CHAPTER XVI
FLIGHT
'I don't think nothing of this 'ere percession, sir--nothing at all,'said Grinson, tramping beside Hoole. 'It ain't my idea of apercession--not by a long chalk. I 've seed hundreds of Lord Mayor'sShows, and King George a-going to be crowned. They was somethinklike--everybody moving like clockwork, 'cept the horses, and they didtheir best. But these 'ere cannibals ain't got a notion o' keepingstep. Look at 'em! What's the good of their drums, I 'd like to know?Why don't they tap out the left-right, as you may say, so 's they willmarch proper?'
'Well, I guess they 're children of nature,' said Hoole with a smile.
'Brought up very bad, then, that's all I can say, sir. I 'm glad I 'mnot a child of nature, but of respectable parents, and uncles and auntsthe same. My old Aunt Maria, now, she was real respectable, and nomistake. I used to go and see her when I was a nipper. Fust thing she 'ddo, she 'd wipe me nose. It ain't much of a nose--not likeEphraim's--p'r'aps he didn't have his wiped so often, so it growedbetter.... Why, save us, sir--did you hear that?'
Both the men turned round. From the rear of the procession came the cryof a white man in mortal peril. The moonlight, striking along the leafyavenue through which they were passing, revealed the hideously paintedfaces of the Papuans, some of whom were carrying live pigs for the feaston the shore. Again rose the startling cry. The two men, stepping amongthe trees to avoid hindering the march, walked back quickly, andpresently saw, among the black faces, the pale, terrified features ofthe German prisoners, whom rough hands were dragging along at the tailof the procession. An explanation of their presence flashed upon Hoole.Baulked of their human prey before, the cannibals had determined thatthis time the custom of their tribe should be followed. The inaugurationof their chief should not pass without its human sacrifice.
'Hi, you blackguards! What about my goose?' cried Grinson, and wasrushing to the rescue when Hoole detained him.
'It's no use tackling these hobos,' said the latter. 'They 'd fly atyou like dogs. Keep pace with them; I 'll run on and talk to thechief.'
Hoole sprinted up the line, past the Papuans, carrying food andcooking-pots, past the drummers and the men who bore the seaplane, pastspearmen and dancers, and the retinue of patricians who followedimmediately behind Flanso. Laying a hand on the chief's arm, heremembered that the interpreter had been left in the village, andwondered nervously how he was to make Flanso understand. To speak inEnglish would be useless; he knew but a word or two of the nativelanguage. Suddenly he remembered the chief's remote French extraction,and the impression made on his father by Trentham's use of French.Could that be turned to account? To explain in French what he desiredwas beyond him, even if Flanso could understand a continuous speech;what alternative was there? Perhaps if he could remember some French--aFrench poem, say--and declaim it with appropriate gestures, it mightproduce the moral effect which was the first necessity at the moment.Hoole was a good elocutionist and amateur actor. Racking his memory forthings learnt at school, he could recall but one poem, a song ofBeranger's that had taken his fancy. He posted himself at the head ofthe procession, and facing Flanso, spread his arms to signify that nofurther advance was to be made. Impressed by his determined mien, thenatives halted. And then Hoole, raising himself to his full height,began to recite:
'Il etait un roi d'Yvetot, Peu connu dans l'histoire.'
Rolling the r, he pointed dramatically to the moon,
'Se levant tard, se couchant tot, Dormant fort bien sans gloire.'
Here he shot out his right hand towards the village. The nativesgasped.
'Et couronne par Jeanneton D'un simple bonnet de coton: Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Quel bon petit roi c'etait la! La, la!'
He accompanied the refrain with a rhythmical clapping of hands; then,without waiting for the mystic effect to dissipate itself, he graspedthe chief by the arm, and led him back along the halted line to the spotwhere the Germans stood paralysed in the hands of their captors.French, he feared, would hardly serve him now; but he pointed to theprisoners, and repeated '_Pas manger; pas manger!_' in a fiercelyauthoritative voice, winding up with _'En arriere!_' and pointingtowards the village, from which they had come but a quarter of a mile.Then, stepping firmly up to the group of Papuans, he seized the arm of abig man who clutched one of the Germans, and with a dexterous twistforced him to relax his hold. The men snarled, but Flanso, who by thistime had apprehended what the white man was driving at, sternly orderedthe prisoners to be released.
'You must take them back, Grinson,' Hoole said. 'Their hands are tied;I 'll fasten them to you so that they can't get away. Take them backand hand them over to Mr. Trentham; then catch us up. Bring Lafoa backwith you.'
'Ay, ay, sir. I 'll take a spear, case of accident. And I won't belong behind you.'
Hoole, sweating at every pore, as he afterwards said, gave an off-handindication of approval to Flanso, and the march was resumed.
It was a slow and wearisome journey through the forest, and Grinson,accompanied by the interpreter, caught up the procession before it hadadvanced another mile. Many times the bearers of the seaplane had torest; in some places trees and shrubs had to be cut down to allow itspassage, and Hoole had many an anxious moment, fearing that the wireswould be bent or broken through the carelessness of his inexperiencedcarriers. But the edge of the cliff was reached without serious mishap,and in a much shorter time than he had believed to be possible. Theroute chosen by Flanso was in fact shorter by many miles than that bywhich Hahn had led the party weeks before.
The covering over the top of the chimney had been removed, and Flansoand his men nimbly climbed down one by one. Hoole allowed all todescend except the carriers, Grinson, and the interpreter; then he setto work to ensure the safe lowering of the machine and its detachedplanes. With the interpreter's aid he got the men to make a stoutplatform of saplings extending some feet beyond the edge of the cliff,with a hole at the chimney top. The body of the machine was secured totwo stout ropes which were carried round trees. Hoole had a third ropewith a sling in which to put his feet, and this he tied firmly to atrunk.
'Now, Grinson,' he said, 'you will be in charge here, and woe betide youif you fail me! I 'm going to let myself down into the chimney. When Igive the word, lift the machine gently over the cliff and lower away; I'll keep an eye on it and fend it off the rocks. That's all clear?'
'As clear as good beer, sir, and I only wish I had some, I 'm that dry.Ephraim says there 's----'
'Oh, hang Ephraim! Stand by!'
He swung himself into the chimney and shouted 'Lower away.'
'The next ten minutes,' he told Trentham afterwards, 'were an age--anepoch. I heard Grinson yo-hoing to the natives above; he never stoppedfor a moment. How he managed to control those savages I don't know.Down came the machine, and there was I, swinging on the rope, clingingwith one hand while I guided the machine with the other. Once itdropped suddenly on one side, and I feared the whole caboodle wouldcrash to the ground; but Grinson bellowed like a hurricane, the thingrighted itself, and my heart was banging against my ribs like a steamhammer. Well, we got the fuselage down at last; the planes were asimpler proposition, and by and by Grinson joined me on the beach, asproud as a peacock. "I done that in fust-rate style, sir," says he witha broad grin. "You can bear me out, sir."'
Hoole was so much occupied in putting the machine together by the lightof the moon that he saw little of the native ceremony. There wasdrumming and dancing; at one moment the chief, followed by a group ofhis men, marched solemnly to the wreck, and after tramping seven timesround the broken mast, descended to the cabin. On his return he waswelcomed with a frenzied shout. Then fires were lighted under thecooking-pots, the dance was kept up until the viands were ready, and thefeast was prolonged until the moon had travelled half-way round the sky.Satiated, the natives flung themselves on the sand and slept.
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'Well, sir,' said Grinson, sitting beside Hoole, close under the cliffs,'all I can say is, it's a wonder to me how they could stow away so muchboiled pork without mustard or a pint of beer.'
Morning dawned. Hoole had the seaplane carried down to the sea. Thetide was rising; the sea was choppy; waves of considerable size werebreaking on the beach.
'I hope she 's seaworthy, sir,' said Grinson, eyeing the machineanxiously.
'That we 'll soon discover,' replied Hoole. 'You know what you have todo. When I 've pumped up and sucked in, you 'll give the propeller halfa dozen turns; then I 'll switch on, and you 'll skip away, or you 'llget a dose like the medicine-man.'
The whole body of natives was lined up on the beach, watching the whitemen with simple curiosity. Suddenly one of them gave a shout, andpointed out to sea.
'By the powers, sir, here's the Blue Raider,' cried Grinson.
The vessel had appeared round the western horn of the bay, and wasstanding in as close as possible to the shore.
'They must have seen us,' said Hoole. 'Rank bad luck! Think I 'd passfor one of the Germans, Grinson? They 're too far off to distinguishfeatures.'
'You might, sir, though I 'm ashamed to say it; but what about me? I 'ma good deal too broad in the beam.'
'But you 're half in the water. I 'll try making signs, just to keep'em quiet, for if they 're suspicious and get their guns on to me, I 'ma dead man, sure!'
Partly concealed by the overshadowing planes, Hoole waved his arms inimitation of the Morse signals. From the vessel, which had now hove to,a boat was lowered, and pulled towards the beach.
'Now, Grinson, I must cut,' said Hoole. 'I 'll start towards them; thatwill diddle them, I hope; and before they make up their minds I 'm anenemy, I guess I 'll be out of range. Ready?'
Grinson whirled the propeller; Hoole made contact and switched on, theengine started with a roar, and the seaplane glided forward in thedirection of the approaching boat. Cries of wonder broke from the throngof natives as the strange bird rose into the air. When clear of thewater it turned suddenly eastwards, and flew rapidly at a low altitudealong the coast. The boat stopped. A signal was fired from the vesselin the offing. The seaplane continued on its eastward course. There wasa loud report which sent the natives scurrying to the foot of the cliff,and a shell burst a few yards behind the seaplane. A few moments latera shell dropped on the beach, sending up a great shower of sand androcks. The natives scattered, some making for the chimney, others takingcover among the rocks and undergrowth. Grinson stood for a while witharms akimbo at the edge of the beach, as though defying the gunners;then a crackle of rifle fire from the boat sent him too rushing for thechimney. He had only just reached it when a shell fell plump into thewreck, scattering its timbers far and wide. A howl of wrath and dismayburst from the natives, and they began to swarm up the chimney, full inview of the occupants of the boat, but concealed from the Raider by abulge in the cliff. Bullets rained on the rocks, but the rolling of theboat rendered marksmanship difficult, and only one or two of the mensuffered slight wounds as they climbed up. Grinson was the last toleave the beach. When he reached the summit he stood for a moment ortwo on the platform, gazing with a grim smile at the Raider.
'Blue you are, and well you may look it!' he cried. 'Row back, youlubbers; such darned bad shooting I never did see, and I 'll take mydavy as your goose 'll soon be cooked. Mr. Hoole has gone to fetch thesauce. Ahoy, ugly mugs! Wait for me! I don't want to be marooned inthis 'ere forest.'
And he set off at a trot to overtake the natives, who were alreadydisappearing among the trees.