Part 85 (1/2)
His first thought was about something to eat, and his eyes fell upon the skillet, standing where he had left it, near the middle of the floor.
It still contained a quant.i.ty of the miscellaneous stew--enough for a meal.
”Woan do eat um cold,” he muttered, proceeding to kindle a fire, ”not fo' de second time. Gib me de ager chills, it wud. Mus' fortify de belly wi' someting warm--else a no be fit to do de work dat am to be done.”
The kindling of the fire, the warming up of the pepper-pot, and its subsequent consumption, were three operations that did not take Chakra any very great amount of time. They were all over just as the darkness of night descended over the earth.
”Now fo' get ready de signal,” soliloquised he, moving about over the floor of his hut, and looking into crannies and corners, as if in search of some object.
”As de good luck hab it, dar be no moon to-night--leastways, till atter midnight. Atter den a doan care she s.h.i.+ne as bright as de sun hisseff.
Dare be plenty ob dark fo' Adam to see de signal, and plenty fo' de odder bizzness at Moun' Welc'm'. Dar'll be light 'nuf 'bout dat ere 'fore we takes leab o' de place. Won't dat be a blaze? Whugh!
”Wha hab a put dat ere tellemgraff lamp?” said he, still searching around the hut. ”I'se fo'got all 'bout wha it am, so long since a use de darned ting. Muss be un'er de bed. Ya--hya it am!”
As he said this, he drew from under the bamboo bedstead a gourd sh.e.l.l, of nearly egg shape, but of the dimensions of a large melon. It had a long, tapering shank--part of the fruit itself, where the pericarp narrowed towards its peduncle--and through this a string had been pa.s.sed, by which the gourd could be suspended upon a peg.
Holding it by the handle, he raised the sh.e.l.l to the light of his lard lamp, already kindled, and stood for some time silently inspecting it.
The gourd was not perfect--that is, it was no longer a mere empty sh.e.l.l, but a manufactured article, containing within a most singular apparatus.
On one side appeared a hole, several inches in diameter, and cut in a shape nearly pyramidal, the base being above the thick end of the oval, and the apex, somewhat blunt, or truncated, extending towards the shank.
Up to the level of the opening the sh.e.l.l was filled with lard, in the middle of which appeared a wick of silk cotton staple; and behind this were two hits of broken looking-gla.s.s, set slanting to each other.
The whole apparatus bore some resemblance to a reflecting lamp; and that was in reality the purpose for which the rude contrivance had been constructed.
After a careful examination, its owner appeared to be satisfied that it was in good order; and having ”trimmed” it, by adding a little fresh lard, and straightening up the wick, he set the lamp aside, and proceeded with the preparation of some other paraphernalia necessary for the night's expedition.
A stick, some four feet in length, and a piece of strong cord, were the next articles procured; and these were also put on one side.
To these succeeded a long-bladed knife, and a stout pistol, with flint lock, which the Coromantee loaded and primed with great care. Both were stuck behind a belt which he had already buckled around his ribs, under the skin kaross.
”A doan 'tic.i.p.ate,” said he, as he armed himself with these formidable weapons, ”dar a-gwine be much need fo' eider ob 'em. Dar ain't n.o.b'dy down dar am like show fight. Dat ere gran' buckra ob late come to Moun'
Welc'm' de say he be 'fraid ob de shadda ob danger; an' as fo' de brack folks, de look ob dese weapon be suffis.h.i.+ent fo' dem. Ef dat woan do, den a trow off my mask. De sight ob ole Chakra, dat dribe 'em into fits. Dat send ebbery n.i.g.g.a on de plantashun into de middle ob next week. Whugh!”
Another weapon appeared to be wanting, in the shape of a large black bottle, containing rum. With this the Coromantee soon supplied himself, drawing one out from its secret hiding-place, and holding it before the light, to make sure that it was full.
”Dis bottle,” said he, as he thrust it into a pouch in his kaross, ”I hab kep fo' dis 'pecial 'casion; it am de bess weapon fo' my puppos.
When dem fellas get dar dose ob de rum, dar'll be no back out in 'em den. Golly!” he added, glancing out, and seeing that it was now quite dark, ”a muss be gone fro' hya. By de time ole Adam sees de tellemgraff, an' gets 'cross dem 'ere mountains, it be late 'nuf for de bizness to begin.”
Finis.h.i.+ng with this reflection, the sable conjuror took up his ”telegraphic apparatus,” and, stepping over the threshold, hurried away from the hut.
Volume Three, Chapter XXVIII.
SETTING THE SIGNAL.
The short tropic twilight had pa.s.sed, and night had descended upon the Island of Jamaica. It promised to be a night of deepest darkness. The moon would not rise before midnight; and even then she might not be seen, as the canopy was covered with a thick curtain of black c.u.mulus clouds, through which neither star nor speck of blue sky was visible.
Alike lay valleys and mountains shrouded in amorphous darkness; and even the Jumbe Rock--the highest and most conspicuous summit for miles around--was wrapped in complete obscurity. Its vitreous flanks no longer sparkled in the light, since there was none; and its dark ma.s.s was so dimly outlined against the equally sombre background of the sky, as to be invisible from the valley below.