The Adventures of Dick Maitland Part 14

Thus it came to pa.s.s that, after spending close upon a fortnight in momentary expectation of a hideously protracted death by torture, d.i.c.k Maitland and Philip Grosvenor one day found themselves most unexpectedly released, their belongings returned to them, and permission accorded them to proceed upon their journey as soon as they would. They instantly availed themselves of this permission, lest peradventure it should be retracted; the result being that for five days they travelled under the protection of an armed escort until they arrived at the frontier, where the escort hurriedly left them, after jeeringly warning them of the many evil things that awaited them in the immediate future.

Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed after the departure of the guard before the travellers perceived a man intently watching them from the summit of a low kopje about a quarter of a mile ahead of them. For perhaps a minute he stood, motionless as a statue, gazing steadfastly at them under the shade of his hand, then he turned suddenly and disappeared.

But during that minute d.i.c.k and Grosvenor had brought their powerful field gla.s.ses to bear upon him, and had distinctly seen that his skin was white, excepting in so far as it had become browned by the sun, that his hair was thick, black, and arranged in long, straight curls that reached to his shoulders, that he was naked save for a breech clout about his loins and a pair of sandals upon his feet, and that he was armed with a long, slender spear and a circular s.h.i.+eld or target about two and a half feet in diameter. Three minutes later they saw him running with incredible speed toward another low elevation, distant about a mile from his starting-point, and which, as the travellers discovered, when they brought their gla.s.ses to bear upon it, was crowned by a low structure, so roughly constructed that it might easily have pa.s.sed for a mere heap of stones and turf, but which, later on, proved to be a sort of blockhouse accommodating an outpost consisting of an officer and ten men. Two minutes later the man whom they had first seen, or another so exceedingly like him that it was impossible to distinguish any difference at a distance of two or three hundred yards, left the blockhouse--which they now perceived was only one of many in sight arranged in a somewhat irregularly curved line which probably conformed to the line of the frontier--and set off, at the same astonis.h.i.+ng speed that the first had displayed, heading inward from the frontier line. They watched him for about five minutes, and then lost sight of him over the brow of a slight undulation. Beyond the roughly constructed blockhouses there was not a sign of inhabitants in any direction; the land was rough and uncultivated, there were neither cattle nor sheep to be seen; and if, as they strongly suspected, the blockhouses in sight accommodated a few men, none of their occupants revealed their presence nor made the slightest attempt to interfere with the uninvited visitors. It was a moot point between d.i.c.k and Grosvenor whether they should not take the bull by the horns, as it were, by riding up to the nearest blockhouse and attempting to get into communication with its occupants at once; but Grosvenor was very strongly opposed to any such step, upon the ground that, if they did so, they might be summarily turned back and ordered to quit the country forthwith, which, as Phil pointed out with some emphasis, would be an exceedingly tame and ignominious ending of their long and arduous journey. His policy was to let well enough alone, to get as far into the country as possible before attempting to open up communication with its inhabitants, and, meanwhile, to show in every possible manner by their sober behaviour that their mission was a peaceable one.

But if the borderland of this mysterious country presented a somewhat wild and uninviting appearance, it was not long before the travellers perceived that this state of things prevailed only over a very narrow belt of territory. For as they pressed on toward the interior they first sighted another line of blockhouses, considerably larger and more substantially constructed than the first, each perched upon a commanding knoll and completely surrounded by a stout, lofty, and practically unclimbable stockade; then they saw a few cattle dotted about, grazing, under the protection of quite a strong force of armed men, similar in all respects to the individual whom they had first sighted. These people took no notice of the strangers beyond removing themselves and their charges well out of the route which was being pursued by the wagon; it was evident that they had no desire to come into touch in any way whatever with their uninvited visitors. Then, a mile or so farther on, the herds became larger and their attendants more numerous; and, next, the intruders reached what seemed to be a belt of farms, each containing its own fortified farmhouse, a lofty and, apparently, immensely strong and solid structure of hewn stone, surrounded in many cases by a moat, either wet or dry, with a single narrow entrance high up in the wall and only accessible by means of a ladder; the unglazed window openings few in number and too narrow to permit the pa.s.sage of a human being through them; the roof flat, and protected by a breast-high parapet; the structure, as a whole, const.i.tuting a very efficient miniature stronghold. The crops appeared to be of the most varied character, starting with sugar cane on the outside margin of what may be called the agricultural belt, and then gradually changing to various kinds of grain, which in its turn was succeeded by fruit orchards and vineyards. These last, however, were not met with until the detached farms had been left far behind, and had been succeeded in turn, first by tiny hamlets of half a dozen houses huddled together as if for mutual protection, and then by villages of ever-increasing importance, each dominated by a castle-like structure that looked as though it might serve the purpose of a keep or refuge for the inhabitants to retire to in times of stress or danger. These, however, were not reached by the travellers until quite late in the following day, and are only referred to now, in order that some idea may be conveyed of the manner in which the mysterious white race who inhabited the country met the problem of carrying on their agricultural pursuits, and at the same time affording protection to the farmers against sudden raids by their savage neighbours.

The region or belt of small hamlets still lay some two miles ahead of the travellers when, about half an hour before sunset, the word was given to outspan in the midst of a patch of rich pasture watered by a small, shallow stream of crystal-clear water. By the time that the sun was sinking behind a range of hills that rose gradually from the plain, and the summits of which were apparently about twenty miles distant, the oxen and other animals had been watered, the tent pitched, and the two leaders of the little expedition, having found a pa.s.sable bathing place a short distance up the stream and taken their evening dip, were impatiently awaiting the last meal of the day, which by courtesy they named dinner, although it very inadequately represented the usual conception of what that meal ought to be.

Presently the viands made their appearance--a haunch of venison, cut from a buck that Grosvenor had shot early that morning, served sparingly with red currant jelly, the last pot of which had been opened for the occasion, 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 the embers of the cooking fire, a few wild guavas, and as much water from the stream as they cared to drink, followed by a very small cup of coffee each, for both coffee and sugar were now becoming exceedingly scarce commodities with them.

As they ate they talked, the burden of d.i.c.k's conversation being the remarkable behaviour of the inhabitants of this mysterious country in leaving them so severely alone, a course of action which was in direct opposition to all their past experiences of the African peoples, and which d.i.c.k regarded as sinister in the extreme. His settled policy in dealing with the savages had always been to approach them promptly, as soon as met with, and lose no time in making friendly overtures, his leading idea being that if one can but succeed in convincing a savage that no harm of any kind is intended him, he is just as likely to be amiable as the reverse. Up to now Grosvenor had held a similar opinion, and had always most ably seconded d.i.c.k's endeavours to create a friendly impression upon the natives encountered; but in the present case he was utterly opposed to their usual methods, the fact being that the idea of penetrating to the heart of the country inhabited by the mysterious white race had gradually come to be an obsession with him, and he would hear of nothing being done that might by any chance interfere with this project; his conviction being that if they adopted their usual methods they would inevitably be stopped and sent to the rightabout. Had he but known what was impending, his anxiety would probably have taken quite a different direction.

The two friends were seated in their tent, partaking of breakfast, on the following morning, when Mafuta hurriedly appeared, in a state of considerable perturbation, with the information that a strong body of armed men were approaching the camp; and upon turning out to investigate, they saw that this was indeed the case, the new arrivals being in number about a hundred, and apparently a party of soldiery, all being attired alike in a sort of uniform consisting of a sleeveless white tunic girt about the waist with a belt, and buskins reaching halfway to the knee; their heads were bare, save for a thick mop of black hair, arranged in curls which reached to the shoulders; and each man was armed with a long lance, or spear, and a s.h.i.+eld, or target, similar to those seen on the previous day. They advanced in single file and close order, and appeared to be under the command of a man who wore a feather head-dress, whose tunic was adorned with a pattern round the hem and armholes, worked in what looked like crimson braid, upon which were sewn close together a large number of small circular disks of polished yellow metal which had the appearance of being made of bra.s.s, or, maybe, gold.

"Ah," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Grosvenor, as he stood watching their approach, "my fears have materialised, you see, d.i.c.k! Those fellows have undoubtedly been dispatched to conduct us back to the frontier and see us safely out of the country; and here ends my longcherished hope of making the acquaintance of this mysterious white race. It is horribly exasperating, especially after we have actually reached their country, and seen for ourselves that such a people really exists."

"Um!" retorted d.i.c.k. "Yes, it is undoubtedly provoking, as you say.

But I hope nothing worse is going to happen than what you antic.i.p.ate. I must confess that I do not altogether like the appearance of things in general, and the expression upon the countenances of those fellows in particular. I seem to detect indications of a cold-blooded, relentless ferocity that would cause them to convert our bodies into pincus.h.i.+ons for those spears of theirs with as little compunction as you would impale a rare moth upon a cork with a pin. But whatever may be their intentions with regard to us, we must rigidly adhere to our usual principle of showing no fear and offering no resistance. Probably if we follow this plan they will not kill us on the spot; and while there is life there is hope and the possibility that chance may turn in our favour. Anyway, whatever may happen to us, I hope that they will spare the blacks. Possibly they may make slaves of us all. Well, we shall soon know the worst, for here they come--confound those dogs!--call them off, Phil; if they fly at any of those chaps and hurt them, there will be 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 lie down! And you too, Leo; how dare you, sir!"

d.i.c.k and Grosvenor rushed out, and with the aid of sjamboks soon quelled the disturbance and brought their motley pack into subjection, the animals having made a general dash at the intruders, when the latter arrived within some fifty yards of the wagon, while Leo, the lion cub, excited by the disturbance, had broken the rein which usually confined him to the wagon at nighttime, and had partic.i.p.ated in the general onslaught.

At the charge of the snapping, snarling dogs the approaching body of soldiery had promptly levelled their spears, and the interference of d.i.c.k and Grosvenor had only just been in the nick of time to save the animals' lives. The little episode left the troops and their commander absolutely expressionless, save that the latter seemed just a trifle astonished when he saw d.i.c.k coolly seize the snarling lion cub by his incipient mane and rate him roundly for his insubordinate behaviour, before he ordered the brute to retire with the dogs to the wagon. The next moment, in obedience to a sign from the officer, six couples detached themselves from the main body of the soldiery; and in a trice the two young Englishmen and their four dark-skinned followers, Mafuta, Ramoo Samee, Jantje, and 'Nkuku--the latter absolutely s.h.i.+vering with fear--found themselves prisoners, with their arms tightly bound behind them with stout raw-hide thongs.

"Ah," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed d.i.c.k, "this is just what I feared might happen! Still, it is perhaps better than being killed outright, and--"

"Hus.h.!.+" interrupted Grosvenor, sharply. "Listen to that fellow giving orders to his men: I'll be shot if he isn't speaking Hebrew--or something that sounds uncommonly like it!"

"Hebrew?" echoed d.i.c.k. "Nonsense! Surely you don't mean it?"

"Indeed I do, then," retorted Grosvenor; "never was more serious in my life. Listen! Yes, I feel sure I was not mistaken; it is a sort of Hebrew patois that he is speaking, Hebrew, mixed up, it is true, with a number of words that I can make nothing of. Still, I can understand enough of what he is saying to make out that he is giving his fellows orders 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 well at it. And I don't know what you think about it, d.i.c.k, but when I come to look at those men's faces it seems to me that they are all of quite a distinct Jewish type--eh, what?"

"Well--yes--they certainly are," admitted d.i.c.k. "But--Hebrews! Where the d.i.c.kens can they have come from?"

"Goodness knows!" returned Grosvenor; "unless--and by Jove there may be something in the idea--who is to say that they are not one or more of the lost tribes--eh, what?"

"Well, of course they may be," agreed d.i.c.k. "That is rather a brilliant idea of yours, old chap, and may be worth following up--if they give us the chance. But not just now; there are more pressing matters claiming our attention at this moment--these bonds of ours, for instance. I don't know how yours are, but mine have been drawn quite unnecessarily tight; my fingers already feel as though they are about to burst. Do you think you could make that fellow understand that there is no need at all to bind us, and that if he will release us we ask nothing better than to accompany him whithersoever he may be pleased to take us?"

"Yes, I think I can," replied Grosvenor. "At all events I'll try; my las.h.i.+ngs are quite as uncomfortable as yours can be, I fancy."

And forthwith he shouted to the officer a lengthy if somewhat halting communication in the best Hebrew at his command, the result being that, after a long colloquy, the amazed officer, after considerable hesitation, somewhat reluctantly gave the order for the prisoners' bonds to be loosed, after cautioning them that the slightest sign of any attempt at escape would result in the instant death of the entire party.

Then, having scored one success, Grosvenor attempted another by suggesting that Jantje and 'Nkuku should be entrusted with the inspanning and driving of the wagon, which could be accomplished with much greater facility if the oxen were handled by those to whom they were accustomed. This also the officer eventually conceded, after carefully considering the matter for about a quarter of an hour, meanwhile the oxen were driven very nearly mad by the vain efforts of the soldiers to round them up and drive them towards the wagon.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

PRISONERS.

At length, after a tremendous amount of unnecessary confusion and trouble, the oxen were inspanned, and with the usual unearthly yells and loud cracking of the long whip by Jantje, mounted upon the wagon box, the creaking, lumbering vehicle was got under way, Ramoo Samee following close behind and leading the horses, while the dogs and Leo came to heel and trotted along close behind Grosvenor and d.i.c.k, as was their wont when their masters chose to walk, which was not very often. As for the soldiers, they arranged themselves as a cordon round the entire cortege, the officer in command leading the way.

This order was maintained until the noon outspan, when the officer, after some pressing, laid aside his aloofness sufficiently to accept Grosvenor's invitation to join him and d.i.c.k at luncheon. This proved to be the thin end of the wedge, so to speak; for the man could scarcely sit at the same table with his two prisoners, partake of their fare, and still preserve his original att.i.tude of silence toward them; indeed it soon became evident that he was consumed with curiosity concerning the two people who had travelled such a distance with such few retainers; who seemed to have absolutely no knowledge of what fear was; and who apparently numbered lions as well as dogs among their domestic animals.

He began by making a few tentative remarks, to which Grosvenor responded at some length, and then suddenly demanded, with an air of astonishment that he made scarcely any effort to conceal, how it came about that he, Grosvenor, a total stranger, was able to communicate with a native of the country in what was practically his own language. Then Grosvenor entered into a long explanation, involving a brief history of the princ.i.p.al seats of learning in England, with the methods and subjects of study pursued therein, and including the interesting fact that Hebrew, being commonly regarded as one of the most ancient tongues in the world, was there regarded as especially worthy of attention.

This last statement seemed to be particularly gratifying to the young officer's vanity, and had a distinctly mollifying effect upon his original hauteur and coldness. He thawed visibly, and even condescended to laugh at some mild joke upon which Grosvenor ventured, and then sought to further satisfy his curiosity by making a number of personal enquiries as to where Phil and his friend came from, why they came, how long they had been upon the journey, and so on. To all these enquiries Grosvenor replied pretty fully, but when in his turn he attempted to elicit some information respecting their destination, and the treatment that they might expect to receive upon their arrival, the man at once shut up like a trap, and thenceforward for the remainder of the journey refused to hold any communication whatever with his prisoners.

Their route lay in the direction of a range of distant hills, which they judged it was the intention of their captor to cross; and as they went they found the country gradually changing its character by subtle gradations, growing ever more fertile and more highly cultivated with every mile of progress, while the houses increased in number and cl.u.s.tered more thickly together. At length, after pa.s.sing through one of these hamlets, they emerged upon a narrow field path, which widened somewhat when the next hamlet was pa.s.sed, and so gradually became a more prominent feature until ultimately it developed into a full-blown road, which, rough and uneven at first, steadily improved in appearance and quality until it became a very excellent and much-used thoroughfare, shaded by trees on either hand. In short the country, which on its extreme frontier was a perfect wilderness, steadily improved with every mile of progress toward its interior, as regarded the evidences of a high state of civilisation. One of the strangest things, however, which came under the notice of the Englishmen was that, from the moment of their arrest, the inhabitants--whom they encountered in ever-increasing numbers as the day wore on--manifested the most absolute indifference with regard to them, not even deigning to cast a second glance upon what was clearly a most novel and unusual sight in that country.

At sunset the party encamped at the foot of the hills toward which they had been journeying all day, and which proved to be much more lofty, and at a much greater distance, than they had imagined them to be when they were first sighted; and the whole of the next day was consumed in climbing, by means of an excellent road, to the summit of a pa.s.s where, having safely negotiated a short length of exceedingly narrow and difficult roadway between two enormous vertical cliffs, they emerged upon a small plateau of rich gra.s.sland that afforded good camping ground for the night.

The spot where the travellers outspanned was the bottom of a miniature basin of some five or six acres in extent, and was surrounded on all sides by steep slopes terminating in a series of jagged peaks, some four or five hundred feet high, that bounded the view in every direction and limited it to a distance of about half a mile. But when, after inspanning on the following morning, they crossed the little plateau upon which they had spent the night, and pa.s.sed round a bluff at its farther side, a wonderful prospect at once burst upon their astonished gaze. For they now found that the chain of hills, up the outer slope of which they had been laboriously climbing during the whole of the preceding day, formed an unbroken if somewhat irregular circle of something like forty miles in diameter, measuring across from ridge to ridge, the inner slopes of the encircling hills being from three to five miles wide, with a plain of from five to ten miles in width at their feet, this plain in turn encircling a lovely lake, measuring about twenty miles across, the very centre of which was occupied by an island of perhaps three or four miles in diameter, the whole rugged surface of which appeared to be covered with buildings embowered in leafy gardens.

Now at last the travellers began to really understand the wealth and importance of the people into whose country they had entered, uninvited; for, as far as the eye could reach, even with the aid of their exceedingly powerful field gla.s.ses, the mountain slopes and the plain that lay circling at their feet consisted of nothing but a practically unbroken sweep of highly cultivated land, dotted with snug farmhouses, and bearing ripening crops of various kinds, interspersed here and there with trim vineyards, or orchards of fruitbearing trees; while, at distances of from three to eight or ten miles apart, there nestled among groves of n.o.ble shade trees, villages which must have sheltered from a hundred-and-fifty to, perhaps, four or five hundred inhabitants. And through all there ran a perfect network of roads, carrying, as could be seen with the aid of their gla.s.ses, a considerable amount of traffic, among which could be distinguished a number of wheeled vehicles, the first they had seen since entering the country.

The officer, who was their custodian, was evidently intensely gratified at the surprise and admiration freely expressed by his two princ.i.p.al prisoners at the scene that lay spread out at their feet, and even halted the cortege for a few minutes to enable d.i.c.k and Grosvenor to take in its multudinous details conveniently, and examine them through their field gla.s.ses. It was noticed by the two Englishmen that he regarded these instruments with the most acute curiosity, but either pride or reserve deterred him from asking any question concerning them.

When, however, d.i.c.k offered him a peep through them, he was wholly unable to resist the temptation, or to restrain his expressions of amazement as, glancing through the tubes at the island, some twenty miles distant, he was enabled to distinguish such details as the roofs, windows, and doors of houses built thereon, while of course the details of houses in the plain below, the character of the several vehicles on the roads, the numbers of oxen in the teams which drew them, were quite unmistakable. But when Grosvenor, seeking to avail himself of this temporary relaxation of manner, attempted once more to engage the man in conversation, he instantly relapsed into his former att.i.tude of unresponsiveness; and his manner soon made it clear that he was determined to risk no complications of any kind by allowing anything in the nature of familiarity or friendliness between himself and his prisoners.

The descent from the crest of the encircling hills to the circular belt of plain below was of course quite an easy matter, compared with the ascent of the outer slope on the previous day, the gradient of the road being practically uniform all the way, and just steep enough to necessitate a slight application of the brakebar to the rear wheels of the wagon from the crest to the plain; and d.i.c.k noted with some surprise that their taciturn friend, the officer in command, appeared to be greatly interested in the working of this exceedingly simple piece of apparatus, as though it was something with which he was quite unfamiliar. The party effected the descent and reached the level plain in about an hour and a half from the moment of starting, and soon found themselves travelling along a broad, level, well-kept road among a large number of other people, most of whom looked at them with more or less curiosity, but steadfastly refrained from addressing a word of remark to any of the guard who had them in charge.

About half an hour after reaching the plain they debouched into another and much broader road than that by which they had been previously travelling, and it then became tolerably evident that their ultimate destination must be the island in the centre of the lake; for the road which they were now traversing was absolutely straight all the way to the margin of the lake, and pointed accurately toward the island.

They had been travelling along this road for nearly an hour, and were approaching a village of more importance than any which they had hitherto pa.s.sed, when there suddenly arose a considerable commotion among the people on the road ahead of them, who were seen running confusedly hither and thither amid a great cloud of dust, while shouts, shrieks, and a sound of low, angry bellowing rose upon the stagnant air.

Mechanically the whole party came to a halt to see what was the matter, while Jantje and 'Nkuku began shouting to each other in greatly excited tones, and the oxen which were drawing the wagon began to low, snort, sniff the air, stamp excitedly on the ground, and lunge at each other with their long horns. For perhaps a minute it was impossible to guess what was happening; then the shouts suddenly grew much louder and more excited, the crowd ahead parted right and left as though panic-stricken, there arose a shriek of terror, or pain, or perhaps both, a man's body was seen to go whirling some eight or ten feet into the air, and then a bulky something, which presently resolved itself into a huge buffalo bull, emerged from the dust-cloud and came charging along the road, striking out with its immense, curved, sharp-pointed horns at everybody in its way. The brute was then only about two hundred yards off, and was galloping straight toward the party, with tail high in the air, head low, eyes aflame with fury, and great gouts of froth dripping from its heavy muzzle. For a moment the soldiers seemed paralysed with terror, the next they all turned as with one accord, and, leaping an irrigation ditch that ran alongside the road, sought safety in flight across a field of young wheat. The buffalo paused a moment in mid-career, as though hesitating whether he should pursue them or charge the wagon and its team of oxen; but the next moment the brute had made up its mind, and, perhaps attracted by the crimson tr.i.m.m.i.n.g and glittering ornaments of the officer's tunic, leaped the ditch and deliberately selected that unfortunate individual as the especial object of his pursuit. The position of the man at once became one of deadly peril, for, fast though he ran, the buffalo had the advantage in the matter of speed, and was rapidly gaining upon him when d.i.c.k and Grosvenor sprang to the wagon and, hastily seizing their rifles, prepared to act. d.i.c.k was the first on the ground again with his weapon, and, sinking on one knee to secure steadiness of aim, he brought the sights to bear exactly behind the animal's left shoulder, and fired. The spirt of flame and the little jet of filmy blue smoke extorted a sharp e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of astonishment from those who were near enough to notice it, but it was as nothing compared with the shout of mingled amazement, terror, and relief that went up when the huge beast stumbled, fell forward on his head, turned a complete somersault, and lay still, slain at the very instant when, having overtaken the fugitive, he had lowered his head to impale the shrieking man upon his horns.

With such startling abruptness did the huge beast collapse that the pursued officer did not realise the fact until he had run a farther distance of some thirty yards or so, and even then, when at length he halted and looked back at the prostrate and motionless animal, he seemed quite unable to understand that it was dead and harmless; for he shouted an order to his men to close in round the buffalo and secure it with cords before it recovered itself and resumed the aggressive. It was not until a few of the bolder spirits, having cautiously approached the carca.s.s, nearly enough to perceive the bullet hole and the blood flowing from it, had satisfied themselves that the brute was in very truth dead, and had borne emphatic testimony to the extraordinary fact, that he was able to screw up his own courage to the point of personal investigation.

Then he calmly made his way back to the road and, approaching Grosvenor, demanded an explanation of the seeming miracle; but even after he had been told, and the rifle exhibited to him and its powers laboriously explained, he seemed quite unable to understand, and was at last fain to dismiss the mystery with an impatient shrug of the shoulders, and an order for the march to be resumed.

But d.i.c.k had seen a man tossed by the buffalo, and had judged, by the victim's shriek of agony, that he was badly hurt; he therefore kept his eyes open as they pa.s.sed along the road, and sharply directed Grosvenor to call upon the officer to halt when presently they came upon a group of about a dozen persons standing by the side of the road surrounding a little group consisting of two persons, a man and a woman; the man bleeding profusely from a ghastly wound in the thigh, and already grey and sharp of feature under the shadow of death, while the woman crouched helplessly in the dust, supporting the wounded man's head upon her knees.

Without ceremony d.i.c.k forced his way through the little crowd of onlookers, gave one keen glance at the prostrate man, and then, turning, shouted to Grosvenor:

"This chap is bleeding to death, Phil--artery severed apparently. Just explain to our man, will you, and tell him that, with his permission, I propose to save the poor fellow's life. Mafuta, bring my medicine chest here, quick!"

The little crowd, that was fast being augmented by new arrivals, scowled ferociously at the, to them, uncouthly clad but stalwart figure of the young doctor who had so unceremoniously forced his way in among them, but remained pa.s.sive, possibly gathering, from the tone of his speech, that he proposed to succour the wounded man; nor did the officer in charge of the party offer any objection, but obediently called a halt when requested by Grosvenor to do so. A few seconds later, therefore, d.i.c.k, with Grosvenor as his a.s.sistant, was kneeling beside the wounded man, deftly bathing his terrible injury with an antiseptic lotion, prior to the more difficult and delicate task of searching for and securing the ends of the severed artery, which had been spouting blood like a fountain until d.i.c.k had applied the tourniquet. The entire operation of dressing, st.i.tching, and binding up the wound occupied the best part of half an hour, by which time the roadway was packed with people anxiously enquiring what was amiss, and eager to get a glimpse of the benevolent young barbarians who had so strangely come among them and at so opportune a moment. Those who were favourably enough placed actually to see what was going on were filled with amazement and--despite their unreasoning hatred of strangers--admiration at the deftness with which d.i.c.k first stanched the flow of blood and then proceeded to dress the injury; for, strangely enough, this people, highly civilised though they were in some respects, possessed but the most rudimentary knowledge of medicine and surgery, pinning their faith chiefly to the virtue of charms and incantations, their knowledge being not nearly sufficient to enable them successfully to grapple with so serious an injury as that with which the young Englishman was so calmly and competently dealing.

As the operation proceeded, these people, usually so cold and self- contained, reported progress to those who were less favourably situated for observation than themselves, and in this way the entire crowd were kept posted up in every step, until finally a great sigh of relief arose from them as d.i.c.k concluded his task and rose to his feet.

But the young doctor had not yet finished with his patient, by any means; he intended to see him safely into his own home before he left him, and this he did, a half-dozen of the soldiers fetching the man's bed from his house, carefully lifting him thereon, and carrying him in, under d.i.c.k's watchful care, aided by Grosvenor as interpreter. This done, he administered a soothing and fever-allaying draught; after which, upon being informed by the young officer that he would probably have no opportunity of seeing his patient again, he hypnotised the man and subjected him to a powerful mental suggestion that all danger was now past, that no complications of any kind would arise, and that he would rapidly get well without further attention. This done, he and Grosvenor rejoined the wagon and resumed their march.

The delay occasioned by this incident of the buffalo so r.e.t.a.r.ded their progress that it was close upon noon before they arrived at the margin of the lake; and here they were curtly informed that they were about to be conveyed to the island, and that as it was not proposed to take the wagon or any of the animals with them, they must indicate what few articles they thought they might require during the next few days, and those articles would be conveyed across with them. There was a certain indefinable, sinister suggestiveness in the character of this communication that seemed to imply a doubt in the mind of the official who made it whether the individuals to whom it was made would require anything at all after "the next few days"; but d.i.c.k and Grosvenor, acting as usual upon the general principle of taking an optimistic view of everything, gave no sign that they detected anything of a covert character in the intimation, and calmly indicated the trunks containing their clothing, the medicine chest, their rifles and revolvers, and a case of ammunition for the same, all of which were duly placed in a large craft, in shape something between a canoe and a lighter, which they afterward discovered was propelled by sixty paddles. At the last moment it transpired that their black attendants, Mafuta, Jantje, and 'Nkuku were to be left behind on the mainland--which arrangement also appeared to bear a certain sinister significance--whereupon Grosvenor suggested the extreme importance of placing them in charge of the wagon and its remaining contents, part of which--two cases of ammunition, to wit--he explained, consisted of terribly powerful magic, any tampering with which by unauthorised persons must inevitably have the most appallingly disastrous results. This suggestion, Grosvenor was informed, would receive the most careful consideration of the authorities; and he had the satisfaction of believing that not only would this probably result in saving the lives of the blacks, at least for a time, but he also perceived that his hint respecting the "magic"

had made a very distinct impression.

The preparations for the transport of the prisoners across the lake were soon made, and in about half an hour from the moment of their arrival upon the beach they were under way. A circ.u.mstance which at once struck d.i.c.k as peculiar was the fact that the craft in which they were making the pa.s.sage was unprovided with sails, in consequence of which they had to depend entirely upon the exertions of the paddlers, although, as it happened, there was a gentle breeze blowing that was dead fair for them.

Thus the boat, being large and of somewhat clumsy model, occupied fully two hours in her pa.s.sage, of about eight miles from the mainland to the island, notwithstanding the fact that sixty stalwart men were toiling at the paddles.

But this matter was soon banished from the minds of the two young Englishmen by their growing interest in the mysterious island which they were gradually approaching. For mysterious it certainly was in several respects. In the first place its solitary situation, right in the centre of that unknown lake, invested it with a certain aspect of secrecy, and secrecy always suggests mystery. Also there seemed to be little or no traffic between the island and the mainland, for during the two hours occupied by their crossing no other boat or craft of any kind appeared upon any part of the lake. Then, as they gradually drew nearer to the island, and its various details revealed themselves, the two young Englishmen became aware that the entire island, excepting perhaps the actual soil of it, was artificial; that is to say, every square inch of its surface had apparently been arranged or modified by the hand of man, for either it bore a building, was traversed by a road, or formed part of a garden every tree and plant in which owed its existence and its precise position to human design and arrangement. All the natural features of the island seemed to have been ruthlessly swept away to make room for something forming part of a complete, comprehensive plan. And that plan bore eloquent evidence in its every feature that it owed its inception to intellects characterised by a very high degree of culture and refinement, and its execution to hands exceptionally skilled in many of those arts and sciences that are the heritage of ages of civilisation. The architecture was ma.s.sive, almost heroic in its proportions, and its ornamentation was severe yet graceful, with a very strong and marked suggestion of Egyptian influence. The gardens were elaborately terraced, and consisted for the most part of wide, smooth, gra.s.sy lawns thickly dotted with flower beds cut into graceful and fanciful shapes, with trees growing only where they would afford a grateful shade either to the wayfarer or to the gardens arranged upon the flat-topped roofs of the houses. The roads were so cunningly planned that, by means of their serpentine windings, an easy gradient was everywhere maintained; and, lastly, the entire island was encompa.s.sed by a lofty and immensely solid wall, or quay, built of enormous blocks of granite the face of which had been worked to so smooth a surface as to render it absolutely unclimbable, the only means of obtaining a landing seeming to be by way of a double flight of wide stone steps leading up from the water to a wide platform which was shut off from the interior of the island by an immensely strong gateway flanked by two lofty towers.

By the time that d.i.c.k and Grosvenor had become imbued with a fairly accurate general impression of the extraordinary characteristics of the mysterious unknown island city to which they were bound, the craft that bore them was close in under the frowning protective wall which engirdled it, and a few minutes later the boat ranged up alongside one of the two flights of landing steps, the paddles were laid in, and the crew, springing to their feet, checked the vessel's way by grappling a number of large bronze mooring rings the shanks of which were deeply sunk into the face of the ma.s.sive masonry. Then the officer who had arrested the prisoners, and still had them in charge, gave the word to land, and the young Englishmen stepped ash.o.r.e, closely followed by half a dozen men bearing their several belongings, except their firearms, which they insisted on carrying themselves.

Ascending the long, easy flight of steps, the little procession, led by the officer, presently reached the broad platform on the top, and found themselves confronting a pair of enormous bronze doors which completely filled the gateway, and which swung slowly open, apparently by some mechanical means, to admit them. Pa.s.sing through the gateway, and noting, as they went, the extraordinary strength and solidity of the doors, they found themselves in a kind of tunnel, or pa.s.sage, some twenty feet long, in the structure of the gateway, with a sunlit vista of a paved street, bordered on either hand by lofty shade trees, with houses behind them, and thronged with people. Another minute and they had emerged from the archway and were in the street itself, which they now perceived to be one of the business streets of the island, for the houses on either side of it were arranged as shops, the whole of the lower part of each being open, affording a view of the various wares for sale, displayed upon a gently sloping platform, at the rear end of which sat the owner, cross-legged, Eastern fas.h.i.+on, arrayed in long flowing robes of brilliant hues. The fronts of the shops were unglazed, and unprotected by screen or barrier of any kind, nor did the shopkeeper make the slightest attempt to solicit custom; his property was simply protected from the ardent rays of the sun by a gaily coloured blind, or awning, and he sat silently and gravely awaiting the arrival of such customers as might chance to require the particular kind of wares that he had for disposal. These wares, it soon appeared, consisted chiefly of fruit; bread, in the form of small, fancifully shaped loaves; cakes; sweetmeats; drinks of various kinds, mostly compounded of powders while the customer waited--there seemed to be a brisk demand for these--fish, presumably from the lake, alive and swimming about in a large tank from which they were withdrawn as required by means of a hand net; light flimsy muslins, white or dyed in a number of brilliant colours; lengths of exquisite embroidery in gold, silver, or silk thread, and in some cases studded with what looked very much like uncut gems; saddlery and harness, some of it richly mounted or embroidered with gold; queershaped household utensils made of copper or some other metal that had the colour and sheen of gold; jewellery, necklaces, bracelets, armlets, anklets, earrings, and finger rings of gold, and vari-coloured stones that might or might not be gems; and articles of clothing, including sandals of all kinds, from the perfectly plain piece of board, secured by a single strap, to articles of the most elegant design and costly workmans.h.i.+p.