CHAPTER VI.--AN INVADING ARMY--VICTORY!
"Goo-goo!" said the king.
Duncan shook his head as he sat on a block of wood near to him, and justwhere he could get a good look of his sable countenance.
"He say," Carrambo interpreted, "no goo-goo, no stoly."
But Duncan was firm. Savages are very like children in some of theirways, and Duncan knew it. He shifted the bottle farther back therefore.
"No story, no goo-goo. Tell him that, Carrambo."
The fat king grinned, slapped one of his wives, grinned again, and beganto talk.
As translated by the Somali, the story ran somewhat as follows:--
"I king now. My fadder he king once. My fadder fadder he king befo';my fadder fadder fadder he king too. 'Twas when fadder fadder fadderking. De boys all in de bush one day, make much fine spolt. Shoot demonkey fo' eat; shoot de lion and de spot-cat (leopard) all wid bow andarrow. Some dey kill wid spear.
"Plesantly, all as soon as nuffin, plenty much noise and shout in debush. Den fire-sticks flash and plenty thunder, and one, two, tlee,nine, ten (the king was counting on his fingers and could go no further)ob my fadder's fadder's fadder's poor people lie down and bleed red, anddie. But dis not all. De king's people fight, and many mo' all killand bleeding, and so de king make peace.
"De white men dey take many wives away, den take de country, and de kinghe king no mo'. All de same he not conquer. Plaps he take revenge oneday. You see plenty soon.
"Well, de white men wid de thunder-sticks, they build big bighouse--big, big, stlong, stlong, all de same as you young gemmans lib innow. So dey settle down and lib heah.
"Dey go spolt plenty in de bush, and kill much wild beast. Sometimes dewild beast--ha, ha!--kill dey, and chew up foh tlue.
"But all de same de white folks stay one two year. Dey gadder much glassstone--"
"These," said Duncan, "were evidently diamonds."
"Were they like these?" said Frank, taking the splendid diamond from hispocket and holding it up.
"All same, all same, de king say," cried Carrambo.
"Dey go heah and dere all ober de mountain to seek fo' de glass stone,and many dey find and buly."
"Bury," cried Duncan, showing some little excitement. "Ask him,Carrambo, where the glass was buried. Wait a minute though," he added."Frank, give him another nutful of goo-goo."
Frank did as he was told. Carrambo put the question, and the king'seyes sparked.
"What does he say, Carrambo?"
"He says de debbil guard the glass stones, and if he tell any white manwhere they lie, den de debbil take he plenty quick."
The king was offered a whole bottle of goo-goo if he would only divulgethe secret, but he was obdurate.
"No, no, no," said Carrambo. "He say de debbil no catchee he foh manymany long year yet."
Then his majesty proceeded with the story.
"De white men now begin to dig holes in the earf. Dey want to make holefor bad men to come up throo, and cut all de throats of my fadder'sfadder's fadder's pore people.
"De ole ole king he fink, 'I no can stand dis no mo'." "Den one night inde dark folest he gadder his people togedder.
"He 'splain to dem all 'bout de big hole. 'Plaps,' he say, 'ebento-mollow de bad white debbils come up out ob de hole, and catchee usfoh tlue.'
"And de ole king's people shake wid anger.
"'Kill, kill, kill, and eat the fire-stick men!' dey cly.
"Dey shake moh and moh wid anger, den de ole king say, 'Vely well, allkill'.
"Dat night, out on de plain de moon he shine. De moon hab one big led(red) face. He look down, he smile and laugh. 'Kill, kill!' he seem tosay. 'Kill de white debbils and dair wives, kill de white piccaninniestoo. Make much fine bobbery, much fine kill. I not tell.'
"But de white men dat night say, 'O, de black cannibal not come disnight. Too much moon!' So dey dlink goo-goo, and moh and moh goo-goo.Den dey sing--ha, ha!--den dey sleep.
"De moon he smile all de same. And the black man wid plenty spear andknife lie quiet in de bush.
"But the king cly now, and all at once de savage jump up.
"Plenty much branch ob tree dey cut.
"Plenty much fire.
"Den wid gleat stones de door fly all bloken, and de white men come outto fight.
"But too much goo-goo--he, he, he!--and dey fall and fall all in one bigheap. Much blood. Much kick and scream!
"Not one alibe now, only de white women and de piccaninnies.
"Ha, ha, ha, how de king do laugh. My fadder, fadder, fadder, dat is.
"But now all de women am drag out, and all de piccaninny. Der troats--"
"Horrible!" cried Duncan. "We will have no more. Give the old pig of aking more goo-goo and let him go and sleep it off. I have never heard,Frank, of a more diabolical massacre in my life."
Said Carrambo now: "What foh you open again de old debbil pits? Somenight dey people rise and murder you tree pooh souls all same as deykill and eat de odder white folks long, long ago. Carrambo know well.Dese sabages not hab de debbil pits open. Oh, no!"
"There is much truth," said Duncan, "in what Carrambo says. It would bea pity to leave this land of gold and diamonds without knowing forcertain whether the mines are worth working; but I move that we leavethe devil pits alone for a time until we try to reclaim these savagesjust a little."
"I should reclaim them off the face of the earth," said Frank.
"That is impossible, and were it not, we should only be reducingourselves to their level. That is not the doctrine of Jesus Christ."
So the "debbil pits", much to the joy of the king, were partiallyrefilled. But just as they were shovelling in the earth, bravebroad-shouldered Duncan struck something with his wooden spade.
"Hillo!" he cried, "what have we here?"
Frank and Conal rushed up to see.
"Why, a nugget. And, boys, it is six pounds weight if an ounce."
The excitement of the three young fellows now knew no bounds. Theyshook each other by the hand; they shouted aloud for joy, and then,while honest Viking capered around them, they raised their voices insong, Duncan leading in an old song, sung by the gold-diggers ofCalifornia in days long, long gone by.
But a right cheery one it was.
"Pull away, cheerily, Not slow and wearily, Rocking the cradle,[1] boys, swift to and fro. Working the hand about, Sifting the sand about, Looking for treasures that lie in below."
[1] The machine used for washing the "pay-dirt".
"Hurrah! Hurrah!"
Another and a truly British cheer. The savages far down below heard itand trembled.
"Plaps," said Carrambo, "dey tink all de debbils was let loose now fohtlue."
"Here, Carrambo, hurry down with a bottle of goo-goo to the old king,and tell him we are his friends now, and if an enemy comes we will helpto fight him."
Carrambo came back the same evening rejoicing, but laughing his wildest.
"Plenty much fun!" he cried. "De fat king he dlunk, ebber so muchdlunk. He do nuffin' now. Jus' lie on him back and sing. Ha! ha! ha!"
The boys went back to their fort to dine. Carrambo would be theirfriend, though to the savages he pretended not to be so. He was evenentrusted with a revolver, and thus a right happy man was he.
Well, when Duncan talked about the invasion of an enemy he might havebeen speaking for speaking sake; but one evening a runner brought thealarming intelligence that a rich neighbouring tribe were preparing tofall upon and extirpate the inhabitants of these glens and hills.
"And a jolly good job too," said Frank. "We'll stand by and look on,won't we, Duncan?"
But Duncan shook his head.
"A promise even to a savage is sacred, Frank, and we must fight."
The Umbaloomi, as the invading tribe was called, did not keep the tribelong waiting.
They came in force on the very next day. The king himself marched alongwith his warriors, mounted
on a huge elephant, while behind him, onanother, rode his two favourite wives. The Umbaloomi potentate hadpromised them a great treat, and many heads with which to decorate theirhuts.
Now Duncan had determined that Goo-goo, as the fat king had come to becalled, should attack the invaders first. If he failed to conquer, thenDuncan, with Frank, Conal, and Carrambo, meant to give them a startler,and something like a surprise.
This was all as it should be, and the fight, as seen from the bush whereour heroes lay _perdu_, was a fearful one.
What a horrible melee! What a murderous massacre! No wonder that thewild birds rose in screaming clouds, or that the echoes of the forestwere awakened by the bedlam shrieks and howlings of the gorillas!
"Now for it, lads!" cried Duncan, as he noticed that Goo-Goo's side waslosing. "Steady aim. Give 'em fits, but don't fire until I tell you."
Nearer and nearer to the foe they crept under cover of the mimosabushes.
"Fire!"
At the word a rattling volley was poured into the very midst of the foe.
Another and another, for the rifles were repeaters.
"Hurrah!" shouted Carrambo, "the fire-debbils have come!"
Whether the enemy understood him or not I cannot say, but they werestaggered, and backward now they reeled in a confusion which isindescribable.
The elephants waxed wild, and, instead of flying, charged right towardsthe Goo-Goo tribe.
And the invading king, with both his wives, were instantly slain.
That completed the victory.
But after victory came the rout, the slaughter, and utter exterminationof the invaders.
With the details of the fearful feast that followed, I should be sorry,indeed, to sully my pages.
So the curtain drops on a sadder scene than ever I trust any of myreaders shall ever behold.
There was another feast, however, of a somewhat less terrible kind. Foron the slain that night the beasts of the forest held high revel.
And thus ended the invasion of King Goo-Goo's land.