The horsemen pulled up with a shout of exultation.
"What did you stop for?" asked the one who had struck the blow. "Why
didn't you keep on running?" he added with a fiendish laugh, as he
leaned over the prostrate body of the Kaffir.
"Yaas, why don't yer go on to tell where der two cameels be, to der
fools whom found um?" asked the other. "Why don't yer do datch?"
The two men who were addressing the half-unconscious Congo were the same
two Willem, Arend, and Hendrik had met the day before,--the men who had
directed them to search to the south. One was the brother of Mynheer
Van Ormon, the other was his brother-in-law. They were men who had for
many years been living on the borders of the colony,--part of their time
engaged in fighting Kaffirs and Griquas, and robbing them of their
cattle, the other part in trading with the natives for ostrich-feathers
and ivory. They had lately returned from an unsuccessful expedition to
the north, the object of which had been to procure two young giraffes,
in order to obtain the reward or price offered for them by the consul of
the Netherlands. On seeing within the kraal of their kinsman Mynheer
Van Ormon, the very animals they had sacrificed so much time in vainly
searching for, they could not resist the opportunity of appropriating
them. Their idea was, to conceal the animals for a few weeks among the
hills, until those to whom they properly belonged, giving them up as
lost, should return to their homes. The giraffes might then be taken to
Cape Town, and disposed of, without the original owners ever knowing
anything of the trick that had been played upon them.
Unfortunately for Congo, they had that morning been in search of
something for food, and had returned just in time to see him playing spy
upon their camp.
"This is the villain who pretended to quarrel with his master and leave
him," said the man who had knocked the Kaffir down. "I told Van Ormon
to send him off with the others, but he was sure the fellow did not wish
to assist them, and could not if he would. By his folly our game has
been nearly lost. We've just been in time; but what are we to do with
the black brute, now that we've caught him?"
"Kill him!" replied the other, who was the brother of Van Ormon. "He
mus never got to de white mens. Dey would come and rob us all."
"Very likely. Some people are bad enough to do anything; but I have
half killed this fellow already,--you may do your share, and finish him,
if you like."
"No Shames; as you pegins this little job, it is besh you finish it
yourself."
Bad as were the two ruffians into whose hands Congo had fallen, neither
of them liked to give him the _coup de grace_, and, undecided what else
to do with him, they tied his hands behind his back.
He was then assisted to his feet, and, reeling like a drunken man, was
led towards their camp.
Congo soon began to recover from the effects of the blow, and became
sensible of the danger he was in. By their talk, he could tell that
they intended putting him out of the way. From their savage looks and
gestures he could see there was but little hope of his life being
spared. His captors would not dare to let him escape. He had learned
too much to be allowed to live. No assistance could be expected from
his master and companions. They were waiting for him far-away.
"Is this the game you have brought back?" exclaimed the man sitting over
the camp-fire, as the others came up dragging their captive after them.
"Yes, and as you are the cook, you must dress it for our dinners,"
replied he who answered to the name of "Shames."
"Well, why don't you tell me what this means?" interrogated the first.
"Only this: we have caught a spy. We have been tracked by him to this
place. But there's no great harm done yet. We're in luck, and nothing
can go wrong with us. Our catching this fellow is a proof of it."
A long consultation was now carried on between the ruffians, in which
they all agreed in the necessity of putting the prisoner to death.
It would never do to let him live. He would in the end bring them into
trouble, even if kept a prisoner for years. His tongue must be silenced
forever. There was but one way of silencing it. That was, never to
allow him to leave the place alive.
There was a point upon which his captors were a little in doubt. Had
the Kaffir undertaken the task of tracking them upon his own
responsibility, or with the knowledge and at the instigation of his
masters? In the former case only, would they be safe in destroying him.
In the latter, the act might be attended with danger. To make sure of
this, one of the three men--Van Ormon's brother it was--proposed going
back to the house, there, if possible, to ascertain how the case stood.
To this the other two readily consented; and, mounting his horse, he
rode off for the kraal of his kinsman.
As soon as he was gone, the others tied Congo to a tree, and then
seating themselves under the shade of the _cameel-doorn_, they proceeded
to amuse themselves with a game of cards.
Four hours passed,--hours that to the Kaffir seemed days. He was in a
state of indescribable agony. The thongs of hide that bound his wrists
to the branches were cutting into the flesh, and besides, there was
before his mind the positive certainty that he had not much longer to
live.
The fear of death, however, scarce gave him so much mental pain as his
anxiety to know something of the fate of his companions, and his wish
that Groot Willem should recover the giraffes. He now regretted that he
had not revealed his suspicions at the last interview with his young
master. This might have saved the hunters from their loss and himself
from the fate that now threatened him. It was too late. He had acted
for the best, but acted wrongly.
In the afternoon Van Ormon's brother came riding back to the camp.
"Well! what news?" asked James, as he came within speaking distance.
"It ish all right. Dey don't know nothing of what's up. Mine bruder
have constant watch over their camp. They be in von quandary, and will
soon go home."
"Is Van Ormon sure that they hadn't any communication with this Kaffir?"
asked James.
"Yesh! they had. One of them came to the house, and saw this fella
yesterday. But for all that, blackee never said von leetle word to him.
They were well watch while they wash togedder."
"Then perhaps it is not all right, as you say. They may have the same
suspicion that led him here. Why the deuce don't they go off home? I
don't like their hanging about so long."
"I tell you, Shames, it ish all right. We have only to get rid of the
spy. He must never see the fools who own him, again. What ish we to do
with him?"
"Send a bullet through his body," said the man who had been left in
charge of the giraffes.
"Yes; he must be killed in that way or some other, certainly," said
James; "but which of us is to do it? It's a pity we did not shoot him
down while he was running. Then was the time. I don't like the thing,
now that I've cooled down."
Bad as the ruffians were, none of them liked to commit a murder in cold
blood. They had determined that Congo must die, yet none of them wished
to act as the executioner.
After a good deal of discussion and some wrangling, a bright idea
flashed across the brain of Van Ormon's brother. He proposed that their
prisoner should be taken to a pool that was some distance down the
gorge; that he be tied to a tree by the side of the pool, and left there
for the night.
"I see de spoor of lion dare every mornin'," said he, grinning horribly
as he spoke. "I'll bet mine life we find no more of dis black fella ash
a few red spots."
This plan was agreeable to all; and at sundown the Kaffir was released
from his fastenings, conducted down the narrow valley, and firmly
spliced to a sapling that stood close to the edge of the pool.
To provide against any chance of his being heard and released by a stray
traveller, a stick was stuck crosswise in his mouth, the bight of a
string made fast over each end of it, and then securely knotted at the
back of his head.
After taking a survey of his fastenings, to see that there was no danger
of their coming undone, his cruel captors made him a mocking salute;
and, bidding him "good bye," strode off towards their camp.