Part 33 (1/2)

Soon afterwards the lake was reached. A large dhow was in readiness, the gang was embarked and ferried across to a place where several rude buildings and barrac.o.o.ns, with a few tents, indicated that it was one of the inland headquarters of the trade in Black Ivory.

The moment our travellers landed Marizano led them to one of the nearest buildings, and introduced them to his master.

”Yoosoof!” exclaimed Disco in a shout of astonishment.

It would have been a difficult question to have decided which of the three faces displayed the most extreme surprise. Perhaps Disco's would have been awarded the palm, but Yoosoof was undoubtedly the first to regain his self-possession.

”You be surprised,” he said, in his _very_ broken English, while his pale-yellow visage resumed its placid gravity of expression.

”Undoubtedly we are,” said Harold.

”Bu'stin'!” exclaimed Disco.

”You would be not so mush surprised,--did you know dat I comes to here every year, an' dat Engleesh consul ask me for 'quire about you.”

”If that be so, how comes it that _you_ were surprised to see us?” asked Harold.

”'Cause why, I only knows dat some white mans be loss theirselfs--not knows _what_ mans--not knows it was _you_.”

”Well now,” cried Disco, unable to restrain himself as he turned to Harold, ”did ever two unfortnits meet wi' sitch luck? Here have we bin'

obliged for days to keep company with the greatest Portugee villian in the country, an' now we're needcessitated to be under a obligation to the greatest Arab scoundrel in Afriky.”

The scoundrel in question smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

”Yoosoof,” cried Disco, clenching his fist and looking full in the trader's eyes, ”when I last saw yer ugly face, I vowed that if ever I seed it again I'd leave my mark on it pretty deep, I did; and now I does see it again, but I haven't the moral courage to touch sitch a poor, pitiful, shrivelled-up package o' bones an' half-tanned leather.

Moreover, I'm goin' to be indebted to 'ee! Ha! ha!” (he laughed bitterly, and with a dash of wild humour in the tone), ”to travel under yer care, an' eat yer accursed bread, and--and--oh! there ain't no sitch thing as shame left in my corpus. I'm a low mean-spirited boastful idiot, that's wot _I_ am, an' I don't care the f.a.g-end of a hunk o'

gingerbread who knows it.”

After this explosion the sorely tried mariner brought his right hand down on his thigh with a tremendous crack, turned about and walked away to cool himself.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

PROGRESS OF THE SLAVE-RUN--THE DEADLY SWAMP, AND THE UNEXPECTED RESCUE.

We will now leap over a short period of time--about two or three weeks-- during which the sable procession had been winding its weary way over hill and dale, plain and swamp.

During that comparatively brief period, Harold and Disco had seen so much cruelty and suffering that they both felt a strange tendency to believe that the whole must be the wild imaginings of a horrible dream.

Perhaps weakness, resulting from illness, might have had something to do with this peculiar feeling of unbelief, for both had been subject to a second, though slight, attack of fever. Nevertheless, coupled with their scepticism was a contradictory and dreadful certainty that they were not dreaming, but that what they witnessed was absolute verity.

It is probable that if they had been in their ordinary health and vigour they would have made a violent attempt to rescue the slaves, even at the cost of their own lives. But severe and prolonged illness often unhinges the mind as well as the body, and renders the spirit all but impotent.

One sultry evening the sad procession came to a long stretch of swamp, and prepared to cross it. Although already thinned by death, the slave-gang was large. It numbered several hundreds, and was led by Marizano; Yoosoof having started some days in advance in charge of a similar gang.

Harold and Disco were by that time in the habit of walking together in front of the gang, chiefly for the purpose of avoiding the sight of cruelties and woes which they were powerless to prevent or a.s.suage. On reaching the edge of the swamp, however, they felt so utterly wearied and dis-spirited that they sat down on a bank to rest, intending to let the slave-gang go into the swamp before them and then follow in rear.

Antonio and Jumbo also remained with them.

”You should go on in front,” said Marizano significantly, on observing their intention.