Midwinter as it was, the heat in the valley of the Bashi that morning
was something to remember.
Not so much the heat as an extraordinary closeness and sense of
oppression in the atmosphere. As the sun rose, mounting higher and
higher into the clear blue of the heavens, it seemed that all his rays
were concentrated and focussed down into this broad deep valley, whose
sides were broken up into a grand panorama of soaring krantzes and wild
rocky gorges, which latter, as also the great terraced slopes, were
covered with dense forest, where the huge and spreading yellow-wood, all
dangling with monkey trailers, alternated with the wild fig and the
mimosa, the _spekboem_ scrub and the _waacht-een-bietje_ thorn, the
spiky aloe and the plumed euphorbia, and where, in the cool dank shade,
flourished many a rare orchid, beginning to show sign of blossoming,
winter as it was.
But the four men riding there, making a path for themselves through this
well-nigh virgin forest, had little thought to give to the beauties of
Nature. Seriousness and anxiety was absent from none of those
countenances. For to-day would see the object of their quest attained.
So far their expedition had been in no wise unattended by danger. Four
men would be a mere mouthful if discovered by any of the scattered bands
of the enemy, who still roamed the country in its wildest and most
rugged parts. The ferocity of these savages, stimulated by a sullen but
vengeful consciousness of defeat, would render them doubly formidable.
Four men constituted a mere handful. So the party had travelled by
circuitous ways, only advancing at night, and lying hidden during the
daytime in the most retired and sequestered spots. Twice from such
judicious hiding places had they espied considerable bodies of the enemy
marching northward, and two or three times, patrols, or armed forces of
their own countrymen. But these they were almost as careful to avoid as
the savage Gcalekas. Four men advancing into the hostile country was an
uncommon sight. They did not want their expedition talked about, even
among their own countrymen, just yet. And now they were within two
hours of the object of their search.
The dangers they had gone through, and those which were yet to come,
were courted, be it remembered, not in search of treasure or riches, not
even out of love of adventure. They were braved in order to rescue a
friend and comrade from an unknown fate, whose mysteriousness was
enhanced by vague hints at undefined horrors, on the part of the only
man qualified to speak, viz., their guide.
For Josane had proved extraordinarily reticent as to details; and all
attempts to draw him out during their journey had failed. As they drew
near the dreaded spot this reticence had deepened to a remarkable
degree. The old Gcaleka displayed an ominous taciturnity, a gloom even,
which was in no degree calculated to raise the spirits of the three
white men. Even Eustace failed to elicit from him any definite facts.
He had been "smelt out" and condemned to "the Home of the Serpents" and
had escaped while being taken into it, and to do this he had almost had
to fly through the air. But the place would try their nerves to the
uttermost; of that he warned them. Then he would subside again into
silence, regardless of any further attempt to "draw" him.
There was one of the party whose motives, judged by ordinary human
standards, were little short of heroic, and that one was Eustace Milne.
He had nothing to gain by the present undertaking, nor had the others.
But then they had nothing to lose by it except their lives, whereas he
had not only that but everything that made life worth living into the
bargain. Again and again he found himself cursing Xalasa's "gratitude,"
from the very depths of his soul. Yet never for a moment did he swerve
in his resolve to save his unfortunate cousin if the thing were to be
done, although there were times when he marvelled over himself as a
strange and unaccountable paradox. A silence was upon them all, as they
moved at a foot's pace through the dense and jungly tangle, mounting
ever upwards. After an hour of this travelling they had reached a
considerable height. Here in a sequestered glade Josane called a halt.
"We must leave the horses," he said. "It is impossible to take them
where we are going. _Whau_!" he went on, looking upwards and snuffing
the air like a stag. "There will be plenty of thunder by and by. We
have no time to lose."
Taking with them a long twisted rawhide rope, of amazing strength, which
might be necessary for climbing purposes, and a few smaller _reims_,
together with a day's provisions, and every available cartridge, they
started on foot, Josane leading the way. Each was armed with a double
gun--one barrel rifled--and a revolver. The Gcaleka carried three
small-bladed casting assegais, and a broad headed, close-quarter one, as
well as a kerrie.
They had struck into a narrow gorge in the side of the hill. It was
hard work making any headway at all. The dense bush, intertwined with
creepers, met them in places in an unbroken wall, but Josane would hack
away manfully with his broad-bladed assegai until he succeeded in
forcing a way.
"It seems as if we were going to storm the devil's castle," said
Shelton, sitting down to wipe his streaming brow. "It's hot enough
anyway."
"Rather," assented Hoste. "Milne, old chap, how do you feel?"
"Headachy. There's a power of thunder sticking out--as Josane says--
against when we get out."
"If we ever do get out."
"That's cheerful. Well, if we mean to get in, I suppose we'd better
make a move? Eh, Josane!" The Kafir emphatically agreed. He had
witnessed their dilatoriness not without concern. He appeared strangely
eager to get the thing over--contrary to the habits of his kind, for
savages, of whatever race, are never in a hurry. A line of rocky
boulders in front, thickly grown with straight stemmed euphorbia, stiff
and regular like the pipes of an organ, precluded any view of the sort
of formation that lay beyond. Right across their path, if path it might
be called, rose another impenetrable wall of thorns and creepers. In
front of this Josane halted.