Dead Man's Land Part 73

A FAMILY PARTY.

"I don't like to talk about it," said the doctor, "but I am afraid of what those two black fellows have done."

"Yes," said Sir James; "there is an ugly suggestion about it. But say what you are thinking, doctor."

The doctor was silent, and the boys listened for his next words with strained ears.

"I tell you what I think," he said, at last. "I am afraid that it may cause us great trouble--the great trouble of a visit from a hostile party of neighbouring savages."

"To take revenge," said Sir James, "for the injury or death of their friends?"

"Yes," said the doctor.

"But why should they think that we hurt them, when it was done by Mak and the pigmy?"

"Because they may a.s.sociate us with them," replied the doctor. "Still, there is the hope that they may not know we are on friendly terms; but it is a very faint hope, and I am disposed to say that we ought to give up and make our way back to the station."

"Oh, that would be such a pity," said Mark. "This is such a wonderful place, with so much to find out yet."

"Yes," put in Dean.

"Well," said Sir James, "I feel like the boys do."

"And I must own," said the doctor, "that I should bitterly regret having to go from a neighbourhood where we cannot stir without coming upon something to interest us."

"Then don't let's go," cried Mark. "We are a strong party, and if we were attacked we could defend ourselves. A few shots would scare an enemy away."

"You had better be silent, Mark," said the doctor. "I shall be tempted to run the risk."

"Let's go on tempting him," said Dean, laughing; and Sir James smiled.

"We may be only frightening ourselves with shadows, doctor," he said, "and it is quite possible that our visitors were only one or two wandering blacks."

"I hope you are right, Sir James," said the doctor; "but the finding of that old fellow when we first came, and the way in which he disappeared, lead me to suppose that we are not so lonely as we seem. Well, if we stay, the great thing is to keep a most stringent watch night by night, and always to be ready against surprise."

These last words of the doctor's decided the matter, and the rest of the day on which they were spoken was devoted to a reconnaissance made by the boys and their captain, several of the nearest kopjes being ascended and the gla.s.ses they had with them brought to bear. But nothing was seen till the last kopje was ascended prior to journeying back to the waggons, when Dean in sweeping the sides of a slope half a mile away suddenly gave the alarm.

"There they are!" he cried.

The doctor s.n.a.t.c.hed out his gla.s.s, focussed it upon the indicated spot, and closed it again with a laugh.

"Yes, there they are," he cried. "Look, Mark."

"I am looking," replied the boy, who was focussing the objects that had startled his cousin.

"Well, do you see them?" said the doctor.

"Yes, dozens of them, with their old women behind them carrying their babies. Oh, I say, Dean, you are a fellow! Monkeys--baboons."

"No! Are they?" cried Dean, twiddling the focussing nut of his gla.s.s with trembling fingers. "Why, so they are!"

That night careful watch was kept, and the following day and those succeeding were devoted to research after research among the wonderful ruins, the men--who were not troubled by the doctor's misgivings, of which they were kept in ignorance--working most enthusiastically; and scarcely a day pa.s.sed without spade and shovel laying bare some records of the ancient inhabitants of the place.

Gold was not found, in quant.i.ty, but they constantly came upon traces.

In one place shut in by walls there were the remains of a smelting furnace, and with it old crucibles that showed patches of glaze with traces of gold still within them.

Moulds too were found, into which molten gold had been evidently poured.

These the doctor declared to be formed of the mineral known as soapstone, and pointed out in them specks of gold still adhering to the glaze.

On other days fresh attempts were made to explore the ruins. Cautious descents were accomplished down holes which had evidently been excavated to the water, of which a pretty good supply was found, proving that the adjacent river made its way right beneath the ruins; and the more the bushes and overgrown vines were cleared away the more the tired party returned to their kraal ready to declare that their task would prove endless, Mark saying that the more they found the more there was to find; and in the evening, while Sir James dozed off to sleep in the soft darkness after a weary day, the doctor would always be fresh enough to interest the boys with his remarks and surmises about the old people who at one time must have thickly populated the miles upon miles of ruins.

At last when the expected seemed most distant, and the exploring party were busy turning over the ruins of a newly creeper-stripped wall, a sharp whistle came from the camp, where Dunn Brown had been left to keep watch over the bullocks and ponies, while Dan was busy in his kitchen, as he called it, roughly built up in the shelter of one of the walls.

Before a second whistle rang out everyone was returning at the double, or by as near an approach thereto as the rock and stone enc.u.mbered way would admit.

Mark was one of the first to reach their rugged stronghold, and there his eyes lighted at once upon a little party of five blacks, who were squatting down, spear in hand, solemnly watching Dan, while perched together upon the sheltering wall and looking very solemn, were Mak and the pigmy watching them, Dan going on busily the while, roasting and stewing the results of the previous day's hunting expedition, as if the visitors were of no account.

There was nothing alarming in the visit, the black party seeming perfectly inoffensive, and after sitting like so many black statues for about a couple of hours, the doctor proposed that some food should be given to them, and after receiving a goodly portion of roast antelope and mealie cakes, they took their departure, to the great satisfaction of the boys.

This visit gave rise to a long discussion and a good deal of questioning of their two blacks; but very little could be obtained from them beyond grunts and scowls, which showed anything but a friendly feeling towards their visitors.

Then more days pa.s.sed without further alarm; but the feeling was general that the camp was no longer safe; the night guard was more strict than ever, and it was an understood thing that the expedition was to be prepared for any emergency, while everything was kept ready for an immediate start for a return to the station.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.

THE SUDDEN ATTACK.

"Mr Mark, sir!" This in Dunn Brown's most dreary tones, and before the boy could answer there came, in almost a piteous wail, "Mr Dean, sir!"

"Hillo!" cried Mark, from where he and his cousin were seated cross-legged like tailors, in the shade of one of the walls, repairing damages, as they called it--that is to say, they were very untidily sewing, up thorn-made tears in the jackets laid across their knees.

It was a delightfully still afternoon, with the air limpid and clear, while the sun threw down the shadows of wall and tree of a dense velvety black. The doctor and Sir James were away somewhere, exploring, alone; Mak and the pigmy had picked out a good sunshiny spot where they could sleep, while the rest of the party were not far away and busy clearing out an excavation that they had begun the previous day.

All was so still that Dunn Brown's curiously intoned high-pitched calls sounded peculiarly shrill, and almost startled Dean in his clumsy manipulation of his needle, making him p.r.i.c.k his hand.

"Oh, there you are, gentlemen; I couldn't find you, nor anybody else."

"Well, what's the matter?" said Mark.

"The--blacks--sir," said the man looking down sadly at Mark's torn jacket.

"Sewing," said Mark, noting the direction of the man's eyes.

"Yes, sir--Dan--sews--best."

"Well, I know that," cried Mark. "What about the blacks?"

"Come again."