Chapter 21
The black boy whom Malbihn had left awaiting him in the clearing withinstructions to remain until he returned sat crouched at the foot of atree for an hour when he was suddenly startled by the coughing grunt ofa lion behind him. With celerity born of the fear of death the boyclambered into the branches of the tree, and a moment later the king ofbeasts entered the clearing and approached the carcass of an antelopewhich, until now, the boy had not seen.
Until daylight the beast fed, while the black clung, sleepless, to hisperch, wondering what had become of his master and the two ponies. Hehad been with Malbihn for a year, and so was fairly conversant with thecharacter of the white. His knowledge presently led him to believethat he had been purposely abandoned. Like the balance of Malbihn'sfollowers, this boy hated his master cordially--fear being the onlybond that held him to the white man. His present uncomfortablepredicament but added fuel to the fires of his hatred.
As the sun rose the lion withdrew into the jungle and the blackdescended from his tree and started upon his long journey back to camp.In his primitive brain revolved various fiendish plans for a revengethat he would not have the courage to put into effect when the testcame and he stood face to face with one of the dominant race.
A mile from the clearing he came upon the spoor of two ponies crossinghis path at right angles. A cunning look entered the black's eyes. Helaughed uproariously and slapped his thighs.
Negroes are tireless gossipers, which, of course, is but a roundaboutway of saying that they are human. Malbihn's boys had been noexception to the rule and as many of them had been with him at varioustimes during the past ten years there was little about his acts andlife in the African wilds that was not known directly or by hearsay tothem all.
And so, knowing his master and many of his past deeds, knowing, too, agreat deal about the plans of Malbihn and Baynes that had beenoverheard by himself, or other servants; and knowing well from thegossip of the head-men that half of Malbihn's party lay in camp by thegreat river far to the west, it was not difficult for the boy to puttwo and two together and arrive at four as the sum--the four beingrepresented by a firm conviction that his master had deceived the otherwhite man and taken the latter's woman to his western camp, leaving theother to suffer capture and punishment at the hands of the Big Bwanawhom all feared. Again the boy bared his rows of big, white teeth andlaughed aloud. Then he resumed his northward way, traveling at adogged trot that ate up the miles with marvelous rapidity.
In the Swede's camp the Hon. Morison had spent an almost sleeplessnight of nervous apprehension and doubts and fears. Toward morning hehad slept, utterly exhausted. It was the headman who awoke him shortlyafter sun rise to remind him that they must at once take up theirnorthward journey. Baynes hung back. He wanted to wait for "Hanson"and Meriem. The headman urged upon him the danger that lay inloitering. The fellow knew his master's plans sufficiently well tounderstand that he had done something to arouse the ire of the BigBwana and that it would fare ill with them all if they were overtakenin Big Bwana's country. At the suggestion Baynes took alarm.
What if the Big Bwana, as the head-man called him, had surprised"Hanson" in his nefarious work. Would he not guess the truth andpossibly be already on the march to overtake and punish him? Bayneshad heard much of his host's summary method of dealing out punishmentto malefactors great and small who transgressed the laws or customs ofhis savage little world which lay beyond the outer ramparts of what menare pleased to call frontiers. In this savage world where there was nolaw the Big Bwana was law unto himself and all who dwelt about him. Itwas even rumored that he had extracted the death penalty from a whiteman who had maltreated a native girl.
Baynes shuddered at the recollection of this piece of gossip as hewondered what his host would exact of the man who had attempted tosteal his young, white ward. The thought brought him to his feet.
"Yes," he said, nervously, "we must get away from here at once. Do youknow the trail to the north?"
The head-man did, and he lost no time in getting the safari upon themarch.
It was noon when a tired and sweat-covered runner overtook the trudginglittle column. The man was greeted with shouts of welcome from hisfellows, to whom he imparted all that he knew and guessed of theactions of their master, so that the entire safari was aware of mattersbefore Baynes, who marched close to the head of the column, was reachedand acquainted with the facts and the imaginings of the black boy whomMalbihn had deserted in the clearing the night before.
When the Hon. Morison had listened to all that the boy had to say andrealized that the trader had used him as a tool whereby he himselfmight get Meriem into his possession, his blood ran hot with rage andhe trembled with apprehension for the girl's safety.
That another contemplated no worse a deed than he had contemplated inno way palliated the hideousness of the other's offense. At first itdid not occur to him that he would have wronged Meriem no less than hebelieved "Hanson" contemplated wronging her. Now his rage was more therage of a man beaten at his own game and robbed of the prize that hehad thought already his.
"Do you know where your master has gone?" he asked the black.
"Yes, Bwana," replied the boy. "He has gone to the other camp besidethe big afi that flows far toward the setting sun.
"Can you take me to him?" demanded Baynes.
The boy nodded affirmatively. Here he saw a method of revenginghimself upon his hated Bwana and at the same time of escaping the wrathof the Big Bwana whom all were positive would first follow after thenortherly safari.
"Can you and I, alone, reach his camp?" asked the Hon. Morison.
"Yes, Bwana," assured the black.
Baynes turned toward the head-man. He was conversant with "Hanson's"plans now. He understood why he had wished to move the northern campas far as possible toward the northern boundary of the Big Bwana'scountry--it would give him far more time to make his escape toward theWest Coast while the Big Bwana was chasing the northern contingent.Well, he would utilize the man's plans to his own end. He, too, mustkeep out of the clutches of his host.
"You may take the men north as fast as possible," he said to thehead-man. "I shall return and attempt to lead the Big Bwana to thewest."
The Negro assented with a grunt. He had no desire to follow thisstrange white man who was afraid at night; he had less to remain at thetender mercies of the Big Bwana's lusty warriors, between whom and hispeople there was long-standing blood feud; and he was more thandelighted, into the bargain, for a legitimate excuse for deserting hismuch hated Swede master. He knew a way to the north and his owncountry that the white men did not know--a short cut across an aridplateau where lay water holes of which the white hunters and explorersthat had passed from time to time the fringe of the dry country hadnever dreamed. He might even elude the Big Bwana should he followthem, and with this thought uppermost in his mind he gathered theremnants of Malbihn's safari into a semblance of order and moved offtoward the north. And toward the southwest the black boy led the Hon.Morison Baynes into the jungles.
Korak had waited about the camp, watching the Hon. Morison until thesafari had started north. Then, assured that the young Englishman wasgoing in the wrong direction to meet Meriem he had abandoned him andreturned slowly to the point where he had seen the girl, for whom hisheart yearned, in the arms of another.
So great had been his happiness at seeing Meriem alive that, for theinstant, no thought of jealousy had entered his mind. Later thesethoughts had come--dark, bloody thoughts that would have made the fleshof the Hon. Morison creep could he have guessed that they wererevolving in the brain of a savage creature creeping stealthily amongthe branches of the forest giant beneath which he waited the coming of"Hanson" and the girl.
And with passing of the hours had come subdued reflection in which hehad weighed himself against the trimly clad English gentlemanand--found that he was wanting. What had he to offer her by comparisonwith that which the other man might of
fer? What was his "mess ofpottage" to the birthright that the other had preserved? How could hedare go, naked and unkempt, to that fair thing who had once been hisjungle-fellow and propose the thing that had been in his mind whenfirst the realization of his love had swept over him? He shuddered ashe thought of the irreparable wrong that his love would have done theinnocent child but for the chance that had snatched her from him beforeit was too late. Doubtless she knew now the horror that had been inhis mind. Doubtless she hated and loathed him as he hated and loathedhimself when he let his mind dwell upon it. He had lost her. No moresurely had she been lost when he thought her dead than she was inreality now that he had seen her living--living in the guise of arefinement that had transfigured and sanctified her.
He had loved her before, now he worshipped her. He knew that he mightnever possess her now, but at least he might see her. From a distancehe might look upon her. Perhaps he might serve her; but never must sheguess that he had found her or that he lived.
He wondered if she ever thought of him--if the happy days that they hadspent together never recurred to her mind. It seemed unbelievable thatsuch could be the case, and yet, too, it seemed almost equallyunbelievable that this beautiful girl was the same disheveled, halfnaked, little sprite who skipped nimbly among the branches of the treesas they ran and played in the lazy, happy days of the past. It couldnot be that her memory held more of the past than did her newappearance.
It was a sad Korak who ranged the jungle near the plain's edge waitingfor the coming of his Meriem--the Meriem who never came.
But there came another--a tall, broad-shouldered man in khaki at thehead of a swarthy crew of ebon warriors. The man's face was set inhard, stern lines and the marks of sorrow were writ deep about hismouth and eyes--so deep that the set expression of rage upon hisfeatures could not obliterate them.
Korak saw the man pass beneath him where he hid in the great tree thathad harbored him before upon the edge of that fateful little clearing.He saw him come and he set rigid and frozen and suffering above him.He saw him search the ground with his keen eyes, and he only sat therewatching with eyes that glazed from the intensity of his gaze. He sawhim sign to his men that he had come upon that which he sought and hesaw him pass out of sight toward the north, and still Korak sat like agraven image, with a heart that bled in dumb misery. An hour laterKorak moved slowly away, back into the jungle toward the west. He wentlistlessly, with bent head and stooped shoulders, like an old man whobore upon his back the weight of a great sorrow.
Baynes, following his black guide, battled his way through the denseunderbrush, riding stooped low over his horse's neck, or often hedismounted where the low branches swept too close to earth to permithim to remain in the saddle. The black was taking him the shortestway, which was no way at all for a horseman, and after the first day'smarch the young Englishman was forced to abandon his mount, and followhis nimble guide entirely on foot.
During the long hours of marching the Hon. Morison had much time todevote to thought, and as he pictured the probable fate of Meriem atthe hands of the Swede his rage against the man became the greater.But presently there came to him a realization of the fact that his ownbase plans had led the girl into this terrible predicament, and thateven had she escaped "Hanson" she would have found but little betterdeserts awaiting her with him.
There came too, the realization that Meriem was infinitely moreprecious to him than he had imagined. For the first time he commencedto compare her with other women of his acquaintance--women of birth andposition--and almost to his surprise--he discovered that the young Arabgirl suffered less than they by the comparison. And then from hating"Hanson" he came to look upon himself with hate and loathing--to seehimself and his perfidious act in all their contemptible hideousness.
Thus, in the crucible of shame amidst the white heat of naked truths,the passion that the man had felt for the girl he had considered hissocial inferior was transmuted into love. And as he staggered on thereburned within him beside his newborn love another great passion--thepassion of hate urging him on to the consummation of revenge.
A creature of ease and luxury, he had never been subjected to thehardships and tortures which now were his constant companionship, yet,his clothing torn, his flesh scratched and bleeding, he urged the blackto greater speed, though with every dozen steps he himself fell fromexhaustion.
It was revenge which kept him going--that and a feeling that in hissuffering he was partially expiating the great wrong he had done thegirl he loved--for hope of saving her from the fate into which he hadtrapped her had never existed. "Too late! Too late!" was the dismalaccompaniment of thought to which he marched. "Too late! Too late tosave; but not too late to avenge!" That kept him up.
Only when it became too dark to see would he permit of a halt. A dozentimes in the afternoon he had threatened the black with instant deathwhen the tired guide insisted upon resting. The fellow was terrified.He could not understand the remarkable change that had so suddenly comeover the white man who had been afraid in the dark the night before.He would have deserted this terrifying master had he had theopportunity; but Baynes guessed that some such thought might be in theother's mind, and so gave the fellow none. He kept close to him by dayand slept touching him at night in the rude thorn boma they constructedas a slight protection against prowling carnivora.
That the Hon. Morison could sleep at all in the midst of the savagejungle was sufficient indication that he had changed considerably inthe past twenty-four hours, and that he could lie close beside anone-too-fragrant black man spoke of possibilities for democracy withinhim yet all undreamed of.
Morning found him stiff and lame and sore, but none the less determinedto push on in pursuit of "Hanson" as rapidly as possible. With hisrifle he brought down a buck at a ford in a small stream shortly afterthey broke camp, breakfastless. Begrudgingly he permitted a halt whilethey cooked and ate, and then on again through the wilderness of treesand vines and underbrush.
And in the meantime Korak wandered slowly westward, coming upon thetrail of Tantor, the elephant, whom he overtook browsing in the deepshade of the jungle. The ape-man, lonely and sorrowing, was glad ofthe companionship of his huge friend. Affectionately the sinuous trunkencircled him, and he was swung to the mighty back where so oftenbefore he had lolled and dreamed the long afternoon away.
Far to the north the Big Bwana and his black warriors clung tenaciouslyto the trail of the fleeing safari that was luring them further andfurther from the girl they sought to save, while back at the bungalowthe woman who had loved Meriem as though she had been her own waitedimpatiently and in sorrow for the return of the rescuing party and thegirl she was positive her invincible lord and master would bring backwith him.