Settlers and Scouts Part 29

"On second thoughts I think you had better go after the first lot at once. Everything depends on their keeping under cover until I arrive with the raft, and you know how rash they are. Go and keep an eye on them. I'll see to the unloading here and send the men after you."

Accordingly John hurried in the track of the ivory-carriers, whom he overtook by the time they reached the head of the rapids. Leading them carefully through the wood, where they would be invisible to any of the enemy who might be moving along on the other side of the river, he came opposite to the point where the rapids entered the pool. There he ordered them to set down their loads, and sent Bill back to guide the second party over the same course.

Ferrier had resolved not to begin his adventurous voyage until all the men were gathered under John at the head of the pool. The actual pa.s.sage of the rapids would take but a minute or two, and the time necessary for reloading the first raft would be halved if the whole party were employed in the work. The second convoy having arrived, John left them safely under cover while he retraced his steps for a short distance to a spot where he could witness his friend's performance. He held his breath and felt his skin creep as the raft came into view, shooting down at a furious rate to what appeared certain destruction.

Ferrier had removed the upper part of the framework, and stood with pole in hand, bending low, his whole attention fixed on his task. Now he prodded to the right, now to the left: at one moment the raft swerved, having evidently sc.r.a.ped a rock, and he almost lost his balance; but recovering himself instantly, he dexterously slipped his pole over in the direction to which the raft had been driven, and came again into mid-current. John feared lest he should be carried far into the pool, beyond the spot where the loads were laid; but when the raft came into smooth water, and its momentum was checked, Ferrier flung a rope to the sh.o.r.e, and the craft, uninjured except for some chips at the edges, was hauled in.

"Splendid!" said John. "It would be a stunning sport if----"

But before he could complete the sentence Ferrier was running hard up-stream. There was a shout from the fort; the raft had been discovered; the second raft was still to be brought down. John instantly set the men to load up the first raft. Every movement was visible to the men in the fort. There were loud shouts; a few shots were fired; but the range was too long for inefficient marksmen. To John's consternation and alarm there came an echo to these shouts from up-stream. The warriors from the village were evidently within striking distance. Had they discovered Ferrier? Urging the men to hasten with the work of loading, he ran along the bank to see whether the second raft was on the way. Yes; it was sweeping down like the first, and on the opposite bank a crowd of yelling negroes rushed along, dodging the trees, and trying to keep pace. Ferrier paid no attention to them, his whole energy absorbed in his task. John sent a warning shot among the enemy, and they darted out of sight. The raft leapt and dashed and jolted down, and in little more than a minute after it pa.s.sed John it lay moored beside the other at the sh.o.r.e of the pool.

The men having not yet finished the loading of the first raft, Ferrier had leisure to observe what the enemy were about. The warriors from the village, who had marched along the left bank of the river, were rushing round the northern sh.o.r.e of the pool towards the causeway. It was impossible to see what they would do when they reached it, and, to judge by the uproar in the fort, there was more excitement than cool calculation among Juma's party. But by the time the rafts were loaded, the breastworks replaced, and the ropes attached, the enemy's intention became clear. Before the rafts were loosed from their moorings and poled into the gentle current of the pool, a large number of negroes, with one or two Swahilis, emerged into view from behind the intervening island, and were seen hastening along the path which led from the causeway up the bluff.

"They've got a good start of us," Ferrier called from the leading raft.

"We must run the gauntlet."

But now that the critical moment had arrived, John was setting his wits to work. In all the encounters with the enemy hitherto, success had been gained by the exercise of superior intelligence rather than superior force. Was there not a chance of outwitting them even now at the eleventh hour? Could they not be withdrawn from their threatening position above the gorge? An idea suggested itself: to let the rafts drift on until they came opposite the fort, and then to change their direction and pole them across the pool as if with the intention of landing on the western sh.o.r.e of the island and storming the fort. If the ruse succeeded, the enemy would rush back and swarm within the walls again.

John imparted his scheme to Ferrier in a few hurried sentences.

"It's worth trying," said Ferrier, "but can we get back into the current in time?"

"Yes; it begins to flow swifter, as you know, opposite the island. If only the men are drawn back into the fort, we shall have time to come back into the current and make straight for the rapids, and then they may run their hardest but won't overtake us."

"Well, you pole back first, so as not to change our order. They surely won't be such idiots!"

The rafts pa.s.sed slowly along, hailed with derisive yells from the few men left in the fort, and by a shower of arrows, which flew harmlessly over the breastworks, the men having all lain down as before. Then suddenly they ceased to move; but in a few moments started ponderously in the reverse direction. John and Ferrier had exchanged places with their two steersmen, and while they poled on the bottom in the manner of punters, Coja and Said Mohammed thrust their poles into the water at an angle which would bring the rafts round to the western end of the island. It was exceedingly hard work to force the heavy vessels against the current, slight though that was; but they did move slowly, away from the gorge, and that was enough for the defenders of the fort. Alarmed at the prospect of having to repel an a.s.sault from the wasungu, they shouted vociferously to their fellows on the sh.o.r.e to return and help them.

"It's working!" cried John in delight. "I only wish we could see round the island. We shall have to guess when it's time to be off."

But there was little chance of their being left in ignorance of the enemy's movements. The din was tremendous, far and near. Soon the uproar within the fort increased, and men were seen swarming on to the edges of the western wall, some scrambling over and running down the slope to meet the expected attack. The situation of the rafts was too close to be pleasant to their occupants. Arrows flew over and between them, some sticking in the meshes of the breastwork. The men flat on the decks of the rafts were out of harm's way; but the two white men and their a.s.sistants were partly exposed to the flying missiles, since they could not manage the clumsy rafts unless they stood nearly upright. For some minutes they cruised along the sh.o.r.e, as if seeking a convenient landing-place, until they were screened from the enemy by the fringe of trees. At last, having allowed sufficient time for the greater part of the enemy's force to regain the fort, or at least the causeway, John and Ferrier again changed places with Said Mohammed and Coja, and began to pole vigorously in the opposite direction. Being hidden by the trees, the rafts, helped by the current, had gained some speed before the change of direction was perceived. Even then the meaning of it did not at once strike the enemy. Those who had come down to the sh.o.r.e ran back to the fort; those within manned the southern and eastern parts of the wall, antic.i.p.ating an a.s.sault at the spot where it had been partially demolished. But the rafts were increasing their distance from the island; they were also increasing their speed; and as they were now heading straight for the mouth of the gorge Juma at last recognized how he had been duped.

The voyagers were now in full view of the causeway. It was covered with men returning at a run to the fort. But Juma, the moment he saw his mistake, hastened to the gate and shouted to the men to right-about and make for the gorge. The causeway was too long for his words to be heard distinctly at the sh.o.r.e end, and there was a minute's confusion among the negroes before they grasped what was intended--a precious minute to the voyagers, for at the end of it the rafts were swept into the full current. When the men on the causeway, yelling with rage, at last set off to run back to the sh.o.r.e, John saw with a leaping heart that they were too late. A few of the enemy who had not yet reached the causeway when the retirement was countermanded, rushed along the sh.o.r.e and came level with the rafts as these began the descent of the rapids. But they had to run uphill: the speed of the current was at least fifteen miles an hour; before they could gain the summit of the bluff the rafts would be a mile or more downstream.

As John's raft was swept along in the wake of Ferrier's, he wondered whether the rafts, when they reached the end of the rapids, would be in splinters, and the men battered corpses. When he had shot the upper rapids with Bill, the darkness had concealed the full extent of his peril; but now in broad daylight it was brought alarmingly home to him.

Ferrier's raft was swinging before him, and John heard his shouts as he instructed Coja how to move his pole for steering. John stuck to his post, almost at his wit's end, but trying desperately to follow in Ferrier's wake, and shouting instructions to Said Mohammed, who steered accordingly.

All at once he saw with terror a large rock almost in midstream, over which the water swirled and dashed with clouds of spray. He felt that nothing could avert disaster. Ferrier was safely past; John, grasping his pole, cried to the Bengali to steer to the right. The rock seemed to approach him with terrible speed; in a moment the raft would surely be dashed against it and shivered to splinters. But the force of the current, and a timely thrust of the pole--how he made it in time John could never understand--carried the raft clear of the barrier. John's shove was indeed more vigorous than was necessary, for it swung the stern of the raft partly across the current, and caused it to sc.r.a.pe the edge of the rock, with a jar that sent John and the Indian headlong among the men who lay on the deck. There was a howl of dismay, and John sprang up, expecting to find himself whirling to destruction. But to his unspeakable relief he saw that the perilous voyage was over. The raft had shot clear of the gorge, and was floating with almost oily smoothness on the river below the escarpment.

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH--The Fight in the Swamp

"By George!" cried John, breathless, as he poled his raft up to Ferrier's, "I don't think I could have faced it if I had known what to expect."

"You did famously," said Ferrier, laughing. "I was afraid you'd come a cropper on that rock. How are your men? Mine are positively sea-sick."

"I didn't give them a thought. They'll be all right now, at any rate.

Coja stuck to his job gamely, and so did Said Mohammed. We'll have to do something for them when we get home."

"Do you think we have seen the last of Juma's lot now?"

"Surely they'll have had enough of it by this time?"

"But if your guess is correct, the fellow has missed the aim of his life in losing the ivory. If I were in his place I'd certainly have another try. The current is getting slower and slower; they could easily outstrip us on the bank."

"That might be awkward for us. We don't know anything about the river a few miles down-stream. There may be more rapids. And look: d'you see men coming over the bluff behind us?"

"Yes, swarming like ants. Evidently they mean to chase us, and they'll catch us in an hour at this rate. We had better try punting."

The rate of the current here was probably not more than two or two and a half miles an hour. Vigorous poling increased the speed of the rafts slightly, but they were too heavy to move above a walking pace. A bend in the river hid the pursuers from view. When next seen they were considerably nearer.

"We could get on faster if the men walked," said Ferrier. "Let us land them on the right bank. The enemy appear to be all on the left, and we can take them in again if they come to too close quarters."

The suggestion seemed a good one, and was quickly put in effect. The men, who had had a fright and thorough drenching, were glad enough to stretch their legs on dry land again, and the rafts, relieved of their weight, responded more readily to the st.u.r.dy thrusts of the poles. Again the enemy were hidden, but catching sight of them presently through the trees, John cried--

"I say, they are cutting off to their left. The river makes another bend, I suppose, and they're going to post themselves before we arrive."

"I only hope the bank isn't high," said Ferrier. "If it is they can fire down on us, and the mischief is, we can't reply and attend to the rafts as well. Hadn't we better chuck the ivory into the river and take our own things and make a bolt for it?"

"Not I," said John. "I don't like the idea of skedaddling at all, and I'm not going to lose the ivory now. That would bring Juma out on top, and he could crow over us after all."

"There's a good deal of obstinacy in you, John," said Ferrier, smiling.

"We shall have to fight, and I shouldn't be surprised if our hottest time is yet to come."

They went steadily down the river, the men keeping pace with them as closely as possible, though the nature of the ground caused them sometimes to leave the bank and march at a considerable distance from it. For nearly two hours, as they guessed, they did not catch a single glimpse of the enemy, and hoped that they had tired of the pursuit. But presently they had reason to suspect that they were not to be allowed to escape so easily. The river spread out into a kind of swamp, apparently almost half-a-mile in breadth. About half that distance ahead it was studded with small wooded islands, and Ferrier, who was still leading, was puzzled as to which of the channels into which the stream was divided was the safest to attempt. The enemy were not in sight, but from somewhere ahead came the sound of chopping wood.

"What are they up to?" said John.

"Can't tell. Making a boma perhaps. Don't you think we had better take the men on board before we get fairly into the swamp? If the enemy are hidden on those islands we had better have them with us."

John hailed the marching men, who came at his call and were soon ensconced on the rafts again. They punted along, looking ahead warily for signs of the enemy. The current became more and more sluggish, and there was at times scarcely enough water to float the rafts, now again weighted by their pa.s.sengers. Ferrier scanned the river in search of a practicable channel. In the channels on the left he saw mud-banks rising just above the surface. A wider channel to the right, about twenty yards broad, gave the best promise of a safe pa.s.sage, and towards this he steered. While still some distance from it, however, he saw some figures emerge from the wooded island on the left, wade hurriedly across, and enter a similar wood on the right bank of the river, both the island and the bank being here slightly above the level of the water. The greater number of the waders were negroes, but among them were the white-clad forms of Swahilis.

"This is nasty," said John. "We can't go back."

"Nor forward either, except at a snail's pace," said Ferrier. "Confound it! We're stuck again. Look out, John: I'm on a mud-bank. Pull up till I'm free."

By dint of energetic poling he managed to get his raft clear. John avoided the obstacle by slightly changing his course.

"All we can do," he said, "is to push on as fast as we can and trust to the breastwork. The worst of it is, the men can't defend themselves without exposing their heads to the enemy's fire."

"Yes they can, if they make loopholes," replied Ferrier. "Set 'em to cut some; we were idiots not to do it before."

The rafts were still about eighty yards from the island. Their course was checked while the men hastily cut loopholes in the breastwork on each side, at which they posted themselves with their weapons; then the white men drove the rafts forward as swiftly as the shallow water permitted. The enemy had again totally disappeared. But just as Ferrier's raft entered the channel between the island and the bank, there was a shout, and a boom of logs was drawn rapidly across, completely blocking the pa.s.sage. The sound of chopping was explained.

The moment he saw the obstruction, Ferrier strove to increase the speed of the raft, in the hope of breaking through. There was a jolt and a crash, but the boom held, and instantly with ferocious yells the enemy on both sides let fly a shower of arrows mingled with a few rifle-shots at the occupants of the raft. These, kneeling at the breastworks, replied as well as they could through the loopholes; but they suffered two disadvantages: while they were exposed to the missiles of the enemy behind them, and on a higher level, the enemy themselves were concealed among the trees and brushwood. Cries of pain proclaimed that several had been hit, and Ferrier, turning for a moment to seize his rifle, received an arrow in his right shoulder. In an instant he wrenched it out: there was no time to think of wounds.