Samba Part 37

"They are coming--six men," said Lianza in answer to Samba's question.

"Quickly! they heard the shots."

"We must shoot again from behind the trees," said Samba.

But Jack could not bear the idea of shooting down the unsuspecting wretches in cold blood.

"Perhaps we can make them surrender," he whispered.

"Lako! lako!" said the negroes indignantly.

"Yes; we will try."

Makoko and the other two men grumbled, but Samba silenced them.

"It is Lokolobolo's order," he said.

He offered Jack his Mauser, but Jack refused it with a smile, taking one of the Albinis which had been removed from the canoe. With the four he concealed himself behind the bushes. He had already noticed that all traces of the recent incidents had been carefully obliterated.

A few minutes later six Askari came from the thick wall of bush. They started and looked at one another when they saw the canoe unguarded.

Then they called their comrades. Receiving no answer, they began to discuss the strange disappearance of the three men who had been left in charge. With a sign to Samba to follow him, Jack came out from behind his bush. The men ceased their chatter; their jaws dropped, they stared at their late captive in blank amazement. He spoke to them quietly, Samba translating.

"I was hiding: I come to save you from being killed. Your eight comrades are already dead. If one of you lifts his hand, he is a dead man. Behind the bushes my men wait ready to shoot you. Listen! They will answer when I call. You will see how hopeless it is to resist.

Makoko!"

"Em'one!"

"Lingombela!"

"Em'one!"

"Lianza!"

"Em'one!"

"Lay down your rifles," continued Jack, "and beg for mercy."

There was but a moment's hesitation, then one of the men sullenly obeyed, and the rest, one after another, followed his example. At Jack's call the three scouts came from their hiding-place. Two of them covered the Askari with their rifles, while the third collected the surrendered Albinis and placed them in the canoe.

How Jack's position had altered! An hour or two ago he was a fugitive, practically unarmed, with nearly a score of Askari hunting him down.

Now he was in command of four scouts fully armed, and in possession of a canoe and half a dozen prisoners, who had proved themselves on the journey down to be expert paddlers. But, as Samba reminded him, he had still to deal with the ten Askari who had been sent back to fetch the second canoe. They must be on their way down stream: perhaps they were near at hand. Something must be done with them. To let them pa.s.s, or to leave them behind, would be equally unwise; they would almost certainly follow up Jack and his party, perhaps find a means of sending word to Elbel in time to cut them off from the fort. The safety of himself and his men demanded that this second band should be disposed of.

To deal with them as he had dealt with the six would not be easy. They would come by water, not by land. He did not wish to kill them. What other course was open to him?

He remembered that the Askari had spoken of an old camping-place a little below the spot on which they stood. This had doubtless been fixed as the rendezvous of the whole party. The prisoners would know its exact locality. With a little luck, he thought, all the ten might be captured unharmed. He got Samba to question the sullen men. Yes, they knew the camping-ground.

"Then they must paddle us to it," said Jack.

Making sure that the holes he had cut in the canoe had been sufficiently caulked to allow of a short pa.s.sage without danger, Jack embarked with all the men, and in a quarter of an hour reached the camping-ground. It was about a hundred yards back from the opposite bank, pretty well hidden from the river. A few rough gra.s.s shelters, somewhat tumbledown, and traces of former encampments, showed that it was a frequent place of call for parties going up or down. When all had landed, Jack sent Makoko and Lianza along the bank up the river to look for the oncoming of the Askari, who, though they must necessarily have moved slowly while carrying the canoe, would no doubt make rapid progress when once more afloat. The six Askari looked a little hopeful when they saw the two scouts leave; but Samba damped their spirits at once when he told them that at the slightest sign of revolt they would be shot without mercy. To make things sure, and prevent the scheme he had in mind from being foiled, Jack ordered the men to be bound hand and foot, which was very quickly done by Samba and Lingombela with the stripped tendrils of climbing plants.

It was dark before the scouts returned. They reported that the Askari had camped for the night some distance up stream, and would certainly arrive early next morning. Jack arranged that when the canoe should come in sight, only himself and two of his prisoners would be visible in the centre of the camp. The Askari would suppose that the rest of the party were out foraging--taking, as the custom is with the troops of the Free State and the Concessions, what they pleased from the black subjects of King Leopold, and paying nothing, except perhaps blows, in return. The newcomers, not expecting any change in the relations of their comrade with the white prisoner, would march unconcernedly into camp. Jack was pretty confident that if things came to this point, he would succeed in making the men surrender without fighting.

In the early morning the Askaris' paddling song was heard as they came down the river. The singing ceased; there was a shout; and Jack ordered the captured Askari by his side to call an answering greeting.

Then the party came in sight, eight men in a straggling line approaching up the path. The remaining two had evidently been left behind to tie up the canoe.

The first man addressed a chaffing remark to the Askari with Jack, and then asked where the rest of the party were. The men pointed vaguely to the forest; their comrades were, in fact, there, gagged and securely bound to the trees. Half a dozen rifles were stacked in the middle of the camping ground, the newcomers placed theirs close by, and then began to chatter about trifles in the African's way.

Meanwhile Jack was keeping a keen eye on the men. The two captured Askari were obviously ill at ease. There were the rifles within a few yards of them, yet they dared not move towards them, for they knew that in the shelter of the trees behind stood Samba with the three scouts ready to shoot them down. They replied briefly to their comrades'

questions; and then, in obedience to instructions given by Jack previously, suggested that the newcomers should go to a cane-brake a few yards down stream, and bring back a supply of canes for building shelters like those already erected; there were not sufficient for the whole party. The men moved off. No sooner had they disappeared than Samba and the three men came from behind the trees, removed all the rifles into the huts, and all except Samba stationed themselves in hiding on the side of the encampment opposite to that through which the Askari had just gone. Samba remained with Jack.

In a quarter of an hour the men returned. To their amazement the white prisoner went forward to meet them. Through Samba he spoke to them.

"It will not be necessary for you to build the huts."

"Why? What does the white man mean by talking to us? And who are you?"

Samba did not reply to their questions: he waited for the next words from Jack.

"There are enough empty huts here!"

"How can that be? There are ten of us, and fifteen before. The huts will not hold half of us; and who are you?"

"The fifteen are dead, or taken prisoners."

The men gaped, unable to appreciate the full import of the news. They dropped their loads of cane and looked at the boy in astonishment.

"What do you mean? What has happened? Who are you?"

"Tell them, Samba."

"I am Samba, the servant of Lokolobolo. I came down the river with other servants of Lokolobolo. We fell upon your comrades and scattered them like the leaves of the forest. We have the rifles--your rifles."

The men gave a startled glance to where the stacks of arms had been.

Jack thought they paled beneath their dusky skin.

"See!" continued Samba, "if Lokolobolo lifts his hand you will all be shot. His men are there, behind the trees. You have no rifles. Of what good are knives against guns? You will be even as the men who are short with their rubber. You will be shot down before you can strike a blow. No; do not move," he said quickly, as the men appeared inclined to make a dash for the forest. "You cannot run so fast as the bullets.

You know that, you men who shoot boys and women as they flee from you.

Throw down your knives at Lokolobolo's feet, if you wish to live!"

The man who had acted as spokesman for his comrades obeyed without a word. The rest were but little behind him. At a sign from Jack, Makoko and the others came from their place of hiding, and tied the feet of the prisoners, in such a way that while they could walk with short steps, they were unable to run. In a few moments the two men left at the canoe were similarly disposed of.

And now Jack was in command of four armed scouts and sixteen unarmed prisoners. He at once decided to make use of the Askari as paddlers.

One canoe would be sufficient; he would sink the vessel in which he had dug the holes. With sixteen men expert in the use of the paddle, he would make a rapid journey up stream.

He was about to give the order to start when it suddenly occurred to him that it would be well to a.s.sure himself first that the coast was clear. So far he had seen no natives either on river or on land since he left Elbel, save those of his own party and the band coming up with ammunition. The riverine villages had all been deserted, and the tributary down which he had travelled was at all times little frequented. But it seemed very unlikely that many more days should pa.s.s without his seeing a stranger, and when he began to think on these lines, he wondered whether perhaps Elbel himself might not have occasion for sending messengers down stream, and whether the party they had met conveying stores to Elbel's force might not be returning.

Having escaped by such wonderful good fortune, it would be sheer folly to throw away his chances of getting back to Ilombekabasi by any want of caution. Accordingly he sent Makoko up the river and Samba down the river to do a little preliminary scouting.

About midday Samba came running back in a state of great excitement.

He had run so fast that his legs were trembling, and sweat poured from his body. Not an hour's paddling distant, he had seen a smoke-boat and a large number of canoes coming up the river. He had never seen so many boats before, and they were crowded with men. And on the smoke-boat there were white men.