CHAPTER XVIII
SOA SHOWS HER TEETH
Three months had passed since that day, when Juanna declared herunalterable determination to accompany Leonard upon his search for thetreasures of the People of the Mist.
It was evening, and a party of travellers were encamped on the side ofa river that ran through a great and desolate plain. They were a smallparty, three white people, namely, Leonard, Francisco, and Juanna,fifteen of the Settlement men under the leadership of Peter--that sameheadman who had been rescued from the slave camp--the dwarf, Otter, andJuanna's old nurse, Soa.
For twelve weeks they had travelled almost without intermission with Soafor their guide, steering continually northward and westward. First theyfollowed the course of the river in canoes for ten days or more; then,leaving the main stream, they paddled for three weeks up that of atributary called Mavuae, which ran for many miles along the foot ofa great range of mountains named Mang-anja. Here they made but slowprogress because of the frequent rapids, which necessitated theporterage of the canoes over broken ground, and for considerabledistances. At length they came to a rapid which was so long and socontinuous that regretfully enough they were obliged to abandon thecanoes altogether and proceed on foot.
The dangers of their water journey had been many, but they were nothingcompared with those that now environed them, and in addition to bodilyperils, they must face the daily and terrible fatigue of long marchesthrough an unknown country, cumbered as they were with arms and otherabsolutely necessary baggage. The country through which they were nowpassing was named Marengi, a land uninhabited by man, the home of herdsof countless game.
On they went northward and upward through a measureless waste; plainsucceeded plain in endless monotony, distance gave place to distance,and ever there were more beyond.
Gradually the climate grew colder: they were traversing a portion ofthe unexplored plateau that separates southern from central Africa. Itsloneliness was awful, and the bearers began to murmur, saying that theyhad reached the end of the world, and were walking over its edge. Indeedthey had only two comforts in this part of their undertaking; the landlay so high that none of them were stricken by fever, and they couldnot well miss the road, which, if Soa was to be believed, ran along thebanks of the river that had its source in the territories of the Peopleof the Mist.
The adventures that befell them were endless, but it is not proposed todescribe them in detail. Once they starved for three days, being unableto find game. On another occasion they fell in with a tribe of bushmenwho harassed them with poisoned arrows, killing two of their bestmen, and were only prevented from annihilating them through the terrorinspired by their firearms, which they took for magical instruments.
Escaping from the bushmen, they entered a forest country which teemedwith antelope and also with lions, that night by night they must keepat bay as best they could. Then came several days' march through a plainstrewn with sharp stones which lamed most of the party; and after thiseighty or a hundred miles of dreary rolling veldt, clothed with rankgrass just now brown with the winter frosts, that caught their feet atevery step.
Now at length they halted on the boundary of the land of the People ofthe Mist. There before them, not more than a mile away, towered a hugecliff or wall of rock, stretching across the plain like a giant step,far as the eye could reach, and varying from seven hundred to a thousandfeet in height. Down the surface of this cliff the river flowed in aseries of beautiful cascades.
Before they had finished their evening meal of buck's flesh the moon wasup, and by its light the three white people stared hopelessly at thisfrowning natural fortification, wondering if they could climb it, andwondering also what terrors awaited them upon its further side. Theywere silent that night, for a great weariness had overcome them, and ifthe truth must be known, all three of them regretted that they had everundertaken this mad adventure.
Leonard glanced to the right, where, some fifty paces away, theSettlement men were crouched round the fire. They also were silent, andit was easy to see that the heart was out of them.
"Won't somebody say something?" said Juanna at last with a ratherpathetic attempt at playfulness. How could she be cheerful, poor girl,when her feet were sore and her head was aching, and she wished that shewere dead, almost?
"Yes," answered Leonard, "I will say that I admire your pluck. I shouldnot have thought it possible for any young lady to have gone through thelast two months, and 'come out smiling' at the end of them."
"Oh, I am quite happy. Don't trouble about me," she said, laughing asmerrily as though there were no such things as sore feet and headachesin the world.
"Are you?" said Leonard, "then I envy you, that is all. Here comes oldSoa, and Otter after her. I wonder what is the matter now. Somethingdisagreeable, I suppose."
Soa arrived and squatted down in front of them, her tall spare formand somewhat sullen face looking more formidable than usual in themoonlight. Otter was beside her, and though he stood and she sat, theirheads were almost on a level.
"What is it, Soa?" said Leonard carelessly.
"Deliverer," she answered, for all the natives knew him now by thisname, "some months ago, when you were digging for gold yonder, in thePlace of Graves, I made a bargain with you, and we set the bargain downon paper. In that paper I promised that if you rescued my mistress Iwould lead you to the land were precious stones were to be won, and Igave you one of those stones in earnest. You saved my mistress, Mavoomher father died, and the time came when I must fulfil my promise. For myown part I would not have fulfilled it, for I only made it that promisehoping to deceive you. But my mistress yonder refused to listen to me.
"'No,' she said, 'that which you have sworn on my behalf and your ownmust be carried out. If you will not carry it out, go away, Soa, for Ihave done with you.'
"Then, Deliverer, rather than part with her whom I loved, and whom I hadnursed from a babe, I yielded. And now you stand upon the borders of thecountry of my people. Say, are you minded to cross them, Deliverer?"
"What else did I come for, Soa?" he asked.
"Nay, I know not. You came out of the folly of your heart, to satisfythe desire of your heart. Listen, that tale I told you is true, and yetI did not tell you all the truth. Beyond that cliff live a people ofgreat stature, and very fierce; a people whose custom it is to offer upstrangers to their gods. Enter there, and they will kill you thus."
"What do you mean, woman?" asked Leonard.
"I mean that if you hold your life dear, or her life," and she pointedto Juanna, "you will turn with the first light and go back whence youcame. It is true that the stones are there, but death shall be thereward of him who strives to steal them."
"I must say this is cheerful," replied Leonard. "What did you mean,then, by all that story you told me about a plan that you had to win thetreasures of this people? Are you a liar, Soa?"
"I have said that all I told you was true," she answered sullenly.
"Very well, then, I have come a good many hundred miles to put it to theproof, nor am I going to turn back now. You can leave me one and all ifyou like, but I shall go on. I will not be made a fool of in this way."
"None of us have any wish to be made fools of, Mr. Outram," said Juannagently; "and, speaking for myself, I would far rather die at once thanattempt a return journey just at present. So now, Soa, perhaps you willstop croaking and tell us definitely what we must do to conciliatethese charming countrymen of yours, whom we have come so far to spoil.Remember," she added with a flash of her grey eyes, "I am not to beplayed with by you, Soa. In this matter the Deliverer's interests are myinterests, and his ends my ends. Together we stand or fall, together welive or die, and that shall be an unhappy hour for you, Soa, when youattempt to desert or betray us."
"It is well, Shepherdess," she answered, "your will is my will, for Ilove you alone in the world, and all the rest I hate," and she glared atLeonard and Otter. "You are my father, and my mother, and my child, andwhere you are, in death or in
life, there is my home. Let us go thenamong this people of mine, there to perish miserably, so that theDeliverer may seek to glut himself with wealth.
"Listen; this is the law of my people, or this was their law when I leftthem forty years ago: That every stranger who passes through their gatesshould be offered as a sacrifice to Aca the mother if the time of hiscoming should be in summer, and to Jal the son if the time of his comingbe in winter, for the Mist-dwellers do not love strangers. But there isa prophecy among my people which tells, when many generations have goneby, that Aca the mother, and Jal the son, shall return to the land whichonce they ruled, clothed in the flesh of men. And the shape of Aca shallbe such a shape as yours, Shepherdess, and the shape of Jal shall be asis the shape of this black dog of a dwarf, whom when first I saw him inmy folly I deemed immortal and divine. Then the mother and the sonshall rule in the land, and its kings shall cease from kingship, and thepriests of the Snake shall be their servants, and with them shall comepeace and prosperity that do not pass away.
"Shepherdess, you know the tongue of the People of the Mist, forwhen you were little I taught it to you, because to me it is themost beautiful of tongues. You know the song also, the holy Song ofRe-arising, that shall be on the lips of Aca when she comes again,and which I, being the daughter of the high-priest, learned, with manyanother secret, before I was doomed to be a bride to the Snake and fled,fearing my doom. Now come apart with me, Shepherdess, and you, BlackOne, come also, that I may teach you your lesson of what you shall dowhen we meet the squadrons of the People of the Mist."
Juanna rose to obey her, followed by Otter, grumbling, for he hatedthe old woman as much as she hated him, and, moreover, he did not takekindly to this notion of masquerading as a god, or, indeed, to theprospect of a lengthened sojourn amongst his adoring, but from allaccounts somewhat truculent, worshippers. Before they went, however,Leonard spoke.
"I have heard you, Soa," he said, "and I do not like your words, forthey show me that your heart is fierce and evil. Yes, though you lovethe Shepherdess, your heart is evil. Now hear me. Should you dare toplay us false, whatever may befall us, be sure of this, that moment youdie. Go!"
"Spare your threats, Deliverer," answered Soa haughtily. "I shall notbetray you, because to do so would be to betray the Shepherdess. But areyou then a fool that you think I should fear death at your hands, whoto-morrow with a word could give you all to torment? Pray, Deliverer,that the hour may not be near when you shall rejoice to die by thebullet with which you threaten me, so that you may escape worse things."And she turned and went.
"I am not nervous," said Leonard to Francisco, "but that she-devilfrightens me. If it were not for Juanna, she would cause us to bemurdered on the first possible opportunity, and if only she can secureher safety, I believe that she will do it yet."
"And I believe that she is a witch, Outram," answered the priest withfervour, "a servant of the Evil One, such as are written of in theScriptures. Last night I saw her praying to her gods; she did not knowthat I was near, for the place was lonely, but I saw her and I neverwish to see anything so horrible again. I will tell you why she hates usall so much, Outram. She is jealous, because the senora--does not hateus. That woman's heart is wicked, wickedness was born in her, yet, asnone are altogether evil, she has one virtue, her love of the senora.She is husbandless and childless, for even among the black people, as Ihave learnt from the Settlement men, all have feared her and shrunk fromher notwithstanding her good looks. Therefore, everything that is bestin her has gone to nourish this love for the woman whom she nursed froma babe. It was because of her fierceness that the Senor Rodd, who isdead, chose her for his daughter's nurse, when he found that her heartwas hungry with love for the child, for he knew that she would diebefore she suffered harm to come to her."
"He showed good judgment there," said Leonard. "Had it not been for Soa,Juanna would have been a slave-girl now, or dead."
"That is so, Outram, but whether we showed good judgment in trusting ourlives to her tender mercies is quite another matter. Say, friend, do youthink it well to go on with this business?"
"Oh, confound it all!" said Leonard with irritation, "how can we turnback now? Just think of the journey and how foolish we should look.Besides, we have none of us got anything to live upon; it took most ofthe gold that I had to bribe Peter and his men to accompany us. I daresay that we shall all be killed, that seems very probable, but for mypart I really shan't be sorry. I am tired of life, Francisco; it isnothing but a struggle and a wretchedness, and I begin to feel thatpeace is all I can hope to win. I have done my best here according to mylights, so I don't know why I should be afraid of the future, especiallyas it has been taken out of me pretty well in the present, though ofcourse I _am_ afraid for all that, every man is. The only thing thattroubles me is a doubt whether we ought to take Juanna into such aplace. But really I do not know but what it would be as dangerous to goback as to proceed: those gentlemen with the poisoned arrows may haverecovered from their fear of firearms by now."
"I wish we had nothing worse than the Hereafter to fear," said Franciscowith a sigh. "It is the journey thither that is so terrible. As forour expedition, having undertaken it, I think on the whole that we hadbetter persevere, especially as the senora wishes it, and she is veryhard to turn. After all our lives are in the hands of the Almighty, andtherefore we shall be just as safe, or unsafe, among the People of theMist as in a European city. Those of us who are destined to live willlive, and those whose hour is at hand must die. And now good night, forI am going to sleep."
Next morning, shortly before dawn, Leonard was awakened by a hubbubamong the natives, and creeping out of his blankets, he found thatsome of them, who had been to the river to draw water, had captured twobushmen belonging to a nomadic tribe that lived by spearing fish. Thesewretched creatures, who notwithstanding the cold only wore a piece ofbark tied round their shoulders, were screaming with fright, and itwas not until they had been pacified by gifts of beads and empty brasscartridges that anything could be got out of them.
When confidence had at length been restored, Otter questioned themclosely as to the country that lay beyond the wall of rock and thepeople who dwelt in it, through one of the Settlement men, who spoke alanguage sufficiently like their own to make himself understood. Theyreplied that they had never been in that country themselves, becausethey dared not go there, but they had heard of it from others.
The land was very cold and foggy, they said, so foggy that sometimespeople could not see each other for whole days, and in it dwelt a raceof great men covered with hair, who sacrificed strangers to a snakewhich they worshipped, and married all their fairest maidens to a god.That was all they knew of the country and of the great men, for few whovisited there ever returned to tell tidings. It was certainly a hauntedland.
Finding that there was no more to be learnt from the bushmen, Leonardsuffered them to depart, which they did at considerable speed, andordered the Settlement men to make ready to march. But now a freshdifficulty arose. The interpreter had repeated all the bushmen's storyto his companions, among whom, it is needless to say, it produced nosmall effect. Therefore when the bearers received their orders, insteadof striking the little tent in which Juanna slept, and preparing theirloads as usual, after a brief consultation they advanced upon Leonard ina body.
"What is it, Peter?" he asked of the headman.
"This, Deliverer: we have travelled with you and the Shepherdess forthree full moons, enduring much hardship and passing many dangers.Now we learn that there lies before us a land of cold and darkness,inhabited by devils who worship a devil. Deliverer, we have been goodservants to you, and we are not cowards, as you know, but it is truethat we fear to enter this land."
"What do you wish to do then, Peter?" asked Leonard.
"We wish to return whence we came, Deliverer. Already we have nearlyearned the money that you gave to us before we started, and we will takeno more pay if we must win it by crossing yonder wall."
"The way
back is far, Peter," answered Leonard, "and you know itsperils. How many, think you, will reach their homes alive if I am notthere to guide them? For know, Peter, I will not turn back now. Desertme, if you wish, all of you, and still I will enter this country alone,or with Otter only. Alone we took the slave camp and alone we will visitthe People of the Mist."
"Your words are true, Deliverer," said Peter, "the homeward way is farand its perils are many; mayhap but very few of us will live to seetheir huts again, for this is an ill-fated journey. But if we passyonder," and he pointed to the wall of rock, "then we shall all of uscertainly die, and be offered to a devil by devils."
Leonard pulled his beard thoughtfully and said: "It seems there isnothing else to say, Peter, except good-bye."
The headman saluted and was turning away with an abashed countenancewhen Juanna stopped him. Together with Otter and the others she had beenlistening to the colloquy in silence, and now spoke for the first time.
"Peter," she said gently, "when you and your companions were in thehands of the Yellow Devil and about to be sold as slaves, who was itthat rescued you?"
"The Deliverer, Shepherdess."
"Yes. And now do my ears betray me, or do I hear you say that you andyour brethren, who with many another were saved from shame and toil bythe Deliverer, are about to leave him in his hour of danger?"
"You have heard aright, Shepherdess," the man answered sadly.
"It is well, Peter. Go, children of Mavoom, my father, who can desert mein my need. For learn, Peter, that where you fear to tread, there I,a white woman, will pass alone with the Deliverer. Go, children of myfather, and may peace go with you. Yet, as you know, I, who foretoldthe doom of the Yellow Devil, am a true prophetess, and I tell you this,that but a very few of you shall live to see your kraal again, and _you_will not be of their number, Peter. As for those who come home safely,their names shall be a mockery, the little children shall call themcoward, and traitor and jackal, and one by one they shall eat outtheir hearts and die, because they deserted him who saved them from theslave-ship and the scourge. Farewell, children of my father: may peacego with you, and may his ghost not come to haunt you on your path," andwith one indignant glance she turned scornfully away.
"Brethren," said Peter after a moment's pause, "is it to be borne thatthe Shepherdess should mock us thus and tie such ropes of shame aboutour necks?"
"No," they answered, "we cannot bear it."
Then for a while they consulted together again, and presently Peterstood forward and said: "Deliverer, we will accompany you and theShepherdess into the country of devils, nor need you fear that we shalldesert or betray you. We know well that we go to our death, every oneof us; still it is better to die than to live bearing the burden of suchbitter words as hide within the Shepherdess's lips."
"Very well," answered Leonard. "Get your loads and let us start."
"Ay! It is well indeed," put in Otter with a snort of indignation. "Itell you this, Peter, that before you left this place the words of theShepherdess had come true for you and one or two others, for I shouldhave fought you till I was killed, and though I have little wisdom yet Iknow how to fight."
Leonard smiled at the dwarf's rage, but his heart was heavy within him.He knew that these men had reason on their side, and he feared greatlylest their evil forebodings should come true and the lives of all ofthem pay forfeit for his rashness.
But it was too late to turn back now: things must befall as they werefated.