CHAPTER XVI
HANS STEALS THE KEYS
A few hours later some of the White Kendah arrived at the house and verypolitely delivered to us Ragnall's and poor Savage's guns and pistols,which they said they had found lying in the grass on the mountain-side,and with them the bull's-eye lantern that Ragnall had thrown away in hisflight; all of which articles I accepted without comment. That eveningalso Harut called and, after salutations, asked where Bena was as he didnot see him. Then my indignation broke out:
"Oh! white-bearded father of liars," I said, "you know well that he isin the belly of the serpent which lives in the cave of the mountain."
"What, Lord!" exclaimed Harut addressing Ragnall in his peculiarEnglish, "have you been for walk up to hole in hill? Suppose Bena wantsee big snake. He always very fond of snake, you know, and they veryfond of him. You 'member how they come out of his pocket in your housein England? Well, he know all about snake now."
"You villain!" exclaimed Ragnall, "you murderer! I have a mind to killyou where you are."
"Why you choke me, Lord, because snake choke your man? Poor snake, heonly want dinner. If you go where lion live, lion kill you. If you gowhere snake live, snake kill you. I tell you not to. You take no notice.Now I tell you all--go if you wish, no one stop you. Perhaps you killsnake, who knows? Only you no take gun there, please. That not allowed.When you tired of this town, go see snake. Only, 'member that not rightway to House of Child. There another way which you never find."
"Look here," said Ragnall, "what is the use of all this foolery? Youknow very well why we are in your devilish country. It is because Ibelieve you have stolen my wife to make her the priestess of your evilreligion whatever it may be, and I want her back."
"All this great mistake," replied Harut blandly. "We no steal beautifullady you marry because we find she not right priestess. Also Macumazanahere not to look for lady but to kill elephant Jana and get pay in ivorylike good business man. You, Lord, come with him as friend though we noask you, that all. Then you try find temple of our god and snake whichwatch door kill your servant. Why we not kill _you_, eh?"
"Because you are afraid to," answered Ragnall boldly. "Kill me if youcan and take the consequences. I am ready."
Harut studied him not without admiration.
"You very brave man," he said, "and we no wish kill you and p'raps afterall everything come right in end. Only Child know about that. Also youhelp us fight Black Kendah by and by. So, Lord, you quite safe unlessyou big fool and go call on snake in cave. He very hungry snake and soonwant more dinner. You hear, Light-in-Darkness, Lord-of-the-Fire," headded suddenly turning on Hans who was squatted near by twiddling hishat with a face that for absolute impassiveness resembled a deal board."You hear, he very hungry snake, and you make nice tea for him."
Hans rolled his little yellow eyes without even turning his head untilthey rested on the stately countenance of Harut, and answered in Bantu:
"I hear, Liar-with-the-White-Beard, but what have I to do with thismatter? Jana is my enemy who would have killed Macumazana, my master,not your dirty snake. What is the good of this snake of yours? If itwere any good, why does it not kill Jana whom you hate? And if it is nogood, why do you not take a stick and knock it on the head? If you areafraid I will do so for you if you pay me. That for your snake," andvery energetically he spat upon the floor.
"All right," said Harut, still speaking in English, "you go kill snake.Go when you like, no one say no. Then we give you new name. Then we callyou Lord-of-the-Snake."
As Hans, who now was engaged in lighting his corn-cob pipe, did notdeign to answer these remarks, Harut turned to me and said:
"Lord Macumazana, your leg still bad, eh? Well, I bring you someointment what make it quite well; it holy ointment come from the Child.We want you get well quick."
Then suddenly he broke into Bantu. "My Lord, war draws near. The BlackKendah are gathering all their strength to attack us and we must haveyour aid. I go down to the River Tava to see to certain matters, as tothe reaping of the outlying crops and other things. Within a week I willbe back; then we must talk again, for by that time, if you will use theointment that I have given you, you will be as well as ever you werein your life. Rub it on your leg, and mix a piece as large as a mealiegrain in water and swallow it at night. It is not poison, see," andtaking the cover off a little earthenware pot which he produced hescooped from it with his finger some of the contents, which looked likelard, put it on his tongue and swallowed it.
Then he rose and departed with his usual bows.
Here I may state that I used Harut's prescription with the mostexcellent results. That night I took a dose in water, very nasty it was,and rubbed my leg with the stuff, to find that next morning all painhad left me and that, except for some local weakness, I was practicallyquite well. I kept the rest of the salve for years, and it proved aperfect specific in cases of sciatica and rheumatism. Now, alas! it isall used and no recipe is available from which it can be made up again.
The next few days passed uneventfully. As soon as I could walk I beganto go about the town, which was nothing but a scattered village muchresembling those to be seen on the eastern coasts of Africa. Nearlyall the men seemed to be away, making preparations for the harvest, Isuppose, and as the women shut themselves up in their houses after theOriental fashion, though the few that I saw about were unveiled andrather good-looking, I did not gather any intelligence worth noting.
To tell the truth I cannot remember being in a more uninteresting placethan this little town with its extremely uncommunicative populationwhich, it seemed to me, lived under a shadow of fear that prevented allgaiety. Even the children, of whom there were not many, crept about ina depressed fashion and talked in a low voice. I never saw any of themplaying games or heard them shouting and laughing, as young people doin most parts of the world. For the rest we were very well looked after.Plenty of food was provided for us and every thought taken for ourcomfort. Thus a strong and quiet pony was brought for me to ride becauseof my lameness. I had only to go out of the house and call and itarrived from somewhere, all ready saddled and bridled, in charge of alad who appeared to be dumb. At any rate when I spoke to him he wouldnot answer.
Mounted on this pony I took one or two rides along the southern slopesof the mountain on the old pretext of shooting for the pot. Hansaccompanied me on these occasions, but was, I noted, very silent andthoughtful, as though he were hunting something up and down his tortuousintelligence. Once we got quite near to the mouth of the cave or tunnelwhere poor Savage had met his horrid end. As we stood studying it awhite-robed man whose head was shaved, which made me think he must bea priest, came up and asked me mockingly why we did not go through thetunnel and see what lay beyond, adding, almost in the words of Haruthimself, that none would attempt to interfere with us as the road wasopen to any who could travel it. By way of answer I only smiled andput him a few questions about a very beautiful breed of goats with longsilky hair, some of which he seemed to be engaged in herding. He repliedthat these goats were sacred, being the food of "one who dwelt in theMountain who only ate when the moon changed."
When I inquired who this person was he said with his unpleasantsmile that I had better go through the tunnel and see for myself, aninvitation which I did not accept.
That evening Harut appeared unexpectedly, looking very grave andtroubled. He was in a great hurry and only stayed long enough tocongratulate me upon the excellent effects of his ointment, since "noman could fight Jana on one leg."
I asked him when the fight with Jana was to come off. He replied:
"Lord, I go up to the Mountain to attend the Feast of the First-fruits,which is held at sunrise on the day of the new moon. After the offeringthe Oracle will speak and we shall learn when there will be war withJana, and perchance other things."
"May we not attend this feast, Harut, who are weary of doing nothinghere?"
"Certainly," he answered with his grave bow. "That is, if you comeunarmed; for to app
ear before the Child with arms is death. You know theroad; it runs through yonder cave and the forest beyond the cave. Takeit when you will, Lord."
"Then if we can pass the cave we shall be welcome at the feast?"
"You will be very welcome. None shall hurt you there, going orreturning. I swear it by the Child. Oh! Macumazana," he added, smilinga little, "why do you talk folly, who know well that one lives in yondercave whom none may look upon and love, as Bena learned not long ago? Youare thinking that perhaps you might kill this Dweller in the cave withyour weapons. Put away that dream, seeing that henceforth those whowatch you have orders to see that none of you leave this house carryingso much as a knife. Indeed, unless you promise me that this shall be soyou will not be suffered to set foot outside its garden until I returnagain. Now do you promise?"
I thought a while and, drawing the two others aside out of hearing,asked them their opinion.
Ragnall was at first unwilling to give any such promise, but Hans said:
"Baas, it is better to go free and unhurt without guns and knives thanto become a prisoner once, as you were among the Black Kendah. Oftenthere is but a short step between the prison and the grave."
Both Ragnall and I acknowledged the force of this argument and in theend we gave the promise, speaking one by one.
"It is enough," said Harut; "moreover, know, Lord, that among us WhiteKendah he who breaks an oath is put across the River Tava unarmed tomake report thereof to Jana, Father of Lies. Now farewell. If we donot meet at the Feast of the First-fruits on the day of the new moon,whither once more I invite you, we can talk together here after I haveheard the voice of the Oracle."
Then he mounted a camel which awaited him outside the gate and departedwith an escort of twelve men, also riding camels.
"There is some other road up that mountain, Quatermain," said Ragnall."A camel could sooner pass through the eye of a needle than through thatdreadful cave, even if it were empty."
"Probably," I answered, "but as we don't know where it is and I dare sayit lies miles from here, we need not trouble our heads on the matter.The cave is _our_ only road, which means that there is _no_ road."
That evening at supper we discovered that Hans was missing; also that hehad got possession of my keys and broken into a box containing liquor,for there it stood open in the cooking-hut with the keys in the lock.
"He has gone on the drink," I said to Ragnall, "and upon my soul I don'twonder at it; for sixpence I would follow his example."
Then we went to bed. Next morning we breakfasted rather late, since whenone has nothing to do there is no object in getting up early. As I waspreparing to go to the cook-house to boil some eggs, to our astonishmentHans appeared with a kettle of coffee.
"Hans," I said, "you are a thief."
"Yes, Baas," answered Hans.
"You have been at the gin box and taking that poison."
"Yes, Baas, I have been taking poison. Also I took a walk and all isright now. The Baas must not be angry, for it is very dull doing nothinghere. Will the Baases eat porridge as well as eggs?"
As it was no use scolding him I said that we would. Moreover, there wassomething about his manner which made me suspicious, for really he didnot look like a person who has just been very drunk.
After we had finished breakfast he came and squatted down before me.Having lit his pipe he asked suddenly:
"Would the Baases like to walk through that cave to-night? If so, therewill be no trouble."
"What do you mean?" I asked, suspecting that he was still drunk.
"I mean, Baas, that the Dweller-in-the-cave is fast asleep."
"How do you know that, Hans?"
"Because I am the nurse who put him to sleep, Baas, though he kickedand cried a great deal. He is asleep; he will wake no more. Baas, I havekilled the Father of Serpents."
"Hans," I said, "now I am sure that you are still drunk, although you donot show it outside."
"Hans," added Ragnall, to whom I had translated as much of this as hedid not understand, "it is too early in the day to tell good stories.How could you possibly have killed that serpent without a gun--for youtook none with you--or with it either for that matter?"
"Will the Baases come and take a walk through the cave?" asked Hans witha snigger.
"Not till I am quite sure that you are sober," I replied; then,remembering certain other events in this worthy's career, added; "Hans,if you do not tell us the story at once I will beat you."
"There isn't much story, Baas," replied Hans between long sucks at hispipe, which had nearly gone out, "because the thing was so easy. TheBaas is very clever and so is the Lord Baas, why then can they neversee the stones that lie under their noses? It is because their eyes arealways fixed upon the mountains between this world and the next. Butthe poor Hottentot, who looks at the ground to be sure that he does notstumble, ah! he sees the stones. Now, Baas, did you not hear that manin a night shirt with his head shaved say that those goats were food forOne who dwelt in the mountain?"
"I did. What of it, Hans?"
"Who would be the One who dwelt in the mountain except the Father ofSnakes in the cave, Baas? Ah, now for the first time you see the stonethat lay at your feet all the while. And, Baas, did not the bald man addthat this One in the mountain was only fed at new and full moon, and isnot to-morrow the day of new moon, and therefore would he not be veryhungry on the day before new moon, that is, last night?"
"No doubt, Hans; but how can you kill a snake by feeding it?"
"Oh! Baas, you may eat things that make you ill, and so can a snake. Nowyou will guess the rest, so I had better go to wash the dishes."
"Whether I guess or do not guess," I replied sagely, the latter beingthe right hypothesis, "the dishes can wait, Hans, since the Lord therehas not guessed; so continue."
"Very well, Baas. In one of those boxes are some pounds of stuff which,when mixed with water, is used for preserving skins and skulls."
"You mean the arsenic crystals," I said with a flash of inspiration.
"I don't know what you call them, Baas. At first I thought they werehard sugar and stole some once, when the real sugar was left behind, toput into the coffee--without telling the Baas, because it was my faultthat the sugar was left behind."
"Great Heavens!" I ejaculated, "then why aren't we all dead?"
"Because at the last moment, Baas, I thought I would make sure, so I putsome of the hard sugar into hot milk and, when it had melted, I gave itto that yellow dog which once bit me in the leg, the one that came fromBeza-Town, Baas, that I told you had run away. He was a very greedy dog,Baas, and drank up the milk at once. Then he gave a howl, twisted about,foamed at the mouth and died and I buried him at once. After that Ithrew some more of the large sugar mixed with mealies to the fowls thatwe brought with us for cooking. Two cocks and a hen swallowed themby mistake for the corn. Presently they fell on their backs, kicked alittle and died. Some of the Mazitu, who were great thieves, stole thosedead fowls, Baas. After this, Baas, I thought it best not to use thatsugar in the coffee, and later on Bena told me that it was deadlypoison. Well, Baas, it came into my mind that if I could make that greatsnake swallow enough of this poison, he, too, might die.
"So I stole your keys, as I often do, Baas, when I want anything,because you leave them lying about everywhere, and to deceive you firstopened one of the boxes that are full of square-face and brandy and leftit open, for I wished you to think that I had just gone to get drunklike anybody else. Then I opened another box and got out two one-poundtins of the sugar which kills dogs and fowls. Half a pound of it Imelted in boiling water with some real sugar to make the stuff sweet,and put it into a bottle. The rest I tied with string in twelve littlepackets in the soft paper which is in one of the boxes, and put them inmy pocket. Then I went up the hill, Baas, to the place where I saw thosegoats are kraaled at night behind a reed fence. As I had hoped, no onewas watching them because there are no tigers so near this town, andman does not steal the goats that are sacred. I went
into the kraal andfound a fat young ewe which had a kid. I dragged it out and, taking itbehind some stones, I made its leg fast with a bit of cord and pouredthis stuff out of the bottle all over its skin, rubbing it in well.Then I tied the twelve packets of hard poison-sugar everywhere about itsbody, making them very fast deep in the long hair so that they could nottumble or rub off.
"After this I untied the goat, led it near to the mouth of the cave andheld it there for a time while it kept on bleating for its kid. Next Itook it almost up to the cave, wondering how I should drive it in, for Idid not wish to enter there myself, Baas. As it happened I need not havetroubled about that. When the goat was within five yards of the cave, itstopped bleating, stood still and shivered. Then it began to go forwardwith little jumps, as though it did not want to go, yet must do so.Also, Baas, I felt as though _I_ wished to go with it. So I lay down andput my heels against a rock, leaving go of the goat.
"For now, Baas, I did not care where that goat went so long as I couldkeep out of the hole where dwelt the Father of Serpents that had eatenBena. But it was all right, Baas; the goat knew what it had to do anddid it, jumping straight into the cave. As it entered it turned its headand looked at me. I could see its eyes in the starlight, and, Baas, theywere dreadful. I think it knew what was coming and did not like it atall. And yet it had to walk on because it could not help it. Just like aman going to the devil, Baas!
"Holding on to the stone I peered after it, for I had heard somethingstirring in the cave making a soft noise like a white lady's dress uponthe floor. There in the blackness I saw two little sparks of fire, whichwere the eyes of the serpent, Baas. Then I heard a sound of hissing likefour big kettles boiling all at once, and a little bleat from the goat.After this there was a noise as of men wrestling, followed by anothernoise as of bones breaking, and lastly, yet another sucking noise as ofa pump that won't draw up the water. Then everything grew nice and quietand I went some way off, sat down a little to one side of the cave, andwaited to see if anything happened.
"It must have been nearly an hour later that something did begin tohappen, Baas. It was as though sacks filled with chaff were being beatenagainst stone walls there in the cave. Ah! thought I to myself, yourstomach is beginning to ache, Eater-up-of-Bena, and, as that goat hadlittle horns on its head--to which I tied two of the bags of the poison,Baas--and, like all snakes, no doubt you have spikes in your throatpointing downwards, you won't be able to get it up again. Then--Iexpect this was after the poison-sugar had begun to melt nicely in theserpent's stomach, Baas--there was a noise as though a whole company ofgirls were dancing a war-dance in the cave to a music of hisses.
"And then--oh! then, Baas, of a sudden that Father of Serpents came out.I tell you, Baas, that when I saw him in the bright starlight my hairstood up upon my head, for never has there been such another snake inthe whole world. Those that live in trees and eat bucks in Zululand, ofwhose skins men make waistcoats and slippers, are but babies comparedto this one. He came out, yard after yard of him. He wriggled about, hestood upon his tail with his head where the top of a tree might be, hemade himself into a ring, he bit at stones and at his own stomach, whileI hid behind my rock praying to your reverend father that he might notsee me. Then at last he rushed away down the hill, faster than any horsecould gallop.
"Now I hoped that he had gone for good and thought of going myself.Still I feared to do so lest I should meet him somewhere, so I made upmy mind to wait till daylight. It was as well, Baas, for about half anhour later he came back again. Only now he could not jump, he could onlycrawl. Never in my life did I see a snake look so sick, Baas. Into thecave he went and lay there hissing. By degrees the hissing grew veryfaint, till at length they died away altogether. I waited anotherhalf-hour, Baas, and then I grew so curious that I thought that I wouldgo to look in the cave.
"I lit the little lantern I had with me and, holding it in one hand andmy stick in the other, I crept into the hole. Before I had crawled tenpaces I saw something white stretched along the ground. It was the bellyof the great snake, Baas, which lay upon its back quite dead.
"I know that it was dead, for I lit three wax matches, setting them toburn upon its tail and it never stirred, as any live snake will do whenit feels fire. Then I came home, Baas, feeling very proud because Ihad outwitted that great-grandfather of all snakes who killed Bena myfriend, and had made the way clear for us to walk through the cave.
"That is all the story, Baas. Now I must go to wash those dishes," andwithout waiting for any comment off he went, leaving us marvelling athis wit, resource and courage.
"What next?" I asked presently.
"Nothing till to-night," answered Ragnall with determination, "when I amgoing to look at the snake which the noble Hans has killed and whateverlies beyond the cave, as you will remember Harut invited us to dounmolested, if we could."
"Do you think Harut will keep his word, Ragnall?"
"On the whole, yes, and if he doesn't I don't care. Anything is betterthan sitting here in this suspense."
"I agree as to Harut, because we are too valuable to be killed just now,if for no other reason; also as to the suspense, which is unendurable.Therefore I will walk with you to look at that snake, Ragnall, and so nodoubt will Hans. The exercise will do my leg good."
"Do you think it wise?" he asked doubtfully; "in your case, I mean."
"I think it most unwise that we should separate any more. We had betterstand or fall altogether; further, we do not seem to have any luckapart."