TWO PERILS.
"Just what I feared," said Hazon calmly, but with ever so faint a glance
at his confederate. "Our people are in revolt."
Both men rose to their feet, but leisurely, and turned to confront the
approaching tumult. And formidable enough this was. The Wangoni advanced
in a compact mass, beating their shields with their spear-hafts, yelling
in concert a shrill, harsh battle-song, into which they had managed to
import an indescribable note of defiance, announcing their intention of
returning to "eat up" those they had so weakly spared the previous day.
On either side of them came the Arab and Swahili element, in silence,
however, but a silence which was no less ominous than their sullen and
scowling looks, and the almost significant gestures wherewith they
handled their rifles.
"What do they want, Lutali?" said Hazon, turning to the Arab who, with
Holmes, had just joined the pair. But Lutali shrugged his shoulders, and
his hawk-like features scarce moved. Then he said:
"Who may think to strive against the hand of Allah and that of his
Prophet? Yon foul dogs, even they--so great is the mercy of Allah--even
they might have been turned into good Moslemia, even as other such have
been before them. Yet we--we have left them to wallow in the mire of
their cannibal abominations. Our people are not satisfied, El Khanac,
and they fear that ill may come of it."
"A magnificent and comfortable hypocrisy that," said Laurence, in
English. "Such combination of soul-saving and slave-selling is unique."
Then, in Swahili, "But what do they want, Lutali?"
"They want to set right the error of yesterday."
"But the Wangoni don't care a grain of rice for Allah and his Prophet,"
he went on. "Why, then, are _they_ dissatisfied?"
"They are instruments in the hands of those who do. It is so written.
Allah is great. Who may call in question his decrees?" replied the Arab,
in the same level monotone. "Let the people do their will, which is also
the will of Allah."
During this conversation the whole party had halted, and now stood in a
great semicircle around the white leaders. Then Mashumbwe spoke, and his
words, though fairly courteous, managed to cover an extremely defiant
tone.
"Our people are dissatisfied, father," he said, addressing Hazon. "They
desire to return home."
"Wherefore?" asked Hazon shortly.
"_Au!_ they came forth to 'eat up' other tribes, not to spare such. They
are dissatisfied."
"They'd better have their own way," muttered Hazon, in English. "You are
sacrificing all we have done and obtained this trip to an empty whim.
How does that pan out, Stanninghame?"
"I hate to go back on my word," was the reply; "still more to be bullied
into it."
"Well said!" declared Holmes warmly.
The insurgents, reading the expression upon the countenances of these
two, broke forth into tumult once more. Groans and mutterings arose
among the Arab contingent, while the Wangoni uttered wild laughing
whoops of defiance. Nothing would be easier than to slay the white
leaders. A single volley would lay them low. The position was critical,
perilous to a degree.
"We go, then," cried Mashumbwe, waving his hand. "Fare ye well, El
Khanac; Afa, fare ye well!"
But before his followers could form into marching rank, several men
rushed from the forest, with every appearance of importance and alarm.
Making straight to where stood their white leaders, they began hurriedly
to confer with the latter.
"Your discontent was needless," cried Hazon, after a minute or two of
such conference, turning to his rebellious followers, the whole body of
whom had now paused to learn what tidings these had brought. "Your
discontent comes a day too late. Those whom we spared have even now been
eaten up, and their village given over to the flames."
The short, sharp gasp of amazement which greeted this announcement gave
place to growls of renewed discontent. Some rival band of slave-hunters
had fallen upon the village and taken that which they themselves had so
weakly left. Such was their first thought.
"The Ba-gcatya have found them," continued Hazon calmly.
If there had been marvel before in the ejaculation now there was more.
There was even a note of dismay. Forgetting their mutinous intentions
now, all crowded around their white leaders, eager to learn full
particulars. And in that moment Laurence, ever observant, was not slow
to perceive, both in the looks and tones of the party, quite enough to
confirm all that Hazon had said as to the terror inspired by the very
name of the redoubtable Ba-gcatya. Even the savage and truculent Wangoni
seemed for the moment overawed. It was striking, too, how, in the hour
of impending peril, all turned to the white leaders, whom a moment
before they had been entirely defying and more than half threatening.
"The Ba-gcatya are in great force," went on Hazon, as calmly as though
he were merely announcing the proximity of one more well-nigh
defenceless and slave-supplying village. "We shall have to fight, and
that hard, but not here. We must fight them in the open."
A murmur of assent went up. Every head was craned forward, eager to hear
more. Briefly and concisely Hazon set forth his commands.
Their then encampment was situate on the edge of the forest belt. Beyond
the latter the country stretched away in vast, well-nigh treeless
plains. Now a peculiar feature of these plains was the frequent
recurrence of abrupt granite _kopjes_, at first glance not unlike
moorland tors. But more than one of them, when arrived at, wore the
aspect of a complete Druidical ring--a circle of stones crowning the
rise, with a slight depression of ground within the centre. One of these
Hazon, who had been over the ground before, resolved should serve them
as a natural fortress, whence to resist the fierce and formidable foe
now advancing against them.
With surprising readiness the march began. Loads were shouldered and
slaves yoked together extra firmly. Those who were too weak to keep up
the pace--treble that of the normal one--at which they were hurried
forward, were ruthlessly speared; but whether they were slain by their
captors or by the pitiless Ba-gcatya mattered but little.
The _kopje_ which Hazon had selected was situated about four miles from
the forest belt. No better natural fortress could have been chosen; for
it consisted of a complete circle of low rocks, of about two hundred
yards' diameter, and commanded an open sweep of at least a mile on every
side. Laurence and Holmes were loud in their admiration and interest.
"These are old craters, I reckon," said Hazon; "not volcanic, but
mud-springs. This plain, you notice, is considerably below the level of
the forest country. Depend upon it, the thing was once a big swamp, with
great boiling, bubbling mud-holes."
No time was it, however, for speculations of a scientific nature; and
accordingly the leaders proceeded to dispose their lines of defence.
This was soon done, for the three white men and Lutali had arranged all
that during the march. The Wangoni were of no great use, save in pursuit
of a defeated enemy. They could hardly have hit a haystack once in six
shots, nor did Hazon care to intrust with firearms such a turbulent and
unruly crew. But the slavers were all fair marksmen--some indeed, among
them Lutali, being not far short of dead shots. These were disposed
around the circle of rocks so as to form a ring of fire; and the rocks
themselves were heightened wherever necessary with some of the loads, or
with such piles of loose stones as could be collected in time. The part
allotted to the Wangoni was that of a reserve force, in the event of the
enemy carrying any given point, and thus necessitating hand-to-hand
conflict. The slaves, firmly secured, were placed in the center of the
great circle.
Hardly were these dispositions complete than a cry of astonishment, of
warning arose. Far away over the forest country, somewhat to the right
and left of the route the party had been pursuing, several columns of
smoke could be seen mounting to the heavens. There were other villages,
then, besides the one spared, and now the Ba-gcatya, spreading over the
land in their immense might, were firing all such and massacring the
inhabitants. Many and various were the comments which arose as the party
gazed intently upon the distant smoke columns.
"If only as a change from knocking on the head these defenceless devils,
it's quite a blessed relief to have some real fighting," quoth Holmes.
"You'll get plenty of that, Holmes, within the next few hours," remarked
Hazon dryly.
It was near midday, and the heat was torrid and sweltering. The fierce
vertical sun-rays seemed to pour down upon their unshaded position as in
streams of molten fire. Even the quick, excited murmurs of the men grew
languid. And, having seen to all being in complete readiness, as
Laurence Stanninghame sat there at his post in the torrid heat, smoking
the pipe of meditation, did no thought of the home, such as it was, but
which he would probably never see again, not rise up before him? If it
did, it was only to confirm him in the conviction that the present
position of peril--whose chances he, at any rate, was in no disposition
to under-estimate--was the preferable of the two. Here freedom,
activity, adventure; there galling bondage, stagnation, a ceasing to
live. Yes, that time indeed seemed very, very far away. He felt no
shadow of inclination towards a recurrence thereof.
Then, suddenly, with magical swiftness, the whole party was astir, and
it needed a sharp, hurried command or two from Hazon and Lutali to
restrain some from leaping on the rocks in order to obtain a better view
of what had caused the alarm.
Between the _kopje_ and the forest belt the ground, save for an
occasional roll, was entirely visible. Now, swarming out into the open,
came masses of moving figures--fleeing figures. Hazon and Laurence, who
each possessed a powerful glass, were able to master the situation in a
twinkling.
Close on the rear of the fugitives pressed another multitude, to the
naked eye like myriad ants upon the far plain, but to those who scanned
them through the powerful glasses all detail was vividly distinct--the
lines and lines of tufted shields, the gleam of spear blades, the
streaming feather and cow-hair adornments.
And now the hum and roar of the wild onslaught and pursuit grows
momentarily louder, drawing nearer and nearer. A great cloud of dust is
whirling onward, and athwart it the gleam of steel, rising and falling,
the distant death-scream, as the miserable fugitives fall ripped, hacked
to fragments by their ferocious pursuers. And still the terrible wave
pours on.
"This is going to be a hard business," muttered Laurence between his set
teeth. "How many do you size them up at, Hazon?"
"Twenty thousand, rather more than less. That's just how Cetywayo's
people came on at Isandhlwana, only there they took us more by surprise.
Well, we're not a lot of soldiers here anyway to scatter all over the
veldt. If they take this position they'll have to rush it, and rush it
hard. Well, do you believe in the Ba-gcatya now, Stanninghame?"
Save a nod the other makes no answer, and now the attention of both men
is upon the scene before them.
Some few of the fugitives, in the desperation of their terror, are
gradually outstripping their pursuers. Against these whole flights of
casting spears are launched, amid roaring shouts of bass laughter.
Finally the last one falls.
And now the array of the enemy is but half a mile distant from the
slaver's position. Far over the plain, in immense crescent formation,
the barbarian host sweeps on, now in dead silence, not hesitating a
moment, for the spoor left by the slavers is broad and easy. Now it can
be seen that these warriors are of splendid physique. Most of them are
nearly naked save for their flowing war-adornments of hair or
jackal-tails. Many are crowned with towering ostrich plumes, both black
and white; others wear balls of feathers surmounted by the scarlet tuft
of the egret; some, again, have round their heads bands of the hide of
the spotted cat; but all flaunt some wild and fantastic adornment. And
the great hide shields, with their party-coloured facings and tufted
tops, are Zulu shields, and the broad stabbing spear is the Zulu
_umkonto_, or assegai.
There is a lurid fascination in gazing upon the awful splendour of this
fierce and formidable battle-rank, which set even Laurence
Stanninghame's schooled nerves tingling. As for Holmes, he could hardly
remain still in his excitement. But in Hazon's piercing eyes there was a
glow in which the lust of combat, despair of success, and the most
indomitable resolve were about equally intermingled. The countenance of
Lutali betrayed no change whatever. The bulk of the slave-hunters were
scowling and eager; but the miserable slaves, realizing that massacre
awaited them, were moaning and trembling with fear. Under the slave-yoke
they held their lives, at any rate, but should the enemy without win the
day, why, then, they would taste the steel in common with their present
oppressors. The Ba-gcatya never spared.
Now the battle-rank of the latter underwent a change. From each end of
the great crescent "horns" shot out, extending farther and farther.
Still the numbers of the main body seemed in no wise to diminish. The
rock-crowned mound was encircled by a wall of living men.
Then the silence was rent asunder, and that in most appalling fashion.
From twenty thousand fierce throats in concert went up the
war-shout--horrible, terrifying--combining the frenzied roars of a
legion of maniacs with the snarls and baying of hounds tearing down
their prey. One there had heard it before, but not in such awful,
soul-curdling volume as this.
And then, with heads bent, shields thrust forward, broad spears in
strong ready grip, the whole circle of the Ba-gcatya host came surging
up the slope.