The School Friends Part 17

CHAPTER THREE.

Water was found in the bed of what had once been a running river. The men eagerly rushed forward, and lapped up the refres.h.i.+ng liquid, followed by the horses and oxen. It was with difficulty that those yoked to the waggon could be restrained from dragging it in with them, so eager were they to quench their burning thirst.

The party here encamped, for there were all things requisite--water, gra.s.s, and wood.

Masiko now knew where he was, and he urged his companions to fill all their water-skins, for this pool would soon be dried up, and they had a wide desert track to traverse before they could reach the country of the Makololo.

The next morning, having secured as much water as they could carry, the party proceeded on their journey.

Day after day they travelled on, often suffering greatly from thirst and hunger, and dreading the loss of more of the cattle.

At length a stream of running water was crossed flowing to the east, and the caravan reached the borders of a dense forest, through which a path had to be cut with axes. Beyond it, far off in the east, hills were seen rising out of the plain.

Several ruined villages were pa.s.sed, the plantations near them overrun with weeds and brushwood; while many skeletons of their unhappy inhabitants lay scattered about, telling plainly how they had been attacked by their cruel foes before they had time to escape, and had been remorselessly slaughtered, while the remainder probably had been carried off into slavery.

Such scenes met their sight day after day through what otherwise would have been a smiling country.

Several more of the oxen had died. Scarcely enough survived to drag on the waggon.

Ahead lay a level waste covered by scrub. Masiko urged Mr Vincent to wait till nightfall to cross it. He was afraid, he said, that it might be infested by the tsetse, which does not attack cattle at night. The trader, however, was eager to proceed, as he was now near the termination of his journey, and he thought that Masiko was mistaken.

Martin suggested that one of the oxen should be sent on first, and that if that was not bitten the rest should follow. His father, however, seemed to have abandoned his usual caution, and insisted on proceeding.

They had not proceeded far across the scrub when several of the dangerous flies were seen on the animals. It was too late to turn back.

They must now push on in the hopes that some might escape, which they might do if not severely bitten. The horses might possibly be saved by galloping on, should the dangerous spot not be of any great extent. Mr Vincent therefore directed Martin and Kibo, with two of the men, to push forward with the horses while he himself remained with the waggon.

It was already late in the day before the scrub was pa.s.sed. Riding on for some distance, Martin and his companions crossed a small stream and encamped on a gra.s.sy spot, where they hoped to be safe from further attacks of the deadly tsetse. Examining the horses, however, they found that all had been bitten, while there was no hope that any of the oxen would have escaped.

The disease caused by the bite might not show itself for several days, and the animals might have strength to drag the waggon to the end of the journey; but if bitten, death would certainly be the consequence.

It was late at night before the waggon arrived. Mr Vincent was much out of spirits, for he antic.i.p.ated the loss of all his oxen. It was the more important, therefore, that they should push on, and the next morning they were again on their journey.

At length the bank of another large river was reached Several villages were seen on the opposite side, the dwellings composed of conical-shaped reed-thatched huts surrounded by circular clay walls. The inhabitants, on observing the waggon, came across in their canoes to welcome the trader, who had before been to their country. They were clothed with skins of animals round their loins and others thrown loosely over their shoulders.

All were eager to ascertain what Mr Vincent had brought; but he could not commence trading until visited by their chief, who would first claim his own dues and make purchases of such articles as he wanted for himself.

The waggon was soon surrounded by natives, who appeared disposed to be friendly.

While Mr Vincent was speaking to them they announced that their chief, Kanenge, was coming across the river. In a short time, a tall man, dressed like his people, except that the skins he wore were handsomer and that feathers ornamented the fillet round his head, landed from a canoe and came up to the waggon. Mr Vincent saluted him, shaking hands in the usual fas.h.i.+on. The chief then taking his seat on the ground, they discussed the business which had brought the trader to the country.

One had plenty of goods, the other an abundance of ivory. The chief was as eager to trade as any of his people, and appeared incapable just then of thinking of anything else. Every now and then, however, his eye turned towards young Kibo. At length he remarked how like the lad was to his own tribe. Mr Vincent then told him how he had been captured by Moselekatse's people some years before, and had been redeemed by the missionary. Kanenge listened with intense interest, and calling to the boy, addressed him. As Kibo replied, the chief's before somewhat stern countenance became animated and eager. He continued putting questions to Kibo, to which the boy replied, and then eagerly asked several in return. At length, with a cry of delight, the chief sprang up, and pressing young Kibo in his arms, exclaimed--

"My heart was moved when I saw him. I knew him to be of my own people, but I dared not believe that he was the child I loved, and whom I had lost so long ago. White man, I will load your waggon with tusks. You shall take them to the good missionary chief who has sent me back my boy; or if he will come here with a waggon himself, he and his people shall be fed as long as they will remain."

Thus the father endeavoured to express his grat.i.tude to the missionary who had preserved his son, and to those who had brought him back. Mr Vincent, however, did not put full confidence in his promises. He replied that he should be happy to convey his messages to the missionary; but that as he had come to trade, he must purchase tusks for himself, though he would carry as many as he had room for, if sent as a present.

The chief offered to convey the trader's goods over the river, and to float the waggon across it, while the cattle and horses would pa.s.s over by swimming, to his village. This was accomplished the next day.

Kanenge appropriated several huts for the accommodation of his visitors, in one of which they took up their residence, in another their goods were stored, while their attendants inhabited the remainder.

Trade was now commenced, and everything appeared to be going on prosperously. Scarcely, however, had these arrangements been made than Masiko and their driver came with the intelligence that several of the oxen were sickening from the effects of the tsetse-bites. No cure was known. The most healthy had already perished. In a few days it was found that all the cattle, as well as the horses, had been bitten by the deadly insect.

Martin tried to console his father by pointing out how much worse it would have been had they perished on the journey, in which case the waggon and its contents must have been deserted, and they themselves would in all probability have lost their lives. The trader, however, was inclined to look at things in a gloomy light.

Though fresh oxen might be procured in the country, it would require some time to break them in, while their cost would swallow up a considerable portion of his profits.

Mr Vincent himself was ill, and in a few days he was attacked with fever, while several of his men were suffering from the same complaint.

Martin now felt thankful that he had accompanied his father, and while he attended him with the most devoted care, he did his utmost to take his place in carrying on trade with the natives. His father appeared well pleased with the way he transacted business, when he each day reported the progress he had made, and gradually their store-hut became filled with elephant-tusks.

"Ah, Martin, you will become a first-rate trader," he observed; "and I hope we shall soon recover our losses. As soon as I am well we must push further to the eastward, where I hear there are large supplies of ivory. In the meantime we must get fresh oxen broken in."

"I am thankful to be able to a.s.sist you, father," answered Martin; "but I must not pride myself on my dealings with the natives. We are now with a friendly chief who treats us fairly, but I understand the people among whom you propose going are likely to behave in a very different way; besides which, the country is exposed to the inroads of hostile tribes, and should they hear that such a prize as our waggon full of goods is in the neighbourhood, they will attack us in the hopes of carrying it off."

"We need not be afraid of them; we have a dozen muskets, besides our rifles and pistols, and may keep a whole host of enemies at bay,"

observed Mr Vincent. "Kanenge will send a party of his men, and probably, if I ask him, come himself to a.s.sist us."

Martin had now to tell his father that two of their own people were already dead, and that several others were so ill that there was little hope of their recovery.

Kibo came every day to the hut, and brought presents of provisions from his father. Martin asked him if he felt happy at being once more among his relations and own people. Kibo shook his head.

"No, very sorry," he answered, speaking partly in broken English and partly in his native tongue. "My father is kind and glad to have me with him; but he knows nothing of the true G.o.d, and wants me to follow the bad ways of my people, which he thinks right ways. I tell him that G.o.d wishes men to be happy, and to live at peace, and to do good to each other and not harm, and to love their enemies, and to trust to Him, and to wors.h.i.+p Him only; and that all men are bad by nature and constantly doing wrong, and that it is only by trusting to Jesus Christ, who was punished instead of them, that G.o.d will forgive them their sins and put them away out of His sight. My father says he cannot understand how this can be, and that now I have come to live among my people, I must believe what they do, and live as they do. I tell him I cannot believe the lies Satan has invented to deceive them, and that I must not follow their ways, which are the bad ways Satan has taught them; and so I have asked my father to let me go back with you and try to persuade Mr Warden to come here, or to send another missionary to teach the people about Jesus Christ, and how He wishes men to live."

Martin was truly glad to hear Kibo say this, and he urged him to persevere in trying to obtain leave to return, promising to beg Mr Vincent to a.s.sist him.

CHAPTER FOUR.

Two months had pa.s.sed by, the waggon was half loaded with ivory, and Mr Vincent had partly recovered from his fever; but all his oxen were dead, and so were nearly half the men he had brought with him. Many of the natives had also died, and great numbers were suffering. It was evident that the low-lying region now occupied by Kanenge and his tribe, intersected as it was by numerous rivers, with swamps in all directions, was very unhealthy. Martin was thankful when his father proposed moving eastward to a higher region.

Kanenge had supplied oxen, which the trader's surviving followers had been engaged for some time in breaking in. The chief also, confiding in the firearms with which he and his people were to be furnished, agreed to accompany him.

The waggon and goods were transported across the river, and accompanied by Kanenge, with nearly a hundred men, the trader's party commenced their journey in the proposed direction. Mr Vincent being too weak to walk, was carried in a sort of palanquin, while the rest of the party marched on foot.

After travelling for upwards of a week, the country greatly improving in appearance, they reached a steep hill, up which the waggon was slowly dragged, till at length they found themselves on a wide extent of elevated ground, high above the plain, which stretched away to the southward. Here the air felt pure and comparatively bracing, and Martin at first hoped that his father would recover his strength.

Still, after some days had pa.s.sed, observing how weak and ill he remained, he could not help fearing that his days were numbered. Should his father die, he would indeed have been in a forlorn condition had he not learned to trust to One who rules all things for the best. He was, therefore, far more anxious about his father than about himself. Each evening, when they encamped, he sat by his side, and having read a portion of Scripture, he endeavoured to turn his father's thoughts to a future state of existence.

"What, do you think I am likely to die?" asked Mr Vincent one day. "Why do you talk so much about heaven?"

"We have seen many of our companions die, my dear father, and we know how uncertain life is in this country, as it is indeed in all parts of the world, and at all events we should live prepared to quit this life at any moment. Christ has said that we must enter the kingdom of heaven here, we must become His subjects while we are on earth, we must be reconciled to G.o.d now, we must be born again; and therefore it is that I am so anxious you should accept His gracious offers, though at the same time I pray that you may be restored to health and strength."

At first Mr Vincent turned a deaf ear to what his son said, but by degrees his hard heart softened, he saw how earnest and affectionate that son was, and he could not help being aware of his own increasing weakness.

Although he at first thought himself getting better, the disease had taken too strong a hold of him to be thrown off. Martin at length had the infinite satisfaction of finding that his father now listened with deep attention to G.o.d's Word when he read it.

"My dear boy," he said one day, "I now know myself to be a rebel to G.o.d, and grievously to have sinned against His pure and holy laws; and I earnestly desire to accept the gracious offer of mercy which He holds out through the atoning blood of Christ, according to His plan of salvation, which you have so clearly explained to me. I do not know whether I shall live or die, but I pray for grace that I may ever continue faithful to Him who has redeemed me with His precious blood."

Martin burst into tears on hearing his father thus express himself--they were tears of joy--and he felt the great load which had hitherto oppressed him removed from his heart.

The natives came in to trade, but Mr Vincent was utterly unable to do anything. Had it not been for Martin, who was a.s.sisted by Kibo and Masiko, no trade could have been carried on.