CHAPTER XI
THAT HERO OTTER
"Help me to secure the gate," said Leonard presently.
In another minute the great iron bar had been dropped into its place,and Leonard withdrew the key and put it in his pocket.
"Why do you secure the door, Baas?" whispered Otter.
"To keep the real Pierre out, in case he should come this way. TwoPierres would be one too many at this game. Now we must win or perish."
Then they crept along the embankment till they gained the shelter of thehut or barrack-shed which stood with its back to the dike that separatedthe Nest from the slave camp. Happily none saw them, and there were nodogs in the place. Dogs make a noise at inconvenient times, thereforeslave-dealers do not love them.
The end of the shed behind which they were crouching was situated someeight or ten paces from the drawbridge, that formed the only path ofentry to the slave camp.
"Baas," said Otter, "let me go forward and look. My eyes are the eyes ofa cat; I can see in the dark. Perhaps the bridge is down."
Without waiting for an answer, he crept forward on his hands and kneesso quietly that they could scarcely hear a movement. Notwithstanding hiswhite dress, there was little chance of his being seen, for the shadowof the shed was dense and a fringe of rushes grew along the edge of thedike.
Five minutes passed--ten minutes passed, and Otter did not return.Leonard's anxiety grew very keen.
"Let us go and see what happened, mother," he whispered to Soa.
They crept along to the end of the shed. Within a yard of it theydiscovered the arms and clothes of Otter. But Otter! Where was he?
"The Black One has deserted us," said Soa beneath her breath.
"Never!" answered Leonard.
By now the clouds were breaking before the wind, which was risingsteadily, and some stars shone out, giving a little light. The dike laydeep between its banks and was not more than twenty feet in width, sothat the air did not ruffle it; moreover, as any observer of nature willhave noticed, the surface of still water is never quite dark, even onmuch blacker nights than this.
Why had Otter taken off his clothes, Leonard wondered? Evidently thathe might go into the water. And what could he want to go into the waterfor, unless it was that his heart failed him and, as Soa suggested, hehad deserted. But this was impossible, for he knew well that the dwarfwould die first. In his great perplexity Leonard stared at the dike.Now he could see that on its further side rose a flight of wooden steps,protected at the top by gates and that a man was seated on the loweststep, with a rifle beside him, his feet hanging down to within a fewinches of the surface of the dike. It must be the sentry.
Next instant Leonard saw something else. Beneath the feet of the man aripple grew on the face of the deep water, and something gleamed in theripple like to the flash of steel. Then a small black object projecteditself towards the feet of the sentry, who was half asleep and hummingto himself drowsily. Suddenly he saw the man slide from his seat asthough by magic. He said nothing, but making one ineffectual grasp atsome rushes, he vanished into the deeps below. For a minute or moreLeonard could distinguish a slight disturbance on the surface of thewater, and that was all.
Now he guessed what had happened. Otter had dived, and rising beneaththe feet of the man, he seized him, and with a sudden movement draggedhim down to death by drowning. Either this, or an alligator had takenhim, and that flash was the flash of his fangs.
As Leonard thought thus a dark form rose gasping at the foot of thesteps; it drew itself out of the water and slipped stealthily up them.It was Otter, and he held a knife in his hand. Now the dwarf vanishedthrough the gates into the little guard-house at the top of theembankment. Another minute, and ropes began to creak. Then the talldrawbridge, standing upright like a scaffold against the sky, was seento bend itself forward. Down it came very softly, and the slave-camp wasopen to them. Again the black shape appeared, this time on the bridge.
"Come along," whispered Leonard to his companion; "that hero Otter hasdrowned the sentry and won the bridge. Stop, pick up his clothes andarms."
At that moment Otter himself arrived. "Quick," he said, "come over,Baas, before they see that the bridge is down. Give me my clothes andthe gun."
"All right, here they are," answered Leonard, and in another minute theywere over the bridge and standing on the parapet of the slave-camp.
"Into the guard-house, Baas; the windlass is there, but no man."
They entered: a lamp was burning in the place. Otter seized the handleof the windlass and began to wind. He was naked, and it was a wonderfulsight to see the muscles starting out in knots on his huge but dwarfishframe as he strained at the weight of the bridge.
Presently it was up, and, leaning on the handle of the wheel, Otterchuckled aloud.
"Now we are safe for a time," he said, "and I will dress myself. Let theBaas forgive me for appearing thus before him--I, who am so ugly."
"Tell us the tale, Otter."
"It is short, Baas," the dwarf replied, as he put on his robe andturban. "When I left you I watched, I who can see in the dark, and in alittle while I saw the guard come down the steps and sit by the edge ofthe water. He was sleepy, for he yawned and lit a roll of paper to smokeit. Presently it went out, and he had no more matches. He looked up tothe house there, but was too lazy to fetch them; then I guessed that hewas alone, for else he would have called to his companion for fire. Nowhe grew sleepier, and I said to myself, 'Otter, Otter, how can you killthis man silently? You must not shoot, because of the noise; and if youthrow a knife or a spear, you may miss, or wound him only.' And my snakespoke in my heart and answered, 'Otter, Otter, dive, seize his feet,and drag him down swiftly and stamp him into the mud, you who are half afish and can swim as no other man can swim. Do it at once, Otter, beforethe light comes and men can see the drawbridge move.'
"Well, and so I did it, Baas. _Wow!_ I trod him deep into the mire, Itrampled him as an ox tramples corn upon a threshing-floor. Neverwill he come up again. After that I rose and ran into the guard-house,fearing lest there might be another whom I must silence also, for when Iwas a slave two always kept watch. But the place was empty, so I letthe bridge down. Ah! I remembered how it worked. And that is the tale,Baas."
"A great tale, Otter, but it is not finished yet. Now let us to theslaves. Come, take the light and lead the way. Here we are safe, is itnot so?"
"Here, Baas, we are safe, for none can reach us except by storm, andyonder is the big gun which turns upon itself. Let us twist the gunround first, so that, if need be, we can fire into the camp."
"I don't know much of cannon," said Leonard doubtfully.
"But I know something, White Man," said Soa, speaking for the firsttime. "Mavoom, my master, has a small one up at the Settlement, andoften I have helped to fire it for practice and as a signal to boats onthe river, and so have many of the men who were carried away, if we canfind them yonder."
"Good," said Leonard.
A path ran along the top of the embankment to the platform on which thegun was mounted. It was a six-pounder muzzle-loader. Leonard unhookedthe rammer and ran it down the muzzle.
"She is loaded," he said; "now let us swing her round."
They did so easily enough, bringing the muzzle down upon the Nest camp;then they entered the little hut which stood alongside. Piled up in it,in case of emergency, were half-a-dozen rounds of grape-shot and powder.
"Lots of ammunition, if we should want to use it," said Leonard. "Itnever occurred to those gentlemen that a gun can shoot two ways. Andnow, Otter, lead us to the slaves, quick."
"This way, Baas, but first we must find the tools; they are in theguard-hut, I suppose."
So they crept back to the hut, holding their heads as low as possible,for the light was increasing, although the moon was not yet up, and theyfeared lest they should be seen against the sky-line. Here they foundboxes containing nippers, chisels, and other instruments such as areused to undo the irons upon slaves. Also they found the
keys of thepadlocks that locked the iron bars to which the captives were tethered.Taking a lantern with them, but leaving another burning as before in thehut, lest its absence should excite suspicion, they passed through twostrong gates and down the steps on the further side of the embankment. Afew paces beyond stood the first slave-shed, a rough erection supportedon posts, but without sides.
They entered the shed, Otter leading the way with the lantern. In themiddle of it was a path, and on either side of this path ran the longbars to which the captives were fastened in a double row. Perhaps theremight have been two hundred and fifty of them in this shed. Here thesights and scenes were such as need not be described. Of the miserablecaptives some lay on the wet ground, men and women together, trying toforget their sorrows in sleep; but the most part of them were awake, andthe sound of moans ran up and down their lines like the moaning of treesin the wind.
When they saw the light the slaves ceased moaning, and crouched upon theground like dogs that await the whip, for they thought that this wasa visit from their captors. Some of them, indeed, stretched out theirmanacled hands imploring pity, but these were the exceptions; the mostof them had abandoned hope and were sunk in dull despair. It was pitifulto see the glance of their terror-filled eyes and the answering quiverof their wealed frames whenever an arm was lifted or a sudden movementmade.
Soa went down the line, rapidly examining the faces of the slaves.
"Do you see any of Mavoom's people?" asked Leonard anxiously.
"Not here, White Man; let us go to the next shed, unless you want toloose these."
"No good in that, mother," said Otter; "they would only betray us."
So they went to the next shed--in all there were four--and here at thesecond man who was sleeping, his head bowed on his chained hands, Soastopped suddenly like a pointer dog when he scents game.
"Peter, Peter," she said.
The man awoke--he was a fine fellow about thirty years of age--andglared round wildly.
"Who called me by my old name?" he said hoarsely. "Nay, I dream, Peteris dead."
"Peter," said the woman again, "awake, child of Mavoom; it is I, Soa,who am come to save you."
The man cried aloud and began to tremble, but the other slaves took nonotice, thinking only that he had been smitten with a scourge.
"Be silent," said Soa again, "or we are lost. Loose the bar, Black One;this is a head-man from the Settlement, a brave man."
Soon the bar was undone, then Otter bade Peter hold out his wrists whilehe twisted off the fetters. Presently they were gone, and in the ecstasyof his recovered liberty the man leaped high into the air, then fell atOtter's feet as though he would embrace them.
"Get up, you fool," said the dwarf roughly, "and if there are any moreof the men of Mavoom here, show them to us: quick, or you will soon befast again."
"There should be forty or more," Peter answered, recovering himself,"besides a few women and children. The rest of us are dead, except theShepherdess alone, and she is yonder."
Then they went down the lines slipping the chains from the Settlementcaptives. Soon they had unmanacled ten or more men whom Soa selected,and others stood round them with their hands still chained. As they wentabout the work Soa explained something of the position to Peter, who wasfortunately a native of intelligence. He grasped the situation at onceand earnestly seconded Leonard's efforts to preserve silence and toprevent confusion.
"Come," said Leonard to Soa, "we have got enough to begin with. I mustbe off. You can loose the rest at your leisure; the moon is rising, itis a quarter to twelve, and we have not a moment to lose. Now, Otter,before we go, how can we send men to fire the reeds--through thegarden?"
"No, Baas, I have thought of a better way, the way by which I escapedmyself--that is, if these men can swim."
"They can all swim," said Soa; "they were bred on the banks of a river."
"Good. Then they must swim down the dike where I killed the sentry, fourof them. At the end are bars of wood, but in my day they were rotten;at the worst they can be climbed. Then they will find themselves in themorass among thick reeds. But they must not fire these till theyhave worked round to the place of the sunrise, whence the wind blowsstrongly. Then they must go from spot to spot and bend down the driestof the reeds, setting fire to them. Afterwards they can get to the backof the fire and wait till all is done one way or the other. If we winthey will find us, if we are killed they can try to run away. But willthe men go?"
Soa stepped forward and chose four of their number, but Peter she didnot choose, for he also knew something of the working of cannon.
"Listen," she said, "you have heard the words of this Black One. Now,obey. And if you depart from them by one jot, may----" and she pouredout so fearful a curse upon them that Leonard stared at her astonished.
"Ay!" added Otter, "and if I live through this I will cut your throats."
"No need to threaten," said one of the men; "we will do our best forour own sakes, as well as for yours and that of the Shepherdess. Weunderstand the plan, but to light reeds we must have fire."
"Here are matches," said Otter.
"Wet matches will not light, and we must swim," answered the spokesman.
"Fool, do you then swim with your head under water? Tie them in yourhair."
"Ah! he is clever," said the spokesman. "Now, if we live to reach them,when shall we fire the reeds?"
"As soon as you are ready," answered Otter. "You will not come easily tothe back of them. Farewell, my children, and if you dare to fail, praythat you may die rather than look upon my face again."
"_Ou!_ We have seen it once, is that not enough?" answered thespokesman, looking at Otter's huge nose with wonder not untouched byfear.
Two minutes later the four men were swimming swiftly down the dike,taking their chance of the alligators.
"Drop the bridge," said Leonard; "we must start."
Otter lowered it, at the same time explaining its mechanism, which wasvery simple, to Soa, Peter, and some of the other Settlement men.
"Now, mother, good-bye," said Leonard. "Loose all the men you can,and keep a keen look-out, so as to be ready to lower the bridge if youshould see us or your mistress coming towards it. If we should notcome by dawn, be ready also, for then we shall probably be dead, orprisoners, and you must act for yourself."
"I hear you, Lord," answered Soa, "and I say that you are a brave man.Whether you win or lose, the red stone is well earned already."
Another minute and they were gone.
Having crossed the bridge, which was instantly hoisted again, Leonardand Otter avoided observation by creeping back towards the water-gateas they had come--that is, behind the shelter of the shed. Emerging fromthis, they ran a few yards till they were opposite the gate, then walkedleisurely across the open space, a distance of fifty paces or more, tothe thatched hut where the sale of slaves was carried on.
There was nobody in this hut, but looking between the posts upon whichit was supported, they could see by the light of the moon, now growingmomentarily clearer, that a great and uproarious concourse of people wasgathered beyond in front of the verandah of the Nest itself.
"Come on, Otter," whispered Leonard, "we must go among these gentry.Watch me closely, do what I do, keep your weapons ready, and if it comesto blows, get behind my back and fight like a fiend. Above all, don't betaken prisoner."
Leonard spoke calmly, but his heart was in his mouth, and his sensationswere such as must have been known to Daniel when he went into the lions'den, for, as in the case of the prophet, he felt that nothing short ofa special Providence could save them. They were round the shed now,and immediately in front of them was a mixed gathering ofdesperadoes--Portuguese, Arabs, Bastards, and black men of varioustribes--such as Leonard had never seen in all his experience.
Villainy and greed were written on every countenance; it was a crew ofhuman demons, and an extensive one. These wretches, most of whom hadalready drunk too freely and were drinking more, stood with their b
acksto them, looking towards the verandah of the Nest. On the steps ofthis verandah, surrounded by a choice group of companions, all of themgaudily dressed, a man was standing whom Leonard would have had nodifficulty in identifying as the Dom Pereira, even without Otter'swarning whisper of "See! The Yellow Devil!"
This remarkable person demands some description as he stood in glorythat night, at the apex and, though he knew it not, the conclusion ofhis long career of infamy. He was old, perhaps seventy, his hair waswhite and venerable-looking, and his person obese. His black eyeswere small, cunning, cold, and bright, and they had the peculiarityof avoiding the face of any person with whom he chanced to be inconversation, at least when that person was looking his way. Theirglance passed over him, under him, round him, anywhere but at him.
As his sobriquet suggested, the colouring of Pereira's flesh was yellow,and the loose skin hung in huge wrinkles upon his cheeks. His mouth waslarge and coarse, and his fat hands twitched and grasped continually, asthough with a desire of clutching money. For the rest he was gorgeouslydressed, and, like his companions, somewhat in liquor.
Such was the outward appearance of Pereira, the fountain-head of theslave-trade on this part of the coast, who was believed in his day tobe the very worst man in Africa, a pre-eminence to which few can hope toattain. Until his face had been seen, stamped as it was with the tracesof long and unmentionable wickedness, few honest men could guess to whatdepths humanity can sink. Some indeed have declared that to see him wasto understand the Evil One and all his works.