Chatterbox, 1906 Part 88

ANSWERS TO PUZZLES ON PAGE 254.

9.--1. Board.

2. Death.

3. March.

10.--_Lilac_.

1. H e _L_ e n.

2. C r _I_ m e.

3. G a _L_ e n.

4. T r _A_ i n.

5. B a _C_ o n.

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 275._)

Thomas advanced towards Estelle cautiously, an artful smile on his face.

Before the little girl was aware of his presence, he was close to her.

'Hush!' he muttered, fearing she would cry out; 'you come along with me, and I will take you home, my lady. It is not true friends that keep you here. I know my lady is dying to see you.'

He caught her suddenly in his arms, and bore her back into the tent. The curtains dropped heavily behind him, just as Estelle, the spell of her terror broken, uttered the cry Jack had heard.

Jack turned at the sound; so did Julien; so did Mrs. Wright. But Estelle was nowhere to be seen. No further sound betrayed her whereabouts.

But Jack was not a man to be easily disconcerted. Mrs. Wright and Julien stood still in consternation, but Jack made up his mind at once. He was naturally impetuous and hasty in thought and action. Only the sore troubles through which he had pa.s.sed, and the knowledge that he had brought so much unhappiness on his mother as well as on himself by his quick temper, had had power to make him as calm and gentle as he had shown himself to Estelle. It was as if a fire smouldered within him always, but was held in restraint by a strong will.

Now, however, calmness was cast to the winds. The child was in danger.

She had no helper but himself. Till her parents were found she was _his_ child--his by right of being her protector, her preserver. On him she depended for everything; on him and his mother. Who had dared to touch her? His face flushed, then turned white. His keen eye searched every corner. There was one place only in which the child could have been concealed--the tent. She had been standing near it when he turned to give the coppers to the children.

Without an instant's hesitation he sprang forward, the curtains were thrust aside, and he was among the tawdry, excited crowd of play-actors.

They had been resting between the performances. Suddenly they were startled by one of their number rushing through the tent with a child in his arms, whose cries he was stifling with a large cloak. None understood what the noise was about, nor had any of the men and women seen the face of the little girl; therefore none were interested, and none stirred themselves to ask what had happened. Only one spoke--she whose cloak had been s.n.a.t.c.hed up to enfold the child. She called out a rough remonstrance, but Thomas answered her hurriedly, as he tried to wind the garment closely about Estelle, with small regard as to whether she could breathe or not.

'The child has been kidnapped,' he said, quickly. 'I know her parents, and I must---- '

He got no further. Jack was upon him. The sudden appearance of the tall sailor in hot pursuit caused a sensation among the people standing about. The men pressed forward to see what would happen, and were knocked over by the giant. A storm of resentment arose as they struggled to their feet, and threatening fists were shaken at Jack. None, however, ventured to attack the broad-shouldered, sinewy sailor, whose gigantic height and powerful arms inspired awe. At sight of him Thomas caught up the little girl, the cloak still trailing on the ground and hampering his movements, and tried to escape through another opening in the curtains of the tent. He did not require a second look at Jack's enraged face and blazing eyes to understand that in him Estelle had a mighty defender, who was not likely to let her kidnapper off easily. It seemed barely a moment before violent hands were laid on Thomas's collar, the child torn out of his hands, and himself hurled back among the angry crowd behind him. A murmur of increasing wrath went up, but Jack paid no heed to it. Getting rid of the cloak, and taking Estelle in his arms, he strode out of the tent to where he had left his mother and Julien.

Estelle had fainted, and he was anxious to get her home as quickly as possible. Her white, unconscious face alarmed him.

CHAPTER XVI.

Mrs. Wright and Julien were still where Jack had left them. Both had been too frightened to move, and now the sight of him, as he hurried towards them with Estelle's insensible form in his arms, alarmed them.

'Not dead!' cried Mrs. Wright, with a catch in her throat.

'No, thank Heaven! M. Julien, will you run for the doctor, and send him down to the Hospice at once? Mother, I will get on ahead, and perhaps M.

Julien will come with you as soon as he has spoken to the doctor.'

Julien agreed gladly. He could not have borne to leave them at such a time, and he felt some relief that he was able to do something to help.

'The doctor is in one of the shows, but I will soon find him,' he said.

'If you will walk on, Madame, I will catch you up in no time.'

Jack was already almost out of sight, watched by a curious crowd. The incident had made some stir, and various versions of it were circulated among the throng. To his dismay, Thomas found that his action might have very serious consequences. His word would go for nothing against Jack's.

The sailor was too well known, and too highly respected, for Thomas to hope that even a man like Fargis would say a word against him. All the blame would naturally fall upon Thomas, and his explanations would not be believed. Things looked blacker still when he discovered that the police were making inquiries about him.

In dismay he crept out of sight, and remained in hiding till the caravan began to prepare for departure. Then, after receiving his wages, he disappeared. When Jack, in the afternoon of the following day, made inquiries as to his whereabouts, no one could tell anything. The man had not gone with the caravan, that was the sole piece of information Jack was able to gather.

Meantime, Estelle's unconsciousness lasted long enough to alarm even the doctor. He and Goody were doing all in their power, while Jack and Julien stood close by the sofa with anxious faces, but ready to do anything which might be possible for them. Oh, how often in that time of suspense did Goody wish that she had heeded Jack's misgivings, and refrained from going to the Fete des Loges! It had proved anything but a joyous festival to them. She doubted whether they had seen the end of the bad business. Who knew where the man might be who had seized Estelle, or whether he might not again make efforts to carry her off?

Would the child be safe anywhere in the absence of Jack? Would she, a weak elderly woman, be a match for such a man while left in sole charge of the child? Could she ever see Jack go off to sea without fearing what might happen while he was away, and beyond reach of recall? Such thoughts tortured her mind as she leant over the little girl, and obeyed the doctor's directions.

(_Continued on page 234._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Jack was upon him."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A terrible sight met their view."]

STORIES FROM AFRICA.

X.--THE LAST TIME.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Early in the September of 1905, a short announcement appeared in the daily papers under the heading of 'German East Africa,' 'Masasi has been destroyed.' There had been for some time past disquieting news of rebellion among the native tribes, and grievous reports of the murder of white men working in the district. To ninety-nine people out of a hundred, Masasi was only another outlandish name of an unknown station.

But the hundredth person read the meagre intelligence with a thrill of dismay, asking himself the question, 'Does history repeat itself, or have we gone back three and twenty years?'

Nearly thirty years ago, a party of those released slaves, of whom we spoke in a former story,[3] were brought from Zanzibar and settled at Masasi, some four hundred miles southward, and a hundred and twenty miles from the German port of Lindi. The place is situated upon a high plateau above the river Rovuma, on fertile ground, easy to cultivate, and with grand mountain peaks towering above it. Here the little community grew and nourished, people from the neighbouring country came to be taught, and for six years all went well. Then came a threatening of trouble. Far away, near the sh.o.r.es of Lake Nyasa, dwelt a tribe known as the Magw.a.n.gwara--Zulus, who, says the story, were once defeated in warfare, and settled there rather than return home to meet death at the hands of their own countrymen. Tidings of the coming of the Europeans had reached this fierce race, to whom war was the business of life, and they had announced their intention of measuring their strength against the white men. They were marching eastward, and had shaken their spears towards Masasi.

[Footnote 3: See page 243.]

Mr. Maples, one of the two Englishmen in charge of the station, started at once, with five of his own men, to meet the invaders, and try to persuade them to peace. On the afternoon of their second day's journey, they discovered, to their dismay, that they had missed the enemy, for they came upon the camping-ground of a large army, and could see their tracks, marking the _detour_ by which they had escaped meeting the little emba.s.sy. There was nothing for it but to return as quickly as possible, in the hope of catching them up before they reached Masasi.

All that night they hurried along, making what speed they could in the darkness; but when, soon after dawn, they reached the outskirts of their own territory, some four miles from Masasi, a terrible sight met their view--columns of smoke were rising from the place where their dwellings had stood. Clearly the village had been attacked, their friends were dead or captive, and nothing remained but to learn their fate, and in all probability to share it.

Kneeling, in sight of their burning homes, the little party commended themselves to G.o.d's keeping, and were starting forward again, when shouts were heard close to them, and they found themselves in the midst of an armed body of the Magw.a.n.gwara. Only Mr. Maples' presence of mind, and the perfect obedience of his followers, saved them from instant death. At his word of command the little band laid down their guns, and, though thrown to the ground and threatened by the a.s.segais of their enemies, made no attempt at resistance, while Mr. Maples, trusting to the well-known awe of the natives for a white man, remained perfectly calm, fixing his eyes upon the a.s.sailants, and explaining by gestures that he and his party intended no violence. After a few moments'

consultation, the Magw.a.n.gwara bade them go into Masasi, but Mr. Maples, realising that this would probably mean death, or at any rate slavery, for his followers, without the hope of saving their friends, decided to strike eastward to Newala, a village some fifty miles away. The chief there was friendly to the white men, and, if any one had escaped from Masasi, it was to Newala that they would probably go.