The burning of an entire village, the dispersion of three hundred
mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, and the beheading of eighty wives,
are in Munza's eyes insufficient to prove his love. He shows a
disposition towards delicate attentions also, and, under the
impression that Madame de Guéran might be at a loss how to house her
stock of slaves, he has sent to our encampment a host of servants
with orders to erect a huge shed.
The idea is a charming one, and bespeaks an excellent heart. Indeed,
these poor wretches, robbed since morning of their royal spouse,
hurled down suddenly from a lofty position, and threatened with the
loss of their heads, could scarcely be left at night without some
sheltering roof.
From motives of delicacy, we were not present at their arrival, but
we are told that they exhibit neither anger nor humiliation. Fear
alone possesses them—fear as to the punishment or torture in reserve
for them at the hands of the white woman, to whom they have been
presented. Perhaps they dread being eaten, one after another, by
their new mistress, but on this score they may make their minds easy.
Madame de Guéran will not push her jealousy to such an extreme as
that.
In spite, however, of the downcast air of Muriza's wives, we dare not
rely too much on their spirit of resignation. It is at all times
somewhat dangerous to have as near neighbours a hundred humiliated
women, looking upon themselves as victims and eager for revenge. In
the east, and especially in Africa, it is prudent to guard against
poison, which evicted sultanas would have no hesitation in mixing
with the food of their enemies. Consequently, we have resolved to
keep the ex-royal wives at a respectful distance, and to establish a
certain amount of discipline amongst them. Delange, to whom we have
for a long time entrusted the superintendence of our servants of
every description, sets about his task in connection with the new
arrivals, with all his accustomed zeal.
But Delange, however busy he may be, would still find time hanging
heavily on his hands, if he could not, now and then, have a game at
piquet, écarté, or baccarat. And so it happened that, no sooner had
he made the necessary arrangements for the comfort of our eighty
slaves, than a brilliant idea struck him. He had not played cards
once during the day, and, as he was the loser on the previous
evening, he had, by virtue of the contract, a right to dispose of his
adversary as he pleased.
De Morin, meanwhile, was reclining in front of my hut and chatting
with me, casting every now and then an occasional glance at the last
dying embers of the conflagration.
"Sorry to disturb you, my dear fellow," said Delange, coming up to
us, "but you owe me my revenge for last night."
"My dear doctor," replied de Morin, who had seen the approach of his
adversary and expected some such proposal, "I hope I may be allowed
to say that you are always taking your revenge, and have been doing
so for a long time. You have won back from me more than sixty
thousand francs at every game known in Europe and Africa. I do not
know whether medicine, botany, geography, and science generally will
derive much benefit from our expedition, but I can safely assert that
on your return to Paris you will be able to write a very instructive
work on the various games of chance in vogue amongst the Africans.
You have a wonderful nose for scenting them out, and an equally
surprising facility in learning them. The negroes themselves are
afraid of you, and decline to play with you any more. 'The white
man,' they say, 'is too clever by half, and would win the very shirts
from off our backs.' Excuse the word, as unknown in these parts as
the garment it designates, but it accurately expresses the idea of
your adversaries. In short, if there were a Jockey Club amongst these
African tribes, and you were put up for election, you would be
blackballed to a dead certainty."
"Have you quite finished your little speech, my dear de Morin?" asked
Delange.
"Quite, thank you. Have you one to let off, by way of a change? I
shall be delighted to hear it, and, under the supposition that it is
the case, pray sit down on this empty box here, the whilom receptacle
of our deeply regretted claret. I must apologise for not offering you
a cigar; the last of them, like our other luxuries, has vanished. But
if this beastly negro tobacco appeals to your taste, do not hesitate
to help yourself. It is a delicate piece of attention from the hands
of the King of the Monbuttoos."
"My dear fellow," replied Delange, as soon as he could get a word in
edgeways, "I will not sit down on this box; it has nails in it, and
they have already abstracted a portion of my nether garments. Tailors
are scarce in this country, so you must forgive me for being careful
of my remaining rags. They are deserting me bit by bit in the most
cowardly manner, notwithstanding my affection for them, and I already
seem to foresee the hour when I shall have to betake myself to the
forest for a covering. As for smoking, I have no time to indulge in
any such luxury; it is eleven o'clock, and we have only sixty minutes
in which to play our daily and compulsory game."
"'Still harping on my daughter!' My arguments do not appear to have
any effect."
"On the contrary; they have convinced me that we must play on without
intermission, seeing that, as you yourself confess, I am in the
vein."
"Take care! You lost yesterday."
"Which is precisely the reason why, according to our contract, I now
bid you rise and follow me at once."
"Follow you? Where to, in the name of fortune?"
"To the residence of the royal dames."
"Their houses are burning, it is a pretty sight still."
"I am not speaking of that defunct village, now turned into one vast
furnace. We are hot enough already without going near the fire. I was
alluding to this new shed, beneath which all these ladies await our
coming."
"Are they not asleep by this time?"
"They dare not sleep," replied Delange, gravely. "I led them to
expect a visit from us."
De Morin had finished his pipe by this time, and, always resigned and
true to his word, he followed Delange. I followed suit, for I foresaw
some amusement in assisting at a game of cards, which, considering
where it was to take place, promised to be peculiar.
The Monbuttoo ladies, as the doctor had told us, were not asleep,
and, as we drew near the shed, we heard a confused, continuous hum of
many voices, as if they were complaining of the conduct of their
royal spouse, whom they reproached with having treated them without
due consideration.
"And we are actually slave-owners!" exclaimed de Morin, as we drew
near.
"Delange is, my dear fellow," I replied. "The doctor has become a
most inveterate trader, a regular nigger-driver. We shall have to
give him up to the Egyptian authorities when we get back."
"You do not mean to drag all these women southwards with us?" asked
de Morin.
"I really do not know," replied the doctor, "and you had better give
me the benefit of your advice on that point. It would be rather a
bore to be followed by such a flock of women, but, at the same time
Munza might accuse us of despising his gift."
"The King," I observed, "is persuaded that after a short trip towards
the south, he will bring us back to his own territory. He will
therefore deem it very natural that we should leave these ladies here
in our encampment. They will be supposed to be managing our household
affairs during our absence."We had by this time reached the shed,
whence puffs of hot air, and lightning glances from innumerable eyes
greeted us. Nevertheless, in spite of their number, these small
beacons were powerless to illumine a moonless night.
"How are we going to get inside this human ant-hill?" asked de Morin.
"We shall run the risk of being engulfed in it, and, as for playing,
that is out of the question. We shall never be able to see our
cards."
"Make your mind easy on that score," replied the doctor. "I never
forget anything. You shall have plenty of light."
And as he said this he appeared to be feeling for something in his
coat pocket.
"Do you mean to say that you have any matches left?" I exclaimed, "I
thought we gave our last box to Madame de Guéran yesterday?"
"I have something better than matches," said Delange.
He found what he was looking for, left us for a moment, and, stooping
down at a little distance from us, he set light to some small
fireworks, which we had packed up amongst our cartridges, in
accordance with the suggestions of our predecessors in travel, and as
an additional means of amusing the negroes. The fireworks chosen by
the doctor were Bengal lights, which, instead of blinding us at first
and then going out themselves, were manufactured to burn for some
time and spread around them a many-coloured radiance.
Notwithstanding the softness of this illumination, the women, with a
vivid recollection of the conflagration of which they had been the
victims, imagined that their new residence was about to be burnt, and
they began to tremble in every limb. To fear, however, wonder soon
succeeded; the blue and green flames, which, placed in front of them,
lit them up in so novel and picturesque a fashion, made them wild
with delight. Instead of shrinking away, as they had done at first,
they came nearer and nearer, and were soon deeply interested in
watching the effect of the various colours on their dark skins.
The organizer of this _fête_ placed three stools in the middle of the
shed; the first for de Morin, the second for himself, and the third
to serve as a card-table. These preparations completed, he motioned
his adversary to a seat, and throwing three packs of cards down on
the table, he intimated that, exercising his right of choice, he
intended to play ordinary bezique, fifteen hundred up.