going on trail after game, and more than once making detours round lakes, but it was too much for my memory. After striving to collect my thoughts and failing, my senses left me and I sank into a sleep of utter exhaustion.

      I did not wake up until the middle of the next day. The storm had ceased, and I started up with the intention of joining my master at once, but to my horror there was no track or traces for me to follow, for of course the snow had obliterated all of them for miles.

      As it was freezing, a firm crust had formed over the top of the snow, so if I kept my feet well splayed out I could travel about with ease; but I feared that my master, with his boots, would sink into one of the deep drifts and never be able to get out. I searched for the least clue of his whereabouts all day without success, as I was afraid of going too far from the camp site, in case he might return.

      Towards nightfall I became aware of my extreme hunger, so when I observed a troop of wild goats and mountain sheep coming down one of the dangerous paths (which they seemed to prefer) towards me, I ensconced myself in a hollow which I rapidly scooped out of the snow, and when they passed I darted out and seized a small fat one, which I took behind a small rock and there consumed.

      When evening was coming on the sky became threatening and dark, and as I feared another storm I went up towards the entrance to the tunnels and went in. I was determined not to get lost again, so I only went as far as the place where all the tunnels met, and there I chose a dark corner of the square.

      To my surprise I found that the place was littered with a lot of dry ferns and grass, and there was a scent about the place which I could not recognise. I thought perhaps I had lain down here in my wanderings the day before, for the scent was very like my own, but on second thoughts I saw that it was too fresh to be mine.

      However, I did not worry about it, but fell to thinking what a safe place this would be to live in when one got to know all the passages and caves.

      Then I wondered where my master was, whether he were still looking for me or whether he had lived through the snowstorm. I feared he would not, for his skin even with all his clothes was scarcely sufficient protection against such severe cold. I also wondered whether we should ever go hunting again together, or whether I should ever see my mistress or the children again, or if I should ever play with the ball any more.

      In the middle of all these melancholy thoughts, however, I fell asleep, and did not wake up until the next morning, when I got up, and after washing myself I went to the stream and had a drink. In the tunnels there was twilight all day and utter darkness at night.

      I roamed all round and round the passages which honey-combed the mountain and soon found the exit again. At first the dazzling reflection of the sun from the snow quite blinded me, but I regained my sight and continued to search for my master.

      As the hours passed without any signs of him, and I felt quite sure I should never find him again, my loneliness can hardly be imagined, for after a year and a half of his company I had got so used to his voice and presence that I could hardly believe that I was parted from him.

      The great white stretches of pure snow broken by occasional bare rocks comforted me, however, and the exhilarating air of the mountains felt strange in my nostrils after the thick air of the plains.

      Then I ascended to the very highest reaches of the mountain, and I thought I saw some smoke coming from far away to the south. But I was not sure, for a bank of cloud rolled in, obscuring my vision.

      I did not leave the mountain for fear that I was wrong and that my master might return to the site of the old camp in my absence.

      At midday I returned to the cave and I slept until night, when I came out, and after about half an hour I had a fat goat. After eating it I went down to the stream for a drink. I thought I saw another animal just leaving on the other side but was not sure, so soon I went back to my cave and presently went fast asleep.

       Seventeen

      For the whole of the next fortnight I searched for my master, even going down into the plains, but I never found even a trace of him. Then I began to lose all hope of finding him and turned to hunting. I spent more time in exploring the tunnels, which I soon began to know quite well.

      They consisted of two main caves, one above the other, each with a great many tunnels leading off them, and they were connected by one main tunnel.

      In the top one there were quite a lot of holes in the sides which let in light, but they also let in snow and water, so I always lived in the bottom cave. Also in the top there were images of men squatting on great flat stones, which frightened me. Some of them had six arms, and one of them had an elephant’s head, and they were all very much larger than any live men that I had ever seen.

      On the sides of some of the passages there were some pictures which looked something like men, but I could not be quite sure. And in one of the tunnels which led nowhere there were a lot of skeletons of men, but there was no meat on them, as they had been dead many years and some of them were falling to dust. Often I thought that I saw a creature of some sort, but I was never able to catch it, and I did not think it ever saw me, or if it did, it never attacked me, so I did not worry about it, as there was plenty of meat running about on the mountains.

      One day, however, as I was going into my cave I heard a growl from the corner, and turning in its direction, I saw a pair of green eyes staring at me, and in the pitch dark of the corner I could not make out what it was at first, but when it bounded towards me I observed that she was a snow leopard nearly as big as myself.

      She appeared very thin and hungry, and evidently she was trying to frighten me away from the goat which I was carrying, and I saw that she was wounded in the right forepaw. Then she saw that I was no enemy and she made friendly noises.

      In a short time we had made friends, and I let her have some of my goat. It appears that she had wounded her foot on a porcupine a week before, and had hardly been able to get enough food, as it hindered her running powers.

      I think she had lived in the tunnel nearly all her life, hunting in the valley and between the first range and the main mountain. As I was feeling very lonely we played together, and in the morning we went out to hunt.

      When she came out into the daylight I saw how beautiful she was, with her white coat and the black line on her ears which extended down to her forehead and made her look very fine. She seemed to know this and also admired my spots, and I saw that СКАЧАТЬ