CHAPTER VI
THE TALE OF SOA
"My lord, I, Soa, am the servant of a white man, a trader who liveson the banks of the Zambesi some four days' march from hence, having ahouse there which he built many years ago."
"How is the white man named?" asked Leonard.
"The black people call him Mavoom, but his white name is Rodd. He is agood master and no common man, but he has this fault, that at times heis drunken. Twenty years ago or more Mavoom, my lord, married a whitewoman, a Portuguese whose father dwelt at Delagoa Bay, and who wasbeautiful, ah! beautiful. Then he settled on the banks of the Zambesiand became a trader, building the house where he is now, or rather whereits ruins are. Here his wife died in childbirth; yes, she died in myarms, and it was I who reared her daughter Juanna, tending her from thecradle to this day.
"Now, after the death of his wife Mavoom became more drunken. Still,when he is not in liquor he is very clever and a good trader, andseveral times he has collected ivory and feathers and gold worth muchmoney, and also has bred cattle by hundreds. Then he would say that hemust leave the wilderness and go to another country across the water, Iknow not where, that country whence the Englishmen come.
"Twice he has started to go, and I with him and his daughter Juanna, mymistress, who is named the Shepherdess of Heaven by the black people,because they think that she has the gift of foretelling rain. But onceMavoom stopped in a town, at Durban in Natal, and getting drunk hegambled away all his money in a month, and once he lost it in a river,the boat being overset by a river-horse and the ivory and gold sinkingout of sight. Still, the last time that he started he left his daughter,the Shepherdess, at Durban, and there she stayed for three yearslearning those things that the white women know, for she is very clever,as clever as she is beautiful and good. Now, for nearly two years shehas been back at the Settlement, for she came to Delagoa Bay in a ship,and I with her, and Mavoom met us.
"But one month gone my mistress the Shepherdess spoke to her fatherMavoom, telling him that she wearied of their lonely life in thewilderness and wished to sail across the waters to the land which iscalled Home. He listened to her, for Mavoom loves his daughter, and saidthat it should be so. But he said this also: that first he would go ona trading journey up the river to buy a store of ivory of which he knew.Now she was against this, saying, 'Let us start at once, we have temptedchance too long, and once again we are rich. Let us go to Natal and passover the seas.'
"Still he would not listen, for he is a headstrong man. So on the morrowhe started to search for the store of ivory, and the lady Juanna hisdaughter wept, for though she is fearless, it was not fitting that sheshould be left thus alone; also she hated to be apart from her father,for it is when she is not there to watch that he becomes drunken.
"Mavoom left, and twelve days went by while I and my mistress theShepherdess sat at the Settlement waiting till he returned. Now it isthe custom of my mistress, when she is dressed, to read each morningfrom a certain holy book in which are written the laws of thatGreat-Great whom she worships. On the thirteenth morning, therefore, shesat beneath the verandah of the house, reading in the book according toher custom, and I went about my work making food ready. Suddenly I hearda tumult, and looking over the wall which is round the garden and to theleft of the house, I saw a great number of men, some of them white,some Arab, and some half-breeds, one mounted and the others on foot,and behind them a long caravan of slaves with the slave-sticks set upontheir necks.
"As they came these men fired guns at the people of the Settlement,who ran this way and that. Some of the people fell, and more were madecaptive, but others of them got away, for they were at work in thefields and had seen the slave-traders coming.
"Now, as I gazed affrighted, I saw my mistress, the Shepherdess, flyingtowards the wall behind which I stood, the book she was reading beingstill in her hand. But as she reached it, the man mounted on the muleovertook her, and she turned about and faced him, setting her backagainst the wall. Then I crouched down and hid myself among somebanana-trees, and watched what passed through a crack in the wall.
"The man on the mule was old and fat, his hair was white and his faceyellow and wrinkled. I knew him at once, for often I have heard of himbefore, who has been the terror of this country for many years. He isnamed the Yellow Devil by the black people, but his Portuguese name isPereira, and he has his place in a secret spot down by one of the mouthsof the Zambesi. Here he collects the slaves, and here the traders cometwice a year with their dhows to carry them to market.
"Now this man looked at my mistress as she stood terrified with her backagainst the wall; then he laughed and cried aloud in Portuguese, 'Herewe have a pretty prize. This must be that Juanna of whose beauty I haveheard. Where is your father, my dove? Gone trading up the river, has henot? Ah! I knew it, or perhaps I should not have ventured here. But itwas wrong of him to leave one so pretty all alone. Well, well, he isabout his business, and I must be about mine, for I am a merchant also,my dove, a merchant who trades in blackbirds. One with silver feathersdoes not often come my way, and I must make the most of her. Thereis many a young man in our part who will bid briskly for such eyes asyours. Never fear, my dove, we will soon find you a husband.'
"Thus the Yellow Devil spoke, White Man, while the Shepherdess mymistress crouched against the wall and stared at him with frightenedeyes, and the slave-traders his servants laughed aloud at his evilwords. Presently she seemed to understand, and I saw her slowly lift herhand towards her head. Then I knew her purpose.
"Now, there is a certain deadly poison, White Man, of which I havethe secret, and that secret I taught long ago to my mistress. It is sodeadly that a piece of it no larger than the smallest ant can killa man--yes, the instant after it touches his tongue he will be dead.Living alone as she does in the wilds, it is the custom of my mistressto carry a portion of this poison hidden in her hair, since a time mightcome when she must use it to save herself from worse than death. Now itseemed to her that this hour was upon her, and I knew that she was aboutto take the poison. Then in my fear I whispered to her through the crackin the wall, speaking in an ancient tongue which I have taught her,the tongue of my own people, White Man, and saying: 'Hold your hand,Shepherdess; while you live you may escape, but from death there is noescape. It will be time to use the poison when the worst is with you.'
"She heard and understood, for I saw her bow her head slightly, and herhand fell to her side. Then Pereira spoke again:
"'And now, if you are ready,' he said, 'we will be moving, for it iseight days' journey to my little Nest on the coast, and who can tellwhen the dhows will come to fetch my blackbirds? Have you anything tosay before you go, my dove?'
"Now my mistress spoke for the first time, answering, 'I am in yourpower, but I do not fear you, for if need be I can escape you. But Itell you this: that your wickedness shall bring your own deathupon you;' and she glanced round at the bodies of those whom theslave-traders had murdered, at the captives upon whom they were settingchains and forks of wood, and the columns of smoke that were rising fromher home, for the roof of the Settlement had been fired.
"For a moment the Portuguese looked frightened, then he laughed aloudand said with an oath, crossing himself after the fashion of his peopleas a protection against the curse, 'What! you prophesy, do you, my dove,and you can escape me at your will, can you? Well, we shall see. Bringthe other mule for this lady, you fellows.'
"The mule was brought, and Juanna, my mistress, was set upon it. Thenthe slave-traders shot down such of the captives as they thought to beof no value, the drivers flogged the slaves with their three-thonged_sjambochs_ of hippopotamus-hide, and the caravan moved on down thebanks of the river.
"When all had gone I crept from my hiding-place and sought out those menof the Settlement who had escaped the slaughter, praying them to findarms and follow on the Yellow Devil's spoor, waiting for an opportunityto rescue the Shepherdess whom they loved. But they would not do this,for the heart was out of them, they
were cowed by fear, and most of thehead-men had been taken captive. No, they would do nothing except weepover their dead and the burnt kraals. 'You cowards,' I said, 'if youwill not come, then I must go alone. At the least let some of you passup the river and search for Mavoom, to tell him what has chanced here inhis house.'
"The men said that they would do this, and taking a blanket and a littlefood, I followed upon the track of the slave-drivers. For four days Ifollowed, sometimes coming in sight of them, till at length the meat wasdone and my strength left me. On the morning of the fifth day I couldgo no farther, so I crept to the top of a koppie and watched their longline winding across the plain. In its centre were two mules, and on oneof these mules sat a woman. Then I knew that no harm had befallen mymistress as yet, for she still lived.
"Now from the koppie I saw a little kraal far away to the right, and tothis kraal I came that same afternoon with my last strength. I told itspeople that I had escaped from the slave-drivers, and they treated mekindly. Here it was also I learnt that some white men from Natal weredigging for gold in these mountains, and next day I travelled on insearch of them, thinking perchance they would help me, for I know wellthat the English hate the slave-drivers. And here, my lord, I am comeat last with much toil, and now I pray you deliver my mistress theShepherdess from the hands of the Yellow Devil. Oh! my Lord, I seem poorand wretched; but I tell you that if you can deliver her you shall wina great reward. Yes, I will reveal to you that which I have kept hiddenall my life, ay, even from Mavoom my master; _I will reveal to you thesecret treasures of my people, 'The Children of the Mist.'_"
Now when Leonard, who all the while had been listening attentively andin silence to Soa's tale, heard her last words, he raised his head andstared at her, thinking that her sorrows had made her mad. There was nolook of madness upon the woman's fierce face, however, but only one ofthe most earnest and indeed passionate entreaty. So, letting this mattergo by for the while, he spoke to her:
"Are you then crazed, mother?" he said. "You see that I am alone herewith one servant, for my three companions, of whom the people in thekraal told you, are dead through fever, and I myself am smitten with it.And yet you ask me, alone as I am, to travel to this slave-trader's campthat is you know not where, and there, single-handed, to rescue yourmistress, if indeed you have a mistress, and your tale is true. Are youthen mad, mother?"
"No, Lord, I am not mad, and that which I tell you is true, everyword of it. I know that I ask a great thing, but I know also that youEnglishmen can do great things when you are well paid. Strive to helpme and you shall have your reward. Ay, should you fail, and live, I canstill give you a reward; not much perhaps, but more than you have everearned."
"Never mind the reward now, mother," broke in Leonard testily, for theveiled sarcasm of Soa's speech had stung him, "unless, indeed, you cancure me of the fever," he added with a laugh.
"I can do that," she answered quietly; "to-morrow morning I will cureyou."
"So much the better," he said, with an incredulous smile. "And now ofyour wisdom tell me how am I to look for your mistress, to say nothingof rescuing her, when I do not know whither she has been taken? Probablythis Nest of which the Portugee talked is a secret place. How long hasshe been carried off?"
"This will be the twelfth day, Lord. As for the Nest, it is secret; thatI have discovered. It is to your wisdom that I look to find it."
Leonard mused awhile, then a thought struck him. Turning to the dwarf,who had been sitting by listening to all that was said in stolidsilence, his great head resting upon his knees, he spoke to him inDutch:
"Otter, were you not once taken as a slave?"
"Yes, Baas, once, ten years ago."
"How was it?"
"Thus Baas. I was hunting on the Zambesi with the soldiers of a tribethere--it was after my own people had driven me out because they saidthat I was too ugly to become their chief, as I was born to be. Then theYellow Devil, that same man of whom the woman speaks, fell upon us withArabs, and took us to his place, there to await the slave-dhows. He wasa stout man, horrible to see, and elderly. The day the dhows came in Iescaped by swimming; and all the others who remained alive were takenoff in ships to Zanzibar."
"Could you find your way to that place again, Otter?"
"Yes, Baas. It is a hard spot to find, for the path runs throughmorasses; moreover the place is secret and protected by water. All of usslaves were blindfolded during the last day's march. But I worked upmy bandage with my nose--ah! my big nose served me well that day--andwatched the path from beneath it, and Otter never forgets a road overwhich his feet have travelled. Also I followed that path back."
"Could you find the spot from here?"
"Yes, Baas. I should go along these mountains, ten days' journey ormore, till we struck the southernmost mouth of the Zambesi below Luabo.Then I should follow the river down a day's journey. Afterwards twoor more days through the swamps and we come to the place. But it isa strong place, Baas, and there are many men armed with guns in it;moreover, there is a big cannon, a 'by-and-by'!"
Again Leonard thought a moment, then he turned to Soa and asked, "Do youunderstand Dutch? No? Well I have found out something of this Nestfrom my servant. Pereira said that it was eight days' journey from yourmaster's settlement, so your mistress has been there some three or fourdays if she ever reached it. Now, from what I know of the habits ofslave-traders on this coast, the dhows will not begin to take in theircargoes for another month, because of the monsoon. Therefore, if I amcorrect, there is plenty of time. Mind you, Mother, I am not sayingthat I will have anything to do with this business; I must think it overfirst."
"Yes, you will, White Man," she answered, "when you know the reward; butof that I will tell you to-morrow, after I have cured you of your fever.And now I pray, Black One, show me a place where I may sleep, for I amvery weary."