diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:16 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:16 -0700 |
| commit | b1c346ab6eddceed45f88b6e69c90c0842ce70fb (patch) | |
| tree | e122e06d6b4cdbcab251fc1507466925424a5b50 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-0.txt | 6394 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 117631 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 892475 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/39255-h.htm | 5814 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-032.jpg | bin | 0 -> 88812 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-093.jpg | bin | 0 -> 80988 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-111.jpg | bin | 0 -> 73586 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-206.jpg | bin | 0 -> 87469 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 283829 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-cover2.jpg | bin | 0 -> 69673 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39255-h/images/img-front.jpg | bin | 0 -> 82257 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-8.txt | 6400 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 117271 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst.zip | bin | 0 -> 661324 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/39255-rst.rst | 6256 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-032.jpg | bin | 0 -> 88812 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-093.jpg | bin | 0 -> 80988 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-111.jpg | bin | 0 -> 73586 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-206.jpg | bin | 0 -> 87469 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 67201 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-cover2.jpg | bin | 0 -> 69673 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255-rst/images/img-front.jpg | bin | 0 -> 82257 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255.txt | 6403 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/39255.zip | bin | 0 -> 117239 bytes |
27 files changed, 31283 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/39255-0.txt b/39255-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..deb6323 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6394 @@ + THE FIRE-GODS + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost +no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Title: The Fire-Gods + A Tale of the Congo + +Author: Charles Gilson + +Release Date: March 24, 2012 [EBook #39255] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE-GODS*** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + +[Illustration: Cover 1] + + + +[Illustration: Cover 2] + + + +[Illustration: "MAX LEANED FORWARD TO EXAMINE THE FACE OF THE ROCK; AND +AS HE DID SO, HE WAS SEIZED SUDDENLY FROM BEHIND."] + + + THE FIRE-GODS + + A Tale of the Congo + + + + + By + + CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON + + _Author of "Submarine U93," "The Mystery of Ah Jim,"_ + _and other Stories._ + + + + + _ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SOPER_ + + + + + LONDON + "THE BOY’S OWN PAPER" OFFICE + 4, Bouverie Street + + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +Submarine U93. A Tale of the Great War by Sea. +The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Tale of the East. +On Secret Service. A Tale of German Spies. +A Motor Scout in Flanders. A Tale of the Bombardment of Antwerp. +The Race Round the World. A Tale of the Motor Spirit of the Future. +The Pirate Aeroplane. A Tale of the Kingdom of Asmalia. +The Lost Island. A Tale of a Chinese Secret Society. +The Lost Column. A Tale of the Boxer Rebellion in China. +Across the Cameroons. A Tale of the Germans in West Africa. +The Spy. A Tale of the Peninsular War. +The Sword of Freedom. A Tale of the English Revolution. +The Lost Empire. A Tale of the Napoleonic Wars. +In the Power of the Pygmies. A Tale of Central Africa. +In Arms for Russia. A Tale of the Great War. +The Pirate Yacht. A Tale of Southern Seas. +The Sword of Deliverance. A Tale of the Balkan War. + + + + + ———— + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS’ CLUB + CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI + CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD + CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER + CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE + CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH + CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN + CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT + CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT + CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER + CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE + CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT + CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN + CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" + CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA + CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST + CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED + CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM + CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE + CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE + CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS’" + + ———— + + ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BY GEORGE SOPER + +"Max leaned forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, +he was seized suddenly from behind" . . . _Frontispiece_ + +"Crouch’s fist rang out upon his chin like a pistol-shot, and he went +over backwards into the mud" + +"The Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman" + +"The lash of the whip rose and fell, until Cæsar shrieked for mercy" + + + + + THE FIRE-GODS + + + + + + +CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS’ CLUB + + +The Explorers’ Club no longer exists. To-day, as a matter of fact, it +is a tea-shop in Old Bond Street--a small building, wedged between two +greater ones, a fashionable milliner’s and a famous Art Establishment. +Towards the end of the last century, in what is known as the +mid-Victorian era, the Explorers’ Club was in the heyday of its glory. + +The number of its members was limited to two hundred and fifty-one. In +the inner smoking-room, through the green baize doors, where guests were +not admitted, both the conversation and the company were at once +remarkable and unique. The walls were adorned with the trophies of the +chase: heads of elk, markhor, ibex, haartebeest and waterbuck; great +lions and snarling tigers; mouflon from Cyprus, and the white leopard of +the Himalayas. If you looked into the room through the glass peep-hole +in one of the green baize doors, you might have thought at first that +you beheld a menagerie, where the fiercest and the rarest beasts in the +world were imprisoned in a single cage. But, presently, your attention +would have been attracted by the great, sun-burnt men, sprawling in the +leather chairs, dressed in tweeds for the most part, and nearly every +one with a blackened briar pipe between his lips. + +In those days, Africa was the "Dark Continent"; the source of the Nile +and the Great Lakes were undiscovered, of the Congo nothing was known. +Nor was this geographical ignorance confined to a single continent: in +every part of the world, vast tracts of country, great rivers and +mountains were as yet unexplored. And the little that was known of +these uttermost parts of the earth never passed the green baize doors of +the inner smoking-room of the Explorers’ Club. + +There, in an atmosphere blue with smoke, where a great fire roared in +winter to keep the chill of the London fog from the bones of those who, +time and again, had been stricken with the fevers of the equatorial +parts, a small group of men would sit and talk by the hour. There great +projects were suggested, criticised and discussed. A man would rise +from his seat, take down a map of some half-discovered country, and +placing his finger upon a blank space, announce in tones of decision +that that was the exact spot to which he intended to go. And if he +went, perhaps, he would not come back. + +At the time our story opens, Edward Harden was probably the most popular +member of the Explorers’ Club. He was still a comparatively young man; +and though his reputation rested chiefly upon his fame as a big game +shot, he had rendered no mean service to the cause of science, as the +honours heaped upon him by the Royal Geographical Society and kindred +institutions fully testified. + +It was early in June, and the height of the London season, when this six +foot six of explorer walked up St. James’s Street on the right-hand +side. Somehow he felt that he was out of it. He was not one of the +fashionable crowd in the midst of which he found himself. For ten years +he had been growing more and more unaccustomed to the life of cities. +It was a strange thing, he could break his way through the tangled +thicknesses of an equatorial forest, or wade knee-deep in a mangrove +swamp, but he could never negotiate the passage of Piccadilly. + +As he stood on the "island" in the middle of the street, opposite +Burlington House, he attracted a considerable amount of attention. He +was probably the tallest man at that moment between St. Paul’s and the +Albert Memorial. His brown moustache was several shades lighter than +his skin, which had been burnt to the colour of tan. His long limbs, +his sloping shoulders, and the slouch with which he walked, gave him an +appearance of looseness and prodigious strength. Also he had a habit of +walking with his fists closed, and his arms swinging like pendulums. He +was quite unconscious of the fact that people turned and stared after +him, or that he was an object of exceeding admiration to small boys, who +speculated upon the result of a blow from his fist. + +He had not gone far along Bond Street when he cannoned into a young man, +who received a ponderous blow in the chest from Harden’s swinging fist. +The explorer could hardly have been expected to look where he was going, +since at that moment he was passing a gunsmith’s where the latest +improvement of elephant gun was on view in the window. + +"I beg your pardon!" he exclaimed in eager apology. + +"It’s nothing," said the other, and then added, with a note of surprise, +"Uncle Ted, by all that’s wonderful! I might have known it was you." + +Edward Harden seldom expressed surprise. He just took the young +gentleman by the arm and walked him along at the rate of about five +miles an hour. "Come and have lunch," said he. + +Now Max Harden, in addition to being the explorer’s only nephew, was a +medical student at one of the London hospitals. As a small boy, he had +regarded his uncle as one of the greatest men in the universe--which, in +a physical sense, he was. + +A week before Max had come of age, which meant that he had acquired the +modest inheritance of a thousand pounds a year. He had also secured a +commission from the Royal Academy of Physicians to make sundry inquiries +into the origin of certain obscure tropical diseases in the district of +the Lower Congo. This was precisely the part of the world to which +Edward Harden was about to depart. Max knew that quite well, and his +idea was to travel with his uncle. He had been to the Explorers’ Club, +and had been told by the hall porter that Mr. Edward Harden was out, but +that he would probably return for lunch. It was about two minutes later +that he collided with his uncle outside the gunsmith’s shop. + +To lunch at the Explorers’ Club was in itself an achievement. That day +several well-known men were there: Du Cane, the lion hunter; Frankfort +Williams, back from the Arctic, and George Cartwright, who had not yet +accomplished his famous journey into Thibet. Upon the walls of the +dining-room were full-length pictures of the great pioneers of +exploration: Columbus, Franklin and Cook. It was not until after +luncheon, when Max and his uncle were seated in the outer +smoking-room--through the green baize doors, it will be remembered, it +was forbidden for guests to enter--that Max broached the topic that was +nearest to his heart. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "tell me about this expedition? As yet I know +nothing." + +"We’re going up the Congo," answered Harden simply; "and it’s natural +enough that you should know nothing about it, since practically nothing +is known. Our object is big game, but we hope to bring back some +valuable geographical information. The mouth of the Congo was +discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Since then +several trading-stations have sprung up on the river, but no one has +penetrated inland. It is known that about five hundred miles from the +mouth of the river, a tributary, called the Kasai, flows from the south. +Of the upper valley of that river absolutely nothing is known, except +that it consists of the most impenetrable forests and is inhabited by +cannibal tribes. It is there we propose to go." + +"Who goes with you?" asked Max. + +"Crouch," said Harden; "Captain Crouch. The most remarkable man on the +Coast. Nobody in England has ever heard of him; but on the West Coast, +from Lagos to Loango, he is either hated like sin or worshipped like a +heathen god. There’s no man alive who understands natives as well as +Crouch. He can get more work out of a pack of Kru-boys in a day than a +shipping-agent or a trader can in a week." + +"How do you account for it?" asked Max. + +"Pluck," said Harden, "and perseverance. Also, from the day he was +born, a special providence seems to have guarded him. For many years he +was captain of a coasting-packet that worked from St. Louis to Spanish +Guinea. He fell overboard once in the Bight of Biafra, and lost a +foot." + +"How did he do that?" asked Max, already vastly interested in the +personality of Captain Crouch. + +"Sharks," said Harden, as if it were an everyday occurrence. "They swim +round Fernando Po like goldfish in a bowl. Would you believe it? Crouch +knifed that fish in the water, though he’ll wear a cork foot to his +dying day. He was one of the first men to force his way up the Niger, +and I happened to be at Old Calabar when he was brought in with a +poisoned arrow-head in his eye. At that time the natives of the +interior used to dip their weapons in snake’s poison, and no one but +Crouch could have lived. But he pulled through all right. He’s one of +those small, wiry men that can’t be killed. He has got a case full of +glass eyes now, of all the colours in the rainbow, and he plays Old +Harry with the natives. If they don’t do what he wants, I’ve seen him +pull out a blue eye and put in a red one, which frightens the life out +of them. Crouch isn’t like any one else I’ve ever met. He has the most +astonishing confidence in himself; he’s practically fever-proof; he can +talk about twenty West African dialects, and he’s a better shot than I +am. I believe the only person he cares for in the world is myself. I +would never dream of undertaking this expedition without him." + +"I suppose," said Max, a trifle nervously, "you wouldn’t think of +including a third member in your party?" + +Edward Harden looked at his nephew sharply. "What do you mean?" he +asked. + +"I mean," said Max, "that I have undertaken to investigate certain +tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness and malarial typhoid, in +the very districts to which you are going. I thought you might not +object if I came with you. I didn’t know I had Captain Crouch to deal +with." + +Edward Harden rose to his feet and knocked out his pipe in the grate. + +"For myself," said he, "I should be pleased to have you with me. Are +you ready to start at once? We hope to sail next week." + +Max nodded. + +"H’m," said the explorer, "I must ask Crouch. I think he’s in the +club." + +He went to one of the green baize doors at the other end of the room, +opened it, and looked in. + +"Crouch," said he, "do you mind coming here a moment. There’s something +I want to ask you." + +He then came back to his seat and filled another pipe. As he was +engaged in lighting this, a green baize door swung back and there +entered one of the most extraordinary men that it was ever the lot of +the young medical student to behold. + +As we have said, the Explorers’ Club was in Bond Street, and Captain +Crouch was dressed after the fashion of a pilot; that is to say, he wore +a navy-blue suit with brass buttons and a red tie. He was a very small +man, and exceedingly thin. There seemed nothing of him. His head was +almost entirely bald. He wore a small, bristling moustache, cut short +like a tooth-brush, and a tuft of hair beneath his nether lip. His +eyebrows were exceedingly dark, and met on the bridge of his nose. His +skin was the colour of parchment, and wrinkled and creased in all +directions. He had a large hook nose, and a chin of excessive +prominence. Though he appeared entirely bloodless, there was something +about him that suggested extreme vital energy--the kind of vitality +which may be observed in a rat. He was an aggressive-looking man. +Though he walked with a pronounced limp, he was quick in all his +movements. His mouth was closed fast upon a pipe in which he smoked a +kind of black tobacco which is called Bull’s Eye Shag, one whiff of +which would fumigate a greenhouse, killing every insect therein from an +aphis to a spider. He reeked of this as a soap-factory smells of fat. +In no other club in London would its consumption have been allowed; but +the Explorers were accustomed to greater hardships than even the smell +of Bull’s Eye Shag. + +"Well, Ted," said Crouch, "what’s this?" + +One eye, big and staring, was directed out of the window; the other, +small, black and piercing, turned inwards upon Max in the most appalling +squint. + +"This is my nephew," said Harden; "Max Harden--Captain Crouch, my +greatest friend." + +Max held out a hand, but Crouch appeared not to notice it. He turned to +Edward. + +"What’s the matter with him?" he asked. + +"He’s suffering from a complaint which, I fancy, both you and I +contracted in our younger days--a desire to investigate the Unknown. In +a word, Crouch, he wants to come with us." + +Crouch whipped round upon Max. + +"You’re too young for the Coast," said he. "You’ll go out the moment +you get there like a night-light." + +"I’m ready to take my chance," said Max. + +Crouch looked pleased at that, for his only eye twinkled and seemed to +grow smaller. + +Max was anxious to take advantage of the little ground he might have +gained. "Also," he added, "I am a medical man--at least, I’m a medical +student. I am making a special study of tropical diseases." + +And no sooner were the words from his lips than he saw he had made a +fatal mistake, for Captain Crouch brought down his fist so violently +upon one of the little smokers’ tables with which the room was +scattered, that the three legs broke off, and the whole concern +collapsed upon the floor. + +"Do you think we want a medical adviser!" he roared. "Study till you’re +black in the face, till you’re eighty years old, and you won’t know a +tenth of what I know. What’s the use of all your science? I’ve lived +on the Coast for thirty years, and I tell you this: there are only two +things that matter where fever is concerned--pills and funk. Waiter, +take that table away, and burn it." + +It is probable that at this juncture Max’s hopes had been dashed to +earth had it not been for his uncle, who now put in a word. + +"Tell you what, Crouch," said he, in the quiet voice which, for some +reason or other, all big men possess; "the boy might be useful, after +all. He’s a good shot. He’s made of the right stuff--I’ve known him +since he was a baby. He’s going out there anyhow, so he may as well +come with us." + +"Why, of course he may," said Crouch. "I’m sure we’ll be delighted to +have him." + +Such a sudden change of front was one of the most remarkable +characteristics of this extraordinary man. Often, in the breath of a +single sentence, he would appear to change his mind. But this was not +the case. He had a habit of thinking aloud, and of expressing his +thoughts in the most vehement manner imaginable. Indeed, if his +character can be summed up in any one word, it would be this one word +"vehemence." He talked loudly, he gesticulated violently, he smashed +the furniture, and invariably knocked his pipe out in such a frantic +manner that he broke the stem. And yet Edward Harden---who knew him +better than any one else in the world--always protested that he had +never known Crouch to lose his temper. This was just the ordinary +manner in which he lived, breathed and had his being. + +"I’m sure," said Captain Crouch, "we will be delighted to take you with +us. Ted, what are you going to do this afternoon?" + +"I am going to get some exercise--a turn in the Park." + +"I’ll come with you," said Crouch. + +So saying, he stumped off to fetch his cap which he had left in the +inner room. No sooner was he gone than Max turned to his uncle. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "I can’t thank you sufficiently." + +The big man laid a hand upon the young one’s shoulder. + +"That’s nothing," said he. "But I must tell you this: if you are coming +with us to the Kasai, you must drop the ’uncle.’ Your father was +considerably older than I was--fifteen years. You had better call me by +my Christian name--Edward. ’Ted’s’ a trifle too familiar." + +By then they were joined by Crouch, who carried a large knotted stick in +one hand, and in the other--a paper bag. + +"What have you got there?" asked Harden, pointing to the bag. + +"Sweets," said Crouch. "For the children in the Park." + +And so it came about that they three left the Explorers’ Club together, +Max in the middle, with his gigantic uncle on one hand, and the little +wizened sea-captain on the other. + +They created no small amount of interest and amazement in Bond Street, +but they were blissfully ignorant of the fact. The world of these men +was not the world of the little parish of St. James’s. One was little +more than a boy, whose mind was filled with dreams; but the others were +men who had seen the stars from places where no human being had ever +beheld them before, who had been the first to set foot in unknown lands, +who had broken into the heart of savagery and darkness. Theirs was a +world of danger, hardship and adventure. They had less respect for the +opinion of those who passed them by than for the wild beasts that prowl +by night around an African encampment. After all, the world is made up +of two kinds of men: those who think and those who act; and who can say +which is the greater of the two? + + + + +CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI + + +A mist lay upon the river like a cloud of steam. The sun was invisible, +except for a bright concave dome, immediately overhead, which showed +like the reflection of a furnace in the midst of the all-pervading +greyness of the heavens. The heat was intense--the heat of the +vapour-room of a Turkish bath. Myriads of insects droned upon the +surface of the water. + +The river had still a thousand miles to cover before it reached the +ocean--the blazing, surf-beaten coast-line to the north of St. Paul de +Loanda. Its turgid, coffee-coloured waters rushed northward through a +land of mystery and darkness, lapping the banks amid black mangrove +swamps and at the feet of gigantic trees whose branches were tangled in +confusion. + +In pools where the river widened, schools of hippopotami lay like great +logs upon the surface, and here and there a crocodile basked upon a +mud-bank, motionless by the hour, like some weird, bronze image that had +not the power to move. In one place a two-horned rhinoceros burst +through the jungle, and with a snort thrust its head above the current +of the stream. + +This was the Unknown. This was the World as it Had Been, before man was +on the earth. These animals are the relics that bind us to the Past, to +the cave-men and the old primordial days. There was a silence on the +river that seemed somehow overpowering, rising superior to the ceaseless +droning of the insects and the soft gurgling of the water, which formed +little shifting eddies in the lee of fallen trees. + +A long canoe shot through the water like some great, questing beast. +Therein were twelve natives from Loango, all but naked as they came into +the world. Their paddles flashed in the reflected light of the furnace +overhead; for all that, the canoe came forward without noise except for +the gentle rippling sound of the water under the bows. In the stern +were seated two men side by side, and one of these was Edward Harden, +and the other his nephew Max. In the body of the canoe was a great +number of "loads": camp equipment, provisions, ammunition and cheap +Manchester goods, such as are used by the traders to barter for ivory +and rubber with the native chiefs. Each "load" was the maximum weight +that could be carried by a porter, should the party find it necessary to +leave the course of the river. + +In the bows, perched like an eagle above his eyrie, was Captain Crouch. +His solitary eye darted from bank to bank. In his thin nervous hands he +held a rifle, ready on the instant to bring the butt into the hollow of +his shoulder. + +As the canoe rounded each bend of the river, the crocodiles glided from +the mud-banks and the hippopotami sank silently under the stream. Here +and there two nostrils remained upon the surface--small, round, black +objects, only discernible by the ripples which they caused. + +Suddenly a shot rang out, sharp as the crack of a whip. The report +echoed, again and again, in the dark, inhospitable forest that extended +on either bank. There was a rush of birds that rose upon the wing; the +natives shipped their paddles, and, on the left bank of the river, the +two-horned rhinoceros sat bolt upright on its hind-legs like a sow, with +its fore-legs wide apart. Then, slowly, it rolled over and sank deep +into the mud. By then Crouch had reloaded. + +"What was it?" asked Harden. + +"A rhino," said Crouch. "We were too far off for him to see us, and the +wind was the right way." + +A moment later the canoe drew into the bank a little distance from where +the great beast lay. Harden and Crouch waded into the mire, knives in +hand; and that rhino was skinned with an ease and rapidity which can +only be accomplished by the practised hunter. The meat was cut into +large slices, which were distributed as rations to the natives. Of the +rest, only the head was retained, and this was put into a second canoe, +which soon after came into sight. + +After that they continued their journey up the wide, mysterious river. +All day long the paddles were never still, the rippling sound continued +at the bows. Crouch remained motionless as a statue, rifle in hand, +ready to fire at a moment’s notice. With his dark, overhanging brow, +his hook nose, and his thin, straight lips, he bore a striking +resemblance to some gaunt bird of prey. + +A second shot sounded as suddenly and unexpectedly as the first, and a +moment after Crouch was on his feet. + +"A leopard!" he cried. "I hit him. He’s wounded. Run her into the +bank." + +The canoe shot under a large tree, one branch of which overhung the +water so low that they were able to seize it. Edward Harden was ashore +in a moment, followed by his nephew. Crouch swung himself ashore by +means of the overhanging bough. Harden’s eyes were fixed upon the +ground. It was a place where animals came to drink, for the soft mud +had been trampled and churned by the feet of many beasts. + +"There!" cried Harden. "Blood!" + +Sure enough, upon the green leaf of some strange water plant there was a +single drop of blood. Though the big game hunter had spoken in an +excited manner, he had never raised his voice. + +It was Crouch who took up the spoor, and followed it from leaf to leaf. +Whenever he failed to pick it up, Harden put him right. Max was as a +baby in such matters, and it was often that he failed to recognize the +spoor, even when it was pointed out to him. + +They had to break their way through undergrowth so thick that it was +like a woodstack. The skin upon their hands and faces was scratched +repeatedly by thorns. They were followed by a cloud of insects. They +were unable to see the sky above them by reason of the branches of the +trees, which, high above the undergrowth through which they passed, +formed a vast barrier to the sunlight. And yet it was not dark. There +was a kind of half-light which it is difficult to describe, and which +seemed to emanate from nowhere. Nothing in particular, yet everything +in general, appeared to be in the shade. + +On a sudden Crouch stopped dead. + +"He’s not far from here," he said. "Look there!" + +Max’s eyes followed Crouch’s finger. He saw a place where the long +grass was all crushed and broken as if some animal had been lying down, +and in two places there were pools of blood. + +Crouch raised both arms. "Open out," said he. "Be ready to fire if he +springs. He’ll probably warn you with a growl." + +This information was for the benefit of Max. To tell Edward Harden such +things would be like giving minute instructions to a fish concerning the +rudiments of swimming. + +Max, obeying Crouch’s orders, broke into the jungle on the left, whereas +Edward moved to the right. Keeping abreast of one another, they moved +forward for a distance of about two hundred yards. This time it was +Harden who ordered the party to halt. They heard his quiet voice in the +midst of the thickets: "Crouch, come here; I want you." + +A moment later Max joined his two friends. He found them standing side +by side: Edward, with eyes turned upward like one who listens, and +Crouch with an ear to the ground. Harden, by placing a finger upon his +lips, signed to his nephew to be silent. Max also strained his ears to +catch the slight sound in the jungle which had aroused the suspicion of +these experienced hunters. + +After a while he heard a faint snap, followed by another, and then a +third. Then there was a twanging sound, very soft, like the noise of a +fiddle-string when thrummed by a finger. It was followed almost +immediately by a shriek, as terrible and unearthly as anything that Max +had ever heard. It was the dying scream of a wounded beast--one of the +great tribe of cats. + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"Fans," said he. "What’s more, they’ve got my leopard." + +He made the remark in the same manner as a Londoner might point out a +Putney ’bus; yet, at that time, the Fans were one of the most warlike of +the cannibal tribes of Central Africa. They were reputed to be +extremely hostile to Europeans, and that was about all that was known +concerning them. + +Edward Harden was fully as calm as his friend. + +"We can’t get back," said he. "It’s either a palaver, or a fight." + +"Come, then," said Crouch. "Let’s see which it is." + +At that he led the way, making better progress than before, since he no +longer regarded the spoor of the wounded leopard. + +Presently they came to a place where the jungle ceased abruptly. This +was the edge of a swamp--a circular patch, about two hundred yards +across, where nothing grew but a species of slender reed. Though Max +had not known it, this was the very place for which the other two were +looking. Backwoodsmen though they were, they had no desire to face a +hostile tribe in jungle so dense that it would scarcely be possible to +lift a rifle to the present. + +The reeds grew in tufts capable of bearing the weight of a heavy man; +but, in between, was a black, glutinous mud. + +"If you fall into that," said Crouch, who still led the way, "you’ll +stick like glue, and you’ll be eaten alive by leeches." + +In the centre of the swamp the ground rose into a hillock, and here it +was possible for them to stand side by side. They waited for several +moments in absolute silence. And then a dark figure burst through the +jungle, and a second later fell flat upon the ground. + +"I was right," said Crouch. "That man was a Fan. We’ll find out in a +moment whether they mean to fight. I hope to goodness they don’t find +the canoes." + +In the course of the next few minutes it became evident, even to Max, +that they were surrounded. On all sides the branches and leaves of the +undergrowth on the edge of the swamp were seen to move, and here and +there the naked figure of a savage showed between the trees. + +The Fans are still one of the dominant races of Central Africa. About +the middle of the last century the tribe swept south-west from the +equatorial regions, destroying the villages and massacring the people of +the more peaceful tribes towards the coast. The Fans have been proved +to possess higher intelligence than the majority of the Central African +races. Despite their pugnacious character, and the practice of +cannibalism which is almost universal among them, they have been +described as being bright, active and energetic Africans, including +magnificent specimens of the human race. At this time, however, little +was known concerning them, and that little, for the most part, was +confined to Captain Crouch, who, on a previous occasion, had penetrated +into the Hinterland of the Gabun. + +Edward Harden and his friends were not left long in doubt as to whether +or not the Fans intended to be hostile, for presently a large party of +men advanced upon them from all sides at once. For the most part these +warriors were armed with great shields and long spears, though a few +carried bows and arrows. The Fan spear is a thing by itself. The head +is attached but lightly to the shaft, so that when the warrior plunges +his weapon into his victims, the spear-head remains in the wound. + +Captain Crouch handed his rifle to Edward, and then stepped forward +across the marsh to meet these would-be enemies. He was fully alive to +their danger. He knew that with their firearms they could keep the +savages at bay for some time, but in the end their ammunition would run +out. He thought there was still a chance that the matter might be +settled in an amicable manner. + +"Palaver," said he, speaking in the language of the Fans. "Friends. +Trade-palaver Good." + +The only answer he got was an arrow that shot past his ear, and +disappeared in the mud He threw back his head and laughed. + +"No good," he cried. "Trade-palaver friends." + +A tall, thin savage, about six feet in height, approached by leaps and +bounds, springing like an antelope from one tuft of grass to another. +His black face, with white, gleaming teeth, looked over the top of a +large, oval shield. With a final spring, he landed on dry ground a few +feet from where Crouch was standing. Then he raised his spear on high; +but, before he had time to strike, Crouch’s fist rang out upon his chin +like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud. + +[Illustration: "CROUCH’S FIST RANG OUT UPON HIS CHIN LIKE A PISTOL-SHOT, +AND HE WENT OVER BACKWARDS INTO THE MUD."] + +There was a strange, sucking noise as the marsh swallowed him to the +chin. For some moments he floundered hopelessly, his two hands grasping +in the air. He laid hold of tufts of grass, and pulled them up by the +roots. Then Crouch bent down, gripped both his hands, and with a great +effort dragged him on to terra firma. + +His black skin was plastered with a blacker mud, and on almost every +inch of his body, from his neck to his feet, a large water-leech was +glued like an enormous slug. The man was already weak from loss of +blood. Had he remained in the marsh a minute longer, there is no doubt +he would have fainted. Crouch took a knife from his pocket, and, +talking all the time, as a nursemaid talks to a naughty child, one by +one he tore the leeches from the man’s body, and threw them back into +the marsh. + +The others, who had drawn closer, remained at a safe distance. It seems +they were undecided how to act, since this man was their leader, and +they were accustomed to receive their orders from him. It is impossible +to say what would have happened, had not Crouch taken charge of the +situation. He asked the man where his village was, and the fellow +pointed to the east. + +"Yonder," said he; "in the hills." + +"Lead on," said Crouch. "We’re coming home with you, for a cup of tea +and a talk." + +For a moment the man was too stupefied to answer. He had never expected +this kind of reception from an individual who could have walked under +his outstretched arm. What surprised him most of all was Crouch’s +absolute self-confidence. The Negro and Bantu races are all alike in +this: they are extraordinarily simple-minded and impressionable. The +Fan chieftain looked at Crouch, and then dropped his eyes. When he +lifted them, a broad grin had extended across his face. + +"Good," said he. "My village. Palaver. You come." + +Crouch turned and winked at Max, and then followed the chief towards the +jungle. + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD + + +When both parties were gathered together on the edge of the marsh, Max +felt strangely uncomfortable. Both Crouch and Edward seemed thoroughly +at home, and the former was talking to the chief as if he had found an +old friend whom he had not seen for several years. Putting aside the +strangeness of his surroundings, Max was not able to rid his mind of the +thought that these men were cannibals. He looked at them in disgust. +There was nothing in particular to distinguish them from the other races +he had seen upon the coast, except, perhaps, they were of finer physique +and had better foreheads. It was the idea which was revolting. In the +country of the Fans there are no slaves, no prisoners, and no +cemeteries; a fact which speaks for itself. + +Crouch and the chief, whose name was M’Wané, led the way through the +jungle. They came presently to the body of the wounded leopard, which +lay with an arrow in its heart. It was the "twang" of the bowstring +that Max had heard in the jungle. And now took place an incident that +argued well for the future. + +M’Wané protested that the leopard belonged to Crouch, since the +Englishman had drawn first blood. This was the law of his tribe. +Crouch, on the other hand, maintained that the law of his tribe was that +the game was the property of the killer. The chief wanted the +leopard-skin, and it required little persuasion to make him accept it, +which he was clearly delighted to do. + +Crouch skinned the leopard himself, and presented the skin to M’Wané. +And then the whole party set forth again, and soon came to a track along +which progress was easy. + +It was approaching nightfall when they reached the extremity of the +forest, and came upon a great range of hills which, standing clear of +the mist that hung in the river valley, caught the full glory of the +setting sun. Upon the upper slopes of the hills was a village of two +rows of huts, and at each end of the streets thus formed was a +guard-house, where a sentry stood on duty. M’Wané’s hut was larger than +the others, and it was into this that the Europeans were conducted. In +the centre of the floor was a fire, and hanging from several places in +the roof were long sticks with hooks on them, the hooks having been made +by cutting off branching twigs. From these hooks depended the scant +articles of the chief’s wardrobe and several fetish charms. + +For two hours Crouch and the chief talked, and it was during that +conversation that there came to light the most extraordinary episode of +which we have to tell. From that moment, and for many weeks afterwards, +it was a mystery that they were wholly unable to solve. Both Crouch and +Harden knew the savage nature too well to believe that M’Wané lied. +Though his story was vague, and overshadowed by the superstitions that +darken the minds of the fetish worshippers, there was no doubt that it +was based upon fact. As the chief talked, Crouch translated to his +friends. + +The chief first asked what they were doing on the Kasai, and Crouch +answered that they were there for big game--for rhinoceros, buffalo and +leopard. The chief answered that there was certainly much game on the +Kasai, but there was more on the "Hidden River." That was the first +time they ever heard the name. + +Crouch asked why it was called the "Hidden River"; and M’Wané answered +that it would be impossible for any one to find the mouth. On the +southern bank of the Kasai, about two days up-stream, there was a large +mangrove swamp, and it was beyond this that the "Hidden River" lay. + +"Can you pass through the swamp in a canoe?" asked Crouch. + +The chief shook his head, and said that a canoe could pass the mangrove +swamp, but it could not penetrate far up the river, because of a great +waterfall, where the water fell hundreds of feet between huge pillars of +rock. + +"One can carry a canoe," said Crouch. + +"Perhaps," said M’Wané, as if in doubt. "But, of those that pass the +cataract, none come back alive." + +"Why?" asked Crouch. + +"Because of the Fire-gods that haunt the river. The Fire-gods are +feared from the seacoast to the Lakes." + +Crouch pricked up his ears like a terrier that scents a rat. The little +man sat cross-legged, with his hands upon his ankles; and as he plied +the Fan chief with questions, he positively wriggled where he sat. + +He found out that the "Fire-gods" were white men--a fact that astonished +him exceedingly. He was told that they were not white men like himself +and his friends, but wicked spirits who controlled the thunder and who +could make the earth tremble for miles around. Even the Fans feared +them, and for several months none of the tribes had ventured into the +valley of the "Hidden River." + +"They’re men with rifles," said Harden. "These people have never seen a +firearm in their lives." + +At that he led M’Wané from the hut, and, followed by Max and Crouch, he +walked a little distance from the village. There, in the moonlight, he +picked up a stone from the ground, and set this upon a branch. From a +distance of about twenty paces, with M’Wané at his side, he lifted his +rifle to his shoulder, and struck the stone with a bullet, so that it +fell upon the ground. + +"There," said he, "that is what your Fire-gods do; they are armed with +rifles--like this." + +But M’Wané shook his head. He had heard of rifles. Tribes they had +raided upon the coast had spoken of the white men that could slay at a +distance. But the Fire-gods were greater still. Every evening, in the +valley of the Hidden River, loud thunder rent the air. The birds had +left the valley--even the snakes had gone. The Fire-gods were kings +over Nature. Moreover, they were merciless. Hundreds of natives--men +of the Pende tribe, the Pambala and the Bakutu--had gone into the +valley; but no one had returned. + +At that Crouch set off towards the hut without a word. The others, +following, found him seated cross-legged at the fire, tugging at the +tuft of hair which grew beneath his lip. For some minutes the little +wizened sea-captain spoke aloud to himself. + +"I’ll find out who these people are," said he. "White men may have gone +up the river to trade; but it’s bad for business if you get a reputation +for murder. I don’t understand it at all. I’ve heard of a white race +in the centre of the continent; maybe it’s they. I hope it is. At any +rate, we’ll go and see." + +For a few brief moments he lapsed into silence. Then he tapped M’Wané +on the arm. + +"Will you take us to the Hidden River?" he asked. + +M’Wané sprang to his feet, violently shaking his head. He protested +that he dared do nothing of the sort. They could not disbelieve him, +for the man was actually trembling in his limbs. + +Crouch turned to Harden. + +"I’ve a mind to look into this," said he. + +"I, too," said the other. + +"He won’t take us," said Max. + +"I’ll make him," said Crouch. "For the present, I’m going to sleep. The +boys will stick to the canoes. We must get back to the river to-morrow +afternoon. Good-night." + +So saying, he curled himself up like a hedgehog, and, resting his head +upon his folded arms, immediately fell asleep. + +It was already three months since they had left Banana Point at the +mouth of the Congo. They had journeyed to the foot of the rapids by +steamboat, and thence had carried their canoes across several miles of +country. They had enjoyed a good deal of mixed shooting in the lower +valley, and then they had said good-bye to the few trading stations, or +factories, which lay scattered at wide intervals upon the banks of the +great river, and which were the last links that bound them to such +civilization as the wilds of Africa could show. Max had already gained +much experience of life in the wilds of tropical Africa. This was not +the first time that he had found himself obliged to sleep upon the +ground, without pillow or blankets, or that which was still more +necessary--a mosquito-net. + +When he opened his eyes it was daylight, and the first thing that he +beheld was Captain Crouch, seated cross-legged at the fireside, with his +pipe between his teeth. His one eye was fixed in the glowing embers. +He appeared to be deep in thought, for his face was all screwed up, and +he never moved. Thin wreaths of smoke came from the bowl of his pipe, +and the hut reeked of his foul tobacco. Suddenly he snatched the pipe +from his lips, and banged the bowl so viciously upon the heel of his +boot that he broke it in twain. "I have it!" he cried. "I’ve got it!" + +Max asked what was the matter. + +"I’ve got an idea," said Crouch. "I’ll make this fellow take us to the +Hidden River, whether he wants to or not. They are frightened of these +Fire-gods, are they! By Christopher, I’ll make them more frightened of +me, or my name was never Crouch!" + +He got to his feet, and crossed the hut to M’Wané, who still lay asleep. +He seized the chief by the shoulders and shook him violently, until the +man sat up and rubbed his eyes. + +"Your people," said he. "Big palaver. Now. Be quick." + +M’Wané seemed to understand, for he got up and left the hut. Edward +Harden was now awake. + +The life that is lived by these Central African tribes finds a parallel +in the ancient history of nearly all races that we know of. Government, +for the most part, is in the hands of the headman of every village. The +maintenance of law and order, the giving of wives, the exchange of +possessions, is settled by "palaver," which amounts to a kind of meeting +of the entire population, presided over by the chief. Near every village +is a regular palaver-ground, usually in the shade of the largest tree in +the neighbourhood. + +It was here, on this early morning, that M’Wané summoned all the +inhabitants of the village--men, women and children. They seated +themselves upon the ground in a wide circle, in the midst of which was +the trunk of a fallen tree. Upon this trunk the three Europeans seated +themselves, Crouch in the middle, with his companions on either side. + +When all was ready, M’Wané rose to his feet, and announced in stentorian +tones that the little white man desired to speak to them, and that they +must listen attentively to what he had to say. Whereupon Crouch got to +his feet, and from that moment onward--in the parlance of the +theatre--held the stage: the whole scene was his. He talked for nearly +an hour, and during that time never an eye was shifted from his face, +except when he called attention to the parrot. + +He was wonderful to watch. He shouted, he gesticulated, he even danced. +In face of his limited vocabulary, it is a wonder how he made himself +understood; but he did. He was perfectly honest from the start. +Perhaps his experience had taught him that it is best to be honest with +savages, as it is with horses and dogs. He said that he had made his +way up the Kasai in order to penetrate to the upper reaches of the +Hidden River. He said that he had heard of the Fire-gods, and he was +determined to find out who they were. For himself, he believed that the +Fire-gods were masters of some kind of witchcraft. It would be madness +to fight them with spears and bows and arrows. He believed, from what +he had heard, that even his own rifle would be impotent. High on a +tree-top was perched a parrot, that preened its feathers in the +sunlight, and chattered to itself. Crouch pointed this parrot out to +the bewildered natives, and then, lifting his rifle to his shoulder, +fired, and the bird fell dead to the ground. That was the power he +possessed, he told them: he could strike at a distance, and he seldom +failed to kill. And yet he dared not approach the Fire-gods, because +they were masters of witchcraft. But he also knew the secrets of magic, +and his magic was greater and more potent than the magic of the +Fire-gods. He could not be killed; he was immortal. He was prepared to +prove it. Whereat, he re-loaded his rifle, and deliberately fired a +bullet through his foot. + +The crowd rushed in upon him from all sides, stricken in amazement. But +Crouch waved them back, and stepping up to Edward, told the Englishman +to shoot again. Harden lifted his rifle to his shoulder, and sent a +bullet into the ankle of Crouch’s cork foot. Thereupon, Crouch danced +round the ring of natives, shouting wildly, springing into the air, +proving to all who might behold that he was a thousand times alive. + +They fell down upon their faces and worshipped him as a god. Without +doubt he had spoken true: he was invulnerable, immortal, a witch-doctor +of unheard-of powers. + +But Crouch had not yet done. Before they had time to recover from their +amazement, he had snatched out his glass eye, and thrust it into the +hands of M’Wané himself, who dropped it like a living coal. They rushed +to it, and looked at it, but dared not touch it. And when they looked +up, Crouch had another eye in the socket--an eye that was flaming red. + +A loud moan arose from every hand--a moan which gave expression to their +mingled feelings of bewilderment, reverence and fear. From that moment +Crouch was "the White Wizard," greater even than the Fire-gods, as the +glory of the sun outstrips the moon. + +"And now," cried Crouch, lifting his hands in the air, "will you, or +will you not, guide me to the Hidden River where the Fire-gods live?" + +M’Wané came forward and prostrated himself upon the ground. + +"The White Wizard," said he, "has only to command." + + + + +CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER + + +It is not necessary to describe in detail the passage up the Kasai, from +the place where the leopard had been wounded to Date Palm Island, which +was where M’Wané decided to disembark. During that voyage, which +occupied two and a half days, they passed a mangrove swamp upon the +southern bank, which the Fan chief pointed out as the place where the +Hidden River joined the Kasai. + +No one would have guessed it. The short, stunted trees were packed so +close together that their branches formed a kind of solid roof which +appeared to extend for miles. Underneath, there was darkness as of +night. There was nothing to suggest that another river here joined the +larger stream. The Kasai did not narrow above the swamp, nor was there +any change in the colour of the water or the strength of the current. + +Date Palm Island lay a day’s journey by canoe above the mangrove swamp. +The name of Date Palm Island was given by Edward Harden the moment he +set eyes upon the little rocky islet in mid-stream, upon which stood a +solitary tree. It was the custom of this explorer to name the natural +features he discovered; and it was he who was also responsible for the +names of other places of which, in course of time, we shall have +occasion to tell, such as Solitude Peak and Hippo Pool. + +In addition to the Loango boys who composed the crews, the party now +included M’Wané, the Fan chief, and four of his most trusted warriors. +It was on the occasion of this journey on the Upper Kasai that Edward +Harden made one of the mistakes of his life. M’Wané travelled in the +first canoe with themselves, and his four warriors in the other canoe +which followed. Both Harden and Crouch had a natural wish to keep the +object of their journey a secret. Neither knew that one of the boys in +the second canoe could both speak and understand the Fan dialect, and it +was he who told his companions that the Hidden River was their +destination. Still, no one suspected that the secret was out, until +they had unloaded all their supplies and ammunition at Date Palm Island, +where they decided to form their base. + +In this district, the general course of the Kasai lies due south-west. +From the mangrove swamp on the southern bank, the valley of the Hidden +River lies, more or less, in a direct line from north to south. M’Wané +had known the Hidden River in the old days, before the Fire-gods came +into the country. He said that there was a good portage across country +from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, which was the nearest accessible +point on the Hidden River above the rapids that flowed through the Long +Ravine. + +They decided to leave one canoe on the island, in charge of four of the +Loango boys. The remaining natives could be employed in carrying the +lighter of the two canoes, and a sufficiency of stores and ammunition +across country to the Hidden River. The indignation of Crouch may be +imagined when the boys struck in a body and refused to undertake the +portage. + +Edward used his greatest powers of persuasion; Crouch threatened and +abused. They answered that word of the Fire-gods had been carried even +as far as the Coast, that they had never bargained to sell their lives +to the Englishmen. None the less, they expressed their willingness to +remain upon the island until the party returned. + +Crouch turned to M’Wané. + +"And do you, too, go back?" he asked. + +The chief shook his head, and smiled. + +"My men and I will stand by the White Wizard," he answered. "A Fan +holds to his word." + +Crouch slapped the chief upon the back, and then went on to explain to +the boys that if they helped with the portage, they would not be asked +to embark on the Hidden River, but could return to Date Palm Island. +After some discussion, they agreed to this; and as much time had already +been wasted, Harden and Crouch decided not to start until daybreak the +following day. + +According to Edward Harden’s diary, the portage lasted two weeks and +three days. They were obliged to force their way through virgin forest. +It was frequently necessary to cut down with axes and billhooks the +tangled undergrowth and creepers that wove themselves amid the trunks of +the trees, in order to make room for the canoe to pass. Some days they +did not cover more than a mile, though they were working from dawn to +sunset. But towards the end of the journey the passage became easier, +by reason of the fact that they found a watercourse, which they +followed, until they finally came forth into the sunlight at Hippo Pool. + +When they first looked upon it, it was as if, indeed, there were an air +of mystery in the valley of the Hidden River. The silence that reigned +upon its surface was intense. The atmosphere seemed several degrees +hotter even than the forest. The name Hippo Pool was given because, +immediately on their arrival, Edward Harden, who was leading, shot a +hippopotamus which he found asleep upon the bank. They were glad enough +of the meat for the natives, who would require provisions on their +journey back to the Kasai. + +The next morning the Loango boys left in a body. They were glad enough +to be off. And soon afterwards the canoe shot out from the bank. + +Their progress was painfully slow. M’Wané and his four followers worked +continually with the paddles, assisted in turn by Harden and his nephew. +As for Crouch, he was always the look-out man. His only eye was quick +and keen as that of a falcon. + +Hour by hour they toiled into the Unknown, until the sweat poured from +their faces and their hands were blistered in the sun; and the blisters +would not heal, because of the insects that followed in a crowd. The +jungle grew more magnificent and wild as the river narrowed. The +character of the trees changed, and of the undergrowth--all became more +luxuriant, more profuse, until they found themselves in a land where +Nature was something fantastic and superb. + +It was on the third day after they had set out from Hippo Pool that they +turned an angle of the river, and came on a sudden into a cup-shaped +valley where there was but little vegetation. A circle of granite hills +stood all around them, and in the centre on either side of the river was +a plain of sand. Crouch turned in the bows and pointed to something +ahead, and at that moment the sharp crack of a rifle echoed in the +stillness, and a bullet sped into the water a few inches from the bows +of the canoe. + + + + +CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE + + +As the bullet cut into the water Crouch sprang upright in the canoe. His +thin form trembled with eagerness. The man was like a cat, inasmuch as +he was charged with electricity. Under his great pith helmet the few +hairs which he possessed stood upright on his head. Edward Harden leaned +forward and picked up his rifle, which he now held at the ready. + +By reason of the fact that the river had suddenly widened into a kind of +miniature lake, the current was not so swift. Hence, though M’Wané and +his Fans ceased to paddle, the canoe shot onward by dint of the velocity +at which they had been travelling. Every moment brought them nearer and +nearer to the danger that lay ahead. + +In order to relate what followed, it is necessary to describe the scene. +We have said that the wild, impenetrable jungle had ceased abruptly, and +they found themselves surrounded by granite hills, in the centre of +which lay a plain of glaring sand. To their left, about a hundred paces +from the edge of the river, was a circular stockade. A fence had been +constructed of sharp-pointed stakes, each about eight feet in height. +There was but a single entrance into this stockade--a narrow gate, not +more than three feet across, which faced the river. Up-stream, to the +south, the granite hills closed in from either bank, so that the river +flowed through a gorge which at this distance seemed particularly +precipitous and narrow. Midway between the stockade and the gorge was a +kraal, or large native village, surrounded by a palisade. Within the +palisade could be seen the roofs of several native huts, and at the +entrance, seated cross-legged on the ground, was the white figure of an +Arab who wore the turban and flowing robes by which his race is +distinguished, from the deserts of Bokhara to the Gold Coast. Before +the stockade, standing at the water’s edge, was the figure of a European +dressed in a white duck suit. He was a tall, thin man with a black, +pointed beard, and a large sombrero hat. Between his lips was a +cigarette, and in his hands he held a rifle, from the muzzle of which +was issuing a thin trail of smoke. + +As the canoe approached, this man grew vastly excited, and stepped into +the river, until the water had risen to his knees. There, he again +lifted his rifle to his shoulder. + +"Put that down!" cried Crouch. "You’re a dead man if you fire." + +The man obeyed reluctantly, and at that moment a second European came +running from the entrance of the stockade. He was a little man, of +about the same build as Crouch, but very round in the back, and with a +complexion so yellow that he might have been a Chinese. + +The man with the beard seemed very agitated. He gesticulated wildly, +and, holding his rifle in his left hand, pointed down-stream with his +right. He was by no means easy to understand, since his pronunciation +of English was faulty, and he never troubled to take his cigarette from +between his lips. + +"Get back!" he cried. "Go back again! You have no business here." + +"Why not?" asked Crouch. + +"Because this river is mine." + +"By what right?" + +"By right of conquest. I refuse to allow you to land." + +The canoe was now only a few yards from the bank. The second man--the +small man with the yellow face--turned and ran back into the stockade, +evidently to fetch his rifle. + +"I’m afraid," said Crouch, "with your permission or without, we intend +to come ashore." + +Again the butt of the man’s rifle flew to his shoulder. + +"Another yard," said he, "and I shoot you dead." + +He closed an eye, and took careful aim. His sights were directed +straight at Crouch’s heart. At that range--even had he been the worst +shot in the world--he could scarcely have missed. + +Crouch was never seen to move. With his face screwed, and his great +chin thrust forward, his only eye fixed in the midst of the black beard +of the man who dared him to approach, he looked a very figure of +defiance. + +The crack of a rifle--a loud shout--and then a peal of laughter. Crouch +had thrown back his head and was laughing as a school-boy does, with one +hand thrust in a trousers pocket. Edward Harden, seated in the stern +seat, with elbows upon his knees, held his rifle to his shoulder, and +from the muzzle a little puff of smoke was rising in the air. It was +the man with the black beard who had let out the shout, in anger and +surprise. The cigarette had been cut away from between his lips, and +Harden’s bullet had struck the butt of his rifle, to send it flying from +his hands into the water. He stood there, knee-deep in the river, +passionate, foiled and disarmed. It was Edward Harden’s quiet voice +that now came to his ears. + +"Hands up!" said he. + +Slowly, with his black eyes ablaze, the man lifted his arms above his +head. A moment later, Crouch had sprung ashore. + +The little sea-captain hastened to the entrance of the stockade, and, as +he reached it, the second man came running out, with a rifle in his +hands. He was running so quickly that he was unable to check himself, +and, almost before he knew it, his rifle had been taken from him. He +pulled up with a jerk, and, turning, looked into the face of Captain +Crouch. + +"I must introduce myself," said the captain. "My name’s Crouch. Maybe +you’ve heard of me?" + +The man nodded his head. It appears he had not yet sufficiently +recovered from his surprise to be able to speak. + +"By Christopher!" cried Crouch, on a sudden. "I know you! We’ve met +before--five years ago in St. Paul de Loanda. You’re a half-caste +Portuguese, of the name of de Costa, who had a trade-station at the +mouth of the Ogowe. So you remember me?" + +The little yellow man puckered up his face and bowed. + +"I think," said he, with an almost perfect English accent--"I think +one’s knowledge of the Coast would be very limited, if one had never +heard of Captain Crouch." + +Crouch placed his hand upon his heart and made a mimic bow. + +"May I return the compliment?" said he. "I’ve heard men speak of de +Costa from Sierra Leone to Walfish Bay, and never once have I heard +anything said that was good." + +At that the half-caste caught his under-lip in his teeth, and shot +Crouch a glance in which was fear, mistrust and anger. The sea-captain +did not appear to notice it, for he went on in the easiest manner in the +world. + +"And who’s your friend?" he asked, indicating the tall man with the +black beard, who was now approaching with Edward Harden and Max. + +"My friend," said he, "is a countryman of mine, a Portuguese, who has +assumed the name of Cæsar." The half-caste had evidently not forgotten +the insult which Crouch had hurled in his teeth; for now his demeanour +changed, and he laughed. "If Captain Crouch finds it necessary to +meddle in our affairs," said he, "I think he will find his equal in +Mister Cæsar." + +Crouch paid no more attention to him than he would have done to a +mosquito; and before the man had finished speaking, he had turned his +back upon him, and held out a hand to the Portuguese. + +"I trust," said he, "you’ve expressed your gratitude to Ted Harden, who, +instead of taking your life, preferred to extinguish your cigarette." + +"I have already done so," said Cæsar, with a smile. "I hope to explain +matters later. The mistake was natural enough." + +Crouch, with his one eye, looked this man through and through. He had +been able to sum up the half-caste at a glance. Cæsar was a personality +that could not be fathomed in an instant. + +The man was not unhandsome. His figure, in spite of its extreme height +and thinness, was exceedingly graceful. The hair of his moustache and +beard, and as much as was visible beneath the broad-brimmed sombrero +hat, was coal-black, and untouched with grey. His features were +aquiline and large. He bore some slight resemblance to the well-known +figure of Don Quixote, except that he was more robust. The most +remarkable thing about him was his jet-black, piercing eyes. If there +was ever such a thing as cruelty, it was there. When he smiled, as he +did now, his face was even pleasant: there was a wealth of wrinkles +round his eyes. + +"It was a natural and unavoidable mistake," said he. "I have been +established here for two years. You and your friends are, perhaps, +sufficiently acquainted with the rivers to know that one must be always +on one’s guard." + +Unlike de Costa, he spoke English with a strong accent, which it would +be extremely difficult to reproduce. For all that, he had a good +command of words. + +"And now," he went on, "I must offer you such hospitality as I can. I +notice the men in your canoes are Fans. I must confess I have never +found the Fan a good worker. He is too independent. They are all +prodigal sons." + +"I like the Fan," said Edward. + +"Each man to his taste," said Cæsar. "In the kraal yonder," he +continued, pointing to the village, "I have about two hundred boys. For +the most part, they belong to the Pambala tribe. As you may know, the +Pambala are the sworn enemies of the Fans. You are welcome to stay with +me as long as you like, but I must request that your Fans be ordered to +remain within the stockade. Will you be so good as to tell them to +disembark?" + +"As you wish," said Edward. + +At Crouch’s request, Max went back to the canoe, and returned with +M’Wané and the four Fans. Not until they had been joined by the natives +did Cæsar lead the way into the stockade. + +They found themselves in what, to all intents and purposes, was a fort. +Outside the walls of the stockade was a ditch, and within was a +banquette, or raised platform, from which it was possible for men to +fire standing. In the centre of the enclosure were three or four +huts--well-constructed buildings for the heart of Africa, and +considerably higher than the ordinary native dwelling-place. Before the +largest hut was a flag-staff, upon which a large yellow flag was +unfurled in the slight breeze that came from the north. + +It was into this hut that they were conducted by the Portuguese. As the +Englishman entered, a large dog, which had been lying upon the floor, +got up and growled, but lay down again on a word from Cæsar. The +interior of the hut consisted of a single room, furnished with a bed, a +table and several chairs, all of which had been constructed of wood cut +in the forest. As there were only four chairs, the half-caste, de +Costa, seated himself on a large chest, with three heavy padlocks, which +stood against the wall farthest from the door. + +Cæsar crossed to a kind of sideboard, made of packing-cases, whence he +produced glasses and a bottle of whisky. He then drew a jug of water +from a large filter. These he placed upon the table. He requested his +guests to smoke, and passed round his cigarette-case. His manner, and +the ease with which he played the host, suggested a man of breeding. +Both Edward Harden and his nephew accepted cigarettes, but Crouch filled +his pipe, and presently the hut was reeking, like an ill-trimmed lamp, +of his atrocious "Bull’s Eye Shag." + +"I owe you an apology," said Cæsar; "an apology and an explanation. You +shall have both. But, in the first place, I would like to hear how it +was that you came to discover this river?" + +It was Edward Harden who answered. + +"We were shooting big game on the Kasai," said he, "when we heard +mention of the ’Hidden River.’" + +"Who spoke of it?" said Cæsar. His dark eyes were seen to flash in the +half-light in the hut. + +"A party of Fans," said Edward, "with whom we came in contact. We +persuaded them to carry our canoe across country. We embarked upon the +river three days ago, and paddled up-stream until this afternoon, when +we sighted your camp, and nearly came to blows. That’s all." + +Cæsar leaned forward, with his arms folded on the table, bringing his +dark face to within a few inches of the cigarette which Edward held in +his lips. + +"Were you told anything," said he, in a slow, deliberate voice; "were +you told anything--of us?" + +Edward Harden, being a man of six foot several inches, was one who was +guileless in his nature. He was about to say that the Fans had spoken +of the "Fire-gods," when an extraordinary occurrence came to pass. + +Crouch sprang to his feet with a yell, and placing one foot upon the +seat of the chair upon which he had been sitting, pulled up his trousers +to the knee. In his hand he held a knife. All sprang to their feet. + +"What is it?" they demanded, in one and the same breath. + +"A snake," said Crouch. "I’m bitten in the leg." + + + + +CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH + + +Both Cæsar and Edward hastened to the captain’s side. Sure enough, upon +the calf of his leg, were two small drops of blood, about a quarter of +an inch apart, where the fangs of the reptile had entered. + +Crouch looked up at Cæsar. His voice was perfectly calm. + +"Where’s the kitchen?" he demanded. + +The tall Portuguese appeared suspicious. + +"The kitchen is quite near at hand," said he. "Do you want to go +there?" + +"Yes," said Crouch. "Lead the way. There’s no time to lose." + +They passed out and entered a smaller hut, from which a column of smoke +was rising through a hole in the roof. In the centre of the floor was a +large charcoal brazier, at which a man was squatting in the +characteristic attitude of the East. Crouch lifted his eyebrows in +surprise when he saw that this man was an Arab. + +"Tongs," said he in Arabic. "Lend me a pair of tongs." + +The man, expressionless, produced the article in question. + +Crouch took a piece of charcoal from the brazier, that was white-hot, +and, without a moment’s hesitation, he thrust this upon the place where +the poison had entered his flesh. As he underwent that agony, his +sallow face turned a trifle paler, his lips grew thinner, and his only +eye more bright; but never a groan, or even a sigh, escaped him. + +At last he threw the charcoal back into the fire. + +"That’s all right," said he. "It isn’t a pleasant remedy, but it’s +sure." Then he turned to Cæsar. "I should like a little whisky," said +he. "I feel a trifle faint." + +He asked for Edward’s arm to assist him on his way, and no sooner were +they clear of the kitchen than he whispered in Harden’s ear-- + +"There’s nothing to worry about," said he. "I’m as right as rain. I +was never bitten at all. But I had to stop you somehow, or you would +have told that fellow what we heard of the Fire-gods. Mind, he must +know nothing." + +When they got back to the hut, Cæsar gave Crouch half a tumblerful of +neat whisky, which the captain drained at a gulp. Needless to say, +their efforts to find the snake proved fruitless. Then Crouch again +complained of faintness, and asked permission to lie down upon the bed. +No sooner was he there than he closed his eyes, and soon afterwards was +sound asleep--if one was entitled to judge by his heavy breathing. Once +or twice he snored. + +But, already, we have seen enough of Captain Crouch to know that, in his +case, it would not be wise to go by appearances. He was no more asleep +than he had been throughout those long hours when he had kept watch in +the bows of the canoe. + +Cæsar motioned to Edward to be seated at the table, and Max took the +chair which had been formerly occupied by Crouch. De Costa remained +seated upon the chest. + +"Let me see," said Cæsar; "of what were we speaking? Ah, yes, I +remember. I was asking if the natives had made any mention of us." + +"We asked many questions," said Harden, "but they knew little or nothing +of the Hidden River. For some reason or other, they seemed to fear it." + +Cæsar regarded Edward intently for a few seconds; and then, seeming +satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders. + +"Their minds are filled with superstitions," said he. "And now it +remains for me to explain myself. I came to this valley two years ago. +I had already journeyed some distance up the Congo, in search of ivory. +I discovered that in the jungle in this valley elephants abound; +moreover, these elephants are finer than any others I have ever seen in +any part of Africa, even those of the East Coast, whose tusks are stored +at Zanzibar. I made this place my headquarters. I regard the whole +country as my own happy hunting-ground. I naturally resent all +new-comers, especially Europeans. I look upon them as trespassers. Of +course, I have no right to do so; I know that quite well. But you must +understand that here, in the heart of Africa, the laws of civilized +nations hardly apply. To all intents and purposes this country is my +own. In the kraal yonder I have two hundred of the finest elephant +hunters between the Zambesi and the Congo. I pay them well. I have +already a great store of ivory. In another two years I hope to retire +to Portugal, a wealthy man. That is all my story." + +"How do you kill your elephants?" asked Edward. The hunting of big game +was the foremost interest of his life. + +Cæsar smiled. + +"You will not approve of my methods," said he. "You are a sportsman; I +am only a trader. I send my natives into the jungle, in the direction +in which a herd of elephants has been located. These fellows creep on +all-fours amid the undergrowth. They are as invisible as snakes. They +are armed with long knives, with which they cut the tendons of the +elephants’ hind-legs, just below the knee. If an elephant tries to walk +after that tendon has been severed, it falls to the ground and breaks +its leg. The great beasts seem to know this, for they remain motionless +as statues. When all the finest tuskers have been thus disposed of, I +come with my rifle and shoot them, one after the other. Thus it is that +I have collected a great store of tusks." + +Edward Harden made a wry face. + +"I have heard of that manner of hunting," said he. "It is much +practised on the East Coast. I consider it barbarous and cruel." + +Cæsar smiled again. + +"I told you," said he, "you would not approve." + +Harden swung round in his chair, with a gesture of disgust. + +"I would like to see the ivory trade stopped," he cried, in a sudden +flood of anger, very rare in a man naturally prone to be unexcitable and +mild. "I regard the elephant as a noble animal--the noblest animal that +lives. I myself have shot many, but the beast has always had a chance, +though I will not deny the odds were always heavily on me. Still, when I +find myself face to face with a rogue elephant, I know that my life is +in danger. Now, there is no danger in your method, which is the method +of the slaughter-house. At this rate, very soon there will be no +elephants left in Africa." + +"I’m afraid," said Cæsar, with a shrug of the shoulders, "we would never +agree, because you’re a sportsman and I’m a trader. In the meantime, I +will do all I can to make you comfortable during your stay at Makanda." + +"Is that the name of this place?" asked Max. + +"Yes," said the Portuguese. "There was a native village when I came +here--just a few scattered huts. The natives called the place Makanda, +which, I believe, means a crater. The hills which surround us are +evidently the walls of an extinct volcano. But, to come back to +business, I can provide a hut for your Fan attendants, but they must be +ordered not to leave the stockade. You have noticed, perhaps, that I +employ a few Arabs. I am fond of Arabs myself; they are such excellent +cooks. An Arab is usually on sentry at the gate of the stockade. That +man will receive orders to shoot any one of the Fans who endeavours to +pass the gate. These methods are rather arbitrary, I admit; but in the +heart of Africa, what would you have? It is necessary to rule with an +iron hand. Were I to be lax in discipline, my life would be in danger. +Also, I must request you and your friends not to leave the stockade, +unattended by either de Costa or myself. The truth is, there are +several hostile tribes in the neighbourhood, and it is only with the +greatest difficulty that I can succeed in maintaining peace." + +"I’m sure," said Harden, "you will find us quite ready to do anything +you wish. After all, the station is yours; and in this country a man +makes his own laws." + +"That is so," said Cæsar; and added, "I’m responsible to no one but +myself." + +This man had an easy way of talking and a plausible manner that would +have deceived a more acute observer than Edward Harden. As he spoke he +waved his hand, as if the whole matter were a trifle. He ran on in the +same casual fashion, with an arm thrown carelessly over the back of his +chair, sending the smoke of his cigarette in rings towards the ceiling. + +"Most of us come to Africa to make money," said he; "and as the climate +is unhealthy, the heat unbearable, and the inhabitants savages, we +desire to make that money as quickly as possible, and then return to +Europe. That is my intention. For myself, I keep tolerably well; but +de Costa here is a kind of living ague. He is half consumed with +malaria; he can’t sleep by night, he lies awake with chattering teeth. +Sometimes his temperature is so high that his pulse is racing. At other +times he is so weak that he is unable to walk a hundred paces. He looks +forward to the day when he shakes the dust of Africa from his shoes and +returns to his native land, which--according to him--is Portugal, +though, I believe, he was born in Jamaica." + +Max looked at the half-caste, and thought that never before had he set +eyes upon so despicable an object. He looked like some mongrel cur. He +was quite unable to look the young Englishman in the face, but under +Max’s glance dropped his eyes to the floor. + +"And now," said Cæsar, "there is a hut where I keep my provisions, which +I will place at your disposal." + +At that he went outside, followed by the two Hardens. De Costa remained +in the hut. Crouch was still asleep. + +Cæsar called the Arab from the kitchen, and, assisted by this man and +the five Fans, they set to work to remove a number of boxes from the hut +in which it was proposed that the three Englishmen should sleep. +Blankets were spread upon the ground. The tall Portuguese was most +solicitous that his guests should want for nothing. He brought candles, +a large mosquito-net, and even soap. + +Supper that evening was the best meal which Max had eaten since he left +the sea-going ship at Banana Point on the Congo. The Portuguese was +well provided with stores. He produced several kinds of vegetables, +which, he said, he grew at a little distance from the stockade. He had +also a great store of spirits, being under the entirely false impression +that in tropical regions stimulants maintain both health and physical +strength. + +After supper, Cæsar and Captain Crouch, who had entirely recovered from +his faintness, played écarté with an exceedingly dirty pack of cards. +And a strange picture they made, these two men, the one so small and +wizened, the other so tall and black, each coatless, with their +shirt-sleeves rolled to the elbow, fingering their cards in the +flickering light of a tallow candle stuck in the neck of a bottle. +Crouch knew it then--and perhaps Cæsar knew it, too--that they were +rivals to the death, in a greater game than was ever played with cards. + +They went early to bed, thanking Cæsar for his kindness. Before he left +the hut, Edward Harden apologized for his rudeness in finding fault with +the trader’s method of obtaining ivory. + +"It was no business of mine," said he. "I apologize for what I said." + +No sooner were the three Englishmen in their hut, than Crouch seized +each of his friends by an arm, and drew them close together. + +"Here’s the greatest devilry you ever heard of!" he exclaimed. + +"How?" said Edward. "What do you mean?" + +"As yet," said Crouch, "I know nothing. I merely suspect. Mark my +words, it’ll not be safe to go to sleep. One of us must keep watch." + +"What makes you suspicious?" asked Max. Throughout this conversation +they talked in whispers. Crouch had intimated that they must not be +overheard. + +"A thousand things," said Crouch. "In the first place, I don’t like the +look of Arabs. There’s an old saying on the Niger, ’Where there’s an +Arab, there’s mischief.’ Also, he’s got something he doesn’t wish us to +see. That’s why he won’t let us outside the stockade. Besides, +remember what the natives told us. The tribes the whole country round +stand in mortal fear of this fellow, and they don’t do that for nothing. +The Fans are a brave race, and so are the Pambala. And do you remember, +they told us that every evening there’s thunder in the valley which +shakes the earth? No, he’s up to no good, and I shall make it my +business to find out what his game is." + +"Then you don’t believe that he’s an ivory trader?" asked Max. + +"Not a word of it!" said Crouch. "Where’s the ivory? He talks of this +store of tusks, but where does he keep it? He says he’s been here for +two years. In two years, by the wholesale manner in which he has been +killing elephants, according to his own account, he should have a pile +of ivory ten feet high at least. And where is it? Not in a hut; not +one of them is big enough. I suppose he’ll ask us to believe that he +keeps it somewhere outside the stockade." + +"I never thought of that," said Harden, tugging the ends of his +moustache. "I wonder what he’s here for." + +"So do I," said Crouch. + +Soon after that, at Crouch’s request, Harden and Max lay down upon their +blankets, and were soon fast asleep. As for the captain, he also lay +down, and for more than an hour breathed heavily, as if in sleep. Then, +without a sound, he began to move forward on hands and knees across the +floor of the hut. + +When he reached the door he came into the moonlight, and had there been +any one there to see, they would have noticed that he carried a +revolver, and there was a knife between his teeth. + +As quick as a lizard he glided into the shade beneath the walls of the +hut. There he lay for some minutes, listening, with all his senses +alert. + +This man had much in common with the wild beasts of the forests. He was +quick to hear, quick to see; it seemed as if he even had the power to +scent danger, as the reed-buck or the buffalo. + +His ears caught nothing but the varied sounds of wild, nocturnal life in +the jungle. The stockade was not more than a hundred paces distant from +the skirting of the forest. Somewhere near at hand a leopard growled, +and a troop of monkeys, frightened out of their wits, could be heard +scrambling through the branches of the trees. Farther away, a pair of +lions were hunting; there is no sound more terrible and haunting than +the quick, panting noise that is given by this great beast of prey as it +follows upon the track of an antelope or deer. Then, far in the +distance, there was a noise, so faint as to be hardly audible, like the +beating of a drum. Crouch knew what it was. Indeed, in these matters +there was little of which he was ignorant. It was a great gorilla, +beating its stomach in passion in the darkness. And that is a sound +before which every animal that lives in the jungle quails and creeps +away into hiding; even the great pythons slide back into the depths of +silent, woodland pools. + +But it was not to the forest that Crouch’s ear was turned. He was +listening for a movement in the hut in which slept the Portuguese +trader, who went by the name of Cæsar. After a while, seeming +satisfied, he crawled on, in absolute silence, in the half-darkness, +looking for all the world like some cruel four-footed beast that had +come slinking from out of the jungle. + +He reached the door of the hut, and crept stealthily in. Inside, he was +not able to see. It was some little time before his eye grew accustomed +to the darkness. + +Then he was just able to discern the long figure of the Portuguese +stretched upon his couch. Half-raising himself, he listened, with his +ear not two inches from the man’s mouth. Cæsar was breathing heavily. +He was evidently fast asleep. + +Still on hands and knees, as silently as ever, Crouch glided out of the +hut. + +Instead of returning by the way he had come, he turned in the opposite +direction, and approached another hut. It was that which belonged to +the half-caste, de Costa, whom he had met five years before in St. Paul +de Loanda. + +Once again he passed in at the door, silently, swiftly, with his knife +still in his teeth. + +This hut was even darker than the other, by reason of the fact that the +door was smaller. Crouch sat up, and rubbed his eyes, and inwardly +abused the universe in general because he was not able to see. + +Suddenly there was a creaking noise, as if some one moved on the bed. +Crouch was utterly silent. Then some one coughed. The cough was +followed by a groan. De Costa sat up in bed. Crouch was just able to +see him. + +The little half-caste, resting his elbows on his knees, took his head +between his hands, and rocked from side to side. He talked aloud in +Portuguese. Crouch knew enough of that language to understand. + +"Oh, my head!" he groaned. "My head! My head!" He was silent for no +longer than a minute; then he went on: "Will I never be quit of this +accursed country! The fever is in my bones, my blood, my brain!" + +He turned over on his side, and, stretching out an arm, laid hold upon a +match-box. They were wooden matches, and they rattled in the box. + +Then he struck a light and lit a candle, which was glued by its own +grease to a saucer. When he had done that he looked up, and down the +barrel of Captain Crouch’s revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN + + +Before de Costa had time to cry out--which he had certainly intended to +do--Crouch’s hand had closed upon his mouth, and he was held in a grip +of iron. + +"Keep still!" said Crouch, in a quick whisper. "Struggle, and you die." + +The man was terrified. He was racked by fever, nerve-shattered and +weak. At the best he was a coward. But now he was in no state of +health to offer resistance to any man; and in the candle-light Crouch, +with his single eye and his great chin, looked too ferocious to +describe. + +For all that the little sea-captain’s voice was quiet, and even +soothing. + +"You have nothing to fear," said he. "I don’t intend to harm you. I +have only one thing to say: if you cry out, or call for assistance, I’ll +not hesitate to shoot. On the other hand, if you lie quiet and silent, +I promise, on my word of honour, that you have nothing whatsoever to +fear. I merely wish to ask you a few questions. You need not answer +them unless you wish to. Now, may I take my hand from your mouth?" + +De Costa nodded his head, and Crouch drew away his hand. The half-caste +lay quite still. It was obvious that he had been frightened out of his +life, which had served to some extent to heighten the fever which so +raged within him. + +"Come," said Crouch; "I’ll doctor you. Your nerves are all shaken. Have +you any bromide?" + +"Yes," said de Costa; "over there." + +He pointed in the direction of a shelf upon the wall, which had been +constructed of a piece of a packing-case. On this shelf was a multitude +of bottles. Crouch examined these, and at last laid hands upon one +containing a colourless fluid, like water, and handed it to the patient +to drink. De Costa drained it at a gulp, and then sank back with a sigh +of relief. + +Crouch felt his pulse. + +"You’re weak," said he, "terribly weak. If you don’t get out of this +country soon you’ll die. Do you know that?" + +"I do," said de Costa; "I think of it every day." + +"You don’t wish to die?" said Crouch. + +"I wish to live." + +There was something pitiful in the way he said that. He almost whined. +Here was a man who was paying the debt that the white man owes to +Africa. In this great continent, which even to-day is half unknown, +King Death rules from the Sahara to the veld. A thousand pestilences +rage in the heart of the great steaming forests, that strike down their +victims with promptitude, and which are merciless as they are swift. It +seems as if a curse is on this country. It is as if before the advance +of civilization a Power, greater by far than the combined resources of +men, arises from out of the darkness of the jungle and the miasma of the +mangrove swamp, and strikes down the white man, as a pole-axe fells an +ox. + +De Costa, though he was but half a European, was loaded with the white +man’s burden, with the heart of only a half-caste to see him through. +Crouch, despite the roughness of his manner, attended at his bedside +with the precision of a practised nurse. There was something even +tender in the way he smoothed the man’s pillow; and when he spoke, there +was a wealth of sympathy in his voice. + +"You are better now?" he asked. + +"Yes," said de Costa; "I am better." + +"Lie still and rest," said Crouch. "Perhaps you are glad enough to have +some one to talk to you. I want you to listen to what I have to say." + +Crouch seated himself at the end of the bed, and folded his thin, +muscular hands upon his knee. + +"I am not a doctor by profession," he began, "but, in the course of my +life, I’ve had a good deal of experience of the various diseases which +are met with in these parts of the world. I know enough to see that +your whole constitution is so undermined that it is absolutely necessary +for you to get out of the country. Now I want to ask you a question." + +"What is it?" said de Costa. His voice was very weak. + +"Which do you value most, life or wealth?" + +The little half-caste smiled. + +"I can see no good in wealth," said he, "when you’re dead." + +"That is true," said Crouch. "No one would dispute it--except +yourself." + +"But I admit it!" said de Costa. + +"You admit it in words," said the other, "but you deny it in your life." + +"I am too ill to understand. Please explain." + +Crouch leaned forward and tapped the palm of his left hand with the +forefinger of his right. + +"You say," said he, "that you know that you’ll die if you remain here. +Yet you remain here in order to pile up a great fortune to take back +with you to Jamaica or Portugal, wherever you intend to go. But you +will take nothing back, because you will die. You are therefore +courting death. I repeat your own words: what will be the use of all +this wealth to you after you are dead?" + +De Costa sat up in his bed. + +"It’s true!" he cried in a kind of groan. + +"H’sh!" said Crouch. "Be quiet! Don’t raise your voice." + +De Costa rocked his head between his knees. + +"It’s true--true--true!" he whined. "I know it. I shall die. I don’t +want this money. I want to live. I--I fear to die." His voice +trembled. He was pitiful to see. + +"You shall not die," said Crouch; "I’ll make it my business to see that +you live. I can’t cure you, but I can keep you alive till we reach the +coast. There, one week on the sea will restore your health." + +"That’s what I want," said de Costa, "the sea air. Oh, for a breath of +the sea!" + +"I’ll take you down with us," Crouch ran on. "I’ll doctor you on the +way. Max Harden is a young man of science. He has studied these +things, and with his knowledge and my experience we’ll pull you through. +In three months from now, I promise you, you shall set eyes upon the +ocean." + +"How glorious!" the poor man cried. He looked into Crouch’s face, and +there were large tears in his eyes. + +"Stay," said Crouch; "I’ve not come here for philanthropic purposes. If +I do this for you, you must do something for me. Otherwise you can stay +here--and die." + +"What is it you want?" + +Crouch bent forward and whispered in the man’s ear, speaking distinctly +and with great deliberation. + +"I want to know what’s inside the padlocked chest that Cæsar keeps in +his hut. Come, out with the truth!" + +On the instant the man sprang out of bed and seized Crouch by the +wrists. He was so little master of himself that hot tears were +streaming down his cheeks. He was shaking in every limb. It was as if +his neck was not strong enough to support his head, which swung round +and round. + +"Not that!" he screamed. "For pity’s sake, not that!" + +"Come," said Crouch; "the truth." + +De Costa drew back. "I daren’t," said he. + +"Why?" + +"Because he--would kill me." + +"Look here, you have to choose between two men," said Crouch: "Cæsar and +myself. Trust me, and I’ll see you through. You told me you had heard +of me before. You may have heard it said that I’m a man who sticks to +his word through thick and thin, once it has been given." + +As Crouch said this he noticed a remarkable change that came on a sudden +upon de Costa’s face. The man’s complexion turned livid; his jaw +dropped; his eyes were staring hard over Crouch’s shoulder, in the +direction of the door. + +Crouch whipped round upon his heel, his revolver in his hand, and found +that he stood face to face with Cæsar. + +"By Christopher," said he, "you’re mighty silent!" + +"And may I ask," said Cæsar, "what you are doing here?" + +Crouch made a motion of his hand towards de Costa, who had sunk down +upon the bed. + +"This man’s ill," said he; "in fact, he’s dying." + +"He is always dying," said Cæsar, "and he never dies. He has the +vitality of a monkey." + +"It doesn’t seem to distress you much," said Crouch. "Since you have +lived together for two years, in a forsaken spot like this, I should +have thought that you were friends." + +Cæsar threw out his hand. + +"Ah," he cried, "we are the best friends in the world--de Costa and +myself." + +He stood looking down upon Crouch, with his white teeth gleaming between +his black moustache and his beard. In that light it was difficult to +see whether he smiled or sneered. There was something mysterious about +the man, and something that was fiendish. + +"And so," he ran on, "Captain Crouch has taken upon himself the duties +of medical officer of Makanda? I’m sure we are much obliged." + +"I have some experience of medicine," said the captain. + +"Indeed," said Cæsar. "And do you always operate with a revolver?" + +For once in his life, Crouch had been caught off his guard. + +"In this country," he said, "I am seldom without one." + +"You are wise," said Cæsar. "I myself am always prepared." + +With a man like Crouch, this kind of verbal sword-play could never last +for long. He was too much a creature of impulse. He liked to speak his +mind, and he hated and mistrusted this thin Portuguese as a mongoose +hates a snake. + +"There are no laws in this country," said he, "and there are certain +times when it’s not a bad principle to shoot at sight. In the civilized +world, a man goes about with his reputation on the sleeve of his coat, +and all men may know him for what he is. But here, in the midst of +these benighted forests, one must often act on instinct. To kill at +sight, that’s the law of the jungle; and when men come here, they’d do +well to leave behind them what they know of other laws respecting life +and property and rights. If I’m wise to carry a revolver, perhaps I’m a +fool because I hesitate to use it." + +Here was a plain speaking, an outright honesty that quite disarmed the +Portuguese. If, hitherto, Cæsar had held the upper hand, Captain Crouch +had now turned the tables. Whether warfare be carried on by words or +amid the clash of arms, the victory lies with him who best knows his +mind. And Captain Crouch did that. It was as if he had thrown a +gauntlet at the tall man’s feet, and defied him to pick it up. + +But Cæsar was never willing to fight. His was a quick, calculating +brain, and he knew that the odds would be against him. Listening +outside the hut, he had overheard the greater part of the conversation +which had taken place between Crouch and the fever-stricken half-caste. +His secret, which he kept under lock and key in the strong chest at the +foot of his bed, he was prepared to guard at every cost. He saw now +that Crouch was an adversary not to be despised. It was necessary for +him to take steps to seal de Costa’s lips. + +Though the man no longer showed it in his face, Cæsar was by no means +pleased at the appearance of the Englishmen. Though he was affable and +polite, all the time he was scheming in his mind how to get rid of them +as quickly as he could. For the present, he decided to bide his time, +hoping that, sooner or later, Fate might play into his hands. Whatever +happened, he was determined that they should not suspect him of any +sinister intention, and on that account it behoved him to keep up an +appearance of friendship. He answered Crouch with all the pleasantry of +manner he had at his command. + +"Captain Crouch," said he, "you are a man after my own heart. I also +respect the laws of the jungle. I have shaken the dust of civilization +from my feet. It is only the strong man who can do so. In you I +recognize an equal." + +In his heart, Crouch stigmatized such talk as this as high-falutin’ +nonsense. Still, he thought it unwise to hatch a quarrel with the man, +and answered with a kind of grunt. + +"I suppose you’re right," said he. + +"And what of our poor invalid?" said Cæsar, turning to de Costa. + +Side by side, these two men, who were already sworn enemies in secret, +bent over the prostrate figure of the half-caste. De Costa lay with one +arm hanging listlessly over the side of the bed. His eyelids were +half-closed, and underneath the whites of his eyes could be seen. When +a man sleeps like that, he is in a bad way. The sands of life are +running down. + +"He’s asleep," said Crouch. "That’s all he wants. The fever has +subsided. He’ll be much better to-morrow. Let us leave him." + +Together they went out. The little sea-captain walked back to his hut, +and threw himself down upon his blankets. As for Cæsar, he remained +standing in the moonlight, with his long fingers playing in his beard. + +For some minutes he remained quite motionless. The silence of the night +was still disturbed by the strange sounds that came from out of the +forest. The man seemed plunged in thought. Presently a soft, moist +nose was thrust into the palm of his hand, and looking down, he beheld +his great dog, which, unable to sleep by reason of the heat, had +followed her master into the moonlight. + +"Gyp," said he, in a soft voice--"Gyp, old friend, how are we to get rid +of these accursed Englishmen?" + +The dog looked up, and licked her master’s hand. + +"Come, Gyp," said Cæsar; "come and think it out." + +He entered his hut, and sat down upon the great, padlocked chest. There, +he took the dog’s head between his knees. She was a Great Dane, and +even larger and more powerful than the majority of her kind. + +"Do you know this, Gyp," said he: "de Costa can’t be trusted? +Fortunately, you and I, Gyp, know a way to make him hold his tongue." + +At that, the man laughed softly to himself. + +Meanwhile, in the other hut, the quick brain of Captain Crouch was not +idle. He had learnt much that night; but the secret was still unsolved. +He had not been slow in discovering the weak point in Cæsar’s line of +defence: the little half-caste could be induced to speak the truth. +That the man was not an ivory trader, Crouch was fully convinced. +Indeed, he could be no sort of trader at all, because there was no +direct line of communication from Makanda to the Coast. Try as he might, +Crouch could find no answer to the riddle; and in the end, like Cæsar, +he resolved to bide his time. + +Before he went to sleep, he awakened Max. + +"Max," said he, "I want you to keep watch till daybreak. Keep your eyes +open, and if any one enters the hut, give him ’hands up’ on the spot." + +"Have you discovered anything?" asked Max. + +"Nothing," said Crouch, "except that de Costa’s our friend’s weak point. +Given half a chance, I will find out the truth from him. But Cæsar +suspects us, as much as we suspect him; and, from what I have seen of +the man, I’m inclined to think that he’ll stick at nothing. We must +never cease to be on our guard. Keep on the alert, and wake me up if +you see or hear anything suspicious." + +At that Crouch turned over on his side, and this time actually fell +asleep. + +Max Harden sat with his back to the wall of the hut, his loaded revolver +in his hand. Through the doorway, above the rampart of the stockade, he +could see the march of the tropical stars, as the Southern Cross dropped +lower and lower in the heavens. As it drew nearer to daybreak, the +sounds of the jungle ceased. Even in these latitudes there is a time, +about an hour before the dawn, when all Nature seems hushed and still; +the great beasts of prey retire to rest, foodless or with their +appetites appeased--more often the first, and it is not before the first +streaks of daybreak are visible in the eastern sky that the large minor +world, of beast and bird and reptile, awakens to the day. + +Max obeyed his orders to the letter. Hour by hour, he remained +perfectly motionless, with every sense on the alert. He was beginning +to think that the fears and suspicions of Crouch were entirely baseless, +when, on a sudden, the eternal stillness was broken by a shriek, +piercing and unearthly, that was lifted from somewhere near at hand. + +Springing to his feet, he rushed forth from the hut. And as he did so, +the shriek was repeated, louder than before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT + + +Max had no difficulty in recognizing whence came these appalling sounds; +for, as he hastened forward, they were repeated, again and again. It +was as if the night were filled with terror, as if some wild, tormented +spirit had been let loose upon the stillness of the jungle. + +From the opened doorway of de Costa’s hut a bright light shone forth, +making a wide, diverging pathway to the foot of the stockade. And in +this pathway two shadows danced like fiends. They were here, there and +everywhere, whilst time and again that piercing shriek went forth. + +Max dashed into the hut, and there was brought to a standstill by the +sight that he beheld. + +On one knee upon the floor, with an arm upraised as if in +self-protection, was the half-caste, de Costa, with abject fear stamped +upon every feature of his face. Still yelping like a cur, flinching +repeatedly for no ostensible reason, he looked up furtively, and into +the face of the man who stood above him. + +This was Cæsar, with the Great Dane snarling at his side. His right arm +was bare to the elbow, and in his hand he held a whip. It was a cruel +whip, if ever there were such a thing. The handle was short, but the +lash was long and tied in many a knot. + +"Drop that!" cried Max; and, without a moment’s thought, he lifted his +revolver and directed the muzzle full at the head of the Portuguese. + +At that the dog crouched low, as if about to spring, and filled the hut +with a growl. + +What happened in the next brief moments cannot be told in a word. The +Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman, who +was borne headlong through the doorway, to fall at full length upon the +ground. Simultaneously, Max’s revolver went off, and the bullet flew +high into the roof. The next thing that he knew of was that both his +hands were pressed tight into the throat of the huge beast that had +pinned him to the ground. Strive as he might, he was not able to rise. +By sheer weight and strength Gyp held him down. + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE +YOUNG ENGLISHMAN."] + +Then the hound was lifted bodily into the air. Max struggled to his +feet, and beheld his uncle, whose great hands grasped the dog by the +scruff of the neck. Harden was holding the animal so that it stood +upright on its hind-legs, and in that position Gyp was little shorter +than he. The dog was almost mad; it snarled like a wild animal, and its +white fangs gleamed in the light. + +The voice of Cæsar sounded sharp, but calm and collected, in the midst +of this turmoil and confusion. + +"Gyp," he cried, "come here!" + +Edward let go his hold, and immediately the dog lay down, growling at +the feet of her master. + +"I should like to know," said Edward, "the cause of this disturbance." + +"A private matter," said Cæsar, "which concerns no one but de Costa and +myself." + +But Max, though he had been overthrown by the dog, who had come upon him +so unexpectedly, was in no mind to let the matter drop. He was so hot +in anger, and his indignation so great, that his lips trembled when he +spoke. + +"Why did you strike that man?" he demanded, pointing to the half-caste. + +"That, I repeat," said the other, "is my affair--and his." + +"Understand," said Max, "that I make it mine. When I entered this room, +this poor wretch was on the floor, and you stood over him, whip in +hand." + +For the first time since they had entered the stockade, they saw the +real man under the calm, black mask that the Portuguese habitually wore. +Setting his brows in a frown, he whipped round upon Max, and spoke in +much the same manner as a cat spits at a dog. + +"You have yet to learn," he cried, "that in this place I am master. I +take orders from no one. In Makanda my word is law. This half-bred cur +is my servant. He knows it, as well as I. He knows, also, that if he +serves me faithfully he will be rewarded. But if he dares to disobey my +orders, he incurs the penalty I choose to inflict. There is my answer; +and I ask you, who are you to come here and presume to dictate to me?" + +"I have no more special mission," answered Max, "than any other who +knows the difference between what is right and wrong. You may be master +here--for all I care you may be master of the whole of Africa--but I am +not going to stand by and see one man flog another for any cause. Raise +that whip again on peril of your life." + +Max dared the man on purpose. The fact was, he would have been glad +enough to shoot. As for Edward, though all this time he had stood by in +silence, his finger had never left the trigger of his revolver. But, +Cæsar was not such a fool as to give either of them the chance they +waited for. He cast his whip upon the ground. + +"After this," said he, "I presume you will avail yourselves of my +hospitality no longer. I shall be glad to see your backs." + +"We shall be only too glad to go," said Max. + +"I put no obstacle in your way," said Cæsar. "It is almost daylight +now." + +Max turned and left the hut, followed by his uncle. Each asked himself +the same question the moment he got out into the open air: where was +Captain Crouch? + +Crouch must have heard the disturbance. The shrieks of the half-caste, +the growling of the dog and the firing of Max’s revolver had been enough +to have awakened the dead. Yet he had never put in an appearance. When +they entered their hut they found him seated cross-legged on the floor, +with his pipe between his teeth. The atmosphere was tainted with the +smell of Bull’s Eye Shag. + +"Where have you been?" asked Edward. + +Crouch never deigned to reply, but, taking his pipe from his lips, asked +a question himself. + +"Did you come to blows?" he said. + +"Practically," said Max, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I found him +thrashing that half-caste within an inch of his life. I threatened him, +and his dog flew at me, and, had it not been for Edward, would have torn +me to bits. We had a kind of an argument, and in the end he told us to +clear out, which we said we were perfectly ready to do." + +Crouch returned his pipe to his mouth. + +"I was afraid of that," said he. + +"Why?" + +"I would like to have stayed here just a little longer. I haven’t +probed the mystery yet. When I saw you two run into de Costa’s hut, I +knew there was going to be trouble. I knew you wouldn’t come out for +some minutes, and I had the chance of a lifetime." + +"Where did you go?" asked Harden. + +"Into Cæsar’s hut," said Crouch, winking with his only eye. "I searched +everywhere, but could find nothing. As I told you before, this man has +a secret, and that secret is locked up in his chest. In Central Africa +a man doesn’t have a chest like that to keep his clothes in. It’s +iron-bound, and locked with three padlocks, and I suppose he keeps the +key in his pocket. It would have been sheer waste of time to have tried +to open it. I couldn’t lift it. It’s as heavy as if it were filled +with lead. That’s why I’m sorry we’ve got to clear out. I mean to +discover what that chest contains." + +"We’ve got to go," said Max. "I wouldn’t stay here another hour for all +the secrets in the universe." + +"You’re quite right," said Crouch. "As the natives say on the Ogowe, ’a +bad man’s bread is poison.’ We’ll sheer off at once." + +Edward went out, and returned in a few minutes with M’Wané and the four +Fans. + +"M’Wané," said Crouch, still seated on the ground, "we’re going back to +Hippo Pool." + +M’Wané smiled as though he were glad to hear it. + +"That is good news," said he. "I do not like this place." + +"Why?" asked Crouch, looking up. + +"We have been told," said M’Wané, "that if we try to leave the camp, we +shall be shot by the Arab men." + +"Have you found out anything?" asked Crouch. + +M’Wané shook his head. + +"I have seen no one," said he. "I know nothing. To speak the truth, I +am afraid." + +In the half-light of morning, the party left the stockade. Their canoe +was moored to the bank of the river, in the place where they had left it +on the afternoon of the day before. They clambered into their places: +Max and his uncle to the stern seat, and Crouch to his old place in the +bows. Then the canoe shot out into mid-stream, and it was not until a +month later that any one of them looked again upon the mysterious +settlement of Makanda. + + + + +CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT + + +It will be remembered that it had taken two and a half days to make the +journey to Makanda from Hippo Pool. They returned in seven and a half +hours, and even then the natives did little work with their paddles. + +The fact was that, from the granite hills that almost surrounded the +station of the Portuguese, a number of small tributaries joined the +Hidden River. In consequence, a great volume of water flowed down to +Hippo Pool. The current became stronger every mile, since the banks +grew nearer together, and several jungle streams joined forces with the +river. The largest of these was the tributary which flowed into Hippo +Pool, along which had lain the latter part of the portage they had made +from Date Palm Island on the Kasai. Harden named this stream +Observation Creek, for a reason which we are just about to explain. + +They camped on the east bank of Hippo Pool, at a place selected by +Crouch. Two courses lay open to them: they had either to remain here +indefinitely, or, leaving their canoe on the Hidden River, to return to +Date Palm Island by the route of their former portage. Never for a +moment had they had any intention of returning to the Kasai until they +had discovered something more definite concerning the mystery of +Makanda. That night, seated around their camp-fire, by the waters of +Hippo Pool, they held a council of war. + +With this place as their base, they were resolved to operate against +Cæsar’s position farther up the river. That afternoon, M’Wané had +climbed to the top of a gigantic cocoanut-tree, some little distance +from the right bank of Observation Creek. Thence he had surveyed the +surrounding country, and it was largely on the information supplied by +M’Wané that Edward Harden drew up the sketch-map which proved so useful +to them throughout the eventful days that followed. + +[Illustration: EDWARD HARDEN’S MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRE-GODS.] + +From that tree-top the broad course of the Kasai had been visible, its +gleaming waters showing here and there, white in the sunlight, to the +north and to the east. To the north-west, the course of the Hidden +River lay comparatively straight to the mangrove swamp where it joined +the larger stream. The rapids began three miles or so below Hippo Pool, +and there, according to M’Wané, the river was foaming white. Lower +still, it entered the Long Ravine, where great bare cliffs rose upright +on either side, and at the end of which was the waterfall of which the +Fans had spoken. On some days, when the wind was from the north, they +could hear the dull roar of the cataract, like thunder in the distance. + +To the south-west, above the tree-tops of the forest, M’Wané had been +able to observe the crest-line of the red granite hills which enclosed +the station of Makanda. Almost due south, from out of the midst of the +forest, like a giant in a stubble-field, a great mountain towered into +the sky. On the northern slopes of this mountain the Fan chief had been +able to discern a little village, lying like a bird’s nest in a +declivity, thousands of feet above the dark, inhospitable forest. One +night, by firelight, on the banks of Hippo Pool, Edward Harden drew the +map on a piece of cartridge paper, though many of the features thus +shown were not filled in until further facts had come to light. + +Their plan of campaign was evolved in the fertile mind of Crouch, though +Max, and even Edward, made several suggestions which the little +sea-captain was only too glad to accept. They named the mountain +Solitude Peak, and it seemed probable that it was in this direction that +the creek found its source. + +They desired, if possible, to reach Makanda without the knowledge of +Cæsar and his Arabs. They did not doubt that they would be able to +overlook the stockade from some eminence in the eastern granite hill. +Now, since it was two and a half days’ journey up the river, it would +take them months to force their way through the jungle to the south. +They decided, therefore, to follow Observation Creek to its source, +which, they hoped, would be somewhere in the vicinity of the mountain. +There they might be able to glean some knowledge at the native village +which M’Wané had seen in the distance. At any rate, they would be able +to survey the surrounding country, and take the most accessible route in +the direction of Makanda. + +However, neither Crouch nor Harden was the man to undertake anything +rashly. Each knew that in Cæsar they had an adversary who was not to be +despised. Before they set forth upon their expedition, they decided to +secure more ammunition and supplies from Date Palm Island, and for this +purpose it was decided that Edward Harden should return to the Kasai +with M’Wané and the Fans. + +Accordingly, the next day the explorer set out, following the route of +their old portage along Observation Creek, and thence through the jungle +to the left bank of the great river opposite Date Palm Island. Edward +thought that he would be able to persuade the Loango boys to carry the +"loads" back to the base-camp at Hippo Pool. Then, if they still feared +to remain in the valley of the Hidden River, they could return to the +Kasai. That night, Crouch and Max were the only two who remained at the +little camp at Hippo Pool. + +The next three days were by no means idle. Game had to be shot in the +forest; there was cooking to be done; they even carried the canoe ashore +and repaired a small leak which had been sprung in her bows. Moreover, +Crouch insisted that one or other of them should always be on watch. +With a good fire burning throughout the night, they had little to fear +from wild beasts. Even the leopard, which is a far more courageous +animal than the lion, must be well-nigh starving before it dares to +approach a camp-fire. What Crouch feared most was a raid on the part of +Cæsar. He knew enough of the tall Portuguese to suspect that the man +would not stay idle whilst the three Englishmen remained in the valley +of the Hidden River. In one of the many canoes they had seen tied up to +the river bank at Makanda, Cæsar could shoot down-stream in the space of +a few hours. There was therefore not an hour of the day or night that +one or the other of them was not seated on the river-bank, rifle in +hand, with his eyes turned towards the southern extremity of Hippo Pool. + +Three days passed, and nothing of importance occurred. It was on the +third night that something happened which was so much in the nature of a +mystery as to be fully in keeping with the character of the whole valley +and the rumours they had heard. Though Captain Crouch had only one eye, +that eye was as the eye of a lynx; and the matter in question is all the +more worthy to relate, since the event first occurred by night, when +Crouch himself was on guard. + +That day Max had shot his first buffalo, about half a mile from camp, on +the southern side of Observation Creek. The meat had been cut into +steaks, and one of these was cooked that night for breakfast in the +morning. Crouch relieved Max on sentry at twelve o’clock, with the +intention of keeping watch till daybreak. As Max turned over to go to +sleep, he distinctly remembered having seen the buffalo-steak on a tin +plate, a few inches from the fire. In the morning this steak was gone. + +Crouch had seen nothing. He was prepared to swear that he had never +been to sleep. Throughout the morning the matter seemed to worry him a +good deal. + +"I can’t make it out," he said, talking to himself, as was his wont. "I +don’t believe any leopard would do it. The beasts are terrified of +fire. A starving leopard might; but no leopard could very well starve +in a valley like this, which positively abounds in game." At various +intervals throughout the day he gave expression to the same opinion. + +That night Max took the first watch, from seven o’clock to twelve. +During that period never once did he relax his vigilance. He sat, hour +by hour, with the fire at his elbow, and his face turned towards the +river. He was thinking that it was nearly time to awaken Crouch, and +had pulled out his watch, when he heard the sound of a breaking twig a +few feet behind him. + +He turned sharply, and was just in time to discern the shadow of some +great beast disappearing into the jungle. His eyes shot back to the +fire, and there he beheld to his amazement that once again their +breakfast had disappeared. He immediately awoke the little sea-captain, +and told him what had happened. + +"Did it look like a leopard?" asked Crouch. + +"No," said Max, "I think it was a lion." + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"I don’t believe it," said he. "The king of beasts is the greatest +coward I know. The most courageous animal in the world is the African +buffalo, and after him come the peccary and the wild boar. All the cats +are cowards, and the lion the biggest of all. Once I was shooting +buzzard on the Zambesi, when I came face to face with a lion, not +fifteen paces from me. I had no one with me, and was armed only with a +shot-gun. What do you think I did?" + +Max laughed. "Ran for it?" he suggested. + +"Not a bit!" said Crouch. "That would have been sheer folly; it would +have showed the brute I feared him. I just dropped down on all-fours, +and walked slowly towards him." + +"Great Scott!" exclaimed Max, unable to restrain his admiration. + +"That lion," said Crouch, "looked straight at me for about three +seconds, and then quietly turned round and walked away, swishing the +flies from his body with his tail. As soon as he thought he was out of +sight, he broke into a gallop. It was beneath his dignity, I suppose, +to let me see he was frightened. He had got to live up to his +reputation." + +"Is that actually true?" asked Max. + +"As true as I’m standing here. All lions are naturally frightened of +anything they can’t understand. That particular animal couldn’t make me +out, didn’t like the look of me; so he just walked away. The lions in +this valley can have had little or no experience of white men. I +therefore refuse to believe that our breakfast has been stolen by a +lion. Shall I tell you who I believe is the culprit?" + +"Who?" asked Max. + +"Gyp," said Crouch; "Cæsar’s dog. Cæsar himself could hardly have got +here by now. Yesterday afternoon I reconnoitred some way up the river, +and saw no signs of a canoe. But the dog could have found its way +through the jungle. It seems improbable, no doubt; but I can think of +no better explanation." + +Indeed, this was the only solution of the matter, and they resolved to +be upon their guard. + +The following day they determined to explore the rapids. They were +already acquainted with the river-valley between Hippo Pool and Makanda, +but as yet they knew nothing of the country which lay between their camp +and the mangrove swamp on the Kasai. M’Wané, from the cocoanut-tree, +had caught sight of the Long Ravine, which ended in the waterfall of +which the natives had told them, the dull roar of which was frequently +audible at Hippo Pool when the wind was in the right direction. They +did not expect Edward back for some days, and each was of the +disposition that chafes under the restraint of inaction. + +Accordingly, soon after daybreak they launched the canoe, and taking +with them three days’ supplies and a quantity of ammunition, they shot +down-stream to the north. The descent of the river was easy enough. +Throughout the journey Crouch kept his eye on the current. Since this +grew stronger and stronger as they progressed, he did not desire to go +too far, knowing full well that the return journey would be by no means +easy to accomplish. + +At a place where the river was exceedingly narrow, and the jungle on +either bank even more dense and tangled than usual, they heard, on a +sudden, the crashing of undergrowth in the forest, as if some great +beast were flying for its life. A moment later a leopard sprang clear +from the river bank. For a second the beast was poised in mid-air, its +legs extended at full length, its ears lying back, its superb coat +dazzling in the sunlight. Then it came down into the water with a +splash. + +For a few strokes it swam straight for the canoe. Max carried his rifle +to the shoulder and fired. The beast was hit, for it shivered from head +to tail, and then turned round and swam back to the bank whence it had +come. As it crawled forth, dripping, with its head hanging low between +its fore-legs, the great snout of a crocodile uprose from out of the +water, and the huge jaws snapped together. + +Crouch, who was steering, ran the canoe into the bank, and a moment +later both he and Max, their rifles in their hands, had set out into the +semi-darkness of the jungle. + +They had no difficulty in following the leopard’s spoor. The beast was +badly wounded and very sick. Every hundred yards or so it lay down to +rest, and when it heard them approaching, rose and went on with a growl. + +Presently it led them into a marsh--which Edward Harden afterwards +called Leopard Marsh--where they sank knee-deep in the mud. There were +no trees here. In the middle of the marsh, lying in a few inches of +water, was the wounded leopard, wholly unable to rise. + +"He’s yours," said Crouch. "I’ll stand by in case you miss." + +Max lifted his rifle, took careful aim, and fired. On the instant, with +a savage screech, the leopard rose with a jerk. For a moment it stood +upon its hind-legs, rampant, its fore-feet fighting in the air. Then it +came down, as a stone drops, and lay quite still. + +Max felt the flush of triumph that every hunter knows. His blood +tingled in his veins. He was about to rush forward, to gloat upon his +prize, when from somewhere near in the forest a shot rang out, and a +bullet splashed into the moist ground at Max’s feet. + + + + +CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER + + +Crouch’s voice was lifted in a shout. "Run for your life!" he cried. + +Together they went floundering through the mire. They had to run the +gauntlet for a distance of little more than a hundred paces; but, by +reason of the nature of the ground, their progress was necessarily slow, +and before they had gained the cover afforded by the jungle, several +bullets had whistled past them, and Crouch was limping badly. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Max. + +"Hit in the leg," said the little captain, as if it were a trifle. +"There ’re no bones broken, but I’m bleeding like a pig." + +"Let me look at it," said Max. "The artery may be cut." + +They were now well screened by trees. It was impossible that any one +could come upon them unawares. Max took his knife from his pocket, +ripped open the seam of the captain’s trousers, and examined the wound. +The artery was untouched, but there was an ugly wound in the thigh, +which had evidently been made by an enormously heavy bullet. + +"Cæsar’s elephant-gun," said Crouch. "By Christopher, I’ll make him pay +for this!" + +"Are you sure of that?" said Max. + +"Yes," said Crouch. "I caught sight of something white moving among the +trees. I knew at once that Cæsar was there with his Arabs." + +Meanwhile, with quick fingers, Max was folding his handkerchief +lengthwise for a bandage. + +"Wait a bit," said Crouch. "I’ll soon stop that flow of blood. I’ve a +special remedy of my own." Whereupon he produced his tobacco-pouch; and +before Max could stop it, he had taken a large plug of his vile, black +tobacco, dipped it into a puddle of water, and thumbed the lot into the +open wound, as a man charges a pipe. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Max, with memories of his hospital days. +"You’ll get septic poisoning! You can’t do that!" + +Crouch looked up. There was a twinkle in his only eye. + +"So much for science," said he. "When you get back to London, you can +tell the doctors they’re wrong. If it amuses ’em to play with +antiseptics--and they’re fond of the smell of carbolic--they’re welcome +to do what they like. As for me, I’ve used this remedy for twenty +years, and I’m not inclined to try another." + +Max looked worried. He was convinced that Crouch would die of +blood-poisoning, and was beginning to wonder how, in that benighted, +tropical forest, he was going to amputate the captain’s leg. + +"Don’t you fret," said Crouch, tying the bandage himself. "Maybe, one +brand of tobacco’s not so good as another. It’s my belief that if they +cut off your head, you could stick it on again with Bull’s Eye Shag." By +then he had got to his feet. "Come on," said he; "this man won’t let us +get away if he can help it. Follow me." + +So saying, he plunged into the jungle, and though he was now limping +like a lame dog, it was all Max could do to keep up with him. + +Time and again he dived through what had looked like impenetrable +thickets. He seemed to know by instinct where to go. He avoided +quagmires. He sprang over fallen trees. He wormed his way through +creepers, the branches of which were thick as ropes. + +Frequently he stopped to listen, and sometimes placed his ear to the +ground. + +"They’re after us!" he cried once. He pulled out his compass and looked +at it. "We must get back to the canoe," he said. "The river’s to the +east." + +Soon after they struck what to all intents and purposes was a path. It +was, in fact, the "run" of some wild animals, and doubtless led to the +place where they were in the habit of drinking. It was no more than two +feet across; and about four feet from the ground the undergrowth from +either side met in a kind of roof; so that they found themselves in a +tunnel, along which, if they stooped sufficiently, they were able to +make good headway. + +Suddenly Crouch, who was still leading, stopped dead, and held his rifle +at the ready. Max stopped, too, and listened. + +Something was moving in the jungle. They heard distinctly a quick, +panting sound, coming nearer and nearer. + +"There!" cried Crouch. "Shoot!" + +He pointed down the tunnel, in the direction they had come. Max turned, +and beheld the head of a great beast thrust through the leaves of some +creeping plant that bound the trunks of two trees together in a kind of +lattice-work. + +It is unfortunate that the mind cannot retain a complete recollection of +scenes that have momentarily impressed us. Most of us, when asked to +describe in every detail even the most familiar objects, fall very short +of the mark. How much more so must this be the case when we look upon +something for no longer than a second, and then it is no more. + +Max will never forget that moment. He remembers the main features of +the scene, but there were a thousand and one details, which impressed +him at the time, that he is no longer able to remember. + +The semi-darkness of the jungle; the moist ground whereon he stood, +where multi-coloured orchids showed like little evil faces in the +twilight; the tangled undergrowth; and in places, like peep-holes +through which the daylight streamed, the shadows of the tall trees +towering high above. The scene, in its luxury and darkness, stood for +all that is savage, for all that is Africa--the country where the white +man ventures at his peril. And if anything were needed to complete this +strong suggestion of the wild, it was the great head and white, gleaming +fangs of the unknown beast which, half invisible, seemed as if it were +the unholy spirit of the place. On the spur of the moment, Max lifted +his rifle and fired. + +"Well done!" cried Crouch, who brushed past his elbow. + +A moment later they found themselves kneeling on either side of the +prostrate and lifeless figure of Gyp. + +"There lies our thief," said Crouch; "and the thief’s master ’s not so +far away." + +Max felt profoundly sorry in his heart that he had killed so magnificent +a creature. If the dog had hunted them, she had been told to do so by +her master. The only crime which could be laid to the account of the +Great Dane was obedience to Cæsar. + +They remained by the body of the dog no longer than a few seconds, and +after that they pushed on upon their way, still following the course of +the tunnel, or "run." At length, when least they expected it, they +found themselves at the water’s edge, at the place where the rapids were +inordinately swift. + +The water foamed and swirled upon its way, lashing the banks, forming +little whirlpools in mid-stream, and bounding in waves over the trunks +of trees which had fallen into the river. + +"Sit down," said Crouch. "There’s no hurry. We may as well talk +matters out." + +Max looked at his companion. Now that they were in the sunlight, he was +able to see Crouch’s face. He was alarmed to notice that the little +captain looked haggard and drawn. His lips were pressed together, as +though he were in pain, and his only serviceable eye was puckered and +screwed up. Seeing Max’s anxiety, he did his best to smile. + +"The Bull’s Eye ’s beginning to work," said he. + +"How do you mean?" asked Max. + +"After a bit it begins to smart. It smarts for about three days, and +then the blamed thing’s healed. Sit down, my boy. This man Cæsar +annoys me. I want to think it out." + +They seated themselves at the river bank, and Crouch kept an ear towards +the jungle, in order to be warned if any one should approach. + +"What about the canoe?" asked Max. + +"It’s up-stream," said the other, with a nod of the head. "If we work +our way along the bank, we can’t miss it. To tell you the truth, I want +a rest; I feel queer. And, besides, I want to think." + +Max asked him what was on his mind. + +"Cæsar," said he. "I should like to know how the man managed to get +here." Then he went on, thinking aloud, as was his custom. "There may +be a path through the jungle; but I doubt if even then he would have +been able to come this distance on foot. And yet his canoe never passed +Hippo Pool, or we should have seen it--that’s sure enough." Then, on a +sudden, he slapped his knee. "By Christopher," he cried, "I have it! I +remember!" + +"You remember what?" asked Max. + +"About half-way between the Pool and Makanda I remember seeing the +entrance of a little back-water, on the left bank of the river. That +back-water probably rejoins the river somewhere about here. It’s all as +plain as a pikestaff. He has come north by the back-water, which +accounts for us not having seen him pass through Hippo Pool. The end of +that back-water is either between here and the place where we left the +canoe, or else farther down-stream. Come," said Crouch, "we’ll get the +better of this rascal. Perhaps, for once, Fortune will play into our +hands." + +He struggled to his feet, but immediately turned pale, and was obliged +to support himself against the trunk of a tree. + +"I feel mighty dizzy," he said. "I’ve lost a deal of blood." + +"You had better stay here," said Max; "I’ll work along the bank until I +find the canoe, and then come back to you. I don’t like leaving you, +but there’s nothing else to be done. Perhaps the canoe is not far +away." + +"It’s farther than you think," said Crouch; "that tunnel took us almost +due north. Besides, I can tell by the water. The rapids are pretty +strong; we can’t be far from the ravine." + +"Will we be able to paddle against it, do you think?" asked Max. + +Crouch looked at the river. + +"Yes," said he. "My arms are all right, though I’ve gone wrong in the +leg. You get off, and come back here as quickly as you can. If you see +Cæsar, shoot." + +At that Max set off alone. He soon found it impossible to make any +progress on the actual bank of the river, since here, by reason of the +moisture that was in the ground, the vegetation was so dense and tangled +that a weasel would have found some difficulty in making any headway. +He soon found, however, that by moving about thirty yards from the river +bank, he could make his way southward with tolerable ease. From time to +time he forced his way to the river’s edge, and looked both up-stream +and down, to note if he could see any sign of the canoe. + +The sun was in the mid-heavens, and the heat intense. The jungle was +alive with sounds. The evening before there had been a heavy shower of +rain, and now the vapour rose like steam, and the moisture dropped from +the trees. To his left he could hear the roar of the rapids as the +river plunged upon its way, and this served to guide him, making it +possible for him to hold his course parallel to the river bank. He was +followed by a swarm of insects that droned and buzzed in his ears. The +perspiration fell from his forehead in great drops, and frequently he +found himself caught and held fast by strong, hook-like thorns. + +Presently the forest opened. It was like coming out of a darkened room +into the light. For a moment he was unable to see. During that moment +he fancied he heard a sound quite near to him--a sound of something that +moved. Looking about him, he discovered that he was standing in long +reeds which reached almost to his chest. To his right, the trees of the +forest were extended in a kind of avenue, and at their feet was a +narrow, swiftly-flowing stream. + +He had discovered Cæsar’s back-water. Moreover, he had discovered +Cæsar’s canoe, for there it was, its bows just visible, peeping through +the reeds. + + + + +CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE + + +Max took in the situation at a glance. If Cæsar had come north from +Makanda by way of the back-water, he had not passed their canoe on the +Hidden River. Two courses lay open to Max: he might cross the +back-water in Cæsar’s canoe, and pursue his journey on foot; or he might +take this canoe and go down to Crouch, about whom he was anxious. The +latter was undoubtedly the wiser course to pursue. In the heart of +Africa, one canoe is as good as another; and, besides, by taking Cæsar’s +canoe he would be paying off old scores. + +Having come to this conclusion, he looked about him for a suitable way +by which to approach the canoe. He had not taken one step in the right +direction, when he discovered to his dismay that the reeds were growing +in a bog, into which one leg sank deep before he was able to recover his +footing on dry land. + +Still, he had every reason to be hopeful. If the Portuguese and his +party had disembarked at this place, there was clearly a way of getting +into the canoe. For all that, search as he might among the reeds, he +could not find it, and at last he retired to the top of the bank. + +No sooner had he got there than he discovered that for which he had been +looking. A tall tree had fallen in the forest, and the roots were half +in the water. The canoe had been moored under the lee of this. On each +side of the fallen tree the reeds grew so high that the trunk was half +hidden from view. + +This tree formed a sort of natural pier, or landing-stage, along which +it was possible to walk. Max stepped upon the trunk, and walked towards +the canoe. Fearing that if he jumped into it he would knock a hole in +the bottom, he lowered himself to a sitting position, and then +remembered that he had not untied the painter at the bows. He always +looks upon his next action as the most foolish thing he ever did in his +life. He left his rifle in the canoe, and returned along the tree-trunk +to untie the bows. + +It was then that he was seized from behind. Some one sprang upon him +from out of the reeds. Two strong arms closed about his chest, and he +was lifted bodily from off his feet. + +Putting forth his strength, he managed to twist himself round, seizing +his adversary by the throat. + +He had been set upon by one of Cæsar’s Arabs. The Portuguese himself +was doubtless still searching in the jungle for Crouch and Max, and no +doubt he had left this fellow in charge of his canoe. Fortunately, the +man was not armed; otherwise, Max would have been murdered. As it was, +he realized from the start that his life was in imminent danger. + +The man was possessed of the strength of all his race. His arms, though +thin, were sinewy, and his muscles stood out like bands of whip-cord as +he strove to gain the upper hand. Max was at a disadvantage, since he +wore boots; whereas the Arab with his bare feet had the better foot-hold +on the trunk of the fallen tree. Still, even he could not retain his +balance for long, with the young Englishman flying at his throat like a +tiger. The man had a beard, and Max, laying hold of this, forced his +head backwards, so that they both fell together into the mud. + +During that fall Max’s head struck the bows of the canoe. For a moment +he was dazed, half stunned. He relaxed his hold of his opponent, and +thereafter he lay at the mercy of the Arab. + +If we make an exception of the Chinese, the Arab is in all probability +the cruellest man we know of. He is possessed of an almost fiendish +cunning. His courage no one will dispute. To his children he is a kind +father; to those who know and understand him he is a good friend; he is +one of the most hospitable men in the world. But to his enemies he is +relentless. He has none of the barbarity of the savage races, like the +Zulus or the Masai. He is refined, even in his cruelty. Above all, he +is a man of brains. + +Because of their craftiness, their cunning and their courage, the Arab +races have existed from the very beginnings of time. We read in the +most ancient history that exists--in the history of the Pharaohs--of how +the Egyptian towns in the valley of the Nile were walled against the +incursions of the Arabs. Long before the Persians came to Egypt, no man +dared venture far into the desert because of the Bedouin bands. And that +was when the world was in its cradle, when just the valleys of two +rivers--the one in Asia and the other in Egypt--were able to produce the +rudiments of the civilization of the future. That was, perhaps, eight +thousand years ago. + +Since then--and before then--the Arab has been feared. The Negro races +have bowed down before him, as dumb animals obey a superior +intelligence. In this, above all things, had the Portuguese been wise; +he had formed his bodyguard of those men who for centuries have been the +stern, implacable rulers of the great, mysterious continent. + +Max never lost possession of his senses; he was only dazed. And, whilst +in that condition, he was lifted in the strong arms of the Arab, and +thrown bodily into the canoe. When he was sufficiently recovered to +endeavour to rise to his feet, he found that he was in mid-stream, +drifting rapidly towards the river. He looked about him for a paddle, +and seeing none, turned his eyes to the bank. And there stood the Arab, +in his mud-stained garments, his white teeth showing in his swarthy face +in a broad, unholy grin. Moreover, in both hands, he held the paddles +which he had taken from the canoe. + +Max recognized, as in a flash, that his fate was in the hands of a +greater Power than himself. He snatched up his rifle, and endeavoured +to steer with the butt. That had the effect of turning the canoe a +little, but the current was too strong, and he was borne onwards. + +Twenty yards farther, and the canoe would turn the corner and shoot out +into the river, where the rapids foamed and lashed. At one time the +bows brushed the tall reeds which were growing from the water. Max, +dropping his rifle, seized the only one of these that was within his +grasp. He held it for no longer than a second--an agonizing moment that +seemed eternity--and then the reed was drawn out by its roots from the +soft mud beneath the water. + +The canoe was launched into the rapids at a bound. The current struck +it sideways, and sent it round like a top. For a moment it was like +some blind, excited animal that knows not whither it means to go, and +then it shot down-stream like an arrow from the bow. + +Max became aware of a kind of singing in his head. This may have been +caused by the blow which he had received, or else by the manner in which +the canoe was now whirled round and round upon the tide. The whole +scene about him became blurred and indistinct. The great, white-hot sky +above him was like a sheet of fire. He saw the trees on either bank fly +past like armies of dark, gigantic spectres. At such times as this, it +is as if the brain becomes unhinged; we think of strange, and often +foolish things, of no consequence soever. Max saw a large dragonfly, of +all the colours in the rainbow. Even then he admired its beauty and +coveted its wings. The latter thought was natural, but the first was +strange. And the next thing he knew of was Crouch shouting and waving +his arms upon the bank. In a few moments Max had shot down the river to +the place where he had left the little captain, though it had taken him +more than two hours to force his way to the back-water through the +density of the jungle. + +"Paddle!" Crouch was crying. "Paddle for your life! Bring her in to +the bank." + +Just then the canoe was steady, shooting downward like a dart. Max +raised his hands to his lips and shouted back. + +"I’ve no paddles!" he cried. + +He saw Crouch break into the jungle. The little sea-captain threw +himself into the thickets like a madman. Once again, only for an +instant, Max caught sight of him. He was fighting his way down-stream +along the river bank like some ferocious beast. The long arm of a +creeper barred his way, and Crouch wrenched it from the tree to which it +clung with a strength that was almost superhuman. And then he was lost +to view. + +Max looked down into the water, and saw at once that it would be +impossible to reach the bank by swimming. He had never been a strong +swimmer, and in such a current as this no one could hope to prevail. On +hands and knees, he crawled to the other end of the canoe, and +immediately the thing swung round again, like a gate upon its hinges. + +He was now calm enough to think the matter out. If he tried to swim to +the shore the odds would be a hundred to one against him. There was +still a chance that the canoe might be driven into the bank. He was +determined to keep his head, to be ready to spring ashore, should the +opportunity occur, and lay hold upon the first thing that fell to his +reach. + +As he sat and waited, whilst the seconds flew, his heart sank within +him. The river narrowed. Black, ugly-looking rocks sprang up, like +living things in mid-stream, and before him opened the ravine. + +He saw its great walls rising, smooth and sheer, on either side of the +river, and fading away in the distance, in the thick haze of the +steaming, tropic day. He was fascinated by the rocks. He marvelled +every instant that the canoe was not dashed to atoms. The surface of +the water was now white with foam, in the midst of which the black rocks +glistened in the sunlight. The canoe would rush towards one of these, +as some swift beast of prey hurls itself upon its victim; and at the +eleventh hour it would be whipped aside to go dancing, leaping on. + +The ravine was like one of the pits we read of in Dante’s _Inferno_. Its +walls were precipitous and white, glaring in the sunshine. This was the +gate that guarded the Hidden Valley. + +Max had a sensation of passing through a railway-cutting in an express +train. Little objects upon the steep banks--perhaps straggling plants, +sprung from seeds which had fallen from above--were blurred and +indistinct, flashing past like may-flies in the sunlight. There was the +same rattling noise in his ears, quite distinguishable from the roar of +the water beneath his feet. + +For a moment he buried his face in his hands. A hundred thoughts went +galloping through his brain, not one of which was complete. One gave +place to another; there was no gap between them; they were like the +films on a cinematograph. + +And then came a murmuring in his ears which was something apart from the +rattling sound we have mentioned, and the loud roar of the rapids. He +looked up, with a white face, and listened. It seemed his heart had +ceased to beat, and breathing consisted of inspiration only. The +murmuring grew into a roar, and the roar into a peal of thunder--the +cataract was ahead! + + + + +CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT + + +As the canoe rushed forward, Max Harden recognized himself for lost; he +realized there was no hope. Resolved to meet his fate with all the +fortitude he could command, he was yet sufficiently unnerved to stand +upright in the canoe, which so rocked and swayed that he balanced +himself with difficulty. + +It was then that he looked down upon what seemed certain death. The +river ended abruptly, as a cliff falls sheer to the sea. The walls of +the ravine were folded back to the east and to the west, and between, +the water went over the cataract in one long, unbroken wave. + +Far below, extending to the north, was a broad plain, dotted here and +there with trees which, in the haze of the tropic heat, appeared +indistinct and restless, like weeds and pebbles at the bottom of deep, +discoloured water. Beyond that were the broad, gleaming waters of the +Kasai, rolling north-westward to the Congo. + +Max looked up to the wide, burning sky. In that mad, headlong moment he +offered up a prayer. The roar of the waters thundered in his ears. The +canoe over-shot the crest of the cataract, as a swallow dips upon the +wing. Max was conscious of a bursting in his head. There was a noise +in his ears as if all chaos were rushing in upon him; it was as if he +were an atom in the midst of an upheaval of the worlds. And then he +remembered no more. + + ———— + +Now that the Hidden Valley has been explored, and is even shown upon +some of the large scale maps that have recently been issued by the Royal +Geographical Society, those whose pleasure it is to study such matters +are well acquainted with the formation of the country. + +The river finds its source in the unknown mountains to the south of +Makanda; thence it flows due north towards the Kasai. South of the +waterfall the basin consists of a hard, impervious rock. In the region +of the jungle, this rock is covered by about ten feet of fertile +subsoil: in some places a black, glutinous mud; in others, a red, loamy +clay, containing a super-abundance of plant food. At the Long Ravine +the rock rises to the surface, in what geologists call an "out-crop." +North of the cataract lies a great plain of mud. + +This phenomenon is merely what is found in every waterfall in the world. +The river at the top of the falls flows over hard, impermeable rock; at +the foot is found a softer stratum--such as chalk or clay--which is +easily washed away. Originally, far back in the centuries, there was no +waterfall at all. The river flowed on an even course from Makanda to +the Kasai. Very soon, however, the current swept away vast tracts of +mud to the north of the waterfall. This mud was carried by the Kasai to +the Congo, and thence to the sea. In consequence, a tract of country, +many square miles in area, gradually descended lower and lower. On the +other hand, in the hard rock of the ravine, the river worked more +slowly, so that, at last, the cataract was formed. + +At the foot of the falls is a great pool in which the water is +exceedingly deep, and round which the current spends its fury in many +whirlpools, such as may be seen in a mill-pond when the flood-gates are +opened to their full extent. + +Having thus briefly explained the conformation of the country in the +lower valley of the Hidden River, it is now necessary to return to +Captain Crouch. The effort made by the little wizened sea-captain upon +that eventful morning is worthy to rank with anything that was ever told +by the poets of classic days. Had it not been for his indomitable will, +he could never have accomplished a feat that was almost superhuman. +Edward Harden had said that he believed that he was the only person whom +Crouch cared for in the world. That might have been true at the time, +but certain it is that the captain thought well of Max, else he had +never accomplished what he did. + +He was already wounded; even he himself had owned he was in pain. And +yet, mile upon mile, he broke his way through the jungle, fighting +onward amid the profusion of the forest, like one who was raving mad. +Often he sank to his waist in marsh. His clothes were torn to shreds by +thorns. His face and hands were red with blood which had mingled with +the perspiration that streamed from every pore. When he came forth from +the forest, at the head of the ravine, he looked hardly human--the most +desperate being it were possible to picture. + +For all that he dashed on, across the bare rocks, in the blazing heat of +the sun. There was nothing now to impede him, and he raced upon his +way, never pausing for breath. He was half-naked; he had left the +greater part of his clothes upon the thorn-trees in the jungle. His +pith helmet was askew, and battered and out of shape. He had used his +Remington rifle as a club to beat his way through the thickets, had +broken it off at the small of the butt, and now held the barrel in his +hand. His legs were bare to the knee, like those of an urchin, and so +clotted with blood that he looked like a savage who had dyed his skin. +Sometimes he stumbled, and seemed in danger of falling; but each time he +braced himself up, struck himself upon the chest, and went on even +faster than before. + +When he came to the end of the ravine he turned to the west, and there +found a place where he could climb down to the low-lying flats. It was +then approaching sunset. The heat of the day was past. + +At about half-way down the incline he paused, and lifted the palm of his +hand to screen his only eye. For some minutes he scanned the plain, and +then on a sudden he gave vent to a loud cry of exultation, and bounded +down the hill. Far in the distance, high and dry upon a mud-bank, he +had caught sight of a small speck, which he knew for a human being. + +It took him more than half an hour to reach this place. By then it was +nearly dusk. Bending down over the drenched, motionless form, he +thought at first that Max was dead. He could feel no beating of the +heart. + +Still, Crouch was not the man to despair. Moreover, in the days when he +had sailed the seas, he had had experience in the resuscitation of the +drowned. + +Without delay he set to work. He lifted the body so that the water +poured from the mouth of the unconscious man. He then seated himself +upon the ground at Max’s head, and worked both arms like the handles of +a pump. + +The sun set and a full moon arose, which traced a silvery pathway across +the great wasteland that extended both to the east and to the west, as +far as the eye could reach. Here and there lonely, stunted trees showed +like sentinels upon the plain. The only sound that disturbed the +stillness of the night was the dull, continuous roar of the cataract to +the south. Here was no sign of animal life. In the daytime the +marshland was thronged with birds, but these now were silent. It would +be impossible to imagine a place more desolate and weird. It seemed not +of the world, or, if it were, of some forgotten country, buried for ever +beyond the reach of progress and the influence of man. + +Hour after hour Crouch held to his task. The sweat poured from his +forehead, the blood still issued from his wounds, but never for a moment +did he cease. + +At last he stopped, and placed an ear to Max’s chest. Thereupon, he +went on again, more feverishly than ever. + +Soon after that, a quick cry escaped his lips. He had looked into Max’s +face, and seen the eyelids flicker; and presently, two eyes were staring +in his face. And at that the little man just toppled forward in a +faint, and lay upon his face across the body which his efforts had +brought back to life. + +Without doubt, the mind is master of the body, and the will is king of +the mind. One had but to glance into the face of Captain Crouch to see +that he was possessed of a will of iron. The strong brows, the firm +mouth, the great hatchet chin--these had not been given him for naught. +He may have had the strength of Hercules; yet he had never accomplished +his journey down the river, had it not been for the indomitable strength +of his mind. And now that he realized that the victory was his, that +his efforts had been crowned with success, the will, on a sudden, +relinquished its task, as a helmsman gives way to his successor at the +wheel--and Crouch fell forward in a faint. + +At dawn, the sun found them lying together on the mud, and by the warmth +of its rays set the blood coursing more freely in their veins. + +Max was the first to revive. He tried to lift himself, but found that +he was not able to do so, because of the weight of Crouch’s body on his +chest. He fell back again, and lay for some time with opened eyes, +staring upward at the sky. + +He saw the colours change in the heavens. He heard the cries of the +birds upon the marsh. Then, once again, he struggled to an elbow. + +With difficulty he lifted Crouch; and then, looking into the captain’s +face, he wondered where he was, and how it had come about that they two +were stranded, side by side, in the midst of surroundings with which he +was wholly unfamiliar. + +Then he remembered, by degrees. The struggle with the Arab in the +back-water--his headlong rush throughout the length of the rapids--the +vision he had had of Crouch, frantic on the bank. And then--the ravine, +and at the end, the cataract--the thunder of the water--the rushing in +his ears. + +The truth was not difficult to guess; indeed, there was no other +explanation. He tried to rise to his feet, but could not do so. At +that, he lay back again, to rest, and gave silent thanks in his heart to +Divine Providence by means of which he had been saved as by a miracle. +He had undergone the sensations of death, and yet he lived. + +He had lain quite still and motionless, it may have been for an hour, +when Crouch sat up and looked about him. And when he had taken in the +scene, he let fall the following irrelevant remark-- + +"I’ve lost my pipe," said he. + +He then got to his feet, and walking to the water’s edge--which was but +a few feet distant--he knelt down, scooped the water in his hands, and +drank. + +Then he returned to Max, and seated himself by his side. + +"Feeling queer?" he asked. + +Max answered that he was very weak. + +"Your strength ’ll return," said Crouch; "but you must have some cover +for your head." + +He took off his coat, which was nothing but a bundle of tatters, and +rolling this into a kind of turban, he placed it upon Max’s forehead to +protect him from the heat of the sun. Then he went back to the water’s +edge, washed the blood from his face and hands, and bathed the back of +his neck. As he returned, he found the barrel of his broken rifle, and +stooped and picked it up. + +"Look at that!" said he. "That was once the best rifle in this forsaken +continent. Not worth its weight as scrap-iron!" + +"I suppose," said Max, "you’ll be offended if I try to thank you?" + +"You suppose right," said Crouch. "Do you feel able to walk?" + +"I think so." + +"You don’t," said the captain. "There’s no hurry." Then he began to +think aloud. "If we work up-stream," said he, "we’ll be on the wrong +side of the river. By now Cæsar will have found our canoe. We’re not +armed; we have no food. There are precisely three ways in which we +might die: first, starvation; second, Cæsar; third, a buffalo. The +first’s a certainty. Both of us are too weak to swim the river at Hippo +Pool--to say nothing of crocodiles. On the other hand, if we go +down-stream, walking will be easy till we get to the mangrove swamp. +Have you got a knife?" + +Max felt in his pockets, and produced the article in question. Crouch +looked at it. + +"That’ll do," said he. "With this we should be able to dig out a canoe, +and make a couple of paddles. If we don’t die at the job, we ought to +work our way up to Date Palm Island. As soon as you’re ready, we’ll +start." + +"I’m ready now," said Max. + +"Then come along," said Crouch. + +The mud lay in ridges, which had been baked hard by the sun. Between +these the water lay in long pools which, as they progressed farther to +the north, became more and more still, less disturbed by the current +that issued from the falls. Crouch patted his clothes as he limped +along. + +"I’ve lost every blamed thing," said he; "pipe, pouch and baccy, +compass, knife and ammunition." + +Max answered nothing. He thought it would not be wise to sympathize. +Crouch was a peculiar man in many ways. + +Soon after midday they came to the mangrove swamp; and the crossing of a +mangrove swamp is a thing that most African explorers have accomplished. +The roots of the short, stunted trees stand out upon the surface of the +water. It is necessary to pass by way of these, stepping from one root +to another; and some knowledge of the art of balancing is utterly +essential. If you lose your foothold, you fall into the swamp, and +there you are set upon by leeches. Some of these are large--sometimes +as large as snails--but the kind generally met with is an animal so +small that it can work its way through the eye-holes of your boots. +Once this creature has laid hold upon your skin, and begun to suck your +blood, it begins to swell until it has attained the size of a cherry. + +At the edge of the mangrove swamp Crouch and Max took off their boots, +and hung these across their shoulders. With bare feet they could get a +better footing upon the twisted roots of the trees. + +For three hours they journeyed through the swamp, which was buried in +semi-darkness. It was far darker than the jungle. It is in these +swamps that the mosquitoes swarm in myriads, and all the deadly diseases +of the country are engendered. To pitch a standing camp in the vicinity +of a mangrove swamp, is to court a certain death from malaria or +typhoid. + +They were weary, faint, and aching in their bones when they came upon +the banks of the Kasai. No wonder this had been named the "Hidden +River." It joined the great tributary of the Congo in a thousand little +streams, all flowing silently through darkness beneath the close-packed +trees. + +Crouch turned to the right. He had been bearing to the east throughout, +and in a little while they were clear of the swamp, on terra firma. +Seating themselves, they put on their boots. + +"By Christopher," said Crouch, "I’m weak! I don’t fancy making that +canoe with a jackknife." + +"Nor I," said Max. "But we’ll do it." + +Crouch laughed. + +"We will," said he, but his face was white as a ghost. Then he sat bolt +upright and listened. "What’s that?" he cried. + +Faint in the distance was a gentle, scraping sound, which grew louder +and louder as the minutes passed. Max at first could not believe the +evidence of his ears. He waited expectantly, and at last heard a +rippling sound, that was like the laughter of a child. He sprang to his +feet, and rushing to the water’s edge, looked up-stream, shading his +eyes with his hand. It was, indeed, the truth--a long canoe was +swinging down upon the tide. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN + + +A minute later they saw that the canoe was manned by six of their own +Loango boys, who made the blades of the paddles flash in the sunlight; +and, moreover, they recognized the canoe as the one they had left at +Date Palm Island. + +Max lifted his voice and shouted from the bank. Whereat the boys ceased +to paddle, and regarded them amazed. Then, recognizing their masters, +they raised a shout in chorus, and drew in towards the bank. + +Had these natives desired proof of the omnipotence of the Fire-gods, +they could have wished for nothing more. Had they searched Central +Africa from the Equator to the Zambesi, they could have found no two +people more wretched-looking and forlorn. Max was utterly exhausted, +and so faint that he could scarcely stand. As for Crouch, he might have +been mauled by a lion. + +One of the boys flung himself upon the ground, then rose to a kneeling +position, and lifted his arms as in prayer. + +"Master," he cried, "what did we tell you? We warned you of the +Fire-gods! We told you the valley was bewitched! We implored you not +to go!" + +As the boy ran on in the same strain, Crouch gathered himself together, +growing purple in the face. With his tattered garments, which resembled +ruffled feathers, he looked like an infuriated turkey-cock. And then, +without warning, he landed the boy such a kick as lifted him bodily into +the air. + +"Fire-gods be hanged!" he shouted. "These are jungle marks. If the +valley ’s bewitched, it’s bewitched by thorns. Look here! See for +yourselves!" So saying, he lifted his bare leg, in which the thorns +were sticking like so many pins in a pin-cushion. "I’ve seen the +Fire-gods," he ran on. "You blithering fools, I’ve taken tea with ’em. +I’ve doctored one with a dose of medicine, and I’ve played cards with +the other. And I’ve not done with them, yet--mind that! I’m going +back, by Christopher! and there’ll be the biggest war-palaver you ever +heard of in your lives. Come, get up, and get a move on! But, first, +what are you doing here?" + +The boys answered that they had come down-stream to shoot hippopotami +for food. They said that about a mile farther down the river there was +a great grassy bank where many of these animals were to be found. Crouch +ordered them to get back into the canoe, saying that as soon as they +arrived at the island he would open a case of supplies--bully beef and +sardines, of which the Loango boys cherished the empty tins. Also, he +promised that in a day or so he would shoot a buffalo, and they would +not want for provisions. There was a certain amount of hippo meat in +the canoe, and that night Crouch and Max partook of the same food as the +boys. It was not until the afternoon of the following day that they +arrived at Date Palm Island. + +They did not expect Edward Harden for some days. He was still forcing +his way towards the Kasai by way of the portage. In the meantime, not +only were they glad enough of a rest, but this was altogether essential. +It took Crouch some days to rid himself of the thorns which had attached +themselves to his skin. He refused all medical assistance from Max; and +the wonder of it was, that the wound in his thigh was healing rapidly +under his "Bull’s Eye treatment." This was wholly incomprehensible to +the young medical student, who beheld the theories he had studied at +hospital, and on which he had placed such store, dissipated to the +winds. In all probability, the fact was that Crouch had such firm +belief in his own remedy that his cure was an example of "faith +healing"; it is generally admitted in these days that "attitude of mind" +affects the health and can even bring about organic changes, for better +or for worse. At any rate, in three days he was sufficiently recovered +to set forth into the forest of rubber trees on the right bank of the +river in search of the buffalo he had promised the boys. Max--although +on this occasion he remained in camp--had by now completely recovered +his strength. + +There were few things they carried with them to the Hidden River of +which they had not duplicates at Date Palm Island. Crouch had been able +to secure a new suit of clothes, tobacco and another pipe. As for +rifles, both Edward and Crouch were experienced explorers, and knew that +if a fire-arm was lost or broken, they could not buy a new one in the +heart of Africa. They had therefore equipped themselves with a battery +of several rifles, including Remingtons, Expresses and Winchester +repeaters, besides several shot-guns and revolvers. + +On the evening of that day, when he was expecting Crouch’s return at any +moment, Max walked to the northern extremity of the island. When there, +his ears caught the sound of a shot in the forest, on the left bank of +the river. + +Now, since Crouch had landed on the other side, there could be no +question as to whence came this shot; and in a few minutes Max had run +to the canoe, jumped in and paddled to the bank. There, he picked up +his rifle and fired twice into the air. + +Almost immediately his two shots were answered, and there came a second +answer--from Crouch on the northern bank. A quarter of an hour later, +Max, who had hastened forward on the line of the portage, had grasped +the hand of his uncle, who was amazed to see him. + +Crouch returned at nightfall. He had killed his buffalo, far in the +interior of the forest, and the following morning the boys set out to +cut it up. That night the three friends were seated around the +camp-fire on Date Palm Island. Edward’s journey had been uneventful, +except that one of his Fan attendants had been mauled badly by a wounded +leopard. + +It was Max who related the story of all that had happened since his +uncle left Hippo Pool. The big man listened in silence; and when the +story was ended he said nothing, and never once did he look at Crouch. +He knew the captain far too well to thank him. With old friends who +have been through thick and thin together, who have stood side by side +throughout many a danger, words are at a discount--a kind of mutual +understanding exists between them that makes conversation a sheer waste +of time. Still, though Edward said nothing, Max knew well enough that +he thanked the little, wizened captain in his heart, and was conscious +of the debt he owed him. + +They remained on the island for another week, and it took them all that +time to persuade a dozen of the boys to accompany them upon the portage +in the capacity of carriers. It was only on the understanding that they +would not be asked to embark upon the dreaded river of the "Fire-gods" +that, at last, they consented to go. + +Indeed, this time, they had no intention of advancing as far as the +river. They proposed to follow the portage to Observation Creek, and +thence to strike up-stream, due south, until they found a suitable +camping-ground. Here they would establish their base, sending the boys +back to the island with orders to wait for their return. + +The Loango boys could be trusted; most of them had faithfully served +either Crouch or Edward in the past. Besides, they were a thousand +miles from their home, and dared not make the passage of the Congo by +themselves, because of the hostile tribes that, in those days, abounded +to the east of Stanley Falls. When Crouch and Edward Harden were on the +river their reputation went before them; their friends came forth to +meet them--grinning cannibals with necklaces of monkeys’ teeth suspended +round their necks, and little else besides by way of clothing--and their +enemies, those who had broken their faith with Harden or fallen foul of +Crouch, deserted their villages and took to the jungle, to let the two +great white men pass, whose fame had reached to the very heart of the +continent, and who, it was said, were spoken of even by the pigmies who +lived in the dark, unknown country west of the Lakes. + +When they set out with their carriers for Observation Creek, the three +Europeans were sanguine of success, and even the four Fans (the one who +had been injured by the leopard had been left behind on the island) +shared their expectations. The riddle of the valley was yet unsolved. +The Portuguese still guarded well his secret. In his fortress by the +river, encompassed upon every hand by the dark, inhospitable jungle, he +had every reason to think himself secure. Moreover, he had cause to +believe that both Max and Crouch were dead--the former drowned at the +cataract, the latter lost in the jungle. Half the victory is gained +when one can take one’s adversary by surprise. Cæsar had lost Gyp, his +most accomplished scout. He might patrol the river, but he would find +no trace of the Englishmen from Makanda to the rapids. He might search +their old camp at Hippo Pool, where he would find, perhaps, a box of +ammunition, cooking utensils and a few days’ provisions--to say nothing +of Crouch’s case of glass eyes--but he would gain no clue to the fact +that his enemies had returned to the valley. + +From their base camp on Observation Creek they had decided to move +up-stream towards the mountain. They hoped to make friends with the +natives of the Pambala village that M’Wané had seen in the distance. +Thence they could approach Makanda from the east. + +Each time they traversed the portage progress was more easy. It was no +longer necessary to cut a way through the thickets with bill-hooks and +axes, and to "blaze" the trees. Besides, they were now familiar with +the road, knew where to look for water and the bitter roots of wild +manioc, or cassava--from which tapioca is manufactured--and upon which, +to a large degree, they were obliged to subsist in the jungle. Also +they no longer carried a canoe. + +In consequence, they reached the Creek in four and a half days. After +halting for an hour, they continued their journey to the south, turning +to the left from the route which led direct to Hippo Pool. They +followed the course of the stream till sunset, and then camped for the +night. Another day’s march brought them to an open place by the side of +the Creek, where the ground was too rocky for vegetation to flourish. +They had been conscious throughout the day’s journey of going up-hill, +and this was doubtless the foot of one of the spurs of the mountain they +wished to gain. It was here they decided to camp. + +They pitched their tent, and gathered a supply of firewood in the +forest. The water of the stream was clear and good to drink. They were +much pestered by insects of all descriptions, but this is inevitable in +the heart of an equatorial forest, and not even the smoke of Crouch’s +tobacco served to keep away the millions of flies, mosquitoes and ants, +to say nothing of less disagreeable companions, such as the most +gorgeous butterflies and gigantic dragon-flies and moths. + +The following day the Loango boys departed upon their return journey to +the Kasai. As had been the case before, they showed great eagerness to +return. It seems that they could not rid their minds of the tales they +had heard of the Fire-gods, and neither Crouch nor Edward could persuade +them that the valley was not haunted by evil spirits. + +During the days that followed the party suffered from want of meat. They +had deemed it advisable not to shoot. Though they were still some +distance from Makanda, there was always a chance that Cæsar and his +Arabs were somewhere abroad in the forest, and they did not wish the man +to suspect that they had returned. In the forest they found nothing to +eat but manioc, and a continual diet of the tubers of this peculiar +plant is somewhat monotonous and is apt to set up a kind of blood +poisoning, to which some people are more liable than others. Edward, +whose large carcass required a considerable amount of nourishment, began +to suffer from some kind of bilious fever. + +After a day’s rest they set out upon their southward journey. Day by +day as they progressed, the nature of the vegetation changed. The +forest trees became thinner and not so large. The atmosphere became +cooler and more rarefied. The slope grew steeper and steeper, until at +last they were confronted by a sharp, rocky bluff which enclosed the +jungle like a wall. They followed this to the left, and came presently +to a gully, a dried-up watercourse, up which it was possible to climb. +At the top they found themselves upon a hillock--one of those bare, +flat-topped eminences which are scattered throughout the whole continent +of Africa. Hence it was possible to obtain a bird’s-eye view of the +country. + +To the north, as far as the eye could reach, extended the forest through +which they had passed. About twenty miles to the eastward they could +see the Kasai above Date Palm Island. To the west there was no sign of +the Hidden River, which, being narrower and flowing in a direction +almost due south to north, was hidden among the trees. To the south a +magnificent panorama was extended to their view. The foreground fell +away in a valley which, to some extent, had been given over to +cultivation; and beyond, in rugged majesty, arose Solitude Peak. The +great mountain towered into the sky, its crest wrapped in clouds; and +over the valley hung a thin blue mist, above which some great bird of +prey hung like a gnat, with outstretched wings, in the very midst of +space. + +It was Max who was the first to see the village, half-way up the +mountain slope, lying--as M’Wané had described it--like a bird’s nest in +the forked branches of a tree. He pointed it out to his companions, and +then the party began to descend into the valley, one behind the other in +single file, following a track which had been made by elephants. An +elephant trail can never be mistaken; however hard the ground, the +imprints of their great feet remain, and they have a habit of tearing +branches from the trees as they pass, not so much for food, as from pure +love of destruction. + +It took them several hours to cross the valley, and then they began the +steep ascent of the mountain. Suddenly M’Wané, who was leading, came to +an abrupt standstill, and stood upon a sharp pinnacle of rock, pointing +to the east. There was something noble in his dark, savage figure, +standing upright, straight as a larch, in the midst of these wild +surroundings. A moment later he was joined by the two Hardens and +Crouch. + +There, in the distance, they could discern the broad waters of the lake +before Makanda. They could see the granite hills, which were red in the +glow of the setting sun. They could see, also, the narrow gorge in the +south, and far in the distance was a great range of undiscovered +mountains. As they looked, a sound issued from the valley, which, like +a long peal of distant thunder, rolled away to the north upon the wind, +echoing through the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" + + +"The Fire-gods’ thunder!" said M’Wané, in a kind of hushed whisper, with +his lips parted and his eyes staring in the direction of the Hidden +River. + +It was obvious that the man was afraid. He belonged to a wild race that +for centuries has roamed the jungle, catching fish in baskets at the +waterfalls and setting traps in the forest. Until a few days before he +had never seen a firearm in his life. He had heard tales of white men +who were traders on the Coast, but he had never associated these with +the Fire-gods who inhabited the Hidden Valley, whom he regarded as +superhuman. + +Crouch looked at Edward. "What do you make of it?" he asked. + +Harden was frowning in the direction of the valley. His fingers tugged +at the end of his moustache. He was a man of few words, as we know. + +"Dynamite," said he. + +"I think so, too," said Crouch. "I wonder what his game is!" + +In their immediate neighbourhood was a narrow stretch of grass--the +coarse, thin grass that is usually to be met with on the lower slopes of +mountains. It was at this moment that Crouch’s eye became fixed in the +centre of this. He remained motionless for some seconds, and then on a +sudden grasped Edward by the arm. + +"There’s a man there!" said he. "Look out!" + +Simultaneously a black form sprang out of the grass and ran up the hill +in the direction of the village. Crouch whipped round upon M’Wané and +his Fans. + +"After him!" he cried. "A reward if you catch him alive." + +The four Fans set off as fast as they could go. The race lasted no +longer than five minutes at the most. The fugitive seemed possessed of +the agility of an antelope when startled from its midday slumber; he +sprang over boulders, he dodged right and left like a snipe. But the +Fans were fleeter of foot than he; at every stride they gained upon him, +and in the end he was overtaken. + +They brought him back to Crouch--a woeful, terrified object who had not +the courage to lift his head. Crouch tried him with five languages, but +he seemed not to understand, and only gave utterance to a few incoherent +grunts. Then Crouch tried the "blood-bond," and this is not pleasant to +describe. He took a knife from his pocket, opened a vein in his hand, +and the native licked the wound. At that Crouch gave his knife to the +man, who in turn inflicted a wound upon himself, and Crouch went through +his part of the business with a heroism that Max was bound to admire. +They were now "blood-brothers," and that is a bond which is inviolable +in the region of the Congo. Crouch made the man understand him by means +of signs, in the art of which he was a master. + +"I have one heart," said he, by which he conveyed the fact that he was +no traitor, that his word could be relied on. "I wish to speak with the +people of your village." + +The man, pointing in the direction of Makanda, wanted to know whether +Crouch and his companions were allies of the Fire-gods. + +"No," said Crouch. "We are come to make war upon the Fire-gods." + +The man but half believed that. None the less, he agreed to take them +to the village. They urged him to set forward without delay, since it +had already grown dark. + +It was past nightfall when they arrived at a narrow street of small, +rounded huts, constructed of bamboo stems and palm leaves. Despite the +fact that they came with one of the villagers, the majority of the +inhabitants fled at their approach. This wild people were timid, shy as +animals; also, as we shall see, they stood in a mortal fear of Cæsar and +his Arabs. + +As they approached the village, Crouch managed to gain the confidence of +their captive. Where natives were concerned the little sea-captain had +a way with him. The man promised that if they would wait till the +morning he would persuade his friends to attend a palaver. + +That night they had the village to themselves. The inhabitants--men, +women and children--had disappeared into the valley, where they spent +the night in fear and trembling. This is the common behaviour of many +uncivilized peoples when, for the first time in their lives, they behold +the indomitable white man. And these villagers had the greater reason +to be fearful, since they associated the explorers with the Fire-gods. + +Fortunately, they had fled in such haste that they had left most of +their provisions in their huts. Crouch and his companions enjoyed a +change of diet. That night they dined upon the flesh of a goat, which +they resolved to pay for on the morrow, besides plantains and Indian +corn. + +They took turn and turn about to keep watch throughout the night, but +there was no alarm. At daybreak they stationed themselves upon an +eminence above the village, hoping that the inhabitants would summon up +courage to return. Below them was the cultivated ground through which +they had passed the previous evening. The greater part had been given +over to the culture of ground-nuts; but there were also small patches of +Indian corn and banana groves. The explorer who wishes to succeed with +the untutored savage must possess his soul in patience by the hour. +Crouch sat down and lit his pipe. + +Shortly before midday, several dusky figures appeared from out of the +jungle, and made their way to the plantation. There they remained in a +body, frightened to come nearer; and by the aid of his field-glass, Max +was able to make out the figure of Crouch’s "blood-brother" who, +gesticulating wildly, endeavoured to persuade his friends and relations +to return. + +Seeing that this was going to be a long business, Crouch suggested that +they should walk down to the village and partake of food. Since their +hosts were unwilling to entertain them, it only remained for them to +help themselves. This they did with liberality, for they had the +appetites of lions. + +They were in the middle of their repast when they heard the sound of +running feet and a great commotion. Looking up they beheld one of the +women of the village running towards them well-nigh panic-stricken, and +filling the air with screams. This woman rushed into a hut, and came +out again with all her portable belongings. + +By then the little street was crowded with old men, women and children, +wringing their hands in desperation, and uttering such moans and +supplications as were heartrending to listen to. It was remarkable that +among the crowd there were not more than five young men at the most; the +majority were women, and of the children there were few who were not +three years of age. + +Crouch looked about him, and caught sight of his "blood-brother," who +was no less distracted than the rest. He laid hold of this fellow by +the arm, and with great difficulty managed to discover what had +happened. + +The "blood-brother" had just persuaded his relatives to return to the +village; he had explained, at last, to their satisfaction that the new +white men were not the servants of the Fire-gods, when suddenly the +Fire-gods themselves had been seen approaching up the valley. At that, +the whole population had taken to their heels. They knew not where they +were going, for it was the custom of the Fire-gods to come upon them +from both sides at once, and if they tried to escape they were shot +without mercy. The great Fire-god was there himself--the tall, white +man with the black beard--and it was he whom they feared even more than +the Arabs. + +Crouch looked at Edward. There was a twinkle in his eye. + +"There’s going to be fun," said he. + +"It will come to a fight," said Edward; "and I’m not sorry for that." + +"I hope it won’t," said Crouch. "There are many things we ought to find +out before we come to blows. As far as I can understand from my worthy +’blood-brother,’ Cæsar is coming here for palaver. They’ll hold palaver +in the street; and if we hide in a hut we ought to overhear what the +advertisements in the newspapers call ’something to our advantage.’" + +"I see," said Edward; "and if we’re discovered, we fight." + +"Exactly," said Crouch. "That’s the idea." + +It so happened that they had placed their "loads" in one of the huts +where they would not be seen by Cæsar as he entered the village. It was +all Crouch could do to explain to his "blood-brother" that they desired +to hide, that the Fire-gods must not be told of their presence in the +village. After a while, the man seemed to understand; but, indeed, he +stood in such dread of the Portuguese that it was extremely doubtful +whether he was wholly responsible for what he was saying. + +Crowded together in one of the small huts the three Englishmen and the +four Fans awaited the arrival of the Fire-gods. They were astonished at +what they beheld--the abject consternation and alarm of the villagers, +who now appeared a cowered and servile race. Never for one moment did +it seem to occur to the few men among them to take up arms, in spite of +the fact that the Pambala--to whom they were obviously related--are a +warlike and courageous people. + +The reason for their cowardice was obvious. They did not fear the +Portuguese without a cause. They had learnt to their cost that Cæsar +was a man to be dreaded. + +Crouch made a little eye-hole in the wall of the hut, whence he obtained +a good view of the street. It was through this that he caught sight of +Cæsar and de Costa, the moment they entered the village. + +It was Cæsar himself who led the way. He strolled forward, with his +rifle under his arm, and his black eyes shooting in all directions, as +if he were doing no more than taking an afternoon walk in a +neighbourhood where there was much to be observed. He was followed by +four Arabs, in robes of flowing white; and the last of these conducted a +negro, of the same tribe as the villagers, who wore an iron collar round +his neck which was made fast to a chain. The rear of the party was +brought up by de Costa, slinking forward like some mongrel cur, +fever-stricken and afraid. + +The party halted in the village street, some little distance from the +hut where the three Englishmen were hiding, but not so far away as to +make it impossible for Crouch to overhear the conversation that ensued. +The chained negro was brought forward by the Arab who had charge of him; +and it was this man who acted as interpreter. Cæsar spoke to him in +Portuguese, and he translated. Crouch made a mental note of every word, +for he had a far better knowledge of the Portuguese language than the +interpreter himself. + +"As you know," said Cæsar, "it is my custom to state my business in a +few words. I come here to give orders. I expect those orders to be +obeyed." + +He lifted his sombrero hat and mopped the perspiration from his +forehead, for the afternoon was hot, and he walked up hill. The four +Arabs stood around him--proud, arrogant, handsome men, upon whose +features were stamped an unmitigated contempt for the simple savages who +stood in awe before them. It was the headman of the village who +answered, an old man, with a short, grey beard, who wore a helmet made +of a monkey’s skin, and surmounted by the green covert feathers of a +parrot. + +"The great Fire-god," said he, "has but to speak." + +"Good," said Cæsar. "You know who I am. You know my power. You know +that to disobey me is death." + +The old man bowed his head. + +"I trade in ivory," said Cæsar, "black ivory. You understand what I +mean. Now, listen to my command. I desire twenty more slaves, of your +youngest and most able-bodied men. They must be ready to return with me +to Makanda before the setting of the sun." + +At that the headman threw himself upon the ground. + +"It is impossible!" he cried. "Only last moon the great Fire-god took +away all the men of the village. No one remains but those who are old, +and women and children. The Fire-god can see for himself." + +"I do not choose to look," said Cæsar. "As I have said, it is my +business to give orders. There is sickness in my camp, and many of my +people have died, and more are dying every day. I require others to +take their places. If you have no more men, I will take women and +children. But I will require two women, or three boys over twelve and +under sixteen years of age, for every man. You can please yourself as +to which you give me. It is all the same to me." + +"It is impossible!" repeated the native. + +"Impossible or not," said the Portuguese, "I give you till sunset. If +these people are not ready then, the consequence is on your own head. +You know how I treated the villages on the other side of the mountain? +Your fate will be the same. I will attack by night; I will set fire to +every hut; and I will take every one of you to be my slaves." + +"Mercy!" cried the native. But Cæsar turned upon his heel, and led the +way from the village, followed by his Arabs, who smiled in heartless +satisfaction. + +Crouch gave time for Cæsar to be well away from the village. Then he +crawled out of the hut, and seizing his "blood-brother" by the hand, +swore that he would save them all. + +At first, he quite failed to gain their confidence. They were convinced +in their minds that the Fire-gods were greater than all men, as the +strength of the elephant exceeds that of other beasts of the forest. + +But Crouch would not take that for answer. He commanded them to light a +fire, and they obeyed. When the flames were burning brightly he +executed a war-dance round and round the fire. His antics were +extraordinary to see. + +They may have thought him mad; but at all events he gained his object: +he drew them round him in a ring. They stood open-mouthed and +open-eyed, amazed at his contortions. They were children of the minute. +To all intents and purposes they had already forgotten the Portuguese +and his threats. + +Crouch sang, and never was there such singing. His voice was cracked +and out of tune. It was all Max could do to prevent himself exploding +into laughter. The words of Crouch’s song had nothing to do with the +matter; in point of fact they were concerned with "Nuts and May." For +all that, he impressed the natives hugely. And when they had gathered +closer he took the boot from his foot, and thrust his toes into the +fire. And all the time he continued to sing of "Nuts and May," whilst +the atmosphere was tainted with the pungent smell of burning cork. + +The silence was so great that Edward Harden could hear the ticking of +his watch. The villagers stood around, breathless and amazed. Then +Crouch spoke to them; and the following was the argument he used. + +He admitted that the slave-dealer was master over fire; hence he was +called the "Fire-god." But he (Crouch) had proved to them that fire +could not affect him. Near-by a pitcher of water was standing outside a +hut, and into this he thrust his foot. There was a sizzling sound, and +steam was given off. He made the natives place their hands into the +water, to see for themselves that it was warm. He finished up by saying +that, if they would put themselves under his command, he would show them +how to face the Fire-god’s anger. + +With reluctance they agreed. In the space of a few minutes it was +impossible for Crouch to efface the result of two long years of +persecution. The headman of the village, Crouch’s "blood-brother," and +one or two others, came forward on behalf of their relations, their +children and their wives. Crouch turned to Harden. + +"Can we defend this place?" said he. + +Edward had already thought of that. + +"Yes," said he. "They can only advance by two paths. Elsewhere the +slope is too steep. There is an hour before sunset. If you make these +people build a wall of the small boulders which lie everywhere about, we +should be able to keep the rascals at bay." + +"I’ll do my best," said Crouch. And thereupon he set to work. + +It took the natives some time to understand his meaning; but when he had +shown them what he wanted done they worked with a will, the women +carrying enormous stones, and even the little children lending aid. + +The parapet of stone grew like the walls of Rome, until, at last, it +formed a semi-circle around the village, joining the mountain-side at +either end. Then the women and children were placed under cover, and +ordered not to move. Edward posted himself at the head of the path +which led from the west, and Max on the other side of the village. At +the feet of each was a box of ammunition. As for Crouch, he hobbled +here and there on the charred stump of his foot, giving instructions up +to the last minute, when, in the dying light of day, Cæsar and his Arabs +were observed advancing up the valley. + + + + +CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA + + +As before, it was Cæsar who led the way; and the stone wall warned him +that danger was ahead. He guessed the truth in a flash. He knew well +enough that the natives themselves would never have dared to offer him +resistance. + +He stopped dead upon the path, and pointed out the wall to the Arab who +accompanied him. The man shaded his eyes with the palm of his hand, for +the mists of evening were rising from the valley, and the light was bad. +After a while the Arab disappeared from view, and then returned with his +comrades. They came up the path as men stalk game, creeping from +boulder to boulder. It was impossible to see them from the village. +Flat upon the ground, they glided from place to place like snakes. And +every minute the light was getting worse. + +One man, more daring than his comrades, had gained the cover of a large +rock about two hundred yards from the village. + +His eyes were sharp as those of a vulture. He was descended from the +sons of the desert. Peering round the angle of the rock behind which he +was hiding, he caught sight of Edward Harden’s helmet, moving behind the +wall. + +In a second, the butt of his rifle was at his shoulder, and his left eye +was closed. He took in a deep breath, and aimed. At that moment, there +was a sharp crack from the wall, whence nothing of the Arab was visible +but the upper part of his head. And Edward Harden’s bullet drilled a +hole in the centre of the man’s forehead; so that his head just dropped +like a broken toy, and he lay still and lifeless, with his loaded rifle +in his hand. Son of a warlike race, that for centuries had oppressed +the ignorant and the weak, he had gone to make his peace with God, the +Giver of Life and Death. + +Cæsar, from some distance behind, with a pair of field-glasses to his +eyes, had watched this tragedy of seconds; and he knew at once with whom +he had to reckon. He drew a whistle from his pocket, and blew a long, +shrill note, which was the signal to retreat. His three remaining Arabs +came back to him, retiring even more cautiously than they had advanced. + +Night fell, as a curtain is rung down upon a stage. The natives of the +village, the old men and women and children, who had sat huddled and +shivering under cover of the wall, came forth and marvelled that a +Fire-god had been turned back by a single shot. Crouch’s authority +increased by leaps and bounds. The villagers, like children, desired to +celebrate the occasion with inconsequent rejoicing. They set about +beating large, wooden drums, but Grouch cast these away. They lit +fires, but Crouch stamped them out. + +Only the babies were allowed to rest that night; the little sea-captain +kept the others working until long after midnight, when a new moon +arose. He improved the defences. He had all the provisions and the +water-jars carried to the hut which he had made his own headquarters, +whilst the two Hardens stood as sentries on either side of the village. + +At about two o’clock in the morning, Max, on the eastern side of the +village, heard the noise of a loosened stone rolling down the +mountain-side. That put him on his guard. And a moment after, another +stone bounded into the valley. + +At that, he sent back M’Wané to tell Crouch that some one was +approaching, and remained at his post alone. + +There is nothing more majestic in the whole range of Nature than +moonlight in the mountains. The white mists drift in the valleys; and, +here and there, the great, ragged peaks blot out the stars. Midnight is +ever silent in the higher altitudes. The slightest sound--the hoot of +an owl or the bubbling of a spring--is magnified by echo, and carried +far upon the breeze. + +Max, with his rifle at the ready, waited with his heart thumping against +his ribs. He heard a noise, quite near to him, but so faint that he +could never have heard it had not every sense been on the alert. He saw +something white, moving like a ghost in the moonlight. Then, a loud +shout was uplifted in the stillness. "Allah Akbar! Strike for God and +the Prophet!" + +Three white figures rushed in upon him from the darkness. He fired, and +one went down. And then, reversing his rifle, he used it as a club, +swinging the butt around him in a kind of mad delight. + +The two men who remained pressed him close. He saw knives flash in +their hands. And then a third figure appeared, and a revolver spat like +a cat. Cæsar himself was there. + +The Portuguese called back the two Arabs, spoke a few words which Max +was not able to hear; and then all three abreast endeavoured to rush the +wall. Max fired, but missed. He was attacked from three sides at once, +and must have been overpowered had not Crouch hastened to his rescue. + +It was no more than a scuffle at the best. Crouch emptied his revolver; +but it was too dark to shoot straight. Max used his fist, and sent one +of the men rolling backwards; whilst Crouch flew like a leopard at +Cæsar’s throat. It was all over in an instant. Cæsar and his men drew +off as suddenly and quickly as they came, taking with them the Arab whom +Max had wounded or killed. + +Crouch took out his pipe and filled it. + +"I wish I had had the luck to hit that rascal," said Max, "instead of +one of the Arabs." + +Crouch grunted as he lit his pipe. + +"When I shoot that man," said he, "I don’t want it to be due to luck. +Nothing’s too bad for a slave-dealer, if that’s what he is--which I +doubt." + +It was then that they were joined by the Fan whom they had left with +Edward. He presented a note to Crouch, written in pencil on a leaf torn +from a note-book. + +"_How goes it?_" was all it said. + +Crouch scribbled a reply: "_He’s gone to bed. But remain at your post +till daybreak._" + +Sunrise brought their vigil to an end. No sign of the Portuguese was to +be seen; and presently news was brought to the village by a man who had +been setting traps in the forest, and who had known nothing of the +alarm. This man stated that he had seen Cæsar returning to Makanda, +followed by two Arabs, who carried the body of a third. + +The delight of the natives exceeded anything that Max Harden had ever +seen in his life. They beat their wooden drums, and sang and danced in +jubilation. They realized that, at last, after two years of oppression, +the yoke of the Fire-gods had been lifted from their shoulders. They +regarded Crouch and his companions as angels who had dropped from the +skies to deliver them from bondage. + +That evening the three Englishmen held a council of war. They regretted +that Cæsar had learnt of their return to the valley. But that was +inevitable; they had been in duty bound to help the natives. Though the +mystery of Makanda was by no means solved, they had, at least, an +inkling of the truth. The explosion they had heard in the valley was +undoubtedly the blasting of rock; and there was no question that it was +for this purpose that Cæsar required the services of slaves. That +explained why he had been unwilling for either the Europeans or the Fans +to leave the stockade. The kraal, fenced around by high palisades, and +guarded by Arab slave-drivers, contained the slave gangs; and who can +say what cruelty was perpetrated therein? The slave trade had been +abolished; but at that time, in the heart of Africa, it still flourished +in all its blackest colours, with utter disregard for the equality of +all men, who--whatever the colour of their skin may be--are equal in the +sight of God. Edward Harden was a man in whose big heart a sense of +justice burned like a living flame. When he considered the innate +cruelty of the Portuguese, who was willing to enslave even women and +little children, his wrath rose within him and the blood flew to his +face. He felt that he could not rest until the fortress of Makanda had +been taken, the slaves set free, and Cæsar brought to his account. + +Still, Edward was no fool. He knew well enough that it would be madness +for three of them to endeavour to attack a defensive position held by a +determined man and, at least, half a dozen Arabs. It was then that they +decided to arm M’Wané and his Fans. They had with them six rifles and a +shot-gun; a great quantity of reserve ammunition had been left at the +camp on Observation Creek. Crouch and Max undertook to teach the Fans +to shoot; whilst Edward, with a party of villagers, made his way back to +the camp in the jungle, to bring up all their supplies. + +The following morning Edward Harden set out upon his journey, and it was +a strange crowd that followed him into the forest. The majority of them +were women; but the African woman is accustomed to manual labour. At +Zanzibar, sea-going ships are coaled by great buxom wenches, who can +lift a hundredweight as though it were a trifle. With many inland +tribes, between Mombasa and the West Coast, the work in the fields is +conducted almost exclusively by women. The men pride themselves upon +being warriors, hunters of big game and setters of traps. They consider +it beneath their dignity to dig and delve and hoe the ground, since such +employment entails no personal danger. Edward, therefore, was well +contented to have women as his servants; and before he started he +bargained to pay them in beads, cloth and cowrie shells. + +Whilst he was absent, Crouch and Max became drill-sergeants for the +nonce. The Fans were first taught the mechanism of the rifle, and how +to clean it. They were then instructed in aiming drill. Though Crouch +had now a fair working knowledge of their language, for the most part he +taught them by demonstration; and they proved most promising recruits. +At last a target was set up in the valley; and rifle practice took place +daily both in the morning and the evening. + +By the time Edward returned, though the Fans were not yet marksmen, it +seemed probable that they would be ready to take the field in another +day or so. Still, both Crouch and Edward desired to run no risks. They +did not intend to operate against Makanda, until they could do so with +every chance of success. It was Edward’s suggestion that they should +reconnoitre the settlement before they advanced. They desired to +discover the quickest route to the granite hills, and some position +thereon--within striking distance of Makanda--where they could establish +their headquarters. It was also necessary to find out the strength of +Cæsar’s garrison. At the time of their visit, they had not been able to +ascertain how many Arabs were secreted in the kraal. De Costa, they +knew, need not be taken into account; the man was an arrant coward. But +the Arab is a foe who can never be despised; he is a good rifle-shot, an +intelligent soldier, and his religion teaches him to be brave. + +The next question was to decide who should be sent forward as a scout; +and it was Max who was selected for the task. Edward had just returned +from the jungle; and besides, the big man was by no means so quick and +agile as his nephew. Crouch was out of the question; he had burnt so +much of his cork foot that he could only hobble and would take too long +over the journey. It was finally decided that Max should start a day in +advance of the others, taking with him provisions for three days, as +well as his rifle and revolver. + +That evening, Edward and Max climbed to the top of Solitude Peak. During +the day the crest of the mountain was invariably wrapped in clouds, but +towards evening these usually disappeared. On this occasion, a most +magnificent panorama of the surrounding country was presented to their +view. They looked down upon the whole valley of the Hidden River, from +Makanda to the mangrove swamp; and it was then that Edward filled in the +final details of his map. + +They saw that it was possible to reach Cæsar’s stockade without entering +the jungle. If one followed the valley above which lay the Pambala +village, one would come, in course of time, to the granite hills to the +east of Makanda. They calculated that, if Max started at daybreak, he +would reach his destination towards the evening. + +Accordingly, soon after sunrise, Max set out, bearing with him the good +wishes of his friends. A native footpath led some distance down the +valley, but there turned into the jungle. Max struck across country, +holding his course south-west by the compass. + +He halted at midday to enjoy a meal of biscuits and sardines, washed +down by the clear water from a neighbouring brook. As he sat in +solitude, in the midst of that illimitable wilderness, he could not but +reflect upon the strangeness of his situation. Here was he, who all his +life had been accustomed to the roll of London ’buses and the cries of +newsboys in the streets, seated on a boulder, in the blazing heat of the +tropics, thousands of miles beyond the pale of civilization. + +It was whilst he was there that he beheld, for the first time in his +life--if we make exception of the animals he had seen in the Zoo--a +great rock-python which lay, coiled in the grass, not twenty paces from +him. The sight of the thing caused him to shudder. He sprang instantly +to his feet. As he did so the snake heard him, and glided away among +the rocks. In the thickest part of its body the great reptile was about +the size of a man’s thigh; and it must have been over twenty feet in +length. + +Max, having no desire for such a companion, moved on in haste, keeping +the mountain to his left. For the most part, he passed through a kind +of neutral territory, where the dominion of the jungle gave way to the +barren, rock-bound slopes of Solitude Peak. The afternoon was well +advanced by the time he arrived at the granite hills. + +Here, he exercised the greatest caution. It was possible that a +sentinel had been posted on the crest-line. He accordingly advanced by +way of a donga, which led to the hill-top, and in which he could not be +seen. When he cleared the donga, a few yards from the crest, he went +down on hands and knees, and crawled from boulder to boulder. + +A few minutes later, he found himself looking down upon the settlement +of Makanda. He was immediately above the kraal, and from that altitude +he was able to see inside the enclosure. The kraal consisted of four +rows of huts. In one of these was a white figure which, even without +the aid of his glasses, he had no difficulty in recognizing as one of +the Arabs. This man, rifle in hand, entered a hut, and presently came +out with a party of six slaves, all of whom wore iron collars around +their necks, which were fastened together by a single chain. Followed +by the Arab, this party left the kraal, and turned to the left, towards +the southern extremity of the lake. + +Max directed his field-glasses upon the stockade. He could see no one +therein but Cæsar’s Arab cook, who was walking leisurely from the +direction of the river with a bucket of water in either hand. + +By now the slave-driver and his party were out of sight to the south. +Max, anxious to observe whatsoever was in progress, descended from the +sky-line and ran in all haste along the ridge. He soon came to a place +whence he was able to see the course of the river, which had taken a +sudden bend to the west above the lake, where it was spanned by a rope +suspension bridge, such as is often met with in the heart of Africa. +Beyond the bridge, the sight that he witnessed held him rooted to the +spot. + +He beheld a large quarry, where about fifty natives were at work. In +charge of these were four Arabs, and Max had no difficulty in +distinguishing Cæsar and the half-caste de Costa. + +The work which was in progress was singular, by reason of the fact that +this was Equatorial Africa where, at that time, commerce, industry and +enterprise were quite unknown. A group of slaves in charge of the +Portuguese himself, was gathered together beneath the walls of the +quarry. A little distance from them was a great heap of rubbish. +Suddenly, the whole party was seen to set off running in the direction +of the river. Cæsar was the last to retire. + +There followed a tremendous explosion. A great column of dust and smoke +was thrown up into the air. And even before this had descended, or had +been carried away upon the wind, both Cæsar and the natives had hastened +back to the place, where there was now a great rent in the living rock. +There they set to work carrying baskets of débris to de Costa, who +supervised a party engaged in sifting. Now and then, something was +taken from the siftings and handed to de Costa, who examined it, and +cast it into a wheelbarrow. At intervals, this wheelbarrow was taken to +a third party at the water’s edge that was engaged in washing something +in pans. + +Max was, at first, too interested and surprised at all this to take +notice of an occurrence in the nature of a tragedy which was taking +place farther up the stream. There, about a dozen natives lay stretched +at full length upon the sand at the water’s edge. Some of these lay +still and motionless, as if in death; others were writhing in agony; +from time to time one would endeavour to raise himself, but invariably +fell back, drawing up his knees as if in fearful pain. + +Even at that distance, Max could not fail to recognize the symptoms of +cholera--the most severe and fatal of all diseases. At various +intervals in the history of the world, cholera has raged in Asia and +throughout the eastern parts of Europe. In the early part of the +nineteenth century a violent outbreak occurred in Bengal, which in a +short time spread throughout the length and breadth of India. Thence, +it raged eastward into China, and westward through Persia and Turkey to +Russia and Central Europe. North Africa was also afflicted, and the +valley of the Nile, whence the pestilence had evidently now crossed to +the basin of the Congo. + +No disease in the world is more deadly and virulent. It strikes down +its victims swiftly and without warning. Even as the men worked at the +quarry, Max observed one who took himself a little distance from his +fellows, and sat down upon a rock as though he were in pain. + +Cæsar followed him, and ordered the man to return. The poor fellow was +too weak to obey; and thereupon the slave-master raised his whip and +three times brought down his lash upon the naked back of the sufferer. +The man’s cries for mercy carried even to the hills, and it was all Max +could do to restrain the burning indignation which kindled in his soul. + +Presently the order was given for the slaves to return to the kraal; and +the whole party set out across the bridge, driven forward by the whip. +If any man, in all God’s Kingdom, had merited death by dint of his +misdeeds, it was surely this relentless Portuguese. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST + + +At sundown Max looked about him for somewhere to sleep. He soon found a +sandy patch between two great boulders, and here he took off the +haversack in which he had carried his provisions. He had filled his +water-bottle at the brook. + +After he had eaten he lay down, converting his helmet into a pillow. He +felt quite secure; he could not possibly be discovered, unless some one +actually walked over him--an event that was very unlikely to occur. He +was thoroughly tired out after the day’s march; for all that, he found +himself quite unable to sleep. He could not rid his mind of the sight +he had seen that evening: the miserable slaves, dropping like poisoned +flies, struck down by the cholera which raged amongst them, and yet +goaded by the whip. And if Max’s sense of pity had been aroused, he was +scarcely less curious to discover the nature of the work that was going +forward at the quarry. When, at last, he fell asleep this thought was +dominant in his mind. + +He awoke suddenly, and found the same question on his lips: why were +they blasting at the quarry? He could not have been asleep for more +than a few hours, for the moon was but newly arisen. On consulting his +watch, he found that it was only half-past twelve. + +He failed in his endeavours to go to sleep again; so he sat up, and +tried to think the matter out. He had already accomplished part of his +mission: he had discovered that Cæsar had not more than six Arabs with +whom to defend the stockade. It remained for him, on the following +morning, to see if he could find a point upon the ridge whence +rifle-fire could be opened upon Makanda. For the time being, however, +he resolved to go down into the valley under cover of darkness, to cross +the suspension bridge and examine the quarry. + +Leaving his haversack, water-bottle and rifle behind him, he armed +himself with his revolver, and set forward down the hill, making a wide +detour around the kraal. He was then devoutly thankful that Gyp had +departed from the land of the living. He found that he was obliged to +pass nearer to the settlement than he liked; and had the Great Dane been +on watch, no doubt she would have given the alarm. + +As it was, he passed in safety, and reached the river bank. He had no +difficulty in finding the suspension bridge, which he crossed on tiptoe, +as rapidly as possible. On the other side his attention was immediately +attracted by the loud groans of the sufferers who had been left to their +fate. + +It was quite beyond his power to do anything to help these men. He had +no medicines; he could not speak their language; and in the majority of +cases, the disease was so far gone as to be incurable. + +Before he left the hills, the moon had disappeared behind a bank of +clouds. During the last ten minutes, a tempest had been driving up from +the west, which now burst with all its force upon the valley of the +Hidden River. + +Africa is the land of mighty storms. The sky grew so dark that it was +impossible for Max to see one yard before him. Then, there approached +in one wild, savage gust, a roaring, raging wind that bent the great +trees of the forest like saplings and picked up the water in the lake +before Makanda in little driving waves, whilst the rain came down in +sheets. The suspension bridge swung to and fro like a kite. There came +flash upon flash of lightning which illumined the quarry, so that the +bare walls of rock were blazing like a furnace. + +The lightning lasted for seconds at a time, and at such times the scene +stood for all that was barbarous and fantastic. The dark, mysterious +river flowed upon its course through the narrow gorge where the +lightning beat upon the rocks. The electricity in the air flashed, died +out, and flashed again, like thousands of sparks in the wind. And +there, upon the white sand, writhing in torture, were the dark forms of +those who had been stricken by the pestilence. + +Max had never felt so powerless. He was in the heart of the Unknown. +Close at hand, lay those who had been stricken by a force which all the +resource of modern science had entirely failed to conquer. Overhead, +echoed and mirrored by the rocks, the typhoon rent the sky with sheets +of fire, whilst peal upon peal of thunder caused the earth to tremble. + +Yet Max was by no means disposed to forget the object of his quest. He +was determined to find out the nature of the work which was carried on +at the quarry. He hastened forward, and presently blundered into one of +the great heaps of sifted débris. + +He picked up a handful of this and examined it in the light of the +lightning. As far as he could make out, it was composed of a kind of +fine gravel, in which appeared great quantities of a green stone, known +as serpentine. + +Being unable to find out anything definite from the heaps of debris, he +resolved to examine the quarry. The wind was too great to permit him to +strike a match, even had that been prudent. He was obliged to rely upon +the lightning to guide him in his search. He availed himself of the +opportunity of a series of flashes to run to the quarry, and there he +found himself in impenetrable darkness. + +He stood waiting for the lightning to return. It seemed that the storm +was already passing. These tropical hurricanes, that often uproot the +trees of the forest, are seldom of long duration. They are too violent +to last for many minutes. + +Max was beginning to think that the storm was passed, when the sky +immediately overhead burst into a lurid glow, and almost simultaneously +a deafening peal of thunder rolled across the valley. Max leaned +forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was seized +suddenly from behind. + +As quick as thought, he whipped his revolver from its holster; and +immediately the weapon was struck from his hand. + +The lightning still continued, jumping like fire-light; and Max was able +to make out the dark eyes and the pointed beard of Cæsar. + +The Portuguese was aided by an Arab. The struggle that ensued was no +more than an affair of seconds. Max, though he fought with the strength +that comes of desperation, was overpowered from the first, and presently +he was thrown violently to the ground. There his hands were tied fast +behind his back. Cæsar was heard to laugh. + +"Get up," said he, and then ran on in his broken English: "You must +think me a fool, if I do not keep a sentry by night over the richest of +my possessions. Come, follow me." + +He led the way across the bridge, and Max had no alternative but to obey +him. The Arab, rifle in hand, brought up the rear. + +They passed around the eastern shore of the lake, walking on the crisp +sand in which their boots sank to the ankles. Max saw the kraal wherein +the man’s slaves were asleep; and a few minutes afterwards they came to +the stockade. Cæsar led the way into his hut--the hut in which Crouch +and he had played cards some weeks before. He told Max to sit down upon +a chair, and placed himself on the other side of the room, with his +loaded revolver ready to his hand. + +"If you endeavour to escape," said he, "I shoot. I advise you to remain +still, and listen to what I have to say." + +Max looked about him. As far as he could see there was no method of +escape. His wrists had been bound securely. + +"In the first place," said Cæsar, "I would like to know for what reason +you have meddled in my affairs." + +"You are a slave-dealer," said Max. + +"That may, or may not, be true." + +"It is true," cried the young Englishman, his anger rising in a flood. +"I know it. The employment of slaves is a sin in the eyes of both God +and man. Justice is the duty of every one; and that is why we have +meddled--as you call it--in your affairs." + +"I have already pointed out," said Cæsar, "that the laws of civilization +do not apply to Makanda. But that is beside the mark. I understand you +are a doctor, that you have had some sort of medical training." + +Max answered that that was so. + +"Do you understand the treatment of cholera?" + +"I know the various methods that have been tried," said Max; "but, as +you probably know, they are seldom successful." + +It was at that moment that Max heard a loud groan which issued from a +hut not far away. + +"Do you hear that?" asked Cæsar. + +Max nodded his head. + +"That is my friend, de Costa. When he returned to the stockade this +evening he was taken ill with cholera. I went to look at him an hour +ago, just before my sentry informed me that you were in the quarry. He +is dying." + +"How does that concern me?" asked Max. + +"It concerns you," answered Cæsar, "inasmuch as it concerns myself. Your +life is in my hands. I can either kill you, or place an iron collar +around your neck and yoke you to a gang of slaves. If you do not do as +I wish, I will have you shot. If you obey me, you may continue to +live--as a slave." + +"What is it you want?" asked Max. + +"I want you to do what you can to save de Costa. He is of some use to +me. Indeed, I could not do very well without him." + +"I will do what I can," said Max. + +Outside, the Arab was on guard. Cæsar lead the way to de Costa’s hut; +and there, Max found the half-caste stretched upon his bed, with +features drawn and haggard, and his complexion of a ghastly purple hue. +His body was all twisted in his agony. He was too far gone to speak. + +"Now," said Cæsar, "I do not feel disposed to untie your hands; but you +will kindly look at the bottles of medicine on that shelf, and see if +you can find anything that might be of use." + +Max searched the shelf where the half-caste kept his stock of drugs, and +had no difficulty in finding the very thing he wanted, namely, opium. +He found also bismuth and nitrate of silver. He instructed Cæsar how to +mix these drugs in the ordained proportions; and the Portuguese placed a +glass containing the medicine at the sick man’s bedside. It is +noteworthy that he took care not to touch the patient, for the disease +is one of the most contagious in the world. + +"Will he live, do you think?" asked Cæsar. + +"It is impossible to say," said Max. + +"You can do nothing else?" + +"Absolutely nothing. He has reached the turning point. If he does not +die in an hour or so, he will live." + +"Come," said Cæsar, "we must not risk contagion." + +Outside the hut he paused, and spoke to the Arab, who immediately left +the stockade. He then ordered Max to enter his hut, and followed with +his loaded revolver in his hand. + +"You have come to spy out my secrets," said he. "You are at liberty to +learn as much as you wish. It can make no difference to me; for I +intend that you shall never see Europe again." + +So saying, he drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and stepped to the +great, padlocked chest on the other side of the room. One by one, he +unlocked the padlocks, and then threw back the lid, and stood by, +holding the candle over the contents. + +"Here," said he, "see for yourself. Few have ever witnessed such a +sight." + +Max drew nearer, and looked down into the box. For some seconds he +stood as if spellbound, unable to move his gaze. The chest was about +three-quarters full of the most enormous Oriental rubies. + +Cæsar took one at random, and held it before the light. Garnets had +been found in Africa, and even spinels; but these were genuine rubies of +the highest quality, such as had hitherto only been discovered in the +famous mines of Ava. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED + + +When Max looked up into the face of the Portuguese the man was smiling, +so that his white teeth showed in the blackness of his beard. + +"You see," said he, "I did not come here on a wild-goose chase after +all. I first came to this river five years ago, and discovered the +rubies of Makanda. I promptly engaged the services of de Costa, who had +worked in the mines of Santa Fé in Mexico. This treasure-chest contains +the result of the labour of two years." + +"And why have you employed slaves?" asked Max. "Why did you not set to +work like an honest man?" + +"For a simple reason," answered Cæsar; "I desired the maximum of profit. +No one knows of my discovery. I intend no one to know. Paid labour is +not only expensive, but workmen would come and go at their pleasure, and +word of this would reach the Coast. That is precisely what I desire to +prevent. There would be talk of rights and royalties, and probably +international complications. At present it is not known that rubies can +be found in Africa. I cannot speak too highly of these gems. One of +these stones, weighing five carats, is worth at least twelve times as +much as a diamond of equal weight. I am prepared to receive your +congratulations." + +It was some time before Max Harden spoke. + +"Why is it," he asked, "that you tell me the secret you have kept for +years?" + +Cæsar smiled again. + +"Because," said he, "I number you among my slaves." + +It was then that Max heard the jangling of a chain without the hut. The +Arab had returned. + +Max was led forth into the moonlight. The storm was past, the water lay +inches deep upon the ground. There, shivering from fear, were five +slaves--men who had been born and bred in the Pambala village on the +mountain slope--fastened one to the other like so many dogs upon a +leash. At the end of the chain was an empty collar, which one of the +Arabs opened with a key. It closed with a snap around Max Harden’s +neck, and from that moment, according to the law of the slave trade, his +soul was not his own. The Arab cracked the whip he held in his hand, +and like a team of dumb, patient animals, the gang filed from the +stockade. + +It wanted but an hour to daylight, but the misery of that hour stands +alone in the life of the young Englishman as the most terrible +experience that ever came his way. He found himself and his five +bond-companions confined in a narrow hut in which there was scarcely air +to breathe. They had to sleep upon straw mats spread upon the floor. +The long chain bound them one to another, so that if one man moved in +his sleep he disturbed the others. + +There was no sleep for Max. Even had he desired to sleep he would not +have been able to do so. The place swarmed with mosquitoes, and, after +the rain, great pools of water lay upon the floor. For all that, the +majority of the natives lay down and slept like dogs, tired out by the +day’s work, and weary at heart at the implacable injustice of the world. + +At daybreak the slaves were summoned to their toil. Gang after +gang--and there were six in all--filed out of the kraal, in charge of +the Arab drivers, and crossed the river by way of the suspension bridge. + +At the quarry Max gained a more intimate knowledge of the workings of a +ruby mine than he had ever hoped to attain. He himself was set to work, +washing the dirt from the sifted rubies by the river bank. + +The slaves remained at the workings from sunrise to sunset, during which +time they received two meals. Their food consisted of manioc and +plantains. They were given no meat. The gang which was employed in +washing, to which Max was attached, worked in chains. + +These poor driven creatures took no interest in their task. They set +about their business mechanically, with never a smile upon their faces, +and though they were allowed to talk to one another, scarcely a word was +uttered. Whenever they found a ruby they expressed no satisfaction, +though it were worth a thousand times the price of their freedom. They +just handed it to Cæsar, who examined the quality of each stone under a +magnifying-glass. + +That day there were two more cases of cholera; two more of these +unfortunate creatures were freed of their bonds to throw themselves down +upon the river bank to die. + +Cæsar was utterly without pity. If a man fell ill he cursed him, and as +often as not, resorted to the whip. Max Harden felt that these things +sickened him. He had never dreamed that such barbarity could exist in +an age of enlightenment and toleration. + +That night he slept--the sleep of those who are utterly exhausted. He +was over-burdened by the sights which he had seen. The unhappy lot of +these poor sufferers was like a mountain weight upon his heart. It was +a three-day nightmare, in which Cæsar stood for all that was terrible +and pitiless. None the less Max did not despair. His courage was +maintained by hope. He knew that as long as Crouch and Edward were in +the land of the living they would not rest until the slaves had been +avenged. + +Cæsar knew now that Crouch had escaped from the jungle, and Max had been +saved as by a miracle from the rapids. But he had asked no questions. +He had gone back to his work at the quarry as if nothing unusual had +occurred. Perhaps he desired to fill his treasure-chest without delay, +and take his rubies to Europe. Perhaps he recognized already that the +game was up. + +At daybreak Max was awakened by the Arab who had charge of his gang, and +once more he was marched out to the workings. That afternoon a strange +thing occurred: de Costa appeared at the quarry. + +The Portuguese seemed genuinely glad to see the young Englishman. He +even grasped him by the hand. + +It was now that Max saw how invaluable the half-caste was to Cæsar. The +man was a ruby expert. His business was to examine the gems, one by +one, and select those of the greatest value. His place was at the river +where the washing was in progress, whereas Cæsar himself superintended +the blasting of the rock. + +De Costa drew near to Max. + +"You saved my life," said he; "I have to thank you." + +The Arab slave-driver was out of earshot, and even had he been able to +overhear them he could not have understood since they talked in English. + +"If you wish to show your gratitude," said Max, "you can help me when +the time comes." + +De Costa remained silent for a while, his weak, almost colourless eyes +staring at the water of the river. + +"Yes," said he, "you saved my life. None the less I will die if I am +not taken to the sea. The fresh air, the sea breezes--these are better +than rubies, are they not?" + +He was silent for some minutes, whilst Max continued with his work. + +"There’s a ruby," said Max, selecting a small blood-red stone from the +handful of gravel he was washing. + +De Costa looked at it and then threw it into a bag which lay at his +side. + +"Yes," said he, "it is worth about five hundred pounds. But I was about +to ask you if you remember the night when you saved me from the whip?" + +"I remember quite well," said Max. + +"Do you know why he thrashed me? I was about to tell Crouch of the +rubies and the slaves, and Cæsar guessed it, and used the whip. Then +you came in, and Gyp flew at you. I am grateful for what you did." + +De Costa sat cross-legged on the ground, with his eyes fixed upon the +river. The slaves saw nothing as they worked; long since their senses +had been numbed. Cæsar was engrossed in his business at the quarry; the +Arabs, with their loaded rifles in their hands, never moved their eyes +from the slaves. Max was the only one who looked about him. + +His eyes were fixed upon the granite hills across the river, to the east +of the gorge. The sky-line was rugged, by reason of the great boulders +that lay upon the crest. Two of these were close together, and from +that position they bore a striking resemblance to two faces in +profile--that of an old man and a woman. As Max looked, the resemblance +became more lifelike. And then something dark passed from behind one +boulder to the next. It had been visible for no longer than an instant, +but in that instant Max recognized M’Wané. + +He thought the matter out. If M’Wané was there, Crouch and Edward were +not far behind. He knew that they would see him through their glasses. +He continued with his work. It was above all necessary that Cæsar’s +suspicions should not be aroused. + +In life things sometimes so happen that it is evident our fate is not +always in the hands of ourselves. There is a Divine Providence that +watches over us and is Master of the human will. Max had no sooner +decided to remain as servile and obedient as the most broken-hearted +negro in Makanda, when he was called upon to act. + +The man next him, who early in the morning had complained of feeling +ill, now lay down upon the ground and uttered a groan. The Arab +approached and told him to get up. The poor fellow was not able to do +so, and though he tried his best he fell back again, saying that he +suffered the most violent pains. + +At that, Cæsar drew near, whip in hand, and demanded to know what was +the matter. When he saw that here was another case of cholera, he flew +into a passion. He had no pity for the man. He merely regretted the +incident as a disaster, inasmuch as he had lost another workman. He +ordered the Arab to unlock the iron collar around the slave’s neck, and +then he raised his whip. + +The long lash swung high into the air, and then came down upon the bare +back of the dying man. Two strokes fell, and the whip had been raised +for a third, when Max Harden flew like a wild beast at Cæsar’s throat. + +So sudden was the onslaught that the Portuguese was taken by surprise. +Though Max was encumbered by the heavy chain which hung from his neck, +he had room enough in which to move. His fellow-bondsmen, unable to +believe the evidence of their eyes, ceased their work and stood together +in a crowd, their eyes dilated and their limbs trembling in fear. + +Max paid no heed to them. He was like a mad dog on a leash that rushes +forth from its kennel and lays hold upon its victim. He took no heed of +the consequences. He neither thought what he was doing, nor asked +himself whether it were wise. He was just driven mad by the sight of +such inhuman cruelty. + +He flung Cæsar to the ground, and before the man could rise, the whip +had been wrested from his hand. Max placed a foot upon his chest, and +the lash of the whip rose and fell, cracked, made circles in the air and +fell again, until Cæsar shrieked for mercy. + +[Illustration: "THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CÆSAR SHRIEKED +FOR MERCY."] + +Never, since the Dark Continent had been traversed by Tippu Tib, and the +villages of the Upper Congo had been given over to plunder, had the +slave-driver’s whip been wielded with such remorseless energy. Cæsar +groaned and writhed upon the ground, and struggled blindly to rise. The +thong cut his cheek and hands, and the cruel knots which he himself had +tied tore the coat from his back, till his cries became fainter, and at +last he lay quite still. And at that, Max cast the whip in his teeth. + +Throughout all this every one had remained motionless, rooted to the +spot. The whole thing had been so unexpected and so sudden. Nothing +like it had ever happened before. + +De Costa stood by with chattering teeth. The very sight of Cæsar’s +punishment had set the ague shaking in his bones. The slaves were +petrified by fear. They looked on in breathless silence, with their +mouths opened wide and their heavy under-lips hanging so low as to show +their white teeth and gums. As for the Arabs, even they were too +surprised to act. They had known the Portuguese for two years, and they +knew that his word was law; not one of them would have dared for a +moment to defy him. On that account they could not believe what they +saw. + +Cæsar rolled over on his face, and then struggled to his feet. He stood +for a moment swaying. Then he passed a hand across his eyes. + +After that, he shot Max such a glance as it were impossible to describe. +Therein were passion, hatred and vengeance. + +He felt in his pockets, as if he searched for something. It was his +revolver, which had fallen to the ground. Not seeing it, he staggered +to the Arab who was nearest, and held out his hand. + +"Give me that," said he in Arabic. + +The man, with the stoic indifference of all his race, handed over his +rifle, and Cæsar took it, though his hand was shaking like a leaf in the +wind. Step by step, he returned to Max. He walked like a drunken man. +There were great weals upon his face and hands, and there was blood upon +his coat. + +"You shall pay for that!" said he. + +The slaves cowered at the water’s edge. They were like sheep in a +storm. As for de Costa, he stood there, impotent to help, yet willing +to do so, his hands clasped before him, and shivering from head to foot. +The Arab who had handed over his rifle was smoking a cigarette. + +"You shall pay for that!" said Cæsar. + +So saying, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and took long and careful +aim. He was not ten paces from Max. It seemed impossible he could +miss. Still, we must remember that he was unsteady on his feet, that it +was all he could do to stand. + +There was a flash--a loud report--a quick jet of fire; and Max was +struck in the chest with the cotton wad, and his face was blackened by +the powder. For all that, the bullet had sped past, to bury itself in +the bed of the Hidden River. + +Cæsar let fall an oath and then re-loaded, ejecting the cartridge case. +That done, he stepped even nearer, and lifted his rifle again. + +At that moment a double report sounded from the hills, and the +Portuguese gave a kind of gulp and then fell forward on his face, his +rifle still in his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM + + +There are some men who are born to command, who imbue their followers +with confidence, who are masters of the art of managing men. + +Cæsar was one of these. He had entered the heart of Africa at the time +when the first great explorers were opening up the unknown continent, +and some small knowledge connected with the source of the Nile and the +presence of the Great Lakes was reaching the ears of Europe. + +For the most part these daring pioneers penetrated Africa either to +shoot big game or propagate the Christian Gospel, or in the cause of +science. Grant, Speke, Mason and Stanley were geographers, explorers +before all else. Livingstone was a missionary; and Cotton Oswell, +Gordon-Cumming and Sir Samuel Baker were hunters of big game. Unlike +these famous men, the Portuguese, who afterwards adopted the name of +"Cæsar," was prompted by purely selfish motives--the acquisition of +wealth. + +Like every one else, he found the interior overrun by the Arabs, who, +since time immemorial, had exploited the equatorial regions for slaves +for the Greek satraps and the Roman consuls. The abolition of the slave +trade did not affect the regions of the Upper Nile, the Great Lakes and +the Congo. Laws which men chose to make in Europe could in no way +modify or hinder what went on in the equatorial forests. Not only in +Zanzibar, but even in Cairo, there was an open slave market where the +trade continued to flourish. + +Nothing can speak so eloquently for the virility, the craft and cunning, +of the Arab as the fact that for centuries millions of savage warriors +were held in fear and trembling by a few hundreds of these ruthless sons +of the desert. In quite recent years, when Stanley made his passage of +the Congo and the Aruwimi in search of Emin Pasha, he found Arab slave +stations scattered at intervals throughout the unknown forest, and his +whole expedition must have perished had it not been for the assistance +he received from the Arab ivory hunters in the valleys of the Upper +Congo. + +In his early days the tall Portuguese had also taken care to be on +friendly terms with the Arabs. He was one who was quick to learn, and +experience taught him two things: firstly, that the Arab will do +anything for profit; and secondly, that once his word has been given he +is one of the most faithful friends in the world. + +The Arabs employed at Makanda were men whom Cæsar knew that he could +trust. Each was to have his share of the plunder when the slave camp +was broken up and the Portuguese returned to Europe. Until then he knew +they would stand by him, faithful to their promise that he could rely +upon their courage in case of emergency. + +In the panic that now took place Cæsar must have been captured had it +not been for the heroism of the Arabs. He had been taken by surprise in +open country. There was no escape by way of the quarry, and upon the +hills on the other side of the river was Edward Harden, who, in spite of +the fact that he had said that Crouch was a better shot than +himself--had the clearest eye and the steadiest hand of any man +throughout the length and breadth of Africa. + +The slaves were distracted. Those who were joined together by chains +ran to the quarry and huddled in a crowd. Those who were free to go +whither they listed ran to and fro, filling the air with their cries. As +for de Costa, he could do nothing but wring his hands and look about him +for some place of safety. + +Max, by the sheer weight of the slaves with whom he was yoked, was +dragged onward to the quarry. He tried to assure them that there was +nothing whatsoever to fear, but they were incapable of understanding a +word of what he said. + +In those brief moments it was only the prompt action of the Arabs that +saved Cæsar’s life. The Portuguese had been shot in the chest. He was +unconscious for no longer than a few seconds, and then he struggled to +an elbow. + +When they saw that their master was alive two Arabs hastened towards him +and lifted him in their arms. Under a perfect hail of fire from the six +rifles on the hills they bore him to a place of safety at the southern +extremity of the lake where a long canoe was moored. They could not +cross at the bridge, since it was immediately under fire from the +granite hills. + +Then followed a race--a race for the stockade. Harden, Crouch, and the +four Fans appeared upon the crest-line, and thence came down into the +valley with a cheer. + +In the meantime, the Arabs so plied their paddles that the canoe shot +across the lake like a dart, dividing the water at the prow into two +long feathery waves. When they sprang ashore, a little above the place +where the Englishmen had landed on the day they first came to Makanda, +M’Wané, who was leading the attack, was not fifty paces distant. + +The Fan chieftain dropped upon his knees to fire, and missed. And a +moment later the door of the stockade was closed. + +M’Wané retreated no less hastily than he had come, with the bullets +flying at his heels, splashing in the sand. Halfway up the slope he met +Edward Harden striding forward, rifle in hand. + +"Too late!" he cried. "Master, why did not the white wizard teach me to +shoot like you?" + +Edward smiled, and placed a hand on M’Wané’s shoulder. + +"You’ll have another chance all right," said he. "They’ve shut +themselves up in a trap." + +By this time Crouch, who had already given up the chase, had descended +to the suspension bridge and crossed to the quarry. There the first +person he set eyes upon was de Costa. + +"Hands up!" he cried. And at the word de Costa threw up his arms +pleading for mercy. + +Crouch looked about him, and heard Max’s voice calling for assistance. +And at that, of his own accord, de Costa took a bunch of keys from his +pocket and offered them to Crouch. They were the keys of the iron +collars of the slaves. + +A few seconds later every slave was free. They could not at first +realize what had happened; and then, one man, more intelligent than his +fellows, grasped the truth, and picking up the chain which had been +fastened to his neck for many months hurled it into the river. + +Max told his story in a few words. He explained how he had been +captured, and showed Crouch the rubies. + +Crouch turned to the half-caste. "Will you throw in your lot with us?" +he asked. + +"I am ready to do so," said de Costa. "I would have told you all that +night when Cæsar found you in the hut." + +"I have some reason to believe that to be true," said Crouch. "I hold +to my original promise. Stand by us to-day, and I’ll take you down to +the Coast. You must see that the game’s up for Cæsar." + +De Costa intimated that he was only waiting to receive orders. + +"Very well," sad the captain; "you probably have some authority over +these poor brutes of slaves. I suppose you can speak their language? +Tell them they are free. Explain to them that they owe their liberty to +us, and ask them to lend us a helping hand. Select a party of the +strongest, and take them yourself to the village on the mountain. There +you will find our ammunition and stores. Bring them here as quickly as +you can, and don’t forget the medicine chest. We must lend what help we +can." + +"Where am I to find you?" asked de Costa. + +"Here," said Crouch. "There are only seven of us, and we can’t spare a +man. We shall need every rifle we’ve got to capture the stockade." + +"I will do my best," said de Costa. + +"I trust you will," said Crouch. Then, his face lit up, and his only +eye looked the half-caste through and through. "By Christopher," said +he, "if you fail me, I’ll hunt you down! All Africa won’t be big enough +to hold you. I’ll search the country from the Zambesi to the desert, +and I’ll find you in the end." + +He said these words with his teeth clenched, and his great chin thrust +forward. The little half-caste quailed before his glance. + +It was then that there came a burst of firing from the north. Crouch +stiffened in every limb. + +"There!" he cried, "the band’s begun to play." + +Max followed him for a little distance, then remembered that he had left +his rifle on the hill-top. De Costa looked about him, bewildered. +Events had happened in such swift succession that he felt that the whole +thing might prove a dream from which he would presently awaken. Then he +called the slaves together. They obeyed his word from force of habit; +and though there was nothing now to prevent them taking to the hills, +they followed him meekly into the kraal. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE + + +That firing was the beginning of the siege of the stockade of Makanda, +which lasted for seven days. Edward Harden had approached too near, and +had drawn fire from the Arabs who manned the walls. The firing was +answered by the Fans, who were somewhat over-eager to try their +new-found strength. Shots were exchanged until nightfall, when the +three Englishmen gathered together to discuss their plan of campaign. + +They had every reason to believe that Cæsar himself had been put out of +action--at least for a day or so. As far as they knew, the garrison +consisted of six or seven Arabs. The two sides were therefore equal in +strength, but the advantage lay with the defenders, who were strongly +entrenched, whereas the attackers had no cover nearer than the hills. + +They knew that the stockade was well provisioned, and it would take +months for the garrison to be starved into submission. Their only +chance was to take the stockade by assault, and this would be by no +means easy to do. + +They could not hope to succeed by day: a surprise would be out of the +question. They would have to advance across the sandy plain that +enclosed the shores of the lake, and they would be shot down, one after +the other, from the loop-holes in the stockade. Their only chance was +to assault the place by night. + +That evening they could do nothing. Crouch and the four Fans remained +to keep a watchful eye on the garrison, while Max and his uncle betook +themselves to the kraal, to render what aid they could to the cholera +patients. + +A few hours before daybreak de Costa set out for the mountain, with +strict injunctions to return as quickly as possible. It had taken a +whole night for the slaves to realize that they had gained their +freedom, and then, out of the gratitude in their hearts, they readily +volunteered to act as carriers to the white men whenever their services +should be required. + +For three days no assault was delivered. The Englishmen and the Fans +confined their energies by day to desultory shooting from the crest-line +of the hills. By night they closed in upon the stockade, to see that +Cæsar made no attempt to escape. Throughout these days most of Max’s +time was taken up in fighting a far more formidable foe than a handful +of Arabs and a wounded Portuguese. With the aid of the few +disinfectants and medicines which Edward had brought from the Pambala +village, he did his best to stamp the cholera out. Those who had died +were buried, and their clothing burnt. The remaining slaves, who had +not followed de Costa, were removed from the kraal and taken to a place +in the hills, where they were told to wait the issue of the siege. A +few deserted to their homes, for they were ignorant people, and had +learnt by bitter experience not to trust the white man. However, the +majority stayed at Makanda, conscious of the debt they owed to the two +Hardens and to Crouch. + +It was on the third night that Max decided to burn the kraal to the +ground. Great flames rose high into the air and illumined the crater +through which the Hidden River flowed swiftly on its course. + +As the kraal burned the slaves upon the hill-top danced and sang. They +beheld in the spreading fire the burning of their bondage. To them the +red glow that filled the valley and made the barren slopes of the +granite hills stand forth in the night like peaks in fairyland, was the +dawn of happier days. And Max, too, was light of heart. He believed +that that fire would stamp out the pestilence once and for all. + +Early in the afternoon on the following day de Costa arrived from the +mountain. He had remained faithful to his promise. Only three slaves +had deserted on the march, and the others were told to join the refugee +camp which had sprung up upon the hill. De Costa was to remain in +charge of the liberated slaves. The majority were Pambalas from the +district, but several had been brought from so far away that they knew +not how to find their way back to their homes. + +That night Crouch and Edward decided to attack. They had now a large +supply of ammunition, and Max, who had finished his duties as doctor, +was free to take his place in the ranks. + +Max and M’Wané approached the stockade along the river bank from the +south, Crouch and another Fan from the north, whereas Edward and the two +others descended from the hills. + +There was no moon when they crept upon the garrison from three sides at +once, moving cautiously forward on hands and knees through the sand. +When about fifty paces distant, each party lay still and listened for +the signal to assault. This was to come from Crouch, who could imitate +to the life the jackal’s howl. + +Max and M’Wané, lying close as hares, waited for the signal to come. +They could hear the wild beasts in the jungle, and now and again a +faint, piercing cry, as some animal was seized in the strong jaws of a +leopard or a lion. The great cats were hunting like the white men who +surrounded the stockade. + +Then the long-drawn howl of a jackal was lifted in the night, and at +that those seven men sprang to their feet and rushed upon the defence. + +The Arabs had been warned. On the instant fire flashed from the +loop-holes. The night was alive with the whistling of bullets, which +dived into the water of the river or flew into the forest to send little +leaves fluttering to the ground, or buried themselves in the trunks of +gigantic trees. + +On the east Edward was driven back. Before he reached the ditch one of +his men had been wounded, and there he found it would be certain death +to endeavour to scale the stockade. + +Max and Crouch on the other side were more successful. It was the +former who was the first to reach the gate, and endeavour to force it +open. The man who was there on guard put his shoulder to the business, +and for a few seconds a struggle took place the issue of which was +doubtful. + +At one time Max had the door ajar, but the man or men on the other side +forced it back inch by inch until it was nearly closed. It was then +that M’Wané came to Max’s assistance; and immediately after, the opening +in the door grew wider by degrees. + +Had this affair been fought to a finish, it is beyond question that Max +and M’Wané would have gained the fort, but it was at this moment that +the unexpected occurred. A rapid burst of firing came from the river, +from the northern extremity of the lake. A stream of bullets flew past, +and many splintered the woodwork of the gate which had been the bone of +contention from the first. + +To be attacked by night unexpectedly from the rear is an ordeal which +the finest trained soldiers in the world find it difficult to stand. It +was too much for the Fans. Even M’Wané, who was as brave a savage as +any who ever roamed the grassland west of the Lakes, turned on his heels +and bolted. + +Max turned round, and on the instant the gate of the stockade was +closed. He had no alternative but to retire, and even that much had to +be accomplished between two withering fires. Five minutes later there +was silence in the valley. The assault had been repulsed. + +It seemed, indeed, as if this river would hold its mysteries to the end. +They had heard weird legends of the Fire-gods from savage lips, dressed +up in all the blandishments of fancy. They had thought the problem +solved in the slave gangs and ruby mine, but here was another mystery +unsolved. + +While Max was engaged in his struggle at the gate, the sharp eye of +Captain Crouch had seen a long canoe glide out from the darkness where +the river penetrated the jungle. Before he had had time to give warning +of its approach, the occupants of the canoe had opened fire. When he was +asked to explain it, Crouch could not do so. They knew the course of +the river from the Makanda to the rapids. The canoe could be nothing +but a phantom. At daybreak no sign of it was to be seen. + +At first their suspicions rested upon the unfortunate de Costa. But +they discovered from the natives that that night the half-caste had not +left the refugee camp; indeed, he had actually been seen asleep whilst +the assault was in progress. The natives had nothing to gain by +defending a man who so recently had been one of their tyrants; and +besides, it was not in the nature of de Costa’s disposition to conduct a +daring attack at dead of night. + +Throughout that day they kept a watchful eye upon the stockade. +Everything appeared as usual. They could see the white-robed Arabs +moving about between the huts, and they subjected these to long-range +rifle-fire from the hills. Cæsar’s yellow flag still floated on the +wind from the flagstaff before his hut. + +The three Englishmen went about their business--cleaning their rifles, +cooking, or attending to the wounded Fan--sullenly, as if ill-pleased +with the world in general, speaking only when spoken to, and then in +monosyllables. + +The truth was not one of them liked to own that they had been worsted. +Their attack had proved unsuccessful. That in itself was sufficiently +annoying; but, what made matters worse, was the fact that they could not +explain how the catastrophe had come about. + +An hour before sundown they sat in silence at their evening meal. They +were obliged to feed thus early, because it was necessary that at +nightfall they should take their places around the stockade to prevent +the Arabs breaking out in the night. The little sleep they got in those +days they were obliged to take by day, when it sufficed for one of their +number to watch the enemy’s movements in the stockade. + +Suddenly Crouch drove the knife with which he had been eating into the +earth. + +"I can’t make it out!" he cried. "I’ll give credit where it’s due; the +man ’s clever as a monkey. What do you say?" he broke out in a +different tone of voice. "Shall we attack again to-night?" + +"Yes," said Edward; "certainly." + +That was the way in which the mind of the big man worked. He thought in +monosyllables. He was not like Crouch, who had a thousand reasons for +everything, who was always eager to explain. With Edward Harden it was +either Yes or No, and generally the former. + +"Look here," said Max, "I propose we go about it in another manner. Last +time I undertook to reconnoitre the enemy’s position I made a fool of +myself, and was captured." + +"You did very well," said Edward. + +"I don’t think so," said his nephew. "At any rate, with your +permission, I should like to try again. I suggest that we surround the +stockade as we did last night, but that I am allowed to go forward +alone. After all, I’m the youngest and most active of the party, if we +exclude M’Wané and his friends. I believe I can creep up to the wall +without being heard. I am sure I can vault the stockade. As soon as I +am inside I will fire at the first man I see, and when you hear that +shot you must endeavour to rush the gate." + +Crouch knocked out his pipe on the heel of his boot. + +"Bravo," said he. "There’s no question you should meet with success. If +you get into the fort--as you think you can--you’ll take their attention +from the gate, and we ought to join you in a few seconds even if the +canoe appears on the river. Still, it’s a big risk you’re taking; I +suppose you’re aware of that?" + +"Quite," answered Max. + +Thus was the matter settled; and soon afterwards darkness descended, and +day turned to night in the course of a few minutes, for there is no +twilight on the Line. + +They took their places in silence under cover of the darkness, and then +waited in patience and suspense. They had agreed upon midnight as the +hour. + +Max, lying upon his face in the sand which still retained much of the +warmth of the day, followed the hands of his watch, which he was just +able to see in the starlight. Never had he known time pass more slowly. +Even the second-hand seemed to crawl, and he was certain that the +minute-hand never moved the thousandth part of an inch. And yet, at +last the hour arrived. He knew that on the other side of the stockade +both Crouch and his uncle were ready to advance. Rising softly to his +feet he put his watch in his pocket. + +On hands and knees he crawled forward to the ditch. He had decided not +to encumber himself with a rifle. His revolver was loaded in his +holster. He reached the ditch in safety, and there paused to listen. +There was no sound within the fort. The night was still as the grave. + +Summoning his courage he rose once more to his feet, and laid hold with +both hands upon the sharpened points of the stakes which formed the +enclosure. Then, taking in a deep breath, he sprang, swinging himself +on high, and landed on his feet on the other side. + +A second later he stood with his revolver in his hand, glancing in all +directions, ready to fire at sight. It was then that he stood in +momentary expectation of a swift and sudden death. However, no shot was +fired. + +Seeing that he had entered the stockade and was yet undiscovered, he +hastened into the shade of the nearest hut, and there knelt down and +waited. + +For five minutes he never moved, and during that time he heard no one +either on the banquette or among the huts. Then he thought of Crouch +and his uncle. He imagined the suspense which they endured. He +realized that they must believe he had died in silence under the knife. +Presently, whether he fired or not, he knew that they would attempt to +rush the gate. + +It was, therefore, no longer necessary to remain undiscovered. It would +aid their purpose better if some one saw him and he fired. His object +was to create an alarm, to draw the attention of the garrison to +himself, whilst Crouch and Edward, followed by the Fans, bore down upon +the gate. + +He stepped out from his hiding-place, and walked down the line of huts +until he came to that which was Cæsar’s. He looked in. It was +deserted, though a candle burned low upon the table. + +At that he placed a finger round the trigger of his revolver, and fired +three shots in rapid succession into the ground. Then, standing in the +doorway of the hut, he listened. + +Absolute silence reigned. The truth burst upon him as in a flash: the +stockade had been abandoned. And at that moment there was a great +crashing sound as the gate swung back upon its hinges, and Crouch and +Harden burst into the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE + + +Edward Harden, rifle in hand, led the way, followed by Crouch and the +four Fans. As they entered the stockade, expecting to be attacked from +all sides in the darkness, they opened out in accordance with a +pre-arranged plan. Crouch turned to the left and Edward to the right; +and then, taking post on the banquette, they stood ready to fire. + +For a few seconds there was absolute silence. The situation was so +unlooked for that they could not, at first, realize what had happened. +Then Crouch’s voice was lifted in the night. + +"By Christopher, the rats are gone!" + +Max, guided by the sound of these words, found the sea-captain in the +darkness, and confirmed his suspicions. He said that he had been +several minutes within the stockade, and had neither seen nor heard a +living soul. + +It seemed as if the valley of the Hidden River would maintain its +reputation to the last. There was no end to mystery. Time and again +were they confronted with facts that they were wholly unable to explain. + +It was M’Wané who found a lantern in the hut which had formerly been +occupied by de Costa; and with the help of this they searched the huts, +one after the other, in the hope of being able to discover Cæsar’s line +of retreat. + +It was not possible that the Portuguese and his Arab attendants had left +the stockade by way of the gate. By day, the garrison had been under +the constant observation of their sentinel on the hills. Every night, +as soon as it was sufficiently dark to permit them to approach, the +stockade had been surrounded. They found nothing suspicious in any one +of the huts, until they came to Cæsar’s, before which the yellow flag +still unfurled itself upon the wind. Here they discovered that the ruby +chest had gone. + +Now, it would require four men, at least, to carry this heavy chest to +the water’s edge, and even then, the task could not have been +accomplished without noise. It was impossible to believe that the +garrison had passed through the little investing force by dead of night. +And yet, as far as they could see, there was no other means of escape. +Cæsar and his slave-drivers had vanished as suddenly and unaccountably +as if they had been spirited away. + +They separated and searched the stockade from end to end. It was M’Wané +who gained the first clue, who came running breathlessly to Crouch. + +"Master," he cried, "the wood-stack has been moved." + +Within the stockade they had noticed on their arrival a great quantity +of firewood, which had been cut in the adjacent forest. On approaching +this, Crouch saw at once that the wood-stack had been pulled down as if +in haste. Calling out to Edward to bring the lantern, he awaited +further developments. No sooner had Harden arrived than the mystery was +solved. + +Leading downward into the ground was a broad flight of steps. A kind of +tunnel had been formed under the sand, about four feet wide and six feet +high, revetted by wooden beams. So all the time Cæsar had been at +liberty to escape, whenever he felt that he was sufficiently recovered +of his wound to undertake the journey. + +When Cæsar had constructed his stockade in the heart of the wilderness, +he had been prepared for all eventualities and had neglected nothing. He +had unlimited labour at his disposal. Knowing the nature of his +business, and the hatred with which he was likely to be regarded by the +neighbouring tribes, he had thought it likely that, at some future date, +he might be called upon to undergo a siege. That siege might last for +several months, by which time his provisions would be exhausted and he +obliged to retreat. As far as they were able to discover, the +subterranean passage had been made during the absence of de Costa on a +two-months’ journey to the Coast, in order to procure fresh supplies of +dynamite. From the fact that the half-caste knew nothing whatsoever of +the passage, it seems likely that the Portuguese had all along intended +to desert his companion at the eleventh hour. + +Without a word, Edward Harden descended the steps, holding the lantern +on high to guide his friends who followed. The passage lay in a +bee-line throughout the whole of its length. It was about three hundred +yards long, and whilst it ran through the sandy sub-soil in the crater +of Makanda, both its walls and roof consisted of solid logs. For the +last hundred yards it pierced the living rock, and at last came forth in +the impenetrable darkness of the forest. + +By the aid of the lantern they were able to discover a path which led to +the left, and after a few minutes’ walking, this brought them to the +river bank. Here, in the soft mud, was the indentation of the bows of a +canoe. Moreover, the place was so screened by trees and tall reeds that +no one, passing either up or down the river, would suspect for a moment +that here was a mooring-place. It was here that the "phantom canoe" had +lain, to be brought upstream by two or three of the Arabs from the +stockade on the night of the attack. + +No sooner did Crouch observe this evidence of the means Cæsar had taken +to escape, than he shook his fist in the air. + +"He’s gone down-stream," he cried. "But, I’ll follow him, if he leads +me a ten-years’ journey through the wilderness. I’ll overtake that man, +and I’ll kill him. I swear it. I swear that I’ll never set eyes upon +the shores of England again, until I know that he is dead." + +And that was the oath of Captain Crouch, which--when we have got to the +end of the story--will prove to us that oaths are very futile after all. +The strength of man is limited; in face of the wonders of the universe, +his knowledge is indeed small. He may be strong and brave and +unswerving of his purpose; but, after all, where men teem in cities, no +less than in the heart of the illimitable and mighty forest, there is a +greater Power than anything that is human--the all-pervading Spirit of +the Universe, before whom the foolish vows of men are of infinitesimal +account. + +Crouch had flown too often in the face of Providence not to be aware of +that; but, just then, he was well-nigh mad with wrath and restless with +excitement. Snatching the lantern from Edward’s hand he raced along the +passage, until they found themselves again within the stockade. + +Still, the captain never paused. He passed through the gate, and thence +ascended the hills. They found the slave-camp absolutely silent. On +every hand the unhappy negroes lay stretched upon the ground, and there +in the middle of them was de Costa, nature striving to maintain the +spark of life within that fever-stricken body, by means of healthful +slumber. On the eastern horizon, beyond the unknown hills which they +had seen from Solitude Peak, the dawn was rising in a flood. + +With scant ceremony Crouch awakened first de Costa, then every one of +the slaves. Through the medium of the half-caste he spoke to the +natives as follows-- + +"We found you slaves, we have made you freemen. Are you grateful for +what we have done?" + +A murmur arose from the crowd. They said that they were mindful of what +they owed to the white wizard and his brave companions. + +"Then," said Crouch, "you can help us. We are going down-river. We +must start at once. We must take all our baggage, our stores and +ammunition. There are six canoes at the kraal, and these will be +sufficient. But we will need porters to make the journey through the +jungle to the Kasai. If you come with us, to carry our loads and +canoes, we will pay you in cowrie shells and beads, brass rods and +cloth." + +To a man they volunteered, and not five minutes later a caravan of fifty +carriers, protected by seven rifles, descended to the lake before +Makanda. + +In less than an hour the canoes were loaded, and then the expedition +shot down the stream, the canoes following one behind the other in +single file. Crouch led the way, his quick eye sweeping either bank in +search of the place where Cæsar had embarked. Max, in the last canoe +brought up the rear. + +As the canoes gained the point where the sandy plain around the +settlement gave place to the density of the jungle, all turned and +looked back upon Makanda. To the slaves, many of whom had worked for +two years under the whip, without hope of ultimate salvation, it was as +if they looked their last upon their prison doors. As for the +Englishmen, they remembered that grey, steaming morning when they had +first come within sight of the stockade, when Cæsar had fired at them +from the water. + +All that had happened in the weeks that followed was like some strange, +swift-moving dream. + +It was midday when they reached their old camp at Hippo Pool, and Harden +and Crouch disembarked, to see if they could find traces of Cæsar’s +escape on the line of their former portage. + +They met with instant success. Some one had passed within the course of +the last few hours. + +In consequence, the loads were disembarked. Three canoes were sunk, and +the remaining three lifted high and dry upon the bank. It was whilst +this work was in progress that Crouch, to his infinite delight, +discovered his case of glass eyes, which he had left in camp on the +morning of their adventure at Leopard Marsh. + +They were obliged to halt for a few hours for food. They had brought +with them a week’s rations for their men: plantain flour, soaked manioc +and ears of corn. It was two o’clock when the caravan began to move +through the jungle towards the Kasai. They eventually reached one of +their old camps by Observation Pool. Their progress was necessarily +slow. The slaves were in no fit condition to do a forced march through +the jungle; and that night it was decided that Edward and Max and the +Fans should push on ahead, in an endeavour to overtake the fugitives, +and failing that to bring back the Loango boys to help. Crouch was to +follow with the caravan with what dispatch he could. + +In two days, the advanced party reached the place where the creek turned +to the south. Cæsar’s tracks still followed the old route direct to +Date Palm Island. + +On the fifth day of their journey from Hippo Pool, they came upon a +place where Cæsar had turned to the north. Edward was an experienced +tracker, but it did not require the eye of an expert to see that human +beings had turned from the portage and followed an elephant track to the +Kasai. For a moment, Harden was undecided how to act. If he continued +on his way to Date Palm Island, some days might be wasted before he +again picked up the trail. In the end he decided to send Max and the +three Fans to the north, and go himself with M’Wané to the Island. +There he would load up the canoe, send half the boys down-stream on the +look-out for Max, and bring the others back to the portage to assist the +slaves. + +The following morning he shook hands with his nephew, and continued on +the old route with which he was now familiar. He had not gone far, +however, before he noticed bloodstains on the leaves of the undergrowth; +and presently, to his utmost surprise, he came across one of the Loango +boys wounded by a bullet in the leg, and crawling painfully on hands and +knees towards the river. + +This boy said that he had been hunting in the jungle--for they were +short of food on the Island--when he had come across a caravan +consisting of six Arabs and a white man. They were carrying a canoe +half-filled with supplies, and a great box which appeared to be +excessively heavy. The white man who led the way, seemed to be very +weak, for he staggered as he walked. Indeed, it is impossible to +imagine the hardships that the tall Portuguese underwent upon that last +and fateful journey. So anxious was he to save his rubies, to gain the +sea-coast in safety, that he had not brought with him sufficient +supplies. In consequence, he and his men were starving and, as we shall +see, they had an even more deadly foe to reckon with. + +M’Wané, picking up the wounded boy in his arms, carried him like a baby +throughout the rest of the journey to Date Palm Island. There the man’s +wound was attended to, and he was placed in a canoe which was ready +loaded two hours after Edward had reached the river. + +Once more Harden set forth upon his old track, leaving instructions that +the canoe was to drop down-stream on the afternoon of the following day. +The Loango boys from the Island, though they had complained of being +short of food, were in fine condition; and the party came up with Crouch +at the end of the second day. Thence they made better headway and, +following Cæsar’s trail, arrived eventually at the river, where they +found not only Max and the Fans, but the party from the Island. + +And now followed a race down the river after the slave-drivers and their +chest of rubies. The three canoes which had been carried from the +Hidden River, were embarked on the Kasai. The slaves who had acted as +porters on the journey were given the option of finding their own way +back to their villages or going down to the Congo in the canoes. There +was never the slightest doubt that the majority would choose the former +course. Half their number had come from the Pambala village on the +slopes of Solitude Peak, and a score from other villages farther to the +south-west. In all there were only five who desired to journey to the +Congo, and these were men whom Cæsar had captured in the land of the +Bakutu. + +The current of the river was so swift that the four canoes shot +down-stream at a great velocity with little help from the paddles. On +the upper reaches of the great river, rapids and waterfalls were +frequent, and at such times it was necessary to carry the canoe to +unbroken water. At each portage they found traces of Cæsar and his +Arabs. Once the camp-fire of the Portuguese was still alight, and soon +after that, on rounding a point, they came in sight of a canoe. + +They thought at first that they had overtaken Cæsar, but they were +doomed to be disappointed. With the aid of their fieldglasses they +ascertained that the canoe was coming towards them, working slowly +up-stream against the force of the current. + +They were still more surprised when they recognised, seated in the stern +of this canoe, the white solar topee and the black coat of a European. +A few minutes later Crouch was within hail. + +"Who are you?" he asked, with both hands to his mouth. + +And the answer came back in the accent of Aberdeen: "James Mayhew, of +the Scottish Missionary Society." + +That, indeed, was so. This man alone, attended only by a few native +servants, was forcing his way in the absolute Unknown, in order to bring +the enlightenment of Christian knowledge into the depths of an endless +forest, inhabited by cannibals and dwarfs. They had time only to +congratulate the missionary upon his courage, and to wish him every +success. Crouch gave Mr. Mayhew directions as to how to reach the +Hidden Valley, and told him that, if he found his way to Solitude Peak +and said that he had come from the "White Wizard," he would find many +converts among the liberated slaves and the people of the village. + +On being asked whether he had seen the Portuguese and his Arabs on the +river, the Missionary answered that he had passed them not an hour ago. +The Arabs had been paddling furiously, as if their lives depended upon +their reaching the Congo with as little delay as possible. As for the +Portuguese, he had been lying as if sick, in the body of the canoe, with +his head propped against a great ironbound chest. + +Crouch waited to hear no more. Waving his hand to the Missionary, he +gave orders for the journey to continue. + +That evening, they expected to arrive at Cæsar’s camp, but by midnight +they had come to the conclusion that the man was resolved to push on +without halting for food. + +It was now that M’Wané and his four companions--the three that had gone +to Solitude Peak and the one who had been left at the Island--asked to +be put ashore. They said they were not far from their own people, and +were desirous of returning home. For all that, they were extremely +sorry to leave their masters, the great white men who had overcome the +Fire-gods. + +When they left, there was much hand-shaking. Each man was presented +with a rifle and several rounds of ammunition, in addition to that they +received enough beads, brass rods, and cloth, to gladden the hearts of +any savage who ever roamed the equatorial forests. + +Throughout the night the canoes paddled to the north-west. All this +time de Costa lay in the body of a canoe, groaning with ague and +shivering from fever. It is a strange thing that in the close and humid +atmosphere of the forest there is little malaria or malarial typhoid, +which cause such havoc among the white men on the great rivers of the +Congo Basin. For it is above the surface of the water that the +mosquitoes swarm, which breed these fell diseases. + +At daybreak they sighted Cæsar. They saw his canoe for no longer than +an instant as it rounded a bend in the river. The natives plied their +paddles with a will, and Crouch, in the vanguard of the pursuit held his +rifle ready to fire. + +All day long, beneath the blazing tropic sun, with the insects droning +in their ears and the yellow seething water rushing onward to the sea, +this strange race continued. + +Three times did they catch sight of the fugitives; once in the morning, +once at mid-day, and the last time when the afternoon was drawing to a +close. + +By then they were not five hundred yards in the rear. It seemed +probable that the Portuguese would be overtaken before night. Throughout +that day native settlements on either bank of the river had been +frequent. They were but two hundred miles above the point where the +Kasai joins the Congo, to the north of Stanley Pool. + +At last they entered a broad reach, where the river was straight as a +Roman road. On either side the jungle rose to the height of about two +hundred feet--a tangled mass of vegetation, of creepers, vines, +convolvuli, so densely interwoven as to give the effect of endless +walls. Far in the distance, at the end of this long reach, they could +see an island standing in mid-stream, as if it floated on the surface of +the river. + +Resolved to overtake the man before darkness set in and assisted his +escape, they urged the canoes forward, until Cæsar recognised himself +for lost. Two shots from Crouch, and Cæsar’s canoe drew in to the bank +of the island. + +As they approached they saw the Portuguese lifted out of his canoe in +the arms of his faithful Arabs, and deposited on the bank. Then the +Arabs, taking their rifles in their hands, opened fire on their +pursuers. + +They realized at once that resistance would be hopeless. The Loango +boys, after many weeks of inactivity on Date Palm Island, were spoiling +for a fight. Not all of them were armed with rifles, but the odds were +two to one against the Arabs, who knew that they could always trust the +white men to show mercy. No sooner had the Englishmen set foot upon the +island than they delivered up their arms. + +Had Crouch shot them on the spot these men, who for two years had been +scourging slaves with their whips, had got no more than they deserved. +As it was, their weapons were not given back to them, and they were +turned adrift upon the great river, with a week’s provisions, to find +their way back as best they might to some settlement of their own kith +and kin. + +And then the Englishmen were able to give their attention to Cæsar. The +tall man lay upon the ground, rigid as in death. The whole party +gathered around him, with the exception of de Costa, who was himself too +ill to land upon the island. + +Cæsar’s complexion was a dull, slaty-blue. His face was drawn and +haggard, his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets. As Max pushed his +way through the inquisitive Loango boys, who stood gaping at the dying +man, Cæsar struggled to a sitting position, and supporting his back +against a tree, looked savagely about him. + +"Stand back!" cried Max. "It’s cholera!" + +It was then he realized the truth. Cæsar had thrashed one of his slaves +for no greater crime than having contracted the pestilence that was +ravaging his camp. Max had snatched the whip from the man’s hand and +brought down upon his face and hands and back the cruel thong, whose +very touch was contagion. And thus was the vengeance of God, upon one +who had done evil all his days, taken from the hands of Captain Crouch. + +Max was actually on his way back to his canoe to procure his medicine +chest when the man looked about him, rolled his eyes to the heavens, as +if he who had shown so little of mercy to others thought to find it +there. Then he fell back with a groan, and lay cramped and twisted in +the agony of his death. + +That night, they buried him upon the island. They filled ammunition +boxes with the rubies, and burnt the chest against which Cæsar had +rested his head. And then, they left him in the starlight, in the midst +of the great stillness of the lonely river, to make his peace with God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS’" + + +The green baize doors are just the same as ever; and in the inner +smoking room is Edward Harden, as large and clumsy-looking as on the +morning when we met him first at the top of St. James’s Street, except +that, perhaps, he is more sun-burnt and somewhat haggard. + +It is winter; the London fog is without, and a great fire is roaring in +the grate. And before that fire is seated a young gentleman who now, +for the first time, is enjoying the privileges of a member. + +Edward rose to his feet, and looked at the clock. + +"It’s six," said he. "Crouch ought to be here." + +Max Harden consulted his watch, as if to verify the evidence of the tall +grandfather’s clock which proclaimed the hour between the masks of a +snow-leopard and a panther. + +"He said he would be back at five," said he to his uncle. "I suppose +we’d better wait." + +At that moment, one of the green baize doors swung open, and Captain +Crouch limped into the room. He was now dressed in what he deemed the +garb of civilization: that is to say, a navy blue pilot-coat, with brass +buttons, and a red tie that might have served to guide him in the fog. +They had the smoking-room to themselves. + +"It’s all right," said Crouch, "I’ve fixed it up. Lewis and Sharp paid +over the money this afternoon, and I gave them a receipt." + +"How much did they fetch?" asked Max. + +"Three hundred and eighty thousand pounds." + +Max whistled, but said nothing. For some minutes, the three explorers +sat gazing into the fire. Not another word was spoken until Frankfort +Williams burst into the room. + +Williams had no sympathy with those who roamed the equatorial forests. +His own heart was set upon the ice-floes of the Arctic. + +"Look here," he cried, "what’s this I hear about you fellows presenting +a million pounds to some Missionary Society?" + +"Who told you that?" said Crouch. + +"Why, I heard it just now from Du Cane." + +"News travels quickly," said Crouch. "But, a million is rather an +exaggeration Three hundred and eighty thousand is the sum." + +"And it all goes to a Missionary Society!" + +"Yes," said Max, "you didn’t expect us to keep it, did you? It was +slave-trade money. We wouldn’t touch a penny of it. Why, it would burn +holes in our pockets." + +"You see," said Edward, taking his pipe from his mouth, "a chap called +Mayhew--nice sort of fellow from what we saw of him--has gone up into +the very part of the country that we came from. He wants to civilize +the people; and after all, it’s only fair that they should have the +benefit of the money, for it was they who earned it." + +Crouch got to his feet, and turned his back to the fire. + +"See?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, I see all right," said Williams, somewhat reluctantly, +however. "Of course, you couldn’t very well do anything else, in the +circumstances. But, it seems rather a shame, somehow--when I can’t +raise subscriptions for an expedition to the west coast of Baffin Land." + +"Look here," said Crouch, "if you think we’re going to take money from +half-starved negroes, who have slept in chains and sweated under the +lash, and give it to you to climb some flaming iceberg, you’re in the +wrong, my friend; and it’s just as well for you to know it." + +Frankfort Williams laughed. It was the custom in the "Explorers’" for +those who favoured the tropics to scorn the men who were endeavouring to +reach the poles; just as it was for the Arctic adventurers to wax +ironical on the subject of cannibals and mangrove swamps, poisoned +arrow-heads and manioc. Williams talked for some few minutes upon the +current topics of the day, and then left the club. + +When he was gone, the three friends remained in their old positions +before the fire. Though not a word was said, the thoughts of each +drifted in the same direction. They saw the steaming mist upon a wide, +tropic river; they heard the hum of thousands of insects in their ears, +and the cries of the parrots overhead. They passed over, once again, +the route of their portage from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, and set +forth in fancy into the valley of the Hidden River. + +At last, Crouch got from his chair and, walking to the window, looked +out into the street. The fog had lifted in a fine, drizzling rain. +Shadowy figures hurried past, each with umbrella in hand, whilst the +reflection from the lights of the club windows glistened on the +pavement. The shops had closed. The workers were hurrying home; and +the London that had no need to work was dressing up for dinner. Crouch +swung round upon his heel. + +"I’m sick of this!" he cried. + +"So am I," said Edward. "Where shall we go?" + +Max got to his feet, and fetched down the map. + + + + THE END + + + + + + PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, + BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + + + ———— + + THE BOY’S LIBRARY OF + Adventure and Heroism. + + +An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed, +illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers. + +The Fifth Form at St Dominic’s. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding in +stirring incident and in humorous descriptions. + +A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN. + +A Story of Pagan and Christian. + +A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and +dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum. + +The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Græco-Turkish War. By V. L. GOING. + +A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the +last war between Turkey and Greece. + +The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and +temptations of young men entering upon the work of life. + +The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES +REED. + +The juniors’ rollicking fun, the seniors’ rivalry, the school elections +and football match are all told in a forcible manner. + +A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be misunderstood, +and to be made the butt of his comrades. + +The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and +fun, and the trials of a young House-Master. + +From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, +unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief. + +My Friend Smith. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A first-rate story dealing with the temptations and difficulties boys +meet with when entering upon business life. + +Comrades under Canvas. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON. + +A breezy, healthy tale, dealing with the adventures of three Boys’ +Brigade companies during their annual camp. + +Parkhurst Boys, and other Stories of School Life. By TALBOT BAINES +REED. + +A collection of stories from _The Boy’s Own Paper_, containing some of +this popular author’s best work and brightest wit. + +Reginald Cruden. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Depicting the last days at school of Reginald Cruden, who then starts in +business at the bottom of the ladder. + +Roger Ingleton, Minor. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A bright, vigorous story for boys, introducing the reader to various +characters, all drawn with this well-known author’s usual skill and +power. + +That Boy of Fraser’s. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +David Fraser passed through many troubles caused by the disappearance of +his father; how he encountered them makes invigorating reading. + +With Rifle and Kukri. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON + +The many heroic deeds called forth by England’s "little wars" along the +Indian frontier are here, narrated in stirring language. + +Meltonians All! By F. COWLEY WHITEHOUSE. + +A first-rate story of school-life and after, full of vim and stirring +incidents. Jim, Ken and Goggles make a fine trio. + +Myddleton’s Treasure. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +Railway accidents, the evil doings of those in power, a shipwreck, and +adventures in Africa all help to make up a thrilling story. + +The Baymouth Scouts. By TOM BEVAN. + +A thrilling story, especially suitable for Boy Scouts, of the days of +Napoleon, and his threatened invasion of England. + +Rollinson and I. By W. E. CULE. + +The Story of a Summer Term. + +An attractive tale of schoolboy life, detailing a broken friendship, +much misunderstanding, repentance, and finally reconciliation between +the two characters in the title-role. + +Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. BOLTON. + +A schoolmaster with a genius for mathematics has various hobbies, one of +which proves useful in the rescuing of a kidnapped boy. + +Derrick Orme’s Schooldays. By EDITH C. KENYON. + +Describes the experiences and persecutions of a high-minded Colonial lad +by a bullying schoolfellow, who is at last driven to admit his +transgressions. + +Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the +wonderful adventures of a sturdy ’prentice-lad. + +Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular author’s +knowledge of schoolboy life and humour. + +Submarine U93. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +A thrilling tale, in which the U boat is the principal factor. The +youthful hero, with that redoubtable personage, Captain Crouch, passes +through many ordeals and adventures. + +The Boy Scout’s Companion. Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +Everything that the aspiring Scout can learn from books is here +generously provided. The book is full of interest and value. A capital +collection of all sorts of information. + +Into the Soundless Deeps. A Tale of Wonder and Invention. By F. H. +BOLTON. + +The problems of sound and a "wonder-box," known as the "long distance" +ear, provide the main theme in this exciting story, in which adventures +with Spanish brigands also figure. + +The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Story of the Chinese Underworld, and of +Piracy and Adventure in Eastern Seas. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +In the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his parentage, an English +boy, brought up as a Chinese, passes through many adventures on sea and +land. + + The Recreation Series. + +A splendid set of gift-books, providing recreation both for the body and +the mind. Profusely illustrated, of good bulk, handsomely printed, and +attractively bound in cloth gilt. + +The Boy’s Own Book of Outdoor Games and Pastimes. Edited by P. P. +WARNER. + +Every phase of sport is represented in this volume, from Cricket to +Kite-Flying, and each contribution is by some well-known authority. + +The Boy’s Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations. Edited by MORLEY +ADAMS. + +Containing a mine of information on Conjuring, Ventriloquism, Model and +Toy making, Puzzles, Home Entertainments, and so on. + +The Boy’s Own Book of Pets and Hobbies. + +Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +An invaluable guide to finding something to do. Many a long evening may +be brightly spent and lasting pleasure afforded by it. + +Every Boy’s Book of Railways and Steamships. + +By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The author marshals his facts skilfully and tells, without +technicalities, the romance of the railway and the great waterways of +the world. + +The Handy Natural History (Mammals). + +By ERNEST PROTHEROE, F.Z.S. + +This marvellous book is something more than a mere record of +observation, while the exploits of many hunters of wild beasts are +recorded. + +Adventures in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +An admirably written description of the adventures which the +photographer and naturalist has to encounter in his quest for pictures +of British birds. + +Home Life in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +A deeply interesting narrative of the habits of our feathered friends, +which will be eagerly welcomed and appreciated for the charm which it +reveals. + +The Boy’s Own Book of Heroism and Adventure. + +Edited by A. R. BUCKLAND, M.A. + +Heroism of many sorts and thrilling adventures in many lands, by +well-known writers for boys, crowd these pages. + + + LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. + + + + + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE-GODS*** + + + + +A Word from Project Gutenberg + + +We will update this book if we find any errors. + +This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39255 + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the Project +Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered +trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you +receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of +this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this +eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, +reports, performances and research. They may be modified and printed and +given away – you may do practically _anything_ with public domain +eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially +commercial redistribution. + + + +The Full Project Gutenberg License + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works + + +*1.A.* By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the +terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all +copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you +paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this +agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you +paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +*1.B.* “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things +that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even +without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph +1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help +preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See +paragraph 1.E below. + +*1.C.* The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in +the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you +from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating +derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project +Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the +Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works +by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms +of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated +with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others. + +*1.D.* The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the +copyright status of any work in any country outside the United States. + +*1.E.* Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +*1.E.1.* The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on +which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase +“Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, +viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + +*1.E.2.* If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with +the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, +you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through +1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.3.* If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +*1.E.4.* Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. + +*1.E.5.* Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. + +*1.E.6.* You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site +(http://www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +*1.E.7.* Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless +you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.8.* You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided +that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation.” + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + +*1.E.9.* If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth +in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the +owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3. below. + +*1.F.* + +*1.F.1.* Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. +Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the +medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but +not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription +errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a +defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +*1.F.2.* LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES – Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability +to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE +THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF +WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. +YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR +UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, +INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE +NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. + +*1.F.3.* LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND – If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +*1.F.4.* Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS,’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +*1.F.5.* Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +*1.F.6.* INDEMNITY – You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ + + +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals +and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely +available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and +permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn +more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how +your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org . + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state +of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue +Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is +64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the +full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official page +at http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely +distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of +equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to +$5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with +the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where +we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside +the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways +including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, +please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless +a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks +in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook’s eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including +how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to +our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/39255-0.zip b/39255-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..db51e84 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-0.zip diff --git a/39255-h.zip b/39255-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7bb6abb --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h.zip diff --git a/39255-h/39255-h.htm b/39255-h/39255-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7747902 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/39255-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5814 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fire Gods, by Charles Gilson</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +.italics { font-style: italic } +.no-italics { font-style: normal } + +.bold { font-weight: bold } +.no-bold { font-weight: normal } + +.small-caps { } /* Epub needs italics */ +.gesperrt { } /* Epub needs italics */ +.antiqua { font-style: italic } /* what else can we do ? */ +.monospaced { font-family: monospace } + +.smaller { font-size: smaller } +.larger { font-size: larger } + +.xx-small { font-size: xx-small } +.x-small { font-size: x-small } +.small { font-size: small } +.medium { font-size: medium } +.large { font-size: large } +.x-large { font-size: x-large } +.xx-large { font-size: xx-large } + +.text-transform-uppercase { text-transform: uppercase } +.text-transform-lowercase { text-transform: lowercase } +.text-transform-none { text-transform: none } + +.red { color: red } +.green { color: green } +.blue { color: blue } +.yellow { color: yellow } +.white { color: white } +.gray { color: gray } +.black { color: black } + +/* ALIGN */ + +.left { text-align: left } +.center { text-align: center } +.right { text-align: right } +.justify { text-align: justify } + +/* LINE HEIGHT */ + +p { margin: 0; + text-indent: 2em } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +.title, .subtitle { page-break-after: avoid } + +.container, .title, .subtitle, #pg-header + { page-break-inside: avoid } + +p.pfirst, +p.center, +p.right, +div.center p, +div.right p, +p.noindent { text-indent: 0 } + +.boxed { border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em } +.topic, .note { margin: 5% 0; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em } +div.section { clear: both } + +div.line-block { margin: 1.5em 0 } /* same leading as p */ +div.line-block.inner { margin: 0 0 0 10% } +div.line { margin-left: 20%; text-indent: -20%; } +.line-block.noindent div.line { margin-left: 0; text-indent: 0; } + +hr.docutils { margin: 1.5em 40%; border: none; border-bottom: 1px solid black; } + +.vfill, .vspace { border: 0px solid white } + +.title { margin: 1.5em 0 } +.title.with-subtitle { margin-bottom: 0 } +.subtitle { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +/* header font style */ +/* http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-fonts/#propdef-font-size */ + +h1.title { font-size: 200%; } /* for book title only */ +h2.title, p.subtitle.level-1 { font-size: 150%; margin-top: 4.5em; margin-bottom: 2em } +h3.title, p.subtitle.level-2 { font-size: 120%; margin-top: 2.25em; margin-bottom: 1.25em } +h4.title, p.subtitle.level-3 { font-size: 100%; margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; } +h5.title, p.subtitle.level-4 { font-size: 89%; margin-top: 1.87em; margin-bottom: 1.69em; font-style: italic; } +h6.title, p.subtitle.level-5 { font-size: 60%; margin-top: 3.5em; margin-bottom: 2.5em } + +/* title page */ + +h1.title, p.subtitle.level-1, +h2.title, p.subtitle.level-2 { text-align: center } + +#pg-header, +h1.document-title { margin: 10% 0 5% 0 } +p.document-subtitle { margin: 0 0 5% 0 } + +/* PG header and footer */ +#pg-machine-header { } +#pg-produced-by { } + +li.toc-entry { list-style-type: none } +ul.open li, ol.open li { margin-bottom: 1.5em } + +p.attribution { margin-top: 0 } + +.example-rendered { + margin: 1em 5%; border: 1px dotted red; padding: 1em; background-color: #ffd } +.literal-block.example-source { + margin: 1em 5%; border: 1px dotted blue; padding: 1em; background-color: #eef } + +/* DROPCAPS */ + +/* BLOCKQUOTES */ + +blockquote { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +blockquote.epigraph { } + +blockquote.highlights { } + +div.local-contents { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +div.abstract { margin: 3em 10% } +div.caption { margin: 1.5em 10%; text-align: center; font-style: italic } +div.legend { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +.hidden { display: none } + +.invisible { visibility: hidden; color: white } /* white: mozilla print bug */ + +a.toc-backref { + text-decoration: none ; + color: black } + +dl.docutils dd { + margin-bottom: 0.5em } + +div.figure { margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em } + +img { max-width: 100% } + +div.footer, div.header { + clear: both; + font-size: smaller } + +div.sidebar { + margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em ; + border: medium outset ; + padding: 1em ; + background-color: #ffffee ; + width: 40% ; + float: right ; + clear: right } + +div.sidebar p.rubric { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-size: medium } + +ol.simple, ul.simple { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +ol.toc-list, ul.toc-list { padding-left: 0 } +ol ol.toc-list, ul ul.toc-list { padding-left: 5% } + +ol.arabic { + list-style: decimal } + +ol.loweralpha { + list-style: lower-alpha } + +ol.upperalpha { + list-style: upper-alpha } + +ol.lowerroman { + list-style: lower-roman } + +ol.upperroman { + list-style: upper-roman } + +p.credits { + font-style: italic ; + font-size: smaller } + +p.label { + white-space: nowrap } + +p.rubric { + font-weight: bold ; + font-size: larger ; + color: maroon ; + text-align: center } + +p.sidebar-title { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold ; + font-size: larger } + +p.sidebar-subtitle { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold } + +p.topic-title, p.admonition-title { + font-weight: bold } + +pre.address { + margin-bottom: 0 ; + margin-top: 0 ; + font: inherit } + +.literal-block, .doctest-block { + margin-left: 2em ; + margin-right: 2em; } + +span.classifier { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-style: oblique } + +span.classifier-delimiter { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold } + +span.interpreted { + font-family: sans-serif } + +span.option { + white-space: nowrap } + +span.pre { + white-space: pre } + +span.problematic { + color: red } + +span.section-subtitle { + /* font-size relative to parent (h1..h6 element) */ + font-size: 100% } + +table { margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; border-spacing: 0 } +table.align-left, table.align-right { margin-top: 0 } + +table.table { border-collapse: collapse; } + +table.table.hrules-table thead { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 2px 0 0 } +table.table.hrules-table tbody { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 2px 0 } +table.table.hrules-rows tr { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 0 0 1px } +table.table.hrules-rows tr.last { border-width: 0 } +table.table.hrules-rows td, +table.table.hrules-rows th { padding: 1ex 1em; vertical-align: middle } + +table.table tr { border-width: 0 } +table.table td, +table.table th { padding: 0.5ex 1em } +table.table tr.first td { padding-top: 1ex } +table.table tr.last td { padding-bottom: 1ex } +table.table tr.first th { padding-top: 1ex } +table.table tr.last th { padding-bottom: 1ex } + + +table.citation { + border-left: solid 1px gray; + margin-left: 1px } + +table.docinfo { + margin: 3em 4em } + +table.docutils { } + +tr.footnote.footnote td, tr.footnote.footnote th { + padding: 0 0.5em 1.5em; +} + +table.docutils td, table.docutils th, +table.docinfo td, table.docinfo th { + padding: 0 0.5em; + vertical-align: top } + +table.docutils th.field-name, table.docinfo th.docinfo-name { + font-weight: bold ; + text-align: left ; + white-space: nowrap ; + padding-left: 0 } + +/* used to remove borders from tables and images */ +.borderless, table.borderless td, table.borderless th { + border: 0 } + +table.borderless td, table.borderless th { + /* Override padding for "table.docutils td" with "!important". + The right padding separates the table cells. */ + padding: 0 0.5em 0 0 } /* FIXME: was !important */ + +h1 tt.docutils, h2 tt.docutils, h3 tt.docutils, +h4 tt.docutils, h5 tt.docutils, h6 tt.docutils { + font-size: 100% } + +ul.auto-toc { + list-style-type: none } +</style> +<style type="text/css"> +/* +Project Gutenberg HTML docutils stylesheet. + +This stylesheet contains styles specific to HTML. +*/ + +/* FONTS */ + +/* em { font-style: normal } +strong { font-weight: normal } */ + +.small-caps { font-variant: small-caps } +.gesperrt { letter-spacing: 0.1em } + +/* ALIGN */ + +.align-left { clear: left; + float: left; + margin-right: 1em } + +.align-right { clear: right; + float: right; + margin-left: 1em } + +.align-center { margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto } + +div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } + +/* compact list items containing just one p */ +li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } + +.first { margin-top: 0 !important; + text-indent: 0 !important } +.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } + +span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } +img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } +span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } + +.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +@media screen { + .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage + { margin: 10% 0; } + + div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage + { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } + + .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } +} + +@media print { + div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } + div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} + +</style> + +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Fire Gods, by Charles Gilson</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Fire Gods<br /> + A Tale of the Congo</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Charles Gilson</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 24, 2012 [eBook #39255]<br /> +[Most recently updated: October 28, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Al Haines</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE GODS ***</div> + +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-36"> +<img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +Cover 1</div> +<div class="legend"> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 59%" id="figure-37"> +<img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-cover2.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +Cover 2</div> +<div class="legend"> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-38"> +<span id="max-leaned-forward-to-examine-the-face-of-the-rock-and-as-he-did-so-he-was-seized-suddenly-from-behind"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-front.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +"MAX LEANED FORWARD TO EXAMINE THE FACE OF THE ROCK; AND AS HE DID SO, HE WAS SEIZED SUDDENLY FROM BEHIND."</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">THE FIRE-GODS</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">A Tale of the Congo</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">By</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">Author of "Submarine U93," "The Mystery of Ah Jim,"</em></div> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">and other Stories.</em></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SOPER</em></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">LONDON</div> +<div class="line">"THE BOY'S OWN PAPER" OFFICE</div> +<div class="line">4, Bouverie Street</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">Submarine U93. A Tale of the Great War by Sea.</div> +<div class="line">The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Tale of the East.</div> +<div class="line">On Secret Service. A Tale of German Spies.</div> +<div class="line">A Motor Scout in Flanders. A Tale of the Bombardment of Antwerp.</div> +<div class="line">The Race Round the World. A Tale of the Motor Spirit of the Future.</div> +<div class="line">The Pirate Aeroplane. A Tale of the Kingdom of Asmalia.</div> +<div class="line">The Lost Island. A Tale of a Chinese Secret Society.</div> +<div class="line">The Lost Column. A Tale of the Boxer Rebellion in China.</div> +<div class="line">Across the Cameroons. A Tale of the Germans in West Africa.</div> +<div class="line">The Spy. A Tale of the Peninsular War.</div> +<div class="line">The Sword of Freedom. A Tale of the English Revolution.</div> +<div class="line">The Lost Empire. A Tale of the Napoleonic Wars.</div> +<div class="line">In the Power of the Pygmies. A Tale of Central Africa.</div> +<div class="line">In Arms for Russia. A Tale of the Great War.</div> +<div class="line">The Pirate Yacht. A Tale of Southern Seas.</div> +<div class="line">The Sword of Deliverance. A Tale of the Balkan War.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils" /> +<div class="level-2 section" id="id1"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title">CONTENTS</h2> +<div class="container contents"> +<ul class="compact simple toc-list"> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-i-the-explorers-club" id="id2">CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-ii-on-the-kasai" id="id3">CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-iii-the-white-wizard" id="id4">CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-iv-the-hidden-river" id="id5">CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-v-the-stockade" id="id6">CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-vi-crouch-on-the-war-path" id="id7">CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-vii-the-white-man-s-burden" id="id8">CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-viii-leave-to-quit" id="id9">CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-ix-a-thief-by-night" id="id10">CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-x-the-back-water" id="id11">CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xi-in-the-long-ravine" id="id12">CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xii-when-hope-dies-out" id="id13">CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xiii-back-to-the-unknown" id="id14">CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xiv-black-ivory" id="id15">CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xv-cholera" id="id16">CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xvi-the-open-chest" id="id17">CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xvii-the-tables-turned" id="id18">CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xviii-freedom" id="id19">CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xix-the-phantom-canoe" id="id20">CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xx-the-rats-escape" id="id21">CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxi-back-at-the-explorers" id="id22">CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'"</a></p> +</li> +</ul> +</div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils" /> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">BY GEORGE SOPER</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#max-leaned-forward-to-examine-the-face-of-the-rock-and-as-he-did-so-he-was-seized-suddenly-from-behind">"Max leaned forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was seized suddenly from behind"</a> . . . <em class="italics">Frontispiece</em></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#crouch-s-fist-rang-out-upon-his-chin-like-a-pistol-shot-and-he-went-over-backwards-into-the-mud">"Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud"</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-great-dane-sprang-straight-at-the-throat-of-the-young-englishman">"The Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman"</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-lash-of-the-whip-rose-and-fell-until-caesar-shrieked-for-mercy">"The lash of the whip rose and fell, until Cæsar shrieked for mercy"</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line">THE FIRE-GODS</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-i-the-explorers-club"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2">CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The Explorers' Club no longer exists. To-day, as a matter of fact, it +is a tea-shop in Old Bond Street--a small building, wedged between two +greater ones, a fashionable milliner's and a famous Art Establishment. +Towards the end of the last century, in what is known as the +mid-Victorian era, the Explorers' Club was in the heyday of its glory.</p> +<p class="pnext">The number of its members was limited to two hundred and fifty-one. In +the inner smoking-room, through the green baize doors, where guests +were not admitted, both the conversation and the company were at once +remarkable and unique. The walls were adorned with the trophies of the +chase: heads of elk, markhor, ibex, haartebeest and waterbuck; great +lions and snarling tigers; mouflon from Cyprus, and the white leopard +of the Himalayas. If you looked into the room through the glass +peep-hole in one of the green baize doors, you might have thought at +first that you beheld a menagerie, where the fiercest and the rarest +beasts in the world were imprisoned in a single cage. But, presently, +your attention would have been attracted by the great, sun-burnt men, +sprawling in the leather chairs, dressed in tweeds for the most part, +and nearly every one with a blackened briar pipe between his lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">In those days, Africa was the "Dark Continent"; the source of the Nile +and the Great Lakes were undiscovered, of the Congo nothing was known. +Nor was this geographical ignorance confined to a single continent: in +every part of the world, vast tracts of country, great rivers and +mountains were as yet unexplored. And the little that was known of +these uttermost parts of the earth never passed the green baize doors +of the inner smoking-room of the Explorers' Club.</p> +<p class="pnext">There, in an atmosphere blue with smoke, where a great fire roared in +winter to keep the chill of the London fog from the bones of those who, +time and again, had been stricken with the fevers of the equatorial +parts, a small group of men would sit and talk by the hour. There +great projects were suggested, criticised and discussed. A man would +rise from his seat, take down a map of some half-discovered country, +and placing his finger upon a blank space, announce in tones of +decision that that was the exact spot to which he intended to go. And +if he went, perhaps, he would not come back.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the time our story opens, Edward Harden was probably the most +popular member of the Explorers' Club. He was still a comparatively +young man; and though his reputation rested chiefly upon his fame as a +big game shot, he had rendered no mean service to the cause of science, +as the honours heaped upon him by the Royal Geographical Society and +kindred institutions fully testified.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was early in June, and the height of the London season, when this +six foot six of explorer walked up St. James's Street on the right-hand +side. Somehow he felt that he was out of it. He was not one of the +fashionable crowd in the midst of which he found himself. For ten +years he had been growing more and more unaccustomed to the life of +cities. It was a strange thing, he could break his way through the +tangled thicknesses of an equatorial forest, or wade knee-deep in a +mangrove swamp, but he could never negotiate the passage of Piccadilly.</p> +<p class="pnext">As he stood on the "island" in the middle of the street, opposite +Burlington House, he attracted a considerable amount of attention. He +was probably the tallest man at that moment between St. Paul's and the +Albert Memorial. His brown moustache was several shades lighter than +his skin, which had been burnt to the colour of tan. His long limbs, +his sloping shoulders, and the slouch with which he walked, gave him an +appearance of looseness and prodigious strength. Also he had a habit +of walking with his fists closed, and his arms swinging like pendulums. +He was quite unconscious of the fact that people turned and stared +after him, or that he was an object of exceeding admiration to small +boys, who speculated upon the result of a blow from his fist.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had not gone far along Bond Street when he cannoned into a young +man, who received a ponderous blow in the chest from Harden's swinging +fist. The explorer could hardly have been expected to look where he +was going, since at that moment he was passing a gunsmith's where the +latest improvement of elephant gun was on view in the window.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I beg your pardon!" he exclaimed in eager apology.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's nothing," said the other, and then added, with a note of +surprise, "Uncle Ted, by all that's wonderful! I might have known it +was you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden seldom expressed surprise. He just took the young +gentleman by the arm and walked him along at the rate of about five +miles an hour. "Come and have lunch," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Max Harden, in addition to being the explorer's only nephew, was a +medical student at one of the London hospitals. As a small boy, he had +regarded his uncle as one of the greatest men in the universe--which, +in a physical sense, he was.</p> +<p class="pnext">A week before Max had come of age, which meant that he had acquired the +modest inheritance of a thousand pounds a year. He had also secured a +commission from the Royal Academy of Physicians to make sundry +inquiries into the origin of certain obscure tropical diseases in the +district of the Lower Congo. This was precisely the part of the world +to which Edward Harden was about to depart. Max knew that quite well, +and his idea was to travel with his uncle. He had been to the +Explorers' Club, and had been told by the hall porter that Mr. Edward +Harden was out, but that he would probably return for lunch. It was +about two minutes later that he collided with his uncle outside the +gunsmith's shop.</p> +<p class="pnext">To lunch at the Explorers' Club was in itself an achievement. That day +several well-known men were there: Du Cane, the lion hunter; Frankfort +Williams, back from the Arctic, and George Cartwright, who had not yet +accomplished his famous journey into Thibet. Upon the walls of the +dining-room were full-length pictures of the great pioneers of +exploration: Columbus, Franklin and Cook. It was not until after +luncheon, when Max and his uncle were seated in the outer +smoking-room--through the green baize doors, it will be remembered, it +was forbidden for guests to enter--that Max broached the topic that was +nearest to his heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Uncle Ted," said he, "tell me about this expedition? As yet I know +nothing."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We're going up the Congo," answered Harden simply; "and it's natural +enough that you should know nothing about it, since practically nothing +is known. Our object is big game, but we hope to bring back some +valuable geographical information. The mouth of the Congo was +discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Since then +several trading-stations have sprung up on the river, but no one has +penetrated inland. It is known that about five hundred miles from the +mouth of the river, a tributary, called the Kasai, flows from the +south. Of the upper valley of that river absolutely nothing is known, +except that it consists of the most impenetrable forests and is +inhabited by cannibal tribes. It is there we propose to go."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who goes with you?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Crouch," said Harden; "Captain Crouch. The most remarkable man on the +Coast. Nobody in England has ever heard of him; but on the West Coast, +from Lagos to Loango, he is either hated like sin or worshipped like a +heathen god. There's no man alive who understands natives as well as +Crouch. He can get more work out of a pack of Kru-boys in a day than a +shipping-agent or a trader can in a week."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you account for it?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pluck," said Harden, "and perseverance. Also, from the day he was +born, a special providence seems to have guarded him. For many years +he was captain of a coasting-packet that worked from St. Louis to +Spanish Guinea. He fell overboard once in the Bight of Biafra, and +lost a foot."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How did he do that?" asked Max, already vastly interested in the +personality of Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sharks," said Harden, as if it were an everyday occurrence. "They +swim round Fernando Po like goldfish in a bowl. Would you believe it? +Crouch knifed that fish in the water, though he'll wear a cork foot to +his dying day. He was one of the first men to force his way up the +Niger, and I happened to be at Old Calabar when he was brought in with +a poisoned arrow-head in his eye. At that time the natives of the +interior used to dip their weapons in snake's poison, and no one but +Crouch could have lived. But he pulled through all right. He's one of +those small, wiry men that can't be killed. He has got a case full of +glass eyes now, of all the colours in the rainbow, and he plays Old +Harry with the natives. If they don't do what he wants, I've seen him +pull out a blue eye and put in a red one, which frightens the life out +of them. Crouch isn't like any one else I've ever met. He has the +most astonishing confidence in himself; he's practically fever-proof; +he can talk about twenty West African dialects, and he's a better shot +than I am. I believe the only person he cares for in the world is +myself. I would never dream of undertaking this expedition without +him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose," said Max, a trifle nervously, "you wouldn't think of +including a third member in your party?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden looked at his nephew sharply. "What do you mean?" he +asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean," said Max, "that I have undertaken to investigate certain +tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness and malarial typhoid, in +the very districts to which you are going. I thought you might not +object if I came with you. I didn't know I had Captain Crouch to deal +with."</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden rose to his feet and knocked out his pipe in the grate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"For myself," said he, "I should be pleased to have you with me. Are +you ready to start at once? We hope to sail next week."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max nodded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm," said the explorer, "I must ask Crouch. I think he's in the +club."</p> +<p class="pnext">He went to one of the green baize doors at the other end of the room, +opened it, and looked in.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Crouch," said he, "do you mind coming here a moment. There's +something I want to ask you."</p> +<p class="pnext">He then came back to his seat and filled another pipe. As he was +engaged in lighting this, a green baize door swung back and there +entered one of the most extraordinary men that it was ever the lot of +the young medical student to behold.</p> +<p class="pnext">As we have said, the Explorers' Club was in Bond Street, and Captain +Crouch was dressed after the fashion of a pilot; that is to say, he +wore a navy-blue suit with brass buttons and a red tie. He was a very +small man, and exceedingly thin. There seemed nothing of him. His +head was almost entirely bald. He wore a small, bristling moustache, +cut short like a tooth-brush, and a tuft of hair beneath his nether +lip. His eyebrows were exceedingly dark, and met on the bridge of his +nose. His skin was the colour of parchment, and wrinkled and creased +in all directions. He had a large hook nose, and a chin of excessive +prominence. Though he appeared entirely bloodless, there was something +about him that suggested extreme vital energy--the kind of vitality +which may be observed in a rat. He was an aggressive-looking man. +Though he walked with a pronounced limp, he was quick in all his +movements. His mouth was closed fast upon a pipe in which he smoked a +kind of black tobacco which is called Bull's Eye Shag, one whiff of +which would fumigate a greenhouse, killing every insect therein from an +aphis to a spider. He reeked of this as a soap-factory smells of fat. +In no other club in London would its consumption have been allowed; but +the Explorers were accustomed to greater hardships than even the smell +of Bull's Eye Shag.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, Ted," said Crouch, "what's this?"</p> +<p class="pnext">One eye, big and staring, was directed out of the window; the other, +small, black and piercing, turned inwards upon Max in the most +appalling squint.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is my nephew," said Harden; "Max Harden--Captain Crouch, my +greatest friend."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max held out a hand, but Crouch appeared not to notice it. He turned +to Edward.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the matter with him?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's suffering from a complaint which, I fancy, both you and I +contracted in our younger days--a desire to investigate the Unknown. +In a word, Crouch, he wants to come with us."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch whipped round upon Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're too young for the Coast," said he. "You'll go out the moment +you get there like a night-light."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm ready to take my chance," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked pleased at that, for his only eye twinkled and seemed to +grow smaller.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max was anxious to take advantage of the little ground he might have +gained. "Also," he added, "I am a medical man--at least, I'm a medical +student. I am making a special study of tropical diseases."</p> +<p class="pnext">And no sooner were the words from his lips than he saw he had made a +fatal mistake, for Captain Crouch brought down his fist so violently +upon one of the little smokers' tables with which the room was +scattered, that the three legs broke off, and the whole concern +collapsed upon the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you think we want a medical adviser!" he roared. "Study till +you're black in the face, till you're eighty years old, and you won't +know a tenth of what I know. What's the use of all your science? I've +lived on the Coast for thirty years, and I tell you this: there are +only two things that matter where fever is concerned--pills and funk. +Waiter, take that table away, and burn it."</p> +<p class="pnext">It is probable that at this juncture Max's hopes had been dashed to +earth had it not been for his uncle, who now put in a word.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell you what, Crouch," said he, in the quiet voice which, for some +reason or other, all big men possess; "the boy might be useful, after +all. He's a good shot. He's made of the right stuff--I've known him +since he was a baby. He's going out there anyhow, so he may as well +come with us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, of course he may," said Crouch. "I'm sure we'll be delighted to +have him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Such a sudden change of front was one of the most remarkable +characteristics of this extraordinary man. Often, in the breath of a +single sentence, he would appear to change his mind. But this was not +the case. He had a habit of thinking aloud, and of expressing his +thoughts in the most vehement manner imaginable. Indeed, if his +character can be summed up in any one word, it would be this one word +"vehemence." He talked loudly, he gesticulated violently, he smashed +the furniture, and invariably knocked his pipe out in such a frantic +manner that he broke the stem. And yet Edward Harden---who knew him +better than any one else in the world--always protested that he had +never known Crouch to lose his temper. This was just the ordinary +manner in which he lived, breathed and had his being.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm sure," said Captain Crouch, "we will be delighted to take you with +us. Ted, what are you going to do this afternoon?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am going to get some exercise--a turn in the Park."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll come with you," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, he stumped off to fetch his cap which he had left in the +inner room. No sooner was he gone than Max turned to his uncle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Uncle Ted," said he, "I can't thank you sufficiently."</p> +<p class="pnext">The big man laid a hand upon the young one's shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's nothing," said he. "But I must tell you this: if you are +coming with us to the Kasai, you must drop the 'uncle.' Your father +was considerably older than I was--fifteen years. You had better call +me by my Christian name--Edward. 'Ted's' a trifle too familiar."</p> +<p class="pnext">By then they were joined by Crouch, who carried a large knotted stick +in one hand, and in the other--a paper bag.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What have you got there?" asked Harden, pointing to the bag.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sweets," said Crouch. "For the children in the Park."</p> +<p class="pnext">And so it came about that they three left the Explorers' Club together, +Max in the middle, with his gigantic uncle on one hand, and the little +wizened sea-captain on the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">They created no small amount of interest and amazement in Bond Street, +but they were blissfully ignorant of the fact. The world of these men +was not the world of the little parish of St. James's. One was little +more than a boy, whose mind was filled with dreams; but the others were +men who had seen the stars from places where no human being had ever +beheld them before, who had been the first to set foot in unknown +lands, who had broken into the heart of savagery and darkness. Theirs +was a world of danger, hardship and adventure. They had less respect +for the opinion of those who passed them by than for the wild beasts +that prowl by night around an African encampment. After all, the world +is made up of two kinds of men: those who think and those who act; and +who can say which is the greater of the two?</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ii-on-the-kasai"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3">CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">A mist lay upon the river like a cloud of steam. The sun was +invisible, except for a bright concave dome, immediately overhead, +which showed like the reflection of a furnace in the midst of the +all-pervading greyness of the heavens. The heat was intense--the heat +of the vapour-room of a Turkish bath. Myriads of insects droned upon +the surface of the water.</p> +<p class="pnext">The river had still a thousand miles to cover before it reached the +ocean--the blazing, surf-beaten coast-line to the north of St. Paul de +Loanda. Its turgid, coffee-coloured waters rushed northward through a +land of mystery and darkness, lapping the banks amid black mangrove +swamps and at the feet of gigantic trees whose branches were tangled in +confusion.</p> +<p class="pnext">In pools where the river widened, schools of hippopotami lay like great +logs upon the surface, and here and there a crocodile basked upon a +mud-bank, motionless by the hour, like some weird, bronze image that +had not the power to move. In one place a two-horned rhinoceros burst +through the jungle, and with a snort thrust its head above the current +of the stream.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was the Unknown. This was the World as it Had Been, before man +was on the earth. These animals are the relics that bind us to the +Past, to the cave-men and the old primordial days. There was a silence +on the river that seemed somehow overpowering, rising superior to the +ceaseless droning of the insects and the soft gurgling of the water, +which formed little shifting eddies in the lee of fallen trees.</p> +<p class="pnext">A long canoe shot through the water like some great, questing beast. +Therein were twelve natives from Loango, all but naked as they came +into the world. Their paddles flashed in the reflected light of the +furnace overhead; for all that, the canoe came forward without noise +except for the gentle rippling sound of the water under the bows. In +the stern were seated two men side by side, and one of these was Edward +Harden, and the other his nephew Max. In the body of the canoe was a +great number of "loads": camp equipment, provisions, ammunition and +cheap Manchester goods, such as are used by the traders to barter for +ivory and rubber with the native chiefs. Each "load" was the maximum +weight that could be carried by a porter, should the party find it +necessary to leave the course of the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the bows, perched like an eagle above his eyrie, was Captain Crouch. +His solitary eye darted from bank to bank. In his thin nervous hands +he held a rifle, ready on the instant to bring the butt into the hollow +of his shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the canoe rounded each bend of the river, the crocodiles glided from +the mud-banks and the hippopotami sank silently under the stream. Here +and there two nostrils remained upon the surface--small, round, black +objects, only discernible by the ripples which they caused.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly a shot rang out, sharp as the crack of a whip. The report +echoed, again and again, in the dark, inhospitable forest that extended +on either bank. There was a rush of birds that rose upon the wing; the +natives shipped their paddles, and, on the left bank of the river, the +two-horned rhinoceros sat bolt upright on its hind-legs like a sow, +with its fore-legs wide apart. Then, slowly, it rolled over and sank +deep into the mud. By then Crouch had reloaded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What was it?" asked Harden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A rhino," said Crouch. "We were too far off for him to see us, and +the wind was the right way."</p> +<p class="pnext">A moment later the canoe drew into the bank a little distance from +where the great beast lay. Harden and Crouch waded into the mire, +knives in hand; and that rhino was skinned with an ease and rapidity +which can only be accomplished by the practised hunter. The meat was +cut into large slices, which were distributed as rations to the +natives. Of the rest, only the head was retained, and this was put +into a second canoe, which soon after came into sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">After that they continued their journey up the wide, mysterious river. +All day long the paddles were never still, the rippling sound continued +at the bows. Crouch remained motionless as a statue, rifle in hand, +ready to fire at a moment's notice. With his dark, overhanging brow, +his hook nose, and his thin, straight lips, he bore a striking +resemblance to some gaunt bird of prey.</p> +<p class="pnext">A second shot sounded as suddenly and unexpectedly as the first, and a +moment after Crouch was on his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A leopard!" he cried. "I hit him. He's wounded. Run her into the +bank."</p> +<p class="pnext">The canoe shot under a large tree, one branch of which overhung the +water so low that they were able to seize it. Edward Harden was ashore +in a moment, followed by his nephew. Crouch swung himself ashore by +means of the overhanging bough. Harden's eyes were fixed upon the +ground. It was a place where animals came to drink, for the soft mud +had been trampled and churned by the feet of many beasts.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There!" cried Harden. "Blood!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Sure enough, upon the green leaf of some strange water plant there was +a single drop of blood. Though the big game hunter had spoken in an +excited manner, he had never raised his voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Crouch who took up the spoor, and followed it from leaf to leaf. +Whenever he failed to pick it up, Harden put him right. Max was as a +baby in such matters, and it was often that he failed to recognize the +spoor, even when it was pointed out to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had to break their way through undergrowth so thick that it was +like a woodstack. The skin upon their hands and faces was scratched +repeatedly by thorns. They were followed by a cloud of insects. They +were unable to see the sky above them by reason of the branches of the +trees, which, high above the undergrowth through which they passed, +formed a vast barrier to the sunlight. And yet it was not dark. There +was a kind of half-light which it is difficult to describe, and which +seemed to emanate from nowhere. Nothing in particular, yet everything +in general, appeared to be in the shade.</p> +<p class="pnext">On a sudden Crouch stopped dead.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's not far from here," he said. "Look there!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Max's eyes followed Crouch's finger. He saw a place where the long +grass was all crushed and broken as if some animal had been lying down, +and in two places there were pools of blood.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch raised both arms. "Open out," said he. "Be ready to fire if he +springs. He'll probably warn you with a growl."</p> +<p class="pnext">This information was for the benefit of Max. To tell Edward Harden +such things would be like giving minute instructions to a fish +concerning the rudiments of swimming.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max, obeying Crouch's orders, broke into the jungle on the left, +whereas Edward moved to the right. Keeping abreast of one another, +they moved forward for a distance of about two hundred yards. This +time it was Harden who ordered the party to halt. They heard his quiet +voice in the midst of the thickets: "Crouch, come here; I want you."</p> +<p class="pnext">A moment later Max joined his two friends. He found them standing side +by side: Edward, with eyes turned upward like one who listens, and +Crouch with an ear to the ground. Harden, by placing a finger upon his +lips, signed to his nephew to be silent. Max also strained his ears to +catch the slight sound in the jungle which had aroused the suspicion of +these experienced hunters.</p> +<p class="pnext">After a while he heard a faint snap, followed by another, and then a +third. Then there was a twanging sound, very soft, like the noise of a +fiddle-string when thrummed by a finger. It was followed almost +immediately by a shriek, as terrible and unearthly as anything that Max +had ever heard. It was the dying scream of a wounded beast--one of the +great tribe of cats.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch got to his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fans," said he. "What's more, they've got my leopard."</p> +<p class="pnext">He made the remark in the same manner as a Londoner might point out a +Putney 'bus; yet, at that time, the Fans were one of the most warlike +of the cannibal tribes of Central Africa. They were reputed to be +extremely hostile to Europeans, and that was about all that was known +concerning them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden was fully as calm as his friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We can't get back," said he. "It's either a palaver, or a fight."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, then," said Crouch. "Let's see which it is."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that he led the way, making better progress than before, since he no +longer regarded the spoor of the wounded leopard.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently they came to a place where the jungle ceased abruptly. This +was the edge of a swamp--a circular patch, about two hundred yards +across, where nothing grew but a species of slender reed. Though Max +had not known it, this was the very place for which the other two were +looking. Backwoodsmen though they were, they had no desire to face a +hostile tribe in jungle so dense that it would scarcely be possible to +lift a rifle to the present.</p> +<p class="pnext">The reeds grew in tufts capable of bearing the weight of a heavy man; +but, in between, was a black, glutinous mud.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you fall into that," said Crouch, who still led the way, "you'll +stick like glue, and you'll be eaten alive by leeches."</p> +<p class="pnext">In the centre of the swamp the ground rose into a hillock, and here it +was possible for them to stand side by side. They waited for several +moments in absolute silence. And then a dark figure burst through the +jungle, and a second later fell flat upon the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was right," said Crouch. "That man was a Fan. We'll find out in a +moment whether they mean to fight. I hope to goodness they don't find +the canoes."</p> +<p class="pnext">In the course of the next few minutes it became evident, even to Max, +that they were surrounded. On all sides the branches and leaves of the +undergrowth on the edge of the swamp were seen to move, and here and +there the naked figure of a savage showed between the trees.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Fans are still one of the dominant races of Central Africa. About +the middle of the last century the tribe swept south-west from the +equatorial regions, destroying the villages and massacring the people +of the more peaceful tribes towards the coast. The Fans have been +proved to possess higher intelligence than the majority of the Central +African races. Despite their pugnacious character, and the practice of +cannibalism which is almost universal among them, they have been +described as being bright, active and energetic Africans, including +magnificent specimens of the human race. At this time, however, little +was known concerning them, and that little, for the most part, was +confined to Captain Crouch, who, on a previous occasion, had penetrated +into the Hinterland of the Gabun.</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden and his friends were not left long in doubt as to whether +or not the Fans intended to be hostile, for presently a large party of +men advanced upon them from all sides at once. For the most part these +warriors were armed with great shields and long spears, though a few +carried bows and arrows. The Fan spear is a thing by itself. The head +is attached but lightly to the shaft, so that when the warrior plunges +his weapon into his victims, the spear-head remains in the wound.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch handed his rifle to Edward, and then stepped forward +across the marsh to meet these would-be enemies. He was fully alive to +their danger. He knew that with their firearms they could keep the +savages at bay for some time, but in the end their ammunition would run +out. He thought there was still a chance that the matter might be +settled in an amicable manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Palaver," said he, speaking in the language of the Fans. "Friends. +Trade-palaver Good."</p> +<p class="pnext">The only answer he got was an arrow that shot past his ear, and +disappeared in the mud He threw back his head and laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No good," he cried. "Trade-palaver friends."</p> +<p class="pnext">A tall, thin savage, about six feet in height, approached by leaps and +bounds, springing like an antelope from one tuft of grass to another. +His black face, with white, gleaming teeth, looked over the top of a +large, oval shield. With a final spring, he landed on dry ground a few +feet from where Crouch was standing. Then he raised his spear on high; +but, before he had time to strike, Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin +like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 62%" id="figure-39"> +<span id="crouch-s-fist-rang-out-upon-his-chin-like-a-pistol-shot-and-he-went-over-backwards-into-the-mud"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-032.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +"CROUCH'S FIST RANG OUT UPON HIS CHIN LIKE A PISTOL-SHOT, AND HE WENT OVER BACKWARDS INTO THE MUD."</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">There was a strange, sucking noise as the marsh swallowed him to the +chin. For some moments he floundered hopelessly, his two hands +grasping in the air. He laid hold of tufts of grass, and pulled them +up by the roots. Then Crouch bent down, gripped both his hands, and +with a great effort dragged him on to terra firma.</p> +<p class="pnext">His black skin was plastered with a blacker mud, and on almost every +inch of his body, from his neck to his feet, a large water-leech was +glued like an enormous slug. The man was already weak from loss of +blood. Had he remained in the marsh a minute longer, there is no doubt +he would have fainted. Crouch took a knife from his pocket, and, +talking all the time, as a nursemaid talks to a naughty child, one by +one he tore the leeches from the man's body, and threw them back into +the marsh.</p> +<p class="pnext">The others, who had drawn closer, remained at a safe distance. It +seems they were undecided how to act, since this man was their leader, +and they were accustomed to receive their orders from him. It is +impossible to say what would have happened, had not Crouch taken charge +of the situation. He asked the man where his village was, and the +fellow pointed to the east.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yonder," said he; "in the hills."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lead on," said Crouch. "We're coming home with you, for a cup of tea +and a talk."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment the man was too stupefied to answer. He had never +expected this kind of reception from an individual who could have +walked under his outstretched arm. What surprised him most of all was +Crouch's absolute self-confidence. The Negro and Bantu races are all +alike in this: they are extraordinarily simple-minded and +impressionable. The Fan chieftain looked at Crouch, and then dropped +his eyes. When he lifted them, a broad grin had extended across his +face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good," said he. "My village. Palaver. You come."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned and winked at Max, and then followed the chief towards +the jungle.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iii-the-white-wizard"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4">CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">When both parties were gathered together on the edge of the marsh, Max +felt strangely uncomfortable. Both Crouch and Edward seemed thoroughly +at home, and the former was talking to the chief as if he had found an +old friend whom he had not seen for several years. Putting aside the +strangeness of his surroundings, Max was not able to rid his mind of +the thought that these men were cannibals. He looked at them in +disgust. There was nothing in particular to distinguish them from the +other races he had seen upon the coast, except, perhaps, they were of +finer physique and had better foreheads. It was the idea which was +revolting. In the country of the Fans there are no slaves, no +prisoners, and no cemeteries; a fact which speaks for itself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch and the chief, whose name was M'Wané, led the way through the +jungle. They came presently to the body of the wounded leopard, which +lay with an arrow in its heart. It was the "twang" of the bowstring +that Max had heard in the jungle. And now took place an incident that +argued well for the future.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané protested that the leopard belonged to Crouch, since the +Englishman had drawn first blood. This was the law of his tribe. +Crouch, on the other hand, maintained that the law of his tribe was +that the game was the property of the killer. The chief wanted the +leopard-skin, and it required little persuasion to make him accept it, +which he was clearly delighted to do.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch skinned the leopard himself, and presented the skin to M'Wané. +And then the whole party set forth again, and soon came to a track +along which progress was easy.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was approaching nightfall when they reached the extremity of the +forest, and came upon a great range of hills which, standing clear of +the mist that hung in the river valley, caught the full glory of the +setting sun. Upon the upper slopes of the hills was a village of two +rows of huts, and at each end of the streets thus formed was a +guard-house, where a sentry stood on duty. M'Wané's hut was larger +than the others, and it was into this that the Europeans were +conducted. In the centre of the floor was a fire, and hanging from +several places in the roof were long sticks with hooks on them, the +hooks having been made by cutting off branching twigs. From these +hooks depended the scant articles of the chief's wardrobe and several +fetish charms.</p> +<p class="pnext">For two hours Crouch and the chief talked, and it was during that +conversation that there came to light the most extraordinary episode of +which we have to tell. From that moment, and for many weeks +afterwards, it was a mystery that they were wholly unable to solve. +Both Crouch and Harden knew the savage nature too well to believe that +M'Wané lied. Though his story was vague, and overshadowed by the +superstitions that darken the minds of the fetish worshippers, there +was no doubt that it was based upon fact. As the chief talked, Crouch +translated to his friends.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chief first asked what they were doing on the Kasai, and Crouch +answered that they were there for big game--for rhinoceros, buffalo and +leopard. The chief answered that there was certainly much game on the +Kasai, but there was more on the "Hidden River." That was the first +time they ever heard the name.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch asked why it was called the "Hidden River"; and M'Wané answered +that it would be impossible for any one to find the mouth. On the +southern bank of the Kasai, about two days up-stream, there was a large +mangrove swamp, and it was beyond this that the "Hidden River" lay.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can you pass through the swamp in a canoe?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chief shook his head, and said that a canoe could pass the mangrove +swamp, but it could not penetrate far up the river, because of a great +waterfall, where the water fell hundreds of feet between huge pillars +of rock.</p> +<p class="pnext">"One can carry a canoe," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps," said M'Wané, as if in doubt. "But, of those that pass the +cataract, none come back alive."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because of the Fire-gods that haunt the river. The Fire-gods are +feared from the seacoast to the Lakes."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch pricked up his ears like a terrier that scents a rat. The +little man sat cross-legged, with his hands upon his ankles; and as he +plied the Fan chief with questions, he positively wriggled where he sat.</p> +<p class="pnext">He found out that the "Fire-gods" were white men--a fact that +astonished him exceedingly. He was told that they were not white men +like himself and his friends, but wicked spirits who controlled the +thunder and who could make the earth tremble for miles around. Even +the Fans feared them, and for several months none of the tribes had +ventured into the valley of the "Hidden River."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They're men with rifles," said Harden. "These people have never seen +a firearm in their lives."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that he led M'Wané from the hut, and, followed by Max and Crouch, he +walked a little distance from the village. There, in the moonlight, he +picked up a stone from the ground, and set this upon a branch. From a +distance of about twenty paces, with M'Wané at his side, he lifted his +rifle to his shoulder, and struck the stone with a bullet, so that it +fell upon the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There," said he, "that is what your Fire-gods do; they are armed with +rifles--like this."</p> +<p class="pnext">But M'Wané shook his head. He had heard of rifles. Tribes they had +raided upon the coast had spoken of the white men that could slay at a +distance. But the Fire-gods were greater still. Every evening, in the +valley of the Hidden River, loud thunder rent the air. The birds had +left the valley--even the snakes had gone. The Fire-gods were kings +over Nature. Moreover, they were merciless. Hundreds of natives--men +of the Pende tribe, the Pambala and the Bakutu--had gone into the +valley; but no one had returned.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that Crouch set off towards the hut without a word. The others, +following, found him seated cross-legged at the fire, tugging at the +tuft of hair which grew beneath his lip. For some minutes the little +wizened sea-captain spoke aloud to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll find out who these people are," said he. "White men may have +gone up the river to trade; but it's bad for business if you get a +reputation for murder. I don't understand it at all. I've heard of a +white race in the centre of the continent; maybe it's they. I hope it +is. At any rate, we'll go and see."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a few brief moments he lapsed into silence. Then he tapped M'Wané +on the arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you take us to the Hidden River?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané sprang to his feet, violently shaking his head. He protested +that he dared do nothing of the sort. They could not disbelieve him, +for the man was actually trembling in his limbs.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned to Harden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've a mind to look into this," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I, too," said the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He won't take us," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll make him," said Crouch. "For the present, I'm going to sleep. +The boys will stick to the canoes. We must get back to the river +to-morrow afternoon. Good-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, he curled himself up like a hedgehog, and, resting his head +upon his folded arms, immediately fell asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was already three months since they had left Banana Point at the +mouth of the Congo. They had journeyed to the foot of the rapids by +steamboat, and thence had carried their canoes across several miles of +country. They had enjoyed a good deal of mixed shooting in the lower +valley, and then they had said good-bye to the few trading stations, or +factories, which lay scattered at wide intervals upon the banks of the +great river, and which were the last links that bound them to such +civilization as the wilds of Africa could show. Max had already gained +much experience of life in the wilds of tropical Africa. This was not +the first time that he had found himself obliged to sleep upon the +ground, without pillow or blankets, or that which was still more +necessary--a mosquito-net.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he opened his eyes it was daylight, and the first thing that he +beheld was Captain Crouch, seated cross-legged at the fireside, with +his pipe between his teeth. His one eye was fixed in the glowing +embers. He appeared to be deep in thought, for his face was all +screwed up, and he never moved. Thin wreaths of smoke came from the +bowl of his pipe, and the hut reeked of his foul tobacco. Suddenly he +snatched the pipe from his lips, and banged the bowl so viciously upon +the heel of his boot that he broke it in twain. "I have it!" he cried. +"I've got it!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Max asked what was the matter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've got an idea," said Crouch. "I'll make this fellow take us to the +Hidden River, whether he wants to or not. They are frightened of these +Fire-gods, are they! By Christopher, I'll make them more frightened of +me, or my name was never Crouch!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He got to his feet, and crossed the hut to M'Wané, who still lay +asleep. He seized the chief by the shoulders and shook him violently, +until the man sat up and rubbed his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your people," said he. "Big palaver. Now. Be quick."</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané seemed to understand, for he got up and left the hut. Edward +Harden was now awake.</p> +<p class="pnext">The life that is lived by these Central African tribes finds a parallel +in the ancient history of nearly all races that we know of. +Government, for the most part, is in the hands of the headman of every +village. The maintenance of law and order, the giving of wives, the +exchange of possessions, is settled by "palaver," which amounts to a +kind of meeting of the entire population, presided over by the chief. +Near every village is a regular palaver-ground, usually in the shade of +the largest tree in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was here, on this early morning, that M'Wané summoned all the +inhabitants of the village--men, women and children. They seated +themselves upon the ground in a wide circle, in the midst of which was +the trunk of a fallen tree. Upon this trunk the three Europeans seated +themselves, Crouch in the middle, with his companions on either side.</p> +<p class="pnext">When all was ready, M'Wané rose to his feet, and announced in +stentorian tones that the little white man desired to speak to them, +and that they must listen attentively to what he had to say. Whereupon +Crouch got to his feet, and from that moment onward--in the parlance of +the theatre--held the stage: the whole scene was his. He talked for +nearly an hour, and during that time never an eye was shifted from his +face, except when he called attention to the parrot.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was wonderful to watch. He shouted, he gesticulated, he even +danced. In face of his limited vocabulary, it is a wonder how he made +himself understood; but he did. He was perfectly honest from the +start. Perhaps his experience had taught him that it is best to be +honest with savages, as it is with horses and dogs. He said that he +had made his way up the Kasai in order to penetrate to the upper +reaches of the Hidden River. He said that he had heard of the +Fire-gods, and he was determined to find out who they were. For +himself, he believed that the Fire-gods were masters of some kind of +witchcraft. It would be madness to fight them with spears and bows and +arrows. He believed, from what he had heard, that even his own rifle +would be impotent. High on a tree-top was perched a parrot, that +preened its feathers in the sunlight, and chattered to itself. Crouch +pointed this parrot out to the bewildered natives, and then, lifting +his rifle to his shoulder, fired, and the bird fell dead to the ground. +That was the power he possessed, he told them: he could strike at a +distance, and he seldom failed to kill. And yet he dared not approach +the Fire-gods, because they were masters of witchcraft. But he also +knew the secrets of magic, and his magic was greater and more potent +than the magic of the Fire-gods. He could not be killed; he was +immortal. He was prepared to prove it. Whereat, he re-loaded his +rifle, and deliberately fired a bullet through his foot.</p> +<p class="pnext">The crowd rushed in upon him from all sides, stricken in amazement. +But Crouch waved them back, and stepping up to Edward, told the +Englishman to shoot again. Harden lifted his rifle to his shoulder, +and sent a bullet into the ankle of Crouch's cork foot. Thereupon, +Crouch danced round the ring of natives, shouting wildly, springing +into the air, proving to all who might behold that he was a thousand +times alive.</p> +<p class="pnext">They fell down upon their faces and worshipped him as a god. Without +doubt he had spoken true: he was invulnerable, immortal, a witch-doctor +of unheard-of powers.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Crouch had not yet done. Before they had time to recover from +their amazement, he had snatched out his glass eye, and thrust it into +the hands of M'Wané himself, who dropped it like a living coal. They +rushed to it, and looked at it, but dared not touch it. And when they +looked up, Crouch had another eye in the socket--an eye that was +flaming red.</p> +<p class="pnext">A loud moan arose from every hand--a moan which gave expression to +their mingled feelings of bewilderment, reverence and fear. From that +moment Crouch was "the White Wizard," greater even than the Fire-gods, +as the glory of the sun outstrips the moon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now," cried Crouch, lifting his hands in the air, "will you, or +will you not, guide me to the Hidden River where the Fire-gods live?"</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané came forward and prostrated himself upon the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The White Wizard," said he, "has only to command."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iv-the-hidden-river"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5">CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It is not necessary to describe in detail the passage up the Kasai, +from the place where the leopard had been wounded to Date Palm Island, +which was where M'Wané decided to disembark. During that voyage, which +occupied two and a half days, they passed a mangrove swamp upon the +southern bank, which the Fan chief pointed out as the place where the +Hidden River joined the Kasai.</p> +<p class="pnext">No one would have guessed it. The short, stunted trees were packed so +close together that their branches formed a kind of solid roof which +appeared to extend for miles. Underneath, there was darkness as of +night. There was nothing to suggest that another river here joined the +larger stream. The Kasai did not narrow above the swamp, nor was there +any change in the colour of the water or the strength of the current.</p> +<p class="pnext">Date Palm Island lay a day's journey by canoe above the mangrove swamp. +The name of Date Palm Island was given by Edward Harden the moment he +set eyes upon the little rocky islet in mid-stream, upon which stood a +solitary tree. It was the custom of this explorer to name the natural +features he discovered; and it was he who was also responsible for the +names of other places of which, in course of time, we shall have +occasion to tell, such as Solitude Peak and Hippo Pool.</p> +<p class="pnext">In addition to the Loango boys who composed the crews, the party now +included M'Wané, the Fan chief, and four of his most trusted warriors. +It was on the occasion of this journey on the Upper Kasai that Edward +Harden made one of the mistakes of his life. M'Wané travelled in the +first canoe with themselves, and his four warriors in the other canoe +which followed. Both Harden and Crouch had a natural wish to keep the +object of their journey a secret. Neither knew that one of the boys in +the second canoe could both speak and understand the Fan dialect, and +it was he who told his companions that the Hidden River was their +destination. Still, no one suspected that the secret was out, until +they had unloaded all their supplies and ammunition at Date Palm +Island, where they decided to form their base.</p> +<p class="pnext">In this district, the general course of the Kasai lies due south-west. +From the mangrove swamp on the southern bank, the valley of the Hidden +River lies, more or less, in a direct line from north to south. M'Wané +had known the Hidden River in the old days, before the Fire-gods came +into the country. He said that there was a good portage across country +from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, which was the nearest accessible +point on the Hidden River above the rapids that flowed through the Long +Ravine.</p> +<p class="pnext">They decided to leave one canoe on the island, in charge of four of the +Loango boys. The remaining natives could be employed in carrying the +lighter of the two canoes, and a sufficiency of stores and ammunition +across country to the Hidden River. The indignation of Crouch may be +imagined when the boys struck in a body and refused to undertake the +portage.</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward used his greatest powers of persuasion; Crouch threatened and +abused. They answered that word of the Fire-gods had been carried even +as far as the Coast, that they had never bargained to sell their lives +to the Englishmen. None the less, they expressed their willingness to +remain upon the island until the party returned.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned to M'Wané.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And do you, too, go back?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chief shook his head, and smiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My men and I will stand by the White Wizard," he answered. "A Fan +holds to his word."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch slapped the chief upon the back, and then went on to explain to +the boys that if they helped with the portage, they would not be asked +to embark on the Hidden River, but could return to Date Palm Island. +After some discussion, they agreed to this; and as much time had +already been wasted, Harden and Crouch decided not to start until +daybreak the following day.</p> +<p class="pnext">According to Edward Harden's diary, the portage lasted two weeks and +three days. They were obliged to force their way through virgin +forest. It was frequently necessary to cut down with axes and +billhooks the tangled undergrowth and creepers that wove themselves +amid the trunks of the trees, in order to make room for the canoe to +pass. Some days they did not cover more than a mile, though they were +working from dawn to sunset. But towards the end of the journey the +passage became easier, by reason of the fact that they found a +watercourse, which they followed, until they finally came forth into +the sunlight at Hippo Pool.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they first looked upon it, it was as if, indeed, there were an air +of mystery in the valley of the Hidden River. The silence that reigned +upon its surface was intense. The atmosphere seemed several degrees +hotter even than the forest. The name Hippo Pool was given because, +immediately on their arrival, Edward Harden, who was leading, shot a +hippopotamus which he found asleep upon the bank. They were glad +enough of the meat for the natives, who would require provisions on +their journey back to the Kasai.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next morning the Loango boys left in a body. They were glad enough +to be off. And soon afterwards the canoe shot out from the bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">Their progress was painfully slow. M'Wané and his four followers +worked continually with the paddles, assisted in turn by Harden and his +nephew. As for Crouch, he was always the look-out man. His only eye +was quick and keen as that of a falcon.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hour by hour they toiled into the Unknown, until the sweat poured from +their faces and their hands were blistered in the sun; and the blisters +would not heal, because of the insects that followed in a crowd. The +jungle grew more magnificent and wild as the river narrowed. The +character of the trees changed, and of the undergrowth--all became more +luxuriant, more profuse, until they found themselves in a land where +Nature was something fantastic and superb.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was on the third day after they had set out from Hippo Pool that +they turned an angle of the river, and came on a sudden into a +cup-shaped valley where there was but little vegetation. A circle of +granite hills stood all around them, and in the centre on either side +of the river was a plain of sand. Crouch turned in the bows and +pointed to something ahead, and at that moment the sharp crack of a +rifle echoed in the stillness, and a bullet sped into the water a few +inches from the bows of the canoe.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-v-the-stockade"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6">CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">As the bullet cut into the water Crouch sprang upright in the canoe. +His thin form trembled with eagerness. The man was like a cat, +inasmuch as he was charged with electricity. Under his great pith +helmet the few hairs which he possessed stood upright on his head. +Edward Harden leaned forward and picked up his rifle, which he now held +at the ready.</p> +<p class="pnext">By reason of the fact that the river had suddenly widened into a kind +of miniature lake, the current was not so swift. Hence, though M'Wané +and his Fans ceased to paddle, the canoe shot onward by dint of the +velocity at which they had been travelling. Every moment brought them +nearer and nearer to the danger that lay ahead.</p> +<p class="pnext">In order to relate what followed, it is necessary to describe the +scene. We have said that the wild, impenetrable jungle had ceased +abruptly, and they found themselves surrounded by granite hills, in the +centre of which lay a plain of glaring sand. To their left, about a +hundred paces from the edge of the river, was a circular stockade. A +fence had been constructed of sharp-pointed stakes, each about eight +feet in height. There was but a single entrance into this stockade--a +narrow gate, not more than three feet across, which faced the river. +Up-stream, to the south, the granite hills closed in from either bank, +so that the river flowed through a gorge which at this distance seemed +particularly precipitous and narrow. Midway between the stockade and +the gorge was a kraal, or large native village, surrounded by a +palisade. Within the palisade could be seen the roofs of several +native huts, and at the entrance, seated cross-legged on the ground, +was the white figure of an Arab who wore the turban and flowing robes +by which his race is distinguished, from the deserts of Bokhara to the +Gold Coast. Before the stockade, standing at the water's edge, was the +figure of a European dressed in a white duck suit. He was a tall, thin +man with a black, pointed beard, and a large sombrero hat. Between his +lips was a cigarette, and in his hands he held a rifle, from the muzzle +of which was issuing a thin trail of smoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the canoe approached, this man grew vastly excited, and stepped into +the river, until the water had risen to his knees. There, he again +lifted his rifle to his shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Put that down!" cried Crouch. "You're a dead man if you fire."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man obeyed reluctantly, and at that moment a second European came +running from the entrance of the stockade. He was a little man, of +about the same build as Crouch, but very round in the back, and with a +complexion so yellow that he might have been a Chinese.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man with the beard seemed very agitated. He gesticulated wildly, +and, holding his rifle in his left hand, pointed down-stream with his +right. He was by no means easy to understand, since his pronunciation +of English was faulty, and he never troubled to take his cigarette from +between his lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get back!" he cried. "Go back again! You have no business here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because this river is mine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"By what right?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"By right of conquest. I refuse to allow you to land."</p> +<p class="pnext">The canoe was now only a few yards from the bank. The second man--the +small man with the yellow face--turned and ran back into the stockade, +evidently to fetch his rifle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm afraid," said Crouch, "with your permission or without, we intend +to come ashore."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again the butt of the man's rifle flew to his shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Another yard," said he, "and I shoot you dead."</p> +<p class="pnext">He closed an eye, and took careful aim. His sights were directed +straight at Crouch's heart. At that range--even had he been the worst +shot in the world--he could scarcely have missed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch was never seen to move. With his face screwed, and his great +chin thrust forward, his only eye fixed in the midst of the black beard +of the man who dared him to approach, he looked a very figure of +defiance.</p> +<p class="pnext">The crack of a rifle--a loud shout--and then a peal of laughter. +Crouch had thrown back his head and was laughing as a school-boy does, +with one hand thrust in a trousers pocket. Edward Harden, seated in +the stern seat, with elbows upon his knees, held his rifle to his +shoulder, and from the muzzle a little puff of smoke was rising in the +air. It was the man with the black beard who had let out the shout, in +anger and surprise. The cigarette had been cut away from between his +lips, and Harden's bullet had struck the butt of his rifle, to send it +flying from his hands into the water. He stood there, knee-deep in the +river, passionate, foiled and disarmed. It was Edward Harden's quiet +voice that now came to his ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hands up!" said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">Slowly, with his black eyes ablaze, the man lifted his arms above his +head. A moment later, Crouch had sprung ashore.</p> +<p class="pnext">The little sea-captain hastened to the entrance of the stockade, and, +as he reached it, the second man came running out, with a rifle in his +hands. He was running so quickly that he was unable to check himself, +and, almost before he knew it, his rifle had been taken from him. He +pulled up with a jerk, and, turning, looked into the face of Captain +Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I must introduce myself," said the captain. "My name's Crouch. Maybe +you've heard of me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The man nodded his head. It appears he had not yet sufficiently +recovered from his surprise to be able to speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By Christopher!" cried Crouch, on a sudden. "I know you! We've met +before--five years ago in St. Paul de Loanda. You're a half-caste +Portuguese, of the name of de Costa, who had a trade-station at the +mouth of the Ogowe. So you remember me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The little yellow man puckered up his face and bowed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think," said he, with an almost perfect English accent--"I think +one's knowledge of the Coast would be very limited, if one had never +heard of Captain Crouch."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch placed his hand upon his heart and made a mimic bow.</p> +<p class="pnext">"May I return the compliment?" said he. "I've heard men speak of de +Costa from Sierra Leone to Walfish Bay, and never once have I heard +anything said that was good."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that the half-caste caught his under-lip in his teeth, and shot +Crouch a glance in which was fear, mistrust and anger. The sea-captain +did not appear to notice it, for he went on in the easiest manner in +the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And who's your friend?" he asked, indicating the tall man with the +black beard, who was now approaching with Edward Harden and Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My friend," said he, "is a countryman of mine, a Portuguese, who has +assumed the name of Cæsar." The half-caste had evidently not forgotten +the insult which Crouch had hurled in his teeth; for now his demeanour +changed, and he laughed. "If Captain Crouch finds it necessary to +meddle in our affairs," said he, "I think he will find his equal in +Mister Cæsar."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch paid no more attention to him than he would have done to a +mosquito; and before the man had finished speaking, he had turned his +back upon him, and held out a hand to the Portuguese.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trust," said he, "you've expressed your gratitude to Ted Harden, +who, instead of taking your life, preferred to extinguish your +cigarette."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have already done so," said Cæsar, with a smile. "I hope to explain +matters later. The mistake was natural enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, with his one eye, looked this man through and through. He had +been able to sum up the half-caste at a glance. Cæsar was a +personality that could not be fathomed in an instant.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man was not unhandsome. His figure, in spite of its extreme height +and thinness, was exceedingly graceful. The hair of his moustache and +beard, and as much as was visible beneath the broad-brimmed sombrero +hat, was coal-black, and untouched with grey. His features were +aquiline and large. He bore some slight resemblance to the well-known +figure of Don Quixote, except that he was more robust. The most +remarkable thing about him was his jet-black, piercing eyes. If there +was ever such a thing as cruelty, it was there. When he smiled, as he +did now, his face was even pleasant: there was a wealth of wrinkles +round his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was a natural and unavoidable mistake," said he. "I have been +established here for two years. You and your friends are, perhaps, +sufficiently acquainted with the rivers to know that one must be always +on one's guard."</p> +<p class="pnext">Unlike de Costa, he spoke English with a strong accent, which it would +be extremely difficult to reproduce. For all that, he had a good +command of words.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now," he went on, "I must offer you such hospitality as I can. I +notice the men in your canoes are Fans. I must confess I have never +found the Fan a good worker. He is too independent. They are all +prodigal sons."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I like the Fan," said Edward.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Each man to his taste," said Cæsar. "In the kraal yonder," he +continued, pointing to the village, "I have about two hundred boys. +For the most part, they belong to the Pambala tribe. As you may know, +the Pambala are the sworn enemies of the Fans. You are welcome to stay +with me as long as you like, but I must request that your Fans be +ordered to remain within the stockade. Will you be so good as to tell +them to disembark?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"As you wish," said Edward.</p> +<p class="pnext">At Crouch's request, Max went back to the canoe, and returned with +M'Wané and the four Fans. Not until they had been joined by the +natives did Cæsar lead the way into the stockade.</p> +<p class="pnext">They found themselves in what, to all intents and purposes, was a fort. +Outside the walls of the stockade was a ditch, and within was a +banquette, or raised platform, from which it was possible for men to +fire standing. In the centre of the enclosure were three or four +huts--well-constructed buildings for the heart of Africa, and +considerably higher than the ordinary native dwelling-place. Before +the largest hut was a flag-staff, upon which a large yellow flag was +unfurled in the slight breeze that came from the north.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was into this hut that they were conducted by the Portuguese. As +the Englishman entered, a large dog, which had been lying upon the +floor, got up and growled, but lay down again on a word from Cæsar. +The interior of the hut consisted of a single room, furnished with a +bed, a table and several chairs, all of which had been constructed of +wood cut in the forest. As there were only four chairs, the +half-caste, de Costa, seated himself on a large chest, with three heavy +padlocks, which stood against the wall farthest from the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar crossed to a kind of sideboard, made of packing-cases, whence he +produced glasses and a bottle of whisky. He then drew a jug of water +from a large filter. These he placed upon the table. He requested his +guests to smoke, and passed round his cigarette-case. His manner, and +the ease with which he played the host, suggested a man of breeding. +Both Edward Harden and his nephew accepted cigarettes, but Crouch +filled his pipe, and presently the hut was reeking, like an ill-trimmed +lamp, of his atrocious "Bull's Eye Shag."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I owe you an apology," said Cæsar; "an apology and an explanation. +You shall have both. But, in the first place, I would like to hear how +it was that you came to discover this river?"</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Edward Harden who answered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We were shooting big game on the Kasai," said he, "when we heard +mention of the 'Hidden River.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who spoke of it?" said Cæsar. His dark eyes were seen to flash in the +half-light in the hut.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A party of Fans," said Edward, "with whom we came in contact. We +persuaded them to carry our canoe across country. We embarked upon the +river three days ago, and paddled up-stream until this afternoon, when +we sighted your camp, and nearly came to blows. That's all."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar leaned forward, with his arms folded on the table, bringing his +dark face to within a few inches of the cigarette which Edward held in +his lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Were you told anything," said he, in a slow, deliberate voice; "were +you told anything--of us?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden, being a man of six foot several inches, was one who was +guileless in his nature. He was about to say that the Fans had spoken +of the "Fire-gods," when an extraordinary occurrence came to pass.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch sprang to his feet with a yell, and placing one foot upon the +seat of the chair upon which he had been sitting, pulled up his +trousers to the knee. In his hand he held a knife. All sprang to +their feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it?" they demanded, in one and the same breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A snake," said Crouch. "I'm bitten in the leg."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vi-crouch-on-the-war-path"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7">CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Both Cæsar and Edward hastened to the captain's side. Sure enough, +upon the calf of his leg, were two small drops of blood, about a +quarter of an inch apart, where the fangs of the reptile had entered.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked up at Cæsar. His voice was perfectly calm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where's the kitchen?" he demanded.</p> +<p class="pnext">The tall Portuguese appeared suspicious.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The kitchen is quite near at hand," said he. "Do you want to go +there?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Crouch. "Lead the way. There's no time to lose."</p> +<p class="pnext">They passed out and entered a smaller hut, from which a column of smoke +was rising through a hole in the roof. In the centre of the floor was +a large charcoal brazier, at which a man was squatting in the +characteristic attitude of the East. Crouch lifted his eyebrows in +surprise when he saw that this man was an Arab.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tongs," said he in Arabic. "Lend me a pair of tongs."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man, expressionless, produced the article in question.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch took a piece of charcoal from the brazier, that was white-hot, +and, without a moment's hesitation, he thrust this upon the place where +the poison had entered his flesh. As he underwent that agony, his +sallow face turned a trifle paler, his lips grew thinner, and his only +eye more bright; but never a groan, or even a sigh, escaped him.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last he threw the charcoal back into the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's all right," said he. "It isn't a pleasant remedy, but it's +sure." Then he turned to Cæsar. "I should like a little whisky," said +he. "I feel a trifle faint."</p> +<p class="pnext">He asked for Edward's arm to assist him on his way, and no sooner were +they clear of the kitchen than he whispered in Harden's ear--</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's nothing to worry about," said he. "I'm as right as rain. I +was never bitten at all. But I had to stop you somehow, or you would +have told that fellow what we heard of the Fire-gods. Mind, he must +know nothing."</p> +<p class="pnext">When they got back to the hut, Cæsar gave Crouch half a tumblerful of +neat whisky, which the captain drained at a gulp. Needless to say, +their efforts to find the snake proved fruitless. Then Crouch again +complained of faintness, and asked permission to lie down upon the bed. +No sooner was he there than he closed his eyes, and soon afterwards was +sound asleep--if one was entitled to judge by his heavy breathing. +Once or twice he snored.</p> +<p class="pnext">But, already, we have seen enough of Captain Crouch to know that, in +his case, it would not be wise to go by appearances. He was no more +asleep than he had been throughout those long hours when he had kept +watch in the bows of the canoe.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar motioned to Edward to be seated at the table, and Max took the +chair which had been formerly occupied by Crouch. De Costa remained +seated upon the chest.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me see," said Cæsar; "of what were we speaking? Ah, yes, I +remember. I was asking if the natives had made any mention of us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We asked many questions," said Harden, "but they knew little or +nothing of the Hidden River. For some reason or other, they seemed to +fear it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar regarded Edward intently for a few seconds; and then, seeming +satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Their minds are filled with superstitions," said he. "And now it +remains for me to explain myself. I came to this valley two years ago. +I had already journeyed some distance up the Congo, in search of ivory. +I discovered that in the jungle in this valley elephants abound; +moreover, these elephants are finer than any others I have ever seen in +any part of Africa, even those of the East Coast, whose tusks are +stored at Zanzibar. I made this place my headquarters. I regard the +whole country as my own happy hunting-ground. I naturally resent all +new-comers, especially Europeans. I look upon them as trespassers. Of +course, I have no right to do so; I know that quite well. But you must +understand that here, in the heart of Africa, the laws of civilized +nations hardly apply. To all intents and purposes this country is my +own. In the kraal yonder I have two hundred of the finest elephant +hunters between the Zambesi and the Congo. I pay them well. I have +already a great store of ivory. In another two years I hope to retire +to Portugal, a wealthy man. That is all my story."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you kill your elephants?" asked Edward. The hunting of big +game was the foremost interest of his life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar smiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will not approve of my methods," said he. "You are a sportsman; I +am only a trader. I send my natives into the jungle, in the direction +in which a herd of elephants has been located. These fellows creep on +all-fours amid the undergrowth. They are as invisible as snakes. They +are armed with long knives, with which they cut the tendons of the +elephants' hind-legs, just below the knee. If an elephant tries to +walk after that tendon has been severed, it falls to the ground and +breaks its leg. The great beasts seem to know this, for they remain +motionless as statues. When all the finest tuskers have been thus +disposed of, I come with my rifle and shoot them, one after the other. +Thus it is that I have collected a great store of tusks."</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward Harden made a wry face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have heard of that manner of hunting," said he. "It is much +practised on the East Coast. I consider it barbarous and cruel."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar smiled again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I told you," said he, "you would not approve."</p> +<p class="pnext">Harden swung round in his chair, with a gesture of disgust.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would like to see the ivory trade stopped," he cried, in a sudden +flood of anger, very rare in a man naturally prone to be unexcitable +and mild. "I regard the elephant as a noble animal--the noblest animal +that lives. I myself have shot many, but the beast has always had a +chance, though I will not deny the odds were always heavily on me. +Still, when I find myself face to face with a rogue elephant, I know +that my life is in danger. Now, there is no danger in your method, +which is the method of the slaughter-house. At this rate, very soon +there will be no elephants left in Africa."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm afraid," said Cæsar, with a shrug of the shoulders, "we would +never agree, because you're a sportsman and I'm a trader. In the +meantime, I will do all I can to make you comfortable during your stay +at Makanda."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is that the name of this place?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said the Portuguese. "There was a native village when I came +here--just a few scattered huts. The natives called the place Makanda, +which, I believe, means a crater. The hills which surround us are +evidently the walls of an extinct volcano. But, to come back to +business, I can provide a hut for your Fan attendants, but they must be +ordered not to leave the stockade. You have noticed, perhaps, that I +employ a few Arabs. I am fond of Arabs myself; they are such excellent +cooks. An Arab is usually on sentry at the gate of the stockade. That +man will receive orders to shoot any one of the Fans who endeavours to +pass the gate. These methods are rather arbitrary, I admit; but in the +heart of Africa, what would you have? It is necessary to rule with an +iron hand. Were I to be lax in discipline, my life would be in danger. +Also, I must request you and your friends not to leave the stockade, +unattended by either de Costa or myself. The truth is, there are +several hostile tribes in the neighbourhood, and it is only with the +greatest difficulty that I can succeed in maintaining peace."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm sure," said Harden, "you will find us quite ready to do anything +you wish. After all, the station is yours; and in this country a man +makes his own laws."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is so," said Cæsar; and added, "I'm responsible to no one but +myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">This man had an easy way of talking and a plausible manner that would +have deceived a more acute observer than Edward Harden. As he spoke he +waved his hand, as if the whole matter were a trifle. He ran on in the +same casual fashion, with an arm thrown carelessly over the back of his +chair, sending the smoke of his cigarette in rings towards the ceiling.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Most of us come to Africa to make money," said he; "and as the climate +is unhealthy, the heat unbearable, and the inhabitants savages, we +desire to make that money as quickly as possible, and then return to +Europe. That is my intention. For myself, I keep tolerably well; but +de Costa here is a kind of living ague. He is half consumed with +malaria; he can't sleep by night, he lies awake with chattering teeth. +Sometimes his temperature is so high that his pulse is racing. At +other times he is so weak that he is unable to walk a hundred paces. +He looks forward to the day when he shakes the dust of Africa from his +shoes and returns to his native land, which--according to him--is +Portugal, though, I believe, he was born in Jamaica."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max looked at the half-caste, and thought that never before had he set +eyes upon so despicable an object. He looked like some mongrel cur. +He was quite unable to look the young Englishman in the face, but under +Max's glance dropped his eyes to the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now," said Cæsar, "there is a hut where I keep my provisions, +which I will place at your disposal."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that he went outside, followed by the two Hardens. De Costa +remained in the hut. Crouch was still asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar called the Arab from the kitchen, and, assisted by this man and +the five Fans, they set to work to remove a number of boxes from the +hut in which it was proposed that the three Englishmen should sleep. +Blankets were spread upon the ground. The tall Portuguese was most +solicitous that his guests should want for nothing. He brought +candles, a large mosquito-net, and even soap.</p> +<p class="pnext">Supper that evening was the best meal which Max had eaten since he left +the sea-going ship at Banana Point on the Congo. The Portuguese was +well provided with stores. He produced several kinds of vegetables, +which, he said, he grew at a little distance from the stockade. He had +also a great store of spirits, being under the entirely false +impression that in tropical regions stimulants maintain both health and +physical strength.</p> +<p class="pnext">After supper, Cæsar and Captain Crouch, who had entirely recovered from +his faintness, played écarté with an exceedingly dirty pack of cards. +And a strange picture they made, these two men, the one so small and +wizened, the other so tall and black, each coatless, with their +shirt-sleeves rolled to the elbow, fingering their cards in the +flickering light of a tallow candle stuck in the neck of a bottle. +Crouch knew it then--and perhaps Cæsar knew it, too--that they were +rivals to the death, in a greater game than was ever played with cards.</p> +<p class="pnext">They went early to bed, thanking Cæsar for his kindness. Before he +left the hut, Edward Harden apologized for his rudeness in finding +fault with the trader's method of obtaining ivory.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was no business of mine," said he. "I apologize for what I said."</p> +<p class="pnext">No sooner were the three Englishmen in their hut, than Crouch seized +each of his friends by an arm, and drew them close together.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here's the greatest devilry you ever heard of!" he exclaimed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How?" said Edward. "What do you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"As yet," said Crouch, "I know nothing. I merely suspect. Mark my +words, it'll not be safe to go to sleep. One of us must keep watch."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What makes you suspicious?" asked Max. Throughout this conversation +they talked in whispers. Crouch had intimated that they must not be +overheard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A thousand things," said Crouch. "In the first place, I don't like +the look of Arabs. There's an old saying on the Niger, 'Where there's +an Arab, there's mischief.' Also, he's got something he doesn't wish +us to see. That's why he won't let us outside the stockade. Besides, +remember what the natives told us. The tribes the whole country round +stand in mortal fear of this fellow, and they don't do that for +nothing. The Fans are a brave race, and so are the Pambala. And do +you remember, they told us that every evening there's thunder in the +valley which shakes the earth? No, he's up to no good, and I shall +make it my business to find out what his game is."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then you don't believe that he's an ivory trader?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a word of it!" said Crouch. "Where's the ivory? He talks of this +store of tusks, but where does he keep it? He says he's been here for +two years. In two years, by the wholesale manner in which he has been +killing elephants, according to his own account, he should have a pile +of ivory ten feet high at least. And where is it? Not in a hut; not +one of them is big enough. I suppose he'll ask us to believe that he +keeps it somewhere outside the stockade."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never thought of that," said Harden, tugging the ends of his +moustache. "I wonder what he's here for."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So do I," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon after that, at Crouch's request, Harden and Max lay down upon +their blankets, and were soon fast asleep. As for the captain, he also +lay down, and for more than an hour breathed heavily, as if in sleep. +Then, without a sound, he began to move forward on hands and knees +across the floor of the hut.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he reached the door he came into the moonlight, and had there been +any one there to see, they would have noticed that he carried a +revolver, and there was a knife between his teeth.</p> +<p class="pnext">As quick as a lizard he glided into the shade beneath the walls of the +hut. There he lay for some minutes, listening, with all his senses +alert.</p> +<p class="pnext">This man had much in common with the wild beasts of the forests. He +was quick to hear, quick to see; it seemed as if he even had the power +to scent danger, as the reed-buck or the buffalo.</p> +<p class="pnext">His ears caught nothing but the varied sounds of wild, nocturnal life +in the jungle. The stockade was not more than a hundred paces distant +from the skirting of the forest. Somewhere near at hand a leopard +growled, and a troop of monkeys, frightened out of their wits, could be +heard scrambling through the branches of the trees. Farther away, a +pair of lions were hunting; there is no sound more terrible and +haunting than the quick, panting noise that is given by this great +beast of prey as it follows upon the track of an antelope or deer. +Then, far in the distance, there was a noise, so faint as to be hardly +audible, like the beating of a drum. Crouch knew what it was. Indeed, +in these matters there was little of which he was ignorant. It was a +great gorilla, beating its stomach in passion in the darkness. And +that is a sound before which every animal that lives in the jungle +quails and creeps away into hiding; even the great pythons slide back +into the depths of silent, woodland pools.</p> +<p class="pnext">But it was not to the forest that Crouch's ear was turned. He was +listening for a movement in the hut in which slept the Portuguese +trader, who went by the name of Cæsar. After a while, seeming +satisfied, he crawled on, in absolute silence, in the half-darkness, +looking for all the world like some cruel four-footed beast that had +come slinking from out of the jungle.</p> +<p class="pnext">He reached the door of the hut, and crept stealthily in. Inside, he +was not able to see. It was some little time before his eye grew +accustomed to the darkness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he was just able to discern the long figure of the Portuguese +stretched upon his couch. Half-raising himself, he listened, with his +ear not two inches from the man's mouth. Cæsar was breathing heavily. +He was evidently fast asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still on hands and knees, as silently as ever, Crouch glided out of the +hut.</p> +<p class="pnext">Instead of returning by the way he had come, he turned in the opposite +direction, and approached another hut. It was that which belonged to +the half-caste, de Costa, whom he had met five years before in St. Paul +de Loanda.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once again he passed in at the door, silently, swiftly, with his knife +still in his teeth.</p> +<p class="pnext">This hut was even darker than the other, by reason of the fact that the +door was smaller. Crouch sat up, and rubbed his eyes, and inwardly +abused the universe in general because he was not able to see.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly there was a creaking noise, as if some one moved on the bed. +Crouch was utterly silent. Then some one coughed. The cough was +followed by a groan. De Costa sat up in bed. Crouch was just able to +see him.</p> +<p class="pnext">The little half-caste, resting his elbows on his knees, took his head +between his hands, and rocked from side to side. He talked aloud in +Portuguese. Crouch knew enough of that language to understand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, my head!" he groaned. "My head! My head!" He was silent for no +longer than a minute; then he went on: "Will I never be quit of this +accursed country! The fever is in my bones, my blood, my brain!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned over on his side, and, stretching out an arm, laid hold upon +a match-box. They were wooden matches, and they rattled in the box.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he struck a light and lit a candle, which was glued by its own +grease to a saucer. When he had done that he looked up, and down the +barrel of Captain Crouch's revolver.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vii-the-white-man-s-burden"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8">CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Before de Costa had time to cry out--which he had certainly intended to +do--Crouch's hand had closed upon his mouth, and he was held in a grip +of iron.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Keep still!" said Crouch, in a quick whisper. "Struggle, and you die."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man was terrified. He was racked by fever, nerve-shattered and +weak. At the best he was a coward. But now he was in no state of +health to offer resistance to any man; and in the candle-light Crouch, +with his single eye and his great chin, looked too ferocious to +describe.</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that the little sea-captain's voice was quiet, and even +soothing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have nothing to fear," said he. "I don't intend to harm you. I +have only one thing to say: if you cry out, or call for assistance, +I'll not hesitate to shoot. On the other hand, if you lie quiet and +silent, I promise, on my word of honour, that you have nothing +whatsoever to fear. I merely wish to ask you a few questions. You +need not answer them unless you wish to. Now, may I take my hand from +your mouth?"</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa nodded his head, and Crouch drew away his hand. The +half-caste lay quite still. It was obvious that he had been frightened +out of his life, which had served to some extent to heighten the fever +which so raged within him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come," said Crouch; "I'll doctor you. Your nerves are all shaken. +Have you any bromide?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said de Costa; "over there."</p> +<p class="pnext">He pointed in the direction of a shelf upon the wall, which had been +constructed of a piece of a packing-case. On this shelf was a +multitude of bottles. Crouch examined these, and at last laid hands +upon one containing a colourless fluid, like water, and handed it to +the patient to drink. De Costa drained it at a gulp, and then sank +back with a sigh of relief.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch felt his pulse.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're weak," said he, "terribly weak. If you don't get out of this +country soon you'll die. Do you know that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do," said de Costa; "I think of it every day."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't wish to die?" said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish to live."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was something pitiful in the way he said that. He almost whined. +Here was a man who was paying the debt that the white man owes to +Africa. In this great continent, which even to-day is half unknown, +King Death rules from the Sahara to the veld. A thousand pestilences +rage in the heart of the great steaming forests, that strike down their +victims with promptitude, and which are merciless as they are swift. +It seems as if a curse is on this country. It is as if before the +advance of civilization a Power, greater by far than the combined +resources of men, arises from out of the darkness of the jungle and the +miasma of the mangrove swamp, and strikes down the white man, as a +pole-axe fells an ox.</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa, though he was but half a European, was loaded with the white +man's burden, with the heart of only a half-caste to see him through. +Crouch, despite the roughness of his manner, attended at his bedside +with the precision of a practised nurse. There was something even +tender in the way he smoothed the man's pillow; and when he spoke, +there was a wealth of sympathy in his voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are better now?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said de Costa; "I am better."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lie still and rest," said Crouch. "Perhaps you are glad enough to +have some one to talk to you. I want you to listen to what I have to +say."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch seated himself at the end of the bed, and folded his thin, +muscular hands upon his knee.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not a doctor by profession," he began, "but, in the course of my +life, I've had a good deal of experience of the various diseases which +are met with in these parts of the world. I know enough to see that +your whole constitution is so undermined that it is absolutely +necessary for you to get out of the country. Now I want to ask you a +question."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it?" said de Costa. His voice was very weak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Which do you value most, life or wealth?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The little half-caste smiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can see no good in wealth," said he, "when you're dead."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is true," said Crouch. "No one would dispute it--except +yourself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But I admit it!" said de Costa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You admit it in words," said the other, "but you deny it in your life."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am too ill to understand. Please explain."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch leaned forward and tapped the palm of his left hand with the +forefinger of his right.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You say," said he, "that you know that you'll die if you remain here. +Yet you remain here in order to pile up a great fortune to take back +with you to Jamaica or Portugal, wherever you intend to go. But you +will take nothing back, because you will die. You are therefore +courting death. I repeat your own words: what will be the use of all +this wealth to you after you are dead?"</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa sat up in his bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's true!" he cried in a kind of groan.</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'sh!" said Crouch. "Be quiet! Don't raise your voice."</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa rocked his head between his knees.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's true--true--true!" he whined. "I know it. I shall die. I don't +want this money. I want to live. I--I fear to die." His voice +trembled. He was pitiful to see.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You shall not die," said Crouch; "I'll make it my business to see that +you live. I can't cure you, but I can keep you alive till we reach the +coast. There, one week on the sea will restore your health."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's what I want," said de Costa, "the sea air. Oh, for a breath of +the sea!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll take you down with us," Crouch ran on. "I'll doctor you on the +way. Max Harden is a young man of science. He has studied these +things, and with his knowledge and my experience we'll pull you +through. In three months from now, I promise you, you shall set eyes +upon the ocean."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How glorious!" the poor man cried. He looked into Crouch's face, and +there were large tears in his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stay," said Crouch; "I've not come here for philanthropic purposes. +If I do this for you, you must do something for me. Otherwise you can +stay here--and die."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it you want?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch bent forward and whispered in the man's ear, speaking distinctly +and with great deliberation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to know what's inside the padlocked chest that Cæsar keeps in +his hut. Come, out with the truth!"</p> +<p class="pnext">On the instant the man sprang out of bed and seized Crouch by the +wrists. He was so little master of himself that hot tears were +streaming down his cheeks. He was shaking in every limb. It was as if +his neck was not strong enough to support his head, which swung round +and round.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not that!" he screamed. "For pity's sake, not that!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come," said Crouch; "the truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa drew back. "I daren't," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because he--would kill me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here, you have to choose between two men," said Crouch: "Cæsar +and myself. Trust me, and I'll see you through. You told me you had +heard of me before. You may have heard it said that I'm a man who +sticks to his word through thick and thin, once it has been given."</p> +<p class="pnext">As Crouch said this he noticed a remarkable change that came on a +sudden upon de Costa's face. The man's complexion turned livid; his +jaw dropped; his eyes were staring hard over Crouch's shoulder, in the +direction of the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch whipped round upon his heel, his revolver in his hand, and found +that he stood face to face with Cæsar.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By Christopher," said he, "you're mighty silent!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And may I ask," said Cæsar, "what you are doing here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch made a motion of his hand towards de Costa, who had sunk down +upon the bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This man's ill," said he; "in fact, he's dying."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is always dying," said Cæsar, "and he never dies. He has the +vitality of a monkey."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It doesn't seem to distress you much," said Crouch. "Since you have +lived together for two years, in a forsaken spot like this, I should +have thought that you were friends."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar threw out his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah," he cried, "we are the best friends in the world--de Costa and +myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">He stood looking down upon Crouch, with his white teeth gleaming +between his black moustache and his beard. In that light it was +difficult to see whether he smiled or sneered. There was something +mysterious about the man, and something that was fiendish.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so," he ran on, "Captain Crouch has taken upon himself the duties +of medical officer of Makanda? I'm sure we are much obliged."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have some experience of medicine," said the captain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed," said Cæsar. "And do you always operate with a revolver?"</p> +<p class="pnext">For once in his life, Crouch had been caught off his guard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"In this country," he said, "I am seldom without one."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are wise," said Cæsar. "I myself am always prepared."</p> +<p class="pnext">With a man like Crouch, this kind of verbal sword-play could never last +for long. He was too much a creature of impulse. He liked to speak +his mind, and he hated and mistrusted this thin Portuguese as a +mongoose hates a snake.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There are no laws in this country," said he, "and there are certain +times when it's not a bad principle to shoot at sight. In the +civilized world, a man goes about with his reputation on the sleeve of +his coat, and all men may know him for what he is. But here, in the +midst of these benighted forests, one must often act on instinct. To +kill at sight, that's the law of the jungle; and when men come here, +they'd do well to leave behind them what they know of other laws +respecting life and property and rights. If I'm wise to carry a +revolver, perhaps I'm a fool because I hesitate to use it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Here was a plain speaking, an outright honesty that quite disarmed the +Portuguese. If, hitherto, Cæsar had held the upper hand, Captain +Crouch had now turned the tables. Whether warfare be carried on by +words or amid the clash of arms, the victory lies with him who best +knows his mind. And Captain Crouch did that. It was as if he had +thrown a gauntlet at the tall man's feet, and defied him to pick it up.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Cæsar was never willing to fight. His was a quick, calculating +brain, and he knew that the odds would be against him. Listening +outside the hut, he had overheard the greater part of the conversation +which had taken place between Crouch and the fever-stricken half-caste. +His secret, which he kept under lock and key in the strong chest at the +foot of his bed, he was prepared to guard at every cost. He saw now +that Crouch was an adversary not to be despised. It was necessary for +him to take steps to seal de Costa's lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">Though the man no longer showed it in his face, Cæsar was by no means +pleased at the appearance of the Englishmen. Though he was affable and +polite, all the time he was scheming in his mind how to get rid of them +as quickly as he could. For the present, he decided to bide his time, +hoping that, sooner or later, Fate might play into his hands. Whatever +happened, he was determined that they should not suspect him of any +sinister intention, and on that account it behoved him to keep up an +appearance of friendship. He answered Crouch with all the pleasantry +of manner he had at his command.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Captain Crouch," said he, "you are a man after my own heart. I also +respect the laws of the jungle. I have shaken the dust of civilization +from my feet. It is only the strong man who can do so. In you I +recognize an equal."</p> +<p class="pnext">In his heart, Crouch stigmatized such talk as this as high-falutin' +nonsense. Still, he thought it unwise to hatch a quarrel with the man, +and answered with a kind of grunt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose you're right," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And what of our poor invalid?" said Cæsar, turning to de Costa.</p> +<p class="pnext">Side by side, these two men, who were already sworn enemies in secret, +bent over the prostrate figure of the half-caste. De Costa lay with +one arm hanging listlessly over the side of the bed. His eyelids were +half-closed, and underneath the whites of his eyes could be seen. When +a man sleeps like that, he is in a bad way. The sands of life are +running down.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's asleep," said Crouch. "That's all he wants. The fever has +subsided. He'll be much better to-morrow. Let us leave him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Together they went out. The little sea-captain walked back to his hut, +and threw himself down upon his blankets. As for Cæsar, he remained +standing in the moonlight, with his long fingers playing in his beard.</p> +<p class="pnext">For some minutes he remained quite motionless. The silence of the +night was still disturbed by the strange sounds that came from out of +the forest. The man seemed plunged in thought. Presently a soft, +moist nose was thrust into the palm of his hand, and looking down, he +beheld his great dog, which, unable to sleep by reason of the heat, had +followed her master into the moonlight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gyp," said he, in a soft voice--"Gyp, old friend, how are we to get +rid of these accursed Englishmen?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The dog looked up, and licked her master's hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, Gyp," said Cæsar; "come and think it out."</p> +<p class="pnext">He entered his hut, and sat down upon the great, padlocked chest. +There, he took the dog's head between his knees. She was a Great Dane, +and even larger and more powerful than the majority of her kind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you know this, Gyp," said he: "de Costa can't be trusted? +Fortunately, you and I, Gyp, know a way to make him hold his tongue."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, the man laughed softly to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile, in the other hut, the quick brain of Captain Crouch was not +idle. He had learnt much that night; but the secret was still +unsolved. He had not been slow in discovering the weak point in +Cæsar's line of defence: the little half-caste could be induced to +speak the truth. That the man was not an ivory trader, Crouch was +fully convinced. Indeed, he could be no sort of trader at all, because +there was no direct line of communication from Makanda to the Coast. +Try as he might, Crouch could find no answer to the riddle; and in the +end, like Cæsar, he resolved to bide his time.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before he went to sleep, he awakened Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Max," said he, "I want you to keep watch till daybreak. Keep your +eyes open, and if any one enters the hut, give him 'hands up' on the +spot."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you discovered anything?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nothing," said Crouch, "except that de Costa's our friend's weak +point. Given half a chance, I will find out the truth from him. But +Cæsar suspects us, as much as we suspect him; and, from what I have +seen of the man, I'm inclined to think that he'll stick at nothing. We +must never cease to be on our guard. Keep on the alert, and wake me up +if you see or hear anything suspicious."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that Crouch turned over on his side, and this time actually fell +asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max Harden sat with his back to the wall of the hut, his loaded +revolver in his hand. Through the doorway, above the rampart of the +stockade, he could see the march of the tropical stars, as the Southern +Cross dropped lower and lower in the heavens. As it drew nearer to +daybreak, the sounds of the jungle ceased. Even in these latitudes +there is a time, about an hour before the dawn, when all Nature seems +hushed and still; the great beasts of prey retire to rest, foodless or +with their appetites appeased--more often the first, and it is not +before the first streaks of daybreak are visible in the eastern sky +that the large minor world, of beast and bird and reptile, awakens to +the day.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max obeyed his orders to the letter. Hour by hour, he remained +perfectly motionless, with every sense on the alert. He was beginning +to think that the fears and suspicions of Crouch were entirely +baseless, when, on a sudden, the eternal stillness was broken by a +shriek, piercing and unearthly, that was lifted from somewhere near at +hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Springing to his feet, he rushed forth from the hut. And as he did so, +the shriek was repeated, louder than before.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-viii-leave-to-quit"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9">CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Max had no difficulty in recognizing whence came these appalling +sounds; for, as he hastened forward, they were repeated, again and +again. It was as if the night were filled with terror, as if some +wild, tormented spirit had been let loose upon the stillness of the +jungle.</p> +<p class="pnext">From the opened doorway of de Costa's hut a bright light shone forth, +making a wide, diverging pathway to the foot of the stockade. And in +this pathway two shadows danced like fiends. They were here, there and +everywhere, whilst time and again that piercing shriek went forth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max dashed into the hut, and there was brought to a standstill by the +sight that he beheld.</p> +<p class="pnext">On one knee upon the floor, with an arm upraised as if in +self-protection, was the half-caste, de Costa, with abject fear stamped +upon every feature of his face. Still yelping like a cur, flinching +repeatedly for no ostensible reason, he looked up furtively, and into +the face of the man who stood above him.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was Cæsar, with the Great Dane snarling at his side. His right +arm was bare to the elbow, and in his hand he held a whip. It was a +cruel whip, if ever there were such a thing. The handle was short, but +the lash was long and tied in many a knot.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Drop that!" cried Max; and, without a moment's thought, he lifted his +revolver and directed the muzzle full at the head of the Portuguese.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that the dog crouched low, as if about to spring, and filled the hut +with a growl.</p> +<p class="pnext">What happened in the next brief moments cannot be told in a word. The +Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman, who +was borne headlong through the doorway, to fall at full length upon the +ground. Simultaneously, Max's revolver went off, and the bullet flew +high into the roof. The next thing that he knew of was that both his +hands were pressed tight into the throat of the huge beast that had +pinned him to the ground. Strive as he might, he was not able to rise. +By sheer weight and strength Gyp held him down.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-40"> +<span id="the-great-dane-sprang-straight-at-the-throat-of-the-young-englishman"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-093.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +"THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE YOUNG ENGLISHMAN."</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Then the hound was lifted bodily into the air. Max struggled to his +feet, and beheld his uncle, whose great hands grasped the dog by the +scruff of the neck. Harden was holding the animal so that it stood +upright on its hind-legs, and in that position Gyp was little shorter +than he. The dog was almost mad; it snarled like a wild animal, and +its white fangs gleamed in the light.</p> +<p class="pnext">The voice of Cæsar sounded sharp, but calm and collected, in the midst +of this turmoil and confusion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gyp," he cried, "come here!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward let go his hold, and immediately the dog lay down, growling at +the feet of her master.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should like to know," said Edward, "the cause of this disturbance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A private matter," said Cæsar, "which concerns no one but de Costa and +myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Max, though he had been overthrown by the dog, who had come upon +him so unexpectedly, was in no mind to let the matter drop. He was so +hot in anger, and his indignation so great, that his lips trembled when +he spoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why did you strike that man?" he demanded, pointing to the half-caste.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That, I repeat," said the other, "is my affair--and his."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Understand," said Max, "that I make it mine. When I entered this +room, this poor wretch was on the floor, and you stood over him, whip +in hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">For the first time since they had entered the stockade, they saw the +real man under the calm, black mask that the Portuguese habitually +wore. Setting his brows in a frown, he whipped round upon Max, and +spoke in much the same manner as a cat spits at a dog.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have yet to learn," he cried, "that in this place I am master. I +take orders from no one. In Makanda my word is law. This half-bred +cur is my servant. He knows it, as well as I. He knows, also, that if +he serves me faithfully he will be rewarded. But if he dares to +disobey my orders, he incurs the penalty I choose to inflict. There is +my answer; and I ask you, who are you to come here and presume to +dictate to me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have no more special mission," answered Max, "than any other who +knows the difference between what is right and wrong. You may be +master here--for all I care you may be master of the whole of +Africa--but I am not going to stand by and see one man flog another for +any cause. Raise that whip again on peril of your life."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max dared the man on purpose. The fact was, he would have been glad +enough to shoot. As for Edward, though all this time he had stood by +in silence, his finger had never left the trigger of his revolver. +But, Cæsar was not such a fool as to give either of them the chance +they waited for. He cast his whip upon the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"After this," said he, "I presume you will avail yourselves of my +hospitality no longer. I shall be glad to see your backs."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We shall be only too glad to go," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I put no obstacle in your way," said Cæsar. "It is almost daylight +now."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max turned and left the hut, followed by his uncle. Each asked himself +the same question the moment he got out into the open air: where was +Captain Crouch?</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch must have heard the disturbance. The shrieks of the half-caste, +the growling of the dog and the firing of Max's revolver had been +enough to have awakened the dead. Yet he had never put in an +appearance. When they entered their hut they found him seated +cross-legged on the floor, with his pipe between his teeth. The +atmosphere was tainted with the smell of Bull's Eye Shag.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where have you been?" asked Edward.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch never deigned to reply, but, taking his pipe from his lips, +asked a question himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you come to blows?" he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Practically," said Max, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I found him +thrashing that half-caste within an inch of his life. I threatened +him, and his dog flew at me, and, had it not been for Edward, would +have torn me to bits. We had a kind of an argument, and in the end he +told us to clear out, which we said we were perfectly ready to do."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch returned his pipe to his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was afraid of that," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would like to have stayed here just a little longer. I haven't +probed the mystery yet. When I saw you two run into de Costa's hut, I +knew there was going to be trouble. I knew you wouldn't come out for +some minutes, and I had the chance of a lifetime."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where did you go?" asked Harden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Into Cæsar's hut," said Crouch, winking with his only eye. "I +searched everywhere, but could find nothing. As I told you before, +this man has a secret, and that secret is locked up in his chest. In +Central Africa a man doesn't have a chest like that to keep his clothes +in. It's iron-bound, and locked with three padlocks, and I suppose he +keeps the key in his pocket. It would have been sheer waste of time to +have tried to open it. I couldn't lift it. It's as heavy as if it +were filled with lead. That's why I'm sorry we've got to clear out. I +mean to discover what that chest contains."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We've got to go," said Max. "I wouldn't stay here another hour for +all the secrets in the universe."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're quite right," said Crouch. "As the natives say on the Ogowe, +'a bad man's bread is poison.' We'll sheer off at once."</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward went out, and returned in a few minutes with M'Wané and the four +Fans.</p> +<p class="pnext">"M'Wané," said Crouch, still seated on the ground, "we're going back to +Hippo Pool."</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané smiled as though he were glad to hear it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is good news," said he. "I do not like this place."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why?" asked Crouch, looking up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We have been told," said M'Wané, "that if we try to leave the camp, we +shall be shot by the Arab men."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you found out anything?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané shook his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have seen no one," said he. "I know nothing. To speak the truth, I +am afraid."</p> +<p class="pnext">In the half-light of morning, the party left the stockade. Their canoe +was moored to the bank of the river, in the place where they had left +it on the afternoon of the day before. They clambered into their +places: Max and his uncle to the stern seat, and Crouch to his old +place in the bows. Then the canoe shot out into mid-stream, and it was +not until a month later that any one of them looked again upon the +mysterious settlement of Makanda.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ix-a-thief-by-night"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10">CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It will be remembered that it had taken two and a half days to make the +journey to Makanda from Hippo Pool. They returned in seven and a half +hours, and even then the natives did little work with their paddles.</p> +<p class="pnext">The fact was that, from the granite hills that almost surrounded the +station of the Portuguese, a number of small tributaries joined the +Hidden River. In consequence, a great volume of water flowed down to +Hippo Pool. The current became stronger every mile, since the banks +grew nearer together, and several jungle streams joined forces with the +river. The largest of these was the tributary which flowed into Hippo +Pool, along which had lain the latter part of the portage they had made +from Date Palm Island on the Kasai. Harden named this stream +Observation Creek, for a reason which we are just about to explain.</p> +<p class="pnext">They camped on the east bank of Hippo Pool, at a place selected by +Crouch. Two courses lay open to them: they had either to remain here +indefinitely, or, leaving their canoe on the Hidden River, to return to +Date Palm Island by the route of their former portage. Never for a +moment had they had any intention of returning to the Kasai until they +had discovered something more definite concerning the mystery of +Makanda. That night, seated around their camp-fire, by the waters of +Hippo Pool, they held a council of war.</p> +<p class="pnext">With this place as their base, they were resolved to operate against +Cæsar's position farther up the river. That afternoon, M'Wané had +climbed to the top of a gigantic cocoanut-tree, some little distance +from the right bank of Observation Creek. Thence he had surveyed the +surrounding country, and it was largely on the information supplied by +M'Wané that Edward Harden drew up the sketch-map which proved so useful +to them throughout the eventful days that followed.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 59%" id="figure-41"> +<img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-111.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +EDWARD HARDEN'S MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRE-GODS.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">From that tree-top the broad course of the Kasai had been visible, its +gleaming waters showing here and there, white in the sunlight, to the +north and to the east. To the north-west, the course of the Hidden +River lay comparatively straight to the mangrove swamp where it joined +the larger stream. The rapids began three miles or so below Hippo +Pool, and there, according to M'Wané, the river was foaming white. +Lower still, it entered the Long Ravine, where great bare cliffs rose +upright on either side, and at the end of which was the waterfall of +which the Fans had spoken. On some days, when the wind was from the +north, they could hear the dull roar of the cataract, like thunder in +the distance.</p> +<p class="pnext">To the south-west, above the tree-tops of the forest, M'Wané had been +able to observe the crest-line of the red granite hills which enclosed +the station of Makanda. Almost due south, from out of the midst of the +forest, like a giant in a stubble-field, a great mountain towered into +the sky. On the northern slopes of this mountain the Fan chief had +been able to discern a little village, lying like a bird's nest in a +declivity, thousands of feet above the dark, inhospitable forest. One +night, by firelight, on the banks of Hippo Pool, Edward Harden drew the +map on a piece of cartridge paper, though many of the features thus +shown were not filled in until further facts had come to light.</p> +<p class="pnext">Their plan of campaign was evolved in the fertile mind of Crouch, +though Max, and even Edward, made several suggestions which the little +sea-captain was only too glad to accept. They named the mountain +Solitude Peak, and it seemed probable that it was in this direction +that the creek found its source.</p> +<p class="pnext">They desired, if possible, to reach Makanda without the knowledge of +Cæsar and his Arabs. They did not doubt that they would be able to +overlook the stockade from some eminence in the eastern granite hill. +Now, since it was two and a half days' journey up the river, it would +take them months to force their way through the jungle to the south. +They decided, therefore, to follow Observation Creek to its source, +which, they hoped, would be somewhere in the vicinity of the mountain. +There they might be able to glean some knowledge at the native village +which M'Wané had seen in the distance. At any rate, they would be able +to survey the surrounding country, and take the most accessible route +in the direction of Makanda.</p> +<p class="pnext">However, neither Crouch nor Harden was the man to undertake anything +rashly. Each knew that in Cæsar they had an adversary who was not to +be despised. Before they set forth upon their expedition, they decided +to secure more ammunition and supplies from Date Palm Island, and for +this purpose it was decided that Edward Harden should return to the +Kasai with M'Wané and the Fans.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, the next day the explorer set out, following the route of +their old portage along Observation Creek, and thence through the +jungle to the left bank of the great river opposite Date Palm Island. +Edward thought that he would be able to persuade the Loango boys to +carry the "loads" back to the base-camp at Hippo Pool. Then, if they +still feared to remain in the valley of the Hidden River, they could +return to the Kasai. That night, Crouch and Max were the only two who +remained at the little camp at Hippo Pool.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next three days were by no means idle. Game had to be shot in the +forest; there was cooking to be done; they even carried the canoe +ashore and repaired a small leak which had been sprung in her bows. +Moreover, Crouch insisted that one or other of them should always be on +watch. With a good fire burning throughout the night, they had little +to fear from wild beasts. Even the leopard, which is a far more +courageous animal than the lion, must be well-nigh starving before it +dares to approach a camp-fire. What Crouch feared most was a raid on +the part of Cæsar. He knew enough of the tall Portuguese to suspect +that the man would not stay idle whilst the three Englishmen remained +in the valley of the Hidden River. In one of the many canoes they had +seen tied up to the river bank at Makanda, Cæsar could shoot +down-stream in the space of a few hours. There was therefore not an +hour of the day or night that one or the other of them was not seated +on the river-bank, rifle in hand, with his eyes turned towards the +southern extremity of Hippo Pool.</p> +<p class="pnext">Three days passed, and nothing of importance occurred. It was on the +third night that something happened which was so much in the nature of +a mystery as to be fully in keeping with the character of the whole +valley and the rumours they had heard. Though Captain Crouch had only +one eye, that eye was as the eye of a lynx; and the matter in question +is all the more worthy to relate, since the event first occurred by +night, when Crouch himself was on guard.</p> +<p class="pnext">That day Max had shot his first buffalo, about half a mile from camp, +on the southern side of Observation Creek. The meat had been cut into +steaks, and one of these was cooked that night for breakfast in the +morning. Crouch relieved Max on sentry at twelve o'clock, with the +intention of keeping watch till daybreak. As Max turned over to go to +sleep, he distinctly remembered having seen the buffalo-steak on a tin +plate, a few inches from the fire. In the morning this steak was gone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch had seen nothing. He was prepared to swear that he had never +been to sleep. Throughout the morning the matter seemed to worry him a +good deal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't make it out," he said, talking to himself, as was his wont. +"I don't believe any leopard would do it. The beasts are terrified of +fire. A starving leopard might; but no leopard could very well starve +in a valley like this, which positively abounds in game." At various +intervals throughout the day he gave expression to the same opinion.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night Max took the first watch, from seven o'clock to twelve. +During that period never once did he relax his vigilance. He sat, hour +by hour, with the fire at his elbow, and his face turned towards the +river. He was thinking that it was nearly time to awaken Crouch, and +had pulled out his watch, when he heard the sound of a breaking twig a +few feet behind him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned sharply, and was just in time to discern the shadow of some +great beast disappearing into the jungle. His eyes shot back to the +fire, and there he beheld to his amazement that once again their +breakfast had disappeared. He immediately awoke the little +sea-captain, and told him what had happened.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did it look like a leopard?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," said Max, "I think it was a lion."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch got to his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't believe it," said he. "The king of beasts is the greatest +coward I know. The most courageous animal in the world is the African +buffalo, and after him come the peccary and the wild boar. All the +cats are cowards, and the lion the biggest of all. Once I was shooting +buzzard on the Zambesi, when I came face to face with a lion, not +fifteen paces from me. I had no one with me, and was armed only with a +shot-gun. What do you think I did?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Max laughed. "Ran for it?" he suggested.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a bit!" said Crouch. "That would have been sheer folly; it would +have showed the brute I feared him. I just dropped down on all-fours, +and walked slowly towards him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Great Scott!" exclaimed Max, unable to restrain his admiration.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That lion," said Crouch, "looked straight at me for about three +seconds, and then quietly turned round and walked away, swishing the +flies from his body with his tail. As soon as he thought he was out of +sight, he broke into a gallop. It was beneath his dignity, I suppose, +to let me see he was frightened. He had got to live up to his +reputation."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is that actually true?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As true as I'm standing here. All lions are naturally frightened of +anything they can't understand. That particular animal couldn't make +me out, didn't like the look of me; so he just walked away. The lions +in this valley can have had little or no experience of white men. I +therefore refuse to believe that our breakfast has been stolen by a +lion. Shall I tell you who I believe is the culprit?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gyp," said Crouch; "Cæsar's dog. Cæsar himself could hardly have got +here by now. Yesterday afternoon I reconnoitred some way up the river, +and saw no signs of a canoe. But the dog could have found its way +through the jungle. It seems improbable, no doubt; but I can think of +no better explanation."</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, this was the only solution of the matter, and they resolved to +be upon their guard.</p> +<p class="pnext">The following day they determined to explore the rapids. They were +already acquainted with the river-valley between Hippo Pool and +Makanda, but as yet they knew nothing of the country which lay between +their camp and the mangrove swamp on the Kasai. M'Wané, from the +cocoanut-tree, had caught sight of the Long Ravine, which ended in the +waterfall of which the natives had told them, the dull roar of which +was frequently audible at Hippo Pool when the wind was in the right +direction. They did not expect Edward back for some days, and each was +of the disposition that chafes under the restraint of inaction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, soon after daybreak they launched the canoe, and taking +with them three days' supplies and a quantity of ammunition, they shot +down-stream to the north. The descent of the river was easy enough. +Throughout the journey Crouch kept his eye on the current. Since this +grew stronger and stronger as they progressed, he did not desire to go +too far, knowing full well that the return journey would be by no means +easy to accomplish.</p> +<p class="pnext">At a place where the river was exceedingly narrow, and the jungle on +either bank even more dense and tangled than usual, they heard, on a +sudden, the crashing of undergrowth in the forest, as if some great +beast were flying for its life. A moment later a leopard sprang clear +from the river bank. For a second the beast was poised in mid-air, its +legs extended at full length, its ears lying back, its superb coat +dazzling in the sunlight. Then it came down into the water with a +splash.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a few strokes it swam straight for the canoe. Max carried his +rifle to the shoulder and fired. The beast was hit, for it shivered +from head to tail, and then turned round and swam back to the bank +whence it had come. As it crawled forth, dripping, with its head +hanging low between its fore-legs, the great snout of a crocodile +uprose from out of the water, and the huge jaws snapped together.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, who was steering, ran the canoe into the bank, and a moment +later both he and Max, their rifles in their hands, had set out into +the semi-darkness of the jungle.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had no difficulty in following the leopard's spoor. The beast was +badly wounded and very sick. Every hundred yards or so it lay down to +rest, and when it heard them approaching, rose and went on with a growl.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently it led them into a marsh--which Edward Harden afterwards +called Leopard Marsh--where they sank knee-deep in the mud. There were +no trees here. In the middle of the marsh, lying in a few inches of +water, was the wounded leopard, wholly unable to rise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's yours," said Crouch. "I'll stand by in case you miss."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max lifted his rifle, took careful aim, and fired. On the instant, +with a savage screech, the leopard rose with a jerk. For a moment it +stood upon its hind-legs, rampant, its fore-feet fighting in the air. +Then it came down, as a stone drops, and lay quite still.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max felt the flush of triumph that every hunter knows. His blood +tingled in his veins. He was about to rush forward, to gloat upon his +prize, when from somewhere near in the forest a shot rang out, and a +bullet splashed into the moist ground at Max's feet.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-x-the-back-water"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11">CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Crouch's voice was lifted in a shout. "Run for your life!" he cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">Together they went floundering through the mire. They had to run the +gauntlet for a distance of little more than a hundred paces; but, by +reason of the nature of the ground, their progress was necessarily +slow, and before they had gained the cover afforded by the jungle, +several bullets had whistled past them, and Crouch was limping badly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you hurt?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hit in the leg," said the little captain, as if it were a trifle. +"There 're no bones broken, but I'm bleeding like a pig."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me look at it," said Max. "The artery may be cut."</p> +<p class="pnext">They were now well screened by trees. It was impossible that any one +could come upon them unawares. Max took his knife from his pocket, +ripped open the seam of the captain's trousers, and examined the wound. +The artery was untouched, but there was an ugly wound in the thigh, +which had evidently been made by an enormously heavy bullet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Cæsar's elephant-gun," said Crouch. "By Christopher, I'll make him +pay for this!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you sure of that?" said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Crouch. "I caught sight of something white moving among +the trees. I knew at once that Cæsar was there with his Arabs."</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile, with quick fingers, Max was folding his handkerchief +lengthwise for a bandage.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wait a bit," said Crouch. "I'll soon stop that flow of blood. I've a +special remedy of my own." Whereupon he produced his tobacco-pouch; +and before Max could stop it, he had taken a large plug of his vile, +black tobacco, dipped it into a puddle of water, and thumbed the lot +into the open wound, as a man charges a pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good gracious!" exclaimed Max, with memories of his hospital days. +"You'll get septic poisoning! You can't do that!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked up. There was a twinkle in his only eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So much for science," said he. "When you get back to London, you can +tell the doctors they're wrong. If it amuses 'em to play with +antiseptics--and they're fond of the smell of carbolic--they're welcome +to do what they like. As for me, I've used this remedy for twenty +years, and I'm not inclined to try another."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max looked worried. He was convinced that Crouch would die of +blood-poisoning, and was beginning to wonder how, in that benighted, +tropical forest, he was going to amputate the captain's leg.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't you fret," said Crouch, tying the bandage himself. "Maybe, one +brand of tobacco's not so good as another. It's my belief that if they +cut off your head, you could stick it on again with Bull's Eye Shag." +By then he had got to his feet. "Come on," said he; "this man won't +let us get away if he can help it. Follow me."</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, he plunged into the jungle, and though he was now limping +like a lame dog, it was all Max could do to keep up with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Time and again he dived through what had looked like impenetrable +thickets. He seemed to know by instinct where to go. He avoided +quagmires. He sprang over fallen trees. He wormed his way through +creepers, the branches of which were thick as ropes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Frequently he stopped to listen, and sometimes placed his ear to the +ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They're after us!" he cried once. He pulled out his compass and +looked at it. "We must get back to the canoe," he said. "The river's +to the east."</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon after they struck what to all intents and purposes was a path. It +was, in fact, the "run" of some wild animals, and doubtless led to the +place where they were in the habit of drinking. It was no more than +two feet across; and about four feet from the ground the undergrowth +from either side met in a kind of roof; so that they found themselves +in a tunnel, along which, if they stooped sufficiently, they were able +to make good headway.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly Crouch, who was still leading, stopped dead, and held his +rifle at the ready. Max stopped, too, and listened.</p> +<p class="pnext">Something was moving in the jungle. They heard distinctly a quick, +panting sound, coming nearer and nearer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There!" cried Crouch. "Shoot!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He pointed down the tunnel, in the direction they had come. Max +turned, and beheld the head of a great beast thrust through the leaves +of some creeping plant that bound the trunks of two trees together in a +kind of lattice-work.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is unfortunate that the mind cannot retain a complete recollection +of scenes that have momentarily impressed us. Most of us, when asked +to describe in every detail even the most familiar objects, fall very +short of the mark. How much more so must this be the case when we look +upon something for no longer than a second, and then it is no more.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max will never forget that moment. He remembers the main features of +the scene, but there were a thousand and one details, which impressed +him at the time, that he is no longer able to remember.</p> +<p class="pnext">The semi-darkness of the jungle; the moist ground whereon he stood, +where multi-coloured orchids showed like little evil faces in the +twilight; the tangled undergrowth; and in places, like peep-holes +through which the daylight streamed, the shadows of the tall trees +towering high above. The scene, in its luxury and darkness, stood for +all that is savage, for all that is Africa--the country where the white +man ventures at his peril. And if anything were needed to complete +this strong suggestion of the wild, it was the great head and white, +gleaming fangs of the unknown beast which, half invisible, seemed as if +it were the unholy spirit of the place. On the spur of the moment, Max +lifted his rifle and fired.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well done!" cried Crouch, who brushed past his elbow.</p> +<p class="pnext">A moment later they found themselves kneeling on either side of the +prostrate and lifeless figure of Gyp.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There lies our thief," said Crouch; "and the thief's master 's not so +far away."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max felt profoundly sorry in his heart that he had killed so +magnificent a creature. If the dog had hunted them, she had been told +to do so by her master. The only crime which could be laid to the +account of the Great Dane was obedience to Cæsar.</p> +<p class="pnext">They remained by the body of the dog no longer than a few seconds, and +after that they pushed on upon their way, still following the course of +the tunnel, or "run." At length, when least they expected it, they +found themselves at the water's edge, at the place where the rapids +were inordinately swift.</p> +<p class="pnext">The water foamed and swirled upon its way, lashing the banks, forming +little whirlpools in mid-stream, and bounding in waves over the trunks +of trees which had fallen into the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sit down," said Crouch. "There's no hurry. We may as well talk +matters out."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max looked at his companion. Now that they were in the sunlight, he +was able to see Crouch's face. He was alarmed to notice that the +little captain looked haggard and drawn. His lips were pressed +together, as though he were in pain, and his only serviceable eye was +puckered and screwed up. Seeing Max's anxiety, he did his best to +smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Bull's Eye 's beginning to work," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you mean?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"After a bit it begins to smart. It smarts for about three days, and +then the blamed thing's healed. Sit down, my boy. This man Cæsar +annoys me. I want to think it out."</p> +<p class="pnext">They seated themselves at the river bank, and Crouch kept an ear +towards the jungle, in order to be warned if any one should approach.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What about the canoe?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's up-stream," said the other, with a nod of the head. "If we work +our way along the bank, we can't miss it. To tell you the truth, I +want a rest; I feel queer. And, besides, I want to think."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max asked him what was on his mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Cæsar," said he. "I should like to know how the man managed to get +here." Then he went on, thinking aloud, as was his custom. "There may +be a path through the jungle; but I doubt if even then he would have +been able to come this distance on foot. And yet his canoe never +passed Hippo Pool, or we should have seen it--that's sure enough." +Then, on a sudden, he slapped his knee. "By Christopher," he cried, "I +have it! I remember!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You remember what?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"About half-way between the Pool and Makanda I remember seeing the +entrance of a little back-water, on the left bank of the river. That +back-water probably rejoins the river somewhere about here. It's all +as plain as a pikestaff. He has come north by the back-water, which +accounts for us not having seen him pass through Hippo Pool. The end +of that back-water is either between here and the place where we left +the canoe, or else farther down-stream. Come," said Crouch, "we'll get +the better of this rascal. Perhaps, for once, Fortune will play into +our hands."</p> +<p class="pnext">He struggled to his feet, but immediately turned pale, and was obliged +to support himself against the trunk of a tree.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I feel mighty dizzy," he said. "I've lost a deal of blood."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You had better stay here," said Max; "I'll work along the bank until I +find the canoe, and then come back to you. I don't like leaving you, +but there's nothing else to be done. Perhaps the canoe is not far +away."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's farther than you think," said Crouch; "that tunnel took us almost +due north. Besides, I can tell by the water. The rapids are pretty +strong; we can't be far from the ravine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will we be able to paddle against it, do you think?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked at the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said he. "My arms are all right, though I've gone wrong in the +leg. You get off, and come back here as quickly as you can. If you +see Cæsar, shoot."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that Max set off alone. He soon found it impossible to make any +progress on the actual bank of the river, since here, by reason of the +moisture that was in the ground, the vegetation was so dense and +tangled that a weasel would have found some difficulty in making any +headway. He soon found, however, that by moving about thirty yards +from the river bank, he could make his way southward with tolerable +ease. From time to time he forced his way to the river's edge, and +looked both up-stream and down, to note if he could see any sign of the +canoe.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sun was in the mid-heavens, and the heat intense. The jungle was +alive with sounds. The evening before there had been a heavy shower of +rain, and now the vapour rose like steam, and the moisture dropped from +the trees. To his left he could hear the roar of the rapids as the +river plunged upon its way, and this served to guide him, making it +possible for him to hold his course parallel to the river bank. He was +followed by a swarm of insects that droned and buzzed in his ears. The +perspiration fell from his forehead in great drops, and frequently he +found himself caught and held fast by strong, hook-like thorns.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the forest opened. It was like coming out of a darkened room +into the light. For a moment he was unable to see. During that moment +he fancied he heard a sound quite near to him--a sound of something +that moved. Looking about him, he discovered that he was standing in +long reeds which reached almost to his chest. To his right, the trees +of the forest were extended in a kind of avenue, and at their feet was +a narrow, swiftly-flowing stream.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had discovered Cæsar's back-water. Moreover, he had discovered +Cæsar's canoe, for there it was, its bows just visible, peeping through +the reeds.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xi-in-the-long-ravine"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12">CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Max took in the situation at a glance. If Cæsar had come north from +Makanda by way of the back-water, he had not passed their canoe on the +Hidden River. Two courses lay open to Max: he might cross the +back-water in Cæsar's canoe, and pursue his journey on foot; or he +might take this canoe and go down to Crouch, about whom he was anxious. +The latter was undoubtedly the wiser course to pursue. In the heart of +Africa, one canoe is as good as another; and, besides, by taking +Cæsar's canoe he would be paying off old scores.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having come to this conclusion, he looked about him for a suitable way +by which to approach the canoe. He had not taken one step in the right +direction, when he discovered to his dismay that the reeds were growing +in a bog, into which one leg sank deep before he was able to recover +his footing on dry land.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still, he had every reason to be hopeful. If the Portuguese and his +party had disembarked at this place, there was clearly a way of getting +into the canoe. For all that, search as he might among the reeds, he +could not find it, and at last he retired to the top of the bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">No sooner had he got there than he discovered that for which he had +been looking. A tall tree had fallen in the forest, and the roots were +half in the water. The canoe had been moored under the lee of this. +On each side of the fallen tree the reeds grew so high that the trunk +was half hidden from view.</p> +<p class="pnext">This tree formed a sort of natural pier, or landing-stage, along which +it was possible to walk. Max stepped upon the trunk, and walked +towards the canoe. Fearing that if he jumped into it he would knock a +hole in the bottom, he lowered himself to a sitting position, and then +remembered that he had not untied the painter at the bows. He always +looks upon his next action as the most foolish thing he ever did in his +life. He left his rifle in the canoe, and returned along the +tree-trunk to untie the bows.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that he was seized from behind. Some one sprang upon him +from out of the reeds. Two strong arms closed about his chest, and he +was lifted bodily from off his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">Putting forth his strength, he managed to twist himself round, seizing +his adversary by the throat.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had been set upon by one of Cæsar's Arabs. The Portuguese himself +was doubtless still searching in the jungle for Crouch and Max, and no +doubt he had left this fellow in charge of his canoe. Fortunately, the +man was not armed; otherwise, Max would have been murdered. As it was, +he realized from the start that his life was in imminent danger.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man was possessed of the strength of all his race. His arms, +though thin, were sinewy, and his muscles stood out like bands of +whip-cord as he strove to gain the upper hand. Max was at a +disadvantage, since he wore boots; whereas the Arab with his bare feet +had the better foot-hold on the trunk of the fallen tree. Still, even +he could not retain his balance for long, with the young Englishman +flying at his throat like a tiger. The man had a beard, and Max, +laying hold of this, forced his head backwards, so that they both fell +together into the mud.</p> +<p class="pnext">During that fall Max's head struck the bows of the canoe. For a moment +he was dazed, half stunned. He relaxed his hold of his opponent, and +thereafter he lay at the mercy of the Arab.</p> +<p class="pnext">If we make an exception of the Chinese, the Arab is in all probability +the cruellest man we know of. He is possessed of an almost fiendish +cunning. His courage no one will dispute. To his children he is a +kind father; to those who know and understand him he is a good friend; +he is one of the most hospitable men in the world. But to his enemies +he is relentless. He has none of the barbarity of the savage races, +like the Zulus or the Masai. He is refined, even in his cruelty. +Above all, he is a man of brains.</p> +<p class="pnext">Because of their craftiness, their cunning and their courage, the Arab +races have existed from the very beginnings of time. We read in the +most ancient history that exists--in the history of the Pharaohs--of +how the Egyptian towns in the valley of the Nile were walled against +the incursions of the Arabs. Long before the Persians came to Egypt, +no man dared venture far into the desert because of the Bedouin bands. +And that was when the world was in its cradle, when just the valleys of +two rivers--the one in Asia and the other in Egypt--were able to +produce the rudiments of the civilization of the future. That was, +perhaps, eight thousand years ago.</p> +<p class="pnext">Since then--and before then--the Arab has been feared. The Negro races +have bowed down before him, as dumb animals obey a superior +intelligence. In this, above all things, had the Portuguese been wise; +he had formed his bodyguard of those men who for centuries have been +the stern, implacable rulers of the great, mysterious continent.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max never lost possession of his senses; he was only dazed. And, +whilst in that condition, he was lifted in the strong arms of the Arab, +and thrown bodily into the canoe. When he was sufficiently recovered +to endeavour to rise to his feet, he found that he was in mid-stream, +drifting rapidly towards the river. He looked about him for a paddle, +and seeing none, turned his eyes to the bank. And there stood the +Arab, in his mud-stained garments, his white teeth showing in his +swarthy face in a broad, unholy grin. Moreover, in both hands, he held +the paddles which he had taken from the canoe.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max recognized, as in a flash, that his fate was in the hands of a +greater Power than himself. He snatched up his rifle, and endeavoured +to steer with the butt. That had the effect of turning the canoe a +little, but the current was too strong, and he was borne onwards.</p> +<p class="pnext">Twenty yards farther, and the canoe would turn the corner and shoot out +into the river, where the rapids foamed and lashed. At one time the +bows brushed the tall reeds which were growing from the water. Max, +dropping his rifle, seized the only one of these that was within his +grasp. He held it for no longer than a second--an agonizing moment +that seemed eternity--and then the reed was drawn out by its roots from +the soft mud beneath the water.</p> +<p class="pnext">The canoe was launched into the rapids at a bound. The current struck +it sideways, and sent it round like a top. For a moment it was like +some blind, excited animal that knows not whither it means to go, and +then it shot down-stream like an arrow from the bow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max became aware of a kind of singing in his head. This may have been +caused by the blow which he had received, or else by the manner in +which the canoe was now whirled round and round upon the tide. The +whole scene about him became blurred and indistinct. The great, +white-hot sky above him was like a sheet of fire. He saw the trees on +either bank fly past like armies of dark, gigantic spectres. At such +times as this, it is as if the brain becomes unhinged; we think of +strange, and often foolish things, of no consequence soever. Max saw a +large dragonfly, of all the colours in the rainbow. Even then he +admired its beauty and coveted its wings. The latter thought was +natural, but the first was strange. And the next thing he knew of was +Crouch shouting and waving his arms upon the bank. In a few moments +Max had shot down the river to the place where he had left the little +captain, though it had taken him more than two hours to force his way +to the back-water through the density of the jungle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Paddle!" Crouch was crying. "Paddle for your life! Bring her in to +the bank."</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then the canoe was steady, shooting downward like a dart. Max +raised his hands to his lips and shouted back.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've no paddles!" he cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">He saw Crouch break into the jungle. The little sea-captain threw +himself into the thickets like a madman. Once again, only for an +instant, Max caught sight of him. He was fighting his way down-stream +along the river bank like some ferocious beast. The long arm of a +creeper barred his way, and Crouch wrenched it from the tree to which +it clung with a strength that was almost superhuman. And then he was +lost to view.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max looked down into the water, and saw at once that it would be +impossible to reach the bank by swimming. He had never been a strong +swimmer, and in such a current as this no one could hope to prevail. +On hands and knees, he crawled to the other end of the canoe, and +immediately the thing swung round again, like a gate upon its hinges.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was now calm enough to think the matter out. If he tried to swim to +the shore the odds would be a hundred to one against him. There was +still a chance that the canoe might be driven into the bank. He was +determined to keep his head, to be ready to spring ashore, should the +opportunity occur, and lay hold upon the first thing that fell to his +reach.</p> +<p class="pnext">As he sat and waited, whilst the seconds flew, his heart sank within +him. The river narrowed. Black, ugly-looking rocks sprang up, like +living things in mid-stream, and before him opened the ravine.</p> +<p class="pnext">He saw its great walls rising, smooth and sheer, on either side of the +river, and fading away in the distance, in the thick haze of the +steaming, tropic day. He was fascinated by the rocks. He marvelled +every instant that the canoe was not dashed to atoms. The surface of +the water was now white with foam, in the midst of which the black +rocks glistened in the sunlight. The canoe would rush towards one of +these, as some swift beast of prey hurls itself upon its victim; and at +the eleventh hour it would be whipped aside to go dancing, leaping on.</p> +<p class="pnext">The ravine was like one of the pits we read of in Dante's <em class="italics">Inferno</em>. +Its walls were precipitous and white, glaring in the sunshine. This +was the gate that guarded the Hidden Valley.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max had a sensation of passing through a railway-cutting in an express +train. Little objects upon the steep banks--perhaps straggling plants, +sprung from seeds which had fallen from above--were blurred and +indistinct, flashing past like may-flies in the sunlight. There was +the same rattling noise in his ears, quite distinguishable from the +roar of the water beneath his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment he buried his face in his hands. A hundred thoughts went +galloping through his brain, not one of which was complete. One gave +place to another; there was no gap between them; they were like the +films on a cinematograph.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then came a murmuring in his ears which was something apart from +the rattling sound we have mentioned, and the loud roar of the rapids. +He looked up, with a white face, and listened. It seemed his heart had +ceased to beat, and breathing consisted of inspiration only. The +murmuring grew into a roar, and the roar into a peal of thunder--the +cataract was ahead!</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xii-when-hope-dies-out"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13">CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">As the canoe rushed forward, Max Harden recognized himself for lost; he +realized there was no hope. Resolved to meet his fate with all the +fortitude he could command, he was yet sufficiently unnerved to stand +upright in the canoe, which so rocked and swayed that he balanced +himself with difficulty.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that he looked down upon what seemed certain death. The +river ended abruptly, as a cliff falls sheer to the sea. The walls of +the ravine were folded back to the east and to the west, and between, +the water went over the cataract in one long, unbroken wave.</p> +<p class="pnext">Far below, extending to the north, was a broad plain, dotted here and +there with trees which, in the haze of the tropic heat, appeared +indistinct and restless, like weeds and pebbles at the bottom of deep, +discoloured water. Beyond that were the broad, gleaming waters of the +Kasai, rolling north-westward to the Congo.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max looked up to the wide, burning sky. In that mad, headlong moment +he offered up a prayer. The roar of the waters thundered in his ears. +The canoe over-shot the crest of the cataract, as a swallow dips upon +the wing. Max was conscious of a bursting in his head. There was a +noise in his ears as if all chaos were rushing in upon him; it was as +if he were an atom in the midst of an upheaval of the worlds. And then +he remembered no more.</p> +<hr class="docutils" /> +<p class="pfirst">Now that the Hidden Valley has been explored, and is even shown upon +some of the large scale maps that have recently been issued by the +Royal Geographical Society, those whose pleasure it is to study such +matters are well acquainted with the formation of the country.</p> +<p class="pnext">The river finds its source in the unknown mountains to the south of +Makanda; thence it flows due north towards the Kasai. South of the +waterfall the basin consists of a hard, impervious rock. In the region +of the jungle, this rock is covered by about ten feet of fertile +subsoil: in some places a black, glutinous mud; in others, a red, loamy +clay, containing a super-abundance of plant food. At the Long Ravine +the rock rises to the surface, in what geologists call an "out-crop." +North of the cataract lies a great plain of mud.</p> +<p class="pnext">This phenomenon is merely what is found in every waterfall in the +world. The river at the top of the falls flows over hard, impermeable +rock; at the foot is found a softer stratum--such as chalk or +clay--which is easily washed away. Originally, far back in the +centuries, there was no waterfall at all. The river flowed on an even +course from Makanda to the Kasai. Very soon, however, the current +swept away vast tracts of mud to the north of the waterfall. This mud +was carried by the Kasai to the Congo, and thence to the sea. In +consequence, a tract of country, many square miles in area, gradually +descended lower and lower. On the other hand, in the hard rock of the +ravine, the river worked more slowly, so that, at last, the cataract +was formed.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the foot of the falls is a great pool in which the water is +exceedingly deep, and round which the current spends its fury in many +whirlpools, such as may be seen in a mill-pond when the flood-gates are +opened to their full extent.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having thus briefly explained the conformation of the country in the +lower valley of the Hidden River, it is now necessary to return to +Captain Crouch. The effort made by the little wizened sea-captain upon +that eventful morning is worthy to rank with anything that was ever +told by the poets of classic days. Had it not been for his indomitable +will, he could never have accomplished a feat that was almost +superhuman. Edward Harden had said that he believed that he was the +only person whom Crouch cared for in the world. That might have been +true at the time, but certain it is that the captain thought well of +Max, else he had never accomplished what he did.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was already wounded; even he himself had owned he was in pain. And +yet, mile upon mile, he broke his way through the jungle, fighting +onward amid the profusion of the forest, like one who was raving mad. +Often he sank to his waist in marsh. His clothes were torn to shreds +by thorns. His face and hands were red with blood which had mingled +with the perspiration that streamed from every pore. When he came +forth from the forest, at the head of the ravine, he looked hardly +human--the most desperate being it were possible to picture.</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that he dashed on, across the bare rocks, in the blazing heat +of the sun. There was nothing now to impede him, and he raced upon his +way, never pausing for breath. He was half-naked; he had left the +greater part of his clothes upon the thorn-trees in the jungle. His +pith helmet was askew, and battered and out of shape. He had used his +Remington rifle as a club to beat his way through the thickets, had +broken it off at the small of the butt, and now held the barrel in his +hand. His legs were bare to the knee, like those of an urchin, and so +clotted with blood that he looked like a savage who had dyed his skin. +Sometimes he stumbled, and seemed in danger of falling; but each time +he braced himself up, struck himself upon the chest, and went on even +faster than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he came to the end of the ravine he turned to the west, and there +found a place where he could climb down to the low-lying flats. It was +then approaching sunset. The heat of the day was past.</p> +<p class="pnext">At about half-way down the incline he paused, and lifted the palm of +his hand to screen his only eye. For some minutes he scanned the +plain, and then on a sudden he gave vent to a loud cry of exultation, +and bounded down the hill. Far in the distance, high and dry upon a +mud-bank, he had caught sight of a small speck, which he knew for a +human being.</p> +<p class="pnext">It took him more than half an hour to reach this place. By then it was +nearly dusk. Bending down over the drenched, motionless form, he +thought at first that Max was dead. He could feel no beating of the +heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still, Crouch was not the man to despair. Moreover, in the days when +he had sailed the seas, he had had experience in the resuscitation of +the drowned.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without delay he set to work. He lifted the body so that the water +poured from the mouth of the unconscious man. He then seated himself +upon the ground at Max's head, and worked both arms like the handles of +a pump.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sun set and a full moon arose, which traced a silvery pathway +across the great wasteland that extended both to the east and to the +west, as far as the eye could reach. Here and there lonely, stunted +trees showed like sentinels upon the plain. The only sound that +disturbed the stillness of the night was the dull, continuous roar of +the cataract to the south. Here was no sign of animal life. In the +daytime the marshland was thronged with birds, but these now were +silent. It would be impossible to imagine a place more desolate and +weird. It seemed not of the world, or, if it were, of some forgotten +country, buried for ever beyond the reach of progress and the influence +of man.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hour after hour Crouch held to his task. The sweat poured from his +forehead, the blood still issued from his wounds, but never for a +moment did he cease.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last he stopped, and placed an ear to Max's chest. Thereupon, he +went on again, more feverishly than ever.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon after that, a quick cry escaped his lips. He had looked into +Max's face, and seen the eyelids flicker; and presently, two eyes were +staring in his face. And at that the little man just toppled forward +in a faint, and lay upon his face across the body which his efforts had +brought back to life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without doubt, the mind is master of the body, and the will is king of +the mind. One had but to glance into the face of Captain Crouch to see +that he was possessed of a will of iron. The strong brows, the firm +mouth, the great hatchet chin--these had not been given him for naught. +He may have had the strength of Hercules; yet he had never accomplished +his journey down the river, had it not been for the indomitable +strength of his mind. And now that he realized that the victory was +his, that his efforts had been crowned with success, the will, on a +sudden, relinquished its task, as a helmsman gives way to his successor +at the wheel--and Crouch fell forward in a faint.</p> +<p class="pnext">At dawn, the sun found them lying together on the mud, and by the +warmth of its rays set the blood coursing more freely in their veins.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max was the first to revive. He tried to lift himself, but found that +he was not able to do so, because of the weight of Crouch's body on his +chest. He fell back again, and lay for some time with opened eyes, +staring upward at the sky.</p> +<p class="pnext">He saw the colours change in the heavens. He heard the cries of the +birds upon the marsh. Then, once again, he struggled to an elbow.</p> +<p class="pnext">With difficulty he lifted Crouch; and then, looking into the captain's +face, he wondered where he was, and how it had come about that they two +were stranded, side by side, in the midst of surroundings with which he +was wholly unfamiliar.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he remembered, by degrees. The struggle with the Arab in the +back-water--his headlong rush throughout the length of the rapids--the +vision he had had of Crouch, frantic on the bank. And then--the +ravine, and at the end, the cataract--the thunder of the water--the +rushing in his ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">The truth was not difficult to guess; indeed, there was no other +explanation. He tried to rise to his feet, but could not do so. At +that, he lay back again, to rest, and gave silent thanks in his heart +to Divine Providence by means of which he had been saved as by a +miracle. He had undergone the sensations of death, and yet he lived.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had lain quite still and motionless, it may have been for an hour, +when Crouch sat up and looked about him. And when he had taken in the +scene, he let fall the following irrelevant remark--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've lost my pipe," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">He then got to his feet, and walking to the water's edge--which was but +a few feet distant--he knelt down, scooped the water in his hands, and +drank.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he returned to Max, and seated himself by his side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Feeling queer?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max answered that he was very weak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your strength 'll return," said Crouch; "but you must have some cover +for your head."</p> +<p class="pnext">He took off his coat, which was nothing but a bundle of tatters, and +rolling this into a kind of turban, he placed it upon Max's forehead to +protect him from the heat of the sun. Then he went back to the water's +edge, washed the blood from his face and hands, and bathed the back of +his neck. As he returned, he found the barrel of his broken rifle, and +stooped and picked it up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look at that!" said he. "That was once the best rifle in this +forsaken continent. Not worth its weight as scrap-iron!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose," said Max, "you'll be offended if I try to thank you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You suppose right," said Crouch. "Do you feel able to walk?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think so."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't," said the captain. "There's no hurry." Then he began to +think aloud. "If we work up-stream," said he, "we'll be on the wrong +side of the river. By now Cæsar will have found our canoe. We're not +armed; we have no food. There are precisely three ways in which we +might die: first, starvation; second, Cæsar; third, a buffalo. The +first's a certainty. Both of us are too weak to swim the river at +Hippo Pool--to say nothing of crocodiles. On the other hand, if we go +down-stream, walking will be easy till we get to the mangrove swamp. +Have you got a knife?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Max felt in his pockets, and produced the article in question. Crouch +looked at it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That'll do," said he. "With this we should be able to dig out a +canoe, and make a couple of paddles. If we don't die at the job, we +ought to work our way up to Date Palm Island. As soon as you're ready, +we'll start."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm ready now," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then come along," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">The mud lay in ridges, which had been baked hard by the sun. Between +these the water lay in long pools which, as they progressed farther to +the north, became more and more still, less disturbed by the current +that issued from the falls. Crouch patted his clothes as he limped +along.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've lost every blamed thing," said he; "pipe, pouch and baccy, +compass, knife and ammunition."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max answered nothing. He thought it would not be wise to sympathize. +Crouch was a peculiar man in many ways.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon after midday they came to the mangrove swamp; and the crossing of +a mangrove swamp is a thing that most African explorers have +accomplished. The roots of the short, stunted trees stand out upon the +surface of the water. It is necessary to pass by way of these, +stepping from one root to another; and some knowledge of the art of +balancing is utterly essential. If you lose your foothold, you fall +into the swamp, and there you are set upon by leeches. Some of these +are large--sometimes as large as snails--but the kind generally met +with is an animal so small that it can work its way through the +eye-holes of your boots. Once this creature has laid hold upon your +skin, and begun to suck your blood, it begins to swell until it has +attained the size of a cherry.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the edge of the mangrove swamp Crouch and Max took off their boots, +and hung these across their shoulders. With bare feet they could get a +better footing upon the twisted roots of the trees.</p> +<p class="pnext">For three hours they journeyed through the swamp, which was buried in +semi-darkness. It was far darker than the jungle. It is in these +swamps that the mosquitoes swarm in myriads, and all the deadly +diseases of the country are engendered. To pitch a standing camp in +the vicinity of a mangrove swamp, is to court a certain death from +malaria or typhoid.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were weary, faint, and aching in their bones when they came upon +the banks of the Kasai. No wonder this had been named the "Hidden +River." It joined the great tributary of the Congo in a thousand +little streams, all flowing silently through darkness beneath the +close-packed trees.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned to the right. He had been bearing to the east +throughout, and in a little while they were clear of the swamp, on +terra firma. Seating themselves, they put on their boots.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By Christopher," said Crouch, "I'm weak! I don't fancy making that +canoe with a jackknife."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nor I," said Max. "But we'll do it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We will," said he, but his face was white as a ghost. Then he sat +bolt upright and listened. "What's that?" he cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">Faint in the distance was a gentle, scraping sound, which grew louder +and louder as the minutes passed. Max at first could not believe the +evidence of his ears. He waited expectantly, and at last heard a +rippling sound, that was like the laughter of a child. He sprang to +his feet, and rushing to the water's edge, looked up-stream, shading +his eyes with his hand. It was, indeed, the truth--a long canoe was +swinging down upon the tide.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiii-back-to-the-unknown"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id14">CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">A minute later they saw that the canoe was manned by six of their own +Loango boys, who made the blades of the paddles flash in the sunlight; +and, moreover, they recognized the canoe as the one they had left at +Date Palm Island.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max lifted his voice and shouted from the bank. Whereat the boys +ceased to paddle, and regarded them amazed. Then, recognizing their +masters, they raised a shout in chorus, and drew in towards the bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had these natives desired proof of the omnipotence of the Fire-gods, +they could have wished for nothing more. Had they searched Central +Africa from the Equator to the Zambesi, they could have found no two +people more wretched-looking and forlorn. Max was utterly exhausted, +and so faint that he could scarcely stand. As for Crouch, he might +have been mauled by a lion.</p> +<p class="pnext">One of the boys flung himself upon the ground, then rose to a kneeling +position, and lifted his arms as in prayer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Master," he cried, "what did we tell you? We warned you of the +Fire-gods! We told you the valley was bewitched! We implored you not +to go!"</p> +<p class="pnext">As the boy ran on in the same strain, Crouch gathered himself together, +growing purple in the face. With his tattered garments, which +resembled ruffled feathers, he looked like an infuriated turkey-cock. +And then, without warning, he landed the boy such a kick as lifted him +bodily into the air.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fire-gods be hanged!" he shouted. "These are jungle marks. If the +valley 's bewitched, it's bewitched by thorns. Look here! See for +yourselves!" So saying, he lifted his bare leg, in which the thorns +were sticking like so many pins in a pin-cushion. "I've seen the +Fire-gods," he ran on. "You blithering fools, I've taken tea with 'em. +I've doctored one with a dose of medicine, and I've played cards with +the other. And I've not done with them, yet--mind that! I'm going +back, by Christopher! and there'll be the biggest war-palaver you ever +heard of in your lives. Come, get up, and get a move on! But, first, +what are you doing here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The boys answered that they had come down-stream to shoot hippopotami +for food. They said that about a mile farther down the river there was +a great grassy bank where many of these animals were to be found. +Crouch ordered them to get back into the canoe, saying that as soon as +they arrived at the island he would open a case of supplies--bully beef +and sardines, of which the Loango boys cherished the empty tins. Also, +he promised that in a day or so he would shoot a buffalo, and they +would not want for provisions. There was a certain amount of hippo +meat in the canoe, and that night Crouch and Max partook of the same +food as the boys. It was not until the afternoon of the following day +that they arrived at Date Palm Island.</p> +<p class="pnext">They did not expect Edward Harden for some days. He was still forcing +his way towards the Kasai by way of the portage. In the meantime, not +only were they glad enough of a rest, but this was altogether +essential. It took Crouch some days to rid himself of the thorns which +had attached themselves to his skin. He refused all medical assistance +from Max; and the wonder of it was, that the wound in his thigh was +healing rapidly under his "Bull's Eye treatment." This was wholly +incomprehensible to the young medical student, who beheld the theories +he had studied at hospital, and on which he had placed such store, +dissipated to the winds. In all probability, the fact was that Crouch +had such firm belief in his own remedy that his cure was an example of +"faith healing"; it is generally admitted in these days that "attitude +of mind" affects the health and can even bring about organic changes, +for better or for worse. At any rate, in three days he was +sufficiently recovered to set forth into the forest of rubber trees on +the right bank of the river in search of the buffalo he had promised +the boys. Max--although on this occasion he remained in camp--had by +now completely recovered his strength.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were few things they carried with them to the Hidden River of +which they had not duplicates at Date Palm Island. Crouch had been +able to secure a new suit of clothes, tobacco and another pipe. As for +rifles, both Edward and Crouch were experienced explorers, and knew +that if a fire-arm was lost or broken, they could not buy a new one in +the heart of Africa. They had therefore equipped themselves with a +battery of several rifles, including Remingtons, Expresses and +Winchester repeaters, besides several shot-guns and revolvers.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the evening of that day, when he was expecting Crouch's return at +any moment, Max walked to the northern extremity of the island. When +there, his ears caught the sound of a shot in the forest, on the left +bank of the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, since Crouch had landed on the other side, there could be no +question as to whence came this shot; and in a few minutes Max had run +to the canoe, jumped in and paddled to the bank. There, he picked up +his rifle and fired twice into the air.</p> +<p class="pnext">Almost immediately his two shots were answered, and there came a second +answer--from Crouch on the northern bank. A quarter of an hour later, +Max, who had hastened forward on the line of the portage, had grasped +the hand of his uncle, who was amazed to see him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch returned at nightfall. He had killed his buffalo, far in the +interior of the forest, and the following morning the boys set out to +cut it up. That night the three friends were seated around the +camp-fire on Date Palm Island. Edward's journey had been uneventful, +except that one of his Fan attendants had been mauled badly by a +wounded leopard.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Max who related the story of all that had happened since his +uncle left Hippo Pool. The big man listened in silence; and when the +story was ended he said nothing, and never once did he look at Crouch. +He knew the captain far too well to thank him. With old friends who +have been through thick and thin together, who have stood side by side +throughout many a danger, words are at a discount--a kind of mutual +understanding exists between them that makes conversation a sheer waste +of time. Still, though Edward said nothing, Max knew well enough that +he thanked the little, wizened captain in his heart, and was conscious +of the debt he owed him.</p> +<p class="pnext">They remained on the island for another week, and it took them all that +time to persuade a dozen of the boys to accompany them upon the portage +in the capacity of carriers. It was only on the understanding that +they would not be asked to embark upon the dreaded river of the +"Fire-gods" that, at last, they consented to go.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, this time, they had no intention of advancing as far as the +river. They proposed to follow the portage to Observation Creek, and +thence to strike up-stream, due south, until they found a suitable +camping-ground. Here they would establish their base, sending the boys +back to the island with orders to wait for their return.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Loango boys could be trusted; most of them had faithfully served +either Crouch or Edward in the past. Besides, they were a thousand +miles from their home, and dared not make the passage of the Congo by +themselves, because of the hostile tribes that, in those days, abounded +to the east of Stanley Falls. When Crouch and Edward Harden were on +the river their reputation went before them; their friends came forth +to meet them--grinning cannibals with necklaces of monkeys' teeth +suspended round their necks, and little else besides by way of +clothing--and their enemies, those who had broken their faith with +Harden or fallen foul of Crouch, deserted their villages and took to +the jungle, to let the two great white men pass, whose fame had reached +to the very heart of the continent, and who, it was said, were spoken +of even by the pigmies who lived in the dark, unknown country west of +the Lakes.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they set out with their carriers for Observation Creek, the three +Europeans were sanguine of success, and even the four Fans (the one who +had been injured by the leopard had been left behind on the island) +shared their expectations. The riddle of the valley was yet unsolved. +The Portuguese still guarded well his secret. In his fortress by the +river, encompassed upon every hand by the dark, inhospitable jungle, he +had every reason to think himself secure. Moreover, he had cause to +believe that both Max and Crouch were dead--the former drowned at the +cataract, the latter lost in the jungle. Half the victory is gained +when one can take one's adversary by surprise. Cæsar had lost Gyp, his +most accomplished scout. He might patrol the river, but he would find +no trace of the Englishmen from Makanda to the rapids. He might search +their old camp at Hippo Pool, where he would find, perhaps, a box of +ammunition, cooking utensils and a few days' provisions--to say nothing +of Crouch's case of glass eyes--but he would gain no clue to the fact +that his enemies had returned to the valley.</p> +<p class="pnext">From their base camp on Observation Creek they had decided to move +up-stream towards the mountain. They hoped to make friends with the +natives of the Pambala village that M'Wané had seen in the distance. +Thence they could approach Makanda from the east.</p> +<p class="pnext">Each time they traversed the portage progress was more easy. It was no +longer necessary to cut a way through the thickets with bill-hooks and +axes, and to "blaze" the trees. Besides, they were now familiar with +the road, knew where to look for water and the bitter roots of wild +manioc, or cassava--from which tapioca is manufactured--and upon which, +to a large degree, they were obliged to subsist in the jungle. Also +they no longer carried a canoe.</p> +<p class="pnext">In consequence, they reached the Creek in four and a half days. After +halting for an hour, they continued their journey to the south, turning +to the left from the route which led direct to Hippo Pool. They +followed the course of the stream till sunset, and then camped for the +night. Another day's march brought them to an open place by the side +of the Creek, where the ground was too rocky for vegetation to +flourish. They had been conscious throughout the day's journey of +going up-hill, and this was doubtless the foot of one of the spurs of +the mountain they wished to gain. It was here they decided to camp.</p> +<p class="pnext">They pitched their tent, and gathered a supply of firewood in the +forest. The water of the stream was clear and good to drink. They +were much pestered by insects of all descriptions, but this is +inevitable in the heart of an equatorial forest, and not even the smoke +of Crouch's tobacco served to keep away the millions of flies, +mosquitoes and ants, to say nothing of less disagreeable companions, +such as the most gorgeous butterflies and gigantic dragon-flies and +moths.</p> +<p class="pnext">The following day the Loango boys departed upon their return journey to +the Kasai. As had been the case before, they showed great eagerness to +return. It seems that they could not rid their minds of the tales they +had heard of the Fire-gods, and neither Crouch nor Edward could +persuade them that the valley was not haunted by evil spirits.</p> +<p class="pnext">During the days that followed the party suffered from want of meat. +They had deemed it advisable not to shoot. Though they were still some +distance from Makanda, there was always a chance that Cæsar and his +Arabs were somewhere abroad in the forest, and they did not wish the +man to suspect that they had returned. In the forest they found +nothing to eat but manioc, and a continual diet of the tubers of this +peculiar plant is somewhat monotonous and is apt to set up a kind of +blood poisoning, to which some people are more liable than others. +Edward, whose large carcass required a considerable amount of +nourishment, began to suffer from some kind of bilious fever.</p> +<p class="pnext">After a day's rest they set out upon their southward journey. Day by +day as they progressed, the nature of the vegetation changed. The +forest trees became thinner and not so large. The atmosphere became +cooler and more rarefied. The slope grew steeper and steeper, until at +last they were confronted by a sharp, rocky bluff which enclosed the +jungle like a wall. They followed this to the left, and came presently +to a gully, a dried-up watercourse, up which it was possible to climb. +At the top they found themselves upon a hillock--one of those bare, +flat-topped eminences which are scattered throughout the whole +continent of Africa. Hence it was possible to obtain a bird's-eye view +of the country.</p> +<p class="pnext">To the north, as far as the eye could reach, extended the forest +through which they had passed. About twenty miles to the eastward they +could see the Kasai above Date Palm Island. To the west there was no +sign of the Hidden River, which, being narrower and flowing in a +direction almost due south to north, was hidden among the trees. To +the south a magnificent panorama was extended to their view. The +foreground fell away in a valley which, to some extent, had been given +over to cultivation; and beyond, in rugged majesty, arose Solitude +Peak. The great mountain towered into the sky, its crest wrapped in +clouds; and over the valley hung a thin blue mist, above which some +great bird of prey hung like a gnat, with outstretched wings, in the +very midst of space.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Max who was the first to see the village, half-way up the +mountain slope, lying--as M'Wané had described it--like a bird's nest +in the forked branches of a tree. He pointed it out to his companions, +and then the party began to descend into the valley, one behind the +other in single file, following a track which had been made by +elephants. An elephant trail can never be mistaken; however hard the +ground, the imprints of their great feet remain, and they have a habit +of tearing branches from the trees as they pass, not so much for food, +as from pure love of destruction.</p> +<p class="pnext">It took them several hours to cross the valley, and then they began the +steep ascent of the mountain. Suddenly M'Wané, who was leading, came +to an abrupt standstill, and stood upon a sharp pinnacle of rock, +pointing to the east. There was something noble in his dark, savage +figure, standing upright, straight as a larch, in the midst of these +wild surroundings. A moment later he was joined by the two Hardens and +Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">There, in the distance, they could discern the broad waters of the lake +before Makanda. They could see the granite hills, which were red in +the glow of the setting sun. They could see, also, the narrow gorge in +the south, and far in the distance was a great range of undiscovered +mountains. As they looked, a sound issued from the valley, which, like +a long peal of distant thunder, rolled away to the north upon the wind, +echoing through the forest.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiv-black-ivory"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id15">CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"The Fire-gods' thunder!" said M'Wané, in a kind of hushed whisper, +with his lips parted and his eyes staring in the direction of the +Hidden River.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was obvious that the man was afraid. He belonged to a wild race +that for centuries has roamed the jungle, catching fish in baskets at +the waterfalls and setting traps in the forest. Until a few days +before he had never seen a firearm in his life. He had heard tales of +white men who were traders on the Coast, but he had never associated +these with the Fire-gods who inhabited the Hidden Valley, whom he +regarded as superhuman.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked at Edward. "What do you make of it?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">Harden was frowning in the direction of the valley. His fingers tugged +at the end of his moustache. He was a man of few words, as we know.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dynamite," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think so, too," said Crouch. "I wonder what his game is!"</p> +<p class="pnext">In their immediate neighbourhood was a narrow stretch of grass--the +coarse, thin grass that is usually to be met with on the lower slopes +of mountains. It was at this moment that Crouch's eye became fixed in +the centre of this. He remained motionless for some seconds, and then +on a sudden grasped Edward by the arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's a man there!" said he. "Look out!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Simultaneously a black form sprang out of the grass and ran up the hill +in the direction of the village. Crouch whipped round upon M'Wané and +his Fans.</p> +<p class="pnext">"After him!" he cried. "A reward if you catch him alive."</p> +<p class="pnext">The four Fans set off as fast as they could go. The race lasted no +longer than five minutes at the most. The fugitive seemed possessed of +the agility of an antelope when startled from its midday slumber; he +sprang over boulders, he dodged right and left like a snipe. But the +Fans were fleeter of foot than he; at every stride they gained upon +him, and in the end he was overtaken.</p> +<p class="pnext">They brought him back to Crouch--a woeful, terrified object who had not +the courage to lift his head. Crouch tried him with five languages, +but he seemed not to understand, and only gave utterance to a few +incoherent grunts. Then Crouch tried the "blood-bond," and this is not +pleasant to describe. He took a knife from his pocket, opened a vein +in his hand, and the native licked the wound. At that Crouch gave his +knife to the man, who in turn inflicted a wound upon himself, and +Crouch went through his part of the business with a heroism that Max +was bound to admire. They were now "blood-brothers," and that is a +bond which is inviolable in the region of the Congo. Crouch made the +man understand him by means of signs, in the art of which he was a +master.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have one heart," said he, by which he conveyed the fact that he was +no traitor, that his word could be relied on. "I wish to speak with +the people of your village."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man, pointing in the direction of Makanda, wanted to know whether +Crouch and his companions were allies of the Fire-gods.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," said Crouch. "We are come to make war upon the Fire-gods."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man but half believed that. None the less, he agreed to take them +to the village. They urged him to set forward without delay, since it +had already grown dark.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was past nightfall when they arrived at a narrow street of small, +rounded huts, constructed of bamboo stems and palm leaves. Despite the +fact that they came with one of the villagers, the majority of the +inhabitants fled at their approach. This wild people were timid, shy +as animals; also, as we shall see, they stood in a mortal fear of Cæsar +and his Arabs.</p> +<p class="pnext">As they approached the village, Crouch managed to gain the confidence +of their captive. Where natives were concerned the little sea-captain +had a way with him. The man promised that if they would wait till the +morning he would persuade his friends to attend a palaver.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night they had the village to themselves. The inhabitants--men, +women and children--had disappeared into the valley, where they spent +the night in fear and trembling. This is the common behaviour of many +uncivilized peoples when, for the first time in their lives, they +behold the indomitable white man. And these villagers had the greater +reason to be fearful, since they associated the explorers with the +Fire-gods.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortunately, they had fled in such haste that they had left most of +their provisions in their huts. Crouch and his companions enjoyed a +change of diet. That night they dined upon the flesh of a goat, which +they resolved to pay for on the morrow, besides plantains and Indian +corn.</p> +<p class="pnext">They took turn and turn about to keep watch throughout the night, but +there was no alarm. At daybreak they stationed themselves upon an +eminence above the village, hoping that the inhabitants would summon up +courage to return. Below them was the cultivated ground through which +they had passed the previous evening. The greater part had been given +over to the culture of ground-nuts; but there were also small patches +of Indian corn and banana groves. The explorer who wishes to succeed +with the untutored savage must possess his soul in patience by the +hour. Crouch sat down and lit his pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">Shortly before midday, several dusky figures appeared from out of the +jungle, and made their way to the plantation. There they remained in a +body, frightened to come nearer; and by the aid of his field-glass, Max +was able to make out the figure of Crouch's "blood-brother" who, +gesticulating wildly, endeavoured to persuade his friends and relations +to return.</p> +<p class="pnext">Seeing that this was going to be a long business, Crouch suggested that +they should walk down to the village and partake of food. Since their +hosts were unwilling to entertain them, it only remained for them to +help themselves. This they did with liberality, for they had the +appetites of lions.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were in the middle of their repast when they heard the sound of +running feet and a great commotion. Looking up they beheld one of the +women of the village running towards them well-nigh panic-stricken, and +filling the air with screams. This woman rushed into a hut, and came +out again with all her portable belongings.</p> +<p class="pnext">By then the little street was crowded with old men, women and children, +wringing their hands in desperation, and uttering such moans and +supplications as were heartrending to listen to. It was remarkable +that among the crowd there were not more than five young men at the +most; the majority were women, and of the children there were few who +were not three years of age.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked about him, and caught sight of his "blood-brother," who +was no less distracted than the rest. He laid hold of this fellow by +the arm, and with great difficulty managed to discover what had +happened.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "blood-brother" had just persuaded his relatives to return to the +village; he had explained, at last, to their satisfaction that the new +white men were not the servants of the Fire-gods, when suddenly the +Fire-gods themselves had been seen approaching up the valley. At that, +the whole population had taken to their heels. They knew not where +they were going, for it was the custom of the Fire-gods to come upon +them from both sides at once, and if they tried to escape they were +shot without mercy. The great Fire-god was there himself--the tall, +white man with the black beard--and it was he whom they feared even +more than the Arabs.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked at Edward. There was a twinkle in his eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's going to be fun," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will come to a fight," said Edward; "and I'm not sorry for that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope it won't," said Crouch. "There are many things we ought to +find out before we come to blows. As far as I can understand from my +worthy 'blood-brother,' Cæsar is coming here for palaver. They'll hold +palaver in the street; and if we hide in a hut we ought to overhear +what the advertisements in the newspapers call 'something to our +advantage.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see," said Edward; "and if we're discovered, we fight."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Exactly," said Crouch. "That's the idea."</p> +<p class="pnext">It so happened that they had placed their "loads" in one of the huts +where they would not be seen by Cæsar as he entered the village. It +was all Crouch could do to explain to his "blood-brother" that they +desired to hide, that the Fire-gods must not be told of their presence +in the village. After a while, the man seemed to understand; but, +indeed, he stood in such dread of the Portuguese that it was extremely +doubtful whether he was wholly responsible for what he was saying.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crowded together in one of the small huts the three Englishmen and the +four Fans awaited the arrival of the Fire-gods. They were astonished +at what they beheld--the abject consternation and alarm of the +villagers, who now appeared a cowered and servile race. Never for one +moment did it seem to occur to the few men among them to take up arms, +in spite of the fact that the Pambala--to whom they were obviously +related--are a warlike and courageous people.</p> +<p class="pnext">The reason for their cowardice was obvious. They did not fear the +Portuguese without a cause. They had learnt to their cost that Cæsar +was a man to be dreaded.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch made a little eye-hole in the wall of the hut, whence he +obtained a good view of the street. It was through this that he caught +sight of Cæsar and de Costa, the moment they entered the village.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Cæsar himself who led the way. He strolled forward, with his +rifle under his arm, and his black eyes shooting in all directions, as +if he were doing no more than taking an afternoon walk in a +neighbourhood where there was much to be observed. He was followed by +four Arabs, in robes of flowing white; and the last of these conducted +a negro, of the same tribe as the villagers, who wore an iron collar +round his neck which was made fast to a chain. The rear of the party +was brought up by de Costa, slinking forward like some mongrel cur, +fever-stricken and afraid.</p> +<p class="pnext">The party halted in the village street, some little distance from the +hut where the three Englishmen were hiding, but not so far away as to +make it impossible for Crouch to overhear the conversation that ensued. +The chained negro was brought forward by the Arab who had charge of +him; and it was this man who acted as interpreter. Cæsar spoke to him +in Portuguese, and he translated. Crouch made a mental note of every +word, for he had a far better knowledge of the Portuguese language than +the interpreter himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As you know," said Cæsar, "it is my custom to state my business in a +few words. I come here to give orders. I expect those orders to be +obeyed."</p> +<p class="pnext">He lifted his sombrero hat and mopped the perspiration from his +forehead, for the afternoon was hot, and he walked up hill. The four +Arabs stood around him--proud, arrogant, handsome men, upon whose +features were stamped an unmitigated contempt for the simple savages +who stood in awe before them. It was the headman of the village who +answered, an old man, with a short, grey beard, who wore a helmet made +of a monkey's skin, and surmounted by the green covert feathers of a +parrot.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The great Fire-god," said he, "has but to speak."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good," said Cæsar. "You know who I am. You know my power. You know +that to disobey me is death."</p> +<p class="pnext">The old man bowed his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trade in ivory," said Cæsar, "black ivory. You understand what I +mean. Now, listen to my command. I desire twenty more slaves, of your +youngest and most able-bodied men. They must be ready to return with +me to Makanda before the setting of the sun."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that the headman threw himself upon the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is impossible!" he cried. "Only last moon the great Fire-god took +away all the men of the village. No one remains but those who are old, +and women and children. The Fire-god can see for himself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not choose to look," said Cæsar. "As I have said, it is my +business to give orders. There is sickness in my camp, and many of my +people have died, and more are dying every day. I require others to +take their places. If you have no more men, I will take women and +children. But I will require two women, or three boys over twelve and +under sixteen years of age, for every man. You can please yourself as +to which you give me. It is all the same to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is impossible!" repeated the native.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Impossible or not," said the Portuguese, "I give you till sunset. If +these people are not ready then, the consequence is on your own head. +You know how I treated the villages on the other side of the mountain? +Your fate will be the same. I will attack by night; I will set fire to +every hut; and I will take every one of you to be my slaves."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mercy!" cried the native. But Cæsar turned upon his heel, and led the +way from the village, followed by his Arabs, who smiled in heartless +satisfaction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch gave time for Cæsar to be well away from the village. Then he +crawled out of the hut, and seizing his "blood-brother" by the hand, +swore that he would save them all.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first, he quite failed to gain their confidence. They were +convinced in their minds that the Fire-gods were greater than all men, +as the strength of the elephant exceeds that of other beasts of the +forest.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Crouch would not take that for answer. He commanded them to light +a fire, and they obeyed. When the flames were burning brightly he +executed a war-dance round and round the fire. His antics were +extraordinary to see.</p> +<p class="pnext">They may have thought him mad; but at all events he gained his object: +he drew them round him in a ring. They stood open-mouthed and +open-eyed, amazed at his contortions. They were children of the +minute. To all intents and purposes they had already forgotten the +Portuguese and his threats.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch sang, and never was there such singing. His voice was cracked +and out of tune. It was all Max could do to prevent himself exploding +into laughter. The words of Crouch's song had nothing to do with the +matter; in point of fact they were concerned with "Nuts and May." For +all that, he impressed the natives hugely. And when they had gathered +closer he took the boot from his foot, and thrust his toes into the +fire. And all the time he continued to sing of "Nuts and May," whilst +the atmosphere was tainted with the pungent smell of burning cork.</p> +<p class="pnext">The silence was so great that Edward Harden could hear the ticking of +his watch. The villagers stood around, breathless and amazed. Then +Crouch spoke to them; and the following was the argument he used.</p> +<p class="pnext">He admitted that the slave-dealer was master over fire; hence he was +called the "Fire-god." But he (Crouch) had proved to them that fire +could not affect him. Near-by a pitcher of water was standing outside +a hut, and into this he thrust his foot. There was a sizzling sound, +and steam was given off. He made the natives place their hands into +the water, to see for themselves that it was warm. He finished up by +saying that, if they would put themselves under his command, he would +show them how to face the Fire-god's anger.</p> +<p class="pnext">With reluctance they agreed. In the space of a few minutes it was +impossible for Crouch to efface the result of two long years of +persecution. The headman of the village, Crouch's "blood-brother," and +one or two others, came forward on behalf of their relations, their +children and their wives. Crouch turned to Harden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can we defend this place?" said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward had already thought of that.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said he. "They can only advance by two paths. Elsewhere the +slope is too steep. There is an hour before sunset. If you make these +people build a wall of the small boulders which lie everywhere about, +we should be able to keep the rascals at bay."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll do my best," said Crouch. And thereupon he set to work.</p> +<p class="pnext">It took the natives some time to understand his meaning; but when he +had shown them what he wanted done they worked with a will, the women +carrying enormous stones, and even the little children lending aid.</p> +<p class="pnext">The parapet of stone grew like the walls of Rome, until, at last, it +formed a semi-circle around the village, joining the mountain-side at +either end. Then the women and children were placed under cover, and +ordered not to move. Edward posted himself at the head of the path +which led from the west, and Max on the other side of the village. At +the feet of each was a box of ammunition. As for Crouch, he hobbled +here and there on the charred stump of his foot, giving instructions up +to the last minute, when, in the dying light of day, Cæsar and his +Arabs were observed advancing up the valley.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xv-cholera"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id16">CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">As before, it was Cæsar who led the way; and the stone wall warned him +that danger was ahead. He guessed the truth in a flash. He knew well +enough that the natives themselves would never have dared to offer him +resistance.</p> +<p class="pnext">He stopped dead upon the path, and pointed out the wall to the Arab who +accompanied him. The man shaded his eyes with the palm of his hand, +for the mists of evening were rising from the valley, and the light was +bad. After a while the Arab disappeared from view, and then returned +with his comrades. They came up the path as men stalk game, creeping +from boulder to boulder. It was impossible to see them from the +village. Flat upon the ground, they glided from place to place like +snakes. And every minute the light was getting worse.</p> +<p class="pnext">One man, more daring than his comrades, had gained the cover of a large +rock about two hundred yards from the village.</p> +<p class="pnext">His eyes were sharp as those of a vulture. He was descended from the +sons of the desert. Peering round the angle of the rock behind which +he was hiding, he caught sight of Edward Harden's helmet, moving behind +the wall.</p> +<p class="pnext">In a second, the butt of his rifle was at his shoulder, and his left +eye was closed. He took in a deep breath, and aimed. At that moment, +there was a sharp crack from the wall, whence nothing of the Arab was +visible but the upper part of his head. And Edward Harden's bullet +drilled a hole in the centre of the man's forehead; so that his head +just dropped like a broken toy, and he lay still and lifeless, with his +loaded rifle in his hand. Son of a warlike race, that for centuries +had oppressed the ignorant and the weak, he had gone to make his peace +with God, the Giver of Life and Death.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar, from some distance behind, with a pair of field-glasses to his +eyes, had watched this tragedy of seconds; and he knew at once with +whom he had to reckon. He drew a whistle from his pocket, and blew a +long, shrill note, which was the signal to retreat. His three +remaining Arabs came back to him, retiring even more cautiously than +they had advanced.</p> +<p class="pnext">Night fell, as a curtain is rung down upon a stage. The natives of the +village, the old men and women and children, who had sat huddled and +shivering under cover of the wall, came forth and marvelled that a +Fire-god had been turned back by a single shot. Crouch's authority +increased by leaps and bounds. The villagers, like children, desired +to celebrate the occasion with inconsequent rejoicing. They set about +beating large, wooden drums, but Grouch cast these away. They lit +fires, but Crouch stamped them out.</p> +<p class="pnext">Only the babies were allowed to rest that night; the little sea-captain +kept the others working until long after midnight, when a new moon +arose. He improved the defences. He had all the provisions and the +water-jars carried to the hut which he had made his own headquarters, +whilst the two Hardens stood as sentries on either side of the village.</p> +<p class="pnext">At about two o'clock in the morning, Max, on the eastern side of the +village, heard the noise of a loosened stone rolling down the +mountain-side. That put him on his guard. And a moment after, another +stone bounded into the valley.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, he sent back M'Wané to tell Crouch that some one was +approaching, and remained at his post alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is nothing more majestic in the whole range of Nature than +moonlight in the mountains. The white mists drift in the valleys; and, +here and there, the great, ragged peaks blot out the stars. Midnight +is ever silent in the higher altitudes. The slightest sound--the hoot +of an owl or the bubbling of a spring--is magnified by echo, and +carried far upon the breeze.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max, with his rifle at the ready, waited with his heart thumping +against his ribs. He heard a noise, quite near to him, but so faint +that he could never have heard it had not every sense been on the +alert. He saw something white, moving like a ghost in the moonlight. +Then, a loud shout was uplifted in the stillness. "Allah Akbar! +Strike for God and the Prophet!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Three white figures rushed in upon him from the darkness. He fired, +and one went down. And then, reversing his rifle, he used it as a +club, swinging the butt around him in a kind of mad delight.</p> +<p class="pnext">The two men who remained pressed him close. He saw knives flash in +their hands. And then a third figure appeared, and a revolver spat +like a cat. Cæsar himself was there.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Portuguese called back the two Arabs, spoke a few words which Max +was not able to hear; and then all three abreast endeavoured to rush +the wall. Max fired, but missed. He was attacked from three sides at +once, and must have been overpowered had not Crouch hastened to his +rescue.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was no more than a scuffle at the best. Crouch emptied his +revolver; but it was too dark to shoot straight. Max used his fist, +and sent one of the men rolling backwards; whilst Crouch flew like a +leopard at Cæsar's throat. It was all over in an instant. Cæsar and +his men drew off as suddenly and quickly as they came, taking with them +the Arab whom Max had wounded or killed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch took out his pipe and filled it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish I had had the luck to hit that rascal," said Max, "instead of +one of the Arabs."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch grunted as he lit his pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"When I shoot that man," said he, "I don't want it to be due to luck. +Nothing's too bad for a slave-dealer, if that's what he is--which I +doubt."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that they were joined by the Fan whom they had left with +Edward. He presented a note to Crouch, written in pencil on a leaf +torn from a note-book.</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">How goes it?</em>" was all it said.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch scribbled a reply: "<em class="italics">He's gone to bed. But remain at your post +till daybreak.</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">Sunrise brought their vigil to an end. No sign of the Portuguese was +to be seen; and presently news was brought to the village by a man who +had been setting traps in the forest, and who had known nothing of the +alarm. This man stated that he had seen Cæsar returning to Makanda, +followed by two Arabs, who carried the body of a third.</p> +<p class="pnext">The delight of the natives exceeded anything that Max Harden had ever +seen in his life. They beat their wooden drums, and sang and danced in +jubilation. They realized that, at last, after two years of +oppression, the yoke of the Fire-gods had been lifted from their +shoulders. They regarded Crouch and his companions as angels who had +dropped from the skies to deliver them from bondage.</p> +<p class="pnext">That evening the three Englishmen held a council of war. They +regretted that Cæsar had learnt of their return to the valley. But +that was inevitable; they had been in duty bound to help the natives. +Though the mystery of Makanda was by no means solved, they had, at +least, an inkling of the truth. The explosion they had heard in the +valley was undoubtedly the blasting of rock; and there was no question +that it was for this purpose that Cæsar required the services of +slaves. That explained why he had been unwilling for either the +Europeans or the Fans to leave the stockade. The kraal, fenced around +by high palisades, and guarded by Arab slave-drivers, contained the +slave gangs; and who can say what cruelty was perpetrated therein? The +slave trade had been abolished; but at that time, in the heart of +Africa, it still flourished in all its blackest colours, with utter +disregard for the equality of all men, who--whatever the colour of +their skin may be--are equal in the sight of God. Edward Harden was a +man in whose big heart a sense of justice burned like a living flame. +When he considered the innate cruelty of the Portuguese, who was +willing to enslave even women and little children, his wrath rose +within him and the blood flew to his face. He felt that he could not +rest until the fortress of Makanda had been taken, the slaves set free, +and Cæsar brought to his account.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still, Edward was no fool. He knew well enough that it would be +madness for three of them to endeavour to attack a defensive position +held by a determined man and, at least, half a dozen Arabs. It was +then that they decided to arm M'Wané and his Fans. They had with them +six rifles and a shot-gun; a great quantity of reserve ammunition had +been left at the camp on Observation Creek. Crouch and Max undertook +to teach the Fans to shoot; whilst Edward, with a party of villagers, +made his way back to the camp in the jungle, to bring up all their +supplies.</p> +<p class="pnext">The following morning Edward Harden set out upon his journey, and it +was a strange crowd that followed him into the forest. The majority of +them were women; but the African woman is accustomed to manual labour. +At Zanzibar, sea-going ships are coaled by great buxom wenches, who can +lift a hundredweight as though it were a trifle. With many inland +tribes, between Mombasa and the West Coast, the work in the fields is +conducted almost exclusively by women. The men pride themselves upon +being warriors, hunters of big game and setters of traps. They +consider it beneath their dignity to dig and delve and hoe the ground, +since such employment entails no personal danger. Edward, therefore, +was well contented to have women as his servants; and before he started +he bargained to pay them in beads, cloth and cowrie shells.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whilst he was absent, Crouch and Max became drill-sergeants for the +nonce. The Fans were first taught the mechanism of the rifle, and how +to clean it. They were then instructed in aiming drill. Though Crouch +had now a fair working knowledge of their language, for the most part +he taught them by demonstration; and they proved most promising +recruits. At last a target was set up in the valley; and rifle +practice took place daily both in the morning and the evening.</p> +<p class="pnext">By the time Edward returned, though the Fans were not yet marksmen, it +seemed probable that they would be ready to take the field in another +day or so. Still, both Crouch and Edward desired to run no risks. +They did not intend to operate against Makanda, until they could do so +with every chance of success. It was Edward's suggestion that they +should reconnoitre the settlement before they advanced. They desired +to discover the quickest route to the granite hills, and some position +thereon--within striking distance of Makanda--where they could +establish their headquarters. It was also necessary to find out the +strength of Cæsar's garrison. At the time of their visit, they had not +been able to ascertain how many Arabs were secreted in the kraal. De +Costa, they knew, need not be taken into account; the man was an arrant +coward. But the Arab is a foe who can never be despised; he is a good +rifle-shot, an intelligent soldier, and his religion teaches him to be +brave.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next question was to decide who should be sent forward as a scout; +and it was Max who was selected for the task. Edward had just returned +from the jungle; and besides, the big man was by no means so quick and +agile as his nephew. Crouch was out of the question; he had burnt so +much of his cork foot that he could only hobble and would take too long +over the journey. It was finally decided that Max should start a day +in advance of the others, taking with him provisions for three days, as +well as his rifle and revolver.</p> +<p class="pnext">That evening, Edward and Max climbed to the top of Solitude Peak. +During the day the crest of the mountain was invariably wrapped in +clouds, but towards evening these usually disappeared. On this +occasion, a most magnificent panorama of the surrounding country was +presented to their view. They looked down upon the whole valley of the +Hidden River, from Makanda to the mangrove swamp; and it was then that +Edward filled in the final details of his map.</p> +<p class="pnext">They saw that it was possible to reach Cæsar's stockade without +entering the jungle. If one followed the valley above which lay the +Pambala village, one would come, in course of time, to the granite +hills to the east of Makanda. They calculated that, if Max started at +daybreak, he would reach his destination towards the evening.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, soon after sunrise, Max set out, bearing with him the good +wishes of his friends. A native footpath led some distance down the +valley, but there turned into the jungle. Max struck across country, +holding his course south-west by the compass.</p> +<p class="pnext">He halted at midday to enjoy a meal of biscuits and sardines, washed +down by the clear water from a neighbouring brook. As he sat in +solitude, in the midst of that illimitable wilderness, he could not but +reflect upon the strangeness of his situation. Here was he, who all +his life had been accustomed to the roll of London 'buses and the cries +of newsboys in the streets, seated on a boulder, in the blazing heat of +the tropics, thousands of miles beyond the pale of civilization.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was whilst he was there that he beheld, for the first time in his +life--if we make exception of the animals he had seen in the Zoo--a +great rock-python which lay, coiled in the grass, not twenty paces from +him. The sight of the thing caused him to shudder. He sprang +instantly to his feet. As he did so the snake heard him, and glided +away among the rocks. In the thickest part of its body the great +reptile was about the size of a man's thigh; and it must have been over +twenty feet in length.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max, having no desire for such a companion, moved on in haste, keeping +the mountain to his left. For the most part, he passed through a kind +of neutral territory, where the dominion of the jungle gave way to the +barren, rock-bound slopes of Solitude Peak. The afternoon was well +advanced by the time he arrived at the granite hills.</p> +<p class="pnext">Here, he exercised the greatest caution. It was possible that a +sentinel had been posted on the crest-line. He accordingly advanced by +way of a donga, which led to the hill-top, and in which he could not be +seen. When he cleared the donga, a few yards from the crest, he went +down on hands and knees, and crawled from boulder to boulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes later, he found himself looking down upon the settlement +of Makanda. He was immediately above the kraal, and from that altitude +he was able to see inside the enclosure. The kraal consisted of four +rows of huts. In one of these was a white figure which, even without +the aid of his glasses, he had no difficulty in recognizing as one of +the Arabs. This man, rifle in hand, entered a hut, and presently came +out with a party of six slaves, all of whom wore iron collars around +their necks, which were fastened together by a single chain. Followed +by the Arab, this party left the kraal, and turned to the left, towards +the southern extremity of the lake.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max directed his field-glasses upon the stockade. He could see no one +therein but Cæsar's Arab cook, who was walking leisurely from the +direction of the river with a bucket of water in either hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">By now the slave-driver and his party were out of sight to the south. +Max, anxious to observe whatsoever was in progress, descended from the +sky-line and ran in all haste along the ridge. He soon came to a place +whence he was able to see the course of the river, which had taken a +sudden bend to the west above the lake, where it was spanned by a rope +suspension bridge, such as is often met with in the heart of Africa. +Beyond the bridge, the sight that he witnessed held him rooted to the +spot.</p> +<p class="pnext">He beheld a large quarry, where about fifty natives were at work. In +charge of these were four Arabs, and Max had no difficulty in +distinguishing Cæsar and the half-caste de Costa.</p> +<p class="pnext">The work which was in progress was singular, by reason of the fact that +this was Equatorial Africa where, at that time, commerce, industry and +enterprise were quite unknown. A group of slaves in charge of the +Portuguese himself, was gathered together beneath the walls of the +quarry. A little distance from them was a great heap of rubbish. +Suddenly, the whole party was seen to set off running in the direction +of the river. Cæsar was the last to retire.</p> +<p class="pnext">There followed a tremendous explosion. A great column of dust and +smoke was thrown up into the air. And even before this had descended, +or had been carried away upon the wind, both Cæsar and the natives had +hastened back to the place, where there was now a great rent in the +living rock. There they set to work carrying baskets of débris to de +Costa, who supervised a party engaged in sifting. Now and then, +something was taken from the siftings and handed to de Costa, who +examined it, and cast it into a wheelbarrow. At intervals, this +wheelbarrow was taken to a third party at the water's edge that was +engaged in washing something in pans.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max was, at first, too interested and surprised at all this to take +notice of an occurrence in the nature of a tragedy which was taking +place farther up the stream. There, about a dozen natives lay +stretched at full length upon the sand at the water's edge. Some of +these lay still and motionless, as if in death; others were writhing in +agony; from time to time one would endeavour to raise himself, but +invariably fell back, drawing up his knees as if in fearful pain.</p> +<p class="pnext">Even at that distance, Max could not fail to recognize the symptoms of +cholera--the most severe and fatal of all diseases. At various +intervals in the history of the world, cholera has raged in Asia and +throughout the eastern parts of Europe. In the early part of the +nineteenth century a violent outbreak occurred in Bengal, which in a +short time spread throughout the length and breadth of India. Thence, +it raged eastward into China, and westward through Persia and Turkey to +Russia and Central Europe. North Africa was also afflicted, and the +valley of the Nile, whence the pestilence had evidently now crossed to +the basin of the Congo.</p> +<p class="pnext">No disease in the world is more deadly and virulent. It strikes down +its victims swiftly and without warning. Even as the men worked at the +quarry, Max observed one who took himself a little distance from his +fellows, and sat down upon a rock as though he were in pain.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar followed him, and ordered the man to return. The poor fellow was +too weak to obey; and thereupon the slave-master raised his whip and +three times brought down his lash upon the naked back of the sufferer. +The man's cries for mercy carried even to the hills, and it was all Max +could do to restrain the burning indignation which kindled in his soul.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the order was given for the slaves to return to the kraal; +and the whole party set out across the bridge, driven forward by the +whip. If any man, in all God's Kingdom, had merited death by dint of +his misdeeds, it was surely this relentless Portuguese.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvi-the-open-chest"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id17">CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">At sundown Max looked about him for somewhere to sleep. He soon found +a sandy patch between two great boulders, and here he took off the +haversack in which he had carried his provisions. He had filled his +water-bottle at the brook.</p> +<p class="pnext">After he had eaten he lay down, converting his helmet into a pillow. +He felt quite secure; he could not possibly be discovered, unless some +one actually walked over him--an event that was very unlikely to occur. +He was thoroughly tired out after the day's march; for all that, he +found himself quite unable to sleep. He could not rid his mind of the +sight he had seen that evening: the miserable slaves, dropping like +poisoned flies, struck down by the cholera which raged amongst them, +and yet goaded by the whip. And if Max's sense of pity had been +aroused, he was scarcely less curious to discover the nature of the +work that was going forward at the quarry. When, at last, he fell +asleep this thought was dominant in his mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">He awoke suddenly, and found the same question on his lips: why were +they blasting at the quarry? He could not have been asleep for more +than a few hours, for the moon was but newly arisen. On consulting his +watch, he found that it was only half-past twelve.</p> +<p class="pnext">He failed in his endeavours to go to sleep again; so he sat up, and +tried to think the matter out. He had already accomplished part of his +mission: he had discovered that Cæsar had not more than six Arabs with +whom to defend the stockade. It remained for him, on the following +morning, to see if he could find a point upon the ridge whence +rifle-fire could be opened upon Makanda. For the time being, however, +he resolved to go down into the valley under cover of darkness, to +cross the suspension bridge and examine the quarry.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leaving his haversack, water-bottle and rifle behind him, he armed +himself with his revolver, and set forward down the hill, making a wide +detour around the kraal. He was then devoutly thankful that Gyp had +departed from the land of the living. He found that he was obliged to +pass nearer to the settlement than he liked; and had the Great Dane +been on watch, no doubt she would have given the alarm.</p> +<p class="pnext">As it was, he passed in safety, and reached the river bank. He had no +difficulty in finding the suspension bridge, which he crossed on +tiptoe, as rapidly as possible. On the other side his attention was +immediately attracted by the loud groans of the sufferers who had been +left to their fate.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was quite beyond his power to do anything to help these men. He had +no medicines; he could not speak their language; and in the majority of +cases, the disease was so far gone as to be incurable.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before he left the hills, the moon had disappeared behind a bank of +clouds. During the last ten minutes, a tempest had been driving up +from the west, which now burst with all its force upon the valley of +the Hidden River.</p> +<p class="pnext">Africa is the land of mighty storms. The sky grew so dark that it was +impossible for Max to see one yard before him. Then, there approached +in one wild, savage gust, a roaring, raging wind that bent the great +trees of the forest like saplings and picked up the water in the lake +before Makanda in little driving waves, whilst the rain came down in +sheets. The suspension bridge swung to and fro like a kite. There +came flash upon flash of lightning which illumined the quarry, so that +the bare walls of rock were blazing like a furnace.</p> +<p class="pnext">The lightning lasted for seconds at a time, and at such times the scene +stood for all that was barbarous and fantastic. The dark, mysterious +river flowed upon its course through the narrow gorge where the +lightning beat upon the rocks. The electricity in the air flashed, +died out, and flashed again, like thousands of sparks in the wind. And +there, upon the white sand, writhing in torture, were the dark forms of +those who had been stricken by the pestilence.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max had never felt so powerless. He was in the heart of the Unknown. +Close at hand, lay those who had been stricken by a force which all the +resource of modern science had entirely failed to conquer. Overhead, +echoed and mirrored by the rocks, the typhoon rent the sky with sheets +of fire, whilst peal upon peal of thunder caused the earth to tremble.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yet Max was by no means disposed to forget the object of his quest. He +was determined to find out the nature of the work which was carried on +at the quarry. He hastened forward, and presently blundered into one +of the great heaps of sifted débris.</p> +<p class="pnext">He picked up a handful of this and examined it in the light of the +lightning. As far as he could make out, it was composed of a kind of +fine gravel, in which appeared great quantities of a green stone, known +as serpentine.</p> +<p class="pnext">Being unable to find out anything definite from the heaps of debris, he +resolved to examine the quarry. The wind was too great to permit him +to strike a match, even had that been prudent. He was obliged to rely +upon the lightning to guide him in his search. He availed himself of +the opportunity of a series of flashes to run to the quarry, and there +he found himself in impenetrable darkness.</p> +<p class="pnext">He stood waiting for the lightning to return. It seemed that the storm +was already passing. These tropical hurricanes, that often uproot the +trees of the forest, are seldom of long duration. They are too violent +to last for many minutes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max was beginning to think that the storm was passed, when the sky +immediately overhead burst into a lurid glow, and almost simultaneously +a deafening peal of thunder rolled across the valley. Max leaned +forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was +seized suddenly from behind.</p> +<p class="pnext">As quick as thought, he whipped his revolver from its holster; and +immediately the weapon was struck from his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">The lightning still continued, jumping like fire-light; and Max was +able to make out the dark eyes and the pointed beard of Cæsar.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Portuguese was aided by an Arab. The struggle that ensued was no +more than an affair of seconds. Max, though he fought with the +strength that comes of desperation, was overpowered from the first, and +presently he was thrown violently to the ground. There his hands were +tied fast behind his back. Cæsar was heard to laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get up," said he, and then ran on in his broken English: "You must +think me a fool, if I do not keep a sentry by night over the richest of +my possessions. Come, follow me."</p> +<p class="pnext">He led the way across the bridge, and Max had no alternative but to +obey him. The Arab, rifle in hand, brought up the rear.</p> +<p class="pnext">They passed around the eastern shore of the lake, walking on the crisp +sand in which their boots sank to the ankles. Max saw the kraal +wherein the man's slaves were asleep; and a few minutes afterwards they +came to the stockade. Cæsar led the way into his hut--the hut in which +Crouch and he had played cards some weeks before. He told Max to sit +down upon a chair, and placed himself on the other side of the room, +with his loaded revolver ready to his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you endeavour to escape," said he, "I shoot. I advise you to +remain still, and listen to what I have to say."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max looked about him. As far as he could see there was no method of +escape. His wrists had been bound securely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"In the first place," said Cæsar, "I would like to know for what reason +you have meddled in my affairs."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are a slave-dealer," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That may, or may not, be true."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is true," cried the young Englishman, his anger rising in a flood. +"I know it. The employment of slaves is a sin in the eyes of both God +and man. Justice is the duty of every one; and that is why we have +meddled--as you call it--in your affairs."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have already pointed out," said Cæsar, "that the laws of +civilization do not apply to Makanda. But that is beside the mark. I +understand you are a doctor, that you have had some sort of medical +training."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max answered that that was so.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you understand the treatment of cholera?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know the various methods that have been tried," said Max; "but, as +you probably know, they are seldom successful."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was at that moment that Max heard a loud groan which issued from a +hut not far away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you hear that?" asked Cæsar.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max nodded his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is my friend, de Costa. When he returned to the stockade this +evening he was taken ill with cholera. I went to look at him an hour +ago, just before my sentry informed me that you were in the quarry. He +is dying."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How does that concern me?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It concerns you," answered Cæsar, "inasmuch as it concerns myself. +Your life is in my hands. I can either kill you, or place an iron +collar around your neck and yoke you to a gang of slaves. If you do +not do as I wish, I will have you shot. If you obey me, you may +continue to live--as a slave."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it you want?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want you to do what you can to save de Costa. He is of some use to +me. Indeed, I could not do very well without him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will do what I can," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">Outside, the Arab was on guard. Cæsar lead the way to de Costa's hut; +and there, Max found the half-caste stretched upon his bed, with +features drawn and haggard, and his complexion of a ghastly purple hue. +His body was all twisted in his agony. He was too far gone to speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now," said Cæsar, "I do not feel disposed to untie your hands; but you +will kindly look at the bottles of medicine on that shelf, and see if +you can find anything that might be of use."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max searched the shelf where the half-caste kept his stock of drugs, +and had no difficulty in finding the very thing he wanted, namely, +opium. He found also bismuth and nitrate of silver. He instructed +Cæsar how to mix these drugs in the ordained proportions; and the +Portuguese placed a glass containing the medicine at the sick man's +bedside. It is noteworthy that he took care not to touch the patient, +for the disease is one of the most contagious in the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will he live, do you think?" asked Cæsar.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is impossible to say," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You can do nothing else?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Absolutely nothing. He has reached the turning point. If he does not +die in an hour or so, he will live."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come," said Cæsar, "we must not risk contagion."</p> +<p class="pnext">Outside the hut he paused, and spoke to the Arab, who immediately left +the stockade. He then ordered Max to enter his hut, and followed with +his loaded revolver in his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have come to spy out my secrets," said he. "You are at liberty to +learn as much as you wish. It can make no difference to me; for I +intend that you shall never see Europe again."</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, he drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and stepped to the +great, padlocked chest on the other side of the room. One by one, he +unlocked the padlocks, and then threw back the lid, and stood by, +holding the candle over the contents.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here," said he, "see for yourself. Few have ever witnessed such a +sight."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max drew nearer, and looked down into the box. For some seconds he +stood as if spellbound, unable to move his gaze. The chest was about +three-quarters full of the most enormous Oriental rubies.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar took one at random, and held it before the light. Garnets had +been found in Africa, and even spinels; but these were genuine rubies +of the highest quality, such as had hitherto only been discovered in +the famous mines of Ava.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvii-the-tables-turned"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id18">CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">When Max looked up into the face of the Portuguese the man was smiling, +so that his white teeth showed in the blackness of his beard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You see," said he, "I did not come here on a wild-goose chase after +all. I first came to this river five years ago, and discovered the +rubies of Makanda. I promptly engaged the services of de Costa, who +had worked in the mines of Santa Fé in Mexico. This treasure-chest +contains the result of the labour of two years."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And why have you employed slaves?" asked Max. "Why did you not set to +work like an honest man?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"For a simple reason," answered Cæsar; "I desired the maximum of +profit. No one knows of my discovery. I intend no one to know. Paid +labour is not only expensive, but workmen would come and go at their +pleasure, and word of this would reach the Coast. That is precisely +what I desire to prevent. There would be talk of rights and royalties, +and probably international complications. At present it is not known +that rubies can be found in Africa. I cannot speak too highly of these +gems. One of these stones, weighing five carats, is worth at least +twelve times as much as a diamond of equal weight. I am prepared to +receive your congratulations."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was some time before Max Harden spoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why is it," he asked, "that you tell me the secret you have kept for +years?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar smiled again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because," said he, "I number you among my slaves."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that Max heard the jangling of a chain without the hut. +The Arab had returned.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max was led forth into the moonlight. The storm was past, the water +lay inches deep upon the ground. There, shivering from fear, were five +slaves--men who had been born and bred in the Pambala village on the +mountain slope--fastened one to the other like so many dogs upon a +leash. At the end of the chain was an empty collar, which one of the +Arabs opened with a key. It closed with a snap around Max Harden's +neck, and from that moment, according to the law of the slave trade, +his soul was not his own. The Arab cracked the whip he held in his +hand, and like a team of dumb, patient animals, the gang filed from the +stockade.</p> +<p class="pnext">It wanted but an hour to daylight, but the misery of that hour stands +alone in the life of the young Englishman as the most terrible +experience that ever came his way. He found himself and his five +bond-companions confined in a narrow hut in which there was scarcely +air to breathe. They had to sleep upon straw mats spread upon the +floor. The long chain bound them one to another, so that if one man +moved in his sleep he disturbed the others.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no sleep for Max. Even had he desired to sleep he would not +have been able to do so. The place swarmed with mosquitoes, and, after +the rain, great pools of water lay upon the floor. For all that, the +majority of the natives lay down and slept like dogs, tired out by the +day's work, and weary at heart at the implacable injustice of the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">At daybreak the slaves were summoned to their toil. Gang after +gang--and there were six in all--filed out of the kraal, in charge of +the Arab drivers, and crossed the river by way of the suspension bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the quarry Max gained a more intimate knowledge of the workings of a +ruby mine than he had ever hoped to attain. He himself was set to +work, washing the dirt from the sifted rubies by the river bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">The slaves remained at the workings from sunrise to sunset, during +which time they received two meals. Their food consisted of manioc and +plantains. They were given no meat. The gang which was employed in +washing, to which Max was attached, worked in chains.</p> +<p class="pnext">These poor driven creatures took no interest in their task. They set +about their business mechanically, with never a smile upon their faces, +and though they were allowed to talk to one another, scarcely a word +was uttered. Whenever they found a ruby they expressed no +satisfaction, though it were worth a thousand times the price of their +freedom. They just handed it to Cæsar, who examined the quality of +each stone under a magnifying-glass.</p> +<p class="pnext">That day there were two more cases of cholera; two more of these +unfortunate creatures were freed of their bonds to throw themselves +down upon the river bank to die.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar was utterly without pity. If a man fell ill he cursed him, and +as often as not, resorted to the whip. Max Harden felt that these +things sickened him. He had never dreamed that such barbarity could +exist in an age of enlightenment and toleration.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night he slept--the sleep of those who are utterly exhausted. He +was over-burdened by the sights which he had seen. The unhappy lot of +these poor sufferers was like a mountain weight upon his heart. It was +a three-day nightmare, in which Cæsar stood for all that was terrible +and pitiless. None the less Max did not despair. His courage was +maintained by hope. He knew that as long as Crouch and Edward were in +the land of the living they would not rest until the slaves had been +avenged.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar knew now that Crouch had escaped from the jungle, and Max had +been saved as by a miracle from the rapids. But he had asked no +questions. He had gone back to his work at the quarry as if nothing +unusual had occurred. Perhaps he desired to fill his treasure-chest +without delay, and take his rubies to Europe. Perhaps he recognized +already that the game was up.</p> +<p class="pnext">At daybreak Max was awakened by the Arab who had charge of his gang, +and once more he was marched out to the workings. That afternoon a +strange thing occurred: de Costa appeared at the quarry.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Portuguese seemed genuinely glad to see the young Englishman. He +even grasped him by the hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was now that Max saw how invaluable the half-caste was to Cæsar. +The man was a ruby expert. His business was to examine the gems, one +by one, and select those of the greatest value. His place was at the +river where the washing was in progress, whereas Cæsar himself +superintended the blasting of the rock.</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa drew near to Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You saved my life," said he; "I have to thank you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arab slave-driver was out of earshot, and even had he been able to +overhear them he could not have understood since they talked in English.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you wish to show your gratitude," said Max, "you can help me when +the time comes."</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa remained silent for a while, his weak, almost colourless eyes +staring at the water of the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said he, "you saved my life. None the less I will die if I am +not taken to the sea. The fresh air, the sea breezes--these are better +than rubies, are they not?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He was silent for some minutes, whilst Max continued with his work.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's a ruby," said Max, selecting a small blood-red stone from the +handful of gravel he was washing.</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa looked at it and then threw it into a bag which lay at his +side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said he, "it is worth about five hundred pounds. But I was +about to ask you if you remember the night when you saved me from the +whip?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I remember quite well," said Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you know why he thrashed me? I was about to tell Crouch of the +rubies and the slaves, and Cæsar guessed it, and used the whip. Then +you came in, and Gyp flew at you. I am grateful for what you did."</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa sat cross-legged on the ground, with his eyes fixed upon the +river. The slaves saw nothing as they worked; long since their senses +had been numbed. Cæsar was engrossed in his business at the quarry; +the Arabs, with their loaded rifles in their hands, never moved their +eyes from the slaves. Max was the only one who looked about him.</p> +<p class="pnext">His eyes were fixed upon the granite hills across the river, to the +east of the gorge. The sky-line was rugged, by reason of the great +boulders that lay upon the crest. Two of these were close together, +and from that position they bore a striking resemblance to two faces in +profile--that of an old man and a woman. As Max looked, the +resemblance became more lifelike. And then something dark passed from +behind one boulder to the next. It had been visible for no longer than +an instant, but in that instant Max recognized M'Wané.</p> +<p class="pnext">He thought the matter out. If M'Wané was there, Crouch and Edward were +not far behind. He knew that they would see him through their glasses. +He continued with his work. It was above all necessary that Cæsar's +suspicions should not be aroused.</p> +<p class="pnext">In life things sometimes so happen that it is evident our fate is not +always in the hands of ourselves. There is a Divine Providence that +watches over us and is Master of the human will. Max had no sooner +decided to remain as servile and obedient as the most broken-hearted +negro in Makanda, when he was called upon to act.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man next him, who early in the morning had complained of feeling +ill, now lay down upon the ground and uttered a groan. The Arab +approached and told him to get up. The poor fellow was not able to do +so, and though he tried his best he fell back again, saying that he +suffered the most violent pains.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, Cæsar drew near, whip in hand, and demanded to know what was +the matter. When he saw that here was another case of cholera, he flew +into a passion. He had no pity for the man. He merely regretted the +incident as a disaster, inasmuch as he had lost another workman. He +ordered the Arab to unlock the iron collar around the slave's neck, and +then he raised his whip.</p> +<p class="pnext">The long lash swung high into the air, and then came down upon the bare +back of the dying man. Two strokes fell, and the whip had been raised +for a third, when Max Harden flew like a wild beast at Cæsar's throat.</p> +<p class="pnext">So sudden was the onslaught that the Portuguese was taken by surprise. +Though Max was encumbered by the heavy chain which hung from his neck, +he had room enough in which to move. His fellow-bondsmen, unable to +believe the evidence of their eyes, ceased their work and stood +together in a crowd, their eyes dilated and their limbs trembling in +fear.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max paid no heed to them. He was like a mad dog on a leash that rushes +forth from its kennel and lays hold upon its victim. He took no heed +of the consequences. He neither thought what he was doing, nor asked +himself whether it were wise. He was just driven mad by the sight of +such inhuman cruelty.</p> +<p class="pnext">He flung Cæsar to the ground, and before the man could rise, the whip +had been wrested from his hand. Max placed a foot upon his chest, and +the lash of the whip rose and fell, cracked, made circles in the air +and fell again, until Cæsar shrieked for mercy.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-42"> +<span id="the-lash-of-the-whip-rose-and-fell-until-caesar-shrieked-for-mercy"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-206.jpg" /> +<div class="caption"> +"THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CÆSAR SHRIEKED FOR MERCY."</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Never, since the Dark Continent had been traversed by Tippu Tib, and +the villages of the Upper Congo had been given over to plunder, had the +slave-driver's whip been wielded with such remorseless energy. Cæsar +groaned and writhed upon the ground, and struggled blindly to rise. +The thong cut his cheek and hands, and the cruel knots which he himself +had tied tore the coat from his back, till his cries became fainter, +and at last he lay quite still. And at that, Max cast the whip in his +teeth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Throughout all this every one had remained motionless, rooted to the +spot. The whole thing had been so unexpected and so sudden. Nothing +like it had ever happened before.</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa stood by with chattering teeth. The very sight of Cæsar's +punishment had set the ague shaking in his bones. The slaves were +petrified by fear. They looked on in breathless silence, with their +mouths opened wide and their heavy under-lips hanging so low as to show +their white teeth and gums. As for the Arabs, even they were too +surprised to act. They had known the Portuguese for two years, and +they knew that his word was law; not one of them would have dared for a +moment to defy him. On that account they could not believe what they +saw.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar rolled over on his face, and then struggled to his feet. He +stood for a moment swaying. Then he passed a hand across his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">After that, he shot Max such a glance as it were impossible to +describe. Therein were passion, hatred and vengeance.</p> +<p class="pnext">He felt in his pockets, as if he searched for something. It was his +revolver, which had fallen to the ground. Not seeing it, he staggered +to the Arab who was nearest, and held out his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Give me that," said he in Arabic.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man, with the stoic indifference of all his race, handed over his +rifle, and Cæsar took it, though his hand was shaking like a leaf in +the wind. Step by step, he returned to Max. He walked like a drunken +man. There were great weals upon his face and hands, and there was +blood upon his coat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You shall pay for that!" said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">The slaves cowered at the water's edge. They were like sheep in a +storm. As for de Costa, he stood there, impotent to help, yet willing +to do so, his hands clasped before him, and shivering from head to +foot. The Arab who had handed over his rifle was smoking a cigarette.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You shall pay for that!" said Cæsar.</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and took long and +careful aim. He was not ten paces from Max. It seemed impossible he +could miss. Still, we must remember that he was unsteady on his feet, +that it was all he could do to stand.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a flash--a loud report--a quick jet of fire; and Max was +struck in the chest with the cotton wad, and his face was blackened by +the powder. For all that, the bullet had sped past, to bury itself in +the bed of the Hidden River.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar let fall an oath and then re-loaded, ejecting the cartridge case. +That done, he stepped even nearer, and lifted his rifle again.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that moment a double report sounded from the hills, and the +Portuguese gave a kind of gulp and then fell forward on his face, his +rifle still in his hand.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xviii-freedom"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id19">CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">There are some men who are born to command, who imbue their followers +with confidence, who are masters of the art of managing men.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar was one of these. He had entered the heart of Africa at the time +when the first great explorers were opening up the unknown continent, +and some small knowledge connected with the source of the Nile and the +presence of the Great Lakes was reaching the ears of Europe.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the most part these daring pioneers penetrated Africa either to +shoot big game or propagate the Christian Gospel, or in the cause of +science. Grant, Speke, Mason and Stanley were geographers, explorers +before all else. Livingstone was a missionary; and Cotton Oswell, +Gordon-Cumming and Sir Samuel Baker were hunters of big game. Unlike +these famous men, the Portuguese, who afterwards adopted the name of +"Cæsar," was prompted by purely selfish motives--the acquisition of +wealth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Like every one else, he found the interior overrun by the Arabs, who, +since time immemorial, had exploited the equatorial regions for slaves +for the Greek satraps and the Roman consuls. The abolition of the +slave trade did not affect the regions of the Upper Nile, the Great +Lakes and the Congo. Laws which men chose to make in Europe could in +no way modify or hinder what went on in the equatorial forests. Not +only in Zanzibar, but even in Cairo, there was an open slave market +where the trade continued to flourish.</p> +<p class="pnext">Nothing can speak so eloquently for the virility, the craft and +cunning, of the Arab as the fact that for centuries millions of savage +warriors were held in fear and trembling by a few hundreds of these +ruthless sons of the desert. In quite recent years, when Stanley made +his passage of the Congo and the Aruwimi in search of Emin Pasha, he +found Arab slave stations scattered at intervals throughout the unknown +forest, and his whole expedition must have perished had it not been for +the assistance he received from the Arab ivory hunters in the valleys +of the Upper Congo.</p> +<p class="pnext">In his early days the tall Portuguese had also taken care to be on +friendly terms with the Arabs. He was one who was quick to learn, and +experience taught him two things: firstly, that the Arab will do +anything for profit; and secondly, that once his word has been given he +is one of the most faithful friends in the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arabs employed at Makanda were men whom Cæsar knew that he could +trust. Each was to have his share of the plunder when the slave camp +was broken up and the Portuguese returned to Europe. Until then he +knew they would stand by him, faithful to their promise that he could +rely upon their courage in case of emergency.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the panic that now took place Cæsar must have been captured had it +not been for the heroism of the Arabs. He had been taken by surprise +in open country. There was no escape by way of the quarry, and upon +the hills on the other side of the river was Edward Harden, who, in +spite of the fact that he had said that Crouch was a better shot than +himself--had the clearest eye and the steadiest hand of any man +throughout the length and breadth of Africa.</p> +<p class="pnext">The slaves were distracted. Those who were joined together by chains +ran to the quarry and huddled in a crowd. Those who were free to go +whither they listed ran to and fro, filling the air with their cries. +As for de Costa, he could do nothing but wring his hands and look about +him for some place of safety.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max, by the sheer weight of the slaves with whom he was yoked, was +dragged onward to the quarry. He tried to assure them that there was +nothing whatsoever to fear, but they were incapable of understanding a +word of what he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">In those brief moments it was only the prompt action of the Arabs that +saved Cæsar's life. The Portuguese had been shot in the chest. He was +unconscious for no longer than a few seconds, and then he struggled to +an elbow.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they saw that their master was alive two Arabs hastened towards +him and lifted him in their arms. Under a perfect hail of fire from +the six rifles on the hills they bore him to a place of safety at the +southern extremity of the lake where a long canoe was moored. They +could not cross at the bridge, since it was immediately under fire from +the granite hills.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then followed a race--a race for the stockade. Harden, Crouch, and the +four Fans appeared upon the crest-line, and thence came down into the +valley with a cheer.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime, the Arabs so plied their paddles that the canoe shot +across the lake like a dart, dividing the water at the prow into two +long feathery waves. When they sprang ashore, a little above the place +where the Englishmen had landed on the day they first came to Makanda, +M'Wané, who was leading the attack, was not fifty paces distant.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Fan chieftain dropped upon his knees to fire, and missed. And a +moment later the door of the stockade was closed.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané retreated no less hastily than he had come, with the bullets +flying at his heels, splashing in the sand. Halfway up the slope he +met Edward Harden striding forward, rifle in hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Too late!" he cried. "Master, why did not the white wizard teach me +to shoot like you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward smiled, and placed a hand on M'Wané's shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You'll have another chance all right," said he. "They've shut +themselves up in a trap."</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time Crouch, who had already given up the chase, had descended +to the suspension bridge and crossed to the quarry. There the first +person he set eyes upon was de Costa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hands up!" he cried. And at the word de Costa threw up his arms +pleading for mercy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked about him, and heard Max's voice calling for assistance. +And at that, of his own accord, de Costa took a bunch of keys from his +pocket and offered them to Crouch. They were the keys of the iron +collars of the slaves.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few seconds later every slave was free. They could not at first +realize what had happened; and then, one man, more intelligent than his +fellows, grasped the truth, and picking up the chain which had been +fastened to his neck for many months hurled it into the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max told his story in a few words. He explained how he had been +captured, and showed Crouch the rubies.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned to the half-caste. "Will you throw in your lot with us?" +he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am ready to do so," said de Costa. "I would have told you all that +night when Cæsar found you in the hut."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have some reason to believe that to be true," said Crouch. "I hold +to my original promise. Stand by us to-day, and I'll take you down to +the Coast. You must see that the game's up for Cæsar."</p> +<p class="pnext">De Costa intimated that he was only waiting to receive orders.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," sad the captain; "you probably have some authority over +these poor brutes of slaves. I suppose you can speak their language? +Tell them they are free. Explain to them that they owe their liberty +to us, and ask them to lend us a helping hand. Select a party of the +strongest, and take them yourself to the village on the mountain. +There you will find our ammunition and stores. Bring them here as +quickly as you can, and don't forget the medicine chest. We must lend +what help we can."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where am I to find you?" asked de Costa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here," said Crouch. "There are only seven of us, and we can't spare a +man. We shall need every rifle we've got to capture the stockade."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will do my best," said de Costa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trust you will," said Crouch. Then, his face lit up, and his only +eye looked the half-caste through and through. "By Christopher," said +he, "if you fail me, I'll hunt you down! All Africa won't be big +enough to hold you. I'll search the country from the Zambesi to the +desert, and I'll find you in the end."</p> +<p class="pnext">He said these words with his teeth clenched, and his great chin thrust +forward. The little half-caste quailed before his glance.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that there came a burst of firing from the north. Crouch +stiffened in every limb.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There!" he cried, "the band's begun to play."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max followed him for a little distance, then remembered that he had +left his rifle on the hill-top. De Costa looked about him, bewildered. +Events had happened in such swift succession that he felt that the +whole thing might prove a dream from which he would presently awaken. +Then he called the slaves together. They obeyed his word from force of +habit; and though there was nothing now to prevent them taking to the +hills, they followed him meekly into the kraal.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xix-the-phantom-canoe"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id20">CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">That firing was the beginning of the siege of the stockade of Makanda, +which lasted for seven days. Edward Harden had approached too near, +and had drawn fire from the Arabs who manned the walls. The firing was +answered by the Fans, who were somewhat over-eager to try their +new-found strength. Shots were exchanged until nightfall, when the +three Englishmen gathered together to discuss their plan of campaign.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had every reason to believe that Cæsar himself had been put out of +action--at least for a day or so. As far as they knew, the garrison +consisted of six or seven Arabs. The two sides were therefore equal in +strength, but the advantage lay with the defenders, who were strongly +entrenched, whereas the attackers had no cover nearer than the hills.</p> +<p class="pnext">They knew that the stockade was well provisioned, and it would take +months for the garrison to be starved into submission. Their only +chance was to take the stockade by assault, and this would be by no +means easy to do.</p> +<p class="pnext">They could not hope to succeed by day: a surprise would be out of the +question. They would have to advance across the sandy plain that +enclosed the shores of the lake, and they would be shot down, one after +the other, from the loop-holes in the stockade. Their only chance was +to assault the place by night.</p> +<p class="pnext">That evening they could do nothing. Crouch and the four Fans remained +to keep a watchful eye on the garrison, while Max and his uncle betook +themselves to the kraal, to render what aid they could to the cholera +patients.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few hours before daybreak de Costa set out for the mountain, with +strict injunctions to return as quickly as possible. It had taken a +whole night for the slaves to realize that they had gained their +freedom, and then, out of the gratitude in their hearts, they readily +volunteered to act as carriers to the white men whenever their services +should be required.</p> +<p class="pnext">For three days no assault was delivered. The Englishmen and the Fans +confined their energies by day to desultory shooting from the +crest-line of the hills. By night they closed in upon the stockade, to +see that Cæsar made no attempt to escape. Throughout these days most +of Max's time was taken up in fighting a far more formidable foe than a +handful of Arabs and a wounded Portuguese. With the aid of the few +disinfectants and medicines which Edward had brought from the Pambala +village, he did his best to stamp the cholera out. Those who had died +were buried, and their clothing burnt. The remaining slaves, who had +not followed de Costa, were removed from the kraal and taken to a place +in the hills, where they were told to wait the issue of the siege. A +few deserted to their homes, for they were ignorant people, and had +learnt by bitter experience not to trust the white man. However, the +majority stayed at Makanda, conscious of the debt they owed to the two +Hardens and to Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was on the third night that Max decided to burn the kraal to the +ground. Great flames rose high into the air and illumined the crater +through which the Hidden River flowed swiftly on its course.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the kraal burned the slaves upon the hill-top danced and sang. They +beheld in the spreading fire the burning of their bondage. To them the +red glow that filled the valley and made the barren slopes of the +granite hills stand forth in the night like peaks in fairyland, was the +dawn of happier days. And Max, too, was light of heart. He believed +that that fire would stamp out the pestilence once and for all.</p> +<p class="pnext">Early in the afternoon on the following day de Costa arrived from the +mountain. He had remained faithful to his promise. Only three slaves +had deserted on the march, and the others were told to join the refugee +camp which had sprung up upon the hill. De Costa was to remain in +charge of the liberated slaves. The majority were Pambalas from the +district, but several had been brought from so far away that they knew +not how to find their way back to their homes.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night Crouch and Edward decided to attack. They had now a large +supply of ammunition, and Max, who had finished his duties as doctor, +was free to take his place in the ranks.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max and M'Wané approached the stockade along the river bank from the +south, Crouch and another Fan from the north, whereas Edward and the +two others descended from the hills.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no moon when they crept upon the garrison from three sides at +once, moving cautiously forward on hands and knees through the sand. +When about fifty paces distant, each party lay still and listened for +the signal to assault. This was to come from Crouch, who could imitate +to the life the jackal's howl.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max and M'Wané, lying close as hares, waited for the signal to come. +They could hear the wild beasts in the jungle, and now and again a +faint, piercing cry, as some animal was seized in the strong jaws of a +leopard or a lion. The great cats were hunting like the white men who +surrounded the stockade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then the long-drawn howl of a jackal was lifted in the night, and at +that those seven men sprang to their feet and rushed upon the defence.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arabs had been warned. On the instant fire flashed from the +loop-holes. The night was alive with the whistling of bullets, which +dived into the water of the river or flew into the forest to send +little leaves fluttering to the ground, or buried themselves in the +trunks of gigantic trees.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the east Edward was driven back. Before he reached the ditch one of +his men had been wounded, and there he found it would be certain death +to endeavour to scale the stockade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max and Crouch on the other side were more successful. It was the +former who was the first to reach the gate, and endeavour to force it +open. The man who was there on guard put his shoulder to the business, +and for a few seconds a struggle took place the issue of which was +doubtful.</p> +<p class="pnext">At one time Max had the door ajar, but the man or men on the other side +forced it back inch by inch until it was nearly closed. It was then +that M'Wané came to Max's assistance; and immediately after, the +opening in the door grew wider by degrees.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had this affair been fought to a finish, it is beyond question that Max +and M'Wané would have gained the fort, but it was at this moment that +the unexpected occurred. A rapid burst of firing came from the river, +from the northern extremity of the lake. A stream of bullets flew +past, and many splintered the woodwork of the gate which had been the +bone of contention from the first.</p> +<p class="pnext">To be attacked by night unexpectedly from the rear is an ordeal which +the finest trained soldiers in the world find it difficult to stand. +It was too much for the Fans. Even M'Wané, who was as brave a savage +as any who ever roamed the grassland west of the Lakes, turned on his +heels and bolted.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max turned round, and on the instant the gate of the stockade was +closed. He had no alternative but to retire, and even that much had to +be accomplished between two withering fires. Five minutes later there +was silence in the valley. The assault had been repulsed.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed, indeed, as if this river would hold its mysteries to the +end. They had heard weird legends of the Fire-gods from savage lips, +dressed up in all the blandishments of fancy. They had thought the +problem solved in the slave gangs and ruby mine, but here was another +mystery unsolved.</p> +<p class="pnext">While Max was engaged in his struggle at the gate, the sharp eye of +Captain Crouch had seen a long canoe glide out from the darkness where +the river penetrated the jungle. Before he had had time to give +warning of its approach, the occupants of the canoe had opened fire. +When he was asked to explain it, Crouch could not do so. They knew the +course of the river from the Makanda to the rapids. The canoe could be +nothing but a phantom. At daybreak no sign of it was to be seen.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first their suspicions rested upon the unfortunate de Costa. But +they discovered from the natives that that night the half-caste had not +left the refugee camp; indeed, he had actually been seen asleep whilst +the assault was in progress. The natives had nothing to gain by +defending a man who so recently had been one of their tyrants; and +besides, it was not in the nature of de Costa's disposition to conduct +a daring attack at dead of night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Throughout that day they kept a watchful eye upon the stockade. +Everything appeared as usual. They could see the white-robed Arabs +moving about between the huts, and they subjected these to long-range +rifle-fire from the hills. Cæsar's yellow flag still floated on the +wind from the flagstaff before his hut.</p> +<p class="pnext">The three Englishmen went about their business--cleaning their rifles, +cooking, or attending to the wounded Fan--sullenly, as if ill-pleased +with the world in general, speaking only when spoken to, and then in +monosyllables.</p> +<p class="pnext">The truth was not one of them liked to own that they had been worsted. +Their attack had proved unsuccessful. That in itself was sufficiently +annoying; but, what made matters worse, was the fact that they could +not explain how the catastrophe had come about.</p> +<p class="pnext">An hour before sundown they sat in silence at their evening meal. They +were obliged to feed thus early, because it was necessary that at +nightfall they should take their places around the stockade to prevent +the Arabs breaking out in the night. The little sleep they got in +those days they were obliged to take by day, when it sufficed for one +of their number to watch the enemy's movements in the stockade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly Crouch drove the knife with which he had been eating into the +earth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't make it out!" he cried. "I'll give credit where it's due; the +man 's clever as a monkey. What do you say?" he broke out in a +different tone of voice. "Shall we attack again to-night?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Edward; "certainly."</p> +<p class="pnext">That was the way in which the mind of the big man worked. He thought +in monosyllables. He was not like Crouch, who had a thousand reasons +for everything, who was always eager to explain. With Edward Harden it +was either Yes or No, and generally the former.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here," said Max, "I propose we go about it in another manner. +Last time I undertook to reconnoitre the enemy's position I made a fool +of myself, and was captured."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You did very well," said Edward.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think so," said his nephew. "At any rate, with your +permission, I should like to try again. I suggest that we surround the +stockade as we did last night, but that I am allowed to go forward +alone. After all, I'm the youngest and most active of the party, if we +exclude M'Wané and his friends. I believe I can creep up to the wall +without being heard. I am sure I can vault the stockade. As soon as I +am inside I will fire at the first man I see, and when you hear that +shot you must endeavour to rush the gate."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch knocked out his pipe on the heel of his boot.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bravo," said he. "There's no question you should meet with success. +If you get into the fort--as you think you can--you'll take their +attention from the gate, and we ought to join you in a few seconds even +if the canoe appears on the river. Still, it's a big risk you're +taking; I suppose you're aware of that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quite," answered Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus was the matter settled; and soon afterwards darkness descended, +and day turned to night in the course of a few minutes, for there is no +twilight on the Line.</p> +<p class="pnext">They took their places in silence under cover of the darkness, and then +waited in patience and suspense. They had agreed upon midnight as the +hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max, lying upon his face in the sand which still retained much of the +warmth of the day, followed the hands of his watch, which he was just +able to see in the starlight. Never had he known time pass more +slowly. Even the second-hand seemed to crawl, and he was certain that +the minute-hand never moved the thousandth part of an inch. And yet, +at last the hour arrived. He knew that on the other side of the +stockade both Crouch and his uncle were ready to advance. Rising +softly to his feet he put his watch in his pocket.</p> +<p class="pnext">On hands and knees he crawled forward to the ditch. He had decided not +to encumber himself with a rifle. His revolver was loaded in his +holster. He reached the ditch in safety, and there paused to listen. +There was no sound within the fort. The night was still as the grave.</p> +<p class="pnext">Summoning his courage he rose once more to his feet, and laid hold with +both hands upon the sharpened points of the stakes which formed the +enclosure. Then, taking in a deep breath, he sprang, swinging himself +on high, and landed on his feet on the other side.</p> +<p class="pnext">A second later he stood with his revolver in his hand, glancing in all +directions, ready to fire at sight. It was then that he stood in +momentary expectation of a swift and sudden death. However, no shot +was fired.</p> +<p class="pnext">Seeing that he had entered the stockade and was yet undiscovered, he +hastened into the shade of the nearest hut, and there knelt down and +waited.</p> +<p class="pnext">For five minutes he never moved, and during that time he heard no one +either on the banquette or among the huts. Then he thought of Crouch +and his uncle. He imagined the suspense which they endured. He +realized that they must believe he had died in silence under the knife. +Presently, whether he fired or not, he knew that they would attempt to +rush the gate.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was, therefore, no longer necessary to remain undiscovered. It +would aid their purpose better if some one saw him and he fired. His +object was to create an alarm, to draw the attention of the garrison to +himself, whilst Crouch and Edward, followed by the Fans, bore down upon +the gate.</p> +<p class="pnext">He stepped out from his hiding-place, and walked down the line of huts +until he came to that which was Cæsar's. He looked in. It was +deserted, though a candle burned low upon the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that he placed a finger round the trigger of his revolver, and fired +three shots in rapid succession into the ground. Then, standing in the +doorway of the hut, he listened.</p> +<p class="pnext">Absolute silence reigned. The truth burst upon him as in a flash: the +stockade had been abandoned. And at that moment there was a great +crashing sound as the gate swung back upon its hinges, and Crouch and +Harden burst into the fort.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xx-the-rats-escape"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id21">CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Edward Harden, rifle in hand, led the way, followed by Crouch and the +four Fans. As they entered the stockade, expecting to be attacked from +all sides in the darkness, they opened out in accordance with a +pre-arranged plan. Crouch turned to the left and Edward to the right; +and then, taking post on the banquette, they stood ready to fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a few seconds there was absolute silence. The situation was so +unlooked for that they could not, at first, realize what had happened. +Then Crouch's voice was lifted in the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By Christopher, the rats are gone!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Max, guided by the sound of these words, found the sea-captain in the +darkness, and confirmed his suspicions. He said that he had been +several minutes within the stockade, and had neither seen nor heard a +living soul.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed as if the valley of the Hidden River would maintain its +reputation to the last. There was no end to mystery. Time and again +were they confronted with facts that they were wholly unable to explain.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was M'Wané who found a lantern in the hut which had formerly been +occupied by de Costa; and with the help of this they searched the huts, +one after the other, in the hope of being able to discover Cæsar's line +of retreat.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not possible that the Portuguese and his Arab attendants had +left the stockade by way of the gate. By day, the garrison had been +under the constant observation of their sentinel on the hills. Every +night, as soon as it was sufficiently dark to permit them to approach, +the stockade had been surrounded. They found nothing suspicious in any +one of the huts, until they came to Cæsar's, before which the yellow +flag still unfurled itself upon the wind. Here they discovered that +the ruby chest had gone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, it would require four men, at least, to carry this heavy chest to +the water's edge, and even then, the task could not have been +accomplished without noise. It was impossible to believe that the +garrison had passed through the little investing force by dead of +night. And yet, as far as they could see, there was no other means of +escape. Cæsar and his slave-drivers had vanished as suddenly and +unaccountably as if they had been spirited away.</p> +<p class="pnext">They separated and searched the stockade from end to end. It was +M'Wané who gained the first clue, who came running breathlessly to +Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Master," he cried, "the wood-stack has been moved."</p> +<p class="pnext">Within the stockade they had noticed on their arrival a great quantity +of firewood, which had been cut in the adjacent forest. On approaching +this, Crouch saw at once that the wood-stack had been pulled down as if +in haste. Calling out to Edward to bring the lantern, he awaited +further developments. No sooner had Harden arrived than the mystery +was solved.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leading downward into the ground was a broad flight of steps. A kind +of tunnel had been formed under the sand, about four feet wide and six +feet high, revetted by wooden beams. So all the time Cæsar had been at +liberty to escape, whenever he felt that he was sufficiently recovered +of his wound to undertake the journey.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Cæsar had constructed his stockade in the heart of the wilderness, +he had been prepared for all eventualities and had neglected nothing. +He had unlimited labour at his disposal. Knowing the nature of his +business, and the hatred with which he was likely to be regarded by the +neighbouring tribes, he had thought it likely that, at some future +date, he might be called upon to undergo a siege. That siege might +last for several months, by which time his provisions would be +exhausted and he obliged to retreat. As far as they were able to +discover, the subterranean passage had been made during the absence of +de Costa on a two-months' journey to the Coast, in order to procure +fresh supplies of dynamite. From the fact that the half-caste knew +nothing whatsoever of the passage, it seems likely that the Portuguese +had all along intended to desert his companion at the eleventh hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without a word, Edward Harden descended the steps, holding the lantern +on high to guide his friends who followed. The passage lay in a +bee-line throughout the whole of its length. It was about three +hundred yards long, and whilst it ran through the sandy sub-soil in the +crater of Makanda, both its walls and roof consisted of solid logs. +For the last hundred yards it pierced the living rock, and at last came +forth in the impenetrable darkness of the forest.</p> +<p class="pnext">By the aid of the lantern they were able to discover a path which led +to the left, and after a few minutes' walking, this brought them to the +river bank. Here, in the soft mud, was the indentation of the bows of +a canoe. Moreover, the place was so screened by trees and tall reeds +that no one, passing either up or down the river, would suspect for a +moment that here was a mooring-place. It was here that the "phantom +canoe" had lain, to be brought upstream by two or three of the Arabs +from the stockade on the night of the attack.</p> +<p class="pnext">No sooner did Crouch observe this evidence of the means Cæsar had taken +to escape, than he shook his fist in the air.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's gone down-stream," he cried. "But, I'll follow him, if he leads +me a ten-years' journey through the wilderness. I'll overtake that +man, and I'll kill him. I swear it. I swear that I'll never set eyes +upon the shores of England again, until I know that he is dead."</p> +<p class="pnext">And that was the oath of Captain Crouch, which--when we have got to the +end of the story--will prove to us that oaths are very futile after +all. The strength of man is limited; in face of the wonders of the +universe, his knowledge is indeed small. He may be strong and brave +and unswerving of his purpose; but, after all, where men teem in +cities, no less than in the heart of the illimitable and mighty forest, +there is a greater Power than anything that is human--the all-pervading +Spirit of the Universe, before whom the foolish vows of men are of +infinitesimal account.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch had flown too often in the face of Providence not to be aware of +that; but, just then, he was well-nigh mad with wrath and restless with +excitement. Snatching the lantern from Edward's hand he raced along +the passage, until they found themselves again within the stockade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still, the captain never paused. He passed through the gate, and +thence ascended the hills. They found the slave-camp absolutely +silent. On every hand the unhappy negroes lay stretched upon the +ground, and there in the middle of them was de Costa, nature striving +to maintain the spark of life within that fever-stricken body, by means +of healthful slumber. On the eastern horizon, beyond the unknown hills +which they had seen from Solitude Peak, the dawn was rising in a flood.</p> +<p class="pnext">With scant ceremony Crouch awakened first de Costa, then every one of +the slaves. Through the medium of the half-caste he spoke to the +natives as follows--</p> +<p class="pnext">"We found you slaves, we have made you freemen. Are you grateful for +what we have done?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A murmur arose from the crowd. They said that they were mindful of +what they owed to the white wizard and his brave companions.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," said Crouch, "you can help us. We are going down-river. We +must start at once. We must take all our baggage, our stores and +ammunition. There are six canoes at the kraal, and these will be +sufficient. But we will need porters to make the journey through the +jungle to the Kasai. If you come with us, to carry our loads and +canoes, we will pay you in cowrie shells and beads, brass rods and +cloth."</p> +<p class="pnext">To a man they volunteered, and not five minutes later a caravan of +fifty carriers, protected by seven rifles, descended to the lake before +Makanda.</p> +<p class="pnext">In less than an hour the canoes were loaded, and then the expedition +shot down the stream, the canoes following one behind the other in +single file. Crouch led the way, his quick eye sweeping either bank in +search of the place where Cæsar had embarked. Max, in the last canoe +brought up the rear.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the canoes gained the point where the sandy plain around the +settlement gave place to the density of the jungle, all turned and +looked back upon Makanda. To the slaves, many of whom had worked for +two years under the whip, without hope of ultimate salvation, it was as +if they looked their last upon their prison doors. As for the +Englishmen, they remembered that grey, steaming morning when they had +first come within sight of the stockade, when Cæsar had fired at them +from the water.</p> +<p class="pnext">All that had happened in the weeks that followed was like some strange, +swift-moving dream.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was midday when they reached their old camp at Hippo Pool, and +Harden and Crouch disembarked, to see if they could find traces of +Cæsar's escape on the line of their former portage.</p> +<p class="pnext">They met with instant success. Some one had passed within the course +of the last few hours.</p> +<p class="pnext">In consequence, the loads were disembarked. Three canoes were sunk, +and the remaining three lifted high and dry upon the bank. It was +whilst this work was in progress that Crouch, to his infinite delight, +discovered his case of glass eyes, which he had left in camp on the +morning of their adventure at Leopard Marsh.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were obliged to halt for a few hours for food. They had brought +with them a week's rations for their men: plantain flour, soaked manioc +and ears of corn. It was two o'clock when the caravan began to move +through the jungle towards the Kasai. They eventually reached one of +their old camps by Observation Pool. Their progress was necessarily +slow. The slaves were in no fit condition to do a forced march through +the jungle; and that night it was decided that Edward and Max and the +Fans should push on ahead, in an endeavour to overtake the fugitives, +and failing that to bring back the Loango boys to help. Crouch was to +follow with the caravan with what dispatch he could.</p> +<p class="pnext">In two days, the advanced party reached the place where the creek +turned to the south. Cæsar's tracks still followed the old route +direct to Date Palm Island.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the fifth day of their journey from Hippo Pool, they came upon a +place where Cæsar had turned to the north. Edward was an experienced +tracker, but it did not require the eye of an expert to see that human +beings had turned from the portage and followed an elephant track to +the Kasai. For a moment, Harden was undecided how to act. If he +continued on his way to Date Palm Island, some days might be wasted +before he again picked up the trail. In the end he decided to send Max +and the three Fans to the north, and go himself with M'Wané to the +Island. There he would load up the canoe, send half the boys +down-stream on the look-out for Max, and bring the others back to the +portage to assist the slaves.</p> +<p class="pnext">The following morning he shook hands with his nephew, and continued on +the old route with which he was now familiar. He had not gone far, +however, before he noticed bloodstains on the leaves of the +undergrowth; and presently, to his utmost surprise, he came across one +of the Loango boys wounded by a bullet in the leg, and crawling +painfully on hands and knees towards the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">This boy said that he had been hunting in the jungle--for they were +short of food on the Island--when he had come across a caravan +consisting of six Arabs and a white man. They were carrying a canoe +half-filled with supplies, and a great box which appeared to be +excessively heavy. The white man who led the way, seemed to be very +weak, for he staggered as he walked. Indeed, it is impossible to +imagine the hardships that the tall Portuguese underwent upon that last +and fateful journey. So anxious was he to save his rubies, to gain the +sea-coast in safety, that he had not brought with him sufficient +supplies. In consequence, he and his men were starving and, as we +shall see, they had an even more deadly foe to reckon with.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'Wané, picking up the wounded boy in his arms, carried him like a baby +throughout the rest of the journey to Date Palm Island. There the +man's wound was attended to, and he was placed in a canoe which was +ready loaded two hours after Edward had reached the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once more Harden set forth upon his old track, leaving instructions +that the canoe was to drop down-stream on the afternoon of the +following day. The Loango boys from the Island, though they had +complained of being short of food, were in fine condition; and the +party came up with Crouch at the end of the second day. Thence they +made better headway and, following Cæsar's trail, arrived eventually at +the river, where they found not only Max and the Fans, but the party +from the Island.</p> +<p class="pnext">And now followed a race down the river after the slave-drivers and +their chest of rubies. The three canoes which had been carried from +the Hidden River, were embarked on the Kasai. The slaves who had acted +as porters on the journey were given the option of finding their own +way back to their villages or going down to the Congo in the canoes. +There was never the slightest doubt that the majority would choose the +former course. Half their number had come from the Pambala village on +the slopes of Solitude Peak, and a score from other villages farther to +the south-west. In all there were only five who desired to journey to +the Congo, and these were men whom Cæsar had captured in the land of +the Bakutu.</p> +<p class="pnext">The current of the river was so swift that the four canoes shot +down-stream at a great velocity with little help from the paddles. On +the upper reaches of the great river, rapids and waterfalls were +frequent, and at such times it was necessary to carry the canoe to +unbroken water. At each portage they found traces of Cæsar and his +Arabs. Once the camp-fire of the Portuguese was still alight, and soon +after that, on rounding a point, they came in sight of a canoe.</p> +<p class="pnext">They thought at first that they had overtaken Cæsar, but they were +doomed to be disappointed. With the aid of their fieldglasses they +ascertained that the canoe was coming towards them, working slowly +up-stream against the force of the current.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were still more surprised when they recognised, seated in the +stern of this canoe, the white solar topee and the black coat of a +European. A few minutes later Crouch was within hail.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" he asked, with both hands to his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">And the answer came back in the accent of Aberdeen: "James Mayhew, of +the Scottish Missionary Society."</p> +<p class="pnext">That, indeed, was so. This man alone, attended only by a few native +servants, was forcing his way in the absolute Unknown, in order to +bring the enlightenment of Christian knowledge into the depths of an +endless forest, inhabited by cannibals and dwarfs. They had time only +to congratulate the missionary upon his courage, and to wish him every +success. Crouch gave Mr. Mayhew directions as to how to reach the +Hidden Valley, and told him that, if he found his way to Solitude Peak +and said that he had come from the "White Wizard," he would find many +converts among the liberated slaves and the people of the village.</p> +<p class="pnext">On being asked whether he had seen the Portuguese and his Arabs on the +river, the Missionary answered that he had passed them not an hour ago. +The Arabs had been paddling furiously, as if their lives depended upon +their reaching the Congo with as little delay as possible. As for the +Portuguese, he had been lying as if sick, in the body of the canoe, +with his head propped against a great ironbound chest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch waited to hear no more. Waving his hand to the Missionary, he +gave orders for the journey to continue.</p> +<p class="pnext">That evening, they expected to arrive at Cæsar's camp, but by midnight +they had come to the conclusion that the man was resolved to push on +without halting for food.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was now that M'Wané and his four companions--the three that had gone +to Solitude Peak and the one who had been left at the Island--asked to +be put ashore. They said they were not far from their own people, and +were desirous of returning home. For all that, they were extremely +sorry to leave their masters, the great white men who had overcome the +Fire-gods.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they left, there was much hand-shaking. Each man was presented +with a rifle and several rounds of ammunition, in addition to that they +received enough beads, brass rods, and cloth, to gladden the hearts of +any savage who ever roamed the equatorial forests.</p> +<p class="pnext">Throughout the night the canoes paddled to the north-west. All this +time de Costa lay in the body of a canoe, groaning with ague and +shivering from fever. It is a strange thing that in the close and +humid atmosphere of the forest there is little malaria or malarial +typhoid, which cause such havoc among the white men on the great rivers +of the Congo Basin. For it is above the surface of the water that the +mosquitoes swarm, which breed these fell diseases.</p> +<p class="pnext">At daybreak they sighted Cæsar. They saw his canoe for no longer than +an instant as it rounded a bend in the river. The natives plied their +paddles with a will, and Crouch, in the vanguard of the pursuit held +his rifle ready to fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">All day long, beneath the blazing tropic sun, with the insects droning +in their ears and the yellow seething water rushing onward to the sea, +this strange race continued.</p> +<p class="pnext">Three times did they catch sight of the fugitives; once in the morning, +once at mid-day, and the last time when the afternoon was drawing to a +close.</p> +<p class="pnext">By then they were not five hundred yards in the rear. It seemed +probable that the Portuguese would be overtaken before night. +Throughout that day native settlements on either bank of the river had +been frequent. They were but two hundred miles above the point where +the Kasai joins the Congo, to the north of Stanley Pool.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last they entered a broad reach, where the river was straight as a +Roman road. On either side the jungle rose to the height of about two +hundred feet--a tangled mass of vegetation, of creepers, vines, +convolvuli, so densely interwoven as to give the effect of endless +walls. Far in the distance, at the end of this long reach, they could +see an island standing in mid-stream, as if it floated on the surface +of the river.</p> +<p class="pnext">Resolved to overtake the man before darkness set in and assisted his +escape, they urged the canoes forward, until Cæsar recognised himself +for lost. Two shots from Crouch, and Cæsar's canoe drew in to the bank +of the island.</p> +<p class="pnext">As they approached they saw the Portuguese lifted out of his canoe in +the arms of his faithful Arabs, and deposited on the bank. Then the +Arabs, taking their rifles in their hands, opened fire on their +pursuers.</p> +<p class="pnext">They realized at once that resistance would be hopeless. The Loango +boys, after many weeks of inactivity on Date Palm Island, were spoiling +for a fight. Not all of them were armed with rifles, but the odds were +two to one against the Arabs, who knew that they could always trust the +white men to show mercy. No sooner had the Englishmen set foot upon +the island than they delivered up their arms.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had Crouch shot them on the spot these men, who for two years had been +scourging slaves with their whips, had got no more than they deserved. +As it was, their weapons were not given back to them, and they were +turned adrift upon the great river, with a week's provisions, to find +their way back as best they might to some settlement of their own kith +and kin.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then the Englishmen were able to give their attention to Cæsar. +The tall man lay upon the ground, rigid as in death. The whole party +gathered around him, with the exception of de Costa, who was himself +too ill to land upon the island.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cæsar's complexion was a dull, slaty-blue. His face was drawn and +haggard, his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets. As Max pushed his +way through the inquisitive Loango boys, who stood gaping at the dying +man, Cæsar struggled to a sitting position, and supporting his back +against a tree, looked savagely about him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stand back!" cried Max. "It's cholera!"</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then he realized the truth. Cæsar had thrashed one of his +slaves for no greater crime than having contracted the pestilence that +was ravaging his camp. Max had snatched the whip from the man's hand +and brought down upon his face and hands and back the cruel thong, +whose very touch was contagion. And thus was the vengeance of God, +upon one who had done evil all his days, taken from the hands of +Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">Max was actually on his way back to his canoe to procure his medicine +chest when the man looked about him, rolled his eyes to the heavens, as +if he who had shown so little of mercy to others thought to find it +there. Then he fell back with a groan, and lay cramped and twisted in +the agony of his death.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night, they buried him upon the island. They filled ammunition +boxes with the rubies, and burnt the chest against which Cæsar had +rested his head. And then, they left him in the starlight, in the +midst of the great stillness of the lonely river, to make his peace +with God.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxi-back-at-the-explorers"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id22">CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The green baize doors are just the same as ever; and in the inner +smoking room is Edward Harden, as large and clumsy-looking as on the +morning when we met him first at the top of St. James's Street, except +that, perhaps, he is more sun-burnt and somewhat haggard.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is winter; the London fog is without, and a great fire is roaring in +the grate. And before that fire is seated a young gentleman who now, +for the first time, is enjoying the privileges of a member.</p> +<p class="pnext">Edward rose to his feet, and looked at the clock.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's six," said he. "Crouch ought to be here."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max Harden consulted his watch, as if to verify the evidence of the +tall grandfather's clock which proclaimed the hour between the masks of +a snow-leopard and a panther.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He said he would be back at five," said he to his uncle. "I suppose +we'd better wait."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that moment, one of the green baize doors swung open, and Captain +Crouch limped into the room. He was now dressed in what he deemed the +garb of civilization: that is to say, a navy blue pilot-coat, with +brass buttons, and a red tie that might have served to guide him in the +fog. They had the smoking-room to themselves.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's all right," said Crouch, "I've fixed it up. Lewis and Sharp paid +over the money this afternoon, and I gave them a receipt."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How much did they fetch?" asked Max.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Three hundred and eighty thousand pounds."</p> +<p class="pnext">Max whistled, but said nothing. For some minutes, the three explorers +sat gazing into the fire. Not another word was spoken until Frankfort +Williams burst into the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Williams had no sympathy with those who roamed the equatorial forests. +His own heart was set upon the ice-floes of the Arctic.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here," he cried, "what's this I hear about you fellows presenting +a million pounds to some Missionary Society?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who told you that?" said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, I heard it just now from Du Cane."</p> +<p class="pnext">"News travels quickly," said Crouch. "But, a million is rather an +exaggeration Three hundred and eighty thousand is the sum."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And it all goes to a Missionary Society!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," said Max, "you didn't expect us to keep it, did you? It was +slave-trade money. We wouldn't touch a penny of it. Why, it would +burn holes in our pockets."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You see," said Edward, taking his pipe from his mouth, "a chap called +Mayhew--nice sort of fellow from what we saw of him--has gone up into +the very part of the country that we came from. He wants to civilize +the people; and after all, it's only fair that they should have the +benefit of the money, for it was they who earned it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch got to his feet, and turned his back to the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"See?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes, I see all right," said Williams, somewhat reluctantly, +however. "Of course, you couldn't very well do anything else, in the +circumstances. But, it seems rather a shame, somehow--when I can't +raise subscriptions for an expedition to the west coast of Baffin Land."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here," said Crouch, "if you think we're going to take money from +half-starved negroes, who have slept in chains and sweated under the +lash, and give it to you to climb some flaming iceberg, you're in the +wrong, my friend; and it's just as well for you to know it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Frankfort Williams laughed. It was the custom in the "Explorers'" for +those who favoured the tropics to scorn the men who were endeavouring +to reach the poles; just as it was for the Arctic adventurers to wax +ironical on the subject of cannibals and mangrove swamps, poisoned +arrow-heads and manioc. Williams talked for some few minutes upon the +current topics of the day, and then left the club.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he was gone, the three friends remained in their old positions +before the fire. Though not a word was said, the thoughts of each +drifted in the same direction. They saw the steaming mist upon a wide, +tropic river; they heard the hum of thousands of insects in their ears, +and the cries of the parrots overhead. They passed over, once again, +the route of their portage from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, and set +forth in fancy into the valley of the Hidden River.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last, Crouch got from his chair and, walking to the window, looked +out into the street. The fog had lifted in a fine, drizzling rain. +Shadowy figures hurried past, each with umbrella in hand, whilst the +reflection from the lights of the club windows glistened on the +pavement. The shops had closed. The workers were hurrying home; and +the London that had no need to work was dressing up for dinner. Crouch +swung round upon his heel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm sick of this!" he cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So am I," said Edward. "Where shall we go?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Max got to his feet, and fetched down the map.</p> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">THE END</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,</div> +<div class="line">BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils" /> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF</div> +<div class="line">Adventure and Heroism.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed,</div> +<div class="line">illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Fifth Form at St Dominic's. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding +in stirring incident and in humorous descriptions.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">A Story of Pagan and Christian.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and +dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Græco-Turkish War. By V. L. GOING.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the +last war between Turkey and Greece.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and +temptations of young men entering upon the work of life.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The juniors' rollicking fun, the seniors' rivalry, the school elections +and football match are all told in a forcible manner.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be +misunderstood, and to be made the butt of his comrades.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and +fun, and the trials of a young House-Master.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, +unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">My Friend Smith. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A first-rate story dealing with the temptations and difficulties boys +meet with when entering upon business life.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Comrades under Canvas. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A breezy, healthy tale, dealing with the adventures of three Boys' +Brigade companies during their annual camp.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Parkhurst Boys, and other Stories of School Life. By TALBOT BAINES</div> +<div class="line">REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A collection of stories from <em class="italics">The Boy's Own Paper</em>, containing some of +this popular author's best work and brightest wit.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Reginald Cruden. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Depicting the last days at school of Reginald Cruden, who then starts +in business at the bottom of the ladder.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Roger Ingleton, Minor. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A bright, vigorous story for boys, introducing the reader to various +characters, all drawn with this well-known author's usual skill and +power.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">That Boy of Fraser's. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">David Fraser passed through many troubles caused by the disappearance +of his father; how he encountered them makes invigorating reading.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">With Rifle and Kukri. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The many heroic deeds called forth by England's "little wars" along the +Indian frontier are here, narrated in stirring language.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Meltonians All! By F. COWLEY WHITEHOUSE.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A first-rate story of school-life and after, full of vim and stirring +incidents. Jim, Ken and Goggles make a fine trio.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Myddleton's Treasure. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Railway accidents, the evil doings of those in power, a shipwreck, and +adventures in Africa all help to make up a thrilling story.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Baymouth Scouts. By TOM BEVAN.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A thrilling story, especially suitable for Boy Scouts, of the days of +Napoleon, and his threatened invasion of England.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Rollinson and I. By W. E. CULE.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">The Story of a Summer Term.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">An attractive tale of schoolboy life, detailing a broken friendship, +much misunderstanding, repentance, and finally reconciliation between +the two characters in the title-role.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. BOLTON.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A schoolmaster with a genius for mathematics has various hobbies, one +of which proves useful in the rescuing of a kidnapped boy.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Derrick Orme's Schooldays. By EDITH C. KENYON.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Describes the experiences and persecutions of a high-minded Colonial +lad by a bullying schoolfellow, who is at last driven to admit his +transgressions.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the +wonderful adventures of a sturdy 'prentice-lad.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular +author's knowledge of schoolboy life and humour.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Submarine U93. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A thrilling tale, in which the U boat is the principal factor. The +youthful hero, with that redoubtable personage, Captain Crouch, passes +through many ordeals and adventures.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Boy Scout's Companion. Edited by MORLEY ADAMS.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Everything that the aspiring Scout can learn from books is here +generously provided. The book is full of interest and value. A +capital collection of all sorts of information.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Into the Soundless Deeps. A Tale of Wonder and Invention. By F. H.</div> +<div class="line">BOLTON.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The problems of sound and a "wonder-box," known as the "long distance" +ear, provide the main theme in this exciting story, in which adventures +with Spanish brigands also figure.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Story of the Chinese Underworld, and of</div> +<div class="line">Piracy and Adventure in Eastern Seas. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">In the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his parentage, an English +boy, brought up as a Chinese, passes through many adventures on sea and +land.</p> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">The Recreation Series.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A splendid set of gift-books, providing recreation both for the body +and the mind. Profusely illustrated, of good bulk, handsomely printed, +and attractively bound in cloth gilt.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Boy's Own Book of Outdoor Games and Pastimes. Edited by P. P.</div> +<div class="line">WARNER.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Every phase of sport is represented in this volume, from Cricket to +Kite-Flying, and each contribution is by some well-known authority.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations. Edited by MORLEY</div> +<div class="line">ADAMS.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Containing a mine of information on Conjuring, Ventriloquism, Model and +Toy making, Puzzles, Home Entertainments, and so on.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Boy's Own Book of Pets and Hobbies.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">Edited by MORLEY ADAMS.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">An invaluable guide to finding something to do. Many a long evening +may be brightly spent and lasting pleasure afforded by it.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Every Boy's Book of Railways and Steamships.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The author marshals his facts skilfully and tells, without +technicalities, the romance of the railway and the great waterways of +the world.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Handy Natural History (Mammals).</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">By ERNEST PROTHEROE, F.Z.S.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">This marvellous book is something more than a mere record of +observation, while the exploits of many hunters of wild beasts are +recorded.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Adventures in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">An admirably written description of the adventures which the +photographer and naturalist has to encounter in his quest for pictures +of British birds.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">Home Life in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A deeply interesting narrative of the habits of our feathered friends, +which will be eagerly welcomed and appreciated for the charm which it +reveals.</p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Boy's Own Book of Heroism and Adventure.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block outermost small"> +<div class="line">Edited by A. R. BUCKLAND, M.A.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Heroism of many sorts and thrilling adventures in many lands, by +well-known writers for boys, crowd these pages.</p> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE GODS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-032.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-032.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14d6677 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-032.jpg diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-093.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-093.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0831e01 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-093.jpg diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-111.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-111.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..32b7d63 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-111.jpg diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-206.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-206.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c7ef87e --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-206.jpg diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-cover.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b41b410 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-cover2.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-cover2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c876e27 --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-cover2.jpg diff --git a/39255-h/images/img-front.jpg b/39255-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ae6e7f --- /dev/null +++ b/39255-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d5c7b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #39255 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39255) diff --git a/old/39255-8.txt b/old/39255-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1e1831 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6400 @@ + THE FIRE-GODS + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost +no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Title: The Fire-Gods + A Tale of the Congo + +Author: Charles Gilson + +Release Date: March 24, 2012 [EBook #39255] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE-GODS*** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + +[Illustration: Cover 1] + + + +[Illustration: Cover 2] + + + +[Illustration: "MAX LEANED FORWARD TO EXAMINE THE FACE OF THE ROCK; AND +AS HE DID SO, HE WAS SEIZED SUDDENLY FROM BEHIND."] + + + THE FIRE-GODS + + A Tale of the Congo + + + + + By + + CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON + + _Author of "Submarine U93," "The Mystery of Ah Jim,"_ + _and other Stories._ + + + + + _ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SOPER_ + + + + + LONDON + "THE BOY'S OWN PAPER" OFFICE + 4, Bouverie Street + + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +Submarine U93. A Tale of the Great War by Sea. +The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Tale of the East. +On Secret Service. A Tale of German Spies. +A Motor Scout in Flanders. A Tale of the Bombardment of Antwerp. +The Race Round the World. A Tale of the Motor Spirit of the Future. +The Pirate Aeroplane. A Tale of the Kingdom of Asmalia. +The Lost Island. A Tale of a Chinese Secret Society. +The Lost Column. A Tale of the Boxer Rebellion in China. +Across the Cameroons. A Tale of the Germans in West Africa. +The Spy. A Tale of the Peninsular War. +The Sword of Freedom. A Tale of the English Revolution. +The Lost Empire. A Tale of the Napoleonic Wars. +In the Power of the Pygmies. A Tale of Central Africa. +In Arms for Russia. A Tale of the Great War. +The Pirate Yacht. A Tale of Southern Seas. +The Sword of Deliverance. A Tale of the Balkan War. + + + + + ---- + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB + CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI + CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD + CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER + CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE + CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH + CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN + CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT + CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT + CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER + CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE + CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT + CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN + CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" + CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA + CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST + CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED + CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM + CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE + CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE + CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'" + + ---- + + ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BY GEORGE SOPER + +"Max leaned forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, +he was seized suddenly from behind" . . . _Frontispiece_ + +"Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin like a pistol-shot, and he went +over backwards into the mud" + +"The Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman" + +"The lash of the whip rose and fell, until Csar shrieked for mercy" + + + + + THE FIRE-GODS + + + + + + +CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB + + +The Explorers' Club no longer exists. To-day, as a matter of fact, it +is a tea-shop in Old Bond Street--a small building, wedged between two +greater ones, a fashionable milliner's and a famous Art Establishment. +Towards the end of the last century, in what is known as the +mid-Victorian era, the Explorers' Club was in the heyday of its glory. + +The number of its members was limited to two hundred and fifty-one. In +the inner smoking-room, through the green baize doors, where guests were +not admitted, both the conversation and the company were at once +remarkable and unique. The walls were adorned with the trophies of the +chase: heads of elk, markhor, ibex, haartebeest and waterbuck; great +lions and snarling tigers; mouflon from Cyprus, and the white leopard of +the Himalayas. If you looked into the room through the glass peep-hole +in one of the green baize doors, you might have thought at first that +you beheld a menagerie, where the fiercest and the rarest beasts in the +world were imprisoned in a single cage. But, presently, your attention +would have been attracted by the great, sun-burnt men, sprawling in the +leather chairs, dressed in tweeds for the most part, and nearly every +one with a blackened briar pipe between his lips. + +In those days, Africa was the "Dark Continent"; the source of the Nile +and the Great Lakes were undiscovered, of the Congo nothing was known. +Nor was this geographical ignorance confined to a single continent: in +every part of the world, vast tracts of country, great rivers and +mountains were as yet unexplored. And the little that was known of +these uttermost parts of the earth never passed the green baize doors of +the inner smoking-room of the Explorers' Club. + +There, in an atmosphere blue with smoke, where a great fire roared in +winter to keep the chill of the London fog from the bones of those who, +time and again, had been stricken with the fevers of the equatorial +parts, a small group of men would sit and talk by the hour. There great +projects were suggested, criticised and discussed. A man would rise +from his seat, take down a map of some half-discovered country, and +placing his finger upon a blank space, announce in tones of decision +that that was the exact spot to which he intended to go. And if he +went, perhaps, he would not come back. + +At the time our story opens, Edward Harden was probably the most popular +member of the Explorers' Club. He was still a comparatively young man; +and though his reputation rested chiefly upon his fame as a big game +shot, he had rendered no mean service to the cause of science, as the +honours heaped upon him by the Royal Geographical Society and kindred +institutions fully testified. + +It was early in June, and the height of the London season, when this six +foot six of explorer walked up St. James's Street on the right-hand +side. Somehow he felt that he was out of it. He was not one of the +fashionable crowd in the midst of which he found himself. For ten years +he had been growing more and more unaccustomed to the life of cities. +It was a strange thing, he could break his way through the tangled +thicknesses of an equatorial forest, or wade knee-deep in a mangrove +swamp, but he could never negotiate the passage of Piccadilly. + +As he stood on the "island" in the middle of the street, opposite +Burlington House, he attracted a considerable amount of attention. He +was probably the tallest man at that moment between St. Paul's and the +Albert Memorial. His brown moustache was several shades lighter than +his skin, which had been burnt to the colour of tan. His long limbs, +his sloping shoulders, and the slouch with which he walked, gave him an +appearance of looseness and prodigious strength. Also he had a habit of +walking with his fists closed, and his arms swinging like pendulums. He +was quite unconscious of the fact that people turned and stared after +him, or that he was an object of exceeding admiration to small boys, who +speculated upon the result of a blow from his fist. + +He had not gone far along Bond Street when he cannoned into a young man, +who received a ponderous blow in the chest from Harden's swinging fist. +The explorer could hardly have been expected to look where he was going, +since at that moment he was passing a gunsmith's where the latest +improvement of elephant gun was on view in the window. + +"I beg your pardon!" he exclaimed in eager apology. + +"It's nothing," said the other, and then added, with a note of surprise, +"Uncle Ted, by all that's wonderful! I might have known it was you." + +Edward Harden seldom expressed surprise. He just took the young +gentleman by the arm and walked him along at the rate of about five +miles an hour. "Come and have lunch," said he. + +Now Max Harden, in addition to being the explorer's only nephew, was a +medical student at one of the London hospitals. As a small boy, he had +regarded his uncle as one of the greatest men in the universe--which, in +a physical sense, he was. + +A week before Max had come of age, which meant that he had acquired the +modest inheritance of a thousand pounds a year. He had also secured a +commission from the Royal Academy of Physicians to make sundry inquiries +into the origin of certain obscure tropical diseases in the district of +the Lower Congo. This was precisely the part of the world to which +Edward Harden was about to depart. Max knew that quite well, and his +idea was to travel with his uncle. He had been to the Explorers' Club, +and had been told by the hall porter that Mr. Edward Harden was out, but +that he would probably return for lunch. It was about two minutes later +that he collided with his uncle outside the gunsmith's shop. + +To lunch at the Explorers' Club was in itself an achievement. That day +several well-known men were there: Du Cane, the lion hunter; Frankfort +Williams, back from the Arctic, and George Cartwright, who had not yet +accomplished his famous journey into Thibet. Upon the walls of the +dining-room were full-length pictures of the great pioneers of +exploration: Columbus, Franklin and Cook. It was not until after +luncheon, when Max and his uncle were seated in the outer +smoking-room--through the green baize doors, it will be remembered, it +was forbidden for guests to enter--that Max broached the topic that was +nearest to his heart. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "tell me about this expedition? As yet I know +nothing." + +"We're going up the Congo," answered Harden simply; "and it's natural +enough that you should know nothing about it, since practically nothing +is known. Our object is big game, but we hope to bring back some +valuable geographical information. The mouth of the Congo was +discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Since then +several trading-stations have sprung up on the river, but no one has +penetrated inland. It is known that about five hundred miles from the +mouth of the river, a tributary, called the Kasai, flows from the south. +Of the upper valley of that river absolutely nothing is known, except +that it consists of the most impenetrable forests and is inhabited by +cannibal tribes. It is there we propose to go." + +"Who goes with you?" asked Max. + +"Crouch," said Harden; "Captain Crouch. The most remarkable man on the +Coast. Nobody in England has ever heard of him; but on the West Coast, +from Lagos to Loango, he is either hated like sin or worshipped like a +heathen god. There's no man alive who understands natives as well as +Crouch. He can get more work out of a pack of Kru-boys in a day than a +shipping-agent or a trader can in a week." + +"How do you account for it?" asked Max. + +"Pluck," said Harden, "and perseverance. Also, from the day he was +born, a special providence seems to have guarded him. For many years he +was captain of a coasting-packet that worked from St. Louis to Spanish +Guinea. He fell overboard once in the Bight of Biafra, and lost a +foot." + +"How did he do that?" asked Max, already vastly interested in the +personality of Captain Crouch. + +"Sharks," said Harden, as if it were an everyday occurrence. "They swim +round Fernando Po like goldfish in a bowl. Would you believe it? Crouch +knifed that fish in the water, though he'll wear a cork foot to his +dying day. He was one of the first men to force his way up the Niger, +and I happened to be at Old Calabar when he was brought in with a +poisoned arrow-head in his eye. At that time the natives of the +interior used to dip their weapons in snake's poison, and no one but +Crouch could have lived. But he pulled through all right. He's one of +those small, wiry men that can't be killed. He has got a case full of +glass eyes now, of all the colours in the rainbow, and he plays Old +Harry with the natives. If they don't do what he wants, I've seen him +pull out a blue eye and put in a red one, which frightens the life out +of them. Crouch isn't like any one else I've ever met. He has the most +astonishing confidence in himself; he's practically fever-proof; he can +talk about twenty West African dialects, and he's a better shot than I +am. I believe the only person he cares for in the world is myself. I +would never dream of undertaking this expedition without him." + +"I suppose," said Max, a trifle nervously, "you wouldn't think of +including a third member in your party?" + +Edward Harden looked at his nephew sharply. "What do you mean?" he +asked. + +"I mean," said Max, "that I have undertaken to investigate certain +tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness and malarial typhoid, in +the very districts to which you are going. I thought you might not +object if I came with you. I didn't know I had Captain Crouch to deal +with." + +Edward Harden rose to his feet and knocked out his pipe in the grate. + +"For myself," said he, "I should be pleased to have you with me. Are +you ready to start at once? We hope to sail next week." + +Max nodded. + +"H'm," said the explorer, "I must ask Crouch. I think he's in the +club." + +He went to one of the green baize doors at the other end of the room, +opened it, and looked in. + +"Crouch," said he, "do you mind coming here a moment. There's something +I want to ask you." + +He then came back to his seat and filled another pipe. As he was +engaged in lighting this, a green baize door swung back and there +entered one of the most extraordinary men that it was ever the lot of +the young medical student to behold. + +As we have said, the Explorers' Club was in Bond Street, and Captain +Crouch was dressed after the fashion of a pilot; that is to say, he wore +a navy-blue suit with brass buttons and a red tie. He was a very small +man, and exceedingly thin. There seemed nothing of him. His head was +almost entirely bald. He wore a small, bristling moustache, cut short +like a tooth-brush, and a tuft of hair beneath his nether lip. His +eyebrows were exceedingly dark, and met on the bridge of his nose. His +skin was the colour of parchment, and wrinkled and creased in all +directions. He had a large hook nose, and a chin of excessive +prominence. Though he appeared entirely bloodless, there was something +about him that suggested extreme vital energy--the kind of vitality +which may be observed in a rat. He was an aggressive-looking man. +Though he walked with a pronounced limp, he was quick in all his +movements. His mouth was closed fast upon a pipe in which he smoked a +kind of black tobacco which is called Bull's Eye Shag, one whiff of +which would fumigate a greenhouse, killing every insect therein from an +aphis to a spider. He reeked of this as a soap-factory smells of fat. +In no other club in London would its consumption have been allowed; but +the Explorers were accustomed to greater hardships than even the smell +of Bull's Eye Shag. + +"Well, Ted," said Crouch, "what's this?" + +One eye, big and staring, was directed out of the window; the other, +small, black and piercing, turned inwards upon Max in the most appalling +squint. + +"This is my nephew," said Harden; "Max Harden--Captain Crouch, my +greatest friend." + +Max held out a hand, but Crouch appeared not to notice it. He turned to +Edward. + +"What's the matter with him?" he asked. + +"He's suffering from a complaint which, I fancy, both you and I +contracted in our younger days--a desire to investigate the Unknown. In +a word, Crouch, he wants to come with us." + +Crouch whipped round upon Max. + +"You're too young for the Coast," said he. "You'll go out the moment +you get there like a night-light." + +"I'm ready to take my chance," said Max. + +Crouch looked pleased at that, for his only eye twinkled and seemed to +grow smaller. + +Max was anxious to take advantage of the little ground he might have +gained. "Also," he added, "I am a medical man--at least, I'm a medical +student. I am making a special study of tropical diseases." + +And no sooner were the words from his lips than he saw he had made a +fatal mistake, for Captain Crouch brought down his fist so violently +upon one of the little smokers' tables with which the room was +scattered, that the three legs broke off, and the whole concern +collapsed upon the floor. + +"Do you think we want a medical adviser!" he roared. "Study till you're +black in the face, till you're eighty years old, and you won't know a +tenth of what I know. What's the use of all your science? I've lived +on the Coast for thirty years, and I tell you this: there are only two +things that matter where fever is concerned--pills and funk. Waiter, +take that table away, and burn it." + +It is probable that at this juncture Max's hopes had been dashed to +earth had it not been for his uncle, who now put in a word. + +"Tell you what, Crouch," said he, in the quiet voice which, for some +reason or other, all big men possess; "the boy might be useful, after +all. He's a good shot. He's made of the right stuff--I've known him +since he was a baby. He's going out there anyhow, so he may as well +come with us." + +"Why, of course he may," said Crouch. "I'm sure we'll be delighted to +have him." + +Such a sudden change of front was one of the most remarkable +characteristics of this extraordinary man. Often, in the breath of a +single sentence, he would appear to change his mind. But this was not +the case. He had a habit of thinking aloud, and of expressing his +thoughts in the most vehement manner imaginable. Indeed, if his +character can be summed up in any one word, it would be this one word +"vehemence." He talked loudly, he gesticulated violently, he smashed +the furniture, and invariably knocked his pipe out in such a frantic +manner that he broke the stem. And yet Edward Harden---who knew him +better than any one else in the world--always protested that he had +never known Crouch to lose his temper. This was just the ordinary +manner in which he lived, breathed and had his being. + +"I'm sure," said Captain Crouch, "we will be delighted to take you with +us. Ted, what are you going to do this afternoon?" + +"I am going to get some exercise--a turn in the Park." + +"I'll come with you," said Crouch. + +So saying, he stumped off to fetch his cap which he had left in the +inner room. No sooner was he gone than Max turned to his uncle. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "I can't thank you sufficiently." + +The big man laid a hand upon the young one's shoulder. + +"That's nothing," said he. "But I must tell you this: if you are coming +with us to the Kasai, you must drop the 'uncle.' Your father was +considerably older than I was--fifteen years. You had better call me by +my Christian name--Edward. 'Ted's' a trifle too familiar." + +By then they were joined by Crouch, who carried a large knotted stick in +one hand, and in the other--a paper bag. + +"What have you got there?" asked Harden, pointing to the bag. + +"Sweets," said Crouch. "For the children in the Park." + +And so it came about that they three left the Explorers' Club together, +Max in the middle, with his gigantic uncle on one hand, and the little +wizened sea-captain on the other. + +They created no small amount of interest and amazement in Bond Street, +but they were blissfully ignorant of the fact. The world of these men +was not the world of the little parish of St. James's. One was little +more than a boy, whose mind was filled with dreams; but the others were +men who had seen the stars from places where no human being had ever +beheld them before, who had been the first to set foot in unknown lands, +who had broken into the heart of savagery and darkness. Theirs was a +world of danger, hardship and adventure. They had less respect for the +opinion of those who passed them by than for the wild beasts that prowl +by night around an African encampment. After all, the world is made up +of two kinds of men: those who think and those who act; and who can say +which is the greater of the two? + + + + +CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI + + +A mist lay upon the river like a cloud of steam. The sun was invisible, +except for a bright concave dome, immediately overhead, which showed +like the reflection of a furnace in the midst of the all-pervading +greyness of the heavens. The heat was intense--the heat of the +vapour-room of a Turkish bath. Myriads of insects droned upon the +surface of the water. + +The river had still a thousand miles to cover before it reached the +ocean--the blazing, surf-beaten coast-line to the north of St. Paul de +Loanda. Its turgid, coffee-coloured waters rushed northward through a +land of mystery and darkness, lapping the banks amid black mangrove +swamps and at the feet of gigantic trees whose branches were tangled in +confusion. + +In pools where the river widened, schools of hippopotami lay like great +logs upon the surface, and here and there a crocodile basked upon a +mud-bank, motionless by the hour, like some weird, bronze image that had +not the power to move. In one place a two-horned rhinoceros burst +through the jungle, and with a snort thrust its head above the current +of the stream. + +This was the Unknown. This was the World as it Had Been, before man was +on the earth. These animals are the relics that bind us to the Past, to +the cave-men and the old primordial days. There was a silence on the +river that seemed somehow overpowering, rising superior to the ceaseless +droning of the insects and the soft gurgling of the water, which formed +little shifting eddies in the lee of fallen trees. + +A long canoe shot through the water like some great, questing beast. +Therein were twelve natives from Loango, all but naked as they came into +the world. Their paddles flashed in the reflected light of the furnace +overhead; for all that, the canoe came forward without noise except for +the gentle rippling sound of the water under the bows. In the stern +were seated two men side by side, and one of these was Edward Harden, +and the other his nephew Max. In the body of the canoe was a great +number of "loads": camp equipment, provisions, ammunition and cheap +Manchester goods, such as are used by the traders to barter for ivory +and rubber with the native chiefs. Each "load" was the maximum weight +that could be carried by a porter, should the party find it necessary to +leave the course of the river. + +In the bows, perched like an eagle above his eyrie, was Captain Crouch. +His solitary eye darted from bank to bank. In his thin nervous hands he +held a rifle, ready on the instant to bring the butt into the hollow of +his shoulder. + +As the canoe rounded each bend of the river, the crocodiles glided from +the mud-banks and the hippopotami sank silently under the stream. Here +and there two nostrils remained upon the surface--small, round, black +objects, only discernible by the ripples which they caused. + +Suddenly a shot rang out, sharp as the crack of a whip. The report +echoed, again and again, in the dark, inhospitable forest that extended +on either bank. There was a rush of birds that rose upon the wing; the +natives shipped their paddles, and, on the left bank of the river, the +two-horned rhinoceros sat bolt upright on its hind-legs like a sow, with +its fore-legs wide apart. Then, slowly, it rolled over and sank deep +into the mud. By then Crouch had reloaded. + +"What was it?" asked Harden. + +"A rhino," said Crouch. "We were too far off for him to see us, and the +wind was the right way." + +A moment later the canoe drew into the bank a little distance from where +the great beast lay. Harden and Crouch waded into the mire, knives in +hand; and that rhino was skinned with an ease and rapidity which can +only be accomplished by the practised hunter. The meat was cut into +large slices, which were distributed as rations to the natives. Of the +rest, only the head was retained, and this was put into a second canoe, +which soon after came into sight. + +After that they continued their journey up the wide, mysterious river. +All day long the paddles were never still, the rippling sound continued +at the bows. Crouch remained motionless as a statue, rifle in hand, +ready to fire at a moment's notice. With his dark, overhanging brow, +his hook nose, and his thin, straight lips, he bore a striking +resemblance to some gaunt bird of prey. + +A second shot sounded as suddenly and unexpectedly as the first, and a +moment after Crouch was on his feet. + +"A leopard!" he cried. "I hit him. He's wounded. Run her into the +bank." + +The canoe shot under a large tree, one branch of which overhung the +water so low that they were able to seize it. Edward Harden was ashore +in a moment, followed by his nephew. Crouch swung himself ashore by +means of the overhanging bough. Harden's eyes were fixed upon the +ground. It was a place where animals came to drink, for the soft mud +had been trampled and churned by the feet of many beasts. + +"There!" cried Harden. "Blood!" + +Sure enough, upon the green leaf of some strange water plant there was a +single drop of blood. Though the big game hunter had spoken in an +excited manner, he had never raised his voice. + +It was Crouch who took up the spoor, and followed it from leaf to leaf. +Whenever he failed to pick it up, Harden put him right. Max was as a +baby in such matters, and it was often that he failed to recognize the +spoor, even when it was pointed out to him. + +They had to break their way through undergrowth so thick that it was +like a woodstack. The skin upon their hands and faces was scratched +repeatedly by thorns. They were followed by a cloud of insects. They +were unable to see the sky above them by reason of the branches of the +trees, which, high above the undergrowth through which they passed, +formed a vast barrier to the sunlight. And yet it was not dark. There +was a kind of half-light which it is difficult to describe, and which +seemed to emanate from nowhere. Nothing in particular, yet everything +in general, appeared to be in the shade. + +On a sudden Crouch stopped dead. + +"He's not far from here," he said. "Look there!" + +Max's eyes followed Crouch's finger. He saw a place where the long +grass was all crushed and broken as if some animal had been lying down, +and in two places there were pools of blood. + +Crouch raised both arms. "Open out," said he. "Be ready to fire if he +springs. He'll probably warn you with a growl." + +This information was for the benefit of Max. To tell Edward Harden such +things would be like giving minute instructions to a fish concerning the +rudiments of swimming. + +Max, obeying Crouch's orders, broke into the jungle on the left, whereas +Edward moved to the right. Keeping abreast of one another, they moved +forward for a distance of about two hundred yards. This time it was +Harden who ordered the party to halt. They heard his quiet voice in the +midst of the thickets: "Crouch, come here; I want you." + +A moment later Max joined his two friends. He found them standing side +by side: Edward, with eyes turned upward like one who listens, and +Crouch with an ear to the ground. Harden, by placing a finger upon his +lips, signed to his nephew to be silent. Max also strained his ears to +catch the slight sound in the jungle which had aroused the suspicion of +these experienced hunters. + +After a while he heard a faint snap, followed by another, and then a +third. Then there was a twanging sound, very soft, like the noise of a +fiddle-string when thrummed by a finger. It was followed almost +immediately by a shriek, as terrible and unearthly as anything that Max +had ever heard. It was the dying scream of a wounded beast--one of the +great tribe of cats. + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"Fans," said he. "What's more, they've got my leopard." + +He made the remark in the same manner as a Londoner might point out a +Putney 'bus; yet, at that time, the Fans were one of the most warlike of +the cannibal tribes of Central Africa. They were reputed to be +extremely hostile to Europeans, and that was about all that was known +concerning them. + +Edward Harden was fully as calm as his friend. + +"We can't get back," said he. "It's either a palaver, or a fight." + +"Come, then," said Crouch. "Let's see which it is." + +At that he led the way, making better progress than before, since he no +longer regarded the spoor of the wounded leopard. + +Presently they came to a place where the jungle ceased abruptly. This +was the edge of a swamp--a circular patch, about two hundred yards +across, where nothing grew but a species of slender reed. Though Max +had not known it, this was the very place for which the other two were +looking. Backwoodsmen though they were, they had no desire to face a +hostile tribe in jungle so dense that it would scarcely be possible to +lift a rifle to the present. + +The reeds grew in tufts capable of bearing the weight of a heavy man; +but, in between, was a black, glutinous mud. + +"If you fall into that," said Crouch, who still led the way, "you'll +stick like glue, and you'll be eaten alive by leeches." + +In the centre of the swamp the ground rose into a hillock, and here it +was possible for them to stand side by side. They waited for several +moments in absolute silence. And then a dark figure burst through the +jungle, and a second later fell flat upon the ground. + +"I was right," said Crouch. "That man was a Fan. We'll find out in a +moment whether they mean to fight. I hope to goodness they don't find +the canoes." + +In the course of the next few minutes it became evident, even to Max, +that they were surrounded. On all sides the branches and leaves of the +undergrowth on the edge of the swamp were seen to move, and here and +there the naked figure of a savage showed between the trees. + +The Fans are still one of the dominant races of Central Africa. About +the middle of the last century the tribe swept south-west from the +equatorial regions, destroying the villages and massacring the people of +the more peaceful tribes towards the coast. The Fans have been proved +to possess higher intelligence than the majority of the Central African +races. Despite their pugnacious character, and the practice of +cannibalism which is almost universal among them, they have been +described as being bright, active and energetic Africans, including +magnificent specimens of the human race. At this time, however, little +was known concerning them, and that little, for the most part, was +confined to Captain Crouch, who, on a previous occasion, had penetrated +into the Hinterland of the Gabun. + +Edward Harden and his friends were not left long in doubt as to whether +or not the Fans intended to be hostile, for presently a large party of +men advanced upon them from all sides at once. For the most part these +warriors were armed with great shields and long spears, though a few +carried bows and arrows. The Fan spear is a thing by itself. The head +is attached but lightly to the shaft, so that when the warrior plunges +his weapon into his victims, the spear-head remains in the wound. + +Captain Crouch handed his rifle to Edward, and then stepped forward +across the marsh to meet these would-be enemies. He was fully alive to +their danger. He knew that with their firearms they could keep the +savages at bay for some time, but in the end their ammunition would run +out. He thought there was still a chance that the matter might be +settled in an amicable manner. + +"Palaver," said he, speaking in the language of the Fans. "Friends. +Trade-palaver Good." + +The only answer he got was an arrow that shot past his ear, and +disappeared in the mud He threw back his head and laughed. + +"No good," he cried. "Trade-palaver friends." + +A tall, thin savage, about six feet in height, approached by leaps and +bounds, springing like an antelope from one tuft of grass to another. +His black face, with white, gleaming teeth, looked over the top of a +large, oval shield. With a final spring, he landed on dry ground a few +feet from where Crouch was standing. Then he raised his spear on high; +but, before he had time to strike, Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin +like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud. + +[Illustration: "CROUCH'S FIST RANG OUT UPON HIS CHIN LIKE A PISTOL-SHOT, +AND HE WENT OVER BACKWARDS INTO THE MUD."] + +There was a strange, sucking noise as the marsh swallowed him to the +chin. For some moments he floundered hopelessly, his two hands grasping +in the air. He laid hold of tufts of grass, and pulled them up by the +roots. Then Crouch bent down, gripped both his hands, and with a great +effort dragged him on to terra firma. + +His black skin was plastered with a blacker mud, and on almost every +inch of his body, from his neck to his feet, a large water-leech was +glued like an enormous slug. The man was already weak from loss of +blood. Had he remained in the marsh a minute longer, there is no doubt +he would have fainted. Crouch took a knife from his pocket, and, +talking all the time, as a nursemaid talks to a naughty child, one by +one he tore the leeches from the man's body, and threw them back into +the marsh. + +The others, who had drawn closer, remained at a safe distance. It seems +they were undecided how to act, since this man was their leader, and +they were accustomed to receive their orders from him. It is impossible +to say what would have happened, had not Crouch taken charge of the +situation. He asked the man where his village was, and the fellow +pointed to the east. + +"Yonder," said he; "in the hills." + +"Lead on," said Crouch. "We're coming home with you, for a cup of tea +and a talk." + +For a moment the man was too stupefied to answer. He had never expected +this kind of reception from an individual who could have walked under +his outstretched arm. What surprised him most of all was Crouch's +absolute self-confidence. The Negro and Bantu races are all alike in +this: they are extraordinarily simple-minded and impressionable. The +Fan chieftain looked at Crouch, and then dropped his eyes. When he +lifted them, a broad grin had extended across his face. + +"Good," said he. "My village. Palaver. You come." + +Crouch turned and winked at Max, and then followed the chief towards the +jungle. + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD + + +When both parties were gathered together on the edge of the marsh, Max +felt strangely uncomfortable. Both Crouch and Edward seemed thoroughly +at home, and the former was talking to the chief as if he had found an +old friend whom he had not seen for several years. Putting aside the +strangeness of his surroundings, Max was not able to rid his mind of the +thought that these men were cannibals. He looked at them in disgust. +There was nothing in particular to distinguish them from the other races +he had seen upon the coast, except, perhaps, they were of finer physique +and had better foreheads. It was the idea which was revolting. In the +country of the Fans there are no slaves, no prisoners, and no +cemeteries; a fact which speaks for itself. + +Crouch and the chief, whose name was M'Wan, led the way through the +jungle. They came presently to the body of the wounded leopard, which +lay with an arrow in its heart. It was the "twang" of the bowstring +that Max had heard in the jungle. And now took place an incident that +argued well for the future. + +M'Wan protested that the leopard belonged to Crouch, since the +Englishman had drawn first blood. This was the law of his tribe. +Crouch, on the other hand, maintained that the law of his tribe was that +the game was the property of the killer. The chief wanted the +leopard-skin, and it required little persuasion to make him accept it, +which he was clearly delighted to do. + +Crouch skinned the leopard himself, and presented the skin to M'Wan. +And then the whole party set forth again, and soon came to a track along +which progress was easy. + +It was approaching nightfall when they reached the extremity of the +forest, and came upon a great range of hills which, standing clear of +the mist that hung in the river valley, caught the full glory of the +setting sun. Upon the upper slopes of the hills was a village of two +rows of huts, and at each end of the streets thus formed was a +guard-house, where a sentry stood on duty. M'Wan's hut was larger than +the others, and it was into this that the Europeans were conducted. In +the centre of the floor was a fire, and hanging from several places in +the roof were long sticks with hooks on them, the hooks having been made +by cutting off branching twigs. From these hooks depended the scant +articles of the chief's wardrobe and several fetish charms. + +For two hours Crouch and the chief talked, and it was during that +conversation that there came to light the most extraordinary episode of +which we have to tell. From that moment, and for many weeks afterwards, +it was a mystery that they were wholly unable to solve. Both Crouch and +Harden knew the savage nature too well to believe that M'Wan lied. +Though his story was vague, and overshadowed by the superstitions that +darken the minds of the fetish worshippers, there was no doubt that it +was based upon fact. As the chief talked, Crouch translated to his +friends. + +The chief first asked what they were doing on the Kasai, and Crouch +answered that they were there for big game--for rhinoceros, buffalo and +leopard. The chief answered that there was certainly much game on the +Kasai, but there was more on the "Hidden River." That was the first +time they ever heard the name. + +Crouch asked why it was called the "Hidden River"; and M'Wan answered +that it would be impossible for any one to find the mouth. On the +southern bank of the Kasai, about two days up-stream, there was a large +mangrove swamp, and it was beyond this that the "Hidden River" lay. + +"Can you pass through the swamp in a canoe?" asked Crouch. + +The chief shook his head, and said that a canoe could pass the mangrove +swamp, but it could not penetrate far up the river, because of a great +waterfall, where the water fell hundreds of feet between huge pillars of +rock. + +"One can carry a canoe," said Crouch. + +"Perhaps," said M'Wan, as if in doubt. "But, of those that pass the +cataract, none come back alive." + +"Why?" asked Crouch. + +"Because of the Fire-gods that haunt the river. The Fire-gods are +feared from the seacoast to the Lakes." + +Crouch pricked up his ears like a terrier that scents a rat. The little +man sat cross-legged, with his hands upon his ankles; and as he plied +the Fan chief with questions, he positively wriggled where he sat. + +He found out that the "Fire-gods" were white men--a fact that astonished +him exceedingly. He was told that they were not white men like himself +and his friends, but wicked spirits who controlled the thunder and who +could make the earth tremble for miles around. Even the Fans feared +them, and for several months none of the tribes had ventured into the +valley of the "Hidden River." + +"They're men with rifles," said Harden. "These people have never seen a +firearm in their lives." + +At that he led M'Wan from the hut, and, followed by Max and Crouch, he +walked a little distance from the village. There, in the moonlight, he +picked up a stone from the ground, and set this upon a branch. From a +distance of about twenty paces, with M'Wan at his side, he lifted his +rifle to his shoulder, and struck the stone with a bullet, so that it +fell upon the ground. + +"There," said he, "that is what your Fire-gods do; they are armed with +rifles--like this." + +But M'Wan shook his head. He had heard of rifles. Tribes they had +raided upon the coast had spoken of the white men that could slay at a +distance. But the Fire-gods were greater still. Every evening, in the +valley of the Hidden River, loud thunder rent the air. The birds had +left the valley--even the snakes had gone. The Fire-gods were kings +over Nature. Moreover, they were merciless. Hundreds of natives--men +of the Pende tribe, the Pambala and the Bakutu--had gone into the +valley; but no one had returned. + +At that Crouch set off towards the hut without a word. The others, +following, found him seated cross-legged at the fire, tugging at the +tuft of hair which grew beneath his lip. For some minutes the little +wizened sea-captain spoke aloud to himself. + +"I'll find out who these people are," said he. "White men may have gone +up the river to trade; but it's bad for business if you get a reputation +for murder. I don't understand it at all. I've heard of a white race +in the centre of the continent; maybe it's they. I hope it is. At any +rate, we'll go and see." + +For a few brief moments he lapsed into silence. Then he tapped M'Wan +on the arm. + +"Will you take us to the Hidden River?" he asked. + +M'Wan sprang to his feet, violently shaking his head. He protested +that he dared do nothing of the sort. They could not disbelieve him, +for the man was actually trembling in his limbs. + +Crouch turned to Harden. + +"I've a mind to look into this," said he. + +"I, too," said the other. + +"He won't take us," said Max. + +"I'll make him," said Crouch. "For the present, I'm going to sleep. The +boys will stick to the canoes. We must get back to the river to-morrow +afternoon. Good-night." + +So saying, he curled himself up like a hedgehog, and, resting his head +upon his folded arms, immediately fell asleep. + +It was already three months since they had left Banana Point at the +mouth of the Congo. They had journeyed to the foot of the rapids by +steamboat, and thence had carried their canoes across several miles of +country. They had enjoyed a good deal of mixed shooting in the lower +valley, and then they had said good-bye to the few trading stations, or +factories, which lay scattered at wide intervals upon the banks of the +great river, and which were the last links that bound them to such +civilization as the wilds of Africa could show. Max had already gained +much experience of life in the wilds of tropical Africa. This was not +the first time that he had found himself obliged to sleep upon the +ground, without pillow or blankets, or that which was still more +necessary--a mosquito-net. + +When he opened his eyes it was daylight, and the first thing that he +beheld was Captain Crouch, seated cross-legged at the fireside, with his +pipe between his teeth. His one eye was fixed in the glowing embers. +He appeared to be deep in thought, for his face was all screwed up, and +he never moved. Thin wreaths of smoke came from the bowl of his pipe, +and the hut reeked of his foul tobacco. Suddenly he snatched the pipe +from his lips, and banged the bowl so viciously upon the heel of his +boot that he broke it in twain. "I have it!" he cried. "I've got it!" + +Max asked what was the matter. + +"I've got an idea," said Crouch. "I'll make this fellow take us to the +Hidden River, whether he wants to or not. They are frightened of these +Fire-gods, are they! By Christopher, I'll make them more frightened of +me, or my name was never Crouch!" + +He got to his feet, and crossed the hut to M'Wan, who still lay asleep. +He seized the chief by the shoulders and shook him violently, until the +man sat up and rubbed his eyes. + +"Your people," said he. "Big palaver. Now. Be quick." + +M'Wan seemed to understand, for he got up and left the hut. Edward +Harden was now awake. + +The life that is lived by these Central African tribes finds a parallel +in the ancient history of nearly all races that we know of. Government, +for the most part, is in the hands of the headman of every village. The +maintenance of law and order, the giving of wives, the exchange of +possessions, is settled by "palaver," which amounts to a kind of meeting +of the entire population, presided over by the chief. Near every village +is a regular palaver-ground, usually in the shade of the largest tree in +the neighbourhood. + +It was here, on this early morning, that M'Wan summoned all the +inhabitants of the village--men, women and children. They seated +themselves upon the ground in a wide circle, in the midst of which was +the trunk of a fallen tree. Upon this trunk the three Europeans seated +themselves, Crouch in the middle, with his companions on either side. + +When all was ready, M'Wan rose to his feet, and announced in stentorian +tones that the little white man desired to speak to them, and that they +must listen attentively to what he had to say. Whereupon Crouch got to +his feet, and from that moment onward--in the parlance of the +theatre--held the stage: the whole scene was his. He talked for nearly +an hour, and during that time never an eye was shifted from his face, +except when he called attention to the parrot. + +He was wonderful to watch. He shouted, he gesticulated, he even danced. +In face of his limited vocabulary, it is a wonder how he made himself +understood; but he did. He was perfectly honest from the start. +Perhaps his experience had taught him that it is best to be honest with +savages, as it is with horses and dogs. He said that he had made his +way up the Kasai in order to penetrate to the upper reaches of the +Hidden River. He said that he had heard of the Fire-gods, and he was +determined to find out who they were. For himself, he believed that the +Fire-gods were masters of some kind of witchcraft. It would be madness +to fight them with spears and bows and arrows. He believed, from what +he had heard, that even his own rifle would be impotent. High on a +tree-top was perched a parrot, that preened its feathers in the +sunlight, and chattered to itself. Crouch pointed this parrot out to +the bewildered natives, and then, lifting his rifle to his shoulder, +fired, and the bird fell dead to the ground. That was the power he +possessed, he told them: he could strike at a distance, and he seldom +failed to kill. And yet he dared not approach the Fire-gods, because +they were masters of witchcraft. But he also knew the secrets of magic, +and his magic was greater and more potent than the magic of the +Fire-gods. He could not be killed; he was immortal. He was prepared to +prove it. Whereat, he re-loaded his rifle, and deliberately fired a +bullet through his foot. + +The crowd rushed in upon him from all sides, stricken in amazement. But +Crouch waved them back, and stepping up to Edward, told the Englishman +to shoot again. Harden lifted his rifle to his shoulder, and sent a +bullet into the ankle of Crouch's cork foot. Thereupon, Crouch danced +round the ring of natives, shouting wildly, springing into the air, +proving to all who might behold that he was a thousand times alive. + +They fell down upon their faces and worshipped him as a god. Without +doubt he had spoken true: he was invulnerable, immortal, a witch-doctor +of unheard-of powers. + +But Crouch had not yet done. Before they had time to recover from their +amazement, he had snatched out his glass eye, and thrust it into the +hands of M'Wan himself, who dropped it like a living coal. They rushed +to it, and looked at it, but dared not touch it. And when they looked +up, Crouch had another eye in the socket--an eye that was flaming red. + +A loud moan arose from every hand--a moan which gave expression to their +mingled feelings of bewilderment, reverence and fear. From that moment +Crouch was "the White Wizard," greater even than the Fire-gods, as the +glory of the sun outstrips the moon. + +"And now," cried Crouch, lifting his hands in the air, "will you, or +will you not, guide me to the Hidden River where the Fire-gods live?" + +M'Wan came forward and prostrated himself upon the ground. + +"The White Wizard," said he, "has only to command." + + + + +CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER + + +It is not necessary to describe in detail the passage up the Kasai, from +the place where the leopard had been wounded to Date Palm Island, which +was where M'Wan decided to disembark. During that voyage, which +occupied two and a half days, they passed a mangrove swamp upon the +southern bank, which the Fan chief pointed out as the place where the +Hidden River joined the Kasai. + +No one would have guessed it. The short, stunted trees were packed so +close together that their branches formed a kind of solid roof which +appeared to extend for miles. Underneath, there was darkness as of +night. There was nothing to suggest that another river here joined the +larger stream. The Kasai did not narrow above the swamp, nor was there +any change in the colour of the water or the strength of the current. + +Date Palm Island lay a day's journey by canoe above the mangrove swamp. +The name of Date Palm Island was given by Edward Harden the moment he +set eyes upon the little rocky islet in mid-stream, upon which stood a +solitary tree. It was the custom of this explorer to name the natural +features he discovered; and it was he who was also responsible for the +names of other places of which, in course of time, we shall have +occasion to tell, such as Solitude Peak and Hippo Pool. + +In addition to the Loango boys who composed the crews, the party now +included M'Wan, the Fan chief, and four of his most trusted warriors. +It was on the occasion of this journey on the Upper Kasai that Edward +Harden made one of the mistakes of his life. M'Wan travelled in the +first canoe with themselves, and his four warriors in the other canoe +which followed. Both Harden and Crouch had a natural wish to keep the +object of their journey a secret. Neither knew that one of the boys in +the second canoe could both speak and understand the Fan dialect, and it +was he who told his companions that the Hidden River was their +destination. Still, no one suspected that the secret was out, until +they had unloaded all their supplies and ammunition at Date Palm Island, +where they decided to form their base. + +In this district, the general course of the Kasai lies due south-west. +From the mangrove swamp on the southern bank, the valley of the Hidden +River lies, more or less, in a direct line from north to south. M'Wan +had known the Hidden River in the old days, before the Fire-gods came +into the country. He said that there was a good portage across country +from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, which was the nearest accessible +point on the Hidden River above the rapids that flowed through the Long +Ravine. + +They decided to leave one canoe on the island, in charge of four of the +Loango boys. The remaining natives could be employed in carrying the +lighter of the two canoes, and a sufficiency of stores and ammunition +across country to the Hidden River. The indignation of Crouch may be +imagined when the boys struck in a body and refused to undertake the +portage. + +Edward used his greatest powers of persuasion; Crouch threatened and +abused. They answered that word of the Fire-gods had been carried even +as far as the Coast, that they had never bargained to sell their lives +to the Englishmen. None the less, they expressed their willingness to +remain upon the island until the party returned. + +Crouch turned to M'Wan. + +"And do you, too, go back?" he asked. + +The chief shook his head, and smiled. + +"My men and I will stand by the White Wizard," he answered. "A Fan +holds to his word." + +Crouch slapped the chief upon the back, and then went on to explain to +the boys that if they helped with the portage, they would not be asked +to embark on the Hidden River, but could return to Date Palm Island. +After some discussion, they agreed to this; and as much time had already +been wasted, Harden and Crouch decided not to start until daybreak the +following day. + +According to Edward Harden's diary, the portage lasted two weeks and +three days. They were obliged to force their way through virgin forest. +It was frequently necessary to cut down with axes and billhooks the +tangled undergrowth and creepers that wove themselves amid the trunks of +the trees, in order to make room for the canoe to pass. Some days they +did not cover more than a mile, though they were working from dawn to +sunset. But towards the end of the journey the passage became easier, +by reason of the fact that they found a watercourse, which they +followed, until they finally came forth into the sunlight at Hippo Pool. + +When they first looked upon it, it was as if, indeed, there were an air +of mystery in the valley of the Hidden River. The silence that reigned +upon its surface was intense. The atmosphere seemed several degrees +hotter even than the forest. The name Hippo Pool was given because, +immediately on their arrival, Edward Harden, who was leading, shot a +hippopotamus which he found asleep upon the bank. They were glad enough +of the meat for the natives, who would require provisions on their +journey back to the Kasai. + +The next morning the Loango boys left in a body. They were glad enough +to be off. And soon afterwards the canoe shot out from the bank. + +Their progress was painfully slow. M'Wan and his four followers worked +continually with the paddles, assisted in turn by Harden and his nephew. +As for Crouch, he was always the look-out man. His only eye was quick +and keen as that of a falcon. + +Hour by hour they toiled into the Unknown, until the sweat poured from +their faces and their hands were blistered in the sun; and the blisters +would not heal, because of the insects that followed in a crowd. The +jungle grew more magnificent and wild as the river narrowed. The +character of the trees changed, and of the undergrowth--all became more +luxuriant, more profuse, until they found themselves in a land where +Nature was something fantastic and superb. + +It was on the third day after they had set out from Hippo Pool that they +turned an angle of the river, and came on a sudden into a cup-shaped +valley where there was but little vegetation. A circle of granite hills +stood all around them, and in the centre on either side of the river was +a plain of sand. Crouch turned in the bows and pointed to something +ahead, and at that moment the sharp crack of a rifle echoed in the +stillness, and a bullet sped into the water a few inches from the bows +of the canoe. + + + + +CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE + + +As the bullet cut into the water Crouch sprang upright in the canoe. His +thin form trembled with eagerness. The man was like a cat, inasmuch as +he was charged with electricity. Under his great pith helmet the few +hairs which he possessed stood upright on his head. Edward Harden leaned +forward and picked up his rifle, which he now held at the ready. + +By reason of the fact that the river had suddenly widened into a kind of +miniature lake, the current was not so swift. Hence, though M'Wan and +his Fans ceased to paddle, the canoe shot onward by dint of the velocity +at which they had been travelling. Every moment brought them nearer and +nearer to the danger that lay ahead. + +In order to relate what followed, it is necessary to describe the scene. +We have said that the wild, impenetrable jungle had ceased abruptly, and +they found themselves surrounded by granite hills, in the centre of +which lay a plain of glaring sand. To their left, about a hundred paces +from the edge of the river, was a circular stockade. A fence had been +constructed of sharp-pointed stakes, each about eight feet in height. +There was but a single entrance into this stockade--a narrow gate, not +more than three feet across, which faced the river. Up-stream, to the +south, the granite hills closed in from either bank, so that the river +flowed through a gorge which at this distance seemed particularly +precipitous and narrow. Midway between the stockade and the gorge was a +kraal, or large native village, surrounded by a palisade. Within the +palisade could be seen the roofs of several native huts, and at the +entrance, seated cross-legged on the ground, was the white figure of an +Arab who wore the turban and flowing robes by which his race is +distinguished, from the deserts of Bokhara to the Gold Coast. Before +the stockade, standing at the water's edge, was the figure of a European +dressed in a white duck suit. He was a tall, thin man with a black, +pointed beard, and a large sombrero hat. Between his lips was a +cigarette, and in his hands he held a rifle, from the muzzle of which +was issuing a thin trail of smoke. + +As the canoe approached, this man grew vastly excited, and stepped into +the river, until the water had risen to his knees. There, he again +lifted his rifle to his shoulder. + +"Put that down!" cried Crouch. "You're a dead man if you fire." + +The man obeyed reluctantly, and at that moment a second European came +running from the entrance of the stockade. He was a little man, of +about the same build as Crouch, but very round in the back, and with a +complexion so yellow that he might have been a Chinese. + +The man with the beard seemed very agitated. He gesticulated wildly, +and, holding his rifle in his left hand, pointed down-stream with his +right. He was by no means easy to understand, since his pronunciation +of English was faulty, and he never troubled to take his cigarette from +between his lips. + +"Get back!" he cried. "Go back again! You have no business here." + +"Why not?" asked Crouch. + +"Because this river is mine." + +"By what right?" + +"By right of conquest. I refuse to allow you to land." + +The canoe was now only a few yards from the bank. The second man--the +small man with the yellow face--turned and ran back into the stockade, +evidently to fetch his rifle. + +"I'm afraid," said Crouch, "with your permission or without, we intend +to come ashore." + +Again the butt of the man's rifle flew to his shoulder. + +"Another yard," said he, "and I shoot you dead." + +He closed an eye, and took careful aim. His sights were directed +straight at Crouch's heart. At that range--even had he been the worst +shot in the world--he could scarcely have missed. + +Crouch was never seen to move. With his face screwed, and his great +chin thrust forward, his only eye fixed in the midst of the black beard +of the man who dared him to approach, he looked a very figure of +defiance. + +The crack of a rifle--a loud shout--and then a peal of laughter. Crouch +had thrown back his head and was laughing as a school-boy does, with one +hand thrust in a trousers pocket. Edward Harden, seated in the stern +seat, with elbows upon his knees, held his rifle to his shoulder, and +from the muzzle a little puff of smoke was rising in the air. It was +the man with the black beard who had let out the shout, in anger and +surprise. The cigarette had been cut away from between his lips, and +Harden's bullet had struck the butt of his rifle, to send it flying from +his hands into the water. He stood there, knee-deep in the river, +passionate, foiled and disarmed. It was Edward Harden's quiet voice +that now came to his ears. + +"Hands up!" said he. + +Slowly, with his black eyes ablaze, the man lifted his arms above his +head. A moment later, Crouch had sprung ashore. + +The little sea-captain hastened to the entrance of the stockade, and, as +he reached it, the second man came running out, with a rifle in his +hands. He was running so quickly that he was unable to check himself, +and, almost before he knew it, his rifle had been taken from him. He +pulled up with a jerk, and, turning, looked into the face of Captain +Crouch. + +"I must introduce myself," said the captain. "My name's Crouch. Maybe +you've heard of me?" + +The man nodded his head. It appears he had not yet sufficiently +recovered from his surprise to be able to speak. + +"By Christopher!" cried Crouch, on a sudden. "I know you! We've met +before--five years ago in St. Paul de Loanda. You're a half-caste +Portuguese, of the name of de Costa, who had a trade-station at the +mouth of the Ogowe. So you remember me?" + +The little yellow man puckered up his face and bowed. + +"I think," said he, with an almost perfect English accent--"I think +one's knowledge of the Coast would be very limited, if one had never +heard of Captain Crouch." + +Crouch placed his hand upon his heart and made a mimic bow. + +"May I return the compliment?" said he. "I've heard men speak of de +Costa from Sierra Leone to Walfish Bay, and never once have I heard +anything said that was good." + +At that the half-caste caught his under-lip in his teeth, and shot +Crouch a glance in which was fear, mistrust and anger. The sea-captain +did not appear to notice it, for he went on in the easiest manner in the +world. + +"And who's your friend?" he asked, indicating the tall man with the +black beard, who was now approaching with Edward Harden and Max. + +"My friend," said he, "is a countryman of mine, a Portuguese, who has +assumed the name of Csar." The half-caste had evidently not forgotten +the insult which Crouch had hurled in his teeth; for now his demeanour +changed, and he laughed. "If Captain Crouch finds it necessary to +meddle in our affairs," said he, "I think he will find his equal in +Mister Csar." + +Crouch paid no more attention to him than he would have done to a +mosquito; and before the man had finished speaking, he had turned his +back upon him, and held out a hand to the Portuguese. + +"I trust," said he, "you've expressed your gratitude to Ted Harden, who, +instead of taking your life, preferred to extinguish your cigarette." + +"I have already done so," said Csar, with a smile. "I hope to explain +matters later. The mistake was natural enough." + +Crouch, with his one eye, looked this man through and through. He had +been able to sum up the half-caste at a glance. Csar was a personality +that could not be fathomed in an instant. + +The man was not unhandsome. His figure, in spite of its extreme height +and thinness, was exceedingly graceful. The hair of his moustache and +beard, and as much as was visible beneath the broad-brimmed sombrero +hat, was coal-black, and untouched with grey. His features were +aquiline and large. He bore some slight resemblance to the well-known +figure of Don Quixote, except that he was more robust. The most +remarkable thing about him was his jet-black, piercing eyes. If there +was ever such a thing as cruelty, it was there. When he smiled, as he +did now, his face was even pleasant: there was a wealth of wrinkles +round his eyes. + +"It was a natural and unavoidable mistake," said he. "I have been +established here for two years. You and your friends are, perhaps, +sufficiently acquainted with the rivers to know that one must be always +on one's guard." + +Unlike de Costa, he spoke English with a strong accent, which it would +be extremely difficult to reproduce. For all that, he had a good +command of words. + +"And now," he went on, "I must offer you such hospitality as I can. I +notice the men in your canoes are Fans. I must confess I have never +found the Fan a good worker. He is too independent. They are all +prodigal sons." + +"I like the Fan," said Edward. + +"Each man to his taste," said Csar. "In the kraal yonder," he +continued, pointing to the village, "I have about two hundred boys. For +the most part, they belong to the Pambala tribe. As you may know, the +Pambala are the sworn enemies of the Fans. You are welcome to stay with +me as long as you like, but I must request that your Fans be ordered to +remain within the stockade. Will you be so good as to tell them to +disembark?" + +"As you wish," said Edward. + +At Crouch's request, Max went back to the canoe, and returned with +M'Wan and the four Fans. Not until they had been joined by the natives +did Csar lead the way into the stockade. + +They found themselves in what, to all intents and purposes, was a fort. +Outside the walls of the stockade was a ditch, and within was a +banquette, or raised platform, from which it was possible for men to +fire standing. In the centre of the enclosure were three or four +huts--well-constructed buildings for the heart of Africa, and +considerably higher than the ordinary native dwelling-place. Before the +largest hut was a flag-staff, upon which a large yellow flag was +unfurled in the slight breeze that came from the north. + +It was into this hut that they were conducted by the Portuguese. As the +Englishman entered, a large dog, which had been lying upon the floor, +got up and growled, but lay down again on a word from Csar. The +interior of the hut consisted of a single room, furnished with a bed, a +table and several chairs, all of which had been constructed of wood cut +in the forest. As there were only four chairs, the half-caste, de +Costa, seated himself on a large chest, with three heavy padlocks, which +stood against the wall farthest from the door. + +Csar crossed to a kind of sideboard, made of packing-cases, whence he +produced glasses and a bottle of whisky. He then drew a jug of water +from a large filter. These he placed upon the table. He requested his +guests to smoke, and passed round his cigarette-case. His manner, and +the ease with which he played the host, suggested a man of breeding. +Both Edward Harden and his nephew accepted cigarettes, but Crouch filled +his pipe, and presently the hut was reeking, like an ill-trimmed lamp, +of his atrocious "Bull's Eye Shag." + +"I owe you an apology," said Csar; "an apology and an explanation. You +shall have both. But, in the first place, I would like to hear how it +was that you came to discover this river?" + +It was Edward Harden who answered. + +"We were shooting big game on the Kasai," said he, "when we heard +mention of the 'Hidden River.'" + +"Who spoke of it?" said Csar. His dark eyes were seen to flash in the +half-light in the hut. + +"A party of Fans," said Edward, "with whom we came in contact. We +persuaded them to carry our canoe across country. We embarked upon the +river three days ago, and paddled up-stream until this afternoon, when +we sighted your camp, and nearly came to blows. That's all." + +Csar leaned forward, with his arms folded on the table, bringing his +dark face to within a few inches of the cigarette which Edward held in +his lips. + +"Were you told anything," said he, in a slow, deliberate voice; "were +you told anything--of us?" + +Edward Harden, being a man of six foot several inches, was one who was +guileless in his nature. He was about to say that the Fans had spoken +of the "Fire-gods," when an extraordinary occurrence came to pass. + +Crouch sprang to his feet with a yell, and placing one foot upon the +seat of the chair upon which he had been sitting, pulled up his trousers +to the knee. In his hand he held a knife. All sprang to their feet. + +"What is it?" they demanded, in one and the same breath. + +"A snake," said Crouch. "I'm bitten in the leg." + + + + +CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH + + +Both Csar and Edward hastened to the captain's side. Sure enough, upon +the calf of his leg, were two small drops of blood, about a quarter of +an inch apart, where the fangs of the reptile had entered. + +Crouch looked up at Csar. His voice was perfectly calm. + +"Where's the kitchen?" he demanded. + +The tall Portuguese appeared suspicious. + +"The kitchen is quite near at hand," said he. "Do you want to go +there?" + +"Yes," said Crouch. "Lead the way. There's no time to lose." + +They passed out and entered a smaller hut, from which a column of smoke +was rising through a hole in the roof. In the centre of the floor was a +large charcoal brazier, at which a man was squatting in the +characteristic attitude of the East. Crouch lifted his eyebrows in +surprise when he saw that this man was an Arab. + +"Tongs," said he in Arabic. "Lend me a pair of tongs." + +The man, expressionless, produced the article in question. + +Crouch took a piece of charcoal from the brazier, that was white-hot, +and, without a moment's hesitation, he thrust this upon the place where +the poison had entered his flesh. As he underwent that agony, his +sallow face turned a trifle paler, his lips grew thinner, and his only +eye more bright; but never a groan, or even a sigh, escaped him. + +At last he threw the charcoal back into the fire. + +"That's all right," said he. "It isn't a pleasant remedy, but it's +sure." Then he turned to Csar. "I should like a little whisky," said +he. "I feel a trifle faint." + +He asked for Edward's arm to assist him on his way, and no sooner were +they clear of the kitchen than he whispered in Harden's ear-- + +"There's nothing to worry about," said he. "I'm as right as rain. I +was never bitten at all. But I had to stop you somehow, or you would +have told that fellow what we heard of the Fire-gods. Mind, he must +know nothing." + +When they got back to the hut, Csar gave Crouch half a tumblerful of +neat whisky, which the captain drained at a gulp. Needless to say, +their efforts to find the snake proved fruitless. Then Crouch again +complained of faintness, and asked permission to lie down upon the bed. +No sooner was he there than he closed his eyes, and soon afterwards was +sound asleep--if one was entitled to judge by his heavy breathing. Once +or twice he snored. + +But, already, we have seen enough of Captain Crouch to know that, in his +case, it would not be wise to go by appearances. He was no more asleep +than he had been throughout those long hours when he had kept watch in +the bows of the canoe. + +Csar motioned to Edward to be seated at the table, and Max took the +chair which had been formerly occupied by Crouch. De Costa remained +seated upon the chest. + +"Let me see," said Csar; "of what were we speaking? Ah, yes, I +remember. I was asking if the natives had made any mention of us." + +"We asked many questions," said Harden, "but they knew little or nothing +of the Hidden River. For some reason or other, they seemed to fear it." + +Csar regarded Edward intently for a few seconds; and then, seeming +satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders. + +"Their minds are filled with superstitions," said he. "And now it +remains for me to explain myself. I came to this valley two years ago. +I had already journeyed some distance up the Congo, in search of ivory. +I discovered that in the jungle in this valley elephants abound; +moreover, these elephants are finer than any others I have ever seen in +any part of Africa, even those of the East Coast, whose tusks are stored +at Zanzibar. I made this place my headquarters. I regard the whole +country as my own happy hunting-ground. I naturally resent all +new-comers, especially Europeans. I look upon them as trespassers. Of +course, I have no right to do so; I know that quite well. But you must +understand that here, in the heart of Africa, the laws of civilized +nations hardly apply. To all intents and purposes this country is my +own. In the kraal yonder I have two hundred of the finest elephant +hunters between the Zambesi and the Congo. I pay them well. I have +already a great store of ivory. In another two years I hope to retire +to Portugal, a wealthy man. That is all my story." + +"How do you kill your elephants?" asked Edward. The hunting of big game +was the foremost interest of his life. + +Csar smiled. + +"You will not approve of my methods," said he. "You are a sportsman; I +am only a trader. I send my natives into the jungle, in the direction +in which a herd of elephants has been located. These fellows creep on +all-fours amid the undergrowth. They are as invisible as snakes. They +are armed with long knives, with which they cut the tendons of the +elephants' hind-legs, just below the knee. If an elephant tries to walk +after that tendon has been severed, it falls to the ground and breaks +its leg. The great beasts seem to know this, for they remain motionless +as statues. When all the finest tuskers have been thus disposed of, I +come with my rifle and shoot them, one after the other. Thus it is that +I have collected a great store of tusks." + +Edward Harden made a wry face. + +"I have heard of that manner of hunting," said he. "It is much +practised on the East Coast. I consider it barbarous and cruel." + +Csar smiled again. + +"I told you," said he, "you would not approve." + +Harden swung round in his chair, with a gesture of disgust. + +"I would like to see the ivory trade stopped," he cried, in a sudden +flood of anger, very rare in a man naturally prone to be unexcitable and +mild. "I regard the elephant as a noble animal--the noblest animal that +lives. I myself have shot many, but the beast has always had a chance, +though I will not deny the odds were always heavily on me. Still, when I +find myself face to face with a rogue elephant, I know that my life is +in danger. Now, there is no danger in your method, which is the method +of the slaughter-house. At this rate, very soon there will be no +elephants left in Africa." + +"I'm afraid," said Csar, with a shrug of the shoulders, "we would never +agree, because you're a sportsman and I'm a trader. In the meantime, I +will do all I can to make you comfortable during your stay at Makanda." + +"Is that the name of this place?" asked Max. + +"Yes," said the Portuguese. "There was a native village when I came +here--just a few scattered huts. The natives called the place Makanda, +which, I believe, means a crater. The hills which surround us are +evidently the walls of an extinct volcano. But, to come back to +business, I can provide a hut for your Fan attendants, but they must be +ordered not to leave the stockade. You have noticed, perhaps, that I +employ a few Arabs. I am fond of Arabs myself; they are such excellent +cooks. An Arab is usually on sentry at the gate of the stockade. That +man will receive orders to shoot any one of the Fans who endeavours to +pass the gate. These methods are rather arbitrary, I admit; but in the +heart of Africa, what would you have? It is necessary to rule with an +iron hand. Were I to be lax in discipline, my life would be in danger. +Also, I must request you and your friends not to leave the stockade, +unattended by either de Costa or myself. The truth is, there are +several hostile tribes in the neighbourhood, and it is only with the +greatest difficulty that I can succeed in maintaining peace." + +"I'm sure," said Harden, "you will find us quite ready to do anything +you wish. After all, the station is yours; and in this country a man +makes his own laws." + +"That is so," said Csar; and added, "I'm responsible to no one but +myself." + +This man had an easy way of talking and a plausible manner that would +have deceived a more acute observer than Edward Harden. As he spoke he +waved his hand, as if the whole matter were a trifle. He ran on in the +same casual fashion, with an arm thrown carelessly over the back of his +chair, sending the smoke of his cigarette in rings towards the ceiling. + +"Most of us come to Africa to make money," said he; "and as the climate +is unhealthy, the heat unbearable, and the inhabitants savages, we +desire to make that money as quickly as possible, and then return to +Europe. That is my intention. For myself, I keep tolerably well; but +de Costa here is a kind of living ague. He is half consumed with +malaria; he can't sleep by night, he lies awake with chattering teeth. +Sometimes his temperature is so high that his pulse is racing. At other +times he is so weak that he is unable to walk a hundred paces. He looks +forward to the day when he shakes the dust of Africa from his shoes and +returns to his native land, which--according to him--is Portugal, +though, I believe, he was born in Jamaica." + +Max looked at the half-caste, and thought that never before had he set +eyes upon so despicable an object. He looked like some mongrel cur. He +was quite unable to look the young Englishman in the face, but under +Max's glance dropped his eyes to the floor. + +"And now," said Csar, "there is a hut where I keep my provisions, which +I will place at your disposal." + +At that he went outside, followed by the two Hardens. De Costa remained +in the hut. Crouch was still asleep. + +Csar called the Arab from the kitchen, and, assisted by this man and +the five Fans, they set to work to remove a number of boxes from the hut +in which it was proposed that the three Englishmen should sleep. +Blankets were spread upon the ground. The tall Portuguese was most +solicitous that his guests should want for nothing. He brought candles, +a large mosquito-net, and even soap. + +Supper that evening was the best meal which Max had eaten since he left +the sea-going ship at Banana Point on the Congo. The Portuguese was +well provided with stores. He produced several kinds of vegetables, +which, he said, he grew at a little distance from the stockade. He had +also a great store of spirits, being under the entirely false impression +that in tropical regions stimulants maintain both health and physical +strength. + +After supper, Csar and Captain Crouch, who had entirely recovered from +his faintness, played cart with an exceedingly dirty pack of cards. +And a strange picture they made, these two men, the one so small and +wizened, the other so tall and black, each coatless, with their +shirt-sleeves rolled to the elbow, fingering their cards in the +flickering light of a tallow candle stuck in the neck of a bottle. +Crouch knew it then--and perhaps Csar knew it, too--that they were +rivals to the death, in a greater game than was ever played with cards. + +They went early to bed, thanking Csar for his kindness. Before he left +the hut, Edward Harden apologized for his rudeness in finding fault with +the trader's method of obtaining ivory. + +"It was no business of mine," said he. "I apologize for what I said." + +No sooner were the three Englishmen in their hut, than Crouch seized +each of his friends by an arm, and drew them close together. + +"Here's the greatest devilry you ever heard of!" he exclaimed. + +"How?" said Edward. "What do you mean?" + +"As yet," said Crouch, "I know nothing. I merely suspect. Mark my +words, it'll not be safe to go to sleep. One of us must keep watch." + +"What makes you suspicious?" asked Max. Throughout this conversation +they talked in whispers. Crouch had intimated that they must not be +overheard. + +"A thousand things," said Crouch. "In the first place, I don't like the +look of Arabs. There's an old saying on the Niger, 'Where there's an +Arab, there's mischief.' Also, he's got something he doesn't wish us to +see. That's why he won't let us outside the stockade. Besides, +remember what the natives told us. The tribes the whole country round +stand in mortal fear of this fellow, and they don't do that for nothing. +The Fans are a brave race, and so are the Pambala. And do you remember, +they told us that every evening there's thunder in the valley which +shakes the earth? No, he's up to no good, and I shall make it my +business to find out what his game is." + +"Then you don't believe that he's an ivory trader?" asked Max. + +"Not a word of it!" said Crouch. "Where's the ivory? He talks of this +store of tusks, but where does he keep it? He says he's been here for +two years. In two years, by the wholesale manner in which he has been +killing elephants, according to his own account, he should have a pile +of ivory ten feet high at least. And where is it? Not in a hut; not +one of them is big enough. I suppose he'll ask us to believe that he +keeps it somewhere outside the stockade." + +"I never thought of that," said Harden, tugging the ends of his +moustache. "I wonder what he's here for." + +"So do I," said Crouch. + +Soon after that, at Crouch's request, Harden and Max lay down upon their +blankets, and were soon fast asleep. As for the captain, he also lay +down, and for more than an hour breathed heavily, as if in sleep. Then, +without a sound, he began to move forward on hands and knees across the +floor of the hut. + +When he reached the door he came into the moonlight, and had there been +any one there to see, they would have noticed that he carried a +revolver, and there was a knife between his teeth. + +As quick as a lizard he glided into the shade beneath the walls of the +hut. There he lay for some minutes, listening, with all his senses +alert. + +This man had much in common with the wild beasts of the forests. He was +quick to hear, quick to see; it seemed as if he even had the power to +scent danger, as the reed-buck or the buffalo. + +His ears caught nothing but the varied sounds of wild, nocturnal life in +the jungle. The stockade was not more than a hundred paces distant from +the skirting of the forest. Somewhere near at hand a leopard growled, +and a troop of monkeys, frightened out of their wits, could be heard +scrambling through the branches of the trees. Farther away, a pair of +lions were hunting; there is no sound more terrible and haunting than +the quick, panting noise that is given by this great beast of prey as it +follows upon the track of an antelope or deer. Then, far in the +distance, there was a noise, so faint as to be hardly audible, like the +beating of a drum. Crouch knew what it was. Indeed, in these matters +there was little of which he was ignorant. It was a great gorilla, +beating its stomach in passion in the darkness. And that is a sound +before which every animal that lives in the jungle quails and creeps +away into hiding; even the great pythons slide back into the depths of +silent, woodland pools. + +But it was not to the forest that Crouch's ear was turned. He was +listening for a movement in the hut in which slept the Portuguese +trader, who went by the name of Csar. After a while, seeming +satisfied, he crawled on, in absolute silence, in the half-darkness, +looking for all the world like some cruel four-footed beast that had +come slinking from out of the jungle. + +He reached the door of the hut, and crept stealthily in. Inside, he was +not able to see. It was some little time before his eye grew accustomed +to the darkness. + +Then he was just able to discern the long figure of the Portuguese +stretched upon his couch. Half-raising himself, he listened, with his +ear not two inches from the man's mouth. Csar was breathing heavily. +He was evidently fast asleep. + +Still on hands and knees, as silently as ever, Crouch glided out of the +hut. + +Instead of returning by the way he had come, he turned in the opposite +direction, and approached another hut. It was that which belonged to +the half-caste, de Costa, whom he had met five years before in St. Paul +de Loanda. + +Once again he passed in at the door, silently, swiftly, with his knife +still in his teeth. + +This hut was even darker than the other, by reason of the fact that the +door was smaller. Crouch sat up, and rubbed his eyes, and inwardly +abused the universe in general because he was not able to see. + +Suddenly there was a creaking noise, as if some one moved on the bed. +Crouch was utterly silent. Then some one coughed. The cough was +followed by a groan. De Costa sat up in bed. Crouch was just able to +see him. + +The little half-caste, resting his elbows on his knees, took his head +between his hands, and rocked from side to side. He talked aloud in +Portuguese. Crouch knew enough of that language to understand. + +"Oh, my head!" he groaned. "My head! My head!" He was silent for no +longer than a minute; then he went on: "Will I never be quit of this +accursed country! The fever is in my bones, my blood, my brain!" + +He turned over on his side, and, stretching out an arm, laid hold upon a +match-box. They were wooden matches, and they rattled in the box. + +Then he struck a light and lit a candle, which was glued by its own +grease to a saucer. When he had done that he looked up, and down the +barrel of Captain Crouch's revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN + + +Before de Costa had time to cry out--which he had certainly intended to +do--Crouch's hand had closed upon his mouth, and he was held in a grip +of iron. + +"Keep still!" said Crouch, in a quick whisper. "Struggle, and you die." + +The man was terrified. He was racked by fever, nerve-shattered and +weak. At the best he was a coward. But now he was in no state of +health to offer resistance to any man; and in the candle-light Crouch, +with his single eye and his great chin, looked too ferocious to +describe. + +For all that the little sea-captain's voice was quiet, and even +soothing. + +"You have nothing to fear," said he. "I don't intend to harm you. I +have only one thing to say: if you cry out, or call for assistance, I'll +not hesitate to shoot. On the other hand, if you lie quiet and silent, +I promise, on my word of honour, that you have nothing whatsoever to +fear. I merely wish to ask you a few questions. You need not answer +them unless you wish to. Now, may I take my hand from your mouth?" + +De Costa nodded his head, and Crouch drew away his hand. The half-caste +lay quite still. It was obvious that he had been frightened out of his +life, which had served to some extent to heighten the fever which so +raged within him. + +"Come," said Crouch; "I'll doctor you. Your nerves are all shaken. Have +you any bromide?" + +"Yes," said de Costa; "over there." + +He pointed in the direction of a shelf upon the wall, which had been +constructed of a piece of a packing-case. On this shelf was a multitude +of bottles. Crouch examined these, and at last laid hands upon one +containing a colourless fluid, like water, and handed it to the patient +to drink. De Costa drained it at a gulp, and then sank back with a sigh +of relief. + +Crouch felt his pulse. + +"You're weak," said he, "terribly weak. If you don't get out of this +country soon you'll die. Do you know that?" + +"I do," said de Costa; "I think of it every day." + +"You don't wish to die?" said Crouch. + +"I wish to live." + +There was something pitiful in the way he said that. He almost whined. +Here was a man who was paying the debt that the white man owes to +Africa. In this great continent, which even to-day is half unknown, +King Death rules from the Sahara to the veld. A thousand pestilences +rage in the heart of the great steaming forests, that strike down their +victims with promptitude, and which are merciless as they are swift. It +seems as if a curse is on this country. It is as if before the advance +of civilization a Power, greater by far than the combined resources of +men, arises from out of the darkness of the jungle and the miasma of the +mangrove swamp, and strikes down the white man, as a pole-axe fells an +ox. + +De Costa, though he was but half a European, was loaded with the white +man's burden, with the heart of only a half-caste to see him through. +Crouch, despite the roughness of his manner, attended at his bedside +with the precision of a practised nurse. There was something even +tender in the way he smoothed the man's pillow; and when he spoke, there +was a wealth of sympathy in his voice. + +"You are better now?" he asked. + +"Yes," said de Costa; "I am better." + +"Lie still and rest," said Crouch. "Perhaps you are glad enough to have +some one to talk to you. I want you to listen to what I have to say." + +Crouch seated himself at the end of the bed, and folded his thin, +muscular hands upon his knee. + +"I am not a doctor by profession," he began, "but, in the course of my +life, I've had a good deal of experience of the various diseases which +are met with in these parts of the world. I know enough to see that +your whole constitution is so undermined that it is absolutely necessary +for you to get out of the country. Now I want to ask you a question." + +"What is it?" said de Costa. His voice was very weak. + +"Which do you value most, life or wealth?" + +The little half-caste smiled. + +"I can see no good in wealth," said he, "when you're dead." + +"That is true," said Crouch. "No one would dispute it--except +yourself." + +"But I admit it!" said de Costa. + +"You admit it in words," said the other, "but you deny it in your life." + +"I am too ill to understand. Please explain." + +Crouch leaned forward and tapped the palm of his left hand with the +forefinger of his right. + +"You say," said he, "that you know that you'll die if you remain here. +Yet you remain here in order to pile up a great fortune to take back +with you to Jamaica or Portugal, wherever you intend to go. But you +will take nothing back, because you will die. You are therefore +courting death. I repeat your own words: what will be the use of all +this wealth to you after you are dead?" + +De Costa sat up in his bed. + +"It's true!" he cried in a kind of groan. + +"H'sh!" said Crouch. "Be quiet! Don't raise your voice." + +De Costa rocked his head between his knees. + +"It's true--true--true!" he whined. "I know it. I shall die. I don't +want this money. I want to live. I--I fear to die." His voice +trembled. He was pitiful to see. + +"You shall not die," said Crouch; "I'll make it my business to see that +you live. I can't cure you, but I can keep you alive till we reach the +coast. There, one week on the sea will restore your health." + +"That's what I want," said de Costa, "the sea air. Oh, for a breath of +the sea!" + +"I'll take you down with us," Crouch ran on. "I'll doctor you on the +way. Max Harden is a young man of science. He has studied these +things, and with his knowledge and my experience we'll pull you through. +In three months from now, I promise you, you shall set eyes upon the +ocean." + +"How glorious!" the poor man cried. He looked into Crouch's face, and +there were large tears in his eyes. + +"Stay," said Crouch; "I've not come here for philanthropic purposes. If +I do this for you, you must do something for me. Otherwise you can stay +here--and die." + +"What is it you want?" + +Crouch bent forward and whispered in the man's ear, speaking distinctly +and with great deliberation. + +"I want to know what's inside the padlocked chest that Csar keeps in +his hut. Come, out with the truth!" + +On the instant the man sprang out of bed and seized Crouch by the +wrists. He was so little master of himself that hot tears were +streaming down his cheeks. He was shaking in every limb. It was as if +his neck was not strong enough to support his head, which swung round +and round. + +"Not that!" he screamed. "For pity's sake, not that!" + +"Come," said Crouch; "the truth." + +De Costa drew back. "I daren't," said he. + +"Why?" + +"Because he--would kill me." + +"Look here, you have to choose between two men," said Crouch: "Csar and +myself. Trust me, and I'll see you through. You told me you had heard +of me before. You may have heard it said that I'm a man who sticks to +his word through thick and thin, once it has been given." + +As Crouch said this he noticed a remarkable change that came on a sudden +upon de Costa's face. The man's complexion turned livid; his jaw +dropped; his eyes were staring hard over Crouch's shoulder, in the +direction of the door. + +Crouch whipped round upon his heel, his revolver in his hand, and found +that he stood face to face with Csar. + +"By Christopher," said he, "you're mighty silent!" + +"And may I ask," said Csar, "what you are doing here?" + +Crouch made a motion of his hand towards de Costa, who had sunk down +upon the bed. + +"This man's ill," said he; "in fact, he's dying." + +"He is always dying," said Csar, "and he never dies. He has the +vitality of a monkey." + +"It doesn't seem to distress you much," said Crouch. "Since you have +lived together for two years, in a forsaken spot like this, I should +have thought that you were friends." + +Csar threw out his hand. + +"Ah," he cried, "we are the best friends in the world--de Costa and +myself." + +He stood looking down upon Crouch, with his white teeth gleaming between +his black moustache and his beard. In that light it was difficult to +see whether he smiled or sneered. There was something mysterious about +the man, and something that was fiendish. + +"And so," he ran on, "Captain Crouch has taken upon himself the duties +of medical officer of Makanda? I'm sure we are much obliged." + +"I have some experience of medicine," said the captain. + +"Indeed," said Csar. "And do you always operate with a revolver?" + +For once in his life, Crouch had been caught off his guard. + +"In this country," he said, "I am seldom without one." + +"You are wise," said Csar. "I myself am always prepared." + +With a man like Crouch, this kind of verbal sword-play could never last +for long. He was too much a creature of impulse. He liked to speak his +mind, and he hated and mistrusted this thin Portuguese as a mongoose +hates a snake. + +"There are no laws in this country," said he, "and there are certain +times when it's not a bad principle to shoot at sight. In the civilized +world, a man goes about with his reputation on the sleeve of his coat, +and all men may know him for what he is. But here, in the midst of +these benighted forests, one must often act on instinct. To kill at +sight, that's the law of the jungle; and when men come here, they'd do +well to leave behind them what they know of other laws respecting life +and property and rights. If I'm wise to carry a revolver, perhaps I'm a +fool because I hesitate to use it." + +Here was a plain speaking, an outright honesty that quite disarmed the +Portuguese. If, hitherto, Csar had held the upper hand, Captain Crouch +had now turned the tables. Whether warfare be carried on by words or +amid the clash of arms, the victory lies with him who best knows his +mind. And Captain Crouch did that. It was as if he had thrown a +gauntlet at the tall man's feet, and defied him to pick it up. + +But Csar was never willing to fight. His was a quick, calculating +brain, and he knew that the odds would be against him. Listening +outside the hut, he had overheard the greater part of the conversation +which had taken place between Crouch and the fever-stricken half-caste. +His secret, which he kept under lock and key in the strong chest at the +foot of his bed, he was prepared to guard at every cost. He saw now +that Crouch was an adversary not to be despised. It was necessary for +him to take steps to seal de Costa's lips. + +Though the man no longer showed it in his face, Csar was by no means +pleased at the appearance of the Englishmen. Though he was affable and +polite, all the time he was scheming in his mind how to get rid of them +as quickly as he could. For the present, he decided to bide his time, +hoping that, sooner or later, Fate might play into his hands. Whatever +happened, he was determined that they should not suspect him of any +sinister intention, and on that account it behoved him to keep up an +appearance of friendship. He answered Crouch with all the pleasantry of +manner he had at his command. + +"Captain Crouch," said he, "you are a man after my own heart. I also +respect the laws of the jungle. I have shaken the dust of civilization +from my feet. It is only the strong man who can do so. In you I +recognize an equal." + +In his heart, Crouch stigmatized such talk as this as high-falutin' +nonsense. Still, he thought it unwise to hatch a quarrel with the man, +and answered with a kind of grunt. + +"I suppose you're right," said he. + +"And what of our poor invalid?" said Csar, turning to de Costa. + +Side by side, these two men, who were already sworn enemies in secret, +bent over the prostrate figure of the half-caste. De Costa lay with one +arm hanging listlessly over the side of the bed. His eyelids were +half-closed, and underneath the whites of his eyes could be seen. When +a man sleeps like that, he is in a bad way. The sands of life are +running down. + +"He's asleep," said Crouch. "That's all he wants. The fever has +subsided. He'll be much better to-morrow. Let us leave him." + +Together they went out. The little sea-captain walked back to his hut, +and threw himself down upon his blankets. As for Csar, he remained +standing in the moonlight, with his long fingers playing in his beard. + +For some minutes he remained quite motionless. The silence of the night +was still disturbed by the strange sounds that came from out of the +forest. The man seemed plunged in thought. Presently a soft, moist +nose was thrust into the palm of his hand, and looking down, he beheld +his great dog, which, unable to sleep by reason of the heat, had +followed her master into the moonlight. + +"Gyp," said he, in a soft voice--"Gyp, old friend, how are we to get rid +of these accursed Englishmen?" + +The dog looked up, and licked her master's hand. + +"Come, Gyp," said Csar; "come and think it out." + +He entered his hut, and sat down upon the great, padlocked chest. There, +he took the dog's head between his knees. She was a Great Dane, and +even larger and more powerful than the majority of her kind. + +"Do you know this, Gyp," said he: "de Costa can't be trusted? +Fortunately, you and I, Gyp, know a way to make him hold his tongue." + +At that, the man laughed softly to himself. + +Meanwhile, in the other hut, the quick brain of Captain Crouch was not +idle. He had learnt much that night; but the secret was still unsolved. +He had not been slow in discovering the weak point in Csar's line of +defence: the little half-caste could be induced to speak the truth. +That the man was not an ivory trader, Crouch was fully convinced. +Indeed, he could be no sort of trader at all, because there was no +direct line of communication from Makanda to the Coast. Try as he might, +Crouch could find no answer to the riddle; and in the end, like Csar, +he resolved to bide his time. + +Before he went to sleep, he awakened Max. + +"Max," said he, "I want you to keep watch till daybreak. Keep your eyes +open, and if any one enters the hut, give him 'hands up' on the spot." + +"Have you discovered anything?" asked Max. + +"Nothing," said Crouch, "except that de Costa's our friend's weak point. +Given half a chance, I will find out the truth from him. But Csar +suspects us, as much as we suspect him; and, from what I have seen of +the man, I'm inclined to think that he'll stick at nothing. We must +never cease to be on our guard. Keep on the alert, and wake me up if +you see or hear anything suspicious." + +At that Crouch turned over on his side, and this time actually fell +asleep. + +Max Harden sat with his back to the wall of the hut, his loaded revolver +in his hand. Through the doorway, above the rampart of the stockade, he +could see the march of the tropical stars, as the Southern Cross dropped +lower and lower in the heavens. As it drew nearer to daybreak, the +sounds of the jungle ceased. Even in these latitudes there is a time, +about an hour before the dawn, when all Nature seems hushed and still; +the great beasts of prey retire to rest, foodless or with their +appetites appeased--more often the first, and it is not before the first +streaks of daybreak are visible in the eastern sky that the large minor +world, of beast and bird and reptile, awakens to the day. + +Max obeyed his orders to the letter. Hour by hour, he remained +perfectly motionless, with every sense on the alert. He was beginning +to think that the fears and suspicions of Crouch were entirely baseless, +when, on a sudden, the eternal stillness was broken by a shriek, +piercing and unearthly, that was lifted from somewhere near at hand. + +Springing to his feet, he rushed forth from the hut. And as he did so, +the shriek was repeated, louder than before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT + + +Max had no difficulty in recognizing whence came these appalling sounds; +for, as he hastened forward, they were repeated, again and again. It +was as if the night were filled with terror, as if some wild, tormented +spirit had been let loose upon the stillness of the jungle. + +From the opened doorway of de Costa's hut a bright light shone forth, +making a wide, diverging pathway to the foot of the stockade. And in +this pathway two shadows danced like fiends. They were here, there and +everywhere, whilst time and again that piercing shriek went forth. + +Max dashed into the hut, and there was brought to a standstill by the +sight that he beheld. + +On one knee upon the floor, with an arm upraised as if in +self-protection, was the half-caste, de Costa, with abject fear stamped +upon every feature of his face. Still yelping like a cur, flinching +repeatedly for no ostensible reason, he looked up furtively, and into +the face of the man who stood above him. + +This was Csar, with the Great Dane snarling at his side. His right arm +was bare to the elbow, and in his hand he held a whip. It was a cruel +whip, if ever there were such a thing. The handle was short, but the +lash was long and tied in many a knot. + +"Drop that!" cried Max; and, without a moment's thought, he lifted his +revolver and directed the muzzle full at the head of the Portuguese. + +At that the dog crouched low, as if about to spring, and filled the hut +with a growl. + +What happened in the next brief moments cannot be told in a word. The +Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman, who +was borne headlong through the doorway, to fall at full length upon the +ground. Simultaneously, Max's revolver went off, and the bullet flew +high into the roof. The next thing that he knew of was that both his +hands were pressed tight into the throat of the huge beast that had +pinned him to the ground. Strive as he might, he was not able to rise. +By sheer weight and strength Gyp held him down. + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE +YOUNG ENGLISHMAN."] + +Then the hound was lifted bodily into the air. Max struggled to his +feet, and beheld his uncle, whose great hands grasped the dog by the +scruff of the neck. Harden was holding the animal so that it stood +upright on its hind-legs, and in that position Gyp was little shorter +than he. The dog was almost mad; it snarled like a wild animal, and its +white fangs gleamed in the light. + +The voice of Csar sounded sharp, but calm and collected, in the midst +of this turmoil and confusion. + +"Gyp," he cried, "come here!" + +Edward let go his hold, and immediately the dog lay down, growling at +the feet of her master. + +"I should like to know," said Edward, "the cause of this disturbance." + +"A private matter," said Csar, "which concerns no one but de Costa and +myself." + +But Max, though he had been overthrown by the dog, who had come upon him +so unexpectedly, was in no mind to let the matter drop. He was so hot +in anger, and his indignation so great, that his lips trembled when he +spoke. + +"Why did you strike that man?" he demanded, pointing to the half-caste. + +"That, I repeat," said the other, "is my affair--and his." + +"Understand," said Max, "that I make it mine. When I entered this room, +this poor wretch was on the floor, and you stood over him, whip in +hand." + +For the first time since they had entered the stockade, they saw the +real man under the calm, black mask that the Portuguese habitually wore. +Setting his brows in a frown, he whipped round upon Max, and spoke in +much the same manner as a cat spits at a dog. + +"You have yet to learn," he cried, "that in this place I am master. I +take orders from no one. In Makanda my word is law. This half-bred cur +is my servant. He knows it, as well as I. He knows, also, that if he +serves me faithfully he will be rewarded. But if he dares to disobey my +orders, he incurs the penalty I choose to inflict. There is my answer; +and I ask you, who are you to come here and presume to dictate to me?" + +"I have no more special mission," answered Max, "than any other who +knows the difference between what is right and wrong. You may be master +here--for all I care you may be master of the whole of Africa--but I am +not going to stand by and see one man flog another for any cause. Raise +that whip again on peril of your life." + +Max dared the man on purpose. The fact was, he would have been glad +enough to shoot. As for Edward, though all this time he had stood by in +silence, his finger had never left the trigger of his revolver. But, +Csar was not such a fool as to give either of them the chance they +waited for. He cast his whip upon the ground. + +"After this," said he, "I presume you will avail yourselves of my +hospitality no longer. I shall be glad to see your backs." + +"We shall be only too glad to go," said Max. + +"I put no obstacle in your way," said Csar. "It is almost daylight +now." + +Max turned and left the hut, followed by his uncle. Each asked himself +the same question the moment he got out into the open air: where was +Captain Crouch? + +Crouch must have heard the disturbance. The shrieks of the half-caste, +the growling of the dog and the firing of Max's revolver had been enough +to have awakened the dead. Yet he had never put in an appearance. When +they entered their hut they found him seated cross-legged on the floor, +with his pipe between his teeth. The atmosphere was tainted with the +smell of Bull's Eye Shag. + +"Where have you been?" asked Edward. + +Crouch never deigned to reply, but, taking his pipe from his lips, asked +a question himself. + +"Did you come to blows?" he said. + +"Practically," said Max, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I found him +thrashing that half-caste within an inch of his life. I threatened him, +and his dog flew at me, and, had it not been for Edward, would have torn +me to bits. We had a kind of an argument, and in the end he told us to +clear out, which we said we were perfectly ready to do." + +Crouch returned his pipe to his mouth. + +"I was afraid of that," said he. + +"Why?" + +"I would like to have stayed here just a little longer. I haven't +probed the mystery yet. When I saw you two run into de Costa's hut, I +knew there was going to be trouble. I knew you wouldn't come out for +some minutes, and I had the chance of a lifetime." + +"Where did you go?" asked Harden. + +"Into Csar's hut," said Crouch, winking with his only eye. "I searched +everywhere, but could find nothing. As I told you before, this man has +a secret, and that secret is locked up in his chest. In Central Africa +a man doesn't have a chest like that to keep his clothes in. It's +iron-bound, and locked with three padlocks, and I suppose he keeps the +key in his pocket. It would have been sheer waste of time to have tried +to open it. I couldn't lift it. It's as heavy as if it were filled +with lead. That's why I'm sorry we've got to clear out. I mean to +discover what that chest contains." + +"We've got to go," said Max. "I wouldn't stay here another hour for all +the secrets in the universe." + +"You're quite right," said Crouch. "As the natives say on the Ogowe, 'a +bad man's bread is poison.' We'll sheer off at once." + +Edward went out, and returned in a few minutes with M'Wan and the four +Fans. + +"M'Wan," said Crouch, still seated on the ground, "we're going back to +Hippo Pool." + +M'Wan smiled as though he were glad to hear it. + +"That is good news," said he. "I do not like this place." + +"Why?" asked Crouch, looking up. + +"We have been told," said M'Wan, "that if we try to leave the camp, we +shall be shot by the Arab men." + +"Have you found out anything?" asked Crouch. + +M'Wan shook his head. + +"I have seen no one," said he. "I know nothing. To speak the truth, I +am afraid." + +In the half-light of morning, the party left the stockade. Their canoe +was moored to the bank of the river, in the place where they had left it +on the afternoon of the day before. They clambered into their places: +Max and his uncle to the stern seat, and Crouch to his old place in the +bows. Then the canoe shot out into mid-stream, and it was not until a +month later that any one of them looked again upon the mysterious +settlement of Makanda. + + + + +CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT + + +It will be remembered that it had taken two and a half days to make the +journey to Makanda from Hippo Pool. They returned in seven and a half +hours, and even then the natives did little work with their paddles. + +The fact was that, from the granite hills that almost surrounded the +station of the Portuguese, a number of small tributaries joined the +Hidden River. In consequence, a great volume of water flowed down to +Hippo Pool. The current became stronger every mile, since the banks +grew nearer together, and several jungle streams joined forces with the +river. The largest of these was the tributary which flowed into Hippo +Pool, along which had lain the latter part of the portage they had made +from Date Palm Island on the Kasai. Harden named this stream +Observation Creek, for a reason which we are just about to explain. + +They camped on the east bank of Hippo Pool, at a place selected by +Crouch. Two courses lay open to them: they had either to remain here +indefinitely, or, leaving their canoe on the Hidden River, to return to +Date Palm Island by the route of their former portage. Never for a +moment had they had any intention of returning to the Kasai until they +had discovered something more definite concerning the mystery of +Makanda. That night, seated around their camp-fire, by the waters of +Hippo Pool, they held a council of war. + +With this place as their base, they were resolved to operate against +Csar's position farther up the river. That afternoon, M'Wan had +climbed to the top of a gigantic cocoanut-tree, some little distance +from the right bank of Observation Creek. Thence he had surveyed the +surrounding country, and it was largely on the information supplied by +M'Wan that Edward Harden drew up the sketch-map which proved so useful +to them throughout the eventful days that followed. + +[Illustration: EDWARD HARDEN'S MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRE-GODS.] + +From that tree-top the broad course of the Kasai had been visible, its +gleaming waters showing here and there, white in the sunlight, to the +north and to the east. To the north-west, the course of the Hidden +River lay comparatively straight to the mangrove swamp where it joined +the larger stream. The rapids began three miles or so below Hippo Pool, +and there, according to M'Wan, the river was foaming white. Lower +still, it entered the Long Ravine, where great bare cliffs rose upright +on either side, and at the end of which was the waterfall of which the +Fans had spoken. On some days, when the wind was from the north, they +could hear the dull roar of the cataract, like thunder in the distance. + +To the south-west, above the tree-tops of the forest, M'Wan had been +able to observe the crest-line of the red granite hills which enclosed +the station of Makanda. Almost due south, from out of the midst of the +forest, like a giant in a stubble-field, a great mountain towered into +the sky. On the northern slopes of this mountain the Fan chief had been +able to discern a little village, lying like a bird's nest in a +declivity, thousands of feet above the dark, inhospitable forest. One +night, by firelight, on the banks of Hippo Pool, Edward Harden drew the +map on a piece of cartridge paper, though many of the features thus +shown were not filled in until further facts had come to light. + +Their plan of campaign was evolved in the fertile mind of Crouch, though +Max, and even Edward, made several suggestions which the little +sea-captain was only too glad to accept. They named the mountain +Solitude Peak, and it seemed probable that it was in this direction that +the creek found its source. + +They desired, if possible, to reach Makanda without the knowledge of +Csar and his Arabs. They did not doubt that they would be able to +overlook the stockade from some eminence in the eastern granite hill. +Now, since it was two and a half days' journey up the river, it would +take them months to force their way through the jungle to the south. +They decided, therefore, to follow Observation Creek to its source, +which, they hoped, would be somewhere in the vicinity of the mountain. +There they might be able to glean some knowledge at the native village +which M'Wan had seen in the distance. At any rate, they would be able +to survey the surrounding country, and take the most accessible route in +the direction of Makanda. + +However, neither Crouch nor Harden was the man to undertake anything +rashly. Each knew that in Csar they had an adversary who was not to be +despised. Before they set forth upon their expedition, they decided to +secure more ammunition and supplies from Date Palm Island, and for this +purpose it was decided that Edward Harden should return to the Kasai +with M'Wan and the Fans. + +Accordingly, the next day the explorer set out, following the route of +their old portage along Observation Creek, and thence through the jungle +to the left bank of the great river opposite Date Palm Island. Edward +thought that he would be able to persuade the Loango boys to carry the +"loads" back to the base-camp at Hippo Pool. Then, if they still feared +to remain in the valley of the Hidden River, they could return to the +Kasai. That night, Crouch and Max were the only two who remained at the +little camp at Hippo Pool. + +The next three days were by no means idle. Game had to be shot in the +forest; there was cooking to be done; they even carried the canoe ashore +and repaired a small leak which had been sprung in her bows. Moreover, +Crouch insisted that one or other of them should always be on watch. +With a good fire burning throughout the night, they had little to fear +from wild beasts. Even the leopard, which is a far more courageous +animal than the lion, must be well-nigh starving before it dares to +approach a camp-fire. What Crouch feared most was a raid on the part of +Csar. He knew enough of the tall Portuguese to suspect that the man +would not stay idle whilst the three Englishmen remained in the valley +of the Hidden River. In one of the many canoes they had seen tied up to +the river bank at Makanda, Csar could shoot down-stream in the space of +a few hours. There was therefore not an hour of the day or night that +one or the other of them was not seated on the river-bank, rifle in +hand, with his eyes turned towards the southern extremity of Hippo Pool. + +Three days passed, and nothing of importance occurred. It was on the +third night that something happened which was so much in the nature of a +mystery as to be fully in keeping with the character of the whole valley +and the rumours they had heard. Though Captain Crouch had only one eye, +that eye was as the eye of a lynx; and the matter in question is all the +more worthy to relate, since the event first occurred by night, when +Crouch himself was on guard. + +That day Max had shot his first buffalo, about half a mile from camp, on +the southern side of Observation Creek. The meat had been cut into +steaks, and one of these was cooked that night for breakfast in the +morning. Crouch relieved Max on sentry at twelve o'clock, with the +intention of keeping watch till daybreak. As Max turned over to go to +sleep, he distinctly remembered having seen the buffalo-steak on a tin +plate, a few inches from the fire. In the morning this steak was gone. + +Crouch had seen nothing. He was prepared to swear that he had never +been to sleep. Throughout the morning the matter seemed to worry him a +good deal. + +"I can't make it out," he said, talking to himself, as was his wont. "I +don't believe any leopard would do it. The beasts are terrified of +fire. A starving leopard might; but no leopard could very well starve +in a valley like this, which positively abounds in game." At various +intervals throughout the day he gave expression to the same opinion. + +That night Max took the first watch, from seven o'clock to twelve. +During that period never once did he relax his vigilance. He sat, hour +by hour, with the fire at his elbow, and his face turned towards the +river. He was thinking that it was nearly time to awaken Crouch, and +had pulled out his watch, when he heard the sound of a breaking twig a +few feet behind him. + +He turned sharply, and was just in time to discern the shadow of some +great beast disappearing into the jungle. His eyes shot back to the +fire, and there he beheld to his amazement that once again their +breakfast had disappeared. He immediately awoke the little sea-captain, +and told him what had happened. + +"Did it look like a leopard?" asked Crouch. + +"No," said Max, "I think it was a lion." + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"I don't believe it," said he. "The king of beasts is the greatest +coward I know. The most courageous animal in the world is the African +buffalo, and after him come the peccary and the wild boar. All the cats +are cowards, and the lion the biggest of all. Once I was shooting +buzzard on the Zambesi, when I came face to face with a lion, not +fifteen paces from me. I had no one with me, and was armed only with a +shot-gun. What do you think I did?" + +Max laughed. "Ran for it?" he suggested. + +"Not a bit!" said Crouch. "That would have been sheer folly; it would +have showed the brute I feared him. I just dropped down on all-fours, +and walked slowly towards him." + +"Great Scott!" exclaimed Max, unable to restrain his admiration. + +"That lion," said Crouch, "looked straight at me for about three +seconds, and then quietly turned round and walked away, swishing the +flies from his body with his tail. As soon as he thought he was out of +sight, he broke into a gallop. It was beneath his dignity, I suppose, +to let me see he was frightened. He had got to live up to his +reputation." + +"Is that actually true?" asked Max. + +"As true as I'm standing here. All lions are naturally frightened of +anything they can't understand. That particular animal couldn't make me +out, didn't like the look of me; so he just walked away. The lions in +this valley can have had little or no experience of white men. I +therefore refuse to believe that our breakfast has been stolen by a +lion. Shall I tell you who I believe is the culprit?" + +"Who?" asked Max. + +"Gyp," said Crouch; "Csar's dog. Csar himself could hardly have got +here by now. Yesterday afternoon I reconnoitred some way up the river, +and saw no signs of a canoe. But the dog could have found its way +through the jungle. It seems improbable, no doubt; but I can think of +no better explanation." + +Indeed, this was the only solution of the matter, and they resolved to +be upon their guard. + +The following day they determined to explore the rapids. They were +already acquainted with the river-valley between Hippo Pool and Makanda, +but as yet they knew nothing of the country which lay between their camp +and the mangrove swamp on the Kasai. M'Wan, from the cocoanut-tree, +had caught sight of the Long Ravine, which ended in the waterfall of +which the natives had told them, the dull roar of which was frequently +audible at Hippo Pool when the wind was in the right direction. They +did not expect Edward back for some days, and each was of the +disposition that chafes under the restraint of inaction. + +Accordingly, soon after daybreak they launched the canoe, and taking +with them three days' supplies and a quantity of ammunition, they shot +down-stream to the north. The descent of the river was easy enough. +Throughout the journey Crouch kept his eye on the current. Since this +grew stronger and stronger as they progressed, he did not desire to go +too far, knowing full well that the return journey would be by no means +easy to accomplish. + +At a place where the river was exceedingly narrow, and the jungle on +either bank even more dense and tangled than usual, they heard, on a +sudden, the crashing of undergrowth in the forest, as if some great +beast were flying for its life. A moment later a leopard sprang clear +from the river bank. For a second the beast was poised in mid-air, its +legs extended at full length, its ears lying back, its superb coat +dazzling in the sunlight. Then it came down into the water with a +splash. + +For a few strokes it swam straight for the canoe. Max carried his rifle +to the shoulder and fired. The beast was hit, for it shivered from head +to tail, and then turned round and swam back to the bank whence it had +come. As it crawled forth, dripping, with its head hanging low between +its fore-legs, the great snout of a crocodile uprose from out of the +water, and the huge jaws snapped together. + +Crouch, who was steering, ran the canoe into the bank, and a moment +later both he and Max, their rifles in their hands, had set out into the +semi-darkness of the jungle. + +They had no difficulty in following the leopard's spoor. The beast was +badly wounded and very sick. Every hundred yards or so it lay down to +rest, and when it heard them approaching, rose and went on with a growl. + +Presently it led them into a marsh--which Edward Harden afterwards +called Leopard Marsh--where they sank knee-deep in the mud. There were +no trees here. In the middle of the marsh, lying in a few inches of +water, was the wounded leopard, wholly unable to rise. + +"He's yours," said Crouch. "I'll stand by in case you miss." + +Max lifted his rifle, took careful aim, and fired. On the instant, with +a savage screech, the leopard rose with a jerk. For a moment it stood +upon its hind-legs, rampant, its fore-feet fighting in the air. Then it +came down, as a stone drops, and lay quite still. + +Max felt the flush of triumph that every hunter knows. His blood +tingled in his veins. He was about to rush forward, to gloat upon his +prize, when from somewhere near in the forest a shot rang out, and a +bullet splashed into the moist ground at Max's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER + + +Crouch's voice was lifted in a shout. "Run for your life!" he cried. + +Together they went floundering through the mire. They had to run the +gauntlet for a distance of little more than a hundred paces; but, by +reason of the nature of the ground, their progress was necessarily slow, +and before they had gained the cover afforded by the jungle, several +bullets had whistled past them, and Crouch was limping badly. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Max. + +"Hit in the leg," said the little captain, as if it were a trifle. +"There 're no bones broken, but I'm bleeding like a pig." + +"Let me look at it," said Max. "The artery may be cut." + +They were now well screened by trees. It was impossible that any one +could come upon them unawares. Max took his knife from his pocket, +ripped open the seam of the captain's trousers, and examined the wound. +The artery was untouched, but there was an ugly wound in the thigh, +which had evidently been made by an enormously heavy bullet. + +"Csar's elephant-gun," said Crouch. "By Christopher, I'll make him pay +for this!" + +"Are you sure of that?" said Max. + +"Yes," said Crouch. "I caught sight of something white moving among the +trees. I knew at once that Csar was there with his Arabs." + +Meanwhile, with quick fingers, Max was folding his handkerchief +lengthwise for a bandage. + +"Wait a bit," said Crouch. "I'll soon stop that flow of blood. I've a +special remedy of my own." Whereupon he produced his tobacco-pouch; and +before Max could stop it, he had taken a large plug of his vile, black +tobacco, dipped it into a puddle of water, and thumbed the lot into the +open wound, as a man charges a pipe. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Max, with memories of his hospital days. +"You'll get septic poisoning! You can't do that!" + +Crouch looked up. There was a twinkle in his only eye. + +"So much for science," said he. "When you get back to London, you can +tell the doctors they're wrong. If it amuses 'em to play with +antiseptics--and they're fond of the smell of carbolic--they're welcome +to do what they like. As for me, I've used this remedy for twenty +years, and I'm not inclined to try another." + +Max looked worried. He was convinced that Crouch would die of +blood-poisoning, and was beginning to wonder how, in that benighted, +tropical forest, he was going to amputate the captain's leg. + +"Don't you fret," said Crouch, tying the bandage himself. "Maybe, one +brand of tobacco's not so good as another. It's my belief that if they +cut off your head, you could stick it on again with Bull's Eye Shag." By +then he had got to his feet. "Come on," said he; "this man won't let us +get away if he can help it. Follow me." + +So saying, he plunged into the jungle, and though he was now limping +like a lame dog, it was all Max could do to keep up with him. + +Time and again he dived through what had looked like impenetrable +thickets. He seemed to know by instinct where to go. He avoided +quagmires. He sprang over fallen trees. He wormed his way through +creepers, the branches of which were thick as ropes. + +Frequently he stopped to listen, and sometimes placed his ear to the +ground. + +"They're after us!" he cried once. He pulled out his compass and looked +at it. "We must get back to the canoe," he said. "The river's to the +east." + +Soon after they struck what to all intents and purposes was a path. It +was, in fact, the "run" of some wild animals, and doubtless led to the +place where they were in the habit of drinking. It was no more than two +feet across; and about four feet from the ground the undergrowth from +either side met in a kind of roof; so that they found themselves in a +tunnel, along which, if they stooped sufficiently, they were able to +make good headway. + +Suddenly Crouch, who was still leading, stopped dead, and held his rifle +at the ready. Max stopped, too, and listened. + +Something was moving in the jungle. They heard distinctly a quick, +panting sound, coming nearer and nearer. + +"There!" cried Crouch. "Shoot!" + +He pointed down the tunnel, in the direction they had come. Max turned, +and beheld the head of a great beast thrust through the leaves of some +creeping plant that bound the trunks of two trees together in a kind of +lattice-work. + +It is unfortunate that the mind cannot retain a complete recollection of +scenes that have momentarily impressed us. Most of us, when asked to +describe in every detail even the most familiar objects, fall very short +of the mark. How much more so must this be the case when we look upon +something for no longer than a second, and then it is no more. + +Max will never forget that moment. He remembers the main features of +the scene, but there were a thousand and one details, which impressed +him at the time, that he is no longer able to remember. + +The semi-darkness of the jungle; the moist ground whereon he stood, +where multi-coloured orchids showed like little evil faces in the +twilight; the tangled undergrowth; and in places, like peep-holes +through which the daylight streamed, the shadows of the tall trees +towering high above. The scene, in its luxury and darkness, stood for +all that is savage, for all that is Africa--the country where the white +man ventures at his peril. And if anything were needed to complete this +strong suggestion of the wild, it was the great head and white, gleaming +fangs of the unknown beast which, half invisible, seemed as if it were +the unholy spirit of the place. On the spur of the moment, Max lifted +his rifle and fired. + +"Well done!" cried Crouch, who brushed past his elbow. + +A moment later they found themselves kneeling on either side of the +prostrate and lifeless figure of Gyp. + +"There lies our thief," said Crouch; "and the thief's master 's not so +far away." + +Max felt profoundly sorry in his heart that he had killed so magnificent +a creature. If the dog had hunted them, she had been told to do so by +her master. The only crime which could be laid to the account of the +Great Dane was obedience to Csar. + +They remained by the body of the dog no longer than a few seconds, and +after that they pushed on upon their way, still following the course of +the tunnel, or "run." At length, when least they expected it, they +found themselves at the water's edge, at the place where the rapids were +inordinately swift. + +The water foamed and swirled upon its way, lashing the banks, forming +little whirlpools in mid-stream, and bounding in waves over the trunks +of trees which had fallen into the river. + +"Sit down," said Crouch. "There's no hurry. We may as well talk +matters out." + +Max looked at his companion. Now that they were in the sunlight, he was +able to see Crouch's face. He was alarmed to notice that the little +captain looked haggard and drawn. His lips were pressed together, as +though he were in pain, and his only serviceable eye was puckered and +screwed up. Seeing Max's anxiety, he did his best to smile. + +"The Bull's Eye 's beginning to work," said he. + +"How do you mean?" asked Max. + +"After a bit it begins to smart. It smarts for about three days, and +then the blamed thing's healed. Sit down, my boy. This man Csar +annoys me. I want to think it out." + +They seated themselves at the river bank, and Crouch kept an ear towards +the jungle, in order to be warned if any one should approach. + +"What about the canoe?" asked Max. + +"It's up-stream," said the other, with a nod of the head. "If we work +our way along the bank, we can't miss it. To tell you the truth, I want +a rest; I feel queer. And, besides, I want to think." + +Max asked him what was on his mind. + +"Csar," said he. "I should like to know how the man managed to get +here." Then he went on, thinking aloud, as was his custom. "There may +be a path through the jungle; but I doubt if even then he would have +been able to come this distance on foot. And yet his canoe never passed +Hippo Pool, or we should have seen it--that's sure enough." Then, on a +sudden, he slapped his knee. "By Christopher," he cried, "I have it! I +remember!" + +"You remember what?" asked Max. + +"About half-way between the Pool and Makanda I remember seeing the +entrance of a little back-water, on the left bank of the river. That +back-water probably rejoins the river somewhere about here. It's all as +plain as a pikestaff. He has come north by the back-water, which +accounts for us not having seen him pass through Hippo Pool. The end of +that back-water is either between here and the place where we left the +canoe, or else farther down-stream. Come," said Crouch, "we'll get the +better of this rascal. Perhaps, for once, Fortune will play into our +hands." + +He struggled to his feet, but immediately turned pale, and was obliged +to support himself against the trunk of a tree. + +"I feel mighty dizzy," he said. "I've lost a deal of blood." + +"You had better stay here," said Max; "I'll work along the bank until I +find the canoe, and then come back to you. I don't like leaving you, +but there's nothing else to be done. Perhaps the canoe is not far +away." + +"It's farther than you think," said Crouch; "that tunnel took us almost +due north. Besides, I can tell by the water. The rapids are pretty +strong; we can't be far from the ravine." + +"Will we be able to paddle against it, do you think?" asked Max. + +Crouch looked at the river. + +"Yes," said he. "My arms are all right, though I've gone wrong in the +leg. You get off, and come back here as quickly as you can. If you see +Csar, shoot." + +At that Max set off alone. He soon found it impossible to make any +progress on the actual bank of the river, since here, by reason of the +moisture that was in the ground, the vegetation was so dense and tangled +that a weasel would have found some difficulty in making any headway. +He soon found, however, that by moving about thirty yards from the river +bank, he could make his way southward with tolerable ease. From time to +time he forced his way to the river's edge, and looked both up-stream +and down, to note if he could see any sign of the canoe. + +The sun was in the mid-heavens, and the heat intense. The jungle was +alive with sounds. The evening before there had been a heavy shower of +rain, and now the vapour rose like steam, and the moisture dropped from +the trees. To his left he could hear the roar of the rapids as the +river plunged upon its way, and this served to guide him, making it +possible for him to hold his course parallel to the river bank. He was +followed by a swarm of insects that droned and buzzed in his ears. The +perspiration fell from his forehead in great drops, and frequently he +found himself caught and held fast by strong, hook-like thorns. + +Presently the forest opened. It was like coming out of a darkened room +into the light. For a moment he was unable to see. During that moment +he fancied he heard a sound quite near to him--a sound of something that +moved. Looking about him, he discovered that he was standing in long +reeds which reached almost to his chest. To his right, the trees of the +forest were extended in a kind of avenue, and at their feet was a +narrow, swiftly-flowing stream. + +He had discovered Csar's back-water. Moreover, he had discovered +Csar's canoe, for there it was, its bows just visible, peeping through +the reeds. + + + + +CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE + + +Max took in the situation at a glance. If Csar had come north from +Makanda by way of the back-water, he had not passed their canoe on the +Hidden River. Two courses lay open to Max: he might cross the +back-water in Csar's canoe, and pursue his journey on foot; or he might +take this canoe and go down to Crouch, about whom he was anxious. The +latter was undoubtedly the wiser course to pursue. In the heart of +Africa, one canoe is as good as another; and, besides, by taking Csar's +canoe he would be paying off old scores. + +Having come to this conclusion, he looked about him for a suitable way +by which to approach the canoe. He had not taken one step in the right +direction, when he discovered to his dismay that the reeds were growing +in a bog, into which one leg sank deep before he was able to recover his +footing on dry land. + +Still, he had every reason to be hopeful. If the Portuguese and his +party had disembarked at this place, there was clearly a way of getting +into the canoe. For all that, search as he might among the reeds, he +could not find it, and at last he retired to the top of the bank. + +No sooner had he got there than he discovered that for which he had been +looking. A tall tree had fallen in the forest, and the roots were half +in the water. The canoe had been moored under the lee of this. On each +side of the fallen tree the reeds grew so high that the trunk was half +hidden from view. + +This tree formed a sort of natural pier, or landing-stage, along which +it was possible to walk. Max stepped upon the trunk, and walked towards +the canoe. Fearing that if he jumped into it he would knock a hole in +the bottom, he lowered himself to a sitting position, and then +remembered that he had not untied the painter at the bows. He always +looks upon his next action as the most foolish thing he ever did in his +life. He left his rifle in the canoe, and returned along the tree-trunk +to untie the bows. + +It was then that he was seized from behind. Some one sprang upon him +from out of the reeds. Two strong arms closed about his chest, and he +was lifted bodily from off his feet. + +Putting forth his strength, he managed to twist himself round, seizing +his adversary by the throat. + +He had been set upon by one of Csar's Arabs. The Portuguese himself +was doubtless still searching in the jungle for Crouch and Max, and no +doubt he had left this fellow in charge of his canoe. Fortunately, the +man was not armed; otherwise, Max would have been murdered. As it was, +he realized from the start that his life was in imminent danger. + +The man was possessed of the strength of all his race. His arms, though +thin, were sinewy, and his muscles stood out like bands of whip-cord as +he strove to gain the upper hand. Max was at a disadvantage, since he +wore boots; whereas the Arab with his bare feet had the better foot-hold +on the trunk of the fallen tree. Still, even he could not retain his +balance for long, with the young Englishman flying at his throat like a +tiger. The man had a beard, and Max, laying hold of this, forced his +head backwards, so that they both fell together into the mud. + +During that fall Max's head struck the bows of the canoe. For a moment +he was dazed, half stunned. He relaxed his hold of his opponent, and +thereafter he lay at the mercy of the Arab. + +If we make an exception of the Chinese, the Arab is in all probability +the cruellest man we know of. He is possessed of an almost fiendish +cunning. His courage no one will dispute. To his children he is a kind +father; to those who know and understand him he is a good friend; he is +one of the most hospitable men in the world. But to his enemies he is +relentless. He has none of the barbarity of the savage races, like the +Zulus or the Masai. He is refined, even in his cruelty. Above all, he +is a man of brains. + +Because of their craftiness, their cunning and their courage, the Arab +races have existed from the very beginnings of time. We read in the +most ancient history that exists--in the history of the Pharaohs--of how +the Egyptian towns in the valley of the Nile were walled against the +incursions of the Arabs. Long before the Persians came to Egypt, no man +dared venture far into the desert because of the Bedouin bands. And that +was when the world was in its cradle, when just the valleys of two +rivers--the one in Asia and the other in Egypt--were able to produce the +rudiments of the civilization of the future. That was, perhaps, eight +thousand years ago. + +Since then--and before then--the Arab has been feared. The Negro races +have bowed down before him, as dumb animals obey a superior +intelligence. In this, above all things, had the Portuguese been wise; +he had formed his bodyguard of those men who for centuries have been the +stern, implacable rulers of the great, mysterious continent. + +Max never lost possession of his senses; he was only dazed. And, whilst +in that condition, he was lifted in the strong arms of the Arab, and +thrown bodily into the canoe. When he was sufficiently recovered to +endeavour to rise to his feet, he found that he was in mid-stream, +drifting rapidly towards the river. He looked about him for a paddle, +and seeing none, turned his eyes to the bank. And there stood the Arab, +in his mud-stained garments, his white teeth showing in his swarthy face +in a broad, unholy grin. Moreover, in both hands, he held the paddles +which he had taken from the canoe. + +Max recognized, as in a flash, that his fate was in the hands of a +greater Power than himself. He snatched up his rifle, and endeavoured +to steer with the butt. That had the effect of turning the canoe a +little, but the current was too strong, and he was borne onwards. + +Twenty yards farther, and the canoe would turn the corner and shoot out +into the river, where the rapids foamed and lashed. At one time the +bows brushed the tall reeds which were growing from the water. Max, +dropping his rifle, seized the only one of these that was within his +grasp. He held it for no longer than a second--an agonizing moment that +seemed eternity--and then the reed was drawn out by its roots from the +soft mud beneath the water. + +The canoe was launched into the rapids at a bound. The current struck +it sideways, and sent it round like a top. For a moment it was like +some blind, excited animal that knows not whither it means to go, and +then it shot down-stream like an arrow from the bow. + +Max became aware of a kind of singing in his head. This may have been +caused by the blow which he had received, or else by the manner in which +the canoe was now whirled round and round upon the tide. The whole +scene about him became blurred and indistinct. The great, white-hot sky +above him was like a sheet of fire. He saw the trees on either bank fly +past like armies of dark, gigantic spectres. At such times as this, it +is as if the brain becomes unhinged; we think of strange, and often +foolish things, of no consequence soever. Max saw a large dragonfly, of +all the colours in the rainbow. Even then he admired its beauty and +coveted its wings. The latter thought was natural, but the first was +strange. And the next thing he knew of was Crouch shouting and waving +his arms upon the bank. In a few moments Max had shot down the river to +the place where he had left the little captain, though it had taken him +more than two hours to force his way to the back-water through the +density of the jungle. + +"Paddle!" Crouch was crying. "Paddle for your life! Bring her in to +the bank." + +Just then the canoe was steady, shooting downward like a dart. Max +raised his hands to his lips and shouted back. + +"I've no paddles!" he cried. + +He saw Crouch break into the jungle. The little sea-captain threw +himself into the thickets like a madman. Once again, only for an +instant, Max caught sight of him. He was fighting his way down-stream +along the river bank like some ferocious beast. The long arm of a +creeper barred his way, and Crouch wrenched it from the tree to which it +clung with a strength that was almost superhuman. And then he was lost +to view. + +Max looked down into the water, and saw at once that it would be +impossible to reach the bank by swimming. He had never been a strong +swimmer, and in such a current as this no one could hope to prevail. On +hands and knees, he crawled to the other end of the canoe, and +immediately the thing swung round again, like a gate upon its hinges. + +He was now calm enough to think the matter out. If he tried to swim to +the shore the odds would be a hundred to one against him. There was +still a chance that the canoe might be driven into the bank. He was +determined to keep his head, to be ready to spring ashore, should the +opportunity occur, and lay hold upon the first thing that fell to his +reach. + +As he sat and waited, whilst the seconds flew, his heart sank within +him. The river narrowed. Black, ugly-looking rocks sprang up, like +living things in mid-stream, and before him opened the ravine. + +He saw its great walls rising, smooth and sheer, on either side of the +river, and fading away in the distance, in the thick haze of the +steaming, tropic day. He was fascinated by the rocks. He marvelled +every instant that the canoe was not dashed to atoms. The surface of +the water was now white with foam, in the midst of which the black rocks +glistened in the sunlight. The canoe would rush towards one of these, +as some swift beast of prey hurls itself upon its victim; and at the +eleventh hour it would be whipped aside to go dancing, leaping on. + +The ravine was like one of the pits we read of in Dante's _Inferno_. Its +walls were precipitous and white, glaring in the sunshine. This was the +gate that guarded the Hidden Valley. + +Max had a sensation of passing through a railway-cutting in an express +train. Little objects upon the steep banks--perhaps straggling plants, +sprung from seeds which had fallen from above--were blurred and +indistinct, flashing past like may-flies in the sunlight. There was the +same rattling noise in his ears, quite distinguishable from the roar of +the water beneath his feet. + +For a moment he buried his face in his hands. A hundred thoughts went +galloping through his brain, not one of which was complete. One gave +place to another; there was no gap between them; they were like the +films on a cinematograph. + +And then came a murmuring in his ears which was something apart from the +rattling sound we have mentioned, and the loud roar of the rapids. He +looked up, with a white face, and listened. It seemed his heart had +ceased to beat, and breathing consisted of inspiration only. The +murmuring grew into a roar, and the roar into a peal of thunder--the +cataract was ahead! + + + + +CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT + + +As the canoe rushed forward, Max Harden recognized himself for lost; he +realized there was no hope. Resolved to meet his fate with all the +fortitude he could command, he was yet sufficiently unnerved to stand +upright in the canoe, which so rocked and swayed that he balanced +himself with difficulty. + +It was then that he looked down upon what seemed certain death. The +river ended abruptly, as a cliff falls sheer to the sea. The walls of +the ravine were folded back to the east and to the west, and between, +the water went over the cataract in one long, unbroken wave. + +Far below, extending to the north, was a broad plain, dotted here and +there with trees which, in the haze of the tropic heat, appeared +indistinct and restless, like weeds and pebbles at the bottom of deep, +discoloured water. Beyond that were the broad, gleaming waters of the +Kasai, rolling north-westward to the Congo. + +Max looked up to the wide, burning sky. In that mad, headlong moment he +offered up a prayer. The roar of the waters thundered in his ears. The +canoe over-shot the crest of the cataract, as a swallow dips upon the +wing. Max was conscious of a bursting in his head. There was a noise +in his ears as if all chaos were rushing in upon him; it was as if he +were an atom in the midst of an upheaval of the worlds. And then he +remembered no more. + + ---- + +Now that the Hidden Valley has been explored, and is even shown upon +some of the large scale maps that have recently been issued by the Royal +Geographical Society, those whose pleasure it is to study such matters +are well acquainted with the formation of the country. + +The river finds its source in the unknown mountains to the south of +Makanda; thence it flows due north towards the Kasai. South of the +waterfall the basin consists of a hard, impervious rock. In the region +of the jungle, this rock is covered by about ten feet of fertile +subsoil: in some places a black, glutinous mud; in others, a red, loamy +clay, containing a super-abundance of plant food. At the Long Ravine +the rock rises to the surface, in what geologists call an "out-crop." +North of the cataract lies a great plain of mud. + +This phenomenon is merely what is found in every waterfall in the world. +The river at the top of the falls flows over hard, impermeable rock; at +the foot is found a softer stratum--such as chalk or clay--which is +easily washed away. Originally, far back in the centuries, there was no +waterfall at all. The river flowed on an even course from Makanda to +the Kasai. Very soon, however, the current swept away vast tracts of +mud to the north of the waterfall. This mud was carried by the Kasai to +the Congo, and thence to the sea. In consequence, a tract of country, +many square miles in area, gradually descended lower and lower. On the +other hand, in the hard rock of the ravine, the river worked more +slowly, so that, at last, the cataract was formed. + +At the foot of the falls is a great pool in which the water is +exceedingly deep, and round which the current spends its fury in many +whirlpools, such as may be seen in a mill-pond when the flood-gates are +opened to their full extent. + +Having thus briefly explained the conformation of the country in the +lower valley of the Hidden River, it is now necessary to return to +Captain Crouch. The effort made by the little wizened sea-captain upon +that eventful morning is worthy to rank with anything that was ever told +by the poets of classic days. Had it not been for his indomitable will, +he could never have accomplished a feat that was almost superhuman. +Edward Harden had said that he believed that he was the only person whom +Crouch cared for in the world. That might have been true at the time, +but certain it is that the captain thought well of Max, else he had +never accomplished what he did. + +He was already wounded; even he himself had owned he was in pain. And +yet, mile upon mile, he broke his way through the jungle, fighting +onward amid the profusion of the forest, like one who was raving mad. +Often he sank to his waist in marsh. His clothes were torn to shreds by +thorns. His face and hands were red with blood which had mingled with +the perspiration that streamed from every pore. When he came forth from +the forest, at the head of the ravine, he looked hardly human--the most +desperate being it were possible to picture. + +For all that he dashed on, across the bare rocks, in the blazing heat of +the sun. There was nothing now to impede him, and he raced upon his +way, never pausing for breath. He was half-naked; he had left the +greater part of his clothes upon the thorn-trees in the jungle. His +pith helmet was askew, and battered and out of shape. He had used his +Remington rifle as a club to beat his way through the thickets, had +broken it off at the small of the butt, and now held the barrel in his +hand. His legs were bare to the knee, like those of an urchin, and so +clotted with blood that he looked like a savage who had dyed his skin. +Sometimes he stumbled, and seemed in danger of falling; but each time he +braced himself up, struck himself upon the chest, and went on even +faster than before. + +When he came to the end of the ravine he turned to the west, and there +found a place where he could climb down to the low-lying flats. It was +then approaching sunset. The heat of the day was past. + +At about half-way down the incline he paused, and lifted the palm of his +hand to screen his only eye. For some minutes he scanned the plain, and +then on a sudden he gave vent to a loud cry of exultation, and bounded +down the hill. Far in the distance, high and dry upon a mud-bank, he +had caught sight of a small speck, which he knew for a human being. + +It took him more than half an hour to reach this place. By then it was +nearly dusk. Bending down over the drenched, motionless form, he +thought at first that Max was dead. He could feel no beating of the +heart. + +Still, Crouch was not the man to despair. Moreover, in the days when he +had sailed the seas, he had had experience in the resuscitation of the +drowned. + +Without delay he set to work. He lifted the body so that the water +poured from the mouth of the unconscious man. He then seated himself +upon the ground at Max's head, and worked both arms like the handles of +a pump. + +The sun set and a full moon arose, which traced a silvery pathway across +the great wasteland that extended both to the east and to the west, as +far as the eye could reach. Here and there lonely, stunted trees showed +like sentinels upon the plain. The only sound that disturbed the +stillness of the night was the dull, continuous roar of the cataract to +the south. Here was no sign of animal life. In the daytime the +marshland was thronged with birds, but these now were silent. It would +be impossible to imagine a place more desolate and weird. It seemed not +of the world, or, if it were, of some forgotten country, buried for ever +beyond the reach of progress and the influence of man. + +Hour after hour Crouch held to his task. The sweat poured from his +forehead, the blood still issued from his wounds, but never for a moment +did he cease. + +At last he stopped, and placed an ear to Max's chest. Thereupon, he +went on again, more feverishly than ever. + +Soon after that, a quick cry escaped his lips. He had looked into Max's +face, and seen the eyelids flicker; and presently, two eyes were staring +in his face. And at that the little man just toppled forward in a +faint, and lay upon his face across the body which his efforts had +brought back to life. + +Without doubt, the mind is master of the body, and the will is king of +the mind. One had but to glance into the face of Captain Crouch to see +that he was possessed of a will of iron. The strong brows, the firm +mouth, the great hatchet chin--these had not been given him for naught. +He may have had the strength of Hercules; yet he had never accomplished +his journey down the river, had it not been for the indomitable strength +of his mind. And now that he realized that the victory was his, that +his efforts had been crowned with success, the will, on a sudden, +relinquished its task, as a helmsman gives way to his successor at the +wheel--and Crouch fell forward in a faint. + +At dawn, the sun found them lying together on the mud, and by the warmth +of its rays set the blood coursing more freely in their veins. + +Max was the first to revive. He tried to lift himself, but found that +he was not able to do so, because of the weight of Crouch's body on his +chest. He fell back again, and lay for some time with opened eyes, +staring upward at the sky. + +He saw the colours change in the heavens. He heard the cries of the +birds upon the marsh. Then, once again, he struggled to an elbow. + +With difficulty he lifted Crouch; and then, looking into the captain's +face, he wondered where he was, and how it had come about that they two +were stranded, side by side, in the midst of surroundings with which he +was wholly unfamiliar. + +Then he remembered, by degrees. The struggle with the Arab in the +back-water--his headlong rush throughout the length of the rapids--the +vision he had had of Crouch, frantic on the bank. And then--the ravine, +and at the end, the cataract--the thunder of the water--the rushing in +his ears. + +The truth was not difficult to guess; indeed, there was no other +explanation. He tried to rise to his feet, but could not do so. At +that, he lay back again, to rest, and gave silent thanks in his heart to +Divine Providence by means of which he had been saved as by a miracle. +He had undergone the sensations of death, and yet he lived. + +He had lain quite still and motionless, it may have been for an hour, +when Crouch sat up and looked about him. And when he had taken in the +scene, he let fall the following irrelevant remark-- + +"I've lost my pipe," said he. + +He then got to his feet, and walking to the water's edge--which was but +a few feet distant--he knelt down, scooped the water in his hands, and +drank. + +Then he returned to Max, and seated himself by his side. + +"Feeling queer?" he asked. + +Max answered that he was very weak. + +"Your strength 'll return," said Crouch; "but you must have some cover +for your head." + +He took off his coat, which was nothing but a bundle of tatters, and +rolling this into a kind of turban, he placed it upon Max's forehead to +protect him from the heat of the sun. Then he went back to the water's +edge, washed the blood from his face and hands, and bathed the back of +his neck. As he returned, he found the barrel of his broken rifle, and +stooped and picked it up. + +"Look at that!" said he. "That was once the best rifle in this forsaken +continent. Not worth its weight as scrap-iron!" + +"I suppose," said Max, "you'll be offended if I try to thank you?" + +"You suppose right," said Crouch. "Do you feel able to walk?" + +"I think so." + +"You don't," said the captain. "There's no hurry." Then he began to +think aloud. "If we work up-stream," said he, "we'll be on the wrong +side of the river. By now Csar will have found our canoe. We're not +armed; we have no food. There are precisely three ways in which we +might die: first, starvation; second, Csar; third, a buffalo. The +first's a certainty. Both of us are too weak to swim the river at Hippo +Pool--to say nothing of crocodiles. On the other hand, if we go +down-stream, walking will be easy till we get to the mangrove swamp. +Have you got a knife?" + +Max felt in his pockets, and produced the article in question. Crouch +looked at it. + +"That'll do," said he. "With this we should be able to dig out a canoe, +and make a couple of paddles. If we don't die at the job, we ought to +work our way up to Date Palm Island. As soon as you're ready, we'll +start." + +"I'm ready now," said Max. + +"Then come along," said Crouch. + +The mud lay in ridges, which had been baked hard by the sun. Between +these the water lay in long pools which, as they progressed farther to +the north, became more and more still, less disturbed by the current +that issued from the falls. Crouch patted his clothes as he limped +along. + +"I've lost every blamed thing," said he; "pipe, pouch and baccy, +compass, knife and ammunition." + +Max answered nothing. He thought it would not be wise to sympathize. +Crouch was a peculiar man in many ways. + +Soon after midday they came to the mangrove swamp; and the crossing of a +mangrove swamp is a thing that most African explorers have accomplished. +The roots of the short, stunted trees stand out upon the surface of the +water. It is necessary to pass by way of these, stepping from one root +to another; and some knowledge of the art of balancing is utterly +essential. If you lose your foothold, you fall into the swamp, and +there you are set upon by leeches. Some of these are large--sometimes +as large as snails--but the kind generally met with is an animal so +small that it can work its way through the eye-holes of your boots. +Once this creature has laid hold upon your skin, and begun to suck your +blood, it begins to swell until it has attained the size of a cherry. + +At the edge of the mangrove swamp Crouch and Max took off their boots, +and hung these across their shoulders. With bare feet they could get a +better footing upon the twisted roots of the trees. + +For three hours they journeyed through the swamp, which was buried in +semi-darkness. It was far darker than the jungle. It is in these +swamps that the mosquitoes swarm in myriads, and all the deadly diseases +of the country are engendered. To pitch a standing camp in the vicinity +of a mangrove swamp, is to court a certain death from malaria or +typhoid. + +They were weary, faint, and aching in their bones when they came upon +the banks of the Kasai. No wonder this had been named the "Hidden +River." It joined the great tributary of the Congo in a thousand little +streams, all flowing silently through darkness beneath the close-packed +trees. + +Crouch turned to the right. He had been bearing to the east throughout, +and in a little while they were clear of the swamp, on terra firma. +Seating themselves, they put on their boots. + +"By Christopher," said Crouch, "I'm weak! I don't fancy making that +canoe with a jackknife." + +"Nor I," said Max. "But we'll do it." + +Crouch laughed. + +"We will," said he, but his face was white as a ghost. Then he sat bolt +upright and listened. "What's that?" he cried. + +Faint in the distance was a gentle, scraping sound, which grew louder +and louder as the minutes passed. Max at first could not believe the +evidence of his ears. He waited expectantly, and at last heard a +rippling sound, that was like the laughter of a child. He sprang to his +feet, and rushing to the water's edge, looked up-stream, shading his +eyes with his hand. It was, indeed, the truth--a long canoe was +swinging down upon the tide. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN + + +A minute later they saw that the canoe was manned by six of their own +Loango boys, who made the blades of the paddles flash in the sunlight; +and, moreover, they recognized the canoe as the one they had left at +Date Palm Island. + +Max lifted his voice and shouted from the bank. Whereat the boys ceased +to paddle, and regarded them amazed. Then, recognizing their masters, +they raised a shout in chorus, and drew in towards the bank. + +Had these natives desired proof of the omnipotence of the Fire-gods, +they could have wished for nothing more. Had they searched Central +Africa from the Equator to the Zambesi, they could have found no two +people more wretched-looking and forlorn. Max was utterly exhausted, +and so faint that he could scarcely stand. As for Crouch, he might have +been mauled by a lion. + +One of the boys flung himself upon the ground, then rose to a kneeling +position, and lifted his arms as in prayer. + +"Master," he cried, "what did we tell you? We warned you of the +Fire-gods! We told you the valley was bewitched! We implored you not +to go!" + +As the boy ran on in the same strain, Crouch gathered himself together, +growing purple in the face. With his tattered garments, which resembled +ruffled feathers, he looked like an infuriated turkey-cock. And then, +without warning, he landed the boy such a kick as lifted him bodily into +the air. + +"Fire-gods be hanged!" he shouted. "These are jungle marks. If the +valley 's bewitched, it's bewitched by thorns. Look here! See for +yourselves!" So saying, he lifted his bare leg, in which the thorns +were sticking like so many pins in a pin-cushion. "I've seen the +Fire-gods," he ran on. "You blithering fools, I've taken tea with 'em. +I've doctored one with a dose of medicine, and I've played cards with +the other. And I've not done with them, yet--mind that! I'm going +back, by Christopher! and there'll be the biggest war-palaver you ever +heard of in your lives. Come, get up, and get a move on! But, first, +what are you doing here?" + +The boys answered that they had come down-stream to shoot hippopotami +for food. They said that about a mile farther down the river there was +a great grassy bank where many of these animals were to be found. Crouch +ordered them to get back into the canoe, saying that as soon as they +arrived at the island he would open a case of supplies--bully beef and +sardines, of which the Loango boys cherished the empty tins. Also, he +promised that in a day or so he would shoot a buffalo, and they would +not want for provisions. There was a certain amount of hippo meat in +the canoe, and that night Crouch and Max partook of the same food as the +boys. It was not until the afternoon of the following day that they +arrived at Date Palm Island. + +They did not expect Edward Harden for some days. He was still forcing +his way towards the Kasai by way of the portage. In the meantime, not +only were they glad enough of a rest, but this was altogether essential. +It took Crouch some days to rid himself of the thorns which had attached +themselves to his skin. He refused all medical assistance from Max; and +the wonder of it was, that the wound in his thigh was healing rapidly +under his "Bull's Eye treatment." This was wholly incomprehensible to +the young medical student, who beheld the theories he had studied at +hospital, and on which he had placed such store, dissipated to the +winds. In all probability, the fact was that Crouch had such firm +belief in his own remedy that his cure was an example of "faith +healing"; it is generally admitted in these days that "attitude of mind" +affects the health and can even bring about organic changes, for better +or for worse. At any rate, in three days he was sufficiently recovered +to set forth into the forest of rubber trees on the right bank of the +river in search of the buffalo he had promised the boys. Max--although +on this occasion he remained in camp--had by now completely recovered +his strength. + +There were few things they carried with them to the Hidden River of +which they had not duplicates at Date Palm Island. Crouch had been able +to secure a new suit of clothes, tobacco and another pipe. As for +rifles, both Edward and Crouch were experienced explorers, and knew that +if a fire-arm was lost or broken, they could not buy a new one in the +heart of Africa. They had therefore equipped themselves with a battery +of several rifles, including Remingtons, Expresses and Winchester +repeaters, besides several shot-guns and revolvers. + +On the evening of that day, when he was expecting Crouch's return at any +moment, Max walked to the northern extremity of the island. When there, +his ears caught the sound of a shot in the forest, on the left bank of +the river. + +Now, since Crouch had landed on the other side, there could be no +question as to whence came this shot; and in a few minutes Max had run +to the canoe, jumped in and paddled to the bank. There, he picked up +his rifle and fired twice into the air. + +Almost immediately his two shots were answered, and there came a second +answer--from Crouch on the northern bank. A quarter of an hour later, +Max, who had hastened forward on the line of the portage, had grasped +the hand of his uncle, who was amazed to see him. + +Crouch returned at nightfall. He had killed his buffalo, far in the +interior of the forest, and the following morning the boys set out to +cut it up. That night the three friends were seated around the +camp-fire on Date Palm Island. Edward's journey had been uneventful, +except that one of his Fan attendants had been mauled badly by a wounded +leopard. + +It was Max who related the story of all that had happened since his +uncle left Hippo Pool. The big man listened in silence; and when the +story was ended he said nothing, and never once did he look at Crouch. +He knew the captain far too well to thank him. With old friends who +have been through thick and thin together, who have stood side by side +throughout many a danger, words are at a discount--a kind of mutual +understanding exists between them that makes conversation a sheer waste +of time. Still, though Edward said nothing, Max knew well enough that +he thanked the little, wizened captain in his heart, and was conscious +of the debt he owed him. + +They remained on the island for another week, and it took them all that +time to persuade a dozen of the boys to accompany them upon the portage +in the capacity of carriers. It was only on the understanding that they +would not be asked to embark upon the dreaded river of the "Fire-gods" +that, at last, they consented to go. + +Indeed, this time, they had no intention of advancing as far as the +river. They proposed to follow the portage to Observation Creek, and +thence to strike up-stream, due south, until they found a suitable +camping-ground. Here they would establish their base, sending the boys +back to the island with orders to wait for their return. + +The Loango boys could be trusted; most of them had faithfully served +either Crouch or Edward in the past. Besides, they were a thousand +miles from their home, and dared not make the passage of the Congo by +themselves, because of the hostile tribes that, in those days, abounded +to the east of Stanley Falls. When Crouch and Edward Harden were on the +river their reputation went before them; their friends came forth to +meet them--grinning cannibals with necklaces of monkeys' teeth suspended +round their necks, and little else besides by way of clothing--and their +enemies, those who had broken their faith with Harden or fallen foul of +Crouch, deserted their villages and took to the jungle, to let the two +great white men pass, whose fame had reached to the very heart of the +continent, and who, it was said, were spoken of even by the pigmies who +lived in the dark, unknown country west of the Lakes. + +When they set out with their carriers for Observation Creek, the three +Europeans were sanguine of success, and even the four Fans (the one who +had been injured by the leopard had been left behind on the island) +shared their expectations. The riddle of the valley was yet unsolved. +The Portuguese still guarded well his secret. In his fortress by the +river, encompassed upon every hand by the dark, inhospitable jungle, he +had every reason to think himself secure. Moreover, he had cause to +believe that both Max and Crouch were dead--the former drowned at the +cataract, the latter lost in the jungle. Half the victory is gained +when one can take one's adversary by surprise. Csar had lost Gyp, his +most accomplished scout. He might patrol the river, but he would find +no trace of the Englishmen from Makanda to the rapids. He might search +their old camp at Hippo Pool, where he would find, perhaps, a box of +ammunition, cooking utensils and a few days' provisions--to say nothing +of Crouch's case of glass eyes--but he would gain no clue to the fact +that his enemies had returned to the valley. + +From their base camp on Observation Creek they had decided to move +up-stream towards the mountain. They hoped to make friends with the +natives of the Pambala village that M'Wan had seen in the distance. +Thence they could approach Makanda from the east. + +Each time they traversed the portage progress was more easy. It was no +longer necessary to cut a way through the thickets with bill-hooks and +axes, and to "blaze" the trees. Besides, they were now familiar with +the road, knew where to look for water and the bitter roots of wild +manioc, or cassava--from which tapioca is manufactured--and upon which, +to a large degree, they were obliged to subsist in the jungle. Also +they no longer carried a canoe. + +In consequence, they reached the Creek in four and a half days. After +halting for an hour, they continued their journey to the south, turning +to the left from the route which led direct to Hippo Pool. They +followed the course of the stream till sunset, and then camped for the +night. Another day's march brought them to an open place by the side of +the Creek, where the ground was too rocky for vegetation to flourish. +They had been conscious throughout the day's journey of going up-hill, +and this was doubtless the foot of one of the spurs of the mountain they +wished to gain. It was here they decided to camp. + +They pitched their tent, and gathered a supply of firewood in the +forest. The water of the stream was clear and good to drink. They were +much pestered by insects of all descriptions, but this is inevitable in +the heart of an equatorial forest, and not even the smoke of Crouch's +tobacco served to keep away the millions of flies, mosquitoes and ants, +to say nothing of less disagreeable companions, such as the most +gorgeous butterflies and gigantic dragon-flies and moths. + +The following day the Loango boys departed upon their return journey to +the Kasai. As had been the case before, they showed great eagerness to +return. It seems that they could not rid their minds of the tales they +had heard of the Fire-gods, and neither Crouch nor Edward could persuade +them that the valley was not haunted by evil spirits. + +During the days that followed the party suffered from want of meat. They +had deemed it advisable not to shoot. Though they were still some +distance from Makanda, there was always a chance that Csar and his +Arabs were somewhere abroad in the forest, and they did not wish the man +to suspect that they had returned. In the forest they found nothing to +eat but manioc, and a continual diet of the tubers of this peculiar +plant is somewhat monotonous and is apt to set up a kind of blood +poisoning, to which some people are more liable than others. Edward, +whose large carcass required a considerable amount of nourishment, began +to suffer from some kind of bilious fever. + +After a day's rest they set out upon their southward journey. Day by +day as they progressed, the nature of the vegetation changed. The +forest trees became thinner and not so large. The atmosphere became +cooler and more rarefied. The slope grew steeper and steeper, until at +last they were confronted by a sharp, rocky bluff which enclosed the +jungle like a wall. They followed this to the left, and came presently +to a gully, a dried-up watercourse, up which it was possible to climb. +At the top they found themselves upon a hillock--one of those bare, +flat-topped eminences which are scattered throughout the whole continent +of Africa. Hence it was possible to obtain a bird's-eye view of the +country. + +To the north, as far as the eye could reach, extended the forest through +which they had passed. About twenty miles to the eastward they could +see the Kasai above Date Palm Island. To the west there was no sign of +the Hidden River, which, being narrower and flowing in a direction +almost due south to north, was hidden among the trees. To the south a +magnificent panorama was extended to their view. The foreground fell +away in a valley which, to some extent, had been given over to +cultivation; and beyond, in rugged majesty, arose Solitude Peak. The +great mountain towered into the sky, its crest wrapped in clouds; and +over the valley hung a thin blue mist, above which some great bird of +prey hung like a gnat, with outstretched wings, in the very midst of +space. + +It was Max who was the first to see the village, half-way up the +mountain slope, lying--as M'Wan had described it--like a bird's nest in +the forked branches of a tree. He pointed it out to his companions, and +then the party began to descend into the valley, one behind the other in +single file, following a track which had been made by elephants. An +elephant trail can never be mistaken; however hard the ground, the +imprints of their great feet remain, and they have a habit of tearing +branches from the trees as they pass, not so much for food, as from pure +love of destruction. + +It took them several hours to cross the valley, and then they began the +steep ascent of the mountain. Suddenly M'Wan, who was leading, came to +an abrupt standstill, and stood upon a sharp pinnacle of rock, pointing +to the east. There was something noble in his dark, savage figure, +standing upright, straight as a larch, in the midst of these wild +surroundings. A moment later he was joined by the two Hardens and +Crouch. + +There, in the distance, they could discern the broad waters of the lake +before Makanda. They could see the granite hills, which were red in the +glow of the setting sun. They could see, also, the narrow gorge in the +south, and far in the distance was a great range of undiscovered +mountains. As they looked, a sound issued from the valley, which, like +a long peal of distant thunder, rolled away to the north upon the wind, +echoing through the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" + + +"The Fire-gods' thunder!" said M'Wan, in a kind of hushed whisper, with +his lips parted and his eyes staring in the direction of the Hidden +River. + +It was obvious that the man was afraid. He belonged to a wild race that +for centuries has roamed the jungle, catching fish in baskets at the +waterfalls and setting traps in the forest. Until a few days before he +had never seen a firearm in his life. He had heard tales of white men +who were traders on the Coast, but he had never associated these with +the Fire-gods who inhabited the Hidden Valley, whom he regarded as +superhuman. + +Crouch looked at Edward. "What do you make of it?" he asked. + +Harden was frowning in the direction of the valley. His fingers tugged +at the end of his moustache. He was a man of few words, as we know. + +"Dynamite," said he. + +"I think so, too," said Crouch. "I wonder what his game is!" + +In their immediate neighbourhood was a narrow stretch of grass--the +coarse, thin grass that is usually to be met with on the lower slopes of +mountains. It was at this moment that Crouch's eye became fixed in the +centre of this. He remained motionless for some seconds, and then on a +sudden grasped Edward by the arm. + +"There's a man there!" said he. "Look out!" + +Simultaneously a black form sprang out of the grass and ran up the hill +in the direction of the village. Crouch whipped round upon M'Wan and +his Fans. + +"After him!" he cried. "A reward if you catch him alive." + +The four Fans set off as fast as they could go. The race lasted no +longer than five minutes at the most. The fugitive seemed possessed of +the agility of an antelope when startled from its midday slumber; he +sprang over boulders, he dodged right and left like a snipe. But the +Fans were fleeter of foot than he; at every stride they gained upon him, +and in the end he was overtaken. + +They brought him back to Crouch--a woeful, terrified object who had not +the courage to lift his head. Crouch tried him with five languages, but +he seemed not to understand, and only gave utterance to a few incoherent +grunts. Then Crouch tried the "blood-bond," and this is not pleasant to +describe. He took a knife from his pocket, opened a vein in his hand, +and the native licked the wound. At that Crouch gave his knife to the +man, who in turn inflicted a wound upon himself, and Crouch went through +his part of the business with a heroism that Max was bound to admire. +They were now "blood-brothers," and that is a bond which is inviolable +in the region of the Congo. Crouch made the man understand him by means +of signs, in the art of which he was a master. + +"I have one heart," said he, by which he conveyed the fact that he was +no traitor, that his word could be relied on. "I wish to speak with the +people of your village." + +The man, pointing in the direction of Makanda, wanted to know whether +Crouch and his companions were allies of the Fire-gods. + +"No," said Crouch. "We are come to make war upon the Fire-gods." + +The man but half believed that. None the less, he agreed to take them +to the village. They urged him to set forward without delay, since it +had already grown dark. + +It was past nightfall when they arrived at a narrow street of small, +rounded huts, constructed of bamboo stems and palm leaves. Despite the +fact that they came with one of the villagers, the majority of the +inhabitants fled at their approach. This wild people were timid, shy as +animals; also, as we shall see, they stood in a mortal fear of Csar and +his Arabs. + +As they approached the village, Crouch managed to gain the confidence of +their captive. Where natives were concerned the little sea-captain had +a way with him. The man promised that if they would wait till the +morning he would persuade his friends to attend a palaver. + +That night they had the village to themselves. The inhabitants--men, +women and children--had disappeared into the valley, where they spent +the night in fear and trembling. This is the common behaviour of many +uncivilized peoples when, for the first time in their lives, they behold +the indomitable white man. And these villagers had the greater reason +to be fearful, since they associated the explorers with the Fire-gods. + +Fortunately, they had fled in such haste that they had left most of +their provisions in their huts. Crouch and his companions enjoyed a +change of diet. That night they dined upon the flesh of a goat, which +they resolved to pay for on the morrow, besides plantains and Indian +corn. + +They took turn and turn about to keep watch throughout the night, but +there was no alarm. At daybreak they stationed themselves upon an +eminence above the village, hoping that the inhabitants would summon up +courage to return. Below them was the cultivated ground through which +they had passed the previous evening. The greater part had been given +over to the culture of ground-nuts; but there were also small patches of +Indian corn and banana groves. The explorer who wishes to succeed with +the untutored savage must possess his soul in patience by the hour. +Crouch sat down and lit his pipe. + +Shortly before midday, several dusky figures appeared from out of the +jungle, and made their way to the plantation. There they remained in a +body, frightened to come nearer; and by the aid of his field-glass, Max +was able to make out the figure of Crouch's "blood-brother" who, +gesticulating wildly, endeavoured to persuade his friends and relations +to return. + +Seeing that this was going to be a long business, Crouch suggested that +they should walk down to the village and partake of food. Since their +hosts were unwilling to entertain them, it only remained for them to +help themselves. This they did with liberality, for they had the +appetites of lions. + +They were in the middle of their repast when they heard the sound of +running feet and a great commotion. Looking up they beheld one of the +women of the village running towards them well-nigh panic-stricken, and +filling the air with screams. This woman rushed into a hut, and came +out again with all her portable belongings. + +By then the little street was crowded with old men, women and children, +wringing their hands in desperation, and uttering such moans and +supplications as were heartrending to listen to. It was remarkable that +among the crowd there were not more than five young men at the most; the +majority were women, and of the children there were few who were not +three years of age. + +Crouch looked about him, and caught sight of his "blood-brother," who +was no less distracted than the rest. He laid hold of this fellow by +the arm, and with great difficulty managed to discover what had +happened. + +The "blood-brother" had just persuaded his relatives to return to the +village; he had explained, at last, to their satisfaction that the new +white men were not the servants of the Fire-gods, when suddenly the +Fire-gods themselves had been seen approaching up the valley. At that, +the whole population had taken to their heels. They knew not where they +were going, for it was the custom of the Fire-gods to come upon them +from both sides at once, and if they tried to escape they were shot +without mercy. The great Fire-god was there himself--the tall, white +man with the black beard--and it was he whom they feared even more than +the Arabs. + +Crouch looked at Edward. There was a twinkle in his eye. + +"There's going to be fun," said he. + +"It will come to a fight," said Edward; "and I'm not sorry for that." + +"I hope it won't," said Crouch. "There are many things we ought to find +out before we come to blows. As far as I can understand from my worthy +'blood-brother,' Csar is coming here for palaver. They'll hold palaver +in the street; and if we hide in a hut we ought to overhear what the +advertisements in the newspapers call 'something to our advantage.'" + +"I see," said Edward; "and if we're discovered, we fight." + +"Exactly," said Crouch. "That's the idea." + +It so happened that they had placed their "loads" in one of the huts +where they would not be seen by Csar as he entered the village. It was +all Crouch could do to explain to his "blood-brother" that they desired +to hide, that the Fire-gods must not be told of their presence in the +village. After a while, the man seemed to understand; but, indeed, he +stood in such dread of the Portuguese that it was extremely doubtful +whether he was wholly responsible for what he was saying. + +Crowded together in one of the small huts the three Englishmen and the +four Fans awaited the arrival of the Fire-gods. They were astonished at +what they beheld--the abject consternation and alarm of the villagers, +who now appeared a cowered and servile race. Never for one moment did +it seem to occur to the few men among them to take up arms, in spite of +the fact that the Pambala--to whom they were obviously related--are a +warlike and courageous people. + +The reason for their cowardice was obvious. They did not fear the +Portuguese without a cause. They had learnt to their cost that Csar +was a man to be dreaded. + +Crouch made a little eye-hole in the wall of the hut, whence he obtained +a good view of the street. It was through this that he caught sight of +Csar and de Costa, the moment they entered the village. + +It was Csar himself who led the way. He strolled forward, with his +rifle under his arm, and his black eyes shooting in all directions, as +if he were doing no more than taking an afternoon walk in a +neighbourhood where there was much to be observed. He was followed by +four Arabs, in robes of flowing white; and the last of these conducted a +negro, of the same tribe as the villagers, who wore an iron collar round +his neck which was made fast to a chain. The rear of the party was +brought up by de Costa, slinking forward like some mongrel cur, +fever-stricken and afraid. + +The party halted in the village street, some little distance from the +hut where the three Englishmen were hiding, but not so far away as to +make it impossible for Crouch to overhear the conversation that ensued. +The chained negro was brought forward by the Arab who had charge of him; +and it was this man who acted as interpreter. Csar spoke to him in +Portuguese, and he translated. Crouch made a mental note of every word, +for he had a far better knowledge of the Portuguese language than the +interpreter himself. + +"As you know," said Csar, "it is my custom to state my business in a +few words. I come here to give orders. I expect those orders to be +obeyed." + +He lifted his sombrero hat and mopped the perspiration from his +forehead, for the afternoon was hot, and he walked up hill. The four +Arabs stood around him--proud, arrogant, handsome men, upon whose +features were stamped an unmitigated contempt for the simple savages who +stood in awe before them. It was the headman of the village who +answered, an old man, with a short, grey beard, who wore a helmet made +of a monkey's skin, and surmounted by the green covert feathers of a +parrot. + +"The great Fire-god," said he, "has but to speak." + +"Good," said Csar. "You know who I am. You know my power. You know +that to disobey me is death." + +The old man bowed his head. + +"I trade in ivory," said Csar, "black ivory. You understand what I +mean. Now, listen to my command. I desire twenty more slaves, of your +youngest and most able-bodied men. They must be ready to return with me +to Makanda before the setting of the sun." + +At that the headman threw himself upon the ground. + +"It is impossible!" he cried. "Only last moon the great Fire-god took +away all the men of the village. No one remains but those who are old, +and women and children. The Fire-god can see for himself." + +"I do not choose to look," said Csar. "As I have said, it is my +business to give orders. There is sickness in my camp, and many of my +people have died, and more are dying every day. I require others to +take their places. If you have no more men, I will take women and +children. But I will require two women, or three boys over twelve and +under sixteen years of age, for every man. You can please yourself as +to which you give me. It is all the same to me." + +"It is impossible!" repeated the native. + +"Impossible or not," said the Portuguese, "I give you till sunset. If +these people are not ready then, the consequence is on your own head. +You know how I treated the villages on the other side of the mountain? +Your fate will be the same. I will attack by night; I will set fire to +every hut; and I will take every one of you to be my slaves." + +"Mercy!" cried the native. But Csar turned upon his heel, and led the +way from the village, followed by his Arabs, who smiled in heartless +satisfaction. + +Crouch gave time for Csar to be well away from the village. Then he +crawled out of the hut, and seizing his "blood-brother" by the hand, +swore that he would save them all. + +At first, he quite failed to gain their confidence. They were convinced +in their minds that the Fire-gods were greater than all men, as the +strength of the elephant exceeds that of other beasts of the forest. + +But Crouch would not take that for answer. He commanded them to light a +fire, and they obeyed. When the flames were burning brightly he +executed a war-dance round and round the fire. His antics were +extraordinary to see. + +They may have thought him mad; but at all events he gained his object: +he drew them round him in a ring. They stood open-mouthed and +open-eyed, amazed at his contortions. They were children of the minute. +To all intents and purposes they had already forgotten the Portuguese +and his threats. + +Crouch sang, and never was there such singing. His voice was cracked +and out of tune. It was all Max could do to prevent himself exploding +into laughter. The words of Crouch's song had nothing to do with the +matter; in point of fact they were concerned with "Nuts and May." For +all that, he impressed the natives hugely. And when they had gathered +closer he took the boot from his foot, and thrust his toes into the +fire. And all the time he continued to sing of "Nuts and May," whilst +the atmosphere was tainted with the pungent smell of burning cork. + +The silence was so great that Edward Harden could hear the ticking of +his watch. The villagers stood around, breathless and amazed. Then +Crouch spoke to them; and the following was the argument he used. + +He admitted that the slave-dealer was master over fire; hence he was +called the "Fire-god." But he (Crouch) had proved to them that fire +could not affect him. Near-by a pitcher of water was standing outside a +hut, and into this he thrust his foot. There was a sizzling sound, and +steam was given off. He made the natives place their hands into the +water, to see for themselves that it was warm. He finished up by saying +that, if they would put themselves under his command, he would show them +how to face the Fire-god's anger. + +With reluctance they agreed. In the space of a few minutes it was +impossible for Crouch to efface the result of two long years of +persecution. The headman of the village, Crouch's "blood-brother," and +one or two others, came forward on behalf of their relations, their +children and their wives. Crouch turned to Harden. + +"Can we defend this place?" said he. + +Edward had already thought of that. + +"Yes," said he. "They can only advance by two paths. Elsewhere the +slope is too steep. There is an hour before sunset. If you make these +people build a wall of the small boulders which lie everywhere about, we +should be able to keep the rascals at bay." + +"I'll do my best," said Crouch. And thereupon he set to work. + +It took the natives some time to understand his meaning; but when he had +shown them what he wanted done they worked with a will, the women +carrying enormous stones, and even the little children lending aid. + +The parapet of stone grew like the walls of Rome, until, at last, it +formed a semi-circle around the village, joining the mountain-side at +either end. Then the women and children were placed under cover, and +ordered not to move. Edward posted himself at the head of the path +which led from the west, and Max on the other side of the village. At +the feet of each was a box of ammunition. As for Crouch, he hobbled +here and there on the charred stump of his foot, giving instructions up +to the last minute, when, in the dying light of day, Csar and his Arabs +were observed advancing up the valley. + + + + +CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA + + +As before, it was Csar who led the way; and the stone wall warned him +that danger was ahead. He guessed the truth in a flash. He knew well +enough that the natives themselves would never have dared to offer him +resistance. + +He stopped dead upon the path, and pointed out the wall to the Arab who +accompanied him. The man shaded his eyes with the palm of his hand, for +the mists of evening were rising from the valley, and the light was bad. +After a while the Arab disappeared from view, and then returned with his +comrades. They came up the path as men stalk game, creeping from +boulder to boulder. It was impossible to see them from the village. +Flat upon the ground, they glided from place to place like snakes. And +every minute the light was getting worse. + +One man, more daring than his comrades, had gained the cover of a large +rock about two hundred yards from the village. + +His eyes were sharp as those of a vulture. He was descended from the +sons of the desert. Peering round the angle of the rock behind which he +was hiding, he caught sight of Edward Harden's helmet, moving behind the +wall. + +In a second, the butt of his rifle was at his shoulder, and his left eye +was closed. He took in a deep breath, and aimed. At that moment, there +was a sharp crack from the wall, whence nothing of the Arab was visible +but the upper part of his head. And Edward Harden's bullet drilled a +hole in the centre of the man's forehead; so that his head just dropped +like a broken toy, and he lay still and lifeless, with his loaded rifle +in his hand. Son of a warlike race, that for centuries had oppressed +the ignorant and the weak, he had gone to make his peace with God, the +Giver of Life and Death. + +Csar, from some distance behind, with a pair of field-glasses to his +eyes, had watched this tragedy of seconds; and he knew at once with whom +he had to reckon. He drew a whistle from his pocket, and blew a long, +shrill note, which was the signal to retreat. His three remaining Arabs +came back to him, retiring even more cautiously than they had advanced. + +Night fell, as a curtain is rung down upon a stage. The natives of the +village, the old men and women and children, who had sat huddled and +shivering under cover of the wall, came forth and marvelled that a +Fire-god had been turned back by a single shot. Crouch's authority +increased by leaps and bounds. The villagers, like children, desired to +celebrate the occasion with inconsequent rejoicing. They set about +beating large, wooden drums, but Grouch cast these away. They lit +fires, but Crouch stamped them out. + +Only the babies were allowed to rest that night; the little sea-captain +kept the others working until long after midnight, when a new moon +arose. He improved the defences. He had all the provisions and the +water-jars carried to the hut which he had made his own headquarters, +whilst the two Hardens stood as sentries on either side of the village. + +At about two o'clock in the morning, Max, on the eastern side of the +village, heard the noise of a loosened stone rolling down the +mountain-side. That put him on his guard. And a moment after, another +stone bounded into the valley. + +At that, he sent back M'Wan to tell Crouch that some one was +approaching, and remained at his post alone. + +There is nothing more majestic in the whole range of Nature than +moonlight in the mountains. The white mists drift in the valleys; and, +here and there, the great, ragged peaks blot out the stars. Midnight is +ever silent in the higher altitudes. The slightest sound--the hoot of +an owl or the bubbling of a spring--is magnified by echo, and carried +far upon the breeze. + +Max, with his rifle at the ready, waited with his heart thumping against +his ribs. He heard a noise, quite near to him, but so faint that he +could never have heard it had not every sense been on the alert. He saw +something white, moving like a ghost in the moonlight. Then, a loud +shout was uplifted in the stillness. "Allah Akbar! Strike for God and +the Prophet!" + +Three white figures rushed in upon him from the darkness. He fired, and +one went down. And then, reversing his rifle, he used it as a club, +swinging the butt around him in a kind of mad delight. + +The two men who remained pressed him close. He saw knives flash in +their hands. And then a third figure appeared, and a revolver spat like +a cat. Csar himself was there. + +The Portuguese called back the two Arabs, spoke a few words which Max +was not able to hear; and then all three abreast endeavoured to rush the +wall. Max fired, but missed. He was attacked from three sides at once, +and must have been overpowered had not Crouch hastened to his rescue. + +It was no more than a scuffle at the best. Crouch emptied his revolver; +but it was too dark to shoot straight. Max used his fist, and sent one +of the men rolling backwards; whilst Crouch flew like a leopard at +Csar's throat. It was all over in an instant. Csar and his men drew +off as suddenly and quickly as they came, taking with them the Arab whom +Max had wounded or killed. + +Crouch took out his pipe and filled it. + +"I wish I had had the luck to hit that rascal," said Max, "instead of +one of the Arabs." + +Crouch grunted as he lit his pipe. + +"When I shoot that man," said he, "I don't want it to be due to luck. +Nothing's too bad for a slave-dealer, if that's what he is--which I +doubt." + +It was then that they were joined by the Fan whom they had left with +Edward. He presented a note to Crouch, written in pencil on a leaf torn +from a note-book. + +"_How goes it?_" was all it said. + +Crouch scribbled a reply: "_He's gone to bed. But remain at your post +till daybreak._" + +Sunrise brought their vigil to an end. No sign of the Portuguese was to +be seen; and presently news was brought to the village by a man who had +been setting traps in the forest, and who had known nothing of the +alarm. This man stated that he had seen Csar returning to Makanda, +followed by two Arabs, who carried the body of a third. + +The delight of the natives exceeded anything that Max Harden had ever +seen in his life. They beat their wooden drums, and sang and danced in +jubilation. They realized that, at last, after two years of oppression, +the yoke of the Fire-gods had been lifted from their shoulders. They +regarded Crouch and his companions as angels who had dropped from the +skies to deliver them from bondage. + +That evening the three Englishmen held a council of war. They regretted +that Csar had learnt of their return to the valley. But that was +inevitable; they had been in duty bound to help the natives. Though the +mystery of Makanda was by no means solved, they had, at least, an +inkling of the truth. The explosion they had heard in the valley was +undoubtedly the blasting of rock; and there was no question that it was +for this purpose that Csar required the services of slaves. That +explained why he had been unwilling for either the Europeans or the Fans +to leave the stockade. The kraal, fenced around by high palisades, and +guarded by Arab slave-drivers, contained the slave gangs; and who can +say what cruelty was perpetrated therein? The slave trade had been +abolished; but at that time, in the heart of Africa, it still flourished +in all its blackest colours, with utter disregard for the equality of +all men, who--whatever the colour of their skin may be--are equal in the +sight of God. Edward Harden was a man in whose big heart a sense of +justice burned like a living flame. When he considered the innate +cruelty of the Portuguese, who was willing to enslave even women and +little children, his wrath rose within him and the blood flew to his +face. He felt that he could not rest until the fortress of Makanda had +been taken, the slaves set free, and Csar brought to his account. + +Still, Edward was no fool. He knew well enough that it would be madness +for three of them to endeavour to attack a defensive position held by a +determined man and, at least, half a dozen Arabs. It was then that they +decided to arm M'Wan and his Fans. They had with them six rifles and a +shot-gun; a great quantity of reserve ammunition had been left at the +camp on Observation Creek. Crouch and Max undertook to teach the Fans +to shoot; whilst Edward, with a party of villagers, made his way back to +the camp in the jungle, to bring up all their supplies. + +The following morning Edward Harden set out upon his journey, and it was +a strange crowd that followed him into the forest. The majority of them +were women; but the African woman is accustomed to manual labour. At +Zanzibar, sea-going ships are coaled by great buxom wenches, who can +lift a hundredweight as though it were a trifle. With many inland +tribes, between Mombasa and the West Coast, the work in the fields is +conducted almost exclusively by women. The men pride themselves upon +being warriors, hunters of big game and setters of traps. They consider +it beneath their dignity to dig and delve and hoe the ground, since such +employment entails no personal danger. Edward, therefore, was well +contented to have women as his servants; and before he started he +bargained to pay them in beads, cloth and cowrie shells. + +Whilst he was absent, Crouch and Max became drill-sergeants for the +nonce. The Fans were first taught the mechanism of the rifle, and how +to clean it. They were then instructed in aiming drill. Though Crouch +had now a fair working knowledge of their language, for the most part he +taught them by demonstration; and they proved most promising recruits. +At last a target was set up in the valley; and rifle practice took place +daily both in the morning and the evening. + +By the time Edward returned, though the Fans were not yet marksmen, it +seemed probable that they would be ready to take the field in another +day or so. Still, both Crouch and Edward desired to run no risks. They +did not intend to operate against Makanda, until they could do so with +every chance of success. It was Edward's suggestion that they should +reconnoitre the settlement before they advanced. They desired to +discover the quickest route to the granite hills, and some position +thereon--within striking distance of Makanda--where they could establish +their headquarters. It was also necessary to find out the strength of +Csar's garrison. At the time of their visit, they had not been able to +ascertain how many Arabs were secreted in the kraal. De Costa, they +knew, need not be taken into account; the man was an arrant coward. But +the Arab is a foe who can never be despised; he is a good rifle-shot, an +intelligent soldier, and his religion teaches him to be brave. + +The next question was to decide who should be sent forward as a scout; +and it was Max who was selected for the task. Edward had just returned +from the jungle; and besides, the big man was by no means so quick and +agile as his nephew. Crouch was out of the question; he had burnt so +much of his cork foot that he could only hobble and would take too long +over the journey. It was finally decided that Max should start a day in +advance of the others, taking with him provisions for three days, as +well as his rifle and revolver. + +That evening, Edward and Max climbed to the top of Solitude Peak. During +the day the crest of the mountain was invariably wrapped in clouds, but +towards evening these usually disappeared. On this occasion, a most +magnificent panorama of the surrounding country was presented to their +view. They looked down upon the whole valley of the Hidden River, from +Makanda to the mangrove swamp; and it was then that Edward filled in the +final details of his map. + +They saw that it was possible to reach Csar's stockade without entering +the jungle. If one followed the valley above which lay the Pambala +village, one would come, in course of time, to the granite hills to the +east of Makanda. They calculated that, if Max started at daybreak, he +would reach his destination towards the evening. + +Accordingly, soon after sunrise, Max set out, bearing with him the good +wishes of his friends. A native footpath led some distance down the +valley, but there turned into the jungle. Max struck across country, +holding his course south-west by the compass. + +He halted at midday to enjoy a meal of biscuits and sardines, washed +down by the clear water from a neighbouring brook. As he sat in +solitude, in the midst of that illimitable wilderness, he could not but +reflect upon the strangeness of his situation. Here was he, who all his +life had been accustomed to the roll of London 'buses and the cries of +newsboys in the streets, seated on a boulder, in the blazing heat of the +tropics, thousands of miles beyond the pale of civilization. + +It was whilst he was there that he beheld, for the first time in his +life--if we make exception of the animals he had seen in the Zoo--a +great rock-python which lay, coiled in the grass, not twenty paces from +him. The sight of the thing caused him to shudder. He sprang instantly +to his feet. As he did so the snake heard him, and glided away among +the rocks. In the thickest part of its body the great reptile was about +the size of a man's thigh; and it must have been over twenty feet in +length. + +Max, having no desire for such a companion, moved on in haste, keeping +the mountain to his left. For the most part, he passed through a kind +of neutral territory, where the dominion of the jungle gave way to the +barren, rock-bound slopes of Solitude Peak. The afternoon was well +advanced by the time he arrived at the granite hills. + +Here, he exercised the greatest caution. It was possible that a +sentinel had been posted on the crest-line. He accordingly advanced by +way of a donga, which led to the hill-top, and in which he could not be +seen. When he cleared the donga, a few yards from the crest, he went +down on hands and knees, and crawled from boulder to boulder. + +A few minutes later, he found himself looking down upon the settlement +of Makanda. He was immediately above the kraal, and from that altitude +he was able to see inside the enclosure. The kraal consisted of four +rows of huts. In one of these was a white figure which, even without +the aid of his glasses, he had no difficulty in recognizing as one of +the Arabs. This man, rifle in hand, entered a hut, and presently came +out with a party of six slaves, all of whom wore iron collars around +their necks, which were fastened together by a single chain. Followed +by the Arab, this party left the kraal, and turned to the left, towards +the southern extremity of the lake. + +Max directed his field-glasses upon the stockade. He could see no one +therein but Csar's Arab cook, who was walking leisurely from the +direction of the river with a bucket of water in either hand. + +By now the slave-driver and his party were out of sight to the south. +Max, anxious to observe whatsoever was in progress, descended from the +sky-line and ran in all haste along the ridge. He soon came to a place +whence he was able to see the course of the river, which had taken a +sudden bend to the west above the lake, where it was spanned by a rope +suspension bridge, such as is often met with in the heart of Africa. +Beyond the bridge, the sight that he witnessed held him rooted to the +spot. + +He beheld a large quarry, where about fifty natives were at work. In +charge of these were four Arabs, and Max had no difficulty in +distinguishing Csar and the half-caste de Costa. + +The work which was in progress was singular, by reason of the fact that +this was Equatorial Africa where, at that time, commerce, industry and +enterprise were quite unknown. A group of slaves in charge of the +Portuguese himself, was gathered together beneath the walls of the +quarry. A little distance from them was a great heap of rubbish. +Suddenly, the whole party was seen to set off running in the direction +of the river. Csar was the last to retire. + +There followed a tremendous explosion. A great column of dust and smoke +was thrown up into the air. And even before this had descended, or had +been carried away upon the wind, both Csar and the natives had hastened +back to the place, where there was now a great rent in the living rock. +There they set to work carrying baskets of dbris to de Costa, who +supervised a party engaged in sifting. Now and then, something was +taken from the siftings and handed to de Costa, who examined it, and +cast it into a wheelbarrow. At intervals, this wheelbarrow was taken to +a third party at the water's edge that was engaged in washing something +in pans. + +Max was, at first, too interested and surprised at all this to take +notice of an occurrence in the nature of a tragedy which was taking +place farther up the stream. There, about a dozen natives lay stretched +at full length upon the sand at the water's edge. Some of these lay +still and motionless, as if in death; others were writhing in agony; +from time to time one would endeavour to raise himself, but invariably +fell back, drawing up his knees as if in fearful pain. + +Even at that distance, Max could not fail to recognize the symptoms of +cholera--the most severe and fatal of all diseases. At various +intervals in the history of the world, cholera has raged in Asia and +throughout the eastern parts of Europe. In the early part of the +nineteenth century a violent outbreak occurred in Bengal, which in a +short time spread throughout the length and breadth of India. Thence, +it raged eastward into China, and westward through Persia and Turkey to +Russia and Central Europe. North Africa was also afflicted, and the +valley of the Nile, whence the pestilence had evidently now crossed to +the basin of the Congo. + +No disease in the world is more deadly and virulent. It strikes down +its victims swiftly and without warning. Even as the men worked at the +quarry, Max observed one who took himself a little distance from his +fellows, and sat down upon a rock as though he were in pain. + +Csar followed him, and ordered the man to return. The poor fellow was +too weak to obey; and thereupon the slave-master raised his whip and +three times brought down his lash upon the naked back of the sufferer. +The man's cries for mercy carried even to the hills, and it was all Max +could do to restrain the burning indignation which kindled in his soul. + +Presently the order was given for the slaves to return to the kraal; and +the whole party set out across the bridge, driven forward by the whip. +If any man, in all God's Kingdom, had merited death by dint of his +misdeeds, it was surely this relentless Portuguese. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST + + +At sundown Max looked about him for somewhere to sleep. He soon found a +sandy patch between two great boulders, and here he took off the +haversack in which he had carried his provisions. He had filled his +water-bottle at the brook. + +After he had eaten he lay down, converting his helmet into a pillow. He +felt quite secure; he could not possibly be discovered, unless some one +actually walked over him--an event that was very unlikely to occur. He +was thoroughly tired out after the day's march; for all that, he found +himself quite unable to sleep. He could not rid his mind of the sight +he had seen that evening: the miserable slaves, dropping like poisoned +flies, struck down by the cholera which raged amongst them, and yet +goaded by the whip. And if Max's sense of pity had been aroused, he was +scarcely less curious to discover the nature of the work that was going +forward at the quarry. When, at last, he fell asleep this thought was +dominant in his mind. + +He awoke suddenly, and found the same question on his lips: why were +they blasting at the quarry? He could not have been asleep for more +than a few hours, for the moon was but newly arisen. On consulting his +watch, he found that it was only half-past twelve. + +He failed in his endeavours to go to sleep again; so he sat up, and +tried to think the matter out. He had already accomplished part of his +mission: he had discovered that Csar had not more than six Arabs with +whom to defend the stockade. It remained for him, on the following +morning, to see if he could find a point upon the ridge whence +rifle-fire could be opened upon Makanda. For the time being, however, +he resolved to go down into the valley under cover of darkness, to cross +the suspension bridge and examine the quarry. + +Leaving his haversack, water-bottle and rifle behind him, he armed +himself with his revolver, and set forward down the hill, making a wide +detour around the kraal. He was then devoutly thankful that Gyp had +departed from the land of the living. He found that he was obliged to +pass nearer to the settlement than he liked; and had the Great Dane been +on watch, no doubt she would have given the alarm. + +As it was, he passed in safety, and reached the river bank. He had no +difficulty in finding the suspension bridge, which he crossed on tiptoe, +as rapidly as possible. On the other side his attention was immediately +attracted by the loud groans of the sufferers who had been left to their +fate. + +It was quite beyond his power to do anything to help these men. He had +no medicines; he could not speak their language; and in the majority of +cases, the disease was so far gone as to be incurable. + +Before he left the hills, the moon had disappeared behind a bank of +clouds. During the last ten minutes, a tempest had been driving up from +the west, which now burst with all its force upon the valley of the +Hidden River. + +Africa is the land of mighty storms. The sky grew so dark that it was +impossible for Max to see one yard before him. Then, there approached +in one wild, savage gust, a roaring, raging wind that bent the great +trees of the forest like saplings and picked up the water in the lake +before Makanda in little driving waves, whilst the rain came down in +sheets. The suspension bridge swung to and fro like a kite. There came +flash upon flash of lightning which illumined the quarry, so that the +bare walls of rock were blazing like a furnace. + +The lightning lasted for seconds at a time, and at such times the scene +stood for all that was barbarous and fantastic. The dark, mysterious +river flowed upon its course through the narrow gorge where the +lightning beat upon the rocks. The electricity in the air flashed, died +out, and flashed again, like thousands of sparks in the wind. And +there, upon the white sand, writhing in torture, were the dark forms of +those who had been stricken by the pestilence. + +Max had never felt so powerless. He was in the heart of the Unknown. +Close at hand, lay those who had been stricken by a force which all the +resource of modern science had entirely failed to conquer. Overhead, +echoed and mirrored by the rocks, the typhoon rent the sky with sheets +of fire, whilst peal upon peal of thunder caused the earth to tremble. + +Yet Max was by no means disposed to forget the object of his quest. He +was determined to find out the nature of the work which was carried on +at the quarry. He hastened forward, and presently blundered into one of +the great heaps of sifted dbris. + +He picked up a handful of this and examined it in the light of the +lightning. As far as he could make out, it was composed of a kind of +fine gravel, in which appeared great quantities of a green stone, known +as serpentine. + +Being unable to find out anything definite from the heaps of debris, he +resolved to examine the quarry. The wind was too great to permit him to +strike a match, even had that been prudent. He was obliged to rely upon +the lightning to guide him in his search. He availed himself of the +opportunity of a series of flashes to run to the quarry, and there he +found himself in impenetrable darkness. + +He stood waiting for the lightning to return. It seemed that the storm +was already passing. These tropical hurricanes, that often uproot the +trees of the forest, are seldom of long duration. They are too violent +to last for many minutes. + +Max was beginning to think that the storm was passed, when the sky +immediately overhead burst into a lurid glow, and almost simultaneously +a deafening peal of thunder rolled across the valley. Max leaned +forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was seized +suddenly from behind. + +As quick as thought, he whipped his revolver from its holster; and +immediately the weapon was struck from his hand. + +The lightning still continued, jumping like fire-light; and Max was able +to make out the dark eyes and the pointed beard of Csar. + +The Portuguese was aided by an Arab. The struggle that ensued was no +more than an affair of seconds. Max, though he fought with the strength +that comes of desperation, was overpowered from the first, and presently +he was thrown violently to the ground. There his hands were tied fast +behind his back. Csar was heard to laugh. + +"Get up," said he, and then ran on in his broken English: "You must +think me a fool, if I do not keep a sentry by night over the richest of +my possessions. Come, follow me." + +He led the way across the bridge, and Max had no alternative but to obey +him. The Arab, rifle in hand, brought up the rear. + +They passed around the eastern shore of the lake, walking on the crisp +sand in which their boots sank to the ankles. Max saw the kraal wherein +the man's slaves were asleep; and a few minutes afterwards they came to +the stockade. Csar led the way into his hut--the hut in which Crouch +and he had played cards some weeks before. He told Max to sit down upon +a chair, and placed himself on the other side of the room, with his +loaded revolver ready to his hand. + +"If you endeavour to escape," said he, "I shoot. I advise you to remain +still, and listen to what I have to say." + +Max looked about him. As far as he could see there was no method of +escape. His wrists had been bound securely. + +"In the first place," said Csar, "I would like to know for what reason +you have meddled in my affairs." + +"You are a slave-dealer," said Max. + +"That may, or may not, be true." + +"It is true," cried the young Englishman, his anger rising in a flood. +"I know it. The employment of slaves is a sin in the eyes of both God +and man. Justice is the duty of every one; and that is why we have +meddled--as you call it--in your affairs." + +"I have already pointed out," said Csar, "that the laws of civilization +do not apply to Makanda. But that is beside the mark. I understand you +are a doctor, that you have had some sort of medical training." + +Max answered that that was so. + +"Do you understand the treatment of cholera?" + +"I know the various methods that have been tried," said Max; "but, as +you probably know, they are seldom successful." + +It was at that moment that Max heard a loud groan which issued from a +hut not far away. + +"Do you hear that?" asked Csar. + +Max nodded his head. + +"That is my friend, de Costa. When he returned to the stockade this +evening he was taken ill with cholera. I went to look at him an hour +ago, just before my sentry informed me that you were in the quarry. He +is dying." + +"How does that concern me?" asked Max. + +"It concerns you," answered Csar, "inasmuch as it concerns myself. Your +life is in my hands. I can either kill you, or place an iron collar +around your neck and yoke you to a gang of slaves. If you do not do as +I wish, I will have you shot. If you obey me, you may continue to +live--as a slave." + +"What is it you want?" asked Max. + +"I want you to do what you can to save de Costa. He is of some use to +me. Indeed, I could not do very well without him." + +"I will do what I can," said Max. + +Outside, the Arab was on guard. Csar lead the way to de Costa's hut; +and there, Max found the half-caste stretched upon his bed, with +features drawn and haggard, and his complexion of a ghastly purple hue. +His body was all twisted in his agony. He was too far gone to speak. + +"Now," said Csar, "I do not feel disposed to untie your hands; but you +will kindly look at the bottles of medicine on that shelf, and see if +you can find anything that might be of use." + +Max searched the shelf where the half-caste kept his stock of drugs, and +had no difficulty in finding the very thing he wanted, namely, opium. +He found also bismuth and nitrate of silver. He instructed Csar how to +mix these drugs in the ordained proportions; and the Portuguese placed a +glass containing the medicine at the sick man's bedside. It is +noteworthy that he took care not to touch the patient, for the disease +is one of the most contagious in the world. + +"Will he live, do you think?" asked Csar. + +"It is impossible to say," said Max. + +"You can do nothing else?" + +"Absolutely nothing. He has reached the turning point. If he does not +die in an hour or so, he will live." + +"Come," said Csar, "we must not risk contagion." + +Outside the hut he paused, and spoke to the Arab, who immediately left +the stockade. He then ordered Max to enter his hut, and followed with +his loaded revolver in his hand. + +"You have come to spy out my secrets," said he. "You are at liberty to +learn as much as you wish. It can make no difference to me; for I +intend that you shall never see Europe again." + +So saying, he drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and stepped to the +great, padlocked chest on the other side of the room. One by one, he +unlocked the padlocks, and then threw back the lid, and stood by, +holding the candle over the contents. + +"Here," said he, "see for yourself. Few have ever witnessed such a +sight." + +Max drew nearer, and looked down into the box. For some seconds he +stood as if spellbound, unable to move his gaze. The chest was about +three-quarters full of the most enormous Oriental rubies. + +Csar took one at random, and held it before the light. Garnets had +been found in Africa, and even spinels; but these were genuine rubies of +the highest quality, such as had hitherto only been discovered in the +famous mines of Ava. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED + + +When Max looked up into the face of the Portuguese the man was smiling, +so that his white teeth showed in the blackness of his beard. + +"You see," said he, "I did not come here on a wild-goose chase after +all. I first came to this river five years ago, and discovered the +rubies of Makanda. I promptly engaged the services of de Costa, who had +worked in the mines of Santa F in Mexico. This treasure-chest contains +the result of the labour of two years." + +"And why have you employed slaves?" asked Max. "Why did you not set to +work like an honest man?" + +"For a simple reason," answered Csar; "I desired the maximum of profit. +No one knows of my discovery. I intend no one to know. Paid labour is +not only expensive, but workmen would come and go at their pleasure, and +word of this would reach the Coast. That is precisely what I desire to +prevent. There would be talk of rights and royalties, and probably +international complications. At present it is not known that rubies can +be found in Africa. I cannot speak too highly of these gems. One of +these stones, weighing five carats, is worth at least twelve times as +much as a diamond of equal weight. I am prepared to receive your +congratulations." + +It was some time before Max Harden spoke. + +"Why is it," he asked, "that you tell me the secret you have kept for +years?" + +Csar smiled again. + +"Because," said he, "I number you among my slaves." + +It was then that Max heard the jangling of a chain without the hut. The +Arab had returned. + +Max was led forth into the moonlight. The storm was past, the water lay +inches deep upon the ground. There, shivering from fear, were five +slaves--men who had been born and bred in the Pambala village on the +mountain slope--fastened one to the other like so many dogs upon a +leash. At the end of the chain was an empty collar, which one of the +Arabs opened with a key. It closed with a snap around Max Harden's +neck, and from that moment, according to the law of the slave trade, his +soul was not his own. The Arab cracked the whip he held in his hand, +and like a team of dumb, patient animals, the gang filed from the +stockade. + +It wanted but an hour to daylight, but the misery of that hour stands +alone in the life of the young Englishman as the most terrible +experience that ever came his way. He found himself and his five +bond-companions confined in a narrow hut in which there was scarcely air +to breathe. They had to sleep upon straw mats spread upon the floor. +The long chain bound them one to another, so that if one man moved in +his sleep he disturbed the others. + +There was no sleep for Max. Even had he desired to sleep he would not +have been able to do so. The place swarmed with mosquitoes, and, after +the rain, great pools of water lay upon the floor. For all that, the +majority of the natives lay down and slept like dogs, tired out by the +day's work, and weary at heart at the implacable injustice of the world. + +At daybreak the slaves were summoned to their toil. Gang after +gang--and there were six in all--filed out of the kraal, in charge of +the Arab drivers, and crossed the river by way of the suspension bridge. + +At the quarry Max gained a more intimate knowledge of the workings of a +ruby mine than he had ever hoped to attain. He himself was set to work, +washing the dirt from the sifted rubies by the river bank. + +The slaves remained at the workings from sunrise to sunset, during which +time they received two meals. Their food consisted of manioc and +plantains. They were given no meat. The gang which was employed in +washing, to which Max was attached, worked in chains. + +These poor driven creatures took no interest in their task. They set +about their business mechanically, with never a smile upon their faces, +and though they were allowed to talk to one another, scarcely a word was +uttered. Whenever they found a ruby they expressed no satisfaction, +though it were worth a thousand times the price of their freedom. They +just handed it to Csar, who examined the quality of each stone under a +magnifying-glass. + +That day there were two more cases of cholera; two more of these +unfortunate creatures were freed of their bonds to throw themselves down +upon the river bank to die. + +Csar was utterly without pity. If a man fell ill he cursed him, and as +often as not, resorted to the whip. Max Harden felt that these things +sickened him. He had never dreamed that such barbarity could exist in +an age of enlightenment and toleration. + +That night he slept--the sleep of those who are utterly exhausted. He +was over-burdened by the sights which he had seen. The unhappy lot of +these poor sufferers was like a mountain weight upon his heart. It was +a three-day nightmare, in which Csar stood for all that was terrible +and pitiless. None the less Max did not despair. His courage was +maintained by hope. He knew that as long as Crouch and Edward were in +the land of the living they would not rest until the slaves had been +avenged. + +Csar knew now that Crouch had escaped from the jungle, and Max had been +saved as by a miracle from the rapids. But he had asked no questions. +He had gone back to his work at the quarry as if nothing unusual had +occurred. Perhaps he desired to fill his treasure-chest without delay, +and take his rubies to Europe. Perhaps he recognized already that the +game was up. + +At daybreak Max was awakened by the Arab who had charge of his gang, and +once more he was marched out to the workings. That afternoon a strange +thing occurred: de Costa appeared at the quarry. + +The Portuguese seemed genuinely glad to see the young Englishman. He +even grasped him by the hand. + +It was now that Max saw how invaluable the half-caste was to Csar. The +man was a ruby expert. His business was to examine the gems, one by +one, and select those of the greatest value. His place was at the river +where the washing was in progress, whereas Csar himself superintended +the blasting of the rock. + +De Costa drew near to Max. + +"You saved my life," said he; "I have to thank you." + +The Arab slave-driver was out of earshot, and even had he been able to +overhear them he could not have understood since they talked in English. + +"If you wish to show your gratitude," said Max, "you can help me when +the time comes." + +De Costa remained silent for a while, his weak, almost colourless eyes +staring at the water of the river. + +"Yes," said he, "you saved my life. None the less I will die if I am +not taken to the sea. The fresh air, the sea breezes--these are better +than rubies, are they not?" + +He was silent for some minutes, whilst Max continued with his work. + +"There's a ruby," said Max, selecting a small blood-red stone from the +handful of gravel he was washing. + +De Costa looked at it and then threw it into a bag which lay at his +side. + +"Yes," said he, "it is worth about five hundred pounds. But I was about +to ask you if you remember the night when you saved me from the whip?" + +"I remember quite well," said Max. + +"Do you know why he thrashed me? I was about to tell Crouch of the +rubies and the slaves, and Csar guessed it, and used the whip. Then +you came in, and Gyp flew at you. I am grateful for what you did." + +De Costa sat cross-legged on the ground, with his eyes fixed upon the +river. The slaves saw nothing as they worked; long since their senses +had been numbed. Csar was engrossed in his business at the quarry; the +Arabs, with their loaded rifles in their hands, never moved their eyes +from the slaves. Max was the only one who looked about him. + +His eyes were fixed upon the granite hills across the river, to the east +of the gorge. The sky-line was rugged, by reason of the great boulders +that lay upon the crest. Two of these were close together, and from +that position they bore a striking resemblance to two faces in +profile--that of an old man and a woman. As Max looked, the resemblance +became more lifelike. And then something dark passed from behind one +boulder to the next. It had been visible for no longer than an instant, +but in that instant Max recognized M'Wan. + +He thought the matter out. If M'Wan was there, Crouch and Edward were +not far behind. He knew that they would see him through their glasses. +He continued with his work. It was above all necessary that Csar's +suspicions should not be aroused. + +In life things sometimes so happen that it is evident our fate is not +always in the hands of ourselves. There is a Divine Providence that +watches over us and is Master of the human will. Max had no sooner +decided to remain as servile and obedient as the most broken-hearted +negro in Makanda, when he was called upon to act. + +The man next him, who early in the morning had complained of feeling +ill, now lay down upon the ground and uttered a groan. The Arab +approached and told him to get up. The poor fellow was not able to do +so, and though he tried his best he fell back again, saying that he +suffered the most violent pains. + +At that, Csar drew near, whip in hand, and demanded to know what was +the matter. When he saw that here was another case of cholera, he flew +into a passion. He had no pity for the man. He merely regretted the +incident as a disaster, inasmuch as he had lost another workman. He +ordered the Arab to unlock the iron collar around the slave's neck, and +then he raised his whip. + +The long lash swung high into the air, and then came down upon the bare +back of the dying man. Two strokes fell, and the whip had been raised +for a third, when Max Harden flew like a wild beast at Csar's throat. + +So sudden was the onslaught that the Portuguese was taken by surprise. +Though Max was encumbered by the heavy chain which hung from his neck, +he had room enough in which to move. His fellow-bondsmen, unable to +believe the evidence of their eyes, ceased their work and stood together +in a crowd, their eyes dilated and their limbs trembling in fear. + +Max paid no heed to them. He was like a mad dog on a leash that rushes +forth from its kennel and lays hold upon its victim. He took no heed of +the consequences. He neither thought what he was doing, nor asked +himself whether it were wise. He was just driven mad by the sight of +such inhuman cruelty. + +He flung Csar to the ground, and before the man could rise, the whip +had been wrested from his hand. Max placed a foot upon his chest, and +the lash of the whip rose and fell, cracked, made circles in the air and +fell again, until Csar shrieked for mercy. + +[Illustration: "THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CSAR SHRIEKED +FOR MERCY."] + +Never, since the Dark Continent had been traversed by Tippu Tib, and the +villages of the Upper Congo had been given over to plunder, had the +slave-driver's whip been wielded with such remorseless energy. Csar +groaned and writhed upon the ground, and struggled blindly to rise. The +thong cut his cheek and hands, and the cruel knots which he himself had +tied tore the coat from his back, till his cries became fainter, and at +last he lay quite still. And at that, Max cast the whip in his teeth. + +Throughout all this every one had remained motionless, rooted to the +spot. The whole thing had been so unexpected and so sudden. Nothing +like it had ever happened before. + +De Costa stood by with chattering teeth. The very sight of Csar's +punishment had set the ague shaking in his bones. The slaves were +petrified by fear. They looked on in breathless silence, with their +mouths opened wide and their heavy under-lips hanging so low as to show +their white teeth and gums. As for the Arabs, even they were too +surprised to act. They had known the Portuguese for two years, and they +knew that his word was law; not one of them would have dared for a +moment to defy him. On that account they could not believe what they +saw. + +Csar rolled over on his face, and then struggled to his feet. He stood +for a moment swaying. Then he passed a hand across his eyes. + +After that, he shot Max such a glance as it were impossible to describe. +Therein were passion, hatred and vengeance. + +He felt in his pockets, as if he searched for something. It was his +revolver, which had fallen to the ground. Not seeing it, he staggered +to the Arab who was nearest, and held out his hand. + +"Give me that," said he in Arabic. + +The man, with the stoic indifference of all his race, handed over his +rifle, and Csar took it, though his hand was shaking like a leaf in the +wind. Step by step, he returned to Max. He walked like a drunken man. +There were great weals upon his face and hands, and there was blood upon +his coat. + +"You shall pay for that!" said he. + +The slaves cowered at the water's edge. They were like sheep in a +storm. As for de Costa, he stood there, impotent to help, yet willing +to do so, his hands clasped before him, and shivering from head to foot. +The Arab who had handed over his rifle was smoking a cigarette. + +"You shall pay for that!" said Csar. + +So saying, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and took long and careful +aim. He was not ten paces from Max. It seemed impossible he could +miss. Still, we must remember that he was unsteady on his feet, that it +was all he could do to stand. + +There was a flash--a loud report--a quick jet of fire; and Max was +struck in the chest with the cotton wad, and his face was blackened by +the powder. For all that, the bullet had sped past, to bury itself in +the bed of the Hidden River. + +Csar let fall an oath and then re-loaded, ejecting the cartridge case. +That done, he stepped even nearer, and lifted his rifle again. + +At that moment a double report sounded from the hills, and the +Portuguese gave a kind of gulp and then fell forward on his face, his +rifle still in his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM + + +There are some men who are born to command, who imbue their followers +with confidence, who are masters of the art of managing men. + +Csar was one of these. He had entered the heart of Africa at the time +when the first great explorers were opening up the unknown continent, +and some small knowledge connected with the source of the Nile and the +presence of the Great Lakes was reaching the ears of Europe. + +For the most part these daring pioneers penetrated Africa either to +shoot big game or propagate the Christian Gospel, or in the cause of +science. Grant, Speke, Mason and Stanley were geographers, explorers +before all else. Livingstone was a missionary; and Cotton Oswell, +Gordon-Cumming and Sir Samuel Baker were hunters of big game. Unlike +these famous men, the Portuguese, who afterwards adopted the name of +"Csar," was prompted by purely selfish motives--the acquisition of +wealth. + +Like every one else, he found the interior overrun by the Arabs, who, +since time immemorial, had exploited the equatorial regions for slaves +for the Greek satraps and the Roman consuls. The abolition of the slave +trade did not affect the regions of the Upper Nile, the Great Lakes and +the Congo. Laws which men chose to make in Europe could in no way +modify or hinder what went on in the equatorial forests. Not only in +Zanzibar, but even in Cairo, there was an open slave market where the +trade continued to flourish. + +Nothing can speak so eloquently for the virility, the craft and cunning, +of the Arab as the fact that for centuries millions of savage warriors +were held in fear and trembling by a few hundreds of these ruthless sons +of the desert. In quite recent years, when Stanley made his passage of +the Congo and the Aruwimi in search of Emin Pasha, he found Arab slave +stations scattered at intervals throughout the unknown forest, and his +whole expedition must have perished had it not been for the assistance +he received from the Arab ivory hunters in the valleys of the Upper +Congo. + +In his early days the tall Portuguese had also taken care to be on +friendly terms with the Arabs. He was one who was quick to learn, and +experience taught him two things: firstly, that the Arab will do +anything for profit; and secondly, that once his word has been given he +is one of the most faithful friends in the world. + +The Arabs employed at Makanda were men whom Csar knew that he could +trust. Each was to have his share of the plunder when the slave camp +was broken up and the Portuguese returned to Europe. Until then he knew +they would stand by him, faithful to their promise that he could rely +upon their courage in case of emergency. + +In the panic that now took place Csar must have been captured had it +not been for the heroism of the Arabs. He had been taken by surprise in +open country. There was no escape by way of the quarry, and upon the +hills on the other side of the river was Edward Harden, who, in spite of +the fact that he had said that Crouch was a better shot than +himself--had the clearest eye and the steadiest hand of any man +throughout the length and breadth of Africa. + +The slaves were distracted. Those who were joined together by chains +ran to the quarry and huddled in a crowd. Those who were free to go +whither they listed ran to and fro, filling the air with their cries. As +for de Costa, he could do nothing but wring his hands and look about him +for some place of safety. + +Max, by the sheer weight of the slaves with whom he was yoked, was +dragged onward to the quarry. He tried to assure them that there was +nothing whatsoever to fear, but they were incapable of understanding a +word of what he said. + +In those brief moments it was only the prompt action of the Arabs that +saved Csar's life. The Portuguese had been shot in the chest. He was +unconscious for no longer than a few seconds, and then he struggled to +an elbow. + +When they saw that their master was alive two Arabs hastened towards him +and lifted him in their arms. Under a perfect hail of fire from the six +rifles on the hills they bore him to a place of safety at the southern +extremity of the lake where a long canoe was moored. They could not +cross at the bridge, since it was immediately under fire from the +granite hills. + +Then followed a race--a race for the stockade. Harden, Crouch, and the +four Fans appeared upon the crest-line, and thence came down into the +valley with a cheer. + +In the meantime, the Arabs so plied their paddles that the canoe shot +across the lake like a dart, dividing the water at the prow into two +long feathery waves. When they sprang ashore, a little above the place +where the Englishmen had landed on the day they first came to Makanda, +M'Wan, who was leading the attack, was not fifty paces distant. + +The Fan chieftain dropped upon his knees to fire, and missed. And a +moment later the door of the stockade was closed. + +M'Wan retreated no less hastily than he had come, with the bullets +flying at his heels, splashing in the sand. Halfway up the slope he met +Edward Harden striding forward, rifle in hand. + +"Too late!" he cried. "Master, why did not the white wizard teach me to +shoot like you?" + +Edward smiled, and placed a hand on M'Wan's shoulder. + +"You'll have another chance all right," said he. "They've shut +themselves up in a trap." + +By this time Crouch, who had already given up the chase, had descended +to the suspension bridge and crossed to the quarry. There the first +person he set eyes upon was de Costa. + +"Hands up!" he cried. And at the word de Costa threw up his arms +pleading for mercy. + +Crouch looked about him, and heard Max's voice calling for assistance. +And at that, of his own accord, de Costa took a bunch of keys from his +pocket and offered them to Crouch. They were the keys of the iron +collars of the slaves. + +A few seconds later every slave was free. They could not at first +realize what had happened; and then, one man, more intelligent than his +fellows, grasped the truth, and picking up the chain which had been +fastened to his neck for many months hurled it into the river. + +Max told his story in a few words. He explained how he had been +captured, and showed Crouch the rubies. + +Crouch turned to the half-caste. "Will you throw in your lot with us?" +he asked. + +"I am ready to do so," said de Costa. "I would have told you all that +night when Csar found you in the hut." + +"I have some reason to believe that to be true," said Crouch. "I hold +to my original promise. Stand by us to-day, and I'll take you down to +the Coast. You must see that the game's up for Csar." + +De Costa intimated that he was only waiting to receive orders. + +"Very well," sad the captain; "you probably have some authority over +these poor brutes of slaves. I suppose you can speak their language? +Tell them they are free. Explain to them that they owe their liberty to +us, and ask them to lend us a helping hand. Select a party of the +strongest, and take them yourself to the village on the mountain. There +you will find our ammunition and stores. Bring them here as quickly as +you can, and don't forget the medicine chest. We must lend what help we +can." + +"Where am I to find you?" asked de Costa. + +"Here," said Crouch. "There are only seven of us, and we can't spare a +man. We shall need every rifle we've got to capture the stockade." + +"I will do my best," said de Costa. + +"I trust you will," said Crouch. Then, his face lit up, and his only +eye looked the half-caste through and through. "By Christopher," said +he, "if you fail me, I'll hunt you down! All Africa won't be big enough +to hold you. I'll search the country from the Zambesi to the desert, +and I'll find you in the end." + +He said these words with his teeth clenched, and his great chin thrust +forward. The little half-caste quailed before his glance. + +It was then that there came a burst of firing from the north. Crouch +stiffened in every limb. + +"There!" he cried, "the band's begun to play." + +Max followed him for a little distance, then remembered that he had left +his rifle on the hill-top. De Costa looked about him, bewildered. +Events had happened in such swift succession that he felt that the whole +thing might prove a dream from which he would presently awaken. Then he +called the slaves together. They obeyed his word from force of habit; +and though there was nothing now to prevent them taking to the hills, +they followed him meekly into the kraal. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE + + +That firing was the beginning of the siege of the stockade of Makanda, +which lasted for seven days. Edward Harden had approached too near, and +had drawn fire from the Arabs who manned the walls. The firing was +answered by the Fans, who were somewhat over-eager to try their +new-found strength. Shots were exchanged until nightfall, when the +three Englishmen gathered together to discuss their plan of campaign. + +They had every reason to believe that Csar himself had been put out of +action--at least for a day or so. As far as they knew, the garrison +consisted of six or seven Arabs. The two sides were therefore equal in +strength, but the advantage lay with the defenders, who were strongly +entrenched, whereas the attackers had no cover nearer than the hills. + +They knew that the stockade was well provisioned, and it would take +months for the garrison to be starved into submission. Their only +chance was to take the stockade by assault, and this would be by no +means easy to do. + +They could not hope to succeed by day: a surprise would be out of the +question. They would have to advance across the sandy plain that +enclosed the shores of the lake, and they would be shot down, one after +the other, from the loop-holes in the stockade. Their only chance was +to assault the place by night. + +That evening they could do nothing. Crouch and the four Fans remained +to keep a watchful eye on the garrison, while Max and his uncle betook +themselves to the kraal, to render what aid they could to the cholera +patients. + +A few hours before daybreak de Costa set out for the mountain, with +strict injunctions to return as quickly as possible. It had taken a +whole night for the slaves to realize that they had gained their +freedom, and then, out of the gratitude in their hearts, they readily +volunteered to act as carriers to the white men whenever their services +should be required. + +For three days no assault was delivered. The Englishmen and the Fans +confined their energies by day to desultory shooting from the crest-line +of the hills. By night they closed in upon the stockade, to see that +Csar made no attempt to escape. Throughout these days most of Max's +time was taken up in fighting a far more formidable foe than a handful +of Arabs and a wounded Portuguese. With the aid of the few +disinfectants and medicines which Edward had brought from the Pambala +village, he did his best to stamp the cholera out. Those who had died +were buried, and their clothing burnt. The remaining slaves, who had +not followed de Costa, were removed from the kraal and taken to a place +in the hills, where they were told to wait the issue of the siege. A +few deserted to their homes, for they were ignorant people, and had +learnt by bitter experience not to trust the white man. However, the +majority stayed at Makanda, conscious of the debt they owed to the two +Hardens and to Crouch. + +It was on the third night that Max decided to burn the kraal to the +ground. Great flames rose high into the air and illumined the crater +through which the Hidden River flowed swiftly on its course. + +As the kraal burned the slaves upon the hill-top danced and sang. They +beheld in the spreading fire the burning of their bondage. To them the +red glow that filled the valley and made the barren slopes of the +granite hills stand forth in the night like peaks in fairyland, was the +dawn of happier days. And Max, too, was light of heart. He believed +that that fire would stamp out the pestilence once and for all. + +Early in the afternoon on the following day de Costa arrived from the +mountain. He had remained faithful to his promise. Only three slaves +had deserted on the march, and the others were told to join the refugee +camp which had sprung up upon the hill. De Costa was to remain in +charge of the liberated slaves. The majority were Pambalas from the +district, but several had been brought from so far away that they knew +not how to find their way back to their homes. + +That night Crouch and Edward decided to attack. They had now a large +supply of ammunition, and Max, who had finished his duties as doctor, +was free to take his place in the ranks. + +Max and M'Wan approached the stockade along the river bank from the +south, Crouch and another Fan from the north, whereas Edward and the two +others descended from the hills. + +There was no moon when they crept upon the garrison from three sides at +once, moving cautiously forward on hands and knees through the sand. +When about fifty paces distant, each party lay still and listened for +the signal to assault. This was to come from Crouch, who could imitate +to the life the jackal's howl. + +Max and M'Wan, lying close as hares, waited for the signal to come. +They could hear the wild beasts in the jungle, and now and again a +faint, piercing cry, as some animal was seized in the strong jaws of a +leopard or a lion. The great cats were hunting like the white men who +surrounded the stockade. + +Then the long-drawn howl of a jackal was lifted in the night, and at +that those seven men sprang to their feet and rushed upon the defence. + +The Arabs had been warned. On the instant fire flashed from the +loop-holes. The night was alive with the whistling of bullets, which +dived into the water of the river or flew into the forest to send little +leaves fluttering to the ground, or buried themselves in the trunks of +gigantic trees. + +On the east Edward was driven back. Before he reached the ditch one of +his men had been wounded, and there he found it would be certain death +to endeavour to scale the stockade. + +Max and Crouch on the other side were more successful. It was the +former who was the first to reach the gate, and endeavour to force it +open. The man who was there on guard put his shoulder to the business, +and for a few seconds a struggle took place the issue of which was +doubtful. + +At one time Max had the door ajar, but the man or men on the other side +forced it back inch by inch until it was nearly closed. It was then +that M'Wan came to Max's assistance; and immediately after, the opening +in the door grew wider by degrees. + +Had this affair been fought to a finish, it is beyond question that Max +and M'Wan would have gained the fort, but it was at this moment that +the unexpected occurred. A rapid burst of firing came from the river, +from the northern extremity of the lake. A stream of bullets flew past, +and many splintered the woodwork of the gate which had been the bone of +contention from the first. + +To be attacked by night unexpectedly from the rear is an ordeal which +the finest trained soldiers in the world find it difficult to stand. It +was too much for the Fans. Even M'Wan, who was as brave a savage as +any who ever roamed the grassland west of the Lakes, turned on his heels +and bolted. + +Max turned round, and on the instant the gate of the stockade was +closed. He had no alternative but to retire, and even that much had to +be accomplished between two withering fires. Five minutes later there +was silence in the valley. The assault had been repulsed. + +It seemed, indeed, as if this river would hold its mysteries to the end. +They had heard weird legends of the Fire-gods from savage lips, dressed +up in all the blandishments of fancy. They had thought the problem +solved in the slave gangs and ruby mine, but here was another mystery +unsolved. + +While Max was engaged in his struggle at the gate, the sharp eye of +Captain Crouch had seen a long canoe glide out from the darkness where +the river penetrated the jungle. Before he had had time to give warning +of its approach, the occupants of the canoe had opened fire. When he was +asked to explain it, Crouch could not do so. They knew the course of +the river from the Makanda to the rapids. The canoe could be nothing +but a phantom. At daybreak no sign of it was to be seen. + +At first their suspicions rested upon the unfortunate de Costa. But +they discovered from the natives that that night the half-caste had not +left the refugee camp; indeed, he had actually been seen asleep whilst +the assault was in progress. The natives had nothing to gain by +defending a man who so recently had been one of their tyrants; and +besides, it was not in the nature of de Costa's disposition to conduct a +daring attack at dead of night. + +Throughout that day they kept a watchful eye upon the stockade. +Everything appeared as usual. They could see the white-robed Arabs +moving about between the huts, and they subjected these to long-range +rifle-fire from the hills. Csar's yellow flag still floated on the +wind from the flagstaff before his hut. + +The three Englishmen went about their business--cleaning their rifles, +cooking, or attending to the wounded Fan--sullenly, as if ill-pleased +with the world in general, speaking only when spoken to, and then in +monosyllables. + +The truth was not one of them liked to own that they had been worsted. +Their attack had proved unsuccessful. That in itself was sufficiently +annoying; but, what made matters worse, was the fact that they could not +explain how the catastrophe had come about. + +An hour before sundown they sat in silence at their evening meal. They +were obliged to feed thus early, because it was necessary that at +nightfall they should take their places around the stockade to prevent +the Arabs breaking out in the night. The little sleep they got in those +days they were obliged to take by day, when it sufficed for one of their +number to watch the enemy's movements in the stockade. + +Suddenly Crouch drove the knife with which he had been eating into the +earth. + +"I can't make it out!" he cried. "I'll give credit where it's due; the +man 's clever as a monkey. What do you say?" he broke out in a +different tone of voice. "Shall we attack again to-night?" + +"Yes," said Edward; "certainly." + +That was the way in which the mind of the big man worked. He thought in +monosyllables. He was not like Crouch, who had a thousand reasons for +everything, who was always eager to explain. With Edward Harden it was +either Yes or No, and generally the former. + +"Look here," said Max, "I propose we go about it in another manner. Last +time I undertook to reconnoitre the enemy's position I made a fool of +myself, and was captured." + +"You did very well," said Edward. + +"I don't think so," said his nephew. "At any rate, with your +permission, I should like to try again. I suggest that we surround the +stockade as we did last night, but that I am allowed to go forward +alone. After all, I'm the youngest and most active of the party, if we +exclude M'Wan and his friends. I believe I can creep up to the wall +without being heard. I am sure I can vault the stockade. As soon as I +am inside I will fire at the first man I see, and when you hear that +shot you must endeavour to rush the gate." + +Crouch knocked out his pipe on the heel of his boot. + +"Bravo," said he. "There's no question you should meet with success. If +you get into the fort--as you think you can--you'll take their attention +from the gate, and we ought to join you in a few seconds even if the +canoe appears on the river. Still, it's a big risk you're taking; I +suppose you're aware of that?" + +"Quite," answered Max. + +Thus was the matter settled; and soon afterwards darkness descended, and +day turned to night in the course of a few minutes, for there is no +twilight on the Line. + +They took their places in silence under cover of the darkness, and then +waited in patience and suspense. They had agreed upon midnight as the +hour. + +Max, lying upon his face in the sand which still retained much of the +warmth of the day, followed the hands of his watch, which he was just +able to see in the starlight. Never had he known time pass more slowly. +Even the second-hand seemed to crawl, and he was certain that the +minute-hand never moved the thousandth part of an inch. And yet, at +last the hour arrived. He knew that on the other side of the stockade +both Crouch and his uncle were ready to advance. Rising softly to his +feet he put his watch in his pocket. + +On hands and knees he crawled forward to the ditch. He had decided not +to encumber himself with a rifle. His revolver was loaded in his +holster. He reached the ditch in safety, and there paused to listen. +There was no sound within the fort. The night was still as the grave. + +Summoning his courage he rose once more to his feet, and laid hold with +both hands upon the sharpened points of the stakes which formed the +enclosure. Then, taking in a deep breath, he sprang, swinging himself +on high, and landed on his feet on the other side. + +A second later he stood with his revolver in his hand, glancing in all +directions, ready to fire at sight. It was then that he stood in +momentary expectation of a swift and sudden death. However, no shot was +fired. + +Seeing that he had entered the stockade and was yet undiscovered, he +hastened into the shade of the nearest hut, and there knelt down and +waited. + +For five minutes he never moved, and during that time he heard no one +either on the banquette or among the huts. Then he thought of Crouch +and his uncle. He imagined the suspense which they endured. He +realized that they must believe he had died in silence under the knife. +Presently, whether he fired or not, he knew that they would attempt to +rush the gate. + +It was, therefore, no longer necessary to remain undiscovered. It would +aid their purpose better if some one saw him and he fired. His object +was to create an alarm, to draw the attention of the garrison to +himself, whilst Crouch and Edward, followed by the Fans, bore down upon +the gate. + +He stepped out from his hiding-place, and walked down the line of huts +until he came to that which was Csar's. He looked in. It was +deserted, though a candle burned low upon the table. + +At that he placed a finger round the trigger of his revolver, and fired +three shots in rapid succession into the ground. Then, standing in the +doorway of the hut, he listened. + +Absolute silence reigned. The truth burst upon him as in a flash: the +stockade had been abandoned. And at that moment there was a great +crashing sound as the gate swung back upon its hinges, and Crouch and +Harden burst into the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE + + +Edward Harden, rifle in hand, led the way, followed by Crouch and the +four Fans. As they entered the stockade, expecting to be attacked from +all sides in the darkness, they opened out in accordance with a +pre-arranged plan. Crouch turned to the left and Edward to the right; +and then, taking post on the banquette, they stood ready to fire. + +For a few seconds there was absolute silence. The situation was so +unlooked for that they could not, at first, realize what had happened. +Then Crouch's voice was lifted in the night. + +"By Christopher, the rats are gone!" + +Max, guided by the sound of these words, found the sea-captain in the +darkness, and confirmed his suspicions. He said that he had been +several minutes within the stockade, and had neither seen nor heard a +living soul. + +It seemed as if the valley of the Hidden River would maintain its +reputation to the last. There was no end to mystery. Time and again +were they confronted with facts that they were wholly unable to explain. + +It was M'Wan who found a lantern in the hut which had formerly been +occupied by de Costa; and with the help of this they searched the huts, +one after the other, in the hope of being able to discover Csar's line +of retreat. + +It was not possible that the Portuguese and his Arab attendants had left +the stockade by way of the gate. By day, the garrison had been under +the constant observation of their sentinel on the hills. Every night, +as soon as it was sufficiently dark to permit them to approach, the +stockade had been surrounded. They found nothing suspicious in any one +of the huts, until they came to Csar's, before which the yellow flag +still unfurled itself upon the wind. Here they discovered that the ruby +chest had gone. + +Now, it would require four men, at least, to carry this heavy chest to +the water's edge, and even then, the task could not have been +accomplished without noise. It was impossible to believe that the +garrison had passed through the little investing force by dead of night. +And yet, as far as they could see, there was no other means of escape. +Csar and his slave-drivers had vanished as suddenly and unaccountably +as if they had been spirited away. + +They separated and searched the stockade from end to end. It was M'Wan +who gained the first clue, who came running breathlessly to Crouch. + +"Master," he cried, "the wood-stack has been moved." + +Within the stockade they had noticed on their arrival a great quantity +of firewood, which had been cut in the adjacent forest. On approaching +this, Crouch saw at once that the wood-stack had been pulled down as if +in haste. Calling out to Edward to bring the lantern, he awaited +further developments. No sooner had Harden arrived than the mystery was +solved. + +Leading downward into the ground was a broad flight of steps. A kind of +tunnel had been formed under the sand, about four feet wide and six feet +high, revetted by wooden beams. So all the time Csar had been at +liberty to escape, whenever he felt that he was sufficiently recovered +of his wound to undertake the journey. + +When Csar had constructed his stockade in the heart of the wilderness, +he had been prepared for all eventualities and had neglected nothing. He +had unlimited labour at his disposal. Knowing the nature of his +business, and the hatred with which he was likely to be regarded by the +neighbouring tribes, he had thought it likely that, at some future date, +he might be called upon to undergo a siege. That siege might last for +several months, by which time his provisions would be exhausted and he +obliged to retreat. As far as they were able to discover, the +subterranean passage had been made during the absence of de Costa on a +two-months' journey to the Coast, in order to procure fresh supplies of +dynamite. From the fact that the half-caste knew nothing whatsoever of +the passage, it seems likely that the Portuguese had all along intended +to desert his companion at the eleventh hour. + +Without a word, Edward Harden descended the steps, holding the lantern +on high to guide his friends who followed. The passage lay in a +bee-line throughout the whole of its length. It was about three hundred +yards long, and whilst it ran through the sandy sub-soil in the crater +of Makanda, both its walls and roof consisted of solid logs. For the +last hundred yards it pierced the living rock, and at last came forth in +the impenetrable darkness of the forest. + +By the aid of the lantern they were able to discover a path which led to +the left, and after a few minutes' walking, this brought them to the +river bank. Here, in the soft mud, was the indentation of the bows of a +canoe. Moreover, the place was so screened by trees and tall reeds that +no one, passing either up or down the river, would suspect for a moment +that here was a mooring-place. It was here that the "phantom canoe" had +lain, to be brought upstream by two or three of the Arabs from the +stockade on the night of the attack. + +No sooner did Crouch observe this evidence of the means Csar had taken +to escape, than he shook his fist in the air. + +"He's gone down-stream," he cried. "But, I'll follow him, if he leads +me a ten-years' journey through the wilderness. I'll overtake that man, +and I'll kill him. I swear it. I swear that I'll never set eyes upon +the shores of England again, until I know that he is dead." + +And that was the oath of Captain Crouch, which--when we have got to the +end of the story--will prove to us that oaths are very futile after all. +The strength of man is limited; in face of the wonders of the universe, +his knowledge is indeed small. He may be strong and brave and +unswerving of his purpose; but, after all, where men teem in cities, no +less than in the heart of the illimitable and mighty forest, there is a +greater Power than anything that is human--the all-pervading Spirit of +the Universe, before whom the foolish vows of men are of infinitesimal +account. + +Crouch had flown too often in the face of Providence not to be aware of +that; but, just then, he was well-nigh mad with wrath and restless with +excitement. Snatching the lantern from Edward's hand he raced along the +passage, until they found themselves again within the stockade. + +Still, the captain never paused. He passed through the gate, and thence +ascended the hills. They found the slave-camp absolutely silent. On +every hand the unhappy negroes lay stretched upon the ground, and there +in the middle of them was de Costa, nature striving to maintain the +spark of life within that fever-stricken body, by means of healthful +slumber. On the eastern horizon, beyond the unknown hills which they +had seen from Solitude Peak, the dawn was rising in a flood. + +With scant ceremony Crouch awakened first de Costa, then every one of +the slaves. Through the medium of the half-caste he spoke to the +natives as follows-- + +"We found you slaves, we have made you freemen. Are you grateful for +what we have done?" + +A murmur arose from the crowd. They said that they were mindful of what +they owed to the white wizard and his brave companions. + +"Then," said Crouch, "you can help us. We are going down-river. We +must start at once. We must take all our baggage, our stores and +ammunition. There are six canoes at the kraal, and these will be +sufficient. But we will need porters to make the journey through the +jungle to the Kasai. If you come with us, to carry our loads and +canoes, we will pay you in cowrie shells and beads, brass rods and +cloth." + +To a man they volunteered, and not five minutes later a caravan of fifty +carriers, protected by seven rifles, descended to the lake before +Makanda. + +In less than an hour the canoes were loaded, and then the expedition +shot down the stream, the canoes following one behind the other in +single file. Crouch led the way, his quick eye sweeping either bank in +search of the place where Csar had embarked. Max, in the last canoe +brought up the rear. + +As the canoes gained the point where the sandy plain around the +settlement gave place to the density of the jungle, all turned and +looked back upon Makanda. To the slaves, many of whom had worked for +two years under the whip, without hope of ultimate salvation, it was as +if they looked their last upon their prison doors. As for the +Englishmen, they remembered that grey, steaming morning when they had +first come within sight of the stockade, when Csar had fired at them +from the water. + +All that had happened in the weeks that followed was like some strange, +swift-moving dream. + +It was midday when they reached their old camp at Hippo Pool, and Harden +and Crouch disembarked, to see if they could find traces of Csar's +escape on the line of their former portage. + +They met with instant success. Some one had passed within the course of +the last few hours. + +In consequence, the loads were disembarked. Three canoes were sunk, and +the remaining three lifted high and dry upon the bank. It was whilst +this work was in progress that Crouch, to his infinite delight, +discovered his case of glass eyes, which he had left in camp on the +morning of their adventure at Leopard Marsh. + +They were obliged to halt for a few hours for food. They had brought +with them a week's rations for their men: plantain flour, soaked manioc +and ears of corn. It was two o'clock when the caravan began to move +through the jungle towards the Kasai. They eventually reached one of +their old camps by Observation Pool. Their progress was necessarily +slow. The slaves were in no fit condition to do a forced march through +the jungle; and that night it was decided that Edward and Max and the +Fans should push on ahead, in an endeavour to overtake the fugitives, +and failing that to bring back the Loango boys to help. Crouch was to +follow with the caravan with what dispatch he could. + +In two days, the advanced party reached the place where the creek turned +to the south. Csar's tracks still followed the old route direct to +Date Palm Island. + +On the fifth day of their journey from Hippo Pool, they came upon a +place where Csar had turned to the north. Edward was an experienced +tracker, but it did not require the eye of an expert to see that human +beings had turned from the portage and followed an elephant track to the +Kasai. For a moment, Harden was undecided how to act. If he continued +on his way to Date Palm Island, some days might be wasted before he +again picked up the trail. In the end he decided to send Max and the +three Fans to the north, and go himself with M'Wan to the Island. +There he would load up the canoe, send half the boys down-stream on the +look-out for Max, and bring the others back to the portage to assist the +slaves. + +The following morning he shook hands with his nephew, and continued on +the old route with which he was now familiar. He had not gone far, +however, before he noticed bloodstains on the leaves of the undergrowth; +and presently, to his utmost surprise, he came across one of the Loango +boys wounded by a bullet in the leg, and crawling painfully on hands and +knees towards the river. + +This boy said that he had been hunting in the jungle--for they were +short of food on the Island--when he had come across a caravan +consisting of six Arabs and a white man. They were carrying a canoe +half-filled with supplies, and a great box which appeared to be +excessively heavy. The white man who led the way, seemed to be very +weak, for he staggered as he walked. Indeed, it is impossible to +imagine the hardships that the tall Portuguese underwent upon that last +and fateful journey. So anxious was he to save his rubies, to gain the +sea-coast in safety, that he had not brought with him sufficient +supplies. In consequence, he and his men were starving and, as we shall +see, they had an even more deadly foe to reckon with. + +M'Wan, picking up the wounded boy in his arms, carried him like a baby +throughout the rest of the journey to Date Palm Island. There the man's +wound was attended to, and he was placed in a canoe which was ready +loaded two hours after Edward had reached the river. + +Once more Harden set forth upon his old track, leaving instructions that +the canoe was to drop down-stream on the afternoon of the following day. +The Loango boys from the Island, though they had complained of being +short of food, were in fine condition; and the party came up with Crouch +at the end of the second day. Thence they made better headway and, +following Csar's trail, arrived eventually at the river, where they +found not only Max and the Fans, but the party from the Island. + +And now followed a race down the river after the slave-drivers and their +chest of rubies. The three canoes which had been carried from the +Hidden River, were embarked on the Kasai. The slaves who had acted as +porters on the journey were given the option of finding their own way +back to their villages or going down to the Congo in the canoes. There +was never the slightest doubt that the majority would choose the former +course. Half their number had come from the Pambala village on the +slopes of Solitude Peak, and a score from other villages farther to the +south-west. In all there were only five who desired to journey to the +Congo, and these were men whom Csar had captured in the land of the +Bakutu. + +The current of the river was so swift that the four canoes shot +down-stream at a great velocity with little help from the paddles. On +the upper reaches of the great river, rapids and waterfalls were +frequent, and at such times it was necessary to carry the canoe to +unbroken water. At each portage they found traces of Csar and his +Arabs. Once the camp-fire of the Portuguese was still alight, and soon +after that, on rounding a point, they came in sight of a canoe. + +They thought at first that they had overtaken Csar, but they were +doomed to be disappointed. With the aid of their fieldglasses they +ascertained that the canoe was coming towards them, working slowly +up-stream against the force of the current. + +They were still more surprised when they recognised, seated in the stern +of this canoe, the white solar topee and the black coat of a European. +A few minutes later Crouch was within hail. + +"Who are you?" he asked, with both hands to his mouth. + +And the answer came back in the accent of Aberdeen: "James Mayhew, of +the Scottish Missionary Society." + +That, indeed, was so. This man alone, attended only by a few native +servants, was forcing his way in the absolute Unknown, in order to bring +the enlightenment of Christian knowledge into the depths of an endless +forest, inhabited by cannibals and dwarfs. They had time only to +congratulate the missionary upon his courage, and to wish him every +success. Crouch gave Mr. Mayhew directions as to how to reach the +Hidden Valley, and told him that, if he found his way to Solitude Peak +and said that he had come from the "White Wizard," he would find many +converts among the liberated slaves and the people of the village. + +On being asked whether he had seen the Portuguese and his Arabs on the +river, the Missionary answered that he had passed them not an hour ago. +The Arabs had been paddling furiously, as if their lives depended upon +their reaching the Congo with as little delay as possible. As for the +Portuguese, he had been lying as if sick, in the body of the canoe, with +his head propped against a great ironbound chest. + +Crouch waited to hear no more. Waving his hand to the Missionary, he +gave orders for the journey to continue. + +That evening, they expected to arrive at Csar's camp, but by midnight +they had come to the conclusion that the man was resolved to push on +without halting for food. + +It was now that M'Wan and his four companions--the three that had gone +to Solitude Peak and the one who had been left at the Island--asked to +be put ashore. They said they were not far from their own people, and +were desirous of returning home. For all that, they were extremely +sorry to leave their masters, the great white men who had overcome the +Fire-gods. + +When they left, there was much hand-shaking. Each man was presented +with a rifle and several rounds of ammunition, in addition to that they +received enough beads, brass rods, and cloth, to gladden the hearts of +any savage who ever roamed the equatorial forests. + +Throughout the night the canoes paddled to the north-west. All this +time de Costa lay in the body of a canoe, groaning with ague and +shivering from fever. It is a strange thing that in the close and humid +atmosphere of the forest there is little malaria or malarial typhoid, +which cause such havoc among the white men on the great rivers of the +Congo Basin. For it is above the surface of the water that the +mosquitoes swarm, which breed these fell diseases. + +At daybreak they sighted Csar. They saw his canoe for no longer than +an instant as it rounded a bend in the river. The natives plied their +paddles with a will, and Crouch, in the vanguard of the pursuit held his +rifle ready to fire. + +All day long, beneath the blazing tropic sun, with the insects droning +in their ears and the yellow seething water rushing onward to the sea, +this strange race continued. + +Three times did they catch sight of the fugitives; once in the morning, +once at mid-day, and the last time when the afternoon was drawing to a +close. + +By then they were not five hundred yards in the rear. It seemed +probable that the Portuguese would be overtaken before night. Throughout +that day native settlements on either bank of the river had been +frequent. They were but two hundred miles above the point where the +Kasai joins the Congo, to the north of Stanley Pool. + +At last they entered a broad reach, where the river was straight as a +Roman road. On either side the jungle rose to the height of about two +hundred feet--a tangled mass of vegetation, of creepers, vines, +convolvuli, so densely interwoven as to give the effect of endless +walls. Far in the distance, at the end of this long reach, they could +see an island standing in mid-stream, as if it floated on the surface of +the river. + +Resolved to overtake the man before darkness set in and assisted his +escape, they urged the canoes forward, until Csar recognised himself +for lost. Two shots from Crouch, and Csar's canoe drew in to the bank +of the island. + +As they approached they saw the Portuguese lifted out of his canoe in +the arms of his faithful Arabs, and deposited on the bank. Then the +Arabs, taking their rifles in their hands, opened fire on their +pursuers. + +They realized at once that resistance would be hopeless. The Loango +boys, after many weeks of inactivity on Date Palm Island, were spoiling +for a fight. Not all of them were armed with rifles, but the odds were +two to one against the Arabs, who knew that they could always trust the +white men to show mercy. No sooner had the Englishmen set foot upon the +island than they delivered up their arms. + +Had Crouch shot them on the spot these men, who for two years had been +scourging slaves with their whips, had got no more than they deserved. +As it was, their weapons were not given back to them, and they were +turned adrift upon the great river, with a week's provisions, to find +their way back as best they might to some settlement of their own kith +and kin. + +And then the Englishmen were able to give their attention to Csar. The +tall man lay upon the ground, rigid as in death. The whole party +gathered around him, with the exception of de Costa, who was himself too +ill to land upon the island. + +Csar's complexion was a dull, slaty-blue. His face was drawn and +haggard, his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets. As Max pushed his +way through the inquisitive Loango boys, who stood gaping at the dying +man, Csar struggled to a sitting position, and supporting his back +against a tree, looked savagely about him. + +"Stand back!" cried Max. "It's cholera!" + +It was then he realized the truth. Csar had thrashed one of his slaves +for no greater crime than having contracted the pestilence that was +ravaging his camp. Max had snatched the whip from the man's hand and +brought down upon his face and hands and back the cruel thong, whose +very touch was contagion. And thus was the vengeance of God, upon one +who had done evil all his days, taken from the hands of Captain Crouch. + +Max was actually on his way back to his canoe to procure his medicine +chest when the man looked about him, rolled his eyes to the heavens, as +if he who had shown so little of mercy to others thought to find it +there. Then he fell back with a groan, and lay cramped and twisted in +the agony of his death. + +That night, they buried him upon the island. They filled ammunition +boxes with the rubies, and burnt the chest against which Csar had +rested his head. And then, they left him in the starlight, in the midst +of the great stillness of the lonely river, to make his peace with God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'" + + +The green baize doors are just the same as ever; and in the inner +smoking room is Edward Harden, as large and clumsy-looking as on the +morning when we met him first at the top of St. James's Street, except +that, perhaps, he is more sun-burnt and somewhat haggard. + +It is winter; the London fog is without, and a great fire is roaring in +the grate. And before that fire is seated a young gentleman who now, +for the first time, is enjoying the privileges of a member. + +Edward rose to his feet, and looked at the clock. + +"It's six," said he. "Crouch ought to be here." + +Max Harden consulted his watch, as if to verify the evidence of the tall +grandfather's clock which proclaimed the hour between the masks of a +snow-leopard and a panther. + +"He said he would be back at five," said he to his uncle. "I suppose +we'd better wait." + +At that moment, one of the green baize doors swung open, and Captain +Crouch limped into the room. He was now dressed in what he deemed the +garb of civilization: that is to say, a navy blue pilot-coat, with brass +buttons, and a red tie that might have served to guide him in the fog. +They had the smoking-room to themselves. + +"It's all right," said Crouch, "I've fixed it up. Lewis and Sharp paid +over the money this afternoon, and I gave them a receipt." + +"How much did they fetch?" asked Max. + +"Three hundred and eighty thousand pounds." + +Max whistled, but said nothing. For some minutes, the three explorers +sat gazing into the fire. Not another word was spoken until Frankfort +Williams burst into the room. + +Williams had no sympathy with those who roamed the equatorial forests. +His own heart was set upon the ice-floes of the Arctic. + +"Look here," he cried, "what's this I hear about you fellows presenting +a million pounds to some Missionary Society?" + +"Who told you that?" said Crouch. + +"Why, I heard it just now from Du Cane." + +"News travels quickly," said Crouch. "But, a million is rather an +exaggeration Three hundred and eighty thousand is the sum." + +"And it all goes to a Missionary Society!" + +"Yes," said Max, "you didn't expect us to keep it, did you? It was +slave-trade money. We wouldn't touch a penny of it. Why, it would burn +holes in our pockets." + +"You see," said Edward, taking his pipe from his mouth, "a chap called +Mayhew--nice sort of fellow from what we saw of him--has gone up into +the very part of the country that we came from. He wants to civilize +the people; and after all, it's only fair that they should have the +benefit of the money, for it was they who earned it." + +Crouch got to his feet, and turned his back to the fire. + +"See?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, I see all right," said Williams, somewhat reluctantly, +however. "Of course, you couldn't very well do anything else, in the +circumstances. But, it seems rather a shame, somehow--when I can't +raise subscriptions for an expedition to the west coast of Baffin Land." + +"Look here," said Crouch, "if you think we're going to take money from +half-starved negroes, who have slept in chains and sweated under the +lash, and give it to you to climb some flaming iceberg, you're in the +wrong, my friend; and it's just as well for you to know it." + +Frankfort Williams laughed. It was the custom in the "Explorers'" for +those who favoured the tropics to scorn the men who were endeavouring to +reach the poles; just as it was for the Arctic adventurers to wax +ironical on the subject of cannibals and mangrove swamps, poisoned +arrow-heads and manioc. Williams talked for some few minutes upon the +current topics of the day, and then left the club. + +When he was gone, the three friends remained in their old positions +before the fire. Though not a word was said, the thoughts of each +drifted in the same direction. They saw the steaming mist upon a wide, +tropic river; they heard the hum of thousands of insects in their ears, +and the cries of the parrots overhead. They passed over, once again, +the route of their portage from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, and set +forth in fancy into the valley of the Hidden River. + +At last, Crouch got from his chair and, walking to the window, looked +out into the street. The fog had lifted in a fine, drizzling rain. +Shadowy figures hurried past, each with umbrella in hand, whilst the +reflection from the lights of the club windows glistened on the +pavement. The shops had closed. The workers were hurrying home; and +the London that had no need to work was dressing up for dinner. Crouch +swung round upon his heel. + +"I'm sick of this!" he cried. + +"So am I," said Edward. "Where shall we go?" + +Max got to his feet, and fetched down the map. + + + + THE END + + + + + + PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, + BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + + + ---- + + THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF + Adventure and Heroism. + + +An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed, +illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers. + +The Fifth Form at St Dominic's. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding in +stirring incident and in humorous descriptions. + +A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN. + +A Story of Pagan and Christian. + +A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and +dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum. + +The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Grco-Turkish War. By V. L. GOING. + +A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the +last war between Turkey and Greece. + +The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and +temptations of young men entering upon the work of life. + +The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES +REED. + +The juniors' rollicking fun, the seniors' rivalry, the school elections +and football match are all told in a forcible manner. + +A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be misunderstood, +and to be made the butt of his comrades. + +The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and +fun, and the trials of a young House-Master. + +From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, +unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief. + +My Friend Smith. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A first-rate story dealing with the temptations and difficulties boys +meet with when entering upon business life. + +Comrades under Canvas. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON. + +A breezy, healthy tale, dealing with the adventures of three Boys' +Brigade companies during their annual camp. + +Parkhurst Boys, and other Stories of School Life. By TALBOT BAINES +REED. + +A collection of stories from _The Boy's Own Paper_, containing some of +this popular author's best work and brightest wit. + +Reginald Cruden. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Depicting the last days at school of Reginald Cruden, who then starts in +business at the bottom of the ladder. + +Roger Ingleton, Minor. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A bright, vigorous story for boys, introducing the reader to various +characters, all drawn with this well-known author's usual skill and +power. + +That Boy of Fraser's. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +David Fraser passed through many troubles caused by the disappearance of +his father; how he encountered them makes invigorating reading. + +With Rifle and Kukri. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON + +The many heroic deeds called forth by England's "little wars" along the +Indian frontier are here, narrated in stirring language. + +Meltonians All! By F. COWLEY WHITEHOUSE. + +A first-rate story of school-life and after, full of vim and stirring +incidents. Jim, Ken and Goggles make a fine trio. + +Myddleton's Treasure. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +Railway accidents, the evil doings of those in power, a shipwreck, and +adventures in Africa all help to make up a thrilling story. + +The Baymouth Scouts. By TOM BEVAN. + +A thrilling story, especially suitable for Boy Scouts, of the days of +Napoleon, and his threatened invasion of England. + +Rollinson and I. By W. E. CULE. + +The Story of a Summer Term. + +An attractive tale of schoolboy life, detailing a broken friendship, +much misunderstanding, repentance, and finally reconciliation between +the two characters in the title-role. + +Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. BOLTON. + +A schoolmaster with a genius for mathematics has various hobbies, one of +which proves useful in the rescuing of a kidnapped boy. + +Derrick Orme's Schooldays. By EDITH C. KENYON. + +Describes the experiences and persecutions of a high-minded Colonial lad +by a bullying schoolfellow, who is at last driven to admit his +transgressions. + +Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the +wonderful adventures of a sturdy 'prentice-lad. + +Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular author's +knowledge of schoolboy life and humour. + +Submarine U93. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +A thrilling tale, in which the U boat is the principal factor. The +youthful hero, with that redoubtable personage, Captain Crouch, passes +through many ordeals and adventures. + +The Boy Scout's Companion. Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +Everything that the aspiring Scout can learn from books is here +generously provided. The book is full of interest and value. A capital +collection of all sorts of information. + +Into the Soundless Deeps. A Tale of Wonder and Invention. By F. H. +BOLTON. + +The problems of sound and a "wonder-box," known as the "long distance" +ear, provide the main theme in this exciting story, in which adventures +with Spanish brigands also figure. + +The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Story of the Chinese Underworld, and of +Piracy and Adventure in Eastern Seas. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +In the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his parentage, an English +boy, brought up as a Chinese, passes through many adventures on sea and +land. + + The Recreation Series. + +A splendid set of gift-books, providing recreation both for the body and +the mind. Profusely illustrated, of good bulk, handsomely printed, and +attractively bound in cloth gilt. + +The Boy's Own Book of Outdoor Games and Pastimes. Edited by P. P. +WARNER. + +Every phase of sport is represented in this volume, from Cricket to +Kite-Flying, and each contribution is by some well-known authority. + +The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations. Edited by MORLEY +ADAMS. + +Containing a mine of information on Conjuring, Ventriloquism, Model and +Toy making, Puzzles, Home Entertainments, and so on. + +The Boy's Own Book of Pets and Hobbies. + +Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +An invaluable guide to finding something to do. Many a long evening may +be brightly spent and lasting pleasure afforded by it. + +Every Boy's Book of Railways and Steamships. + +By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The author marshals his facts skilfully and tells, without +technicalities, the romance of the railway and the great waterways of +the world. + +The Handy Natural History (Mammals). + +By ERNEST PROTHEROE, F.Z.S. + +This marvellous book is something more than a mere record of +observation, while the exploits of many hunters of wild beasts are +recorded. + +Adventures in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +An admirably written description of the adventures which the +photographer and naturalist has to encounter in his quest for pictures +of British birds. + +Home Life in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +A deeply interesting narrative of the habits of our feathered friends, +which will be eagerly welcomed and appreciated for the charm which it +reveals. + +The Boy's Own Book of Heroism and Adventure. + +Edited by A. R. BUCKLAND, M.A. + +Heroism of many sorts and thrilling adventures in many lands, by +well-known writers for boys, crowd these pages. + + + LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. + + + + + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE-GODS*** + + + + +A Word from Project Gutenberg + + +We will update this book if we find any errors. + +This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39255 + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the +Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a +registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, +unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything +for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may +use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative +works, reports, performances and research. They may be modified and +printed and given away - you may do practically _anything_ with public +domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, +especially commercial redistribution. + + + +The Full Project Gutenberg License + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg(tm) License available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg(tm) +electronic works + + +*1.A.* By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg(tm) +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the +terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all +copies of Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works in your possession. If +you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +*1.B.* "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things +that you can do with most Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works even +without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph +1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +*1.C.* The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of +Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works. Nearly all the individual works +in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you +from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating +derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project +Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the +Project Gutenberg(tm) mission of promoting free access to electronic +works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg(tm) works in compliance with +the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg(tm) name +associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this +agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full +Project Gutenberg(tm) License when you share it without charge with +others. + +*1.D.* The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg(tm) work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +*1.E.* Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +*1.E.1.* The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg(tm) License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg(tm) work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + +*1.E.2.* If an individual Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic work is +derived from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating +that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can +be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying +any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a +work with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on +the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs +1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg(tm) trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +*1.E.3.* If an individual Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic work is +posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and +distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and +any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg(tm) License for all works posted +with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of +this work. + +*1.E.4.* Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project +Gutenberg(tm) License terms from this work, or any files containing a +part of this work or any other work associated with Project +Gutenberg(tm). + +*1.E.5.* Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg(tm) License. + +*1.E.6.* You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg(tm) work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg(tm) web site +(http://www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg(tm) License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +*1.E.7.* Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg(tm) works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.8.* You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works +provided that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg(tm) works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg(tm) trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg(tm) + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg(tm) + works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg(tm) works. + + +*1.E.9.* If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg(tm) trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3. below. + +*1.F.* + +*1.F.1.* Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg(tm) collection. +Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works, and the +medium on which they may be stored, may contain "Defects," such as, but +not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription +errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a +defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +*1.F.2.* LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg(tm) trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. +YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, +BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN +PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND +ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR +ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES +EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. + +*1.F.3.* LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +*1.F.4.* Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +*1.F.5.* Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +*1.F.6.* INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg(tm) +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg(tm) work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg(tm) + + +Project Gutenberg(tm) is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg(tm)'s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg(tm) collection will remain +freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and +permanent future for Project Gutenberg(tm) and future generations. To +learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and +how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org . + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state +of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue +Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification number is +64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the +full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official page +at http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg(tm) depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where +we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside +the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways +including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, +please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic +works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg(tm) +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg(tm) eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg(tm) eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless +a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks +in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg(tm), +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/39255-8.zip b/old/39255-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e136ba7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-8.zip diff --git a/old/39255-rst.zip b/old/39255-rst.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b183a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst.zip diff --git a/old/39255-rst/39255-rst.rst b/old/39255-rst/39255-rst.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd29d40 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/39255-rst.rst @@ -0,0 +1,6256 @@ +.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- + +.. meta:: + :PG.Id: 39255 + :PG.Title: The Fire-Gods + :PG.Released: 2012-03-24 + :PG.Rights: Public Domain + :PG.Producer: Al Haines + :DC.Creator: Charles Gilson + :MARCREL.ill: George Soper + :DC.Title: The Fire-Gods + A Tale of the Congo + :DC.Language: en + :DC.Created: 1920 + :coverpage: images/img-cover.jpg + +.. role:: small-caps + :class: small-caps + +============= +THE FIRE-GODS +============= + +.. pgheader:: + +.. + + | + | + | + +.. figure:: images/img-cover1.jpg + :align: center + :alt: Cover 1 + + Cover 1 + + | + | + | + +.. figure:: images/img-cover2.jpg + :align: center + :alt: Cover 2 + + Cover 2 + + | + | + | + +.. _`"Max leaned forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was seized suddenly from behind"`: + +.. figure:: images/img-front.jpg + :align: center + :alt: "MAX LEANED FORWARD TO EXAMINE THE FACE OF THE ROCK; AND AS HE DID SO, HE WAS SEIZED SUDDENLY FROM BEHIND." + + "MAX LEANED FORWARD TO EXAMINE THE FACE OF THE ROCK; AND AS HE DID SO, HE WAS SEIZED SUDDENLY FROM BEHIND." + + + + +.. class:: center x-large + + | + | + | THE FIRE-GODS + +.. class:: center medium + + | A Tale of the Congo + | + | + | + +.. class:: center small + + | By + +.. class:: center medium + + | CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON + +.. class:: center small + + | *Author of "Submarine U93," "The Mystery of Ah Jim,"* + | *and other Stories.* + | + | + | + +.. class:: center small + + | *ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SOPER* + | + | + | + +.. class:: center medium + + | LONDON + | "THE BOY'S OWN PAPER" OFFICE + | 4, Bouverie Street + | + | + | + | + +.. class:: center medium + + | BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +.. class:: left small + + | Submarine U93. A Tale of the Great War by Sea. + | The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Tale of the East. + | On Secret Service. A Tale of German Spies. + | A Motor Scout in Flanders. A Tale of the Bombardment of Antwerp. + | The Race Round the World. A Tale of the Motor Spirit of the Future. + | The Pirate Aeroplane. A Tale of the Kingdom of Asmalia. + | The Lost Island. A Tale of a Chinese Secret Society. + | The Lost Column. A Tale of the Boxer Rebellion in China. + | Across the Cameroons. A Tale of the Germans in West Africa. + | The Spy. A Tale of the Peninsular War. + | The Sword of Freedom. A Tale of the English Revolution. + | The Lost Empire. A Tale of the Napoleonic Wars. + | In the Power of the Pygmies. A Tale of Central Africa. + | In Arms for Russia. A Tale of the Great War. + | The Pirate Yacht. A Tale of Southern Seas. + | The Sword of Deliverance. A Tale of the Balkan War. + | + | + | + +---- + +.. contents:: CONTENTS + :depth: 1 + :backlinks: entry + +---- + +.. class:: center medium + + | ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + +.. class:: center small + + | BY GEORGE SOPER + + +.. class:: left small + + | `"Max leaned forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was seized suddenly from behind"`_ . . . *Frontispiece* + | + | `"Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud"`_ + | + | `"The Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman"`_ + | + | `"The lash of the whip rose and fell, until Cæsar shrieked for mercy"`_ + | + | + | + +.. class:: center x-large + + | THE FIRE-GODS + | + | + + +CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB +============================== + +The Explorers' Club no longer exists. To-day, as a matter of fact, it +is a tea-shop in Old Bond Street--a small building, wedged between two +greater ones, a fashionable milliner's and a famous Art Establishment. +Towards the end of the last century, in what is known as the +mid-Victorian era, the Explorers' Club was in the heyday of its glory. + +The number of its members was limited to two hundred and fifty-one. In +the inner smoking-room, through the green baize doors, where guests +were not admitted, both the conversation and the company were at once +remarkable and unique. The walls were adorned with the trophies of the +chase: heads of elk, markhor, ibex, haartebeest and waterbuck; great +lions and snarling tigers; mouflon from Cyprus, and the white leopard +of the Himalayas. If you looked into the room through the glass +peep-hole in one of the green baize doors, you might have thought at +first that you beheld a menagerie, where the fiercest and the rarest +beasts in the world were imprisoned in a single cage. But, presently, +your attention would have been attracted by the great, sun-burnt men, +sprawling in the leather chairs, dressed in tweeds for the most part, +and nearly every one with a blackened briar pipe between his lips. + +In those days, Africa was the "Dark Continent"; the source of the Nile +and the Great Lakes were undiscovered, of the Congo nothing was known. +Nor was this geographical ignorance confined to a single continent: in +every part of the world, vast tracts of country, great rivers and +mountains were as yet unexplored. And the little that was known of +these uttermost parts of the earth never passed the green baize doors +of the inner smoking-room of the Explorers' Club. + +There, in an atmosphere blue with smoke, where a great fire roared in +winter to keep the chill of the London fog from the bones of those who, +time and again, had been stricken with the fevers of the equatorial +parts, a small group of men would sit and talk by the hour. There +great projects were suggested, criticised and discussed. A man would +rise from his seat, take down a map of some half-discovered country, +and placing his finger upon a blank space, announce in tones of +decision that that was the exact spot to which he intended to go. And +if he went, perhaps, he would not come back. + +At the time our story opens, Edward Harden was probably the most +popular member of the Explorers' Club. He was still a comparatively +young man; and though his reputation rested chiefly upon his fame as a +big game shot, he had rendered no mean service to the cause of science, +as the honours heaped upon him by the Royal Geographical Society and +kindred institutions fully testified. + +It was early in June, and the height of the London season, when this +six foot six of explorer walked up St. James's Street on the right-hand +side. Somehow he felt that he was out of it. He was not one of the +fashionable crowd in the midst of which he found himself. For ten +years he had been growing more and more unaccustomed to the life of +cities. It was a strange thing, he could break his way through the +tangled thicknesses of an equatorial forest, or wade knee-deep in a +mangrove swamp, but he could never negotiate the passage of Piccadilly. + +As he stood on the "island" in the middle of the street, opposite +Burlington House, he attracted a considerable amount of attention. He +was probably the tallest man at that moment between St. Paul's and the +Albert Memorial. His brown moustache was several shades lighter than +his skin, which had been burnt to the colour of tan. His long limbs, +his sloping shoulders, and the slouch with which he walked, gave him an +appearance of looseness and prodigious strength. Also he had a habit +of walking with his fists closed, and his arms swinging like pendulums. +He was quite unconscious of the fact that people turned and stared +after him, or that he was an object of exceeding admiration to small +boys, who speculated upon the result of a blow from his fist. + +He had not gone far along Bond Street when he cannoned into a young +man, who received a ponderous blow in the chest from Harden's swinging +fist. The explorer could hardly have been expected to look where he +was going, since at that moment he was passing a gunsmith's where the +latest improvement of elephant gun was on view in the window. + +"I beg your pardon!" he exclaimed in eager apology. + +"It's nothing," said the other, and then added, with a note of +surprise, "Uncle Ted, by all that's wonderful! I might have known it +was you." + +Edward Harden seldom expressed surprise. He just took the young +gentleman by the arm and walked him along at the rate of about five +miles an hour. "Come and have lunch," said he. + +Now Max Harden, in addition to being the explorer's only nephew, was a +medical student at one of the London hospitals. As a small boy, he had +regarded his uncle as one of the greatest men in the universe--which, +in a physical sense, he was. + +A week before Max had come of age, which meant that he had acquired the +modest inheritance of a thousand pounds a year. He had also secured a +commission from the Royal Academy of Physicians to make sundry +inquiries into the origin of certain obscure tropical diseases in the +district of the Lower Congo. This was precisely the part of the world +to which Edward Harden was about to depart. Max knew that quite well, +and his idea was to travel with his uncle. He had been to the +Explorers' Club, and had been told by the hall porter that Mr. Edward +Harden was out, but that he would probably return for lunch. It was +about two minutes later that he collided with his uncle outside the +gunsmith's shop. + +To lunch at the Explorers' Club was in itself an achievement. That day +several well-known men were there: Du Cane, the lion hunter; Frankfort +Williams, back from the Arctic, and George Cartwright, who had not yet +accomplished his famous journey into Thibet. Upon the walls of the +dining-room were full-length pictures of the great pioneers of +exploration: Columbus, Franklin and Cook. It was not until after +luncheon, when Max and his uncle were seated in the outer +smoking-room--through the green baize doors, it will be remembered, it +was forbidden for guests to enter--that Max broached the topic that was +nearest to his heart. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "tell me about this expedition? As yet I know +nothing." + +"We're going up the Congo," answered Harden simply; "and it's natural +enough that you should know nothing about it, since practically nothing +is known. Our object is big game, but we hope to bring back some +valuable geographical information. The mouth of the Congo was +discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Since then +several trading-stations have sprung up on the river, but no one has +penetrated inland. It is known that about five hundred miles from the +mouth of the river, a tributary, called the Kasai, flows from the +south. Of the upper valley of that river absolutely nothing is known, +except that it consists of the most impenetrable forests and is +inhabited by cannibal tribes. It is there we propose to go." + +"Who goes with you?" asked Max. + +"Crouch," said Harden; "Captain Crouch. The most remarkable man on the +Coast. Nobody in England has ever heard of him; but on the West Coast, +from Lagos to Loango, he is either hated like sin or worshipped like a +heathen god. There's no man alive who understands natives as well as +Crouch. He can get more work out of a pack of Kru-boys in a day than a +shipping-agent or a trader can in a week." + +"How do you account for it?" asked Max. + +"Pluck," said Harden, "and perseverance. Also, from the day he was +born, a special providence seems to have guarded him. For many years +he was captain of a coasting-packet that worked from St. Louis to +Spanish Guinea. He fell overboard once in the Bight of Biafra, and +lost a foot." + +"How did he do that?" asked Max, already vastly interested in the +personality of Captain Crouch. + +"Sharks," said Harden, as if it were an everyday occurrence. "They +swim round Fernando Po like goldfish in a bowl. Would you believe it? +Crouch knifed that fish in the water, though he'll wear a cork foot to +his dying day. He was one of the first men to force his way up the +Niger, and I happened to be at Old Calabar when he was brought in with +a poisoned arrow-head in his eye. At that time the natives of the +interior used to dip their weapons in snake's poison, and no one but +Crouch could have lived. But he pulled through all right. He's one of +those small, wiry men that can't be killed. He has got a case full of +glass eyes now, of all the colours in the rainbow, and he plays Old +Harry with the natives. If they don't do what he wants, I've seen him +pull out a blue eye and put in a red one, which frightens the life out +of them. Crouch isn't like any one else I've ever met. He has the +most astonishing confidence in himself; he's practically fever-proof; +he can talk about twenty West African dialects, and he's a better shot +than I am. I believe the only person he cares for in the world is +myself. I would never dream of undertaking this expedition without +him." + +"I suppose," said Max, a trifle nervously, "you wouldn't think of +including a third member in your party?" + +Edward Harden looked at his nephew sharply. "What do you mean?" he +asked. + +"I mean," said Max, "that I have undertaken to investigate certain +tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness and malarial typhoid, in +the very districts to which you are going. I thought you might not +object if I came with you. I didn't know I had Captain Crouch to deal +with." + +Edward Harden rose to his feet and knocked out his pipe in the grate. + +"For myself," said he, "I should be pleased to have you with me. Are +you ready to start at once? We hope to sail next week." + +Max nodded. + +"H'm," said the explorer, "I must ask Crouch. I think he's in the +club." + +He went to one of the green baize doors at the other end of the room, +opened it, and looked in. + +"Crouch," said he, "do you mind coming here a moment. There's +something I want to ask you." + +He then came back to his seat and filled another pipe. As he was +engaged in lighting this, a green baize door swung back and there +entered one of the most extraordinary men that it was ever the lot of +the young medical student to behold. + +As we have said, the Explorers' Club was in Bond Street, and Captain +Crouch was dressed after the fashion of a pilot; that is to say, he +wore a navy-blue suit with brass buttons and a red tie. He was a very +small man, and exceedingly thin. There seemed nothing of him. His +head was almost entirely bald. He wore a small, bristling moustache, +cut short like a tooth-brush, and a tuft of hair beneath his nether +lip. His eyebrows were exceedingly dark, and met on the bridge of his +nose. His skin was the colour of parchment, and wrinkled and creased +in all directions. He had a large hook nose, and a chin of excessive +prominence. Though he appeared entirely bloodless, there was something +about him that suggested extreme vital energy--the kind of vitality +which may be observed in a rat. He was an aggressive-looking man. +Though he walked with a pronounced limp, he was quick in all his +movements. His mouth was closed fast upon a pipe in which he smoked a +kind of black tobacco which is called Bull's Eye Shag, one whiff of +which would fumigate a greenhouse, killing every insect therein from an +aphis to a spider. He reeked of this as a soap-factory smells of fat. +In no other club in London would its consumption have been allowed; but +the Explorers were accustomed to greater hardships than even the smell +of Bull's Eye Shag. + +"Well, Ted," said Crouch, "what's this?" + +One eye, big and staring, was directed out of the window; the other, +small, black and piercing, turned inwards upon Max in the most +appalling squint. + +"This is my nephew," said Harden; "Max Harden--Captain Crouch, my +greatest friend." + +Max held out a hand, but Crouch appeared not to notice it. He turned +to Edward. + +"What's the matter with him?" he asked. + +"He's suffering from a complaint which, I fancy, both you and I +contracted in our younger days--a desire to investigate the Unknown. +In a word, Crouch, he wants to come with us." + +Crouch whipped round upon Max. + +"You're too young for the Coast," said he. "You'll go out the moment +you get there like a night-light." + +"I'm ready to take my chance," said Max. + +Crouch looked pleased at that, for his only eye twinkled and seemed to +grow smaller. + +Max was anxious to take advantage of the little ground he might have +gained. "Also," he added, "I am a medical man--at least, I'm a medical +student. I am making a special study of tropical diseases." + +And no sooner were the words from his lips than he saw he had made a +fatal mistake, for Captain Crouch brought down his fist so violently +upon one of the little smokers' tables with which the room was +scattered, that the three legs broke off, and the whole concern +collapsed upon the floor. + +"Do you think we want a medical adviser!" he roared. "Study till +you're black in the face, till you're eighty years old, and you won't +know a tenth of what I know. What's the use of all your science? I've +lived on the Coast for thirty years, and I tell you this: there are +only two things that matter where fever is concerned--pills and funk. +Waiter, take that table away, and burn it." + +It is probable that at this juncture Max's hopes had been dashed to +earth had it not been for his uncle, who now put in a word. + +"Tell you what, Crouch," said he, in the quiet voice which, for some +reason or other, all big men possess; "the boy might be useful, after +all. He's a good shot. He's made of the right stuff--I've known him +since he was a baby. He's going out there anyhow, so he may as well +come with us." + +"Why, of course he may," said Crouch. "I'm sure we'll be delighted to +have him." + +Such a sudden change of front was one of the most remarkable +characteristics of this extraordinary man. Often, in the breath of a +single sentence, he would appear to change his mind. But this was not +the case. He had a habit of thinking aloud, and of expressing his +thoughts in the most vehement manner imaginable. Indeed, if his +character can be summed up in any one word, it would be this one word +"vehemence." He talked loudly, he gesticulated violently, he smashed +the furniture, and invariably knocked his pipe out in such a frantic +manner that he broke the stem. And yet Edward Harden---who knew him +better than any one else in the world--always protested that he had +never known Crouch to lose his temper. This was just the ordinary +manner in which he lived, breathed and had his being. + +"I'm sure," said Captain Crouch, "we will be delighted to take you with +us. Ted, what are you going to do this afternoon?" + +"I am going to get some exercise--a turn in the Park." + +"I'll come with you," said Crouch. + +So saying, he stumped off to fetch his cap which he had left in the +inner room. No sooner was he gone than Max turned to his uncle. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "I can't thank you sufficiently." + +The big man laid a hand upon the young one's shoulder. + +"That's nothing," said he. "But I must tell you this: if you are +coming with us to the Kasai, you must drop the 'uncle.' Your father +was considerably older than I was--fifteen years. You had better call +me by my Christian name--Edward. 'Ted's' a trifle too familiar." + +By then they were joined by Crouch, who carried a large knotted stick +in one hand, and in the other--a paper bag. + +"What have you got there?" asked Harden, pointing to the bag. + +"Sweets," said Crouch. "For the children in the Park." + +And so it came about that they three left the Explorers' Club together, +Max in the middle, with his gigantic uncle on one hand, and the little +wizened sea-captain on the other. + +They created no small amount of interest and amazement in Bond Street, +but they were blissfully ignorant of the fact. The world of these men +was not the world of the little parish of St. James's. One was little +more than a boy, whose mind was filled with dreams; but the others were +men who had seen the stars from places where no human being had ever +beheld them before, who had been the first to set foot in unknown +lands, who had broken into the heart of savagery and darkness. Theirs +was a world of danger, hardship and adventure. They had less respect +for the opinion of those who passed them by than for the wild beasts +that prowl by night around an African encampment. After all, the world +is made up of two kinds of men: those who think and those who act; and +who can say which is the greater of the two? + + + + +CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI +======================== + +A mist lay upon the river like a cloud of steam. The sun was +invisible, except for a bright concave dome, immediately overhead, +which showed like the reflection of a furnace in the midst of the +all-pervading greyness of the heavens. The heat was intense--the heat +of the vapour-room of a Turkish bath. Myriads of insects droned upon +the surface of the water. + +The river had still a thousand miles to cover before it reached the +ocean--the blazing, surf-beaten coast-line to the north of St. Paul de +Loanda. Its turgid, coffee-coloured waters rushed northward through a +land of mystery and darkness, lapping the banks amid black mangrove +swamps and at the feet of gigantic trees whose branches were tangled in +confusion. + +In pools where the river widened, schools of hippopotami lay like great +logs upon the surface, and here and there a crocodile basked upon a +mud-bank, motionless by the hour, like some weird, bronze image that +had not the power to move. In one place a two-horned rhinoceros burst +through the jungle, and with a snort thrust its head above the current +of the stream. + +This was the Unknown. This was the World as it Had Been, before man +was on the earth. These animals are the relics that bind us to the +Past, to the cave-men and the old primordial days. There was a silence +on the river that seemed somehow overpowering, rising superior to the +ceaseless droning of the insects and the soft gurgling of the water, +which formed little shifting eddies in the lee of fallen trees. + +A long canoe shot through the water like some great, questing beast. +Therein were twelve natives from Loango, all but naked as they came +into the world. Their paddles flashed in the reflected light of the +furnace overhead; for all that, the canoe came forward without noise +except for the gentle rippling sound of the water under the bows. In +the stern were seated two men side by side, and one of these was Edward +Harden, and the other his nephew Max. In the body of the canoe was a +great number of "loads": camp equipment, provisions, ammunition and +cheap Manchester goods, such as are used by the traders to barter for +ivory and rubber with the native chiefs. Each "load" was the maximum +weight that could be carried by a porter, should the party find it +necessary to leave the course of the river. + +In the bows, perched like an eagle above his eyrie, was Captain Crouch. +His solitary eye darted from bank to bank. In his thin nervous hands +he held a rifle, ready on the instant to bring the butt into the hollow +of his shoulder. + +As the canoe rounded each bend of the river, the crocodiles glided from +the mud-banks and the hippopotami sank silently under the stream. Here +and there two nostrils remained upon the surface--small, round, black +objects, only discernible by the ripples which they caused. + +Suddenly a shot rang out, sharp as the crack of a whip. The report +echoed, again and again, in the dark, inhospitable forest that extended +on either bank. There was a rush of birds that rose upon the wing; the +natives shipped their paddles, and, on the left bank of the river, the +two-horned rhinoceros sat bolt upright on its hind-legs like a sow, +with its fore-legs wide apart. Then, slowly, it rolled over and sank +deep into the mud. By then Crouch had reloaded. + +"What was it?" asked Harden. + +"A rhino," said Crouch. "We were too far off for him to see us, and +the wind was the right way." + +A moment later the canoe drew into the bank a little distance from +where the great beast lay. Harden and Crouch waded into the mire, +knives in hand; and that rhino was skinned with an ease and rapidity +which can only be accomplished by the practised hunter. The meat was +cut into large slices, which were distributed as rations to the +natives. Of the rest, only the head was retained, and this was put +into a second canoe, which soon after came into sight. + +After that they continued their journey up the wide, mysterious river. +All day long the paddles were never still, the rippling sound continued +at the bows. Crouch remained motionless as a statue, rifle in hand, +ready to fire at a moment's notice. With his dark, overhanging brow, +his hook nose, and his thin, straight lips, he bore a striking +resemblance to some gaunt bird of prey. + +A second shot sounded as suddenly and unexpectedly as the first, and a +moment after Crouch was on his feet. + +"A leopard!" he cried. "I hit him. He's wounded. Run her into the +bank." + +The canoe shot under a large tree, one branch of which overhung the +water so low that they were able to seize it. Edward Harden was ashore +in a moment, followed by his nephew. Crouch swung himself ashore by +means of the overhanging bough. Harden's eyes were fixed upon the +ground. It was a place where animals came to drink, for the soft mud +had been trampled and churned by the feet of many beasts. + +"There!" cried Harden. "Blood!" + +Sure enough, upon the green leaf of some strange water plant there was +a single drop of blood. Though the big game hunter had spoken in an +excited manner, he had never raised his voice. + +It was Crouch who took up the spoor, and followed it from leaf to leaf. +Whenever he failed to pick it up, Harden put him right. Max was as a +baby in such matters, and it was often that he failed to recognize the +spoor, even when it was pointed out to him. + +They had to break their way through undergrowth so thick that it was +like a woodstack. The skin upon their hands and faces was scratched +repeatedly by thorns. They were followed by a cloud of insects. They +were unable to see the sky above them by reason of the branches of the +trees, which, high above the undergrowth through which they passed, +formed a vast barrier to the sunlight. And yet it was not dark. There +was a kind of half-light which it is difficult to describe, and which +seemed to emanate from nowhere. Nothing in particular, yet everything +in general, appeared to be in the shade. + +On a sudden Crouch stopped dead. + +"He's not far from here," he said. "Look there!" + +Max's eyes followed Crouch's finger. He saw a place where the long +grass was all crushed and broken as if some animal had been lying down, +and in two places there were pools of blood. + +Crouch raised both arms. "Open out," said he. "Be ready to fire if he +springs. He'll probably warn you with a growl." + +This information was for the benefit of Max. To tell Edward Harden +such things would be like giving minute instructions to a fish +concerning the rudiments of swimming. + +Max, obeying Crouch's orders, broke into the jungle on the left, +whereas Edward moved to the right. Keeping abreast of one another, +they moved forward for a distance of about two hundred yards. This +time it was Harden who ordered the party to halt. They heard his quiet +voice in the midst of the thickets: "Crouch, come here; I want you." + +A moment later Max joined his two friends. He found them standing side +by side: Edward, with eyes turned upward like one who listens, and +Crouch with an ear to the ground. Harden, by placing a finger upon his +lips, signed to his nephew to be silent. Max also strained his ears to +catch the slight sound in the jungle which had aroused the suspicion of +these experienced hunters. + +After a while he heard a faint snap, followed by another, and then a +third. Then there was a twanging sound, very soft, like the noise of a +fiddle-string when thrummed by a finger. It was followed almost +immediately by a shriek, as terrible and unearthly as anything that Max +had ever heard. It was the dying scream of a wounded beast--one of the +great tribe of cats. + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"Fans," said he. "What's more, they've got my leopard." + +He made the remark in the same manner as a Londoner might point out a +Putney 'bus; yet, at that time, the Fans were one of the most warlike +of the cannibal tribes of Central Africa. They were reputed to be +extremely hostile to Europeans, and that was about all that was known +concerning them. + +Edward Harden was fully as calm as his friend. + +"We can't get back," said he. "It's either a palaver, or a fight." + +"Come, then," said Crouch. "Let's see which it is." + +At that he led the way, making better progress than before, since he no +longer regarded the spoor of the wounded leopard. + +Presently they came to a place where the jungle ceased abruptly. This +was the edge of a swamp--a circular patch, about two hundred yards +across, where nothing grew but a species of slender reed. Though Max +had not known it, this was the very place for which the other two were +looking. Backwoodsmen though they were, they had no desire to face a +hostile tribe in jungle so dense that it would scarcely be possible to +lift a rifle to the present. + +The reeds grew in tufts capable of bearing the weight of a heavy man; +but, in between, was a black, glutinous mud. + +"If you fall into that," said Crouch, who still led the way, "you'll +stick like glue, and you'll be eaten alive by leeches." + +In the centre of the swamp the ground rose into a hillock, and here it +was possible for them to stand side by side. They waited for several +moments in absolute silence. And then a dark figure burst through the +jungle, and a second later fell flat upon the ground. + +"I was right," said Crouch. "That man was a Fan. We'll find out in a +moment whether they mean to fight. I hope to goodness they don't find +the canoes." + +In the course of the next few minutes it became evident, even to Max, +that they were surrounded. On all sides the branches and leaves of the +undergrowth on the edge of the swamp were seen to move, and here and +there the naked figure of a savage showed between the trees. + +The Fans are still one of the dominant races of Central Africa. About +the middle of the last century the tribe swept south-west from the +equatorial regions, destroying the villages and massacring the people +of the more peaceful tribes towards the coast. The Fans have been +proved to possess higher intelligence than the majority of the Central +African races. Despite their pugnacious character, and the practice of +cannibalism which is almost universal among them, they have been +described as being bright, active and energetic Africans, including +magnificent specimens of the human race. At this time, however, little +was known concerning them, and that little, for the most part, was +confined to Captain Crouch, who, on a previous occasion, had penetrated +into the Hinterland of the Gabun. + +Edward Harden and his friends were not left long in doubt as to whether +or not the Fans intended to be hostile, for presently a large party of +men advanced upon them from all sides at once. For the most part these +warriors were armed with great shields and long spears, though a few +carried bows and arrows. The Fan spear is a thing by itself. The head +is attached but lightly to the shaft, so that when the warrior plunges +his weapon into his victims, the spear-head remains in the wound. + +Captain Crouch handed his rifle to Edward, and then stepped forward +across the marsh to meet these would-be enemies. He was fully alive to +their danger. He knew that with their firearms they could keep the +savages at bay for some time, but in the end their ammunition would run +out. He thought there was still a chance that the matter might be +settled in an amicable manner. + +"Palaver," said he, speaking in the language of the Fans. "Friends. +Trade-palaver Good." + +The only answer he got was an arrow that shot past his ear, and +disappeared in the mud He threw back his head and laughed. + +"No good," he cried. "Trade-palaver friends." + +A tall, thin savage, about six feet in height, approached by leaps and +bounds, springing like an antelope from one tuft of grass to another. +His black face, with white, gleaming teeth, looked over the top of a +large, oval shield. With a final spring, he landed on dry ground a few +feet from where Crouch was standing. Then he raised his spear on high; +but, before he had time to strike, Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin +like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud. + +.. _`"Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud"`: + +.. figure:: images/img-032.jpg + :align: center + :alt: "CROUCH'S FIST RANG OUT UPON HIS CHIN LIKE A PISTOL-SHOT, AND HE WENT OVER BACKWARDS INTO THE MUD." + + "CROUCH'S FIST RANG OUT UPON HIS CHIN LIKE A PISTOL-SHOT, AND HE WENT OVER BACKWARDS INTO THE MUD." + + +There was a strange, sucking noise as the marsh swallowed him to the +chin. For some moments he floundered hopelessly, his two hands +grasping in the air. He laid hold of tufts of grass, and pulled them +up by the roots. Then Crouch bent down, gripped both his hands, and +with a great effort dragged him on to terra firma. + +His black skin was plastered with a blacker mud, and on almost every +inch of his body, from his neck to his feet, a large water-leech was +glued like an enormous slug. The man was already weak from loss of +blood. Had he remained in the marsh a minute longer, there is no doubt +he would have fainted. Crouch took a knife from his pocket, and, +talking all the time, as a nursemaid talks to a naughty child, one by +one he tore the leeches from the man's body, and threw them back into +the marsh. + +The others, who had drawn closer, remained at a safe distance. It +seems they were undecided how to act, since this man was their leader, +and they were accustomed to receive their orders from him. It is +impossible to say what would have happened, had not Crouch taken charge +of the situation. He asked the man where his village was, and the +fellow pointed to the east. + +"Yonder," said he; "in the hills." + +"Lead on," said Crouch. "We're coming home with you, for a cup of tea +and a talk." + +For a moment the man was too stupefied to answer. He had never +expected this kind of reception from an individual who could have +walked under his outstretched arm. What surprised him most of all was +Crouch's absolute self-confidence. The Negro and Bantu races are all +alike in this: they are extraordinarily simple-minded and +impressionable. The Fan chieftain looked at Crouch, and then dropped +his eyes. When he lifted them, a broad grin had extended across his +face. + +"Good," said he. "My village. Palaver. You come." + +Crouch turned and winked at Max, and then followed the chief towards +the jungle. + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD +============================= + +When both parties were gathered together on the edge of the marsh, Max +felt strangely uncomfortable. Both Crouch and Edward seemed thoroughly +at home, and the former was talking to the chief as if he had found an +old friend whom he had not seen for several years. Putting aside the +strangeness of his surroundings, Max was not able to rid his mind of +the thought that these men were cannibals. He looked at them in +disgust. There was nothing in particular to distinguish them from the +other races he had seen upon the coast, except, perhaps, they were of +finer physique and had better foreheads. It was the idea which was +revolting. In the country of the Fans there are no slaves, no +prisoners, and no cemeteries; a fact which speaks for itself. + +Crouch and the chief, whose name was M'Wané, led the way through the +jungle. They came presently to the body of the wounded leopard, which +lay with an arrow in its heart. It was the "twang" of the bowstring +that Max had heard in the jungle. And now took place an incident that +argued well for the future. + +M'Wané protested that the leopard belonged to Crouch, since the +Englishman had drawn first blood. This was the law of his tribe. +Crouch, on the other hand, maintained that the law of his tribe was +that the game was the property of the killer. The chief wanted the +leopard-skin, and it required little persuasion to make him accept it, +which he was clearly delighted to do. + +Crouch skinned the leopard himself, and presented the skin to M'Wané. +And then the whole party set forth again, and soon came to a track +along which progress was easy. + +It was approaching nightfall when they reached the extremity of the +forest, and came upon a great range of hills which, standing clear of +the mist that hung in the river valley, caught the full glory of the +setting sun. Upon the upper slopes of the hills was a village of two +rows of huts, and at each end of the streets thus formed was a +guard-house, where a sentry stood on duty. M'Wané's hut was larger +than the others, and it was into this that the Europeans were +conducted. In the centre of the floor was a fire, and hanging from +several places in the roof were long sticks with hooks on them, the +hooks having been made by cutting off branching twigs. From these +hooks depended the scant articles of the chief's wardrobe and several +fetish charms. + +For two hours Crouch and the chief talked, and it was during that +conversation that there came to light the most extraordinary episode of +which we have to tell. From that moment, and for many weeks +afterwards, it was a mystery that they were wholly unable to solve. +Both Crouch and Harden knew the savage nature too well to believe that +M'Wané lied. Though his story was vague, and overshadowed by the +superstitions that darken the minds of the fetish worshippers, there +was no doubt that it was based upon fact. As the chief talked, Crouch +translated to his friends. + +The chief first asked what they were doing on the Kasai, and Crouch +answered that they were there for big game--for rhinoceros, buffalo and +leopard. The chief answered that there was certainly much game on the +Kasai, but there was more on the "Hidden River." That was the first +time they ever heard the name. + +Crouch asked why it was called the "Hidden River"; and M'Wané answered +that it would be impossible for any one to find the mouth. On the +southern bank of the Kasai, about two days up-stream, there was a large +mangrove swamp, and it was beyond this that the "Hidden River" lay. + +"Can you pass through the swamp in a canoe?" asked Crouch. + +The chief shook his head, and said that a canoe could pass the mangrove +swamp, but it could not penetrate far up the river, because of a great +waterfall, where the water fell hundreds of feet between huge pillars +of rock. + +"One can carry a canoe," said Crouch. + +"Perhaps," said M'Wané, as if in doubt. "But, of those that pass the +cataract, none come back alive." + +"Why?" asked Crouch. + +"Because of the Fire-gods that haunt the river. The Fire-gods are +feared from the seacoast to the Lakes." + +Crouch pricked up his ears like a terrier that scents a rat. The +little man sat cross-legged, with his hands upon his ankles; and as he +plied the Fan chief with questions, he positively wriggled where he sat. + +He found out that the "Fire-gods" were white men--a fact that +astonished him exceedingly. He was told that they were not white men +like himself and his friends, but wicked spirits who controlled the +thunder and who could make the earth tremble for miles around. Even +the Fans feared them, and for several months none of the tribes had +ventured into the valley of the "Hidden River." + +"They're men with rifles," said Harden. "These people have never seen +a firearm in their lives." + +At that he led M'Wané from the hut, and, followed by Max and Crouch, he +walked a little distance from the village. There, in the moonlight, he +picked up a stone from the ground, and set this upon a branch. From a +distance of about twenty paces, with M'Wané at his side, he lifted his +rifle to his shoulder, and struck the stone with a bullet, so that it +fell upon the ground. + +"There," said he, "that is what your Fire-gods do; they are armed with +rifles--like this." + +But M'Wané shook his head. He had heard of rifles. Tribes they had +raided upon the coast had spoken of the white men that could slay at a +distance. But the Fire-gods were greater still. Every evening, in the +valley of the Hidden River, loud thunder rent the air. The birds had +left the valley--even the snakes had gone. The Fire-gods were kings +over Nature. Moreover, they were merciless. Hundreds of natives--men +of the Pende tribe, the Pambala and the Bakutu--had gone into the +valley; but no one had returned. + +At that Crouch set off towards the hut without a word. The others, +following, found him seated cross-legged at the fire, tugging at the +tuft of hair which grew beneath his lip. For some minutes the little +wizened sea-captain spoke aloud to himself. + +"I'll find out who these people are," said he. "White men may have +gone up the river to trade; but it's bad for business if you get a +reputation for murder. I don't understand it at all. I've heard of a +white race in the centre of the continent; maybe it's they. I hope it +is. At any rate, we'll go and see." + +For a few brief moments he lapsed into silence. Then he tapped M'Wané +on the arm. + +"Will you take us to the Hidden River?" he asked. + +M'Wané sprang to his feet, violently shaking his head. He protested +that he dared do nothing of the sort. They could not disbelieve him, +for the man was actually trembling in his limbs. + +Crouch turned to Harden. + +"I've a mind to look into this," said he. + +"I, too," said the other. + +"He won't take us," said Max. + +"I'll make him," said Crouch. "For the present, I'm going to sleep. +The boys will stick to the canoes. We must get back to the river +to-morrow afternoon. Good-night." + +So saying, he curled himself up like a hedgehog, and, resting his head +upon his folded arms, immediately fell asleep. + +It was already three months since they had left Banana Point at the +mouth of the Congo. They had journeyed to the foot of the rapids by +steamboat, and thence had carried their canoes across several miles of +country. They had enjoyed a good deal of mixed shooting in the lower +valley, and then they had said good-bye to the few trading stations, or +factories, which lay scattered at wide intervals upon the banks of the +great river, and which were the last links that bound them to such +civilization as the wilds of Africa could show. Max had already gained +much experience of life in the wilds of tropical Africa. This was not +the first time that he had found himself obliged to sleep upon the +ground, without pillow or blankets, or that which was still more +necessary--a mosquito-net. + +When he opened his eyes it was daylight, and the first thing that he +beheld was Captain Crouch, seated cross-legged at the fireside, with +his pipe between his teeth. His one eye was fixed in the glowing +embers. He appeared to be deep in thought, for his face was all +screwed up, and he never moved. Thin wreaths of smoke came from the +bowl of his pipe, and the hut reeked of his foul tobacco. Suddenly he +snatched the pipe from his lips, and banged the bowl so viciously upon +the heel of his boot that he broke it in twain. "I have it!" he cried. +"I've got it!" + +Max asked what was the matter. + +"I've got an idea," said Crouch. "I'll make this fellow take us to the +Hidden River, whether he wants to or not. They are frightened of these +Fire-gods, are they! By Christopher, I'll make them more frightened of +me, or my name was never Crouch!" + +He got to his feet, and crossed the hut to M'Wané, who still lay +asleep. He seized the chief by the shoulders and shook him violently, +until the man sat up and rubbed his eyes. + +"Your people," said he. "Big palaver. Now. Be quick." + +M'Wané seemed to understand, for he got up and left the hut. Edward +Harden was now awake. + +The life that is lived by these Central African tribes finds a parallel +in the ancient history of nearly all races that we know of. +Government, for the most part, is in the hands of the headman of every +village. The maintenance of law and order, the giving of wives, the +exchange of possessions, is settled by "palaver," which amounts to a +kind of meeting of the entire population, presided over by the chief. +Near every village is a regular palaver-ground, usually in the shade of +the largest tree in the neighbourhood. + +It was here, on this early morning, that M'Wané summoned all the +inhabitants of the village--men, women and children. They seated +themselves upon the ground in a wide circle, in the midst of which was +the trunk of a fallen tree. Upon this trunk the three Europeans seated +themselves, Crouch in the middle, with his companions on either side. + +When all was ready, M'Wané rose to his feet, and announced in +stentorian tones that the little white man desired to speak to them, +and that they must listen attentively to what he had to say. Whereupon +Crouch got to his feet, and from that moment onward--in the parlance of +the theatre--held the stage: the whole scene was his. He talked for +nearly an hour, and during that time never an eye was shifted from his +face, except when he called attention to the parrot. + +He was wonderful to watch. He shouted, he gesticulated, he even +danced. In face of his limited vocabulary, it is a wonder how he made +himself understood; but he did. He was perfectly honest from the +start. Perhaps his experience had taught him that it is best to be +honest with savages, as it is with horses and dogs. He said that he +had made his way up the Kasai in order to penetrate to the upper +reaches of the Hidden River. He said that he had heard of the +Fire-gods, and he was determined to find out who they were. For +himself, he believed that the Fire-gods were masters of some kind of +witchcraft. It would be madness to fight them with spears and bows and +arrows. He believed, from what he had heard, that even his own rifle +would be impotent. High on a tree-top was perched a parrot, that +preened its feathers in the sunlight, and chattered to itself. Crouch +pointed this parrot out to the bewildered natives, and then, lifting +his rifle to his shoulder, fired, and the bird fell dead to the ground. +That was the power he possessed, he told them: he could strike at a +distance, and he seldom failed to kill. And yet he dared not approach +the Fire-gods, because they were masters of witchcraft. But he also +knew the secrets of magic, and his magic was greater and more potent +than the magic of the Fire-gods. He could not be killed; he was +immortal. He was prepared to prove it. Whereat, he re-loaded his +rifle, and deliberately fired a bullet through his foot. + +The crowd rushed in upon him from all sides, stricken in amazement. +But Crouch waved them back, and stepping up to Edward, told the +Englishman to shoot again. Harden lifted his rifle to his shoulder, +and sent a bullet into the ankle of Crouch's cork foot. Thereupon, +Crouch danced round the ring of natives, shouting wildly, springing +into the air, proving to all who might behold that he was a thousand +times alive. + +They fell down upon their faces and worshipped him as a god. Without +doubt he had spoken true: he was invulnerable, immortal, a witch-doctor +of unheard-of powers. + +But Crouch had not yet done. Before they had time to recover from +their amazement, he had snatched out his glass eye, and thrust it into +the hands of M'Wané himself, who dropped it like a living coal. They +rushed to it, and looked at it, but dared not touch it. And when they +looked up, Crouch had another eye in the socket--an eye that was +flaming red. + +A loud moan arose from every hand--a moan which gave expression to +their mingled feelings of bewilderment, reverence and fear. From that +moment Crouch was "the White Wizard," greater even than the Fire-gods, +as the glory of the sun outstrips the moon. + +"And now," cried Crouch, lifting his hands in the air, "will you, or +will you not, guide me to the Hidden River where the Fire-gods live?" + +M'Wané came forward and prostrated himself upon the ground. + +"The White Wizard," said he, "has only to command." + + + + +CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER +============================ + +It is not necessary to describe in detail the passage up the Kasai, +from the place where the leopard had been wounded to Date Palm Island, +which was where M'Wané decided to disembark. During that voyage, which +occupied two and a half days, they passed a mangrove swamp upon the +southern bank, which the Fan chief pointed out as the place where the +Hidden River joined the Kasai. + +No one would have guessed it. The short, stunted trees were packed so +close together that their branches formed a kind of solid roof which +appeared to extend for miles. Underneath, there was darkness as of +night. There was nothing to suggest that another river here joined the +larger stream. The Kasai did not narrow above the swamp, nor was there +any change in the colour of the water or the strength of the current. + +Date Palm Island lay a day's journey by canoe above the mangrove swamp. +The name of Date Palm Island was given by Edward Harden the moment he +set eyes upon the little rocky islet in mid-stream, upon which stood a +solitary tree. It was the custom of this explorer to name the natural +features he discovered; and it was he who was also responsible for the +names of other places of which, in course of time, we shall have +occasion to tell, such as Solitude Peak and Hippo Pool. + +In addition to the Loango boys who composed the crews, the party now +included M'Wané, the Fan chief, and four of his most trusted warriors. +It was on the occasion of this journey on the Upper Kasai that Edward +Harden made one of the mistakes of his life. M'Wané travelled in the +first canoe with themselves, and his four warriors in the other canoe +which followed. Both Harden and Crouch had a natural wish to keep the +object of their journey a secret. Neither knew that one of the boys in +the second canoe could both speak and understand the Fan dialect, and +it was he who told his companions that the Hidden River was their +destination. Still, no one suspected that the secret was out, until +they had unloaded all their supplies and ammunition at Date Palm +Island, where they decided to form their base. + +In this district, the general course of the Kasai lies due south-west. +From the mangrove swamp on the southern bank, the valley of the Hidden +River lies, more or less, in a direct line from north to south. M'Wané +had known the Hidden River in the old days, before the Fire-gods came +into the country. He said that there was a good portage across country +from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, which was the nearest accessible +point on the Hidden River above the rapids that flowed through the Long +Ravine. + +They decided to leave one canoe on the island, in charge of four of the +Loango boys. The remaining natives could be employed in carrying the +lighter of the two canoes, and a sufficiency of stores and ammunition +across country to the Hidden River. The indignation of Crouch may be +imagined when the boys struck in a body and refused to undertake the +portage. + +Edward used his greatest powers of persuasion; Crouch threatened and +abused. They answered that word of the Fire-gods had been carried even +as far as the Coast, that they had never bargained to sell their lives +to the Englishmen. None the less, they expressed their willingness to +remain upon the island until the party returned. + +Crouch turned to M'Wané. + +"And do you, too, go back?" he asked. + +The chief shook his head, and smiled. + +"My men and I will stand by the White Wizard," he answered. "A Fan +holds to his word." + +Crouch slapped the chief upon the back, and then went on to explain to +the boys that if they helped with the portage, they would not be asked +to embark on the Hidden River, but could return to Date Palm Island. +After some discussion, they agreed to this; and as much time had +already been wasted, Harden and Crouch decided not to start until +daybreak the following day. + +According to Edward Harden's diary, the portage lasted two weeks and +three days. They were obliged to force their way through virgin +forest. It was frequently necessary to cut down with axes and +billhooks the tangled undergrowth and creepers that wove themselves +amid the trunks of the trees, in order to make room for the canoe to +pass. Some days they did not cover more than a mile, though they were +working from dawn to sunset. But towards the end of the journey the +passage became easier, by reason of the fact that they found a +watercourse, which they followed, until they finally came forth into +the sunlight at Hippo Pool. + +When they first looked upon it, it was as if, indeed, there were an air +of mystery in the valley of the Hidden River. The silence that reigned +upon its surface was intense. The atmosphere seemed several degrees +hotter even than the forest. The name Hippo Pool was given because, +immediately on their arrival, Edward Harden, who was leading, shot a +hippopotamus which he found asleep upon the bank. They were glad +enough of the meat for the natives, who would require provisions on +their journey back to the Kasai. + +The next morning the Loango boys left in a body. They were glad enough +to be off. And soon afterwards the canoe shot out from the bank. + +Their progress was painfully slow. M'Wané and his four followers +worked continually with the paddles, assisted in turn by Harden and his +nephew. As for Crouch, he was always the look-out man. His only eye +was quick and keen as that of a falcon. + +Hour by hour they toiled into the Unknown, until the sweat poured from +their faces and their hands were blistered in the sun; and the blisters +would not heal, because of the insects that followed in a crowd. The +jungle grew more magnificent and wild as the river narrowed. The +character of the trees changed, and of the undergrowth--all became more +luxuriant, more profuse, until they found themselves in a land where +Nature was something fantastic and superb. + +It was on the third day after they had set out from Hippo Pool that +they turned an angle of the river, and came on a sudden into a +cup-shaped valley where there was but little vegetation. A circle of +granite hills stood all around them, and in the centre on either side +of the river was a plain of sand. Crouch turned in the bows and +pointed to something ahead, and at that moment the sharp crack of a +rifle echoed in the stillness, and a bullet sped into the water a few +inches from the bows of the canoe. + + + + +CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE +======================= + +As the bullet cut into the water Crouch sprang upright in the canoe. +His thin form trembled with eagerness. The man was like a cat, +inasmuch as he was charged with electricity. Under his great pith +helmet the few hairs which he possessed stood upright on his head. +Edward Harden leaned forward and picked up his rifle, which he now held +at the ready. + +By reason of the fact that the river had suddenly widened into a kind +of miniature lake, the current was not so swift. Hence, though M'Wané +and his Fans ceased to paddle, the canoe shot onward by dint of the +velocity at which they had been travelling. Every moment brought them +nearer and nearer to the danger that lay ahead. + +In order to relate what followed, it is necessary to describe the +scene. We have said that the wild, impenetrable jungle had ceased +abruptly, and they found themselves surrounded by granite hills, in the +centre of which lay a plain of glaring sand. To their left, about a +hundred paces from the edge of the river, was a circular stockade. A +fence had been constructed of sharp-pointed stakes, each about eight +feet in height. There was but a single entrance into this stockade--a +narrow gate, not more than three feet across, which faced the river. +Up-stream, to the south, the granite hills closed in from either bank, +so that the river flowed through a gorge which at this distance seemed +particularly precipitous and narrow. Midway between the stockade and +the gorge was a kraal, or large native village, surrounded by a +palisade. Within the palisade could be seen the roofs of several +native huts, and at the entrance, seated cross-legged on the ground, +was the white figure of an Arab who wore the turban and flowing robes +by which his race is distinguished, from the deserts of Bokhara to the +Gold Coast. Before the stockade, standing at the water's edge, was the +figure of a European dressed in a white duck suit. He was a tall, thin +man with a black, pointed beard, and a large sombrero hat. Between his +lips was a cigarette, and in his hands he held a rifle, from the muzzle +of which was issuing a thin trail of smoke. + +As the canoe approached, this man grew vastly excited, and stepped into +the river, until the water had risen to his knees. There, he again +lifted his rifle to his shoulder. + +"Put that down!" cried Crouch. "You're a dead man if you fire." + +The man obeyed reluctantly, and at that moment a second European came +running from the entrance of the stockade. He was a little man, of +about the same build as Crouch, but very round in the back, and with a +complexion so yellow that he might have been a Chinese. + +The man with the beard seemed very agitated. He gesticulated wildly, +and, holding his rifle in his left hand, pointed down-stream with his +right. He was by no means easy to understand, since his pronunciation +of English was faulty, and he never troubled to take his cigarette from +between his lips. + +"Get back!" he cried. "Go back again! You have no business here." + +"Why not?" asked Crouch. + +"Because this river is mine." + +"By what right?" + +"By right of conquest. I refuse to allow you to land." + +The canoe was now only a few yards from the bank. The second man--the +small man with the yellow face--turned and ran back into the stockade, +evidently to fetch his rifle. + +"I'm afraid," said Crouch, "with your permission or without, we intend +to come ashore." + +Again the butt of the man's rifle flew to his shoulder. + +"Another yard," said he, "and I shoot you dead." + +He closed an eye, and took careful aim. His sights were directed +straight at Crouch's heart. At that range--even had he been the worst +shot in the world--he could scarcely have missed. + +Crouch was never seen to move. With his face screwed, and his great +chin thrust forward, his only eye fixed in the midst of the black beard +of the man who dared him to approach, he looked a very figure of +defiance. + +The crack of a rifle--a loud shout--and then a peal of laughter. +Crouch had thrown back his head and was laughing as a school-boy does, +with one hand thrust in a trousers pocket. Edward Harden, seated in +the stern seat, with elbows upon his knees, held his rifle to his +shoulder, and from the muzzle a little puff of smoke was rising in the +air. It was the man with the black beard who had let out the shout, in +anger and surprise. The cigarette had been cut away from between his +lips, and Harden's bullet had struck the butt of his rifle, to send it +flying from his hands into the water. He stood there, knee-deep in the +river, passionate, foiled and disarmed. It was Edward Harden's quiet +voice that now came to his ears. + +"Hands up!" said he. + +Slowly, with his black eyes ablaze, the man lifted his arms above his +head. A moment later, Crouch had sprung ashore. + +The little sea-captain hastened to the entrance of the stockade, and, +as he reached it, the second man came running out, with a rifle in his +hands. He was running so quickly that he was unable to check himself, +and, almost before he knew it, his rifle had been taken from him. He +pulled up with a jerk, and, turning, looked into the face of Captain +Crouch. + +"I must introduce myself," said the captain. "My name's Crouch. Maybe +you've heard of me?" + +The man nodded his head. It appears he had not yet sufficiently +recovered from his surprise to be able to speak. + +"By Christopher!" cried Crouch, on a sudden. "I know you! We've met +before--five years ago in St. Paul de Loanda. You're a half-caste +Portuguese, of the name of de Costa, who had a trade-station at the +mouth of the Ogowe. So you remember me?" + +The little yellow man puckered up his face and bowed. + +"I think," said he, with an almost perfect English accent--"I think +one's knowledge of the Coast would be very limited, if one had never +heard of Captain Crouch." + +Crouch placed his hand upon his heart and made a mimic bow. + +"May I return the compliment?" said he. "I've heard men speak of de +Costa from Sierra Leone to Walfish Bay, and never once have I heard +anything said that was good." + +At that the half-caste caught his under-lip in his teeth, and shot +Crouch a glance in which was fear, mistrust and anger. The sea-captain +did not appear to notice it, for he went on in the easiest manner in +the world. + +"And who's your friend?" he asked, indicating the tall man with the +black beard, who was now approaching with Edward Harden and Max. + +"My friend," said he, "is a countryman of mine, a Portuguese, who has +assumed the name of Cæsar." The half-caste had evidently not forgotten +the insult which Crouch had hurled in his teeth; for now his demeanour +changed, and he laughed. "If Captain Crouch finds it necessary to +meddle in our affairs," said he, "I think he will find his equal in +Mister Cæsar." + +Crouch paid no more attention to him than he would have done to a +mosquito; and before the man had finished speaking, he had turned his +back upon him, and held out a hand to the Portuguese. + +"I trust," said he, "you've expressed your gratitude to Ted Harden, +who, instead of taking your life, preferred to extinguish your +cigarette." + +"I have already done so," said Cæsar, with a smile. "I hope to explain +matters later. The mistake was natural enough." + +Crouch, with his one eye, looked this man through and through. He had +been able to sum up the half-caste at a glance. Cæsar was a +personality that could not be fathomed in an instant. + +The man was not unhandsome. His figure, in spite of its extreme height +and thinness, was exceedingly graceful. The hair of his moustache and +beard, and as much as was visible beneath the broad-brimmed sombrero +hat, was coal-black, and untouched with grey. His features were +aquiline and large. He bore some slight resemblance to the well-known +figure of Don Quixote, except that he was more robust. The most +remarkable thing about him was his jet-black, piercing eyes. If there +was ever such a thing as cruelty, it was there. When he smiled, as he +did now, his face was even pleasant: there was a wealth of wrinkles +round his eyes. + +"It was a natural and unavoidable mistake," said he. "I have been +established here for two years. You and your friends are, perhaps, +sufficiently acquainted with the rivers to know that one must be always +on one's guard." + +Unlike de Costa, he spoke English with a strong accent, which it would +be extremely difficult to reproduce. For all that, he had a good +command of words. + +"And now," he went on, "I must offer you such hospitality as I can. I +notice the men in your canoes are Fans. I must confess I have never +found the Fan a good worker. He is too independent. They are all +prodigal sons." + +"I like the Fan," said Edward. + +"Each man to his taste," said Cæsar. "In the kraal yonder," he +continued, pointing to the village, "I have about two hundred boys. +For the most part, they belong to the Pambala tribe. As you may know, +the Pambala are the sworn enemies of the Fans. You are welcome to stay +with me as long as you like, but I must request that your Fans be +ordered to remain within the stockade. Will you be so good as to tell +them to disembark?" + +"As you wish," said Edward. + +At Crouch's request, Max went back to the canoe, and returned with +M'Wané and the four Fans. Not until they had been joined by the +natives did Cæsar lead the way into the stockade. + +They found themselves in what, to all intents and purposes, was a fort. +Outside the walls of the stockade was a ditch, and within was a +banquette, or raised platform, from which it was possible for men to +fire standing. In the centre of the enclosure were three or four +huts--well-constructed buildings for the heart of Africa, and +considerably higher than the ordinary native dwelling-place. Before +the largest hut was a flag-staff, upon which a large yellow flag was +unfurled in the slight breeze that came from the north. + +It was into this hut that they were conducted by the Portuguese. As +the Englishman entered, a large dog, which had been lying upon the +floor, got up and growled, but lay down again on a word from Cæsar. +The interior of the hut consisted of a single room, furnished with a +bed, a table and several chairs, all of which had been constructed of +wood cut in the forest. As there were only four chairs, the +half-caste, de Costa, seated himself on a large chest, with three heavy +padlocks, which stood against the wall farthest from the door. + +Cæsar crossed to a kind of sideboard, made of packing-cases, whence he +produced glasses and a bottle of whisky. He then drew a jug of water +from a large filter. These he placed upon the table. He requested his +guests to smoke, and passed round his cigarette-case. His manner, and +the ease with which he played the host, suggested a man of breeding. +Both Edward Harden and his nephew accepted cigarettes, but Crouch +filled his pipe, and presently the hut was reeking, like an ill-trimmed +lamp, of his atrocious "Bull's Eye Shag." + +"I owe you an apology," said Cæsar; "an apology and an explanation. +You shall have both. But, in the first place, I would like to hear how +it was that you came to discover this river?" + +It was Edward Harden who answered. + +"We were shooting big game on the Kasai," said he, "when we heard +mention of the 'Hidden River.'" + +"Who spoke of it?" said Cæsar. His dark eyes were seen to flash in the +half-light in the hut. + +"A party of Fans," said Edward, "with whom we came in contact. We +persuaded them to carry our canoe across country. We embarked upon the +river three days ago, and paddled up-stream until this afternoon, when +we sighted your camp, and nearly came to blows. That's all." + +Cæsar leaned forward, with his arms folded on the table, bringing his +dark face to within a few inches of the cigarette which Edward held in +his lips. + +"Were you told anything," said he, in a slow, deliberate voice; "were +you told anything--of us?" + +Edward Harden, being a man of six foot several inches, was one who was +guileless in his nature. He was about to say that the Fans had spoken +of the "Fire-gods," when an extraordinary occurrence came to pass. + +Crouch sprang to his feet with a yell, and placing one foot upon the +seat of the chair upon which he had been sitting, pulled up his +trousers to the knee. In his hand he held a knife. All sprang to +their feet. + +"What is it?" they demanded, in one and the same breath. + +"A snake," said Crouch. "I'm bitten in the leg." + + + + +CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH +================================== + +Both Cæsar and Edward hastened to the captain's side. Sure enough, +upon the calf of his leg, were two small drops of blood, about a +quarter of an inch apart, where the fangs of the reptile had entered. + +Crouch looked up at Cæsar. His voice was perfectly calm. + +"Where's the kitchen?" he demanded. + +The tall Portuguese appeared suspicious. + +"The kitchen is quite near at hand," said he. "Do you want to go +there?" + +"Yes," said Crouch. "Lead the way. There's no time to lose." + +They passed out and entered a smaller hut, from which a column of smoke +was rising through a hole in the roof. In the centre of the floor was +a large charcoal brazier, at which a man was squatting in the +characteristic attitude of the East. Crouch lifted his eyebrows in +surprise when he saw that this man was an Arab. + +"Tongs," said he in Arabic. "Lend me a pair of tongs." + +The man, expressionless, produced the article in question. + +Crouch took a piece of charcoal from the brazier, that was white-hot, +and, without a moment's hesitation, he thrust this upon the place where +the poison had entered his flesh. As he underwent that agony, his +sallow face turned a trifle paler, his lips grew thinner, and his only +eye more bright; but never a groan, or even a sigh, escaped him. + +At last he threw the charcoal back into the fire. + +"That's all right," said he. "It isn't a pleasant remedy, but it's +sure." Then he turned to Cæsar. "I should like a little whisky," said +he. "I feel a trifle faint." + +He asked for Edward's arm to assist him on his way, and no sooner were +they clear of the kitchen than he whispered in Harden's ear-- + +"There's nothing to worry about," said he. "I'm as right as rain. I +was never bitten at all. But I had to stop you somehow, or you would +have told that fellow what we heard of the Fire-gods. Mind, he must +know nothing." + +When they got back to the hut, Cæsar gave Crouch half a tumblerful of +neat whisky, which the captain drained at a gulp. Needless to say, +their efforts to find the snake proved fruitless. Then Crouch again +complained of faintness, and asked permission to lie down upon the bed. +No sooner was he there than he closed his eyes, and soon afterwards was +sound asleep--if one was entitled to judge by his heavy breathing. +Once or twice he snored. + +But, already, we have seen enough of Captain Crouch to know that, in +his case, it would not be wise to go by appearances. He was no more +asleep than he had been throughout those long hours when he had kept +watch in the bows of the canoe. + +Cæsar motioned to Edward to be seated at the table, and Max took the +chair which had been formerly occupied by Crouch. De Costa remained +seated upon the chest. + +"Let me see," said Cæsar; "of what were we speaking? Ah, yes, I +remember. I was asking if the natives had made any mention of us." + +"We asked many questions," said Harden, "but they knew little or +nothing of the Hidden River. For some reason or other, they seemed to +fear it." + +Cæsar regarded Edward intently for a few seconds; and then, seeming +satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders. + +"Their minds are filled with superstitions," said he. "And now it +remains for me to explain myself. I came to this valley two years ago. +I had already journeyed some distance up the Congo, in search of ivory. +I discovered that in the jungle in this valley elephants abound; +moreover, these elephants are finer than any others I have ever seen in +any part of Africa, even those of the East Coast, whose tusks are +stored at Zanzibar. I made this place my headquarters. I regard the +whole country as my own happy hunting-ground. I naturally resent all +new-comers, especially Europeans. I look upon them as trespassers. Of +course, I have no right to do so; I know that quite well. But you must +understand that here, in the heart of Africa, the laws of civilized +nations hardly apply. To all intents and purposes this country is my +own. In the kraal yonder I have two hundred of the finest elephant +hunters between the Zambesi and the Congo. I pay them well. I have +already a great store of ivory. In another two years I hope to retire +to Portugal, a wealthy man. That is all my story." + +"How do you kill your elephants?" asked Edward. The hunting of big +game was the foremost interest of his life. + +Cæsar smiled. + +"You will not approve of my methods," said he. "You are a sportsman; I +am only a trader. I send my natives into the jungle, in the direction +in which a herd of elephants has been located. These fellows creep on +all-fours amid the undergrowth. They are as invisible as snakes. They +are armed with long knives, with which they cut the tendons of the +elephants' hind-legs, just below the knee. If an elephant tries to +walk after that tendon has been severed, it falls to the ground and +breaks its leg. The great beasts seem to know this, for they remain +motionless as statues. When all the finest tuskers have been thus +disposed of, I come with my rifle and shoot them, one after the other. +Thus it is that I have collected a great store of tusks." + +Edward Harden made a wry face. + +"I have heard of that manner of hunting," said he. "It is much +practised on the East Coast. I consider it barbarous and cruel." + +Cæsar smiled again. + +"I told you," said he, "you would not approve." + +Harden swung round in his chair, with a gesture of disgust. + +"I would like to see the ivory trade stopped," he cried, in a sudden +flood of anger, very rare in a man naturally prone to be unexcitable +and mild. "I regard the elephant as a noble animal--the noblest animal +that lives. I myself have shot many, but the beast has always had a +chance, though I will not deny the odds were always heavily on me. +Still, when I find myself face to face with a rogue elephant, I know +that my life is in danger. Now, there is no danger in your method, +which is the method of the slaughter-house. At this rate, very soon +there will be no elephants left in Africa." + +"I'm afraid," said Cæsar, with a shrug of the shoulders, "we would +never agree, because you're a sportsman and I'm a trader. In the +meantime, I will do all I can to make you comfortable during your stay +at Makanda." + +"Is that the name of this place?" asked Max. + +"Yes," said the Portuguese. "There was a native village when I came +here--just a few scattered huts. The natives called the place Makanda, +which, I believe, means a crater. The hills which surround us are +evidently the walls of an extinct volcano. But, to come back to +business, I can provide a hut for your Fan attendants, but they must be +ordered not to leave the stockade. You have noticed, perhaps, that I +employ a few Arabs. I am fond of Arabs myself; they are such excellent +cooks. An Arab is usually on sentry at the gate of the stockade. That +man will receive orders to shoot any one of the Fans who endeavours to +pass the gate. These methods are rather arbitrary, I admit; but in the +heart of Africa, what would you have? It is necessary to rule with an +iron hand. Were I to be lax in discipline, my life would be in danger. +Also, I must request you and your friends not to leave the stockade, +unattended by either de Costa or myself. The truth is, there are +several hostile tribes in the neighbourhood, and it is only with the +greatest difficulty that I can succeed in maintaining peace." + +"I'm sure," said Harden, "you will find us quite ready to do anything +you wish. After all, the station is yours; and in this country a man +makes his own laws." + +"That is so," said Cæsar; and added, "I'm responsible to no one but +myself." + +This man had an easy way of talking and a plausible manner that would +have deceived a more acute observer than Edward Harden. As he spoke he +waved his hand, as if the whole matter were a trifle. He ran on in the +same casual fashion, with an arm thrown carelessly over the back of his +chair, sending the smoke of his cigarette in rings towards the ceiling. + +"Most of us come to Africa to make money," said he; "and as the climate +is unhealthy, the heat unbearable, and the inhabitants savages, we +desire to make that money as quickly as possible, and then return to +Europe. That is my intention. For myself, I keep tolerably well; but +de Costa here is a kind of living ague. He is half consumed with +malaria; he can't sleep by night, he lies awake with chattering teeth. +Sometimes his temperature is so high that his pulse is racing. At +other times he is so weak that he is unable to walk a hundred paces. +He looks forward to the day when he shakes the dust of Africa from his +shoes and returns to his native land, which--according to him--is +Portugal, though, I believe, he was born in Jamaica." + +Max looked at the half-caste, and thought that never before had he set +eyes upon so despicable an object. He looked like some mongrel cur. +He was quite unable to look the young Englishman in the face, but under +Max's glance dropped his eyes to the floor. + +"And now," said Cæsar, "there is a hut where I keep my provisions, +which I will place at your disposal." + +At that he went outside, followed by the two Hardens. De Costa +remained in the hut. Crouch was still asleep. + +Cæsar called the Arab from the kitchen, and, assisted by this man and +the five Fans, they set to work to remove a number of boxes from the +hut in which it was proposed that the three Englishmen should sleep. +Blankets were spread upon the ground. The tall Portuguese was most +solicitous that his guests should want for nothing. He brought +candles, a large mosquito-net, and even soap. + +Supper that evening was the best meal which Max had eaten since he left +the sea-going ship at Banana Point on the Congo. The Portuguese was +well provided with stores. He produced several kinds of vegetables, +which, he said, he grew at a little distance from the stockade. He had +also a great store of spirits, being under the entirely false +impression that in tropical regions stimulants maintain both health and +physical strength. + +After supper, Cæsar and Captain Crouch, who had entirely recovered from +his faintness, played écarté with an exceedingly dirty pack of cards. +And a strange picture they made, these two men, the one so small and +wizened, the other so tall and black, each coatless, with their +shirt-sleeves rolled to the elbow, fingering their cards in the +flickering light of a tallow candle stuck in the neck of a bottle. +Crouch knew it then--and perhaps Cæsar knew it, too--that they were +rivals to the death, in a greater game than was ever played with cards. + +They went early to bed, thanking Cæsar for his kindness. Before he +left the hut, Edward Harden apologized for his rudeness in finding +fault with the trader's method of obtaining ivory. + +"It was no business of mine," said he. "I apologize for what I said." + +No sooner were the three Englishmen in their hut, than Crouch seized +each of his friends by an arm, and drew them close together. + +"Here's the greatest devilry you ever heard of!" he exclaimed. + +"How?" said Edward. "What do you mean?" + +"As yet," said Crouch, "I know nothing. I merely suspect. Mark my +words, it'll not be safe to go to sleep. One of us must keep watch." + +"What makes you suspicious?" asked Max. Throughout this conversation +they talked in whispers. Crouch had intimated that they must not be +overheard. + +"A thousand things," said Crouch. "In the first place, I don't like +the look of Arabs. There's an old saying on the Niger, 'Where there's +an Arab, there's mischief.' Also, he's got something he doesn't wish +us to see. That's why he won't let us outside the stockade. Besides, +remember what the natives told us. The tribes the whole country round +stand in mortal fear of this fellow, and they don't do that for +nothing. The Fans are a brave race, and so are the Pambala. And do +you remember, they told us that every evening there's thunder in the +valley which shakes the earth? No, he's up to no good, and I shall +make it my business to find out what his game is." + +"Then you don't believe that he's an ivory trader?" asked Max. + +"Not a word of it!" said Crouch. "Where's the ivory? He talks of this +store of tusks, but where does he keep it? He says he's been here for +two years. In two years, by the wholesale manner in which he has been +killing elephants, according to his own account, he should have a pile +of ivory ten feet high at least. And where is it? Not in a hut; not +one of them is big enough. I suppose he'll ask us to believe that he +keeps it somewhere outside the stockade." + +"I never thought of that," said Harden, tugging the ends of his +moustache. "I wonder what he's here for." + +"So do I," said Crouch. + +Soon after that, at Crouch's request, Harden and Max lay down upon +their blankets, and were soon fast asleep. As for the captain, he also +lay down, and for more than an hour breathed heavily, as if in sleep. +Then, without a sound, he began to move forward on hands and knees +across the floor of the hut. + +When he reached the door he came into the moonlight, and had there been +any one there to see, they would have noticed that he carried a +revolver, and there was a knife between his teeth. + +As quick as a lizard he glided into the shade beneath the walls of the +hut. There he lay for some minutes, listening, with all his senses +alert. + +This man had much in common with the wild beasts of the forests. He +was quick to hear, quick to see; it seemed as if he even had the power +to scent danger, as the reed-buck or the buffalo. + +His ears caught nothing but the varied sounds of wild, nocturnal life +in the jungle. The stockade was not more than a hundred paces distant +from the skirting of the forest. Somewhere near at hand a leopard +growled, and a troop of monkeys, frightened out of their wits, could be +heard scrambling through the branches of the trees. Farther away, a +pair of lions were hunting; there is no sound more terrible and +haunting than the quick, panting noise that is given by this great +beast of prey as it follows upon the track of an antelope or deer. +Then, far in the distance, there was a noise, so faint as to be hardly +audible, like the beating of a drum. Crouch knew what it was. Indeed, +in these matters there was little of which he was ignorant. It was a +great gorilla, beating its stomach in passion in the darkness. And +that is a sound before which every animal that lives in the jungle +quails and creeps away into hiding; even the great pythons slide back +into the depths of silent, woodland pools. + +But it was not to the forest that Crouch's ear was turned. He was +listening for a movement in the hut in which slept the Portuguese +trader, who went by the name of Cæsar. After a while, seeming +satisfied, he crawled on, in absolute silence, in the half-darkness, +looking for all the world like some cruel four-footed beast that had +come slinking from out of the jungle. + +He reached the door of the hut, and crept stealthily in. Inside, he +was not able to see. It was some little time before his eye grew +accustomed to the darkness. + +Then he was just able to discern the long figure of the Portuguese +stretched upon his couch. Half-raising himself, he listened, with his +ear not two inches from the man's mouth. Cæsar was breathing heavily. +He was evidently fast asleep. + +Still on hands and knees, as silently as ever, Crouch glided out of the +hut. + +Instead of returning by the way he had come, he turned in the opposite +direction, and approached another hut. It was that which belonged to +the half-caste, de Costa, whom he had met five years before in St. Paul +de Loanda. + +Once again he passed in at the door, silently, swiftly, with his knife +still in his teeth. + +This hut was even darker than the other, by reason of the fact that the +door was smaller. Crouch sat up, and rubbed his eyes, and inwardly +abused the universe in general because he was not able to see. + +Suddenly there was a creaking noise, as if some one moved on the bed. +Crouch was utterly silent. Then some one coughed. The cough was +followed by a groan. De Costa sat up in bed. Crouch was just able to +see him. + +The little half-caste, resting his elbows on his knees, took his head +between his hands, and rocked from side to side. He talked aloud in +Portuguese. Crouch knew enough of that language to understand. + +"Oh, my head!" he groaned. "My head! My head!" He was silent for no +longer than a minute; then he went on: "Will I never be quit of this +accursed country! The fever is in my bones, my blood, my brain!" + +He turned over on his side, and, stretching out an arm, laid hold upon +a match-box. They were wooden matches, and they rattled in the box. + +Then he struck a light and lit a candle, which was glued by its own +grease to a saucer. When he had done that he looked up, and down the +barrel of Captain Crouch's revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN +=================================== + +Before de Costa had time to cry out--which he had certainly intended to +do--Crouch's hand had closed upon his mouth, and he was held in a grip +of iron. + +"Keep still!" said Crouch, in a quick whisper. "Struggle, and you die." + +The man was terrified. He was racked by fever, nerve-shattered and +weak. At the best he was a coward. But now he was in no state of +health to offer resistance to any man; and in the candle-light Crouch, +with his single eye and his great chin, looked too ferocious to +describe. + +For all that the little sea-captain's voice was quiet, and even +soothing. + +"You have nothing to fear," said he. "I don't intend to harm you. I +have only one thing to say: if you cry out, or call for assistance, +I'll not hesitate to shoot. On the other hand, if you lie quiet and +silent, I promise, on my word of honour, that you have nothing +whatsoever to fear. I merely wish to ask you a few questions. You +need not answer them unless you wish to. Now, may I take my hand from +your mouth?" + +De Costa nodded his head, and Crouch drew away his hand. The +half-caste lay quite still. It was obvious that he had been frightened +out of his life, which had served to some extent to heighten the fever +which so raged within him. + +"Come," said Crouch; "I'll doctor you. Your nerves are all shaken. +Have you any bromide?" + +"Yes," said de Costa; "over there." + +He pointed in the direction of a shelf upon the wall, which had been +constructed of a piece of a packing-case. On this shelf was a +multitude of bottles. Crouch examined these, and at last laid hands +upon one containing a colourless fluid, like water, and handed it to +the patient to drink. De Costa drained it at a gulp, and then sank +back with a sigh of relief. + +Crouch felt his pulse. + +"You're weak," said he, "terribly weak. If you don't get out of this +country soon you'll die. Do you know that?" + +"I do," said de Costa; "I think of it every day." + +"You don't wish to die?" said Crouch. + +"I wish to live." + +There was something pitiful in the way he said that. He almost whined. +Here was a man who was paying the debt that the white man owes to +Africa. In this great continent, which even to-day is half unknown, +King Death rules from the Sahara to the veld. A thousand pestilences +rage in the heart of the great steaming forests, that strike down their +victims with promptitude, and which are merciless as they are swift. +It seems as if a curse is on this country. It is as if before the +advance of civilization a Power, greater by far than the combined +resources of men, arises from out of the darkness of the jungle and the +miasma of the mangrove swamp, and strikes down the white man, as a +pole-axe fells an ox. + +De Costa, though he was but half a European, was loaded with the white +man's burden, with the heart of only a half-caste to see him through. +Crouch, despite the roughness of his manner, attended at his bedside +with the precision of a practised nurse. There was something even +tender in the way he smoothed the man's pillow; and when he spoke, +there was a wealth of sympathy in his voice. + +"You are better now?" he asked. + +"Yes," said de Costa; "I am better." + +"Lie still and rest," said Crouch. "Perhaps you are glad enough to +have some one to talk to you. I want you to listen to what I have to +say." + +Crouch seated himself at the end of the bed, and folded his thin, +muscular hands upon his knee. + +"I am not a doctor by profession," he began, "but, in the course of my +life, I've had a good deal of experience of the various diseases which +are met with in these parts of the world. I know enough to see that +your whole constitution is so undermined that it is absolutely +necessary for you to get out of the country. Now I want to ask you a +question." + +"What is it?" said de Costa. His voice was very weak. + +"Which do you value most, life or wealth?" + +The little half-caste smiled. + +"I can see no good in wealth," said he, "when you're dead." + +"That is true," said Crouch. "No one would dispute it--except +yourself." + +"But I admit it!" said de Costa. + +"You admit it in words," said the other, "but you deny it in your life." + +"I am too ill to understand. Please explain." + +Crouch leaned forward and tapped the palm of his left hand with the +forefinger of his right. + +"You say," said he, "that you know that you'll die if you remain here. +Yet you remain here in order to pile up a great fortune to take back +with you to Jamaica or Portugal, wherever you intend to go. But you +will take nothing back, because you will die. You are therefore +courting death. I repeat your own words: what will be the use of all +this wealth to you after you are dead?" + +De Costa sat up in his bed. + +"It's true!" he cried in a kind of groan. + +"H'sh!" said Crouch. "Be quiet! Don't raise your voice." + +De Costa rocked his head between his knees. + +"It's true--true--true!" he whined. "I know it. I shall die. I don't +want this money. I want to live. I--I fear to die." His voice +trembled. He was pitiful to see. + +"You shall not die," said Crouch; "I'll make it my business to see that +you live. I can't cure you, but I can keep you alive till we reach the +coast. There, one week on the sea will restore your health." + +"That's what I want," said de Costa, "the sea air. Oh, for a breath of +the sea!" + +"I'll take you down with us," Crouch ran on. "I'll doctor you on the +way. Max Harden is a young man of science. He has studied these +things, and with his knowledge and my experience we'll pull you +through. In three months from now, I promise you, you shall set eyes +upon the ocean." + +"How glorious!" the poor man cried. He looked into Crouch's face, and +there were large tears in his eyes. + +"Stay," said Crouch; "I've not come here for philanthropic purposes. +If I do this for you, you must do something for me. Otherwise you can +stay here--and die." + +"What is it you want?" + +Crouch bent forward and whispered in the man's ear, speaking distinctly +and with great deliberation. + +"I want to know what's inside the padlocked chest that Cæsar keeps in +his hut. Come, out with the truth!" + +On the instant the man sprang out of bed and seized Crouch by the +wrists. He was so little master of himself that hot tears were +streaming down his cheeks. He was shaking in every limb. It was as if +his neck was not strong enough to support his head, which swung round +and round. + +"Not that!" he screamed. "For pity's sake, not that!" + +"Come," said Crouch; "the truth." + +De Costa drew back. "I daren't," said he. + +"Why?" + +"Because he--would kill me." + +"Look here, you have to choose between two men," said Crouch: "Cæsar +and myself. Trust me, and I'll see you through. You told me you had +heard of me before. You may have heard it said that I'm a man who +sticks to his word through thick and thin, once it has been given." + +As Crouch said this he noticed a remarkable change that came on a +sudden upon de Costa's face. The man's complexion turned livid; his +jaw dropped; his eyes were staring hard over Crouch's shoulder, in the +direction of the door. + +Crouch whipped round upon his heel, his revolver in his hand, and found +that he stood face to face with Cæsar. + +"By Christopher," said he, "you're mighty silent!" + +"And may I ask," said Cæsar, "what you are doing here?" + +Crouch made a motion of his hand towards de Costa, who had sunk down +upon the bed. + +"This man's ill," said he; "in fact, he's dying." + +"He is always dying," said Cæsar, "and he never dies. He has the +vitality of a monkey." + +"It doesn't seem to distress you much," said Crouch. "Since you have +lived together for two years, in a forsaken spot like this, I should +have thought that you were friends." + +Cæsar threw out his hand. + +"Ah," he cried, "we are the best friends in the world--de Costa and +myself." + +He stood looking down upon Crouch, with his white teeth gleaming +between his black moustache and his beard. In that light it was +difficult to see whether he smiled or sneered. There was something +mysterious about the man, and something that was fiendish. + +"And so," he ran on, "Captain Crouch has taken upon himself the duties +of medical officer of Makanda? I'm sure we are much obliged." + +"I have some experience of medicine," said the captain. + +"Indeed," said Cæsar. "And do you always operate with a revolver?" + +For once in his life, Crouch had been caught off his guard. + +"In this country," he said, "I am seldom without one." + +"You are wise," said Cæsar. "I myself am always prepared." + +With a man like Crouch, this kind of verbal sword-play could never last +for long. He was too much a creature of impulse. He liked to speak +his mind, and he hated and mistrusted this thin Portuguese as a +mongoose hates a snake. + +"There are no laws in this country," said he, "and there are certain +times when it's not a bad principle to shoot at sight. In the +civilized world, a man goes about with his reputation on the sleeve of +his coat, and all men may know him for what he is. But here, in the +midst of these benighted forests, one must often act on instinct. To +kill at sight, that's the law of the jungle; and when men come here, +they'd do well to leave behind them what they know of other laws +respecting life and property and rights. If I'm wise to carry a +revolver, perhaps I'm a fool because I hesitate to use it." + +Here was a plain speaking, an outright honesty that quite disarmed the +Portuguese. If, hitherto, Cæsar had held the upper hand, Captain +Crouch had now turned the tables. Whether warfare be carried on by +words or amid the clash of arms, the victory lies with him who best +knows his mind. And Captain Crouch did that. It was as if he had +thrown a gauntlet at the tall man's feet, and defied him to pick it up. + +But Cæsar was never willing to fight. His was a quick, calculating +brain, and he knew that the odds would be against him. Listening +outside the hut, he had overheard the greater part of the conversation +which had taken place between Crouch and the fever-stricken half-caste. +His secret, which he kept under lock and key in the strong chest at the +foot of his bed, he was prepared to guard at every cost. He saw now +that Crouch was an adversary not to be despised. It was necessary for +him to take steps to seal de Costa's lips. + +Though the man no longer showed it in his face, Cæsar was by no means +pleased at the appearance of the Englishmen. Though he was affable and +polite, all the time he was scheming in his mind how to get rid of them +as quickly as he could. For the present, he decided to bide his time, +hoping that, sooner or later, Fate might play into his hands. Whatever +happened, he was determined that they should not suspect him of any +sinister intention, and on that account it behoved him to keep up an +appearance of friendship. He answered Crouch with all the pleasantry +of manner he had at his command. + +"Captain Crouch," said he, "you are a man after my own heart. I also +respect the laws of the jungle. I have shaken the dust of civilization +from my feet. It is only the strong man who can do so. In you I +recognize an equal." + +In his heart, Crouch stigmatized such talk as this as high-falutin' +nonsense. Still, he thought it unwise to hatch a quarrel with the man, +and answered with a kind of grunt. + +"I suppose you're right," said he. + +"And what of our poor invalid?" said Cæsar, turning to de Costa. + +Side by side, these two men, who were already sworn enemies in secret, +bent over the prostrate figure of the half-caste. De Costa lay with +one arm hanging listlessly over the side of the bed. His eyelids were +half-closed, and underneath the whites of his eyes could be seen. When +a man sleeps like that, he is in a bad way. The sands of life are +running down. + +"He's asleep," said Crouch. "That's all he wants. The fever has +subsided. He'll be much better to-morrow. Let us leave him." + +Together they went out. The little sea-captain walked back to his hut, +and threw himself down upon his blankets. As for Cæsar, he remained +standing in the moonlight, with his long fingers playing in his beard. + +For some minutes he remained quite motionless. The silence of the +night was still disturbed by the strange sounds that came from out of +the forest. The man seemed plunged in thought. Presently a soft, +moist nose was thrust into the palm of his hand, and looking down, he +beheld his great dog, which, unable to sleep by reason of the heat, had +followed her master into the moonlight. + +"Gyp," said he, in a soft voice--"Gyp, old friend, how are we to get +rid of these accursed Englishmen?" + +The dog looked up, and licked her master's hand. + +"Come, Gyp," said Cæsar; "come and think it out." + +He entered his hut, and sat down upon the great, padlocked chest. +There, he took the dog's head between his knees. She was a Great Dane, +and even larger and more powerful than the majority of her kind. + +"Do you know this, Gyp," said he: "de Costa can't be trusted? +Fortunately, you and I, Gyp, know a way to make him hold his tongue." + +At that, the man laughed softly to himself. + +Meanwhile, in the other hut, the quick brain of Captain Crouch was not +idle. He had learnt much that night; but the secret was still +unsolved. He had not been slow in discovering the weak point in +Cæsar's line of defence: the little half-caste could be induced to +speak the truth. That the man was not an ivory trader, Crouch was +fully convinced. Indeed, he could be no sort of trader at all, because +there was no direct line of communication from Makanda to the Coast. +Try as he might, Crouch could find no answer to the riddle; and in the +end, like Cæsar, he resolved to bide his time. + +Before he went to sleep, he awakened Max. + +"Max," said he, "I want you to keep watch till daybreak. Keep your +eyes open, and if any one enters the hut, give him 'hands up' on the +spot." + +"Have you discovered anything?" asked Max. + +"Nothing," said Crouch, "except that de Costa's our friend's weak +point. Given half a chance, I will find out the truth from him. But +Cæsar suspects us, as much as we suspect him; and, from what I have +seen of the man, I'm inclined to think that he'll stick at nothing. We +must never cease to be on our guard. Keep on the alert, and wake me up +if you see or hear anything suspicious." + +At that Crouch turned over on his side, and this time actually fell +asleep. + +Max Harden sat with his back to the wall of the hut, his loaded +revolver in his hand. Through the doorway, above the rampart of the +stockade, he could see the march of the tropical stars, as the Southern +Cross dropped lower and lower in the heavens. As it drew nearer to +daybreak, the sounds of the jungle ceased. Even in these latitudes +there is a time, about an hour before the dawn, when all Nature seems +hushed and still; the great beasts of prey retire to rest, foodless or +with their appetites appeased--more often the first, and it is not +before the first streaks of daybreak are visible in the eastern sky +that the large minor world, of beast and bird and reptile, awakens to +the day. + +Max obeyed his orders to the letter. Hour by hour, he remained +perfectly motionless, with every sense on the alert. He was beginning +to think that the fears and suspicions of Crouch were entirely +baseless, when, on a sudden, the eternal stillness was broken by a +shriek, piercing and unearthly, that was lifted from somewhere near at +hand. + +Springing to his feet, he rushed forth from the hut. And as he did so, +the shriek was repeated, louder than before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT +=========================== + +Max had no difficulty in recognizing whence came these appalling +sounds; for, as he hastened forward, they were repeated, again and +again. It was as if the night were filled with terror, as if some +wild, tormented spirit had been let loose upon the stillness of the +jungle. + +From the opened doorway of de Costa's hut a bright light shone forth, +making a wide, diverging pathway to the foot of the stockade. And in +this pathway two shadows danced like fiends. They were here, there and +everywhere, whilst time and again that piercing shriek went forth. + +Max dashed into the hut, and there was brought to a standstill by the +sight that he beheld. + +On one knee upon the floor, with an arm upraised as if in +self-protection, was the half-caste, de Costa, with abject fear stamped +upon every feature of his face. Still yelping like a cur, flinching +repeatedly for no ostensible reason, he looked up furtively, and into +the face of the man who stood above him. + +This was Cæsar, with the Great Dane snarling at his side. His right +arm was bare to the elbow, and in his hand he held a whip. It was a +cruel whip, if ever there were such a thing. The handle was short, but +the lash was long and tied in many a knot. + +"Drop that!" cried Max; and, without a moment's thought, he lifted his +revolver and directed the muzzle full at the head of the Portuguese. + +At that the dog crouched low, as if about to spring, and filled the hut +with a growl. + +What happened in the next brief moments cannot be told in a word. The +Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman, who +was borne headlong through the doorway, to fall at full length upon the +ground. Simultaneously, Max's revolver went off, and the bullet flew +high into the roof. The next thing that he knew of was that both his +hands were pressed tight into the throat of the huge beast that had +pinned him to the ground. Strive as he might, he was not able to rise. +By sheer weight and strength Gyp held him down. + +.. _`"THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE YOUNG ENGLISHMAN"`: + +.. figure:: images/img-093.jpg + :align: center + :alt: "THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE YOUNG ENGLISHMAN." + + "THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE YOUNG ENGLISHMAN." + + +Then the hound was lifted bodily into the air. Max struggled to his +feet, and beheld his uncle, whose great hands grasped the dog by the +scruff of the neck. Harden was holding the animal so that it stood +upright on its hind-legs, and in that position Gyp was little shorter +than he. The dog was almost mad; it snarled like a wild animal, and +its white fangs gleamed in the light. + +The voice of Cæsar sounded sharp, but calm and collected, in the midst +of this turmoil and confusion. + +"Gyp," he cried, "come here!" + +Edward let go his hold, and immediately the dog lay down, growling at +the feet of her master. + +"I should like to know," said Edward, "the cause of this disturbance." + +"A private matter," said Cæsar, "which concerns no one but de Costa and +myself." + +But Max, though he had been overthrown by the dog, who had come upon +him so unexpectedly, was in no mind to let the matter drop. He was so +hot in anger, and his indignation so great, that his lips trembled when +he spoke. + +"Why did you strike that man?" he demanded, pointing to the half-caste. + +"That, I repeat," said the other, "is my affair--and his." + +"Understand," said Max, "that I make it mine. When I entered this +room, this poor wretch was on the floor, and you stood over him, whip +in hand." + +For the first time since they had entered the stockade, they saw the +real man under the calm, black mask that the Portuguese habitually +wore. Setting his brows in a frown, he whipped round upon Max, and +spoke in much the same manner as a cat spits at a dog. + +"You have yet to learn," he cried, "that in this place I am master. I +take orders from no one. In Makanda my word is law. This half-bred +cur is my servant. He knows it, as well as I. He knows, also, that if +he serves me faithfully he will be rewarded. But if he dares to +disobey my orders, he incurs the penalty I choose to inflict. There is +my answer; and I ask you, who are you to come here and presume to +dictate to me?" + +"I have no more special mission," answered Max, "than any other who +knows the difference between what is right and wrong. You may be +master here--for all I care you may be master of the whole of +Africa--but I am not going to stand by and see one man flog another for +any cause. Raise that whip again on peril of your life." + +Max dared the man on purpose. The fact was, he would have been glad +enough to shoot. As for Edward, though all this time he had stood by +in silence, his finger had never left the trigger of his revolver. +But, Cæsar was not such a fool as to give either of them the chance +they waited for. He cast his whip upon the ground. + +"After this," said he, "I presume you will avail yourselves of my +hospitality no longer. I shall be glad to see your backs." + +"We shall be only too glad to go," said Max. + +"I put no obstacle in your way," said Cæsar. "It is almost daylight +now." + +Max turned and left the hut, followed by his uncle. Each asked himself +the same question the moment he got out into the open air: where was +Captain Crouch? + +Crouch must have heard the disturbance. The shrieks of the half-caste, +the growling of the dog and the firing of Max's revolver had been +enough to have awakened the dead. Yet he had never put in an +appearance. When they entered their hut they found him seated +cross-legged on the floor, with his pipe between his teeth. The +atmosphere was tainted with the smell of Bull's Eye Shag. + +"Where have you been?" asked Edward. + +Crouch never deigned to reply, but, taking his pipe from his lips, +asked a question himself. + +"Did you come to blows?" he said. + +"Practically," said Max, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I found him +thrashing that half-caste within an inch of his life. I threatened +him, and his dog flew at me, and, had it not been for Edward, would +have torn me to bits. We had a kind of an argument, and in the end he +told us to clear out, which we said we were perfectly ready to do." + +Crouch returned his pipe to his mouth. + +"I was afraid of that," said he. + +"Why?" + +"I would like to have stayed here just a little longer. I haven't +probed the mystery yet. When I saw you two run into de Costa's hut, I +knew there was going to be trouble. I knew you wouldn't come out for +some minutes, and I had the chance of a lifetime." + +"Where did you go?" asked Harden. + +"Into Cæsar's hut," said Crouch, winking with his only eye. "I +searched everywhere, but could find nothing. As I told you before, +this man has a secret, and that secret is locked up in his chest. In +Central Africa a man doesn't have a chest like that to keep his clothes +in. It's iron-bound, and locked with three padlocks, and I suppose he +keeps the key in his pocket. It would have been sheer waste of time to +have tried to open it. I couldn't lift it. It's as heavy as if it +were filled with lead. That's why I'm sorry we've got to clear out. I +mean to discover what that chest contains." + +"We've got to go," said Max. "I wouldn't stay here another hour for +all the secrets in the universe." + +"You're quite right," said Crouch. "As the natives say on the Ogowe, +'a bad man's bread is poison.' We'll sheer off at once." + +Edward went out, and returned in a few minutes with M'Wané and the four +Fans. + +"M'Wané," said Crouch, still seated on the ground, "we're going back to +Hippo Pool." + +M'Wané smiled as though he were glad to hear it. + +"That is good news," said he. "I do not like this place." + +"Why?" asked Crouch, looking up. + +"We have been told," said M'Wané, "that if we try to leave the camp, we +shall be shot by the Arab men." + +"Have you found out anything?" asked Crouch. + +M'Wané shook his head. + +"I have seen no one," said he. "I know nothing. To speak the truth, I +am afraid." + +In the half-light of morning, the party left the stockade. Their canoe +was moored to the bank of the river, in the place where they had left +it on the afternoon of the day before. They clambered into their +places: Max and his uncle to the stern seat, and Crouch to his old +place in the bows. Then the canoe shot out into mid-stream, and it was +not until a month later that any one of them looked again upon the +mysterious settlement of Makanda. + + + + +CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT +============================ + +It will be remembered that it had taken two and a half days to make the +journey to Makanda from Hippo Pool. They returned in seven and a half +hours, and even then the natives did little work with their paddles. + +The fact was that, from the granite hills that almost surrounded the +station of the Portuguese, a number of small tributaries joined the +Hidden River. In consequence, a great volume of water flowed down to +Hippo Pool. The current became stronger every mile, since the banks +grew nearer together, and several jungle streams joined forces with the +river. The largest of these was the tributary which flowed into Hippo +Pool, along which had lain the latter part of the portage they had made +from Date Palm Island on the Kasai. Harden named this stream +Observation Creek, for a reason which we are just about to explain. + +They camped on the east bank of Hippo Pool, at a place selected by +Crouch. Two courses lay open to them: they had either to remain here +indefinitely, or, leaving their canoe on the Hidden River, to return to +Date Palm Island by the route of their former portage. Never for a +moment had they had any intention of returning to the Kasai until they +had discovered something more definite concerning the mystery of +Makanda. That night, seated around their camp-fire, by the waters of +Hippo Pool, they held a council of war. + +With this place as their base, they were resolved to operate against +Cæsar's position farther up the river. That afternoon, M'Wané had +climbed to the top of a gigantic cocoanut-tree, some little distance +from the right bank of Observation Creek. Thence he had surveyed the +surrounding country, and it was largely on the information supplied by +M'Wané that Edward Harden drew up the sketch-map which proved so useful +to them throughout the eventful days that followed. + + +.. figure:: images/img-111.jpg + :align: center + :alt: EDWARD HARDEN'S MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRE-GODS. + + EDWARD HARDEN'S MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRE-GODS. + + +From that tree-top the broad course of the Kasai had been visible, its +gleaming waters showing here and there, white in the sunlight, to the +north and to the east. To the north-west, the course of the Hidden +River lay comparatively straight to the mangrove swamp where it joined +the larger stream. The rapids began three miles or so below Hippo +Pool, and there, according to M'Wané, the river was foaming white. +Lower still, it entered the Long Ravine, where great bare cliffs rose +upright on either side, and at the end of which was the waterfall of +which the Fans had spoken. On some days, when the wind was from the +north, they could hear the dull roar of the cataract, like thunder in +the distance. + +To the south-west, above the tree-tops of the forest, M'Wané had been +able to observe the crest-line of the red granite hills which enclosed +the station of Makanda. Almost due south, from out of the midst of the +forest, like a giant in a stubble-field, a great mountain towered into +the sky. On the northern slopes of this mountain the Fan chief had +been able to discern a little village, lying like a bird's nest in a +declivity, thousands of feet above the dark, inhospitable forest. One +night, by firelight, on the banks of Hippo Pool, Edward Harden drew the +map on a piece of cartridge paper, though many of the features thus +shown were not filled in until further facts had come to light. + +Their plan of campaign was evolved in the fertile mind of Crouch, +though Max, and even Edward, made several suggestions which the little +sea-captain was only too glad to accept. They named the mountain +Solitude Peak, and it seemed probable that it was in this direction +that the creek found its source. + +They desired, if possible, to reach Makanda without the knowledge of +Cæsar and his Arabs. They did not doubt that they would be able to +overlook the stockade from some eminence in the eastern granite hill. +Now, since it was two and a half days' journey up the river, it would +take them months to force their way through the jungle to the south. +They decided, therefore, to follow Observation Creek to its source, +which, they hoped, would be somewhere in the vicinity of the mountain. +There they might be able to glean some knowledge at the native village +which M'Wané had seen in the distance. At any rate, they would be able +to survey the surrounding country, and take the most accessible route +in the direction of Makanda. + +However, neither Crouch nor Harden was the man to undertake anything +rashly. Each knew that in Cæsar they had an adversary who was not to +be despised. Before they set forth upon their expedition, they decided +to secure more ammunition and supplies from Date Palm Island, and for +this purpose it was decided that Edward Harden should return to the +Kasai with M'Wané and the Fans. + +Accordingly, the next day the explorer set out, following the route of +their old portage along Observation Creek, and thence through the +jungle to the left bank of the great river opposite Date Palm Island. +Edward thought that he would be able to persuade the Loango boys to +carry the "loads" back to the base-camp at Hippo Pool. Then, if they +still feared to remain in the valley of the Hidden River, they could +return to the Kasai. That night, Crouch and Max were the only two who +remained at the little camp at Hippo Pool. + +The next three days were by no means idle. Game had to be shot in the +forest; there was cooking to be done; they even carried the canoe +ashore and repaired a small leak which had been sprung in her bows. +Moreover, Crouch insisted that one or other of them should always be on +watch. With a good fire burning throughout the night, they had little +to fear from wild beasts. Even the leopard, which is a far more +courageous animal than the lion, must be well-nigh starving before it +dares to approach a camp-fire. What Crouch feared most was a raid on +the part of Cæsar. He knew enough of the tall Portuguese to suspect +that the man would not stay idle whilst the three Englishmen remained +in the valley of the Hidden River. In one of the many canoes they had +seen tied up to the river bank at Makanda, Cæsar could shoot +down-stream in the space of a few hours. There was therefore not an +hour of the day or night that one or the other of them was not seated +on the river-bank, rifle in hand, with his eyes turned towards the +southern extremity of Hippo Pool. + +Three days passed, and nothing of importance occurred. It was on the +third night that something happened which was so much in the nature of +a mystery as to be fully in keeping with the character of the whole +valley and the rumours they had heard. Though Captain Crouch had only +one eye, that eye was as the eye of a lynx; and the matter in question +is all the more worthy to relate, since the event first occurred by +night, when Crouch himself was on guard. + +That day Max had shot his first buffalo, about half a mile from camp, +on the southern side of Observation Creek. The meat had been cut into +steaks, and one of these was cooked that night for breakfast in the +morning. Crouch relieved Max on sentry at twelve o'clock, with the +intention of keeping watch till daybreak. As Max turned over to go to +sleep, he distinctly remembered having seen the buffalo-steak on a tin +plate, a few inches from the fire. In the morning this steak was gone. + +Crouch had seen nothing. He was prepared to swear that he had never +been to sleep. Throughout the morning the matter seemed to worry him a +good deal. + +"I can't make it out," he said, talking to himself, as was his wont. +"I don't believe any leopard would do it. The beasts are terrified of +fire. A starving leopard might; but no leopard could very well starve +in a valley like this, which positively abounds in game." At various +intervals throughout the day he gave expression to the same opinion. + +That night Max took the first watch, from seven o'clock to twelve. +During that period never once did he relax his vigilance. He sat, hour +by hour, with the fire at his elbow, and his face turned towards the +river. He was thinking that it was nearly time to awaken Crouch, and +had pulled out his watch, when he heard the sound of a breaking twig a +few feet behind him. + +He turned sharply, and was just in time to discern the shadow of some +great beast disappearing into the jungle. His eyes shot back to the +fire, and there he beheld to his amazement that once again their +breakfast had disappeared. He immediately awoke the little +sea-captain, and told him what had happened. + +"Did it look like a leopard?" asked Crouch. + +"No," said Max, "I think it was a lion." + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"I don't believe it," said he. "The king of beasts is the greatest +coward I know. The most courageous animal in the world is the African +buffalo, and after him come the peccary and the wild boar. All the +cats are cowards, and the lion the biggest of all. Once I was shooting +buzzard on the Zambesi, when I came face to face with a lion, not +fifteen paces from me. I had no one with me, and was armed only with a +shot-gun. What do you think I did?" + +Max laughed. "Ran for it?" he suggested. + +"Not a bit!" said Crouch. "That would have been sheer folly; it would +have showed the brute I feared him. I just dropped down on all-fours, +and walked slowly towards him." + +"Great Scott!" exclaimed Max, unable to restrain his admiration. + +"That lion," said Crouch, "looked straight at me for about three +seconds, and then quietly turned round and walked away, swishing the +flies from his body with his tail. As soon as he thought he was out of +sight, he broke into a gallop. It was beneath his dignity, I suppose, +to let me see he was frightened. He had got to live up to his +reputation." + +"Is that actually true?" asked Max. + +"As true as I'm standing here. All lions are naturally frightened of +anything they can't understand. That particular animal couldn't make +me out, didn't like the look of me; so he just walked away. The lions +in this valley can have had little or no experience of white men. I +therefore refuse to believe that our breakfast has been stolen by a +lion. Shall I tell you who I believe is the culprit?" + +"Who?" asked Max. + +"Gyp," said Crouch; "Cæsar's dog. Cæsar himself could hardly have got +here by now. Yesterday afternoon I reconnoitred some way up the river, +and saw no signs of a canoe. But the dog could have found its way +through the jungle. It seems improbable, no doubt; but I can think of +no better explanation." + +Indeed, this was the only solution of the matter, and they resolved to +be upon their guard. + +The following day they determined to explore the rapids. They were +already acquainted with the river-valley between Hippo Pool and +Makanda, but as yet they knew nothing of the country which lay between +their camp and the mangrove swamp on the Kasai. M'Wané, from the +cocoanut-tree, had caught sight of the Long Ravine, which ended in the +waterfall of which the natives had told them, the dull roar of which +was frequently audible at Hippo Pool when the wind was in the right +direction. They did not expect Edward back for some days, and each was +of the disposition that chafes under the restraint of inaction. + +Accordingly, soon after daybreak they launched the canoe, and taking +with them three days' supplies and a quantity of ammunition, they shot +down-stream to the north. The descent of the river was easy enough. +Throughout the journey Crouch kept his eye on the current. Since this +grew stronger and stronger as they progressed, he did not desire to go +too far, knowing full well that the return journey would be by no means +easy to accomplish. + +At a place where the river was exceedingly narrow, and the jungle on +either bank even more dense and tangled than usual, they heard, on a +sudden, the crashing of undergrowth in the forest, as if some great +beast were flying for its life. A moment later a leopard sprang clear +from the river bank. For a second the beast was poised in mid-air, its +legs extended at full length, its ears lying back, its superb coat +dazzling in the sunlight. Then it came down into the water with a +splash. + +For a few strokes it swam straight for the canoe. Max carried his +rifle to the shoulder and fired. The beast was hit, for it shivered +from head to tail, and then turned round and swam back to the bank +whence it had come. As it crawled forth, dripping, with its head +hanging low between its fore-legs, the great snout of a crocodile +uprose from out of the water, and the huge jaws snapped together. + +Crouch, who was steering, ran the canoe into the bank, and a moment +later both he and Max, their rifles in their hands, had set out into +the semi-darkness of the jungle. + +They had no difficulty in following the leopard's spoor. The beast was +badly wounded and very sick. Every hundred yards or so it lay down to +rest, and when it heard them approaching, rose and went on with a growl. + +Presently it led them into a marsh--which Edward Harden afterwards +called Leopard Marsh--where they sank knee-deep in the mud. There were +no trees here. In the middle of the marsh, lying in a few inches of +water, was the wounded leopard, wholly unable to rise. + +"He's yours," said Crouch. "I'll stand by in case you miss." + +Max lifted his rifle, took careful aim, and fired. On the instant, +with a savage screech, the leopard rose with a jerk. For a moment it +stood upon its hind-legs, rampant, its fore-feet fighting in the air. +Then it came down, as a stone drops, and lay quite still. + +Max felt the flush of triumph that every hunter knows. His blood +tingled in his veins. He was about to rush forward, to gloat upon his +prize, when from somewhere near in the forest a shot rang out, and a +bullet splashed into the moist ground at Max's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER +========================= + +Crouch's voice was lifted in a shout. "Run for your life!" he cried. + +Together they went floundering through the mire. They had to run the +gauntlet for a distance of little more than a hundred paces; but, by +reason of the nature of the ground, their progress was necessarily +slow, and before they had gained the cover afforded by the jungle, +several bullets had whistled past them, and Crouch was limping badly. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Max. + +"Hit in the leg," said the little captain, as if it were a trifle. +"There 're no bones broken, but I'm bleeding like a pig." + +"Let me look at it," said Max. "The artery may be cut." + +They were now well screened by trees. It was impossible that any one +could come upon them unawares. Max took his knife from his pocket, +ripped open the seam of the captain's trousers, and examined the wound. +The artery was untouched, but there was an ugly wound in the thigh, +which had evidently been made by an enormously heavy bullet. + +"Cæsar's elephant-gun," said Crouch. "By Christopher, I'll make him +pay for this!" + +"Are you sure of that?" said Max. + +"Yes," said Crouch. "I caught sight of something white moving among +the trees. I knew at once that Cæsar was there with his Arabs." + +Meanwhile, with quick fingers, Max was folding his handkerchief +lengthwise for a bandage. + +"Wait a bit," said Crouch. "I'll soon stop that flow of blood. I've a +special remedy of my own." Whereupon he produced his tobacco-pouch; +and before Max could stop it, he had taken a large plug of his vile, +black tobacco, dipped it into a puddle of water, and thumbed the lot +into the open wound, as a man charges a pipe. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Max, with memories of his hospital days. +"You'll get septic poisoning! You can't do that!" + +Crouch looked up. There was a twinkle in his only eye. + +"So much for science," said he. "When you get back to London, you can +tell the doctors they're wrong. If it amuses 'em to play with +antiseptics--and they're fond of the smell of carbolic--they're welcome +to do what they like. As for me, I've used this remedy for twenty +years, and I'm not inclined to try another." + +Max looked worried. He was convinced that Crouch would die of +blood-poisoning, and was beginning to wonder how, in that benighted, +tropical forest, he was going to amputate the captain's leg. + +"Don't you fret," said Crouch, tying the bandage himself. "Maybe, one +brand of tobacco's not so good as another. It's my belief that if they +cut off your head, you could stick it on again with Bull's Eye Shag." +By then he had got to his feet. "Come on," said he; "this man won't +let us get away if he can help it. Follow me." + +So saying, he plunged into the jungle, and though he was now limping +like a lame dog, it was all Max could do to keep up with him. + +Time and again he dived through what had looked like impenetrable +thickets. He seemed to know by instinct where to go. He avoided +quagmires. He sprang over fallen trees. He wormed his way through +creepers, the branches of which were thick as ropes. + +Frequently he stopped to listen, and sometimes placed his ear to the +ground. + +"They're after us!" he cried once. He pulled out his compass and +looked at it. "We must get back to the canoe," he said. "The river's +to the east." + +Soon after they struck what to all intents and purposes was a path. It +was, in fact, the "run" of some wild animals, and doubtless led to the +place where they were in the habit of drinking. It was no more than +two feet across; and about four feet from the ground the undergrowth +from either side met in a kind of roof; so that they found themselves +in a tunnel, along which, if they stooped sufficiently, they were able +to make good headway. + +Suddenly Crouch, who was still leading, stopped dead, and held his +rifle at the ready. Max stopped, too, and listened. + +Something was moving in the jungle. They heard distinctly a quick, +panting sound, coming nearer and nearer. + +"There!" cried Crouch. "Shoot!" + +He pointed down the tunnel, in the direction they had come. Max +turned, and beheld the head of a great beast thrust through the leaves +of some creeping plant that bound the trunks of two trees together in a +kind of lattice-work. + +It is unfortunate that the mind cannot retain a complete recollection +of scenes that have momentarily impressed us. Most of us, when asked +to describe in every detail even the most familiar objects, fall very +short of the mark. How much more so must this be the case when we look +upon something for no longer than a second, and then it is no more. + +Max will never forget that moment. He remembers the main features of +the scene, but there were a thousand and one details, which impressed +him at the time, that he is no longer able to remember. + +The semi-darkness of the jungle; the moist ground whereon he stood, +where multi-coloured orchids showed like little evil faces in the +twilight; the tangled undergrowth; and in places, like peep-holes +through which the daylight streamed, the shadows of the tall trees +towering high above. The scene, in its luxury and darkness, stood for +all that is savage, for all that is Africa--the country where the white +man ventures at his peril. And if anything were needed to complete +this strong suggestion of the wild, it was the great head and white, +gleaming fangs of the unknown beast which, half invisible, seemed as if +it were the unholy spirit of the place. On the spur of the moment, Max +lifted his rifle and fired. + +"Well done!" cried Crouch, who brushed past his elbow. + +A moment later they found themselves kneeling on either side of the +prostrate and lifeless figure of Gyp. + +"There lies our thief," said Crouch; "and the thief's master 's not so +far away." + +Max felt profoundly sorry in his heart that he had killed so +magnificent a creature. If the dog had hunted them, she had been told +to do so by her master. The only crime which could be laid to the +account of the Great Dane was obedience to Cæsar. + +They remained by the body of the dog no longer than a few seconds, and +after that they pushed on upon their way, still following the course of +the tunnel, or "run." At length, when least they expected it, they +found themselves at the water's edge, at the place where the rapids +were inordinately swift. + +The water foamed and swirled upon its way, lashing the banks, forming +little whirlpools in mid-stream, and bounding in waves over the trunks +of trees which had fallen into the river. + +"Sit down," said Crouch. "There's no hurry. We may as well talk +matters out." + +Max looked at his companion. Now that they were in the sunlight, he +was able to see Crouch's face. He was alarmed to notice that the +little captain looked haggard and drawn. His lips were pressed +together, as though he were in pain, and his only serviceable eye was +puckered and screwed up. Seeing Max's anxiety, he did his best to +smile. + +"The Bull's Eye 's beginning to work," said he. + +"How do you mean?" asked Max. + +"After a bit it begins to smart. It smarts for about three days, and +then the blamed thing's healed. Sit down, my boy. This man Cæsar +annoys me. I want to think it out." + +They seated themselves at the river bank, and Crouch kept an ear +towards the jungle, in order to be warned if any one should approach. + +"What about the canoe?" asked Max. + +"It's up-stream," said the other, with a nod of the head. "If we work +our way along the bank, we can't miss it. To tell you the truth, I +want a rest; I feel queer. And, besides, I want to think." + +Max asked him what was on his mind. + +"Cæsar," said he. "I should like to know how the man managed to get +here." Then he went on, thinking aloud, as was his custom. "There may +be a path through the jungle; but I doubt if even then he would have +been able to come this distance on foot. And yet his canoe never +passed Hippo Pool, or we should have seen it--that's sure enough." +Then, on a sudden, he slapped his knee. "By Christopher," he cried, "I +have it! I remember!" + +"You remember what?" asked Max. + +"About half-way between the Pool and Makanda I remember seeing the +entrance of a little back-water, on the left bank of the river. That +back-water probably rejoins the river somewhere about here. It's all +as plain as a pikestaff. He has come north by the back-water, which +accounts for us not having seen him pass through Hippo Pool. The end +of that back-water is either between here and the place where we left +the canoe, or else farther down-stream. Come," said Crouch, "we'll get +the better of this rascal. Perhaps, for once, Fortune will play into +our hands." + +He struggled to his feet, but immediately turned pale, and was obliged +to support himself against the trunk of a tree. + +"I feel mighty dizzy," he said. "I've lost a deal of blood." + +"You had better stay here," said Max; "I'll work along the bank until I +find the canoe, and then come back to you. I don't like leaving you, +but there's nothing else to be done. Perhaps the canoe is not far +away." + +"It's farther than you think," said Crouch; "that tunnel took us almost +due north. Besides, I can tell by the water. The rapids are pretty +strong; we can't be far from the ravine." + +"Will we be able to paddle against it, do you think?" asked Max. + +Crouch looked at the river. + +"Yes," said he. "My arms are all right, though I've gone wrong in the +leg. You get off, and come back here as quickly as you can. If you +see Cæsar, shoot." + +At that Max set off alone. He soon found it impossible to make any +progress on the actual bank of the river, since here, by reason of the +moisture that was in the ground, the vegetation was so dense and +tangled that a weasel would have found some difficulty in making any +headway. He soon found, however, that by moving about thirty yards +from the river bank, he could make his way southward with tolerable +ease. From time to time he forced his way to the river's edge, and +looked both up-stream and down, to note if he could see any sign of the +canoe. + +The sun was in the mid-heavens, and the heat intense. The jungle was +alive with sounds. The evening before there had been a heavy shower of +rain, and now the vapour rose like steam, and the moisture dropped from +the trees. To his left he could hear the roar of the rapids as the +river plunged upon its way, and this served to guide him, making it +possible for him to hold his course parallel to the river bank. He was +followed by a swarm of insects that droned and buzzed in his ears. The +perspiration fell from his forehead in great drops, and frequently he +found himself caught and held fast by strong, hook-like thorns. + +Presently the forest opened. It was like coming out of a darkened room +into the light. For a moment he was unable to see. During that moment +he fancied he heard a sound quite near to him--a sound of something +that moved. Looking about him, he discovered that he was standing in +long reeds which reached almost to his chest. To his right, the trees +of the forest were extended in a kind of avenue, and at their feet was +a narrow, swiftly-flowing stream. + +He had discovered Cæsar's back-water. Moreover, he had discovered +Cæsar's canoe, for there it was, its bows just visible, peeping through +the reeds. + + + + +CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE +============================== + +Max took in the situation at a glance. If Cæsar had come north from +Makanda by way of the back-water, he had not passed their canoe on the +Hidden River. Two courses lay open to Max: he might cross the +back-water in Cæsar's canoe, and pursue his journey on foot; or he +might take this canoe and go down to Crouch, about whom he was anxious. +The latter was undoubtedly the wiser course to pursue. In the heart of +Africa, one canoe is as good as another; and, besides, by taking +Cæsar's canoe he would be paying off old scores. + +Having come to this conclusion, he looked about him for a suitable way +by which to approach the canoe. He had not taken one step in the right +direction, when he discovered to his dismay that the reeds were growing +in a bog, into which one leg sank deep before he was able to recover +his footing on dry land. + +Still, he had every reason to be hopeful. If the Portuguese and his +party had disembarked at this place, there was clearly a way of getting +into the canoe. For all that, search as he might among the reeds, he +could not find it, and at last he retired to the top of the bank. + +No sooner had he got there than he discovered that for which he had +been looking. A tall tree had fallen in the forest, and the roots were +half in the water. The canoe had been moored under the lee of this. +On each side of the fallen tree the reeds grew so high that the trunk +was half hidden from view. + +This tree formed a sort of natural pier, or landing-stage, along which +it was possible to walk. Max stepped upon the trunk, and walked +towards the canoe. Fearing that if he jumped into it he would knock a +hole in the bottom, he lowered himself to a sitting position, and then +remembered that he had not untied the painter at the bows. He always +looks upon his next action as the most foolish thing he ever did in his +life. He left his rifle in the canoe, and returned along the +tree-trunk to untie the bows. + +It was then that he was seized from behind. Some one sprang upon him +from out of the reeds. Two strong arms closed about his chest, and he +was lifted bodily from off his feet. + +Putting forth his strength, he managed to twist himself round, seizing +his adversary by the throat. + +He had been set upon by one of Cæsar's Arabs. The Portuguese himself +was doubtless still searching in the jungle for Crouch and Max, and no +doubt he had left this fellow in charge of his canoe. Fortunately, the +man was not armed; otherwise, Max would have been murdered. As it was, +he realized from the start that his life was in imminent danger. + +The man was possessed of the strength of all his race. His arms, +though thin, were sinewy, and his muscles stood out like bands of +whip-cord as he strove to gain the upper hand. Max was at a +disadvantage, since he wore boots; whereas the Arab with his bare feet +had the better foot-hold on the trunk of the fallen tree. Still, even +he could not retain his balance for long, with the young Englishman +flying at his throat like a tiger. The man had a beard, and Max, +laying hold of this, forced his head backwards, so that they both fell +together into the mud. + +During that fall Max's head struck the bows of the canoe. For a moment +he was dazed, half stunned. He relaxed his hold of his opponent, and +thereafter he lay at the mercy of the Arab. + +If we make an exception of the Chinese, the Arab is in all probability +the cruellest man we know of. He is possessed of an almost fiendish +cunning. His courage no one will dispute. To his children he is a +kind father; to those who know and understand him he is a good friend; +he is one of the most hospitable men in the world. But to his enemies +he is relentless. He has none of the barbarity of the savage races, +like the Zulus or the Masai. He is refined, even in his cruelty. +Above all, he is a man of brains. + +Because of their craftiness, their cunning and their courage, the Arab +races have existed from the very beginnings of time. We read in the +most ancient history that exists--in the history of the Pharaohs--of +how the Egyptian towns in the valley of the Nile were walled against +the incursions of the Arabs. Long before the Persians came to Egypt, +no man dared venture far into the desert because of the Bedouin bands. +And that was when the world was in its cradle, when just the valleys of +two rivers--the one in Asia and the other in Egypt--were able to +produce the rudiments of the civilization of the future. That was, +perhaps, eight thousand years ago. + +Since then--and before then--the Arab has been feared. The Negro races +have bowed down before him, as dumb animals obey a superior +intelligence. In this, above all things, had the Portuguese been wise; +he had formed his bodyguard of those men who for centuries have been +the stern, implacable rulers of the great, mysterious continent. + +Max never lost possession of his senses; he was only dazed. And, +whilst in that condition, he was lifted in the strong arms of the Arab, +and thrown bodily into the canoe. When he was sufficiently recovered +to endeavour to rise to his feet, he found that he was in mid-stream, +drifting rapidly towards the river. He looked about him for a paddle, +and seeing none, turned his eyes to the bank. And there stood the +Arab, in his mud-stained garments, his white teeth showing in his +swarthy face in a broad, unholy grin. Moreover, in both hands, he held +the paddles which he had taken from the canoe. + +Max recognized, as in a flash, that his fate was in the hands of a +greater Power than himself. He snatched up his rifle, and endeavoured +to steer with the butt. That had the effect of turning the canoe a +little, but the current was too strong, and he was borne onwards. + +Twenty yards farther, and the canoe would turn the corner and shoot out +into the river, where the rapids foamed and lashed. At one time the +bows brushed the tall reeds which were growing from the water. Max, +dropping his rifle, seized the only one of these that was within his +grasp. He held it for no longer than a second--an agonizing moment +that seemed eternity--and then the reed was drawn out by its roots from +the soft mud beneath the water. + +The canoe was launched into the rapids at a bound. The current struck +it sideways, and sent it round like a top. For a moment it was like +some blind, excited animal that knows not whither it means to go, and +then it shot down-stream like an arrow from the bow. + +Max became aware of a kind of singing in his head. This may have been +caused by the blow which he had received, or else by the manner in +which the canoe was now whirled round and round upon the tide. The +whole scene about him became blurred and indistinct. The great, +white-hot sky above him was like a sheet of fire. He saw the trees on +either bank fly past like armies of dark, gigantic spectres. At such +times as this, it is as if the brain becomes unhinged; we think of +strange, and often foolish things, of no consequence soever. Max saw a +large dragonfly, of all the colours in the rainbow. Even then he +admired its beauty and coveted its wings. The latter thought was +natural, but the first was strange. And the next thing he knew of was +Crouch shouting and waving his arms upon the bank. In a few moments +Max had shot down the river to the place where he had left the little +captain, though it had taken him more than two hours to force his way +to the back-water through the density of the jungle. + +"Paddle!" Crouch was crying. "Paddle for your life! Bring her in to +the bank." + +Just then the canoe was steady, shooting downward like a dart. Max +raised his hands to his lips and shouted back. + +"I've no paddles!" he cried. + +He saw Crouch break into the jungle. The little sea-captain threw +himself into the thickets like a madman. Once again, only for an +instant, Max caught sight of him. He was fighting his way down-stream +along the river bank like some ferocious beast. The long arm of a +creeper barred his way, and Crouch wrenched it from the tree to which +it clung with a strength that was almost superhuman. And then he was +lost to view. + +Max looked down into the water, and saw at once that it would be +impossible to reach the bank by swimming. He had never been a strong +swimmer, and in such a current as this no one could hope to prevail. +On hands and knees, he crawled to the other end of the canoe, and +immediately the thing swung round again, like a gate upon its hinges. + +He was now calm enough to think the matter out. If he tried to swim to +the shore the odds would be a hundred to one against him. There was +still a chance that the canoe might be driven into the bank. He was +determined to keep his head, to be ready to spring ashore, should the +opportunity occur, and lay hold upon the first thing that fell to his +reach. + +As he sat and waited, whilst the seconds flew, his heart sank within +him. The river narrowed. Black, ugly-looking rocks sprang up, like +living things in mid-stream, and before him opened the ravine. + +He saw its great walls rising, smooth and sheer, on either side of the +river, and fading away in the distance, in the thick haze of the +steaming, tropic day. He was fascinated by the rocks. He marvelled +every instant that the canoe was not dashed to atoms. The surface of +the water was now white with foam, in the midst of which the black +rocks glistened in the sunlight. The canoe would rush towards one of +these, as some swift beast of prey hurls itself upon its victim; and at +the eleventh hour it would be whipped aside to go dancing, leaping on. + +The ravine was like one of the pits we read of in Dante's *Inferno*. +Its walls were precipitous and white, glaring in the sunshine. This +was the gate that guarded the Hidden Valley. + +Max had a sensation of passing through a railway-cutting in an express +train. Little objects upon the steep banks--perhaps straggling plants, +sprung from seeds which had fallen from above--were blurred and +indistinct, flashing past like may-flies in the sunlight. There was +the same rattling noise in his ears, quite distinguishable from the +roar of the water beneath his feet. + +For a moment he buried his face in his hands. A hundred thoughts went +galloping through his brain, not one of which was complete. One gave +place to another; there was no gap between them; they were like the +films on a cinematograph. + +And then came a murmuring in his ears which was something apart from +the rattling sound we have mentioned, and the loud roar of the rapids. +He looked up, with a white face, and listened. It seemed his heart had +ceased to beat, and breathing consisted of inspiration only. The +murmuring grew into a roar, and the roar into a peal of thunder--the +cataract was ahead! + + + + +CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT +=============================== + +As the canoe rushed forward, Max Harden recognized himself for lost; he +realized there was no hope. Resolved to meet his fate with all the +fortitude he could command, he was yet sufficiently unnerved to stand +upright in the canoe, which so rocked and swayed that he balanced +himself with difficulty. + +It was then that he looked down upon what seemed certain death. The +river ended abruptly, as a cliff falls sheer to the sea. The walls of +the ravine were folded back to the east and to the west, and between, +the water went over the cataract in one long, unbroken wave. + +Far below, extending to the north, was a broad plain, dotted here and +there with trees which, in the haze of the tropic heat, appeared +indistinct and restless, like weeds and pebbles at the bottom of deep, +discoloured water. Beyond that were the broad, gleaming waters of the +Kasai, rolling north-westward to the Congo. + +Max looked up to the wide, burning sky. In that mad, headlong moment +he offered up a prayer. The roar of the waters thundered in his ears. +The canoe over-shot the crest of the cataract, as a swallow dips upon +the wing. Max was conscious of a bursting in his head. There was a +noise in his ears as if all chaos were rushing in upon him; it was as +if he were an atom in the midst of an upheaval of the worlds. And then +he remembered no more. + +---- + +Now that the Hidden Valley has been explored, and is even shown upon +some of the large scale maps that have recently been issued by the +Royal Geographical Society, those whose pleasure it is to study such +matters are well acquainted with the formation of the country. + +The river finds its source in the unknown mountains to the south of +Makanda; thence it flows due north towards the Kasai. South of the +waterfall the basin consists of a hard, impervious rock. In the region +of the jungle, this rock is covered by about ten feet of fertile +subsoil: in some places a black, glutinous mud; in others, a red, loamy +clay, containing a super-abundance of plant food. At the Long Ravine +the rock rises to the surface, in what geologists call an "out-crop." +North of the cataract lies a great plain of mud. + +This phenomenon is merely what is found in every waterfall in the +world. The river at the top of the falls flows over hard, impermeable +rock; at the foot is found a softer stratum--such as chalk or +clay--which is easily washed away. Originally, far back in the +centuries, there was no waterfall at all. The river flowed on an even +course from Makanda to the Kasai. Very soon, however, the current +swept away vast tracts of mud to the north of the waterfall. This mud +was carried by the Kasai to the Congo, and thence to the sea. In +consequence, a tract of country, many square miles in area, gradually +descended lower and lower. On the other hand, in the hard rock of the +ravine, the river worked more slowly, so that, at last, the cataract +was formed. + +At the foot of the falls is a great pool in which the water is +exceedingly deep, and round which the current spends its fury in many +whirlpools, such as may be seen in a mill-pond when the flood-gates are +opened to their full extent. + +Having thus briefly explained the conformation of the country in the +lower valley of the Hidden River, it is now necessary to return to +Captain Crouch. The effort made by the little wizened sea-captain upon +that eventful morning is worthy to rank with anything that was ever +told by the poets of classic days. Had it not been for his indomitable +will, he could never have accomplished a feat that was almost +superhuman. Edward Harden had said that he believed that he was the +only person whom Crouch cared for in the world. That might have been +true at the time, but certain it is that the captain thought well of +Max, else he had never accomplished what he did. + +He was already wounded; even he himself had owned he was in pain. And +yet, mile upon mile, he broke his way through the jungle, fighting +onward amid the profusion of the forest, like one who was raving mad. +Often he sank to his waist in marsh. His clothes were torn to shreds +by thorns. His face and hands were red with blood which had mingled +with the perspiration that streamed from every pore. When he came +forth from the forest, at the head of the ravine, he looked hardly +human--the most desperate being it were possible to picture. + +For all that he dashed on, across the bare rocks, in the blazing heat +of the sun. There was nothing now to impede him, and he raced upon his +way, never pausing for breath. He was half-naked; he had left the +greater part of his clothes upon the thorn-trees in the jungle. His +pith helmet was askew, and battered and out of shape. He had used his +Remington rifle as a club to beat his way through the thickets, had +broken it off at the small of the butt, and now held the barrel in his +hand. His legs were bare to the knee, like those of an urchin, and so +clotted with blood that he looked like a savage who had dyed his skin. +Sometimes he stumbled, and seemed in danger of falling; but each time +he braced himself up, struck himself upon the chest, and went on even +faster than before. + +When he came to the end of the ravine he turned to the west, and there +found a place where he could climb down to the low-lying flats. It was +then approaching sunset. The heat of the day was past. + +At about half-way down the incline he paused, and lifted the palm of +his hand to screen his only eye. For some minutes he scanned the +plain, and then on a sudden he gave vent to a loud cry of exultation, +and bounded down the hill. Far in the distance, high and dry upon a +mud-bank, he had caught sight of a small speck, which he knew for a +human being. + +It took him more than half an hour to reach this place. By then it was +nearly dusk. Bending down over the drenched, motionless form, he +thought at first that Max was dead. He could feel no beating of the +heart. + +Still, Crouch was not the man to despair. Moreover, in the days when +he had sailed the seas, he had had experience in the resuscitation of +the drowned. + +Without delay he set to work. He lifted the body so that the water +poured from the mouth of the unconscious man. He then seated himself +upon the ground at Max's head, and worked both arms like the handles of +a pump. + +The sun set and a full moon arose, which traced a silvery pathway +across the great wasteland that extended both to the east and to the +west, as far as the eye could reach. Here and there lonely, stunted +trees showed like sentinels upon the plain. The only sound that +disturbed the stillness of the night was the dull, continuous roar of +the cataract to the south. Here was no sign of animal life. In the +daytime the marshland was thronged with birds, but these now were +silent. It would be impossible to imagine a place more desolate and +weird. It seemed not of the world, or, if it were, of some forgotten +country, buried for ever beyond the reach of progress and the influence +of man. + +Hour after hour Crouch held to his task. The sweat poured from his +forehead, the blood still issued from his wounds, but never for a +moment did he cease. + +At last he stopped, and placed an ear to Max's chest. Thereupon, he +went on again, more feverishly than ever. + +Soon after that, a quick cry escaped his lips. He had looked into +Max's face, and seen the eyelids flicker; and presently, two eyes were +staring in his face. And at that the little man just toppled forward +in a faint, and lay upon his face across the body which his efforts had +brought back to life. + +Without doubt, the mind is master of the body, and the will is king of +the mind. One had but to glance into the face of Captain Crouch to see +that he was possessed of a will of iron. The strong brows, the firm +mouth, the great hatchet chin--these had not been given him for naught. +He may have had the strength of Hercules; yet he had never accomplished +his journey down the river, had it not been for the indomitable +strength of his mind. And now that he realized that the victory was +his, that his efforts had been crowned with success, the will, on a +sudden, relinquished its task, as a helmsman gives way to his successor +at the wheel--and Crouch fell forward in a faint. + +At dawn, the sun found them lying together on the mud, and by the +warmth of its rays set the blood coursing more freely in their veins. + +Max was the first to revive. He tried to lift himself, but found that +he was not able to do so, because of the weight of Crouch's body on his +chest. He fell back again, and lay for some time with opened eyes, +staring upward at the sky. + +He saw the colours change in the heavens. He heard the cries of the +birds upon the marsh. Then, once again, he struggled to an elbow. + +With difficulty he lifted Crouch; and then, looking into the captain's +face, he wondered where he was, and how it had come about that they two +were stranded, side by side, in the midst of surroundings with which he +was wholly unfamiliar. + +Then he remembered, by degrees. The struggle with the Arab in the +back-water--his headlong rush throughout the length of the rapids--the +vision he had had of Crouch, frantic on the bank. And then--the +ravine, and at the end, the cataract--the thunder of the water--the +rushing in his ears. + +The truth was not difficult to guess; indeed, there was no other +explanation. He tried to rise to his feet, but could not do so. At +that, he lay back again, to rest, and gave silent thanks in his heart +to Divine Providence by means of which he had been saved as by a +miracle. He had undergone the sensations of death, and yet he lived. + +He had lain quite still and motionless, it may have been for an hour, +when Crouch sat up and looked about him. And when he had taken in the +scene, he let fall the following irrelevant remark-- + +"I've lost my pipe," said he. + +He then got to his feet, and walking to the water's edge--which was but +a few feet distant--he knelt down, scooped the water in his hands, and +drank. + +Then he returned to Max, and seated himself by his side. + +"Feeling queer?" he asked. + +Max answered that he was very weak. + +"Your strength 'll return," said Crouch; "but you must have some cover +for your head." + +He took off his coat, which was nothing but a bundle of tatters, and +rolling this into a kind of turban, he placed it upon Max's forehead to +protect him from the heat of the sun. Then he went back to the water's +edge, washed the blood from his face and hands, and bathed the back of +his neck. As he returned, he found the barrel of his broken rifle, and +stooped and picked it up. + +"Look at that!" said he. "That was once the best rifle in this +forsaken continent. Not worth its weight as scrap-iron!" + +"I suppose," said Max, "you'll be offended if I try to thank you?" + +"You suppose right," said Crouch. "Do you feel able to walk?" + +"I think so." + +"You don't," said the captain. "There's no hurry." Then he began to +think aloud. "If we work up-stream," said he, "we'll be on the wrong +side of the river. By now Cæsar will have found our canoe. We're not +armed; we have no food. There are precisely three ways in which we +might die: first, starvation; second, Cæsar; third, a buffalo. The +first's a certainty. Both of us are too weak to swim the river at +Hippo Pool--to say nothing of crocodiles. On the other hand, if we go +down-stream, walking will be easy till we get to the mangrove swamp. +Have you got a knife?" + +Max felt in his pockets, and produced the article in question. Crouch +looked at it. + +"That'll do," said he. "With this we should be able to dig out a +canoe, and make a couple of paddles. If we don't die at the job, we +ought to work our way up to Date Palm Island. As soon as you're ready, +we'll start." + +"I'm ready now," said Max. + +"Then come along," said Crouch. + +The mud lay in ridges, which had been baked hard by the sun. Between +these the water lay in long pools which, as they progressed farther to +the north, became more and more still, less disturbed by the current +that issued from the falls. Crouch patted his clothes as he limped +along. + +"I've lost every blamed thing," said he; "pipe, pouch and baccy, +compass, knife and ammunition." + +Max answered nothing. He thought it would not be wise to sympathize. +Crouch was a peculiar man in many ways. + +Soon after midday they came to the mangrove swamp; and the crossing of +a mangrove swamp is a thing that most African explorers have +accomplished. The roots of the short, stunted trees stand out upon the +surface of the water. It is necessary to pass by way of these, +stepping from one root to another; and some knowledge of the art of +balancing is utterly essential. If you lose your foothold, you fall +into the swamp, and there you are set upon by leeches. Some of these +are large--sometimes as large as snails--but the kind generally met +with is an animal so small that it can work its way through the +eye-holes of your boots. Once this creature has laid hold upon your +skin, and begun to suck your blood, it begins to swell until it has +attained the size of a cherry. + +At the edge of the mangrove swamp Crouch and Max took off their boots, +and hung these across their shoulders. With bare feet they could get a +better footing upon the twisted roots of the trees. + +For three hours they journeyed through the swamp, which was buried in +semi-darkness. It was far darker than the jungle. It is in these +swamps that the mosquitoes swarm in myriads, and all the deadly +diseases of the country are engendered. To pitch a standing camp in +the vicinity of a mangrove swamp, is to court a certain death from +malaria or typhoid. + +They were weary, faint, and aching in their bones when they came upon +the banks of the Kasai. No wonder this had been named the "Hidden +River." It joined the great tributary of the Congo in a thousand +little streams, all flowing silently through darkness beneath the +close-packed trees. + +Crouch turned to the right. He had been bearing to the east +throughout, and in a little while they were clear of the swamp, on +terra firma. Seating themselves, they put on their boots. + +"By Christopher," said Crouch, "I'm weak! I don't fancy making that +canoe with a jackknife." + +"Nor I," said Max. "But we'll do it." + +Crouch laughed. + +"We will," said he, but his face was white as a ghost. Then he sat +bolt upright and listened. "What's that?" he cried. + +Faint in the distance was a gentle, scraping sound, which grew louder +and louder as the minutes passed. Max at first could not believe the +evidence of his ears. He waited expectantly, and at last heard a +rippling sound, that was like the laughter of a child. He sprang to +his feet, and rushing to the water's edge, looked up-stream, shading +his eyes with his hand. It was, indeed, the truth--a long canoe was +swinging down upon the tide. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN +================================= + +A minute later they saw that the canoe was manned by six of their own +Loango boys, who made the blades of the paddles flash in the sunlight; +and, moreover, they recognized the canoe as the one they had left at +Date Palm Island. + +Max lifted his voice and shouted from the bank. Whereat the boys +ceased to paddle, and regarded them amazed. Then, recognizing their +masters, they raised a shout in chorus, and drew in towards the bank. + +Had these natives desired proof of the omnipotence of the Fire-gods, +they could have wished for nothing more. Had they searched Central +Africa from the Equator to the Zambesi, they could have found no two +people more wretched-looking and forlorn. Max was utterly exhausted, +and so faint that he could scarcely stand. As for Crouch, he might +have been mauled by a lion. + +One of the boys flung himself upon the ground, then rose to a kneeling +position, and lifted his arms as in prayer. + +"Master," he cried, "what did we tell you? We warned you of the +Fire-gods! We told you the valley was bewitched! We implored you not +to go!" + +As the boy ran on in the same strain, Crouch gathered himself together, +growing purple in the face. With his tattered garments, which +resembled ruffled feathers, he looked like an infuriated turkey-cock. +And then, without warning, he landed the boy such a kick as lifted him +bodily into the air. + +"Fire-gods be hanged!" he shouted. "These are jungle marks. If the +valley 's bewitched, it's bewitched by thorns. Look here! See for +yourselves!" So saying, he lifted his bare leg, in which the thorns +were sticking like so many pins in a pin-cushion. "I've seen the +Fire-gods," he ran on. "You blithering fools, I've taken tea with 'em. +I've doctored one with a dose of medicine, and I've played cards with +the other. And I've not done with them, yet--mind that! I'm going +back, by Christopher! and there'll be the biggest war-palaver you ever +heard of in your lives. Come, get up, and get a move on! But, first, +what are you doing here?" + +The boys answered that they had come down-stream to shoot hippopotami +for food. They said that about a mile farther down the river there was +a great grassy bank where many of these animals were to be found. +Crouch ordered them to get back into the canoe, saying that as soon as +they arrived at the island he would open a case of supplies--bully beef +and sardines, of which the Loango boys cherished the empty tins. Also, +he promised that in a day or so he would shoot a buffalo, and they +would not want for provisions. There was a certain amount of hippo +meat in the canoe, and that night Crouch and Max partook of the same +food as the boys. It was not until the afternoon of the following day +that they arrived at Date Palm Island. + +They did not expect Edward Harden for some days. He was still forcing +his way towards the Kasai by way of the portage. In the meantime, not +only were they glad enough of a rest, but this was altogether +essential. It took Crouch some days to rid himself of the thorns which +had attached themselves to his skin. He refused all medical assistance +from Max; and the wonder of it was, that the wound in his thigh was +healing rapidly under his "Bull's Eye treatment." This was wholly +incomprehensible to the young medical student, who beheld the theories +he had studied at hospital, and on which he had placed such store, +dissipated to the winds. In all probability, the fact was that Crouch +had such firm belief in his own remedy that his cure was an example of +"faith healing"; it is generally admitted in these days that "attitude +of mind" affects the health and can even bring about organic changes, +for better or for worse. At any rate, in three days he was +sufficiently recovered to set forth into the forest of rubber trees on +the right bank of the river in search of the buffalo he had promised +the boys. Max--although on this occasion he remained in camp--had by +now completely recovered his strength. + +There were few things they carried with them to the Hidden River of +which they had not duplicates at Date Palm Island. Crouch had been +able to secure a new suit of clothes, tobacco and another pipe. As for +rifles, both Edward and Crouch were experienced explorers, and knew +that if a fire-arm was lost or broken, they could not buy a new one in +the heart of Africa. They had therefore equipped themselves with a +battery of several rifles, including Remingtons, Expresses and +Winchester repeaters, besides several shot-guns and revolvers. + +On the evening of that day, when he was expecting Crouch's return at +any moment, Max walked to the northern extremity of the island. When +there, his ears caught the sound of a shot in the forest, on the left +bank of the river. + +Now, since Crouch had landed on the other side, there could be no +question as to whence came this shot; and in a few minutes Max had run +to the canoe, jumped in and paddled to the bank. There, he picked up +his rifle and fired twice into the air. + +Almost immediately his two shots were answered, and there came a second +answer--from Crouch on the northern bank. A quarter of an hour later, +Max, who had hastened forward on the line of the portage, had grasped +the hand of his uncle, who was amazed to see him. + +Crouch returned at nightfall. He had killed his buffalo, far in the +interior of the forest, and the following morning the boys set out to +cut it up. That night the three friends were seated around the +camp-fire on Date Palm Island. Edward's journey had been uneventful, +except that one of his Fan attendants had been mauled badly by a +wounded leopard. + +It was Max who related the story of all that had happened since his +uncle left Hippo Pool. The big man listened in silence; and when the +story was ended he said nothing, and never once did he look at Crouch. +He knew the captain far too well to thank him. With old friends who +have been through thick and thin together, who have stood side by side +throughout many a danger, words are at a discount--a kind of mutual +understanding exists between them that makes conversation a sheer waste +of time. Still, though Edward said nothing, Max knew well enough that +he thanked the little, wizened captain in his heart, and was conscious +of the debt he owed him. + +They remained on the island for another week, and it took them all that +time to persuade a dozen of the boys to accompany them upon the portage +in the capacity of carriers. It was only on the understanding that +they would not be asked to embark upon the dreaded river of the +"Fire-gods" that, at last, they consented to go. + +Indeed, this time, they had no intention of advancing as far as the +river. They proposed to follow the portage to Observation Creek, and +thence to strike up-stream, due south, until they found a suitable +camping-ground. Here they would establish their base, sending the boys +back to the island with orders to wait for their return. + +The Loango boys could be trusted; most of them had faithfully served +either Crouch or Edward in the past. Besides, they were a thousand +miles from their home, and dared not make the passage of the Congo by +themselves, because of the hostile tribes that, in those days, abounded +to the east of Stanley Falls. When Crouch and Edward Harden were on +the river their reputation went before them; their friends came forth +to meet them--grinning cannibals with necklaces of monkeys' teeth +suspended round their necks, and little else besides by way of +clothing--and their enemies, those who had broken their faith with +Harden or fallen foul of Crouch, deserted their villages and took to +the jungle, to let the two great white men pass, whose fame had reached +to the very heart of the continent, and who, it was said, were spoken +of even by the pigmies who lived in the dark, unknown country west of +the Lakes. + +When they set out with their carriers for Observation Creek, the three +Europeans were sanguine of success, and even the four Fans (the one who +had been injured by the leopard had been left behind on the island) +shared their expectations. The riddle of the valley was yet unsolved. +The Portuguese still guarded well his secret. In his fortress by the +river, encompassed upon every hand by the dark, inhospitable jungle, he +had every reason to think himself secure. Moreover, he had cause to +believe that both Max and Crouch were dead--the former drowned at the +cataract, the latter lost in the jungle. Half the victory is gained +when one can take one's adversary by surprise. Cæsar had lost Gyp, his +most accomplished scout. He might patrol the river, but he would find +no trace of the Englishmen from Makanda to the rapids. He might search +their old camp at Hippo Pool, where he would find, perhaps, a box of +ammunition, cooking utensils and a few days' provisions--to say nothing +of Crouch's case of glass eyes--but he would gain no clue to the fact +that his enemies had returned to the valley. + +From their base camp on Observation Creek they had decided to move +up-stream towards the mountain. They hoped to make friends with the +natives of the Pambala village that M'Wané had seen in the distance. +Thence they could approach Makanda from the east. + +Each time they traversed the portage progress was more easy. It was no +longer necessary to cut a way through the thickets with bill-hooks and +axes, and to "blaze" the trees. Besides, they were now familiar with +the road, knew where to look for water and the bitter roots of wild +manioc, or cassava--from which tapioca is manufactured--and upon which, +to a large degree, they were obliged to subsist in the jungle. Also +they no longer carried a canoe. + +In consequence, they reached the Creek in four and a half days. After +halting for an hour, they continued their journey to the south, turning +to the left from the route which led direct to Hippo Pool. They +followed the course of the stream till sunset, and then camped for the +night. Another day's march brought them to an open place by the side +of the Creek, where the ground was too rocky for vegetation to +flourish. They had been conscious throughout the day's journey of +going up-hill, and this was doubtless the foot of one of the spurs of +the mountain they wished to gain. It was here they decided to camp. + +They pitched their tent, and gathered a supply of firewood in the +forest. The water of the stream was clear and good to drink. They +were much pestered by insects of all descriptions, but this is +inevitable in the heart of an equatorial forest, and not even the smoke +of Crouch's tobacco served to keep away the millions of flies, +mosquitoes and ants, to say nothing of less disagreeable companions, +such as the most gorgeous butterflies and gigantic dragon-flies and +moths. + +The following day the Loango boys departed upon their return journey to +the Kasai. As had been the case before, they showed great eagerness to +return. It seems that they could not rid their minds of the tales they +had heard of the Fire-gods, and neither Crouch nor Edward could +persuade them that the valley was not haunted by evil spirits. + +During the days that followed the party suffered from want of meat. +They had deemed it advisable not to shoot. Though they were still some +distance from Makanda, there was always a chance that Cæsar and his +Arabs were somewhere abroad in the forest, and they did not wish the +man to suspect that they had returned. In the forest they found +nothing to eat but manioc, and a continual diet of the tubers of this +peculiar plant is somewhat monotonous and is apt to set up a kind of +blood poisoning, to which some people are more liable than others. +Edward, whose large carcass required a considerable amount of +nourishment, began to suffer from some kind of bilious fever. + +After a day's rest they set out upon their southward journey. Day by +day as they progressed, the nature of the vegetation changed. The +forest trees became thinner and not so large. The atmosphere became +cooler and more rarefied. The slope grew steeper and steeper, until at +last they were confronted by a sharp, rocky bluff which enclosed the +jungle like a wall. They followed this to the left, and came presently +to a gully, a dried-up watercourse, up which it was possible to climb. +At the top they found themselves upon a hillock--one of those bare, +flat-topped eminences which are scattered throughout the whole +continent of Africa. Hence it was possible to obtain a bird's-eye view +of the country. + +To the north, as far as the eye could reach, extended the forest +through which they had passed. About twenty miles to the eastward they +could see the Kasai above Date Palm Island. To the west there was no +sign of the Hidden River, which, being narrower and flowing in a +direction almost due south to north, was hidden among the trees. To +the south a magnificent panorama was extended to their view. The +foreground fell away in a valley which, to some extent, had been given +over to cultivation; and beyond, in rugged majesty, arose Solitude +Peak. The great mountain towered into the sky, its crest wrapped in +clouds; and over the valley hung a thin blue mist, above which some +great bird of prey hung like a gnat, with outstretched wings, in the +very midst of space. + +It was Max who was the first to see the village, half-way up the +mountain slope, lying--as M'Wané had described it--like a bird's nest +in the forked branches of a tree. He pointed it out to his companions, +and then the party began to descend into the valley, one behind the +other in single file, following a track which had been made by +elephants. An elephant trail can never be mistaken; however hard the +ground, the imprints of their great feet remain, and they have a habit +of tearing branches from the trees as they pass, not so much for food, +as from pure love of destruction. + +It took them several hours to cross the valley, and then they began the +steep ascent of the mountain. Suddenly M'Wané, who was leading, came +to an abrupt standstill, and stood upon a sharp pinnacle of rock, +pointing to the east. There was something noble in his dark, savage +figure, standing upright, straight as a larch, in the midst of these +wild surroundings. A moment later he was joined by the two Hardens and +Crouch. + +There, in the distance, they could discern the broad waters of the lake +before Makanda. They could see the granite hills, which were red in +the glow of the setting sun. They could see, also, the narrow gorge in +the south, and far in the distance was a great range of undiscovered +mountains. As they looked, a sound issued from the valley, which, like +a long peal of distant thunder, rolled away to the north upon the wind, +echoing through the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" +========================== + +"The Fire-gods' thunder!" said M'Wané, in a kind of hushed whisper, +with his lips parted and his eyes staring in the direction of the +Hidden River. + +It was obvious that the man was afraid. He belonged to a wild race +that for centuries has roamed the jungle, catching fish in baskets at +the waterfalls and setting traps in the forest. Until a few days +before he had never seen a firearm in his life. He had heard tales of +white men who were traders on the Coast, but he had never associated +these with the Fire-gods who inhabited the Hidden Valley, whom he +regarded as superhuman. + +Crouch looked at Edward. "What do you make of it?" he asked. + +Harden was frowning in the direction of the valley. His fingers tugged +at the end of his moustache. He was a man of few words, as we know. + +"Dynamite," said he. + +"I think so, too," said Crouch. "I wonder what his game is!" + +In their immediate neighbourhood was a narrow stretch of grass--the +coarse, thin grass that is usually to be met with on the lower slopes +of mountains. It was at this moment that Crouch's eye became fixed in +the centre of this. He remained motionless for some seconds, and then +on a sudden grasped Edward by the arm. + +"There's a man there!" said he. "Look out!" + +Simultaneously a black form sprang out of the grass and ran up the hill +in the direction of the village. Crouch whipped round upon M'Wané and +his Fans. + +"After him!" he cried. "A reward if you catch him alive." + +The four Fans set off as fast as they could go. The race lasted no +longer than five minutes at the most. The fugitive seemed possessed of +the agility of an antelope when startled from its midday slumber; he +sprang over boulders, he dodged right and left like a snipe. But the +Fans were fleeter of foot than he; at every stride they gained upon +him, and in the end he was overtaken. + +They brought him back to Crouch--a woeful, terrified object who had not +the courage to lift his head. Crouch tried him with five languages, +but he seemed not to understand, and only gave utterance to a few +incoherent grunts. Then Crouch tried the "blood-bond," and this is not +pleasant to describe. He took a knife from his pocket, opened a vein +in his hand, and the native licked the wound. At that Crouch gave his +knife to the man, who in turn inflicted a wound upon himself, and +Crouch went through his part of the business with a heroism that Max +was bound to admire. They were now "blood-brothers," and that is a +bond which is inviolable in the region of the Congo. Crouch made the +man understand him by means of signs, in the art of which he was a +master. + +"I have one heart," said he, by which he conveyed the fact that he was +no traitor, that his word could be relied on. "I wish to speak with +the people of your village." + +The man, pointing in the direction of Makanda, wanted to know whether +Crouch and his companions were allies of the Fire-gods. + +"No," said Crouch. "We are come to make war upon the Fire-gods." + +The man but half believed that. None the less, he agreed to take them +to the village. They urged him to set forward without delay, since it +had already grown dark. + +It was past nightfall when they arrived at a narrow street of small, +rounded huts, constructed of bamboo stems and palm leaves. Despite the +fact that they came with one of the villagers, the majority of the +inhabitants fled at their approach. This wild people were timid, shy +as animals; also, as we shall see, they stood in a mortal fear of Cæsar +and his Arabs. + +As they approached the village, Crouch managed to gain the confidence +of their captive. Where natives were concerned the little sea-captain +had a way with him. The man promised that if they would wait till the +morning he would persuade his friends to attend a palaver. + +That night they had the village to themselves. The inhabitants--men, +women and children--had disappeared into the valley, where they spent +the night in fear and trembling. This is the common behaviour of many +uncivilized peoples when, for the first time in their lives, they +behold the indomitable white man. And these villagers had the greater +reason to be fearful, since they associated the explorers with the +Fire-gods. + +Fortunately, they had fled in such haste that they had left most of +their provisions in their huts. Crouch and his companions enjoyed a +change of diet. That night they dined upon the flesh of a goat, which +they resolved to pay for on the morrow, besides plantains and Indian +corn. + +They took turn and turn about to keep watch throughout the night, but +there was no alarm. At daybreak they stationed themselves upon an +eminence above the village, hoping that the inhabitants would summon up +courage to return. Below them was the cultivated ground through which +they had passed the previous evening. The greater part had been given +over to the culture of ground-nuts; but there were also small patches +of Indian corn and banana groves. The explorer who wishes to succeed +with the untutored savage must possess his soul in patience by the +hour. Crouch sat down and lit his pipe. + +Shortly before midday, several dusky figures appeared from out of the +jungle, and made their way to the plantation. There they remained in a +body, frightened to come nearer; and by the aid of his field-glass, Max +was able to make out the figure of Crouch's "blood-brother" who, +gesticulating wildly, endeavoured to persuade his friends and relations +to return. + +Seeing that this was going to be a long business, Crouch suggested that +they should walk down to the village and partake of food. Since their +hosts were unwilling to entertain them, it only remained for them to +help themselves. This they did with liberality, for they had the +appetites of lions. + +They were in the middle of their repast when they heard the sound of +running feet and a great commotion. Looking up they beheld one of the +women of the village running towards them well-nigh panic-stricken, and +filling the air with screams. This woman rushed into a hut, and came +out again with all her portable belongings. + +By then the little street was crowded with old men, women and children, +wringing their hands in desperation, and uttering such moans and +supplications as were heartrending to listen to. It was remarkable +that among the crowd there were not more than five young men at the +most; the majority were women, and of the children there were few who +were not three years of age. + +Crouch looked about him, and caught sight of his "blood-brother," who +was no less distracted than the rest. He laid hold of this fellow by +the arm, and with great difficulty managed to discover what had +happened. + +The "blood-brother" had just persuaded his relatives to return to the +village; he had explained, at last, to their satisfaction that the new +white men were not the servants of the Fire-gods, when suddenly the +Fire-gods themselves had been seen approaching up the valley. At that, +the whole population had taken to their heels. They knew not where +they were going, for it was the custom of the Fire-gods to come upon +them from both sides at once, and if they tried to escape they were +shot without mercy. The great Fire-god was there himself--the tall, +white man with the black beard--and it was he whom they feared even +more than the Arabs. + +Crouch looked at Edward. There was a twinkle in his eye. + +"There's going to be fun," said he. + +"It will come to a fight," said Edward; "and I'm not sorry for that." + +"I hope it won't," said Crouch. "There are many things we ought to +find out before we come to blows. As far as I can understand from my +worthy 'blood-brother,' Cæsar is coming here for palaver. They'll hold +palaver in the street; and if we hide in a hut we ought to overhear +what the advertisements in the newspapers call 'something to our +advantage.'" + +"I see," said Edward; "and if we're discovered, we fight." + +"Exactly," said Crouch. "That's the idea." + +It so happened that they had placed their "loads" in one of the huts +where they would not be seen by Cæsar as he entered the village. It +was all Crouch could do to explain to his "blood-brother" that they +desired to hide, that the Fire-gods must not be told of their presence +in the village. After a while, the man seemed to understand; but, +indeed, he stood in such dread of the Portuguese that it was extremely +doubtful whether he was wholly responsible for what he was saying. + +Crowded together in one of the small huts the three Englishmen and the +four Fans awaited the arrival of the Fire-gods. They were astonished +at what they beheld--the abject consternation and alarm of the +villagers, who now appeared a cowered and servile race. Never for one +moment did it seem to occur to the few men among them to take up arms, +in spite of the fact that the Pambala--to whom they were obviously +related--are a warlike and courageous people. + +The reason for their cowardice was obvious. They did not fear the +Portuguese without a cause. They had learnt to their cost that Cæsar +was a man to be dreaded. + +Crouch made a little eye-hole in the wall of the hut, whence he +obtained a good view of the street. It was through this that he caught +sight of Cæsar and de Costa, the moment they entered the village. + +It was Cæsar himself who led the way. He strolled forward, with his +rifle under his arm, and his black eyes shooting in all directions, as +if he were doing no more than taking an afternoon walk in a +neighbourhood where there was much to be observed. He was followed by +four Arabs, in robes of flowing white; and the last of these conducted +a negro, of the same tribe as the villagers, who wore an iron collar +round his neck which was made fast to a chain. The rear of the party +was brought up by de Costa, slinking forward like some mongrel cur, +fever-stricken and afraid. + +The party halted in the village street, some little distance from the +hut where the three Englishmen were hiding, but not so far away as to +make it impossible for Crouch to overhear the conversation that ensued. +The chained negro was brought forward by the Arab who had charge of +him; and it was this man who acted as interpreter. Cæsar spoke to him +in Portuguese, and he translated. Crouch made a mental note of every +word, for he had a far better knowledge of the Portuguese language than +the interpreter himself. + +"As you know," said Cæsar, "it is my custom to state my business in a +few words. I come here to give orders. I expect those orders to be +obeyed." + +He lifted his sombrero hat and mopped the perspiration from his +forehead, for the afternoon was hot, and he walked up hill. The four +Arabs stood around him--proud, arrogant, handsome men, upon whose +features were stamped an unmitigated contempt for the simple savages +who stood in awe before them. It was the headman of the village who +answered, an old man, with a short, grey beard, who wore a helmet made +of a monkey's skin, and surmounted by the green covert feathers of a +parrot. + +"The great Fire-god," said he, "has but to speak." + +"Good," said Cæsar. "You know who I am. You know my power. You know +that to disobey me is death." + +The old man bowed his head. + +"I trade in ivory," said Cæsar, "black ivory. You understand what I +mean. Now, listen to my command. I desire twenty more slaves, of your +youngest and most able-bodied men. They must be ready to return with +me to Makanda before the setting of the sun." + +At that the headman threw himself upon the ground. + +"It is impossible!" he cried. "Only last moon the great Fire-god took +away all the men of the village. No one remains but those who are old, +and women and children. The Fire-god can see for himself." + +"I do not choose to look," said Cæsar. "As I have said, it is my +business to give orders. There is sickness in my camp, and many of my +people have died, and more are dying every day. I require others to +take their places. If you have no more men, I will take women and +children. But I will require two women, or three boys over twelve and +under sixteen years of age, for every man. You can please yourself as +to which you give me. It is all the same to me." + +"It is impossible!" repeated the native. + +"Impossible or not," said the Portuguese, "I give you till sunset. If +these people are not ready then, the consequence is on your own head. +You know how I treated the villages on the other side of the mountain? +Your fate will be the same. I will attack by night; I will set fire to +every hut; and I will take every one of you to be my slaves." + +"Mercy!" cried the native. But Cæsar turned upon his heel, and led the +way from the village, followed by his Arabs, who smiled in heartless +satisfaction. + +Crouch gave time for Cæsar to be well away from the village. Then he +crawled out of the hut, and seizing his "blood-brother" by the hand, +swore that he would save them all. + +At first, he quite failed to gain their confidence. They were +convinced in their minds that the Fire-gods were greater than all men, +as the strength of the elephant exceeds that of other beasts of the +forest. + +But Crouch would not take that for answer. He commanded them to light +a fire, and they obeyed. When the flames were burning brightly he +executed a war-dance round and round the fire. His antics were +extraordinary to see. + +They may have thought him mad; but at all events he gained his object: +he drew them round him in a ring. They stood open-mouthed and +open-eyed, amazed at his contortions. They were children of the +minute. To all intents and purposes they had already forgotten the +Portuguese and his threats. + +Crouch sang, and never was there such singing. His voice was cracked +and out of tune. It was all Max could do to prevent himself exploding +into laughter. The words of Crouch's song had nothing to do with the +matter; in point of fact they were concerned with "Nuts and May." For +all that, he impressed the natives hugely. And when they had gathered +closer he took the boot from his foot, and thrust his toes into the +fire. And all the time he continued to sing of "Nuts and May," whilst +the atmosphere was tainted with the pungent smell of burning cork. + +The silence was so great that Edward Harden could hear the ticking of +his watch. The villagers stood around, breathless and amazed. Then +Crouch spoke to them; and the following was the argument he used. + +He admitted that the slave-dealer was master over fire; hence he was +called the "Fire-god." But he (Crouch) had proved to them that fire +could not affect him. Near-by a pitcher of water was standing outside +a hut, and into this he thrust his foot. There was a sizzling sound, +and steam was given off. He made the natives place their hands into +the water, to see for themselves that it was warm. He finished up by +saying that, if they would put themselves under his command, he would +show them how to face the Fire-god's anger. + +With reluctance they agreed. In the space of a few minutes it was +impossible for Crouch to efface the result of two long years of +persecution. The headman of the village, Crouch's "blood-brother," and +one or two others, came forward on behalf of their relations, their +children and their wives. Crouch turned to Harden. + +"Can we defend this place?" said he. + +Edward had already thought of that. + +"Yes," said he. "They can only advance by two paths. Elsewhere the +slope is too steep. There is an hour before sunset. If you make these +people build a wall of the small boulders which lie everywhere about, +we should be able to keep the rascals at bay." + +"I'll do my best," said Crouch. And thereupon he set to work. + +It took the natives some time to understand his meaning; but when he +had shown them what he wanted done they worked with a will, the women +carrying enormous stones, and even the little children lending aid. + +The parapet of stone grew like the walls of Rome, until, at last, it +formed a semi-circle around the village, joining the mountain-side at +either end. Then the women and children were placed under cover, and +ordered not to move. Edward posted himself at the head of the path +which led from the west, and Max on the other side of the village. At +the feet of each was a box of ammunition. As for Crouch, he hobbled +here and there on the charred stump of his foot, giving instructions up +to the last minute, when, in the dying light of day, Cæsar and his +Arabs were observed advancing up the valley. + + + + +CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA +=================== + +As before, it was Cæsar who led the way; and the stone wall warned him +that danger was ahead. He guessed the truth in a flash. He knew well +enough that the natives themselves would never have dared to offer him +resistance. + +He stopped dead upon the path, and pointed out the wall to the Arab who +accompanied him. The man shaded his eyes with the palm of his hand, +for the mists of evening were rising from the valley, and the light was +bad. After a while the Arab disappeared from view, and then returned +with his comrades. They came up the path as men stalk game, creeping +from boulder to boulder. It was impossible to see them from the +village. Flat upon the ground, they glided from place to place like +snakes. And every minute the light was getting worse. + +One man, more daring than his comrades, had gained the cover of a large +rock about two hundred yards from the village. + +His eyes were sharp as those of a vulture. He was descended from the +sons of the desert. Peering round the angle of the rock behind which +he was hiding, he caught sight of Edward Harden's helmet, moving behind +the wall. + +In a second, the butt of his rifle was at his shoulder, and his left +eye was closed. He took in a deep breath, and aimed. At that moment, +there was a sharp crack from the wall, whence nothing of the Arab was +visible but the upper part of his head. And Edward Harden's bullet +drilled a hole in the centre of the man's forehead; so that his head +just dropped like a broken toy, and he lay still and lifeless, with his +loaded rifle in his hand. Son of a warlike race, that for centuries +had oppressed the ignorant and the weak, he had gone to make his peace +with God, the Giver of Life and Death. + +Cæsar, from some distance behind, with a pair of field-glasses to his +eyes, had watched this tragedy of seconds; and he knew at once with +whom he had to reckon. He drew a whistle from his pocket, and blew a +long, shrill note, which was the signal to retreat. His three +remaining Arabs came back to him, retiring even more cautiously than +they had advanced. + +Night fell, as a curtain is rung down upon a stage. The natives of the +village, the old men and women and children, who had sat huddled and +shivering under cover of the wall, came forth and marvelled that a +Fire-god had been turned back by a single shot. Crouch's authority +increased by leaps and bounds. The villagers, like children, desired +to celebrate the occasion with inconsequent rejoicing. They set about +beating large, wooden drums, but Grouch cast these away. They lit +fires, but Crouch stamped them out. + +Only the babies were allowed to rest that night; the little sea-captain +kept the others working until long after midnight, when a new moon +arose. He improved the defences. He had all the provisions and the +water-jars carried to the hut which he had made his own headquarters, +whilst the two Hardens stood as sentries on either side of the village. + +At about two o'clock in the morning, Max, on the eastern side of the +village, heard the noise of a loosened stone rolling down the +mountain-side. That put him on his guard. And a moment after, another +stone bounded into the valley. + +At that, he sent back M'Wané to tell Crouch that some one was +approaching, and remained at his post alone. + +There is nothing more majestic in the whole range of Nature than +moonlight in the mountains. The white mists drift in the valleys; and, +here and there, the great, ragged peaks blot out the stars. Midnight +is ever silent in the higher altitudes. The slightest sound--the hoot +of an owl or the bubbling of a spring--is magnified by echo, and +carried far upon the breeze. + +Max, with his rifle at the ready, waited with his heart thumping +against his ribs. He heard a noise, quite near to him, but so faint +that he could never have heard it had not every sense been on the +alert. He saw something white, moving like a ghost in the moonlight. +Then, a loud shout was uplifted in the stillness. "Allah Akbar! +Strike for God and the Prophet!" + +Three white figures rushed in upon him from the darkness. He fired, +and one went down. And then, reversing his rifle, he used it as a +club, swinging the butt around him in a kind of mad delight. + +The two men who remained pressed him close. He saw knives flash in +their hands. And then a third figure appeared, and a revolver spat +like a cat. Cæsar himself was there. + +The Portuguese called back the two Arabs, spoke a few words which Max +was not able to hear; and then all three abreast endeavoured to rush +the wall. Max fired, but missed. He was attacked from three sides at +once, and must have been overpowered had not Crouch hastened to his +rescue. + +It was no more than a scuffle at the best. Crouch emptied his +revolver; but it was too dark to shoot straight. Max used his fist, +and sent one of the men rolling backwards; whilst Crouch flew like a +leopard at Cæsar's throat. It was all over in an instant. Cæsar and +his men drew off as suddenly and quickly as they came, taking with them +the Arab whom Max had wounded or killed. + +Crouch took out his pipe and filled it. + +"I wish I had had the luck to hit that rascal," said Max, "instead of +one of the Arabs." + +Crouch grunted as he lit his pipe. + +"When I shoot that man," said he, "I don't want it to be due to luck. +Nothing's too bad for a slave-dealer, if that's what he is--which I +doubt." + +It was then that they were joined by the Fan whom they had left with +Edward. He presented a note to Crouch, written in pencil on a leaf +torn from a note-book. + +"*How goes it?*" was all it said. + +Crouch scribbled a reply: "*He's gone to bed. But remain at your post +till daybreak.*" + +Sunrise brought their vigil to an end. No sign of the Portuguese was +to be seen; and presently news was brought to the village by a man who +had been setting traps in the forest, and who had known nothing of the +alarm. This man stated that he had seen Cæsar returning to Makanda, +followed by two Arabs, who carried the body of a third. + +The delight of the natives exceeded anything that Max Harden had ever +seen in his life. They beat their wooden drums, and sang and danced in +jubilation. They realized that, at last, after two years of +oppression, the yoke of the Fire-gods had been lifted from their +shoulders. They regarded Crouch and his companions as angels who had +dropped from the skies to deliver them from bondage. + +That evening the three Englishmen held a council of war. They +regretted that Cæsar had learnt of their return to the valley. But +that was inevitable; they had been in duty bound to help the natives. +Though the mystery of Makanda was by no means solved, they had, at +least, an inkling of the truth. The explosion they had heard in the +valley was undoubtedly the blasting of rock; and there was no question +that it was for this purpose that Cæsar required the services of +slaves. That explained why he had been unwilling for either the +Europeans or the Fans to leave the stockade. The kraal, fenced around +by high palisades, and guarded by Arab slave-drivers, contained the +slave gangs; and who can say what cruelty was perpetrated therein? The +slave trade had been abolished; but at that time, in the heart of +Africa, it still flourished in all its blackest colours, with utter +disregard for the equality of all men, who--whatever the colour of +their skin may be--are equal in the sight of God. Edward Harden was a +man in whose big heart a sense of justice burned like a living flame. +When he considered the innate cruelty of the Portuguese, who was +willing to enslave even women and little children, his wrath rose +within him and the blood flew to his face. He felt that he could not +rest until the fortress of Makanda had been taken, the slaves set free, +and Cæsar brought to his account. + +Still, Edward was no fool. He knew well enough that it would be +madness for three of them to endeavour to attack a defensive position +held by a determined man and, at least, half a dozen Arabs. It was +then that they decided to arm M'Wané and his Fans. They had with them +six rifles and a shot-gun; a great quantity of reserve ammunition had +been left at the camp on Observation Creek. Crouch and Max undertook +to teach the Fans to shoot; whilst Edward, with a party of villagers, +made his way back to the camp in the jungle, to bring up all their +supplies. + +The following morning Edward Harden set out upon his journey, and it +was a strange crowd that followed him into the forest. The majority of +them were women; but the African woman is accustomed to manual labour. +At Zanzibar, sea-going ships are coaled by great buxom wenches, who can +lift a hundredweight as though it were a trifle. With many inland +tribes, between Mombasa and the West Coast, the work in the fields is +conducted almost exclusively by women. The men pride themselves upon +being warriors, hunters of big game and setters of traps. They +consider it beneath their dignity to dig and delve and hoe the ground, +since such employment entails no personal danger. Edward, therefore, +was well contented to have women as his servants; and before he started +he bargained to pay them in beads, cloth and cowrie shells. + +Whilst he was absent, Crouch and Max became drill-sergeants for the +nonce. The Fans were first taught the mechanism of the rifle, and how +to clean it. They were then instructed in aiming drill. Though Crouch +had now a fair working knowledge of their language, for the most part +he taught them by demonstration; and they proved most promising +recruits. At last a target was set up in the valley; and rifle +practice took place daily both in the morning and the evening. + +By the time Edward returned, though the Fans were not yet marksmen, it +seemed probable that they would be ready to take the field in another +day or so. Still, both Crouch and Edward desired to run no risks. +They did not intend to operate against Makanda, until they could do so +with every chance of success. It was Edward's suggestion that they +should reconnoitre the settlement before they advanced. They desired +to discover the quickest route to the granite hills, and some position +thereon--within striking distance of Makanda--where they could +establish their headquarters. It was also necessary to find out the +strength of Cæsar's garrison. At the time of their visit, they had not +been able to ascertain how many Arabs were secreted in the kraal. De +Costa, they knew, need not be taken into account; the man was an arrant +coward. But the Arab is a foe who can never be despised; he is a good +rifle-shot, an intelligent soldier, and his religion teaches him to be +brave. + +The next question was to decide who should be sent forward as a scout; +and it was Max who was selected for the task. Edward had just returned +from the jungle; and besides, the big man was by no means so quick and +agile as his nephew. Crouch was out of the question; he had burnt so +much of his cork foot that he could only hobble and would take too long +over the journey. It was finally decided that Max should start a day +in advance of the others, taking with him provisions for three days, as +well as his rifle and revolver. + +That evening, Edward and Max climbed to the top of Solitude Peak. +During the day the crest of the mountain was invariably wrapped in +clouds, but towards evening these usually disappeared. On this +occasion, a most magnificent panorama of the surrounding country was +presented to their view. They looked down upon the whole valley of the +Hidden River, from Makanda to the mangrove swamp; and it was then that +Edward filled in the final details of his map. + +They saw that it was possible to reach Cæsar's stockade without +entering the jungle. If one followed the valley above which lay the +Pambala village, one would come, in course of time, to the granite +hills to the east of Makanda. They calculated that, if Max started at +daybreak, he would reach his destination towards the evening. + +Accordingly, soon after sunrise, Max set out, bearing with him the good +wishes of his friends. A native footpath led some distance down the +valley, but there turned into the jungle. Max struck across country, +holding his course south-west by the compass. + +He halted at midday to enjoy a meal of biscuits and sardines, washed +down by the clear water from a neighbouring brook. As he sat in +solitude, in the midst of that illimitable wilderness, he could not but +reflect upon the strangeness of his situation. Here was he, who all +his life had been accustomed to the roll of London 'buses and the cries +of newsboys in the streets, seated on a boulder, in the blazing heat of +the tropics, thousands of miles beyond the pale of civilization. + +It was whilst he was there that he beheld, for the first time in his +life--if we make exception of the animals he had seen in the Zoo--a +great rock-python which lay, coiled in the grass, not twenty paces from +him. The sight of the thing caused him to shudder. He sprang +instantly to his feet. As he did so the snake heard him, and glided +away among the rocks. In the thickest part of its body the great +reptile was about the size of a man's thigh; and it must have been over +twenty feet in length. + +Max, having no desire for such a companion, moved on in haste, keeping +the mountain to his left. For the most part, he passed through a kind +of neutral territory, where the dominion of the jungle gave way to the +barren, rock-bound slopes of Solitude Peak. The afternoon was well +advanced by the time he arrived at the granite hills. + +Here, he exercised the greatest caution. It was possible that a +sentinel had been posted on the crest-line. He accordingly advanced by +way of a donga, which led to the hill-top, and in which he could not be +seen. When he cleared the donga, a few yards from the crest, he went +down on hands and knees, and crawled from boulder to boulder. + +A few minutes later, he found himself looking down upon the settlement +of Makanda. He was immediately above the kraal, and from that altitude +he was able to see inside the enclosure. The kraal consisted of four +rows of huts. In one of these was a white figure which, even without +the aid of his glasses, he had no difficulty in recognizing as one of +the Arabs. This man, rifle in hand, entered a hut, and presently came +out with a party of six slaves, all of whom wore iron collars around +their necks, which were fastened together by a single chain. Followed +by the Arab, this party left the kraal, and turned to the left, towards +the southern extremity of the lake. + +Max directed his field-glasses upon the stockade. He could see no one +therein but Cæsar's Arab cook, who was walking leisurely from the +direction of the river with a bucket of water in either hand. + +By now the slave-driver and his party were out of sight to the south. +Max, anxious to observe whatsoever was in progress, descended from the +sky-line and ran in all haste along the ridge. He soon came to a place +whence he was able to see the course of the river, which had taken a +sudden bend to the west above the lake, where it was spanned by a rope +suspension bridge, such as is often met with in the heart of Africa. +Beyond the bridge, the sight that he witnessed held him rooted to the +spot. + +He beheld a large quarry, where about fifty natives were at work. In +charge of these were four Arabs, and Max had no difficulty in +distinguishing Cæsar and the half-caste de Costa. + +The work which was in progress was singular, by reason of the fact that +this was Equatorial Africa where, at that time, commerce, industry and +enterprise were quite unknown. A group of slaves in charge of the +Portuguese himself, was gathered together beneath the walls of the +quarry. A little distance from them was a great heap of rubbish. +Suddenly, the whole party was seen to set off running in the direction +of the river. Cæsar was the last to retire. + +There followed a tremendous explosion. A great column of dust and +smoke was thrown up into the air. And even before this had descended, +or had been carried away upon the wind, both Cæsar and the natives had +hastened back to the place, where there was now a great rent in the +living rock. There they set to work carrying baskets of débris to de +Costa, who supervised a party engaged in sifting. Now and then, +something was taken from the siftings and handed to de Costa, who +examined it, and cast it into a wheelbarrow. At intervals, this +wheelbarrow was taken to a third party at the water's edge that was +engaged in washing something in pans. + +Max was, at first, too interested and surprised at all this to take +notice of an occurrence in the nature of a tragedy which was taking +place farther up the stream. There, about a dozen natives lay +stretched at full length upon the sand at the water's edge. Some of +these lay still and motionless, as if in death; others were writhing in +agony; from time to time one would endeavour to raise himself, but +invariably fell back, drawing up his knees as if in fearful pain. + +Even at that distance, Max could not fail to recognize the symptoms of +cholera--the most severe and fatal of all diseases. At various +intervals in the history of the world, cholera has raged in Asia and +throughout the eastern parts of Europe. In the early part of the +nineteenth century a violent outbreak occurred in Bengal, which in a +short time spread throughout the length and breadth of India. Thence, +it raged eastward into China, and westward through Persia and Turkey to +Russia and Central Europe. North Africa was also afflicted, and the +valley of the Nile, whence the pestilence had evidently now crossed to +the basin of the Congo. + +No disease in the world is more deadly and virulent. It strikes down +its victims swiftly and without warning. Even as the men worked at the +quarry, Max observed one who took himself a little distance from his +fellows, and sat down upon a rock as though he were in pain. + +Cæsar followed him, and ordered the man to return. The poor fellow was +too weak to obey; and thereupon the slave-master raised his whip and +three times brought down his lash upon the naked back of the sufferer. +The man's cries for mercy carried even to the hills, and it was all Max +could do to restrain the burning indignation which kindled in his soul. + +Presently the order was given for the slaves to return to the kraal; +and the whole party set out across the bridge, driven forward by the +whip. If any man, in all God's Kingdom, had merited death by dint of +his misdeeds, it was surely this relentless Portuguese. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST +=========================== + +At sundown Max looked about him for somewhere to sleep. He soon found +a sandy patch between two great boulders, and here he took off the +haversack in which he had carried his provisions. He had filled his +water-bottle at the brook. + +After he had eaten he lay down, converting his helmet into a pillow. +He felt quite secure; he could not possibly be discovered, unless some +one actually walked over him--an event that was very unlikely to occur. +He was thoroughly tired out after the day's march; for all that, he +found himself quite unable to sleep. He could not rid his mind of the +sight he had seen that evening: the miserable slaves, dropping like +poisoned flies, struck down by the cholera which raged amongst them, +and yet goaded by the whip. And if Max's sense of pity had been +aroused, he was scarcely less curious to discover the nature of the +work that was going forward at the quarry. When, at last, he fell +asleep this thought was dominant in his mind. + +He awoke suddenly, and found the same question on his lips: why were +they blasting at the quarry? He could not have been asleep for more +than a few hours, for the moon was but newly arisen. On consulting his +watch, he found that it was only half-past twelve. + +He failed in his endeavours to go to sleep again; so he sat up, and +tried to think the matter out. He had already accomplished part of his +mission: he had discovered that Cæsar had not more than six Arabs with +whom to defend the stockade. It remained for him, on the following +morning, to see if he could find a point upon the ridge whence +rifle-fire could be opened upon Makanda. For the time being, however, +he resolved to go down into the valley under cover of darkness, to +cross the suspension bridge and examine the quarry. + +Leaving his haversack, water-bottle and rifle behind him, he armed +himself with his revolver, and set forward down the hill, making a wide +detour around the kraal. He was then devoutly thankful that Gyp had +departed from the land of the living. He found that he was obliged to +pass nearer to the settlement than he liked; and had the Great Dane +been on watch, no doubt she would have given the alarm. + +As it was, he passed in safety, and reached the river bank. He had no +difficulty in finding the suspension bridge, which he crossed on +tiptoe, as rapidly as possible. On the other side his attention was +immediately attracted by the loud groans of the sufferers who had been +left to their fate. + +It was quite beyond his power to do anything to help these men. He had +no medicines; he could not speak their language; and in the majority of +cases, the disease was so far gone as to be incurable. + +Before he left the hills, the moon had disappeared behind a bank of +clouds. During the last ten minutes, a tempest had been driving up +from the west, which now burst with all its force upon the valley of +the Hidden River. + +Africa is the land of mighty storms. The sky grew so dark that it was +impossible for Max to see one yard before him. Then, there approached +in one wild, savage gust, a roaring, raging wind that bent the great +trees of the forest like saplings and picked up the water in the lake +before Makanda in little driving waves, whilst the rain came down in +sheets. The suspension bridge swung to and fro like a kite. There +came flash upon flash of lightning which illumined the quarry, so that +the bare walls of rock were blazing like a furnace. + +The lightning lasted for seconds at a time, and at such times the scene +stood for all that was barbarous and fantastic. The dark, mysterious +river flowed upon its course through the narrow gorge where the +lightning beat upon the rocks. The electricity in the air flashed, +died out, and flashed again, like thousands of sparks in the wind. And +there, upon the white sand, writhing in torture, were the dark forms of +those who had been stricken by the pestilence. + +Max had never felt so powerless. He was in the heart of the Unknown. +Close at hand, lay those who had been stricken by a force which all the +resource of modern science had entirely failed to conquer. Overhead, +echoed and mirrored by the rocks, the typhoon rent the sky with sheets +of fire, whilst peal upon peal of thunder caused the earth to tremble. + +Yet Max was by no means disposed to forget the object of his quest. He +was determined to find out the nature of the work which was carried on +at the quarry. He hastened forward, and presently blundered into one +of the great heaps of sifted débris. + +He picked up a handful of this and examined it in the light of the +lightning. As far as he could make out, it was composed of a kind of +fine gravel, in which appeared great quantities of a green stone, known +as serpentine. + +Being unable to find out anything definite from the heaps of debris, he +resolved to examine the quarry. The wind was too great to permit him +to strike a match, even had that been prudent. He was obliged to rely +upon the lightning to guide him in his search. He availed himself of +the opportunity of a series of flashes to run to the quarry, and there +he found himself in impenetrable darkness. + +He stood waiting for the lightning to return. It seemed that the storm +was already passing. These tropical hurricanes, that often uproot the +trees of the forest, are seldom of long duration. They are too violent +to last for many minutes. + +Max was beginning to think that the storm was passed, when the sky +immediately overhead burst into a lurid glow, and almost simultaneously +a deafening peal of thunder rolled across the valley. Max leaned +forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was +seized suddenly from behind. + +As quick as thought, he whipped his revolver from its holster; and +immediately the weapon was struck from his hand. + +The lightning still continued, jumping like fire-light; and Max was +able to make out the dark eyes and the pointed beard of Cæsar. + +The Portuguese was aided by an Arab. The struggle that ensued was no +more than an affair of seconds. Max, though he fought with the +strength that comes of desperation, was overpowered from the first, and +presently he was thrown violently to the ground. There his hands were +tied fast behind his back. Cæsar was heard to laugh. + +"Get up," said he, and then ran on in his broken English: "You must +think me a fool, if I do not keep a sentry by night over the richest of +my possessions. Come, follow me." + +He led the way across the bridge, and Max had no alternative but to +obey him. The Arab, rifle in hand, brought up the rear. + +They passed around the eastern shore of the lake, walking on the crisp +sand in which their boots sank to the ankles. Max saw the kraal +wherein the man's slaves were asleep; and a few minutes afterwards they +came to the stockade. Cæsar led the way into his hut--the hut in which +Crouch and he had played cards some weeks before. He told Max to sit +down upon a chair, and placed himself on the other side of the room, +with his loaded revolver ready to his hand. + +"If you endeavour to escape," said he, "I shoot. I advise you to +remain still, and listen to what I have to say." + +Max looked about him. As far as he could see there was no method of +escape. His wrists had been bound securely. + +"In the first place," said Cæsar, "I would like to know for what reason +you have meddled in my affairs." + +"You are a slave-dealer," said Max. + +"That may, or may not, be true." + +"It is true," cried the young Englishman, his anger rising in a flood. +"I know it. The employment of slaves is a sin in the eyes of both God +and man. Justice is the duty of every one; and that is why we have +meddled--as you call it--in your affairs." + +"I have already pointed out," said Cæsar, "that the laws of +civilization do not apply to Makanda. But that is beside the mark. I +understand you are a doctor, that you have had some sort of medical +training." + +Max answered that that was so. + +"Do you understand the treatment of cholera?" + +"I know the various methods that have been tried," said Max; "but, as +you probably know, they are seldom successful." + +It was at that moment that Max heard a loud groan which issued from a +hut not far away. + +"Do you hear that?" asked Cæsar. + +Max nodded his head. + +"That is my friend, de Costa. When he returned to the stockade this +evening he was taken ill with cholera. I went to look at him an hour +ago, just before my sentry informed me that you were in the quarry. He +is dying." + +"How does that concern me?" asked Max. + +"It concerns you," answered Cæsar, "inasmuch as it concerns myself. +Your life is in my hands. I can either kill you, or place an iron +collar around your neck and yoke you to a gang of slaves. If you do +not do as I wish, I will have you shot. If you obey me, you may +continue to live--as a slave." + +"What is it you want?" asked Max. + +"I want you to do what you can to save de Costa. He is of some use to +me. Indeed, I could not do very well without him." + +"I will do what I can," said Max. + +Outside, the Arab was on guard. Cæsar lead the way to de Costa's hut; +and there, Max found the half-caste stretched upon his bed, with +features drawn and haggard, and his complexion of a ghastly purple hue. +His body was all twisted in his agony. He was too far gone to speak. + +"Now," said Cæsar, "I do not feel disposed to untie your hands; but you +will kindly look at the bottles of medicine on that shelf, and see if +you can find anything that might be of use." + +Max searched the shelf where the half-caste kept his stock of drugs, +and had no difficulty in finding the very thing he wanted, namely, +opium. He found also bismuth and nitrate of silver. He instructed +Cæsar how to mix these drugs in the ordained proportions; and the +Portuguese placed a glass containing the medicine at the sick man's +bedside. It is noteworthy that he took care not to touch the patient, +for the disease is one of the most contagious in the world. + +"Will he live, do you think?" asked Cæsar. + +"It is impossible to say," said Max. + +"You can do nothing else?" + +"Absolutely nothing. He has reached the turning point. If he does not +die in an hour or so, he will live." + +"Come," said Cæsar, "we must not risk contagion." + +Outside the hut he paused, and spoke to the Arab, who immediately left +the stockade. He then ordered Max to enter his hut, and followed with +his loaded revolver in his hand. + +"You have come to spy out my secrets," said he. "You are at liberty to +learn as much as you wish. It can make no difference to me; for I +intend that you shall never see Europe again." + +So saying, he drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and stepped to the +great, padlocked chest on the other side of the room. One by one, he +unlocked the padlocks, and then threw back the lid, and stood by, +holding the candle over the contents. + +"Here," said he, "see for yourself. Few have ever witnessed such a +sight." + +Max drew nearer, and looked down into the box. For some seconds he +stood as if spellbound, unable to move his gaze. The chest was about +three-quarters full of the most enormous Oriental rubies. + +Cæsar took one at random, and held it before the light. Garnets had +been found in Africa, and even spinels; but these were genuine rubies +of the highest quality, such as had hitherto only been discovered in +the famous mines of Ava. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED +=============================== + +When Max looked up into the face of the Portuguese the man was smiling, +so that his white teeth showed in the blackness of his beard. + +"You see," said he, "I did not come here on a wild-goose chase after +all. I first came to this river five years ago, and discovered the +rubies of Makanda. I promptly engaged the services of de Costa, who +had worked in the mines of Santa Fé in Mexico. This treasure-chest +contains the result of the labour of two years." + +"And why have you employed slaves?" asked Max. "Why did you not set to +work like an honest man?" + +"For a simple reason," answered Cæsar; "I desired the maximum of +profit. No one knows of my discovery. I intend no one to know. Paid +labour is not only expensive, but workmen would come and go at their +pleasure, and word of this would reach the Coast. That is precisely +what I desire to prevent. There would be talk of rights and royalties, +and probably international complications. At present it is not known +that rubies can be found in Africa. I cannot speak too highly of these +gems. One of these stones, weighing five carats, is worth at least +twelve times as much as a diamond of equal weight. I am prepared to +receive your congratulations." + +It was some time before Max Harden spoke. + +"Why is it," he asked, "that you tell me the secret you have kept for +years?" + +Cæsar smiled again. + +"Because," said he, "I number you among my slaves." + +It was then that Max heard the jangling of a chain without the hut. +The Arab had returned. + +Max was led forth into the moonlight. The storm was past, the water +lay inches deep upon the ground. There, shivering from fear, were five +slaves--men who had been born and bred in the Pambala village on the +mountain slope--fastened one to the other like so many dogs upon a +leash. At the end of the chain was an empty collar, which one of the +Arabs opened with a key. It closed with a snap around Max Harden's +neck, and from that moment, according to the law of the slave trade, +his soul was not his own. The Arab cracked the whip he held in his +hand, and like a team of dumb, patient animals, the gang filed from the +stockade. + +It wanted but an hour to daylight, but the misery of that hour stands +alone in the life of the young Englishman as the most terrible +experience that ever came his way. He found himself and his five +bond-companions confined in a narrow hut in which there was scarcely +air to breathe. They had to sleep upon straw mats spread upon the +floor. The long chain bound them one to another, so that if one man +moved in his sleep he disturbed the others. + +There was no sleep for Max. Even had he desired to sleep he would not +have been able to do so. The place swarmed with mosquitoes, and, after +the rain, great pools of water lay upon the floor. For all that, the +majority of the natives lay down and slept like dogs, tired out by the +day's work, and weary at heart at the implacable injustice of the world. + +At daybreak the slaves were summoned to their toil. Gang after +gang--and there were six in all--filed out of the kraal, in charge of +the Arab drivers, and crossed the river by way of the suspension bridge. + +At the quarry Max gained a more intimate knowledge of the workings of a +ruby mine than he had ever hoped to attain. He himself was set to +work, washing the dirt from the sifted rubies by the river bank. + +The slaves remained at the workings from sunrise to sunset, during +which time they received two meals. Their food consisted of manioc and +plantains. They were given no meat. The gang which was employed in +washing, to which Max was attached, worked in chains. + +These poor driven creatures took no interest in their task. They set +about their business mechanically, with never a smile upon their faces, +and though they were allowed to talk to one another, scarcely a word +was uttered. Whenever they found a ruby they expressed no +satisfaction, though it were worth a thousand times the price of their +freedom. They just handed it to Cæsar, who examined the quality of +each stone under a magnifying-glass. + +That day there were two more cases of cholera; two more of these +unfortunate creatures were freed of their bonds to throw themselves +down upon the river bank to die. + +Cæsar was utterly without pity. If a man fell ill he cursed him, and +as often as not, resorted to the whip. Max Harden felt that these +things sickened him. He had never dreamed that such barbarity could +exist in an age of enlightenment and toleration. + +That night he slept--the sleep of those who are utterly exhausted. He +was over-burdened by the sights which he had seen. The unhappy lot of +these poor sufferers was like a mountain weight upon his heart. It was +a three-day nightmare, in which Cæsar stood for all that was terrible +and pitiless. None the less Max did not despair. His courage was +maintained by hope. He knew that as long as Crouch and Edward were in +the land of the living they would not rest until the slaves had been +avenged. + +Cæsar knew now that Crouch had escaped from the jungle, and Max had +been saved as by a miracle from the rapids. But he had asked no +questions. He had gone back to his work at the quarry as if nothing +unusual had occurred. Perhaps he desired to fill his treasure-chest +without delay, and take his rubies to Europe. Perhaps he recognized +already that the game was up. + +At daybreak Max was awakened by the Arab who had charge of his gang, +and once more he was marched out to the workings. That afternoon a +strange thing occurred: de Costa appeared at the quarry. + +The Portuguese seemed genuinely glad to see the young Englishman. He +even grasped him by the hand. + +It was now that Max saw how invaluable the half-caste was to Cæsar. +The man was a ruby expert. His business was to examine the gems, one +by one, and select those of the greatest value. His place was at the +river where the washing was in progress, whereas Cæsar himself +superintended the blasting of the rock. + +De Costa drew near to Max. + +"You saved my life," said he; "I have to thank you." + +The Arab slave-driver was out of earshot, and even had he been able to +overhear them he could not have understood since they talked in English. + +"If you wish to show your gratitude," said Max, "you can help me when +the time comes." + +De Costa remained silent for a while, his weak, almost colourless eyes +staring at the water of the river. + +"Yes," said he, "you saved my life. None the less I will die if I am +not taken to the sea. The fresh air, the sea breezes--these are better +than rubies, are they not?" + +He was silent for some minutes, whilst Max continued with his work. + +"There's a ruby," said Max, selecting a small blood-red stone from the +handful of gravel he was washing. + +De Costa looked at it and then threw it into a bag which lay at his +side. + +"Yes," said he, "it is worth about five hundred pounds. But I was +about to ask you if you remember the night when you saved me from the +whip?" + +"I remember quite well," said Max. + +"Do you know why he thrashed me? I was about to tell Crouch of the +rubies and the slaves, and Cæsar guessed it, and used the whip. Then +you came in, and Gyp flew at you. I am grateful for what you did." + +De Costa sat cross-legged on the ground, with his eyes fixed upon the +river. The slaves saw nothing as they worked; long since their senses +had been numbed. Cæsar was engrossed in his business at the quarry; +the Arabs, with their loaded rifles in their hands, never moved their +eyes from the slaves. Max was the only one who looked about him. + +His eyes were fixed upon the granite hills across the river, to the +east of the gorge. The sky-line was rugged, by reason of the great +boulders that lay upon the crest. Two of these were close together, +and from that position they bore a striking resemblance to two faces in +profile--that of an old man and a woman. As Max looked, the +resemblance became more lifelike. And then something dark passed from +behind one boulder to the next. It had been visible for no longer than +an instant, but in that instant Max recognized M'Wané. + +He thought the matter out. If M'Wané was there, Crouch and Edward were +not far behind. He knew that they would see him through their glasses. +He continued with his work. It was above all necessary that Cæsar's +suspicions should not be aroused. + +In life things sometimes so happen that it is evident our fate is not +always in the hands of ourselves. There is a Divine Providence that +watches over us and is Master of the human will. Max had no sooner +decided to remain as servile and obedient as the most broken-hearted +negro in Makanda, when he was called upon to act. + +The man next him, who early in the morning had complained of feeling +ill, now lay down upon the ground and uttered a groan. The Arab +approached and told him to get up. The poor fellow was not able to do +so, and though he tried his best he fell back again, saying that he +suffered the most violent pains. + +At that, Cæsar drew near, whip in hand, and demanded to know what was +the matter. When he saw that here was another case of cholera, he flew +into a passion. He had no pity for the man. He merely regretted the +incident as a disaster, inasmuch as he had lost another workman. He +ordered the Arab to unlock the iron collar around the slave's neck, and +then he raised his whip. + +The long lash swung high into the air, and then came down upon the bare +back of the dying man. Two strokes fell, and the whip had been raised +for a third, when Max Harden flew like a wild beast at Cæsar's throat. + +So sudden was the onslaught that the Portuguese was taken by surprise. +Though Max was encumbered by the heavy chain which hung from his neck, +he had room enough in which to move. His fellow-bondsmen, unable to +believe the evidence of their eyes, ceased their work and stood +together in a crowd, their eyes dilated and their limbs trembling in +fear. + +Max paid no heed to them. He was like a mad dog on a leash that rushes +forth from its kennel and lays hold upon its victim. He took no heed +of the consequences. He neither thought what he was doing, nor asked +himself whether it were wise. He was just driven mad by the sight of +such inhuman cruelty. + +He flung Cæsar to the ground, and before the man could rise, the whip +had been wrested from his hand. Max placed a foot upon his chest, and +the lash of the whip rose and fell, cracked, made circles in the air +and fell again, until Cæsar shrieked for mercy. + +.. _`"THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CÆSAR SHRIEKED FOR MERCY"`: + +.. figure:: images/img-206.jpg + :align: center + :alt: "THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CÆSAR SHRIEKED FOR MERCY." + + "THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CÆSAR SHRIEKED FOR MERCY." + + +Never, since the Dark Continent had been traversed by Tippu Tib, and +the villages of the Upper Congo had been given over to plunder, had the +slave-driver's whip been wielded with such remorseless energy. Cæsar +groaned and writhed upon the ground, and struggled blindly to rise. +The thong cut his cheek and hands, and the cruel knots which he himself +had tied tore the coat from his back, till his cries became fainter, +and at last he lay quite still. And at that, Max cast the whip in his +teeth. + +Throughout all this every one had remained motionless, rooted to the +spot. The whole thing had been so unexpected and so sudden. Nothing +like it had ever happened before. + +De Costa stood by with chattering teeth. The very sight of Cæsar's +punishment had set the ague shaking in his bones. The slaves were +petrified by fear. They looked on in breathless silence, with their +mouths opened wide and their heavy under-lips hanging so low as to show +their white teeth and gums. As for the Arabs, even they were too +surprised to act. They had known the Portuguese for two years, and +they knew that his word was law; not one of them would have dared for a +moment to defy him. On that account they could not believe what they +saw. + +Cæsar rolled over on his face, and then struggled to his feet. He +stood for a moment swaying. Then he passed a hand across his eyes. + +After that, he shot Max such a glance as it were impossible to +describe. Therein were passion, hatred and vengeance. + +He felt in his pockets, as if he searched for something. It was his +revolver, which had fallen to the ground. Not seeing it, he staggered +to the Arab who was nearest, and held out his hand. + +"Give me that," said he in Arabic. + +The man, with the stoic indifference of all his race, handed over his +rifle, and Cæsar took it, though his hand was shaking like a leaf in +the wind. Step by step, he returned to Max. He walked like a drunken +man. There were great weals upon his face and hands, and there was +blood upon his coat. + +"You shall pay for that!" said he. + +The slaves cowered at the water's edge. They were like sheep in a +storm. As for de Costa, he stood there, impotent to help, yet willing +to do so, his hands clasped before him, and shivering from head to +foot. The Arab who had handed over his rifle was smoking a cigarette. + +"You shall pay for that!" said Cæsar. + +So saying, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and took long and +careful aim. He was not ten paces from Max. It seemed impossible he +could miss. Still, we must remember that he was unsteady on his feet, +that it was all he could do to stand. + +There was a flash--a loud report--a quick jet of fire; and Max was +struck in the chest with the cotton wad, and his face was blackened by +the powder. For all that, the bullet had sped past, to bury itself in +the bed of the Hidden River. + +Cæsar let fall an oath and then re-loaded, ejecting the cartridge case. +That done, he stepped even nearer, and lifted his rifle again. + +At that moment a double report sounded from the hills, and the +Portuguese gave a kind of gulp and then fell forward on his face, his +rifle still in his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM +====================== + +There are some men who are born to command, who imbue their followers +with confidence, who are masters of the art of managing men. + +Cæsar was one of these. He had entered the heart of Africa at the time +when the first great explorers were opening up the unknown continent, +and some small knowledge connected with the source of the Nile and the +presence of the Great Lakes was reaching the ears of Europe. + +For the most part these daring pioneers penetrated Africa either to +shoot big game or propagate the Christian Gospel, or in the cause of +science. Grant, Speke, Mason and Stanley were geographers, explorers +before all else. Livingstone was a missionary; and Cotton Oswell, +Gordon-Cumming and Sir Samuel Baker were hunters of big game. Unlike +these famous men, the Portuguese, who afterwards adopted the name of +"Cæsar," was prompted by purely selfish motives--the acquisition of +wealth. + +Like every one else, he found the interior overrun by the Arabs, who, +since time immemorial, had exploited the equatorial regions for slaves +for the Greek satraps and the Roman consuls. The abolition of the +slave trade did not affect the regions of the Upper Nile, the Great +Lakes and the Congo. Laws which men chose to make in Europe could in +no way modify or hinder what went on in the equatorial forests. Not +only in Zanzibar, but even in Cairo, there was an open slave market +where the trade continued to flourish. + +Nothing can speak so eloquently for the virility, the craft and +cunning, of the Arab as the fact that for centuries millions of savage +warriors were held in fear and trembling by a few hundreds of these +ruthless sons of the desert. In quite recent years, when Stanley made +his passage of the Congo and the Aruwimi in search of Emin Pasha, he +found Arab slave stations scattered at intervals throughout the unknown +forest, and his whole expedition must have perished had it not been for +the assistance he received from the Arab ivory hunters in the valleys +of the Upper Congo. + +In his early days the tall Portuguese had also taken care to be on +friendly terms with the Arabs. He was one who was quick to learn, and +experience taught him two things: firstly, that the Arab will do +anything for profit; and secondly, that once his word has been given he +is one of the most faithful friends in the world. + +The Arabs employed at Makanda were men whom Cæsar knew that he could +trust. Each was to have his share of the plunder when the slave camp +was broken up and the Portuguese returned to Europe. Until then he +knew they would stand by him, faithful to their promise that he could +rely upon their courage in case of emergency. + +In the panic that now took place Cæsar must have been captured had it +not been for the heroism of the Arabs. He had been taken by surprise +in open country. There was no escape by way of the quarry, and upon +the hills on the other side of the river was Edward Harden, who, in +spite of the fact that he had said that Crouch was a better shot than +himself--had the clearest eye and the steadiest hand of any man +throughout the length and breadth of Africa. + +The slaves were distracted. Those who were joined together by chains +ran to the quarry and huddled in a crowd. Those who were free to go +whither they listed ran to and fro, filling the air with their cries. +As for de Costa, he could do nothing but wring his hands and look about +him for some place of safety. + +Max, by the sheer weight of the slaves with whom he was yoked, was +dragged onward to the quarry. He tried to assure them that there was +nothing whatsoever to fear, but they were incapable of understanding a +word of what he said. + +In those brief moments it was only the prompt action of the Arabs that +saved Cæsar's life. The Portuguese had been shot in the chest. He was +unconscious for no longer than a few seconds, and then he struggled to +an elbow. + +When they saw that their master was alive two Arabs hastened towards +him and lifted him in their arms. Under a perfect hail of fire from +the six rifles on the hills they bore him to a place of safety at the +southern extremity of the lake where a long canoe was moored. They +could not cross at the bridge, since it was immediately under fire from +the granite hills. + +Then followed a race--a race for the stockade. Harden, Crouch, and the +four Fans appeared upon the crest-line, and thence came down into the +valley with a cheer. + +In the meantime, the Arabs so plied their paddles that the canoe shot +across the lake like a dart, dividing the water at the prow into two +long feathery waves. When they sprang ashore, a little above the place +where the Englishmen had landed on the day they first came to Makanda, +M'Wané, who was leading the attack, was not fifty paces distant. + +The Fan chieftain dropped upon his knees to fire, and missed. And a +moment later the door of the stockade was closed. + +M'Wané retreated no less hastily than he had come, with the bullets +flying at his heels, splashing in the sand. Halfway up the slope he +met Edward Harden striding forward, rifle in hand. + +"Too late!" he cried. "Master, why did not the white wizard teach me +to shoot like you?" + +Edward smiled, and placed a hand on M'Wané's shoulder. + +"You'll have another chance all right," said he. "They've shut +themselves up in a trap." + +By this time Crouch, who had already given up the chase, had descended +to the suspension bridge and crossed to the quarry. There the first +person he set eyes upon was de Costa. + +"Hands up!" he cried. And at the word de Costa threw up his arms +pleading for mercy. + +Crouch looked about him, and heard Max's voice calling for assistance. +And at that, of his own accord, de Costa took a bunch of keys from his +pocket and offered them to Crouch. They were the keys of the iron +collars of the slaves. + +A few seconds later every slave was free. They could not at first +realize what had happened; and then, one man, more intelligent than his +fellows, grasped the truth, and picking up the chain which had been +fastened to his neck for many months hurled it into the river. + +Max told his story in a few words. He explained how he had been +captured, and showed Crouch the rubies. + +Crouch turned to the half-caste. "Will you throw in your lot with us?" +he asked. + +"I am ready to do so," said de Costa. "I would have told you all that +night when Cæsar found you in the hut." + +"I have some reason to believe that to be true," said Crouch. "I hold +to my original promise. Stand by us to-day, and I'll take you down to +the Coast. You must see that the game's up for Cæsar." + +De Costa intimated that he was only waiting to receive orders. + +"Very well," sad the captain; "you probably have some authority over +these poor brutes of slaves. I suppose you can speak their language? +Tell them they are free. Explain to them that they owe their liberty +to us, and ask them to lend us a helping hand. Select a party of the +strongest, and take them yourself to the village on the mountain. +There you will find our ammunition and stores. Bring them here as +quickly as you can, and don't forget the medicine chest. We must lend +what help we can." + +"Where am I to find you?" asked de Costa. + +"Here," said Crouch. "There are only seven of us, and we can't spare a +man. We shall need every rifle we've got to capture the stockade." + +"I will do my best," said de Costa. + +"I trust you will," said Crouch. Then, his face lit up, and his only +eye looked the half-caste through and through. "By Christopher," said +he, "if you fail me, I'll hunt you down! All Africa won't be big +enough to hold you. I'll search the country from the Zambesi to the +desert, and I'll find you in the end." + +He said these words with his teeth clenched, and his great chin thrust +forward. The little half-caste quailed before his glance. + +It was then that there came a burst of firing from the north. Crouch +stiffened in every limb. + +"There!" he cried, "the band's begun to play." + +Max followed him for a little distance, then remembered that he had +left his rifle on the hill-top. De Costa looked about him, bewildered. +Events had happened in such swift succession that he felt that the +whole thing might prove a dream from which he would presently awaken. +Then he called the slaves together. They obeyed his word from force of +habit; and though there was nothing now to prevent them taking to the +hills, they followed him meekly into the kraal. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE +============================== + +That firing was the beginning of the siege of the stockade of Makanda, +which lasted for seven days. Edward Harden had approached too near, +and had drawn fire from the Arabs who manned the walls. The firing was +answered by the Fans, who were somewhat over-eager to try their +new-found strength. Shots were exchanged until nightfall, when the +three Englishmen gathered together to discuss their plan of campaign. + +They had every reason to believe that Cæsar himself had been put out of +action--at least for a day or so. As far as they knew, the garrison +consisted of six or seven Arabs. The two sides were therefore equal in +strength, but the advantage lay with the defenders, who were strongly +entrenched, whereas the attackers had no cover nearer than the hills. + +They knew that the stockade was well provisioned, and it would take +months for the garrison to be starved into submission. Their only +chance was to take the stockade by assault, and this would be by no +means easy to do. + +They could not hope to succeed by day: a surprise would be out of the +question. They would have to advance across the sandy plain that +enclosed the shores of the lake, and they would be shot down, one after +the other, from the loop-holes in the stockade. Their only chance was +to assault the place by night. + +That evening they could do nothing. Crouch and the four Fans remained +to keep a watchful eye on the garrison, while Max and his uncle betook +themselves to the kraal, to render what aid they could to the cholera +patients. + +A few hours before daybreak de Costa set out for the mountain, with +strict injunctions to return as quickly as possible. It had taken a +whole night for the slaves to realize that they had gained their +freedom, and then, out of the gratitude in their hearts, they readily +volunteered to act as carriers to the white men whenever their services +should be required. + +For three days no assault was delivered. The Englishmen and the Fans +confined their energies by day to desultory shooting from the +crest-line of the hills. By night they closed in upon the stockade, to +see that Cæsar made no attempt to escape. Throughout these days most +of Max's time was taken up in fighting a far more formidable foe than a +handful of Arabs and a wounded Portuguese. With the aid of the few +disinfectants and medicines which Edward had brought from the Pambala +village, he did his best to stamp the cholera out. Those who had died +were buried, and their clothing burnt. The remaining slaves, who had +not followed de Costa, were removed from the kraal and taken to a place +in the hills, where they were told to wait the issue of the siege. A +few deserted to their homes, for they were ignorant people, and had +learnt by bitter experience not to trust the white man. However, the +majority stayed at Makanda, conscious of the debt they owed to the two +Hardens and to Crouch. + +It was on the third night that Max decided to burn the kraal to the +ground. Great flames rose high into the air and illumined the crater +through which the Hidden River flowed swiftly on its course. + +As the kraal burned the slaves upon the hill-top danced and sang. They +beheld in the spreading fire the burning of their bondage. To them the +red glow that filled the valley and made the barren slopes of the +granite hills stand forth in the night like peaks in fairyland, was the +dawn of happier days. And Max, too, was light of heart. He believed +that that fire would stamp out the pestilence once and for all. + +Early in the afternoon on the following day de Costa arrived from the +mountain. He had remained faithful to his promise. Only three slaves +had deserted on the march, and the others were told to join the refugee +camp which had sprung up upon the hill. De Costa was to remain in +charge of the liberated slaves. The majority were Pambalas from the +district, but several had been brought from so far away that they knew +not how to find their way back to their homes. + +That night Crouch and Edward decided to attack. They had now a large +supply of ammunition, and Max, who had finished his duties as doctor, +was free to take his place in the ranks. + +Max and M'Wané approached the stockade along the river bank from the +south, Crouch and another Fan from the north, whereas Edward and the +two others descended from the hills. + +There was no moon when they crept upon the garrison from three sides at +once, moving cautiously forward on hands and knees through the sand. +When about fifty paces distant, each party lay still and listened for +the signal to assault. This was to come from Crouch, who could imitate +to the life the jackal's howl. + +Max and M'Wané, lying close as hares, waited for the signal to come. +They could hear the wild beasts in the jungle, and now and again a +faint, piercing cry, as some animal was seized in the strong jaws of a +leopard or a lion. The great cats were hunting like the white men who +surrounded the stockade. + +Then the long-drawn howl of a jackal was lifted in the night, and at +that those seven men sprang to their feet and rushed upon the defence. + +The Arabs had been warned. On the instant fire flashed from the +loop-holes. The night was alive with the whistling of bullets, which +dived into the water of the river or flew into the forest to send +little leaves fluttering to the ground, or buried themselves in the +trunks of gigantic trees. + +On the east Edward was driven back. Before he reached the ditch one of +his men had been wounded, and there he found it would be certain death +to endeavour to scale the stockade. + +Max and Crouch on the other side were more successful. It was the +former who was the first to reach the gate, and endeavour to force it +open. The man who was there on guard put his shoulder to the business, +and for a few seconds a struggle took place the issue of which was +doubtful. + +At one time Max had the door ajar, but the man or men on the other side +forced it back inch by inch until it was nearly closed. It was then +that M'Wané came to Max's assistance; and immediately after, the +opening in the door grew wider by degrees. + +Had this affair been fought to a finish, it is beyond question that Max +and M'Wané would have gained the fort, but it was at this moment that +the unexpected occurred. A rapid burst of firing came from the river, +from the northern extremity of the lake. A stream of bullets flew +past, and many splintered the woodwork of the gate which had been the +bone of contention from the first. + +To be attacked by night unexpectedly from the rear is an ordeal which +the finest trained soldiers in the world find it difficult to stand. +It was too much for the Fans. Even M'Wané, who was as brave a savage +as any who ever roamed the grassland west of the Lakes, turned on his +heels and bolted. + +Max turned round, and on the instant the gate of the stockade was +closed. He had no alternative but to retire, and even that much had to +be accomplished between two withering fires. Five minutes later there +was silence in the valley. The assault had been repulsed. + +It seemed, indeed, as if this river would hold its mysteries to the +end. They had heard weird legends of the Fire-gods from savage lips, +dressed up in all the blandishments of fancy. They had thought the +problem solved in the slave gangs and ruby mine, but here was another +mystery unsolved. + +While Max was engaged in his struggle at the gate, the sharp eye of +Captain Crouch had seen a long canoe glide out from the darkness where +the river penetrated the jungle. Before he had had time to give +warning of its approach, the occupants of the canoe had opened fire. +When he was asked to explain it, Crouch could not do so. They knew the +course of the river from the Makanda to the rapids. The canoe could be +nothing but a phantom. At daybreak no sign of it was to be seen. + +At first their suspicions rested upon the unfortunate de Costa. But +they discovered from the natives that that night the half-caste had not +left the refugee camp; indeed, he had actually been seen asleep whilst +the assault was in progress. The natives had nothing to gain by +defending a man who so recently had been one of their tyrants; and +besides, it was not in the nature of de Costa's disposition to conduct +a daring attack at dead of night. + +Throughout that day they kept a watchful eye upon the stockade. +Everything appeared as usual. They could see the white-robed Arabs +moving about between the huts, and they subjected these to long-range +rifle-fire from the hills. Cæsar's yellow flag still floated on the +wind from the flagstaff before his hut. + +The three Englishmen went about their business--cleaning their rifles, +cooking, or attending to the wounded Fan--sullenly, as if ill-pleased +with the world in general, speaking only when spoken to, and then in +monosyllables. + +The truth was not one of them liked to own that they had been worsted. +Their attack had proved unsuccessful. That in itself was sufficiently +annoying; but, what made matters worse, was the fact that they could +not explain how the catastrophe had come about. + +An hour before sundown they sat in silence at their evening meal. They +were obliged to feed thus early, because it was necessary that at +nightfall they should take their places around the stockade to prevent +the Arabs breaking out in the night. The little sleep they got in +those days they were obliged to take by day, when it sufficed for one +of their number to watch the enemy's movements in the stockade. + +Suddenly Crouch drove the knife with which he had been eating into the +earth. + +"I can't make it out!" he cried. "I'll give credit where it's due; the +man 's clever as a monkey. What do you say?" he broke out in a +different tone of voice. "Shall we attack again to-night?" + +"Yes," said Edward; "certainly." + +That was the way in which the mind of the big man worked. He thought +in monosyllables. He was not like Crouch, who had a thousand reasons +for everything, who was always eager to explain. With Edward Harden it +was either Yes or No, and generally the former. + +"Look here," said Max, "I propose we go about it in another manner. +Last time I undertook to reconnoitre the enemy's position I made a fool +of myself, and was captured." + +"You did very well," said Edward. + +"I don't think so," said his nephew. "At any rate, with your +permission, I should like to try again. I suggest that we surround the +stockade as we did last night, but that I am allowed to go forward +alone. After all, I'm the youngest and most active of the party, if we +exclude M'Wané and his friends. I believe I can creep up to the wall +without being heard. I am sure I can vault the stockade. As soon as I +am inside I will fire at the first man I see, and when you hear that +shot you must endeavour to rush the gate." + +Crouch knocked out his pipe on the heel of his boot. + +"Bravo," said he. "There's no question you should meet with success. +If you get into the fort--as you think you can--you'll take their +attention from the gate, and we ought to join you in a few seconds even +if the canoe appears on the river. Still, it's a big risk you're +taking; I suppose you're aware of that?" + +"Quite," answered Max. + +Thus was the matter settled; and soon afterwards darkness descended, +and day turned to night in the course of a few minutes, for there is no +twilight on the Line. + +They took their places in silence under cover of the darkness, and then +waited in patience and suspense. They had agreed upon midnight as the +hour. + +Max, lying upon his face in the sand which still retained much of the +warmth of the day, followed the hands of his watch, which he was just +able to see in the starlight. Never had he known time pass more +slowly. Even the second-hand seemed to crawl, and he was certain that +the minute-hand never moved the thousandth part of an inch. And yet, +at last the hour arrived. He knew that on the other side of the +stockade both Crouch and his uncle were ready to advance. Rising +softly to his feet he put his watch in his pocket. + +On hands and knees he crawled forward to the ditch. He had decided not +to encumber himself with a rifle. His revolver was loaded in his +holster. He reached the ditch in safety, and there paused to listen. +There was no sound within the fort. The night was still as the grave. + +Summoning his courage he rose once more to his feet, and laid hold with +both hands upon the sharpened points of the stakes which formed the +enclosure. Then, taking in a deep breath, he sprang, swinging himself +on high, and landed on his feet on the other side. + +A second later he stood with his revolver in his hand, glancing in all +directions, ready to fire at sight. It was then that he stood in +momentary expectation of a swift and sudden death. However, no shot +was fired. + +Seeing that he had entered the stockade and was yet undiscovered, he +hastened into the shade of the nearest hut, and there knelt down and +waited. + +For five minutes he never moved, and during that time he heard no one +either on the banquette or among the huts. Then he thought of Crouch +and his uncle. He imagined the suspense which they endured. He +realized that they must believe he had died in silence under the knife. +Presently, whether he fired or not, he knew that they would attempt to +rush the gate. + +It was, therefore, no longer necessary to remain undiscovered. It +would aid their purpose better if some one saw him and he fired. His +object was to create an alarm, to draw the attention of the garrison to +himself, whilst Crouch and Edward, followed by the Fans, bore down upon +the gate. + +He stepped out from his hiding-place, and walked down the line of huts +until he came to that which was Cæsar's. He looked in. It was +deserted, though a candle burned low upon the table. + +At that he placed a finger round the trigger of his revolver, and fired +three shots in rapid succession into the ground. Then, standing in the +doorway of the hut, he listened. + +Absolute silence reigned. The truth burst upon him as in a flash: the +stockade had been abandoned. And at that moment there was a great +crashing sound as the gate swung back upon its hinges, and Crouch and +Harden burst into the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE +=========================== + +Edward Harden, rifle in hand, led the way, followed by Crouch and the +four Fans. As they entered the stockade, expecting to be attacked from +all sides in the darkness, they opened out in accordance with a +pre-arranged plan. Crouch turned to the left and Edward to the right; +and then, taking post on the banquette, they stood ready to fire. + +For a few seconds there was absolute silence. The situation was so +unlooked for that they could not, at first, realize what had happened. +Then Crouch's voice was lifted in the night. + +"By Christopher, the rats are gone!" + +Max, guided by the sound of these words, found the sea-captain in the +darkness, and confirmed his suspicions. He said that he had been +several minutes within the stockade, and had neither seen nor heard a +living soul. + +It seemed as if the valley of the Hidden River would maintain its +reputation to the last. There was no end to mystery. Time and again +were they confronted with facts that they were wholly unable to explain. + +It was M'Wané who found a lantern in the hut which had formerly been +occupied by de Costa; and with the help of this they searched the huts, +one after the other, in the hope of being able to discover Cæsar's line +of retreat. + +It was not possible that the Portuguese and his Arab attendants had +left the stockade by way of the gate. By day, the garrison had been +under the constant observation of their sentinel on the hills. Every +night, as soon as it was sufficiently dark to permit them to approach, +the stockade had been surrounded. They found nothing suspicious in any +one of the huts, until they came to Cæsar's, before which the yellow +flag still unfurled itself upon the wind. Here they discovered that +the ruby chest had gone. + +Now, it would require four men, at least, to carry this heavy chest to +the water's edge, and even then, the task could not have been +accomplished without noise. It was impossible to believe that the +garrison had passed through the little investing force by dead of +night. And yet, as far as they could see, there was no other means of +escape. Cæsar and his slave-drivers had vanished as suddenly and +unaccountably as if they had been spirited away. + +They separated and searched the stockade from end to end. It was +M'Wané who gained the first clue, who came running breathlessly to +Crouch. + +"Master," he cried, "the wood-stack has been moved." + +Within the stockade they had noticed on their arrival a great quantity +of firewood, which had been cut in the adjacent forest. On approaching +this, Crouch saw at once that the wood-stack had been pulled down as if +in haste. Calling out to Edward to bring the lantern, he awaited +further developments. No sooner had Harden arrived than the mystery +was solved. + +Leading downward into the ground was a broad flight of steps. A kind +of tunnel had been formed under the sand, about four feet wide and six +feet high, revetted by wooden beams. So all the time Cæsar had been at +liberty to escape, whenever he felt that he was sufficiently recovered +of his wound to undertake the journey. + +When Cæsar had constructed his stockade in the heart of the wilderness, +he had been prepared for all eventualities and had neglected nothing. +He had unlimited labour at his disposal. Knowing the nature of his +business, and the hatred with which he was likely to be regarded by the +neighbouring tribes, he had thought it likely that, at some future +date, he might be called upon to undergo a siege. That siege might +last for several months, by which time his provisions would be +exhausted and he obliged to retreat. As far as they were able to +discover, the subterranean passage had been made during the absence of +de Costa on a two-months' journey to the Coast, in order to procure +fresh supplies of dynamite. From the fact that the half-caste knew +nothing whatsoever of the passage, it seems likely that the Portuguese +had all along intended to desert his companion at the eleventh hour. + +Without a word, Edward Harden descended the steps, holding the lantern +on high to guide his friends who followed. The passage lay in a +bee-line throughout the whole of its length. It was about three +hundred yards long, and whilst it ran through the sandy sub-soil in the +crater of Makanda, both its walls and roof consisted of solid logs. +For the last hundred yards it pierced the living rock, and at last came +forth in the impenetrable darkness of the forest. + +By the aid of the lantern they were able to discover a path which led +to the left, and after a few minutes' walking, this brought them to the +river bank. Here, in the soft mud, was the indentation of the bows of +a canoe. Moreover, the place was so screened by trees and tall reeds +that no one, passing either up or down the river, would suspect for a +moment that here was a mooring-place. It was here that the "phantom +canoe" had lain, to be brought upstream by two or three of the Arabs +from the stockade on the night of the attack. + +No sooner did Crouch observe this evidence of the means Cæsar had taken +to escape, than he shook his fist in the air. + +"He's gone down-stream," he cried. "But, I'll follow him, if he leads +me a ten-years' journey through the wilderness. I'll overtake that +man, and I'll kill him. I swear it. I swear that I'll never set eyes +upon the shores of England again, until I know that he is dead." + +And that was the oath of Captain Crouch, which--when we have got to the +end of the story--will prove to us that oaths are very futile after +all. The strength of man is limited; in face of the wonders of the +universe, his knowledge is indeed small. He may be strong and brave +and unswerving of his purpose; but, after all, where men teem in +cities, no less than in the heart of the illimitable and mighty forest, +there is a greater Power than anything that is human--the all-pervading +Spirit of the Universe, before whom the foolish vows of men are of +infinitesimal account. + +Crouch had flown too often in the face of Providence not to be aware of +that; but, just then, he was well-nigh mad with wrath and restless with +excitement. Snatching the lantern from Edward's hand he raced along +the passage, until they found themselves again within the stockade. + +Still, the captain never paused. He passed through the gate, and +thence ascended the hills. They found the slave-camp absolutely +silent. On every hand the unhappy negroes lay stretched upon the +ground, and there in the middle of them was de Costa, nature striving +to maintain the spark of life within that fever-stricken body, by means +of healthful slumber. On the eastern horizon, beyond the unknown hills +which they had seen from Solitude Peak, the dawn was rising in a flood. + +With scant ceremony Crouch awakened first de Costa, then every one of +the slaves. Through the medium of the half-caste he spoke to the +natives as follows-- + +"We found you slaves, we have made you freemen. Are you grateful for +what we have done?" + +A murmur arose from the crowd. They said that they were mindful of +what they owed to the white wizard and his brave companions. + +"Then," said Crouch, "you can help us. We are going down-river. We +must start at once. We must take all our baggage, our stores and +ammunition. There are six canoes at the kraal, and these will be +sufficient. But we will need porters to make the journey through the +jungle to the Kasai. If you come with us, to carry our loads and +canoes, we will pay you in cowrie shells and beads, brass rods and +cloth." + +To a man they volunteered, and not five minutes later a caravan of +fifty carriers, protected by seven rifles, descended to the lake before +Makanda. + +In less than an hour the canoes were loaded, and then the expedition +shot down the stream, the canoes following one behind the other in +single file. Crouch led the way, his quick eye sweeping either bank in +search of the place where Cæsar had embarked. Max, in the last canoe +brought up the rear. + +As the canoes gained the point where the sandy plain around the +settlement gave place to the density of the jungle, all turned and +looked back upon Makanda. To the slaves, many of whom had worked for +two years under the whip, without hope of ultimate salvation, it was as +if they looked their last upon their prison doors. As for the +Englishmen, they remembered that grey, steaming morning when they had +first come within sight of the stockade, when Cæsar had fired at them +from the water. + +All that had happened in the weeks that followed was like some strange, +swift-moving dream. + +It was midday when they reached their old camp at Hippo Pool, and +Harden and Crouch disembarked, to see if they could find traces of +Cæsar's escape on the line of their former portage. + +They met with instant success. Some one had passed within the course +of the last few hours. + +In consequence, the loads were disembarked. Three canoes were sunk, +and the remaining three lifted high and dry upon the bank. It was +whilst this work was in progress that Crouch, to his infinite delight, +discovered his case of glass eyes, which he had left in camp on the +morning of their adventure at Leopard Marsh. + +They were obliged to halt for a few hours for food. They had brought +with them a week's rations for their men: plantain flour, soaked manioc +and ears of corn. It was two o'clock when the caravan began to move +through the jungle towards the Kasai. They eventually reached one of +their old camps by Observation Pool. Their progress was necessarily +slow. The slaves were in no fit condition to do a forced march through +the jungle; and that night it was decided that Edward and Max and the +Fans should push on ahead, in an endeavour to overtake the fugitives, +and failing that to bring back the Loango boys to help. Crouch was to +follow with the caravan with what dispatch he could. + +In two days, the advanced party reached the place where the creek +turned to the south. Cæsar's tracks still followed the old route +direct to Date Palm Island. + +On the fifth day of their journey from Hippo Pool, they came upon a +place where Cæsar had turned to the north. Edward was an experienced +tracker, but it did not require the eye of an expert to see that human +beings had turned from the portage and followed an elephant track to +the Kasai. For a moment, Harden was undecided how to act. If he +continued on his way to Date Palm Island, some days might be wasted +before he again picked up the trail. In the end he decided to send Max +and the three Fans to the north, and go himself with M'Wané to the +Island. There he would load up the canoe, send half the boys +down-stream on the look-out for Max, and bring the others back to the +portage to assist the slaves. + +The following morning he shook hands with his nephew, and continued on +the old route with which he was now familiar. He had not gone far, +however, before he noticed bloodstains on the leaves of the +undergrowth; and presently, to his utmost surprise, he came across one +of the Loango boys wounded by a bullet in the leg, and crawling +painfully on hands and knees towards the river. + +This boy said that he had been hunting in the jungle--for they were +short of food on the Island--when he had come across a caravan +consisting of six Arabs and a white man. They were carrying a canoe +half-filled with supplies, and a great box which appeared to be +excessively heavy. The white man who led the way, seemed to be very +weak, for he staggered as he walked. Indeed, it is impossible to +imagine the hardships that the tall Portuguese underwent upon that last +and fateful journey. So anxious was he to save his rubies, to gain the +sea-coast in safety, that he had not brought with him sufficient +supplies. In consequence, he and his men were starving and, as we +shall see, they had an even more deadly foe to reckon with. + +M'Wané, picking up the wounded boy in his arms, carried him like a baby +throughout the rest of the journey to Date Palm Island. There the +man's wound was attended to, and he was placed in a canoe which was +ready loaded two hours after Edward had reached the river. + +Once more Harden set forth upon his old track, leaving instructions +that the canoe was to drop down-stream on the afternoon of the +following day. The Loango boys from the Island, though they had +complained of being short of food, were in fine condition; and the +party came up with Crouch at the end of the second day. Thence they +made better headway and, following Cæsar's trail, arrived eventually at +the river, where they found not only Max and the Fans, but the party +from the Island. + +And now followed a race down the river after the slave-drivers and +their chest of rubies. The three canoes which had been carried from +the Hidden River, were embarked on the Kasai. The slaves who had acted +as porters on the journey were given the option of finding their own +way back to their villages or going down to the Congo in the canoes. +There was never the slightest doubt that the majority would choose the +former course. Half their number had come from the Pambala village on +the slopes of Solitude Peak, and a score from other villages farther to +the south-west. In all there were only five who desired to journey to +the Congo, and these were men whom Cæsar had captured in the land of +the Bakutu. + +The current of the river was so swift that the four canoes shot +down-stream at a great velocity with little help from the paddles. On +the upper reaches of the great river, rapids and waterfalls were +frequent, and at such times it was necessary to carry the canoe to +unbroken water. At each portage they found traces of Cæsar and his +Arabs. Once the camp-fire of the Portuguese was still alight, and soon +after that, on rounding a point, they came in sight of a canoe. + +They thought at first that they had overtaken Cæsar, but they were +doomed to be disappointed. With the aid of their fieldglasses they +ascertained that the canoe was coming towards them, working slowly +up-stream against the force of the current. + +They were still more surprised when they recognised, seated in the +stern of this canoe, the white solar topee and the black coat of a +European. A few minutes later Crouch was within hail. + +"Who are you?" he asked, with both hands to his mouth. + +And the answer came back in the accent of Aberdeen: "James Mayhew, of +the Scottish Missionary Society." + +That, indeed, was so. This man alone, attended only by a few native +servants, was forcing his way in the absolute Unknown, in order to +bring the enlightenment of Christian knowledge into the depths of an +endless forest, inhabited by cannibals and dwarfs. They had time only +to congratulate the missionary upon his courage, and to wish him every +success. Crouch gave Mr. Mayhew directions as to how to reach the +Hidden Valley, and told him that, if he found his way to Solitude Peak +and said that he had come from the "White Wizard," he would find many +converts among the liberated slaves and the people of the village. + +On being asked whether he had seen the Portuguese and his Arabs on the +river, the Missionary answered that he had passed them not an hour ago. +The Arabs had been paddling furiously, as if their lives depended upon +their reaching the Congo with as little delay as possible. As for the +Portuguese, he had been lying as if sick, in the body of the canoe, +with his head propped against a great ironbound chest. + +Crouch waited to hear no more. Waving his hand to the Missionary, he +gave orders for the journey to continue. + +That evening, they expected to arrive at Cæsar's camp, but by midnight +they had come to the conclusion that the man was resolved to push on +without halting for food. + +It was now that M'Wané and his four companions--the three that had gone +to Solitude Peak and the one who had been left at the Island--asked to +be put ashore. They said they were not far from their own people, and +were desirous of returning home. For all that, they were extremely +sorry to leave their masters, the great white men who had overcome the +Fire-gods. + +When they left, there was much hand-shaking. Each man was presented +with a rifle and several rounds of ammunition, in addition to that they +received enough beads, brass rods, and cloth, to gladden the hearts of +any savage who ever roamed the equatorial forests. + +Throughout the night the canoes paddled to the north-west. All this +time de Costa lay in the body of a canoe, groaning with ague and +shivering from fever. It is a strange thing that in the close and +humid atmosphere of the forest there is little malaria or malarial +typhoid, which cause such havoc among the white men on the great rivers +of the Congo Basin. For it is above the surface of the water that the +mosquitoes swarm, which breed these fell diseases. + +At daybreak they sighted Cæsar. They saw his canoe for no longer than +an instant as it rounded a bend in the river. The natives plied their +paddles with a will, and Crouch, in the vanguard of the pursuit held +his rifle ready to fire. + +All day long, beneath the blazing tropic sun, with the insects droning +in their ears and the yellow seething water rushing onward to the sea, +this strange race continued. + +Three times did they catch sight of the fugitives; once in the morning, +once at mid-day, and the last time when the afternoon was drawing to a +close. + +By then they were not five hundred yards in the rear. It seemed +probable that the Portuguese would be overtaken before night. +Throughout that day native settlements on either bank of the river had +been frequent. They were but two hundred miles above the point where +the Kasai joins the Congo, to the north of Stanley Pool. + +At last they entered a broad reach, where the river was straight as a +Roman road. On either side the jungle rose to the height of about two +hundred feet--a tangled mass of vegetation, of creepers, vines, +convolvuli, so densely interwoven as to give the effect of endless +walls. Far in the distance, at the end of this long reach, they could +see an island standing in mid-stream, as if it floated on the surface +of the river. + +Resolved to overtake the man before darkness set in and assisted his +escape, they urged the canoes forward, until Cæsar recognised himself +for lost. Two shots from Crouch, and Cæsar's canoe drew in to the bank +of the island. + +As they approached they saw the Portuguese lifted out of his canoe in +the arms of his faithful Arabs, and deposited on the bank. Then the +Arabs, taking their rifles in their hands, opened fire on their +pursuers. + +They realized at once that resistance would be hopeless. The Loango +boys, after many weeks of inactivity on Date Palm Island, were spoiling +for a fight. Not all of them were armed with rifles, but the odds were +two to one against the Arabs, who knew that they could always trust the +white men to show mercy. No sooner had the Englishmen set foot upon +the island than they delivered up their arms. + +Had Crouch shot them on the spot these men, who for two years had been +scourging slaves with their whips, had got no more than they deserved. +As it was, their weapons were not given back to them, and they were +turned adrift upon the great river, with a week's provisions, to find +their way back as best they might to some settlement of their own kith +and kin. + +And then the Englishmen were able to give their attention to Cæsar. +The tall man lay upon the ground, rigid as in death. The whole party +gathered around him, with the exception of de Costa, who was himself +too ill to land upon the island. + +Cæsar's complexion was a dull, slaty-blue. His face was drawn and +haggard, his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets. As Max pushed his +way through the inquisitive Loango boys, who stood gaping at the dying +man, Cæsar struggled to a sitting position, and supporting his back +against a tree, looked savagely about him. + +"Stand back!" cried Max. "It's cholera!" + +It was then he realized the truth. Cæsar had thrashed one of his +slaves for no greater crime than having contracted the pestilence that +was ravaging his camp. Max had snatched the whip from the man's hand +and brought down upon his face and hands and back the cruel thong, +whose very touch was contagion. And thus was the vengeance of God, +upon one who had done evil all his days, taken from the hands of +Captain Crouch. + +Max was actually on his way back to his canoe to procure his medicine +chest when the man looked about him, rolled his eyes to the heavens, as +if he who had shown so little of mercy to others thought to find it +there. Then he fell back with a groan, and lay cramped and twisted in +the agony of his death. + +That night, they buried him upon the island. They filled ammunition +boxes with the rubies, and burnt the chest against which Cæsar had +rested his head. And then, they left him in the starlight, in the +midst of the great stillness of the lonely river, to make his peace +with God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'" +===================================== + +The green baize doors are just the same as ever; and in the inner +smoking room is Edward Harden, as large and clumsy-looking as on the +morning when we met him first at the top of St. James's Street, except +that, perhaps, he is more sun-burnt and somewhat haggard. + +It is winter; the London fog is without, and a great fire is roaring in +the grate. And before that fire is seated a young gentleman who now, +for the first time, is enjoying the privileges of a member. + +Edward rose to his feet, and looked at the clock. + +"It's six," said he. "Crouch ought to be here." + +Max Harden consulted his watch, as if to verify the evidence of the +tall grandfather's clock which proclaimed the hour between the masks of +a snow-leopard and a panther. + +"He said he would be back at five," said he to his uncle. "I suppose +we'd better wait." + +At that moment, one of the green baize doors swung open, and Captain +Crouch limped into the room. He was now dressed in what he deemed the +garb of civilization: that is to say, a navy blue pilot-coat, with +brass buttons, and a red tie that might have served to guide him in the +fog. They had the smoking-room to themselves. + +"It's all right," said Crouch, "I've fixed it up. Lewis and Sharp paid +over the money this afternoon, and I gave them a receipt." + +"How much did they fetch?" asked Max. + +"Three hundred and eighty thousand pounds." + +Max whistled, but said nothing. For some minutes, the three explorers +sat gazing into the fire. Not another word was spoken until Frankfort +Williams burst into the room. + +Williams had no sympathy with those who roamed the equatorial forests. +His own heart was set upon the ice-floes of the Arctic. + +"Look here," he cried, "what's this I hear about you fellows presenting +a million pounds to some Missionary Society?" + +"Who told you that?" said Crouch. + +"Why, I heard it just now from Du Cane." + +"News travels quickly," said Crouch. "But, a million is rather an +exaggeration Three hundred and eighty thousand is the sum." + +"And it all goes to a Missionary Society!" + +"Yes," said Max, "you didn't expect us to keep it, did you? It was +slave-trade money. We wouldn't touch a penny of it. Why, it would +burn holes in our pockets." + +"You see," said Edward, taking his pipe from his mouth, "a chap called +Mayhew--nice sort of fellow from what we saw of him--has gone up into +the very part of the country that we came from. He wants to civilize +the people; and after all, it's only fair that they should have the +benefit of the money, for it was they who earned it." + +Crouch got to his feet, and turned his back to the fire. + +"See?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, I see all right," said Williams, somewhat reluctantly, +however. "Of course, you couldn't very well do anything else, in the +circumstances. But, it seems rather a shame, somehow--when I can't +raise subscriptions for an expedition to the west coast of Baffin Land." + +"Look here," said Crouch, "if you think we're going to take money from +half-starved negroes, who have slept in chains and sweated under the +lash, and give it to you to climb some flaming iceberg, you're in the +wrong, my friend; and it's just as well for you to know it." + +Frankfort Williams laughed. It was the custom in the "Explorers'" for +those who favoured the tropics to scorn the men who were endeavouring +to reach the poles; just as it was for the Arctic adventurers to wax +ironical on the subject of cannibals and mangrove swamps, poisoned +arrow-heads and manioc. Williams talked for some few minutes upon the +current topics of the day, and then left the club. + +When he was gone, the three friends remained in their old positions +before the fire. Though not a word was said, the thoughts of each +drifted in the same direction. They saw the steaming mist upon a wide, +tropic river; they heard the hum of thousands of insects in their ears, +and the cries of the parrots overhead. They passed over, once again, +the route of their portage from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, and set +forth in fancy into the valley of the Hidden River. + +At last, Crouch got from his chair and, walking to the window, looked +out into the street. The fog had lifted in a fine, drizzling rain. +Shadowy figures hurried past, each with umbrella in hand, whilst the +reflection from the lights of the club windows glistened on the +pavement. The shops had closed. The workers were hurrying home; and +the London that had no need to work was dressing up for dinner. Crouch +swung round upon his heel. + +"I'm sick of this!" he cried. + +"So am I," said Edward. "Where shall we go?" + +Max got to his feet, and fetched down the map. + + + +.. class:: center medium + + | + | + | + | THE END + | + | + | + | + +.. class:: center small + + | PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, + | BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + | + | + | + | + +---- + +.. class:: center large + + | THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF + | Adventure and Heroism. + | + +.. class:: left small + + | An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed, + | illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Fifth Form at St Dominic's. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding +in stirring incident and in humorous descriptions. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN. + +.. class:: left small + + | A Story of Pagan and Christian. + +A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and +dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Græco-Turkish War. By V. L. GOING. + +A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the +last war between Turkey and Greece. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and +temptations of young men entering upon the work of life. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +The juniors' rollicking fun, the seniors' rivalry, the school elections +and football match are all told in a forcible manner. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be +misunderstood, and to be made the butt of his comrades. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and +fun, and the trials of a young House-Master. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, +unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | My Friend Smith. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A first-rate story dealing with the temptations and difficulties boys +meet with when entering upon business life. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Comrades under Canvas. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON. + +A breezy, healthy tale, dealing with the adventures of three Boys' +Brigade companies during their annual camp. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Parkhurst Boys, and other Stories of School Life. By TALBOT BAINES + | REED. + +A collection of stories from *The Boy's Own Paper*, containing some of +this popular author's best work and brightest wit. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Reginald Cruden. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Depicting the last days at school of Reginald Cruden, who then starts +in business at the bottom of the ladder. + +.. class:: left medium + + | Roger Ingleton, Minor. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A bright, vigorous story for boys, introducing the reader to various +characters, all drawn with this well-known author's usual skill and +power. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | That Boy of Fraser's. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +David Fraser passed through many troubles caused by the disappearance +of his father; how he encountered them makes invigorating reading. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | With Rifle and Kukri. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON + +The many heroic deeds called forth by England's "little wars" along the +Indian frontier are here, narrated in stirring language. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Meltonians All! By F. COWLEY WHITEHOUSE. + +A first-rate story of school-life and after, full of vim and stirring +incidents. Jim, Ken and Goggles make a fine trio. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Myddleton's Treasure. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +Railway accidents, the evil doings of those in power, a shipwreck, and +adventures in Africa all help to make up a thrilling story. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Baymouth Scouts. By TOM BEVAN. + +A thrilling story, especially suitable for Boy Scouts, of the days of +Napoleon, and his threatened invasion of England. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Rollinson and I. By W. E. CULE. + +.. class:: left small + + | The Story of a Summer Term. + +An attractive tale of schoolboy life, detailing a broken friendship, +much misunderstanding, repentance, and finally reconciliation between +the two characters in the title-role. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. BOLTON. + +A schoolmaster with a genius for mathematics has various hobbies, one +of which proves useful in the rescuing of a kidnapped boy. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Derrick Orme's Schooldays. By EDITH C. KENYON. + +Describes the experiences and persecutions of a high-minded Colonial +lad by a bullying schoolfellow, who is at last driven to admit his +transgressions. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the +wonderful adventures of a sturdy 'prentice-lad. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular +author's knowledge of schoolboy life and humour. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Submarine U93. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +A thrilling tale, in which the U boat is the principal factor. The +youthful hero, with that redoubtable personage, Captain Crouch, passes +through many ordeals and adventures. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Boy Scout's Companion. Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +Everything that the aspiring Scout can learn from books is here +generously provided. The book is full of interest and value. A +capital collection of all sorts of information. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Into the Soundless Deeps. A Tale of Wonder and Invention. By F. H. + | BOLTON. + +The problems of sound and a "wonder-box," known as the "long distance" +ear, provide the main theme in this exciting story, in which adventures +with Spanish brigands also figure. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Story of the Chinese Underworld, and of + | Piracy and Adventure in Eastern Seas. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +In the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his parentage, an English +boy, brought up as a Chinese, passes through many adventures on sea and +land. + + + +.. class:: center large + + | The Recreation Series. + + +A splendid set of gift-books, providing recreation both for the body +and the mind. Profusely illustrated, of good bulk, handsomely printed, +and attractively bound in cloth gilt. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Boy's Own Book of Outdoor Games and Pastimes. Edited by P. P. + | WARNER. + +Every phase of sport is represented in this volume, from Cricket to +Kite-Flying, and each contribution is by some well-known authority. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations. Edited by MORLEY + | ADAMS. + +Containing a mine of information on Conjuring, Ventriloquism, Model and +Toy making, Puzzles, Home Entertainments, and so on. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Boy's Own Book of Pets and Hobbies. + +.. class:: left small + + | Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +An invaluable guide to finding something to do. Many a long evening +may be brightly spent and lasting pleasure afforded by it. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Every Boy's Book of Railways and Steamships. + +.. class:: left small + + | By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The author marshals his facts skilfully and tells, without +technicalities, the romance of the railway and the great waterways of +the world. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Handy Natural History (Mammals). + +.. class:: left small + + | By ERNEST PROTHEROE, F.Z.S. + +This marvellous book is something more than a mere record of +observation, while the exploits of many hunters of wild beasts are +recorded. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Adventures in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +An admirably written description of the adventures which the +photographer and naturalist has to encounter in his quest for pictures +of British birds. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | Home Life in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +A deeply interesting narrative of the habits of our feathered friends, +which will be eagerly welcomed and appreciated for the charm which it +reveals. + + +.. class:: left medium + + | The Boy's Own Book of Heroism and Adventure. + +.. class:: left small + + | Edited by A. R. BUCKLAND, M.A. + +Heroism of many sorts and thrilling adventures in many lands, by +well-known writers for boys, crowd these pages. + +.. class:: center medium + + | + | + | LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. + | + | + | + | + +.. pgfooter:: diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-032.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-032.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14d6677 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-032.jpg diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-093.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-093.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0831e01 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-093.jpg diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-111.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-111.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..32b7d63 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-111.jpg diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-206.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-206.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c7ef87e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-206.jpg diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-cover.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..48b23e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-cover2.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-cover2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c876e27 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-cover2.jpg diff --git a/old/39255-rst/images/img-front.jpg b/old/39255-rst/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ae6e7f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255-rst/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/old/39255.txt b/old/39255.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b30206 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6403 @@ + THE FIRE-GODS + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost +no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Title: The Fire-Gods + A Tale of the Congo + +Author: Charles Gilson + +Release Date: March 24, 2012 [EBook #39255] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE-GODS*** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines. + + + +[Illustration: Cover 1] + + + +[Illustration: Cover 2] + + + +[Illustration: "MAX LEANED FORWARD TO EXAMINE THE FACE OF THE ROCK; AND +AS HE DID SO, HE WAS SEIZED SUDDENLY FROM BEHIND."] + + + THE FIRE-GODS + + A Tale of the Congo + + + + + By + + CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON + + _Author of "Submarine U93," "The Mystery of Ah Jim,"_ + _and other Stories._ + + + + + _ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SOPER_ + + + + + LONDON + "THE BOY'S OWN PAPER" OFFICE + 4, Bouverie Street + + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +Submarine U93. A Tale of the Great War by Sea. +The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Tale of the East. +On Secret Service. A Tale of German Spies. +A Motor Scout in Flanders. A Tale of the Bombardment of Antwerp. +The Race Round the World. A Tale of the Motor Spirit of the Future. +The Pirate Aeroplane. A Tale of the Kingdom of Asmalia. +The Lost Island. A Tale of a Chinese Secret Society. +The Lost Column. A Tale of the Boxer Rebellion in China. +Across the Cameroons. A Tale of the Germans in West Africa. +The Spy. A Tale of the Peninsular War. +The Sword of Freedom. A Tale of the English Revolution. +The Lost Empire. A Tale of the Napoleonic Wars. +In the Power of the Pygmies. A Tale of Central Africa. +In Arms for Russia. A Tale of the Great War. +The Pirate Yacht. A Tale of Southern Seas. +The Sword of Deliverance. A Tale of the Balkan War. + + + + + ---- + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB + CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI + CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD + CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER + CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE + CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH + CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN + CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT + CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT + CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER + CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE + CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT + CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN + CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" + CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA + CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST + CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED + CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM + CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE + CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE + CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'" + + ---- + + ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR + + BY GEORGE SOPER + +"Max leaned forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, +he was seized suddenly from behind" . . . _Frontispiece_ + +"Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin like a pistol-shot, and he went +over backwards into the mud" + +"The Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman" + +"The lash of the whip rose and fell, until Caesar shrieked for mercy" + + + + + THE FIRE-GODS + + + + + + +CHAPTER I--THE EXPLORERS' CLUB + + +The Explorers' Club no longer exists. To-day, as a matter of fact, it +is a tea-shop in Old Bond Street--a small building, wedged between two +greater ones, a fashionable milliner's and a famous Art Establishment. +Towards the end of the last century, in what is known as the +mid-Victorian era, the Explorers' Club was in the heyday of its glory. + +The number of its members was limited to two hundred and fifty-one. In +the inner smoking-room, through the green baize doors, where guests were +not admitted, both the conversation and the company were at once +remarkable and unique. The walls were adorned with the trophies of the +chase: heads of elk, markhor, ibex, haartebeest and waterbuck; great +lions and snarling tigers; mouflon from Cyprus, and the white leopard of +the Himalayas. If you looked into the room through the glass peep-hole +in one of the green baize doors, you might have thought at first that +you beheld a menagerie, where the fiercest and the rarest beasts in the +world were imprisoned in a single cage. But, presently, your attention +would have been attracted by the great, sun-burnt men, sprawling in the +leather chairs, dressed in tweeds for the most part, and nearly every +one with a blackened briar pipe between his lips. + +In those days, Africa was the "Dark Continent"; the source of the Nile +and the Great Lakes were undiscovered, of the Congo nothing was known. +Nor was this geographical ignorance confined to a single continent: in +every part of the world, vast tracts of country, great rivers and +mountains were as yet unexplored. And the little that was known of +these uttermost parts of the earth never passed the green baize doors of +the inner smoking-room of the Explorers' Club. + +There, in an atmosphere blue with smoke, where a great fire roared in +winter to keep the chill of the London fog from the bones of those who, +time and again, had been stricken with the fevers of the equatorial +parts, a small group of men would sit and talk by the hour. There great +projects were suggested, criticised and discussed. A man would rise +from his seat, take down a map of some half-discovered country, and +placing his finger upon a blank space, announce in tones of decision +that that was the exact spot to which he intended to go. And if he +went, perhaps, he would not come back. + +At the time our story opens, Edward Harden was probably the most popular +member of the Explorers' Club. He was still a comparatively young man; +and though his reputation rested chiefly upon his fame as a big game +shot, he had rendered no mean service to the cause of science, as the +honours heaped upon him by the Royal Geographical Society and kindred +institutions fully testified. + +It was early in June, and the height of the London season, when this six +foot six of explorer walked up St. James's Street on the right-hand +side. Somehow he felt that he was out of it. He was not one of the +fashionable crowd in the midst of which he found himself. For ten years +he had been growing more and more unaccustomed to the life of cities. +It was a strange thing, he could break his way through the tangled +thicknesses of an equatorial forest, or wade knee-deep in a mangrove +swamp, but he could never negotiate the passage of Piccadilly. + +As he stood on the "island" in the middle of the street, opposite +Burlington House, he attracted a considerable amount of attention. He +was probably the tallest man at that moment between St. Paul's and the +Albert Memorial. His brown moustache was several shades lighter than +his skin, which had been burnt to the colour of tan. His long limbs, +his sloping shoulders, and the slouch with which he walked, gave him an +appearance of looseness and prodigious strength. Also he had a habit of +walking with his fists closed, and his arms swinging like pendulums. He +was quite unconscious of the fact that people turned and stared after +him, or that he was an object of exceeding admiration to small boys, who +speculated upon the result of a blow from his fist. + +He had not gone far along Bond Street when he cannoned into a young man, +who received a ponderous blow in the chest from Harden's swinging fist. +The explorer could hardly have been expected to look where he was going, +since at that moment he was passing a gunsmith's where the latest +improvement of elephant gun was on view in the window. + +"I beg your pardon!" he exclaimed in eager apology. + +"It's nothing," said the other, and then added, with a note of surprise, +"Uncle Ted, by all that's wonderful! I might have known it was you." + +Edward Harden seldom expressed surprise. He just took the young +gentleman by the arm and walked him along at the rate of about five +miles an hour. "Come and have lunch," said he. + +Now Max Harden, in addition to being the explorer's only nephew, was a +medical student at one of the London hospitals. As a small boy, he had +regarded his uncle as one of the greatest men in the universe--which, in +a physical sense, he was. + +A week before Max had come of age, which meant that he had acquired the +modest inheritance of a thousand pounds a year. He had also secured a +commission from the Royal Academy of Physicians to make sundry inquiries +into the origin of certain obscure tropical diseases in the district of +the Lower Congo. This was precisely the part of the world to which +Edward Harden was about to depart. Max knew that quite well, and his +idea was to travel with his uncle. He had been to the Explorers' Club, +and had been told by the hall porter that Mr. Edward Harden was out, but +that he would probably return for lunch. It was about two minutes later +that he collided with his uncle outside the gunsmith's shop. + +To lunch at the Explorers' Club was in itself an achievement. That day +several well-known men were there: Du Cane, the lion hunter; Frankfort +Williams, back from the Arctic, and George Cartwright, who had not yet +accomplished his famous journey into Thibet. Upon the walls of the +dining-room were full-length pictures of the great pioneers of +exploration: Columbus, Franklin and Cook. It was not until after +luncheon, when Max and his uncle were seated in the outer +smoking-room--through the green baize doors, it will be remembered, it +was forbidden for guests to enter--that Max broached the topic that was +nearest to his heart. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "tell me about this expedition? As yet I know +nothing." + +"We're going up the Congo," answered Harden simply; "and it's natural +enough that you should know nothing about it, since practically nothing +is known. Our object is big game, but we hope to bring back some +valuable geographical information. The mouth of the Congo was +discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Since then +several trading-stations have sprung up on the river, but no one has +penetrated inland. It is known that about five hundred miles from the +mouth of the river, a tributary, called the Kasai, flows from the south. +Of the upper valley of that river absolutely nothing is known, except +that it consists of the most impenetrable forests and is inhabited by +cannibal tribes. It is there we propose to go." + +"Who goes with you?" asked Max. + +"Crouch," said Harden; "Captain Crouch. The most remarkable man on the +Coast. Nobody in England has ever heard of him; but on the West Coast, +from Lagos to Loango, he is either hated like sin or worshipped like a +heathen god. There's no man alive who understands natives as well as +Crouch. He can get more work out of a pack of Kru-boys in a day than a +shipping-agent or a trader can in a week." + +"How do you account for it?" asked Max. + +"Pluck," said Harden, "and perseverance. Also, from the day he was +born, a special providence seems to have guarded him. For many years he +was captain of a coasting-packet that worked from St. Louis to Spanish +Guinea. He fell overboard once in the Bight of Biafra, and lost a +foot." + +"How did he do that?" asked Max, already vastly interested in the +personality of Captain Crouch. + +"Sharks," said Harden, as if it were an everyday occurrence. "They swim +round Fernando Po like goldfish in a bowl. Would you believe it? Crouch +knifed that fish in the water, though he'll wear a cork foot to his +dying day. He was one of the first men to force his way up the Niger, +and I happened to be at Old Calabar when he was brought in with a +poisoned arrow-head in his eye. At that time the natives of the +interior used to dip their weapons in snake's poison, and no one but +Crouch could have lived. But he pulled through all right. He's one of +those small, wiry men that can't be killed. He has got a case full of +glass eyes now, of all the colours in the rainbow, and he plays Old +Harry with the natives. If they don't do what he wants, I've seen him +pull out a blue eye and put in a red one, which frightens the life out +of them. Crouch isn't like any one else I've ever met. He has the most +astonishing confidence in himself; he's practically fever-proof; he can +talk about twenty West African dialects, and he's a better shot than I +am. I believe the only person he cares for in the world is myself. I +would never dream of undertaking this expedition without him." + +"I suppose," said Max, a trifle nervously, "you wouldn't think of +including a third member in your party?" + +Edward Harden looked at his nephew sharply. "What do you mean?" he +asked. + +"I mean," said Max, "that I have undertaken to investigate certain +tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness and malarial typhoid, in +the very districts to which you are going. I thought you might not +object if I came with you. I didn't know I had Captain Crouch to deal +with." + +Edward Harden rose to his feet and knocked out his pipe in the grate. + +"For myself," said he, "I should be pleased to have you with me. Are +you ready to start at once? We hope to sail next week." + +Max nodded. + +"H'm," said the explorer, "I must ask Crouch. I think he's in the +club." + +He went to one of the green baize doors at the other end of the room, +opened it, and looked in. + +"Crouch," said he, "do you mind coming here a moment. There's something +I want to ask you." + +He then came back to his seat and filled another pipe. As he was +engaged in lighting this, a green baize door swung back and there +entered one of the most extraordinary men that it was ever the lot of +the young medical student to behold. + +As we have said, the Explorers' Club was in Bond Street, and Captain +Crouch was dressed after the fashion of a pilot; that is to say, he wore +a navy-blue suit with brass buttons and a red tie. He was a very small +man, and exceedingly thin. There seemed nothing of him. His head was +almost entirely bald. He wore a small, bristling moustache, cut short +like a tooth-brush, and a tuft of hair beneath his nether lip. His +eyebrows were exceedingly dark, and met on the bridge of his nose. His +skin was the colour of parchment, and wrinkled and creased in all +directions. He had a large hook nose, and a chin of excessive +prominence. Though he appeared entirely bloodless, there was something +about him that suggested extreme vital energy--the kind of vitality +which may be observed in a rat. He was an aggressive-looking man. +Though he walked with a pronounced limp, he was quick in all his +movements. His mouth was closed fast upon a pipe in which he smoked a +kind of black tobacco which is called Bull's Eye Shag, one whiff of +which would fumigate a greenhouse, killing every insect therein from an +aphis to a spider. He reeked of this as a soap-factory smells of fat. +In no other club in London would its consumption have been allowed; but +the Explorers were accustomed to greater hardships than even the smell +of Bull's Eye Shag. + +"Well, Ted," said Crouch, "what's this?" + +One eye, big and staring, was directed out of the window; the other, +small, black and piercing, turned inwards upon Max in the most appalling +squint. + +"This is my nephew," said Harden; "Max Harden--Captain Crouch, my +greatest friend." + +Max held out a hand, but Crouch appeared not to notice it. He turned to +Edward. + +"What's the matter with him?" he asked. + +"He's suffering from a complaint which, I fancy, both you and I +contracted in our younger days--a desire to investigate the Unknown. In +a word, Crouch, he wants to come with us." + +Crouch whipped round upon Max. + +"You're too young for the Coast," said he. "You'll go out the moment +you get there like a night-light." + +"I'm ready to take my chance," said Max. + +Crouch looked pleased at that, for his only eye twinkled and seemed to +grow smaller. + +Max was anxious to take advantage of the little ground he might have +gained. "Also," he added, "I am a medical man--at least, I'm a medical +student. I am making a special study of tropical diseases." + +And no sooner were the words from his lips than he saw he had made a +fatal mistake, for Captain Crouch brought down his fist so violently +upon one of the little smokers' tables with which the room was +scattered, that the three legs broke off, and the whole concern +collapsed upon the floor. + +"Do you think we want a medical adviser!" he roared. "Study till you're +black in the face, till you're eighty years old, and you won't know a +tenth of what I know. What's the use of all your science? I've lived +on the Coast for thirty years, and I tell you this: there are only two +things that matter where fever is concerned--pills and funk. Waiter, +take that table away, and burn it." + +It is probable that at this juncture Max's hopes had been dashed to +earth had it not been for his uncle, who now put in a word. + +"Tell you what, Crouch," said he, in the quiet voice which, for some +reason or other, all big men possess; "the boy might be useful, after +all. He's a good shot. He's made of the right stuff--I've known him +since he was a baby. He's going out there anyhow, so he may as well +come with us." + +"Why, of course he may," said Crouch. "I'm sure we'll be delighted to +have him." + +Such a sudden change of front was one of the most remarkable +characteristics of this extraordinary man. Often, in the breath of a +single sentence, he would appear to change his mind. But this was not +the case. He had a habit of thinking aloud, and of expressing his +thoughts in the most vehement manner imaginable. Indeed, if his +character can be summed up in any one word, it would be this one word +"vehemence." He talked loudly, he gesticulated violently, he smashed +the furniture, and invariably knocked his pipe out in such a frantic +manner that he broke the stem. And yet Edward Harden---who knew him +better than any one else in the world--always protested that he had +never known Crouch to lose his temper. This was just the ordinary +manner in which he lived, breathed and had his being. + +"I'm sure," said Captain Crouch, "we will be delighted to take you with +us. Ted, what are you going to do this afternoon?" + +"I am going to get some exercise--a turn in the Park." + +"I'll come with you," said Crouch. + +So saying, he stumped off to fetch his cap which he had left in the +inner room. No sooner was he gone than Max turned to his uncle. + +"Uncle Ted," said he, "I can't thank you sufficiently." + +The big man laid a hand upon the young one's shoulder. + +"That's nothing," said he. "But I must tell you this: if you are coming +with us to the Kasai, you must drop the 'uncle.' Your father was +considerably older than I was--fifteen years. You had better call me by +my Christian name--Edward. 'Ted's' a trifle too familiar." + +By then they were joined by Crouch, who carried a large knotted stick in +one hand, and in the other--a paper bag. + +"What have you got there?" asked Harden, pointing to the bag. + +"Sweets," said Crouch. "For the children in the Park." + +And so it came about that they three left the Explorers' Club together, +Max in the middle, with his gigantic uncle on one hand, and the little +wizened sea-captain on the other. + +They created no small amount of interest and amazement in Bond Street, +but they were blissfully ignorant of the fact. The world of these men +was not the world of the little parish of St. James's. One was little +more than a boy, whose mind was filled with dreams; but the others were +men who had seen the stars from places where no human being had ever +beheld them before, who had been the first to set foot in unknown lands, +who had broken into the heart of savagery and darkness. Theirs was a +world of danger, hardship and adventure. They had less respect for the +opinion of those who passed them by than for the wild beasts that prowl +by night around an African encampment. After all, the world is made up +of two kinds of men: those who think and those who act; and who can say +which is the greater of the two? + + + + +CHAPTER II--ON THE KASAI + + +A mist lay upon the river like a cloud of steam. The sun was invisible, +except for a bright concave dome, immediately overhead, which showed +like the reflection of a furnace in the midst of the all-pervading +greyness of the heavens. The heat was intense--the heat of the +vapour-room of a Turkish bath. Myriads of insects droned upon the +surface of the water. + +The river had still a thousand miles to cover before it reached the +ocean--the blazing, surf-beaten coast-line to the north of St. Paul de +Loanda. Its turgid, coffee-coloured waters rushed northward through a +land of mystery and darkness, lapping the banks amid black mangrove +swamps and at the feet of gigantic trees whose branches were tangled in +confusion. + +In pools where the river widened, schools of hippopotami lay like great +logs upon the surface, and here and there a crocodile basked upon a +mud-bank, motionless by the hour, like some weird, bronze image that had +not the power to move. In one place a two-horned rhinoceros burst +through the jungle, and with a snort thrust its head above the current +of the stream. + +This was the Unknown. This was the World as it Had Been, before man was +on the earth. These animals are the relics that bind us to the Past, to +the cave-men and the old primordial days. There was a silence on the +river that seemed somehow overpowering, rising superior to the ceaseless +droning of the insects and the soft gurgling of the water, which formed +little shifting eddies in the lee of fallen trees. + +A long canoe shot through the water like some great, questing beast. +Therein were twelve natives from Loango, all but naked as they came into +the world. Their paddles flashed in the reflected light of the furnace +overhead; for all that, the canoe came forward without noise except for +the gentle rippling sound of the water under the bows. In the stern +were seated two men side by side, and one of these was Edward Harden, +and the other his nephew Max. In the body of the canoe was a great +number of "loads": camp equipment, provisions, ammunition and cheap +Manchester goods, such as are used by the traders to barter for ivory +and rubber with the native chiefs. Each "load" was the maximum weight +that could be carried by a porter, should the party find it necessary to +leave the course of the river. + +In the bows, perched like an eagle above his eyrie, was Captain Crouch. +His solitary eye darted from bank to bank. In his thin nervous hands he +held a rifle, ready on the instant to bring the butt into the hollow of +his shoulder. + +As the canoe rounded each bend of the river, the crocodiles glided from +the mud-banks and the hippopotami sank silently under the stream. Here +and there two nostrils remained upon the surface--small, round, black +objects, only discernible by the ripples which they caused. + +Suddenly a shot rang out, sharp as the crack of a whip. The report +echoed, again and again, in the dark, inhospitable forest that extended +on either bank. There was a rush of birds that rose upon the wing; the +natives shipped their paddles, and, on the left bank of the river, the +two-horned rhinoceros sat bolt upright on its hind-legs like a sow, with +its fore-legs wide apart. Then, slowly, it rolled over and sank deep +into the mud. By then Crouch had reloaded. + +"What was it?" asked Harden. + +"A rhino," said Crouch. "We were too far off for him to see us, and the +wind was the right way." + +A moment later the canoe drew into the bank a little distance from where +the great beast lay. Harden and Crouch waded into the mire, knives in +hand; and that rhino was skinned with an ease and rapidity which can +only be accomplished by the practised hunter. The meat was cut into +large slices, which were distributed as rations to the natives. Of the +rest, only the head was retained, and this was put into a second canoe, +which soon after came into sight. + +After that they continued their journey up the wide, mysterious river. +All day long the paddles were never still, the rippling sound continued +at the bows. Crouch remained motionless as a statue, rifle in hand, +ready to fire at a moment's notice. With his dark, overhanging brow, +his hook nose, and his thin, straight lips, he bore a striking +resemblance to some gaunt bird of prey. + +A second shot sounded as suddenly and unexpectedly as the first, and a +moment after Crouch was on his feet. + +"A leopard!" he cried. "I hit him. He's wounded. Run her into the +bank." + +The canoe shot under a large tree, one branch of which overhung the +water so low that they were able to seize it. Edward Harden was ashore +in a moment, followed by his nephew. Crouch swung himself ashore by +means of the overhanging bough. Harden's eyes were fixed upon the +ground. It was a place where animals came to drink, for the soft mud +had been trampled and churned by the feet of many beasts. + +"There!" cried Harden. "Blood!" + +Sure enough, upon the green leaf of some strange water plant there was a +single drop of blood. Though the big game hunter had spoken in an +excited manner, he had never raised his voice. + +It was Crouch who took up the spoor, and followed it from leaf to leaf. +Whenever he failed to pick it up, Harden put him right. Max was as a +baby in such matters, and it was often that he failed to recognize the +spoor, even when it was pointed out to him. + +They had to break their way through undergrowth so thick that it was +like a woodstack. The skin upon their hands and faces was scratched +repeatedly by thorns. They were followed by a cloud of insects. They +were unable to see the sky above them by reason of the branches of the +trees, which, high above the undergrowth through which they passed, +formed a vast barrier to the sunlight. And yet it was not dark. There +was a kind of half-light which it is difficult to describe, and which +seemed to emanate from nowhere. Nothing in particular, yet everything +in general, appeared to be in the shade. + +On a sudden Crouch stopped dead. + +"He's not far from here," he said. "Look there!" + +Max's eyes followed Crouch's finger. He saw a place where the long +grass was all crushed and broken as if some animal had been lying down, +and in two places there were pools of blood. + +Crouch raised both arms. "Open out," said he. "Be ready to fire if he +springs. He'll probably warn you with a growl." + +This information was for the benefit of Max. To tell Edward Harden such +things would be like giving minute instructions to a fish concerning the +rudiments of swimming. + +Max, obeying Crouch's orders, broke into the jungle on the left, whereas +Edward moved to the right. Keeping abreast of one another, they moved +forward for a distance of about two hundred yards. This time it was +Harden who ordered the party to halt. They heard his quiet voice in the +midst of the thickets: "Crouch, come here; I want you." + +A moment later Max joined his two friends. He found them standing side +by side: Edward, with eyes turned upward like one who listens, and +Crouch with an ear to the ground. Harden, by placing a finger upon his +lips, signed to his nephew to be silent. Max also strained his ears to +catch the slight sound in the jungle which had aroused the suspicion of +these experienced hunters. + +After a while he heard a faint snap, followed by another, and then a +third. Then there was a twanging sound, very soft, like the noise of a +fiddle-string when thrummed by a finger. It was followed almost +immediately by a shriek, as terrible and unearthly as anything that Max +had ever heard. It was the dying scream of a wounded beast--one of the +great tribe of cats. + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"Fans," said he. "What's more, they've got my leopard." + +He made the remark in the same manner as a Londoner might point out a +Putney 'bus; yet, at that time, the Fans were one of the most warlike of +the cannibal tribes of Central Africa. They were reputed to be +extremely hostile to Europeans, and that was about all that was known +concerning them. + +Edward Harden was fully as calm as his friend. + +"We can't get back," said he. "It's either a palaver, or a fight." + +"Come, then," said Crouch. "Let's see which it is." + +At that he led the way, making better progress than before, since he no +longer regarded the spoor of the wounded leopard. + +Presently they came to a place where the jungle ceased abruptly. This +was the edge of a swamp--a circular patch, about two hundred yards +across, where nothing grew but a species of slender reed. Though Max +had not known it, this was the very place for which the other two were +looking. Backwoodsmen though they were, they had no desire to face a +hostile tribe in jungle so dense that it would scarcely be possible to +lift a rifle to the present. + +The reeds grew in tufts capable of bearing the weight of a heavy man; +but, in between, was a black, glutinous mud. + +"If you fall into that," said Crouch, who still led the way, "you'll +stick like glue, and you'll be eaten alive by leeches." + +In the centre of the swamp the ground rose into a hillock, and here it +was possible for them to stand side by side. They waited for several +moments in absolute silence. And then a dark figure burst through the +jungle, and a second later fell flat upon the ground. + +"I was right," said Crouch. "That man was a Fan. We'll find out in a +moment whether they mean to fight. I hope to goodness they don't find +the canoes." + +In the course of the next few minutes it became evident, even to Max, +that they were surrounded. On all sides the branches and leaves of the +undergrowth on the edge of the swamp were seen to move, and here and +there the naked figure of a savage showed between the trees. + +The Fans are still one of the dominant races of Central Africa. About +the middle of the last century the tribe swept south-west from the +equatorial regions, destroying the villages and massacring the people of +the more peaceful tribes towards the coast. The Fans have been proved +to possess higher intelligence than the majority of the Central African +races. Despite their pugnacious character, and the practice of +cannibalism which is almost universal among them, they have been +described as being bright, active and energetic Africans, including +magnificent specimens of the human race. At this time, however, little +was known concerning them, and that little, for the most part, was +confined to Captain Crouch, who, on a previous occasion, had penetrated +into the Hinterland of the Gabun. + +Edward Harden and his friends were not left long in doubt as to whether +or not the Fans intended to be hostile, for presently a large party of +men advanced upon them from all sides at once. For the most part these +warriors were armed with great shields and long spears, though a few +carried bows and arrows. The Fan spear is a thing by itself. The head +is attached but lightly to the shaft, so that when the warrior plunges +his weapon into his victims, the spear-head remains in the wound. + +Captain Crouch handed his rifle to Edward, and then stepped forward +across the marsh to meet these would-be enemies. He was fully alive to +their danger. He knew that with their firearms they could keep the +savages at bay for some time, but in the end their ammunition would run +out. He thought there was still a chance that the matter might be +settled in an amicable manner. + +"Palaver," said he, speaking in the language of the Fans. "Friends. +Trade-palaver Good." + +The only answer he got was an arrow that shot past his ear, and +disappeared in the mud He threw back his head and laughed. + +"No good," he cried. "Trade-palaver friends." + +A tall, thin savage, about six feet in height, approached by leaps and +bounds, springing like an antelope from one tuft of grass to another. +His black face, with white, gleaming teeth, looked over the top of a +large, oval shield. With a final spring, he landed on dry ground a few +feet from where Crouch was standing. Then he raised his spear on high; +but, before he had time to strike, Crouch's fist rang out upon his chin +like a pistol-shot, and he went over backwards into the mud. + +[Illustration: "CROUCH'S FIST RANG OUT UPON HIS CHIN LIKE A PISTOL-SHOT, +AND HE WENT OVER BACKWARDS INTO THE MUD."] + +There was a strange, sucking noise as the marsh swallowed him to the +chin. For some moments he floundered hopelessly, his two hands grasping +in the air. He laid hold of tufts of grass, and pulled them up by the +roots. Then Crouch bent down, gripped both his hands, and with a great +effort dragged him on to terra firma. + +His black skin was plastered with a blacker mud, and on almost every +inch of his body, from his neck to his feet, a large water-leech was +glued like an enormous slug. The man was already weak from loss of +blood. Had he remained in the marsh a minute longer, there is no doubt +he would have fainted. Crouch took a knife from his pocket, and, +talking all the time, as a nursemaid talks to a naughty child, one by +one he tore the leeches from the man's body, and threw them back into +the marsh. + +The others, who had drawn closer, remained at a safe distance. It seems +they were undecided how to act, since this man was their leader, and +they were accustomed to receive their orders from him. It is impossible +to say what would have happened, had not Crouch taken charge of the +situation. He asked the man where his village was, and the fellow +pointed to the east. + +"Yonder," said he; "in the hills." + +"Lead on," said Crouch. "We're coming home with you, for a cup of tea +and a talk." + +For a moment the man was too stupefied to answer. He had never expected +this kind of reception from an individual who could have walked under +his outstretched arm. What surprised him most of all was Crouch's +absolute self-confidence. The Negro and Bantu races are all alike in +this: they are extraordinarily simple-minded and impressionable. The +Fan chieftain looked at Crouch, and then dropped his eyes. When he +lifted them, a broad grin had extended across his face. + +"Good," said he. "My village. Palaver. You come." + +Crouch turned and winked at Max, and then followed the chief towards the +jungle. + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE WHITE WIZARD + + +When both parties were gathered together on the edge of the marsh, Max +felt strangely uncomfortable. Both Crouch and Edward seemed thoroughly +at home, and the former was talking to the chief as if he had found an +old friend whom he had not seen for several years. Putting aside the +strangeness of his surroundings, Max was not able to rid his mind of the +thought that these men were cannibals. He looked at them in disgust. +There was nothing in particular to distinguish them from the other races +he had seen upon the coast, except, perhaps, they were of finer physique +and had better foreheads. It was the idea which was revolting. In the +country of the Fans there are no slaves, no prisoners, and no +cemeteries; a fact which speaks for itself. + +Crouch and the chief, whose name was M'Wane, led the way through the +jungle. They came presently to the body of the wounded leopard, which +lay with an arrow in its heart. It was the "twang" of the bowstring +that Max had heard in the jungle. And now took place an incident that +argued well for the future. + +M'Wane protested that the leopard belonged to Crouch, since the +Englishman had drawn first blood. This was the law of his tribe. +Crouch, on the other hand, maintained that the law of his tribe was that +the game was the property of the killer. The chief wanted the +leopard-skin, and it required little persuasion to make him accept it, +which he was clearly delighted to do. + +Crouch skinned the leopard himself, and presented the skin to M'Wane. +And then the whole party set forth again, and soon came to a track along +which progress was easy. + +It was approaching nightfall when they reached the extremity of the +forest, and came upon a great range of hills which, standing clear of +the mist that hung in the river valley, caught the full glory of the +setting sun. Upon the upper slopes of the hills was a village of two +rows of huts, and at each end of the streets thus formed was a +guard-house, where a sentry stood on duty. M'Wane's hut was larger than +the others, and it was into this that the Europeans were conducted. In +the centre of the floor was a fire, and hanging from several places in +the roof were long sticks with hooks on them, the hooks having been made +by cutting off branching twigs. From these hooks depended the scant +articles of the chief's wardrobe and several fetish charms. + +For two hours Crouch and the chief talked, and it was during that +conversation that there came to light the most extraordinary episode of +which we have to tell. From that moment, and for many weeks afterwards, +it was a mystery that they were wholly unable to solve. Both Crouch and +Harden knew the savage nature too well to believe that M'Wane lied. +Though his story was vague, and overshadowed by the superstitions that +darken the minds of the fetish worshippers, there was no doubt that it +was based upon fact. As the chief talked, Crouch translated to his +friends. + +The chief first asked what they were doing on the Kasai, and Crouch +answered that they were there for big game--for rhinoceros, buffalo and +leopard. The chief answered that there was certainly much game on the +Kasai, but there was more on the "Hidden River." That was the first +time they ever heard the name. + +Crouch asked why it was called the "Hidden River"; and M'Wane answered +that it would be impossible for any one to find the mouth. On the +southern bank of the Kasai, about two days up-stream, there was a large +mangrove swamp, and it was beyond this that the "Hidden River" lay. + +"Can you pass through the swamp in a canoe?" asked Crouch. + +The chief shook his head, and said that a canoe could pass the mangrove +swamp, but it could not penetrate far up the river, because of a great +waterfall, where the water fell hundreds of feet between huge pillars of +rock. + +"One can carry a canoe," said Crouch. + +"Perhaps," said M'Wane, as if in doubt. "But, of those that pass the +cataract, none come back alive." + +"Why?" asked Crouch. + +"Because of the Fire-gods that haunt the river. The Fire-gods are +feared from the seacoast to the Lakes." + +Crouch pricked up his ears like a terrier that scents a rat. The little +man sat cross-legged, with his hands upon his ankles; and as he plied +the Fan chief with questions, he positively wriggled where he sat. + +He found out that the "Fire-gods" were white men--a fact that astonished +him exceedingly. He was told that they were not white men like himself +and his friends, but wicked spirits who controlled the thunder and who +could make the earth tremble for miles around. Even the Fans feared +them, and for several months none of the tribes had ventured into the +valley of the "Hidden River." + +"They're men with rifles," said Harden. "These people have never seen a +firearm in their lives." + +At that he led M'Wane from the hut, and, followed by Max and Crouch, he +walked a little distance from the village. There, in the moonlight, he +picked up a stone from the ground, and set this upon a branch. From a +distance of about twenty paces, with M'Wane at his side, he lifted his +rifle to his shoulder, and struck the stone with a bullet, so that it +fell upon the ground. + +"There," said he, "that is what your Fire-gods do; they are armed with +rifles--like this." + +But M'Wane shook his head. He had heard of rifles. Tribes they had +raided upon the coast had spoken of the white men that could slay at a +distance. But the Fire-gods were greater still. Every evening, in the +valley of the Hidden River, loud thunder rent the air. The birds had +left the valley--even the snakes had gone. The Fire-gods were kings +over Nature. Moreover, they were merciless. Hundreds of natives--men +of the Pende tribe, the Pambala and the Bakutu--had gone into the +valley; but no one had returned. + +At that Crouch set off towards the hut without a word. The others, +following, found him seated cross-legged at the fire, tugging at the +tuft of hair which grew beneath his lip. For some minutes the little +wizened sea-captain spoke aloud to himself. + +"I'll find out who these people are," said he. "White men may have gone +up the river to trade; but it's bad for business if you get a reputation +for murder. I don't understand it at all. I've heard of a white race +in the centre of the continent; maybe it's they. I hope it is. At any +rate, we'll go and see." + +For a few brief moments he lapsed into silence. Then he tapped M'Wane +on the arm. + +"Will you take us to the Hidden River?" he asked. + +M'Wane sprang to his feet, violently shaking his head. He protested +that he dared do nothing of the sort. They could not disbelieve him, +for the man was actually trembling in his limbs. + +Crouch turned to Harden. + +"I've a mind to look into this," said he. + +"I, too," said the other. + +"He won't take us," said Max. + +"I'll make him," said Crouch. "For the present, I'm going to sleep. The +boys will stick to the canoes. We must get back to the river to-morrow +afternoon. Good-night." + +So saying, he curled himself up like a hedgehog, and, resting his head +upon his folded arms, immediately fell asleep. + +It was already three months since they had left Banana Point at the +mouth of the Congo. They had journeyed to the foot of the rapids by +steamboat, and thence had carried their canoes across several miles of +country. They had enjoyed a good deal of mixed shooting in the lower +valley, and then they had said good-bye to the few trading stations, or +factories, which lay scattered at wide intervals upon the banks of the +great river, and which were the last links that bound them to such +civilization as the wilds of Africa could show. Max had already gained +much experience of life in the wilds of tropical Africa. This was not +the first time that he had found himself obliged to sleep upon the +ground, without pillow or blankets, or that which was still more +necessary--a mosquito-net. + +When he opened his eyes it was daylight, and the first thing that he +beheld was Captain Crouch, seated cross-legged at the fireside, with his +pipe between his teeth. His one eye was fixed in the glowing embers. +He appeared to be deep in thought, for his face was all screwed up, and +he never moved. Thin wreaths of smoke came from the bowl of his pipe, +and the hut reeked of his foul tobacco. Suddenly he snatched the pipe +from his lips, and banged the bowl so viciously upon the heel of his +boot that he broke it in twain. "I have it!" he cried. "I've got it!" + +Max asked what was the matter. + +"I've got an idea," said Crouch. "I'll make this fellow take us to the +Hidden River, whether he wants to or not. They are frightened of these +Fire-gods, are they! By Christopher, I'll make them more frightened of +me, or my name was never Crouch!" + +He got to his feet, and crossed the hut to M'Wane, who still lay asleep. +He seized the chief by the shoulders and shook him violently, until the +man sat up and rubbed his eyes. + +"Your people," said he. "Big palaver. Now. Be quick." + +M'Wane seemed to understand, for he got up and left the hut. Edward +Harden was now awake. + +The life that is lived by these Central African tribes finds a parallel +in the ancient history of nearly all races that we know of. Government, +for the most part, is in the hands of the headman of every village. The +maintenance of law and order, the giving of wives, the exchange of +possessions, is settled by "palaver," which amounts to a kind of meeting +of the entire population, presided over by the chief. Near every village +is a regular palaver-ground, usually in the shade of the largest tree in +the neighbourhood. + +It was here, on this early morning, that M'Wane summoned all the +inhabitants of the village--men, women and children. They seated +themselves upon the ground in a wide circle, in the midst of which was +the trunk of a fallen tree. Upon this trunk the three Europeans seated +themselves, Crouch in the middle, with his companions on either side. + +When all was ready, M'Wane rose to his feet, and announced in stentorian +tones that the little white man desired to speak to them, and that they +must listen attentively to what he had to say. Whereupon Crouch got to +his feet, and from that moment onward--in the parlance of the +theatre--held the stage: the whole scene was his. He talked for nearly +an hour, and during that time never an eye was shifted from his face, +except when he called attention to the parrot. + +He was wonderful to watch. He shouted, he gesticulated, he even danced. +In face of his limited vocabulary, it is a wonder how he made himself +understood; but he did. He was perfectly honest from the start. +Perhaps his experience had taught him that it is best to be honest with +savages, as it is with horses and dogs. He said that he had made his +way up the Kasai in order to penetrate to the upper reaches of the +Hidden River. He said that he had heard of the Fire-gods, and he was +determined to find out who they were. For himself, he believed that the +Fire-gods were masters of some kind of witchcraft. It would be madness +to fight them with spears and bows and arrows. He believed, from what +he had heard, that even his own rifle would be impotent. High on a +tree-top was perched a parrot, that preened its feathers in the +sunlight, and chattered to itself. Crouch pointed this parrot out to +the bewildered natives, and then, lifting his rifle to his shoulder, +fired, and the bird fell dead to the ground. That was the power he +possessed, he told them: he could strike at a distance, and he seldom +failed to kill. And yet he dared not approach the Fire-gods, because +they were masters of witchcraft. But he also knew the secrets of magic, +and his magic was greater and more potent than the magic of the +Fire-gods. He could not be killed; he was immortal. He was prepared to +prove it. Whereat, he re-loaded his rifle, and deliberately fired a +bullet through his foot. + +The crowd rushed in upon him from all sides, stricken in amazement. But +Crouch waved them back, and stepping up to Edward, told the Englishman +to shoot again. Harden lifted his rifle to his shoulder, and sent a +bullet into the ankle of Crouch's cork foot. Thereupon, Crouch danced +round the ring of natives, shouting wildly, springing into the air, +proving to all who might behold that he was a thousand times alive. + +They fell down upon their faces and worshipped him as a god. Without +doubt he had spoken true: he was invulnerable, immortal, a witch-doctor +of unheard-of powers. + +But Crouch had not yet done. Before they had time to recover from their +amazement, he had snatched out his glass eye, and thrust it into the +hands of M'Wane himself, who dropped it like a living coal. They rushed +to it, and looked at it, but dared not touch it. And when they looked +up, Crouch had another eye in the socket--an eye that was flaming red. + +A loud moan arose from every hand--a moan which gave expression to their +mingled feelings of bewilderment, reverence and fear. From that moment +Crouch was "the White Wizard," greater even than the Fire-gods, as the +glory of the sun outstrips the moon. + +"And now," cried Crouch, lifting his hands in the air, "will you, or +will you not, guide me to the Hidden River where the Fire-gods live?" + +M'Wane came forward and prostrated himself upon the ground. + +"The White Wizard," said he, "has only to command." + + + + +CHAPTER IV--THE HIDDEN RIVER + + +It is not necessary to describe in detail the passage up the Kasai, from +the place where the leopard had been wounded to Date Palm Island, which +was where M'Wane decided to disembark. During that voyage, which +occupied two and a half days, they passed a mangrove swamp upon the +southern bank, which the Fan chief pointed out as the place where the +Hidden River joined the Kasai. + +No one would have guessed it. The short, stunted trees were packed so +close together that their branches formed a kind of solid roof which +appeared to extend for miles. Underneath, there was darkness as of +night. There was nothing to suggest that another river here joined the +larger stream. The Kasai did not narrow above the swamp, nor was there +any change in the colour of the water or the strength of the current. + +Date Palm Island lay a day's journey by canoe above the mangrove swamp. +The name of Date Palm Island was given by Edward Harden the moment he +set eyes upon the little rocky islet in mid-stream, upon which stood a +solitary tree. It was the custom of this explorer to name the natural +features he discovered; and it was he who was also responsible for the +names of other places of which, in course of time, we shall have +occasion to tell, such as Solitude Peak and Hippo Pool. + +In addition to the Loango boys who composed the crews, the party now +included M'Wane, the Fan chief, and four of his most trusted warriors. +It was on the occasion of this journey on the Upper Kasai that Edward +Harden made one of the mistakes of his life. M'Wane travelled in the +first canoe with themselves, and his four warriors in the other canoe +which followed. Both Harden and Crouch had a natural wish to keep the +object of their journey a secret. Neither knew that one of the boys in +the second canoe could both speak and understand the Fan dialect, and it +was he who told his companions that the Hidden River was their +destination. Still, no one suspected that the secret was out, until +they had unloaded all their supplies and ammunition at Date Palm Island, +where they decided to form their base. + +In this district, the general course of the Kasai lies due south-west. +From the mangrove swamp on the southern bank, the valley of the Hidden +River lies, more or less, in a direct line from north to south. M'Wane +had known the Hidden River in the old days, before the Fire-gods came +into the country. He said that there was a good portage across country +from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, which was the nearest accessible +point on the Hidden River above the rapids that flowed through the Long +Ravine. + +They decided to leave one canoe on the island, in charge of four of the +Loango boys. The remaining natives could be employed in carrying the +lighter of the two canoes, and a sufficiency of stores and ammunition +across country to the Hidden River. The indignation of Crouch may be +imagined when the boys struck in a body and refused to undertake the +portage. + +Edward used his greatest powers of persuasion; Crouch threatened and +abused. They answered that word of the Fire-gods had been carried even +as far as the Coast, that they had never bargained to sell their lives +to the Englishmen. None the less, they expressed their willingness to +remain upon the island until the party returned. + +Crouch turned to M'Wane. + +"And do you, too, go back?" he asked. + +The chief shook his head, and smiled. + +"My men and I will stand by the White Wizard," he answered. "A Fan +holds to his word." + +Crouch slapped the chief upon the back, and then went on to explain to +the boys that if they helped with the portage, they would not be asked +to embark on the Hidden River, but could return to Date Palm Island. +After some discussion, they agreed to this; and as much time had already +been wasted, Harden and Crouch decided not to start until daybreak the +following day. + +According to Edward Harden's diary, the portage lasted two weeks and +three days. They were obliged to force their way through virgin forest. +It was frequently necessary to cut down with axes and billhooks the +tangled undergrowth and creepers that wove themselves amid the trunks of +the trees, in order to make room for the canoe to pass. Some days they +did not cover more than a mile, though they were working from dawn to +sunset. But towards the end of the journey the passage became easier, +by reason of the fact that they found a watercourse, which they +followed, until they finally came forth into the sunlight at Hippo Pool. + +When they first looked upon it, it was as if, indeed, there were an air +of mystery in the valley of the Hidden River. The silence that reigned +upon its surface was intense. The atmosphere seemed several degrees +hotter even than the forest. The name Hippo Pool was given because, +immediately on their arrival, Edward Harden, who was leading, shot a +hippopotamus which he found asleep upon the bank. They were glad enough +of the meat for the natives, who would require provisions on their +journey back to the Kasai. + +The next morning the Loango boys left in a body. They were glad enough +to be off. And soon afterwards the canoe shot out from the bank. + +Their progress was painfully slow. M'Wane and his four followers worked +continually with the paddles, assisted in turn by Harden and his nephew. +As for Crouch, he was always the look-out man. His only eye was quick +and keen as that of a falcon. + +Hour by hour they toiled into the Unknown, until the sweat poured from +their faces and their hands were blistered in the sun; and the blisters +would not heal, because of the insects that followed in a crowd. The +jungle grew more magnificent and wild as the river narrowed. The +character of the trees changed, and of the undergrowth--all became more +luxuriant, more profuse, until they found themselves in a land where +Nature was something fantastic and superb. + +It was on the third day after they had set out from Hippo Pool that they +turned an angle of the river, and came on a sudden into a cup-shaped +valley where there was but little vegetation. A circle of granite hills +stood all around them, and in the centre on either side of the river was +a plain of sand. Crouch turned in the bows and pointed to something +ahead, and at that moment the sharp crack of a rifle echoed in the +stillness, and a bullet sped into the water a few inches from the bows +of the canoe. + + + + +CHAPTER V--THE STOCKADE + + +As the bullet cut into the water Crouch sprang upright in the canoe. His +thin form trembled with eagerness. The man was like a cat, inasmuch as +he was charged with electricity. Under his great pith helmet the few +hairs which he possessed stood upright on his head. Edward Harden leaned +forward and picked up his rifle, which he now held at the ready. + +By reason of the fact that the river had suddenly widened into a kind of +miniature lake, the current was not so swift. Hence, though M'Wane and +his Fans ceased to paddle, the canoe shot onward by dint of the velocity +at which they had been travelling. Every moment brought them nearer and +nearer to the danger that lay ahead. + +In order to relate what followed, it is necessary to describe the scene. +We have said that the wild, impenetrable jungle had ceased abruptly, and +they found themselves surrounded by granite hills, in the centre of +which lay a plain of glaring sand. To their left, about a hundred paces +from the edge of the river, was a circular stockade. A fence had been +constructed of sharp-pointed stakes, each about eight feet in height. +There was but a single entrance into this stockade--a narrow gate, not +more than three feet across, which faced the river. Up-stream, to the +south, the granite hills closed in from either bank, so that the river +flowed through a gorge which at this distance seemed particularly +precipitous and narrow. Midway between the stockade and the gorge was a +kraal, or large native village, surrounded by a palisade. Within the +palisade could be seen the roofs of several native huts, and at the +entrance, seated cross-legged on the ground, was the white figure of an +Arab who wore the turban and flowing robes by which his race is +distinguished, from the deserts of Bokhara to the Gold Coast. Before +the stockade, standing at the water's edge, was the figure of a European +dressed in a white duck suit. He was a tall, thin man with a black, +pointed beard, and a large sombrero hat. Between his lips was a +cigarette, and in his hands he held a rifle, from the muzzle of which +was issuing a thin trail of smoke. + +As the canoe approached, this man grew vastly excited, and stepped into +the river, until the water had risen to his knees. There, he again +lifted his rifle to his shoulder. + +"Put that down!" cried Crouch. "You're a dead man if you fire." + +The man obeyed reluctantly, and at that moment a second European came +running from the entrance of the stockade. He was a little man, of +about the same build as Crouch, but very round in the back, and with a +complexion so yellow that he might have been a Chinese. + +The man with the beard seemed very agitated. He gesticulated wildly, +and, holding his rifle in his left hand, pointed down-stream with his +right. He was by no means easy to understand, since his pronunciation +of English was faulty, and he never troubled to take his cigarette from +between his lips. + +"Get back!" he cried. "Go back again! You have no business here." + +"Why not?" asked Crouch. + +"Because this river is mine." + +"By what right?" + +"By right of conquest. I refuse to allow you to land." + +The canoe was now only a few yards from the bank. The second man--the +small man with the yellow face--turned and ran back into the stockade, +evidently to fetch his rifle. + +"I'm afraid," said Crouch, "with your permission or without, we intend +to come ashore." + +Again the butt of the man's rifle flew to his shoulder. + +"Another yard," said he, "and I shoot you dead." + +He closed an eye, and took careful aim. His sights were directed +straight at Crouch's heart. At that range--even had he been the worst +shot in the world--he could scarcely have missed. + +Crouch was never seen to move. With his face screwed, and his great +chin thrust forward, his only eye fixed in the midst of the black beard +of the man who dared him to approach, he looked a very figure of +defiance. + +The crack of a rifle--a loud shout--and then a peal of laughter. Crouch +had thrown back his head and was laughing as a school-boy does, with one +hand thrust in a trousers pocket. Edward Harden, seated in the stern +seat, with elbows upon his knees, held his rifle to his shoulder, and +from the muzzle a little puff of smoke was rising in the air. It was +the man with the black beard who had let out the shout, in anger and +surprise. The cigarette had been cut away from between his lips, and +Harden's bullet had struck the butt of his rifle, to send it flying from +his hands into the water. He stood there, knee-deep in the river, +passionate, foiled and disarmed. It was Edward Harden's quiet voice +that now came to his ears. + +"Hands up!" said he. + +Slowly, with his black eyes ablaze, the man lifted his arms above his +head. A moment later, Crouch had sprung ashore. + +The little sea-captain hastened to the entrance of the stockade, and, as +he reached it, the second man came running out, with a rifle in his +hands. He was running so quickly that he was unable to check himself, +and, almost before he knew it, his rifle had been taken from him. He +pulled up with a jerk, and, turning, looked into the face of Captain +Crouch. + +"I must introduce myself," said the captain. "My name's Crouch. Maybe +you've heard of me?" + +The man nodded his head. It appears he had not yet sufficiently +recovered from his surprise to be able to speak. + +"By Christopher!" cried Crouch, on a sudden. "I know you! We've met +before--five years ago in St. Paul de Loanda. You're a half-caste +Portuguese, of the name of de Costa, who had a trade-station at the +mouth of the Ogowe. So you remember me?" + +The little yellow man puckered up his face and bowed. + +"I think," said he, with an almost perfect English accent--"I think +one's knowledge of the Coast would be very limited, if one had never +heard of Captain Crouch." + +Crouch placed his hand upon his heart and made a mimic bow. + +"May I return the compliment?" said he. "I've heard men speak of de +Costa from Sierra Leone to Walfish Bay, and never once have I heard +anything said that was good." + +At that the half-caste caught his under-lip in his teeth, and shot +Crouch a glance in which was fear, mistrust and anger. The sea-captain +did not appear to notice it, for he went on in the easiest manner in the +world. + +"And who's your friend?" he asked, indicating the tall man with the +black beard, who was now approaching with Edward Harden and Max. + +"My friend," said he, "is a countryman of mine, a Portuguese, who has +assumed the name of Caesar." The half-caste had evidently not forgotten +the insult which Crouch had hurled in his teeth; for now his demeanour +changed, and he laughed. "If Captain Crouch finds it necessary to +meddle in our affairs," said he, "I think he will find his equal in +Mister Caesar." + +Crouch paid no more attention to him than he would have done to a +mosquito; and before the man had finished speaking, he had turned his +back upon him, and held out a hand to the Portuguese. + +"I trust," said he, "you've expressed your gratitude to Ted Harden, who, +instead of taking your life, preferred to extinguish your cigarette." + +"I have already done so," said Caesar, with a smile. "I hope to explain +matters later. The mistake was natural enough." + +Crouch, with his one eye, looked this man through and through. He had +been able to sum up the half-caste at a glance. Caesar was a +personality that could not be fathomed in an instant. + +The man was not unhandsome. His figure, in spite of its extreme height +and thinness, was exceedingly graceful. The hair of his moustache and +beard, and as much as was visible beneath the broad-brimmed sombrero +hat, was coal-black, and untouched with grey. His features were +aquiline and large. He bore some slight resemblance to the well-known +figure of Don Quixote, except that he was more robust. The most +remarkable thing about him was his jet-black, piercing eyes. If there +was ever such a thing as cruelty, it was there. When he smiled, as he +did now, his face was even pleasant: there was a wealth of wrinkles +round his eyes. + +"It was a natural and unavoidable mistake," said he. "I have been +established here for two years. You and your friends are, perhaps, +sufficiently acquainted with the rivers to know that one must be always +on one's guard." + +Unlike de Costa, he spoke English with a strong accent, which it would +be extremely difficult to reproduce. For all that, he had a good +command of words. + +"And now," he went on, "I must offer you such hospitality as I can. I +notice the men in your canoes are Fans. I must confess I have never +found the Fan a good worker. He is too independent. They are all +prodigal sons." + +"I like the Fan," said Edward. + +"Each man to his taste," said Caesar. "In the kraal yonder," he +continued, pointing to the village, "I have about two hundred boys. For +the most part, they belong to the Pambala tribe. As you may know, the +Pambala are the sworn enemies of the Fans. You are welcome to stay with +me as long as you like, but I must request that your Fans be ordered to +remain within the stockade. Will you be so good as to tell them to +disembark?" + +"As you wish," said Edward. + +At Crouch's request, Max went back to the canoe, and returned with +M'Wane and the four Fans. Not until they had been joined by the natives +did Caesar lead the way into the stockade. + +They found themselves in what, to all intents and purposes, was a fort. +Outside the walls of the stockade was a ditch, and within was a +banquette, or raised platform, from which it was possible for men to +fire standing. In the centre of the enclosure were three or four +huts--well-constructed buildings for the heart of Africa, and +considerably higher than the ordinary native dwelling-place. Before the +largest hut was a flag-staff, upon which a large yellow flag was +unfurled in the slight breeze that came from the north. + +It was into this hut that they were conducted by the Portuguese. As the +Englishman entered, a large dog, which had been lying upon the floor, +got up and growled, but lay down again on a word from Caesar. The +interior of the hut consisted of a single room, furnished with a bed, a +table and several chairs, all of which had been constructed of wood cut +in the forest. As there were only four chairs, the half-caste, de +Costa, seated himself on a large chest, with three heavy padlocks, which +stood against the wall farthest from the door. + +Caesar crossed to a kind of sideboard, made of packing-cases, whence he +produced glasses and a bottle of whisky. He then drew a jug of water +from a large filter. These he placed upon the table. He requested his +guests to smoke, and passed round his cigarette-case. His manner, and +the ease with which he played the host, suggested a man of breeding. +Both Edward Harden and his nephew accepted cigarettes, but Crouch filled +his pipe, and presently the hut was reeking, like an ill-trimmed lamp, +of his atrocious "Bull's Eye Shag." + +"I owe you an apology," said Caesar; "an apology and an explanation. You +shall have both. But, in the first place, I would like to hear how it +was that you came to discover this river?" + +It was Edward Harden who answered. + +"We were shooting big game on the Kasai," said he, "when we heard +mention of the 'Hidden River.'" + +"Who spoke of it?" said Caesar. His dark eyes were seen to flash in the +half-light in the hut. + +"A party of Fans," said Edward, "with whom we came in contact. We +persuaded them to carry our canoe across country. We embarked upon the +river three days ago, and paddled up-stream until this afternoon, when +we sighted your camp, and nearly came to blows. That's all." + +Caesar leaned forward, with his arms folded on the table, bringing his +dark face to within a few inches of the cigarette which Edward held in +his lips. + +"Were you told anything," said he, in a slow, deliberate voice; "were +you told anything--of us?" + +Edward Harden, being a man of six foot several inches, was one who was +guileless in his nature. He was about to say that the Fans had spoken +of the "Fire-gods," when an extraordinary occurrence came to pass. + +Crouch sprang to his feet with a yell, and placing one foot upon the +seat of the chair upon which he had been sitting, pulled up his trousers +to the knee. In his hand he held a knife. All sprang to their feet. + +"What is it?" they demanded, in one and the same breath. + +"A snake," said Crouch. "I'm bitten in the leg." + + + + +CHAPTER VI--CROUCH ON THE WAR-PATH + + +Both Caesar and Edward hastened to the captain's side. Sure enough, +upon the calf of his leg, were two small drops of blood, about a quarter +of an inch apart, where the fangs of the reptile had entered. + +Crouch looked up at Caesar. His voice was perfectly calm. + +"Where's the kitchen?" he demanded. + +The tall Portuguese appeared suspicious. + +"The kitchen is quite near at hand," said he. "Do you want to go +there?" + +"Yes," said Crouch. "Lead the way. There's no time to lose." + +They passed out and entered a smaller hut, from which a column of smoke +was rising through a hole in the roof. In the centre of the floor was a +large charcoal brazier, at which a man was squatting in the +characteristic attitude of the East. Crouch lifted his eyebrows in +surprise when he saw that this man was an Arab. + +"Tongs," said he in Arabic. "Lend me a pair of tongs." + +The man, expressionless, produced the article in question. + +Crouch took a piece of charcoal from the brazier, that was white-hot, +and, without a moment's hesitation, he thrust this upon the place where +the poison had entered his flesh. As he underwent that agony, his +sallow face turned a trifle paler, his lips grew thinner, and his only +eye more bright; but never a groan, or even a sigh, escaped him. + +At last he threw the charcoal back into the fire. + +"That's all right," said he. "It isn't a pleasant remedy, but it's +sure." Then he turned to Caesar. "I should like a little whisky," said +he. "I feel a trifle faint." + +He asked for Edward's arm to assist him on his way, and no sooner were +they clear of the kitchen than he whispered in Harden's ear-- + +"There's nothing to worry about," said he. "I'm as right as rain. I +was never bitten at all. But I had to stop you somehow, or you would +have told that fellow what we heard of the Fire-gods. Mind, he must +know nothing." + +When they got back to the hut, Caesar gave Crouch half a tumblerful of +neat whisky, which the captain drained at a gulp. Needless to say, +their efforts to find the snake proved fruitless. Then Crouch again +complained of faintness, and asked permission to lie down upon the bed. +No sooner was he there than he closed his eyes, and soon afterwards was +sound asleep--if one was entitled to judge by his heavy breathing. Once +or twice he snored. + +But, already, we have seen enough of Captain Crouch to know that, in his +case, it would not be wise to go by appearances. He was no more asleep +than he had been throughout those long hours when he had kept watch in +the bows of the canoe. + +Caesar motioned to Edward to be seated at the table, and Max took the +chair which had been formerly occupied by Crouch. De Costa remained +seated upon the chest. + +"Let me see," said Caesar; "of what were we speaking? Ah, yes, I +remember. I was asking if the natives had made any mention of us." + +"We asked many questions," said Harden, "but they knew little or nothing +of the Hidden River. For some reason or other, they seemed to fear it." + +Caesar regarded Edward intently for a few seconds; and then, seeming +satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders. + +"Their minds are filled with superstitions," said he. "And now it +remains for me to explain myself. I came to this valley two years ago. +I had already journeyed some distance up the Congo, in search of ivory. +I discovered that in the jungle in this valley elephants abound; +moreover, these elephants are finer than any others I have ever seen in +any part of Africa, even those of the East Coast, whose tusks are stored +at Zanzibar. I made this place my headquarters. I regard the whole +country as my own happy hunting-ground. I naturally resent all +new-comers, especially Europeans. I look upon them as trespassers. Of +course, I have no right to do so; I know that quite well. But you must +understand that here, in the heart of Africa, the laws of civilized +nations hardly apply. To all intents and purposes this country is my +own. In the kraal yonder I have two hundred of the finest elephant +hunters between the Zambesi and the Congo. I pay them well. I have +already a great store of ivory. In another two years I hope to retire +to Portugal, a wealthy man. That is all my story." + +"How do you kill your elephants?" asked Edward. The hunting of big game +was the foremost interest of his life. + +Caesar smiled. + +"You will not approve of my methods," said he. "You are a sportsman; I +am only a trader. I send my natives into the jungle, in the direction +in which a herd of elephants has been located. These fellows creep on +all-fours amid the undergrowth. They are as invisible as snakes. They +are armed with long knives, with which they cut the tendons of the +elephants' hind-legs, just below the knee. If an elephant tries to walk +after that tendon has been severed, it falls to the ground and breaks +its leg. The great beasts seem to know this, for they remain motionless +as statues. When all the finest tuskers have been thus disposed of, I +come with my rifle and shoot them, one after the other. Thus it is that +I have collected a great store of tusks." + +Edward Harden made a wry face. + +"I have heard of that manner of hunting," said he. "It is much +practised on the East Coast. I consider it barbarous and cruel." + +Caesar smiled again. + +"I told you," said he, "you would not approve." + +Harden swung round in his chair, with a gesture of disgust. + +"I would like to see the ivory trade stopped," he cried, in a sudden +flood of anger, very rare in a man naturally prone to be unexcitable and +mild. "I regard the elephant as a noble animal--the noblest animal that +lives. I myself have shot many, but the beast has always had a chance, +though I will not deny the odds were always heavily on me. Still, when I +find myself face to face with a rogue elephant, I know that my life is +in danger. Now, there is no danger in your method, which is the method +of the slaughter-house. At this rate, very soon there will be no +elephants left in Africa." + +"I'm afraid," said Caesar, with a shrug of the shoulders, "we would +never agree, because you're a sportsman and I'm a trader. In the +meantime, I will do all I can to make you comfortable during your stay +at Makanda." + +"Is that the name of this place?" asked Max. + +"Yes," said the Portuguese. "There was a native village when I came +here--just a few scattered huts. The natives called the place Makanda, +which, I believe, means a crater. The hills which surround us are +evidently the walls of an extinct volcano. But, to come back to +business, I can provide a hut for your Fan attendants, but they must be +ordered not to leave the stockade. You have noticed, perhaps, that I +employ a few Arabs. I am fond of Arabs myself; they are such excellent +cooks. An Arab is usually on sentry at the gate of the stockade. That +man will receive orders to shoot any one of the Fans who endeavours to +pass the gate. These methods are rather arbitrary, I admit; but in the +heart of Africa, what would you have? It is necessary to rule with an +iron hand. Were I to be lax in discipline, my life would be in danger. +Also, I must request you and your friends not to leave the stockade, +unattended by either de Costa or myself. The truth is, there are +several hostile tribes in the neighbourhood, and it is only with the +greatest difficulty that I can succeed in maintaining peace." + +"I'm sure," said Harden, "you will find us quite ready to do anything +you wish. After all, the station is yours; and in this country a man +makes his own laws." + +"That is so," said Caesar; and added, "I'm responsible to no one but +myself." + +This man had an easy way of talking and a plausible manner that would +have deceived a more acute observer than Edward Harden. As he spoke he +waved his hand, as if the whole matter were a trifle. He ran on in the +same casual fashion, with an arm thrown carelessly over the back of his +chair, sending the smoke of his cigarette in rings towards the ceiling. + +"Most of us come to Africa to make money," said he; "and as the climate +is unhealthy, the heat unbearable, and the inhabitants savages, we +desire to make that money as quickly as possible, and then return to +Europe. That is my intention. For myself, I keep tolerably well; but +de Costa here is a kind of living ague. He is half consumed with +malaria; he can't sleep by night, he lies awake with chattering teeth. +Sometimes his temperature is so high that his pulse is racing. At other +times he is so weak that he is unable to walk a hundred paces. He looks +forward to the day when he shakes the dust of Africa from his shoes and +returns to his native land, which--according to him--is Portugal, +though, I believe, he was born in Jamaica." + +Max looked at the half-caste, and thought that never before had he set +eyes upon so despicable an object. He looked like some mongrel cur. He +was quite unable to look the young Englishman in the face, but under +Max's glance dropped his eyes to the floor. + +"And now," said Caesar, "there is a hut where I keep my provisions, +which I will place at your disposal." + +At that he went outside, followed by the two Hardens. De Costa remained +in the hut. Crouch was still asleep. + +Caesar called the Arab from the kitchen, and, assisted by this man and +the five Fans, they set to work to remove a number of boxes from the hut +in which it was proposed that the three Englishmen should sleep. +Blankets were spread upon the ground. The tall Portuguese was most +solicitous that his guests should want for nothing. He brought candles, +a large mosquito-net, and even soap. + +Supper that evening was the best meal which Max had eaten since he left +the sea-going ship at Banana Point on the Congo. The Portuguese was +well provided with stores. He produced several kinds of vegetables, +which, he said, he grew at a little distance from the stockade. He had +also a great store of spirits, being under the entirely false impression +that in tropical regions stimulants maintain both health and physical +strength. + +After supper, Caesar and Captain Crouch, who had entirely recovered from +his faintness, played ecarte with an exceedingly dirty pack of cards. +And a strange picture they made, these two men, the one so small and +wizened, the other so tall and black, each coatless, with their +shirt-sleeves rolled to the elbow, fingering their cards in the +flickering light of a tallow candle stuck in the neck of a bottle. +Crouch knew it then--and perhaps Caesar knew it, too--that they were +rivals to the death, in a greater game than was ever played with cards. + +They went early to bed, thanking Caesar for his kindness. Before he +left the hut, Edward Harden apologized for his rudeness in finding fault +with the trader's method of obtaining ivory. + +"It was no business of mine," said he. "I apologize for what I said." + +No sooner were the three Englishmen in their hut, than Crouch seized +each of his friends by an arm, and drew them close together. + +"Here's the greatest devilry you ever heard of!" he exclaimed. + +"How?" said Edward. "What do you mean?" + +"As yet," said Crouch, "I know nothing. I merely suspect. Mark my +words, it'll not be safe to go to sleep. One of us must keep watch." + +"What makes you suspicious?" asked Max. Throughout this conversation +they talked in whispers. Crouch had intimated that they must not be +overheard. + +"A thousand things," said Crouch. "In the first place, I don't like the +look of Arabs. There's an old saying on the Niger, 'Where there's an +Arab, there's mischief.' Also, he's got something he doesn't wish us to +see. That's why he won't let us outside the stockade. Besides, +remember what the natives told us. The tribes the whole country round +stand in mortal fear of this fellow, and they don't do that for nothing. +The Fans are a brave race, and so are the Pambala. And do you remember, +they told us that every evening there's thunder in the valley which +shakes the earth? No, he's up to no good, and I shall make it my +business to find out what his game is." + +"Then you don't believe that he's an ivory trader?" asked Max. + +"Not a word of it!" said Crouch. "Where's the ivory? He talks of this +store of tusks, but where does he keep it? He says he's been here for +two years. In two years, by the wholesale manner in which he has been +killing elephants, according to his own account, he should have a pile +of ivory ten feet high at least. And where is it? Not in a hut; not +one of them is big enough. I suppose he'll ask us to believe that he +keeps it somewhere outside the stockade." + +"I never thought of that," said Harden, tugging the ends of his +moustache. "I wonder what he's here for." + +"So do I," said Crouch. + +Soon after that, at Crouch's request, Harden and Max lay down upon their +blankets, and were soon fast asleep. As for the captain, he also lay +down, and for more than an hour breathed heavily, as if in sleep. Then, +without a sound, he began to move forward on hands and knees across the +floor of the hut. + +When he reached the door he came into the moonlight, and had there been +any one there to see, they would have noticed that he carried a +revolver, and there was a knife between his teeth. + +As quick as a lizard he glided into the shade beneath the walls of the +hut. There he lay for some minutes, listening, with all his senses +alert. + +This man had much in common with the wild beasts of the forests. He was +quick to hear, quick to see; it seemed as if he even had the power to +scent danger, as the reed-buck or the buffalo. + +His ears caught nothing but the varied sounds of wild, nocturnal life in +the jungle. The stockade was not more than a hundred paces distant from +the skirting of the forest. Somewhere near at hand a leopard growled, +and a troop of monkeys, frightened out of their wits, could be heard +scrambling through the branches of the trees. Farther away, a pair of +lions were hunting; there is no sound more terrible and haunting than +the quick, panting noise that is given by this great beast of prey as it +follows upon the track of an antelope or deer. Then, far in the +distance, there was a noise, so faint as to be hardly audible, like the +beating of a drum. Crouch knew what it was. Indeed, in these matters +there was little of which he was ignorant. It was a great gorilla, +beating its stomach in passion in the darkness. And that is a sound +before which every animal that lives in the jungle quails and creeps +away into hiding; even the great pythons slide back into the depths of +silent, woodland pools. + +But it was not to the forest that Crouch's ear was turned. He was +listening for a movement in the hut in which slept the Portuguese +trader, who went by the name of Caesar. After a while, seeming +satisfied, he crawled on, in absolute silence, in the half-darkness, +looking for all the world like some cruel four-footed beast that had +come slinking from out of the jungle. + +He reached the door of the hut, and crept stealthily in. Inside, he was +not able to see. It was some little time before his eye grew accustomed +to the darkness. + +Then he was just able to discern the long figure of the Portuguese +stretched upon his couch. Half-raising himself, he listened, with his +ear not two inches from the man's mouth. Caesar was breathing heavily. +He was evidently fast asleep. + +Still on hands and knees, as silently as ever, Crouch glided out of the +hut. + +Instead of returning by the way he had come, he turned in the opposite +direction, and approached another hut. It was that which belonged to +the half-caste, de Costa, whom he had met five years before in St. Paul +de Loanda. + +Once again he passed in at the door, silently, swiftly, with his knife +still in his teeth. + +This hut was even darker than the other, by reason of the fact that the +door was smaller. Crouch sat up, and rubbed his eyes, and inwardly +abused the universe in general because he was not able to see. + +Suddenly there was a creaking noise, as if some one moved on the bed. +Crouch was utterly silent. Then some one coughed. The cough was +followed by a groan. De Costa sat up in bed. Crouch was just able to +see him. + +The little half-caste, resting his elbows on his knees, took his head +between his hands, and rocked from side to side. He talked aloud in +Portuguese. Crouch knew enough of that language to understand. + +"Oh, my head!" he groaned. "My head! My head!" He was silent for no +longer than a minute; then he went on: "Will I never be quit of this +accursed country! The fever is in my bones, my blood, my brain!" + +He turned over on his side, and, stretching out an arm, laid hold upon a +match-box. They were wooden matches, and they rattled in the box. + +Then he struck a light and lit a candle, which was glued by its own +grease to a saucer. When he had done that he looked up, and down the +barrel of Captain Crouch's revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER VII--THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN + + +Before de Costa had time to cry out--which he had certainly intended to +do--Crouch's hand had closed upon his mouth, and he was held in a grip +of iron. + +"Keep still!" said Crouch, in a quick whisper. "Struggle, and you die." + +The man was terrified. He was racked by fever, nerve-shattered and +weak. At the best he was a coward. But now he was in no state of +health to offer resistance to any man; and in the candle-light Crouch, +with his single eye and his great chin, looked too ferocious to +describe. + +For all that the little sea-captain's voice was quiet, and even +soothing. + +"You have nothing to fear," said he. "I don't intend to harm you. I +have only one thing to say: if you cry out, or call for assistance, I'll +not hesitate to shoot. On the other hand, if you lie quiet and silent, +I promise, on my word of honour, that you have nothing whatsoever to +fear. I merely wish to ask you a few questions. You need not answer +them unless you wish to. Now, may I take my hand from your mouth?" + +De Costa nodded his head, and Crouch drew away his hand. The half-caste +lay quite still. It was obvious that he had been frightened out of his +life, which had served to some extent to heighten the fever which so +raged within him. + +"Come," said Crouch; "I'll doctor you. Your nerves are all shaken. Have +you any bromide?" + +"Yes," said de Costa; "over there." + +He pointed in the direction of a shelf upon the wall, which had been +constructed of a piece of a packing-case. On this shelf was a multitude +of bottles. Crouch examined these, and at last laid hands upon one +containing a colourless fluid, like water, and handed it to the patient +to drink. De Costa drained it at a gulp, and then sank back with a sigh +of relief. + +Crouch felt his pulse. + +"You're weak," said he, "terribly weak. If you don't get out of this +country soon you'll die. Do you know that?" + +"I do," said de Costa; "I think of it every day." + +"You don't wish to die?" said Crouch. + +"I wish to live." + +There was something pitiful in the way he said that. He almost whined. +Here was a man who was paying the debt that the white man owes to +Africa. In this great continent, which even to-day is half unknown, +King Death rules from the Sahara to the veld. A thousand pestilences +rage in the heart of the great steaming forests, that strike down their +victims with promptitude, and which are merciless as they are swift. It +seems as if a curse is on this country. It is as if before the advance +of civilization a Power, greater by far than the combined resources of +men, arises from out of the darkness of the jungle and the miasma of the +mangrove swamp, and strikes down the white man, as a pole-axe fells an +ox. + +De Costa, though he was but half a European, was loaded with the white +man's burden, with the heart of only a half-caste to see him through. +Crouch, despite the roughness of his manner, attended at his bedside +with the precision of a practised nurse. There was something even +tender in the way he smoothed the man's pillow; and when he spoke, there +was a wealth of sympathy in his voice. + +"You are better now?" he asked. + +"Yes," said de Costa; "I am better." + +"Lie still and rest," said Crouch. "Perhaps you are glad enough to have +some one to talk to you. I want you to listen to what I have to say." + +Crouch seated himself at the end of the bed, and folded his thin, +muscular hands upon his knee. + +"I am not a doctor by profession," he began, "but, in the course of my +life, I've had a good deal of experience of the various diseases which +are met with in these parts of the world. I know enough to see that +your whole constitution is so undermined that it is absolutely necessary +for you to get out of the country. Now I want to ask you a question." + +"What is it?" said de Costa. His voice was very weak. + +"Which do you value most, life or wealth?" + +The little half-caste smiled. + +"I can see no good in wealth," said he, "when you're dead." + +"That is true," said Crouch. "No one would dispute it--except +yourself." + +"But I admit it!" said de Costa. + +"You admit it in words," said the other, "but you deny it in your life." + +"I am too ill to understand. Please explain." + +Crouch leaned forward and tapped the palm of his left hand with the +forefinger of his right. + +"You say," said he, "that you know that you'll die if you remain here. +Yet you remain here in order to pile up a great fortune to take back +with you to Jamaica or Portugal, wherever you intend to go. But you +will take nothing back, because you will die. You are therefore +courting death. I repeat your own words: what will be the use of all +this wealth to you after you are dead?" + +De Costa sat up in his bed. + +"It's true!" he cried in a kind of groan. + +"H'sh!" said Crouch. "Be quiet! Don't raise your voice." + +De Costa rocked his head between his knees. + +"It's true--true--true!" he whined. "I know it. I shall die. I don't +want this money. I want to live. I--I fear to die." His voice +trembled. He was pitiful to see. + +"You shall not die," said Crouch; "I'll make it my business to see that +you live. I can't cure you, but I can keep you alive till we reach the +coast. There, one week on the sea will restore your health." + +"That's what I want," said de Costa, "the sea air. Oh, for a breath of +the sea!" + +"I'll take you down with us," Crouch ran on. "I'll doctor you on the +way. Max Harden is a young man of science. He has studied these +things, and with his knowledge and my experience we'll pull you through. +In three months from now, I promise you, you shall set eyes upon the +ocean." + +"How glorious!" the poor man cried. He looked into Crouch's face, and +there were large tears in his eyes. + +"Stay," said Crouch; "I've not come here for philanthropic purposes. If +I do this for you, you must do something for me. Otherwise you can stay +here--and die." + +"What is it you want?" + +Crouch bent forward and whispered in the man's ear, speaking distinctly +and with great deliberation. + +"I want to know what's inside the padlocked chest that Caesar keeps in +his hut. Come, out with the truth!" + +On the instant the man sprang out of bed and seized Crouch by the +wrists. He was so little master of himself that hot tears were +streaming down his cheeks. He was shaking in every limb. It was as if +his neck was not strong enough to support his head, which swung round +and round. + +"Not that!" he screamed. "For pity's sake, not that!" + +"Come," said Crouch; "the truth." + +De Costa drew back. "I daren't," said he. + +"Why?" + +"Because he--would kill me." + +"Look here, you have to choose between two men," said Crouch: "Caesar +and myself. Trust me, and I'll see you through. You told me you had +heard of me before. You may have heard it said that I'm a man who +sticks to his word through thick and thin, once it has been given." + +As Crouch said this he noticed a remarkable change that came on a sudden +upon de Costa's face. The man's complexion turned livid; his jaw +dropped; his eyes were staring hard over Crouch's shoulder, in the +direction of the door. + +Crouch whipped round upon his heel, his revolver in his hand, and found +that he stood face to face with Caesar. + +"By Christopher," said he, "you're mighty silent!" + +"And may I ask," said Caesar, "what you are doing here?" + +Crouch made a motion of his hand towards de Costa, who had sunk down +upon the bed. + +"This man's ill," said he; "in fact, he's dying." + +"He is always dying," said Caesar, "and he never dies. He has the +vitality of a monkey." + +"It doesn't seem to distress you much," said Crouch. "Since you have +lived together for two years, in a forsaken spot like this, I should +have thought that you were friends." + +Caesar threw out his hand. + +"Ah," he cried, "we are the best friends in the world--de Costa and +myself." + +He stood looking down upon Crouch, with his white teeth gleaming between +his black moustache and his beard. In that light it was difficult to +see whether he smiled or sneered. There was something mysterious about +the man, and something that was fiendish. + +"And so," he ran on, "Captain Crouch has taken upon himself the duties +of medical officer of Makanda? I'm sure we are much obliged." + +"I have some experience of medicine," said the captain. + +"Indeed," said Caesar. "And do you always operate with a revolver?" + +For once in his life, Crouch had been caught off his guard. + +"In this country," he said, "I am seldom without one." + +"You are wise," said Caesar. "I myself am always prepared." + +With a man like Crouch, this kind of verbal sword-play could never last +for long. He was too much a creature of impulse. He liked to speak his +mind, and he hated and mistrusted this thin Portuguese as a mongoose +hates a snake. + +"There are no laws in this country," said he, "and there are certain +times when it's not a bad principle to shoot at sight. In the civilized +world, a man goes about with his reputation on the sleeve of his coat, +and all men may know him for what he is. But here, in the midst of +these benighted forests, one must often act on instinct. To kill at +sight, that's the law of the jungle; and when men come here, they'd do +well to leave behind them what they know of other laws respecting life +and property and rights. If I'm wise to carry a revolver, perhaps I'm a +fool because I hesitate to use it." + +Here was a plain speaking, an outright honesty that quite disarmed the +Portuguese. If, hitherto, Caesar had held the upper hand, Captain +Crouch had now turned the tables. Whether warfare be carried on by +words or amid the clash of arms, the victory lies with him who best +knows his mind. And Captain Crouch did that. It was as if he had +thrown a gauntlet at the tall man's feet, and defied him to pick it up. + +But Caesar was never willing to fight. His was a quick, calculating +brain, and he knew that the odds would be against him. Listening +outside the hut, he had overheard the greater part of the conversation +which had taken place between Crouch and the fever-stricken half-caste. +His secret, which he kept under lock and key in the strong chest at the +foot of his bed, he was prepared to guard at every cost. He saw now +that Crouch was an adversary not to be despised. It was necessary for +him to take steps to seal de Costa's lips. + +Though the man no longer showed it in his face, Caesar was by no means +pleased at the appearance of the Englishmen. Though he was affable and +polite, all the time he was scheming in his mind how to get rid of them +as quickly as he could. For the present, he decided to bide his time, +hoping that, sooner or later, Fate might play into his hands. Whatever +happened, he was determined that they should not suspect him of any +sinister intention, and on that account it behoved him to keep up an +appearance of friendship. He answered Crouch with all the pleasantry of +manner he had at his command. + +"Captain Crouch," said he, "you are a man after my own heart. I also +respect the laws of the jungle. I have shaken the dust of civilization +from my feet. It is only the strong man who can do so. In you I +recognize an equal." + +In his heart, Crouch stigmatized such talk as this as high-falutin' +nonsense. Still, he thought it unwise to hatch a quarrel with the man, +and answered with a kind of grunt. + +"I suppose you're right," said he. + +"And what of our poor invalid?" said Caesar, turning to de Costa. + +Side by side, these two men, who were already sworn enemies in secret, +bent over the prostrate figure of the half-caste. De Costa lay with one +arm hanging listlessly over the side of the bed. His eyelids were +half-closed, and underneath the whites of his eyes could be seen. When +a man sleeps like that, he is in a bad way. The sands of life are +running down. + +"He's asleep," said Crouch. "That's all he wants. The fever has +subsided. He'll be much better to-morrow. Let us leave him." + +Together they went out. The little sea-captain walked back to his hut, +and threw himself down upon his blankets. As for Caesar, he remained +standing in the moonlight, with his long fingers playing in his beard. + +For some minutes he remained quite motionless. The silence of the night +was still disturbed by the strange sounds that came from out of the +forest. The man seemed plunged in thought. Presently a soft, moist +nose was thrust into the palm of his hand, and looking down, he beheld +his great dog, which, unable to sleep by reason of the heat, had +followed her master into the moonlight. + +"Gyp," said he, in a soft voice--"Gyp, old friend, how are we to get rid +of these accursed Englishmen?" + +The dog looked up, and licked her master's hand. + +"Come, Gyp," said Caesar; "come and think it out." + +He entered his hut, and sat down upon the great, padlocked chest. There, +he took the dog's head between his knees. She was a Great Dane, and +even larger and more powerful than the majority of her kind. + +"Do you know this, Gyp," said he: "de Costa can't be trusted? +Fortunately, you and I, Gyp, know a way to make him hold his tongue." + +At that, the man laughed softly to himself. + +Meanwhile, in the other hut, the quick brain of Captain Crouch was not +idle. He had learnt much that night; but the secret was still unsolved. +He had not been slow in discovering the weak point in Caesar's line of +defence: the little half-caste could be induced to speak the truth. +That the man was not an ivory trader, Crouch was fully convinced. +Indeed, he could be no sort of trader at all, because there was no +direct line of communication from Makanda to the Coast. Try as he might, +Crouch could find no answer to the riddle; and in the end, like Caesar, +he resolved to bide his time. + +Before he went to sleep, he awakened Max. + +"Max," said he, "I want you to keep watch till daybreak. Keep your eyes +open, and if any one enters the hut, give him 'hands up' on the spot." + +"Have you discovered anything?" asked Max. + +"Nothing," said Crouch, "except that de Costa's our friend's weak point. +Given half a chance, I will find out the truth from him. But Caesar +suspects us, as much as we suspect him; and, from what I have seen of +the man, I'm inclined to think that he'll stick at nothing. We must +never cease to be on our guard. Keep on the alert, and wake me up if +you see or hear anything suspicious." + +At that Crouch turned over on his side, and this time actually fell +asleep. + +Max Harden sat with his back to the wall of the hut, his loaded revolver +in his hand. Through the doorway, above the rampart of the stockade, he +could see the march of the tropical stars, as the Southern Cross dropped +lower and lower in the heavens. As it drew nearer to daybreak, the +sounds of the jungle ceased. Even in these latitudes there is a time, +about an hour before the dawn, when all Nature seems hushed and still; +the great beasts of prey retire to rest, foodless or with their +appetites appeased--more often the first, and it is not before the first +streaks of daybreak are visible in the eastern sky that the large minor +world, of beast and bird and reptile, awakens to the day. + +Max obeyed his orders to the letter. Hour by hour, he remained +perfectly motionless, with every sense on the alert. He was beginning +to think that the fears and suspicions of Crouch were entirely baseless, +when, on a sudden, the eternal stillness was broken by a shriek, +piercing and unearthly, that was lifted from somewhere near at hand. + +Springing to his feet, he rushed forth from the hut. And as he did so, +the shriek was repeated, louder than before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII--LEAVE TO QUIT + + +Max had no difficulty in recognizing whence came these appalling sounds; +for, as he hastened forward, they were repeated, again and again. It +was as if the night were filled with terror, as if some wild, tormented +spirit had been let loose upon the stillness of the jungle. + +From the opened doorway of de Costa's hut a bright light shone forth, +making a wide, diverging pathway to the foot of the stockade. And in +this pathway two shadows danced like fiends. They were here, there and +everywhere, whilst time and again that piercing shriek went forth. + +Max dashed into the hut, and there was brought to a standstill by the +sight that he beheld. + +On one knee upon the floor, with an arm upraised as if in +self-protection, was the half-caste, de Costa, with abject fear stamped +upon every feature of his face. Still yelping like a cur, flinching +repeatedly for no ostensible reason, he looked up furtively, and into +the face of the man who stood above him. + +This was Caesar, with the Great Dane snarling at his side. His right +arm was bare to the elbow, and in his hand he held a whip. It was a +cruel whip, if ever there were such a thing. The handle was short, but +the lash was long and tied in many a knot. + +"Drop that!" cried Max; and, without a moment's thought, he lifted his +revolver and directed the muzzle full at the head of the Portuguese. + +At that the dog crouched low, as if about to spring, and filled the hut +with a growl. + +What happened in the next brief moments cannot be told in a word. The +Great Dane sprang straight at the throat of the young Englishman, who +was borne headlong through the doorway, to fall at full length upon the +ground. Simultaneously, Max's revolver went off, and the bullet flew +high into the roof. The next thing that he knew of was that both his +hands were pressed tight into the throat of the huge beast that had +pinned him to the ground. Strive as he might, he was not able to rise. +By sheer weight and strength Gyp held him down. + +[Illustration: "THE GREAT DANE SPRANG STRAIGHT AT THE THROAT OF THE +YOUNG ENGLISHMAN."] + +Then the hound was lifted bodily into the air. Max struggled to his +feet, and beheld his uncle, whose great hands grasped the dog by the +scruff of the neck. Harden was holding the animal so that it stood +upright on its hind-legs, and in that position Gyp was little shorter +than he. The dog was almost mad; it snarled like a wild animal, and its +white fangs gleamed in the light. + +The voice of Caesar sounded sharp, but calm and collected, in the midst +of this turmoil and confusion. + +"Gyp," he cried, "come here!" + +Edward let go his hold, and immediately the dog lay down, growling at +the feet of her master. + +"I should like to know," said Edward, "the cause of this disturbance." + +"A private matter," said Caesar, "which concerns no one but de Costa and +myself." + +But Max, though he had been overthrown by the dog, who had come upon him +so unexpectedly, was in no mind to let the matter drop. He was so hot +in anger, and his indignation so great, that his lips trembled when he +spoke. + +"Why did you strike that man?" he demanded, pointing to the half-caste. + +"That, I repeat," said the other, "is my affair--and his." + +"Understand," said Max, "that I make it mine. When I entered this room, +this poor wretch was on the floor, and you stood over him, whip in +hand." + +For the first time since they had entered the stockade, they saw the +real man under the calm, black mask that the Portuguese habitually wore. +Setting his brows in a frown, he whipped round upon Max, and spoke in +much the same manner as a cat spits at a dog. + +"You have yet to learn," he cried, "that in this place I am master. I +take orders from no one. In Makanda my word is law. This half-bred cur +is my servant. He knows it, as well as I. He knows, also, that if he +serves me faithfully he will be rewarded. But if he dares to disobey my +orders, he incurs the penalty I choose to inflict. There is my answer; +and I ask you, who are you to come here and presume to dictate to me?" + +"I have no more special mission," answered Max, "than any other who +knows the difference between what is right and wrong. You may be master +here--for all I care you may be master of the whole of Africa--but I am +not going to stand by and see one man flog another for any cause. Raise +that whip again on peril of your life." + +Max dared the man on purpose. The fact was, he would have been glad +enough to shoot. As for Edward, though all this time he had stood by in +silence, his finger had never left the trigger of his revolver. But, +Caesar was not such a fool as to give either of them the chance they +waited for. He cast his whip upon the ground. + +"After this," said he, "I presume you will avail yourselves of my +hospitality no longer. I shall be glad to see your backs." + +"We shall be only too glad to go," said Max. + +"I put no obstacle in your way," said Caesar. "It is almost daylight +now." + +Max turned and left the hut, followed by his uncle. Each asked himself +the same question the moment he got out into the open air: where was +Captain Crouch? + +Crouch must have heard the disturbance. The shrieks of the half-caste, +the growling of the dog and the firing of Max's revolver had been enough +to have awakened the dead. Yet he had never put in an appearance. When +they entered their hut they found him seated cross-legged on the floor, +with his pipe between his teeth. The atmosphere was tainted with the +smell of Bull's Eye Shag. + +"Where have you been?" asked Edward. + +Crouch never deigned to reply, but, taking his pipe from his lips, asked +a question himself. + +"Did you come to blows?" he said. + +"Practically," said Max, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I found him +thrashing that half-caste within an inch of his life. I threatened him, +and his dog flew at me, and, had it not been for Edward, would have torn +me to bits. We had a kind of an argument, and in the end he told us to +clear out, which we said we were perfectly ready to do." + +Crouch returned his pipe to his mouth. + +"I was afraid of that," said he. + +"Why?" + +"I would like to have stayed here just a little longer. I haven't +probed the mystery yet. When I saw you two run into de Costa's hut, I +knew there was going to be trouble. I knew you wouldn't come out for +some minutes, and I had the chance of a lifetime." + +"Where did you go?" asked Harden. + +"Into Caesar's hut," said Crouch, winking with his only eye. "I +searched everywhere, but could find nothing. As I told you before, this +man has a secret, and that secret is locked up in his chest. In Central +Africa a man doesn't have a chest like that to keep his clothes in. +It's iron-bound, and locked with three padlocks, and I suppose he keeps +the key in his pocket. It would have been sheer waste of time to have +tried to open it. I couldn't lift it. It's as heavy as if it were +filled with lead. That's why I'm sorry we've got to clear out. I mean +to discover what that chest contains." + +"We've got to go," said Max. "I wouldn't stay here another hour for all +the secrets in the universe." + +"You're quite right," said Crouch. "As the natives say on the Ogowe, 'a +bad man's bread is poison.' We'll sheer off at once." + +Edward went out, and returned in a few minutes with M'Wane and the four +Fans. + +"M'Wane," said Crouch, still seated on the ground, "we're going back to +Hippo Pool." + +M'Wane smiled as though he were glad to hear it. + +"That is good news," said he. "I do not like this place." + +"Why?" asked Crouch, looking up. + +"We have been told," said M'Wane, "that if we try to leave the camp, we +shall be shot by the Arab men." + +"Have you found out anything?" asked Crouch. + +M'Wane shook his head. + +"I have seen no one," said he. "I know nothing. To speak the truth, I +am afraid." + +In the half-light of morning, the party left the stockade. Their canoe +was moored to the bank of the river, in the place where they had left it +on the afternoon of the day before. They clambered into their places: +Max and his uncle to the stern seat, and Crouch to his old place in the +bows. Then the canoe shot out into mid-stream, and it was not until a +month later that any one of them looked again upon the mysterious +settlement of Makanda. + + + + +CHAPTER IX--A THIEF BY NIGHT + + +It will be remembered that it had taken two and a half days to make the +journey to Makanda from Hippo Pool. They returned in seven and a half +hours, and even then the natives did little work with their paddles. + +The fact was that, from the granite hills that almost surrounded the +station of the Portuguese, a number of small tributaries joined the +Hidden River. In consequence, a great volume of water flowed down to +Hippo Pool. The current became stronger every mile, since the banks +grew nearer together, and several jungle streams joined forces with the +river. The largest of these was the tributary which flowed into Hippo +Pool, along which had lain the latter part of the portage they had made +from Date Palm Island on the Kasai. Harden named this stream +Observation Creek, for a reason which we are just about to explain. + +They camped on the east bank of Hippo Pool, at a place selected by +Crouch. Two courses lay open to them: they had either to remain here +indefinitely, or, leaving their canoe on the Hidden River, to return to +Date Palm Island by the route of their former portage. Never for a +moment had they had any intention of returning to the Kasai until they +had discovered something more definite concerning the mystery of +Makanda. That night, seated around their camp-fire, by the waters of +Hippo Pool, they held a council of war. + +With this place as their base, they were resolved to operate against +Caesar's position farther up the river. That afternoon, M'Wane had +climbed to the top of a gigantic cocoanut-tree, some little distance +from the right bank of Observation Creek. Thence he had surveyed the +surrounding country, and it was largely on the information supplied by +M'Wane that Edward Harden drew up the sketch-map which proved so useful +to them throughout the eventful days that followed. + +[Illustration: EDWARD HARDEN'S MAP OF THE COUNTRY OF THE FIRE-GODS.] + +From that tree-top the broad course of the Kasai had been visible, its +gleaming waters showing here and there, white in the sunlight, to the +north and to the east. To the north-west, the course of the Hidden +River lay comparatively straight to the mangrove swamp where it joined +the larger stream. The rapids began three miles or so below Hippo Pool, +and there, according to M'Wane, the river was foaming white. Lower +still, it entered the Long Ravine, where great bare cliffs rose upright +on either side, and at the end of which was the waterfall of which the +Fans had spoken. On some days, when the wind was from the north, they +could hear the dull roar of the cataract, like thunder in the distance. + +To the south-west, above the tree-tops of the forest, M'Wane had been +able to observe the crest-line of the red granite hills which enclosed +the station of Makanda. Almost due south, from out of the midst of the +forest, like a giant in a stubble-field, a great mountain towered into +the sky. On the northern slopes of this mountain the Fan chief had been +able to discern a little village, lying like a bird's nest in a +declivity, thousands of feet above the dark, inhospitable forest. One +night, by firelight, on the banks of Hippo Pool, Edward Harden drew the +map on a piece of cartridge paper, though many of the features thus +shown were not filled in until further facts had come to light. + +Their plan of campaign was evolved in the fertile mind of Crouch, though +Max, and even Edward, made several suggestions which the little +sea-captain was only too glad to accept. They named the mountain +Solitude Peak, and it seemed probable that it was in this direction that +the creek found its source. + +They desired, if possible, to reach Makanda without the knowledge of +Caesar and his Arabs. They did not doubt that they would be able to +overlook the stockade from some eminence in the eastern granite hill. +Now, since it was two and a half days' journey up the river, it would +take them months to force their way through the jungle to the south. +They decided, therefore, to follow Observation Creek to its source, +which, they hoped, would be somewhere in the vicinity of the mountain. +There they might be able to glean some knowledge at the native village +which M'Wane had seen in the distance. At any rate, they would be able +to survey the surrounding country, and take the most accessible route in +the direction of Makanda. + +However, neither Crouch nor Harden was the man to undertake anything +rashly. Each knew that in Caesar they had an adversary who was not to +be despised. Before they set forth upon their expedition, they decided +to secure more ammunition and supplies from Date Palm Island, and for +this purpose it was decided that Edward Harden should return to the +Kasai with M'Wane and the Fans. + +Accordingly, the next day the explorer set out, following the route of +their old portage along Observation Creek, and thence through the jungle +to the left bank of the great river opposite Date Palm Island. Edward +thought that he would be able to persuade the Loango boys to carry the +"loads" back to the base-camp at Hippo Pool. Then, if they still feared +to remain in the valley of the Hidden River, they could return to the +Kasai. That night, Crouch and Max were the only two who remained at the +little camp at Hippo Pool. + +The next three days were by no means idle. Game had to be shot in the +forest; there was cooking to be done; they even carried the canoe ashore +and repaired a small leak which had been sprung in her bows. Moreover, +Crouch insisted that one or other of them should always be on watch. +With a good fire burning throughout the night, they had little to fear +from wild beasts. Even the leopard, which is a far more courageous +animal than the lion, must be well-nigh starving before it dares to +approach a camp-fire. What Crouch feared most was a raid on the part of +Caesar. He knew enough of the tall Portuguese to suspect that the man +would not stay idle whilst the three Englishmen remained in the valley +of the Hidden River. In one of the many canoes they had seen tied up to +the river bank at Makanda, Caesar could shoot down-stream in the space +of a few hours. There was therefore not an hour of the day or night +that one or the other of them was not seated on the river-bank, rifle in +hand, with his eyes turned towards the southern extremity of Hippo Pool. + +Three days passed, and nothing of importance occurred. It was on the +third night that something happened which was so much in the nature of a +mystery as to be fully in keeping with the character of the whole valley +and the rumours they had heard. Though Captain Crouch had only one eye, +that eye was as the eye of a lynx; and the matter in question is all the +more worthy to relate, since the event first occurred by night, when +Crouch himself was on guard. + +That day Max had shot his first buffalo, about half a mile from camp, on +the southern side of Observation Creek. The meat had been cut into +steaks, and one of these was cooked that night for breakfast in the +morning. Crouch relieved Max on sentry at twelve o'clock, with the +intention of keeping watch till daybreak. As Max turned over to go to +sleep, he distinctly remembered having seen the buffalo-steak on a tin +plate, a few inches from the fire. In the morning this steak was gone. + +Crouch had seen nothing. He was prepared to swear that he had never +been to sleep. Throughout the morning the matter seemed to worry him a +good deal. + +"I can't make it out," he said, talking to himself, as was his wont. "I +don't believe any leopard would do it. The beasts are terrified of +fire. A starving leopard might; but no leopard could very well starve +in a valley like this, which positively abounds in game." At various +intervals throughout the day he gave expression to the same opinion. + +That night Max took the first watch, from seven o'clock to twelve. +During that period never once did he relax his vigilance. He sat, hour +by hour, with the fire at his elbow, and his face turned towards the +river. He was thinking that it was nearly time to awaken Crouch, and +had pulled out his watch, when he heard the sound of a breaking twig a +few feet behind him. + +He turned sharply, and was just in time to discern the shadow of some +great beast disappearing into the jungle. His eyes shot back to the +fire, and there he beheld to his amazement that once again their +breakfast had disappeared. He immediately awoke the little sea-captain, +and told him what had happened. + +"Did it look like a leopard?" asked Crouch. + +"No," said Max, "I think it was a lion." + +Crouch got to his feet. + +"I don't believe it," said he. "The king of beasts is the greatest +coward I know. The most courageous animal in the world is the African +buffalo, and after him come the peccary and the wild boar. All the cats +are cowards, and the lion the biggest of all. Once I was shooting +buzzard on the Zambesi, when I came face to face with a lion, not +fifteen paces from me. I had no one with me, and was armed only with a +shot-gun. What do you think I did?" + +Max laughed. "Ran for it?" he suggested. + +"Not a bit!" said Crouch. "That would have been sheer folly; it would +have showed the brute I feared him. I just dropped down on all-fours, +and walked slowly towards him." + +"Great Scott!" exclaimed Max, unable to restrain his admiration. + +"That lion," said Crouch, "looked straight at me for about three +seconds, and then quietly turned round and walked away, swishing the +flies from his body with his tail. As soon as he thought he was out of +sight, he broke into a gallop. It was beneath his dignity, I suppose, +to let me see he was frightened. He had got to live up to his +reputation." + +"Is that actually true?" asked Max. + +"As true as I'm standing here. All lions are naturally frightened of +anything they can't understand. That particular animal couldn't make me +out, didn't like the look of me; so he just walked away. The lions in +this valley can have had little or no experience of white men. I +therefore refuse to believe that our breakfast has been stolen by a +lion. Shall I tell you who I believe is the culprit?" + +"Who?" asked Max. + +"Gyp," said Crouch; "Caesar's dog. Caesar himself could hardly have got +here by now. Yesterday afternoon I reconnoitred some way up the river, +and saw no signs of a canoe. But the dog could have found its way +through the jungle. It seems improbable, no doubt; but I can think of +no better explanation." + +Indeed, this was the only solution of the matter, and they resolved to +be upon their guard. + +The following day they determined to explore the rapids. They were +already acquainted with the river-valley between Hippo Pool and Makanda, +but as yet they knew nothing of the country which lay between their camp +and the mangrove swamp on the Kasai. M'Wane, from the cocoanut-tree, +had caught sight of the Long Ravine, which ended in the waterfall of +which the natives had told them, the dull roar of which was frequently +audible at Hippo Pool when the wind was in the right direction. They +did not expect Edward back for some days, and each was of the +disposition that chafes under the restraint of inaction. + +Accordingly, soon after daybreak they launched the canoe, and taking +with them three days' supplies and a quantity of ammunition, they shot +down-stream to the north. The descent of the river was easy enough. +Throughout the journey Crouch kept his eye on the current. Since this +grew stronger and stronger as they progressed, he did not desire to go +too far, knowing full well that the return journey would be by no means +easy to accomplish. + +At a place where the river was exceedingly narrow, and the jungle on +either bank even more dense and tangled than usual, they heard, on a +sudden, the crashing of undergrowth in the forest, as if some great +beast were flying for its life. A moment later a leopard sprang clear +from the river bank. For a second the beast was poised in mid-air, its +legs extended at full length, its ears lying back, its superb coat +dazzling in the sunlight. Then it came down into the water with a +splash. + +For a few strokes it swam straight for the canoe. Max carried his rifle +to the shoulder and fired. The beast was hit, for it shivered from head +to tail, and then turned round and swam back to the bank whence it had +come. As it crawled forth, dripping, with its head hanging low between +its fore-legs, the great snout of a crocodile uprose from out of the +water, and the huge jaws snapped together. + +Crouch, who was steering, ran the canoe into the bank, and a moment +later both he and Max, their rifles in their hands, had set out into the +semi-darkness of the jungle. + +They had no difficulty in following the leopard's spoor. The beast was +badly wounded and very sick. Every hundred yards or so it lay down to +rest, and when it heard them approaching, rose and went on with a growl. + +Presently it led them into a marsh--which Edward Harden afterwards +called Leopard Marsh--where they sank knee-deep in the mud. There were +no trees here. In the middle of the marsh, lying in a few inches of +water, was the wounded leopard, wholly unable to rise. + +"He's yours," said Crouch. "I'll stand by in case you miss." + +Max lifted his rifle, took careful aim, and fired. On the instant, with +a savage screech, the leopard rose with a jerk. For a moment it stood +upon its hind-legs, rampant, its fore-feet fighting in the air. Then it +came down, as a stone drops, and lay quite still. + +Max felt the flush of triumph that every hunter knows. His blood +tingled in his veins. He was about to rush forward, to gloat upon his +prize, when from somewhere near in the forest a shot rang out, and a +bullet splashed into the moist ground at Max's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER X--THE BACK-WATER + + +Crouch's voice was lifted in a shout. "Run for your life!" he cried. + +Together they went floundering through the mire. They had to run the +gauntlet for a distance of little more than a hundred paces; but, by +reason of the nature of the ground, their progress was necessarily slow, +and before they had gained the cover afforded by the jungle, several +bullets had whistled past them, and Crouch was limping badly. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Max. + +"Hit in the leg," said the little captain, as if it were a trifle. +"There 're no bones broken, but I'm bleeding like a pig." + +"Let me look at it," said Max. "The artery may be cut." + +They were now well screened by trees. It was impossible that any one +could come upon them unawares. Max took his knife from his pocket, +ripped open the seam of the captain's trousers, and examined the wound. +The artery was untouched, but there was an ugly wound in the thigh, +which had evidently been made by an enormously heavy bullet. + +"Caesar's elephant-gun," said Crouch. "By Christopher, I'll make him +pay for this!" + +"Are you sure of that?" said Max. + +"Yes," said Crouch. "I caught sight of something white moving among the +trees. I knew at once that Caesar was there with his Arabs." + +Meanwhile, with quick fingers, Max was folding his handkerchief +lengthwise for a bandage. + +"Wait a bit," said Crouch. "I'll soon stop that flow of blood. I've a +special remedy of my own." Whereupon he produced his tobacco-pouch; and +before Max could stop it, he had taken a large plug of his vile, black +tobacco, dipped it into a puddle of water, and thumbed the lot into the +open wound, as a man charges a pipe. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Max, with memories of his hospital days. +"You'll get septic poisoning! You can't do that!" + +Crouch looked up. There was a twinkle in his only eye. + +"So much for science," said he. "When you get back to London, you can +tell the doctors they're wrong. If it amuses 'em to play with +antiseptics--and they're fond of the smell of carbolic--they're welcome +to do what they like. As for me, I've used this remedy for twenty +years, and I'm not inclined to try another." + +Max looked worried. He was convinced that Crouch would die of +blood-poisoning, and was beginning to wonder how, in that benighted, +tropical forest, he was going to amputate the captain's leg. + +"Don't you fret," said Crouch, tying the bandage himself. "Maybe, one +brand of tobacco's not so good as another. It's my belief that if they +cut off your head, you could stick it on again with Bull's Eye Shag." By +then he had got to his feet. "Come on," said he; "this man won't let us +get away if he can help it. Follow me." + +So saying, he plunged into the jungle, and though he was now limping +like a lame dog, it was all Max could do to keep up with him. + +Time and again he dived through what had looked like impenetrable +thickets. He seemed to know by instinct where to go. He avoided +quagmires. He sprang over fallen trees. He wormed his way through +creepers, the branches of which were thick as ropes. + +Frequently he stopped to listen, and sometimes placed his ear to the +ground. + +"They're after us!" he cried once. He pulled out his compass and looked +at it. "We must get back to the canoe," he said. "The river's to the +east." + +Soon after they struck what to all intents and purposes was a path. It +was, in fact, the "run" of some wild animals, and doubtless led to the +place where they were in the habit of drinking. It was no more than two +feet across; and about four feet from the ground the undergrowth from +either side met in a kind of roof; so that they found themselves in a +tunnel, along which, if they stooped sufficiently, they were able to +make good headway. + +Suddenly Crouch, who was still leading, stopped dead, and held his rifle +at the ready. Max stopped, too, and listened. + +Something was moving in the jungle. They heard distinctly a quick, +panting sound, coming nearer and nearer. + +"There!" cried Crouch. "Shoot!" + +He pointed down the tunnel, in the direction they had come. Max turned, +and beheld the head of a great beast thrust through the leaves of some +creeping plant that bound the trunks of two trees together in a kind of +lattice-work. + +It is unfortunate that the mind cannot retain a complete recollection of +scenes that have momentarily impressed us. Most of us, when asked to +describe in every detail even the most familiar objects, fall very short +of the mark. How much more so must this be the case when we look upon +something for no longer than a second, and then it is no more. + +Max will never forget that moment. He remembers the main features of +the scene, but there were a thousand and one details, which impressed +him at the time, that he is no longer able to remember. + +The semi-darkness of the jungle; the moist ground whereon he stood, +where multi-coloured orchids showed like little evil faces in the +twilight; the tangled undergrowth; and in places, like peep-holes +through which the daylight streamed, the shadows of the tall trees +towering high above. The scene, in its luxury and darkness, stood for +all that is savage, for all that is Africa--the country where the white +man ventures at his peril. And if anything were needed to complete this +strong suggestion of the wild, it was the great head and white, gleaming +fangs of the unknown beast which, half invisible, seemed as if it were +the unholy spirit of the place. On the spur of the moment, Max lifted +his rifle and fired. + +"Well done!" cried Crouch, who brushed past his elbow. + +A moment later they found themselves kneeling on either side of the +prostrate and lifeless figure of Gyp. + +"There lies our thief," said Crouch; "and the thief's master 's not so +far away." + +Max felt profoundly sorry in his heart that he had killed so magnificent +a creature. If the dog had hunted them, she had been told to do so by +her master. The only crime which could be laid to the account of the +Great Dane was obedience to Caesar. + +They remained by the body of the dog no longer than a few seconds, and +after that they pushed on upon their way, still following the course of +the tunnel, or "run." At length, when least they expected it, they +found themselves at the water's edge, at the place where the rapids were +inordinately swift. + +The water foamed and swirled upon its way, lashing the banks, forming +little whirlpools in mid-stream, and bounding in waves over the trunks +of trees which had fallen into the river. + +"Sit down," said Crouch. "There's no hurry. We may as well talk +matters out." + +Max looked at his companion. Now that they were in the sunlight, he was +able to see Crouch's face. He was alarmed to notice that the little +captain looked haggard and drawn. His lips were pressed together, as +though he were in pain, and his only serviceable eye was puckered and +screwed up. Seeing Max's anxiety, he did his best to smile. + +"The Bull's Eye 's beginning to work," said he. + +"How do you mean?" asked Max. + +"After a bit it begins to smart. It smarts for about three days, and +then the blamed thing's healed. Sit down, my boy. This man Caesar +annoys me. I want to think it out." + +They seated themselves at the river bank, and Crouch kept an ear towards +the jungle, in order to be warned if any one should approach. + +"What about the canoe?" asked Max. + +"It's up-stream," said the other, with a nod of the head. "If we work +our way along the bank, we can't miss it. To tell you the truth, I want +a rest; I feel queer. And, besides, I want to think." + +Max asked him what was on his mind. + +"Caesar," said he. "I should like to know how the man managed to get +here." Then he went on, thinking aloud, as was his custom. "There may +be a path through the jungle; but I doubt if even then he would have +been able to come this distance on foot. And yet his canoe never passed +Hippo Pool, or we should have seen it--that's sure enough." Then, on a +sudden, he slapped his knee. "By Christopher," he cried, "I have it! I +remember!" + +"You remember what?" asked Max. + +"About half-way between the Pool and Makanda I remember seeing the +entrance of a little back-water, on the left bank of the river. That +back-water probably rejoins the river somewhere about here. It's all as +plain as a pikestaff. He has come north by the back-water, which +accounts for us not having seen him pass through Hippo Pool. The end of +that back-water is either between here and the place where we left the +canoe, or else farther down-stream. Come," said Crouch, "we'll get the +better of this rascal. Perhaps, for once, Fortune will play into our +hands." + +He struggled to his feet, but immediately turned pale, and was obliged +to support himself against the trunk of a tree. + +"I feel mighty dizzy," he said. "I've lost a deal of blood." + +"You had better stay here," said Max; "I'll work along the bank until I +find the canoe, and then come back to you. I don't like leaving you, +but there's nothing else to be done. Perhaps the canoe is not far +away." + +"It's farther than you think," said Crouch; "that tunnel took us almost +due north. Besides, I can tell by the water. The rapids are pretty +strong; we can't be far from the ravine." + +"Will we be able to paddle against it, do you think?" asked Max. + +Crouch looked at the river. + +"Yes," said he. "My arms are all right, though I've gone wrong in the +leg. You get off, and come back here as quickly as you can. If you see +Caesar, shoot." + +At that Max set off alone. He soon found it impossible to make any +progress on the actual bank of the river, since here, by reason of the +moisture that was in the ground, the vegetation was so dense and tangled +that a weasel would have found some difficulty in making any headway. +He soon found, however, that by moving about thirty yards from the river +bank, he could make his way southward with tolerable ease. From time to +time he forced his way to the river's edge, and looked both up-stream +and down, to note if he could see any sign of the canoe. + +The sun was in the mid-heavens, and the heat intense. The jungle was +alive with sounds. The evening before there had been a heavy shower of +rain, and now the vapour rose like steam, and the moisture dropped from +the trees. To his left he could hear the roar of the rapids as the +river plunged upon its way, and this served to guide him, making it +possible for him to hold his course parallel to the river bank. He was +followed by a swarm of insects that droned and buzzed in his ears. The +perspiration fell from his forehead in great drops, and frequently he +found himself caught and held fast by strong, hook-like thorns. + +Presently the forest opened. It was like coming out of a darkened room +into the light. For a moment he was unable to see. During that moment +he fancied he heard a sound quite near to him--a sound of something that +moved. Looking about him, he discovered that he was standing in long +reeds which reached almost to his chest. To his right, the trees of the +forest were extended in a kind of avenue, and at their feet was a +narrow, swiftly-flowing stream. + +He had discovered Caesar's back-water. Moreover, he had discovered +Caesar's canoe, for there it was, its bows just visible, peeping through +the reeds. + + + + +CHAPTER XI--IN THE LONG RAVINE + + +Max took in the situation at a glance. If Caesar had come north from +Makanda by way of the back-water, he had not passed their canoe on the +Hidden River. Two courses lay open to Max: he might cross the +back-water in Caesar's canoe, and pursue his journey on foot; or he +might take this canoe and go down to Crouch, about whom he was anxious. +The latter was undoubtedly the wiser course to pursue. In the heart of +Africa, one canoe is as good as another; and, besides, by taking +Caesar's canoe he would be paying off old scores. + +Having come to this conclusion, he looked about him for a suitable way +by which to approach the canoe. He had not taken one step in the right +direction, when he discovered to his dismay that the reeds were growing +in a bog, into which one leg sank deep before he was able to recover his +footing on dry land. + +Still, he had every reason to be hopeful. If the Portuguese and his +party had disembarked at this place, there was clearly a way of getting +into the canoe. For all that, search as he might among the reeds, he +could not find it, and at last he retired to the top of the bank. + +No sooner had he got there than he discovered that for which he had been +looking. A tall tree had fallen in the forest, and the roots were half +in the water. The canoe had been moored under the lee of this. On each +side of the fallen tree the reeds grew so high that the trunk was half +hidden from view. + +This tree formed a sort of natural pier, or landing-stage, along which +it was possible to walk. Max stepped upon the trunk, and walked towards +the canoe. Fearing that if he jumped into it he would knock a hole in +the bottom, he lowered himself to a sitting position, and then +remembered that he had not untied the painter at the bows. He always +looks upon his next action as the most foolish thing he ever did in his +life. He left his rifle in the canoe, and returned along the tree-trunk +to untie the bows. + +It was then that he was seized from behind. Some one sprang upon him +from out of the reeds. Two strong arms closed about his chest, and he +was lifted bodily from off his feet. + +Putting forth his strength, he managed to twist himself round, seizing +his adversary by the throat. + +He had been set upon by one of Caesar's Arabs. The Portuguese himself +was doubtless still searching in the jungle for Crouch and Max, and no +doubt he had left this fellow in charge of his canoe. Fortunately, the +man was not armed; otherwise, Max would have been murdered. As it was, +he realized from the start that his life was in imminent danger. + +The man was possessed of the strength of all his race. His arms, though +thin, were sinewy, and his muscles stood out like bands of whip-cord as +he strove to gain the upper hand. Max was at a disadvantage, since he +wore boots; whereas the Arab with his bare feet had the better foot-hold +on the trunk of the fallen tree. Still, even he could not retain his +balance for long, with the young Englishman flying at his throat like a +tiger. The man had a beard, and Max, laying hold of this, forced his +head backwards, so that they both fell together into the mud. + +During that fall Max's head struck the bows of the canoe. For a moment +he was dazed, half stunned. He relaxed his hold of his opponent, and +thereafter he lay at the mercy of the Arab. + +If we make an exception of the Chinese, the Arab is in all probability +the cruellest man we know of. He is possessed of an almost fiendish +cunning. His courage no one will dispute. To his children he is a kind +father; to those who know and understand him he is a good friend; he is +one of the most hospitable men in the world. But to his enemies he is +relentless. He has none of the barbarity of the savage races, like the +Zulus or the Masai. He is refined, even in his cruelty. Above all, he +is a man of brains. + +Because of their craftiness, their cunning and their courage, the Arab +races have existed from the very beginnings of time. We read in the +most ancient history that exists--in the history of the Pharaohs--of how +the Egyptian towns in the valley of the Nile were walled against the +incursions of the Arabs. Long before the Persians came to Egypt, no man +dared venture far into the desert because of the Bedouin bands. And that +was when the world was in its cradle, when just the valleys of two +rivers--the one in Asia and the other in Egypt--were able to produce the +rudiments of the civilization of the future. That was, perhaps, eight +thousand years ago. + +Since then--and before then--the Arab has been feared. The Negro races +have bowed down before him, as dumb animals obey a superior +intelligence. In this, above all things, had the Portuguese been wise; +he had formed his bodyguard of those men who for centuries have been the +stern, implacable rulers of the great, mysterious continent. + +Max never lost possession of his senses; he was only dazed. And, whilst +in that condition, he was lifted in the strong arms of the Arab, and +thrown bodily into the canoe. When he was sufficiently recovered to +endeavour to rise to his feet, he found that he was in mid-stream, +drifting rapidly towards the river. He looked about him for a paddle, +and seeing none, turned his eyes to the bank. And there stood the Arab, +in his mud-stained garments, his white teeth showing in his swarthy face +in a broad, unholy grin. Moreover, in both hands, he held the paddles +which he had taken from the canoe. + +Max recognized, as in a flash, that his fate was in the hands of a +greater Power than himself. He snatched up his rifle, and endeavoured +to steer with the butt. That had the effect of turning the canoe a +little, but the current was too strong, and he was borne onwards. + +Twenty yards farther, and the canoe would turn the corner and shoot out +into the river, where the rapids foamed and lashed. At one time the +bows brushed the tall reeds which were growing from the water. Max, +dropping his rifle, seized the only one of these that was within his +grasp. He held it for no longer than a second--an agonizing moment that +seemed eternity--and then the reed was drawn out by its roots from the +soft mud beneath the water. + +The canoe was launched into the rapids at a bound. The current struck +it sideways, and sent it round like a top. For a moment it was like +some blind, excited animal that knows not whither it means to go, and +then it shot down-stream like an arrow from the bow. + +Max became aware of a kind of singing in his head. This may have been +caused by the blow which he had received, or else by the manner in which +the canoe was now whirled round and round upon the tide. The whole +scene about him became blurred and indistinct. The great, white-hot sky +above him was like a sheet of fire. He saw the trees on either bank fly +past like armies of dark, gigantic spectres. At such times as this, it +is as if the brain becomes unhinged; we think of strange, and often +foolish things, of no consequence soever. Max saw a large dragonfly, of +all the colours in the rainbow. Even then he admired its beauty and +coveted its wings. The latter thought was natural, but the first was +strange. And the next thing he knew of was Crouch shouting and waving +his arms upon the bank. In a few moments Max had shot down the river to +the place where he had left the little captain, though it had taken him +more than two hours to force his way to the back-water through the +density of the jungle. + +"Paddle!" Crouch was crying. "Paddle for your life! Bring her in to +the bank." + +Just then the canoe was steady, shooting downward like a dart. Max +raised his hands to his lips and shouted back. + +"I've no paddles!" he cried. + +He saw Crouch break into the jungle. The little sea-captain threw +himself into the thickets like a madman. Once again, only for an +instant, Max caught sight of him. He was fighting his way down-stream +along the river bank like some ferocious beast. The long arm of a +creeper barred his way, and Crouch wrenched it from the tree to which it +clung with a strength that was almost superhuman. And then he was lost +to view. + +Max looked down into the water, and saw at once that it would be +impossible to reach the bank by swimming. He had never been a strong +swimmer, and in such a current as this no one could hope to prevail. On +hands and knees, he crawled to the other end of the canoe, and +immediately the thing swung round again, like a gate upon its hinges. + +He was now calm enough to think the matter out. If he tried to swim to +the shore the odds would be a hundred to one against him. There was +still a chance that the canoe might be driven into the bank. He was +determined to keep his head, to be ready to spring ashore, should the +opportunity occur, and lay hold upon the first thing that fell to his +reach. + +As he sat and waited, whilst the seconds flew, his heart sank within +him. The river narrowed. Black, ugly-looking rocks sprang up, like +living things in mid-stream, and before him opened the ravine. + +He saw its great walls rising, smooth and sheer, on either side of the +river, and fading away in the distance, in the thick haze of the +steaming, tropic day. He was fascinated by the rocks. He marvelled +every instant that the canoe was not dashed to atoms. The surface of +the water was now white with foam, in the midst of which the black rocks +glistened in the sunlight. The canoe would rush towards one of these, +as some swift beast of prey hurls itself upon its victim; and at the +eleventh hour it would be whipped aside to go dancing, leaping on. + +The ravine was like one of the pits we read of in Dante's _Inferno_. Its +walls were precipitous and white, glaring in the sunshine. This was the +gate that guarded the Hidden Valley. + +Max had a sensation of passing through a railway-cutting in an express +train. Little objects upon the steep banks--perhaps straggling plants, +sprung from seeds which had fallen from above--were blurred and +indistinct, flashing past like may-flies in the sunlight. There was the +same rattling noise in his ears, quite distinguishable from the roar of +the water beneath his feet. + +For a moment he buried his face in his hands. A hundred thoughts went +galloping through his brain, not one of which was complete. One gave +place to another; there was no gap between them; they were like the +films on a cinematograph. + +And then came a murmuring in his ears which was something apart from the +rattling sound we have mentioned, and the loud roar of the rapids. He +looked up, with a white face, and listened. It seemed his heart had +ceased to beat, and breathing consisted of inspiration only. The +murmuring grew into a roar, and the roar into a peal of thunder--the +cataract was ahead! + + + + +CHAPTER XII--WHEN HOPE DIES OUT + + +As the canoe rushed forward, Max Harden recognized himself for lost; he +realized there was no hope. Resolved to meet his fate with all the +fortitude he could command, he was yet sufficiently unnerved to stand +upright in the canoe, which so rocked and swayed that he balanced +himself with difficulty. + +It was then that he looked down upon what seemed certain death. The +river ended abruptly, as a cliff falls sheer to the sea. The walls of +the ravine were folded back to the east and to the west, and between, +the water went over the cataract in one long, unbroken wave. + +Far below, extending to the north, was a broad plain, dotted here and +there with trees which, in the haze of the tropic heat, appeared +indistinct and restless, like weeds and pebbles at the bottom of deep, +discoloured water. Beyond that were the broad, gleaming waters of the +Kasai, rolling north-westward to the Congo. + +Max looked up to the wide, burning sky. In that mad, headlong moment he +offered up a prayer. The roar of the waters thundered in his ears. The +canoe over-shot the crest of the cataract, as a swallow dips upon the +wing. Max was conscious of a bursting in his head. There was a noise +in his ears as if all chaos were rushing in upon him; it was as if he +were an atom in the midst of an upheaval of the worlds. And then he +remembered no more. + + ---- + +Now that the Hidden Valley has been explored, and is even shown upon +some of the large scale maps that have recently been issued by the Royal +Geographical Society, those whose pleasure it is to study such matters +are well acquainted with the formation of the country. + +The river finds its source in the unknown mountains to the south of +Makanda; thence it flows due north towards the Kasai. South of the +waterfall the basin consists of a hard, impervious rock. In the region +of the jungle, this rock is covered by about ten feet of fertile +subsoil: in some places a black, glutinous mud; in others, a red, loamy +clay, containing a super-abundance of plant food. At the Long Ravine +the rock rises to the surface, in what geologists call an "out-crop." +North of the cataract lies a great plain of mud. + +This phenomenon is merely what is found in every waterfall in the world. +The river at the top of the falls flows over hard, impermeable rock; at +the foot is found a softer stratum--such as chalk or clay--which is +easily washed away. Originally, far back in the centuries, there was no +waterfall at all. The river flowed on an even course from Makanda to +the Kasai. Very soon, however, the current swept away vast tracts of +mud to the north of the waterfall. This mud was carried by the Kasai to +the Congo, and thence to the sea. In consequence, a tract of country, +many square miles in area, gradually descended lower and lower. On the +other hand, in the hard rock of the ravine, the river worked more +slowly, so that, at last, the cataract was formed. + +At the foot of the falls is a great pool in which the water is +exceedingly deep, and round which the current spends its fury in many +whirlpools, such as may be seen in a mill-pond when the flood-gates are +opened to their full extent. + +Having thus briefly explained the conformation of the country in the +lower valley of the Hidden River, it is now necessary to return to +Captain Crouch. The effort made by the little wizened sea-captain upon +that eventful morning is worthy to rank with anything that was ever told +by the poets of classic days. Had it not been for his indomitable will, +he could never have accomplished a feat that was almost superhuman. +Edward Harden had said that he believed that he was the only person whom +Crouch cared for in the world. That might have been true at the time, +but certain it is that the captain thought well of Max, else he had +never accomplished what he did. + +He was already wounded; even he himself had owned he was in pain. And +yet, mile upon mile, he broke his way through the jungle, fighting +onward amid the profusion of the forest, like one who was raving mad. +Often he sank to his waist in marsh. His clothes were torn to shreds by +thorns. His face and hands were red with blood which had mingled with +the perspiration that streamed from every pore. When he came forth from +the forest, at the head of the ravine, he looked hardly human--the most +desperate being it were possible to picture. + +For all that he dashed on, across the bare rocks, in the blazing heat of +the sun. There was nothing now to impede him, and he raced upon his +way, never pausing for breath. He was half-naked; he had left the +greater part of his clothes upon the thorn-trees in the jungle. His +pith helmet was askew, and battered and out of shape. He had used his +Remington rifle as a club to beat his way through the thickets, had +broken it off at the small of the butt, and now held the barrel in his +hand. His legs were bare to the knee, like those of an urchin, and so +clotted with blood that he looked like a savage who had dyed his skin. +Sometimes he stumbled, and seemed in danger of falling; but each time he +braced himself up, struck himself upon the chest, and went on even +faster than before. + +When he came to the end of the ravine he turned to the west, and there +found a place where he could climb down to the low-lying flats. It was +then approaching sunset. The heat of the day was past. + +At about half-way down the incline he paused, and lifted the palm of his +hand to screen his only eye. For some minutes he scanned the plain, and +then on a sudden he gave vent to a loud cry of exultation, and bounded +down the hill. Far in the distance, high and dry upon a mud-bank, he +had caught sight of a small speck, which he knew for a human being. + +It took him more than half an hour to reach this place. By then it was +nearly dusk. Bending down over the drenched, motionless form, he +thought at first that Max was dead. He could feel no beating of the +heart. + +Still, Crouch was not the man to despair. Moreover, in the days when he +had sailed the seas, he had had experience in the resuscitation of the +drowned. + +Without delay he set to work. He lifted the body so that the water +poured from the mouth of the unconscious man. He then seated himself +upon the ground at Max's head, and worked both arms like the handles of +a pump. + +The sun set and a full moon arose, which traced a silvery pathway across +the great wasteland that extended both to the east and to the west, as +far as the eye could reach. Here and there lonely, stunted trees showed +like sentinels upon the plain. The only sound that disturbed the +stillness of the night was the dull, continuous roar of the cataract to +the south. Here was no sign of animal life. In the daytime the +marshland was thronged with birds, but these now were silent. It would +be impossible to imagine a place more desolate and weird. It seemed not +of the world, or, if it were, of some forgotten country, buried for ever +beyond the reach of progress and the influence of man. + +Hour after hour Crouch held to his task. The sweat poured from his +forehead, the blood still issued from his wounds, but never for a moment +did he cease. + +At last he stopped, and placed an ear to Max's chest. Thereupon, he +went on again, more feverishly than ever. + +Soon after that, a quick cry escaped his lips. He had looked into Max's +face, and seen the eyelids flicker; and presently, two eyes were staring +in his face. And at that the little man just toppled forward in a +faint, and lay upon his face across the body which his efforts had +brought back to life. + +Without doubt, the mind is master of the body, and the will is king of +the mind. One had but to glance into the face of Captain Crouch to see +that he was possessed of a will of iron. The strong brows, the firm +mouth, the great hatchet chin--these had not been given him for naught. +He may have had the strength of Hercules; yet he had never accomplished +his journey down the river, had it not been for the indomitable strength +of his mind. And now that he realized that the victory was his, that +his efforts had been crowned with success, the will, on a sudden, +relinquished its task, as a helmsman gives way to his successor at the +wheel--and Crouch fell forward in a faint. + +At dawn, the sun found them lying together on the mud, and by the warmth +of its rays set the blood coursing more freely in their veins. + +Max was the first to revive. He tried to lift himself, but found that +he was not able to do so, because of the weight of Crouch's body on his +chest. He fell back again, and lay for some time with opened eyes, +staring upward at the sky. + +He saw the colours change in the heavens. He heard the cries of the +birds upon the marsh. Then, once again, he struggled to an elbow. + +With difficulty he lifted Crouch; and then, looking into the captain's +face, he wondered where he was, and how it had come about that they two +were stranded, side by side, in the midst of surroundings with which he +was wholly unfamiliar. + +Then he remembered, by degrees. The struggle with the Arab in the +back-water--his headlong rush throughout the length of the rapids--the +vision he had had of Crouch, frantic on the bank. And then--the ravine, +and at the end, the cataract--the thunder of the water--the rushing in +his ears. + +The truth was not difficult to guess; indeed, there was no other +explanation. He tried to rise to his feet, but could not do so. At +that, he lay back again, to rest, and gave silent thanks in his heart to +Divine Providence by means of which he had been saved as by a miracle. +He had undergone the sensations of death, and yet he lived. + +He had lain quite still and motionless, it may have been for an hour, +when Crouch sat up and looked about him. And when he had taken in the +scene, he let fall the following irrelevant remark-- + +"I've lost my pipe," said he. + +He then got to his feet, and walking to the water's edge--which was but +a few feet distant--he knelt down, scooped the water in his hands, and +drank. + +Then he returned to Max, and seated himself by his side. + +"Feeling queer?" he asked. + +Max answered that he was very weak. + +"Your strength 'll return," said Crouch; "but you must have some cover +for your head." + +He took off his coat, which was nothing but a bundle of tatters, and +rolling this into a kind of turban, he placed it upon Max's forehead to +protect him from the heat of the sun. Then he went back to the water's +edge, washed the blood from his face and hands, and bathed the back of +his neck. As he returned, he found the barrel of his broken rifle, and +stooped and picked it up. + +"Look at that!" said he. "That was once the best rifle in this forsaken +continent. Not worth its weight as scrap-iron!" + +"I suppose," said Max, "you'll be offended if I try to thank you?" + +"You suppose right," said Crouch. "Do you feel able to walk?" + +"I think so." + +"You don't," said the captain. "There's no hurry." Then he began to +think aloud. "If we work up-stream," said he, "we'll be on the wrong +side of the river. By now Caesar will have found our canoe. We're not +armed; we have no food. There are precisely three ways in which we +might die: first, starvation; second, Caesar; third, a buffalo. The +first's a certainty. Both of us are too weak to swim the river at Hippo +Pool--to say nothing of crocodiles. On the other hand, if we go +down-stream, walking will be easy till we get to the mangrove swamp. +Have you got a knife?" + +Max felt in his pockets, and produced the article in question. Crouch +looked at it. + +"That'll do," said he. "With this we should be able to dig out a canoe, +and make a couple of paddles. If we don't die at the job, we ought to +work our way up to Date Palm Island. As soon as you're ready, we'll +start." + +"I'm ready now," said Max. + +"Then come along," said Crouch. + +The mud lay in ridges, which had been baked hard by the sun. Between +these the water lay in long pools which, as they progressed farther to +the north, became more and more still, less disturbed by the current +that issued from the falls. Crouch patted his clothes as he limped +along. + +"I've lost every blamed thing," said he; "pipe, pouch and baccy, +compass, knife and ammunition." + +Max answered nothing. He thought it would not be wise to sympathize. +Crouch was a peculiar man in many ways. + +Soon after midday they came to the mangrove swamp; and the crossing of a +mangrove swamp is a thing that most African explorers have accomplished. +The roots of the short, stunted trees stand out upon the surface of the +water. It is necessary to pass by way of these, stepping from one root +to another; and some knowledge of the art of balancing is utterly +essential. If you lose your foothold, you fall into the swamp, and +there you are set upon by leeches. Some of these are large--sometimes +as large as snails--but the kind generally met with is an animal so +small that it can work its way through the eye-holes of your boots. +Once this creature has laid hold upon your skin, and begun to suck your +blood, it begins to swell until it has attained the size of a cherry. + +At the edge of the mangrove swamp Crouch and Max took off their boots, +and hung these across their shoulders. With bare feet they could get a +better footing upon the twisted roots of the trees. + +For three hours they journeyed through the swamp, which was buried in +semi-darkness. It was far darker than the jungle. It is in these +swamps that the mosquitoes swarm in myriads, and all the deadly diseases +of the country are engendered. To pitch a standing camp in the vicinity +of a mangrove swamp, is to court a certain death from malaria or +typhoid. + +They were weary, faint, and aching in their bones when they came upon +the banks of the Kasai. No wonder this had been named the "Hidden +River." It joined the great tributary of the Congo in a thousand little +streams, all flowing silently through darkness beneath the close-packed +trees. + +Crouch turned to the right. He had been bearing to the east throughout, +and in a little while they were clear of the swamp, on terra firma. +Seating themselves, they put on their boots. + +"By Christopher," said Crouch, "I'm weak! I don't fancy making that +canoe with a jackknife." + +"Nor I," said Max. "But we'll do it." + +Crouch laughed. + +"We will," said he, but his face was white as a ghost. Then he sat bolt +upright and listened. "What's that?" he cried. + +Faint in the distance was a gentle, scraping sound, which grew louder +and louder as the minutes passed. Max at first could not believe the +evidence of his ears. He waited expectantly, and at last heard a +rippling sound, that was like the laughter of a child. He sprang to his +feet, and rushing to the water's edge, looked up-stream, shading his +eyes with his hand. It was, indeed, the truth--a long canoe was +swinging down upon the tide. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII--BACK TO THE UNKNOWN + + +A minute later they saw that the canoe was manned by six of their own +Loango boys, who made the blades of the paddles flash in the sunlight; +and, moreover, they recognized the canoe as the one they had left at +Date Palm Island. + +Max lifted his voice and shouted from the bank. Whereat the boys ceased +to paddle, and regarded them amazed. Then, recognizing their masters, +they raised a shout in chorus, and drew in towards the bank. + +Had these natives desired proof of the omnipotence of the Fire-gods, +they could have wished for nothing more. Had they searched Central +Africa from the Equator to the Zambesi, they could have found no two +people more wretched-looking and forlorn. Max was utterly exhausted, +and so faint that he could scarcely stand. As for Crouch, he might have +been mauled by a lion. + +One of the boys flung himself upon the ground, then rose to a kneeling +position, and lifted his arms as in prayer. + +"Master," he cried, "what did we tell you? We warned you of the +Fire-gods! We told you the valley was bewitched! We implored you not +to go!" + +As the boy ran on in the same strain, Crouch gathered himself together, +growing purple in the face. With his tattered garments, which resembled +ruffled feathers, he looked like an infuriated turkey-cock. And then, +without warning, he landed the boy such a kick as lifted him bodily into +the air. + +"Fire-gods be hanged!" he shouted. "These are jungle marks. If the +valley 's bewitched, it's bewitched by thorns. Look here! See for +yourselves!" So saying, he lifted his bare leg, in which the thorns +were sticking like so many pins in a pin-cushion. "I've seen the +Fire-gods," he ran on. "You blithering fools, I've taken tea with 'em. +I've doctored one with a dose of medicine, and I've played cards with +the other. And I've not done with them, yet--mind that! I'm going +back, by Christopher! and there'll be the biggest war-palaver you ever +heard of in your lives. Come, get up, and get a move on! But, first, +what are you doing here?" + +The boys answered that they had come down-stream to shoot hippopotami +for food. They said that about a mile farther down the river there was +a great grassy bank where many of these animals were to be found. Crouch +ordered them to get back into the canoe, saying that as soon as they +arrived at the island he would open a case of supplies--bully beef and +sardines, of which the Loango boys cherished the empty tins. Also, he +promised that in a day or so he would shoot a buffalo, and they would +not want for provisions. There was a certain amount of hippo meat in +the canoe, and that night Crouch and Max partook of the same food as the +boys. It was not until the afternoon of the following day that they +arrived at Date Palm Island. + +They did not expect Edward Harden for some days. He was still forcing +his way towards the Kasai by way of the portage. In the meantime, not +only were they glad enough of a rest, but this was altogether essential. +It took Crouch some days to rid himself of the thorns which had attached +themselves to his skin. He refused all medical assistance from Max; and +the wonder of it was, that the wound in his thigh was healing rapidly +under his "Bull's Eye treatment." This was wholly incomprehensible to +the young medical student, who beheld the theories he had studied at +hospital, and on which he had placed such store, dissipated to the +winds. In all probability, the fact was that Crouch had such firm +belief in his own remedy that his cure was an example of "faith +healing"; it is generally admitted in these days that "attitude of mind" +affects the health and can even bring about organic changes, for better +or for worse. At any rate, in three days he was sufficiently recovered +to set forth into the forest of rubber trees on the right bank of the +river in search of the buffalo he had promised the boys. Max--although +on this occasion he remained in camp--had by now completely recovered +his strength. + +There were few things they carried with them to the Hidden River of +which they had not duplicates at Date Palm Island. Crouch had been able +to secure a new suit of clothes, tobacco and another pipe. As for +rifles, both Edward and Crouch were experienced explorers, and knew that +if a fire-arm was lost or broken, they could not buy a new one in the +heart of Africa. They had therefore equipped themselves with a battery +of several rifles, including Remingtons, Expresses and Winchester +repeaters, besides several shot-guns and revolvers. + +On the evening of that day, when he was expecting Crouch's return at any +moment, Max walked to the northern extremity of the island. When there, +his ears caught the sound of a shot in the forest, on the left bank of +the river. + +Now, since Crouch had landed on the other side, there could be no +question as to whence came this shot; and in a few minutes Max had run +to the canoe, jumped in and paddled to the bank. There, he picked up +his rifle and fired twice into the air. + +Almost immediately his two shots were answered, and there came a second +answer--from Crouch on the northern bank. A quarter of an hour later, +Max, who had hastened forward on the line of the portage, had grasped +the hand of his uncle, who was amazed to see him. + +Crouch returned at nightfall. He had killed his buffalo, far in the +interior of the forest, and the following morning the boys set out to +cut it up. That night the three friends were seated around the +camp-fire on Date Palm Island. Edward's journey had been uneventful, +except that one of his Fan attendants had been mauled badly by a wounded +leopard. + +It was Max who related the story of all that had happened since his +uncle left Hippo Pool. The big man listened in silence; and when the +story was ended he said nothing, and never once did he look at Crouch. +He knew the captain far too well to thank him. With old friends who +have been through thick and thin together, who have stood side by side +throughout many a danger, words are at a discount--a kind of mutual +understanding exists between them that makes conversation a sheer waste +of time. Still, though Edward said nothing, Max knew well enough that +he thanked the little, wizened captain in his heart, and was conscious +of the debt he owed him. + +They remained on the island for another week, and it took them all that +time to persuade a dozen of the boys to accompany them upon the portage +in the capacity of carriers. It was only on the understanding that they +would not be asked to embark upon the dreaded river of the "Fire-gods" +that, at last, they consented to go. + +Indeed, this time, they had no intention of advancing as far as the +river. They proposed to follow the portage to Observation Creek, and +thence to strike up-stream, due south, until they found a suitable +camping-ground. Here they would establish their base, sending the boys +back to the island with orders to wait for their return. + +The Loango boys could be trusted; most of them had faithfully served +either Crouch or Edward in the past. Besides, they were a thousand +miles from their home, and dared not make the passage of the Congo by +themselves, because of the hostile tribes that, in those days, abounded +to the east of Stanley Falls. When Crouch and Edward Harden were on the +river their reputation went before them; their friends came forth to +meet them--grinning cannibals with necklaces of monkeys' teeth suspended +round their necks, and little else besides by way of clothing--and their +enemies, those who had broken their faith with Harden or fallen foul of +Crouch, deserted their villages and took to the jungle, to let the two +great white men pass, whose fame had reached to the very heart of the +continent, and who, it was said, were spoken of even by the pigmies who +lived in the dark, unknown country west of the Lakes. + +When they set out with their carriers for Observation Creek, the three +Europeans were sanguine of success, and even the four Fans (the one who +had been injured by the leopard had been left behind on the island) +shared their expectations. The riddle of the valley was yet unsolved. +The Portuguese still guarded well his secret. In his fortress by the +river, encompassed upon every hand by the dark, inhospitable jungle, he +had every reason to think himself secure. Moreover, he had cause to +believe that both Max and Crouch were dead--the former drowned at the +cataract, the latter lost in the jungle. Half the victory is gained +when one can take one's adversary by surprise. Caesar had lost Gyp, his +most accomplished scout. He might patrol the river, but he would find +no trace of the Englishmen from Makanda to the rapids. He might search +their old camp at Hippo Pool, where he would find, perhaps, a box of +ammunition, cooking utensils and a few days' provisions--to say nothing +of Crouch's case of glass eyes--but he would gain no clue to the fact +that his enemies had returned to the valley. + +From their base camp on Observation Creek they had decided to move +up-stream towards the mountain. They hoped to make friends with the +natives of the Pambala village that M'Wane had seen in the distance. +Thence they could approach Makanda from the east. + +Each time they traversed the portage progress was more easy. It was no +longer necessary to cut a way through the thickets with bill-hooks and +axes, and to "blaze" the trees. Besides, they were now familiar with +the road, knew where to look for water and the bitter roots of wild +manioc, or cassava--from which tapioca is manufactured--and upon which, +to a large degree, they were obliged to subsist in the jungle. Also +they no longer carried a canoe. + +In consequence, they reached the Creek in four and a half days. After +halting for an hour, they continued their journey to the south, turning +to the left from the route which led direct to Hippo Pool. They +followed the course of the stream till sunset, and then camped for the +night. Another day's march brought them to an open place by the side of +the Creek, where the ground was too rocky for vegetation to flourish. +They had been conscious throughout the day's journey of going up-hill, +and this was doubtless the foot of one of the spurs of the mountain they +wished to gain. It was here they decided to camp. + +They pitched their tent, and gathered a supply of firewood in the +forest. The water of the stream was clear and good to drink. They were +much pestered by insects of all descriptions, but this is inevitable in +the heart of an equatorial forest, and not even the smoke of Crouch's +tobacco served to keep away the millions of flies, mosquitoes and ants, +to say nothing of less disagreeable companions, such as the most +gorgeous butterflies and gigantic dragon-flies and moths. + +The following day the Loango boys departed upon their return journey to +the Kasai. As had been the case before, they showed great eagerness to +return. It seems that they could not rid their minds of the tales they +had heard of the Fire-gods, and neither Crouch nor Edward could persuade +them that the valley was not haunted by evil spirits. + +During the days that followed the party suffered from want of meat. They +had deemed it advisable not to shoot. Though they were still some +distance from Makanda, there was always a chance that Caesar and his +Arabs were somewhere abroad in the forest, and they did not wish the man +to suspect that they had returned. In the forest they found nothing to +eat but manioc, and a continual diet of the tubers of this peculiar +plant is somewhat monotonous and is apt to set up a kind of blood +poisoning, to which some people are more liable than others. Edward, +whose large carcass required a considerable amount of nourishment, began +to suffer from some kind of bilious fever. + +After a day's rest they set out upon their southward journey. Day by +day as they progressed, the nature of the vegetation changed. The +forest trees became thinner and not so large. The atmosphere became +cooler and more rarefied. The slope grew steeper and steeper, until at +last they were confronted by a sharp, rocky bluff which enclosed the +jungle like a wall. They followed this to the left, and came presently +to a gully, a dried-up watercourse, up which it was possible to climb. +At the top they found themselves upon a hillock--one of those bare, +flat-topped eminences which are scattered throughout the whole continent +of Africa. Hence it was possible to obtain a bird's-eye view of the +country. + +To the north, as far as the eye could reach, extended the forest through +which they had passed. About twenty miles to the eastward they could +see the Kasai above Date Palm Island. To the west there was no sign of +the Hidden River, which, being narrower and flowing in a direction +almost due south to north, was hidden among the trees. To the south a +magnificent panorama was extended to their view. The foreground fell +away in a valley which, to some extent, had been given over to +cultivation; and beyond, in rugged majesty, arose Solitude Peak. The +great mountain towered into the sky, its crest wrapped in clouds; and +over the valley hung a thin blue mist, above which some great bird of +prey hung like a gnat, with outstretched wings, in the very midst of +space. + +It was Max who was the first to see the village, half-way up the +mountain slope, lying--as M'Wane had described it--like a bird's nest in +the forked branches of a tree. He pointed it out to his companions, and +then the party began to descend into the valley, one behind the other in +single file, following a track which had been made by elephants. An +elephant trail can never be mistaken; however hard the ground, the +imprints of their great feet remain, and they have a habit of tearing +branches from the trees as they pass, not so much for food, as from pure +love of destruction. + +It took them several hours to cross the valley, and then they began the +steep ascent of the mountain. Suddenly M'Wane, who was leading, came to +an abrupt standstill, and stood upon a sharp pinnacle of rock, pointing +to the east. There was something noble in his dark, savage figure, +standing upright, straight as a larch, in the midst of these wild +surroundings. A moment later he was joined by the two Hardens and +Crouch. + +There, in the distance, they could discern the broad waters of the lake +before Makanda. They could see the granite hills, which were red in the +glow of the setting sun. They could see, also, the narrow gorge in the +south, and far in the distance was a great range of undiscovered +mountains. As they looked, a sound issued from the valley, which, like +a long peal of distant thunder, rolled away to the north upon the wind, +echoing through the forest. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY" + + +"The Fire-gods' thunder!" said M'Wane, in a kind of hushed whisper, with +his lips parted and his eyes staring in the direction of the Hidden +River. + +It was obvious that the man was afraid. He belonged to a wild race that +for centuries has roamed the jungle, catching fish in baskets at the +waterfalls and setting traps in the forest. Until a few days before he +had never seen a firearm in his life. He had heard tales of white men +who were traders on the Coast, but he had never associated these with +the Fire-gods who inhabited the Hidden Valley, whom he regarded as +superhuman. + +Crouch looked at Edward. "What do you make of it?" he asked. + +Harden was frowning in the direction of the valley. His fingers tugged +at the end of his moustache. He was a man of few words, as we know. + +"Dynamite," said he. + +"I think so, too," said Crouch. "I wonder what his game is!" + +In their immediate neighbourhood was a narrow stretch of grass--the +coarse, thin grass that is usually to be met with on the lower slopes of +mountains. It was at this moment that Crouch's eye became fixed in the +centre of this. He remained motionless for some seconds, and then on a +sudden grasped Edward by the arm. + +"There's a man there!" said he. "Look out!" + +Simultaneously a black form sprang out of the grass and ran up the hill +in the direction of the village. Crouch whipped round upon M'Wane and +his Fans. + +"After him!" he cried. "A reward if you catch him alive." + +The four Fans set off as fast as they could go. The race lasted no +longer than five minutes at the most. The fugitive seemed possessed of +the agility of an antelope when startled from its midday slumber; he +sprang over boulders, he dodged right and left like a snipe. But the +Fans were fleeter of foot than he; at every stride they gained upon him, +and in the end he was overtaken. + +They brought him back to Crouch--a woeful, terrified object who had not +the courage to lift his head. Crouch tried him with five languages, but +he seemed not to understand, and only gave utterance to a few incoherent +grunts. Then Crouch tried the "blood-bond," and this is not pleasant to +describe. He took a knife from his pocket, opened a vein in his hand, +and the native licked the wound. At that Crouch gave his knife to the +man, who in turn inflicted a wound upon himself, and Crouch went through +his part of the business with a heroism that Max was bound to admire. +They were now "blood-brothers," and that is a bond which is inviolable +in the region of the Congo. Crouch made the man understand him by means +of signs, in the art of which he was a master. + +"I have one heart," said he, by which he conveyed the fact that he was +no traitor, that his word could be relied on. "I wish to speak with the +people of your village." + +The man, pointing in the direction of Makanda, wanted to know whether +Crouch and his companions were allies of the Fire-gods. + +"No," said Crouch. "We are come to make war upon the Fire-gods." + +The man but half believed that. None the less, he agreed to take them +to the village. They urged him to set forward without delay, since it +had already grown dark. + +It was past nightfall when they arrived at a narrow street of small, +rounded huts, constructed of bamboo stems and palm leaves. Despite the +fact that they came with one of the villagers, the majority of the +inhabitants fled at their approach. This wild people were timid, shy as +animals; also, as we shall see, they stood in a mortal fear of Caesar +and his Arabs. + +As they approached the village, Crouch managed to gain the confidence of +their captive. Where natives were concerned the little sea-captain had +a way with him. The man promised that if they would wait till the +morning he would persuade his friends to attend a palaver. + +That night they had the village to themselves. The inhabitants--men, +women and children--had disappeared into the valley, where they spent +the night in fear and trembling. This is the common behaviour of many +uncivilized peoples when, for the first time in their lives, they behold +the indomitable white man. And these villagers had the greater reason +to be fearful, since they associated the explorers with the Fire-gods. + +Fortunately, they had fled in such haste that they had left most of +their provisions in their huts. Crouch and his companions enjoyed a +change of diet. That night they dined upon the flesh of a goat, which +they resolved to pay for on the morrow, besides plantains and Indian +corn. + +They took turn and turn about to keep watch throughout the night, but +there was no alarm. At daybreak they stationed themselves upon an +eminence above the village, hoping that the inhabitants would summon up +courage to return. Below them was the cultivated ground through which +they had passed the previous evening. The greater part had been given +over to the culture of ground-nuts; but there were also small patches of +Indian corn and banana groves. The explorer who wishes to succeed with +the untutored savage must possess his soul in patience by the hour. +Crouch sat down and lit his pipe. + +Shortly before midday, several dusky figures appeared from out of the +jungle, and made their way to the plantation. There they remained in a +body, frightened to come nearer; and by the aid of his field-glass, Max +was able to make out the figure of Crouch's "blood-brother" who, +gesticulating wildly, endeavoured to persuade his friends and relations +to return. + +Seeing that this was going to be a long business, Crouch suggested that +they should walk down to the village and partake of food. Since their +hosts were unwilling to entertain them, it only remained for them to +help themselves. This they did with liberality, for they had the +appetites of lions. + +They were in the middle of their repast when they heard the sound of +running feet and a great commotion. Looking up they beheld one of the +women of the village running towards them well-nigh panic-stricken, and +filling the air with screams. This woman rushed into a hut, and came +out again with all her portable belongings. + +By then the little street was crowded with old men, women and children, +wringing their hands in desperation, and uttering such moans and +supplications as were heartrending to listen to. It was remarkable that +among the crowd there were not more than five young men at the most; the +majority were women, and of the children there were few who were not +three years of age. + +Crouch looked about him, and caught sight of his "blood-brother," who +was no less distracted than the rest. He laid hold of this fellow by +the arm, and with great difficulty managed to discover what had +happened. + +The "blood-brother" had just persuaded his relatives to return to the +village; he had explained, at last, to their satisfaction that the new +white men were not the servants of the Fire-gods, when suddenly the +Fire-gods themselves had been seen approaching up the valley. At that, +the whole population had taken to their heels. They knew not where they +were going, for it was the custom of the Fire-gods to come upon them +from both sides at once, and if they tried to escape they were shot +without mercy. The great Fire-god was there himself--the tall, white +man with the black beard--and it was he whom they feared even more than +the Arabs. + +Crouch looked at Edward. There was a twinkle in his eye. + +"There's going to be fun," said he. + +"It will come to a fight," said Edward; "and I'm not sorry for that." + +"I hope it won't," said Crouch. "There are many things we ought to find +out before we come to blows. As far as I can understand from my worthy +'blood-brother,' Caesar is coming here for palaver. They'll hold +palaver in the street; and if we hide in a hut we ought to overhear what +the advertisements in the newspapers call 'something to our advantage.'" + +"I see," said Edward; "and if we're discovered, we fight." + +"Exactly," said Crouch. "That's the idea." + +It so happened that they had placed their "loads" in one of the huts +where they would not be seen by Caesar as he entered the village. It +was all Crouch could do to explain to his "blood-brother" that they +desired to hide, that the Fire-gods must not be told of their presence +in the village. After a while, the man seemed to understand; but, +indeed, he stood in such dread of the Portuguese that it was extremely +doubtful whether he was wholly responsible for what he was saying. + +Crowded together in one of the small huts the three Englishmen and the +four Fans awaited the arrival of the Fire-gods. They were astonished at +what they beheld--the abject consternation and alarm of the villagers, +who now appeared a cowered and servile race. Never for one moment did +it seem to occur to the few men among them to take up arms, in spite of +the fact that the Pambala--to whom they were obviously related--are a +warlike and courageous people. + +The reason for their cowardice was obvious. They did not fear the +Portuguese without a cause. They had learnt to their cost that Caesar +was a man to be dreaded. + +Crouch made a little eye-hole in the wall of the hut, whence he obtained +a good view of the street. It was through this that he caught sight of +Caesar and de Costa, the moment they entered the village. + +It was Caesar himself who led the way. He strolled forward, with his +rifle under his arm, and his black eyes shooting in all directions, as +if he were doing no more than taking an afternoon walk in a +neighbourhood where there was much to be observed. He was followed by +four Arabs, in robes of flowing white; and the last of these conducted a +negro, of the same tribe as the villagers, who wore an iron collar round +his neck which was made fast to a chain. The rear of the party was +brought up by de Costa, slinking forward like some mongrel cur, +fever-stricken and afraid. + +The party halted in the village street, some little distance from the +hut where the three Englishmen were hiding, but not so far away as to +make it impossible for Crouch to overhear the conversation that ensued. +The chained negro was brought forward by the Arab who had charge of him; +and it was this man who acted as interpreter. Caesar spoke to him in +Portuguese, and he translated. Crouch made a mental note of every word, +for he had a far better knowledge of the Portuguese language than the +interpreter himself. + +"As you know," said Caesar, "it is my custom to state my business in a +few words. I come here to give orders. I expect those orders to be +obeyed." + +He lifted his sombrero hat and mopped the perspiration from his +forehead, for the afternoon was hot, and he walked up hill. The four +Arabs stood around him--proud, arrogant, handsome men, upon whose +features were stamped an unmitigated contempt for the simple savages who +stood in awe before them. It was the headman of the village who +answered, an old man, with a short, grey beard, who wore a helmet made +of a monkey's skin, and surmounted by the green covert feathers of a +parrot. + +"The great Fire-god," said he, "has but to speak." + +"Good," said Caesar. "You know who I am. You know my power. You know +that to disobey me is death." + +The old man bowed his head. + +"I trade in ivory," said Caesar, "black ivory. You understand what I +mean. Now, listen to my command. I desire twenty more slaves, of your +youngest and most able-bodied men. They must be ready to return with me +to Makanda before the setting of the sun." + +At that the headman threw himself upon the ground. + +"It is impossible!" he cried. "Only last moon the great Fire-god took +away all the men of the village. No one remains but those who are old, +and women and children. The Fire-god can see for himself." + +"I do not choose to look," said Caesar. "As I have said, it is my +business to give orders. There is sickness in my camp, and many of my +people have died, and more are dying every day. I require others to +take their places. If you have no more men, I will take women and +children. But I will require two women, or three boys over twelve and +under sixteen years of age, for every man. You can please yourself as +to which you give me. It is all the same to me." + +"It is impossible!" repeated the native. + +"Impossible or not," said the Portuguese, "I give you till sunset. If +these people are not ready then, the consequence is on your own head. +You know how I treated the villages on the other side of the mountain? +Your fate will be the same. I will attack by night; I will set fire to +every hut; and I will take every one of you to be my slaves." + +"Mercy!" cried the native. But Caesar turned upon his heel, and led the +way from the village, followed by his Arabs, who smiled in heartless +satisfaction. + +Crouch gave time for Caesar to be well away from the village. Then he +crawled out of the hut, and seizing his "blood-brother" by the hand, +swore that he would save them all. + +At first, he quite failed to gain their confidence. They were convinced +in their minds that the Fire-gods were greater than all men, as the +strength of the elephant exceeds that of other beasts of the forest. + +But Crouch would not take that for answer. He commanded them to light a +fire, and they obeyed. When the flames were burning brightly he +executed a war-dance round and round the fire. His antics were +extraordinary to see. + +They may have thought him mad; but at all events he gained his object: +he drew them round him in a ring. They stood open-mouthed and +open-eyed, amazed at his contortions. They were children of the minute. +To all intents and purposes they had already forgotten the Portuguese +and his threats. + +Crouch sang, and never was there such singing. His voice was cracked +and out of tune. It was all Max could do to prevent himself exploding +into laughter. The words of Crouch's song had nothing to do with the +matter; in point of fact they were concerned with "Nuts and May." For +all that, he impressed the natives hugely. And when they had gathered +closer he took the boot from his foot, and thrust his toes into the +fire. And all the time he continued to sing of "Nuts and May," whilst +the atmosphere was tainted with the pungent smell of burning cork. + +The silence was so great that Edward Harden could hear the ticking of +his watch. The villagers stood around, breathless and amazed. Then +Crouch spoke to them; and the following was the argument he used. + +He admitted that the slave-dealer was master over fire; hence he was +called the "Fire-god." But he (Crouch) had proved to them that fire +could not affect him. Near-by a pitcher of water was standing outside a +hut, and into this he thrust his foot. There was a sizzling sound, and +steam was given off. He made the natives place their hands into the +water, to see for themselves that it was warm. He finished up by saying +that, if they would put themselves under his command, he would show them +how to face the Fire-god's anger. + +With reluctance they agreed. In the space of a few minutes it was +impossible for Crouch to efface the result of two long years of +persecution. The headman of the village, Crouch's "blood-brother," and +one or two others, came forward on behalf of their relations, their +children and their wives. Crouch turned to Harden. + +"Can we defend this place?" said he. + +Edward had already thought of that. + +"Yes," said he. "They can only advance by two paths. Elsewhere the +slope is too steep. There is an hour before sunset. If you make these +people build a wall of the small boulders which lie everywhere about, we +should be able to keep the rascals at bay." + +"I'll do my best," said Crouch. And thereupon he set to work. + +It took the natives some time to understand his meaning; but when he had +shown them what he wanted done they worked with a will, the women +carrying enormous stones, and even the little children lending aid. + +The parapet of stone grew like the walls of Rome, until, at last, it +formed a semi-circle around the village, joining the mountain-side at +either end. Then the women and children were placed under cover, and +ordered not to move. Edward posted himself at the head of the path +which led from the west, and Max on the other side of the village. At +the feet of each was a box of ammunition. As for Crouch, he hobbled +here and there on the charred stump of his foot, giving instructions up +to the last minute, when, in the dying light of day, Caesar and his +Arabs were observed advancing up the valley. + + + + +CHAPTER XV--CHOLERA + + +As before, it was Caesar who led the way; and the stone wall warned him +that danger was ahead. He guessed the truth in a flash. He knew well +enough that the natives themselves would never have dared to offer him +resistance. + +He stopped dead upon the path, and pointed out the wall to the Arab who +accompanied him. The man shaded his eyes with the palm of his hand, for +the mists of evening were rising from the valley, and the light was bad. +After a while the Arab disappeared from view, and then returned with his +comrades. They came up the path as men stalk game, creeping from +boulder to boulder. It was impossible to see them from the village. +Flat upon the ground, they glided from place to place like snakes. And +every minute the light was getting worse. + +One man, more daring than his comrades, had gained the cover of a large +rock about two hundred yards from the village. + +His eyes were sharp as those of a vulture. He was descended from the +sons of the desert. Peering round the angle of the rock behind which he +was hiding, he caught sight of Edward Harden's helmet, moving behind the +wall. + +In a second, the butt of his rifle was at his shoulder, and his left eye +was closed. He took in a deep breath, and aimed. At that moment, there +was a sharp crack from the wall, whence nothing of the Arab was visible +but the upper part of his head. And Edward Harden's bullet drilled a +hole in the centre of the man's forehead; so that his head just dropped +like a broken toy, and he lay still and lifeless, with his loaded rifle +in his hand. Son of a warlike race, that for centuries had oppressed +the ignorant and the weak, he had gone to make his peace with God, the +Giver of Life and Death. + +Caesar, from some distance behind, with a pair of field-glasses to his +eyes, had watched this tragedy of seconds; and he knew at once with whom +he had to reckon. He drew a whistle from his pocket, and blew a long, +shrill note, which was the signal to retreat. His three remaining Arabs +came back to him, retiring even more cautiously than they had advanced. + +Night fell, as a curtain is rung down upon a stage. The natives of the +village, the old men and women and children, who had sat huddled and +shivering under cover of the wall, came forth and marvelled that a +Fire-god had been turned back by a single shot. Crouch's authority +increased by leaps and bounds. The villagers, like children, desired to +celebrate the occasion with inconsequent rejoicing. They set about +beating large, wooden drums, but Grouch cast these away. They lit +fires, but Crouch stamped them out. + +Only the babies were allowed to rest that night; the little sea-captain +kept the others working until long after midnight, when a new moon +arose. He improved the defences. He had all the provisions and the +water-jars carried to the hut which he had made his own headquarters, +whilst the two Hardens stood as sentries on either side of the village. + +At about two o'clock in the morning, Max, on the eastern side of the +village, heard the noise of a loosened stone rolling down the +mountain-side. That put him on his guard. And a moment after, another +stone bounded into the valley. + +At that, he sent back M'Wane to tell Crouch that some one was +approaching, and remained at his post alone. + +There is nothing more majestic in the whole range of Nature than +moonlight in the mountains. The white mists drift in the valleys; and, +here and there, the great, ragged peaks blot out the stars. Midnight is +ever silent in the higher altitudes. The slightest sound--the hoot of +an owl or the bubbling of a spring--is magnified by echo, and carried +far upon the breeze. + +Max, with his rifle at the ready, waited with his heart thumping against +his ribs. He heard a noise, quite near to him, but so faint that he +could never have heard it had not every sense been on the alert. He saw +something white, moving like a ghost in the moonlight. Then, a loud +shout was uplifted in the stillness. "Allah Akbar! Strike for God and +the Prophet!" + +Three white figures rushed in upon him from the darkness. He fired, and +one went down. And then, reversing his rifle, he used it as a club, +swinging the butt around him in a kind of mad delight. + +The two men who remained pressed him close. He saw knives flash in +their hands. And then a third figure appeared, and a revolver spat like +a cat. Caesar himself was there. + +The Portuguese called back the two Arabs, spoke a few words which Max +was not able to hear; and then all three abreast endeavoured to rush the +wall. Max fired, but missed. He was attacked from three sides at once, +and must have been overpowered had not Crouch hastened to his rescue. + +It was no more than a scuffle at the best. Crouch emptied his revolver; +but it was too dark to shoot straight. Max used his fist, and sent one +of the men rolling backwards; whilst Crouch flew like a leopard at +Caesar's throat. It was all over in an instant. Caesar and his men +drew off as suddenly and quickly as they came, taking with them the Arab +whom Max had wounded or killed. + +Crouch took out his pipe and filled it. + +"I wish I had had the luck to hit that rascal," said Max, "instead of +one of the Arabs." + +Crouch grunted as he lit his pipe. + +"When I shoot that man," said he, "I don't want it to be due to luck. +Nothing's too bad for a slave-dealer, if that's what he is--which I +doubt." + +It was then that they were joined by the Fan whom they had left with +Edward. He presented a note to Crouch, written in pencil on a leaf torn +from a note-book. + +"_How goes it?_" was all it said. + +Crouch scribbled a reply: "_He's gone to bed. But remain at your post +till daybreak._" + +Sunrise brought their vigil to an end. No sign of the Portuguese was to +be seen; and presently news was brought to the village by a man who had +been setting traps in the forest, and who had known nothing of the +alarm. This man stated that he had seen Caesar returning to Makanda, +followed by two Arabs, who carried the body of a third. + +The delight of the natives exceeded anything that Max Harden had ever +seen in his life. They beat their wooden drums, and sang and danced in +jubilation. They realized that, at last, after two years of oppression, +the yoke of the Fire-gods had been lifted from their shoulders. They +regarded Crouch and his companions as angels who had dropped from the +skies to deliver them from bondage. + +That evening the three Englishmen held a council of war. They regretted +that Caesar had learnt of their return to the valley. But that was +inevitable; they had been in duty bound to help the natives. Though the +mystery of Makanda was by no means solved, they had, at least, an +inkling of the truth. The explosion they had heard in the valley was +undoubtedly the blasting of rock; and there was no question that it was +for this purpose that Caesar required the services of slaves. That +explained why he had been unwilling for either the Europeans or the Fans +to leave the stockade. The kraal, fenced around by high palisades, and +guarded by Arab slave-drivers, contained the slave gangs; and who can +say what cruelty was perpetrated therein? The slave trade had been +abolished; but at that time, in the heart of Africa, it still flourished +in all its blackest colours, with utter disregard for the equality of +all men, who--whatever the colour of their skin may be--are equal in the +sight of God. Edward Harden was a man in whose big heart a sense of +justice burned like a living flame. When he considered the innate +cruelty of the Portuguese, who was willing to enslave even women and +little children, his wrath rose within him and the blood flew to his +face. He felt that he could not rest until the fortress of Makanda had +been taken, the slaves set free, and Caesar brought to his account. + +Still, Edward was no fool. He knew well enough that it would be madness +for three of them to endeavour to attack a defensive position held by a +determined man and, at least, half a dozen Arabs. It was then that they +decided to arm M'Wane and his Fans. They had with them six rifles and a +shot-gun; a great quantity of reserve ammunition had been left at the +camp on Observation Creek. Crouch and Max undertook to teach the Fans +to shoot; whilst Edward, with a party of villagers, made his way back to +the camp in the jungle, to bring up all their supplies. + +The following morning Edward Harden set out upon his journey, and it was +a strange crowd that followed him into the forest. The majority of them +were women; but the African woman is accustomed to manual labour. At +Zanzibar, sea-going ships are coaled by great buxom wenches, who can +lift a hundredweight as though it were a trifle. With many inland +tribes, between Mombasa and the West Coast, the work in the fields is +conducted almost exclusively by women. The men pride themselves upon +being warriors, hunters of big game and setters of traps. They consider +it beneath their dignity to dig and delve and hoe the ground, since such +employment entails no personal danger. Edward, therefore, was well +contented to have women as his servants; and before he started he +bargained to pay them in beads, cloth and cowrie shells. + +Whilst he was absent, Crouch and Max became drill-sergeants for the +nonce. The Fans were first taught the mechanism of the rifle, and how +to clean it. They were then instructed in aiming drill. Though Crouch +had now a fair working knowledge of their language, for the most part he +taught them by demonstration; and they proved most promising recruits. +At last a target was set up in the valley; and rifle practice took place +daily both in the morning and the evening. + +By the time Edward returned, though the Fans were not yet marksmen, it +seemed probable that they would be ready to take the field in another +day or so. Still, both Crouch and Edward desired to run no risks. They +did not intend to operate against Makanda, until they could do so with +every chance of success. It was Edward's suggestion that they should +reconnoitre the settlement before they advanced. They desired to +discover the quickest route to the granite hills, and some position +thereon--within striking distance of Makanda--where they could establish +their headquarters. It was also necessary to find out the strength of +Caesar's garrison. At the time of their visit, they had not been able +to ascertain how many Arabs were secreted in the kraal. De Costa, they +knew, need not be taken into account; the man was an arrant coward. But +the Arab is a foe who can never be despised; he is a good rifle-shot, an +intelligent soldier, and his religion teaches him to be brave. + +The next question was to decide who should be sent forward as a scout; +and it was Max who was selected for the task. Edward had just returned +from the jungle; and besides, the big man was by no means so quick and +agile as his nephew. Crouch was out of the question; he had burnt so +much of his cork foot that he could only hobble and would take too long +over the journey. It was finally decided that Max should start a day in +advance of the others, taking with him provisions for three days, as +well as his rifle and revolver. + +That evening, Edward and Max climbed to the top of Solitude Peak. During +the day the crest of the mountain was invariably wrapped in clouds, but +towards evening these usually disappeared. On this occasion, a most +magnificent panorama of the surrounding country was presented to their +view. They looked down upon the whole valley of the Hidden River, from +Makanda to the mangrove swamp; and it was then that Edward filled in the +final details of his map. + +They saw that it was possible to reach Caesar's stockade without +entering the jungle. If one followed the valley above which lay the +Pambala village, one would come, in course of time, to the granite hills +to the east of Makanda. They calculated that, if Max started at +daybreak, he would reach his destination towards the evening. + +Accordingly, soon after sunrise, Max set out, bearing with him the good +wishes of his friends. A native footpath led some distance down the +valley, but there turned into the jungle. Max struck across country, +holding his course south-west by the compass. + +He halted at midday to enjoy a meal of biscuits and sardines, washed +down by the clear water from a neighbouring brook. As he sat in +solitude, in the midst of that illimitable wilderness, he could not but +reflect upon the strangeness of his situation. Here was he, who all his +life had been accustomed to the roll of London 'buses and the cries of +newsboys in the streets, seated on a boulder, in the blazing heat of the +tropics, thousands of miles beyond the pale of civilization. + +It was whilst he was there that he beheld, for the first time in his +life--if we make exception of the animals he had seen in the Zoo--a +great rock-python which lay, coiled in the grass, not twenty paces from +him. The sight of the thing caused him to shudder. He sprang instantly +to his feet. As he did so the snake heard him, and glided away among +the rocks. In the thickest part of its body the great reptile was about +the size of a man's thigh; and it must have been over twenty feet in +length. + +Max, having no desire for such a companion, moved on in haste, keeping +the mountain to his left. For the most part, he passed through a kind +of neutral territory, where the dominion of the jungle gave way to the +barren, rock-bound slopes of Solitude Peak. The afternoon was well +advanced by the time he arrived at the granite hills. + +Here, he exercised the greatest caution. It was possible that a +sentinel had been posted on the crest-line. He accordingly advanced by +way of a donga, which led to the hill-top, and in which he could not be +seen. When he cleared the donga, a few yards from the crest, he went +down on hands and knees, and crawled from boulder to boulder. + +A few minutes later, he found himself looking down upon the settlement +of Makanda. He was immediately above the kraal, and from that altitude +he was able to see inside the enclosure. The kraal consisted of four +rows of huts. In one of these was a white figure which, even without +the aid of his glasses, he had no difficulty in recognizing as one of +the Arabs. This man, rifle in hand, entered a hut, and presently came +out with a party of six slaves, all of whom wore iron collars around +their necks, which were fastened together by a single chain. Followed +by the Arab, this party left the kraal, and turned to the left, towards +the southern extremity of the lake. + +Max directed his field-glasses upon the stockade. He could see no one +therein but Caesar's Arab cook, who was walking leisurely from the +direction of the river with a bucket of water in either hand. + +By now the slave-driver and his party were out of sight to the south. +Max, anxious to observe whatsoever was in progress, descended from the +sky-line and ran in all haste along the ridge. He soon came to a place +whence he was able to see the course of the river, which had taken a +sudden bend to the west above the lake, where it was spanned by a rope +suspension bridge, such as is often met with in the heart of Africa. +Beyond the bridge, the sight that he witnessed held him rooted to the +spot. + +He beheld a large quarry, where about fifty natives were at work. In +charge of these were four Arabs, and Max had no difficulty in +distinguishing Caesar and the half-caste de Costa. + +The work which was in progress was singular, by reason of the fact that +this was Equatorial Africa where, at that time, commerce, industry and +enterprise were quite unknown. A group of slaves in charge of the +Portuguese himself, was gathered together beneath the walls of the +quarry. A little distance from them was a great heap of rubbish. +Suddenly, the whole party was seen to set off running in the direction +of the river. Caesar was the last to retire. + +There followed a tremendous explosion. A great column of dust and smoke +was thrown up into the air. And even before this had descended, or had +been carried away upon the wind, both Caesar and the natives had +hastened back to the place, where there was now a great rent in the +living rock. There they set to work carrying baskets of debris to de +Costa, who supervised a party engaged in sifting. Now and then, +something was taken from the siftings and handed to de Costa, who +examined it, and cast it into a wheelbarrow. At intervals, this +wheelbarrow was taken to a third party at the water's edge that was +engaged in washing something in pans. + +Max was, at first, too interested and surprised at all this to take +notice of an occurrence in the nature of a tragedy which was taking +place farther up the stream. There, about a dozen natives lay stretched +at full length upon the sand at the water's edge. Some of these lay +still and motionless, as if in death; others were writhing in agony; +from time to time one would endeavour to raise himself, but invariably +fell back, drawing up his knees as if in fearful pain. + +Even at that distance, Max could not fail to recognize the symptoms of +cholera--the most severe and fatal of all diseases. At various +intervals in the history of the world, cholera has raged in Asia and +throughout the eastern parts of Europe. In the early part of the +nineteenth century a violent outbreak occurred in Bengal, which in a +short time spread throughout the length and breadth of India. Thence, +it raged eastward into China, and westward through Persia and Turkey to +Russia and Central Europe. North Africa was also afflicted, and the +valley of the Nile, whence the pestilence had evidently now crossed to +the basin of the Congo. + +No disease in the world is more deadly and virulent. It strikes down +its victims swiftly and without warning. Even as the men worked at the +quarry, Max observed one who took himself a little distance from his +fellows, and sat down upon a rock as though he were in pain. + +Caesar followed him, and ordered the man to return. The poor fellow was +too weak to obey; and thereupon the slave-master raised his whip and +three times brought down his lash upon the naked back of the sufferer. +The man's cries for mercy carried even to the hills, and it was all Max +could do to restrain the burning indignation which kindled in his soul. + +Presently the order was given for the slaves to return to the kraal; and +the whole party set out across the bridge, driven forward by the whip. +If any man, in all God's Kingdom, had merited death by dint of his +misdeeds, it was surely this relentless Portuguese. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI--THE OPEN CHEST + + +At sundown Max looked about him for somewhere to sleep. He soon found a +sandy patch between two great boulders, and here he took off the +haversack in which he had carried his provisions. He had filled his +water-bottle at the brook. + +After he had eaten he lay down, converting his helmet into a pillow. He +felt quite secure; he could not possibly be discovered, unless some one +actually walked over him--an event that was very unlikely to occur. He +was thoroughly tired out after the day's march; for all that, he found +himself quite unable to sleep. He could not rid his mind of the sight +he had seen that evening: the miserable slaves, dropping like poisoned +flies, struck down by the cholera which raged amongst them, and yet +goaded by the whip. And if Max's sense of pity had been aroused, he was +scarcely less curious to discover the nature of the work that was going +forward at the quarry. When, at last, he fell asleep this thought was +dominant in his mind. + +He awoke suddenly, and found the same question on his lips: why were +they blasting at the quarry? He could not have been asleep for more +than a few hours, for the moon was but newly arisen. On consulting his +watch, he found that it was only half-past twelve. + +He failed in his endeavours to go to sleep again; so he sat up, and +tried to think the matter out. He had already accomplished part of his +mission: he had discovered that Caesar had not more than six Arabs with +whom to defend the stockade. It remained for him, on the following +morning, to see if he could find a point upon the ridge whence +rifle-fire could be opened upon Makanda. For the time being, however, +he resolved to go down into the valley under cover of darkness, to cross +the suspension bridge and examine the quarry. + +Leaving his haversack, water-bottle and rifle behind him, he armed +himself with his revolver, and set forward down the hill, making a wide +detour around the kraal. He was then devoutly thankful that Gyp had +departed from the land of the living. He found that he was obliged to +pass nearer to the settlement than he liked; and had the Great Dane been +on watch, no doubt she would have given the alarm. + +As it was, he passed in safety, and reached the river bank. He had no +difficulty in finding the suspension bridge, which he crossed on tiptoe, +as rapidly as possible. On the other side his attention was immediately +attracted by the loud groans of the sufferers who had been left to their +fate. + +It was quite beyond his power to do anything to help these men. He had +no medicines; he could not speak their language; and in the majority of +cases, the disease was so far gone as to be incurable. + +Before he left the hills, the moon had disappeared behind a bank of +clouds. During the last ten minutes, a tempest had been driving up from +the west, which now burst with all its force upon the valley of the +Hidden River. + +Africa is the land of mighty storms. The sky grew so dark that it was +impossible for Max to see one yard before him. Then, there approached +in one wild, savage gust, a roaring, raging wind that bent the great +trees of the forest like saplings and picked up the water in the lake +before Makanda in little driving waves, whilst the rain came down in +sheets. The suspension bridge swung to and fro like a kite. There came +flash upon flash of lightning which illumined the quarry, so that the +bare walls of rock were blazing like a furnace. + +The lightning lasted for seconds at a time, and at such times the scene +stood for all that was barbarous and fantastic. The dark, mysterious +river flowed upon its course through the narrow gorge where the +lightning beat upon the rocks. The electricity in the air flashed, died +out, and flashed again, like thousands of sparks in the wind. And +there, upon the white sand, writhing in torture, were the dark forms of +those who had been stricken by the pestilence. + +Max had never felt so powerless. He was in the heart of the Unknown. +Close at hand, lay those who had been stricken by a force which all the +resource of modern science had entirely failed to conquer. Overhead, +echoed and mirrored by the rocks, the typhoon rent the sky with sheets +of fire, whilst peal upon peal of thunder caused the earth to tremble. + +Yet Max was by no means disposed to forget the object of his quest. He +was determined to find out the nature of the work which was carried on +at the quarry. He hastened forward, and presently blundered into one of +the great heaps of sifted debris. + +He picked up a handful of this and examined it in the light of the +lightning. As far as he could make out, it was composed of a kind of +fine gravel, in which appeared great quantities of a green stone, known +as serpentine. + +Being unable to find out anything definite from the heaps of debris, he +resolved to examine the quarry. The wind was too great to permit him to +strike a match, even had that been prudent. He was obliged to rely upon +the lightning to guide him in his search. He availed himself of the +opportunity of a series of flashes to run to the quarry, and there he +found himself in impenetrable darkness. + +He stood waiting for the lightning to return. It seemed that the storm +was already passing. These tropical hurricanes, that often uproot the +trees of the forest, are seldom of long duration. They are too violent +to last for many minutes. + +Max was beginning to think that the storm was passed, when the sky +immediately overhead burst into a lurid glow, and almost simultaneously +a deafening peal of thunder rolled across the valley. Max leaned +forward to examine the face of the rock; and as he did so, he was seized +suddenly from behind. + +As quick as thought, he whipped his revolver from its holster; and +immediately the weapon was struck from his hand. + +The lightning still continued, jumping like fire-light; and Max was able +to make out the dark eyes and the pointed beard of Caesar. + +The Portuguese was aided by an Arab. The struggle that ensued was no +more than an affair of seconds. Max, though he fought with the strength +that comes of desperation, was overpowered from the first, and presently +he was thrown violently to the ground. There his hands were tied fast +behind his back. Caesar was heard to laugh. + +"Get up," said he, and then ran on in his broken English: "You must +think me a fool, if I do not keep a sentry by night over the richest of +my possessions. Come, follow me." + +He led the way across the bridge, and Max had no alternative but to obey +him. The Arab, rifle in hand, brought up the rear. + +They passed around the eastern shore of the lake, walking on the crisp +sand in which their boots sank to the ankles. Max saw the kraal wherein +the man's slaves were asleep; and a few minutes afterwards they came to +the stockade. Caesar led the way into his hut--the hut in which Crouch +and he had played cards some weeks before. He told Max to sit down upon +a chair, and placed himself on the other side of the room, with his +loaded revolver ready to his hand. + +"If you endeavour to escape," said he, "I shoot. I advise you to remain +still, and listen to what I have to say." + +Max looked about him. As far as he could see there was no method of +escape. His wrists had been bound securely. + +"In the first place," said Caesar, "I would like to know for what reason +you have meddled in my affairs." + +"You are a slave-dealer," said Max. + +"That may, or may not, be true." + +"It is true," cried the young Englishman, his anger rising in a flood. +"I know it. The employment of slaves is a sin in the eyes of both God +and man. Justice is the duty of every one; and that is why we have +meddled--as you call it--in your affairs." + +"I have already pointed out," said Caesar, "that the laws of +civilization do not apply to Makanda. But that is beside the mark. I +understand you are a doctor, that you have had some sort of medical +training." + +Max answered that that was so. + +"Do you understand the treatment of cholera?" + +"I know the various methods that have been tried," said Max; "but, as +you probably know, they are seldom successful." + +It was at that moment that Max heard a loud groan which issued from a +hut not far away. + +"Do you hear that?" asked Caesar. + +Max nodded his head. + +"That is my friend, de Costa. When he returned to the stockade this +evening he was taken ill with cholera. I went to look at him an hour +ago, just before my sentry informed me that you were in the quarry. He +is dying." + +"How does that concern me?" asked Max. + +"It concerns you," answered Caesar, "inasmuch as it concerns myself. +Your life is in my hands. I can either kill you, or place an iron +collar around your neck and yoke you to a gang of slaves. If you do not +do as I wish, I will have you shot. If you obey me, you may continue to +live--as a slave." + +"What is it you want?" asked Max. + +"I want you to do what you can to save de Costa. He is of some use to +me. Indeed, I could not do very well without him." + +"I will do what I can," said Max. + +Outside, the Arab was on guard. Caesar lead the way to de Costa's hut; +and there, Max found the half-caste stretched upon his bed, with +features drawn and haggard, and his complexion of a ghastly purple hue. +His body was all twisted in his agony. He was too far gone to speak. + +"Now," said Caesar, "I do not feel disposed to untie your hands; but you +will kindly look at the bottles of medicine on that shelf, and see if +you can find anything that might be of use." + +Max searched the shelf where the half-caste kept his stock of drugs, and +had no difficulty in finding the very thing he wanted, namely, opium. +He found also bismuth and nitrate of silver. He instructed Caesar how +to mix these drugs in the ordained proportions; and the Portuguese +placed a glass containing the medicine at the sick man's bedside. It is +noteworthy that he took care not to touch the patient, for the disease +is one of the most contagious in the world. + +"Will he live, do you think?" asked Caesar. + +"It is impossible to say," said Max. + +"You can do nothing else?" + +"Absolutely nothing. He has reached the turning point. If he does not +die in an hour or so, he will live." + +"Come," said Caesar, "we must not risk contagion." + +Outside the hut he paused, and spoke to the Arab, who immediately left +the stockade. He then ordered Max to enter his hut, and followed with +his loaded revolver in his hand. + +"You have come to spy out my secrets," said he. "You are at liberty to +learn as much as you wish. It can make no difference to me; for I +intend that you shall never see Europe again." + +So saying, he drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and stepped to the +great, padlocked chest on the other side of the room. One by one, he +unlocked the padlocks, and then threw back the lid, and stood by, +holding the candle over the contents. + +"Here," said he, "see for yourself. Few have ever witnessed such a +sight." + +Max drew nearer, and looked down into the box. For some seconds he +stood as if spellbound, unable to move his gaze. The chest was about +three-quarters full of the most enormous Oriental rubies. + +Caesar took one at random, and held it before the light. Garnets had +been found in Africa, and even spinels; but these were genuine rubies of +the highest quality, such as had hitherto only been discovered in the +famous mines of Ava. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII--THE TABLES TURNED + + +When Max looked up into the face of the Portuguese the man was smiling, +so that his white teeth showed in the blackness of his beard. + +"You see," said he, "I did not come here on a wild-goose chase after +all. I first came to this river five years ago, and discovered the +rubies of Makanda. I promptly engaged the services of de Costa, who had +worked in the mines of Santa Fe in Mexico. This treasure-chest contains +the result of the labour of two years." + +"And why have you employed slaves?" asked Max. "Why did you not set to +work like an honest man?" + +"For a simple reason," answered Caesar; "I desired the maximum of +profit. No one knows of my discovery. I intend no one to know. Paid +labour is not only expensive, but workmen would come and go at their +pleasure, and word of this would reach the Coast. That is precisely +what I desire to prevent. There would be talk of rights and royalties, +and probably international complications. At present it is not known +that rubies can be found in Africa. I cannot speak too highly of these +gems. One of these stones, weighing five carats, is worth at least +twelve times as much as a diamond of equal weight. I am prepared to +receive your congratulations." + +It was some time before Max Harden spoke. + +"Why is it," he asked, "that you tell me the secret you have kept for +years?" + +Caesar smiled again. + +"Because," said he, "I number you among my slaves." + +It was then that Max heard the jangling of a chain without the hut. The +Arab had returned. + +Max was led forth into the moonlight. The storm was past, the water lay +inches deep upon the ground. There, shivering from fear, were five +slaves--men who had been born and bred in the Pambala village on the +mountain slope--fastened one to the other like so many dogs upon a +leash. At the end of the chain was an empty collar, which one of the +Arabs opened with a key. It closed with a snap around Max Harden's +neck, and from that moment, according to the law of the slave trade, his +soul was not his own. The Arab cracked the whip he held in his hand, +and like a team of dumb, patient animals, the gang filed from the +stockade. + +It wanted but an hour to daylight, but the misery of that hour stands +alone in the life of the young Englishman as the most terrible +experience that ever came his way. He found himself and his five +bond-companions confined in a narrow hut in which there was scarcely air +to breathe. They had to sleep upon straw mats spread upon the floor. +The long chain bound them one to another, so that if one man moved in +his sleep he disturbed the others. + +There was no sleep for Max. Even had he desired to sleep he would not +have been able to do so. The place swarmed with mosquitoes, and, after +the rain, great pools of water lay upon the floor. For all that, the +majority of the natives lay down and slept like dogs, tired out by the +day's work, and weary at heart at the implacable injustice of the world. + +At daybreak the slaves were summoned to their toil. Gang after +gang--and there were six in all--filed out of the kraal, in charge of +the Arab drivers, and crossed the river by way of the suspension bridge. + +At the quarry Max gained a more intimate knowledge of the workings of a +ruby mine than he had ever hoped to attain. He himself was set to work, +washing the dirt from the sifted rubies by the river bank. + +The slaves remained at the workings from sunrise to sunset, during which +time they received two meals. Their food consisted of manioc and +plantains. They were given no meat. The gang which was employed in +washing, to which Max was attached, worked in chains. + +These poor driven creatures took no interest in their task. They set +about their business mechanically, with never a smile upon their faces, +and though they were allowed to talk to one another, scarcely a word was +uttered. Whenever they found a ruby they expressed no satisfaction, +though it were worth a thousand times the price of their freedom. They +just handed it to Caesar, who examined the quality of each stone under a +magnifying-glass. + +That day there were two more cases of cholera; two more of these +unfortunate creatures were freed of their bonds to throw themselves down +upon the river bank to die. + +Caesar was utterly without pity. If a man fell ill he cursed him, and +as often as not, resorted to the whip. Max Harden felt that these +things sickened him. He had never dreamed that such barbarity could +exist in an age of enlightenment and toleration. + +That night he slept--the sleep of those who are utterly exhausted. He +was over-burdened by the sights which he had seen. The unhappy lot of +these poor sufferers was like a mountain weight upon his heart. It was +a three-day nightmare, in which Caesar stood for all that was terrible +and pitiless. None the less Max did not despair. His courage was +maintained by hope. He knew that as long as Crouch and Edward were in +the land of the living they would not rest until the slaves had been +avenged. + +Caesar knew now that Crouch had escaped from the jungle, and Max had +been saved as by a miracle from the rapids. But he had asked no +questions. He had gone back to his work at the quarry as if nothing +unusual had occurred. Perhaps he desired to fill his treasure-chest +without delay, and take his rubies to Europe. Perhaps he recognized +already that the game was up. + +At daybreak Max was awakened by the Arab who had charge of his gang, and +once more he was marched out to the workings. That afternoon a strange +thing occurred: de Costa appeared at the quarry. + +The Portuguese seemed genuinely glad to see the young Englishman. He +even grasped him by the hand. + +It was now that Max saw how invaluable the half-caste was to Caesar. The +man was a ruby expert. His business was to examine the gems, one by +one, and select those of the greatest value. His place was at the river +where the washing was in progress, whereas Caesar himself superintended +the blasting of the rock. + +De Costa drew near to Max. + +"You saved my life," said he; "I have to thank you." + +The Arab slave-driver was out of earshot, and even had he been able to +overhear them he could not have understood since they talked in English. + +"If you wish to show your gratitude," said Max, "you can help me when +the time comes." + +De Costa remained silent for a while, his weak, almost colourless eyes +staring at the water of the river. + +"Yes," said he, "you saved my life. None the less I will die if I am +not taken to the sea. The fresh air, the sea breezes--these are better +than rubies, are they not?" + +He was silent for some minutes, whilst Max continued with his work. + +"There's a ruby," said Max, selecting a small blood-red stone from the +handful of gravel he was washing. + +De Costa looked at it and then threw it into a bag which lay at his +side. + +"Yes," said he, "it is worth about five hundred pounds. But I was about +to ask you if you remember the night when you saved me from the whip?" + +"I remember quite well," said Max. + +"Do you know why he thrashed me? I was about to tell Crouch of the +rubies and the slaves, and Caesar guessed it, and used the whip. Then +you came in, and Gyp flew at you. I am grateful for what you did." + +De Costa sat cross-legged on the ground, with his eyes fixed upon the +river. The slaves saw nothing as they worked; long since their senses +had been numbed. Caesar was engrossed in his business at the quarry; +the Arabs, with their loaded rifles in their hands, never moved their +eyes from the slaves. Max was the only one who looked about him. + +His eyes were fixed upon the granite hills across the river, to the east +of the gorge. The sky-line was rugged, by reason of the great boulders +that lay upon the crest. Two of these were close together, and from +that position they bore a striking resemblance to two faces in +profile--that of an old man and a woman. As Max looked, the resemblance +became more lifelike. And then something dark passed from behind one +boulder to the next. It had been visible for no longer than an instant, +but in that instant Max recognized M'Wane. + +He thought the matter out. If M'Wane was there, Crouch and Edward were +not far behind. He knew that they would see him through their glasses. +He continued with his work. It was above all necessary that Caesar's +suspicions should not be aroused. + +In life things sometimes so happen that it is evident our fate is not +always in the hands of ourselves. There is a Divine Providence that +watches over us and is Master of the human will. Max had no sooner +decided to remain as servile and obedient as the most broken-hearted +negro in Makanda, when he was called upon to act. + +The man next him, who early in the morning had complained of feeling +ill, now lay down upon the ground and uttered a groan. The Arab +approached and told him to get up. The poor fellow was not able to do +so, and though he tried his best he fell back again, saying that he +suffered the most violent pains. + +At that, Caesar drew near, whip in hand, and demanded to know what was +the matter. When he saw that here was another case of cholera, he flew +into a passion. He had no pity for the man. He merely regretted the +incident as a disaster, inasmuch as he had lost another workman. He +ordered the Arab to unlock the iron collar around the slave's neck, and +then he raised his whip. + +The long lash swung high into the air, and then came down upon the bare +back of the dying man. Two strokes fell, and the whip had been raised +for a third, when Max Harden flew like a wild beast at Caesar's throat. + +So sudden was the onslaught that the Portuguese was taken by surprise. +Though Max was encumbered by the heavy chain which hung from his neck, +he had room enough in which to move. His fellow-bondsmen, unable to +believe the evidence of their eyes, ceased their work and stood together +in a crowd, their eyes dilated and their limbs trembling in fear. + +Max paid no heed to them. He was like a mad dog on a leash that rushes +forth from its kennel and lays hold upon its victim. He took no heed of +the consequences. He neither thought what he was doing, nor asked +himself whether it were wise. He was just driven mad by the sight of +such inhuman cruelty. + +He flung Caesar to the ground, and before the man could rise, the whip +had been wrested from his hand. Max placed a foot upon his chest, and +the lash of the whip rose and fell, cracked, made circles in the air and +fell again, until Caesar shrieked for mercy. + +[Illustration: "THE LASH OF THE WHIP ROSE AND FELL, UNTIL CAESAR +SHRIEKED FOR MERCY."] + +Never, since the Dark Continent had been traversed by Tippu Tib, and the +villages of the Upper Congo had been given over to plunder, had the +slave-driver's whip been wielded with such remorseless energy. Caesar +groaned and writhed upon the ground, and struggled blindly to rise. The +thong cut his cheek and hands, and the cruel knots which he himself had +tied tore the coat from his back, till his cries became fainter, and at +last he lay quite still. And at that, Max cast the whip in his teeth. + +Throughout all this every one had remained motionless, rooted to the +spot. The whole thing had been so unexpected and so sudden. Nothing +like it had ever happened before. + +De Costa stood by with chattering teeth. The very sight of Caesar's +punishment had set the ague shaking in his bones. The slaves were +petrified by fear. They looked on in breathless silence, with their +mouths opened wide and their heavy under-lips hanging so low as to show +their white teeth and gums. As for the Arabs, even they were too +surprised to act. They had known the Portuguese for two years, and they +knew that his word was law; not one of them would have dared for a +moment to defy him. On that account they could not believe what they +saw. + +Caesar rolled over on his face, and then struggled to his feet. He +stood for a moment swaying. Then he passed a hand across his eyes. + +After that, he shot Max such a glance as it were impossible to describe. +Therein were passion, hatred and vengeance. + +He felt in his pockets, as if he searched for something. It was his +revolver, which had fallen to the ground. Not seeing it, he staggered +to the Arab who was nearest, and held out his hand. + +"Give me that," said he in Arabic. + +The man, with the stoic indifference of all his race, handed over his +rifle, and Caesar took it, though his hand was shaking like a leaf in +the wind. Step by step, he returned to Max. He walked like a drunken +man. There were great weals upon his face and hands, and there was +blood upon his coat. + +"You shall pay for that!" said he. + +The slaves cowered at the water's edge. They were like sheep in a +storm. As for de Costa, he stood there, impotent to help, yet willing +to do so, his hands clasped before him, and shivering from head to foot. +The Arab who had handed over his rifle was smoking a cigarette. + +"You shall pay for that!" said Caesar. + +So saying, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and took long and careful +aim. He was not ten paces from Max. It seemed impossible he could +miss. Still, we must remember that he was unsteady on his feet, that it +was all he could do to stand. + +There was a flash--a loud report--a quick jet of fire; and Max was +struck in the chest with the cotton wad, and his face was blackened by +the powder. For all that, the bullet had sped past, to bury itself in +the bed of the Hidden River. + +Caesar let fall an oath and then re-loaded, ejecting the cartridge case. +That done, he stepped even nearer, and lifted his rifle again. + +At that moment a double report sounded from the hills, and the +Portuguese gave a kind of gulp and then fell forward on his face, his +rifle still in his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--FREEDOM + + +There are some men who are born to command, who imbue their followers +with confidence, who are masters of the art of managing men. + +Caesar was one of these. He had entered the heart of Africa at the time +when the first great explorers were opening up the unknown continent, +and some small knowledge connected with the source of the Nile and the +presence of the Great Lakes was reaching the ears of Europe. + +For the most part these daring pioneers penetrated Africa either to +shoot big game or propagate the Christian Gospel, or in the cause of +science. Grant, Speke, Mason and Stanley were geographers, explorers +before all else. Livingstone was a missionary; and Cotton Oswell, +Gordon-Cumming and Sir Samuel Baker were hunters of big game. Unlike +these famous men, the Portuguese, who afterwards adopted the name of +"Caesar," was prompted by purely selfish motives--the acquisition of +wealth. + +Like every one else, he found the interior overrun by the Arabs, who, +since time immemorial, had exploited the equatorial regions for slaves +for the Greek satraps and the Roman consuls. The abolition of the slave +trade did not affect the regions of the Upper Nile, the Great Lakes and +the Congo. Laws which men chose to make in Europe could in no way +modify or hinder what went on in the equatorial forests. Not only in +Zanzibar, but even in Cairo, there was an open slave market where the +trade continued to flourish. + +Nothing can speak so eloquently for the virility, the craft and cunning, +of the Arab as the fact that for centuries millions of savage warriors +were held in fear and trembling by a few hundreds of these ruthless sons +of the desert. In quite recent years, when Stanley made his passage of +the Congo and the Aruwimi in search of Emin Pasha, he found Arab slave +stations scattered at intervals throughout the unknown forest, and his +whole expedition must have perished had it not been for the assistance +he received from the Arab ivory hunters in the valleys of the Upper +Congo. + +In his early days the tall Portuguese had also taken care to be on +friendly terms with the Arabs. He was one who was quick to learn, and +experience taught him two things: firstly, that the Arab will do +anything for profit; and secondly, that once his word has been given he +is one of the most faithful friends in the world. + +The Arabs employed at Makanda were men whom Caesar knew that he could +trust. Each was to have his share of the plunder when the slave camp +was broken up and the Portuguese returned to Europe. Until then he knew +they would stand by him, faithful to their promise that he could rely +upon their courage in case of emergency. + +In the panic that now took place Caesar must have been captured had it +not been for the heroism of the Arabs. He had been taken by surprise in +open country. There was no escape by way of the quarry, and upon the +hills on the other side of the river was Edward Harden, who, in spite of +the fact that he had said that Crouch was a better shot than +himself--had the clearest eye and the steadiest hand of any man +throughout the length and breadth of Africa. + +The slaves were distracted. Those who were joined together by chains +ran to the quarry and huddled in a crowd. Those who were free to go +whither they listed ran to and fro, filling the air with their cries. As +for de Costa, he could do nothing but wring his hands and look about him +for some place of safety. + +Max, by the sheer weight of the slaves with whom he was yoked, was +dragged onward to the quarry. He tried to assure them that there was +nothing whatsoever to fear, but they were incapable of understanding a +word of what he said. + +In those brief moments it was only the prompt action of the Arabs that +saved Caesar's life. The Portuguese had been shot in the chest. He was +unconscious for no longer than a few seconds, and then he struggled to +an elbow. + +When they saw that their master was alive two Arabs hastened towards him +and lifted him in their arms. Under a perfect hail of fire from the six +rifles on the hills they bore him to a place of safety at the southern +extremity of the lake where a long canoe was moored. They could not +cross at the bridge, since it was immediately under fire from the +granite hills. + +Then followed a race--a race for the stockade. Harden, Crouch, and the +four Fans appeared upon the crest-line, and thence came down into the +valley with a cheer. + +In the meantime, the Arabs so plied their paddles that the canoe shot +across the lake like a dart, dividing the water at the prow into two +long feathery waves. When they sprang ashore, a little above the place +where the Englishmen had landed on the day they first came to Makanda, +M'Wane, who was leading the attack, was not fifty paces distant. + +The Fan chieftain dropped upon his knees to fire, and missed. And a +moment later the door of the stockade was closed. + +M'Wane retreated no less hastily than he had come, with the bullets +flying at his heels, splashing in the sand. Halfway up the slope he met +Edward Harden striding forward, rifle in hand. + +"Too late!" he cried. "Master, why did not the white wizard teach me to +shoot like you?" + +Edward smiled, and placed a hand on M'Wane's shoulder. + +"You'll have another chance all right," said he. "They've shut +themselves up in a trap." + +By this time Crouch, who had already given up the chase, had descended +to the suspension bridge and crossed to the quarry. There the first +person he set eyes upon was de Costa. + +"Hands up!" he cried. And at the word de Costa threw up his arms +pleading for mercy. + +Crouch looked about him, and heard Max's voice calling for assistance. +And at that, of his own accord, de Costa took a bunch of keys from his +pocket and offered them to Crouch. They were the keys of the iron +collars of the slaves. + +A few seconds later every slave was free. They could not at first +realize what had happened; and then, one man, more intelligent than his +fellows, grasped the truth, and picking up the chain which had been +fastened to his neck for many months hurled it into the river. + +Max told his story in a few words. He explained how he had been +captured, and showed Crouch the rubies. + +Crouch turned to the half-caste. "Will you throw in your lot with us?" +he asked. + +"I am ready to do so," said de Costa. "I would have told you all that +night when Caesar found you in the hut." + +"I have some reason to believe that to be true," said Crouch. "I hold +to my original promise. Stand by us to-day, and I'll take you down to +the Coast. You must see that the game's up for Caesar." + +De Costa intimated that he was only waiting to receive orders. + +"Very well," sad the captain; "you probably have some authority over +these poor brutes of slaves. I suppose you can speak their language? +Tell them they are free. Explain to them that they owe their liberty to +us, and ask them to lend us a helping hand. Select a party of the +strongest, and take them yourself to the village on the mountain. There +you will find our ammunition and stores. Bring them here as quickly as +you can, and don't forget the medicine chest. We must lend what help we +can." + +"Where am I to find you?" asked de Costa. + +"Here," said Crouch. "There are only seven of us, and we can't spare a +man. We shall need every rifle we've got to capture the stockade." + +"I will do my best," said de Costa. + +"I trust you will," said Crouch. Then, his face lit up, and his only +eye looked the half-caste through and through. "By Christopher," said +he, "if you fail me, I'll hunt you down! All Africa won't be big enough +to hold you. I'll search the country from the Zambesi to the desert, +and I'll find you in the end." + +He said these words with his teeth clenched, and his great chin thrust +forward. The little half-caste quailed before his glance. + +It was then that there came a burst of firing from the north. Crouch +stiffened in every limb. + +"There!" he cried, "the band's begun to play." + +Max followed him for a little distance, then remembered that he had left +his rifle on the hill-top. De Costa looked about him, bewildered. +Events had happened in such swift succession that he felt that the whole +thing might prove a dream from which he would presently awaken. Then he +called the slaves together. They obeyed his word from force of habit; +and though there was nothing now to prevent them taking to the hills, +they followed him meekly into the kraal. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX--THE PHANTOM CANOE + + +That firing was the beginning of the siege of the stockade of Makanda, +which lasted for seven days. Edward Harden had approached too near, and +had drawn fire from the Arabs who manned the walls. The firing was +answered by the Fans, who were somewhat over-eager to try their +new-found strength. Shots were exchanged until nightfall, when the +three Englishmen gathered together to discuss their plan of campaign. + +They had every reason to believe that Caesar himself had been put out of +action--at least for a day or so. As far as they knew, the garrison +consisted of six or seven Arabs. The two sides were therefore equal in +strength, but the advantage lay with the defenders, who were strongly +entrenched, whereas the attackers had no cover nearer than the hills. + +They knew that the stockade was well provisioned, and it would take +months for the garrison to be starved into submission. Their only +chance was to take the stockade by assault, and this would be by no +means easy to do. + +They could not hope to succeed by day: a surprise would be out of the +question. They would have to advance across the sandy plain that +enclosed the shores of the lake, and they would be shot down, one after +the other, from the loop-holes in the stockade. Their only chance was +to assault the place by night. + +That evening they could do nothing. Crouch and the four Fans remained +to keep a watchful eye on the garrison, while Max and his uncle betook +themselves to the kraal, to render what aid they could to the cholera +patients. + +A few hours before daybreak de Costa set out for the mountain, with +strict injunctions to return as quickly as possible. It had taken a +whole night for the slaves to realize that they had gained their +freedom, and then, out of the gratitude in their hearts, they readily +volunteered to act as carriers to the white men whenever their services +should be required. + +For three days no assault was delivered. The Englishmen and the Fans +confined their energies by day to desultory shooting from the crest-line +of the hills. By night they closed in upon the stockade, to see that +Caesar made no attempt to escape. Throughout these days most of Max's +time was taken up in fighting a far more formidable foe than a handful +of Arabs and a wounded Portuguese. With the aid of the few +disinfectants and medicines which Edward had brought from the Pambala +village, he did his best to stamp the cholera out. Those who had died +were buried, and their clothing burnt. The remaining slaves, who had +not followed de Costa, were removed from the kraal and taken to a place +in the hills, where they were told to wait the issue of the siege. A +few deserted to their homes, for they were ignorant people, and had +learnt by bitter experience not to trust the white man. However, the +majority stayed at Makanda, conscious of the debt they owed to the two +Hardens and to Crouch. + +It was on the third night that Max decided to burn the kraal to the +ground. Great flames rose high into the air and illumined the crater +through which the Hidden River flowed swiftly on its course. + +As the kraal burned the slaves upon the hill-top danced and sang. They +beheld in the spreading fire the burning of their bondage. To them the +red glow that filled the valley and made the barren slopes of the +granite hills stand forth in the night like peaks in fairyland, was the +dawn of happier days. And Max, too, was light of heart. He believed +that that fire would stamp out the pestilence once and for all. + +Early in the afternoon on the following day de Costa arrived from the +mountain. He had remained faithful to his promise. Only three slaves +had deserted on the march, and the others were told to join the refugee +camp which had sprung up upon the hill. De Costa was to remain in +charge of the liberated slaves. The majority were Pambalas from the +district, but several had been brought from so far away that they knew +not how to find their way back to their homes. + +That night Crouch and Edward decided to attack. They had now a large +supply of ammunition, and Max, who had finished his duties as doctor, +was free to take his place in the ranks. + +Max and M'Wane approached the stockade along the river bank from the +south, Crouch and another Fan from the north, whereas Edward and the two +others descended from the hills. + +There was no moon when they crept upon the garrison from three sides at +once, moving cautiously forward on hands and knees through the sand. +When about fifty paces distant, each party lay still and listened for +the signal to assault. This was to come from Crouch, who could imitate +to the life the jackal's howl. + +Max and M'Wane, lying close as hares, waited for the signal to come. +They could hear the wild beasts in the jungle, and now and again a +faint, piercing cry, as some animal was seized in the strong jaws of a +leopard or a lion. The great cats were hunting like the white men who +surrounded the stockade. + +Then the long-drawn howl of a jackal was lifted in the night, and at +that those seven men sprang to their feet and rushed upon the defence. + +The Arabs had been warned. On the instant fire flashed from the +loop-holes. The night was alive with the whistling of bullets, which +dived into the water of the river or flew into the forest to send little +leaves fluttering to the ground, or buried themselves in the trunks of +gigantic trees. + +On the east Edward was driven back. Before he reached the ditch one of +his men had been wounded, and there he found it would be certain death +to endeavour to scale the stockade. + +Max and Crouch on the other side were more successful. It was the +former who was the first to reach the gate, and endeavour to force it +open. The man who was there on guard put his shoulder to the business, +and for a few seconds a struggle took place the issue of which was +doubtful. + +At one time Max had the door ajar, but the man or men on the other side +forced it back inch by inch until it was nearly closed. It was then +that M'Wane came to Max's assistance; and immediately after, the opening +in the door grew wider by degrees. + +Had this affair been fought to a finish, it is beyond question that Max +and M'Wane would have gained the fort, but it was at this moment that +the unexpected occurred. A rapid burst of firing came from the river, +from the northern extremity of the lake. A stream of bullets flew past, +and many splintered the woodwork of the gate which had been the bone of +contention from the first. + +To be attacked by night unexpectedly from the rear is an ordeal which +the finest trained soldiers in the world find it difficult to stand. It +was too much for the Fans. Even M'Wane, who was as brave a savage as +any who ever roamed the grassland west of the Lakes, turned on his heels +and bolted. + +Max turned round, and on the instant the gate of the stockade was +closed. He had no alternative but to retire, and even that much had to +be accomplished between two withering fires. Five minutes later there +was silence in the valley. The assault had been repulsed. + +It seemed, indeed, as if this river would hold its mysteries to the end. +They had heard weird legends of the Fire-gods from savage lips, dressed +up in all the blandishments of fancy. They had thought the problem +solved in the slave gangs and ruby mine, but here was another mystery +unsolved. + +While Max was engaged in his struggle at the gate, the sharp eye of +Captain Crouch had seen a long canoe glide out from the darkness where +the river penetrated the jungle. Before he had had time to give warning +of its approach, the occupants of the canoe had opened fire. When he was +asked to explain it, Crouch could not do so. They knew the course of +the river from the Makanda to the rapids. The canoe could be nothing +but a phantom. At daybreak no sign of it was to be seen. + +At first their suspicions rested upon the unfortunate de Costa. But +they discovered from the natives that that night the half-caste had not +left the refugee camp; indeed, he had actually been seen asleep whilst +the assault was in progress. The natives had nothing to gain by +defending a man who so recently had been one of their tyrants; and +besides, it was not in the nature of de Costa's disposition to conduct a +daring attack at dead of night. + +Throughout that day they kept a watchful eye upon the stockade. +Everything appeared as usual. They could see the white-robed Arabs +moving about between the huts, and they subjected these to long-range +rifle-fire from the hills. Caesar's yellow flag still floated on the +wind from the flagstaff before his hut. + +The three Englishmen went about their business--cleaning their rifles, +cooking, or attending to the wounded Fan--sullenly, as if ill-pleased +with the world in general, speaking only when spoken to, and then in +monosyllables. + +The truth was not one of them liked to own that they had been worsted. +Their attack had proved unsuccessful. That in itself was sufficiently +annoying; but, what made matters worse, was the fact that they could not +explain how the catastrophe had come about. + +An hour before sundown they sat in silence at their evening meal. They +were obliged to feed thus early, because it was necessary that at +nightfall they should take their places around the stockade to prevent +the Arabs breaking out in the night. The little sleep they got in those +days they were obliged to take by day, when it sufficed for one of their +number to watch the enemy's movements in the stockade. + +Suddenly Crouch drove the knife with which he had been eating into the +earth. + +"I can't make it out!" he cried. "I'll give credit where it's due; the +man 's clever as a monkey. What do you say?" he broke out in a +different tone of voice. "Shall we attack again to-night?" + +"Yes," said Edward; "certainly." + +That was the way in which the mind of the big man worked. He thought in +monosyllables. He was not like Crouch, who had a thousand reasons for +everything, who was always eager to explain. With Edward Harden it was +either Yes or No, and generally the former. + +"Look here," said Max, "I propose we go about it in another manner. Last +time I undertook to reconnoitre the enemy's position I made a fool of +myself, and was captured." + +"You did very well," said Edward. + +"I don't think so," said his nephew. "At any rate, with your +permission, I should like to try again. I suggest that we surround the +stockade as we did last night, but that I am allowed to go forward +alone. After all, I'm the youngest and most active of the party, if we +exclude M'Wane and his friends. I believe I can creep up to the wall +without being heard. I am sure I can vault the stockade. As soon as I +am inside I will fire at the first man I see, and when you hear that +shot you must endeavour to rush the gate." + +Crouch knocked out his pipe on the heel of his boot. + +"Bravo," said he. "There's no question you should meet with success. If +you get into the fort--as you think you can--you'll take their attention +from the gate, and we ought to join you in a few seconds even if the +canoe appears on the river. Still, it's a big risk you're taking; I +suppose you're aware of that?" + +"Quite," answered Max. + +Thus was the matter settled; and soon afterwards darkness descended, and +day turned to night in the course of a few minutes, for there is no +twilight on the Line. + +They took their places in silence under cover of the darkness, and then +waited in patience and suspense. They had agreed upon midnight as the +hour. + +Max, lying upon his face in the sand which still retained much of the +warmth of the day, followed the hands of his watch, which he was just +able to see in the starlight. Never had he known time pass more slowly. +Even the second-hand seemed to crawl, and he was certain that the +minute-hand never moved the thousandth part of an inch. And yet, at +last the hour arrived. He knew that on the other side of the stockade +both Crouch and his uncle were ready to advance. Rising softly to his +feet he put his watch in his pocket. + +On hands and knees he crawled forward to the ditch. He had decided not +to encumber himself with a rifle. His revolver was loaded in his +holster. He reached the ditch in safety, and there paused to listen. +There was no sound within the fort. The night was still as the grave. + +Summoning his courage he rose once more to his feet, and laid hold with +both hands upon the sharpened points of the stakes which formed the +enclosure. Then, taking in a deep breath, he sprang, swinging himself +on high, and landed on his feet on the other side. + +A second later he stood with his revolver in his hand, glancing in all +directions, ready to fire at sight. It was then that he stood in +momentary expectation of a swift and sudden death. However, no shot was +fired. + +Seeing that he had entered the stockade and was yet undiscovered, he +hastened into the shade of the nearest hut, and there knelt down and +waited. + +For five minutes he never moved, and during that time he heard no one +either on the banquette or among the huts. Then he thought of Crouch +and his uncle. He imagined the suspense which they endured. He +realized that they must believe he had died in silence under the knife. +Presently, whether he fired or not, he knew that they would attempt to +rush the gate. + +It was, therefore, no longer necessary to remain undiscovered. It would +aid their purpose better if some one saw him and he fired. His object +was to create an alarm, to draw the attention of the garrison to +himself, whilst Crouch and Edward, followed by the Fans, bore down upon +the gate. + +He stepped out from his hiding-place, and walked down the line of huts +until he came to that which was Caesar's. He looked in. It was +deserted, though a candle burned low upon the table. + +At that he placed a finger round the trigger of his revolver, and fired +three shots in rapid succession into the ground. Then, standing in the +doorway of the hut, he listened. + +Absolute silence reigned. The truth burst upon him as in a flash: the +stockade had been abandoned. And at that moment there was a great +crashing sound as the gate swung back upon its hinges, and Crouch and +Harden burst into the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE + + +Edward Harden, rifle in hand, led the way, followed by Crouch and the +four Fans. As they entered the stockade, expecting to be attacked from +all sides in the darkness, they opened out in accordance with a +pre-arranged plan. Crouch turned to the left and Edward to the right; +and then, taking post on the banquette, they stood ready to fire. + +For a few seconds there was absolute silence. The situation was so +unlooked for that they could not, at first, realize what had happened. +Then Crouch's voice was lifted in the night. + +"By Christopher, the rats are gone!" + +Max, guided by the sound of these words, found the sea-captain in the +darkness, and confirmed his suspicions. He said that he had been +several minutes within the stockade, and had neither seen nor heard a +living soul. + +It seemed as if the valley of the Hidden River would maintain its +reputation to the last. There was no end to mystery. Time and again +were they confronted with facts that they were wholly unable to explain. + +It was M'Wane who found a lantern in the hut which had formerly been +occupied by de Costa; and with the help of this they searched the huts, +one after the other, in the hope of being able to discover Caesar's line +of retreat. + +It was not possible that the Portuguese and his Arab attendants had left +the stockade by way of the gate. By day, the garrison had been under +the constant observation of their sentinel on the hills. Every night, +as soon as it was sufficiently dark to permit them to approach, the +stockade had been surrounded. They found nothing suspicious in any one +of the huts, until they came to Caesar's, before which the yellow flag +still unfurled itself upon the wind. Here they discovered that the ruby +chest had gone. + +Now, it would require four men, at least, to carry this heavy chest to +the water's edge, and even then, the task could not have been +accomplished without noise. It was impossible to believe that the +garrison had passed through the little investing force by dead of night. +And yet, as far as they could see, there was no other means of escape. +Caesar and his slave-drivers had vanished as suddenly and unaccountably +as if they had been spirited away. + +They separated and searched the stockade from end to end. It was M'Wane +who gained the first clue, who came running breathlessly to Crouch. + +"Master," he cried, "the wood-stack has been moved." + +Within the stockade they had noticed on their arrival a great quantity +of firewood, which had been cut in the adjacent forest. On approaching +this, Crouch saw at once that the wood-stack had been pulled down as if +in haste. Calling out to Edward to bring the lantern, he awaited +further developments. No sooner had Harden arrived than the mystery was +solved. + +Leading downward into the ground was a broad flight of steps. A kind of +tunnel had been formed under the sand, about four feet wide and six feet +high, revetted by wooden beams. So all the time Caesar had been at +liberty to escape, whenever he felt that he was sufficiently recovered +of his wound to undertake the journey. + +When Caesar had constructed his stockade in the heart of the wilderness, +he had been prepared for all eventualities and had neglected nothing. He +had unlimited labour at his disposal. Knowing the nature of his +business, and the hatred with which he was likely to be regarded by the +neighbouring tribes, he had thought it likely that, at some future date, +he might be called upon to undergo a siege. That siege might last for +several months, by which time his provisions would be exhausted and he +obliged to retreat. As far as they were able to discover, the +subterranean passage had been made during the absence of de Costa on a +two-months' journey to the Coast, in order to procure fresh supplies of +dynamite. From the fact that the half-caste knew nothing whatsoever of +the passage, it seems likely that the Portuguese had all along intended +to desert his companion at the eleventh hour. + +Without a word, Edward Harden descended the steps, holding the lantern +on high to guide his friends who followed. The passage lay in a +bee-line throughout the whole of its length. It was about three hundred +yards long, and whilst it ran through the sandy sub-soil in the crater +of Makanda, both its walls and roof consisted of solid logs. For the +last hundred yards it pierced the living rock, and at last came forth in +the impenetrable darkness of the forest. + +By the aid of the lantern they were able to discover a path which led to +the left, and after a few minutes' walking, this brought them to the +river bank. Here, in the soft mud, was the indentation of the bows of a +canoe. Moreover, the place was so screened by trees and tall reeds that +no one, passing either up or down the river, would suspect for a moment +that here was a mooring-place. It was here that the "phantom canoe" had +lain, to be brought upstream by two or three of the Arabs from the +stockade on the night of the attack. + +No sooner did Crouch observe this evidence of the means Caesar had taken +to escape, than he shook his fist in the air. + +"He's gone down-stream," he cried. "But, I'll follow him, if he leads +me a ten-years' journey through the wilderness. I'll overtake that man, +and I'll kill him. I swear it. I swear that I'll never set eyes upon +the shores of England again, until I know that he is dead." + +And that was the oath of Captain Crouch, which--when we have got to the +end of the story--will prove to us that oaths are very futile after all. +The strength of man is limited; in face of the wonders of the universe, +his knowledge is indeed small. He may be strong and brave and +unswerving of his purpose; but, after all, where men teem in cities, no +less than in the heart of the illimitable and mighty forest, there is a +greater Power than anything that is human--the all-pervading Spirit of +the Universe, before whom the foolish vows of men are of infinitesimal +account. + +Crouch had flown too often in the face of Providence not to be aware of +that; but, just then, he was well-nigh mad with wrath and restless with +excitement. Snatching the lantern from Edward's hand he raced along the +passage, until they found themselves again within the stockade. + +Still, the captain never paused. He passed through the gate, and thence +ascended the hills. They found the slave-camp absolutely silent. On +every hand the unhappy negroes lay stretched upon the ground, and there +in the middle of them was de Costa, nature striving to maintain the +spark of life within that fever-stricken body, by means of healthful +slumber. On the eastern horizon, beyond the unknown hills which they +had seen from Solitude Peak, the dawn was rising in a flood. + +With scant ceremony Crouch awakened first de Costa, then every one of +the slaves. Through the medium of the half-caste he spoke to the +natives as follows-- + +"We found you slaves, we have made you freemen. Are you grateful for +what we have done?" + +A murmur arose from the crowd. They said that they were mindful of what +they owed to the white wizard and his brave companions. + +"Then," said Crouch, "you can help us. We are going down-river. We +must start at once. We must take all our baggage, our stores and +ammunition. There are six canoes at the kraal, and these will be +sufficient. But we will need porters to make the journey through the +jungle to the Kasai. If you come with us, to carry our loads and +canoes, we will pay you in cowrie shells and beads, brass rods and +cloth." + +To a man they volunteered, and not five minutes later a caravan of fifty +carriers, protected by seven rifles, descended to the lake before +Makanda. + +In less than an hour the canoes were loaded, and then the expedition +shot down the stream, the canoes following one behind the other in +single file. Crouch led the way, his quick eye sweeping either bank in +search of the place where Caesar had embarked. Max, in the last canoe +brought up the rear. + +As the canoes gained the point where the sandy plain around the +settlement gave place to the density of the jungle, all turned and +looked back upon Makanda. To the slaves, many of whom had worked for +two years under the whip, without hope of ultimate salvation, it was as +if they looked their last upon their prison doors. As for the +Englishmen, they remembered that grey, steaming morning when they had +first come within sight of the stockade, when Caesar had fired at them +from the water. + +All that had happened in the weeks that followed was like some strange, +swift-moving dream. + +It was midday when they reached their old camp at Hippo Pool, and Harden +and Crouch disembarked, to see if they could find traces of Caesar's +escape on the line of their former portage. + +They met with instant success. Some one had passed within the course of +the last few hours. + +In consequence, the loads were disembarked. Three canoes were sunk, and +the remaining three lifted high and dry upon the bank. It was whilst +this work was in progress that Crouch, to his infinite delight, +discovered his case of glass eyes, which he had left in camp on the +morning of their adventure at Leopard Marsh. + +They were obliged to halt for a few hours for food. They had brought +with them a week's rations for their men: plantain flour, soaked manioc +and ears of corn. It was two o'clock when the caravan began to move +through the jungle towards the Kasai. They eventually reached one of +their old camps by Observation Pool. Their progress was necessarily +slow. The slaves were in no fit condition to do a forced march through +the jungle; and that night it was decided that Edward and Max and the +Fans should push on ahead, in an endeavour to overtake the fugitives, +and failing that to bring back the Loango boys to help. Crouch was to +follow with the caravan with what dispatch he could. + +In two days, the advanced party reached the place where the creek turned +to the south. Caesar's tracks still followed the old route direct to +Date Palm Island. + +On the fifth day of their journey from Hippo Pool, they came upon a +place where Caesar had turned to the north. Edward was an experienced +tracker, but it did not require the eye of an expert to see that human +beings had turned from the portage and followed an elephant track to the +Kasai. For a moment, Harden was undecided how to act. If he continued +on his way to Date Palm Island, some days might be wasted before he +again picked up the trail. In the end he decided to send Max and the +three Fans to the north, and go himself with M'Wane to the Island. +There he would load up the canoe, send half the boys down-stream on the +look-out for Max, and bring the others back to the portage to assist the +slaves. + +The following morning he shook hands with his nephew, and continued on +the old route with which he was now familiar. He had not gone far, +however, before he noticed bloodstains on the leaves of the undergrowth; +and presently, to his utmost surprise, he came across one of the Loango +boys wounded by a bullet in the leg, and crawling painfully on hands and +knees towards the river. + +This boy said that he had been hunting in the jungle--for they were +short of food on the Island--when he had come across a caravan +consisting of six Arabs and a white man. They were carrying a canoe +half-filled with supplies, and a great box which appeared to be +excessively heavy. The white man who led the way, seemed to be very +weak, for he staggered as he walked. Indeed, it is impossible to +imagine the hardships that the tall Portuguese underwent upon that last +and fateful journey. So anxious was he to save his rubies, to gain the +sea-coast in safety, that he had not brought with him sufficient +supplies. In consequence, he and his men were starving and, as we shall +see, they had an even more deadly foe to reckon with. + +M'Wane, picking up the wounded boy in his arms, carried him like a baby +throughout the rest of the journey to Date Palm Island. There the man's +wound was attended to, and he was placed in a canoe which was ready +loaded two hours after Edward had reached the river. + +Once more Harden set forth upon his old track, leaving instructions that +the canoe was to drop down-stream on the afternoon of the following day. +The Loango boys from the Island, though they had complained of being +short of food, were in fine condition; and the party came up with Crouch +at the end of the second day. Thence they made better headway and, +following Caesar's trail, arrived eventually at the river, where they +found not only Max and the Fans, but the party from the Island. + +And now followed a race down the river after the slave-drivers and their +chest of rubies. The three canoes which had been carried from the +Hidden River, were embarked on the Kasai. The slaves who had acted as +porters on the journey were given the option of finding their own way +back to their villages or going down to the Congo in the canoes. There +was never the slightest doubt that the majority would choose the former +course. Half their number had come from the Pambala village on the +slopes of Solitude Peak, and a score from other villages farther to the +south-west. In all there were only five who desired to journey to the +Congo, and these were men whom Caesar had captured in the land of the +Bakutu. + +The current of the river was so swift that the four canoes shot +down-stream at a great velocity with little help from the paddles. On +the upper reaches of the great river, rapids and waterfalls were +frequent, and at such times it was necessary to carry the canoe to +unbroken water. At each portage they found traces of Caesar and his +Arabs. Once the camp-fire of the Portuguese was still alight, and soon +after that, on rounding a point, they came in sight of a canoe. + +They thought at first that they had overtaken Caesar, but they were +doomed to be disappointed. With the aid of their fieldglasses they +ascertained that the canoe was coming towards them, working slowly +up-stream against the force of the current. + +They were still more surprised when they recognised, seated in the stern +of this canoe, the white solar topee and the black coat of a European. +A few minutes later Crouch was within hail. + +"Who are you?" he asked, with both hands to his mouth. + +And the answer came back in the accent of Aberdeen: "James Mayhew, of +the Scottish Missionary Society." + +That, indeed, was so. This man alone, attended only by a few native +servants, was forcing his way in the absolute Unknown, in order to bring +the enlightenment of Christian knowledge into the depths of an endless +forest, inhabited by cannibals and dwarfs. They had time only to +congratulate the missionary upon his courage, and to wish him every +success. Crouch gave Mr. Mayhew directions as to how to reach the +Hidden Valley, and told him that, if he found his way to Solitude Peak +and said that he had come from the "White Wizard," he would find many +converts among the liberated slaves and the people of the village. + +On being asked whether he had seen the Portuguese and his Arabs on the +river, the Missionary answered that he had passed them not an hour ago. +The Arabs had been paddling furiously, as if their lives depended upon +their reaching the Congo with as little delay as possible. As for the +Portuguese, he had been lying as if sick, in the body of the canoe, with +his head propped against a great ironbound chest. + +Crouch waited to hear no more. Waving his hand to the Missionary, he +gave orders for the journey to continue. + +That evening, they expected to arrive at Caesar's camp, but by midnight +they had come to the conclusion that the man was resolved to push on +without halting for food. + +It was now that M'Wane and his four companions--the three that had gone +to Solitude Peak and the one who had been left at the Island--asked to +be put ashore. They said they were not far from their own people, and +were desirous of returning home. For all that, they were extremely +sorry to leave their masters, the great white men who had overcome the +Fire-gods. + +When they left, there was much hand-shaking. Each man was presented +with a rifle and several rounds of ammunition, in addition to that they +received enough beads, brass rods, and cloth, to gladden the hearts of +any savage who ever roamed the equatorial forests. + +Throughout the night the canoes paddled to the north-west. All this +time de Costa lay in the body of a canoe, groaning with ague and +shivering from fever. It is a strange thing that in the close and humid +atmosphere of the forest there is little malaria or malarial typhoid, +which cause such havoc among the white men on the great rivers of the +Congo Basin. For it is above the surface of the water that the +mosquitoes swarm, which breed these fell diseases. + +At daybreak they sighted Caesar. They saw his canoe for no longer than +an instant as it rounded a bend in the river. The natives plied their +paddles with a will, and Crouch, in the vanguard of the pursuit held his +rifle ready to fire. + +All day long, beneath the blazing tropic sun, with the insects droning +in their ears and the yellow seething water rushing onward to the sea, +this strange race continued. + +Three times did they catch sight of the fugitives; once in the morning, +once at mid-day, and the last time when the afternoon was drawing to a +close. + +By then they were not five hundred yards in the rear. It seemed +probable that the Portuguese would be overtaken before night. Throughout +that day native settlements on either bank of the river had been +frequent. They were but two hundred miles above the point where the +Kasai joins the Congo, to the north of Stanley Pool. + +At last they entered a broad reach, where the river was straight as a +Roman road. On either side the jungle rose to the height of about two +hundred feet--a tangled mass of vegetation, of creepers, vines, +convolvuli, so densely interwoven as to give the effect of endless +walls. Far in the distance, at the end of this long reach, they could +see an island standing in mid-stream, as if it floated on the surface of +the river. + +Resolved to overtake the man before darkness set in and assisted his +escape, they urged the canoes forward, until Caesar recognised himself +for lost. Two shots from Crouch, and Caesar's canoe drew in to the bank +of the island. + +As they approached they saw the Portuguese lifted out of his canoe in +the arms of his faithful Arabs, and deposited on the bank. Then the +Arabs, taking their rifles in their hands, opened fire on their +pursuers. + +They realized at once that resistance would be hopeless. The Loango +boys, after many weeks of inactivity on Date Palm Island, were spoiling +for a fight. Not all of them were armed with rifles, but the odds were +two to one against the Arabs, who knew that they could always trust the +white men to show mercy. No sooner had the Englishmen set foot upon the +island than they delivered up their arms. + +Had Crouch shot them on the spot these men, who for two years had been +scourging slaves with their whips, had got no more than they deserved. +As it was, their weapons were not given back to them, and they were +turned adrift upon the great river, with a week's provisions, to find +their way back as best they might to some settlement of their own kith +and kin. + +And then the Englishmen were able to give their attention to Caesar. The +tall man lay upon the ground, rigid as in death. The whole party +gathered around him, with the exception of de Costa, who was himself too +ill to land upon the island. + +Caesar's complexion was a dull, slaty-blue. His face was drawn and +haggard, his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets. As Max pushed his +way through the inquisitive Loango boys, who stood gaping at the dying +man, Caesar struggled to a sitting position, and supporting his back +against a tree, looked savagely about him. + +"Stand back!" cried Max. "It's cholera!" + +It was then he realized the truth. Caesar had thrashed one of his +slaves for no greater crime than having contracted the pestilence that +was ravaging his camp. Max had snatched the whip from the man's hand +and brought down upon his face and hands and back the cruel thong, whose +very touch was contagion. And thus was the vengeance of God, upon one +who had done evil all his days, taken from the hands of Captain Crouch. + +Max was actually on his way back to his canoe to procure his medicine +chest when the man looked about him, rolled his eyes to the heavens, as +if he who had shown so little of mercy to others thought to find it +there. Then he fell back with a groan, and lay cramped and twisted in +the agony of his death. + +That night, they buried him upon the island. They filled ammunition +boxes with the rubies, and burnt the chest against which Caesar had +rested his head. And then, they left him in the starlight, in the midst +of the great stillness of the lonely river, to make his peace with God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI--BACK AT THE "EXPLORERS'" + + +The green baize doors are just the same as ever; and in the inner +smoking room is Edward Harden, as large and clumsy-looking as on the +morning when we met him first at the top of St. James's Street, except +that, perhaps, he is more sun-burnt and somewhat haggard. + +It is winter; the London fog is without, and a great fire is roaring in +the grate. And before that fire is seated a young gentleman who now, +for the first time, is enjoying the privileges of a member. + +Edward rose to his feet, and looked at the clock. + +"It's six," said he. "Crouch ought to be here." + +Max Harden consulted his watch, as if to verify the evidence of the tall +grandfather's clock which proclaimed the hour between the masks of a +snow-leopard and a panther. + +"He said he would be back at five," said he to his uncle. "I suppose +we'd better wait." + +At that moment, one of the green baize doors swung open, and Captain +Crouch limped into the room. He was now dressed in what he deemed the +garb of civilization: that is to say, a navy blue pilot-coat, with brass +buttons, and a red tie that might have served to guide him in the fog. +They had the smoking-room to themselves. + +"It's all right," said Crouch, "I've fixed it up. Lewis and Sharp paid +over the money this afternoon, and I gave them a receipt." + +"How much did they fetch?" asked Max. + +"Three hundred and eighty thousand pounds." + +Max whistled, but said nothing. For some minutes, the three explorers +sat gazing into the fire. Not another word was spoken until Frankfort +Williams burst into the room. + +Williams had no sympathy with those who roamed the equatorial forests. +His own heart was set upon the ice-floes of the Arctic. + +"Look here," he cried, "what's this I hear about you fellows presenting +a million pounds to some Missionary Society?" + +"Who told you that?" said Crouch. + +"Why, I heard it just now from Du Cane." + +"News travels quickly," said Crouch. "But, a million is rather an +exaggeration Three hundred and eighty thousand is the sum." + +"And it all goes to a Missionary Society!" + +"Yes," said Max, "you didn't expect us to keep it, did you? It was +slave-trade money. We wouldn't touch a penny of it. Why, it would burn +holes in our pockets." + +"You see," said Edward, taking his pipe from his mouth, "a chap called +Mayhew--nice sort of fellow from what we saw of him--has gone up into +the very part of the country that we came from. He wants to civilize +the people; and after all, it's only fair that they should have the +benefit of the money, for it was they who earned it." + +Crouch got to his feet, and turned his back to the fire. + +"See?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, I see all right," said Williams, somewhat reluctantly, +however. "Of course, you couldn't very well do anything else, in the +circumstances. But, it seems rather a shame, somehow--when I can't +raise subscriptions for an expedition to the west coast of Baffin Land." + +"Look here," said Crouch, "if you think we're going to take money from +half-starved negroes, who have slept in chains and sweated under the +lash, and give it to you to climb some flaming iceberg, you're in the +wrong, my friend; and it's just as well for you to know it." + +Frankfort Williams laughed. It was the custom in the "Explorers'" for +those who favoured the tropics to scorn the men who were endeavouring to +reach the poles; just as it was for the Arctic adventurers to wax +ironical on the subject of cannibals and mangrove swamps, poisoned +arrow-heads and manioc. Williams talked for some few minutes upon the +current topics of the day, and then left the club. + +When he was gone, the three friends remained in their old positions +before the fire. Though not a word was said, the thoughts of each +drifted in the same direction. They saw the steaming mist upon a wide, +tropic river; they heard the hum of thousands of insects in their ears, +and the cries of the parrots overhead. They passed over, once again, +the route of their portage from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, and set +forth in fancy into the valley of the Hidden River. + +At last, Crouch got from his chair and, walking to the window, looked +out into the street. The fog had lifted in a fine, drizzling rain. +Shadowy figures hurried past, each with umbrella in hand, whilst the +reflection from the lights of the club windows glistened on the +pavement. The shops had closed. The workers were hurrying home; and +the London that had no need to work was dressing up for dinner. Crouch +swung round upon his heel. + +"I'm sick of this!" he cried. + +"So am I," said Edward. "Where shall we go?" + +Max got to his feet, and fetched down the map. + + + + THE END + + + + + + PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, + BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + + + ---- + + THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF + Adventure and Heroism. + + +An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed, +illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers. + +The Fifth Form at St Dominic's. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding in +stirring incident and in humorous descriptions. + +A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN. + +A Story of Pagan and Christian. + +A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and +dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum. + +The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Graeco-Turkish War. By V. L. +GOING. + +A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the +last war between Turkey and Greece. + +The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and +temptations of young men entering upon the work of life. + +The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES +REED. + +The juniors' rollicking fun, the seniors' rivalry, the school elections +and football match are all told in a forcible manner. + +A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be misunderstood, +and to be made the butt of his comrades. + +The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and +fun, and the trials of a young House-Master. + +From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, +unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief. + +My Friend Smith. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A first-rate story dealing with the temptations and difficulties boys +meet with when entering upon business life. + +Comrades under Canvas. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON. + +A breezy, healthy tale, dealing with the adventures of three Boys' +Brigade companies during their annual camp. + +Parkhurst Boys, and other Stories of School Life. By TALBOT BAINES +REED. + +A collection of stories from _The Boy's Own Paper_, containing some of +this popular author's best work and brightest wit. + +Reginald Cruden. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +Depicting the last days at school of Reginald Cruden, who then starts in +business at the bottom of the ladder. + +Roger Ingleton, Minor. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A bright, vigorous story for boys, introducing the reader to various +characters, all drawn with this well-known author's usual skill and +power. + +That Boy of Fraser's. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +David Fraser passed through many troubles caused by the disappearance of +his father; how he encountered them makes invigorating reading. + +With Rifle and Kukri. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON + +The many heroic deeds called forth by England's "little wars" along the +Indian frontier are here, narrated in stirring language. + +Meltonians All! By F. COWLEY WHITEHOUSE. + +A first-rate story of school-life and after, full of vim and stirring +incidents. Jim, Ken and Goggles make a fine trio. + +Myddleton's Treasure. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +Railway accidents, the evil doings of those in power, a shipwreck, and +adventures in Africa all help to make up a thrilling story. + +The Baymouth Scouts. By TOM BEVAN. + +A thrilling story, especially suitable for Boy Scouts, of the days of +Napoleon, and his threatened invasion of England. + +Rollinson and I. By W. E. CULE. + +The Story of a Summer Term. + +An attractive tale of schoolboy life, detailing a broken friendship, +much misunderstanding, repentance, and finally reconciliation between +the two characters in the title-role. + +Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. BOLTON. + +A schoolmaster with a genius for mathematics has various hobbies, one of +which proves useful in the rescuing of a kidnapped boy. + +Derrick Orme's Schooldays. By EDITH C. KENYON. + +Describes the experiences and persecutions of a high-minded Colonial lad +by a bullying schoolfellow, who is at last driven to admit his +transgressions. + +Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the +wonderful adventures of a sturdy 'prentice-lad. + +Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED. + +A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular author's +knowledge of schoolboy life and humour. + +Submarine U93. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +A thrilling tale, in which the U boat is the principal factor. The +youthful hero, with that redoubtable personage, Captain Crouch, passes +through many ordeals and adventures. + +The Boy Scout's Companion. Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +Everything that the aspiring Scout can learn from books is here +generously provided. The book is full of interest and value. A capital +collection of all sorts of information. + +Into the Soundless Deeps. A Tale of Wonder and Invention. By F. H. +BOLTON. + +The problems of sound and a "wonder-box," known as the "long distance" +ear, provide the main theme in this exciting story, in which adventures +with Spanish brigands also figure. + +The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Story of the Chinese Underworld, and of +Piracy and Adventure in Eastern Seas. By CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON. + +In the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his parentage, an English +boy, brought up as a Chinese, passes through many adventures on sea and +land. + + The Recreation Series. + +A splendid set of gift-books, providing recreation both for the body and +the mind. Profusely illustrated, of good bulk, handsomely printed, and +attractively bound in cloth gilt. + +The Boy's Own Book of Outdoor Games and Pastimes. Edited by P. P. +WARNER. + +Every phase of sport is represented in this volume, from Cricket to +Kite-Flying, and each contribution is by some well-known authority. + +The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations. Edited by MORLEY +ADAMS. + +Containing a mine of information on Conjuring, Ventriloquism, Model and +Toy making, Puzzles, Home Entertainments, and so on. + +The Boy's Own Book of Pets and Hobbies. + +Edited by MORLEY ADAMS. + +An invaluable guide to finding something to do. Many a long evening may +be brightly spent and lasting pleasure afforded by it. + +Every Boy's Book of Railways and Steamships. + +By ERNEST PROTHEROE. + +The author marshals his facts skilfully and tells, without +technicalities, the romance of the railway and the great waterways of +the world. + +The Handy Natural History (Mammals). + +By ERNEST PROTHEROE, F.Z.S. + +This marvellous book is something more than a mere record of +observation, while the exploits of many hunters of wild beasts are +recorded. + +Adventures in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +An admirably written description of the adventures which the +photographer and naturalist has to encounter in his quest for pictures +of British birds. + +Home Life in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, F.Z.S. + +A deeply interesting narrative of the habits of our feathered friends, +which will be eagerly welcomed and appreciated for the charm which it +reveals. + +The Boy's Own Book of Heroism and Adventure. + +Edited by A. R. BUCKLAND, M.A. + +Heroism of many sorts and thrilling adventures in many lands, by +well-known writers for boys, crowd these pages. + + + LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. + + + + + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIRE-GODS*** + + + + +A Word from Project Gutenberg + + +We will update this book if we find any errors. + +This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39255 + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the +Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a +registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, +unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything +for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may +use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative +works, reports, performances and research. They may be modified and +printed and given away - you may do practically _anything_ with public +domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, +especially commercial redistribution. + + + +The Full Project Gutenberg License + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg(tm) License available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg(tm) +electronic works + + +*1.A.* By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg(tm) +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the +terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all +copies of Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works in your possession. If +you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +*1.B.* "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things +that you can do with most Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works even +without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph +1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +*1.C.* The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of +Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works. Nearly all the individual works +in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you +from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating +derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project +Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the +Project Gutenberg(tm) mission of promoting free access to electronic +works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg(tm) works in compliance with +the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg(tm) name +associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this +agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full +Project Gutenberg(tm) License when you share it without charge with +others. + +*1.D.* The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg(tm) work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +*1.E.* Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +*1.E.1.* The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg(tm) License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg(tm) work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + +*1.E.2.* If an individual Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic work is +derived from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating +that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can +be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying +any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a +work with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on +the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs +1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg(tm) trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +*1.E.3.* If an individual Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic work is +posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and +distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and +any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg(tm) License for all works posted +with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of +this work. + +*1.E.4.* Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project +Gutenberg(tm) License terms from this work, or any files containing a +part of this work or any other work associated with Project +Gutenberg(tm). + +*1.E.5.* Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg(tm) License. + +*1.E.6.* You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg(tm) work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg(tm) web site +(http://www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg(tm) License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +*1.E.7.* Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg(tm) works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.8.* You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works +provided that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg(tm) works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg(tm) trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg(tm) + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg(tm) + works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg(tm) works. + + +*1.E.9.* If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg(tm) trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3. below. + +*1.F.* + +*1.F.1.* Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg(tm) collection. +Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works, and the +medium on which they may be stored, may contain "Defects," such as, but +not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription +errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a +defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +*1.F.2.* LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg(tm) trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg(tm) electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. +YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, +BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN +PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND +ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR +ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES +EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. + +*1.F.3.* LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +*1.F.4.* Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +*1.F.5.* Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +*1.F.6.* INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg(tm) +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg(tm) work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg(tm) + + +Project Gutenberg(tm) is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg(tm)'s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg(tm) collection will remain +freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and +permanent future for Project Gutenberg(tm) and future generations. To +learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and +how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org . + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state +of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue +Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification number is +64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the +full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official page +at http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg(tm) depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where +we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside +the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways +including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, +please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic +works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg(tm) +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg(tm) eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg(tm) eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless +a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks +in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg(tm), +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/39255.zip b/old/39255.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c7d6d5c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/39255.zip |
