The Adventures of Dick Maitland Part 12

It was about a week after the trial of the conspirators, and the execution of the sentences pa.s.sed upon them, that King Lobelalatutu sent for them both, and tendered his hearty thanks for the important service which d.i.c.k had rendered him in unravelling the details of the plot and bringing the plotters to trial, as well as for saving the life of the chief, 'Nkuni, who, under the Healer's sedulous ministrations, was already up and about again. The king took some pains to make it perfectly clear that his grat.i.tude was both deep and absolutely sincere, even going to the length of proposing that they should take up their permanent residence in the country, and promising that if they would do so he would make them chiefs. The offer was made in perfect good faith, and had of course to be treated with the utmost--apparent--seriousness; but d.i.c.k explained that, highly as they both appreciated His Majesty's generosity, it was impossible for them to avail themselves of it for the simple reason that they had long ago made other arrangements to which they must adhere.

"Then," said the king, "if ye will not remain with me and help me by your wisdom to govern this great people, say now in what way I may reward you for the great service that ye have done me."

"There is a way," answered d.i.c.k. "Ye may remember, O Great One, that on the day when we first came to you I said that I was a seeker of gold and the stones that glitter and shine, even such stones as those that shine red in the necklace which you wear; and you said that maybe you could help me in my search. If you will cause to be shown us the place where such stones are to be found, and will give us leave to take as many as we may desire, it will be reward enough."

"Surely if that will content ye it is easily done," answered the king.

"I will give orders that men shall go to the place and dig up as many of the stones as ye desire, and ye shall take them away with you whither ye will. But that is a small thing, and it pleases me not that ye shall take so little; therefore, since your journey hence is to be a far one, I will give you out of mine own herd forty picked oxen, young and strong, to draw your wagon and to make good such loss as may happen through sickness or the attack of savage beasts; and I will also give orders that so long as your way lies within my borders ye shall be supplied with all that ye may require. Is it enough?"

"It is enough, O King, and we thank you," answered d.i.c.k. "And now, behold, our work here is done; give us therefore a guide to the place of red stones, and send the diggers after us that we may be gone, for, as you have said, our journey is long, and we must hasten."

"It shall be even as ye have said," agreed the king. "When desire ye to leave me?"

"As soon as ye shall be able to provide us with a guide," answered d.i.c.k.

"Then that is even now," answered Lobelalatutu. "I grieve that ye are leaving me; but since I cannot persuade you to stay, I say: 'Go in peace, and may the Spirits watch over you that your journey be prosperous. The Place of Red Stones is distant one day's ox trek from here, therefore send forward your wagon at once with the guide whom I will give you, and ye shall follow on your horses. I know not whether we shall meet again, O Healer of Sickness and Mighty Hunter! but if ye return, the whole Makolo nation shall give you welcome. Farewell!'"

An hour later d.i.c.k and Grosvenor, having dispatched the wagon on ahead, and then gone round to bid farewell to the various chiefs, swung themselves into the saddle and, turning their backs regretfully upon the village and the ruins of Ophir, cantered off upon two magnificent horses which the king had, at the last moment, added to his gift of oxen. The animals were superb specimens of their kind, jet black without a white hair upon them, standing about fifteen-two in height, perfectly shaped, with fine, clean, sinewy legs not too long, splendid shoulders and haunches, skins like satin, perfect in temper, courageous as lions, speedy, easy-paced. They jumped like cats, and were tough as whipcord, as they found to their great satisfaction before many days were past; they were, in fact, perfect specimens of the exceptionally fine breed of horses peculiar to the Makolo country. Mounted on these magnificent animals, which seemed to carry them absolutely without effort, although neither of them was a light weight, the two riders soon overtook the slow-moving wagon, and then, carefully noting the instructions of the guide who was piloting the vehicle, pa.s.sed on toward the sea that gleamed softly in the extreme distance.

A quiet, steady canter of some three hours' duration, which left their new mounts apparently as fresh as they had been at the start, brought the hors.e.m.e.n out upon a long stretch of sandy beach upon which the swell of the Indian Ocean broke in long lines of diamond spray, with a never- ceasing roar of deep-toned thunder; and, with a sigh of relief at the grateful coolness of the sea breeze after the stifling heat of the plain which they had just crossed, they gladly swung themselves out of the saddle and, pa.s.sing their arms through their bridles, proceeded to look about them.

The beach upon which they found themselves was a very ordinary, unpicturesque-looking stretch of brown sand running practically straight, and also practically north and south, as far as the eye could see in both directions. It averaged about one hundred and twenty yards in width, was very flat, and on its landward side was bounded by a bank of red earth ranging from ten to about fifty feet in height, cut into here and there by "dongas", through one of which they had descended from the plain to the level of the sand. The ordinary high-water mark seemed nowhere to reach within less than thirty yards of the toe of the bank, but there were indications--in the shape of little patches of dry and crumbling seaweed and other ocean debris--that in stormy weather the breakers occasionally reached to the foot of the bank and in some places actually undermined it. At a distance of about half a mile to seaward a long line of white water betrayed the position of a reef.

"Um!" exclaimed Grosvenor, after he had allowed his gaze to travel over the prospect for several minutes; "this is a pretty desolate-looking spot, and no mistake; not at all the sort of place where you would expect to find precious stones, is it?"

"Why not?" retorted d.i.c.k, laughingly. "Gems are sometimes found in the most unlikely looking places. I did not expect the landscape to be distinguished by any unusual characteristics; did you?"

"'Pon my word I don't know," replied Grosvenor; "but somehow I expected it to look very different from this. After all, however, what does the beauty or otherwise of the landscape matter, so long as the rubies are really here? And I suppose they are here, somewhere, eh? We haven't made a mistake and come out at the wrong spot, do you think?"

"Well," admitted d.i.c.k, "we may not have hit the precise spot perhaps, but I think we cannot be more than half a mile from it. Perhaps the quickest way of finding it will be to search for it. Now, just let me think for a moment. Those _Flying-Fish_ people started by searching the beach. The Professor, possessing superior knowledge to the others, searched the face of the cliff; and finally, when the precise locality of the mine had been discovered, they went to work with pickaxe and shovel and dug their way down to the level of the 'pocket'. I think our best plan would be to search for that hole, which must still be conspicuous enough to admit of identification. Let us return, by way of the donga, to the top of the cliff, and, starting from there, ride along close to the cliff edge, you taking one direction and I the other. We ought to come across it within half a mile, or a mile at most."

"Right you are, old chappie, come along," answered Grosvenor, preparing to mount. As, however, he placed his left foot in the stirrup, and was about to spring into the saddle, d.i.c.k checked him.

"Hold on a moment, Phil," he exclaimed, his eyes intently searching a certain part of the cliff about a quarter of a mile distant. "Do you see that notch in the line of the cliff, over there? From here it looks something like a 'breakdown', but it may be the very spot we want to find. Anyhow it is quite worth examining; and if it should prove not to be the mine we can at all events reach the top of the cliff by means of it, and can start our search from there. Come along." The next moment the pair were up and cantering toward the spot.

At the point toward which they were riding the cliff was quite low, its crest being not more than some fifteen feet above the level of the beach; therefore, although the notch or gap was of but insignificant width, it reached from top to bottom of the cliff face, and offered a way, of sorts, from the beach to the level of the plain above; but as the hors.e.m.e.n drew near they saw that although it was a 'breakdown' or collapse of the cliff face, it was undoubtedly caused by an artificial excavation which had had its origin a few yards inland from the line of the crest. They rode right into it, and found themselves in a sort of basin-shaped pit, one side of which having broken away had left the gap through which they had entered. A single glance around sufficed to a.s.sure them that they had reached the place of which they were in search, and dismounting they flung their bridles over their horses'

heads to the ground, leaving them to stand, as they had been trained to do, while they proceeded at once to search the place for its precious contents.

They had not to look far. It was evident that time and weather had wrought some slight changes in the place since it had last been worked, the changes consisting chiefly of falls of earth from the sides, here and there; but pebbles, singly and in little groups of half a dozen or so, were plentifully strewed about the surface of the soil, and the very first one examined proved to be exactly similar in character to those of which the king's necklace was composed. Such, however, was not invariably the case, many of the stones which the searchers picked up turning out to be quite worthless; nevertheless ten minutes sufficed to satisfy the prospectors that the source of boundless wealth lay practically within reach of their hands, for during that short period each of them had secured a dozen rubies of varying size, from that of a pea up to pebbles as large as a pigeon's egg, while Grosvenor had been lucky enough to find a specimen as large as a duck's egg. By the end of an hour they had more than doubled the amount of their find, and had filled their jacket pockets as full as it was prudent to load them; but it was evident that, profitable as this desultory, haphazard method of search had proved to be, much better results might be hoped for from systematic pick-and-shovel work; accordingly they agreed to suspend further operations until the arrival of the wagon, and the party of labourers which had been placed at their disposal by Lobelalatutu; they, therefore, scrambled out of the pit and set about searching for a suitable site for their camp, eventually pitching upon a spot about a quarter of a mile distant from the mine.

By the time that the wagon arrived and the tent had been pitched the day was too far advanced to make it worth while for work to be started. It was, therefore, decided to give the workers a good long night's rest after their wearisome tramp from the king's village, and an hour after sunset saw the entire party wrapped in profound sleep.

But with the appearance of the sun above the sea's rim, on the following morning, everybody was once more astir; and after an early breakfast a general adjournment was made to the mine, where, under d.i.c.k Maitland's superintendence, a dozen parties of the Makolo were soon actively engaged with their native mattocks and shovels in excavating the soil in search of the precious stones, one-half of each party being employed upon the work of digging, while the other half turned over the excavated soil and extracted from it all the stones which it happened to contain, d.i.c.k and Grosvenor employing themselves meanwhile in pa.s.sing from party to party and sorting out the rubies from the worthless stones upturned.

In this way considerable progress was made, and by midday a very handsome pile of rubies had been acc.u.mulated, consisting, however, for the most part of relatively small stones.

It was not, however, until late in the afternoon that their real good luck came to them, and then it came all in a moment. A party of the natives who had for some time been left to themselves had excavated quite a little cavern in the side of the pit, and, as might have been expected, this mode of working ultimately resulted in a "cave-in".

Fortunately for them, the workers who were responsible for it detected the signs of the approaching fall in time to avoid being buried by it; and when the dust-cloud occasioned by it presently subsided, and the new face thus laid bare came to be examined, it was discovered that a veritable "pocket" of rubies had been exposed, the stones--every one of them of large size and especially fine fire and colour--being so numerous that almost every shovelful of earth turned over contained one or more! They were all, without exception, so very much finer than the finest that had hitherto been found that the latter were there and then incontinently discarded, and a fresh collection was at once begun, the whole body of natives being concentrated upon this one spot. So enormously rich did this "pocket" prove to be that when at length the declining sun gave warning that the moment to cease work had arrived, d.i.c.k and Grosvenor were fain to acknowledge to each other that, eager as the former was to make his fortune, they had now collected sufficient rubies to const.i.tute not one but two exceedingly handsome fortunes, and that in any case the quant.i.ty acquired was as great as it would be at all prudent to c.u.mber themselves with in view of the long and arduous journey that still lay before them.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

LIFE IN THE WILD.

Dawn of the following morning, which in that lat.i.tude preceded the rising of the sun by but a bare quarter of an hour, witnessed the awakening of the white men's camp to a scene of brisk activity; for the after-dinner conversation of the previous evening between d.i.c.k and Grosvenor had resulted in their arrival at a decision to make an immediate start on the long trek which they hoped would end in their discovery of the mysterious white race, which rumour persistently a.s.serted to exist somewhere in the far interior of the great Dark Continent, and the approximate situation of which they had gleaned from their friend Mitch.e.l.l, the Natal sugar planter.

Breakfast was soon over; and while Jantje and 'Nkuku were away, rounding-up the cattle and driving them in, preparatory to inspanning, d.i.c.k and Grosvenor opened a case and proceeded to reward munificently the gang of Makolo labourers who had helped them in the acquisition of the rubies, with a generous distribution of beads, bra.s.s wire, empty tobacco tins, lengths of coloured print, and toys, finally dismissing them happy in the possession of what, to these simple savages, was wealth beyond anything that they had ever ventured to dream of. Then, the cattle being inspanned, the little party headed away inland, in a north-westerly direction, striking a small stream by which they outspanned, three hours later. On that day week they struck a river of some importance flowing through an exceedingly fertile country abounding in game, and the upward course of this river they followed for the next eight days, although it led them somewhat out of their way; for they found, upon scouting in the direction which they wished to pursue, that their direct course would soon carry them into an arid, waterless district, infested, moreover, by tsetse fly, to enter which would infallibly result in a serious loss of cattle. And the preservation of their cattle was now, or very soon would be, a matter of vital importance to them.

At length the two leaders of the expedition, industriously scouting daily toward the direction in which they wished to travel, found that they had reached a point where it would be safe for them to leave the river and strike away toward the west and north-west, and they immediately did so, the country in that direction being free from fly, and consisting of wide-rolling plateaux, rising one beyond another, somewhat like broad, shallow steps, with a solitary, lofty hill rising in the extreme distance. This district was well watered by a number of tiny rivulets, and was clothed with rich young gra.s.s thickly dotted with clumps of mimosa, palmetto, and other tropical growth, amid which game of various kinds could be seen moving, including a small herd of giraffes.

This was much too good an opportunity to be missed. The friends therefore, after taking careful note of the spot where the immense animals were feeding, returned to the wagon and, having provided themselves with an abundant supply of ammunition, changed their saddles from the horses that they had hitherto been riding to the two which had been presented to them by King Lobelalatutu, and cantered off, after giving Mafuta--whom they left in charge of the wagon and stock--strict injunctions to make for a certain indicated spot, and there outspan and await them.

The light breeze which was blowing happened to be favourable to their approach, and they had arrived within a hundred yards of the large clump of mimosa in which they had last seen the giraffes feeding, when a heavy swishing and crashing of branches caused them to draw rein; and the next moment an enormous elephant emerged from the thicket, and stood looking about him as he flourished a great branch of foliage in his trunk, with which he seemed to be keeping the flies at bay. For a few seconds he seemed to be unaware of the presence of the hunters, and stood angrily switching the branch about his head and back, grunting and grumbling to himself, as though he was not in precisely the best of tempers. He was an immense tusker, by far the biggest that the travellers had thus far encountered, and that he was the hero of many battles seemed evident, for both his tusks were broken off short, leaving only about a foot of jagged ivory protruding from each jaw. The first impulse of the two hunters was to swing themselves gently out of their saddles and take a shot at him, for the huge beast was standing in a very favourable position, nearly broadside on; but Grosvenor, happening to notice the broken tusks, settled back into his seat again, murmuring, as he did so:

"Let's leave the poor beggar alone, d.i.c.k; he's not worth shooting. See his tusks?"

It was practically impossible for the animal to have heard Grosvenor's voice, for he purposely spoke in low tones, in order to avoid attracting the elephant's attention; yet as the words were spoken the huge brute faced sharply round toward the two hors.e.m.e.n, and stood attentively regarding them for a moment. Then, tossing aside the branch with which he had been whisking himself, he threw up his trunk, and, trumpeting savagely, charged straight toward them.

"No use waiting; let's scatter!" shouted Grosvenor, and, obedient to a touch of the heel and bridle, the two magnificent horses which the friends bestrode swerved round as though upon pivots, and dashed off in a direction at right angles to each other. For an instant the great beast seemed disconcerted at this manoeuvre, and appeared unable to make up his mind which enemy he would pursue, first following one of them for a yard or two, and then turning in pursuit of the other; but presently it seemed to dawn upon him that he could not possibly hope to overtake both, and his final choice was Grosvenor, whom he settled down to chase in grim earnest, his long trunk outstretched to its utmost limit, his immense ears flapping furiously, and his small eyes sombre with concentrated hatred. As soon as d.i.c.k saw that the brute had definitely marked down Grosvenor as his prey he turned his bridle and rode in a direction parallel with that which was being followed by pursued and pursuer, and began to shout loudly, in the hope of again causing the elephant to hesitate, even if he could not altogether divert him from his pursuit of Grosvenor; but the ruse was vain, the monster glanced viciously once in d.i.c.k's direction, but refused to be diverted from his fell purpose.

At the beginning of this singular race there had not been the slightest doubt in d.i.c.k's mind as to its ultimate result; he felt absolutely confident that, suberbly mounted as they were, they would be able to gallop away from their pursuer and elude him with the utmost ease; but now, to his consternation, he began to realise that, so far at least as Grosvenor was concerned, escape was distinctly doubtful, unless something could be done toward altering the existing conditions. For, strong and speedy as were the horses, they were frightfully handicapped in the race by the gra.s.s, which at this particular spot happened to be unusually long--reaching as high as the horses' shoulders--tough, and tangled, rendering it exceedingly difficult for them to force a pa.s.sage through it, while to the huge bulk and momentum of the elephant it seemed to offer no obstacle at all. The great beast was rapidly gaining upon Grosvenor, and as rapidly forging ahead of d.i.c.k, upon whom it began to dawn that, unless something were speedily done to prevent it, a tragedy must inevitably ensue.

He looked anxiously about him, and saw that, at a distance of about a mile, the patch of long rank gra.s.s came to an end and was succeeded by short smooth turf, over which the going would be everything that could be desired; but it was much too distant to be of any service in the present emergency. For the elephant was gaining at every stride and must inevitably overtake the fugitive long before he could reach it, while the horses were already beginning to show signs of distress as they plunged panting through the obstructing tangle, in the midst of which they were constantly stumbling as their outflung feet encountered, and were caught in, some especially tough patch of the knotted vegetation.

What was to be done? Something; and that right quickly if-- As the thought was flashing through d.i.c.k's brain he saw his friend's horse stumble heavily, make a desperate effort to recover himself, and finally roll over and disappear completely with his rider in the dense ocean of greenish-grey vegetation, while the elephant, a bare fifty yards in the rear, threw up his outstretched trunk and trumpeted a loud blast of savage exultation. There was now but one thing to be done, and the only question in d.i.c.k's mind was whether there was time enough left and, excited as he was, whether he had the necessary steadiness of hand to do it. But it must be attempted, at any rate, so, unslinging his rifle, he set it at full c.o.c.k as he galloped, held it pistol-wise in his hand, pointed it full at the huge bulk of the elephant, and pulled the trigger. The jar of the recoil nearly dislocated his elbow, and for a fraction of a second he feared that all was lost. But even as the fear gripped his heart, turning him sick and faint, the enormous beast suddenly halted, swayed unsteadily for a moment on his great pillar-like legs, and then collapsed in a heap. As he did so d.i.c.k, to his intense relief, saw the prostrate horse and rider scramble to their feet almost within arm's length of the fallen monster.

"Mount and ride, you duffer!" shrieked d.i.c.k, as he saw Grosvenor stand, apparently stupefied, staring at the prostrate beast; "he may be only stunned; and if he gets up again nothing can save you. Or, better still, empty your magazine into his skull as he lies."

"There is no need, my dear chap," answered Grosvenor calmly; "it would only be a sinful waste of valuable cartridges. The brute is as dead as mutton; your bullet caught him behind the ear all right, and is no doubt deeply embedded in his brain. It was a splendid shot, especially considering that it was fired from the saddle, and at full gallop too.

I congratulate you on it, old man. And, before I forget it, let me thank you for saving my life. If you had not fired as promptly as you did he would have had me, sure as fate, and I should have been a goner-- eh, what?"

Although Grosvenor spoke in a tone of light raillery it but thinly disguised the depth of feeling that stirred him, as d.i.c.k fully realised when he pulled up alongside his friend and they exchanged hand-grips.

Lightly as he spoke of the incident, Phil knew right well that he was on the very edge of disaster at the moment that d.i.c.k pulled trigger, and though he would fain have treated the whole adventure as a joke he was none the less grateful to d.i.c.k for his timely intervention, and the pressure of his hand was quite as eloquent as much outpouring of words.

"By Jove," exclaimed d.i.c.k, as he swung out of his saddle and loosened the girths, to enable his horse the more readily to recover his wind, "what a monster! He is far and away the biggest elephant that I have ever seen; and if his tusks had been unbroken they would have been a prize worth having, if only as curiosities. As it is, I don't think it will be worth while to waste time in cutting out the stumps; do you?

Poor beggar, he must have been suffering pretty badly from toothache; see how tremendously that left gum is swollen. That means an abscess at the root of the tusk that must have been dreadfully painful. No wonder that he was in such a d.i.c.kens of a bad temper! Well, he is of no value to us, except as a contribution to our larder, so we may as well be going. We will mark the spot where he lies, and send Mafuta and Jantje for one of his feet, which will furnish us with an epicurean dinner to- night. And now I suppose we may as well go and look for the wagon, for of course the giraffes cleared out directly the rumpus began."

They camped that night in the midst of a wide plateau dotted here and there with low _kopjes_ of outcropping granite, and clothed for the most part with _melkboom_ interspersed with patches of low thornbush and sun- dried gra.s.s; and, from the fact that they had met with no water since noon, they greeted with much satisfaction the discovery of a shallow water-hole of some two acres in extent, within about half a mile of which they outspanned for the night, an hour before sunset. They did not care to approach nearer to the water than this, for upon inspecting the place they became aware, from the spoor in the mud all round the margin, that it was the favourite if not the only drinking place for all the animals in the neighbourhood, and past experienced had taught them that the nocturnal sounds emanating from such a spot were the reverse of favourable to sleep. Moreover, they had detected among the most recent spoor that of lions; and for the sake of their cattle they preferred to keep at a respectful distance from a place frequented by such formidable animals.

At one spot this miniature lake was bordered by a patch of reeds of considerable extent, which looked as though it might harbour a few wild duck; therefore, as soon as the wagon was outspanned, the two friends took their shot guns and a couple of dogs which had manifested some talent at retrieving, and made their way toward the reeds, warning Jantje to be careful to water the cattle as far as possible from the spot toward which they were making. Leo, the lion cub, by this time very nearly half-grown, would fain have accompanied the sportsmen, for he had developed an extraordinary attachment to both of his white masters. He loved nothing better than to accompany them on their rambles, and was as obedient as any of the dogs, with whom he was on the best of terms; but it was deemed best on this occasion that he should be taken to water on a leash, with the cattle, and return with them to the wagon. He was therefore left behind, much to his disgust.

Choosing what seemed to be advantageous positions, the two sportsmen, each accompanied by a dog, carefully ambushed themselves among the reeds at a distance of about a hundred yards from each other and, crouching low, patiently awaited the course of events. They had not long to wait for proof of the soundness of their judgment, for they had not been in position more than half an hour--by which time the sun, magnified to twice his size by the evening vapours through which he glowed, palpitating like a ball of white-hot steel, hung upon the very edge of the horizon--when a whirring of wings warned them to be on the alert, and a moment later a flock of some fifty teal, which must have been feeding on some far-off marsh during the day, settled down upon the surface of the water, with much splashing and loud quacks of satisfaction at having once more reached what they doubtless believed to be a haven of safety. But if they really entertained any such belief they were most deplorably mistaken, for that fate which rules the destiny of wild duck ordained that they should settle on the precise patch of water that was fully commanded by both sportsmen, and some three seconds later both guns spoke practically at the same instant, and up went the teal again with a great whir of wings and loud cries of consternation, leaving behind them a round dozen or more of dead and wounded floating upon the rippled surface of the water.

By the time that the whole of the "bag" had been retrieved the dusk was deepening into darkness, and star after star was twinkling into view from the vast, cloudless, purple dome above. The two friends, therefore, scrambled forth from their hiding places and, perfectly satisfied with themselves and all things else, prepared to make their way back to the wagon.

They had not progressed above two dozen paces beyond the margin of the reeds, however, when Grosvenor, who was leading the way along a narrow track through the coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, uttered a sharp e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, and halted suddenly in his tracks, the next moment stamping violently on something just before him.

"What is the matter, old chap?" demanded d.i.c.k, stepping quickly to his friend's side.