THE SLAUGHTER.
The leader of the large body stopped short and those in the rear craned
their necks to see what had caused the sudden halt; but they could see
nothing, for it was only the leaders, who had just reached the top of a
slight eminence, who could see the large body of negroes, standing with
shields in place and spears in hand as if expecting the Onians. The men
looked again and could hardly believe their eyes. No, they could not be
mistaken; there they were; an array of black, grinning devils,
brandishing their spears, or pounding their shields with them.
Onrai and his friends, who had been riding in the rear, hurried forward
when the column stopped, to see what was the matter. It took them
sometime to do this, but when they arrived at the head of the column and
saw from their high position on the elephants’ backs, the great body of
negroes facing them and only half a mile distant, their surprise knew no
bounds. The Onians looked at the King and his white companions, as if
wondering if they had been led to this point by a lie, to fight these
black animals, for none of them realized that these black, shiny-skinned
and nude beings were human. But why should the King lie to them? They
were perfectly willing to come here on any mission for the King, and it
was not necessary to get them here by a ruse.
Again that superstitious fear of the whites took possession of them, and
their faces began to assume that startled look as if afraid that some
unknown calamity was about to overtake them. They kept their eyes on the
whites as they advanced and consulted with the King. Why were they
talking in such low tones? Why did they not address the men and explain
this new mystery? Not a word had passed between the Onians, but the same
fear seemed to take possession of them at the same time, and they looked
from one to the other and knew that the same thoughts had come to all.
Mr. Bruce looked over the men and noticed that hunted look in their
faces, and he knew that immediate action must be taken or they would be
lost; that these men, crazed for the moment by a superstitious fear,
might turn on them first and, getting them out of the way, turn and flee
from the strange enemy.
“Onrai,” said Mr. Bruce, as he rode up hastily beside the King, “Quick,
don’t lose a moment, but order the pack animals to the rear. The men are
becoming demoralized and need immediate action or all is lost. The old
suspicion in regard to us has again taken possession of them and they
may turn on us at any moment. It matters little about us, but the
negroes must be driven back. Give your orders.”
Onrai turned to the men and he too, saw that dread look on their faces.
“Men,” said he, almost beside himself with fear of the consequences if
he should lose control of them; “men, yonder horde of black demons are
here to take your country, to take your lives, but worse, to take your
wives, mothers, brothers and sisters. They are here to destroy our land,
to devastate our fields of grain and fruit, to steal and kill our
animals, to destroy our beautiful city and the many villas throughout
our land. They know no law, they have no religion, they care nothing for
the lives of others. They will kill us or drive us from our own land,
into a distant world where we will starve and die. Will you not fight
for country, home, loved ones and for the right? These demons have come
through the crevice which we were this day to commence closing, and they
must be driven back. If we do not drive them back, killing as many as is
in our power in doing so, then will they force us to travel that path
which leads from our old Land of On, and which, when once followed, can
never be retraced. Come, Onians, quickly; shall it be those black beasts
who shall leave On, or ourselves?”
The men looked at each other in astonishment. They could not realize at
first that such a state of affairs could possibly exist, as there being
the remotest possibility of their being driven from this land, which was
theirs by right of inheritage and possession. The truth began to dawn on
them, though, as Onrai continued speaking, and when he had finished, a
low rumbling sound was heard, like the first faint sound of the
approaching earthquake, but like this it grew in volume, until it broke
in a mighty shout, and the men were Onrai’s, to do with as he wished.
Only let them drive from the beautiful land of On the hated beasts which
faced them, waiting the end of the parley.
Onrai understood that shout, although he had never heard it before as a
shout of consent, he had heard it frequently as one of approbation, when
he or others of the land would perform some particularly hard feat in
athletics, or show great heroism in the hunt. It simply meant that they
were pleased with what he said, and they were anxious to get at the
fray.
“I will give you orders at first,” said Onrai, “but you must obey those
of my companions when they give them. They have had invaders in their
land and have learned to repulse them, and drive them back. Do as they
command you and we will be victorious. Are you ready?”
Again that shout.
“Then get the pack animals to the rear quickly.”
Without a word the elephants were driven to the rear, and the men
awaited further orders.
“Mr. Bruce,” said Mr. Graham, “we think you are better capable of
handling these men and we will act as your subordinates.”
“I accept the commission,” replied Mr. Bruce, “not because I feel myself
superior to yourself or Harry, but because some one must act at once. We
will divide our men into three battalions and march in line of battle.
Harry, you will take the right. Mr. Graham, you will take the left and I
will take the centre. If the negroes, as I expect them to do, charge
straight for the centre, you will each close in on their flanks; but if
you see the centre giving way, rush for that point at once for we must
hold the position. Now we will divide our men.”
They divided the men into three battalions and formed them into the line
of battle, explaining to them, in the meantime, that they must hold fast
together, and not allow the negroes to break their line. The men went
about the different manœuvres like old soldiers, when they once saw
through them.
The line now drew up and Mr. Graham, Mr. Bruce and Harry, each in front
of his battalion, mounted on elephants, with Onrai riding next to Mr.
Bruce in the centre, they marched slowly toward the negroes. Every man
had his cross-bow in position and arrows ready for use. The formidable
hatchet and daggers were in the belts handy, and where they could be
gotten at the most easily. The negroes’ faces had lost the grin, and the
yells had ceased for the moment as they saw the array of giants
advancing. They had never before, in all their many wars, stood before
such a formidable body of men, and their courage was failing them. But
they had a chief, a wild, barbarous fellow, who knew not what fear was,
and seeing that cowardly look stealing over the faces of his men, he
jumped before them and racing up and down in front of the line, halloed
and yelled, pounding his spear on the shield, and in this way worked the
men into such a state of bravery, which was only equaled by his own.
Then again facing the army, which was moving silently toward them, he
gave a few words of command, and with a yell and a rush, they came
tearing toward the Onians.
“Halt!” thundered Mr. Bruce. “Stand fast and do not let them force your
line.”
And the black demons came, never stopping until within range, when Mr.
Bruce, giving command, a volley of arrows poured into the negroes and
nearly the entire front line of these fell. This checked the negroes but
rallying in a moment they again charged, and before the Onians could
raise their bows, the negroes had raised their spears and hurled them at
their enemy. The volley made most frightful havoc with the front rank,
and the Onians fell back for a moment, for the first time in their lives
seeing a body of their men killed in this way. They looked at the dead
and wounded, not knowing what to think of this fearful slaughter, and
again the strange fear began to creep over them.
“On, men, do not stop!” commanded Onrai, seeing them falter, “or they
will kill you all. Don’t you see they have killed your comrades? Avenge
them!”
And the men, looking up, and seeing the black demons on them, and
fearing the same fate which had met their companions, made a rush, and
with the daggers uplifted, on they went at the blacks, meeting them with
a crash as they came forward, and hurling them back by their superior
weight. Then began a most fearful slaughter. The Onians, remembering the
death of their companions, became as Bruce had said they would, regular
fighting machines. Even he and his subordinates were swept on by the
irresistible ranks from the rear as they pushed their companions
forward. Perfect order was kept, however, and those in the front ranks
wielded the dagger with fearful force and alacrity. The negroes,
overpowered, and almost crazed with fear at the slaughter going on among
their people, forgot all about fighting or even defending themselves.
The one great desire to escape these fearful daggers took complete
possession of them; they turned on their countrymen who were crowding
them forward, and using their hatchets, fists or feet, they walked, ran,
rolled or crowded over these, trying to get out of reach of those
muscular arms which were now as bloody as the knives they wielded, but
stained with the blood of the negroes. At last they broke into a run and
started for the crevice, which was a good four or five miles distant.
The Onians needed no orders now, but rushed wildly after the fleeing
negroes. The negroes being light of limb, however, and probably used to
such rough fields as this, gained on the Onians and were some distance
ahead, when, looking ahead of them they saw another band marching toward
them. This proved to be a reinforcement, and the chief of the routed
band, after haranguing his tribe for a moment, prevailed on them to
turn, and with the reinforcement again give the giants battle.
The flying Onians were again brought to a halt by Mr. Bruce, and formed
in regular line of battle. The remaining negroes also formed in line of
battle and advanced, as nearly as could be judged, almost in equal
numbers to the Onians. Their chief was again running up and down in
front of the line crying, and soon had the men worked up into another
fiendish frenzy. Mr. Bruce halted his men, determined to wait for the
negroes. The negroes came tearing forward until within a few feet of the
Onians, when the latter again raised their cross-bows and sent a volley
of arrows into the front ranks of the negroes. But the negroes were
expecting them now, and turned the arrows aside with their shields,
scarcely a dozen having fallen. They did not stop, but kept up the mad
rush until within twenty-five feet of the Onians, when they stopped
suddenly and their right arms shooting out quickly the fearful, sharp,
spear-pointed hatchets, flew toward the Onians, and striking the
unprotected bodies of the giants, passed clear through them. Then, with
a sudden jerk of the wrist, the hatchet was wrenched from the gaping
wound, and pulled back to the negro by the leather string which was
attached to the handle of the hatchet. Then again would the deadly
weapon be hurled, and again buried in the breast of a fresh victim; and
again and again, the whole fearful thing being done so quickly that the
weapon could scarcely be seen flying through the air. The slaughter was
worse than had been that of the negroes by the knives of the Onians. The
horribly lacerated bodies were being piled up high on the ground, but
the brave Onians still stood perfectly helpless in front of those
merciless hatchets.
Mr. Bruce was nonplussed for a moment. This style of warfare was so new
to him and so horrible, he could but look and wonder at the horrible
ingenuity of the weapons.
“Send a volley of arrows into them,” cried the King, who seemed to come
to his senses first.
The men mechanically raised their bows, but before they could spring
them, the deadly hatchets struck them full in the chests or bodies, and
torn and bleeding, with a hole clean through them, in which an arm could
have been shoved, they fell headlong over the bodies of their
companions, who had met the same miserable fate. The situation was
becoming desperate. Men who had shown such bravery, and who could on
equal terms annihilate the army before them, were beginning to quail
before that fearful onslaught, and were unconsciously probably, falling
back. Still that fearful, never-ceasing charge of flying hatchets.
Slowly the men fell back, but the movement was becoming quicker each
moment. In a few minutes more they would be in a run, and all would be
lost.
Mr. Bruce was growing desperate, as he saw this grand army being
demoralized by one which was so inferior in every respect. Riding down
the line with the huge elephant, which was pierced by the hatchets as he
passed before them, he called to the men to take courage and rally once
more. Onrai, too, rode before them, and by every word he knew, tried to
imbue them with new courage. But he understood how these poor men, who
had been kept in ignorance their whole lives, of the existence of other
races, and the art of fighting, could not understand why this awful
slaughter should be, or who these demons could be who were mowing them
down by hundreds. The horrible dread was taking possession of them
again, and Onrai and his companions saw this.
“Men of On,” said Onrai, in despair, “these devils will not only kill
you and your companions, but they will kill your wives, sisters and
brothers; they will throw down your houses, they will destroy the land.
Brave men of On, who turn not from the lion, tiger or elephant, do not
let these black beasts show themselves the greater. Turn on them, cut
them, chop them, beat them, hammer their foul bodies into the earth,
slash them until not a piece large enough is left to feed a jackal. On
to them.”
Mr. Bruce had given Harry and Mr. Graham orders to close in with their
battalions, as soon as Onrai could again encourage the men to advance,
and show no mercy; to ride into the black ranks with the elephants, and
crush them beneath their feet. Accordingly, when Onrai had ceased
speaking, and had turned and had himself led the way into the black
ranks, the men went with a rush, notwithstanding that hundreds of them
dropped in the advance. Harry and Mr. Graham closed in on their flanks,
and were slowly surrounding the now emboldened blacks.
Still they plied the frightful weapons, and scores of the Onians were
dropping. It was a fearful advance, but the men were sticking to it
bravely; but there were great chances against their ever overcoming this
hellish tribe, with their fiendish weapons. The Onians were again losing
ground, they could not withstand that awful massacre.
But what is this coming up in the rear? The earth trembles as with
another earthquake, but there is no rumbling with it now. The men looked
back. Ah, yes, it is Sedai mounted on Gip, and with a hundred immense
elephants back of him, all being hurried on by their riders. Quickly the
elephants come forward, their swinging gait turning their bodies from
side to side, the earth trembling with each fall of their huge feet.
Straight for the blacks they made the ranks of the Onians breaking away
to allow them to pass. The blacks look and see the awful enemy coming
straight for them, on which their murderous hatchets could have no
effect. They hurled once more the hatchets at the Onians, and pulling
these back, dropped them at their sides, and tried by flight to escape
the crushing feet of the elephants. But the elephants rushed into their
midst, not only killing with their fearful feet but using their trunks
and tusks as well, slaying and crushing as they went. Now the Onians
made a charge, and clutching their daggers in one hand and the hatchets
in the other, done as Onrai had told them to do, and hacked and chopped,
and cut and beat and pounded the enemy, their faces and arms being
covered with the blood, but still showing no mercy; they were for the
time merciless brutes. They had fallen on to the flanks of the negroes,
and such was their fearful onslaught, and so fast were these hacked and
mutilated bodies piled up, that it looked as if the awful carnage would
not cease, until every black carcass was heaped up in one fearful mass
of reeking and quivering flesh.
But a low, rumbling sound is heard, which grows louder and louder, and
comes nearer and nearer. It is another earthquake. The Onians stop for a
moment in their awful massacre, and in this one moment the remainder of
the black horde turn and make for the crevice. The earth was shaking
fearfully though and the men could hardly keep their feet. On they
staggered, until the Onians, finally realizing that the blacks were
escaping them, made a rush after them. But the earth still trembled and
it was suddenly growing dark. What was wrong with the volcano? A huge
mass of stones and smoke came forth in a rush in a greater volume than
it had at any time before, and great showers of rock and ashes were
pouring from its hellish mouth. On the negroes ran, and on the Onians
sped after them. The negroes had now reached the crevice, and were
fighting for a foothold on the ledge. Some of them were successful, but
most of them were forced over the side, falling into the yawning abyss
below. The Onians were about to dash after them, when a fearful,
deafening report was heard, and looking up to the volcano, they saw a
mighty mass of molten lava thrown far into the heavens, and then
dropping back into the crater, overflow the wall of this, and fall in a
great stream into the crevice. Our friends, spellbound, watched the
sight, while the immense flow of lava rolled over the sides of the
mountain, and into the crevice, filling up that great hole. It was
running in a monstrous flow, easily five hundred feet wide, and twenty
feet deep, as near as our friends could calculate. It came pouring
through the crevice, well up toward the party, and they started back, in
alarm; but it gained on them, and to make it worse, a terrible shower of
hot ashes and water was pouring down on them. They were blinded and
gasping for breath, turned toward the villa. They were being burned and
scalded, their feet becoming blistered; they could not see, they could
not breathe.