Part 11 (1/2)

The Zulu watched them like a lynx, but what was his astonishment and even delight to behold the master whom he had believed to be dead, standing amongst his enemies; with great chains upon his hands and feet, it is true, yet still alive and well, and preserving upon his face the impress of that habitual coolness and determined bravery which had so won upon the heart of this untutored savage.

With longing eyes Amaxosa gazed upon his friend, but he was a shrewd man as well as a courageous one, and he foresaw that any attempt at a rescue could at this moment have no good result, but rather the reverse.

Just as the two bands parted, Grenville was forced up against the wall, and quick as lightning the Zulu shot out his hand and dropped a small pistol into his friend's coat-pocket. So neatly was the action performed that our hero, who had been roused out of his sleep, and led away to be interviewed, he was told, by the Holy Three, did not know what had happened, thinking he had only knocked his side against a corner; but on moving his hand directly after, his forearm struck something heavy, and carefully feeling in his pocket, his fingers closed like a vice on his own favourite Derringer, and in an instant he realised that he had stood within a foot or two of his devoted Zulu friend without knowing it. Cautiously hiding the pistol in his breast, where his chained hands could more easily reach it, he found himself once more ushered into the presence of the Mormon Trinity.

As soon as the guards had retired, which they did at a sign from the Mormon prophet, the triumvirate commenced to question Grenville upon the number of his friends, the quant.i.ty of their ammunition, the range of their weapons, and so forth.

To all these reiterated inquiries he made no answer save an amused smile.

Then Brother Ishmael Warden, as usual, lost his temper.

”Dog of an Englishman!” he thundered, ”answer or you die.”

”Death,” was the cutting reply, ”is the home which welcomes brave men, the shadow which frightens cowards. Our rifles are more than sufficient to sweep from the face of the earth the few men your nation has left.”

The Prophet now interposed, and, to Grenville's amused disgust, offered him life and magnificent terms if he would throw in his lot with them and conform to their laws, bringing his party and his weapons with them.

To all these offers he had but one answer:--

”I am the conqueror, you the conquered--it is for me to offer terms, not for you; and if I must die, why the sooner the better; but merely to save my life I will never consent to herd with murderers, thieves, and vagabonds. Listen, you three misguided men. Here are the terms Richard Grenville dictates, and think well ere you refuse them:--This country is now the property of her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India. You, the so-called Holy Three, will at once abdicate and give up your power to the young girl known as the Rose of Sharon, Queen of the Mormon people by hereditary right, returning to her all her moneys, lands, and property feloniously retained by you. To me, and to my party, as your conquerors, you will pay twenty thousand ounces of gold, and provide us with bearers for same, and guides out of the country forthwith. I have spoken.”

Suddenly Warden sprang to his feet, fairly foaming at the mouth--

”Here!” he yelled, ”is your pa.s.sport out of the country and direct to h.e.l.l!” and levelling a pistol at Grenville's head, he fired. The bullet missed our hero by a hair's breadth--indeed, it grazed the side of his face--but the very next second Brother Ishmael Warden, the most universally-hated member of the Mormon Trinity, fell to the ground with a bullet through his heart, and Grenville coolly threw his pistol down, saying as he did so--

”The fellow was a dog, and like a dog he died;” then he quietly looked his remaining judges in the face, and waited their action.

Father and son had sprung to their feet in fear upon seeing Grenville in possession of a weapon, but they now quietly sat down again, and his keen eye noted that upon the face of the old man there sat an expression of indifference, whilst the younger man obviously eyed the corpse of his late colleague with unconcealed relief, and looked at our hero with absolute approbation. Another circ.u.mstance, however, was significant to Grenville, and he had not failed to notice it; this was the fact that the guards could be heard pacing up and down outside the room, never seeming the least disturbed by the pistol-shots. It was, therefore, clear that murder in the presence of the Holy Three was far from being uncommon; indeed, when some minutes later the men entered, by order, to take him away, even before they observed the body of their late tyrant, Grenville saw looks of astonishment cast upon him.

And now an honour as unexpected as it was unsought was offered to the young Englishman, for father and son, having held a private conference, the elder man turned to Grenville, and in brief but distinct language offered him the seat of the man he had just killed, together with all its emoluments.

”Nay, my son,” said he, as our friend was about to speak, ”take time to think before you give your answer. I much wish to save you alive, but our laws are as the laws of the Medes and Persians, and by them the Holy Three, who have power of life and death, are obliged to condemn you, and you are too young to die. In the one way indicated we can save you.

Live, then, and become the prop of our Holy State.”

”Sir,” replied Grenville, moved by the kindly manner of the patriarch as no threats would ever have moved him, ”I appreciate your kind wishes, and G.o.d forbid I should insult the beard of a man old enough to be my grandsire, but I regard your faith and your own exalted office here with utter abhorrence and loathing. I have a most healthy contempt for your laws and your nation, and having the courage of my opinions I prefer to die for them.”

The old prophet eyed him sadly for a moment; then his face grew stem, and drawing himself up proudly, ”'Tis well,” he said, ”ere long, foolish headstrong youth, thou wilt regret thine impetuosity. At sundown, three days hence, you die by the rifle--farewell.” Then touching a small gong, ”Guards, remove the prisoner;” and as he noted the looks of the officer directed at Warden's corpse lying in a pool of blood, ”Brother Harper, remove this body, and see that the Saints are notified of the decease of a member of the Holy Trinity, and the necessity of choosing out one of the elect to supply his place.”

The officer merely bowed, and the guard then removed Grenville; but as soon as they got outside the officer turned to his prisoner, asking eagerly, ”Did you kill yonder fiend?”

”I did,” replied our hero coolly, ”and I'm sure I never killed a greater scoundrel in all my life.”

In reply the officer seized Grenville's hand and shook it heartily.

”You are a plucky fellow,” he said; ”if you _have_ killed about half our people, you've prevented that scoundrel from making away with the other half. Tell me, did you shoot Radford Custance?”

”I did,” was the stern reply; ”the coward struck a man who had his hands tied.”

”Well,” rejoined the other, ”taken all through we owe you a debt of grat.i.tude. It's a shame to shoot you; but what must be--must be, you know.”

”Quite so,” responded Grenville, cheerfully, ”don't let us fall out over that; I see the necessity, I have done my work, and I am ready to go.