CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
THE MYSTERIOUS WHITE RACE.
Two more lions fell to Dick's rifle that night, before the brutes werefinally scared out of their projected attack upon the camp; but it wasnot until the first signs of dawn were paling the eastern sky, and allthe multitudinous sounds in the neighbourhood of the water-hole had longsubsided into complete silence, that the watchers felt at liberty tocease their vigil and snatch an hour or two of much-needed rest.Meanwhile, Grosvenor remained completely sunk in the lethargic sleepwhich had resulted from the saturation of his system with alcohol.
Although the blacks had been up and working hard all night, they wereastir again very soon after sunrise; and the first thing they did was togo out and bring into camp the carcasses of the three dead lions, inorder that Dick's eyes might be gladdened by the sight of them upon hisemergence from the tent. Then, while Jantje and 'Nkuku loosed the oxenand drove them to the water-hole, Ramoo Samee prepared a couple of cupsof strong black coffee, which Mafuta carried into the tent; and as theKafir looped back the flaps of the entrance, giving admission to a floodof brilliant sunlight and a brisk gush of cool, invigorating air, Dickstirred uneasily in his hammock, sat up, rubbed his eyes, and exclaimed,sleepily:
"Hillo, Mafuta, surely it is not yet time to turn out, is it? I don'tseem to have been asleep more than half a minute." Then his glance fellupon Grosvenor's hammock, and memory instantly returned to him; hesprang to his feet and laid his finger upon his patient's pulse, and ashe did so Grosvenor uttered a low groan and, opening his eyes, lookeddazedly up into the eyes of the friend who bent over him.
"Hullo, Dick," he murmured, "that you? I say, old chap," endeavouringto rise, "what the dickens is the matter with me? I feel like a--a--boiled owl; my head is aching as though it would split, and my mouth isas dry as a limekiln. And--look here, old man, why are you holding medown in my hammock like this? Am I not to get up to-day, eh, or--"
"Certainly not, at least not just yet," answered Dick firmly. "Andnever mind about your head, or your mouth; what does your leg feel like?Here, just let me have a look at it." And, gently lifting the limb andpushing up the leg of the trousers, in which Grosvenor had lain allnight, he laid bare the injury. The swelling, although it had not quitedisappeared, had subsided so greatly that the limb had once more come tobear some semblance to a human leg, and the livid purple tint had almostfaded out, while the cauterised wounds were perfectly dry and healthy inappearance. But when Dick began to gently pinch and prod the injuredmember, and to ask: "Does that hurt at all?" it became evident thatthere was a distinct numbness in the limb, as far up as the knee. Butthis did not very greatly distress Dick; all the signs were indicativeof the fact that the venom in the blood had been effectuallyneutralised; and as for the numbness, that would probably pass off inthe course of the day.
"Well, Doctor," said Grosvenor whimsically, "what is your verdict--favourable, or otherwise? I remember now that I was bitten by a beastlysnake, last night, and that you did several things to me that made mefeel horribly queer, but I don't quite remember how I got to the tent.Was the brute venomous?"
"About as venomous as it could well be," answered Dick. "But you needhave no fear," he added, seeing a look of anxiety spring into hispatient's eyes; "the danger is quite over; now all that we have to thinkabout is how to cure that headache of yours. And here, just in the nickof time, Mafuta has brought us our coffee. Take your cup and drink itat once; and if in the course of the next half-hour you feel no better,I will mix you a draught. Stop a moment; just look me straight in theeye; yes, that is right; now drink your coffee; it will completely cureyour headache, and you will immediately fall asleep, waking again intime for breakfast."
Grosvenor obediently took the cup, drained it, and lay back on hispillow.
"Thanks, old chap," he murmured; "that's good; I--I--feel--" and wasasleep.
"That's all right," murmured Dick meditatively, as his eyes rested uponthe other's placid countenance. "Why did not I remember to try thatkind of thing last night! It might have helped matters a good deal. Ahwell! I'll not forget next time. Now, Mafuta," he continued, turningto the Kafir; "what about the lions? How many did I kill last night?"
"Three, baas," answered Mafuta; "that is to say, two lions and onelioness, all full-grown, but quite young, and in grand condition, theirteeth and claws quite perfect."
"Is that so?" queried Dick. "Then I suppose you have been out to have alook at them?"
"Yes, baas," answered the black; "we went out and brought them in. Theyare now just outside the tent."
"Very well," said Dick, draining his coffee. "I will have a look atthem. And--what about my bath? I suppose there is no chance of onethis morning, eh?"
"Ramoo Samee and I have each brought two buckets of water from the hole,and the _Inkose's_ bath is ready for him when he will," answered Mafuta.
Grosvenor's sleep appeared to have been extraordinarily beneficial, forwhen he awoke to the rattle of crockery as Mafuta busied himself in thearrangement of the breakfast table, not only was he absolutely free fromheadache, and all the other unpleasant symptoms of which he hadcomplained two hours earlier, but his general condition was also greatlyimproved, the swelling of the injured limb had subsided, the flesh hadrecovered its natural colour, the numb feeling had almost disappeared,and now all that remained to remind him of his disagreeable and perilousadventure of the previous night was the smarting and burning sensationof the cauterised wound itself, which he endured with stoical composure,and indeed laughed at as a trifle not worth wasting words about. But hewas fully alive to the frightful nature of the peril from which he hadso narrowly escaped, and was so earnest and profuse in his thanks toDick for having twice saved his life in the course of a few hours thatat length the young medico laughingly threatened to gag him if he didnot instantly change the topic of conversation. One of the best signsof his progress towards complete recovery, perhaps, was the voraciousappetite which he developed when breakfast was placed upon the table.But it was not until late in the afternoon that Dick allowed him to risefrom his hammock; then it was only permitted in order that the campmight be moved somewhat farther from the water-hole, with the object ofavoiding a recurrence of the annoyances of the preceding night.
By the following morning Grosvenor was practically well again, and, withhis injured leg well protected by a bandage, was once more able to mounta horse; the march was therefore resumed, and came to an unadventurousend in a small valley, watered by a tiny brook, as the sun was sinkingbeneath the western horizon. Thenceforward their progress was steady,averaging about twenty miles a day, for six days a week, Sunday beingalways observed as a rest day, whenever possible, primarily for the sakeof the cattle, it must be confessed, which it was found required atleast one day's rest in every seven upon such a prolonged journey asthat upon which they were now engaged. The journey was not altogetherdevoid of adventure, by any means; for upon one occasion they killed noless than five of their oxen through overwork during a hurried flightfrom the neighbourhood of a devastating grass fire; they lost three moreat one fell swoop while crossing a flooded river; six succumbed to snakebites; four fell a prey to lions; and seven died of sickness believed tohave been induced by the eating of some poisonous plant. But, afterall, these were merely the ordinary accidents incidental to travel inthe African wilderness, and would need too much space to be recorded indetail. The natives whom they encountered from time to time duringtheir progress were by no means uniformly friendly, but tact andfirmness, coupled with an occasional demonstration of the terriblydestructive qualities of their firearms, and a judicious distribution ofpresents among the chiefs, secured them from actual molestation, thoughthere were times when it seemed to be, figuratively speaking, a toss-up,whether they would or would not have to choose between being turned backor "wiped out."
Indeed now, when they had been continuously journeying for nearly threemonths since they had turned their backs upon the friendly Makolonation, and w
ere daily receiving fresh evidence that they were drawingvery near to the goal of their long pilgrimage, it was by the merestchance, the most extraordinary caprice of the king into whose countrythey had penetrated, that they were permitted to live and accordedfreedom to pursue their journey unmolested. For the savages among whomthey now found themselves seemed to be possessed of an extraordinarilyvirulent animus, or prejudice--call it which you will--againstwhiteskins, due, as the travellers eventually discovered, to the factthat a nation of whites inhabited the adjacent territory, between whomand the blacks, who surrounded them on all sides, an implacable enmityhad existed as far back as history or even legend extended. From whencethose white people had come, or how long they had inhabited the land ofwhich they held such stubborn possession, there was no record to tell;but the grievance of the blacks seemed to consist in the fact that theinterlopers--as they chose to regard them--occupied the whole of apeculiarly rich and fertile tract of country from which, though theywere relatively few in number, they resolutely refused to be dislodged;while the surrounding territory, occupied by the blacks, wascomparatively poor, sterile, and ill-watered, affording an ever morescanty subsistence to the steadily growing population. Also there was awidespread belief, amounting to conviction among the blacks, that theirwhite neighbours were wont to punish such attempts as were made fromtime to time to drive them out, by putting all prisoners to death in avariety of peculiarly hideous forms--although it was by no means clearhow this belief arose, since no prisoners ever returned to throw anylight upon the subject.
It is not, perhaps, greatly to be wondered at if, under suchcircumstances, the blacks had gradually come to regard the possessor ofa white skin as the incarnation of everything that was superlativelydetestable, and a person to be destroyed promptly with as littlehesitation or compunction as one would destroy a particularly venomoussnake; and such was the feeling which Grosvenor and Dick inspired in thebreasts of those natives in whose hands they found themselves upon acertain memorable day. It was at first proposed to put them to thetorture _sans ceremonie_; but a certain petty chief, anxious to curryfavour with the king, intervened in the nick of time, and, having madeprisoners of the entire party, sent the whole of them, including thewagon, oxen, horses, and animals generally, to the king's village, inorder that His Majesty might have his full share of such sport as thetorture of the white men might furnish. This journey, however, occupiedfive days, during the progress of which the two white men proved to beso different in every respect from the only other white men whom theblacks had ever encountered, to be possessed of such strange powers, andto be, generally, such "kittle cattle" to deal with, that the king,learning that these strangers were bent upon entering the territory ofhis white neighbours, ultimately came to the somewhat cynical conclusionthat he could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by allowingthe formidable strangers to go their way and inflict the maximum amountof annoyance and damage upon his especial enemies before those enemiesin their turn destroyed the unwelcome visitors.
Thus it came to pass that, after spending close upon a fortnight inmomentary expectation of a hideously protracted death by torture, DickMaitland and Philip Grosvenor one day found themselves most unexpectedlyreleased, their belongings returned to them, and permission accordedthem to proceed upon their journey as soon as they would. Theyinstantly availed themselves of this permission, lest peradventure itshould be retracted; the result being that for five days they travelledunder the protection of an armed escort until they arrived at thefrontier, where the escort hurriedly left them, after jeeringly warningthem of the many evil things that awaited them in the immediate future.
Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed after the departure of the guard beforethe travellers perceived a man intently watching them from the summit ofa low kopje about a quarter of a mile ahead of them. For perhaps aminute he stood, motionless as a statue, gazing steadfastly at themunder the shade of his hand, then he turned suddenly and disappeared.But during that minute Dick and Grosvenor had brought their powerfulfield glasses to bear upon him, and had distinctly seen that his skinwas white, excepting in so far as it had become browned by the sun, thathis hair was thick, black, and arranged in long, straight curls thatreached to his shoulders, that he was naked save for a breech cloutabout his loins and a pair of sandals upon his feet, and that he wasarmed with a long, slender spear and a circular shield or target abouttwo and a half feet in diameter. Three minutes later they saw himrunning with incredible speed toward another low elevation, distantabout a mile from his starting-point, and which, as the travellersdiscovered, when they brought their glasses to bear upon it, was crownedby a low structure, so roughly constructed that it might easily havepassed for a mere heap of stones and turf, but which, later on, provedto be a sort of blockhouse accommodating an outpost consisting of anofficer and ten men. Two minutes later the man whom they had firstseen, or another so exceedingly like him that it was impossible todistinguish any difference at a distance of two or three hundred yards,left the blockhouse--which they now perceived was only one of many insight arranged in a somewhat irregularly curved line which probablyconformed to the line of the frontier--and set off, at the sameastonishing speed that the first had displayed, heading inward from thefrontier line. They watched him for about five minutes, and then lostsight of him over the brow of a slight undulation. Beyond the roughlyconstructed blockhouses there was not a sign of inhabitants in anydirection; the land was rough and uncultivated, there were neithercattle nor sheep to be seen; and if, as they strongly suspected, theblockhouses in sight accommodated a few men, none of their occupantsrevealed their presence nor made the slightest attempt to interfere withthe uninvited visitors. It was a moot point between Dick and Grosvenorwhether they should not take the bull by the horns, as it were, byriding up to the nearest blockhouse and attempting to get intocommunication with its occupants at once; but Grosvenor was verystrongly opposed to any such step, upon the ground that, if they did so,they might be summarily turned back and ordered to quit the countryforthwith, which, as Phil pointed out with some emphasis, would be anexceedingly tame and ignominious ending of their long and arduousjourney. His policy was to let well enough alone, to get as far intothe country as possible before attempting to open up communication withits inhabitants, and, meanwhile, to show in every possible manner bytheir sober behaviour that their mission was a peaceable one.
But if the borderland of this mysterious country presented a somewhatwild and uninviting appearance, it was not long before the travellersperceived that this state of things prevailed only over a very narrowbelt of territory. For as they pressed on toward the interior theyfirst sighted another line of blockhouses, considerably larger and moresubstantially constructed than the first, each perched upon a commandingknoll and completely surrounded by a stout, lofty, and practicallyunclimbable stockade; then they saw a few cattle dotted about, grazing,under the protection of quite a strong force of armed men, similar inall respects to the individual whom they had first sighted. Thesepeople took no notice of the strangers beyond removing themselves andtheir charges well out of the route which was being pursued by thewagon; it was evident that they had no desire to come into touch in anyway whatever with their uninvited visitors. Then, a mile or so fartheron, the herds became larger and their attendants more numerous; and,next, the intruders reached what seemed to be a belt of farms, eachcontaining its own fortified farmhouse, a lofty and, apparently,immensely strong and solid structure of hewn stone, surrounded in manycases by a moat, either wet or dry, with a single narrow entrance highup in the wall and only accessible by means of a ladder; the unglazedwindow openings few in number and too narrow to permit the passage of ahuman being through them; the roof flat, and protected by a breast-highparapet; the structure, as a whole, constituting a very efficientminiature stronghold. The crops appeared to be of the most variedcharacter, starting with sugar cane on the outside margin of what may becalled the agricultural belt, and then gradually changing to variouskinds of grain, wh
ich in its turn was succeeded by fruit orchards andvineyards. These last, however, were not met with until the detachedfarms had been left far behind, and had been succeeded in turn, first bytiny hamlets of half a dozen houses huddled together as if for mutualprotection, and then by villages of ever-increasing importance, eachdominated by a castle-like structure that looked as though it mightserve the purpose of a keep or refuge for the inhabitants to retire toin times of stress or danger. These, however, were not reached by thetravellers until quite late in the following day, and are only referredto now, in order that some idea may be conveyed of the manner in whichthe mysterious white race who inhabited the country met the problem ofcarrying on their agricultural pursuits, and at the same time affordingprotection to the farmers against sudden raids by their savageneighbours.
The region or belt of small hamlets still lay some two miles ahead ofthe travellers when, about half an hour before sunset, the word wasgiven to outspan in the midst of a patch of rich pasture watered by asmall, shallow stream of crystal-clear water. By the time that the sunwas sinking behind a range of hills that rose gradually from the plain,and the summits of which were apparently about twenty miles distant, theoxen and other animals had been watered, the tent pitched, and the twoleaders of the little expedition, having found a passable bathing placea short distance up the stream and taken their evening dip, wereimpatiently awaiting the last meal of the day, which by courtesy theynamed dinner, although it very inadequately represented the usualconception of what that meal ought to be.
Presently the viands made their appearance--a haunch of venison, cutfrom a buck that Grosvenor had shot early that morning, served sparinglywith red currant jelly, the last pot of which had been opened for theoccasion, sweet potatoes, purchased from the savages a few days earlier,"flap-jacks"--so called because they could find no other name for them--made by Ramoo Samee of flour, mealie meal, and water, and baked over theembers of the cooking fire, a few wild guavas, and as much water fromthe stream as they cared to drink, followed by a very small cup ofcoffee each, for both coffee and sugar were now becoming exceedinglyscarce commodities with them.
As they ate they talked, the burden of Dick's conversation being theremarkable behaviour of the inhabitants of this mysterious country inleaving them so severely alone, a course of action which was in directopposition to all their past experiences of the African peoples, andwhich Dick regarded as sinister in the extreme. His settled policy indealing with the savages had always been to approach them promptly, assoon as met with, and lose no time in making friendly overtures, hisleading idea being that if one can but succeed in convincing a savagethat no harm of any kind is intended him, he is just as likely to beamiable as the reverse. Up to now Grosvenor had held a similar opinion,and had always most ably seconded Dick's endeavours to create a friendlyimpression upon the natives encountered; but in the present case he wasutterly opposed to their usual methods, the fact being that the idea ofpenetrating to the heart of the country inhabited by the mysteriouswhite race had gradually come to be an obsession with him, and he wouldhear of nothing being done that might by any chance interfere with thisproject; his conviction being that if they adopted their usual methodsthey would inevitably be stopped and sent to the rightabout. Had he butknown what was impending, his anxiety would probably have taken quite adifferent direction.
The two friends were seated in their tent, partaking of breakfast, onthe following morning, when Mafuta hurriedly appeared, in a state ofconsiderable perturbation, with the information that a strong body ofarmed men were approaching the camp; and upon turning out toinvestigate, they saw that this was indeed the case, the new arrivalsbeing in number about a hundred, and apparently a party of soldiery, allbeing attired alike in a sort of uniform consisting of a sleevelesswhite tunic girt about the waist with a belt, and buskins reachinghalfway to the knee; their heads were bare, save for a thick mop ofblack hair, arranged in curls which reached to the shoulders; and eachman was armed with a long lance, or spear, and a shield, or target,similar to those seen on the previous day. They advanced in single fileand close order, and appeared to be under the command of a man who worea feather head-dress, whose tunic was adorned with a pattern round thehem and armholes, worked in what looked like crimson braid, upon whichwere sewn close together a large number of small circular disks ofpolished yellow metal which had the appearance of being made of brass,or, maybe, gold.
"Ah," ejaculated Grosvenor, as he stood watching their approach, "myfears have materialised, you see, Dick! Those fellows have undoubtedlybeen dispatched to conduct us back to the frontier and see us safely outof the country; and here ends my longcherished hope of making theacquaintance of this mysterious white race. It is horriblyexasperating, especially after we have actually reached their country,and seen for ourselves that such a people really exists."
"Um!" retorted Dick. "Yes, it is undoubtedly provoking, as you say.But I hope nothing worse is going to happen than what you anticipate. Imust confess that I do not altogether like the appearance of things ingeneral, and the expression upon the countenances of those fellows inparticular. I seem to detect indications of a cold-blooded, relentlessferocity that would cause them to convert our bodies into pincushionsfor those spears of theirs with as little compunction as you wouldimpale a rare moth upon a cork with a pin. But whatever may be theirintentions with regard to us, we must rigidly adhere to our usualprinciple of showing no fear and offering no resistance. Probably if wefollow this plan they will not kill us on the spot; and while there islife there is hope and the possibility that chance may turn in ourfavour. Anyway, whatever may happen to us, I hope that they will sparethe blacks. Possibly they may make slaves of us all. Well, we shallsoon know the worst, for here they come--confound those dogs!--call themoff, Phil; if they fly at any of those chaps and hurt them, there willbe trouble at once! Here, Pincher, Juno, Pat, Kafoula, 'Mfan, come in,you silly duffers! Come in, I say! D'you hear me? Come in and liedown! And you too, Leo; how dare you, sir!"
Dick and Grosvenor rushed out, and with the aid of sjamboks soon quelledthe disturbance and brought their motley pack into subjection, theanimals having made a general dash at the intruders, when the latterarrived within some fifty yards of the wagon, while Leo, the lion cub,excited by the disturbance, had broken the rein which usually confinedhim to the wagon at nighttime, and had participated in the generalonslaught.
At the charge of the snapping, snarling dogs the approaching body ofsoldiery had promptly levelled their spears, and the interference ofDick and Grosvenor had only just been in the nick of time to save theanimals' lives. The little episode left the troops and their commanderabsolutely expressionless, save that the latter seemed just a trifleastonished when he saw Dick coolly seize the snarling lion cub by hisincipient mane and rate him roundly for his insubordinate behaviour,before he ordered the brute to retire with the dogs to the wagon. Thenext moment, in obedience to a sign from the officer, six couplesdetached themselves from the main body of the soldiery; and in a tricethe two young Englishmen and their four dark-skinned followers, Mafuta,Ramoo Samee, Jantje, and 'Nkuku--the latter absolutely shivering withfear--found themselves prisoners, with their arms tightly bound behindthem with stout raw-hide thongs.
"Ah," ejaculated Dick, "this is just what I feared might happen! Still,it is perhaps better than being killed outright, and--"
"Hush!" interrupted Grosvenor, sharply. "Listen to that fellow givingorders to his men: I'll be shot if he isn't speaking Hebrew--orsomething that sounds uncommonly like it!"
"Hebrew?" echoed Dick. "Nonsense! Surely you don't mean it?"
"Indeed I do, then," retorted Grosvenor; "never was more serious in mylife. Listen! Yes, I feel sure I was not mistaken; it is a sort ofHebrew patois that he is speaking, Hebrew, mixed up, it is true, with anumber of words that I can make nothing of. Still, I can understandenough of what he is saying to make out that he is giving his fellowsorders to drive in our oxen and yoke them to the wagon. You know I went
in rather strongly for Hebrew when I was at Oxford, and did pretty wellat it. And I don't know what you think about it, Dick, but when I cometo look at those men's faces it seems to me that they are all of quite adistinct Jewish type--eh, what?"
"Well--yes--they certainly are," admitted Dick. "But--Hebrews! Wherethe dickens can they have come from?"
"Goodness knows!" returned Grosvenor; "unless--and by Jove there may besomething in the idea--who is to say that they are not one or more ofthe lost tribes--eh, what?"
"Well, of course they may be," agreed Dick. "That is rather a brilliantidea of yours, old chap, and may be worth following up--if they give usthe chance. But not just now; there are more pressing matters claimingour attention at this moment--these bonds of ours, for instance. Idon't know how yours are, but mine have been drawn quite unnecessarilytight; my fingers already feel as though they are about to burst. Doyou think you could make that fellow understand that there is no need atall to bind us, and that if he will release us we ask nothing betterthan to accompany him whithersoever he may be pleased to take us?"
"Yes, I think I can," replied Grosvenor. "At all events I'll try; mylashings are quite as uncomfortable as yours can be, I fancy."
And forthwith he shouted to the officer a lengthy if somewhat haltingcommunication in the best Hebrew at his command, the result being that,after a long colloquy, the amazed officer, after considerablehesitation, somewhat reluctantly gave the order for the prisoners' bondsto be loosed, after cautioning them that the slightest sign of anyattempt at escape would result in the instant death of the entire party.Then, having scored one success, Grosvenor attempted another bysuggesting that Jantje and 'Nkuku should be entrusted with theinspanning and driving of the wagon, which could be accomplished withmuch greater facility if the oxen were handled by those to whom theywere accustomed. This also the officer eventually conceded, aftercarefully considering the matter for about a quarter of an hour,meanwhile the oxen were driven very nearly mad by the vain efforts ofthe soldiers to round them up and drive them towards the wagon.