Part 7 (1/2)
”Indeed Anythingthe slaves and spoke with them They are very sad, those slaves, and many of them have died of heart-pain because they have been taken fro I saw one die just now; a young wo to another woman and seemed quite well, only tired, till suddenly she said in a loud voice, 'I a to die, that I may come back as a spirit and bewitch these devils till they are spirits too' Then she called upon the fetish of her tribe, put her hands to her breast and fell down dead At least,” added Hans, spitting reflectively, ”she did not fall quite down because the slave-stick held her head off the ground The Arabs were very angry, both because she had cursed them and was dead One of them came and kicked her body and afterwards shot her little boy as sick, because the mother had cursed them But fortunately he did not see us, because ere in the dark far fro, Baas These twothe slaves that they ht cut the cords of the slave-sticks and the other cords hich they were tied, and then pass theht do the same But perhaps the Arabs will find it out, and then the Mazitu and the other must lose their knives That is all Has the Baas a little tobacco?”
”Now, Stephen,” I said when Hans had gone and I had explained everything, ”there are two courses open to us Either we can try to give these gentlemen the slip at once, in which case we must leave the woman and child to their fate, or we can stop where we are and wait to be attacked”
”I won't run,” said Stephen sullenly; ”it would be cowardly to desert that poor creature Also we should have a worse chanceus”
”Then you would wait to be attacked?”
”Isn't there a third alternative, Quatermain? To attack them?”
”That's the idea,” I said ”Let us send for Mavovo”
Presently he came and sat down in front of us, while I set out the case to him
”It is the fashi+on of my people to attack rather than to be attacked, and yet, ainst it Hans” (he called him Inblatu, a Zulu hich means Spotted Snake, that was the Hottentot's Kaffir nas, all aruns, whereas we have not more than fifteen, for we cannot trust the slavefence and awake, with spies out, so that it will be difficult to surprise the fence and cannot be surprised Also men who torture and kill women and children, except in war ood shooting, if indeed they come at all Therefore, I say, 'Wait till the buffalo shall either charge or run' But the word is with you, Macuht, not with me, your hunter Speak, you who are old in war, and I will obey”
”You argue well,” I answered; ”also another reason coet behind the slaves, of e should butcher a lot without hurting theh here”
”All right, Quater that those blackguardsrower,” I re at hiht, for let me tell you, if he isn't it h up to the present,” replied Stephen ”But the sight of those unhappy wretches of slaves with their heads cut open, and of the woman tied to a tree to starve--”
”Make you wish to usurp the functions of God Alhty,” I said ”Well, it is a natural impulse and perhaps, in the circumstances, one that will not displease Hi to do, let's get to business so that these Arab gentlemen may find their breakfast ready when they come to call”
CHAPTER VII
THE RUSH OF THE SLAVES
Well, we did all that we could in the way of thened the thorn fence of our boe fires outside of it to give us light, I allotted his place to each of the hunters and saw that their rifles were in order and that they had plenty of a him that I would wake him to watch later on This, however, I had no intention of doing as I wanted him to rise fresh and with a steady nerve on the occasion of his first fight
As soon as I saw that his eyes were shut I sat down on a box to think To tell the truth, I was not altogether happy in in with I did not kno the twenty bearers would behave under fire They ht be seized with panic and rush about, in which case I determined to let them out of the bo
A worse oodforce could take cover But what I feared much more than this, or even than the reedy banks of the strea which they could creep out of reach of our bullets, was a sloping stretch of land behind us, covered with thick grass and scrub and rising to a crest about two hundred yards away Now if the Arabs got round to this crest they would fire straight into our boma and make it untenable Also if the ere in their favour, they ht burn us out or attack under the clouds of smoke As a matter of fact, by the special s happened, for a reason which I will explain presently
In the case of a night, or rather a dawn attack, I have always found that hour before the sky begins to lighten very trying indeed As a rule everything that can be done is done, so that one must sit idle Also it is then that both the physical and the moral qualities are at their lowest ebb, as is the , the day is not yet born All nature feels the influence of that hour Then bad dreams come, then infants wake and call, then me soul often takes its plunge into the depths of the Unknown It is not wonderful, therefore, that on this occasion the wheels of Ti was at hand bybearers turned andand departed to its own place, an alert-an to pull at their tether-ropes As yet, however, it was quite dark Hans crept up to ht of the watch-fire
”I sain
Mavovo appeared, his ainst the blackness
”Watcher-by-Night, the night is done,” he said ”If they co, he too passed away into the dark, and presently I heard the sounds of spear-blades striking together and of rifles being cocked
I went to Stephen and woke hireenhouses; then reht at last Jolly, old fellow, isn't it?”
”You are a jolly old fool!” I answered inconsequently; and e
Myshould happen to him, what should I say to his father? Well, in that event, it was probable that so would happen to me too Very possibly we should both be dead in an hour Certainly I had no intention of allowingdevils Hassan's remarks about fires and ant-heaps and the sun were too vividly impressed upon my h it required kicks to rouse most of the bearers from their slumbers They, poor men, were accustomed to the presence of Death and did not suffer hiether and seens of treachery, you rave, silent fashi+on
Only we left the rescued slave-woed in the stupor of exhaustion in a corner of the ca her?
Saht two pannikins of coffee to Stephen and myself
”This is a momentous occasion, Messrs Quaterave us the coffee, and I noted that his hand shook and his teeth chattered ”The cold is extre these physical symptoms which he saw I had observed ”Mr Quaterround and smell the battle froht up to the trade and take it otherwise Indeed I wish I was back at the Cape, yes, even within the ashed walls of the Place of Detention”
”So do I,” I round with difficulty
But Stephen laughed outright and asked: ”What will you do, Sains?”
”Mr Somers,” he answered, ”I have e a hole behind that tree-trunk, through which I hope bullets will not pass There, being a man of peace, I shall pray for our success”
”And if the Arabs get in, Sammy?”
”Then, sir, under Heaven, I shall trust to the fleetness of ht foot flew up and caught Sa a reproachful look behind him
Just then a terrible clamour arose in the slavers' camp which hitherto had been very silent, and just then also the first light of dawn glinted on the barrels of our guns
”Look out!” I cried, as I gulped down the last ofon there”
The clarew louder and louder till it seemed to fill the skies with a concentrated noise of curses and shrieking Distinct froe, and then caony and the thud offast, as it does when once it coh the greyup the slope towards us Sos of wood tied behind theed children by the hand, and all yelled at the top of their voices
”The slaves are attacking us,” said Stephen, lifting his rifle
”Don't shoot,” I cried ”I think they have broken loose and are taking refuge with us”
I was right These unfortunates had used the two knives which ourcut their bonds during the night they were running to seek the protection of the Englished, a hideous mob, the slave-sticks still fast to the necks of many of them, for they had not found time or opportunity to loose the The position was clearly very serious, for if they burst into our camp, we should be overwhelmed by their rush and fall victims to the bullets of their captors