THE FLIGHT
In the afternoon the village hummed with excitement. The word had
gone round that the new white man who had shot the crocodile would
give a feast, and the people squatted in rows on the bank watching a
couple of their stalwart fellows preparing a canoe for an expedition
after the river-horse. When Mr. Hume appeared with his Express in
company with the Belgian officers, who were indifferent sportsmen,
the people saluted him with a feeling of gratitude for favours to
come in the shape of fat meat.
"Good luck," said the junior officer, "but I back the animals; they
are very wary and very fierce."
"What is the betting?" cried the hunter.
"Oh no, my friend!" exclaimed the senior. "Keep your money for to-
night; and don't drown yourself. We must have one game, you know."
"Very well. By the way, Compton?"
"Yes, sir."
"You and Venning may as well amuse yourselves by getting the stores
on board in case we leave to-morrow."
"That depends on how the game goes," replied the officer. "If you
win, we must keep you for a return match."
"That is only fair. But I may lose; so, my lads, go on with the
packing."
The boat went off up the river hugging the banks, and the whole
village sat down to watch the stalk, all but a few who went to and
fro between Venning at the house and Compton in the boat, carrying
the stores. The two officers turned in, with mats drawn, to enjoy
their siesta, and the guards on duty sought the shade of the trees
by the bank to watch the hunt.
The hunt was not a matter to be decided out of hand, by a swift
paddle straight up to the sand-bank in the river, and a chance shot.
The canoe crept up slowly and passed out of sight. The old hunters
in the watching crowd took counsel together, and then the chief of
them announced what would happen. The "slayer of crocodiles" would,
he declared, get above the island and then slowly descend with the
current upon the river-horse.
"May he shoot straight and his powder be strong," shouted a river-
man; "for it is the father of bulls who sleeps there--he who has
eaten many canoes."
"It is the same," said the old hunter; and, taking a pinch of snuff,
he began to tell the deeds of the old bull hippo.
So the drowsy afternoon passed lazily away to the watchers, and
wearily to the white boys. Their thoughts were in the canoe, and,
moreover, they were irritated by the slowness of the men who carried
the parcels. No man would carry more than one package at a time, and
after each journey he sat down to rest and discuss the chances for
and against the feast.
When the shadows were creeping across the deserted square--deserted
save for the man bound to the post, Venning for the hundredth time
looked across with an aching desire to rush over and cut the bonds.
As his eyes ranged sadly over the bronzed figure, he detected a
movement in the shadow of a hut opposite. Looking more attentively,
he saw the round ears of a jackal, and then made out the sharp face
resting between the outstretched paws, and the yellow eyes fixed
intently on the chief.
Muata lifted his head slowly, as if it were top heavy for the
muscles of his neck, and his gaze went sideways to see if any
watched.
Venning nodded eagerly from the shelter of the room; made a movement
with his hands as if he were cutting; pointed up the river and
spread his arms like a swimmer.
Muata let fall his head again, with his chin on his naked breast;
and the carriers ranged up for the last load. A shout from the bank
made them hurry. Several people who had gone to see about their
fires rushed, yelling, across the square to the bank.
"It was as I said," shouted the old black hunter. "See where he
creeps down-stream on the bull." "Wow! he has hidden the canoe in
leaves. It is as a tree floating."
"Ow ay, we smell meat!" sang a big man, stamping his feet.
"We smell meat--red meat, fat meat; the red meat of the fat cow for
the women; the tough meat of the old bull for the men;" and the
women clapped their hands.
The Belgian officers were awakened, and stepped out of their
darkened rooms. They found the village empty, save for Venning
stooping over his last parcel, and Muata at his post with what
looked like a yellow native our lying at his feet.
"The bull opens his mouth!" chanted the old hunter. "He wakes from
his sleep! There is the smell of man on the wind! He looks around!
He sees a tree borne on the current! He will surely eat lead!"
Venning picked up his parcel and followed the officers. Out of the
comer of his eye he saw the seeming yellow cur lift its head and
smell at the thongs which were bound about the prisoner's legs. Then
he hurried on.
"Wow! the bull drives, the cow into the water. He is cunning. Ow ay,
he knows."
"What does he know, old talker?" asked one of the officers.
"The cow is fat," laughed the old man. "The hunter would shoot the
fat cow first, and so the bull makes her take the risk. He is wise."
"He is shameless!" screamed the women.
"See them?" said Compton, offering his glasses to Venning and
pointing up-stream.
Far up Venning saw three dark objects on the shining glance of the
vast river. One, the canoe fringed with branches, slowly drifting
upon the other two, raised but a few feet above the water on a
gleaming yellow sand island. One hippo, with its huge head swinging,
was standing up, looking not unlike an overfed prize pig. Then the
other rose, and the two walked towards the water.
"Wow! the old bull keeps on the safe side. I said it; he is wise."
"Shameless!" cried the women.
"Wherefore does the crocodile-slayer delay? Surely he knows the body
will sink in the river if it reach the water."
"The smoke! He fires!"
"The cow is down! To the boats children--to the boats!"
Men and boys made a rush, and, out of a tremendous uproar of
splashing and shouting, half a dozen canoes were flying at full
speed for the cow's meat, altogether indifferent to the future
proceedings.
"The smoke again! The bull has it! He is down; he is up; he is in
the water! Wow! Look out, O 'slayer of crocodiles!'"
"But the cow lies still!" cried a woman, anxiously.
"Oh ay, there will be meat for the feast. But what of your man in
the canoe if the bull seize him?"
"It is his risk," said the woman, calmly.
Venning dropped the glass, and he and Compton stood looking from the
island to the old hunter, who seemed to know every point in the game
better than they could follow through the glasses.
"Ah, it is well. They tear the branches from the canoe. They row
straight for the island. The white man jumps--the men tumble out--
wow-wow!--the bull takes the canoe in his jaws. It will go hard with
those who go for the meat if he get among them."
"The white man leaps in the water!" shouted another. "But he holds
his gun above him. He reaches the sand; the others crawl up also.
They run! I do not see the bull!"
"There are crocodiles!" shrilled a woman, pointing with an arm
heavily ringed with brass bangles.
"This is not their fight, mother."
"But they will take our meat."
"It is the bull I think of." "Will he meet the canoes, or will he
face the three on the island? The white man sees the canoes; he
waves them to go back, but they smell meat; they keep on." "What is
this? He points his gun at them. They stop; they turn back."
"A pity," said one of the officers, with a grin. "We should have
seen sport."
"But the sport is not over," said the other. "I back the bull.
Remember how he put you to flight, my friend. What is the meaning of
this, old man?"--this to a hunter.
"Surely, O great one, it means one thing. The white man is afraid
the canoes would draw the bull away. He wishes the bull to land--to
attack him."
"More fool he, ay, my friend," said the officer, with a sneer.
"One of the men on the island is pointing," said Compton, who had
taken up the glasses again. "I see something in the water where the
canoe went down."
"I said it," shouted the old black; "the bull will fight. Stand,
fast, O white man, for it is either you or he."
Those watching saw the bull land and hurl himself with amazing
swiftness at Mr. Hume.
"Why doesn't he shoot?" yelled Compton.
"Wow! the white man springs aside. The bull squeals; he staggers; he
is down. Behind the ear. I say it. There the bullet went in. There
will be much meat." The old man took snuff, and cast a proud look
around as if he alone had done the deed.
"By Jove!" muttered Venning, wiping his forehead. "It seemed a near
squeak."
The two officers went back to their cool rooms, and the crowd broke
up, the women and children going off dancing to collect firewood.
The little fleet of canoes descended on the island, and in a few
minutes the carcasses were hidden by bands of naked men, who slashed
and cut, while crocodiles, attracted by the blood, appeared from all
directions. In a very short time the fleet returned, and Mr. Hume,
standing in a heavily laden craft, ran a greater risk than when he
faced the savage old bull, for the gunwales were flush with the
water, and the men were utterly reckless as they dashed along at the
head of the flotilla.
As the men leapt ashore, women seized the meat, and the village at
once entered upon the wild orgy of the feast, forgetting Mr. Hume
and all else in the one desire to start their jaws on the half-
cooked flesh.
"Is all aboard?" asked Mr. Hume, as he jumped ashore.
"Everything," said Compton. "We watched your shot, sir; it was
splendid."
"Well, that part of the plan has gone off all right. It will be a
more difficult job to free Muata and get away ourselves."
Venning described how he had seen the jackal approach the chief, and
as he and Mr. Hume went into the village, leaving Compton in the
boat, they cast an anxious glance at the square already agleam with
fires in the growing dusk. Muata was still at the post, his head
drooping and his body relaxed.
"That's bad," muttered the hunter; "he looks quite exhausted."
"Perhaps he's shamming."
"Let us hope so. In any case we may have to wait until past
midnight, as I am afraid our hosts will not let me off. It would be
better if we could get away early."
Fortune favoured them, for as the Zanzibar boy approached with a
message from the officers, there arose the sound of rifle-shots from
the forest beyond. The people in the square shouted a reply, and
presently a party of men, dressed in long white robes, appeared.
They halted in the square, and the leader came on alone. He stooped
to stare into the face of Muata as he passed, then approached.
"Welcome, Hassan! My people are feasting; thanks to the skill of my
friend here;" and the Belgian who had come forward indicated Mr.
Hume.
The Arab peered into Mr. Hume's face and salaamed, with an evil
smile on his wide, thin-lipped mouth.
"I am thankful," he said in the native dialect, "for your kindness
in bringing back my slave"--pointing towards Muata.
"It was a small thing," said Mr. Hume.
"But it pleases me; and when you reach my zareba, all that is mine
to command is yours."
He looked at Venning, and the boy noticed that the pupils of the
eyes had a white speck, which gave to them a sinister appearance.
"Good," said the Belgian. "We will have a night. Pardon me for a
short time while I discuss a little matter touching the reward for
Muata with my friend Hassan."
The two went off, the Arab casting a ferocious look back at the
chief.
Venning tugged at the hunter's arm. "Look," he whispered.
Muata was slipping down the post, as if his legs had utterly given
way. The party of new-comers were stacking their arms at the
"indaba" house at the end of the square, and the village people were
talking, laughing, and eating. Muata reached the ground, but not in
a state of collapse, for the next instant the two watchers saw him
crawl to the shadow of a hut, where he remained as if stretching his
limbs.
"Come," said Mr. Hume, in a fierce whisper, recovering from his
surprise; and the two went swiftly to the river.
Compton had already cast off and was holding by the boat-hook.
"Bring her in."
The Okapi ran her stern into the bank, and the two stepped aboard,
Mr. Hume going forward to the wheel, with his rifle in his hand.
"Shove her off; run as silently as you can out of hearing, and then
work the levers."
Compton looked inquiringly at Venning as he picked up the oars, and
then at the village, from which came a loud babble.
"Is he free already?"
Venning nodded.
"Good;" and then they bent themselves to the oars with every nerve
on the quiver, and their eyes on the shore.
"Stop! Back-water!"
Obediently they stopped the way of the boat and backed her,
wondering what had gone wrong. A turn of the wheel sent them in
among the canoes. There was a flash of steel, a plunge of the strong
arm down into the boats, accompanied by a ripping noise. Then the
hunter waded ashore, and with his great hunting-knife ripped up the
boats lying on the bank. Quickly he was back at his place.
"Now, off!"
Again they pushed off, the boys with their excitement increasing
after this interlude, which showed them the imminence of danger. A
few long strokes took the Okapi well out; then she was put about
with her nose up-stream.
"The levers now, my lads!"
They perched themselves on the saddle-seats, and at the clanking of
the levers the beautiful craft slipped swiftly up-stream.
Then out of the dark there rose the mournful howl of a jackal,
almost instantly replied to by a similar call at a distance.
"The chief calling to his jackal," said Mr. Hume. "Thank Heaven, he
has got away. Now I will let him know we are also off;" and he, too,
gave the jackal hunting-cry.
Back out of the darkness came the chief's exultant war-cry, and on
it a furious shout from the village, followed by the discharge of a
rifle, and the rolling alarm of a war-drum. Then shone out the glare
of torches at the river bank, and a savage yell announced that the
men had discovered the injury done to the canoes.
One of the purchases made in London had been a lamp with very fine
reflectors. This Mr. Hume fixed on a movable bracket within reach of
his arm as he sat at the wheel, and when the lights at the village
faded astern, he lit the lamp, in order to thread a passage by its
light through the dark waters. As the noise of shouting, the
drumming, and the report of fire-arms died down, other sounds
reached their strained hearing--the booming of the Congo bittern,
the harsh roar of a bull crocodile, and the cries of water-birds.
Then Venning laughed--a little short nervous laugh. "We have done
it," he said.
"We have, indeed," said Compton.
"But if we can only pick up Muata and his jackal, we should be all
right. Just a nice party."
The rudder-chains clanked; the boat set up a heavy wash as she
turned from her course. There was a splashing, and something
snorted almost in Venning's face.
"Nearly ran into a hippo!" sang out Mr. Hume. "We must keep out into
mid-river; it's too risky inshore. Tell me when you are tired."
"We're quite fresh yet," replied Compton. "It is easier than
sculling."
"Moves like clockwork," said Venning, gaily. "I could keep on all
night."
"We'll have to keep on all night and all to-morrow," muttered Mr.
Hume; and in a few minutes he relieved Compton, making him put on a
heavy coat before taking the wheel. "It's the chill that is
dangerous. In an hour you will relieve Venning."
Turn and turn the boys relieved each other at intervals, but Mr.
Hume swang to his lever till the dawn, when the mast was stepped,
the sail spread, and the spirit-lamp got out for the making of
coffee. After breakfast the awning was spread, the mosquito curtains
stretched round, and the boys were ordered to sleep. They demurred
at first, but the hunter rather sharply insisted, and no sooner were
they stretched on the rugs than they were asleep. The yoke had been
slipped over the rudder, and, using the lines, Mr. Hume sailed the
Okapi single-handed, taking her across the lake-like width till he
was under the wooded hills of the south bank, where he beat about
for an hour or so in the hope that Muata might have covered the
distance at the native's trotting-pace. It was, he told himself, not
likely, however, that the chief could have done so, after being for
hours bound to a post; and after a time he beat out again into mid-
stream afar off, so that no village natives should spy upon the
craft. He did not share in the triumph of his young companions. Too
well he knew that they had risked everything by their secret
departure; but he could not see that any other course was open to
them, as if they had remained it would have been difficult for them
to prove that they were not concerned in Muata's escape. He knew,
too, that if he had abandoned the chief, as the price of security,
the boys would have lost all faith in him.
What, however, he did feel was, that the responsibility rested on
him. If a mistake had been made it was his mistake, and if the boys
suffered from it the blame would be his.
So he beat out into mid-stream, where the sail of the low-lying
craft would be but a speck when viewed from the shore, and with a
beam wind laid her on a course which she kept almost dead straight,
with a tack at long intervals only. In the shade of the awning the
boys slept the dreamless sleep of the healthy, and he let them sleep
on till the sun stood almost above the mast, sending down a blaze
that scorched. Then he beached the Okapi on the shelving shore of a
sand-spit, without vegetation of any kind to give shelter to
mosquitoes, and awoke them.
"All hands to bathe!" he shouted; and the three of them were soon
in, and no sooner in than out; for, according to the hunter, the
virtue of a bathe was not in long immersion, but in friction. "With
their heads well protected, but their bodies bare to the sun, the
friction was obtained by rubbing handfuls of the dry, clean sand
over limbs and body till the skin glowed.
"Now I will snatch a few winks while you work the levers, until the
wind springs up again."
Mr. Hume stretched himself forward under the awning after unstopping
the mast; and the two friends, after tossing a bucket of water over
the canvas awning, took their seats, clad in pyjamas and body-belts
only, and bent gaily to the levers which "click-clanked" merrily.
Their feet were naked, for Mr. Hume had taught the lesson that the
feet should be cool and the head protected; their arms were bare to
the elbow, of a fine mahogany hue; their movements were brisk; but
the best evidence of health was in the clearness of their eyes.
Fever shows its touch in the "gooseberry" eye, dull and clouded; in
the moist pallor of the skin, and in a general listlessness. Even if
they are free from fever, white men in Central Africa often grow
listless because of insufficient nutriment. Their flesh-diet is
chiefly the white meat of birds, and their blood-cells are really
starved by the small amount of nitrogenous matter. A deficient diet
in its turn is a frequent cause of diarrhoea and constipation, two
of the most common complaints among new chums. In his hunting
expeditions Mr. Hume had learnt his lesson from experience, and he
accordingly was a martinet on the rules of health. All the drinking-
water was first boiled. The boys could wear as little as they liked
during the heat of the day, so long as they protected their heads
and necks, but on the approach of evening they had to get into warm
and dry under-garments; they had to keep a sharp watch for the
striped "anophele" mosquito, were taught to spray the puncture, if
they were tapped by the mosquito lancet, with chloride of ethyl, and
had to submit occasionally to a hypodermic injection of quinine. The
nitrogen they got from condensed meat juices.
"This is very much more like what I expected," said Venning, looking
from the broad river to the distant wooded banks, and from the dark
forest to the blue sky.
"I can see two string of duck, a whole crowd of ibis on a little
island, a crocodile and a hippo."
Compton, who was facing the stern, glanced over his shoulder, then
directed his gaze aft again.
"We seem to be traveling slowly," he growled.
"There's no hurry, is there?"
Compton raised his head a little, and looked under the shelter of a
hand.
"They're coming," he said briefly.
"Eh?" Venning stopped, and looked back. The water glimmered under
the sun like a vast silver sheet. "I can see nothing."
"Don't you see a dark smudge. Well, that is the smoke from a
steamer. I thought at first it came from a land-fire. But it does
not. Send her along."
Venning quickened up, and for some minutes pedals and levers worked
at almost racing speed.
"We cannot keep this up. Give him a call!" Venning shouted, and Mr.
Hume looked round.
"Bid you call?"
"They are after us," and Venning jerked his head back, while still
bending to his work.
The hunter loosened the canvas awning, and stood up for a long look
aft. Then he faced about, and threw a quick glance up-river.
"Keep her straight for that wooded island," he said, pointing ahead
towards the south bank; and Venning pulled the steering-line to
place the Okapi on a new course.
Mr. Hume took in the awning and packed it away. "Now, my lads," he
said, "we'll just face the position. That's the fort launch racing
up, and she could overhaul us in two hours. If we surrender we
should be safe from violence, but they would probably confiscate our
boat or detain us for weeks. If we resist they would be justified in
running us down. What shall we do?"
"Escape," said Compton.
"Of course," Venning chimed in.
"By attempting to escape," continued Mr. Hume, "we as good as admit
that we aided and abetted Muata, and, if captured, they would make
it harder for us."
"At any rate, we meant to free Muata."
"Besides, we must escape," said Compton, with determination.
The perspiration was rolling off their faces, for, as soon as they
worked at high pressure, they felt the pull of the screw.
"Come forward, both of you," said Mr. Hume, rolling up his sleeves.
"Compton, you take the wheel, and Venning, you get out the guns."
They obeyed him, and he, kneeling on the aft-deck between the two
levers, grasped one in either hand, and got more speed out of the
Okapi than they had by their united efforts. The muscles stood out
like ropes on his brawny arms, and the levers smoked in the slots.
"Keep her to the north of the island."
The boat hummed along, drew up to the nose of the island, skirted
its reedy side, where stood a hippo eating at the rank grass, and
then dropped it astern.
"Good," said Mr. Hume, with a great grunt of satisfaction, as he
swept his eyes over the river.
"See those dark spots ahead? They must be the first of the thousand
islands that stretch away right up to the Loanda river. If we can
get into them we are safe."
"Can I help?" asked Venning, having set out the rifles in the well,
with the ammunition handy.
"Whistle for a wind. That's all. Fix your eyes on the islands,
Compton, and slip in where they are thickest."
"Ay, ay," muttered Compton, frowning under the stress of his
excitement.
Venning searched for the field-glasses, and as the island they had
passed sank low astern, he swept the river for sign of the pursuing
launch.
"By Jove!" he muttered, with a start.
"Well?"
"She has shifted her course. I can see the white of her hull right
under the trees on the south bank."
"She must have gained a lot, then," grunted Mr. Hume, "if you can
see her hull."
"She's making out again. Perhaps she put in to speak a native
village, and maybe they have not seen us; we are low in the water."
"They'll see us soon enough. Tell me when she passes the island we
just left."
"She's making across. No, she's turning. Ah, now she's pointing
straight for us. I can see several people in her bows."
"Now turn your glasses on the islands ahead."
Venning turned round, and looked up-stream.
"Is the launch nearer than the islands?"
"I can see a stork standing on the edge of the water. The first of
the islands is nearest." He turned again to watch the launch.
"There is more smoke--they are stoking up."
The launch was unquestionably coming up hand over hand, and it was
not long before Venning could see the foam at her bows, and the flag
of the Congo Free State flying at her stern. Then he saw a ball of
smoke.
"She is firing!" he yelled.
Compton never took his eyes off the little cluster of reeds ahead
that marked the first of the thousand islands.
"Keep her going!" he shouted.
Mr. Hume smiled grimly, for he was doing the work of two men.
"They are loading the gun!" cried Venning. "Oh, if I only could
help!" He buttoned and unbuttoned his coat, then picked up the
sculls, and fell to rowing with fierce energy. "The smoke!" he
cried. Then, a moment later, "What's that noise?" as a menacing
sound with a shrieking whistle to it smote on his ears.
There was no need for an answer. The shot struck the water about a
hundred yards short, and skipped by, wide of the Okapi, but still
too near to be pleasant.
"Keep on!" shouted Compton, fiercely.
The levers clanked furiously, and Venning, who had suspended his
sculling under the menace of the shot, tugged again at his work.
The steam-whistle of the launch sounded a series of sharp, jerky
calls, followed by the firing of a Mauser bullet. Venning's heart
was pumping blood at express speed under the violence of his
efforts, and his eyes in a wild stare were fixed on the approaching
craft, which had now brought its living freight within recognizable
distance. He could distinguish the two Belgian officers and the
swart face of the Arab chief, Hassan. He could see the men with
rifles, aiming, as it seemed, straight at him, and then he ducked
his head as he saw the smoke once more belch from the seven-pounder.
At the same moment he was nearly capsized by the sudden swerve of
the Okapi, as she almost turned on her keel. The shot struck the
water so close that the spray drenched them. Compton looked round
and shouted aloud--
"They're aground! Hurrah!"
Venning, recovering himself, saw the men on the launch hurled to the
deck.
"Hurray!" he shouted.
"Keep on!" shouted Compton; and, after another five minutes' burst,
the Okapi swept behind one island and passed in between two others.
"Now," he said, "give me the levers."
"You're welcome," said Mr. Hume, wiping the moisture from his brow
and taking a huge breath.
He went forward to the wheel, and threaded the Okapi through narrow
passages between islands of all shapes and sizes, until after having
got into such a fastness as would be impracticable for the launch to
reach, he ran the boat on a shelving sandbank. Then, before anything
else was attempted, the awning was fixed, and they settled down for
a needed rest. Next the boys smacked each other on the back.
"Was it by accident or design, Compton, that you led them into the
shallows?"
"I saw we could not reach the shelter of the island, and was feeling
bad, when I caught a ripple on the water to the right. I edged the
Okapi on after the first ball shot was fired, and as we drew nearer
I was sure there was a long sandbank. When I made that sharp turn as
the second shot was fired, I could see the outline of the bank just
under water, and turned to avoid it."
"It was a mercy you altered our course just at that moment,
Compton."
"Wasn't it? It was touch and go. We stood to be run down or knocked
into smithereens in another minute;" and Venning shook Compton's
hand.
"Did you see them go over like ninepins," laughed Compton, "when
they struck? But I'm not claiming any credit, you know. If it had
not been for Mr. Hume----"
"We all did our share," said the hunter, "and we have every cause to
be thankful; but we must not imagine that the chase is over."