The Adventures of Dick Maitland Part 8

This speech also Mafuta translated, with an air of mingled hauteur and humility which was amusing enough to d.i.c.k and Grosvenor.

For answer the king stood up and, laying his hand upon Mafuta's shoulder, looked piercingly into the man's eyes for the s.p.a.ce of a full minute or more. On his part, Mafuta returned the gaze as steadfastly as it was given; and it was an interesting sight to the onlookers to see those two savages, both of them splendid specimens of their respective races, endeavouring to read each other's character. At length Lobelalatutu removed his hand from the other's shoulder and said:

"It is well! Tell your chiefs that I say you are a true man, and that I, too, am willing to put my life into your hands. Stay you here and interpret for me, for I have a matter of moment to discuss with the white men."

"Tell the king to say on," commanded d.i.c.k, when this speech had been translated to them; and Lobelalatutu, turning to d.i.c.k, said:

"I am in a great strait, O _'mlungus_, and know not what to do. I would that the four Spirits of the Winds, who made me king over the Makolo, were here, for I have faithfully obeyed their injunctions, and they would help me. But you are friends of the Spirits, and it may be that your wisdom will find a way for me. May I speak?"

Note. The author is here referring to events which occurred in two of his previous books: _The Log of the "Flying-Fish"_, and _With Airship and Submarine_ (both published by Messrs Blackie and Son, Limited).

CHAPTER NINE.

THE CHIEF WITCH DOCTOR'S PLOT.

"Speak freely and without fear, O Lobelalatutu!" answered d.i.c.k. "Tell us your trouble; and it may be that we shall, as you say, be able to point the way to deliverance."

"Then--but first let the light be extinguished," said the king, pointing to the hurricane lamp suspended from the pole of the tent. "It may be that some of my people, standing yonder in the shadow, hoping to behold some wonder, may see me with you, and, though they might not recognise me, disguised as I am, I would rather that no man should know that you have been secretly visited this night."

"Right!" answered d.i.c.k in English. "I see your point, old chap, and out goes the 'glim'." And so saying he took down the lamp, opened, and extinguished it.

"It is well," approved the king, with a sigh of relief. "Now can I talk without fear of discovery." He paused for a moment, considering how he should begin, then said: "As we talked to-day, O Healer of Sicknesses!"--the native word for this expression (soon abbreviated to "Healer") forthwith became d.i.c.k's name among the Makolo from that moment--"you said that you knew what happened to M'Bongwele, the king who ruled before me, and also how I came to be made king in his stead.

Know you also the story of Seketulo, whom the Four Spirits made king in M'Bongwele's stead when they first came among the Makolo?"

"Yes, we know," answered d.i.c.k. "We know that M'Bongwele was dethroned and banished by the four Spirits because of his barbarous and iniquitous rule, and that Seketulo was made king in his stead. We know also that, after a time, M'Bongwele secretly returned from exile, and, aided by certain powerful chiefs, slew Seketulo and reinstated himself as King of the Makolo. And, finally, we know that when the four Spirits revisited this country in their great glittering ship that flies through the air, they again deposed M'Bongwele and hanged him and his chief witch doctor from the bough of a tree, because, despite their previous warning, they persisted in their evil-doing. And in M'Bongwele's place they made you, Lobelalatutu, King of the Makolo."

"It is even so, O Healer!" a.s.sented the king. "The tale, as you tell it, is the truth; and now I know of a verity that, possessing this knowledge, you are like unto the Spirits themselves, to be trusted, even as they were; therefore will I, without fear, unfold to you the tale of my present trouble. It was the dissatisfaction of certain chiefs with Seketulo's system of government, as prescribed to him by the four Spirits, that made M'Bongwele's secret return and his resumption of the throne possible. Seketulo was instructed to govern the Makolo justly and humanely, to put a stop to the oppression of the people by the chiefs, and, above all, not to make war upon the neighbouring nations save in self-defence. It was this last restriction that occasioned the greatest discontent among certain of the chiefs; because, the Makolo being a powerful and warlike nation, we were generally victorious when we went to war, and the greater part of the spoils went to the chiefs, who thus increased their riches as often as we made raids upon our neighbours. But under Seketulo's rule all this was altered, and we were obliged to be content with such wealth as we already possessed; hence the discontent and all that followed upon it. Now, since I became king, I have endeavoured to govern my people even as Seketulo did; and for a long time things have gone very well with us; the number of the Makolo, no longer kept down by war, has greatly increased, as also has our prosperity; for now that war is no longer part of its policy the nation has devoted itself to agriculture and the breeding of cattle, our herds have greatly multiplied, new villages have sprung up, fresh land has every year been brought under cultivation, and all have enough, and more than enough, to satisfy their wants. But of late I have suspected that, despite our steadily increasing prosperity, all is not well with us. I have detected signs of discontent not only among the chiefs, but among the people themselves; there have been murmurs that the long peace which we have enjoyed is converting the Makolo into a nation of women who will soon lose the capacity for fighting; our neighbours are growing insolent and aggressive; and--worst sign of all--those chiefs who most boldly support me in my determination to continue to rule in accordance with the tenets laid down by the four Spirits, are rapidly dying off, one after the other, by some mysterious disease."

"Phew! I say, that looks very fishy, doesn't it, d.i.c.k?" exclaimed Grosvenor, when the king had concluded his story. "Smacks of conspiracy and secret murder--eh, what?"

"Yes," agreed d.i.c.k; "I must confess that it undoubtedly has a look of that kind of thing about it." Then, turning to Lobelalatutu, he asked:

"How long is it since the chiefs who support you began to sicken and die; and how many have already pa.s.sed along the Dark Path?"

"It is now nearly three moons since 'Mtatu, my most trustworthy chief, died; and since then five others have travelled along the same Dark Road," answered the king. "And now a seventh, 'Nkuni, lies sick in his hut with the same symptoms as the others. Three nights and two days has he thus lain."

"And how long does the sickness usually last?" asked d.i.c.k, his professional instincts being at once aroused.

"They usually die on the seventh day after the sickness declares itself," answered the king.

"Good!" responded d.i.c.k. "Then your friend is in no immediate danger; and to-morrow, when we present ourselves before you with our gifts, I will see him, and it may be that I shall be able to save his life. Have you aught further to tell us?"

"No," answered the king. "I have now told all. But I fear that all these things portend evil to me, and, perchance, the end of my reign and life. It is for this reason that I have visited you to-night in secret; for I hoped that if a conspiracy is growing up against me you might be able to name the conpirators to me. That is all the help I ask," he finished grimly.

"Yes," answered d.i.c.k; "I have no doubt that if we could ascertain the ident.i.ty of the conspirators--if any--you could be safely trusted to do the rest. Well, we will see what can be done to help you. Must you really go? Well, good night! Take care of yourself; or, in other words, _hamba gahli_."

As the tall, dark figure of Lobelalatutu strode away down the slight slope, upon the summit of which the tent was pitched, and melted into the shadows, Grosvenor turned to his companion, who had now re-seated himself, and said:

"It seems to me, friend d.i.c.k, that we have arrived upon the scene at the psychological moment--eh, what? If our friend Lobelalatutu's suspicions have any better foundation than his own imagination, it strikes me that we are on the eve of exciting times. What say you?"

"I say yes to that, most emphatically," responded d.i.c.k. "For, don't make any mistake, Phil, the king's imagination is not running away with him; the death of six chiefs in quick succession, followed by the serious illness of a seventh, is something more than mere coincidence; it means conspiracy, followed by ghastly, blood-curdling tragedy--unless we can contrive by some means to discover the ident.i.ty of the conspirators in time. As for those unfortunate chiefs, I have not the slightest doubt that they have been removed by poison--some secret and comparatively slow but deadly poison, and I intend to make it my first business to discover what that poison is, and its antidote--if I can.

The chances are, however, that I shall fail, for almost all the savage peoples possess a great deal more knowledge of drugs, and especially of poisons, than we civilised folk are aware of, or are inclined to credit them with; and if poison is really being employed, it will almost certainly be something of which I have no knowledge. Still, we shall see. And you may be sure that I shall use my very best efforts to succeed, and also to discover the details of the conspiracy which Lobelalatutu suspects; for, should it succeed, we shall find ourselves in an exceedingly awkward predicament."

"Why--how do you mean?" demanded Grosvenor.

"How do I mean?" repeated d.i.c.k. "Why, in a few words, I mean this, that so long as Lobelalatutu lives and continues to govern this people we are reasonably safe. But if he should happen to be deposed, and murdered, the new king will most probably sacrifice us both to his fetish as a sort of thank-offering for his success. Twig?"

"Of course I do," answered Grosvenor. "I had never thought of that; but it seems likely enough, now that you come to mention it. It appears to me that our first business must be to straighten out matters, for our own sakes as well as for that of Lobelalatutu. Poor chap! Here is he, a despot, with absolute power over the life of every one of his subjects; you would naturally suppose that such a man would have nothing to fear, wouldn't you? Yet, like other monarchs, he seems liable at any moment to become the victim of secret intrigue, and lose his crown and his life together. I thought the poor chap looked worried when we called upon him to-day. The Bard was right--'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown', be the head that of a civilised monarch or a savage."

"True for you, my boy," answered d.i.c.k. "But are you not beginning to feel tired? Because, if you are, pray don't stand on ceremony, but turn in as soon as you like. As for me, I think I will sit up a bit longer and see if I cannot think this matter out and find a streak of daylight somewhere."

"Which, I suppose, is a hint that you don't need my company any longer,"

retorted Grosvenor. "All right, old chap, pray don't apologise. I know I'm a bit of a duffer in such matters as this, so I'll leave you to thresh it out alone, and turn in for a good night's sleep--eh, what?"

Left to himself, d.i.c.k Maitland sat far into the night, considering the situation unfolded to him by the king; and at length an inspiration came to him, by following which he thought it possible that he might be able to clear up the mystery connected with the deaths of Lobelalatutu's most trusted chiefs, and perhaps discover whether or not there really existed a conspiracy to overthrow that monarch and restore the barbarous practices that had made the rule of the last king literally a reign of terror. Then he turned into his hammock and slept soundly until Mafuta aroused him at sunrise with the early cup of chocolate which was the invariable prelude to the business of the day.

The first thing after breakfast the two friends walked to the wagon, which was outspanned close at hand, and opened the boxes and bales which contained the various articles which they had brought with them to serve as presents and media of barter, and from the contents of these they selected a liberal a.s.sortment of gifts for the king, his wives, and the most important chiefs in His Majesty's immediate entourage. These they handed over to the care of Mafuta, Jantje, and 'Nkuku the voorlouper; then, directing the trio to follow them, d.i.c.k and Grosvenor mounted their horses and rode at a foot-pace to the king's village.

The distribution of the gifts proved to be a somewhat lengthy function, for the articles presented included a considerable number of mechanical toys, the working of each of which had to be carefully explained to the recipient; but at length it came to an end, to the apparent satisfaction of everybody concerned, and then d.i.c.k said to the king:

"Your Majesty is aware that I am a healer of sickness; is there any member of your family, or anyone in whom you are interested, lying sick at the present moment? Because, if so, I shall be very glad to do what I can to restore the patient to health."

The king looked doubtfully at d.i.c.k for a moment or two, as though not quite comprehending the drift of the question; then something in the expression of Maitland's face led to his understanding, and he replied:

"There is no one of my household at present sick, O Healer! but one of my chiefs--a man named 'Nkuni, who is my friend, lies nigh unto death; and if you can heal him I shall be grateful to you, for he is very dear to me. His sickness is the same as that which has already sent six other chiefs along the Dark Path; and it is of so strange and deadly a nature that Sekosini, the head witch doctor, can find no cure for it."

As the king thus spoke d.i.c.k was keenly watching the faces of the various persons present, and he noted with something of a thrill that four or five of the chiefs seemed to exchange stealthy glances of meaning with each other, and also, despite their a.s.sumption of indifference, to exhibit signs of inward perturbation. But it was no part of his policy to show that he had observed these things; he therefore responded to the king:

"Ah, it may be that the sickness from which 'Nkuni is suffering is a sickness new to this country; and if it should prove to be so it is not surprising that Sekosini is unable to conquer it. It may be, however, that it is akin to some of the diseases with which I am acquainted, and in that case I can save the chief's life. We will go to his hut and see him even now, if the king will direct someone to conduct us thither."

Lobelalatutu at once turned to one of the chiefs present, and said:

"Ingona, you are 'Nkuni's friend; take these white men to his hut, that the Healer may see him, and perchance restore to him his health and strength."

Two minutes later d.i.c.k stood in the hut of 'Nkuni, and saw, lying stretched upon the pallet before him, a man somewhat past the prime of life who, when in health, must have been a very fine specimen of manhood. Now, however, he was thin and wasted, his skin was cold yet dry, his pulse was exceedingly feeble and erratic, and he was in a terribly exhausted condition, having suffered a severe paroxysm of abdominal pain shortly after swallowing a draught of milk which had been administered to him by Sekosini's order. This last fact, together with several other details respecting the progress of the disease, were communicated by the man's chief wife, who appeared to be greatly concerned about him, as was naturally to be expected.

"Where is the vessel from which the milk was drunk?" demanded d.i.c.k, when the woman had told all that she had to tell.

A calabash bowl capable of containing about a quart was produced for his inspection, and he saw with satisfaction that it had not yet been washed. The film of milk still clinging to its interior showed that it had been about half full when offered to the patient, and about a teaspoonful of milk still remained in the bowl. Of this vessel d.i.c.k instantly took possession, handing it over to Grosvenor, with instructions not to spill a single drop of its contents on any account.

Then he asked if any medicine had been administered in the milk, and was answered in the affirmative, a very small calabash bottle being shown which had contained the drug. Of this also d.i.c.k took possession. Next, having brought his medicine chest with him, in accordance with the plans which he had made overnight, the young doctor administered a powerful emetic, then he locked the chest, slipped the key into his pocket, and, leaving the chest in the hut to obviate the inconvenience of carrying it to and fro, he gave certain instructions to the chief's wife, and then requested Ingona to conduct him to the hut of Sekosini, the chief witch doctor.

This request appeared to fill Ingona with alarm, which he made no attempt to conceal. He informed d.i.c.k that Sekosini was a very great man indeed, second in power and influence only to Lobelalatutu himself; that it was not his custom to receive visitors unless permission had first been asked, the request being invariably accompanied by a present; that evil invariably befell those who were foolhardy enough to offend him; and that if he--Ingona--might presume to advise, he would strongly recommend the white man not to go near him, as Sekosini had always manifested a peculiarly strong aversion to strangers, and especially to white men since the two visits of the Spirits of the Winds to the Makolo country.

All this, however, only tended to strengthen certain suspicions which d.i.c.k had already formed; but he did not express them to Ingona; he blandly explained to that chief that, having been requested by the king to use his best endeavours to cure 'Nkuni, he wished to see Sekosini and consult with him, in order that he might learn as many particulars as possible respecting the ailment from which 'Nkuni was suffering. This explanation appeared at least partially to satisfy Ingona, who made no further attempt to dissuade d.i.c.k from his purpose, but, on the contrary, offered to go forward and prepare Sekosini for the proposed visit. To this proposal, since it could scarcely interfere with his plans, d.i.c.k cheerfully a.s.sented, whereupon Ingona, pointing out the witch doctor's hut, which stood a good quarter of a mile apart from all others, hastened toward it at the long, swinging trot which enables the South African savage to get over the ground so quickly and which he can maintain for such an incredible length of time.