PLANS TO CAPTURE THE PROPHET
At Masaka, a small trading center on the western shore of Lake
Victoria, they met with disappointment. For the two native trackers
put on the trail of Mabele by Mr. Ransome appeared the first night
after their arrival with the news that their quarry had managed to
elude them.
They had seen him enter a lake village one night, where he found
shelter in a native hut. And believing him safe for the night, they
themselves had done likewise, for they had spent several strenuous
days sticking to his trail through broken country of hill and marsh
and were exhausted.
Arising early the next day, however, they had discovered on
investigation that Mabele had slipped away. And cautious inquiry
developed that a native canoe also was missing. Putting two and two
together, they had come to the conclusion that Mabele had taken to
the lake. Although they believed they had kept out of his sight all
the way and had given him no suspicion of their presence, yet it was
likely he suspected he was being trailed and had taken to the lake
to shake off pursuit.
Their one consolation was that an hour or two after their discovery
of Mabele’s flight one of the sudden storms for which Lake Victoria
is noted had arisen, accompanied by rolling thunder, lightning and a
swishing downpour of rain. Later in the day, after the storm had
departed and the waters of the lake had subsided, a native fisherman
had brought in the stolen canoe which had been found overturned and
floating a mile out from shore. It was their belief, therefore, that
Mabele had been drowned. And as on their journey from that point to
Masaka they had inquired of every native encountered if a man had
been picked up in the lake or had been observed coming to shore,
without result, they were confirmed in this belief.
“I don’t know about that,” said Mr. Hampton thoughtfully, in talking
the matter over in a general conference later. “He may have managed
to reach shore without being observed. And in that case he is on his
way to his confederates with word of our coming to the disturbed
regions with you, Ransome, as a spy and not merely a member of our
exploring and picture-taking party. However, the boys feel so
strongly that they want to proceed that I shall chance it. We must
all be very much on our guard, however.”
“Bully for you, Dad,” said Jack, enthusiastically. “We can take care
of ourselves, never fear. We’ve been in tight fixes before, you
know.”
“Yes, I know,” sighed Mr. Hampton, half-humorously, as he regarded
his strapping son and the two other boys with a twinkle blending
affection and respect. “But every time you get there you add to my
bowed shoulders and gray hairs.”
As Mr. Hampton was as straight and lithe as any of the boys, while
his thick hair showed little signs of the advance of age, everybody
laughed. A laugh in which he, too, joined.
“But what I’d like to know,” said Bob, after the laughter had
subsided, “is what Mabele did with our radio set. He couldn’t have
carried it far alone, and so far as we have been able to discover he
had nobody with him.”
“It’s a puzzle,” said Frank. “But he must have hidden it, intending
to return for it later, somewhere near Chief Ungaba’s village. At
any rate, the report of his trackers that he was never observed to
have that cumbersome piece of baggage with him is satisfactory in
one respect. For it means that he was unable in all likelihood to
communicate by radio with the enemy, supposing them to have a secret
radio station as Mr. Ransome suspects.”
Several days the party spent at Masaka, completing the purchase of
supplies to add to their baggage which had been shipped from
Entebbe, and in recruiting a new corps of bearers, one hundred in
number. A guard of a dozen trusty fellows in the pay of Mr. Ransome,
every one of whom knew how to handle a rifle or revolver, appeared
mysteriously from somewhere. And into this number Samba was
recruited to his great delight.
“A mighty satisfactory man to have around,” was Mr. Hampton’s
dictum, and accordingly Mr. Ransome took him into the force.
“We’ll need the guards, perhaps,” he said. “And I have obtained a
permit from the Belgian authorities for them to carry arms. Our own
permits as hunters also have been obtained, so now everything is
settled.”
Then the party set out for the Mountains of the Moon, lying around
Lake Kivu to the west and south. This gem-like lake is in the real
heart of Africa, and to get there it was necessary to travel more
than three hundred miles west by south. Kivu lies about one hundred
and fifty miles west of the southern extremity of Lake Victoria, and
between Lakes Edward and Tanganyika.
Day after day the miles were put behind them without any incidents
of especial note. Pictures were taken at times, when the occasion
warranted. But for several reasons both Mr. Ransome and his hosts
were eager to reach the mysterious Mountains of the Moon which stand
sentinel over the unexplored heart of the Dark Continent, and so
little time was spent in picture-taking, any secured being obtained
on the march, so to speak.
For one thing, Mr. Ransome was eager to gain the region about Lake
Kivu and the Mountains of the Moon in order to learn as quickly as
possible what was afoot amongst the natives, as disquieting rumors
every now and again reached them of The Prophet’s activities.
Evasive though these rumors were, it became increasingly apparent
that The Prophet was someone of powerful personality who had
obtained a great hold on the superstitious minds of the natives and
who, if given sufficient time, might be able to unite the warlike
and remote tribes under one head and cause serious trouble for the
whites by swooping down on their scattered settlements and
destroying even the railroad and steamship lines and other slim
evidences of civilization in the Lake Victoria region which had been
built up laboriously through the years.
For another, Mr. Hampton was anxious to reach the volcanic region
while the craters, of which native report was more definite than
regarding the activities of The Prophet, were still in eruption. A
pictorial record of them would be something never before obtained
and valuable in proportion. Besides, the great mountain region was
reputed to be the home not only of elephants, buffalo, bush buck,
cheetahs, leopards and lions, but also of the ferocious man-apes or
gorillas.
To bag specimens of these animals both by gun and by camera would be
the crowning achievement of the expedition.
Therefore, the party did not delay on the way but made each day’s
march as long as possible. The more so were they content to do this
as, after passing Kabale, a tiny frontier post in the mountains of
Uganda, two weeks from Masaka, they entered a desolate volcanic
region which had been laid waste by eruptions of lava in 1912 where
little game was encountered.
By day, in fact, this region was plunged into a silence so uncanny
as to affect the nerves of even the boys. For they were accustomed
in their travel through central Africa to hear the jungle alive
about them. Here long distances were covered where not even the hum
of an insect or the call of a bird was to be heard. It was, in fact,
as if they were passing through a dead region where even the ground
beneath them was devoid of life.
Neither man nor animals were encountered, and glad, indeed, was
every member of the party when at length they came to the edge of
the mighty African Rift Valley and beheld below them the vast
Mfumbiro Plain with craters breaking up the contour in every
direction.
This was the region of the volcanoes, and after glimpsing smoking
peaks in the distance all day as they approached, the boys now
beheld from the edge of a precipice, below which was spread the
great plain, three towering cones with smoke-wreathed summits.
Whereas only occasional glimpses had been obtained heretofore, they
now could observe the mountains from base to summit.
Never had any of them beheld a more awe-inspiring sight. And
standing on the edge of a precipice which fell steeply away a matter
of two thousand feet to the plain below, with those three smoking
cones against the red sunset sky in the distance, they were
speechless.
Presently, however, the necessity for making camp for the night
appealed to Mr. Hampton, who called the boys away. Some distance
back from the precipice, amidst the hard-wood trees of a small
grove, where a spring of fresh sweet water burst from the ground to
go tumbling down the rocks, the tents were set up and the bearers
were disposed below, along the edge of the little stream.
“Tomorrow,” announced Mr. Hampton, as they sat about the camp fire
that night, “we shall descend into the plain. There are numerous
villages down there, and on the very slopes of the great volcanoes,
inhabited by warlike natives, so we must go prepared to cope with
trouble, should the natives prove hostile.
“Mr. Ransome,” he added, looking to the other for confirmation,
“believes we shall find some trace of The Prophet amongst those
natives, as it is in this region he is reputed to be stirring up
trouble. I may as well tell you fellows now as later that our friend
intends, if possible, to capture The Prophet and spirit him out of
the country. With his twelve trusted men that may not be impossible
of accomplishment. And as innocent takers of pictures and hunters of
big game, we shall be able, perhaps, to turn aside suspicion and
cover his tracks.
“Of course,” he added, “in setting out on this expedition, we had no
intention of being drawn into a political situation. But finding
that we can be of vital service, the only decent thing we can do is
to proffer our aid. And I’m glad to see from the way you fellows nod
your heads that you agree with me.
“Mr. Ransome,” he continued, “already has despatched two of his most
trustworthy men, with orders to make their way down the mountainside
and into the plain and to the nearest village. Their object is to
find out if possible where The Prophet has his headquarters at
present. And Mr. Ransome tells me that from conversations between
his men and the inhabitants of the last village through which we
passed earlier today, there is reason to believe this disturber of
the peace is not far away, perhaps in the very village to which he
has sent his spies. If the men report early tomorrow that such is
the case, Mr. Ransome intends to have a try at his capture. Have I
stated matters correctly?” he concluded, glancing toward the tall,
thoughtful-faced Englishman whose fortitude and constant good
spirits had endeared him to the boys.
“Righto,” responded the latter, knocking out his straight-stemmed
briar pipe, from which seemingly he was inseparable, and gazing
thoughtfully into the bowl. “But you haven’t yet told the lads what
part they will be asked to play, if they will.”
“I was coming to that,” said Mr. Hampton. Then turning toward the
interested trio, he resumed: “Two things will be vitally necessary
to the successful execution of our plans, once The Prophet is
located. Both involve you fellows. What they are you will gather as
I go along.
“In the first place The Prophet undoubtedly has secured whatever
hold he has on the superstitious natives of these regions by playing
upon those very superstitions. That he is a white man and a
scientist, or at least possessed of scientific information, is
deductable from the way in which he has set about winning the awed
regard of the natives, according to the reports obtained at our last
stop today.
“By that I mean that he knows the way of volcanoes and has drawn
upon that knowledge to predict events which have come to pass.
“His first appearance was just prior to the beginning of the recent
volcanic eruptions, overflows of lava which have since continued at
intervals. And the way in which he appeared to the natives, as we
got the story today, was descending the slope of Mount Muhavura
afoot at dusk and surrounded by a nimbus of flame. That is easily
accounted for in our eyes. Undoubtedly, he had rubbed himself with
phosphorus.
“But as he came seemingly from the cloud-wreathed summit of
Muhavura, where the natives believe heaven to lie, his statement
that he was an immortal from the company of the gods won wide
belief. He prophesied that Muhavura, long silent except for
occasional faint rumblings, would overflow in three days. And,
behold, it came to pass. Now we know that a man of science, if he
had managed to obtain observations of the rise and fall of lava in
the crater over a period of days, could predict accurately when the
overflow would come. Doubtless, this fellow had taken such
observations, and then had utilized his knowledge to further his own
ends. For he predicted this would come to pass as a punishment upon
the natives for permitting the whites to encroach upon their domain.
“Since that time, it seems, he has gone up and down the Mfumbiro
Plain, received everywhere amongst the natives with the profoundest
of awe. Sometimes he will ascend the slopes of one of the great
cones, Sabinio, Namlagira beneath which the natives believe hell to
lie; Muhavura or Mgahinga. Always he forbids the natives to follow
him on pain of being seized by the spirits. And when he returns,
wrapped in his nimbus of fire, he generally predicts an eruption of
lava which quite generally is fulfilled. As I say, that is easy
enough for a man of science, but the impression it makes on the
native minds may easily be comprehended.
“In fact,” said Mr. Hampton, “at that last village, although it is
not in the Mfumbiro Plain and no member has yet seen The Prophet,
yet his influence has made itself felt. Doubtless you boys noted the
veiled hostility of the natives and their reluctance to furnish us
vegetables and fruit even in return for ample consideration. That is
because the continued statement of The Prophet that the gods are
angry with the natives for tolerating white men in their land is
taking effect. What must those natives be who live beneath the
shadow of the volcanoes and are in contact with The Prophet?
“Now here is what I am coming to. So hostile probably are the
natives of the plains that it would be impossible for us to enter
and photograph the volcanoes, the lava overflows, or wild game,
unless we do something to overcome that hostility. And Mr. Ransome
and I have decided that something can be done. If it succeeds, we
shall have struck a blow for ourselves and the success of our
expedition and he will have eliminated the menace of The Prophet.
“The plan is this. Two of you boys shall put up the radio station
around camp here somewhere, and stick by it while the rest of us
descend into the plain tomorrow and hunt out The Prophet’s
headquarters, providing Mr. Ransome’s spies return with word that he
has been located. With us we shall take a portable radio and
loudspeaker attachment.
“When we find The Prophet, Niellsen with his motion picture camera
will probably be able to create a diversion by drawing the natives
about him. And while that is going on, whichever one of you fellows
is selected to accompany us will have to seize his opportunity to
put up the radio in a good hiding place near The Prophet’s hut.
“Then we will fight The Prophet with his own tactics, only going him
one better. For we shall announce to the natives that we are
emissaries from the outside world who have heard of The Prophet’s
misrepresentations. Instead of coming from heaven on Muhavura, we
shall say, he comes from hell in Namlagira. And we shall add that we
have been sent to expose him and to warn all natives against
listening to his words lest they suffer a more dreadful calamity
than any so far experienced.
“That’s where the radio comes in. For after our bold declaration we
shall send up signal rockets. And from that precipice out yonder,
overlooking the vast plain and the crater region for a hundred miles
or more in three directions, a man with spyglasses will easily be
able to see them. That will be the signal to you fellows left behind
to speak over the radio in the guise of spirits denouncing The
Prophet and announcing that he was about to be whisked away.
“When that message comes like a thunderclap from the concealed radio
instrument which we shall have set up, its effect undoubtedly will
be dismaying. In the ensuing confusion, Mr. Ransome’s trusties will
seize The Prophet and whisk him away.
“Well,” he concluded, “what do you think of it?”