THE NORTHWARD TRAIL
The information which the old chief had given Royce influenced his
choice of route when he started on his return journey.
"You see, John," he said to the headman, "we don't want to meet this
Goruba again. No doubt he stumbled on us by accident, and we have no
reason to suppose that he has any particular spite against white men;
certainly I had done nothing to upset him. But as he appears to be a
dangerous character, we had better keep out of his way. Don't you
think so?"
"Dat all same berry good, sah," said John.
"Then we won't go back by way of the fort," Royce pursued. "I dare
say, indeed, these men know a nearer way to the village. Ask them."
The carriers assured John, when he questioned them, that they knew a
much nearer way, by which they would leave the fort a long distance
on their right. Royce therefore left the leadership to their
headman, who carried no load, and went on with him, slightly ahead of
the rest, to keep a good look-out in case of possible danger.
It was not until they had been marching for an hour or more that the
suspicion flashed upon him that Goruba might have been concerned in
the raid on the ruined village. True, John had said that the raiders
were Tubus, and Goruba was not a Tubu, but probably, from his
appearance, and from what the chief had said, a Nubian. But,
remembering that Rabeh, Goruba's former master, had himself been a
slave, who had gradually worked his way up to the lordship of a
considerable empire, Royce wondered whether Goruba had raised himself
to a similar position among the Tubus.
A puzzling fact was that he had appeared at the fort alone. As
Rabeh's lieutenant he no doubt had made himself so much hated in this
part of the country that he could expect no mercy if he fell into the
hands of any of his former victims. It seemed therefore unlikely
that he was really quite alone. He must belong to a party, and what
could be more probable than that he was a member, if not the leader,
of the party who had burnt the village?
The more he thought about it, the more troubled Royce became. If the
raiders had not returned to their own country across the Yo, it was
at least possible that they might discover Challis's camp. He was
uneasy at the idea of Challis, with his few men, of whom half were
sick, having to sustain an attack by a large body of the most
ferocious warriors known in that part of Africa. Anxious to rejoin
his friend, Royce grew impatient at the slow pace at which the
carriers walked, heavily burdened as they were, and would have gone
on far ahead but that he felt himself responsible to the chief for
their safety.
It was fortunate that he had decided to avoid the fort on his return
journey. Goruba had dispatched a small band of his best men to lie
in wait there, and ambush the white man and his follower. They were
lurking in the precincts of the fort at the very moment when Royce
and his party were making a bend to the south about a mile distant.
The route followed by the headman of the carriers led through a
considerable stretch of wooded country. The headman told John that
he would not have chosen that way but for his master's desire to
avoid the fort, although it was shorter. When John asked him why, he
explained that the woodland was the resort of large herds of
elephants, of which the carriers were somewhat afraid. It would have
been different had they not been carrying loads. They were bold
enough when they accompanied the chief on hunting expeditions, and
had spears in their hands. But with heavy loads on their heads they
felt helpless if the great beasts should chance to cross their path.
Once or twice, as they pressed on at their best pace, they heard a
great crashing among the trees. Their scent, carried on the breeze,
had disturbed the elephants browsing in the thickets. The sound
alarmed the men, but Royce, when John told him what caused it,
explained that the elephants were just as anxious to avoid them as
they were to avoid the elephants.
"What the white man says may be true," said the headman. "But
sometimes the scent of men makes the elephants angry, and then they
seek the men, and do not run away."
They passed through the woodland without encountering elephants, and
found themselves on the low shore of an extensive lake, the remoter
border of which was overhung by low cliffs. The negroes were careful
to keep at a good distance from the brink of the water. Alligators
might often be met with on the mud flats, lying so still, and being
so much the colour of the ground, that their presence was sometimes
only known by the shrieks of some hapless victim whom one had seized.
As they were skirting the lake, John suddenly gave a shout, and
pointed to what appeared to be a greyish-black ridge just projecting
above the surface of the water. This object seemed to swell, the
water was disturbed, and at one end of the ridge emerged the ugly
head of a hippopotamus.
"Hippo meat berry fine, sah!" said John longingly.
"I daresay, but I am not going to shoot when I don't know who may be
about," Royce returned. "And don't shout again, John, whatever you
may see. I am not anxious to meet that giant Goruba again."
They left the lake behind, and by dint of hard marching through rough
and scrubby country reached the neighbourhood of the ruined village a
little before nightfall. Approaching it on a different side from
that by which he had left it, Royce would not have recognised it but
for the assurance of his guides.
He hurried along with John at the head of the party through the
desolate blackened street until he reached the palm-trees, where he
expected to find the camp. To his surprise there was no sign of an
encampment having been there, nor, looking round, could he discover
Challis or any of the boys.
"What does this mean, John?" he asked, feeling very uneasy.
John looked puzzled for a moment or two; then his face lightened as
the explanation struck him.
"Boys 'fraid of debbils, sah," he said. "Massa Chally find 'nother
place."
Somewhat relieved, Royce hastened on with the man, hoping to see his
friend at no great distance. In a few minutes they caught sight of
the scattered material of the zariba. In the enclosure was a round
mark upon the ground, indicating where the tent had stood, and
blackened spots where the men had kindled their fires. But all the
baggage was gone, except one tent-peg. There was nothing else save a
number of empty banana skins.
Royce paused in dismay. John looked about with the air of a man in
fear. And then there was a sudden cry from one of the carriers, as
they came up toiling under their loads. They halted, dropped their
burdens, and, collecting in a group, stood staring at the ground.
Royce and John hurried to them, wondering what had attracted their
attention. They were looking with terror at some dull reddish
splashes on the soil.
Royce's heart sank. It was inconceivable that Challis had moved camp
of his own accord. He must have been attacked. The bloodstains
seemed to indicate that there had been a fight; yet they were very
few, and all at one spot. He looked about, dreading to see dead
bodies in the neighbourhood of the enclosure. The relief he felt at
finding none was smothered by a great anxiety. It seemed only too
certain that, fight or no fight, the camp had been captured, and all
within it carried away.
For some little time they all stood silent. Then the headman
suddenly started, threw up his arms, and with a howl of fright took
to his heels, and ran fleetly back along the way he had come.
Instantly his companions followed him; in a few seconds they had
disappeared. Royce was left alone with John.
The Hausa had already discovered the cause of their sudden stampede.
He had caught sight of a black form skulking among some thin bush at
no great distance from the camp.
Just as he pointed him out to his master, looking much inclined to
bolt after the carriers, the figure moved towards them, hastening its
steps, and revealing itself to be that of one of their own men. The
carriers, no doubt, had supposed him to be one of the party who had
rushed the camp, and feared that the rest were somewhere near.
John ran to him, asking eagerly what had become of Massa Chally. The
man explained that he and another had accompanied Massa Chally when
he went shooting birds, and on their return had seen thousands of
Tubus swoop down on the camp. Being himself somewhat in the rear of
the other two, he had concealed himself, and the birds he carried, in
the bush, and remained there until the prisoners had been taken away.
So far as he knew, he was the only one who had escaped. Fearing to
leave the spot, he had waited there, knowing that Massa Royce would
return by-and-by.
"Was there a fight?" asked Royce.
The man replied that Massa Chally had fired his gun, but was himself
wounded and ridden down by the horsemen. No one else had fired.
Most of the men were laden with bananas, and the horsemen had come
upon them so suddenly that there was no time to do anything.
Bad as the news was, Royce recognised a reason for thankfulness in
that Challis had not been killed. The carrier was firm on that
point. He had seen the white man tied to a saddle, and taken away
with the rest.
"Which way did they go?" Royce asked.
The man pointed towards the north.
Royce stood pondering. What was to be done? It was unthinkable that
he should leave Challis and the faithful boys to their fate, even
though by following them up he should share it. Challis might
escape, in which case he would need help, and the nearer Royce was to
him the better. But Challis was not the man to desert his negroes,
and the chance that all would be able to escape together was slight.
The longer Royce thought over the problem, the less likely did it
appear that he could do anything for his friend. Yet he must make an
attempt. Were the positions reversed, he knew that Challis would try
to do something for him.
"We must go after them, John," he said at last.
"Save Massa Chally, sah--oh yes!" replied John, trying to look
cheerful.
The other man was too much terrified of solitude to raise any
objection, though he was inwardly trembling at the thought of meeting
the Tubus.
"What can we do with these provisions?" said Royce, indicating the
calabashes which the frightened carriers had dropped. "We ought not
to leave them for the birds; they may come in handy some day."
John suggested that they should be carried into the bush, and covered
up as well as possible with the material of the dismantled zariba.
This plan seemed to be the only one possible, and the three spent
half an hour in stowing the calabashes under a thick layer of thorn
branches.
Then, providing themselves with enough food for a couple of days,
they set off on the trail of the raiders. There was no difficulty in
following it. The soil was sandy, and the horses had left
unmistakable traces.
"Keep your eyes open, John," said Royce. "We must see the Tubus
before they see us."
"Savvy all same, sah," said John. "Berry good eyes, sah--oh yes!"