"A FRIEND IN NEED."
That very night, when our friends were conversing together in the house
of their prison, a guard appeared with a small note, which he handed to
Kenyon, and signified that he was to await his answer.
At once tearing open the cover, the wonder-stricken detective read the
simple message:--
"Follow the bearer.
"Weston Abbott (`Noughts and Crosses')."
Springing to his feet in joyful haste, he quietly whispered to
Grenville, "A friend at court! by Jove, old man! The note is from Uncle
Sam's own trusted correspondent in Salt Lake City. We're in luck
again," and, indicating to the officer his willingness to comply with
the instructions contained in the note, Kenyon quickly followed the man
out of the hall.
To the astonishment of our friend, the fellow led him directly to the
ancient Prophet's room, where he found the old man very comfortably
domiciled, and prepared to receive him most kindly, though still in a
strictly business-like manner.
"Well, Mr Kenyon," he said, "so in this out-of-the-way part of the
world we meet at last, and I assure you that it gives me pleasure to
know you personally. I am the man who wrote this note, and am also your
regular and constant correspondent in Salt Lake City.
"Now, I want you just to tell me the whole history of this affair, and
why I find you here at the ends of the earth, when I thought you in New
York. Tell me all; for, I assure you, we are at our wits' end to know
how to deal with these English people, whom, particularly the woman and
child, I rather shrink from slaying."
Kenyon then gave him a full, true, and particular account of the whole
expedition, adding that the presence of Lady Drelincourt in Equatoria
was still an enigma to him, as he believed her dead in England, slain by
Zero's hand; but that the poor woman was still so weak and hysterical
that they had not liked to question her, especially whilst her recovered
husband hung between life and death. The detective also touched warily
upon the destruction of East Utah by Grenville and his friends some
years before, palliating their conduct there, by pointing out how very
necessary it had seemed to them to rescue Miss Winfield and her father
from their captors. To Kenyon's surprise, however, the old Mormon
frankly told him that Grenville had in this case, also, only anticipated
the intentions of the Holy Three in Utah itself, where they had
absolutely enrolled an army of the Saints to eat up the whole of this
rebellious African community as soon as they could find out the precise
whereabouts of East Utah--a task which had, however, proved too
difficult for them; and Zero's idea had been to found a colony of his
own, supported by the abominable traffic in slaves, and, by drawing into
it (under the name of Mormonism) all the cut-throats and scoundrels he
could lay hands on, to make the community much too strong for even the
Saints to overcome him or prevail against him, and eventually no doubt,
by exercising the power of the enormous wealth which he had wrung from
suffering flesh and blood, to usurp the supreme authority in Salt Lake
City itself.
Far into the night this curious pair sat talking of matters vitally
interesting to both, and though the old Prophet would not absolutely
commit himself to any promise regarding Kenyon's friends, he willingly
undertook to do his best for them, adding that, so far as he was
concerned, he rather liked them all, and should be glad to do the
detective a good turn by setting them all free, but that there were many
matters of policy to be considered by himself and his colleagues ere
they could see their way to any definite decision upon this head.
In the morning, when Grenville and Kenyon were released from the room
which they had been allotted, next to that occupied by the still
unconscious Leigh and his anxious wife and child, they were surprised to
notice the unusual quiet which overhung the place, but soon found that
one of the old Mormon's earliest measures of policy had consisted in
starting off to the southward the whole of the female population of
Equatoria at dawn, accompanied by their children, and convoyed by five
hundred of his own well-armed band.
Immediately breakfast was over, every soul remaining in the town was
summoned to another grand assembly, at which it was formally announced,
to the astonishment and annoyance of everyone, that Zero had succeeded
in filing through his fetters, and had decamped in the night, together
with the Zulu Amaxosa and the Chieftain of the Stick, and, therefore,
said the stern judges, when these men were recaptured, all three would
be crucified without mercy, and Zero, for this additional offence, would
be _nailed head-downwards to the awful cross_.
The prophet then proceeded to say that, after due and careful
consideration of the whole peculiar circumstances of the case, the Holy
Three had decided to give life and unconditional freedom to all the rest
of the prisoners, both white and black, and to present them in addition
with large and handsome rewards for the way in which they had acted, as
there could be no doubt that the fearful slaughter inflicted by the
English party upon the rebel crew, had alone saved the Mormon community
from having to fight several severe battles, from losing very many lives
of valued men, and perhaps, owing to their lack of knowledge of the
district, failing, after all, to accomplish their desired object. For
the gentle English lady, and for the injured "People of the Stick," the
Holy Three had nothing but sympathy, and had, therefore, decided to
apportion the immense spoil taken from Zero--amounting to nearly a
million of money--into three equal parts: one for the Mormon community,
one for the Atagbondo--to enable them to rebuild their kraals, to buy
new wives and weapons, and stock their enclosures with oxen and with
goats--and the third share for the English-Zulu party, who had behaved
so well and fought so grandly, and amongst whom was classed Detective
Kenyon of Uncle Sam's police.
It was a bold course to take, and the old Mormon had unquestionably done
a wise thing when he weeded out, and started on the home journey in
charge of the women and children of Equatoria, all the possible
malcontents of his own band. Still, the Mormons had already seen such a
lot of bloodshed that they probably thought the course adopted by their
leaders to be the wisest; at all events, they raised no voice against
it.
The aged Prophet had, as he afterwards confided to Kenyon, positively no
other course open to him under his instructions: either he must declare
the party guilty, and cut them off, one and all, absolutely without
exception; or he must liberate them unconditionally, congratulate them
upon the success of their actions, and give them large rewards for the
valuable services they had rendered to the community in destroying the
slavers; and this latter course the old gentleman had, fortunately, seen
his way to take.
The old fellow would, however, listen to no word of pleading or of
explanation for either Amaxosa or Barad, and frankly said that he dared
not leave the country until Zero was known to be actually dead, as
otherwise he would himself get into very serious trouble at
head-quarters, and experience an unpleasantly warm time of it on his
return; and he accepted with grateful alacrity Kenyon's offer to assist
with his own party in the search for the missing man--an offer which
Grenville gladly concurred in, saying that none of them could know a
moment's perfect rest until this slippery villain was finally disposed
of.
To our friends, the unexplained absence of Amaxosa and of the Chieftain
of the Stick was, of course, a complete enigma. Only of this one thing
were they sure: that, though both might have either followed or have
preceded the slaver-chief--probably the former--they certainly had not
escaped along with him, but would, on the contrary, never rest until the
rascal's life-blood had washed their spears and clubs.