for the full length of another hour did the trio in the tree have their patience tested. during all that time the “rogue” remained upon the ground, continuing his perambulations around the rock—until he had trodden out a path that resembled the arena of a circus at the close of a night’s performance.
it is not necessary to say that the time hung heavily upon the hands of the spectators—to say nothing of fritz, who would no doubt have been satisfied with a much shorter programme.
as regards the former, the hour might have been spent less pleasantly than it was; for it so chanced that an interlude was introduced, of so interesting a character to all, but more especially to the naturalist karl, that for a while the proximity of their savage besieger was forgotten, and they scarcely remembered that they were besieged.
favoured by the accident of their situation, they became spectators of a scene—one of those scenes only to be viewed amid the wild solitudes of nature.
not far from the tree on which they had found shelter, stood another of equal dimensions, but of an entirely different species. it was a sycamore, as even caspar, without any botanical skill, could testify. its smooth bark, piebald with white and green spots, its widely-straggling limbs and leaves, left no doubt about its being one. it was the sycamore, identical with its european congener, the platanus orientalis.
it is the habit of this fine tree to become hollow. not only does the lower part of its trunk exhibit the phenomenon of great cavities, but holes are found high up in its main shaft or in the larger limbs.
the tree in question stood within a few yards of that on which karl, caspar, and ossaroo were perched. it was just before their eyes, whenever they looked in a horizontal direction; and occasionally, when tired with watching the monotonous movements of the elephant, one or other of them did look horizontally. the scanty foliage upon the sycamore enabled them to see its trunk and most of its larger limbs, without any obstruction of leaves or branches.
caspar had not cast his eyes more than twice in the direction of this tree, when he saw there was something peculiar about it. caspar was a youth of quick sight and equally quick perception. in the main stem of the tree, and about six feet above its first forking, he perceived an object that at once fixed his attention. it looked like a goat’s horn, only that it was more like the curving tusk of a rhinoceros or a very young elephant. it was sticking out from the tree, with the curve directed downwards. altogether, it looked quite different from a branch of the sycamore, or anything belonging to the tree.
once or twice, while caspar had his eyes upon it, he thought or fancied that it moved; but not being sure of this, he said nothing, lest the others might laugh at him. it would not have been the first time that karl, from his superior knowledge, had indulged in a laugh at his brother’s expense.
caspar’s attention being now engrossed by the peculiar appearance he had noted, he continued to scrutinise it; and soon perceived that around the curved excrescence there was a circular disc some eight or ten inches in diameter, and differing in colour from the bark of the sycamore—by being many shades darker. this disc appeared composed of some substance that was not ligneous: for it no more resembled wood than the curved ivory-like object that protruded from its centre. had caspar been asked what it did look like, he would have answered that it resembled the agglutinated mud used by swallows in building their nests—so like it, that it might have been the same substance.
caspar continued to scrutinise these two curious objects—the tusk-like excrescence, and the dark disc from which it protruded; and not until he became fully aware that the former had life in it, did he communicate his discovery to his companions. of this fact he was convinced by seeing the crescent suddenly disappear—as if drawn within the tree, while in its place a dark round hole was alone visible. presently the yellowish horn reappeared through the hole, and protruded outside, filling it up as before!
caspar was too much astonished by this exhibition to remain any longer the sole proprietor of such a mysterious secret, and without more delay he communicated his discovery to karl, and indirectly to ossaroo.
both at the same time turned their eyes towards the tree, and bent them upon the indicated spot. karl was as much mystified by the strange appearance as had been caspar himself.
not so ossaroo. the moment he saw the carving ivory and the dark-coloured disc, he pronounced, in a tone of careless indifference, the simple phrase,—
“hornbill—de bird on him nest.”
