Part 19 (1/2)
They stared at me, and Miss Hope, as seated by Stephen, asked in her usual Biblical language: ”Have you the wings of a dove that you can fly, O Mr Allan?”
”No,” I answered, ”but I have the fins of a fish, or so like them, and I can swim”
Now there arose a chorus of expostulation
”You shan't risk it,” said Stephen, ”I can swio, I want a bath”
”That you will have, O Stephen,” interrupted Miss Hope, as I thought in some alarm ”The latter rain fro) ”Yes, Stephen, you can swi that you are not particularly deadly with a rifle, and clean shooting may be the essence of this business Now listen toI hope that I shall succeed, but if I fail it does not so very much matter, for you will be no worse off than you were before There are three pairs of you John and his wife; Stephen and Miss Hope; Mavovo and Hans If the odd rief, you will have to choose a new captain, that is all, but while I lead I mean to be obeyed”
Then Mavovo, to who, spoke
”My father Macumazana is a brave man If he lives he will have done his duty If he dies he will have done his duty still better, and, on the earth or in the under-world areat for ever; yes, his na”
When Brother John had translated these words, which I thought fine, there was silence
”Now,” I said, ”coe, all of you You will be in less danger fro there, where are no tall trees And while I aorilla-skin as best you can, lacing it on to hiht with us, and filling out the hollows and the head with leaves or reeds I want hiroaned audibly, but made no objection and we started with our ie of the estuary where we hid behind a clurove bushes and tall, feathery reeds Then I took off so in fact to my flannel shi+rt and the cotton pants I wore, both of which were grey in colour and therefore alht
Noas ready and Hans handed me the little rifle
”It is at full cock, Baas, with the catch on,” he said, ”and carefully loaded Also I have wrapped the lining of rease especially in hot weather, Baas, round the lock to keep away the wet from the cap and powder It is not tied, Baas, only twisted Give the rifle a shake and it will fall off”
”I understand,” I said, and gripped the gun with ue just forward of the ha froht over the lock and cap Then I shook hands with the others and when I came to Miss Hope I am proud to add that she spontaneously and of her own accord imprinted a kiss upon my mediaeval brow I felt inclined to return it, but did not
”It is the kiss of peace, O Allan,” she said ”May you go and return in peace”
”Thank you,” I said, ”but get on with dressing Hans in his new clothes”
Stephenashaorous and well-directed prayer Mavovo saluted with the copper assegai and began to give a or Zulu titles of praise beneath his breath, and Mrs Eversley said: ”Oh! I thank God that I have lived to see a brave English gentlereat coh when I afterwards discovered that she herself was English by birth, it took off sohtning, for the store, accompanied by Hans, as determined to see the last ofshows you,” I said, as I slid gently frorove-root into that filthy stream, ”and tell them to keep my coat and trousers dry if they can”
”Good-bye, Baas,” he ood heart, O Baas of Baases After all, this is nothing to the vultures of the Hill of Slaughter Intoain, for she knoho can hold her straight!”
That was the last I heard of Hans, for if he said any more, the hiss of the torrential rain sood heart” before the others, but it is beyond ht I felt, perhaps the worst of allon one of the maddest ventures that was ever undertaken by ain, but that which appealed to me most at the moment was the crocodiles I have always hated crocodiles since-well, never mind-and the place was as full of them as the ponds at Ascension are of turtles
Still I swam on The estuary was perhaps two hundred yards wide, not ood swimmer as I was in those days But then I had to hold the rifle above the water with my left hand at all cost, for if once it went beneath it would be useless Also I was desperately afraid of being seen in the lightning flashes, although to minimise this risk I had kept my dark-coloured cloth hat uponitself to fear, for it was fearful and continuous and see the water It was a fact that a fire-ball or so of the sort hit the surface within a few yards of h it had aiht, though itat the moment
In one way, or rather, in two, however, I was lucky The first was the coht have swamped me and would at any rate have wetted the rifle The second was that there was no fear oflow of the fires which burned on either side of the Motombo's seat They served the same purpose to me as did the lamp of the lady called Hero to her lover Leander when he swaht But he had so pleasant to look forward to, whereas I--! Still, there was another point in coht, was a priestess of the Greek Goddess of love, whereas the party aited ious line of business Only, as I firmly believe, he was a priest of the devil
I suppose that swim took me about a quarter-of-an-hour, for I went slowly to save ested haste But thank Heaven they never appeared to complicate matters Noas quite near the cave, and noas beneath the overhanging roof and in the shalloater of the little bay that formed a harbour for the canoe I stood uponup to my breast, and peered about me, while I rested and worked un, to and fro The fires had burnt somewhat low and until rew accustoht of the place I could not see clearly
I took the rag from round the lock of the rifle, wiped the wet off the barrel with it and let it fall Then I loosed the catch and by touching a certain ain and began to s There was the platform and there, alas! on it sat the toad-like Moto not towards the water, but down the cave I hesitated for one fateful et the canoe aithout shooting I did not like the job; moreover, his head was held forward and invisible, and hoas I tohim with a shot in the back? Lastly, if possible, I wished to avoid firing because of the report
At that instant the Motombo wheeled round Some instinct ravelike save for the soft splash of the rain without As he turned the lightning blazed and he saw me
”It is the whitewhisper, while I waited through the following darkness with the rifle at ain he has a gun! Oh! Fate stabs, doubtless the God is dead and I too must die!”
Then as if some doubt struck hi flashed and was accompanied by a fearful crack of thunder With a prayer for skill, I covered his head and fired by the glare of it just as the trumpet touched his lips It fell froether, and moved no more
Oh! thank God, thank God! in this supreme moment of trial the art of which I am a master had not failed me If my hand had shaken ever so little, ifpoint, had playedfrom Hans's hat had not sufficed to keep away the damp from the cap and powder! Well, this history would never have been written and there would have been soraveyard of the Kalubis, that is all!
For ato see the women attendants dart from the doorways in the sides of the cave, and to hear theuessed that the rattle of the thunder had sed up the crack of the rifle, a noise, be it remembered, that none of them had ever heard For an unknown number of years this ancient creature, I suppose, had squatted day and night upon that platform, whence, I daresay, it was difficult for him to move So after they had wrapped his furs round him at sunset and made up the fires to keep him warm, why should his women come to disturb him unless he called them with his horn? Probably it was not even lawful that they should do so
Somewhat reassured I waded forward a few paces and loosed the canoe which was tied by the prow Then I scra down the rifle, took one of the paddles and began to push out of the creek Just then the lightning flared once ht of the Motombo's face that was noithin a few feet ofalmost on his knees, and its appearance was dreadful In the centre of the forehead was a blue mark where the bullet had entered, for I had made no mistake in that matter The deep-set round eyes were open and, all their fire gone, see brows Theout upon the pendulous lip The leather-like skin of the bloated cheeks had assumed an ashen hue still streaked andwas horrible, and sometimes when I am out of sorts, it haunts me to this day Yet that creature's blood does not lie heavy on my mind, of it my conscience is not afraid His end was necessary to save the innocent and I am sure that it ell deserved For he was a devil, akin to the great God ape I had slain in the forest, to whom, by the way, he bore a most remarkable resemblance in death Indeed if their heads had been laid side by side at a little distance, it would not have been too easy to tell the chins and yellow tushes at the corners of the mouth
Presently I was clear of the cave Still for a while I lay to at one side of it against the towering cliff, both to listen in case what I had done should be discovered, and for fear lest the lightning which was still bright, although the stor away, should reveal me to any watchers
For quite tento risk it, paddled softly towards the opposite bank keeping, however, a little to the west of the cave and taking my line by a certain very tall tree which, as I had noted, towered up against the sky at the back of the graveyard
As it happened my calculations were accurate and in the end I directed the bow of the canoe into the rushes behind which I had left h the thinning rain-clouds, and by its light they saw orilla-God hi forward to seize the boat There was the dreadful brute exactly as he had appeared in the forest, except that it seehed and that laugh did ood
”Is that you, Baas?” said a orilla ”Are you safe, Baas?”
”Of course,” I answered, ”or how should I be here?” adding cheerfully, ”Are you coht, Hans?”
”Oh! Baas,” answered the voice, ”tell me what happened Even in this stink I burn to know”
”Death happened to the Motoive me your hand and my clothes, and, Mavovo, hold the rifle and the canoe while I put the into the reeds, pulled offpockets ofcoat, for I did not want to lose theh scratchy, were quite good enough clothing in that warood sup of brandy from the flask, and ate some food which I see short their demonstrations of wonder and adet in theers through the skin of the gorilla's ar the last cap on the nipple This done, I joined the Brother John and Stephen paddle
Making a circuit to avoid observation as before, in a very short time we reached the mouth of the cave I leant forward and peeped round the western wall of rock nobody see There the fires burned dimly, there the huddled shape of the Motombo still crouched upon the platform Silently, silently we disembarked, and I formed our procession while the others looked askance at the horrible face of the dead Motombo
I headed it, then ca his part of the God of the forest; then Brother John and Stephen carrying the Holy Flower After it walked Hope, while Mavovo brought up the rear Near to one of the fires, as I had noted on our first passage of the cave, lay a pile of the torches which I have already n froed the canoe back into its little dock and tied the cord to its post Its appearance there, apparently undisturbed,of the water seem even more mysterious All this while I watched the doors in the sides of the cave, expecting every moment to see the women rush out But none came Perhaps they slept, or perhaps they were absent; I do not know to this day
We started, and in soles of the cave, extinguishi+ng our torches as soon aslight at its inland outlet At a few paces from its mouth stood a sentry His back was towards the cave, and in the uncertain glea with the clouds, for a thin rain still fell, he never noted us till ere right on to hiht of this procession of the Gods of his land, threw up his arh I never asked, I think that Mavovo tookAt any rate when I looked back later on, I observed that he was carrying a big Pongo spear with a long shaft, instead of the copper weapon which he had taken from one of the coffins
On wethe easy path by which we had come As I have said, the country was very deserted and the inhabitants of such huts as we passed were evidently fast asleep Also there were no dogs in this land to awake the Between the cave and Rica ere not, I think, seen by a single soul