A HOT CHASE
Royce and Challis met at the foot of the hill.
"Splendid, old man!" said the former, gripping his friend by the
hand. "I had almost given you up, and my men were in a frightful
state of depression."
"Not more depressed than I was," rejoined Challis with a smile. "I
was depressed sixteen feet below ground! But I'll tell you all about
that presently. Give your men a good feed out of the reserve
provisions we have brought. I'll send my lot out to prevent the
Tubus from reuniting; then we'll talk things over."
Challis sent three-fourths of his force into the forest and the
surrounding country, with orders to check any attempt of the
scattered Tubus to combine. Meanwhile Royce's men revelled in what
was, after their privations, a sumptuous feast.
While they were eating Royce and Challis attended to the few wounded.
"It's extraordinary, that so few have been lost on either side," said
Challis. "It's almost a bloodless victory. The Tubus have been
vastly over-rated. They seem more ready to bunk than to fight."
"The explanation is simple enough," said Royce. "They have never met
with organised opposition before. They have had it all their own
way, and kept the negroes down by the sheer terror of their name.
Their power is gone for good now."
"I'm not sure of that," returned Challis. "Goruba is still at large.
He was bowled over when he charged my pikemen, but he couldn't have
been much hurt, for he got clean away."
"That's a pity. If we had collared him our victory would have been
complete. None of your men saw which way he went?"
"They didn't say so."
"If we could only find out, we might pursue him. So long as he is at
large, he is a danger; he may rally the fugitives, and when they have
got over their fright they will be a far more formidable enemy to
tackle."
"Well, let us round up some horses, in case we get word of him.
We'll probably find a good many in the woods."
"A good idea. Some of the Hausas can ride--I will send them."
He selected half-a-dozen of the Hausas, including Gambaru and Kulana,
and sent them under John's command to bring in any horses they might
find within a short distance of the fort. While they were gone,
Challis related the incident of his fall into the pit.
"But for John's disobedience I should never have got out," he
concluded. "We owe a good deal to the devotion of our men, Hugh."
"We do, indeed, and it shan't go unrewarded. The way they have stuck
to us is magnificent."
After about an hour, John and his party returned, riding on captured
horses and leading others. They also brought several Tubu prisoners,
tied to their saddles. John was evidently much excited.
"Goruba, sah!" he cried, springing from his horse. "Him run away."
"We know that," said Royce. "Which way did he go? Did you see him?"
"No see him, sah. Hah! Him berry clebber chap, sah, Gamba feel very
bad, sure 'nuff."
"Who is Gamba? What do you mean?" Royce asked.
John drew forward one of the prisoners, a tall young negro slightly
wounded in the thigh.
"Dis Gamba, sah," John went on. "Him say Goruba pull him off horse,
knock him boko, sah. Goruba get a horse, run away all same. Gamba
berry mad; what for Goruba run away, not him? Him Tubu, Goruba no
Tubu; make him berry mad, sah."
John did not explain himself very clearly; but, after questioning him
patiently, Royce made out that when Gamba was about to ride away
Goruba pulled him from the saddle, struck him on the head, and
galloped away on his horse.
Gamba resented this. He had always disliked Goruba as a stranger who
had wormed his way into the confidence of the Tubu chief, and whose
rise to power had awakened the jealousy of many of the tribe. He
blamed Goruba, too, for the misfortunes which had lately befallen the
community, and had a personal grudge against him for appropriating
his horse and preventing him from fleeing to safety.
"Which way did Goruba ride?" asked Royce.
Gamba explained that Goruba had ridden northwards towards the Yo,
probably to fetch reinforcements large enough to crush the
Englishmen's party.
"He has got a good start," said Royce to Challis. "but there's just
a chance we may catch him if we go at once."
"Especially if this fellow will guide us," said Challis.
In spite of his wound, Gamba was eager to lead the chase of the man
he hated. Accordingly, Royce and Challis mounted and, accompanied by
the Tubu and their six Hausas, cantered away towards the north.
John, much to his disappointment, was left behind in command of the
men.
As they rode on, the Englishmen got more information from Gamba,
Kalana interpreting. It turned out that he was a nephew of the
childless chief of the Tubus, and had expected some day to succeed
him, until Goruba appeared on the scene.
Moreover, he had a special affection for the horse of which he had
been deprived. It was the fastest horse owned by the tribe, and
Goruba had long coveted it. He said that if Goruba rode straight for
the Yo and crossed it they would never catch him. Their only chance
of doing so was that he might be delayed, or halt for some reason or
other.
On learning this Royce quickened the pace. Gamba led the party
almost due north, through a country which had probably never before
been visited by a white man. It was broken, hilly country, for the
Yo was still far from the mud flats that mark its entrance into Lake
Chad.
They soon had visible proof, in hoof marks, that more than one
horseman had recently ridden in front of them. Clearly Goruba was
not alone. Gamba dismounted and examined the tracks. He gave a
grunt of satisfaction when he discovered the track of his own horse.
When they rode on he seemed to forget that he was following up an
important member of his own tribe. All his attention was fixed on
recovering his horse and squaring accounts with a personal enemy.
Keenly scanning the trail as he rode, he pointed out every now and
then spots where stragglers had joined Goruba, until it was clear
that the party with him numbered eight or nine men.
"We needn't bother about them," said Royce. "You boys, go for
Goruba. You can't mistake him; he is bigger than the rest. Don't
kill him if you can help it; he will be more useful to us alive than
dead."
The track was easy to follow, and there was no doubt that Goruba was
making straight for the Yo. It was not likely that he had given up
the contest, for his treasure was still safe in the underground cave.
Royce hoped that the giant would not meet a raiding party of Tubus
before he reached the headquarters of the tribe, for with his few
Hausas, armed with rifles though they were, he would be no match for
a large band of the negro warriors.
The sun was hot, and the stiff pace at which they rode fatigued the
whole party. But Royce pressed on, hoping to make up for the start
of more than an hour which Goruba had had.
At last, early in the afternoon, he caught sight of the quarry about
two miles ahead, disappearing over the crest of a gentle slope.
The pursuers, who were riding down hill, urged their horses to a
gallop. Easing them up the slope, they found when they had reached
the top that they had gained nearly half-a-mile on the fugitives, who
were apparently unaware of being followed.
From this point onwards the country was a succession of ups and downs
like a switchback. The Tubus had disappeared; when next they were
sighted, they had almost gained the top of another slope. Royce
allowed them to pass from sight over the skyline, then galloped on to
gain on them once more.
Hitherto the ground had been fairly open, but it became more wooded
as they proceeded. The Tubus were hidden when the pursuers got to
the crest of the hill. They gave their horses a breather, and then
pushed on at full speed over a rough forest track. Royce was leading
with Gamba, Challis and the rest following in single file.
It was impossible to see more than about a hundred yards in front,
owing to the winding of the path among the trees. Suddenly the
rearmost of the Tubus came into sight about eighty yards ahead. At
the same moment he heard the thuds of the pursuers' horses, turned in
his saddle, and, shouting with alarm, urged his horse forward.
"After them!" cried Royce, digging his heels into his horse's flanks.
A turn of the path brought the whole nine of the fugitives into view.
The path narrowed, so that there was only room for one horseman to
ride at a time. The better mounted of the Tubus tried to pass the
slower, with the result that some were edged off into the wood on
either side, and tried to force their way through the entangling
vegetation.
"Never mind about them," cried Royce, who had seen Goruba's huge form
galloping ahead of two others.
It was a wild ride. In some places the branches of trees hung down
over the path, and the pursuers had to dodge them by bending low on
their horses' necks. At other places the path itself was obstructed
by fallen boughs and by masses of creepers, so that both pursuers and
pursued had the utmost difficulty in avoiding a fall.
Royce, with his eyes fixed on Goruba, narrowly escaped coming a
cropper, and was only saved by the sure-footedness of his horse,
accustomed to running in this wild forest country. Gambaru was
struck from his saddle by an overhanging branch, and Challis, close
behind him, pulled up just in time to avoid riding over him.
One of the Tubus riding behind Goruba edged his companion off into
the thicket. Royce, close on his heels, shot out his left arm as he
passed and threw the man from his seat.
Then, just as his horse was steadily overhauling the man in front,
there was a sudden dramatic development.
Goruba glanced round, took the measure of the situation, and drawing
a pistol, while still riding at full speed, deliberately shot the
horse of his follower. The beast fell with its rider. Royce was
unable to check his horse in time; it turned a somersault over the
fallen animal, and Royce was shot over its head into a thorn bush
several yards away.
The Hausas yelled with alarm and reined up. Challis, forgetting
Goruba in his anxiety for his friend, sprang from his horse and ran
to assist him as he rose, torn and bleeding, from the merciless
thorns.
For a few seconds Royce was too dazed with pain and shock to think or
speak. Then, collecting his wits, he said:
"Don't bother about me! After Goruba--don't let him escape."
But Goruba had reckoned on the confusion and delay which his shooting
the horse would occasion. By the time that Challis had remounted and
dashed on in pursuit, the bold negro was out of sight.