CHAPTER XIV
VENGEANCE
"Treachery! treachery!" screamed Pereira. "The reeds are fired, and thatwitch has betrayed us."
"Ha! ha! ha! ha!" cried Otter again from his airy perch. "Treachery!treachery! And what if the slaves are loosed? And what if the gates bebarred?"
Hitherto the mob had been silent in their fear and wonder. There theystood closely packed, a hundred or more of them, staring first at Otter,then at the advancing flames. Now they found tongue.
"He is a fiend! Kill him! Storm the slave camp! To the gates!" theyyelled in this language and in that.
For many it was their last earthly cry, since at that moment a sheet offlame burst from the rampart of the camp, followed by the boom ofthe cannon, and six pounds of canister swept through the crowd. Rightthrough them it swept, leaving a wide lane of dead and dying; and such ashriek went up to heaven as even that place of torment had never heard.
Then they broke and fled this way and that, screaming curses as theywent.
When Leonard and the priest had rolled down the rising bridge they foundJuanna standing safely by the guard-house, surrounded by some of theSettlement men.
"To the gun!" he cried, "to the gun! Fire into them! I will follow you."
Then it was that he saw Otter left to his death and called out in fear.But Otter saved himself as has been told, and clambered down the bridgesafe and sound.
Leaning on the dwarf and Francisco, Leonard, followed by Juanna,staggered along the earthwork to the place where the gun was mounted.Before he had gone a step he caught sight of the figure of Soa, outlinedin bold relief against the background of the fire and surrounded by manyof the freed Settlement men. At the instant when he saw her she was inthe act of springing back from the breech of the gun, the lanyard in herhand. Then came the roar of the shot and the shriek of the smitten.
"_Wow!_" said Otter, "the old woman has not been idle. She is clever asa man, that one."
Another minute and they were helping to reload the piece, that is,except Soa, who was on her knees kissing Juanna's hands.
"Come, stop that!" said Leonard, sinking to the ground, for he wasutterly exhausted. "Those devils have gone for their arms. They will tryto storm us presently. Is the shot home, Peter? Then run her out, sharp;and you, Soa, screw her nose down." Next he bade the freed slaves armthemselves with stakes or anything that they could find, for of riflesthey had but four, two of which they had found in the guard-house.
Presently the slavers came on with a yell, carrying long planks, by thehelp of which they hoped to cross the dike.
"Look out!" said Leonard, "they are going to open fire. Under theearthwork, every man of you!" And seizing Juanna who was standing near,he pulled her down into cover.
It was not too soon, for next instant a storm of bullets swept overthem. Most of the men had understood and taken shelter, but some weretoo slow or too stupid. Of these one fell dead and two more were hit.Soa and Peter alone took no heed, and yet they remained unhurt. Therestood the woman, while the bullets whistled round her, laying the gun ascoolly as though she had served in the Royal Artillery, and with her wasthe head-man, Peter. Peter was shot through the waist-cloth and a ballcut its way through Soa's grizzled hair, but neither of them seemed tonotice these trifles.
"They are mad, Baas," cried Otter, who was watching the enemy over thetop of the embankment. "See! they are coming across the open."
Leonard looked. The dwarf was right: in their rage and hurry theslavers, half hidden in a cloud of smoke caused by their rapid firing,were advancing across the clear space instead of creeping along the edgeof the dike. What was more, the necessity of carrying the planks causedthem to pack in groups. Soa gave a final twist with her lever andwaited, her hand on the lanyard. A bullet cut it in two, but withoutfiring the gun, and she grasped the shortened cord.
"Now for it!" cried Leonard, as the first party came into the line offire.
Soa sprang backwards with a yell: again the piece thundered out, and thecanister screamed through the air. It tore along the advancing files,then, striking the beaten earth, rebounded and caught those who werefollowing with the ricochet, and with awful effect. Whole groups weremowed down by this one discharge, the destruction being twice as largeas that caused by the first shot, for at this greater range the canisterfound room to spread. Also the rebounding missiles flying hither andthither among the crowd did no little execution. Down went the men inheaps, and with them the planks they carried. They had no more wishto storm the slave camp; they had but one thought left, the thought ofsafety, and the survivors of them fled in all directions, yelling withfear and fury.
"Load up, load up!" cried Otter, lifting the charge of powder which layat hand. "They will try to break open the gates and get out, then theywill cut us off."
As he spoke they saw many men run from the auction-shed to thewater-gate. But it could not be climbed, the key was gone, and themassive bolts and beams were not easy to break. So they brought hammersand a tree-trunk which had supported an angle of the shed, and batteredat the gate. For two minutes or more it held, then it began to give.
"Swift! swift!" cried Otter again as he dragged at the cannon to turnit, "or all will yet be lost."
"Hurry no man's ox, Black One," said Soa, as she laid the gun with thehelp of Peter.
A cry went up from the slavers; the gate was tottering, but it stillheld by the upper hinges. A few more blows and it must surely fall. Butthose blows were never struck. Again Soa sprang backwards, and the roarof the gun was answered by the screams of the slavers as the shrapnelploughed through them.
Of those who were left the most part fled for shelter to the auction-hutand to the Nest itself. Some ran across to the magazine, but appeared tobe unable to enter it, for soon they were seen flying back again, whileabout a dozen of the boldest remained at the gate trying to complete itsdestruction. On these Leonard and Otter opened fire with rifles, butit was not until three or four of them had fallen that the rest fled tojoin their companions beneath the shelter of the sheds.
"Oh! look, look!" said Juanna, pointing to the east.
It was indeed a spectacle never to be forgotten.
The dense reeds, measuring twelve to fifteen feet in height, had beenfired far to the east of the Nest, and as the wind gathered to a galeand the fire got firmer hold, it rolled down upon the doomed place inbillows and sheets--a sea of flame that sometimes spouted high into theair and sometimes ran swiftly along the ground.
The reeds crackled and roared like musketry as the fire ate into them,giving out thick volumes of smoke. At first this smoke had passed abovethe spectators, now it blew into their faces, half choking them andblotting out the sky, and mixed up with it were showers of sparks andfragments of burning reeds brought forward on the wind.
"The house and sheds will soon catch now," said Leonard; "then they musttake refuge in the open spaces, where we can deal with them," and henodded towards the gun.
As he spoke tongues of flame darted into the air, first from the thatchof the shed, then from the roof of the Nest. They were afire.
"We must be careful, Baas," said Otter, "or the slave-shelters behind uswill burn also, and all those in them."
"Heavens! I never thought of that," answered Leonard. "Here, Father, ifyou wish to do a good work, take some of these people and the bucketsthey use to water the slaves. Let three or four men get on to each roofand extinguish the sparks as they fall, while others bring them waterfrom the moat."
The priest sprang up and set to the task, at which he laboured gallantlyfor two long hours. Had it not been for his efforts, the sheds and theslaves in them must have been burnt, for the sparks fell thick upon thedry thatch, which caught again and again.
Now the sights and sounds grew more and more fearful. Maddened withfear, the remainder of the slave-drivers and their servants rushed fromthe flaming buildings, striving to escape from the fire. Some flungthemselves desperately into the aloes and prickly-pears on the innerrampart, and, cli
mbing the palisade beyond, escaped into the marsh,while some collected on the open space, and at these the gun was firedfrom time to time when the smoke lifted. Others again ran to the dike ofthe slave camp begging for mercy, there to be shot by Otter, who neverwearied in his task of revenge. From behind them also rose the hideouscries of the slaves, who believed that they were about to be burnedalive, and screamed as they dragged at their manacles.
"Oh, it is like hell!" said Juanna to Leonard, as she buried her facein the grass that she might see no more, and to escape the suffocatingsmoke. She was right.
So the time went on. One by one the roofs of the various buildings fellin, and spouts of flame shot high into the air to descend about themin a rain of sparks. But at last the cries ceased, for even the slavescould yell no more; the fire grew less and less, and the wind dropped.Then the sun rose on the scene of death and desolation. The morasswas swept bare to the depth of many hundred yards, and the camp was asmoking ruin strewn with the dead. The walls of the Nest still stood,however, and here and there a charred post remained. Everything else wasgone, except the magazine, which had escaped the flames, being built ofbrick and stone, and roofed with tin.
The adventurers looked around them in silence, then they looked ateach other. What a spectacle they presented in the clear light ofthe morning, as they stood by the gun which had done them such signalservice! All were begrimed with smoke and powder, and their clothes wereburnt by the falling sparks. Leonard's throat was a mass of bruises, hishands and face were bleeding, and he was so stiff and hurt that he couldscarcely move. Soa's hair was singed and cut by the bullet which hadshaved her head; the priest's robe hung in charred threads, and hishands were blistered with fire; Juanna's broidered Arab dress, torn bythe brutal hand of Pereira, scarcely retained a trace of white, and herlong dark locks were tangled and powdered with bits of blackened reed.All were utterly exhausted--that is, all except Otter, who advancedto speak to Leonard, begrimed and stripped to the waist, but fresh andfierce as ever.
"What is it, Otter?" he asked.
"Will the Baas let me take these men," and he nodded towards the freedslaves who had belonged to the Settlement, "and hunt through thecamp yonder? Many of the devils still live, and wounded snakes strikehardest."
"As you like," answered Leonard. "Arm them with anything you can find,and search the camp thoroughly. But be careful."
In ten minutes Otter was gone with the men. Then Leonard and the othersfetched water and washed as best they might, the guard-house beingassigned to Juanna and Soa, who made their toilet with the help of acomb they found in it. There also they discovered food, the rations ofthe sentry, of which they ate with such appetite as they might, and aplentiful supply of meal for the slaves.
As they were finishing their breakfast Otter returned unharmed, thoughof the men who accompanied him five were missing. With him also were twoof the four Settlement men who had been sent to fire the reeds on theprevious night. They were much exhausted, for their task had been noeasy one, and fortunately for Leonard it was only after long delay thatthey succeeded in it. Their two companions were dead: one had been takenby an alligator in the water, and the other had fallen into a deep holein the morass, and, striking his head against a log, was drowned there.
"Is it finished?" said Leonard to the dwarf.
Otter nodded. "Some are dead and some are fled," he answered; "but fromthese last we have little to fear, for they believe that an army hascome against them. Still that is not all the tale, Baas. We have takenone of them alive. Come and look at him, Baas."
Leonard clambered up the steps of the embankment, followed by theothers. On its further side stood the group of Settlement men who hadreturned from scouring the camp, thin and haggard fellows, scarred bythe slave-irons, but very fierce-looking. In their midst a white mancrouched upon the ground, moaning with terror and misery. Just then helifted his face--it was that of the Yellow Devil himself. There lay thataged Iniquity, that hoary Shame caught at last in his own snares.
"Where did you find him, Otter?" asked Leonard as they crossed thedrawbridge.
"In the magazine, Baas, and your gold with him, also many rifles andmuch powder. He had locked himself up there, but he had not the heart tofire the powder and make an end."
Pereira did not see them as yet, but raising his head he begged forwater.
"Give him blood," said one of the men sullenly. "He has drunk it all hisdays, let it be his last drink."
Leonard motioned to Francisco the priest to bring water, then Pereirasaw them and began to pray for mercy.
"Antonio Pereira," Leonard answered sternly, "last night I and twocompanions, a woman and a black dwarf, set ourselves a task--to takethis armed place of yours and rescue a white girl whom you had condemnedto slavery. It did not seem possible that we should do it, but betweensunset and sunrise we have done it. Who helped us then?--that we shouldhave carried out this thing which was impossible. I will tell you; Godhelped us as He helped this lady when she called on Him. Cry to God,then, to do that which is still more impossible--to help you. From meyou will have justice and no more."
For a moment Pereira ceased whining, and a flash of the old ferocitycame into his eyes.
"Ah! my friend," he muttered, "if I had but known!" Then turning toJuanna he said: "My dove, have I not treated you kindly? Will you say noword for me, now that my enemies prevail against me?"
By way of answer Juanna looked first at the human reptile before her,and next at the bosom of her torn dress, now roughly pinned up with thespikes of aloe leaves. Then she turned and went.
"Baas," said Otter, "may I speak?"
"Speak on," Leonard answered.
"Hearken, Yellow Devil," said the dwarf. "Ten years ago you took me, andI lay in this camp a slave; yes, in yonder shed. Here are the marks ofthe irons--your own seal. Ah! you have forgotten the black dwarf, orperhaps you never noticed him; but he remembers. Who could forget you,Yellow Devil, that once had slept beneath your roof? I escaped, but asI fled I swore that, if I might, I would bring vengeance upon you. Theyears went by, and the hour came at last. I led Baas to this place. Ifound you this morning, and we are not parted yet, Yellow Devil. Whatdid you boast last night--that you had sent twenty thousand of us blackpeople to slavery? Yes, and for every one that you have sold you havekilled five--old men white with years, women with child, little childrenat the breast, you have murdered them all. Ah! yes, I have seen youlaugh and kill them before the eyes of their mothers, as last night youkilled the kitten.
"And now your time has come at last, Yellow Devil, and I, Otter thedwarf, will give you to drink of your own medicine. What! you cry formercy, you who never gave it even in a dream? I tell you, did my chiefyonder bid me loose you, I would disobey him even to force; I, who wouldrather die than put aside his word on any other matter.
"Look now at these men," and he pointed to the Settlement people, whoglared hungrily at the crouching wretch, much as hounds glare at a foxthat is held aloft by the huntsman; "look at them! Do you see mercy intheir eyes? They, whose fathers and mothers you have murdered, whoselittle children you have stamped to death? _Wow!_ Yellow Devil, thewhite men tell us of a hell, a place where dead people are tormented. Weknow nothing of that, it is for the white people, and they may keepit all to themselves. Now you are beginning to taste that hell ofyours--only beginning, Yellow Devil.
"Baas Leonard, I demand this man to be tried by us and dealt withaccording to our customs, for it is against us black folk that he hassinned most of all, and we ask his blood in payment for our blood."
"What!" howled Pereira, "am I to be given over to these black dogs?Mercy! Mercy! Francisco, plead for me. Shrive me. I know I killed yourbrother, I had to do it. Plead for me!" and he rolled in the dust,trying to clasp Leonard's feet.
"I cannot shrive you," answered the priest shuddering, "but I will prayfor you."
Then the hungry-eyed natives pounced upon Pereira to drag him thence,but Leonard broke through them saying:
"I will
have none of your savage cruelties here. Let the man be shot ifyou will, but no more."
As it chanced, however, Pereira was not destined to die by the hand ofman, for even as Otter gripped him he turned livid, threw up his arms,groaned, and fell to the earth.
Leonard looked at him; he was dead, dead through the fear of death, forterror had stopped the beating of his wicked heart.
"The Shepherdess prophesied truly," cried Otter presently, "for theHeavens above have robbed us of our vengeance. _Wow!_ it is hard, but atleast this one shall work no more evil."
"Carry it away," said Leonard with a shudder, for the dead man's facewas ghastly to behold. Then turning to him as if nothing had happened,he added:
"Otter, take these men and loose the rest of the slaves; then get theammunition, rifles, and stores from the arms-house and bring them to thewater-gate. We must clear out of this place at once, or we shall havethe escaped slavers and the crews of the dhows down upon us."
Thus then did fate at last find out Antonio Pereira, the Yellow Devil.