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+ 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; } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } + +/* 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> +<title>TOM WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS</title> +<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> +<meta name="PG.Title" content="Tom Willoughby's Scouts" /> +<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Herbert Strang" /> +<meta name="DC.Created" content="1919" /> +<meta name="MARCREL.ill" content="Wal Paget" /> +<meta name="PG.Id" content="39912" /> +<meta name="PG.Released" content="2012-06-03" /> +<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> +<meta name="DC.Title" content="Tom Willoughby's Scouts A Story of the War in German East Africa" /> + +<link href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rel="schema.DCTERMS" /> +<link href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators" rel="schema.MARCREL" /> +<meta content="Tom Willoughby's Scouts A Story of the War in German East Africa" name="DCTERMS.title" /> +<meta content="tom.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> +<meta content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" name="DCTERMS.language" /> +<meta content="2012-06-03T23:06:25.929569+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.modified" /> +<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> +<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> +<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39912" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" /> +<meta content="Herbert Strang" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> +<meta content="Wal Paget" name="MARCREL.ill" /> +<meta content="2012-06-03" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.created" /> +<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> +<meta content="EpubMaker 0.3.19b4 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> +<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>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39912 ***</div> +<div class="document" id="tom-willoughby-s-scouts"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">TOM WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS</h1> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> +</div> +<div class="align-None container coverpage"> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 56%" id="figure-26"> +<span id="cover-art"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +Cover art</div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None container frontispiece"> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 61%" id="figure-27"> +<span id="reinecke-flung-up-his-arm"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-front.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +REINECKE FLUNG UP HIS ARM.</div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container titlepage white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="pfirst white-space-pre-line x-large">TOM WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS</p> +<p class="medium pnext white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">A STORY OF THE WAR IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA</em></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">BY</p> +<p class="large pnext white-space-pre-line">HERBERT STRANG</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">ILLUSTRATED BY WAL PAGET</em></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">HUMPHREY MILFORD<br /> +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /> +LONDON, EDINBURGH, GLASGOW<br /> +TORONTO, MELBOURNE, CAPE TOWN, BOMBAY<br /> +1919</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container verso white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="pfirst small white-space-pre-line">PRINTED 1918 IN GREAT BRITAIN BY R. CLAY & SONS, LTD.,<br /> +BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="center transition"> +<p class="pfirst">――――</p> +</div> +<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-tanganyika" id="id2">CHAPTER I--TANGANYIKA</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-ii-partners" id="id3">CHAPTER II--PARTNERS</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-iii-the-voucher" id="id4">CHAPTER III--THE VOUCHER</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-iv-trapped" id="id5">CHAPTER IV--TRAPPED</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-v-a-friend-in-need" id="id6">CHAPTER V--A FRIEND IN NEED</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-vi-mwesa-s-mission" id="id7">CHAPTER VI--MWESA'S MISSION</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-vii-tom-seizes-the-occasion" id="id8">CHAPTER VII--TOM SEIZES THE OCCASION</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-viii-reinecke-returns" id="id9">CHAPTER VIII--REINECKE RETURNS</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-ix-a-delaying-action" id="id10">CHAPTER IX--A DELAYING ACTION</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-x-a-breathing-space" id="id11">CHAPTER X--A BREATHING SPACE</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xi-tom-s-new-allies" id="id12">CHAPTER XI--TOM'S NEW ALLIES</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xii-the-deserter" id="id13">CHAPTER XII--THE DESERTER</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xiii-hunted" id="id14">CHAPTER XIII--HUNTED</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xiv-the-trail" id="id15">CHAPTER XIV--THE TRAIL</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xv-the-back-door" id="id16">CHAPTER XV--THE BACK DOOR</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xvi-drawn-blank" id="id17">CHAPTER XVI--DRAWN BLANK</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xvii-a-german-offer" id="id18">CHAPTER XVII--A GERMAN OFFER</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xviii-a-good-haul" id="id19">CHAPTER XVIII--A GOOD HAUL</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xix-beleaguered" id="id20">CHAPTER XIX--BELEAGUERED</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xx-raising-the-siege" id="id21">CHAPTER XX--RAISING THE SIEGE</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxi-willoughby-s-scouts" id="id22">CHAPTER XXI--WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS</a></p> +</li> +</ul> +</div> +</div> +<div class="center transition"> +<p class="pfirst">――――</p> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p> +<p class="left medium pnext white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#reinecke-flung-up-his-arm">Reinecke flung up his Arm</a> (See p. 193) . . . . . . <em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Frontispiece</em><br /> +<a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#tom-took-careful-aim-and-fired">Tom took careful Aim and fired</a><br /> +<a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#tom-makes-a-diversion">Tom makes a Diversion</a><br /> +<a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#mwesa-flung-himself-on-the-arab">Mwesa flung Himself on the Arab</a></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-i-tanganyika"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2">CHAPTER I--TANGANYIKA</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Among the passengers who boarded the +<em class="italics">Hedwig von Wissmann</em> at Kigoma on +Lake Tanganyika, one June day in 1914, there +were two who engaged more particularly the +attention of those already on deck. The first +was a tall stalwart man of some fifty years, with +hard blue eyes, full red cheeks, a square chin, +and a heavy blond moustache streaked with grey. +He stepped somewhat jerkily up the gangway, +brought his hand stiffly to his brow in response +to the salute of the first officer, and was led by +that deferential functionary to a chair beneath +the deck awning.</p> +<p class="pnext">The second presented a striking contrast. +Equally tall, he was slim and loosely built, with +lean, sunburnt, hairless cheeks, a clean upper lip +that curved slightly in a natural smile, and brown +eyes that flashed a look of intelligent interest +around. He walked with the lithe easy movements +of athletic youth, turned to see that the +porter was following with his luggage, a +single travelling trunk and a rifle case, and +satisfied on that score, picked up a deck-chair and +planted it for himself where the awning would +give shade without shutting off the air.</p> +<p class="pnext">Both these new arrivals wore suits of white +drill, and pith helmets; but whereas the elder +man was tightly buttoned, suggesting a certain +strain, the younger allowed his coat to hang open, +showing his soft shirt and the cummerbund about +his waist.</p> +<p class="pnext">The gangway was pulled in, a seaman cast off +the mooring rope, and the vessel sheered off from +the landing-stage with those seemingly aimless +movements with which a steamer, until she is +well under way, responds to the signals from +the bridge. In a few minutes the <em class="italics">Hedwig +von Wissmann</em> was heading southward down +the lake, on her three-hundred-mile voyage to +Bismarckburg.</p> +<p class="pnext">The younger of the two passengers lit a +cigarette and unobtrusively took stock of his +fellow-travellers. The tall man before mentioned +was already puffing at a long black cigar, and +a steward, with marked servility, had placed +a glass of some lemon-coloured liquid on a table +at his elbow. Beyond him four men of middle +age, also provided with cigars and glasses, were +playing cards, not in dignified silence, like Sarah +Battle of immortal memory, but with a sort of +voracity, and a voluble exchange of gutturals. +Sitting apart, smoking a dark briar pipe, sat a +grizzled and somewhat shabby passenger who, +though the brim of his panama was turned down +over his eyes, had nevertheless watched and +drawn conclusions about the two strangers.</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm! Public school--nineteen, perhaps--griffin--nice +lad--clean," his disjointed thoughts +ran. "T'other fellow--Potsdam--goose +step--beer barrel--don't like the breed."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a while he sat smoking, giving a little +grunt now and then, and now and then a glance +at the young Englishman. Presently he heaved +himself out of his chair, tilted back his hat, and +waddling a few steps, planted himself with legs +apart in front of the youth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Harrow or Rugby, sir?" he said without +preamble.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Neither, sir," replied the other with a smile. +"I was at quite an obscure grammar school--not +a public school in the--well, in the swagger sense."</p> +<p class="pnext">The old man's grey eyes twinkled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm!" he ejaculated. "Don't get up." He +took a chair that stood folded against one +of the stanchions and drew it alongside.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Name, sir?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The youth looked into the face of his +questioner, saw nothing but benevolence there, +and thinking "Queer old stick!" answered--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Willoughby--Tom Willoughby."</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm! Not Bob Willoughby's son, by any chance?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"My father's name was Robert, sir."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Takes after his mother, I suppose," the old +man murmured to himself, but audibly. "Hasn't +got Bob's nose. I knew him," he went on aloud. +"Saw in <em class="italics">The Times</em> he was gone: sorry, my lad. +Haven't seen him since '98, when I was in +Uganda. Haven't been out since; wanted to +run round once more before I'm laid on the +shelf. Going to Rhodesia, I presume?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No: only as far as Bismarckburg: my father +was interested in some land on the edge of the +Plateau."</p> +<p class="pnext">"German land, begad!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, you see he was partner with a German: +went equal shares with him in a coffee plantation +seven or eight years ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm! Why didn't he stick to mines?" +said the old gentleman in one of his audible +asides. "And you step into his shoes, I suppose?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not exactly, sir. He left his property to +my brother and me jointly. We decided that +Bob--he's twenty-four--had better stick to the +commission business in London, and I should +come out and learn planting, or at any rate see +if it's worth while going on; the plantation has +never paid, and it's lucky for us we don't +depend on it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never paid in eight years? It's time it did. +What's your German partner about? I'm an old +hand; my name's Barkworth, and I was a friend +of your father. My advice is, if your coffee +hasn't paid in eight years, cut your losses and +try cotton."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It may come to that; that's what I'm out +to discover; but my brother thought it at least +worth while looking into things on the spot with +Mr. Reinecke----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Curt Reinecke?" said Mr. Barkworth abruptly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know him--or did, twenty years ago. <em class="italics">He's</em> +your partner. H'm!" He blew out a heavy +cloud of smoke. Tom looked at him a little +anxiously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Reinecke has had a lot of bad luck, sir," he +said. "He was always hoping the tide would turn, +Bob suggested that he might be incompetent, but +my father had complete confidence in him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Reinecke incompetent! Bosh! He's clever enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was something in Mr. Barkworth's tone +that caused Tom to say--</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've never met him myself, and I should really +be glad of any information, sir. You see, it's +rather awkward, dealing with a man old enough +to be my father, I mean, and----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, of course. Reinecke is a clever fellow; +I've nothing against him, but I recommend you +to go carefully. I don't like him, but then I +don't like Germans."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't say I do," said Tom. "I spent a year +in Germany. But I've met a few jolly decent +chaps, and seeing that my father thought so highly +of Mr. Reinecke----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're predisposed in his favour. Naturally. +Well, keep an open mind. Don't be in a hurry +to decide. That's an old man's advice. I'm +nearly seventy, my lad, and the older I get the +more I learn. With people, now--there's the +man who falls on the neck of the first comer, and +wishes he hadn't. There's the man who stiffens +his back and freezes, and then finds that he's lost +his chance of making a friend. Don't be like +either: 'prove all things'--and men--'and hold +fast to that which is good.' H'm! I'm beginning +to preach: sure sign of dotage.--You haven't seen +a view like that before."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was indeed a new and an enchanting experience +to Tom Willoughby, this voyage on the vast +lake, or inland sea, that stretches for four +hundred miles in the heart of equatorial Africa. +Looking eastward to the nearer shore, he beheld +a high bank richly clad with forest jungle, fringed +and festooned with lovely creepers and climbing +plants. Below, the blue waters, tossed by a +south-east breeze, broke high upon a wilderness of +rugged rocks; above, masses of cloud raced +across the green heights, revealing now and then +patches of bare brown rock, now and then the +misty tops of distant mountains. The coastline +was variegated with headlands, creeks, and bays; +southward could be discerned the bold mountainous +promontory of Kungwe. Here and there +Arab dhows with their triangular sails and the +low log canoes of native fishermen hugged the +shore; and birds with brilliant plumage glittered +and flashed as they darted in and out among the +foliage or swooped down upon the surface in +search of food.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom feasted his eyes on these novel scenes +until a bugle summoned the passengers to +luncheon. He would have found it a slow meal +but for his new friend. They were placed side by +side at some distance from the captain, the +intervening seats being occupied by the Germans. +The planters talked shop among themselves, and +Tom was amused at the obsequious gratitude they +showed to Major von Rudenheim, the newly +arrived German officer, when he dispensed them +a word now and then, as a man throws a bone to +a dog. The major had the place of honour next +the captain, whose bearing towards him was +scarcely less deferential. Through the meal the +two Englishmen were almost ignored by the rest. +Afterwards, however, when the planters had +returned to their cards and Major von Rudenheim +and Mr. Barkworth had both disappeared, +Captain Goltermann came up to Tom where he sat +alone on deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fine country, Mr. Villoughby," he said +pleasantly. "I hope you like zis trip."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thanks, captain, it's quite charming; but I'm +not what we call a tripper."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So! It is business, not pleasure, zat bring +you? But zere shall be pleasure <em class="italics">and</em> business, I +zink. If I can assist you----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thanks again. I expect Mr. Reinecke to +meet me at Bismarckburg."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Reinecke! He is great friend of mine. +You are lucky to go to him--as pupil, perhaps?"</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed to Tom that the amiable captain +was trying to pump him, and he smiled inwardly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I daresay I could learn a good deal from +Mr. Reinecke," he said, guardedly, but with great +amiability.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Zat is certain. He is a most excellent man +of business, and as a planter zere is no one like +him. Zat I ought to know, because I carry his +goods. Yes, truly, many fine cargoes haf I +carried from Bismarckburg to Ujiji. Zere vill vun +vait me, vizout doubt. Yes, my friend Reinecke +is ze model of efficiency--of German efficiency. +Ze English are great colonists--so! no vun deny +it; and zey are proud zey know how to manage +ze nigger--yes? But I tell you--you are young +man--I tell you your countrymen cannot make +ze nigger vork---ve Germans can."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was to learn later the methods by which +the Germans achieved that desirable end: at +present he was slightly amused at the Teutonic +self-satisfaction of the speaker. It was so like +what he had encountered during his year in +Stuttgart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ze German kultur," the captain proceeded--"it +is carried verever ze German go. Yes; viz +our mezod, our zystem, ve create for our Kaiser +a great empire in Africa. In ten, tventy year ze +Masai, ze Wanyamwezi, ze Wakamba, ze Wahehe, +and all ze ozers--zey shall become Germans--black +Germans, but ze colour, vat is it? It is of +ze skin; I speak of ze soul, sir."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this moment there was a great hubbub on +the lower deck forward, where a motley +assortment of natives and Indian traders was located. +The captain hurried away; the planters left their +cards and flocked to see what was happening. +Tom followed them. Looking over the rail, he +saw a young negro being dragged along by two +petty officers, who cuffed and kicked him between +their shouts of abuse. They hauled him on +until they stood below the captain, and then +explained in German that they had found him +hidden among some bales of cargo: he had not +paid his passage and had no money.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Throw him overboard," cried the captain. +The planters laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only a stowaway," said one, and their curiosity +being satisfied, they went back to the awning.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whether the captain had meant what he said +or not, he had turned away, and the officers +were apparently about to carry out the order. +Tom, understanding German and knowing something +of Germans, was nevertheless amazed. +Acting on the impulse of the moment he hurried +after the captain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I say, captain, I'll pay for the boy," he cried. +"Let him go."</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Goltermann smiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ze nigger? You are good Samaritan, sir. +Vell, it is your affair, not mine. Pay if you +please; you fling money avay."</p> +<p class="pnext">He called to the officers, who gave the boy a +parting kick and shot him into the midst of the +crowd of shouting negroes before them. Tom +paid the passage money, and went back to his +chair. Had he made a fool of himself? It was +really absurd to have supposed that the Germans +would have drowned the boy. "I wonder what +Mr. Barkworth would say?" he thought. And +then he sprang up and hastened to find the purser: +he had suddenly remembered that if the boy had +no money for his fare, neither could he pay for +his food. "No good doing things by halves," he +thought. He told the purser to charge the boy's +keep to him, adding: "and don't make a song +about it."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ii-partners"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3">CHAPTER II--PARTNERS</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Tom Willoughby's first impression +of Curt Reinecke had an element of +surprise. Conspicuous on the landing-stage at +Bismarckburg was a thin wiry man of middle +height, clad in the loose white garments affected +by planters, with a large white linen hat, its brim +turned down helmet-wise. The coppery hue of +his face was accentuated by a huge white +moustache, which projected at least two inches beyond +the outlines of his shaven cheeks. He might +have passed for a South American president.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's Reinecke," said Mr. Barkworth, as +he stepped on to the gangway in advance of +Tom. "Hasn't altered a jot. His moustache +was white twenty years ago; and he was as bald +as a bladder. Good-bye, my lad: we may meet +again: we may not: God bless you!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Barkworth had already explained that, as +the <em class="italics">Hedwig von Wissmann</em> would remain two or +three days at Bismarckburg to unload, he was +going to complete his journey to Kitata in +Rhodesia by sailing boat. They shook hands +cordially and parted.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was impossible for Reinecke to mistake the +lad he had come to meet. Among the passengers +who landed there was none so young as Tom, +no other who bore the stamp of Englishman. +Reinecke came up to him with a smile, lifted his +hat, revealing for an instant his smooth pink +crown, and said--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Villoughby, vizout doubt. A tousand +hearty velcomes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How d'you do, Mr. Reinecke?" responded +Tom. "Glad to meet you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ve shall go to ze hotel for to-day; I shall +see to your baggage. To-morrow ve go to ze +plantation. Zat zhentleman you part viz--I zink +I know his look, but his name--no, I do not +remember: it is--no, it vill not come."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barkworth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ach! So! Barkvorce. Yes, of course, of +course; I remember: it is long ago----"</p> +<p class="pnext">He stopped abruptly, and gazed after the broad +shambling figure with a look that Tom could not +fathom. Then he turned to Tom again, begged +him to excuse his absence for a moment, and +went up the gangway on to the steamer. Returning +after a minute or two, he explained that he +had arranged for Tom's baggage to be sent to +the hotel, and had invited Captain Goltermann +to visit the plantation while the vessel remained +in harbour.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can gif you good shootings," he said, smiling +again. "You English are all good sports, eh? +And my friend ze captain also is expert viz ze gun."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom felt that he had nothing to complain of +in the warmth of his reception, and glowed with +anticipation of diversifying his business inquiries +with sport of a kind new to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He learnt that the plantation lay at a distance +of about twenty miles from the lake-side, on the +Tanganyika Plateau, and could only be reached by +a rough path over the hills, impassable for wheeled +traffic. But he would not be expected to walk. +The journey would be done by <em class="italics">machila</em>, which +turned out to be a light canvas litter slung +on a pole and borne by two strapping natives. +Reinecke had brought three pairs of porters, in +addition to a dozen who would convey certain +bales of stores which had come by the steamer. +It was thus a large party that left early next +morning, the three white men in their litters +going ahead, the porters following at some +distance under the charge of an Arab overseer armed +with a long whip.</p> +<p class="pnext">Within half an hour of leaving the port the +path entered hilly country, much overgrown with +forest vegetation. The air was still, hot and +humid, and Tom, though this novel means of +locomotion, over rough ground, had its discomforts, +reflected that he would have been still more +uncomfortable had he walked. Innumerable +insects buzzed around, seeking to pierce the +protective curtains that enclosed him. Through the +meshes of the muslin he saw gigantic ferns, +revelling in the moist shade of huge trees, +festooned with lianas and rattan. He heard monkeys +chattering overhead, the soft notes of doves and +the shriller cries of partridges and guinea-fowl; +and but for the teeming insects he would have +liked to spring from his litter and go afoot, where +every yard brought some new beauty, some novel +form of life, to view. After three hours the +caravan halted, for the purpose of refreshing the +Europeans with cool lager beer from bottles +carried in ice-packs by one of the natives. It +was drawing towards evening when they arrived +at a clearing beyond which there was a dense and +impenetrable thorn hedge about eight feet high. +The path led to a wooden gate set in the midst +of the hedge. This Reinecke opened with a key, +and he stood back with a smile and a bow as he +invited Tom, now on his feet, to enter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Zis is our estate," he said. "Vunce more I +bid you tousand velcomes, and I vish your visit +bring us good luck."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thanks very much," said Tom, noticing at +the same time that Reinecke's eyes were fixed on +the peculiarly stolid face of Captain Goltermann.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, viz better luck you shall be rich man in +a few years, Mr. Villoughby," said the captain. +"Zere is no man zat knows like my friend +Reinecke ze--ze----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ze ups and downs of coffee," suggested +Reinecke. "A good season--yes, zere shall be +zree or four tousand kilos ze acre; but a bad +season--ah! disease come--who can stop it? +Vat physician haf ve for ze cure? Zen--ah! it +break ze heart."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom looked about him with interest. As far +as he could see, extended row on row of coffee +plants in straight lines about six feet apart. +Between them, at the same interval, were dug +shallow pits some eighteen inches deep. He had +arrived just at the time when the fruit was ripe, +and a number of negroes were busily picking it +from the bushes. Here and there among them +stood tall Arab overseers, all armed with whips.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the party came to a couple of +machines resembling cider presses, which Reinecke +explained were pulpers for separating the beans +from the reddish pulp that covered them. Then +they passed two large brick vats, in one of which +the beans were fermented, in the other washed +and dried. Beyond these were sheds where the +coffee, now ready for market, was stored and +packed. And then, in a separate clearing, laid out +like a European garden, they came to Reinecke's +bungalow, a brightly painted structure of wood, +with a long verandah and a thatched roof. A +table was laid on the verandah, and a few minutes +after his arrival Tom was seated with his host +and his fellow-guest at a meal, prepared and +served by native servants, which reminded him, +with a difference, of the meals he had known the +year before, when his father had sent him to +Germany.</p> +<p class="pnext">Finding that Tom understood German, Reinecke +conversed in that language, dropping into English +now and then to explain technical terms. He +related to his interested guests the story of the +plantation: how the land was first cleared by +cutting down the timber and uprooting the bush: +how this was burnt and the ashes mixed with the +soil: the months of hoeing: the sowings in the +seed beds: the planting out of the seedlings in +November, when the rains began: and the tedious +three years' waiting before the young plants started +to bear. Those three years he had utilised by +planting a thorn fence about the whole clearing of +some hundreds of acres. Tom supposed that this +fence had been erected to keep out wild beasts, for +depredations by human marauders were not to be +feared in a district where German authority was +established. Reinecke assented; but Tom was to +discover before many days were past that the fence +had another, even a sinister purpose.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next two days were spent very agreeably +in shooting expeditions into the wild country +beyond the plantation. Captain Goltermann turned +out to be a crack shot, and the greater number of +the antelopes and buffaloes which the sportsmen +brought down fell to his gun. Tom was all +anxiety to get a shot at a lion or even an elephant, +which Reinecke told him were to be found in +parts of the Plateau; but the Germans were +indisposed to take the long journeys that were +necessary to reach the habitats of these more +dangerous game: Goltermann's visit was to be +only a short one.</p> +<p class="pnext">One trifling incident of these days was to have +an important bearing on Tom's fortunes. Captain +Goltermann had shot an antelope, but, with less +than his usual skill or luck, had only wounded it. +Determined not to lose his prey, he followed, +accompanied by the others, over a stretch of +hilly country, dotted with bush, tracking the +animal by its blood-stains into a deep nullah +through which a stream flowed. The sportsmen +caught sight of it at last, drinking at the border +of a lake, the source of the stream. Goltermann +had just raised his gun to give the <em class="italics">coup de grâce</em> +when the antelope suddenly sank into the water +and appeared no more.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We have provided a meal for a crocodile," +said the captain with a shrug. "The slimy +sneaking reptile!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was bad luck for you, Goltermann," said +Reinecke. "The beast was hopelessly trapped; +there's no exit from this end of the nullah. Our +long tramp for nothing!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Naturally, it was not until the captain had left +that Tom broached the business that had brought +him from England.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now that we have come into my father's +property," he said on the third morning at breakfast, +"my brother and I thought it just as well that I +should take a trip out and see things on the spot. +He explained that in his letter."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Naturally," said Reinecke. "It is what I +should have done myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course," Tom went on, "I've only had +a year's business training--in Germany, by the +way: and I know nothing whatever about coffee: +but I know two and two make four, and I'm sure +if you'll be good enough to go into things with +me, I'll soon get the hang of them. If the +plantation can't be made to pay, there's only one +way out--sacrifice our interest. On the other +hand, if there's a chance of success, I thought +perhaps I might stay on here and become a +planter myself: it's a life I think I should +take to."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Excellent," said Reinecke. "I am very glad +you have come. And if you can suggest some +means of making the place pay--well, need I say +I shall be delighted. What with poor crops and +low prices, and the heavy costs of carriage, it is +difficult to wring from it even the small, and I +confess unsatisfactory margin which I have been +able to show since the plants came into bearing."</p> +<p class="pnext">It crossed Tom's mind that this pessimistic +attitude was hard to square with Captain Goltermann's +enthusiastic praise of Reinecke, and his +remarks on the valuable cargoes that he had +carried; but he remembered Mr. Barkworth's +advice to "go carefully," to "keep an open +mind," and at present he had no material on +which to form a judgment. Nor could he yet +decide how to estimate Reinecke. The German +had been cordiality itself. He had left nothing +undone for his guest's comfort; his manner had +every appearance of frankness; yet Tom was +conscious in himself of an instinctive reserve, a +something undefined that held him back from +complete confidence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will see the books, of course," said +Reinecke, rising to unlock his desk. "They are +kept in German, but after your year's training +in Germany that will be no difficulty to you. +Here they are: the stock book, the cost book, +the ledger: on this file you will find the vouchers +for the quantities of beans we have shipped from +Bismarckburg. My clerk is very methodical: he +is a nigger, but trained in Germany, and in spirit +a true German: you will find all in order. I will +leave you to examine them at your leisure, and +anything you want explained--why, of course +I shall be delighted."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom spent the rest of the morning in digesting +the figures that Reinecke had placed before him. +It was a task that went against the grain; he +hated anything that savoured of the part of +inquisitor; but he reflected that it was purely +a matter of business, and being thorough in +whatever he undertook he bent his mind to the +distasteful job, resolved to get it over as quickly +as possible.</p> +<p class="pnext">As Reinecke had said, everything was in order. +There were records of the total quantity of beans +produced; he compared the vouchers for the +consignments with the entries in the stock book, +and found that they tallied. The other books +gave him the costs of production, which included +wages, provisions, upkeep of buildings and so +on; duplicates of the invoices dispatched with +the goods to a firm in Hamburg; records of +bills of exchange received in payment, and the +hundred and one details incident to an export +business. Balance sheets had, of course, been sent +to his father: here was the material on which +those sheets were based, and everything +confirmed the position as he already knew it: that +the plantation did little more than pay the not +inconsiderable salary which Reinecke drew as +manager. His and the Willoughbys' shares of +the profits were minute.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom could only conclude that Captain Goltermann, +knowing nothing of the details of management, +had drawn erroneous conclusions from +the facts within his knowledge. His vessel +conveyed a certain number of bags up the lake at +certain seasons: that was all. It was easy for a +seaman to make mistakes in such a matter. If +so, then, what was wrong? Were the costs too +high in proportion to the out-turn? Was the +acreage under cultivation too small? Was there +something faulty in the methods employed? Tom +felt that these questions carried him beyond his +depth. Would it not have been better to send +an expert to make the necessary investigations? +That might still have to be done: meanwhile +here he was; he must learn what he could, +spend a few months in getting a grip of things, +keep Bob at home informed, and then go back +and consult with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Reinecke returned to lunch, Tom +complimented him on the perfect order in which his +books were kept, and frankly told him the +conclusion to which he had come.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That means that I must trespass on your +hospitality for some months, at any rate," he +added. "I shall see the results from this season's +crops, your preparations for next, and fresh +sowings, I suppose. Of course I can't expect to +learn in a few months what has taken you years."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is so," said the German, and Tom +fancied that there was a shade less cordiality in +his manner, which was perhaps not to be +wondered at in view of the prospect of having a +stranger quartered on him for an indefinite period. +"Still," Reinecke went on, "it is with knowledge +as with wealth. The heir inherits thousands +which his father has laboriously amassed; the +pupil enjoys the fruits of his master's long and +concentrated study. I think you will be an +apt pupil."</p> +<p class="pnext">He said this with so pleasant a smile that +Tom dismissed his feeling of a moment before +as unwarranted, and reflected that Reinecke was +really taking things with a very good grace.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next day he accompanied Reinecke to the +outlying quarter of the estate where the workers +were lodged in huts and sheds constructed by +themselves. They were shut off from the outer +world by the ring fence, which consisted of +quick-growing thorn bushes so closely matted as +to form a practically impenetrable barrier many +feet thick. There were more than a hundred +adult negroes, men and women, employed on +the plantation. A number of children playing in +front of the huts stopped and clustered together +in silent groups when the two white men +appeared.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose the workers get a holiday sometimes?" +said Tom, whose schooldays were only +eighteen months behind him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course," said Reinecke. "There are +slack times, in the early part of the season +between the hoeings, when there is little to be done."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But I mean, they go away sometimes?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why should they? Where should they go? +There is only the forest, and the port. They +would be eaten in the forest; they would eat +up the port." Reinecke laughed at his joke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then they are practically prisoners?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear Mr. Willoughby, this is Africa. +In Europe you put fences round your cattle: +the negroes are just cattle. Break your fences, +and your animals stray and are lost. So with +the niggers."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But that is slavery."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Words! words!" said Reinecke lightly. +"They are no more slaves than the apprentices +who are bound to their masters for a term of +years. They are indentured labourers. They are +paid; and there's not a man among them but +accumulates enough to make him rich when his +time is up."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They can go to their homes, then, when their +time is up?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke shrugged.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As they please," he said. "They have a long +way to go. See, Mr. Willoughby, I give you a page +from German colonial history. Twenty years ago, +in our early days, our brave pioneers of empire +had enormous difficulties to contend with. There +was one savage tribe, the Wahehe some two +hundred miles north of us here, that resisted our +civilising mission with especial pertinacity and +violence. On August 17, '91, they gained a +victory over our much-tried soldiers. They +dispersed as we approached, but when the column +of Captain von Zelewski was passing through a +rugged and densely-grown country it was attacked +along its whole length by thousands of the +treacherous dogs. Zelewski was among the first +to fall; taken at a disadvantage his column was +almost annihilated. Ten Germans, sir--ten +Germans, I say, as well as over three hundred +askaris and porters, were slain. The gallant +Lieutenant von Tettenborn fought his way back +with a few survivors to Kondoa, and thence +reached the coast."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We've had many incidents of that sort in +India and elsewhere," said Tom. "I suppose +there was a punitive expedition?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There was, sir; but not until three years had +passed. For three years those treacherous swine +were allowed to flout the German might. Then, +in October '94, we captured and destroyed Iringa, +their principal village, and were again attacked in +the woods on our way to the coast. Some of the +petty chiefs held out against us for years, but the +German destructive sword is very sure. Finally +they were terribly subdued, and some hundreds +of them were transported into this Tanganyika +country and compelled to earn their living by +peaceful toil. My people here are Wahehe. I +have one of the very chiefs who opposed us--one +Mirambo, a great hunter in his youth. I need +not say that I find his woodcraft very useful when +I go hunting. By the way, he carried Captain +Goltermann's gun the other day. And now you +see, Mr. Willoughby, how well off these people +are. They might have been treated as rebels; +they might have suffered as prisoners of war. +Instead, they are indentured labourers, engaged, +for pay, in producing a useful commodity--with +no profit to their employers, mark you. My +dear sir, it is philanthropy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom did not venture to say what he thought. +In these early days it was useless to enter into a +dispute with Reinecke. But to his British way +of thinking the condition of the labourers was +simply slavery, however the German might seek +to disguise it, and he would make it his business +to find out for himself the natives' point of view. +If they were contented with their lot, it would +be folly to disturb them. But if not--and he +remembered the whips he had seen in the +overseers' hands--a new system must be introduced, +with or without Reinecke's consent.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iii-the-voucher"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4">CHAPTER III--THE VOUCHER</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">During the next two or three days Tom +went about the plantation, watching the +negroes at their work of picking and pulping the +fruit. Reinecke left him in perfect freedom to +go where he pleased, and see anything and +everything. The natives worked industriously: there +was no lack of talk and laughter among them, no +indication of discontent or ill-treatment. Tom's +misgiving was dissipated; he concluded that the +overseers' whips were wands of office rather than +instruments of correction. The negroes gazed at +him with a certain curiosity and interest. Some +smiled, in unconscious response to the charm of +his expression, of which he was equally +unconscious. One of them, he noticed, a lad apparently +about seventeen, looked at him with a peculiar +intentness. Once, when, in lighting his pipe, he +dropped his box of matches, the young negro +sprang forward, picked it up, and handed it to +him with a sort of proud pleasure that so trifling +a service hardly accounted for.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thanks," said Tom, and the lad's face beamed +as, admonished by a severe look from the overseer +with whom Tom had been talking, he went back +to the bush which he had left.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope you will pardon my leaving you so +much to yourself," said Reinecke one day. "There +is little to be learnt at this season, except what +you can see with your own eyes. In seedtime, if +you still favour me with your company, I shall +have more opportunities of giving you definite +instruction. And now what do you say to a little +relaxation? Shall we go shooting to-morrow?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall be delighted."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well. I will give orders that Mirambo +and another man shall accompany us to-morrow. +We shall find wild geese and snipe at the stream +a few miles south; possibly a hippo, if, like most +youngsters, you've a fancy for big game."</p> +<p class="pnext">When they started next morning, Tom looked +at the German's gunbearer with a good deal more +attention than he had shown previously. It was +strange that this humble negro had once been a +chief. Mirambo was a well-built man past middle +life, quick in his movements, and with large eyes +of piercing brilliance. With him was a youth +whom even a white man, not easily able to +distinguish one negro from another, could hardly +fail to recognise as his son. Reinecke gave them +their instructions in their own tongue, and with +a bullying manner that Tom secretly resented. +They received them silently, with an utter lack +of expression, displaying none of the interest or +alacrity which an English gamekeeper would have +shown in similar circumstances.</p> +<p class="pnext">The party of four set off, the negroes leading. +Their destination was one of the rare streams that +traverse this part of the Plateau, and make their +way in devious course and with many cascades to +the great lake below. The morning was still +young. By starting early, Reinecke had +explained, they would make as large a bag as the +men could carry before the midday heat became +oppressive, and after a brief rest could stroll +leisurely back to a late lunch. Tom reflected that +this attitude evinced no great enthusiasm for sport, +and concluded that Reinecke was really rather a +good fellow in taking so much trouble for the +sake of a guest.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not until they were well in the forest +that Mirambo showed any animation. The +instincts of the old hunter awoke. His keen eyes +moved restlessly, alert to mark the spoor of beasts +in the woods and on the open park-like spaces +dotted with acacias, euphorbias, and the wild thick +bushes known as scrub. At one spot he became +excited, pointing to fresh marks in the soft soil.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The tracks of a wart-hog," Reinecke explained. +"The beast evidently went to his hole not long ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've never seen one," said Tom. "Couldn't +we track him and have a shot?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"We couldn't carry him home. We're out for +birds. Still, I daresay the niggers could dispose +of him. You can try your hand if you like."</p> +<p class="pnext">To Tom's surprise, the negroes, instead of +following the tracks in the direction in which the +animal had apparently gone, went in the opposite +direction.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They're going away from him," he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no," said Reinecke with a smile. "Speak +low--or better not at all: he's close at hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">He halted, bidding Tom stand by with his +rifle ready cocked. The two negroes stole +forward, and within about fifty yards posted +themselves one on each side of a hole in the ground. +Then together they began to stamp heavily with +their feet, uttering no sound, and keeping their +eyes fixed on the hole. Wondering at this strange +performance, Tom looked inquiringly at Reinecke, +who shook his head and signed to him to be on +the alert. Presently there appeared in the hole +the ugly tusked snout of a wart-hog. He grunted +with annoyance at his slumbers having been +disturbed by a shower of falling earth, heaved his +ungainly body out, and began to trot away on his +short legs directly across the white man's line of fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now!" murmured Reinecke. "Behind the ear."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom shouldered his rifle, took careful aim, and +fired. But whether owing to excitement, or to +the fact that the animal, through his protective +colouring, was almost indistinguishable from the +background of brownish bush, his shot missed the +vital spot and inflicted only a gash in the shoulder. +The infuriated animal wheeled round and charged +across the open space. But he had covered only +a few yards when a well-planted shot from +Reinecke's rifle stretched him on the ground.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-28"> +<span id="tom-took-careful-aim-and-fired"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-040.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +TOM TOOK CAREFUL AIM AND FIRED.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"Don't take it to heart," said the German, +noticing Tom's crestfallen expression. "Everyone +misses his first shot at a wart-hog. I +remember a famous sportsman once having to dodge +round a tree for a quarter of an hour to escape +the tusks of a beast he had only wounded. Better +luck next time."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But why didn't he charge the negroes? He +passed within a few inches of them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They stood a little way back from the hole, +you noticed; and besides, the beast is very +short-sighted. You were surprised that all the tracks +apparently lead away from the hole instead of +towards it. That's not cunning, as it was in the +case of that cattle-stealer, wasn't it? in classical +story who pulled oxen into a cave by the tails. +It's sheer necessity. That hole was once the +dwelling of an ant-bear; the wart-hog had +appropriated it. But his head and shoulders are so +much bigger than the rest of him that he has to +go in tail first."</p> +<p class="pnext">The negroes had rushed to the animal as soon +as it fell, lifted the head slightly, and tied it to +one of the hind legs with thongs of creeper. +Then Mirambo tore a strip from his white +loincloth and attached it to the wart-hog's horns.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's to scare vultures away until our +return," said Reinecke. "In the rainy season +myriads of flies would be at the carcase already, +but in this dry weather it will probably not suffer +much before the niggers get back to cut it up. +Hyenas and other scavengers don't prowl till +night. Now let us get on."</p> +<p class="pnext">The negroes, whose pleasure is always rather in +the quarry than in the chase, were delighted at +having secured, without trouble to themselves, a +quantity of fresh pork to carry home, and went +on with alacrity to the stream a few miles away. +Here, in the course of a couple of hours, the two +white men had shot as many geese, quail, and +guinea-fowl as the negroes could conveniently +carry slung about their bodies, with the prospect +of the addition of a good many pounds of hog's +flesh later. Tom was disappointed of his +half-cherished hope of bagging a hippo; but his +morning's sport had been sufficiently exciting to +form an interesting part of his next budget of +news for his brother.</p> +<p class="pnext">A negro carried the mail to Bismarckburg once +a week, and Tom had already dispatched his first +letter, giving a description of the plantation and a +running account of his experiences so far. He +had confined himself to statements of fact, saying +nothing about the problems he found himself faced +with--the character of Reinecke and the conditions +of the negro labour. Until he should have arrived +at definite conclusions on these matters he felt that +it would be unwise to trouble his brother with them.</p> +<p class="pnext">In his second letter he related further +sporting expeditions, in some of which he had been +accompanied by Reinecke, in others only by +Mirambo and other natives. He had shot +several hartebeeste and waterbuck, which +Mirambo was accustomed to skin and cut up on +the spot. On these occasions Tom was tempted +sometimes to question the negro directly about +the conditions of his employment; but he was +held back by a sense of loyalty to Reinecke. +Pending further light on the man himself, he +would rely solely on his own observations.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was at the end of the third week of his stay +that the first really disquieting incident occurred. +Reinecke had gone to Bismarckburg, and Tom, +having time on his hands, had made up his mind +to write a long letter home. Going to the desk +to get some paper, he discovered that the drawer +in which he had usually found it was empty, +and he tried the drawer below. This, however, +would not open fully: it stuck half way. He +put his hand in, thinking that something had +probably become wedged between the upper part +of the drawer and the one above. It was as he +had supposed. By pushing in the drawer a little, +he was able to work out the obstruction, which +turned out to be a paper, half folded and much +creased. On the portion that was not folded +down he saw a series of figures like the numbers +on the vouchers which were kept on a file.</p> +<p class="pnext">"An old voucher," he thought; and unfolded +it to see if it were worth keeping. To his +surprise it was dated Nov. 17, 1913, and evidently +belonged to the series which he had examined in +connection with the accounts of the past year. +But that series had corresponded exactly with the +entries in the stock book--or had he made a +mistake? To reassure himself he got out the +file, turned to the vouchers for November, and +once more compared them with the book. There +was no discrepancy. The book showed that on +Nov. 17, 1913, a consignment of 1000 kilos was +shipped on board the <em class="italics">Hedwig von Wissmann</em>, and +there was a voucher corresponding. The voucher +he had just found was for a consignment of 1000 kilos.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was odd. The numbers on the two +vouchers were consecutive: clearly they did not +refer to the same consignment. Yet there was +only one entry of that date in the book. If one +had been a duplicate or a carbon copy of the +other, the matter would have been easily explicable; +but both were originals, and written in the +same clerkly hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Troubled, for it was impossible to crush down +a suspicion, Tom put the voucher into his pocket, +and went out into the plantation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll write to Bob to-morrow," he said to +himself. At the back of his mind there was +the feeling that he might have more to say than +he had expected.</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke was in good spirits when he returned +about sunset.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've just made an excellent contract with a +dealer representing a new house," he said. "He'll +take all next season's crop, at a good price. I +hoped your visit would bring us good luck, and +this is the best."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Capital news," said Tom. The German's +manner was so frank and cordial that he was +almost ashamed of his suspicion. "By the way, +I found this to-day: it was stuck between two +drawers. Is it any good?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He handed Reinecke the voucher, folded. The +German opened it, and said instantly, with a smile--</p> +<p class="pnext">"At last! I wondered what had become of +it. It is a voucher I lost, and I got the shipping +clerk to give me another. You found that on +the file all right?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't know how I worried about that +lost voucher. And you found it wedged between +the drawers? Extraordinary way things have of +disappearing! Well, we don't want it now. But +I'm glad you found it."</p> +<p class="pnext">He tore it across and threw the pieces into the +waste-paper basket.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now for dinner," Reinecke went on. "I +hope your appetite is as good as mine. And how +have you put in your time to-day?"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The German's explanation was so natural and +reasonable, so ready, his manner so free from +embarrassment, that Tom was for the moment +quite reassured, and chatted unconstrainedly until +bedtime--and Reinecke appeared to take great +pleasure in making him talk. But later, in the +privacy of his room, some rather troublesome +questions suggested themselves. Was it not +unlike a shipping clerk to issue a duplicate without +writing "duplicate" upon it? How was it that +duplicate and original bore consecutive numbers, +when at least two or three days must have elapsed +between them? It was very odd that no +consignment from another firm should have been +shipped in the interim. And then suddenly Tom +flushed. "By George!" he thought. "I'm +hanged if the duplicate hasn't got the earlier +number!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he wondered whether he was not mistaken. +Saying to himself, "I must find out for +certain," he went back to the living-room to +examine the fragments in the waste-paper basket. +He passed the door of Reinecke's room, and +heard his host splashing within.</p> +<p class="pnext">The basket had been emptied.</p> +<p class="pnext">The discoveries he had made kept Tom awake +during a good part of the night. They were +very disturbing. Reinecke's explanation had been +plausible enough, and it was possible Tom was +mistaken in his recollection of the numbers on +the vouchers. But the German's haste in +disposing of the contents of the basket bred an ugly +suspicion. Were there other such "duplicates" +in existence? Did the books account for only +a part of the consignments? Had Reinecke, in +fact, been systematically robbing his partners? +Tom felt worried and perplexed. Here, thousands +of miles from home, young and inexperienced, +he was hardly in a position to deal with +a clever rogue, if Reinecke was in truth a +rogue; and he wished that he had some older +person at hand, some one like blunt, rugged +old Mr. Barkworth, to whom he could turn for +advice. He was not likely to find any help +among the Germans in Bismarckburg, and +inquiries of the shipping clerk would probably +be fruitless. Of course, he might question +Reinecke's own clerk, but that course had very +obvious disadvantages.</p> +<p class="pnext">He concluded that he could do nothing at +present except mention the matter in his next +letter to his brother, and be more than ever alert +in studying his host. To play the part of detective +was abhorrent, but there seemed to be no help +for it, and he writhed inwardly at the idea of +living under the same roof with a man whom he +distrusted but with whom he must try to keep +up an appearance of friendship.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the next mail day came, his feeling of +mistrust prompted him to give his letter into the +hand of the negro postman just as the latter was +starting. Reinecke's correspondence was as usual +placed in a padlocked bag. The man had gone +about a mile on his way from the plantation when +Reinecke overtook him, carrying two letters.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I forgot these," he said. "Put down your bag."</p> +<p class="pnext">He unlocked the bag, dropped his letters into +it, and took up the voucher slip bearing the +number of letters enclosed; this would be signed +at the post office and brought back with the +incoming mail.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That letter of Mr. Willoughby's had better +go in too," he said. "Give it to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man took it from the folds of his +loincloth, and Reinecke appeared to drop it into the +bag. In reality he put it into his pocket. Having +altered the figures on the slip, he relocked the +bag and dismissed the man. Twelve hours later +the postman returned and delivered his bag as +usual into his master's hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next day, in going about the plantation, Tom, +as was natural enough, sought the negro, to ask +him whether he had duly posted the letter entrusted +to him in so unusual a manner. But he could +not find the man, and on asking where he was, +learnt that he had been sent on an errand to +Bismarckburg. It was nearly a fortnight before +he returned to the plantation, and by that time +Tom was no longer in a position to make any +inquiry of him.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iv-trapped"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5">CHAPTER IV--TRAPPED</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"You talked of slavery," said Reinecke one +day. "Our niggers were no better than +slaves! Have you seen anything to confirm that +rather scandalous suggestion?" His tone was +lightly sarcastic.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you mean any signs of positive ill-treatment, +none," said Tom. (He was not aware that +Reinecke had given the overseers strict orders +not to use their whips while the Englishman was +on the spot). "But I had always understood that +the negro is naturally a cheerful person----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well!" interrupted Reinecke. "Don't they +laugh enough? Don't they make noise enough?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The youngsters do make a great row," Tom +confessed smiling; "of course children always +are noisy and happy; they don't understand. But +the older men seem rather apathetic. Apart from +actual ill-treatment, of which I do you the justice +to say there's no sign, the mere loss of liberty +must be horribly depressing. You admit that +they can't leave if they want to."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not at all. Some have at times cut a way +through the hedge. They've repented of it." He +smiled grimly. "But now, what would be +a convincing proof to you that things here are +after all not so bad?--that the life has some +attractions, even for the freedom-loving negro?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The return of one who had escaped, I suppose."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's a proof I can hardly give you, because +the few who have escaped--or run away, as I +should put it--have either been caught and brought +back or have no doubt come to grief in the forest. +But I can give you an instance of a nigger coming +here of his own accord, and being apparently quite +content to remain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes; and, strangely enough, he arrived on +the same day as you. You won't suggest that +<em class="italics">you</em> are the attraction?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom resented this unmannerly remark, still +more the tone in which it was uttered, but he said +nothing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As you may imagine," Reinecke went on, +"I don't know all the people. My Arabs look +after them. And I shouldn't have known +anything about this voluntary slave but for the fact +that I mistook him for Mirambo's son, and one +of the overseers corrected me. It appears that +when we landed our stores from the <em class="italics">Hedwig von +Wissmann</em> that day, we were one porter short, and +this fellow, a sturdy lad, was hanging about and +appeared to have nothing to do. He was engaged +and came up with the others and stayed on--works +well, and is quite cheerful, I'm told. He's +astonishingly like Mirambo's boy. Some of these +niggers claim to be descended from their old +kings or chiefs: Mirambo himself does; and it's +quite possible that this youth comes of the same +stock. There's a jotting for your note-book, +if you are making notes, and I daresay you are."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again there was a covert sneer in the German's +tone. Tom felt that he would soon have to +quarrel with his host. As soon as he should have +come to a definite conclusion about the man's +integrity he would cut his visit short.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed, indeed, as if Reinecke was +determined to make him feel that he had overstayed +his welcome. Once or twice, when he asked that +Mirambo or his son might accompany him shooting, +Reinecke declared that he could not spare +any of the men; it was the busiest time of the +year, not a time for amusement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But there's no reason why you shouldn't go +alone, if you find idleness boring," he added once. +"There are no dangerous beasts in our immediate +neighbourhood. I'd only warn you not to go +too far."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was glad enough to take him at his word. +While the fruit-picking was going on, there was +nothing for him to learn, and Reinecke had been +so ungracious lately that companionship was +impossible. So he went occasionally into the woods +alone, never straying more than a mile or two +from the plantation, and taking even more +pleasure in quietly watching the smaller animals--the +tree-lizards, chameleons, iguanas--than in shooting +pigeons or teal. His hope of big-game +hunting was apparently to remain unrealised.</p> +<p class="pnext">One day on returning he found Reinecke in a +particularly good humour.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have had a visit to-day from a high German +officer, Major von Rudenheim," he said: "an +excellent soldier. He came on the boat with +you, of course: did you have the pleasure of +conversing with him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. He seemed to me too much of what +we call a big pot."</p> +<p class="pnext">"True: our German officers are very much +above civilians. In any case, however--you are +not aware that I hold the rank of Captain of +Landwehr? So we met, as it were, on equal +terms, though he is a step higher in rank. And +I have another piece of news for you. Eland +have been seen near that small lake where we +shot buck with Captain Goltermann, you +remember. Would you like to add elands' horns +to your trophies?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should indeed," replied Tom, again wavering +in his estimate of Reinecke. "He really isn't +a bad sort at times," he thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next morning happened to be mail day, and as +Reinecke had letters to write, Tom feared that +he was to be disappointed. But the German was +again in excellent temper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You can start without me," he said. "I +shall be through with my letters in an hour or so, +and I'll follow you and meet you near the edge +of the lake--you remember, by that fallen tree +where we ate our lunch. Don't startle the game +away: it will be a little practice in stalking for +you. I'll bring the men along with me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom set off, determined to show that the +woodcraft he had picked up during the past few +weeks was not inconsiderable. He reached the +appointed spot, and ventured to cast about in +various directions, without, however, finding any +traces of the eland. Returning to the rendezvous, +he was there joined by Reinecke, alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm afraid the bird has flown," he said +ruefully. "I haven't seen a sign of them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will show you," replied Reinecke with a +smile. "We shall have to stalk them, and we'll +see what we can do without Mirambo's assistance. +He'll bring up some men presently to carry home +the game."</p> +<p class="pnext">He set off along a faint native track, so long +disused and so much overgrown that Tom by +himself would hardly have discovered it. They +pushed their way through the vegetation, and +after about a quarter of an hour Reinecke whispered +to Tom to stop and be careful to make no noise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We ought to find our quarry in a glade just +ahead," he said. "I'll go on: follow when I call."</p> +<p class="pnext">He disappeared among the undergrowth. In +a few minutes Tom heard a shot, then a faint +call, and hurried eagerly on. The track widened +a little, and Tom was quickening his steps when +he suddenly felt the earth give way beneath his +feet, and next moment found himself lying at +the bottom of a deep pit, amidst a litter of earth +and brushwood, and conscious of a sharp pain in +the calf of his left leg. Almost stunned by the +fall, he lay for a moment or two scarcely able to +realise what had happened. Then he shouted for help.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no answer. All was silent except +for the hum of insects and the rustling of some +small animals which his sudden descent upon +their lair had disturbed. He shouted again, more +loudly; then, supposing that his voice from the +depth of the pit had not penetrated to Reinecke's +ears through the vegetation above, he reached for +his rifle, which lay beside him, and fired a couple +of shots into the air. Not yet seriously uneasy, +he stooped to see what caused the pain in his leg, +and found that it had been gashed by one of some +half-dozen sharp-pointed stakes that were planted +in the bottom of the pit.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A native game-pit," he thought. "Reinecke +might have warned me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Standing up, he discovered that his right ankle +was sprained.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They'll have to carry me home," he thought, +"and the sooner the better; the stuff here must +have been rotting for years. I wish to goodness +Reinecke would come."</p> +<p class="pnext">Once more he shouted, then tried to scale the +wall of the pit; but this was perpendicular, and +it was evidently a case of cutting notches in +it--a tiresome job to a man who could scarcely stand. +It struck him that he had better bind up the gash +in his leg as well as he could. When the men +came he would get them to carry him to the lake +and bathe the wound. How lucky it was that +he had escaped with only one wound, and that in +no vital spot! Looking at that ugly array of +spikes, he shuddered at the thought of the hideous +injuries they might have inflicted.</p> +<p class="pnext">While tying his handkerchief tightly round his +leg he shouted from time to time. Was it +possible that Reinecke had met with a similar +misfortune? For the first time Tom felt really +uneasy. Reinecke's call to him had been very +faint, and had not been repeated. If they were +both in the same predicament there was no hope +of relief until the negroes came up from the +plantation. To make sure of their not missing +him, he shouted and fired at intervals, until +almost all his cartridges were gone. Still there +was no response.</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked up the wall of the pit. It was eleven +or twelve feet high. If only he could raise himself +high enough to get his arms on the edge, the rest +would be easy. It should not take very long +to cut a few notches in the earth: one of the +spikes would form a serviceable tool. He worked +one out of the ground, and rose to his feet, +wincing with the pain that shot through his +sprained ankle. To his chagrin, the earth of +the pit wall was friable. It crumbled as he drove +the spike into it; so far from making a hole that +would afford him a firm foothold, he succeeded +only in breaking down a part of the wall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fairly trapped," he thought, and sat down +again to ease his aching legs.</p> +<p class="pnext">His watch announced midday. The men ought +to have arrived by this time. They would carry +food and drink, and he was very thirsty. The +rendezvous was well known to them: surely +they had not mistaken Reinecke's instructions. +And then at last he was startled by a suspicion +that sprang up suddenly in his mind--a suspicion +so horrible that he strove to crush it. Reinecke +might have lied to him about the vouchers; was +he villain enough to have decoyed him deliberately +to this cunningly concealed trap--deliberately +schemed to clear finally out of his path the man +whom he regarded as a stumbling-block on his +way to fortune, the discoverer of his crimes?</p> +<p class="pnext">The thought, terrible as it was, would not be +stifled. Tom recalled the gradual changes in the +German's manner--the descent from almost +excessive cordiality to stiffness, sarcasm, positive +rudeness: then the sudden return to geniality, the +apparent eagerness to indulge his guest. For the +first time he was struck with the peculiar +arrangements for the day's shooting expedition--the +sending him on alone, the absence of gunbearers. +This train of thought, once started, was carried +on remorselessly by Tom's active imagination. +Granted the man's intention of putting him out +of the way, how easily one detail fitted into +another! How naturally the Englishman's +disappearance could be explained! It was known to +every one on the plantation that he had +sometimes gone shooting alone. Reinecke could say, +and his statement could be corroborated, that his +guest had started alone on this morning, he +himself being engaged with correspondence. He +had followed later, according to arrangement, +but had failed to meet the Englishman at the +appointed spot. He had searched for him, and +after some days had found the poor fellow's +remains at the bottom of an old, long disused +game-pit. How plausible the story would be! +Bob, thousands of miles away, would grieve: the +story might get into the papers: people would +read the paragraph, perhaps sigh, and pass on to +a scandal nearer home, or to the latest news of +the trouble in Ireland. In a few weeks Tom +Willoughby would be only the shadow of a name.</p> +<p class="pnext">Impatient with himself at the length his +imagination had carried him, Tom shouted again, fired +off another cartridge--the last but one. "I must +keep one for emergencies," he thought. He +made another attempt to cut holes in the wall, +and threw the spike from him in disgust at the +second failure. It occurred to him to heap up +debris at the foot of the wall, to form a mounting +block; but at the stirring of the putrid mass +innumerable insects, beetles, reptiles, foul +nameless things issued forth, causing him to shudder +with loathing, and to shrink at actual pain from +their bites and stings. Overcome with nausea, +he retreated to a far corner where this creeping +population had not been disturbed, and for a +time, weary as he was, sickened by his increasing +pain, he leant against the wall, rather than sit +down again, until sheer fatigue compelled him to +make an uneasy seat of his slanted rifle.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the passage of time his thirst became a +torture, and the shouts he uttered ever and anon +sounded cracked and harsh from his parched +throat. A sort of lethargy settled upon him: +not a stoic resignation, a calm acquiescence in +fate's decree, but a numbness of the senses and +the mind. For a time he was scarcely conscious +of pain, of the things moving at his feet, of the +gradual cooling of the air as evening drew on. +Then he roused himself with a start, and heedless +of stings and the loathsome touch of obscene +creatures, he gathered up heaps of rotted leaves +and twigs and the litter that had fallen under +him, and began with frantic energy to pile them +against the wall. His weight crushed them into +half their former bulk, and he fell exhausted on +the futile pillar.</p> +<p class="pnext">Night came on. Alternately he dozed, and +awoke to a sharpened keenness of apprehension. +Now and then he heard noises above--the harsh +persistent note of the nightjar, the hollow +melancholy scale of the hornbill, the horrid whine of +hyenas prowling in quest of prey and calling to +one another with increasing frequency as the night +stole towards dawn. A sudden raucous cry, +apparently near at hand, caused him to seize the +spike for defence in case some unwary beast +should stumble into the pit. Once he beheld a +pair of eyes, glaring with greenish light upon +him from the brink. He uttered a hoarse cry: +the eyes disappeared: and he seemed to hear a +creaking rustle among the trees above.</p> +<p class="pnext">Slumber again sealed his senses, and when he +awoke, the pale misty light of dawn threw green +rays into his prison. His limbs were numb with +cold. His dry throat gave forth only a whistling +croak when he tried to shout. Scarcely able to +move, he watched the mouth of the pit and +the sunlight filtering through the foliage and +dispersing the mist. Listless, unconscious of the +flight of time, he was just aware of the lengthening +day as a sunbeam climbed down the side of +his prison. All at once he was shaken into +attention by a sound overhead, and while he was +feebly trying to call, a shadow fell across the +opening. A man's form appeared, and with a +gasp of unutterable thankfulness he saw Reinecke +peering down upon him. He struggled giddily +to his feet: surely the bitterness of death was past.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what was Reinecke saying? What words +were these, that struck upon his ear in spasms, as +it were?</p> +<p class="pnext">"You came to spy ... enjoy your visit ... +mad English ... war with Germany ... learn +what it means to provoke the German."</p> +<p class="pnext">He tried to collect his bewildered senses. It +was Reinecke. What was he talking about? +"Expedition to conquer Rhodesia ... months +before I return ... a safe resting-place ... +gather remains ... nothing but bones ... +white bones."</p> +<p class="pnext">Had Reinecke gone? The voice had ceased; +the sunlight fell unchecked: and Tom, in a last +flash of illumination before the darkness of +unconsciousness enshrouded him, realised that +Reinecke had betrayed him and had left him here +to die.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-v-a-friend-in-need"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6">CHAPTER V--A FRIEND IN NEED</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">On the previous evening, when the day's +work on the plantation was over and +the workers had returned to their homes, a young +negro left the large dwelling which he shared with +a number of other unmarried men, and betook +himself to the hut where Mirambo was supping +with his family.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you eaten already, Mwesa?" asked the +old hunter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. I am not hungry. He has not come back."</p> +<p class="pnext">The lad's eyes were wide with anxiety. No +one could have failed to notice how strongly he +resembled Mushota, the slightly older lad squatting +by his father's side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Has the Leopard come back?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He came back at midday. The Antelope will +never come back."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why so, Mwesa?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There has been whipping to-day."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mirambo's face clouded. There had been no +whipping since the Antelope, as Tom Willoughby +was known among the negroes, had come to the +plantation. The Leopard was their name for +Reinecke. The negro is very shrewd, and it had +not needed certain information brought by Mwesa +to make the people connect the cessation of +corporal punishment with the presence of the young +stranger. That information, however, given first +to Mirambo, had spread through the whole +community, and was talked of freely among themselves. +But it had never reached the ears of the Arab +overseers: oppression is always met by secrecy. +Neither they nor Reinecke knew that the young +negro who had marched from Bismarckburg among +the porters, and had remained a willing worker on +the plantation, was not the chance recruit he had +seemed to be. The stowaway of the <em class="italics">Hedwig von +Wissmann</em> had come of set purpose; and when +Reinecke sarcastically asked Tom whether he +supposed his attractions accounted for the boy's +staying on, he had unwittingly hit upon the truth. +Mwesa had stayed as a starved and beaten dog +will stay with one who has been kind to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Quite unaware of the interest he had excited +among these simple negroes, Tom had been +watched, all his movements commented on, from +day to day. Whether by observation or by +instinct the negroes knew that there was some +intimate connection, obscure to them, between +him and their taskmaster. They judged that the +young Englishman was an object of respect or +fear to the German, for Mwesa had told them +that he was English and that the English did not +whip their workers, except perhaps in punishment +for crime. The Leopard had some reason for +drawing in his claws.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa, like others, had seen the Englishman +start, unattended, with his gun. He had done so +before: those who saw him go marked the fact +as they marked all that he did, but thought no +more about it--except Mwesa, who watched all +day for his hero's return. He had noticed, +moreover, the going and the coming of Reinecke, also +with his gun; and he had been troubled when the +German returned alone, and when at sunset the +Englishman was still absent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Leopard has killed," said Mirambo after +an interval of gloomy silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa burst into tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he left the hut later, after eating a bowl +of manioc, he carried a long sharp knife. Stealing +along behind the huts, he made his way in the +darkness to a remote spot, climbed up into a tree, +and disappeared. Half an hour later he crept +back to Mirambo's hut, restored the knife, which +the man would have to account for next day, and +then returned to his own lodging, and slipped in +unperceived by his fellow inmates. His exit was +prepared, but no negro travels willingly by night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next day, at the time when the negroes had +their midday meal, he was about to make his +escape from a place no longer endurable to him, +when he caught sight of Reinecke leaving by the +gate, again unattended. Mwesa looked around; +no one else was in sight. He shinned up the tree +he had climbed the night before. A few minutes +later he was running like a wild animal through +the scrub outside the fence. He posted himself +among the trees at a spot where he could not fail +to see Reinecke as he left the gate. When the +German had passed, the negro followed him with +the stealth of one come of a long line of hunters, +tracking him over the course he had pursued on +the previous day, without revealing himself by so +much as a rustle among the leaves or the crack of +a fallen twig.</p> +<p class="pnext">As Reinecke approached the pit, no guardian +spirit told him of the watcher whose eager face +was looking at him out of a frame of green foliage, +whose keen ears pricked up as he heard his master +speaking to some one below him. When the +German, his eyes alight with malign triumph, +turned to retrace his steps there was nothing to +show that he had been found out; the face had +disappeared. Nor could Reinecke suspect that he +was dogged back to the plantation, and that when +the gate had closed upon him, a negro lad, lithe +as a young antelope, bounded back to the pit, +and peered anxiously into the depths.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had relapsed into a state of half-consciousness. +He was roused by a voice, and looking up, +saw a black shiny face gazing down upon him. +Two rows of white teeth parted, two big eyes +danced with delight when they saw the white man +glance upward.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sah, sah!" called the voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" Tom murmured faintly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me Mwesa, sah; me come back bimeby, you see."</p> +<p class="pnext">The lad ran back into the forest. Tom lay as +in a dream. Who was this negro that spoke +negro's English, and had called him "sah"? He +had never heard any of Reinecke's slaves use +English, yet what negro in these parts could be +other than one of Reinecke's slaves? Where had +the boy gone? What was he going to do? Tom +felt almost too weak and listless even to hope.</p> +<p class="pnext">After what seemed a very long time the negro +came back, carrying a long green rope which he +had plaited from strands of creepers. His face +beamed with excitement and joy. Making one +end of the rope fast to a sapling that grew near +the edge of the pit, he threw the other end down +and laughed when he saw that a long coil lay at +the bottom. Then he swarmed down until he +stood over Tom, and exclaimed:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sah climb; all right now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" Tom asked again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me Mwesa. No talk now: talk bimeby. +Dis bad place."</p> +<p class="pnext">But climbing was easier said than done. Tom +was amazed to find how weak he was after only +twenty-four hours' confinement in the pit. "Have +I so little staying power?" he thought. But +twenty-four hours in heat and squalor, without +food or water, with a wounded leg and a sprained +ankle, and a mind racked with anxiety and +foreboding, would have put a tax on the strongest.</p> +<p class="pnext">He found himself unable to climb. Whereupon +Mwesa knotted the rope about his waist, +swarmed up the rope again, and hauled until +sweat poured from his body. As soon as Tom +was safely over the brink, the lad let himself down +once more into the pit, and returned with Tom's +rifle and a couple of the sharpened stakes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come 'long, sah," he said: "me find place."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom allowed himself to be helped along, asking +no questions, content for the present to have +regained freedom after the horrors of the past +twenty-four hours. Mwesa led him along the +old native track, in the opposite direction from +the plantation. Presently they came to a brook +tumbling over rocks. Here he bathed his aching +limbs and drank deep draughts.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where are you taking me?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No savvy, sah: all right bimeby," replied the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">They started again. Mwesa kept carefully to +the track, tracing it unerringly even where it was +almost obliterated. The forest was thick all +round, and Tom, at another time, might have +felt uneasy at this apparently aimless wandering. +Now, however, one way was as good as another, +so long as it did not lead back to the plantation.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa had no doubt guessed that the track +would sooner or later lead to a clearing. After +more than an hour's painful walk, Tom found +himself at the edge of what had once been an +open space, but was now an expanse covered with +scrub and forest trees of recent growth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stay dis place, sah," said the negro.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was ready to stay anywhere. He sank +down on the ground, and lay, resting and watching +the further proceedings of his rescuer. The lad +cut down a number of young pliable branches, +trimmed them to the same length, and stuck them +into the ground in a circle, at equal intervals +apart, bending them at the top until all met. +Then he wound long grasses and tendrils of +creepers in and out around the whole circumference, +until in a surprisingly short space of +time he had fashioned a rough and ready circular +hut at the corner of the clearing, which was +almost completely hidden by rank growths of +vegetation. He smiled with pride in his handiwork +when he invited Tom to enter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come back bimeby," he cried, and darted +away into the forest. When he returned he +brought a wild gourd full of water and a handful +of berries.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No can get nuffin else," he said deprecatingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They will do very well," said Tom, who +indeed could have eaten sawdust after his long +fast. "Now tell me who you are, and how you +found me, and why you are helping me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The smile that spread over the lad's face awoke +in Tom a dormant memory. Surely this was the +boy who had rushed so eagerly to pick up his +match-box a day or two after he had reached the +plantation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sah sabe Mwesa, Mwesa sabe sah," said the +negro, happily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Save! What do you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"On boat, sah: German man kick, say frow +me in water: sah pay cash, all right all same."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!" exclaimed Tom, feeling a touch of +embarrassment. That little unconsidered act of +kindness had surely not won such devotion as to +bring the boy into slavery for his sake? "Tell +me about yourself," he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">The negro's story, told in his strange English, +took a long time in the telling, so roundabout +was the course of the narrative, so much broken +by explanations and cumbered by trifling details. +But the gist of it, as understood by Tom, was as +follows--</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa was the son of Miluma, once a notable +chief of the Wahehe, and one of those who had +sustained for a long time the resistance of his +people to the Germans. At length he had fallen +into the enemy's hands, and had been among +the first batch of labourers who had cleared the +ground for Reinecke's plantation. Miluma's wife +and two of his children had died under their +hardships, and the chief, left with Mwesa alone, had +fled with the boy, and, more lucky than other +negroes, had neither been recaptured nor killed +in the forest. He had fallen in with an English +trader, with whom he had taken service, +accompanying him in his journeys through the country +of the Great Lakes, and living at other times +among his native household at Zanzibar. Mwesa, +only a few years old at the period of the escape, +had at first remained in Zanzibar during his +father's absence, but at the age of twelve he, too, +had travelled with the Englishman's caravan, and +had picked up a smattering of English as well +as of the dialects of the tribes through whose +countries he had passed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then his father died, the Englishman returned +to Europe, and Mwesa, now seventeen, was left +alone in the world. Having a little money in +his possession, he bethought him of his uncle +Mirambo, whose large family had prevented him +from escaping at the same time as Miluma, and +of whom his father had often spoken. He would +return to the plantation, see if his uncle were yet +alive, and perhaps help him, or any of his family +who were still living, to escape with him to +British territory. He took passage in a dhow +that was sailing down the lake, but the vessel had +been blown ashore, and the shipwrecked crew and +passengers robbed of all they possessed by +predatory natives. Mwesa and one other had got away, +and after an adventurous journey had arrived at +Ujiji. Learning there that a steamer was expected +at Kigoma, Mwesa had made his way to the port +and smuggled himself on board.</p> +<p class="pnext">On arriving at Bismarckburg he had found that +the young Englishman who had befriended him +on board the vessel was going to the plantation +which was his own goal, and had at once sought +employment among the porters. It seemed to +him that the presence of an Englishman was a +good augury for the success of his mission. He +had remained at the plantation, always on the +watch; and it was not long before he suspected +that Reinecke had a grudge against his benefactor. +Slight signs that might have escaped the notice +of anybody who had not a personal interest in the +Englishman had betrayed to him and to Mirambo +the real feelings of the German; and Mwesa had +now a double motive: the rescue of his uncle and +the care of the white man. For the sake of the +latter uncle and nephew had concealed their +relationship, awaiting the day when, as they expected, +the Englishman would leave. On that day they, +too, would go. But the crisis had come in an +unforeseen manner. The disappearance of the +Englishman and Reinecke's strange movements +had intensified their suspicions, and Mwesa had +stolen out to discover what the German had done +with his guest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom thanked the boy warmly for what he had +done for him. He was a good deal troubled in +mind, and passed many hours of the night in that +grass hut in anxious meditation on his position. +Mwesa had rescued him from a lingering death, but +to what end? If it was true, as Reinecke had said, +that Britain was at war with Germany, that already +a German expedition against Rhodesia was in +preparation, the immediate future was very black. +He dared not go to Bismarckburg; the nearest +British territory was forty or fifty miles away; +how was it possible to accomplish so long a +journey through difficult country and hostile +people? At present, indeed, his injuries +precluded even a much shorter journey. Until he +should have fully recovered he must remain in +hiding. How was he to subsist? There was +game in the forest, no doubt plenty of vegetable +food in the shape of berries and nuts, though +only a native could distinguish the edible from +the poisonous. Mwesa would help him--but +Mwesa was himself a complication. Tom felt +that, the boy having done so much for him, he +was bound to consider the boy, and Mirambo; +his lot seemed to be knit with theirs. It would +not be just to appropriate Mwesa, and leave his +relatives in the slavery from which the boy had +come to deliver them. Yet how helpless he was +to do anything either for them or for himself!</p> +<p class="pnext">He fell asleep with these problems all unsolved. +When he awoke the boy was gone. Tom +supposed that he was seeking food, but as time +slipped away and Mwesa did not return he grew +uneasy. Then, however, common sense asserted +itself. The boy who had already dared so much, +who had built him a hut and brought him food, +would not desert him. There must be some +good reason for his absence.</p> +<p class="pnext">A little after mid-day Mwesa came back, +looking more pleased with himself than ever. +A rabbit dangled from his waist; slung over +one shoulder was a native grass bag stuffed with +cassava; in one hand he carried an axe, in the +other a sporting rifle, which Tom recognised as +the property of Reinecke. Mwesa threw his +load down, and emptying his bag, revealed, +under the cassava roots, a number of cartridges. +He chuckled with delight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have been back to the plantation?" said Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, sah: me go back; nobody see."</p> +<p class="pnext">He went on to explain that there were strange +doings at the plantation. Reinecke had called +the negroes about him, and told them that war +had broken out between England and Germany; +that the Germans were going to seize all the +English lands in Africa; that he himself was +a great officer in the German army, and had been +ordered to turn every able-bodied man into +a soldier. The gathering of the crops being +finished, such work as was necessary on the +plantation must be done by the women and the +older men. He was going to Bismarckburg to +arrange for supplies of arms. During his absence +the overseers would exercise the men.</p> +<p class="pnext">Taking advantage of the excitement that +followed this announcement, Mwesa had managed +to possess himself of the articles with which +he had come laden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me now sah him boy," he said gleefully.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom looked at him with a ruminating eye. +It was well to have a companion in this forest +solitude, and he felt instinctively that Mwesa's +fidelity might be relied on. But was he entitled +to involve the boy in his own misfortunes, or +to separate him from his new-found relatives? +He reflected that the boy would be useful to +him in helping him to find his way into British +territory; and when Mwesa emphatically assured +him that he was determined not to go back to +the plantation, or to be drilled to fight against +the English, he made up his mind to accept the +service thus volunteered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well, Mwesa," he said, "you are my +boy. Whatever comes, we will share it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa was already skinning the rabbit, and +Tom having a box of matches, the boy kindled +a fire and prepared to cook a meal for his new +master. Meanwhile Tom took earnest thought +for their future. Until he had recovered from +his injuries it would be hopeless to attempt to +reach Abercorn; but it struck him that to remain +in his present position, only a few miles from +the plantation, might be dangerous. Reinecke +might revisit the pit, and finding it no longer +tenanted, would almost certainly hunt for him in +the neighbourhood. It was necessary to find a +secure refuge where he could rest until he was +able to undertake the journey. Almost as soon +as the idea occurred to him, he remembered that +he had passed this way with Reinecke and +Goltermann, on the day when he had first made +distant acquaintance with crocodiles. The nullah +and the lake in the hills lay a few miles to the +east. The former, with its windings, its +overhanging rocks, its patches of dense scrub, would +furnish a safe hiding-place. Game was plentiful +in the adjacent forest; the lake would be an +unfailing water supply; and though he would +have to guard against falling a prey to the +reptiles that infested its shores, Mwesa's +knowledge of their ways would no doubt serve him +well. The neighbourhood was wholly +uninhabited, and it was so far from the plantation +that Reinecke and his people were unlikely to +visit it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Could he find it? Having gone there only +once, before he had had any experience of forest +travel, he knew that unassisted he would have +been completely at a loss. But he hoped that +Mwesa would discover the track leading to it, +and when, as he ate his dinner of roast rabbit, +he mentioned the matter to the negro, the latter +instantly started up and ran off in the direction +Tom pointed out. In twenty minutes he was +back, and declared with his invariable smile that +he had found the track. He proceeded to +dismantle the hut and to obliterate the traces of +the fire; then, loading himself with their few +possessions, he begged Tom to lean on him and +make for their new home at once.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom limped along, anxious to reach the +nullah before night. On the way Mwesa told +him more about the morning's scene at the +plantation. Reinecke had boasted that the English +were to be driven into the sea. All their +possessions would become the booty of the Germans, +and the Wahehe, if they served him faithfully, +should share in it. They had once been great +warriors; now they would learn how to be +askaris, and under German leadership do great +deeds and amass great riches. The negroes had +listened to him in silence; and only when he +had left them did their sullen discontent find +expression. They remembered that they had +always fought against the Germans, not for them; +and some of the elder men said they would rather +fight against them again. But there was no open +revolt; cowed by years of oppression, devoid of +leadership, they could only accept their destiny.</p> +<p class="pnext">With great difficulty Tom managed to drag +himself along for two or three miles; then he +declared that he could go no farther. It was +already late in the afternoon. Mwesa at once +constructed a temporary hut, and there they +passed the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next morning, after again covering their tracks +as completely as possible, they set off again. +Even with Mwesa's support, Tom could only +crawl along at the rate of little more than a mile +an hour. The almost disused hunter's path was +sometimes hard to find: here and there it was +overgrown with thorns through which Mwesa +had to cleave a way; and in the middle hours +of the day the humid heat was so oppressive that +Tom had to take long rests. Towards evening, +however, they came suddenly upon a dip in the +ground which Tom thought he recognised.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Run ahead," he said to Mwesa, "and see if +the nullah is in that direction."</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy sprinted away, returning in a few minutes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All right, sah!" he cried. "All right ober dah."</p> +<p class="pnext">They went on. Emerging from the forest, +they crossed an expanse of scrub and came to +the mouth of the nullah, which was like a deep +cutting in the hills. A thin stream trickled down +the middle: Tom could not doubt that the lake +must be only a few hundred yards farther, and, +in spite of his fatigue, he struggled on to make +sure that he had reached his destination. There +at last was the lake, still, not a breath of air +bending the rushes on its banks, or stirring the +trees on the island in the centre.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa had just time to rig up a slight shelter +of branches near the margin of the lake before +darkness fell. He cooked some manioc for Tom +and himself; and when Tom sank into heavy +sleep, the boy kept watch all night by the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the grey light of dawn, when Mwesa also +was asleep, Tom was awakened by a rustling at +the entrance of the rude hut, across which Mwesa +had thrown a rough barrier of thorns as a defence +against a chance marauder. Starting up on his +elbow, he saw dimly some dark shape apparently +edging its way between the lower part of the +barrier and the ground. For a moment or two +he was unable to distinguish what it was; then +he gave a sudden shout, seized the shot-gun +which lay by his side, sprang to his feet and +fired.</p> +<p class="pnext">Awakened by his shout, Mwesa had jumped +up and come to his master's side. There was +a violent commotion in the thorny barrier. Next +moment the slight hut collapsed, and both +occupants were half buried by the boughs. +Extricating themselves from the tangle, they peered +out at the interlaced branches of thorn. Nothing +was to be seen.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wat dat noise, sah?" whispered Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think I saw the snout of a crocodile," +replied Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa clicked in his throat, caught up his +axe, and rushed out. But the crocodile had +disappeared.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He berry much 'fraid, sah," said the boy, +when he came back. "Gun make him berry +sick. He go tell no come dis way no more: oh no!"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vi-mwesa-s-mission"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7">CHAPTER VI--MWESA'S MISSION</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Tom could not help laughing as he +surveyed the ruins of Mwesa's little building, +and the negro himself put his hands on his hips +and roared with merriment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Silly fella tink all same proper house," he +said, alluding to the crocodile. "Me show him."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was clear that their first task, if they were +to remain for any length of time in this spot, +must be to construct a more substantial dwelling, +and after a light breakfast they set forth to +survey for a site. Tom found that his long +tramp on the previous day had caused his +injured ankle to swell, and he could only get along +by hopping on his sound foot. Fortunately he +had not far to go before lighting on a suitable +situation in a spot above the shore of the lake, +where a few isolated trees in the form of a rough +circle enclosed a clear space some twenty yards +across. Here, after bathing his ankle and tying +his handkerchief tightly about it, he sat down to +watch Mwesa set about building him a "proper house."</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy cut down with his axe a number of +straight saplings, trimmed them, cut them to the +same length, and then planted them in a circle in +the centre of the space. After a search along +the banks of the stream he returned with a load +of withies cut from tough creeping-plants. With +these he bound the upright poles together: first +in the middle, then two feet below, and finally +the same distance above. He worked with such +astonishing speed that early in the afternoon the +framework of the new hut was complete, standing +up like a cage or a circular crate. After a short +rest he started on the roof. He gathered together +a number of flexible saplings, which he laid down +on the floor of the hut so that they radiated from +the centre like the spokes of a wheel. Then he +fastened the ends together, lifting the saplings +one by one until the structure resembled the ribs +of an inverted Chinese umbrella. When it was +finished he drew the loose ends together, turned +it upside down, and pushed it up through the +open roof space, the ends, when released, resting +on the tops of the poles. The skeleton of the +hut was complete.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom envied the boy's dexterity. All his +measurements had been made with the eye alone, +and Tom reflected that the work would have +occupied a white artisan, provided with a foot +rule, probably twice or thrice as long. Mwesa +promised that another day's work would finish +the job.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next day he filled up the interstices between +the poles with damp mud, which he carried in +his wallet from the edge of the lake. He left +a space about three feet square at the entrance; +and built up with mud, in the interior of the hut, +a long bench some three feet high. The mud +dried rapidly in the heat of the day, and when +the bench had hardened, he mounted upon it, +and wove long grasses in and out among the +rods composing the roof, until this was fairly +impervious. It would give slight protection +against heavy rain, but the rainy season was not +yet due, and Tom agreed that the hut would +form a very serviceable shelter during the short +time he expected to occupy it.</p> +<p class="pnext">It occurred to him, however, to suggest a +means of doubly securing themselves against +intruders, human or other. The trees surrounding +the open space could be turned into an effective +zariba by planting poles between them, and +interlacing the poles with strands of prickly thorn. +Mwesa fell in with the notion at once, but this was +a much longer task than the construction of the +hut had been, and in fact it occupied him off and +on for nearly a week.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile the food he had brought from the +plantation had long been consumed, and he spent +part of every day in snaring birds or small animals +for the subsistence of himself and his master. It +appeared that vegetable food was not to be +obtained in this part of the country, and Tom grew +somewhat uneasy as to the effect of an uninterrupted +diet of flesh. He was uneasy, too, about +his injuries. The wound caused by the spike was +healing well, but the swelling of his ankle was +but little reduced, and it gave him great pain to +hobble even a few yards. It was clear that without +the ministrations of his faithful and indefatigable +boy he would starve.</p> +<p class="pnext">Often as he lay at night, on rushes strewn upon +the bench, listening to the cries of night-birds, +the bark of distant hyaenas, the coughs of the +crocodiles in the lake, the grunts and snarls of +beasts that came prowling around the zariba, but +never attempted to penetrate it, scared by the fire +kept constantly burning within the enclosure--as +he lay listening to these eerie sounds he pondered +plans for the future. His dearest wish was to +make his way to the frontier as soon as he was fit +to travel, and to join the British forces which, he +supposed, were gathering to resist the German +invasion. The news that Germany and Britain +were at war had scarcely surprised him. +Recollections of what he had heard and seen during +his year in Germany seemed to give corroboration +enough. He remembered in particular +one young German baroness, who had been to +school at Cheltenham, and was continually +boasting of what the Germans would do when "the +Day" came. He remembered, too, how his father +scoffed at the warnings of those who foretold that +Germany was only awaiting an opportunity for +making her tiger-spring, and how he and his +brother had been rebuked for heeding the +"alarmists." And now the Day had come at last. He +wondered what spark had exploded the European +powder-barrel, what pretext Germany had alleged +for the attack which, he believed, she had long +been secretly cherishing and preparing for. In +the only letter he had received from England +since his arrival, Bob had said nothing of trouble +brewing. Whatever the ostensible reason was, he +had no doubt the war had sprung from Germany's +lust for world-power, and with the easy confidence +which too many Englishmen felt in those early +days, he believed that the British Navy would +square accounts with the Germans before many +months had passed. He did not know that +Germany had cast her gauntlet in the face of +half the world, did not suspect that she had +already set the bases of civilisation staggering.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Africa, he took it for granted that +German possessions would soon be wiped off the map. +It would have been difficult for a true-born +Englishman to think otherwise. All that he wished +and hoped for was that he might reach Rhodesia +before the last act was played.</p> +<p class="pnext">When about ten days had slipped away, and +even Mwesa had nothing to occupy him except +the daily search for food, Tom began to fidget +for news. He was still unable to walk without +pain; inaction irked him, and ignorance of what +was going on at the plantation and beyond gave +him a fit of the blues. His despondency did not +escape the keen eyes of the negro, who at last +asked what was troubling him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to know things, Mwesa," he answered: +"what Reinecke is doing, whether fighting has +already begun--all sorts of things. And I want +to get away from here and join my own people."</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy's anxious expression cleared; his eyes +brightened.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me go; one day, two, me come back tell +sah," he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you think you could go safely?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa looked hurt at the suggestion. Had he +not already stolen in and out of the plantation? +Why should his master suppose that he could +not do it again? He would set off at once, +as soon as he had provided food and water for +a day or two, and he would come back stuffed +with news.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy was so eager that Tom let him go. +He took nothing but his wallet and a knife. By +nightfall he would reach the plantation. There +he would learn all that was to be learnt from +Mirambo: his master would be only one night alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not till the dense blackness of night +brooding over the nullah deepened his feeling of +solitude that Tom doubted whether he had done +right. The boy might not return: who could tell +what mischance might befall him? In daytime he +might escape the many perils of the forest; but +what if he were discovered in his furtive passage +of the thorn fence and impressed into the ranks +of the recruits? "Without Mwesa what will +become of me?" The troublesome question gave +Tom no rest as he lay in the hut, listening to the +outer noises to which darkness adds mystery and +horror. Alone, almost helpless, what could a +white man do in the wilds of Africa? Tom was +not ordinarily a victim to "nerves"; but the +series of shocks he had recently suffered had +quickened his imagination in proportion as it had +reduced his physical vigour, and the sensations of +that night were one long nightmare.</p> +<p class="pnext">At dawn, limp and haggard, he got up, crawled +out of the hut, and sat down with his back against +a tree-trunk, listening for the return of the negro +boy. He heard rustlings among the trees, the +call of a quail, the snorting grunt of some animal +prowling round the zariba. But neither rustle +nor footfall caught his ear when Mwesa suddenly +appeared at his side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come back all right, sah," said the boy +cheerfully.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But how? I didn't hear you. How did +you get in?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Climb tree, sah; come like snake."</p> +<p class="pnext">He had dropped thus into the enclosure to +avoid making a gap in the fence. As before, he +came laden with food. Welcome as this was, +Tom was more eager to have his tale of news; +but before Mwesa would relate his discoveries, he +produced from his wallet, with much show of +mystery, a small bundle with a covering of leaves +tied with grass thread. Opening this with an +expression of great solemnity, he displayed a +lump of some substance olive-green in colour, +and of the consistency of putty.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good medicine, sah. Mirambo my uncle: +berry clebber pusson. Me make sah well."</p> +<p class="pnext">Dropping to his knees he unwound the +handkerchief from Tom's injured ankle, pinched off +a small portion of the plastic medicament, and +rubbed it gently over the joint, muttering strange +words. It gradually softened to a greenish oil. +When the joint was thoroughly anointed, the boy +bound it again with the handkerchief, jumped up, +and, smiling away his look of intent earnestness +declared:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sah, one time better; two time better; t'ree +time all same well."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he unslung from his shoulder a small iron +cooking-pot, and sat down to tell his news.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the plantation drill was in full swing. Some +askaris had come from Bismarckburg under the +charge of a German non-commissioned officer, +the former as guards and examples, the latter to +train the new recruits. Drill went on all day and +every day, the German giving his commands in +a Bantu dialect which was hard to understand, +with the result that he frequently lost his temper. +The negroes who were slow were stimulated by +the whips of the overseers. A few rifles had been +brought, and some of the quicker men were +already being trained in aiming and sighting: as +yet they had fired no shot. They were all sullen +and resentful; but cowed by the presence of the +armed askaris and in constant fear of the whip, +they gave no utterance to their feelings in face +of their taskmasters, pouring out their hearts +only in the seclusion of their own huts and sheds.</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke himself was now seldom at the +plantation. Mirambo believed that he was busy at +headquarters at Bismarckburg. The askaris had +said that a great force was being prepared to attack +the English in Abercorn, and had boasted of the +terrible things they were going to do and the great +riches they would soon enjoy. They told of many +battles won in the white man's country far away; +of many great cities which the Germans had taken; +how the King of England and his war chiefs had +been hanged by the people, enraged at defeat. +Soon there would not be a single Englishman in +the whole of Africa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do they believe that stuff?" said Tom. "It's +all nonsense."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa was not at all sure that he had not +believed it himself, for how was a simple African +to deny what was told him with such assurance? +Indeed, even among the Germans, settlers and +soldiers alike, in those early days of the war, no +rumour was too fantastic to find easy credence. +Conceit is a hotbed for credulity. But Tom's +vigorous assertion that it was all nonsense was +enough to convince Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dey silly fellas, sah," he said scornfully. +"Mwesa him English: he know all right."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom knew nothing of the relative strength of +the British and German forces in East Africa; +but having a Briton's invincible faith in the British +Navy, he could not believe that the German colony, +cut off from Europe as it must be, could really +measure itself against the resources of the British +Empire. But he remembered how, in the past, +British carelessness and want of foresight had bred +disasters only painfully retrieved, and he felt no +little anxiety as to how far Northern Rhodesia +was prepared to resist the expedition which the +Germans were organising.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was only the more eager to join his fellow-countrymen, +and take his part in the fight, if fight +there was to be. At school he had been colour-sergeant +in the cadet corps, and looked back with +reminiscent pleasure on the field days, when, in +the intervals of business, he had munched apples +in a farmer's orchard or solaced himself and his +squad with junket in a dairy. "Rummy," he +thought, "if all that swat were to turn out useful +after all. But here it will be minus the apples +and junket."</p> +<p class="pnext">This being his state of mind, he was doubly +curious about the healing properties of the +stuff"--Mirambo's plasticine, he called it--that Mwesa +had brought from his uncle. He was aware almost +at once of a lessening of the pain in his ankle. +After the second application the swelling was +sensibly reduced; within a week he found himself +able to walk freely. Mwesa took the cure as a +matter of course.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the stuff made of?" Tom asked him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa shook his head gravely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Berry good medicine: Mirambo him savvy all same."</p> +<p class="pnext">And that was all that Tom could get out of him.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vii-tom-seizes-the-occasion"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8">CHAPTER VII--TOM SEIZES THE OCCASION</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Tom had many occasions during the next +ten days to rejoice in the possession of +an excellent servant. Mwesa was everything in +turn--hunter, cook, valet, hospital orderly; and +in every capacity he was efficient. His snares and +traps stocked the larder; the grain, he had brought +from the plantation was eked out with wild fruits +gathered in the forest; and out of the one simple +cooking-pot he produced as great a variety of good +things as a conjurer out of a hat. Always with +the same gravity and the same muttering of spells, +he anointed and massaged Tom's ankle daily, +and never failed to sing the praises of his uncle +Mirambo. His constant cheerfulness acted as a +tonic on his master's spirits, and with reviving +health Tom felt braced to endure whatever +hardship the future might bring.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last the day came when he declared that he +was ready to start for Abercorn. He had talked +over his plans with Mwesa, handicapped, however, +by the fact that neither he nor the negro knew +the route or the character of the country to be +travelled. The extent of his information was that +Abercorn lay somewhere to the south-west, and +from a hazy recollection of a map glanced at +during his voyage from England he guessed that +the town was forty or fifty miles away. Under +the most favourable conditions he could hardly +hope to cover that distance in less than three days: +if the country was specially difficult the journey +might last even weeks.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was unfortunate that Reinecke's plantation +lay across the direct route. In order to avoid it, +he must make a considerable detour, which would +add he knew not how many miles to the journey. +And then he would have to cross the main +German road connecting Bismarckburg on Lake +Tanganyika with Neu Langenburg about twenty +miles north-west of Lake Nyassa. This, the only +practicable highway, might be crowded with +transports and would certainly be patrolled; but he +hoped by careful scouting to discover some part +of its great length where, either by day or by +night, he could safely make the crossing.</p> +<p class="pnext">Deciding to attempt a start at dawn on the +following day, the two made their simple preparations. +Mwesa stuffed into his wallet all the edible +fruits he could gather, and after cooking the last +meal, took his pot to the lake, and washed it +thoroughly. He filled with water a couple of +gourds, one of which he fitted with a grass thong +for slinging over Tom's shoulder. Tom cleaned +his rifle, bathed in the lake, keeping a wary eye +open for crocodiles, and washed out his only shirt, +with a sigh for the contents of his travelling case, +now, he supposed, appropriated by Reinecke.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were about to turn in early that evening +when Mwesa jumped up suddenly and darted out +of the low entrance to the hut. Tom, surprised, +followed him, and found him standing in an +attitude of expectancy just outside. A few moments +later he heard a human cry, faint and muffled, as +if coming from a great distance. Mwesa was +greatly excited.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Two time," he cried, turning his head in the +direction from which the sound had come.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You heard it before?" Tom asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa held up his hand enjoining silence. +They waited. A minute or two passed; the cry +was repeated, and Mwesa, still more excited, said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mhehe call; man belong me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"One of your own people! It must be +some one from the plantation. Answer him ... +No, wait. Reinecke may be setting a trap for us. +Perhaps he has visited the pit and discovered my +escape, and guesses I may be somewhere in the +forest."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again they heard the cry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who knows you are with me, besides +Mirambo?" asked Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mushota, no more, sah. Mirambo say no +tell: berry wise man, Mirambo."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then I think we had better answer: it may +be Mirambo himself. But we will not call here; +let us get away from the hut. It will not do to +risk bringing an enemy here."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was now nearly dark. Adopting Mwesa's +precaution, they climbed one of the trees that +formed the boundary of their enclosure, dropped +to the ground outside the zariba, and made their +way into the nullah. The cry was repeated once +more; this time it was louder. When they had +walked nearly a quarter of a mile down the nullah, +Tom ordered Mwesa to answer, and the boy let +out a curious series of notes, like the dropping +scale of the hornbill. There was a shout in +response.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mushota, sah," cried Mwesa, his big eyes +gleaming. "He say what place me be."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa directed his cousin, and in a few minutes +the lad, so strangely like him, came bounding along +in the middle of the watercourse. The two negroes +embraced, and Mushota, his features and arms +working with excitement, poured out a story in a +torrent of clicks and gurgles, every now and then +glancing at Tom, who stood a little apart.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa's expressive countenance showed that +the story affected him deeply. He turned to his +master, and seemed to strive to find English words +in which to repeat what he had heard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, let us get back to our hut," said Tom. +"We can only just see to find our way. You can +tell me all about it as we go."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had two natural gifts rare in one who was +little more than a schoolboy--patience and +sympathy. He could be stiff enough with his equals +in rank and education; but with this faithful +negro lad, ignorant, struggling to express himself +in a strange and difficult language, he was so +patient that Mwesa's stumbling utterance became +more coherent as he told Mushota's story, and +Tom was able to grasp its essentials.</p> +<p class="pnext">It concerned Mirambo. The old hunter, once +a chief and a warrior of renown among his own +people, had not taken kindly to the methods of +the German drill-sergeant. Day after day he had +been flogged by the overseers for slowness of +movement or some other fault in drill, and at last +the German sergeant, who had hitherto left +punishment to the Arabs, had kicked the man in the +presence of the whole company of recruits. Mirambo +had retaliated with a swift blow that knocked +the German off his feet. The sergeant, when he +got up, was on the point of shooting the negro; +but the head overseer, interposing, explained that +Mirambo was Reinecke's best hunting man, and +the sergeant had then ordered him to be chained +up until Reinecke returned from Bismarckburg. +Only a few days before, a negro had been shot +for a similar offence, and Mushota feared that his +father would suffer the same fate. Knowing the +whereabouts of the white man who had befriended +his cousin, he had stolen out at midday when +even the indefatigable German rested, and had +come to beg the m'sungu to save his father.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But why come to me? What can I do?" +asked Tom, astonished at the confidence with +which Mwesa put his cousin's plea. It was +almost laughable that they should seek help of +him, a fugitive, one whom Reinecke had tried to +kill, a single man without resources in an enemy's +country.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sah English," exclaimed Mwesa. "Sah savvy +big medicine, white man medicine. Sah boss, +no fear."</p> +<p class="pnext">Touched by this childlike faith in the power +either of the English name or of "white man +medicine," which he supposed to mean some +magic art, he was at a loss what answer to make. +He was willing enough to help, but quite unable +to see how. It seemed best to temporise--to +refrain from immediately dashing the negroes' +hopes, and to explain to them presently how +impossible was the feat besought of him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We will talk it over in our hut," he said, +and was then sorry he had deferred the inevitable +disappointment, for Mwesa clapped his hands and +laughed, and said to Mushota a few words that +set him laughing too. His caution had only +strengthened their belief in him.</p> +<p class="pnext">The two negroes chattered together the rest of +the way to the hut, and Tom was left to his by +no means pleasant reflections. How could he +break the unpalatable truth to these simple souls? +What would be the effect on them? He could +enter into their feelings through the recollection +of an incident of his own childhood. His father +had promised him, a child of five, the present of +a horse, and he remembered the bitter tears he +shed when the horse turned out to be a wooden +toy instead of the expected creature of flesh and +bone. The negro is always a child.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then he found himself thinking: "Why +not risk a visit to the plantation? It's running +my head into a noose, perhaps; but after all I +owe to Mwesa I may at least show him that I'm +ready to do what I can. He can get in and out: +why shouldn't I? Reinecke is absent. I don't +suppose he ever confided to the Arabs his pleasant +intentions with regard to me; perhaps I might +venture to tackle them (provided the drill +sergeants aren't about), and get them to release +Mirambo.... What tosh! of course that's +impossible: still, I might at least reconnoitre, and +I'll be hanged if I don't."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was dark when they reached the hut, but +the slight glow from the fire that Mwesa had +kept always burning in the enclosure revealed to +Tom the look of hopeful contentment on the +faces of the two negroes. They all squatted at +the entrance, and Tom asked:</p> +<p class="pnext">"When will Reinecke be back?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa translated to his cousin. The answer +was, "To-morrow night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How many Germans are at the plantation?'</p> +<p class="pnext">"One: the other had accompanied Reinecke."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And how many askaris?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Six; the others had gone to Bismarckburg."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom pondered this information. He had no +chance if he was caught; the likelihood of his +being able to release Mirambo had almost +vanished. And what if the man, by some lucky +stroke, were released? Would he consent to +escape without his family? There were five in +all: the larger the party, the more difficult to +evade pursuit. "It's all utterly hopeless," thought +Tom. "They will see it for themselves if I go +and talk to them on the spot."</p> +<p class="pnext">He told the boys what he proposed to do, at +the same time warning them that no good would +come of it. The promise overshadowed the +warning: the m'sungu would go; every other +good thing would follow. Half vexed, half +amused by what seemed sheer unreason, Tom +bade them sleep: perhaps with morning they +would see facts as they were.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before the glimmering dawn had penetrated +the nullah, when the four-footed creatures had +slunk to their dens and the birds were beginning +to stir, the three clambered down on the outside +of the zariba and started on their long tramp. +Tom wished to reach the plantation before +mid-day; he would then perhaps see for himself how +the German drilled his dusky recruits.</p> +<p class="pnext">On arriving in the neighbourhood of the plantation, +Mwesa struck off to the left, and led the +way stealthily through dense bush where there +was no path, and none but himself could have +found the track of his own previous journeys. +They came presently to the stream that supplied +the plantation with water. Climbing down the +steep moss-covered bank, they crept quietly along +the bed until they reached the thorn fence, which +formed an impenetrable barrier across the stream. +In the bank, just on the outside, Mwesa pulled +aside a curtain of rank grass, revealing a hole +scarcely larger than a drain pipe. Mushota +crawled into it, Mwesa signed to Tom to follow +him: he himself entered last, having remained to +see that the grass fell naturally over the entrance +to this narrow tunnel.</p> +<p class="pnext">The passage through the tunnel took less than +a minute, but Tom felt almost suffocated before +he reached open air again. He said to himself +that it was like crawling in a grave. Some day, +he thought, the earth will fall in; he wondered +that such a tunnel, made with no art, had not +collapsed long ago. Its inner end opened into +the hollow trunk of a tree. Climbing until his +eyes were on a level with a small hole scooped out +of the wood, he looked out upon the plantation.</p> +<p class="pnext">The tree was a few feet within the thorn fence. +Some little distance to the left were the huts and +sheds occupied by the negroes. In front of these +was the broad, clear, level space that was the +usual playground of the children and the +promenade of the elders when work was done. +Now, however, no children sported upon it. +Some sixty sturdy negroes, ranging in age from +sixteen to forty and upwards, were drawn up in +ranks. At each end hovered an Arab overseer +with his whip. And facing the recruits, some +yards away from them, stood the German sergeant, +a stiff, thick-set, bull-necked soldier, differing +from hundreds of his kind whom Tom had seen +in Germany only in his uniform, which, more +suited to the African climate, was less +complimentary to the sergeant's tight figure. The +sergeant bellowed an order, in words that seemed +to be German acclimatised; the negroes hesitated, +then, each interpreting the command in his own +way, became a mob instead of a half company. +The German stamped and roared; the overseers +cracked their whips; and the scared recruits +scrambled back somehow into their original formation.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sun beat fiercely down upon the scene, +and the perspiring sergeant, a martyr to duty, +drew a finger round the inside of his coat collar +and tried again. Brandishing the light cane he +carried, he hurled abuse at the negroes in his +hybrid dialect, and having thus let off steam, +repeated his sharp words of command. It was +evident that he was attempting to teach the +recruits how to form extended order from fours, +and Tom almost sympathised with him as the +men blundered in the simplest movements. They +appeared to be unable to distinguish "right +turn" from "left turn"; and even those who +had once moved correctly seemed to be unable +to remember for five minutes what they had learnt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mirambo no dis place, sah," whispered +Mwesa over his shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">The words recalled the purpose of his visit. +Mirambo was no doubt tied up in the hut which +Reinecke used as a jail for refractory labourers. +It was at the further end of the row of huts, in +full view from every part of the parade ground. +An askari was standing at ease outside it. Tom's +sense of the hopelessness of any attempt at +rescue was deepened. Surely Mwesa himself +must realise it. Sorry as he was, Tom felt that +there was nothing to be done.</p> +<p class="pnext">A sudden commotion drew his attention once +more to the drilling. The sergeant, incensed by +the repeated blunders of one particularly stupid +negro, had lifted his cane and dealt the man +several vicious cuts across the face. Yelling +with pain and rage, the victim had sprung upon +the sergeant, hurled him to the ground, and +seized him by the throat. Two of the overseers +had just rushed to the spot, and were dragging +the negro from the prostrate German. There +was much chattering and excitement among the +other recruits and the negroes who were looking +on from the huts.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant rose stiffly to his feet, and with +apoplectic fury ordered the Arabs to tie the +culprit hand and foot. As they were doing so, +Tom, who had been boiling with indignation at +the German's brutality, had one of those sudden +inspirations which are often turning-points in +a career. Bidding the two lads follow him, he +clambered up to the fork of the tree, let himself +down to the ground on the rear side, and ran, +under cover of a line of bushes, until he was +some thirty yards nearer the body of recruits. +Then, stiffening himself, he emerged into the +open, rifle in hand, and advanced with quick +martial strides across the parade ground. Until +that moment he had not been seen; the sergeant +and the Arabs had their backs towards him; +but the sudden silence that fell upon the negroes +as they beheld the young m'sungu, who had been +absent so long, followed by the two boys, +attracted the German's attention. He swung +round to see what it was that all eyes were fixed +on so intently, and stared with amazement when, +from the lips of the tall young white man within +a few paces of him, came the sharp command +in German--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sergeant, release that man."</p> +<p class="pnext">The instinct of military obedience on which +Tom had reckoned did not fail. The sergeant +saluted; at a word from him the Arabs released +the negro from his bonds; the recruits broke +their ranks and rushed towards Tom with yells +of delight, and from the dwellings along one +side of the parade ground the whole negro +population, men, women and children, trooped +forth shouting welcome to the m'sungu, and +utterly regardless of the overseers. The +sergeant's authority had vanished. A few seconds +before he had had behind him the prestige of +German rule; in yielding to the command of an +Englishman (whom he did not yet know as +an Englishman) he had become a thing of naught +to these impressionable Africans.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 61%" id="figure-29"> +<span id="tom-makes-a-diversion"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-106.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +TOM MAKES A DIVERSION.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Before he had collected his muddled wits he +was surprised to hear that he was under arrest, +and found himself on his way with two of the +Arabs to the jail hut, under guard of two of +his own askaris. Tom, wondering how long the +man's stupefaction would last, followed to the +hut, ordered Mirambo to be released, and the +door to be shut and bolted.</p> +<p class="pnext">As he turned away, he saw one of the overseers +bolting across the parade ground in the direction +of the gate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"After him, Mwesa," he cried, and the boy, +who had followed him like a shadow, instantly +darted after the runaway, accompanied by a troop +of his fellow negroes. The Arab, whose whip +had formerly been a terror to them, was chased +across the plantation, and, just as he reached the +gate, was seized by a score of sinewy hands and +hauled back with yells of triumphant glee, to +join the other prisoners in the lock-up. Tom, +with Mwesa as interpreter, ordered Mirambo to +collect all the men on the parade ground, and +there wait for him. Then, astonished and a +little intimidated by his own success, he hurried +to the bungalow. Reinecke was expected to +return that evening. It was now past noon; +within the next five or six hours there must be +some hard thinking if this unexpected +development was to be turned to the best account.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-viii-reinecke-returns"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9">CHAPTER VIII--REINECKE RETURNS</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">At the bungalow the native servants +received Tom with smiles of welcome. It +seemed that Reinecke had given out that his +guest had gone away only for a time; that the +war, a distant and unreal thing to them, could +have turned apparent friends into enemies was +as yet beyond their comprehension. Quickly and +cheerfully they prepared a meal; and while Tom +enjoyed food that, after the experiences of the +past weeks, was incredible luxury, he bent all +his wits to the solution of the amazing problem +with which he was now faced.</p> +<p class="pnext">Here he was, within a few minutes transformed +from a fugitive and a wanderer into the absolute +master of several hundreds of negroes. His +lightest word would be law to them. The simple +people were incapable of perceiving how +precarious was his authority; to them he was just the +m'sungu whom they admired and who had at a +stroke altered the conditions of their existence.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant and three of the Arabs were for +the present safely locked up. The remaining +overseers, somewhere in hiding, could not leave +the plantation, the gate being locked, to give +warning to Reinecke on his homeward way of +what had occurred. The askaris, always +submissive to authority, probably took the newcomer +for a German officer, and supposed the sergeant +to have been guilty of some fault. And as for +the negroes, there were something over a hundred +able-bodied men who before long would have been +askaris in the German service--unwilling recruits, +but, in spite of their difficulties with drill, the +raw material of excellent soldiers. That, at any +rate, must be prevented.</p> +<p class="pnext">How? Only by the immediate migration of +the whole community. "A large order," thought +Tom, knitting his brows. Yet not so difficult as +it first appeared. These negroes had no possessions +that they valued except their cooking-pots. +Their natural life was the free open existence of +the forest and the plain; they could build +themselves huts in a day, and needed no furniture. +The implements of their plantation work would +be useful to them until they had made for +themselves bows and arrows. A race of hunters, they +would not want for food; besides, there were the +plantation stores which could be conveyed away.</p> +<p class="pnext">But in what direction could they go? Bismarckburg +was only twenty miles distant; some +ten miles nearer was the road to Neu +Langenburg, no doubt studded with German military +posts, and patrolled. As soon as the mutiny +became known, a force would be dispatched from +Bismarckburg, or a telegram sent along the road +warning any troops that might be moving up for +the projected attack on Abercorn. Thus a +migration into British territory would be impossible. +The Wahehe country was far to the north, within +the German boundaries; there could be no safety +for them there. For the moment the problem +seemed to be, to find a temporary refuge in some +spot difficult of access, where the people might +dwell in comparative security until the course of +events became clear.</p> +<p class="pnext">What better place could there be than the +nullah he had lately left? It was within easy +marching distance, yet far enough away, for while +only about fifteen miles from the plantation, it +was nearly twice that distance from Bismarckburg, +and in the heart of the forest. Between its +steep banks a much larger body than these few +hundred people might take shelter. It was near +water; the forest provided food to supplement +what might be removed from Reinecke's storehouses. +Within this natural fortress, strengthened +by such art as the negroes under guidance were +capable of, they might bid defiance to any but a +well-equipped force, which circumstances might +not allow the Germans to organise, and which +in any case it would take time to set on foot. +In the interval he might attempt to get into +communication with the British beyond the border.</p> +<p class="pnext">After half an hour's cogitation Tom had made +up his mind. To ward off suspicion among the +servants, he ordered them to hasten preparations +for the meal which Reinecke would expect on his +arrival, then hurried back to the negroes' quarters, +his brain busy with his plans.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was fortunate that he had in Mwesa a quick +and efficient interpreter, and in Mirambo a +devoted henchman whose former rank in his own +country lent him authority with the rest of the +natives. Through these two, uncle and nephew, +he made arrangements for the exodus with a +celerity that surprised himself. And if his brother +Bob had been able to transport himself on a magic +carpet to this spot in Central Africa, that +hard-headed man of business would no doubt have +been amazed at the qualities shown in this +emergency by one whom, in his elder-brotherly +attitude, he was accustomed to call "the kid." The +truth is, of course, that some people are +happily born with the gift of organisation, though +it may lie dormant, unsuspected, until occasion +rouses it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's first measure was to arrange for the +immediate evacuation of the women and children. +Led by Mushota, and escorted by a band of the +elder men, they were to leave the plantation and +push on as far as possible on the way to the +nullah while daylight lasted. At nightfall they +would camp, and their escort would be at no +loss to protect them until the dawn. Nor would +they go empty-handed. Each woman, each child, +would carry such household gear as would be +useful, together with provisions for a meal or two.</p> +<p class="pnext">While the women were merrily making their +preparations, Tom got the men together, and set +them to empty the store-sheds; to bring all the +foodstuffs into the open, and divide them up into +loads, under the direction of the men who were +accustomed to serve as porters to and fro between +Bismarckburg and the plantation. In one of the +sheds, whose padlocked door he forced open, he +was delighted to find the Mauser rifles which had +recently been imported for the arming of the new +recruits, together with a stock of small-arm +ammunition. He set Mwesa to discover which of +the men had had musketry instruction by the +German sergeant, and arranged that these should +have the rifles and a few rounds of cartridges +when the packing was finished; and he warned +them that if they fired without orders the rifles +would be taken away and they would have to +carry extra loads--a threat that was likely, he +thought, to prove effectual. There were enough +rifles to arm also a few of the older men, like +Mirambo himself, who had had previous +experience of firearms; and though their experience +dated back a good many years, and the Mauser +was a very different weapon from the old trade +musket which they had formerly handled, he had +no doubt that with a little practice they would +soon outdo many of the recruits, whose instruction +could not yet have been carried very far.</p> +<p class="pnext">The half-dozen askaris looked surprised when +they were ordered to lay down their arms and +assist in the baling of the food; but Tom's air of +assured authority imposed upon them, and they +appeared to have no suspicion that he was a +usurper until the women and children were ready +to march out. It was not till then that Tom, +feeling in his pocket for the duplicate key of the +gate which Reinecke had given him, discovered +that he had lost it, probably in his fall into the +pit. The only other keys were in the possession +of Reinecke and the principal overseer, and the +latter, arrested in his attempt to escape, was locked +in the prison-shed. Tom went to the shed to get +this man's key, opened the door, and was amazed +to find the place empty. All three Arabs and the +German sergeant were gone. They had wrenched +away some of the poles that formed the rear wall +of the shed, and escaped unnoticed in the bustle +attending the preparations for departure.</p> +<p class="pnext">This discovery gave Tom an unpleasant, even +an alarming shock. The loss of the key was a +small matter; the gate could be forced; but if +the men were already well on the way to give the +alarm to Reinecke, as was only too likely, the +whole scheme of escape was in danger of being +utterly ruined. Without an instant's delay Tom +hurried back, selected a dozen men whose build +promised fleetness of foot, armed them with hoes +and mattocks, and ran with them down to the +gate, intending to burst the lock with a rifle-shot. +He found, however, that the Arab, in his haste +to escape, had left the key in the lock. The gate +was open. Tom dispatched the natives along the +road to capture the runaways. At this hour +Reinecke was probably within eight or nine miles +of the plantation, a distance which his bearers +would take at least four hours to cover; but if +the fugitives reached him, he would no doubt +spring from his machila and hurry forward on foot, +accompanied by his armed askaris. It seemed, +then, that the evacuation of the place must be +completed within three hours at the most.</p> +<p class="pnext">Luckily the women were ready, and Tom +ordered them at once to set off. It was then +that the askaris became suspicious, and began to +put their heads together; but Tom stamped out +any spark of mutiny that might have been kindled +by separating the men, and assigning to them +places among the natives who were now preparing +to mount their loads. Disarmed, with armed +men around them, the askaris dared not disobey; +and within a few minutes after the departure of +the women they were marching out among the +first contingent of the Wahehe, each bearing a +weighty bundle upon his head. Mirambo had +selected the steadiest of his fellows to form this +first band, who were to follow the women, lay +down their loads at the proposed camping place, +and then return at once for more. Meanwhile +the other three overseers had been rounded up, +bound, and placed under guard: there must be +no more fugitives.</p> +<p class="pnext">While Mirambo was superintending the +packing of the remainder of the stores, Tom was +wrestling with another problem. Reinecke would +arrive about sunset. He would find the gate +locked as usual, and the silence of the plantation +would not awaken suspicion, for work hours were +over, and he would suppose the workers to have +returned to their distant quarters, out of earshot +from the central road and from the bungalow. +But as soon as he reached the bungalow the fat +would be in the fire. He would expect the +principal overseer and the German sergeant to be +awaiting him, to give in their reports. Not +finding them, he would send one of the servants to +fetch them. In ten minutes, or little more, all +would be known. What would he do? Perhaps +lead his askaris in pursuit, perhaps dispatch a +runner to the nearest post on the Neu Langenburg +road to bring up reinforcements. In either +case the flight of the people would be harassed; +they might be caught before they had reached +their defensive position. Tom saw that to gain +time was of prime importance.</p> +<p class="pnext">How could he gain time? It would be +possible to ambush Reinecke and his party in the +woods close to the plantation. Even if they had +been warned by the fugitive overseers and the +sergeant, they would probably not suspect that +the Englishman would attempt, with untrained +natives, to trap seasoned soldiers. But an ambush +would involve the necessity of firing without +warning, and Tom was too raw at the game of +war to adopt so cold-blooded a course.</p> +<p class="pnext">Another idea suggested itself which, hazardous +as it seemed, had a certain attractiveness that +commended it to Tom's sense of sport He +called up Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What does Reinecke do when he comes back +from Bismarckburg with askaris?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him eat all too much," replied the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, but I mean what does he do before that? +Where does he dismiss the askaris?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dey all go to house, sah; stand outside; den +he make um say one, two, three; den dey go home."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom gathered that Reinecke was accustomed +to hold a sort of inspection parade before +dismissing the men to their shed several hundred +yards away. From his own experience he knew +the method of procedure with the porters. These +brought their loads to the bungalow; the goods +were checked off by Yakoub, the native clerk, +then carried to the store-sheds.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very good, Mwesa.... Here come my +scouts--without prisoners. See what they say."</p> +<p class="pnext">The twelve men he had sent in pursuit of the +runaways reported that they had run almost to +Bismarckburg--a typical native exaggeration at +which Tom smiled. They had seen Reinecke +and his party coming slowly up the road: neither +the overseers nor the sergeant were with them. +Since the African has no measure either of time +or distance Tom could not discover exactly how +far away Reinecke was when the men saw him; +but on his asking when the party would arrive, +the spokesman pointed to the sun and then +stooped and moved his hand along just above +the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"At sunset, as I thought," said Tom to himself. +"Then we have about two hours."</p> +<p class="pnext">An hour later the second contingent of the +people left, well loaded up. Tom locked the gate +behind them, then set forty men whom he had +retained to remove all litter and other traces of +the exodus from that portion of the road which +must be traversed in approaching the bungalow. +This done, he gave rifles and a round or two of +ammunition to twenty of the men, and ordered +the other twenty to arm themselves with +implements of their daily work. It still wanted half +an hour of sunset. Tom allowed the men twenty +minutes to make a good meal; then he divided +each band, posting ten riflemen and ten of the +others in the bushes near the gate, and the rest +under cover in the grounds of the bungalow, +where they commanded the open space in front +of the entrance. This last disposition was made +very stealthily, in order to avoid attracting the +attention of the household servants, who, +however, were busy in their outbuildings at the +back, making final preparations for their master's dinner.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having given his men their orders, Tom +entered the bungalow, clapped his hands for one of +the servants, asked him if dinner was ready, and +reminded him that Herr Reinecke always liked a +drink as soon as he returned home.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Take it to the dining-room," he said, "and +one for me too."</p> +<p class="pnext">He then went into the room Reinecke used as +an office, opened a drawer in which there was +usually kept a revolver, assured himself that it +was loaded, and taking it to the dining-room, +slipped it half underneath the edge of a wide fruit +dish. The servant brought in two large tumblers +of a claret-cup of Reinecke's invention. Tom +drank his off, then sat down and helped himself +to a confection of rice and fruit. But now that +the critical moment was approaching he found +himself without appetite. To steady his nerves he +lit a cigarette, and changed his position slightly, +so that he had a good view through the window +of the approach to the bungalow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was smoking his fourth cigarette, and the +brief twilight of Equatorial Africa was already half +spent, when he heard the tramp of marching men, +and saw the expected party filing into the grounds +of the bungalow. First came two askaris, then +Reinecke and a native N.C.O., then a number of +porters with bales on their heads, finally a dozen +askaris. Reinecke was in uniform--white helmet +and tunic, khaki breeches, and leggings.</p> +<p class="pnext">The number of askaris was greater than Tom +had looked for. He noticed that the hand that +held his cigarette was trembling a little, drew a +long breath, and waited. The atmosphere seemed +to be highly electric.</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke ordered the askaris to halt and ground +arms, the porters to lay down their loads. Then +he called for Selim and Sergeant Morgenstein, +who ought to have been awaiting him, and cursed +them volubly in German. He shouted a few +words in Bantu to the native corporal, and strode +into the bungalow. He was evidently in a bad temper.</p> +<p class="pnext">Turning into the dining-room he gasped and +started back. Tom dropped his cigarette into +the ash-tray, laid his hand near the butt of the +revolver on the table, and, smiling grimly, +said--</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. I'm not a ghost, Herr Reinecke--nor a skeleton."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke, standing in the doorway, had quickly +recovered himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So!" he laughed. "But it is clear: you are a fool."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I <em class="italics">was</em> a fool--to trust you," said Tom, +standing up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You <em class="italics">are</em> a fool--to come back here," said +Reinecke, with another laugh. He advanced a +step into the room and laid his helmet on a chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's as may be. You will consider +yourself my prisoner, Herr Reinecke."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German stared, then with a derisive +guffaw, cried--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your prisoner? Are you a madman as well +as a fool? Ha! ha!--your prisoner! We are +at war: yes, you realise it. But <em class="italics">your</em> prisoner! +Why, you foolish child, don't you realise that +you are <em class="italics">my</em> prisoner?--that I can have you shot +as a spy?--that that is exactly what I shall do?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"We seem to be talking at cross purposes." Tom +grasped his revolver, and with a quick +movement pointed it at the German's head. +"Not a word," he added swiftly, as Reinecke, +after a moment's paralysing astonishment, was +turning towards the door, and at the same time +fumbling for the revolver slung across his +shoulder. "Understand: if you call out, or +make a single suspicious movement--drop your +hands, sir--I shall fire, and if I fire it will be +a signal to my men who are waiting to settle +accounts with your askaris. Take off your pistol +strap: lay it on the table: your left hand, please: +be careful not to touch the button."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke, taken all aback--what did the +Englishman mean by "my men"?--removed his +strap and laid it on the corner of the table Tom +pointed to.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now your sword-belt."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German obeyed.</p> +<p class="pnext">A servant came through the inner door carrying dishes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not yet," said Tom: "we are not quite ready."</p> +<p class="pnext">The servant smiled, started as he saw the +revolver in Tom's hand, then backed hurriedly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Remain in the kitchen till I call," added Tom. +"Now, Herr Reinecke, you will precede me--I +am not bluffing--to the place where my men are +hidden. I don't wish to kill your askaris, but +any madness on your part will provoke a volley +from my men. It will avoid trouble, then, if you +order yours to pile arms. Remember this +revolver. If you make a mistake in the word of +command it will be fatal to you as to them. +Lead on."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German turned without a word. Outside, +the askaris were standing at ease: Yakoub, the +native clerk, had just finished checking off the +porter's loads. Reinecke ordered the askaris, +in a voice unlike his own, to pile arms and +reassemble two deep. At Tom's bidding he told +Yakoub to go to his hut and remain there. A +call from Tom brought Mwesa bounding from +behind a shrub.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get the men to collect these arms," said Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">The negroes came from their hiding place and +seized upon the askaris' rifles. The amazed +porters, standing by their loads, broke out into +eager questioning, and the replies set them +shouting, laughing, leaping with glee. The askaris, +equally astonished, looked in a puzzled way from +Reinecke to Tom, and made no resistance when +the Wahehe were ordered to tie their hands +behind their backs. Reinecke, standing within a +yard of Tom, gnawed his moustache in impotent rage.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Keep these men under guard," said Tom, and +Mwesa summoned forth the concealed riflemen. +"Now, Herr Reinecke, you shall have your +dinner. Make the most of it. It will be a long +time before you get such a meal again."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ix-a-delaying-action"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10">CHAPTER IX--A DELAYING ACTION</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Damocles, at the sumptuous banquet of +Dionysius of Syracuse, no doubt ate with +a very good appetite, for Dionysius was his +friend, and the sword hanging over his head at +the end of a single hair was merely a playful +illustration of the insecurity of princes, and no +object of fear. It may be supposed that the +Greek, sitting within reach of the weapon held by +a resolute hand, would have found the dishes +offered him savourless, or his throat perhaps too +dry for degustation. Curt Reinecke, however, +was a German. He flashed one evil look at the +tall, grim young man who sat, grasping a revolver, +across the corner of a table opposite; then he +bent his eyes upon his plate, and applied himself +with customary ardour to the appeasement of +nature's cravings. The servant went to and fro, +silent, scared.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get ready to come with me, Mirami--you +and the rest," said Tom when the man had +brought coffee. "Light all the lanterns you have."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke had not spoken during the meal, +complete <em class="italics">ab ovo usque ad mala</em>. Now, however, +having gulped down his coffee, and the liqueur +which the admirable Mirami served as usual, +though with shaking hand, he cleared his throat +and hesitatingly put a question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where are you--are we--going?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That you will see."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German, primed to attempt a parley, sat +back in his chair, and said, in the manner of one +appealing to good sense:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The frontier is closed. It would be madness +to attempt to cross the Neu Langenburg road."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You might be shot by your own countrymen, +you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What I mean," rejoined Reinecke, generously +ignoring the insinuation, "is that you are playing +a fool's game. You have the whip hand now; +you have, I suppose, raised a mutiny among my +people----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Our people, they used to be: they are mine now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ach! what folly it is!" said Reinecke, with +a gesture of impatience. "You are in German +country; within a few miles there are hundreds +of well-trained troops; are you mad enough to +think that these raw blacks, who hardly know one +end of a rifle from the other, can reach British +territory? It is impossible--impossible."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then why attempt the impossible? Look at +the matter reasonably, calmly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think I am agitated, Herr Reinecke. +But go on."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The position--what is it? You British are +outnumbered. You have no forces equal to ours, +even as they are; and I tell you we shall have +ten times as many in a few months. Paris has +fallen: your empire is broken up: your navy is +defeated----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come now, Herr Reinecke, don't draw the long bow."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I assure you the news has gone all over the +world," said Reinecke emphatically. "What can +you do? We shall shortly capture Abercorn: +already we have taken Mombasa and Nairobi; +there will soon be no more British East Africa. +It is certain. Well now, I make a proposition. +I wish to be fair. The plantation is of course +confiscated; it will now be mine, solely. That is +the fortune of war. But you are young, +hot-headed. I would do something for the sake of +my late partner. Abandon this folly, then, while +there is time; and I give my word to send you +safe into British territory."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And you make that proposition to me!" cried +Tom, enraged by the mention of his father: +"you, the man who has systematically robbed +your partner, falsified the books, tried to murder +me! I should be a fool indeed if I placed reliance +on the word of a man like you. Save your breath, +Herr Reinecke.... Ah! it is time for us to go." Mwesa +had just appeared in the doorway. "Get +up! don't try any tricks: I have given you fair +warning."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa had come to report the return of the +first contingent of Wahehe. They had established +a camp some eight miles from the plantation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," said Tom. "Let them take up +as many of the remaining loads as they can carry. +I shall soon be with you."</p> +<p class="pnext">He clapped his hands. Mirami entered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bring the lanterns, you and your fellows, and +meet me at the front door," said Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, urging Reinecke before him at the +muzzle of his revolver (and the German seemed +to be genuinely astonished at the rejection of his +offer), Tom went out to his men. The askaris +he ordered to join the ranks of the carriers, +each man with a load. To the household servants +were given light articles, such as candles, matches, +paraffin, drugs. Among the supplies just brought +from Bismarckburg were some cases of ammunition. +These were entrusted to their original +bearers. By the time the party was ready to start, +the plantation had been pretty well ransacked of +all portable and useful stores.</p> +<p class="pnext">Darkness having now fallen, the column was +headed by two men carrying lanterns. In turn +came the porters, two more lantern bearers, the +three Arab overseers under guard of riflemen, +then Reinecke, followed immediately by Tom and +Mwesa, and finally two lantern bearers. Apart +from their use in lighting the way, the lanterns +gave confidence to the natives, for whom a night +march had nameless terrors.</p> +<p class="pnext">So strange a procession, at dead of night--the +lights flickering on the trees, the negroes +chattering in loud tones to keep their courage +up--must have startled the furred and feathered +inhabitants of the forest. Birds clattered out of +the foliage, insects swarmed around the lanterns; +no four-footed beast came within sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was about midnight when they arrived at the +camp, pitched on one of those wide bare spaces +which break the continuity of the upland forest. +Fires had been kindled at several points of the +circuit. Within was a scene of great +confusion--women, children, and bales of goods lying +helter-skelter. Hopeless of evolving order at this hour, +Tom contented himself with posting three +sections of six men each as sentries on the southern +border of the camp, where alone danger might +be feared. An attack seemed to him +improbable. The plantation had been cleared of men; +and even if the fugitive Germans and Arabs had +succeeded in reaching a German post, there was +little chance of an armed force coming up while +night lasted. Nevertheless, the sense of +responsibility and the need of keeping a close watch on +Reinecke, whom, out of respect for the white +man's dignity, he had left unbound, prevented +Tom from getting any sleep. Indeed, few of all +those there encamped, except the children, closed +their eyes. The negroes, for all their weariness, +talked excitedly, hour after hour, of the +wonderful change that the m'sungu had wrought in +their lives, and speculated on the fate in store +for their late master. Watching them, Tom +could not help questioning within himself whether +he had done right, whether they would be able +to defend and maintain their new-won freedom; +but with the hopefulness of buoyant youth he +dismissed his doubts, resolving that, so far as lay +in him, nothing should be left undone to +safeguard them. After all, British territory was only +forty miles away.</p> +<p class="pnext">An hour before dawn the camp was astir. +Everybody was fed: then, just as light was +stealing over the scene, the women and children were +sent off under escort, scouting parties dispatched +southward; the unarmed men gathered their +loads and departed. Mirambo and a score of +the elder men with rifles accompanied the latter, +with orders not to allow the askaris to approach +within half an hour's march of the nullah. They +were to drop their loads at a convenient spot and +return under guard for more. Tom remained at +the camp, keeping the prisoners and the remainder +of his armed men.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was about two hours after the departure of +the women: the carriers had not yet come back: +when Tom heard a faint sharp sound from southward, +which, unexpected as it was, he believed to +be a rifle-shot. For some few minutes there was +no repetition of the sound: then there came half +a dozen cracks in succession, a little +nearer--unmistakably the reports of rifles. Tom at once +dispatched two men to follow in the track of the +scouts and see what was happening. It seemed +unlikely that a German force had already been +dispatched in pursuit of him; but it was clearly +necessary to be prepared for any contingency.</p> +<p class="pnext">The shots had roused some excitement among +the Wahehe; Reinecke and the Arabs did not +disguise the spring of hope. Tom recognised +that his men were ill-fitted to cope with trained +troops, in the open or even in the bush. The +nullah, on the other hand, about six miles away, +offered many facilities for defence, and his plan +had been to post his non-combatants far up +towards the lake, and to employ the men to +strengthen the position below. He had reckoned +on being unmolested for a whole day, and the +shots gave him not a little uneasiness. The +progress of the laden carriers would necessarily +be slow: it was essential that the enemy, if +enemy it was, should be delayed at least until +the stores had been safely conveyed to the nullah. +He must fight and run.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hoping that it might turn out to be a false +alarm, he nevertheless sent forward a runner to +urge the carriers to their utmost speed; then +selected a score of the older men, who in their +day had fought the Germans, and ordered all the +rest to hurry on with as much as they could carry +of the remaining stores. Mwesa he kept as +interpreter.</p> +<p class="pnext">As soon as the camping-place was clear, he +sent Reinecke and the Arabs on, guarded by half +a dozen men, and followed closely behind them +with the rest of his party, to discover a suitable +position for making a first stand if pursuers were +really on his tracks. He had been marching less +than half an hour through the forest when some +of his scouts overtook him, and reported that a +large force of askaris, under German officers, was +pushing on at great speed. Knowing the +hopelessness of getting from the natives a sound +estimate of the enemy's numbers, he asked no +questions, but pressed forward as rapidly as +possible for another ten minutes. Then, on the +further side of a comparatively clear space, about +two hundred yards long and twice as wide, he +saw a dense belt of trees, fringed by low bushes, +which seemed to offer advantages for a delaying +action. There he decided to await the enemy's +arrival.</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked at his watch. Allowing for the +slow pace of the children and the laden men over +difficult country, he calculated that the head of the +straggling column had probably covered two-thirds +of the distance to the nullah. It would be at least +another hour before they reached its entrance, and +a second hour before the people and the stores +were far enough up to be out of harm's way. The +question was, then, could he check the pursuit for +two hours?</p> +<p class="pnext">By the time he had posted his men just within +the belt of trees, where they commanded the +whole space in front, he had been rejoined by all +his scouts. The report of the last comers was +even more alarming than that of the first. According +to them, a great throng of ferocious askaris, +like a swarm of wild bees, was dashing on with +the speed of antelopes. Though he was aware +of their habit of exaggeration, Tom was conscious +of a consuming anxiety, but had self-command +enough to present a calm and smiling front to the +natives, in whom the least sign of wavering on his +part would have started a panic. Through Mwesa +he gave them the order not to fire until he whistled, +resolving at the same time to cut himself a wooden +whistle at the first opportunity.</p> +<p class="pnext">The men had been posted barely twenty +minutes when, through the thinner woodland on +the opposite side of the clearing, Tom caught +sight of a few scattered negroes in uniform. +"Scouts feeling their way forward," he thought. +The askaris moved rapidly, but cautiously, flitting +from tree to tree in a series of short rushes. +Marking one of them, Tom fired. The man +instantly slipped behind a trunk; his fellows had +all disappeared.</p> +<p class="pnext">Analysing later his frame of mind at the +moment of firing, Tom had to admit that his +aim had been intentionally bad, and justified his +action with the excuse that his object was merely +to delay the enemy. At bottom, however, he +was really loth to kill his man--a feeling which +has, no doubt, seized many a young officer in his +first fight. In after days he often debated with +himself and discussed with others how far humanity +is compatible with war, and the conclusion that +he came to was that war must be abolished, or +humanity would perish. If man must kill man, +whether the agent be bullet, shell, bomb, poison +gas, or any other abomination, logically there is +nothing to choose between them: the vile thing +is war itself. But at this moment he had no time +for reflection: he acted purely from a humane +instinct, not realising what war meant, ignorant of +the methods in which the enemy was prepared to wage it.</p> +<p class="pnext">His ill-aimed shot had not been without effect. +The enemy had vanished, and Tom's men, in +their simplicity, whooped with delight. Tom +however, was under no delusion. One or more +of the askaris had no doubt stolen back through +the wood to report that they were in touch with +the fugitives; the rest were still lurking among +the trees.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the minutes passed without further movement, +Tom's anxiety increased in proportion with +the natives' elation. What numbers had he to +deal with? Would his little force of untrained +men be swept upon and overwhelmed? He +would have been spared a period of racking +suspense if he could have divined the facts which +he was not to know till much later. Sergeant +Morgenstein and the Arabs, having escaped from +the plantation, did not take the twenty-mile road +to Bismarckburg, but struck southward to the +highway to Neu Langenburg, a distance only +half as great. On this road they met a half +company of askaris marching towards Bismarckburg. +The German officer in command, on learning +what had happened at the plantation, tapped +the telegraph wire and asked for instructions. +Ordered to make a forced march and deal with +the mutiny--what resistance was to be expected +from a mob of undisciplined blacks?--he pushed +on to the plantation, only to find it deserted. +Darkness forbade instant pursuit; but at the +earliest glimmer of dawn he started to follow up +the very plain tracks of the absconded rebels.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was perhaps twenty minutes after the +disappearance of the enemy scouts when Mwesa +detected a movement deep in the thin woodland +opposite. Tom fixed his eyes intently on the +spot the boy pointed out, and presently saw several +forms moving forward amid the brushwood. +There were signs that others were coming up +behind them. They were scarcely distinguishable +in the shade of the trees, and darted so quickly +from cover to cover that even a crack shot could +hardly have picked them off.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom felt that an attempt to check the advance +while the enemy were still in the wood would be +sheer waste of ammunition. The most of his +men had not handled fire-arms for years; they +had probably lost whatever skill they might once +have had; the younger men had only begun their +musketry course. He must at least wait for the +inevitable rush across the open; then, perhaps, +the negroes, unskilled though they were, might +be lucky with some of their shots. If the enemy +were in no great strength, the mere show of +resistance might achieve his end--delay.</p> +<p class="pnext">The askaris, finding their advance unopposed, +gained confidence, were less careful in taking +cover, and presently formed up in line just within +the forest fringe. Suddenly a white helmet +showed itself above them, a little in their rear; a +word of command rang out, and the askaris, +twenty strong, charged with a wild yell in double +line across the open. Tom gave a shrill whistle, +marked his man and fired. His shot was followed +by a ragged volley from his men. This time his +aim was true; one or two askaris fell to the +shots of the negroes; the rest wavered, and at a +second volley scurried back into the forest, losing +another on the way.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had not fired a second time, but had +watched the forest. It was plain from movements +he observed there that the German had held part +of his force in reserve. The slight losses suffered +in feeling for the opposition had probably +reassured him as to the character of the resistance he +had to meet; the next attack would be made in +strength.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ignorant of the numbers opposed to him, Tom +thought it prudent not to await a second attack, +and gave his men the order to retire quietly. They +marched on for about half a mile, and then came +to a rocky ridge flanking the track, which it +commanded for a considerable distance. Here Tom +determined to make a second stand.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was nearly half an hour after he had posted +his men before there was any sign from the enemy. +Then he heard in the distance the sharp crackle of +a volley, followed by shouts. He guessed that +the askaris were charging across the open space +under cover of strong rifle fire. Abruptly the +sounds ceased, and Tom could not help chuckling +as he saw in his mind's eye the blank faces of the +askaris when they found their entrance into the +forest unopposed.</p> +<p class="pnext">But he remembered that he had a German +officer to deal with. A trained soldier would be +put on the alert by the disappearance of his enemy. +He would probably suspect that he was being +lured into a trap, and Tom desired nothing better. +The German would feel his way forward +cautiously, slowly, fearing an ambush in every gloomy +spot. He might take an hour to cover the +distance of a few minutes' walk.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom seized the opportunity of making good +his retreat to the nullah. Putting on their best +speed, the little party overtook the tail end of the +column of carriers at the spot where the askaris +had been ordered to drop their loads. Now that +he was himself able to keep an eye on them, Tom +made them mount their bales again, and march +on towards the nullah. He left two good men to +watch for the enemy, and followed with the rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom with his rearguard of riflemen had come +within half a mile of the nullah when Mushota +came bounding along the column towards him, +jostling any carrier who was in his way. The lad +spoke excitedly to Mwesa, who turned a +crestfallen face to his master and said--</p> +<p class="pnext">"He gone; all same run away."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Old massa, sah."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Reinecke?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, sah. He grab rifle quick, fella no can +do nuffin. He shoot one man, den go bang into +forest, no can catch him. He gone sure nuff."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's manner of receiving the news was a +surprise to the negroes. Far from being agitated, +storming, threatening punishment for the unwary +guards, he smiled. Reinecke's escape was in a +certain degree a relief to him. It had been +necessary to remove the German from the plantation; +but after the people had reached the nullah he +would have been an incubus.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good riddance," thought Tom. "I hope I +have seen the last of him."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-x-a-breathing-space"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11">CHAPTER X--A BREATHING SPACE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">On arriving at the entrance to the nullah, +Tom found that Mirambo had already +herded the women and children beyond the first +bend, something less than a quarter of a mile +away, and was superintending the bestowal of the +stores still farther up, on natural ledges in the +steep bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the southern extremity the nullah was about +sixty yards wide. In the middle a shallow stream +rippled over the rocky bottom, disappearing in +places beneath tangled masses of vegetation. +Trees of many kinds grew on the steep walls, +acacias and euphorbias predominating, and on +both sides of the stream there were many patches +of scrub, mimosa, and thorn, rendering the +passage by no means easy. But these natural +obstacles must be supplemented by art if the +place was to be made even tolerably secure, and +Tom lost no time in putting the necessary works +in operation.</p> +<p class="pnext">He first posted a score of riflemen in the scrub +about two hundred yards south of the nullah, +putting Mirambo in charge of them, with orders +to fire one volley if the enemy appeared, and +then to withdraw. Next he set all available men +to clear away, with the tools brought from the +plantation, all the bush that grew thickly in front +of the entrance, in order to give a field of fire. +The negroes, many of whom had been employed +in clearing the ground for the plantation, were +experts at the job, and when more than a hundred +men work with a will the result is almost magical. +In half an hour the space was free from every +stump and root.</p> +<p class="pnext">Allowing them a few minutes for rest, during +which the men who had shared in his delaying +action delighted the rest with very tall stories of +their prowess, he set them to fell a number of +trees with which to construct a barricade across +the entrance. While they were thus engaged, +Mwesa came to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Haroun say want speak, sah."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Haroun is one of the overseers, isn't he? +Well, bring him down."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa soon returned with one of the prisoners, +whom Tom knew by sight--a tall, lean Arab, +with strongly marked features and piercing eyes. +Addressing Tom very humbly in broken German, +he begged to be allowed to take service with him. +He had not been long in Reinecke's pay; indeed, +he had been reluctant to accept employment with +the German; nay more, he had actually been +forced to do so, for he was headman of an Arab +village on the Great Lake, and his village would +have been destroyed if he had not obeyed the +call of the German "big master."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom did not much like the look of the man, +but, true to Mr. Barkworth's counsel to "keep +an open mind," he decided not to stand on mere +prejudice; and after learning from Mwesa that +the Wahehe had nothing against this latest comer +among the overseers, he accepted the Arab's offer, +and instructed him to superintend the erection of +the barricade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Time would not allow of the construction of a +regular stockade, with poles properly cut and +trimmed, and deeply planted in the ground. It +seemed to Tom that the most effective barrier +that could be quickly raised would consist of +small trees with their foliage, set as closely +together as might be, with their crowns pointing +outwards, in the form of a rough <em class="italics">chevaux de frise</em>. +The men were set to work on those lines. Some +felled or uprooted young trees from the slopes +of the nullah, others hauled them to the bottom, +and a third gang arranged them side by side +across the entrance. Meanwhile a party of boys +was employed in cutting brushwood and piling +it here and there among the trees where the +foliage was thin. A single gap was left on the +east side as a gateway for the scouts.</p> +<p class="pnext">The work had only just been roughly accomplished +when a scattered volley from Mirambo's +party apprised Tom that the enemy had at last +appeared. Immediately afterwards he saw his +men running back from the line of bushes, and +they had no sooner gained the entrance to the +nullah than a regular volley flashed from the cover +they had just left.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom posted his men along the inner side of the +barricade, ordered them to kneel, pass the muzzles +of their rifles through the brushwood, and fire at +the legs of the enemy askaris when he gave the +word. Haroun the Arab begged to be entrusted +with a rifle: but Tom, remembering another +of Mr. Barkworth's maxims, "Prove all men," +refused the request until he should have tested +his new recruit. A turncoat has to win confidence.</p> +<p class="pnext">The enemy, however, did not repeat their +volley. Apparently they were daunted by the +aspect of the barricade which had sprung up so +unexpectedly, and which, in the distance, looked +formidable enough. Their hesitation to storm +it was reasonable, especially if they were in no +great strength; and Tom, though he could see +nothing of them through the screen of bushes, +had come to the conclusion that the vast number +his scouts had reported was a figment of their +lively imagination. No German, in command of +any considerable body of disciplined men, would +have been so sluggish in following up a horde of +untrained negroes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Near the barricade the sides of the nullah +sloped up steeply, but were easily scalable. It +occurred to Tom that the enemy might wait until +nightfall and then attempt to turn his position. +That, however, would involve obvious difficulties +and dangers; the German could hardly afford to +divide his force, if it were indeed a small one. +At any rate such an operation could be defeated +by unremitting vigilance, and meanwhile there +was all the rest of the day, supposing his +conjecture were well founded, in which to push on with +his defensive works. Posting, then, some of the +riflemen under cover of the vegetation on either +slope, Tom set the other men to fill up the +gaps in the barricade. They worked with the +eagerness of those who have faith in their leader, +and before the sun set Tom had the satisfaction +of seeing his wall complete--a rough, slight +defence, indeed--but likely to be effective against +nothing worse than rifle fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">By the time darkness fell, he had begun to +realise that the position of a commander-in-chief +is not one to be coveted. In his own small sphere +he had had, as he frankly put it to himself, quite +enough of it. The physical and nervous strain of +the last few days; the sense of responsibility for +the welfare of the people who had so readily put +their trust in him; above all, perhaps, the want +of sleep; had almost, in his own words again, +knocked him out. Yet he dared not even sleep +while the enemy was at hand. Without him the +Wahehe would be simply an unorganised mob. +There was nothing for it but to reconcile himself +to another wakeful night, to ensure that his +sentries were alert, and to leave the organisation +of the people, in their retreat up the nullah, to a +hoped-for leisure.</p> +<p class="pnext">The night passed undisturbed, except for false +alarms. Unaccustomed to night watching, the +negroes more than once declared that they heard +footsteps, and even saw faces. One of them +fired off his rifle in nervous excitement at the +dangers his imagination had conjured up. Their +fears proved to be baseless; and in the morning, +when Tom warily climbed the slope to a point +from which he could overlook the ground beyond +the bushes, there was no sign of the enemy. A +little suspicious, he sent Mushota out to creep +round the position, and, if the enemy had indeed +decamped, to follow them up and see what they +were about. In an hour the lad returned, elation +beaming from his broad smiling face. He +reported that the askaris were marching swiftly +back towards the plantation; in fact, they were +running away! Tom did not contradict him: +the belief that the enemy had fled would +encourage the people; he himself thought it +likely enough that they had been recalled for +more important work than rounding up a gang of +mutinous recruits. But Reinecke had escaped, +and Reinecke, he felt sure, would never rest +until he had made a bid for vengeance on the +man who had committed the crime that a rascal +never forgives--found him out.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pity he's gone, after all," thought Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now that no immediate danger was to be feared, +he allowed himself the indulgence of a couple of +hours' sleep, leaving Mirambo in charge. +Refreshed by this all too brief rest, he went up the +nullah to see how the greater part of his people +were getting on. Not at all to his surprise, he +found that nothing whatever had been done by +way of organisation. The negro at best has +little initiative, and these emancipated slaves, in +unfamiliar surroundings, had taken no thought +except to feed themselves, which they had done +uncommonly well. Tom was not prepared to +follow his mother's prescription with a new +housemaid: give free run until they made +themselves ill. Economy might be vitally necessary: +he saw that his first task must be that of +food controller. He called up Reinecke's head +servant, a fat negro from one of the coast tribes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want you to listen to me, Moses," he said. +"You see what has happened. I have brought +the people away for two reasons: first, to free +them, then to prevent the men from fighting for +the Germans. You are no longer Herr Reinecke's +servant, but my prisoner--unless you like to +take service with me. I tell you frankly I can't +pay you, at present; but the Germans are +going to be beaten, you understand; don't make +any mistake about that; and when I get to +Abercorn I will pay you your full wages, and +something extra if you serve me well. Think +it over."</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Moses, like all the other servants, had +fallen under the spell of Tom's personality. To +put it shortly, Reinecke frowned, Tom smiled. +Further, he had been greatly impressed by the +stories told him by the Arabs and by Mirami: +the moral victory over the German sergeant and +the humbling of Reinecke were events that +specially struck a negro's imagination. If all +Englishmen were like this one, it was not at all +incredible to Moses that the Germans would be +beaten indeed. Why not serve the Englishman, +then--and get extra pay? It seemed worth trying.</p> +<p class="pnext">Moses thought it over while Tom was counting +the rifles and cases of ammunition. His choice +was made.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," said Tom, when the man came +to him. "Now I want you to take stock of the +provisions, and tell me how long they ought to +last if we are careful. The people have been +helping themselves freely, I see. We can't have that."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's use of the plural flattered the negro's +self-importance. He set about his first task with +alacrity, and reported presently that the food +would last six or eight weeks if the women were +kept in order. Tom delighted him by arranging +that each head of a family and each independent +man should come to Moses once a week for his +supply of food.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll see how it works," he thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had made up his mind to release and +dismiss the askaris; they would only be so many +useless mouths to feed. But when he told them +they were to go they looked by no means pleased. +They gazed blankly at him and at one another, +then withdrew in a knot and talked among +themselves. Presently one of them came back, and +said that none of them wished to go. They +hated the Germans: they would rather serve the +Englishman.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom looked at them squarely.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't make any mistake," he said. "You +will not have an easy time if you stay with me. +You will have to work hard."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man asked if they were to fight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't tell you that. You will not have rifles, +at any rate, until you have shown that you are +faithful."</p> +<p class="pnext">Would they have to drill?</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom smiled. He had watched recruits in +barrack-yards in Germany, and he made a shrewd +guess that the African askari did not find the +German drill-sergeant a very gentle taskmaster.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You may have to do my drill," he said. "You +don't know what that is? Then you had better +stay a few days and look on while I drill the +Wahehe. If you don't like it, you shall be free +to go."</p> +<p class="pnext">The askari's artless question drew Tom's +thoughts to a survey of his position. He had +brought the people away. For the present, +apparently, they were safe. What course was he to +lay down for them and for himself? He was +handicapped by ignorance of what was happening +on the border forty miles away. From a remark +let fall by Reinecke during that unforgettable +dinner in the bungalow he surmised that the +British in Northern Rhodesia were likely to be +on the defensive at the opening of the campaign. +The Germans, he knew, had a much larger military +force on the frontier, and from what Reinecke +had said, they were energetically raising new levies +among the natives. It would be unlike the British, +an extraordinary break-away from their traditions, +if they were not taken by surprise, not slow in +waking up, not tenacious and successful when +fully aroused.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's conclusion was that he must sit tight. +He might try to open up communications with +the British, with a view either to a dash across the +frontier, or to joining them if they should advance +into German territory. Meanwhile, though for +some reason unknown the small force that had +followed him up had drawn off, he was virtually +besieged. His first task, then, was to put his +position into as thorough a state of defence as was +possible, and to establish such order among the +little community as would further his ultimate +design.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I've got all my work cut out," he +thought, somewhat drearily. Then he smiled +as he remembered his brother. "Wouldn't Bob +grin! By George, though, if we're at war Bob +will want to be in it! Of course he will! The +business will go to pot. What a rum world it is!"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xi-tom-s-new-allies"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12">CHAPTER XI--TOM'S NEW ALLIES</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The more Tom thought over the +probabilities of the case, the less likely it +appeared to him that the Germans, if engaged +in serious operations on the frontier, would spare +a force for dealing immediately with mutineers +who might be rounded up at leisure. At the +same time the situation was so uncertain that he +could not afford to neglect the opportunity of +preparing for a possible attack. It was equally +important that he should get timely notice of the +enemy's approach, and that could be secured +only by starting an efficient system of scouting. +As soon as he had dealt with the askaris, +therefore, he got Mirambo to choose a dozen active +and trustworthy young men, and arranged that +they should go out in parties of six on alternate +days, to reconnoitre as much ground south of the +nullah as they could cover between dawn and +dark. He could not yet entrust them with rifles +uncontrolled: they had no other arms than the +agricultural implements; but while the first six +were absent, the second could fashion wooden +spears which would suffice for protection against +wild animals. There were no villages in the +immediate neighbourhood of the nullah, or +between that and the plantation, so that collisions +with hostile tribes were scarcely to be feared.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom then passed to the consideration of the +problem of the camp. Accompanied by Mirambo +and Mwesa he explored the whole length or the +nullah between the bend and the lake, a distance +of perhaps half a mile. The width varied a good +deal; the sides were almost perpendicular; and +the stream, being the outflow from an upland +lake, descended in a series of cascades. At +present there was little volume of water; but +in a couple of months, with the opening of the +rainy season, the level of the lake would rise, +and what was now a trickling rivulet might +become a raging torrent. Tom hoped that by +that time his occupation of the nullah would be +at an end. Preparing for the worst, however, +he came to the conclusion that the ground on +either side of the stream would be an insecure +camping-place, and decided to plant his temporary +village around the spot where he and Mwesa had +found a refuge a few days before. It was in the +heart of a wood, where the nullah broadened out +to more than three times its average width, and +was defended on the northern side by the lake. +The building of huts would take a considerable +time, because the wood must be cleared of beasts, +and the able-bodied men must be employed in +completing the defences lower down the nullah; +but certain parts of the work could be done by +the younger women and the elder children.</p> +<p class="pnext">While some of the people were engaged in +preparing this <em class="italics">ex tempore</em> village, Tom set others +to strengthen the barricade across the nullah. +As he watched them, it occurred to him that the +position would gain in security if he used the +stream to form a moat, and he at once started two +gangs digging at the extreme ends of the breastwork, +a foot or two in front of it. At the close +of the next day the moat was finished--a ditch six +feet broad by four deep, extending right across +the nullah except where the stream flowed in the +centre. A man might easily leap over it, but his +leap would land him amid the branches of the +trees. It would be useful in checking a rush, +especially if it were unnoticed until the enemy +were actually upon it; and when, on its farther +side, a number of low bushes and clumps of long +grass had been planted, Tom found by experiment +that the water was not seen until he came +within half a dozen yards of it.</p> +<p class="pnext">The defences of the slopes right and left then +engaged Tom's attention. There were not enough +trees on the spot to form effective barricades, and +the only means of checking the enemy if they +scaled the low heights was to dig trenches. The +labour would be long and toilsome, for the ground +must first be cleared of the brushwood; but in no +other way could the enemy be prevented from +swarming down into the nullah. At the end of +a week the western and eastern slopes, for about +thirty yards from the end of the nullah, were each +scored with a deep trench, fortified with a parapet +constructed of the earth that had been removed.</p> +<p class="pnext">A second line of defence might be necessary, +and for this there was no better position than the +bend of the nullah, nearly half a mile to the north. +The sides being here steep, almost perpendicular, +it was impossible to haul trees from the forest +above for a breastwork like that at the entrance; +so Tom had the bed of the nullah cleared of cover +for a space of about two hundred yards, and a +trench with a strong parapet carried from side to side.</p> +<p class="pnext">The work was still unfinished when one day the +scouts, for the first time, reported that they had +sighted the enemy. About ten miles away they +had seen a band of young natives marching +towards Bismarckburg in charge of a German +officer and a small party of askaris. It seemed +clear that these negroes were recruits for the +German forces, and Tom, relying on the scouts' +statement that the askaris were few in number, +decided to make an attempt to prevent the natives +from being turned into what Captain Goltermann +had called "black Germans."</p> +<p class="pnext">The party, when sighted, was marching very +slowly, following a native path that wound through +dense bush, and crossed the track between the +plantation and the nullah. Tom calculated that +if he started at once he would arrive at a +position where he might ambush the enemy just +before they reached the road to Bismarckburg. +With his untrained men he could not risk a +stand-up fight; but he hoped that the advantage +of surprise, if the patrol was really so small as the +scouts declared, would enable him to achieve his +end without fighting.</p> +<p class="pnext">Selecting twenty of the men who had been with +him in his little action in the forest, he led them +out, with Mwesa, and followed rapidly on the +heels of the scouts. In about an hour and a half +they came to the spot he had fixed on, and while +he posted the men in the bush on both sides of +the track, he sent the scouts to worm their way +eastward and watch for the enemy. The interval +before they returned was long enough for the men +and himself to regain breath. It was perhaps +half an hour later when they came quietly through +the brushwood with news that the enemy were in sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the place where Tom had posted himself the +track ran fairly straight for more than a hundred +yards, and he was able to take stock of the party +with which he had to deal while it was still distant. +First came two unarmed natives, evidently guides; +then a German non-commissioned officer; behind +him two German privates, followed by a string +of negroes. The tail of the party was out of sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">Seeing how few were the armed men at the +head of the column, Tom instantly resolved on +a bold course. His own men were concealed +among the bushes; they had their orders. He +stepped out on to the track, accompanied only +by Mwesa, just before the negro guides reached +him. They halted in surprise, and looked round +towards the German thirty yards behind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell them to come on, Mwesa," said Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy called to them, and they at once +hastened on. Tom spoke to them in German, +but they evidently did not understand him. +Meanwhile the German sergeant had quickened +his step, and hearing German on the lips of the +stranger, he approached unsuspiciously, halted, +clicked his heels together, and waited, as a +well-trained subordinate will, for his superior to +address him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Halt your men, Sergeant," said Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant started. Quicker-witted than the +sergeant whom Tom had so easily disposed of +at the plantation, he detected a foreign accent in +the stranger's speech. Tom gave him no time +to consider.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your life depends on your keeping cool," +he went on quickly. "Don't make a sound. +Keep your arms still and face me. The bush +on both sides is lined with troops who will fire at +the slightest hostile movement. Halt your men."</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant hesitated for the fraction of a +second, then called to the privates a few yards +away to pass word along the column.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They are halted," he said; "but there is +something I don't understand here." He looked +incredulously around him. "I don't know who +you are, but if you are bluffing----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me convince you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom parted a clump of thick bush on one +side of the track, disclosing a negro kneeling, +with his rifle pointed straight at the German. +In a bush on the other side, nearly opposite, he +showed another man. Moving half-a-dozen paces +down the track he revealed yet another man, +finger on trigger, to the astonished sergeant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your position is quite hopeless, you see," Tom +went on. "You had better surrender quietly. +Give me your revolver."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German threw a glance over his shoulder +at the privates, standing at the head of the +column of negroes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"At once! Don't hesitate!" said Tom. +"Your men will be shot down if they attempt +resistance. Your revolver."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man handed over the weapon sullenly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now tell those men of yours to come forward +one at a time and lay their rifles down on the +track in front of me. Don't say another word."</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant gave the order. The men, with +a look of mingled curiosity and wonderment, +advanced, laid down their rifles, and at Tom's +command walked a few yards along the track, +then halted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mwesa, go and tell those natives to come +past me, slowly, and then turn into the bush +and wait. Tell them nothing else.... You +have men at the rear?" he added to the sergeant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are they?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Askaris."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How many?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Twenty."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then when they come up behind the negroes +you will give them the same order as you gave +your Germans. Stand here by me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The negroes, all strong young men, defiled past +Tom in silence, their eyes wide with anxiety and +dread. He counted sixty. In their rear came +the twenty askaris. One by one they laid down +their rifles and passed on, looking with surprise at +their officer's glowering face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is all?" asked Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then we will go. Give me your whistle."</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant unslung the whistle from his +shoulder. Tom blew a shrill note, and his men +started out of the bush and lined up on the track. +The German cursed when he saw that they were +less in number than his own men; Tom felt that +he would have writhed had he known that none +of them was trained. At the present moment +he was lost in wonderment at the fact of a young +white man, in German territory but clearly not +a German, having at his command negroes who +were just as clearly not German askaris, but +possessed German rifles.</p> +<p class="pnext">The order of the march home was quickly +arranged. Half Tom's men went ahead, carrying +the captured rifles. They were followed by the +liberated natives, who, imagining that they had +only exchanged one servitude for another, +trudged on in gloomy silence. Tom's motive +in not dismissing them at once was to link them +to the British cause by means of the impression +which he hoped they would gain from his +defensive measures at the nullah, and he knew that +they would break away the moment they realised +that they were free. Behind them marched the +askaris, then five more of his riflemen escorting +the German privates. He kept the sergeant by +his side, and the rear was brought up by Mwesa +and the rest of his men.</p> +<p class="pnext">The capture of a German prisoner gave Tom +an opportunity of learning something of the +course of events on the frontier. He considered +how best to open up the subject with the sergeant, +and decided that perfect frankness would probably +serve him best.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are naturally surprised, Sergeant," he +said, "at finding an Englishman on your side of +the border."</p> +<p class="pnext">"An Englishman!" growled the sergeant. "I +thought you were a Belgian."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed! Are you at war with Belgium too?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is no Belgium. It belongs now to the Kaiser."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dear me! I understand that Paris has +fallen: you have therefore France and Britain +against you; but Belgium--did she break her +neutrality?</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know anything about that; but I do +know that Belgium and half France are now in +our hands; your Navy is defeated; and London +will soon be at our mercy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You make me tremble! And what about Abercorn?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant blinked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"London is rather far away," Tom went on. +"I am much more deeply interested at present +in places nearer at hand. You were going +to attack Abercorn, I understood. No doubt +you took it as easily as your troops took Paris."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German's frown relieved Tom of his +anxiety. Smiling, he continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come now, Sergeant, you may as well tell the +truth, you know. You have nothing to lose by +it. You found Abercorn a harder nut than you +expected, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You seem to know a lot," said the German +gloomily. "Did you come across from Rhodesia?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No: I came from Kigoma on the <em class="italics">Hedwig von Wissmann</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ach!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is the matter?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There are always misfortunes; we can't win +everything."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't mean to say----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean to say that the other Wissmann boat, +the <em class="italics">Hermann von Wissmann</em>, allowed itself to be +surprised at Sphinxhaven on Nyassa."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And was captured? Really we must take +that as a set-off against your defeat of our +Navy--in the North Sea, I suppose. But to come back +to Abercorn."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You know as well as I do that we were beaten +off. The English were four to one: what else +could be expected?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see! That explains why you have been +ranging the country for recruits. But I understood +that your forces in East Africa hopelessly +outnumbered the British."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So they do, but not everywhere. In the +north we have cut the Uganda Railway, captured +Mombasa and Nairobi, and are sweeping the +English into the sea."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, they'll be quite at home there! It's +our native element, you know. These successes +must console you for your failure at Abercorn: +they'll lighten your captivity, Sergeant."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is true," said the German, blind to +irony. "And I shall not be your prisoner long."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope not, I'm sure."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was a trick. You would never have beaten +me in fair fight; and the English, when they win +at all, only win by trickery. Everybody knows that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Trickery, and superior numbers, as at Abercorn! +Don't you think the Kaiser had better +throw up the sponge, then? It would save trouble."</p> +<p class="pnext">The sergeant was so much horrified by the +suggestion that he launched out into a violent +denunciation of England and all things English, +and painted a dismal picture of the dismembered +British Empire. Tom let him run on: he had +heard something like it in Germany, and had +taken it then, as he took it now, as the raving of +impotent envy. He would probably have listened +to the German with less serenity had he known +to what lengths the pitiless logic of militarism had +carried the Kaiser's helots on the stricken fields +of Europe.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were welcomed at the nullah with shouts +of joy by the people, who had thronged behind +the barricade and on the slopes. Astonishment +sat on the faces of the Germans when they were +admitted by the single gateway and marched up +the nullah, past the trench, to the village growing +by the lake.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You keep us here, with niggers?" said the sergeant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes: until I have the pleasure of escorting +you to Abercorn," replied Tom. "You are +white men: I don't want to have to tie you up: +but I shall do so unless you give me your word +not to attempt to escape."</p> +<p class="pnext">To avoid the ignominy of being kept in bonds +the Germans gave their parole readily enough. +Tom arranged with Moses for their rations, then +returned to the rescued negroes whom he had +left under guard lower down. They, meanwhile, +had been regaled with stories, freely embroidered, +of what the m'sungu had done, and when he +appeared among them their downcast expression +had been replaced by looks of hope. He learnt +from Mwesa that they had been collected from +several villages to the eastward, near Lake Rukwa, +some fifteen miles away. Mwesa brought to him +a young negro whom he introduced as the son +of M'setu, the chief of the largest of these villages.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell them they can all go home," said Tom. +"This young man may take his father a message +from me. The Germans will no doubt raid the +villages again for men. It is not likely I shall +be able to help them a second time. M'setu, +then, had better march away with all his people +into British territory and remain there until the +war is over."</p> +<p class="pnext">The negroes laughed, leapt, embraced one +another when they heard that they were free. +Without delay they poured out through the gate +and flocked away towards the east. Not even +the chief's son stayed to thank their rescuer. +But the incident had a strange sequel two days +afterwards. About midday one of the scouts +came running back to report that a large body +of spearmen, led by a great chief, was marching +through the forest in the direction of the nullah. +They were not on a warlike expedition, for behind +the chief three men led each a goat, which could +only be intended as peace-offerings.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go and see who they are, Mwesa," said +Tom. "They are not to come across the clearing +until I know what they want."</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently Mwesa returned, smiling with even +more enjoyment than usual.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him M'setu, sah," he said: "come for talk with sah."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well. Bring him along; he can come +in with six of his men: the rest remain outside."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa ran back into the forest, and soon +reappeared at the side of a powerful negro of +middle age. A throng of negroes about a +hundred strong followed him to the edge of the +clearing. There at his order they squatted in +a long line, and the chief himself, accompanied +by his son and five other men--three of whom +led milk-white goats bleating dolefully--marched +at Mwesa's heels towards the gate, where Tom +stood waiting.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him M'setu, sah," said Mwesa, by way of introduction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom at once stepped forward and grasped the +chief by the hand, an act which brought a smile +of pleasure to the face of his six companions +and a shout from the men watching intently two +hundred yards away.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'setu began to speak. After one sentence +he paused, looking to Mwesa to interpret.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him say sah him fader and mudder," said Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom acknowledged the compliment with a smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chief began again, inquiring after Tom's +health, the health of his father, mother, wife, +children, cattle, and so on, until Tom felt rather +overwhelmed by his politeness. By and by he +came to business.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him say berry glad sah him good send +back men all same. Him say bring goats for sah +him pot, berry nice goats. Him say come alonga +sah: what for? sah kill all dem Wadaki, so +M'setu him came alonga sah kill Wadaki all same."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You mean that I am to kill all the Germans, +and he will come and help?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dat just what M'setu say," said Mwesa, +delighted that his master had understood him so well.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, you must tell him that that's not my +job. I couldn't rid the country of Germans if I +tried, but the British will come across the border +by and by and eat them all up. Tell him that."</p> +<p class="pnext">M'setu's response was very long-winded. The +gist of it was that he expected another recruiting +visit from the Germans. He had heard that they +had been thrown back across the border by the +British, and was therefore not inclined to go to +the trouble of removing all his people from their +villages, but would rather stay and defend +himself, with the assistance of the m'sungu, who had +already rescued his young men.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was a good deal perplexed how to deal +with this ingenuous offer of an alliance. M'setu's +warriors, armed only with spears, would be wiped +out by a single machine-gun, and Tom could do +nothing to help them: outside his nullah he +would be as much at the Germans' mercy as they. +On the other hand, the chief's men, familiar with +a wider stretch of country than the Wahehe from +the plantation, could do inestimable service as +scouts, and might give him early warning of +movements of which otherwise he would be +unaware. Through Mwesa he explained as +clearly as he could the difficulties of the situation, +and in the upshot made an arrangement with +M'setu by which the chief guaranteed to provide +a company of skilled scouts, and Tom in his turn +promised to lend assistance to M'setu if he was +threatened, and in the last resort to give his +people shelter in the nullah.</p> +<p class="pnext">M'setu departed, well satisfied with the result +of his interview.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What time sah eat goats?" asked Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Eat them! I'm not going to eat them," +said Tom. "Take them up to Moses and tell +him to look after them. We'll have some milk +by and by."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xii-the-deserter"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13">CHAPTER XII--THE DESERTER</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"Come now, Reinecke, you have been away +two months or so. What is the truth +of things? We are fed here with what I am +convinced are false, or at any rate too rosy, reports. +Coming from the centre you ought to be well +informed, and I want to know exactly how +matters stand."</p> +<p class="pnext">Major von Rudenheim bent forward and fixed +his hard blue eyes on Reinecke. They were sitting +in the major's quarters. Reinecke had just +returned from a mission which had carried him right +across the country, and after delivering dispatches +at headquarters had lost no time in visiting his +friend the major.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is the truth?" said Reinecke, flicking +the ash from his cigar irritably. "Who knows? +They said that Paris would fall before the British +Army got across the Channel; now it is said that +Paris has not fallen, though the British Army has +been annihilated."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And the Fleet?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The British are skulking in their harbours and +won't fight. We have bombarded most of their +commercial ports out of existence, but they had +been laying in such enormous stocks of food in +anticipation of the war that it will take a year or so +to starve them out. So it's said."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But surely if the ships won't fight we +command the sea and can bring them to terms. It +ought to be over by Christmas."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, the Kaiser is to eat his Christmas dinner +in London. But the fact is, Major, we're living +on rumours. The British smashed up our +wireless installation at Dar-es-Salam, and we haven't +had any really authentic news from Germany since +a fortnight after war broke out. As for this +country, we are not doing so well as we ought to +have done. We've taken some places inside their +frontier, but they've put up a surprisingly good +defence, and at present it's stalemate. Apparently +they are bringing troops from India----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"In spite of our Fleet?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, in spite of our Fleet. Tirpitz deserves +to be cashiered."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, my good friend, if they can get +reinforcements and we can't, where are we? And +then, I thought the English had to send troops +to India to put down the rebellion there. Isn't +that true?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know what's true. I'm sick of the +whole thing. Here's my plantation going to rack +and ruin: that wretched young cub of an Englishman +having the audacity to run off with my +workers; and when I ought to be bringing him +to book I'm packed off to Tabora. Heaven +knows what has happened in my absence."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know a little, too. Your young cub is +a pretty lively one, and has pretty good claws. +A few days after we were beaten back at +Abercorn----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's true, then. I didn't believe it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What could be expected when all our best +troops are in the north? We were outnumbered."</p> +<p class="pnext">If Major von Rudenheim believed what he +said, he must have been singularly ill-informed. +On September 5, when the Germans attacked the +little town of Abercorn, its defenders were forty +members of the native police, its commandant the +postmaster. There happened to be a machine-gun +at hand, and this was so well manipulated by +the postmaster, Mr. Bisset (who might have been +expected to be more at home with the telegraph +instrument) that the tiny garrison was able to hold +off the enemy, four times its strength, until +reinforcements of Rhodesian planters arrived. +Mr. Bisset's name deserves to be recorded on the +illustrious roll of civilians turned soldiers who +have at critical moments helped to make and to +save the British Empire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As I was saying," the major went on, "a few +days after our unlucky reverse at Abercorn, your +young cub pounced upon one of our recruiting +patrols and carried every man of them to his lair +somewhere in the forest."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke swore a good old German oath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's not true," he declared.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You forget yourself, Captain," said Rudenheim, +severely. "I am not a Berlin newspaper, +or even the Wolff bureau."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I apologise, Major, but really--a German +patrol, with German soldiers?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A sergeant, two privates, and I don't know +how many askaris. They all vanished."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then it can't be known that this English +pighead captured them: how could it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear captain, a recruiting patrol recruits. +These unfortunate Germans were returning with +their bag--how large I don't know: your cub +released them all. When the patrol was some +days overdue, a party was sent out in search. +They found the villages towards Lake Rukwa +absolutely empty of able-bodied men, which seems +to show that this British lion-cub has set up a +pretty efficient system of scouting, or the niggers +could hardly have had warning. But by adopting +the usual methods they wrung the story out of +one of the old men, burnt down a few houses, and +returned with the news."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And you hunted the wretch?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"We had something better to do. The English, +reinforced by Belgians, have kept things +rather lively on the frontier, and we have had no +men to spare for cub-hunting."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But--but--it is preposterous; it is an insult +to the German flag; to allow a nest of mutineers +to exist--yes, and to make raids--within a couple +of marches of a German town. The young fool +is alone----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"With all your plantation hands, I understand."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Raw niggers----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But armed with Mausers we can ill spare."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They don't know butt from muzzle."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Possibly your cub is not such a cub after all. +The English schoolboy nowadays has a cadet's +training, I believe. Perhaps this youngster might +drive a little military gumption even into the +nigger's wooden head."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Really, Major," cried Reinecke impatiently, +"you speak as though--as though you think the +English good for something, whereas we all know +they can't possibly be. They've no efficiency; +they're slack; they----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, we've been told so," the major +interposed drily. "It's just possible that we're +mistaken--believe what we want to believe. And +I've seen this boy, remember."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke got up and stalked about the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is absurd; it is scandalous," he cried. "A +young whippersnapper kidnaps our men, defies us, +lowers the prestige of the German name, makes us +a laughing-stock----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stay, stay, Captain. You are a little +intemperate. A friendly word of warning: don't talk +like that outside this room. It's unwise, unsafe, +if you value your commission. I go so far as to +say you are unreasonable. You allow personal +feeling to warp your judgment. Your dislike of +this young Englishman, however natural in the +circumstances--" Reinecke flashed a keen look at +the speaker--"must not blind you to the facts of +the situation. As I have explained, we have been +hard pressed on the frontier. The Englishman, +it appears, has an extraordinarily strong +position----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where is he?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"They talk of a nullah----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know it. It was in my company he learnt of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That must be very annoying."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not at all, it is good news. Strong? Why, +it is a cul-de-sac. At the north it is blocked +by a lake. The cub has trapped himself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are a little impatient, Captain. I was +about to tell you that a half company of askaris +went in pursuit of him the same night he left +your plantation--while you were making your +way here. You left next morning, you +remember, or you would have known that our men +were checked in the forest----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Checked? By a horde of untrained niggers?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Commanded by your cub of an Englishman. +They were checked; only temporarily, of course; +the lieutenant did not know what force he had +against him, and acted with prudence as a good +soldier should. But when he pushed on to the +nullah, he found that fortification had already +been begun. The entrance of the nullah was +defended by a formidable breastwork, and to +capture the place would have taken a longer time +than he had to dispose of: he was under orders +for Abercorn."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But surely----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me finish, Captain. There was a +breastwork, as I say; and I am very much mistaken +if between then and now the boy has not added +to his defences. It is a mistake to despise one's +enemy, Reinecke, even an Englishman. Lieutenant +Obermann's opinion--and he is a good man, +you know--is that the nullah, properly defended, +could not be reduced by less than a couple of +companies of good troops--unless it could be +surprised; and since the fellow draws scouts from +all the niggers in the neighbourhood there's little +chance of that. Two companies could not be +detached from our frontier posts without a risk +which the colonel was unwilling to run. He is +not blind to all the considerations you put so +forcibly just now; but his decision was, to wait +until the general situation eased, then to take +measures to stamp out your Englishman and his +mutineers as one would destroy a nest of vipers."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, hang the lot."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Englishman?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not? He is a spy. The spy's fate is +to be hanged."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quite so. And I am sure we can depend on +you, Captain, to supply a good rope--even for +your partner."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke turned angrily towards the major, +whose attitude throughout the interview had been +very unsatisfactory, and in whose tone he had +caught a hint of contempt. But the explosion +that seemed imminent was prevented by a knock +at the door and the entrance of the major's +servant.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man saluted formally, and announced that +an Arab was enquiring for Captain Reinecke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Send him in," said the major: "unless you +would prefer to see him at your own quarters, +Captain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. Why should I meet an Arab secretly?" +said Reinecke with irritation. "Let him come in."</p> +<p class="pnext">There entered a lean, haggard Arab, in worn +and tattered dress, with one arm in a sling. He +bowed to the officers.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Haroun!" cried Reinecke. "I hardly knew +you ... It is one of my overseers, Major ... +Where have you been?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The man, in his broken German, poured out +a long story, which keenly interested the officers +in different ways. He said that, after having +been removed from the plantation, he had been +forced to take service with the Englishman, and +been cruelly treated by him. Lifting his tunic, +he turned his back, and displayed a few weals. +He escaped, and was fired at and wounded in the +arm. After several terrible days in the forest, he +had managed to crawl into Bismarckburg, and +what with hunger and pain was now at the point +of death.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Flogging a German subject!" cried Reinecke. +"Another nail in the Englishman's coffin."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A knot in the noose, let us say. Your Arab +had better have something to eat: he may then +tell us a good deal that we want to know. His +arm can be attended to afterwards. He is not +so near death as he thinks."</p> +<p class="pnext">The man was given into the charge of the +major's servant, to be fed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your Englishman, I suppose, dealt with the +Arab as he had seen him deal with your niggers," +remarked the major.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He saw nothing of the kind," replied +Reinecke with an air of malicious triumph. "While +he was at the plantation I forbade the use of the +whip. You see, Major?--the English boasted +humanity is sheer cant and hypocrisy: what we +do openly they do on the sly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hardly that, Reinecke. You forget there +are German prisoners in the nullah. They +probably saw the flogging."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And shared it, I daresay. The English are +capable of any atrocity. But we shall find the +man useful, Major. Nothing could be better. +And the nullah is so near that though the rains +have started we might crush the vipers soon: +there'll be a pause in the operations on the +frontier."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arab returned, refreshed and clean. +Reinecke questioned him eagerly, and drew from +him many details of what had happened since +the flight from the plantation. The German +prisoners, he said, had been placed on the island, +where a hut had been built for them. Food was +conveyed to them on a raft. As the man +described the defensive works at the nullah, +Reinecke drew a rough diagram in his pocketbook, +and marked the positions of the trenches +and the camp.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The youngster has a good headpiece," said +the major, looking with interest at the diagram. +"His name? Willoughby? I'm afraid we can't +claim German ancestry for him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A machine-gun will smash him," said Reinecke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A machine-gun would not be very effective +against defences like these, and it would be a +terrible business to get up anything heavier across +such country, at any rate while the rains are on. +He seems to have made good use of his time +during the last two months in training his +niggers, and unfortunately has won over our +trained askaris. A frontal attack would be very +costly, my friend."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can show another way into the nullah, Herr +Major," said the Arab.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why didn't you say so before?" cried +Reinecke. "Where is it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Herr Hauptmann will take me back into +his service?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dog, would you bargain with me? By your +own confession you deserted to the enemy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was compelled."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You deserted all the same. Deserters are +shot. Your only chance of escaping the penalty +is to assist us--to show us the way into the +nullah. You'll do that, and if you fail you'll be shot."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arab protested that he was sure of his +ground, and would faithfully lead the troops to +an entrance into the nullah which was at present +wholly unsuspected by the Englishman. He +described its position, and Reinecke's eyes +sparkled with anticipation as he turned to +Rudenheim and said--</p> +<p class="pnext">"We have him, Major! We'll capture the +place at little cost, and then---- Haroun, go +and show the doctor your arm, and come to my +quarters to-morrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A moment," said the major. "You were +flogged: what for?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arab appeared to be for a moment disconcerted +by the German's swift question. Then +he answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because I would not work as hard as the +Englishman wished, Herr Major."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So! You may go ... The man is a liar, +Reinecke. You will find that there's nothing +much wrong with his arm, if anything at all. +All the same, that northern entrance is genuine +enough, I think; and we must certainly catch +your cub. But I don't think we'll hang him; +he's the kind of man I like to make a prisoner +of war."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiii-hunted"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id14">CHAPTER XIII--HUNTED</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Major von Rudenheim's surmise +that "the cub" had been busy was +correct: Tom had never before been so fully +occupied, and, as he afterwards confessed, he had +never been happier in his life.</p> +<p class="pnext">The northern end of the nullah had now the +appearance of a prosperous native village. Tom +had felt certain misgivings on the score of +cleanliness and health; but he found that the Wahehe, +like all tribes that inhabit inland and mountainous +districts, away from the corrupting influences +of the coast, were tidy and orderly, and +under the authority of their old chief, Mirambo, +the people settled down to a comfortable +existence. The one drawback was the limited range +of movement; but even in this respect the +people were little worse off than they had been +on the plantation, and their rooted belief that +before long the Germans would be utterly driven +from the country gave them bright hopes for the +future. Moreover, the women and children in a +native village rarely stray far from their homes, +and as for the men, they had movement enough.</p> +<p class="pnext">To begin with, Tom organised a regular body +of scouts, incorporating some of his own men +with those furnished by his new ally, M'setu. +Always keeping in mind his alternative ultimate +designs, either to trek into British territory or +to hold his ground until the British overran the +border, he determined, when the scouts became +proficient, to patrol the whole country between +the nullah and the Neu Langenburg road. The +defeat of the Germans at Abercorn was very +heartening: clearly they were not to have the +easy conquest that Reinecke had apparently +expected. At the same time, it was only too +likely that their preparations were much more +advanced than the British, and he could not +hope that the Germans would yield the largest +and most precious of their colonial possessions +without a bitter struggle. It was also certain that +the enemy would at some time or other make a +serious effort to crush this mutiny; and while, +in such a vast and well wooded country, he could +not have commanded every possible avenue of +approach even with ten times as many men as +were available for scouting, he would at least make +reasonably sure that any movement of the enemy +on the main tracks should be reported to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first he sent out one of the Wahehe with +each of M'setu's men, and practised them in +watching the movements of small parties of +M'setu's people within a few miles of the nullah. +Presently, in order to increase the number of his +fighting-men, he accustomed M'setu's men to +scout alone. By degrees he extended their field +of operations until at length he had established +a definite chain, or rather network, of +scouting-posts commanding the principal tracks from +Bismarckburg, and especially the main frontier road +to Neu Langenburg. Within a month no enemy +force or convoy could move along the frontier +without Tom's hearing of it.</p> +<p class="pnext">The reports were at first brought to him by +runners, and reached him many hours late. +Could he not devise some means of saving time +and exertion alike? He remembered having read, +in a book of travels, how the natives of the +mountainous interior of New Guinea were +accustomed to shout news from height to height. +The hills to the south of his own position would +lend themselves admirably to a similar system, +and after a few rather heart-breaking experiments +he succeeded in teaching the negroes to adopt +this plan. Each prominent hill was given a +name; the man stationed at any particular post +had to shout the name to the next, and within +a very few minutes Tom at the nullah learnt that +a message had been dispatched by a scout perhaps +forty miles away.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile he practised the fighting-men in +aiming and sighting and fire discipline, giving +his commands by means of the whistle borrowed +from the German sergeant. These exercises were +performed, not only in the nullah, but on the +ground cleared in front of the barricade and also +in the forest. His stock of ammunition would +not allow of much target practice, and he ruefully +owned that the greater part of the men could +not be expected to become good marksmen. It +was more profitable to spend time in giving them +cohesion in simple field movements. He divided +them into sections of sixteen, and got up sham +fights in the forest: one party advancing, the +other retiring. At first the men whose part it +was to retire refused to do so, and even came +to blows with the attackers: why should they +withdraw before men no better than themselves? +But after a time they entered into the spirit of +the game, and showed considerable aptitude.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom found the askaris useful in the course +of his various exercises. At first, when he +practised his men in the nullah, the askaris looked +on with disdain, and roared with laughter at the +mistakes made by the negroes. But by degrees +they grew interested; they commented among +themselves on the contrast between the +Englishman's patience and good temper and the rough +treatment they had suffered at the hands of +their German drill sergeants. Tom, though he +affected to disregard them, was all the time +keenly watching, and there came a moment when +he suddenly turned to them and asked for two +volunteers to show the Wahehe the correct way +of kneeling to take aim. As he had expected, +they were flattered; every man wished to serve +as a model. For some days he did not apply +to them again, and noticed a certain restlessness +and disappointment among them. At length +he allowed them to act regularly as guides and +markers, but did not admit them definitively to +the ranks of his fighting-men until they came +to him in a body and begged to be taken fully +into his service. They were Sudanese, like the +majority of the German native troops. Many of +their people were fighting in the British ranks: +they preferred his drill to the German; and they +were ready to vow fidelity to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What about pay?" asked Tom. "I have no money."</p> +<p class="pnext">They replied that in the nullah they had no use +for pay, but no doubt he would pay them when +he had the money--an English promise was good. +Tom was rather doubtful of the wisdom of +trusting men who so suddenly changed their +allegiance, and he suspected that at the slightest +set-back they would desert him. On the other +hand, these trained men might serve as good +stiffening for his untried troops, and ultimately +he decided to incorporate them with the garrison +of the nullah, but not to allow them to leave it +until he had some clear proof of their loyalty.</p> +<p class="pnext">As time went on, he became somewhat worried +about two matters--the approach of the rainy +season, and the food supply. The foliage of +all the trees had turned red, a sure sign, according +to Mwesa, that the rains were at hand. The +lake would fill, the stream would become much +swollen: would he be flooded out? What would +be the effect of the damp upon his health and the +health of the people? Hitherto there had been +no sickness except minor ailments, which he had +treated with such drugs from Reinecke's stores +as he knew the use of. Ague and malaria were +only names to him, but they stood for something +terrible--the more terrible because unknown. He +had a good stock of quinine, the great stand-by, +he understood, in tropical climates; he would +watch for the first sign of fever, and then dose +freely. Fortunately one of the Arab overseers +had been accustomed to doctor the workers on +the plantation, and this man was gratified by +being appointed health officer to the community.</p> +<p class="pnext">The food question was an even greater difficulty, +for while all might not be sick, all must be +fed. The provisions brought from the plantation +were running low: and though these had been +supplemented by small animals trapped in the +forest and by occasional gifts from M'setu, these +sources were too precarious to be relied on. In +order to ease the situation, Tom at last made a +habit of going into the forest for a day's hunting +once a week, leaving Mirambo in charge of the +nullah. M'setu's people were excellent beaters +and knew the likeliest places for game; the +Wahehe were born hunters; but he could not +afford to let them use his ammunition +indiscriminately, and when they accompanied him +they were armed only with spears. Everything +depended on his own gun. In the course of +these shooting expeditions he brought down +several head of eland, hartebeest, and rhinoceros, +the last being a special favourite with the people. +The game was cut up and carried home by his +own men and by M'setu's people, who were +sufficiently paid for their services by the present +of certain portions of each day's bag.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was after one of these expeditions that Tom +had had to take disciplinary measures with Haroun. +The rationing system, after a little trouble, had +worked well. Moses had proved himself to be +thoroughly honest, and every one had his fair +share. After a time Moses began to suspect that +some one was pilfering. Small quantities of food +mysteriously disappeared. A watch was kept; +Tom called the people together and warned them +that any one who acted against the common +welfare must be punished; but the thief was not +detected until, made bold by success, he forgot +caution, and was caught red-handed by Moses. +On returning from a day's shooting Tom learnt +that the culprit was the Arab who had volunteered +his services on the first day at the nullah. In such +a man the crime could not be taken lightly, and +Tom ordered the man half a dozen strokes of the whip.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few days afterwards Haroun disappeared. +The sentries on guard day and night at the +barricade declared that the Arab had not passed +them. The nullah was searched; no trace of him +could be found. Some of the people reported +that, after the whipping, he had sulkily held +himself aloof, and used to wander alone by the shore +of the lake. At length it was generally believed +that he had fallen victim to a crocodile, and his +fate was a fruitful topic of conversation among +the Wahehe.</p> +<p class="pnext">One day, accompanied by Mwesa and some +two-score beaters and carriers, Tom set off to +shoot. The rains had just begun, and Mirambo +had told him that with the filling and overflowing +of the streams animals would certainly be found +on the swamps thus created. He had usually +gone either north or east, as being least likely to +encounter enemies in those directions. On this +occasion, however, he struck to the west, in order +to reach low-lying ground where, according to +M'setu's huntsmen, at this season of the year +game was plentiful.</p> +<p class="pnext">A couple of hours' march through the forest +brought him to an extensive hollow, covered only +with scrub and tall grass, and already showing +signs of becoming the impassable swamp which +would result from a few weeks' rain. The beaters, +marching quietly ahead, soon made signs that they +had sighted game, and presently, through the +grass, Tom saw the long dark form of a +rhinoceros placidly browsing. Stealing round to +leeward, he gradually approached the animal until +he was within easy range, fired, and had the +satisfaction of seeing his quarry fall at the first shot.</p> +<p class="pnext">The report of his rifle had startled another +beast that was wallowing in a pool near by. It +rose, sniffed around, then made off with lumbering +but rapid gait across the hollow towards a +belt of woodland on higher ground. Tom hurried +in pursuit with his beaters, leaving Mwesa to +guard the animal he had already shot.</p> +<p class="pnext">The chase was a long one. The rhinoceros, +before it recovered from its alarm, plunged +through a long stretch of forest and scrub, and +was found at last resting in a narrow glade +bordered on the further side by tall bushes. +Again Tom brought down the beast, this time at +his second shot. The natives, with cries of +delight, were rushing forward to skin and +dismember it for transport when, without warning, +there came from the bushes beyond the sharp +crack of several rifles, bullets sang through the +air, and two of the beaters fell. The rest bolted +into the bush on either side, and Tom, a little +less precipitately, was about to follow them when +he saw a number of German askaris emerge from +cover opposite, with Reinecke at their head.</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke's eyes were already gleaming with +triumph. He shouted a word or two which Tom +could not catch, and then fired his revolver. In +face of odds, Tom had already started to make +good his escape: but when he heard the German's +bullet whistle past him, he snatched out his +revolver, wheeled round, and fired. Reinecke +flung up his arm, stopped short, and yelled to the +askaris at his heels. Tom sprinted across the +few yards of open ground, dashed into the bush, +and ran, at first blindly, for he heard the askaris +close behind: one or two of them were shooting +at random in the hope of hitting him as he ran.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was fleet of foot, and guessed that he could +easily outstrip the askaris, laden with their service +packs. The danger was that he might lose his +way in the forest. All his men had disappeared; +they would probably find their way back to the +nullah without difficulty. It was important, +however, that he should not be long behind them, for +if they should report that he was captured or +killed, the people might be seized with panic, and +all his work be overthrown. He had left the +glade at a different point from that at which he +had entered it, and so could not follow the track +made by his men. But fortune favoured him. +He had not pushed his way far among the trees +when he struck a game track, along which, if the +askaris also did not discover it, he could make +still swifter progress than they, hindered by the bush.</p> +<p class="pnext">Some few minutes later, the track brought him +to a small stream: it had no doubt been trodden +by animals in quest of water. He jumped into +the stream, ran a short distance in the same +direction as the current, then made a long jump +into a clump of low shrubs on the right bank. +Replacing as well as he could the disarranged +vegetation, so as to give no clue to his pursuers, +he plunged once more into the bush, in the hope +of coming by and by upon a cross track that +would lead towards the nullah.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiv-the-trail"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id15">CHAPTER XIV--THE TRAIL</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Never before had Tom been alone in the +bush. On the few occasions when he +had gone shooting alone, during his sojourn in +Reinecke's bungalow, he had always followed +well-defined tracks. Since then, Mwesa or +Mirambo or some other native had been with +him. But now he had no guide, and he was +seized with a feeling of helplessness. Rain had +begun to fall, and the obscure sky could not be +read for the points of the compass. Brushwood +grew to his knees; thorn bushes threw out +tentacles that caught at his clothes and tore his +flesh. Dodging obstructions, he sometimes found +that he had only worsened his plight, and was +forced to tear a way for himself at the cost of +bleeding hands. Rarely he came to open spaces; +then he quickened his pace, though his wet boots +dragged heavily upon his feet. Once, in crossing +a grassy glade, he sank over his ankles in morass, +and swerved hastily into the bush again, to avoid +being engulfed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently, stopping to rest, he thought he +heard voices, and hoped that they came from his +own men. He dared not call, nor even move +towards them, until he was sure whether they +were friends or foes. The voices came nearer. +At all costs he must learn who the speakers were, +and he sprang up into a leafy tree from which +he might get a view of the country around. +Spying out cautiously through the foliage, he saw +a band of men pushing their way up a +bush-covered slope not a hundred yards from his +perch. Through the heavy rain he could not +at first distinguish them; but as they approached +he recognised the deserter, Haroun, leading a +couple of askaris. Behind them, out of the bush, +emerged Reinecke with his arm in a sling, a +younger officer by his side, and a line of askaris +following in single file. He shrank back into +the tree, dreading lest they should pass +immediately beneath him and some sharp-eyed man +discover him. But they topped the slope some +distance away and passed out of sight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have come in the right direction," he +thought. "They must be bound for the nullah."</p> +<p class="pnext">Waiting a little, to make sure that no more of +the enemy were coming, he slipped down from +the tree, and with infinite caution followed in +their track. If this led indeed towards the +nullah, he would presently be on ground that +he knew, and might circumvent them and arrive +first. He felt somewhat perplexed. The Arab +Haroun had certainly betrayed him: why, then, +had Reinecke set out with no more than thirty +or forty men? Had Haroun so little respect +for the defences of the nullah as to imagine that +they could be stormed by so small a force? Had +Reinecke so much contempt for his ability to +train the negroes as to believe that forty askaris +were more than a match for three times their +number as well armed as themselves? He set +his lips grimly: if such were their ideas, he +would promise them a rough disillusionment.</p> +<p class="pnext">For some time he followed them up, always +with the greatest caution. At length the sound +of voices ahead told him that they had halted. +He stopped at once. The rain had almost ceased. +In a few seconds he heard a rustling and the +squelching of boots not far in front of him, and +he dived into the bush at the side of the track +and watched. Two askaris tramped past him, +in the direction from which they had come. +They walked unconcernedly: no suspicion of his +presence had brought them back. What, then, +was their errand?</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke's party was still halted. Tom heard +now and then the lower tones of the Germans +mingling with the high-pitched voices of the +askaris. What were they waiting for? After +perhaps twenty minutes voices came from the +other direction. The two askaris reappeared, +followed by a string of native porters, some +carrying what appeared to be the material of a +tent; others, boxes and bales of provisions; +others, lumps of freshly killed meat. The +explanation of the delay flashed upon Tom. The +game he had killed had been cut up; the two +askaris had been sent back to hasten the march +of the porters. "I might have been nabbed," +Tom thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the porters joined the waiting askaris, +a German voice gave the order to march. After +a short interval Tom emerged from his place of +concealment and followed. On reaching the +spot on which they had halted, he found that it +was skirted by a track evidently made not long +before--almost certainly the path by which his +men had come from the nullah that morning. +To his surprise, Reinecke and his party, instead +of pursuing this track, as they might have been +expected to do if their destination was the nullah, +had swerved northward and marched through the +pathless scrub.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was standing at the angle between the +two tracks, hesitating whether to follow the enemy +or to take the shortest cut home, when a rustle +among the bush behind him caused him to face +round quickly, revolver in hand. His eyes fell +not on an enemy, but on the ever-smiling +countenance of Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Savvy me find sah all right," said the boy, quietly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You saw Reinecke?" asked Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa nodded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Haroun too, sah. Him no eat up: how him get away?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The sentries must have been napping, I +suppose. But how did you come to find me here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me hear shoot," he said. "Me run find +sah: rhino no matter. Sah gone: ebery one +gone--all 'cept fellas what cut up nudder rhino. +Ah! Mwesa savvy all same. Me run back dis +way: savvy sah come dis way bimeby."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom reflected that the boy's optimism had +been justified by a lucky accident.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where are the men?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No savvy, sah. 'Spect dey all run home quick."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope so. Now, these Germans--I thought +they were going to our nullah, but it seems that +they are not. What is their game? Any +suggestion, Mwesa?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa did not understand the word, but he +tried to look as if he did. Tom, however, did +not expect from him any explanation of Reinecke's +movements: he was trying to puzzle out one for +himself. The sides of the nullah were too +precipitous to afford an entrance: and though the +enemy might do a little damage by firing from +the top down into the camp, that could easily be +defeated by moving the people to well-covered +places where shots could not reach them. As a +means of capturing the position such a course +was absurd. Yet Reinecke could hardly intend +a mere reconnoitring expedition: his men were +equipped as for fighting, and it appeared from the +amount of baggage carried by the porters that he +expected to camp for at least one night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Unable to guess at the German's design, Tom +came to the conclusion that, even at the cost of a +certain uneasiness among his people, he had better +follow up the enemy, and see for himself the +direction of their march: that might throw some +light on their object. With Mwesa he set off in +their tracks, keeping a good look-out ahead for +laggards, and stopping frequently to listen.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was just after one o'clock. Tom was both +tired and hungry. His clothes were sodden, and +the atmosphere was like that of a Turkish bath. +The track wound in and out through the scrub, +and presently among forest trees; and it had +evidently been traversed before, for no one +absolutely strange to the country could have found +so well the easiest passage through the scrub.</p> +<p class="pnext">After walking for nearly two hours, at so slow +a pace that no more than four miles could have +been covered, Tom found that the track led +through the middle of a wooded ravine, which +trended, as nearly as he could judge, to the +north-east. The ground sloped gradually upwards, and +in the distance Tom detected the march of the +enemy by the swaying of the bushes and tall +grass through which they passed.</p> +<p class="pnext">He advanced with still greater caution, and +well it was that he did so, for in a few minutes +the path emerged into a narrow rocky defile, only +sparsely covered with vegetation, and here two +askaris were posted as sentries. A little beyond +them the porters had laid down their loads. +Looking out from behind a screen of bushes, +Tom saw the askaris and their German officers +marching ahead.</p> +<p class="pnext">Avoiding the sentries by plunging into the bush +that skirted the defile, Tom and the negro lad +hurried on after the enemy. Well screened by +the foliage, they could afford to quicken their +pace until they overtook them, and thenceforward +kept pace with them. After about ten minutes +they discovered that the party had again halted. +The men were sitting on boulders and slabs of +rock: the German lieutenant sat a little apart. +Reinecke and the Arab had disappeared.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Tom noticed that the defile seemed to +end in the air, as if it had arrived at the brink of +a cliff. Creeping cautiously through the bush +above the narrow path, they came to the top of +the rise and looked over. It was not a cliff, as +Tom had supposed; but a somewhat steep and +rocky slope, dotted here and there with patches of +coarse scrub. Down this slope two figures were +moving: Haroun the Arab led, Reinecke was only +a few paces behind him.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they came to the foot of the slope they +halted, and talked somewhat excitedly together. +Haroun pointed forward and downward; Reinecke +stooped, looked over the edge of the slope, shook +his head and apparently flew into a rage. Thereupon +the Arab went alone over the brink, descended +slowly, and passed out of the watchers' sight. +Reinecke sat down in a fissure, in the attitude of +waiting.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had observed these movements at first +with nothing more than a certain impersonal +curiosity; but a suspicion of their meaning began +to dawn when Haroun disappeared. The air was +misty; from the spot where he crouched nothing +was visible beyond the margin of the slope except +the grey sky. But Reinecke, where he sat, +evidently saw something more. Every now and +again he bent over, following the progress of the +Arab, and also, as it appeared, taking much +interest in the scene below.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We are above the nullah," thought Tom. +"That fellow Haroun must have discovered a +way out and in. Our position is to be turned. +My word!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Some twenty minutes passed. Haroun's head +reappeared at the edge of the slope. He spoke +to Reinecke volubly, using his hands in free +gestures, as though demonstrating a point. The +German appeared to be convinced. He got up, +stepped over the edge with the aid of the Arab's +hand, and followed the man slowly out of sight.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xv-the-back-door"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id16">CHAPTER XV--THE BACK DOOR</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"Run back and see if the askaris are still +there," said Tom to Mwesa.</p> +<p class="pnext">The lad darted away through the bush that +clothed the top of the bank of the defile. +Returning in a few minutes, he reported that the +enemy had not stirred from their position.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then we will go on. Keep close to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">They made their way carefully down the slope. +At the bottom they peeped over. A narrow cleft +zigzagged down the face of a steep cliff, for the +most part bare rock, but with trees and bushes +growing here and there where soil gave them +roothold. This vegetation and the windings of +the cleft hid Reinecke and the Arab from sight; +but several hundred feet below they could just +discern, through the mist, the still surface of an +expanse of water.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa's eyes opened wide with surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't speak," whispered Tom. "Yes; I +think it is our lake."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke's purpose was now clear to him. He +acquitted his sentries of negligence. Haroun had +evidently discovered a hitherto unsuspected means +of egress from the nullah; on his information +Reinecke had brought up his askaris to take the +position in reverse, but before committing them +to the enterprise had gone down to test the Arab's +veracity. It would take him a long time to climb +down the steep and rugged cleft, hampered as he +must be by his wounded arm: still longer to +climb up again. What would he do when he +returned? Would he at once order the attack? +Daylight would last just long enough: a night +attack was impossible; no sane person would +attempt to descend by so precipitous a path in +darkness. Would he camp for the night, and +attack with the dawn? It seemed to Tom that +he would hardly wait unless delay were unavoidable, +for there was the chance that rain would fall +again, and a tropical storm that might continue +for days would render his scheme hopeless. No +doubt his decision would depend on the result of +his observations below.</p> +<p class="pnext">To what point in the nullah the cleft led, Tom +had at present no knowledge. It might descend +to the lake side, or wind away to some spot +farther down. He thought rapidly over the +courses open to him. He might make his way +back through the ravine, plunge into the bush, +and hurry along parallel with the nullah until +he gained the entrance. Thereby he might +provide against the threatened attack and perhaps +take measures for a counterstroke. But one +consideration told heavily against this idea. At +his best speed he could hardly expect to reach +the barricade before dark, and meanwhile +Reinecke, if he found the secret way so easy as +Haroun had apparently declared, might have led +his men into the nullah, taken the people by +surprise, and overcome what resistance they were +able to make without their leader.</p> +<p class="pnext">What alternative was there? If Reinecke once +rejoined the askaris waiting in the defile nothing +could avail to check him. It was impossible to +slip past him on the narrow cleft, and organise +the defence while he returned for his men. +Could he be prevented from returning? +Without him the German lieutenant would probably +hesitate to risk a plunge into the unknown. +Tom thought that Mwesa and himself should +be a match for Reinecke and the Arab; but if +a cry or a shot reached the ears of the men +waiting above, all would end in disaster.</p> +<p class="pnext">The only chance of success seemed to lie in +following Reinecke down the cleft and lying in +wait for him at some spot where he could +be taken at a disadvantage. Tom hurriedly +whispered his plan to Mwesa, then stepped down +into the cleft and began his careful descent.</p> +<p class="pnext">The frequent windings of the narrow gully, +the patches of vegetation, the boulders that stood +up here and there, rendered detection from below +unlikely; but Tom moved very warily, peering +round every corner, every bush and rock, +listening for voices or footsteps. The lower he and +the negro descended, the more cautious they +were. Once or twice Tom slipped, and had to +catch at a tree or a shrub to prevent himself +from slithering down. No such mishaps befell +the barefooted negro, and Tom wished that his +soles were so hardened as to enable him to +discard his boots. Step by step they crept +downward. Presently they caught sight of the +opposite side of the nullah, a rugged precipice +looming through the mist, with a portion of the +lake cut off at its base. A little farther down +Tom stopped suddenly. Twenty or thirty feet +below him Reinecke and the Arab, side by side, +were lying on a big rock that appeared to jut +out from the cliff, and were peering down. No +doubt they were hidden by the rock from the +sight of the people below--how far below Tom +could not tell, for the camp and the lowest stretch +of the cleft were invisible to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa, clutching his knife, looked expectantly +at his master. Tom could have shot the two +men where they lay; but apart from a natural +repugnance to killing them unawares, he knew +that the sound of shots would rise to the party +above and put them on the alert. Whatever he +did must be done without noise.</p> +<p class="pnext">Drawing Mwesa back, he led him some little +distance up the cleft until he came to a shallow +recess, partly concealed by a patch of bush. +Here they could wait until the men below reached +them in their upward climb. Tom withdrew +behind the bush, bidding Mwesa stand a little +forward and watch: his dark body would be less +likely to attract the eyes of the climbers.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was some time before they heard slow +footsteps on the cleft below them, and then +ejaculations from Reinecke complaining of the +steepness of the ascent. Then Mwesa reported +that the German had rounded a bend; the Arab +was just behind him. Tom drew the lad back +behind the bush.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Deal with Haroun," he whispered, "when +I have dealt with Reinecke."</p> +<p class="pnext">The two men mounted slowly. Tom waited +until the German had come within two or three +paces of him, then stepped out into the middle +of the narrow path. Reinecke, a foot or two +below him, looked up. His face paled beneath +the bronze: he recoiled, and fumbled for his +revolver. Before he could grasp it Tom sprang +at him, and with one deftly aimed blow on the +point of the chin hurled him against the side +of the cleft. He fell like a log. At the same +moment Mwesa darted past his master, and flung +himself on the Arab, who had halted in +consternation at the sudden onslaught. He stepped +back, warded off Mwesa with his arm, and turned +to escape down the cleft. Before he had taken +three steps the negro had recovered himself, and +plunged his knife into the Arab's back.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 61%" id="figure-30"> +<span id="mwesa-flung-himself-on-the-arab"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-210.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +MWESA FLUNG HIMSELF ON THE ARAB.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">So swiftly, so silently had things been done +that no sound could have reached the ears of +any one who had chanced to be within a hundred paces.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom bent down over the German. He was +unconscious. Strange fate, that had made him +for the second time the captive of the man he +had wronged!</p> +<p class="pnext">"Watch him," said Tom to Mwesa. "Call +me if he revives before I come back."</p> +<p class="pnext">He went down the cleft until he reached the +rock on which the men had lain. Climbing it, +he looked over upon the huts fifty or sixty feet +below, the lake near by, and a considerable stretch +of the nullah. There were signs of excitement +among the people, who were gathered in knots, +talking and gesticulating. The German prisoners, +standing in front of their hut in the middle of +the island, evidently suspected that something +had happened, some emergency had arisen, for +they were shouting, beckoning to the men nearest +the margin of the lake.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I had better reveal myself at once," thought Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">He stood up on the rock, put his whistle to +his lips, and blew the signal for "Fall in." The +voices, the movements, of the people ceased as +by magic. They looked around in amazement, +facing down the nullah, from which direction +numbers of the fighting-men came running. +These asked eagerly where the m'sungu was: +they had heard his whistle; he must be among +them again. But no one had seen him. Again +the whistle sounded. Some of the men glanced +upward, and saw Tom standing on the rock. +For one moment they were transfixed with +surprise; then a great shout broke from their +lips; the women and children flocked around +them, leaping and screaming with excitement and +joy; and Tom wondered what effect the hubbub +would have on the enemy waiting in the ravine.</p> +<p class="pnext">Signalling that he would soon be with them, +he returned to the spot where he had left +Reinecke and Mwesa. The German gave signs of +returning consciousness. In a minute or two he +opened his eyes and stared dully up into Tom's +face. Recollection came to him gradually; he +tried to rise, his hand again seeking his revolver. +The holster was empty; Mwesa had taken that +weapon, and also his sword.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are my prisoner," said Tom. "We +will now go down to my camp."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke cursed him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You strike a one-armed, helpless man," he +said. "You treacherous hound!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom was taken aback by this strange accusation. +He had had so little experience of the +German soldier that he did not understand that +curious attitude of mind which views everything +a German does as right and proper, but the same +thing done by others as infamous and base. +The charge of treachery from the man who had +trapped him, left him to die, and only a few +hours before this moment had fired at him when +he too had been taken unawares, struck him +dumb. Then, curtly, impatiently, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, we will waste no time. You can +walk, I think. Mwesa, lead on. Find the way +into the nullah. Follow him, Herr Reinecke: +I shall be two paces behind you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa scampered down the steep descent like +a young roe: the others followed more prudently. +When Tom arrived at the rock from which he +had viewed the camp, Mwesa was not to be seen. +But a moment later his laughing face showed +round the base of the rock, like a child playing +peep-bo.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dis way, sah," he cried; "dis way."</p> +<p class="pnext">At one side of the rock was the top of a narrow +channel that wound down the face of the cliff. +So steep was this latter that not even a mountain +goat could have scaled it safely; but Nature had +so carved the channel that it formed a zigzag +pattern, like those paths which the art of man has +cut in precipitous cliffs at popular resorts on our +coasts. Down this rough path the two men +followed Mwesa, hidden from the sight of those +below by the contour of the cliff.</p> +<p class="pnext">About twenty feet above the ground the +zig-zagging ceased, and the channel took a sheer +drop, almost entirely concealed by bushes. While +Tom, standing on a ledge of rock, wondered how +the final descent was to be achieved, Mwesa had +found the way. Clinging to the tough stems +and branches of the bushes, he went down a few +feet, then stopped and turned his face upward.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ladder here, sah," he called.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Arab had, in fact, so bent the branches and +stems, and so connected them by means of strands +of creepers, as to form a light ladder that spanned +the last dozen feet of the descent. Hidden by +the overgrowing vegetation, it might have been +passed and repassed hundreds of times without +being discovered.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa clambered down, and bounded among +the excited people who had clustered in +expectation of the m'sungu's reappearance. After a +minute or two, Reinecke emerged from the +foliage, and stood glowering, an image of sullen +rage, upon the negroes who had once owned him +master. Fingers were pointed at him, yells of +derision mocked him: even the children strutted +in front of him, as if to vaunt their freedom. +One of the elder men stepped forward with +menacing gestures: but he was checked by a stern +command from Tom, who had just appeared. +He was hailed with renewed shouts of triumph; +some of the people threw themselves at his feet, +as slaves bow to their lord. Tom's lips quivered; +he felt a lump rise in his throat. Then he called +to Mwesa, who was pouring out an eloquent +story to the crowd surrounding him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go down to the barricade," he said. "See +whether the guards are at their posts, and bring +Mirambo to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">He signed to the people to fall back to their +huts, and beckoned to Moses, who had been +hanging on the outskirts of the crowd, looking +with a somewhat nervous and sheepish air at his +late master.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Give Herr Reinecke some food," said Tom. +"Herr Reinecke, you will remain where you are +for the present. You cannot escape: if you make +an attempt you will be shot. I will give you +proper quarters presently."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German responded with a glare of +venomous hate, and turned away.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvi-drawn-blank"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id17">CHAPTER XVI--DRAWN BLANK</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">When Mirambo came up, hard on the +heels of Mwesa, he too fell on his face +and greeted Tom with an air of mingled humility +and gratitude. In the absence of the m'sungu +his position had been a difficult one. The men +of the hunting party had come dropping in singly +and in small groups, and the story they told, +magnifying the numbers of the enemy, had struck +consternation and fear into the hearts of the +people. If the m'sungu was gone, what would +become of them? Who would tell them what to +do? How could they deal with white men's +war-power without a white man to help them? Some +of the weaker-kneed among them had talked of +fleeing from the nullah and betaking themselves +to M'setu, and it had needed all Mirambo's +authority to check the panic. He had reminded them +of what the m'sungu had already done: how he +had escaped the snares of Reinecke, quelled the +German drill-sergeant with a look, led them forth +with Reinecke himself a prisoner, shown them +how to fortify the nullah, driven back the enemy. +Surely one who had done all this would not now +fall a prey to the evil men; surely he would come +back to them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Strangely enough, as Tom thought, the old +chief's arguments had been strongly backed by +the askaris, who, as fighting-men, were held +in respect by the Wahehe. They expressed +the utmost confidence that the m'sungu would +return, and declared for holding the nullah at +least until it was definitely known what had +become of him. No doubt their motive was +complicated by fear of the consequences if they +fell into German hands and were treated as +deserters; but Tom did not know this, and when +he heard of their loyalty he abandoned his last +objections, and resolved to incorporate them in +his fighting force.</p> +<p class="pnext">He listened to Mirambo's story, interpreted +by Mwesa, only for a minute or two, for there +was work to be done. During Mwesa's absence +he had rapidly made his plans. The German +askaris in the ravine above had almost certainly +heard the shouts which had greeted his arrival. +Their officer would send men forward to discover +the meaning of the shouts, and what had +happened to Reinecke and the Arab. They would +no doubt move with caution, and, unfamiliar with +the ground, would take some time in scouting +over the rough, steep slopes, and would probably +hesitate to adventure into the cleft which dropped +deep into the unknown. If they came so far as +to find the body of Haroun, they were more +likely to hasten back with the news than to court +danger or death themselves by descending lower. +What action, then, would the lieutenant take? +He would wish to learn his superior officer's fate, +probably come down with his men, and, if he +discovered the passage into the nullah, might risk +an attack.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom felt that he must first guard against this. +Getting Mirambo to choose a dozen of the best +shots, he sent them up the ladder, with orders +to post themselves in the cleft behind bushes or +boulders, and fire at the enemy if they appeared. +Though outnumbered, with the advantage of +position and surprise they could probably check +the descent. In case they should be driven back, +he ordered Mirambo himself to hold thirty men +under cover near the margin of the lake, and at +the same time to keep Reinecke under guard. +Mirambo was the last man in the world to be +overcome by any German blandishments.</p> +<p class="pnext">The non-combatants--old men, women and +children--must be protected from harm. He +ordered them to withdraw some little distance +down the nullah, out of range of fire either from +above or from the ground at the foot of the cliff.</p> +<p class="pnext">For himself, he had resolved on a venturesome, +if not a risky, course. There were still a few +hours of daylight left--long enough to lead a +force out of the nullah, along the foothills above, +to the ravine where the enemy were encamped. +The probabilities were that, met by rifle-fire as +they descended the cleft, they would hesitate to +press an attack against unknown numbers, and +make their way back to headquarters to report +the disappearance of their captain and the +necessity of larger forces. Tom thought that with +luck he might reach the mouth of the ravine in +time to ambush them, cut them off, and capture +them all. His men being only partly trained, he +would need perhaps twice as many as the enemy +numbered, which meant almost all the Wahehe +who were able to shoot. But his new-born +confidence in his askaris led him to adopt the +bold course of leaving them to defend the +southern end of the nullah. It was scarcely +likely that another hostile force was approaching +in that direction: Reinecke had probably been +confident of an easy victory through the back +door. Yet nothing should be left to chance; +and the defence of the barricade might be safely +entrusted for a few hours to the askaris and the +remnant of the Wahehe, with Mirambo and his +party at hand as reinforcements in case of need.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom lost no time in making these arrangements, +and an hour after his return he led some +eighty men out through the barricade, swung +round to the right, and climbed the foothills over +which the course of the ravine lay.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They'll have to carry me back," thought +Tom, before he had walked a mile. "Didn't +know I was so fagged."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom, indeed, had been drawing rather heavily +on his physical reserves, and to-day for the first +time weariness warned him against overdoing it. +Now, more than ever, was it necessary that he +should not break down, for he felt certain that +the difficulties of his people were only beginning.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having already been on his feet for eight or +nine hours, he found that march of a few miles, +at the close of the day, more exhausting than he +would have imagined. The country was broken +and hilly, now bare rock, now soft spongy +ground cumbered with tangled vegetation and +overshadowed by forest trees. But the chance +of trapping the force that had been sent to trap +him sustained his spirits; and the mind can, +for a time, compel the body to feats beyond +its normal strength. His men, fresh, vigorous, +inspirited by the return of their leader and the +recapture of Reinecke, marched on with eagerness +to reach their goal: their enthusiasm was itself +a stimulant to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no path along those rugged, wooded +foot-hills. The sun was blanketed by the +rain-laden sky. It was possible only to guess their +course; and Tom, seeing by his watch that little +more than half-an-hour of daylight was left, +began to fear that darkness would surprise him +before he should have struck upon the ravine. +But at this very moment of misgiving he was +almost at the edge. A few yards farther brought +him to a sharp declivity. He ordered his men +to halt, advanced with Mwesa through the +low-growing trees, and looking cautiously to right +and left, beheld the long hollow that was his +journey's end.</p> +<p class="pnext">It appeared to him that he had hit the ravine +at a spot half-way up its length. None of the +enemy was in sight. The askaris, if they +remained where he had last seen them, were +probably some distance to the right; the sentries +at the mouth of the ravine must be three or +four hundred yards to the left. These latter +must be secured if his plan was to have full +success; so, returning to his men, he chose four +to accompany him and Mwesa, and hastened along +through the scrub near the brink of the ravine.</p> +<p class="pnext">Scouting with circumspection, he arrived at +the place where the steep sides fell to the level +of the surrounding country. The sentries were +not where they had been. He sent Mwesa to +worm his way across under cover of the bushes +and to see if he could track the men to another +post. The boy returned sooner than he had +expected.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Fink all gone, sah," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The sentries, you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"All fella askaris, sah. All gone, no fear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you know?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mwesa looked down at Tom's feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dey hab got big boots like sah. Sah come see."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom went down with him into the midst of +the long grass and the bushes that covered the +centre of the ravine. Broken twigs and branches +and long swathes of trampled grass marked the +recent passage of men, and Mwesa pointed out +on the damp soil the impressions of heavy boots, +and showed him that in the freshest the heels +were up, not down, the ravine. A few minutes' +investigation in both directions placed it beyond +doubt that, not long before, a body of men had +marched westward into the forest.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Too late!" muttered Tom. "But we must +make sure. Mwesa, scout along to the cleft. +Be quick, for it will be dark soon."</p> +<p class="pnext">He returned to his party, dragging his weary +limbs. In twenty minutes Mwesa came back, +hot and breathless.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All gone, sah. Haroun him stay: big birds +dey find him."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom shuddered. The vultures were already +at work. "Come, let us get back," he said. +"Get some of the men to make a <em class="italics">machila</em>. I +can't walk another step, and we can't venture the +climb down in the dark."</p> +<p class="pnext">With two rifles and some pliant tendrils a +litter was soon constructed, and reclining on this +Tom headed the march home. He was tired +and disappointed; the men were crestfallen: +some asked why the m'sungu did not pursue the +askaris. But Tom was in no condition to follow +up the enemy, even if his reason had favoured +the idea. He could only guess at what had +happened: that the lieutenant, alarmed by the +distant shouts, had gone forward, discovered the +dead Arab, inferred that Reinecke also had come +to grief, and concluding that the game was up, +had withdrawn his men hurriedly and in +something of a panic. To pursue in darkness would +be folly. Tom consoled himself for his +disappointment with the reflection that, after all, more +prisoners would have been a nuisance--so many +more mouths to feed, and a burden to the guards.</p> +<p class="pnext">The homeward journey was slow and laborious: +only by the touch of their bare feet could the +Wahehe distinguish in the darkness the tracks +they had made as they came. Tom slumbered +a part of the way, and when, at a late hour, they +regained the nullah, he waited only to hear that +nothing had disturbed the peace and to arrange +for Reinecke's accommodation during the night, +before seeking his hut and throwing himself, +worn out, upon the mattress of plaited grass +which some of the women had made for him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next morning, after ten hours' unbroken sleep, +he rose, a little stiffly, to face the work of +another day.</p> +<p class="pnext">"First job, to dispose of Reinecke," he thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">The German was in a furious temper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You wish to kill me," he cried, when Tom +came to him. "You put me in a wretched native +hut, without a fire, without blankets, to perish of +cold, to be struck with ague. As a prisoner of +war--you call it war?--I demand proper treatment, +according to international law."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know anything about international +law," said Tom; "common law and common +sense would set you dangling from a tree, I +suspect. But I'm not your judge. While you're +here you'll be treated like the other prisoners. +You'll join them on the island yonder."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I must have a separate hut. In Germany +officers and men are never lodged together: it +is forbidden."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We are not in Germany," said Tom, curtly. +"The hut is large enough to hold you all: +there's no room on the island for another, even +if time could be spared to build it. If you feel +contaminated by the company of fellow Germans +you can spend your leisure in making for yourself +a partition: there's plenty of material on the +island. You can then live in your own first-class +compartment: the men will probably prefer it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Reinecke was patently surprised. The young +cub, as he might have put it, seemed to have +suddenly grown up. Even at that last dinner in +the bungalow Tom had not taken quite this tone +with him. He said no more at the moment: +his thoughts were his own. In a few minutes he +was punted across the lake on the raft, and left +on the shore of the island to introduce himself to +his fellow captives. Tom smiled as he watched +them salute him, then step hastily aside as, without +returning their salute, he pushed his way into the +hut. In a few moments he came out and, +gnawing his moustache, gazed across at the village, +and up the side of the nullah. His lips moved: +then he wheeled round and re-entered the hut, +whence he emerged no more that day.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a busy day for Tom. He saw that +the failure of Reinecke's expedition was sure to +provoke the Germans to a serious attempt to deal +with him. They would no longer hold him +lightly, and suppose that he could be snuffed out +by a handful of Askaris. When they came, they +would come in force. It might be in a day or +two; it might be perhaps after a week or more; +much would depend on the state of the weather. +Were the interval long or short, it must be +utilised to the full in strengthening his position.</p> +<p class="pnext">An obvious precaution was to establish scouting +posts between Bismarckburg and the scene of +the previous day's adventures. Tom went over +the ground with some of M'setu's men who were +in his regular service as scouts, and fixed on two +well-wooded knolls that commanded the track +leading to the ravine. He surveyed the ravine +itself with a view to fortifying it--or rather of +blocking the way to the cleft--and came to the +conclusion that this would involve too much +labour, even if it could be achieved with any +success. A more feasible scheme was to form +barricades of rocks and trees at various points +on the narrow cleft. These, held by a few men, +would interpose awkward obstacles to any force +that attempted to attack by the newly discovered +back door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom set some of his men to work at once in +erecting three barricades, some thirty yards apart. +Then he clambered down by the ladder, and +realising that that ingenious contrivance would +hardly bear the strain of frequent use, gave +directions that it should be strengthened. By this +means communication between the nullah and the +cleft above would always be safe: while in the +event of his men being forced back and followed +by the enemy, the ladder could be cut away, +leaving the attackers in the air, so to speak, nearly +twenty feet above the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">All day the sky threatened rain, and distant +rumbles of thunder were heard; but the storm +held off until these preliminary measures had +been carried out. Soon after dark the heavens +opened. Thunder growled, cracked, bellowed: +the air was one vast shaking noise. A vivid +glare rose up from the horizon until all the world +seemed on fire. Great bursts of light, now in +one quarter, now in another, shot through the +sky like gigantic squibs; and dazzling streaks of +jagged brilliance rent the firmament. And then, +in the midst of this wonderful phantasmagoria, it +was as if the fire-maker set out to quench the +universal conflagration. Down fell the rain, in +sheets, in torrents, in cascades of hailstones as +large as eggs. The people cowered, shivering, +shrieking, in their huts. Out of the boiling lake +the stream poured in angry flood, hissing and +raving like a maddened beast let loose. +Tingling in every nerve, Tom watched the amazing +storm for hour after hour: what were man's +puny battles compared with this titanic conflict +of the elements? And it was only when the +thunder died away in sullen mutterings, and the +lightning gave pale flickers and tired gleams, but +still the rain roared unceasingly--it was only then +that Tom became alive to the very practical +question: would huts, stores, barricades, all be +washed away?</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvii-a-german-offer"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id18">CHAPTER XVII--A GERMAN OFFER</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">For the rest of the night Tom got no sleep. +Listening to the rush of the torrent through +the nullah he waited anxiously for the dawn. As +soon as there was light enough, he went out to +see what havoc the storm had wrought. The +worst anticipations were not realised, but the +damage was serious enough. Some of the huts +were broken down; one or two of those nearest +to the stream had been washed away; the +defences at the bend almost obliterated; and +the barricade of trees at the entrance of the +nullah showed many gaps. But the slope of the +ground and the depth of the channel had been +sufficient to carry off almost all the overflow from +the lake, and there seemed to be no danger of +the village on the higher ground at the north end +being flooded out. The prisoners' hut on the +island had suffered nothing except from leaks in +the roof, and these Reinecke had at once set his +subordinates to repair.</p> +<p class="pnext">The rain had ceased, and as soon as it was +possible to dig, Tom ordered his men to +reconstruct the damaged defences. More trees were +packed into the barricades, the ditch outside it +was widened and deepened; the trenches on the +slopes were recut and strengthened, and a +communication trench was dug from each to the bed +of the nullah, so that their garrisons could be +reinforced at need, under cover from the enemy's +fire. The trench and parapet at the bend were +also restored, and at each end, some twenty-five +feet above the bed of the nullah, a small +blockhouse of rocks was erected, in which half a dozen +men, through apertures left for rifle fire, could +enfilade any attacking party that advanced on +either bank of the stream.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had hitherto made no attempt to +communicate with the British authorities beyond the +border. He reflected that their hands were full, +and while he was in no immediate danger he +hesitated to embarrass them. Now, however, +when it was clear that the Germans would make +a serious effort to deal with him, and major +operations were interrupted by the rains, he +resolved to try to get a message through to +Abercorn, explaining his position. He wrote +on leaves from his pocket-book a brief account +of what he had been doing, made a copy, gave +the duplicated messages to two of the best +scouts from M'setu's contingent, and sent them +off on successive days. The papers, which they +carried folded in their loin-cloths, were addressed +"The Commanding Officer, Abercorn." A single +man should be able to cross the hills and the Neu +Langenburg road without much risk of being +caught. The journey might take three or four +days, so that it would be at least a week before +an answer could be received, even in the most +favourable circumstances.</p> +<p class="pnext">Several days passed, on most of which rain fell. +Feeling pretty sure that the enemy would not +attack in such weather, Tom took every possible +advantage of the breathing space, improving the +defences, drilling his men, and shooting game in +the neighbourhood, in order to eke out his fast +diminishing stores of food. He also practised his +scouts in the system of shouting messages, and was +not much surprised to find that some of his posts +had been deserted: it was hardly to be expected +that M'setu's men, undisciplined negroes, would +show fortitude enough to remain at their stations +in pelting rain-storms. But since it was of vital +importance that the scouting should be efficient, +he considered how best to surmount the very real +difficulty that had manifested itself. After a good +deal of thought, he decided to reduce the number +of posts, retaining only those that commanded +the main routes, and to have these frequently +inspected by Mirambo or some other trustworthy +native. With Mirambo he himself made a round +of the posts--a task that occupied him for two +days--and as the result of this personal visit +found himself able to devise a simplified scheme +that promised to be successful.</p> +<p class="pnext">The outermost line of posts was established on +the hills north of the Neu Langenburg road, in +such spots that any movement on about twenty +miles of its course must be seen by at least one +of his men. Taking this line as the base of a +triangle, and the mouth of the nullah as the apex, +he arranged for posts to be held along the sides, +and also on perpendicular lines to the sides from +the base. While he thus somewhat narrowed the +area that was watched, he concentrated observation +on the quarters from which danger was most +to be expected, and, needing fewer men, was able +to give them shorter spells.</p> +<p class="pnext">On returning one day from a shooting expedition, +he learnt that messages had been received +not long before from a scouting post near the +Neu Langenburg road. The first message was +that an armed party had been seen marching from +the direction of Bismarckburg; the second, that +the party consisted of two white officers with a +number of askaris, and had struck into a track +which would lead past Reinecke's plantation to the +nullah. One of the askaris carried a white flag.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Parlementaires," thought Tom. "They want +to negotiate? Well, I must hear what they have +to say."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment he thought of going out at the +head of a party of his men to meet the enemy; +but reflecting that he had no precise information +of their number, and that their object might be +to lure him from his defences, he decided to +remain behind the barricade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently another message came through his +chain of scouts, announcing that the strangers had +just passed a post about ten miles from the nullah. +After some two hours and a half he learnt that +they were now within five miles. Thereupon he +ordered his men to take up their allotted +positions behind the barricade and in the trenches, +and sent Mwesa to the nearest scouting post, +about two miles distant, to watch for the enemy's +coming, and to run back and tell him how many +they were. Mwesa was the only negro whom he +could trust to form even an approximate estimate +of their number.</p> +<p class="pnext">In due time the lad came back with the report +that the askaris were no more than twenty. +Reassured that no attack was intended by so small a +force, Tom awaited their arrival with composure.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But they mustn't come too close," he thought, +"or they'll see too much."</p> +<p class="pnext">He scribbled in German a note on a leaf from +his pocket-book--</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Willoughby presents his compliments," +he wrote, "and has the honour to say that he, +with ten men, will meet the recipient of this note, +also with ten men, at the edge of the forest, three +hundred yards from his position. Any attempt to +advance across the clearing will be resisted."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Run and give that to the commanding +officer," he said to Mwesa, "and come back with +his answer."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him say no come back," said Mwesa, looking +uncomfortable.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not at all. He won't prevent you. Be quick."</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy ran off, disappeared in the forest, and +in twenty minutes was seen speeding back again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have an answer?" asked Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Him look at paper, den laugh and talk to +other man; me no savvy what say. Den he tell +me all right."</p> +<p class="pnext">"In English?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, sah, he talk English same as me."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not long before a party of men emerged +from the forest beyond the clearing, and halted. +There were ten askaris, one of whom carried a +white flag; and in the tall German accompanying +them Tom recognised the officer who had been +his fellow-passenger on the <em class="italics">Hedwig von Wissmann</em> +months before.</p> +<p class="pnext">Collecting the ten men whom he had already +chosen, Tom passed out through the barricade +and advanced to meet the German.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good day, Mr. Willoughby," said Major von +Rudenheim, saluting. "You will remember me, +no doubt. We were on board the <em class="italics">Hedwig von +Wissmann</em> together."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I remember you, Major," replied Tom, a +little puzzled by this tone of friendliness; "but +I was not aware that I had come within your line +of vision."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh yes, I saw you," returned the major with +a slight smile, "and I have heard a good deal +about you since. But you have got yourself into +a very awkward position, young man."</p> +<p class="pnext">He spoke in the tone a benevolent uncle might +have used towards a small boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, your people have found it awkward," +said Tom, smoothly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You take me too literally, Mr. Willoughby. +But youth is often adventurous, and thoughtless; +you do not quite realise the consequences of your +rash actions. It is a pity that a private quarrel +should have led you to take steps which bring +you into conflict with the military power. The +outbreak of war, of course, made you a public +enemy; but if you had not been in such haste to +pay off old scores it would have been easy +to arrange for your departure into British +territory."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I assure you, Major, what you call a private +quarrel had nothing whatever to do with my +action. We will leave my private affairs out of +the question. As you say, I became a public +enemy. Well?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You do not understand, perhaps, that we +should be justified in treating you as a spy." The +major's tone was not quite so friendly now.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't understand what you are driving at," +said Tom, bluntly. "Hadn't you better come to +the point?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A flicker of annoyance passed over the German's +face. It vanished instantly, and when he spoke +again it was in the suave tones he had employed +at the beginning of the interview.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I come to make a reasonable--a friendly +arrangement. There are certain Germans, I +believe, in your hands. I am not sure +whether----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To save time--I have a sergeant, two +privates, and Mr. Reinecke."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah! And also certain askaris----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Africans, not Germans."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But in our service, therefore Germans. Also +a number of natives who were being recruited for +our army--potential Germans. Now, since it is +obvious that you cannot maintain your position +indefinitely, you will no doubt see the reasonableness +of the proposal I put to you, namely, that +you surrender the German subjects you hold as +prisoners, in exchange for a safe-conduct for +yourself and any twelve men you may select, to the +British lines."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And the rest? Besides the men, I have many +women and children. What will you do with them?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That will be in the discretion of my superiors. +The non-combatants will no doubt return to their +employment, from which they were enticed away. +As for the able-bodied men, technically they are +mutineers and liable to be shot. But in consideration +of their ignorance they may possibly be +pardoned and allowed to re-enlist."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is hardly a <em class="italics">quid pro quo</em>, is it?" said Tom. +"You must be aware that I could at any time +during the past two or three months have made +my way to the British lines with all my able-bodied +men without a safe-conduct. You propose that I +should save my skin at the expense of handing +back those poor creatures to the slavery they have +been glad to escape from?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What are the niggers to you, Mr. Willoughby? +The war, <em class="italics">ipso facto</em>, has dissolved your partnership +with Mr. Reinecke. Your interest in the plantation +and its workers has lapsed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Far from it: my interest in the workers is +greater than ever. I enticed them away, you say; +and believing that, you invite me to betray them! +Upon my word, Major von Rudenheim, those +who sent you with an invitation like that must +have so low a standard of honour that I should +prefer not to trust to any assurances on their part."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You impeach my honour, sir?" cried the +German, with an angry glare.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I take it that you are obeying orders, Major," +replied Tom, quietly. "Those niggers, as you +call them, are under my protection: I say that +any one who proposes that I should abandon them +on the terms you offer holds <em class="italics">my</em> honour very +lightly. I don't think there is anything more to +be said."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only this, sir. You reject a reasonable offer: +I have not stated the alternative. The niggers +are under your protection! It will not serve +them. They will be exterminated, and you----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The major laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will fall--on the field of honour!" he +said with a sneer, "or be captured and shot."</p> +<p class="pnext">And with that he turned on his heel and strode +off at the head of his men.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xviii-a-good-haul"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id19">CHAPTER XVIII--A GOOD HAUL</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The interview with Major von Rudenheim +left Tom soberly reflective. There could +no longer be the least doubt that he was to be +attacked. The attempt to come to terms with +him seemed to show that the Germans were now +under no illusions as to the strength of his +position, and wished to avoid operations which must +involve the employment of a larger force than the +objective, from a strictly military point of view, +warranted. But their prestige was at stake +throughout the whole region. The native tribes, always +restive under their galling yoke, would run out of +hand when it became generally known that the +German power was being set at defiance by an +Englishman with a handful of negroes, and that +Germans were held in captivity. The menace of +a great rising of the blacks would grow increasingly +serious, and the higher authorities, having +proved the uselessness of light measures, would +now organise an expedition in strength.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom felt confident in his ability to hold his +own behind his defences, provided they were not +attacked by artillery; and the country between +the nullah and Bismarckburg, at all times difficult, +was now rendered so much more difficult by the +rains that the transport of guns would be a +formidable undertaking. It might prove to be +impossible. In that case the attack should fail. +Tom had under his command a hundred and +forty-seven able-bodied men, of whom a score +were trained askaris, some fifty Wahehe were +fairly efficient with the rifle, another thirty could +handle fire-arms well enough to do considerable +execution at short range, and the remainder were +expert with the spears they had made for +themselves. Behind their fortifications, each man +would perhaps be equal to three outside.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the other hand, the difficulties of the +defence were serious enough. Provisions were +running perilously low; if the nullah were +besieged, the end must come in about ten days. +There was, further, the question of the wounded. +Casualties were bound to occur; the medical +stores brought from the plantation would be of +little use in dealing with gunshot wounds: there +were no surgical appliances whatever. If Tom +had known beforehand what he was to learn before +many days had passed, he might have met Rudenheim's +offer with a counter-proposal, instead of +rejecting it outright. New to warfare, he was +ignorant of what fighting with modern weapons +means; but he foresaw suffering, and felt some +uneasiness in contemplating a possible long casualty list.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was time to dispatch another messenger to +Abercorn. Neither of his former messengers had +returned; possibly neither had got through; but +with the crisis imminent it was right to put the +position clearly before the British authorities. He +adopted the same plan as before: sent duplicate +notes on successive days, announcing his expectation +of attack, and stating his determination to +resist as long as his provisions lasted.</p> +<p class="pnext">Feeling it unwise to leave the nullah himself, +he allowed Mirambo to lead short shooting +expeditions in the neighbourhood, to replenish the +larder. He devoted all his own energies to the +maintenance and strengthening of his fortifications, +the drilling and exercising of the men, and the +allotment of duties to the non-combatants. Of +these last every man, and many women, had their +definite tasks--to bring food and ammunition +to the fighting-posts, to remove and tend the +wounded, and so on.</p> +<p class="pnext">His plan of defence was to post twenty men +on the cleft at the north end of the nullah, in +case the enemy should again attempt an entrance +by the "back door," and to employ all the rest in +the nullah itself. Seventy men were told off to +hold the first line--the barricade and the trenches +on the flanks; the remainder, in support, were to +man the communication trench, which led to a +fold of the cliff face about a hundred and fifty +yards in the rear, and gave complete cover from +enemy fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Waiting for critical events always puts a strain +upon even the stoutest-hearted. A schoolboy +dreads the interval between the "call-up" and +the headmaster's thrashing more than the +thrashing itself. The soldier in the trenches knows +more of the agony of fear when he awaits the +word of command than when he is actually going +"over the top." As day followed day, and no +message came through the chain of scouts, Tom +found constant activity the only sedative for his +overstrung nerves.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two little incidents relaxed the tension. One +morning, just as he was leaving his hut, he heard +a terrible shriek from the lake side. Rushing +forward, he saw, near the brink, a woman waving +her arms frantically, and calling to a little toddling +child, who was wading in the shallow water towards +a bright flower a few yards away. In an instant +Tom saw the cause of the mother's agitation. +Just beyond the glowing blossom, a few inches +above the surface, lay what appeared to be a log +of greenish wood. Tom sprang into the water, +caught up the child, and darted back; and the +seeming log sank with a gurgle and disappeared. +Crocodiles had been rarely seen since the +occupation of the nullah; apparently they had been +scared away by the noise of so many people, +which, however, had now lost its terrors for them. +Tom gave the child back to his grateful mother, +and, using one of the few phrases in the Wahehe +tongue that he had picked up, bade the woman be +careful.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was in the afternoon of the next day that one +of the messengers, sent out more than a week +before, returned: the other was never seen again. +The man was very proud of his success, and +exhibited a small brass rod given him as a reward +by the m'sungu in Abercorn. Tom was more +interested to learn whether he had brought an answer +to his message, and the negro produced from +his loin-cloth a small dirty envelope. Tearing it +open, Tom took out the still dirtier folded scrap +of paper, which he recognised at once as a leaf +from his own pocket-book. One side bore his +message, now almost illegible; on the other he +read the few words--</p> +<dl class="docutils medium white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Hold fast.</em></dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">T. Burnaby, Major.</em></p> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"He's short of paper, I suppose," Tom thought; +he learnt later that in the army a superior officer +writes his reply to a communication from a +subaltern on the back. "But he might have said +a little more. Doesn't promise anything. Cold +comfort, Major Burnaby. Yet it <em class="italics">is</em> comfort after +all. He wouldn't say 'hold fast' if he didn't +think there was a chance. Still, I'm glad I sent +a second message: hope he gets it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Towards ten o'clock on the fifth morning after +the interview with Major von Rudenheim, Tom +was superintending work on the parapets of the +trenches when a message came from the nearest +of his scouting posts. From hill to hill had been +shouted the news that a large column of white +men, askaris and porters, was marching along the +Neu Langenburg road from the direction of +Bismarckburg.</p> +<p class="pnext">"At last!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's exclamation had something of relief, +from the strain of suspense; something of anxiety, +for what was to come. It was not certain, of +course, that the nullah was the enemy's objective, +but he must act as if it were. Within a few +minutes every man had gone to his allotted post.</p> +<p class="pnext">The source of the message was a hill many +miles to the westward of the track by which +Rudenheim had come. Two hours afterwards it +was reported that the column had reached that +track, but had halted in a glade beside the road; +the men had thrown themselves on the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They're taking a rest after their hilly march," +thought Tom. "Or perhaps they intend a night +attack."</p> +<p class="pnext">But a few minutes later another message suggested +a different explanation. From the further-most +eastern post came word that a smaller party +was marching from the direction of Neu Langenburg +westward. It was formed mainly of porters, +with a number of askaris and two white men. +Was it not a fair inference that the junction of the +road with the northward track had been appointed +as rendezvous for both the columns, and that +either the one was before its time or the other +was late?</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom made a rapid mental calculation, +congratulating himself on the personal knowledge of +the road he had obtained in the course of his +round of inspection of the scouting posts. When +the second column was sighted (that is, only a +few minutes before he heard of it), it must have +been nearly thirty miles from the rendezvous. +Now, the spot where the first column had halted +was not the point on the Neu Langenburg road +that was nearest to the nullah. Some ten miles +east of it there was a scouting post closer to the +nullah by about five miles; but the way to it, +though shorter, was much more arduous, and for +that reason was not at all likely to be chosen by +the Germans as the route to their objective. It +seemed to Tom that by a rapid march with a light +force he might reach this spot on the road before +the eastern column, and, given favourable +circumstances, prevent this column from joining the other. +He had a rosy vision of snapping up the stores +it was conveying, with the result that the +threatened attack on the nullah would be at +least delayed, while his own resources would be +increased.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were two risks to be taken into +consideration: the first, that the western column +might not await the arrival of the eastern before +resuming its march to the nullah; the second, +that the road between them would be so closely +patrolled as to render intervention impossible. +The scouts, however, had not reported the passing +of patrols; and as to the first risk, it seemed +unlikely that the officer in command would +make any further movement until his force was +complete. The prize was great, in Tom's eyes +well worth the risk, and after a few minutes' +cogitation he determined to "put his fate to the touch."</p> +<p class="pnext">Choosing forty of his best men to accompany +him, with Mwesa and two of M'setu's scouts, and +leaving Mirambo in charge at the barricade, he +started southward. The route he must follow +led over very hilly country, covered in parts with +forest, through which it might sometimes be +necessary to cleave a way. For this purpose he +had ordered some of his men to bring axes and +bill-hooks, though he hoped that the scouts, +knowing the district thoroughly, would find a +practicable track, and so avoid the delays which +cutting a path must involve.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was fortunate that since the great storm the +rainfall had been light; otherwise much of the +ground would now have become swamp, and put +him at a disadvantage compared with the enemy +on the well-kept high road. Tom had always +been known among his friends as a good +"foot-slogger," and, hardened as he now was by constant +exercise, he had no difficulty in keeping up with +his lithe and limber guides. The party covered +the first twelve miles in less than three hours, +over a track that ran almost due south from the +nullah, and was very little obstructed. Then, +however, they came into broken country, with +steeper ascents and descents and thicker vegetation, +where the pace was necessarily slackened. +Once or twice the men had to use their implements, +and Tom chafed at the delay; but he let +no sign of impatience escape him, and found a +few cheery words of praise a potent stimulus to +his willing negroes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently they came to a hill-stream flowing +southward. An idea struck Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Does this stream cross the high road?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">The scouts replied through Mwesa that it did.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then is there a bridge?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He learnt that a bridge spanned the stream +some distance east of the post for which he had +been making. The stream, which was much +swollen after a period of heavy rain, had cut a +deep and wide channel, and sometimes rose to +within an arm's-length of the bridge. Now, +however, the rainfall for some days having been slight, +it was likely that the water was two men's height +below the trestles of which the bridge was made.</p> +<p class="pnext">This information caused Tom to change his +objective. Instead of continuing along the forest +track that led directly to the scouting post, he +followed the course of the stream, and in some +twenty minutes came in sight of the bridge far +below. Calling a halt, he sent one of the men to +the scouting post on a hill-top invisible from his +present position, to inquire of the man stationed +there whether he had seen anything of the enemy's +columns, or of patrols. The scout's report being +reassuring, Tom led his party down to the road, +through the brushwood, rank grass, and bushy +shrubs that lined the bank of the stream.</p> +<p class="pnext">The ground within twenty yards of the road +had evidently been at some time cleared of the +taller growing vegetation, no doubt to destroy +cover. But the lesser plants had sprung up only +the more thickly, furnishing safer cover even than +the larger shrubs and trees above.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's first idea had been to have the bridge +hacked down. This would have effectually checked +the march of the columns along the road, and the +stream was here so wide and deep, and its banks so +steep, that the enemy could not have crossed it until +the bridge had been repaired. Second thoughts +raised an objection to this obvious measure. The +column would almost certainly be preceded by +an advance guard, who would discover that the +bridge was broken and give warning. The main +body would halt, and Tom would have no chance +of getting possession of the stores without a fight. +Ignorant of the strength of the column, he dared +not risk exposing his small force of comparatively +untrained men in the open. Unless he should see +a fair prospect of dealing the enemy a "knock-out +blow," he would do much better to keep his +men out of sight, and remain content with having +prevented the two columns from joining forces +and thus delayed their advance on the nullah. +But this would be only partial success: something +more was wanted for complete satisfaction; and +an examination of the bridge suggested to Tom +what seemed a better way.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having first sent a couple of scouts in each +direction along the road to guard against surprise, +he set three men with axes to cut nearly through +two of the piles supporting the bridge, one up, +the other down stream, just on the water line. A +dozen others he sent a few yards along the stream +to weave two long, stout ropes from rushes and +creepers. Expert at this work, the natives in +the course of an hour or so had completed two +serviceable ropes about thirty yards in length. +Tom tested them by means of an impromptu +tug-of-war; then, the axe-men having long +finished their part of the job, he himself attached +the ropes to the weakened piles by means of +bowlines in the notches and allowed them to sag into +the water. At intervals he weighted them with +stones in order to keep them below the surface, +and carrying the free ends up stream, hid them in +the vegetation at the foot of the bank. All these +operations near the bridge were carried out by +men wading in the water, in order that no tracks +on the ground should betray them to the enemy scouts.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had only just completed his preparations +when the scouts he had sent eastward came +running back with news that the enemy column was +in sight. There were two white officers, and +an innumerable company of porters and askaris +The negro's inability to estimate number was a +constant worry to Tom: anything above ten +might be reported as a host.</p> +<p class="pnext">Withdrawing all his men about fifty yards up +stream, and posting them under cover of the +rushes, he gave them precise orders as to what +they were to do when he blew his whistle. Until +then no one was to whisper or make the slightest +movement. Each man held his rifle with bayonet +ready fixed. When he had proved that all were +invisible from the road, Tom found a spot +where, concealed himself, he had a clear view of +the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">He hoped that the period of waiting would not +be long, for stillness and silence taxed the negroes +more than anything else he could have demanded +of them. Already there were signs of restlessness +among them when, about half an hour after they +had taken up their positions, he caught sight of +two figures some distance away, approaching +through the bush at the edge of the cleared space +skirting the road. An urgent whisper reduced the +Wahehe to stillness again. The two askaris came +on quietly, pausing now and again to peer into +the thickets beyond the clearing. Just before they +reached the bridge they stepped into the road, +and were joined by two more askaris who had +emerged from the bush on the other side. The +four men crossed the bridge together, separated +at the western end, and pursued their way in +couples as before.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes later four files of askaris +followed. At a short interval came a connecting +file, and then the main body, which consisted of +two parties of askaris marching in fours, with a +gang of porters between them. With each party +there was a German N.C.O. Tom rapidly estimated +that the askaris numbered about sixty in all.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the first party reached the bridge, they +broke step and formed two deep to cross. Tom +waited until about twenty had gained the other +side, then blew his whistle. The Wahehe sprang +to their feet. Ten of them fired a volley at the +enemy who were upon the bridge, then charged +through the thin scrub upon those who had +crossed and, startled by the shots and the cries, +had wheeled round at the sharp order of their +sergeant. Meanwhile twenty men, with Tom at +their head, had dashed straight towards the road +in the other direction until they had a clear view +of the second party beyond the porters, then +halted, fired one volley, and charged with the +bayonet. At the same time, two groups of five +rushed to the spot where the ends of the ropes +lay hidden, seized them and hauled with a will. +The nearer pile collapsed; the farther held until +all ten men tugged at the same rope. Then it +snapped like the other, and the whole central part +of the bridge fell with a crash into the stream, +carrying with it one or two of the rear files of the +askaris.</p> +<p class="pnext">Surprise is halfway to victory. Even European +troops could hardly have avoided confusion, +however short-lived, when suddenly beset at close +quarters by an unsuspected enemy. The German +sergeant who had crossed the bridge hardly had +time to bring his men into line before the Wahehe, +yelling the war-cry of their tribe, were among +them. They were severed from the other party +by the broken bridge and the crowd of panic-stricken +porters, who flung down their loads and +fled helter-skelter into the bush. The sergeant +and one or two more stood firm and were cut +down; the rest turned and bolted across the +road, seeking safety in the woods.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile the sergeant in command of the +second party, being farther from the bridge, had +had a few seconds longer to prepare to meet the +attack. Before Tom reached him he had halted +his men, formed them up hurriedly, and ordered +them to fix bayonets. But the time was all too +short. The men were still fumbling when the +impetuous Wahehe at Tom's heels had surged +from the clearing on to the road. Tom made +straight for the sergeant, and thrust at him with +his bayonet. The German deftly parried the +stroke, but before he could himself take the +offensive Tom swung his rifle over and brought +the butt up swiftly against his opponent's chin. +The man fell like a log. His askaris did not +await the touch of cold steel. Some flung up +their hands, others took to their heels, the yelling +Wahehe panting behind them. Tom became alive +to the danger of his own men scattering in the +pursuit and losing themselves in the forest. With +loud blasts of his whistle he sounded the signal +for recall. Some of the men obeyed instantly, +but many minutes had passed before all returned, +and the weapons of most of them bore witness to +the work they had been doing.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom lost no time in taking stock of the +situation. A few of the askaris had been killed by +rifle-shots, a few by bayonets. About twenty +were wounded, twelve so seriously that it was +clear they could not be moved. Rather more than +twenty had surrendered. One of the German +was killed, the other lay where he had fallen. All +the rest of the column were scattered through +the bush.</p> +<p class="pnext">Examining the loads dropped by the porters, +Tom found that about half consisted of food, half +of small-arm ammunition, both valuable booty. +He distributed the bales among the unwounded +prisoners and some of his own men, and sent +them off at once on the return march to the +nullah. For the wounded he could do nothing. +He ordered those who were slightly injured to +revive the sergeant with a dash of water from the +stream, and to render first aid to their helpless +comrades, knowing that help would be forthcoming +from the western column as soon as +fugitives had reported the disaster.</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time the last of the Wahehe had +rejoined, and Tom set off on the return journey, +soon overtaking the carriers. He pressed the +pace as much as possible, though the risk of being +pursued was slight. Late in the afternoon, tired +but jubilant, his men marched into the nullah, +amid exultant shouts from their fellows who +manned the defences and the non-combatants +who crowded about them as they conveyed their +spoils to the village.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom discovered that only three of his men +had been slightly wounded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Almost a bloodless victory," he said to +himself. "What wonderful luck!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But the negroes, discussing the affair far into +the night, did not speak of luck. They talked of +"white man's medicine," and assured one another +that their particular white man had better +"medicine" than any one else in the world.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xix-beleaguered"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id20">CHAPTER XIX--BELEAGUERED</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Tom's first business was to examine his +spoils of war. Besides a considerable +quantity of maize and other foods intended for +the askaris, there was a case containing coffee, +condensed milk, tinned fruits, biscuits, and a few +bottles of wine--articles which were very welcome +additions to his private larder. Still more +welcome were the boxes of ammunition. One small +case held a couple of dozen metal objects whose +use he did not know; but unscrewing the top of +one of them he saw what he took to be +combustible material of some kind, and confirmed his +guess with a lighted match. These flares, he +thought, might prove very useful in case of a +night attack.</p> +<p class="pnext">A commander's chief preoccupation, perhaps, +is to divine the intentions of the enemy. What +would the column from Bismarckburg do? Its +officers had no doubt learnt within an hour or +two what had happened to the eastern column, +and it seemed probable that the disaster would +have deranged their plans. In the course of the +afternoon Tom received a message from the scout +who had been stationed on the hill overlooking +the enemy's halting place. The man reported +that a number of the askaris had climbed the +hill on different sides, and he had withdrawn to +the next post northward. Tom guessed that the +German commander had suspected the presence +on the hill of scouts who had given him away, +and had wisely determined to get rid of them. +The post having been thus abandoned, the +enemy's movements could not be known at the +nullah until they had come within sight from the +next post. That, however, was more than twenty +miles away, and Tom expected to receive warning +of their approach in ample time to prepare for +them. He conjectured that they would make no +move until they had replaced the supplies of which +they had been deprived.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was not one to sit with folded hands, idly +waiting. Next day, taking advantage of his +largely increased stock of ammunition, he spent +a good many hours in giving his men rifle practice. +Owing to the nature of the position, firing, when +the attack came, was likely to be at point blank +range, so that it was unnecessary to instruct the +mass of the natives in the mysteries of adjusting +sights. But in view of the possibility of having to +fall back up the nullah, he gave special +instruction in long range firing to a score of the men +who had had former experience with firearms.</p> +<p class="pnext">More than once he had wished for the +companionship of a man of his own race. Mirambo +was a devoted lieutenant, but consultation with +him could only be carried on through Mwesa, +and his range of ideas was as limited as the boy's +command of English. Tom felt the lack of an +equal, a man of like upbringing and education, +with whom he might have had those long and +intimate talks in which mind reacts on mind with +mutual helpfulness. More than ever he wished +it now. An advancing enemy should be harassed; +but Tom dared not leave the nullah himself, and +neither Mirambo nor any other native had the +cool judgment and the self-control necessary in +the commander of even a disciplined force, much +more in one who had only half-trained negroes +under his leadership. Pitted against well-drilled +askaris under capable German officers, the Wahehe +would be hopelessly overmatched; they +would almost certainly be outflanked and cut off, +and Tom could not afford to lose men. Under +a white man the risks would not have been so +great. But it is idle to long for the impossible, +and Tom realised that the only safe course was to +keep the men with him. He gave orders to his +scouts to fall back upon the nullah when the +enemy advanced, but slowly, and noting their +progress from point to point.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was on the third day after the little action at +the bridge that his furthermost scout reported +the enemy were on the move. They had marched +two miles along the track from the spot on which +they had encamped beside the Neu Langenburg +road. There was a great host of askaris, a great +host of porters, and several white men. Some of +the porters were dragging a long green bottle +on wheels.</p> +<p class="pnext">A long green bottle on wheels!</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom felt a sinking at heart. What could this +be but a field gun? The hosts of askaris did +not dismay him: their numbers were, no doubt, +exaggerated by the natives as usual; but he +recognized that his barricade of trees would be +a poor defence against shell-fire. There was little +time to improvise adequate protection; but he +set almost the whole of his men to work at once +in digging a deep trench a few yards behind the +barricade.</p> +<p class="pnext">At intervals during the rest of the day came +further reports of the enemy's progress. Their +advance was slow; it was clear that they could +not reach the nullah before nightfall, and after +their long march they would not make an +immediate attack. Leaving a strong guard at the +barricade, Tom went to his hut to fortify himself +with sleep for what the next day might bring +forth. But he found it impossible to rest. Now +that the critical moment was approaching, his +mind went over and over the situation. Had +he left undone anything that might have been +done? What would be the effect of shell-fire on +his men--aye, and on himself? What were the +enemy's plans? Would they, after battering down +his outer defences, make a fierce charge into the +nullah, relying on the defenders' demoralisation +by the bombardment? Thinking over these and +other questions, he felt that he had done all he +could: the rest was on the knees of the gods.</p> +<p class="pnext">Very early next morning he made a round of +inspection, then issued through Mwesa his final +orders. At the first sign of hostile action the +men were to take up their allotted positions. +He warned them that they must expect something +worse than rifle bullets; but none were to +leave the trenches without permission.</p> +<p class="pnext">To give notice of the enemy's approach, he +had posted scouts on the top of the sides of +the nullah. But the first intimation came not +from them, but from the enemy himself. About +midday there was a dull boom in the south. A +few seconds afterwards a shell burst with a +shattering explosion on the hill face. A cry of +astonishment and fear broke from some of the +Wahehe; but Tom, in the centre of the trench +with Mwesa at his side, calmed them by asking +whether they supposed the shells would destroy +the sides of the nullah. The response was an +outburst of mocking laughter. It was a big +noise, said the men; but the result had been +only the fall of broken branches and fragments +of rock. All was well.</p> +<p class="pnext">The bombardment was continued and maintained +steadily throughout the day. Some shells +fell harmlessly on the steep sides of the nullah, +others in the stream or among the bushes some +distance up, others on the clearing outside. One +struck the barricade, scattering boughs and twigs +and making a gap; but none entered the trenches, +and no man was hit. By the end of the day the +natives had become indifferent to the bombardment, +laughing and joking as they watched the +smoke and the splinters which did them no harm. +With sunset the shelling ceased, and movement +in the lower part of the nullah became once more +possible. So far, none of the enemy had been +seen, and Tom wondered how the gunners had +been able to range with even approximate +accuracy on their unseen target. He never knew +that Major von Rudenheim had not considered +the bearing of a flag of truce inconsistent with +the taking of careful measurements, by means +of which he had fixed on several spots in the +forest whence the nullah might be shelled at +known ranges.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed to Tom hardly likely that the enemy +would attempt a night attack before they had +ascertained how much damage their gun had +done. Nevertheless, he kept a large number of +men under arms all night, relieving them every +four hours. Two of the askaris were selected +to light the captured flares and throw them over +the barricade if the enemy made a move. In the +middle of the night Tom snatched a few hours' +sleep, leaving Mirambo in command; and when, +shortly before dawn, on returning to his post, +he learnt that no sounds had been heard from +beyond the clearing, he felt sure that not even +a reconnaissance had been attempted, or it would +have been detected by the negroes' sharp ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a misty, drizzly morning, and the trees +at the edge of the forest two hundred yards +south of the nullah loomed through the murk +only as a blurred mass. Tom gave orders to his +scouts, before they climbed to their watch-posts +above, to be specially vigilant. About seven +o'clock a shell burst just behind the trench, and +three of his men were slightly injured by +splinters. The fact that the shell exploded before +the boom of the gun was heard, showed that the +gunners had drawn nearer during the night. +This was the opening of a bombardment that +continued for about three hours. Again little +damage was done, most of the shells falling many +yards behind the barricade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly the firing ceased. The scouts, +sharp-eyed though they were, had reported no +movement among the trees, when there came the shrill +blast of a whistle. Tom had posted himself with +his men at the barricade, and he was just able to +see, through the mist, a compact line of askaris +break from cover. There was no attempt at +skirmishing; the enemy rushed straight across +the clearing towards the mouth of the nullah. +Twenty yards behind them came a second line, +and with these Tom saw the white helmet of a +German officer.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had given orders that no man was to fire +until he sounded his whistle; but it was too much +to expect that all his negroes, in the excitement of +what was to many of them their first action, would +exercise the self-control of disciplined troops. +Only one of them, however, let off his rifle, and +the single shot, fired at random, was hailed with +a derisive yell by the askaris. Tom waited until +they were half-way across the clearing; then he +blew his whistle. Along the whole length of the +barricade burst a shattering volley, not perfectly +in time, but aimed low, as Tom had instructed. +At so short a range the effect was inevitable. The +first line of the assailants was broken; groans +mingled with the shouts; the survivors wavered. +The German non-commissioned officer from +behind ran among them, threatening them with his +revolver, and under this stimulus they charged +forward, with the second line at their heels.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Tom gave the signal for a second volley. +The enemy were barely fifty yards away. Many +of them dropped; some flung themselves on the +ground. The few who struggled on found +themselves baulked by the unsuspected moat; and the +German having fallen, and no supports being at +hand, they turned and fled. Before they reached +the cover of the trees another storm of bullets +swept upon them.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Wahehe gave rein to their jubilation. +They shouted, pranced, slapped their thighs. +Some wished to dash out from the barricade in +pursuit of the enemy; but Tom sternly ordered +them to stand to attention. He was as much +pleased as they were that the first assault had +failed; unlike them, he knew that this was only +the beginning of things. But it was of good +omen for the future. Brief though the +engagement had been, it had weakened the enemy in +numbers, whether seriously Tom, ignorant of +their reserves, could not tell. It had encouraged +his own men; best of all, it had proved their +steadiness. The three shots they had fired were +all that their magazines contained; now that he +could trust them not to waste ammunition, he +could allow them to keep their magazines full.</p> +<p class="pnext">For more than an hour there was no sign of +a renewal of the attack. Then, however, the +bombardment was resumed. It would appear that +while the defenders' attention was wholly taken +tip with repelling their assailants, some of the +enemy, unseen in the rear, must have "spotted" +for the gun, for the shells now began regularly +to pierce the barricade, exploding on impact, +and tearing away masses of the leafy boughs. +Crouching at the bottom of the muddy trench, +the Wahehe suffered no hurt except bruises and +abrasions from splinters of wood and metal; +and Tom resolved to have the breaches in the +barricade repaired during the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">But nightfall did not bring a cessation of the +bombardment. Every few minutes throughout +the night the shells cut new gaps. Work was +impossible. Tom guessed that the enemy's object +was not merely to prevent repairs, but to wear the +defenders out by breaking their rest and keeping +them constantly on the watch. In one way, +however, the persistent bombardment was a source +of satisfaction to him. While the shells continued +to fall, there was no likelihood that the enemy +would again assault. The prospect of a night +attack had caused him much anxiety, for the +negro's morale is never at its best in the dark; +further, in darkness and confusion the weight of +numbers would tell heavily against him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom knew nothing about artillery, and began +to feel a certain contempt for the gun, so slight +was the material damage done by its shells. It +was not, however, a field gun, but a small +mountain gun, more easily transportable than a larger +weapon. After the bombardment had continued +for some hours neither he nor the men were +much disturbed by the shell bursts, and he felt +more and more confident of his ability to hold his own.</p> +<p class="pnext">But when daylight came again he discovered +that the enemy had had another purpose in +their shelling. The bombardment continued. +The scouts from their high posts above reported +that they saw men's heads in the ground on the +further side of the clearing. Unable to make out +what they meant, Tom climbed the side of the +nullah under cover of the bushes until he reached +the trench, and cautiously looked out across the +open space beyond the barricade. Some thirty +yards in advance of the edge of the forest, on the +level of the ground, he saw the heads of several +askaris moving up and down. At one moment +a dozen heads were in sight, the next some of +them disappeared, only to bob up again a few +seconds later.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By George, they're digging," he said to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Quite ignorant of all military operations except +those simple manoeuvres learnt in the course of +field days with his school cadet corps, he was at +first at a loss to understand why the enemy were +digging a trench which was apparently to extend +from the forest to the nullah. He had perhaps +heard the word sap, but it conveyed nothing to +his mind. It was not long, however, before he +guessed the meaning of this unlooked-for +movement. The enemy were digging a means of +approach by which they would avoid the +inevitable losses of a rush across the open, and the +bombardment during the night had been designed +partly to cover the sounds of their tools.</p> +<p class="pnext">Watching intently, he noticed that the direction +of the enemy's trench was not a straight line +towards the barricade, but a series of short zigzags, +obviously to minimise the risk of interference by +enfilading fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ought to try to stop that little game," he thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">He lifted his rifle, and took a shot at one of +the moving heads. Instantly they all sank down; +whether he had hit he could not tell; and a +fusillade burst from the trees on the other side of the +clearing. For some minutes he saw no more of +the diggers; then a head and shoulders showed +for a moment, a little nearer than the nearest +head had been before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't stop them, apparently," he thought, +"but I can delay them."</p> +<p class="pnext">Hurrying down to the trench behind the +barricade, he sent a dozen of his best marksmen, +including a couple of the askaris, to the position +he had left, with orders to fire at the diggers +whenever they appeared. At their first shots +there was another fusillade from the forest; then +an interval of about a quarter of an hour during +which the enemy was silent, though Tom's men +continued to snipe. After that the enemy, having +located the position of the trench, began sniping +in turn; but the men were so well hidden that +they suffered no loss. Presently, however, a shell +burst a few yards above the trench, scattering +splinters upon its occupants; and a few minutes +later another shell fell plump on the parapet at +the northern end, killing two men and wounding +several. Tom at once withdrew the snipers from +their position, and sent them into the similar +trench on the other side of the nullah. From this +they sniped for a considerable time before they +were again detected, and when shells began to fall +there also, Tom removed the men to comparative +safety in the bed of the nullah. The wounds +inflicted by the shells were so severe that he did +not feel justified in exposing his willing soldiers +to injuries which he was unable to deal with +satisfactorily.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sniping being thus put an end to, and a +sortie being out of the question, Tom had to +reconcile himself to the inevitable. The +bombardment slowed down, either because the enemy +were satisfied that it had crushed opposition, or +maybe to save ammunition. Several times during +the day Tom went up to his observation post, +and noted the progress of the zigzags. The sap +was so narrow that the enemy would have to +advance in single file, and he thought his men +behind the barricade would have an easy task in +shooting them down when the attack came.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next morning, however, he saw with +something like dismay that the enemy had dug a +trench across the clearing, parallel with the +barricade, and about eighty yards from it. The full +meaning of their work was now clear to him. +They would reach the trench by means of their +zigzag path. When the word was given, they +would swarm out, and though their first wave +must suffer from the defenders' fire, the distance +they had to cover was so short, and they could +be so safely reinforced, that they might +overwhelm the defence by sheer weight of numbers. +Some of the survivors of the first attack had come +near enough to the barricade to see the moat, and +no doubt, when the enemy attacked a second +time, they would be prepared to meet that not +very formidable obstacle.</p> +<p class="pnext">All that day Tom anxiously awaited the assault. +After a quiet morning, the gun opened fire, and +for two hours pounded the barricade, until it was +breached in many spots. When the shelling +ceased Tom expected the attack to follow +immediately; but minute after minute passed, and +his scouts gave no sign of any movement among +the enemy. Taking advantage of this inaction, +Tom set some of the men to fill up the gaps in +the barricade, but they had no sooner started work +than the enemy's snipers, unseen among the trees, +began to pick them off. It was clear that the +issue of the struggle would depend on the fighting +capacity of the men, and not on the strength of +the defences.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the past two days the weather had been +dull but dry, and Tom found himself longing for +a downpour of rain, which would flood the enemy's +approaches. His anxieties were the greater through +his ignorance of their numbers. Since the first +attack he had seen none of them except the +sappers; whether the men biding their time in +the forest were scores, hundreds, or even +thousands he was utterly unable to guess. If he had +known the German's contempt for "cannon-fodder" +he might have suspected that their +numbers were not very great, for a German officer +with large resources would hardly have drawn off +at the first check.</p> +<p class="pnext">Darkness closed down upon the nullah. Tom +dared not leave his post, weary though he was. +Lying on a heap of twigs he waited, wondering +what the night would bring forth.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xx-raising-the-siege"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id21">CHAPTER XX--RAISING THE SIEGE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Midnight passed: the still hours stole +on; and Tom was dozing when Mwesa roused him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Noise dis way, sah," said the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom sprung up. From the direction of the +forest came slight sounds. The enemy were on +the move. He sent to the trenches above the +men detailed to hold them: the rest he ordered +to their posts behind the barricade. Their +movements were silent.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sounds from without were so faint that it +was clear the enemy hoped for a surprise. +Presently they ceased altogether, and Tom guessed +that the men had assembled in their trench and +only awaited the word. At each end of the +barricade he had placed an askari with flares and +matches.</p> +<p class="pnext">The silence was brief. Suddenly a whistle +sounded. The air was rent with a great shout as +the enemy askaris leapt from the trench and +surged forward towards the barricade. Instantly +Tom gave a signal; two blazing flares soared +over the barricade and fell on the ground beyond, +lighting up a wide space around them. Peering +through a gap, Tom saw the line of black men +pressing on. Some carried axes, others oblong +hurdles--pontoons for throwing across the moat. +Only a few seconds after the signal for the attack +had been given, another whistle cut the air. From +the barricade and the trenches above rifles flashed, +and there were gaps in the ranks of the assailants. +In the pressure of a moment like this regular +volleys were impossible: each man fired as fast as he could.</p> +<p class="pnext">In spite of their losses the enemy pushed on +with scarcely a check. They had not yet fired a +shot. Some crossed the moat with flying leaps +and began to hack at the barricade with their axes. +Others rushed over on the hurdles, and thrusting +their rifles into the gaps, fired at random. The +defenders here, having emptied their magazines, +lunged at the foremost assailants with their +bayonets, while the men in the raised trenches +kept up a hot fire on the supports rushing up +behind. But the stream seemed never to slacken. +If a man fell back from the barricade, another took +his place. A big askari forced his way through +a gap, and wounded two men before he was +transfixed by Mirambo's bayonet. Almost before the +bayonet could be withdrawn others of the enemy +came through at the same spot, and Mirambo and +the men about him found themselves engaged in +a fierce hand-to-hand struggle. The same thing +happened at many parts of the defences, and +though for every man who got through two or +three had been hurled back into the moat or +among their comrades, it was clear that by +pressure of numbers the Wahehe must soon be +overwhelmed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom created a temporary lull in the attack by +emptying his revolver on the largest group of +the askaris. The flares having now gone out, +he took advantage of the darkness to sound the +signal for withdrawal, and his men, obedient to +their training, rushed back into the trench and +reloaded. From beyond the barricade the enemy +were pouring a hot fire upon the higher trenches, +and Tom knew by the sounds that there were +still large reserves to deal with. Coming to the +conclusion that the position at the entrance of the +nullah could not be held much longer, he sent +the greater part of his force to take up new +positions at the bend, retaining a few to fight a +rearguard action. But it appeared either that the +first ranks of the enemy were exhausted, or that +they had had orders not to push forward into the +nullah at once after the entrance had been won. +Their officers, who had not yet come into view, +probably suspected that the nullah might have +many traps and pitfalls for their men in the +darkness, and reckoned on an easy conquest in daylight. +At any rate there was no immediate pursuit, and +within half an hour Tom had withdrawn all his +men into the trench at the bend.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes afterwards a flame burst out at +the entrance, spreading across the nullah from +side to side. The enemy had set fire to the +shattered barricade. None of them were visible +in the glare: it seemed that, content with having +forced the outer defence, the main body had +had returned to their trench to await the dawn, +now near at hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Tom numbered his men, he found that +thirteen were missing, and some thirty were +wounded, many of them lightly. He felt a pang +at the thought that some of the thirteen were +lying seriously wounded on the field, but it was +impossible to search for them.</p> +<p class="pnext">He realised that he was now in the last ditch. +If the enemy once rounded the bend, the village +on the high ground a quarter of a mile beyond +would be exposed to their fire, and for the sake +of the non-combatants it would be necessary to +yield. True, given time, another trench might +be dug across the nullah, and the enemy's advance +delayed again there; but his men were too +weary to start digging at once, and, in any case, +it was unlikely that the work could be completed +in the short hour before dawn. There was +nothing to be done but to hold the trench as long +as possible, and inflict such losses on the enemy +that they would be compelled to await reinforcements +before attempting a final assault. They +might even be satisfied with having captured the +entrance, and leave the rest to time and famine. +Escape was impossible, for, knowing of the "back +door," they would certainly take care to block +exit that way, which could easily be done by +posting a few men at the head of the narrow cleft.</p> +<p class="pnext">What hope was there of relief from the British +border? In reply to his note a Major Burnaby +had bidden him "hold fast," a message that +seemed to hold some slight promise of help. +Would that help come in time? If the enemy +were in sufficient strength, a few hours might +see the defence overwhelmed and the little +community at the mercy of the conquerors. How +many days was it since he had received Major +Burnaby's message? Three?--or four? He +could not tell. He had lost count of time. So +obsessed had he been with the problems of the +defence that he had given scarcely a thought to +what might have been passing in the village. +Moses had kept the fighting men supplied with +food, sending down carriers under cover of night. +The men on guard at the cleft had reported that +all was well, and the single sentry who kept +watch on the island prison had sent word that +the firing had at first caused some excitement +among the prisoners. They had grouped +themselves on the shore, gazing down the nullah, +talking to one another--all but Reinecke, who +had stood apart from the rest, and sometimes +walked up and down with quick impatient +footsteps, twirling his long white moustache. Tom +had not seen how the sound of the shells had +caused the women and children to huddle +together and sit cowering and moaning in their +huts. He had not heard their wails when word +came that such-and-such were dead, nor their +croons of pity and tenderness as they did their +little best for those who were wounded. All +his thoughts were centred on the one pressing +problem: how to hold out, to wear down the +enemy, to gain time.</p> +<p class="pnext">When morning dawned he looked anxiously +down the nullah. Its downward slope enabled +him to survey its whole length to the entrance +without unduly exposing himself. He saw a few +figures moving about where the barricade had +been, but between him and them none of the +enemy was in sight. The vegetation on either +side of the stream, growing to the bases of the +precipitous sides, would shelter hundreds: had +any of them crept up towards him under this +cover during the night? He could not tell; +nor dared he send out scouts to reconnoitre.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently he saw that the men at the entrance +had been joined by two white officers. The +Germans, who had kept in the background while +the askaris fought at the barricade, had now +come forward to inspect the position and direct +the further operations. Their intentions were +soon made manifest. There was a burst of +smoke from the middle of the burnt barricade, +and a shell exploded on the cliff-side just behind +the trench. Tom at once withdrew his men to +the cover of the bushes beyond the bend, leaving +only a handful in the trench to fire if any of the +enemy showed themselves within effective range. +The bombardment thus opened did not greatly +disturb him. The bend effectually protected his +men from harm, and the gun was not of a calibre +large enough to demolish the trench, of which +only a portion was visible to the gunners. Some +damage was done to the parapet on the eastern +side, but the enemy's object was clearly to intimidate +the defenders, for the futility of their shots, +in a material sense, must have been clear to them.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was clear, too, that they had learnt to respect +the quality of the defence opposed to them. +They gave no sign of an intention to advance +in the open. The bombardment was vigorous +and sustained, but except for the few figures +moving about the gun at the entrance, not a man +of them was seen. This inaction seemed ominous +to Tom. He could not think that they +meditated another night attack, for, unfamiliar with +the ground, they would be at a disadvantage in +darkness. Was it not more probable that, +relying on the bombardment to distract the defenders +and to drive them under cover, they were creeping +through the brushwood nearer and nearer to +the trench, and would by-and-by make a rush, +with the hope of profiting by surprise? This +was the movement that he most dreaded, because +the result must depend absolutely on the numbers +opposed to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just after mid-day the bombardment suddenly +ceased. For a few minutes there was a breathless +silence in the nullah: nothing was heard but the +gurgling of the stream. Then the storm broke. +From the bushes on each side, within a hundred +yards of the trench, burst a swarm of men at the +double. Tom had already summoned his men to +their posts in the trench, and the masses of the +enemy had covered only a few yards when they +encountered a hail of lead from the parapet. In +spite of many gaps in their crowded ranks they +dashed forward with ferocious yells, and pressed +the charge up to the very edge of the trench. +There, however, they came under fire from some +of the best marksmen, whom Tom had stationed +in the block-houses and also in the bushes on +higher ground in the rear. They reeled under +the double fire; a few who sprang over the +parapet into the trench were bayoneted or clubbed; +the rest turned and fled panic-stricken into the +cover they had lately left with such confidence, +many of them falling to the shots of the +triumphant Wahehe.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the silence that followed, Tom was startled +by sounds of firing from the north. It flashed +upon him that the Germans had arranged a +simultaneous attack on the cleft. The guard of twenty +men he had posted there, behind their barricades, +ought to be able to hold their own on ground so +favourable to them; but Tom at this moment felt +that he must see for himself how they were faring. +The repulse of the main attack gave him at least +a respite: he would not be absent more than +thirty or forty minutes; so leaving Mirambo in +command, he hurried up the nullah.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the way he was met by Moses himself, +running to tell him that the men above had sent +word that the enemy was upon them, and asking +that the m'sungu would come to their assistance. +Knowing the nature of the ground they were +defending, Tom guessed that the support they +craved was rather moral than material. He did +not care to send for reinforcements to Mirambo, +who might yet be hard pressed; but as he passed +through the village he collected half a dozen men +who had been slightly wounded in the first action, +and ordered them to follow him up the ladder. +Unknown to him they were joined by the armed +sentry who patrolled the lake-side opposite the +island. The man afterwards explained that he +was tired of watching prisoners, and wished to +have his share in useful work.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom found, as he had expected, that the men +guarding the cleft had no reason to be alarmed. +Posted behind the first of the barricades +commanding a difficult passage along which the enemy +must come in single file, they could have held the +position indefinitely. It appeared that the sight +of a white officer among the askaris who had +emerged from the end of the ravine had struck +them with dread: how could black men stand +against a m'sungu? They hailed Tom's arrival +with shouts of delight. Being for once +unaccompanied by Mwesa, he was unable to cheer them +with words; but he managed to make them +understand by signs that he trusted them, stayed +with them for a few minutes while they fired at +the enemy, who showed no eagerness to risk +the perils of advancing against a position so +formidable; then, confident that all was safe in +this quarter, at any rate for a time, hastened back +to where the danger threatened.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just before he came to the rock from which +the lake was visible, he heard shouts of alarm and +excitement from below. Surely the enemy could +not already have broken through? There had +been no firing. Hurrying down at some risk of +a fall, he halted at the rock in amazement at an +extraordinary drama that was being enacted.</p> +<p class="pnext">Between the island and the shore a crazy raft +was rocking in the water, under the paddles, rough +branches of trees, wielded in desperate haste by +the German prisoners. From Tom's high position +the reason of their frantic exertions was only +too apparent. He could see far into the clear +water of the lake. About the raft it was alive +with crocodiles. The hideous reptiles swam +round and round, sheering off where the water +was churned by the paddles, but pushing their +snouts on to the edges of the raft where the +paddlers stood.</p> +<p class="pnext">The scene would have been laughable but for +a possible element of tragedy. The raft was so +slight, evidently so hastily put together, that it +dipped now on one side, now on another, under +the strokes of the paddles or the pressure of the +crocodiles' snouts. Water poured over it. The +men dared not shift their positions, for every +moment threatened to make it capsize. Divided +between anxiety to gain the shore and the urgency +of beating off their horrid foes, they used their +futile paddles, now for propelling the raft, now +for smiting the reptiles' heads.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The madmen!" thought Tom. "How do +they suppose they can escape? But where is the +sentry?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Women and children, shouting and screaming, +thronged the shore, but there was no armed man +among them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom watched the scene as if fascinated. The +positions of the men on the raft had evidently +been arranged with care to ensure its balance, +which was disturbed from moment to moment by +the violence of their blows. In spite of all, they +were making progress towards the lake-side. +Suddenly, in a moment, Fate said her last word +to Curt Reinecke. Intending to strike a snout +that had just slid on to the raft almost at +his feet, he overreached himself, the raft tilted, +and he was in the water. The shriek that +rose from the unhappy man rang long in Tom's +ears. At the spot where he had fallen there +was a furious swirl as the crocodiles crowded +together, and disappeared into the depths of the lake.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment Tom was paralysed with horror. +Then collecting himself, he hastened down to +the lake, and summoned the women to assist him +in launching the large raft on which food was +taken to the prisoners. Reinecke's fate had +given the others a short respite. Before the +reptiles returned to the surface the Germans had +transferred themselves from the one raft to the +other, and pale, cowed, trembling mortals, were +paddled to the shore.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom had no time to question them, or to +inquire about the missing sentry. The sound of +scattered shots drew him at his best speed towards +the trench. When he reached it, he found that +his men were sniping at individual askaris who +were hurriedly making their way, not up, but +down the nullah. Surely the enemy were not +withdrawing?</p> +<p class="pnext">"Me hear shots long way off, sah," said Mwesa, +running towards his master excitedly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom thrilled from top to toe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you sure?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sure nuff, sah. Mirambo he say no: old +ears, sah, no can hear, same as me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom wondered. Could it be true? Was the +long-expected relief coming at last? Could there +be any other explanation of distant firing? He +strained his ears for the welcome sound. He +gazed towards the end of the nullah. There +were certainly signs of activity there. And then +came the sound that could not be mistaken. +Somewhere to the south rapid rifle fire was +going on.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a few moments all other feelings were +submerged in overpowering thankfulness. Then +the possibilities of the situation struck upon his +mind. It was clear that some of the enemy had +been withdrawn to meet this attack in their rear. +Had they all gone? Had the conquest of the +nullah been wholly abandoned? That must be +put to the test.</p> +<p class="pnext">He sent Mirambo out with a dozen +sharpshooters to feel his way down the nullah. +Stealing along under cover of the bushes, the +men had gone nearly two hundred yards before +the sound of shots reached the trench. A scout +hurried back to report that the whole of the +enemy force was retreating. Tom instantly +collected all his remaining fighting men, and +led them down after Mirambo's party.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently another scout came with the news +that the enemy had not all left the nullah, but +had manned the old trench just within the +barricade. Tom felt his way forward cautiously +through the bush, and overtook Mirambo where +he had halted about a hundred yards from the +trench. Southward the crackle of rifle-fire was +growing louder and more distinct. It would be +a pity to lose an opportunity of routing the +troops who still remained in the nullah, dispirited +as they must be by the knowledge that a fight +was going on in their rear.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom jumped at the chance of employing +against the enemy the manoeuvre which the +enemy had unsuccessfully employed against him. +He ordered the greater part of his men to creep +through the trees and bush on each side, taking +care to avoid making the least noise, and to halt +when they came within fifty yards of his old +trench, now manned by the enemy. At the same +time, to divert attention, he sent word to the +men he had left at the bend to fire a shot +occasionally, aiming at the cliffs.</p> +<p class="pnext">When all was ready he gave the signal, and +with a vociferous whoop eighty men sprang from +their places of concealment and followed him in +a whirlwind dash upon the trench. The askaris +there, taken aback by this sudden charge of an +enemy who had hitherto stood wholly on the +defensive, had no ears for the commands of their +German lieutenant. Without pausing even to +fire one volley, they sprang out of the trench, +sprinted over the ruins of the barricade, leapt the +moat or crossed by the hurdles, and fled helter-skelter +into the forest, flinging away their arms +as they ran.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom's men dashed after them in a flush of +enthusiasm; among the pursuers none were +nimbler or more excited than the captured +askaris. Tom shouted to them to take the fugitives +prisoners, and not to use their weapons except +against those who resisted. As for himself, he +put every ounce of what little energy remained +to him into the chase of the German officer, who, +finding himself deserted by his men, had shown +a clean pair of heels. Tom was up with him +before he gained the forest. The German, aware +that he was outrun, suddenly swung round and +half raised his arm to fire his revolver. But he +was a shade too late. Tom hurled himself upon +him with all the impetus gained in his sprint +across the clearing, struck the revolver from his +hand with his left fist, and with his right dealt +the officer a smashing blow on the chin that sent +him headlong backward with a crash.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leaving him to be picked up by some of the +older and less fleet-footed of the negroes, Tom +hurried on towards the sounds of firing. He +had no need to go far. Fugitives from the +nullah had reached their comrades, who were +falling back before a force of white men and +Rhodesian police advancing on a wide front. +Realising that they were between two fires, the +enemy gave up the hopeless struggle, and +scattered to right and left, seeking safety in the +pathless forest. The firing ceased, and within +ten minutes of leaving the nullah Tom was +grasping the hand of a tall bronzed Englishman +who bore a major's crown upon his sleeve.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tom Willoughby, I suppose," said that officer, +looking with a quizzical smile into the tired brown +eyes on a level with his own.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're Major Burnaby?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes. A nice little scoop, eh? Now, we've +no time to lose. Take me to your nullah. Your +people must trek at once. We've cut the wires +on the Neu Langenburg road. Two detachments +half a mile apart are holding a place clear +for our crossing. With luck we'll get through +before they send up troops from Bismarckburg. +But we must hurry."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxi-willoughby-s-scouts"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id22">CHAPTER XXI--WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">An hour later a singular procession marched +southward through the forest. At the +head went a number of Msetu's scouts, with an +advanced guard of strapping Rhodesian planters, +young and middle-aged. Behind these, a +detachment of Rhodesian native police, their broad +black faces shining. Then, a happy throng of +women and children, each bearing a bundle. +These were followed by a number of white men +and black, all wearing bandages about an arm or +a leg or the head. Then, twenty or more couples +of native soldiers with the Red Cross upon their +sleeves, carrying field ambulances on which lay +still, bandaged figures, white and black. Next, +four Germans, among whom the stiff bulky form +of Major von Rudenheim was conspicuous, and +thirty odd askaris--prisoners guarded by +Rhodesian police. Then Major Burnaby, with Tom +Willoughby, Mwesa in close attendance behind. +Then a large body of native porters, stepping +lightly under the heavy burdens on their heads. +Following these marched the whole body of the +Wahehe fighting men, led by Mirambo; six +of them drew a mountain gun; and finally, at +an interval, the rearguard of British planters, +volunteers in the service of the Empire.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is no need to relate the details of their +uneventful journey. Next day, in a pelting +rainstorm, they crossed the Neu Langenburg road, +where their numbers were increased by two small +detachments of Rhodesian police under British +officers, whose watch upon the road had not been +molested. Late on the third day the procession, +weary, drenched, but at the top of high spirits, +filed up the hill into the little town of Abercorn.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is perhaps worth while, however, to record +two conversations.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the arrangements for the evacuation of +the nullah had been made, Major Burnaby had +leisure for a little talk with Tom Willoughby, +over a bottle of excellent hock from the case Tom +had captured on the Neu Langenburg road.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, that's all right," said the major, in +response to Tom's warm expression of thanks. +"You owe it to my old father-in-law, you +know--Mr. Barkworth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes: he took a fancy to you on the boat. +Dear old man! His heart's as young as it was +when I first met him in Uganda twenty years +ago--when I was about your age. He was mightily +perturbed about you when we got word that the +mad dog had broken loose. Wrote off at once to +Reinecke, whom he knew long ago, asking him +to pass you across the border with a safe-conduct, +and became quite ill when Reinecke replied that +you had been accidentally killed. He gave a +very circumstantial account of your accident, by +the way."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He was a good liar," said Tom.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Was?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, he's dead--horribly. He came to attack +me, and I collared him and put him on the island +in the lake. I suppose he grew impatient when +he heard the firing, couldn't wait for the end, and +got his fellow-prisoners to make a sort of a raft. +Our sentry deserted his post, with the most +praiseworthy intentions, and Reinecke took advantage +of his absence to launch the raft. He was attacked +by crocodiles; Reinecke lunged at one, and toppled +over. I saw the whole thing: the recollection +makes me sick."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor devil! He was a tricky sort of fellow, +according to Mr. Barkworth."</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom related the incidents that had led to his +occupation of the nullah.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He deserved no better fate," remarked Major +Burnaby at the close of the story. "Fellows like +him make one unjust, perhaps--I mean, one +would rather not regard him as a typical German. +Unhappily his countrymen are doing their best +to make the name of Germany odious."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What are they doing, sir? What's the war +about? Of course I've heard nothing."</p> +<p class="pnext">Major Burnaby gave an outline of the public +events that led to the war--events which all the +world knows.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But the real origin of the war is Germany's +tigerish greed," he said. "One can understand +that a great nation, flushed with unexampled +success, conscious of power and the possession of +many good qualities which only an ass would +deny, should look with a certain envy and jealousy +on our little islands as the owners of a world-wide +empire. There are wrong-headed and sentimental +people at home who make excuses for her, ask +how we could expect her to be content with the +present position of things, say we deny her means +of expansion, and so on. But they shut their eyes +to the fundamental contrast between Germany and +ourselves. Our Empire is a gradual, almost an +accidental, growth: much of it has been so to +speak thrust upon us: you've only to read history +to know that. We have taken up the burden of +rule in barbarous countries, or countries like India +and Egypt, where civilisation had decayed, and +which but for us would be either bear's gardens +or hotbeds of slavery and oppression. I don't say +that our motives have always been of the purest +or our methods always the best; but I do say +that we have never, as a state, set before us the +deliberate aim of grabbing what doesn't belong to +us, forcing all civilisations into our particular +mould, and subjugating all other nations by sheer +brutal terrorism. That is what Germany is doing. +She hasn't a notion of honour. She was bound to +respect the neutrality of Belgium; a few days +before she threw her troops across the frontier +she assured the Belgian Government that she +had no intention of doing so. She forced on the +war when Austria was hesitating, simply because +she thought she saw a unique opportunity of +gaining a quick and easy victory, smashing +Russia, smashing France, grabbing valuable territory, +filling her coffers with millions of foreign gold, +and reaching a position in which every country in +Europe, and ultimately in the whole world, would +be her very humble tributary. She will allow +nothing to stand in her way: no treaties, no +scruples of honour, no considerations of humanity. +She is simply Brute Force personified; the whole +nation has gone mad in the worship of militarism; +and she will never come to a better mind, there +will be no security in this unhappy world, until +her idols are broken by the application of the +same force in overwhelming measure. That's our +job, my dear fellow, and we must go through with +it, whatever the cost."</p> +<p class="pnext">The other conversation took place in a planter's +house at Abercorn. Mr. Barkworth had just +heard from Tom's lips the full story of all that +had happened to him since their parting on the +landing stage at Bismarckburg.</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm!" ejaculated the old man. "Tom," he +said, turning to his son-in-law, "he's your +namesake. Eh? Tom's a good name--better than +riches! Young Tom must have a commission, +eh? Want to fight, young Tom?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not particularly, sir. I mean, I don't want +to fight; but there's only one thing to be done +with a bully--hit him hard. That seems to be +the position; and I'll do my best."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sound doctrine, my lad. I'm a man of peace; +but I read of a Man of Peace who once flogged a +pack of rascals out of the Temple of Jerusalem. +No soft words; but stinging whips. Please God, +we'll whip Germany into good behaviour. But +now, the practical point. Infantry? Cavalry? +Artillery? What's it to be?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He seems rather good at organising scouts," +Major Burnaby put in.</p> +<p class="pnext">"H'm! Scouts very useful when we get +seriously to work in those wilds. Willoughby's +Scouts, why not? What do you say, young Tom?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I couldn't wish for anything better, sir. The +Wahehe will be a nucleus: they're very keen."</p> +<p class="pnext">"They'll follow you like faithful dogs. I know +them! Well, old Tom, you'll arrange it. Smuts +is coming: fine fellow, Smuts: I know him. +Willoughby's Scouts must be ready--</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">'TOM WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS.'"</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst small white-space-pre-line">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY<br /> +RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,<br /> +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1,<br /> +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<div class="center transition"> +<p class="pfirst">――――</p> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst x-large">A FEW STIRRING ROMANCES</p> +<p class="center large pnext">By HERBERT STRANG</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="large left pfirst">The Air Patrol</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">A story of the North-West Frontier.</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">Illustrated in colour by CYRUS CUNEO.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">In this hook Mr. Strang looks ahead--and other books have already proved +him a prophet of surprising skill--to a time when there is a great Mongolian +Empire whose army sweeps down on the North-West Frontier of India. His +two heroes luckily have an aeroplane, and with the help of a few Pathan +miners they hold a pass in the Hindu Kush against a swarm of Mongols, long +enough to prevent the cutting of the communications of the Indian army +operating in Afghanistan. The qualities which marked Mr. Strang's story, +"The Air Scout," and won extraordinarily high commendation from Lord +Roberts, Lord Curzon, and others, as well as from the <em class="italics">Spectator</em> and other +great journals, are again strikingly displayed; and the combination of thrilling +adventure with an Imperial problem and excellent writing, adds one more to +this author's long list of successes.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">"An exceptionally good book, written moreover in excellent style."--<em class="italics">Times</em>.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">"'The Air Patrol' is really a masterpiece."--<em class="italics">Morning Post</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="large left pfirst">The Air Scout</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">A Story of National Defence.</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">Illustrated in Colour by W. R. S. STOTT.</p> +<p class="large left pnext">The problems of National Defence are being discussed with more and more +care and attention, not only in Great Britain, but also in all parts of the +Empire. In this story Mr. Strang imagines a Chinese descent upon Australia, +and carries his hero through a series of exciting adventures, in which the +value of national spirit, organisation, and discipline is exemplified. The +important part which the aeroplane will play in warfare is recognised, and the +thousands of readers who have delighted in the author's previous stories of +aviation will find this new book after their own heart.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">LORD ROBERTS wrote:--"It is capital reading, and should interest more than +boys. Your forecast is so good that I can only hope the future may not bring to +Australia such a struggle as the one you so graphically describe."</p> +<p class="left pnext small">LORD CURZON writes:--"I have read with great pleasure your book, 'The Air +Scout.' It seems to me to be a capital story, +full of life and movement: and further, +it preaches the best of all secular gospels, patriotism and co-operation."</p> +<p class="left pnext small">"We congratulate Mr. Strang on this fine book--one of the best fighting stories +we have read."--<em class="italics">Morning Post</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="large left pfirst">ROMANCES BY HERBERT STRANG</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="large left pfirst">Palm Tree Island</p> +<p class="large left pnext">Illustrated in Colour by ARCHIBALD WEBB.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">In this story two boys are left on a volcanic island in the South Seas, +destitute of everything but their clothes. The story relates how they provided +themselves with food and shelter, with tools and weapons; how they fought +with wild dogs and sea monsters; and how, when they have settled down to a +comfortable life under the shadow of the volcano, their peace is disturbed by +the advent of savages and a crew of mutinous Englishmen. The savages are +driven away; the mutineers are subdued through the boys' ingenuity; and they +ultimately sail away in a vessel of their own construction. In no other book +has the author more admirably blended amusement with instruction.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">"Written so well that there is not a dull page in the book."--<em class="italics">The World</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="large left pfirst">Rob the Ranger</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">A Story of the Fight for Canada.</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">With Illustrations in Colour and Maps.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">Rob Somers, son of an English settler in New York State, sets out with +Lone Pete, a trapper, in pursuit of an Indian raiding party which has destroyed +his home and carried off his younger brother. He is captured and taken to +Quebec, where he finds his brother in strange circumstances, and escapes with +him in the dead of the winter, in company with a little band of stout-hearted +New Englanders.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">General Baden-Powell, in recommending books to the Boy Scouts, +places "Rob the Ranger" first among the great scouting stories.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="large left pfirst">One of Clive's Heroes</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">A Story of the Fight for India.</p> +<p class="left medium pnext">With Illustrations in Colour and Maps.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">Desmond Burke goes out to India to seek his fortune, and is sold by a false +friend of his, one Marmaduke Diggle, to the famous Pirate of Gheria. But he +escapes, runs away with one of the Pirate's own vessels, and meets Colonel +Clive, whom he assists to capture the Pirate's stronghold. His subsequent +adventures on the other side of India--how he saves a valuable cargo for his +friend Mr. Merriman, and assists Clive in his fights against Sirajuddaula--are +told with great spirit and humour.</p> +<p class="left pnext small">"An absorbing story.... The narrative not only thrills, +but also weaves skilfully +out of fact and fiction a clear impression of our fierce struggle for +India."--<em class="italics">Athenaeum</em>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="backmatter"> +</div> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39912 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |