Part 26 (1/2)
It was evening, and a party of travellers were encareat and desolate plain They were a small party, three white people, namely, Leonard, Francisco, and Juanna, fifteen of the Settlement men under the leadershi+p of Peter--that same headman who had been rescued from the slave camp--the dwarf, Otter, and Juanna's old nurse, Soa
For twelve weeks they had travelled al continually northward and ard First they followed the course of the river in canoes for ten days orthe main stream, they paddled for three weeks up that of a tributary called Mavuae, which ran for e of ress because of the frequent rapids, which necessitated the porterage of the canoes over broken ground, and for considerable distances At length they caretfully enough they were obliged to abandon the canoes altogether and proceed on foot
The dangers of their water journey had beencompared with those that now environed them, and in addition to bodily perils, theyh an unknown country, cumbered as they ith arh which they were now passing was nai, a land uninhabited by ah a measureless waste; plain succeeded plain in endless ave place to distance, and ever there were rew colder: they were traversing a portion of the unexplored plateau that separates southern from central Africa Its loneliness ful, and the bearers began tothat they had reached the end of the world, and alking over its edge Indeed they had only two coh that none of them were stricken by fever, and they could not wellthe banks of the river that had its source in the territories of the People of the Mist
The adventures that befell them were endless, but it is not proposed to describe the unable to find game On another occasion they fell in with a tribe of bush two of their best h the terror inspired by their firear from the bushmen, they entered a forest country which teeht they must keep at bay as best they could Then cah a plain streith sharp stones which lahty or a hundred rass just noith the winter frosts, that caught their feet at every step
Now at length they halted on the boundary of the land of the People of the Mist There before thee cliff or wall of rock, stretching across the plain like a giant step, far as the eye could reach, and varying froht Down the surface of this cliff the river flowed in a series of beautiful cascades
Before they had finished their evening ht the three white people stared hopelessly at this frowning natural fortification, wondering if they could cli also what terrors awaited thereat weariness had overcoretted that they had ever undertaken this ht, where, some fifty paces away, the Settlement men were crouched round the fire They also were silent, and it was easy to see that the heart was out of the?” said Juanna at last with a rather pathetic atteirl, when her feet were sore and her head was aching, and she wished that she were dead, almost?
”Yes,” answered Leonard, ”I will say that I adht it possible for any young lady to have gone through the last two ' at the end of them”
”Oh, I a as s as sore feet and headaches in the world
”Are you?” said Leonard, ”then I envy you, that is all Here comes old Soa, and Otter after her I wonder what is the reeable, I suppose”
Soa arrived and squatted down in front of the ht Otter was beside her, and though he stood and she sat, their heads were almost on a level
”What is it, Soa?” said Leonard carelessly
”Deliverer,” she answered, for all the natives knew hi for gold yonder, in the Place of Graves, I ain down on paper In that paper I promised that if you rescued my mistress I would lead you to the land were precious stones were to be won, and I gave you one of those stones in earnest You saved my mistress, Mavoom her father died, and the time came when I must fulfil my promise For my own part I would not have fulfilled it, for I onlyto deceive you But my mistress yonder refused to listen to me
”'No,' she said, 'that which you have sworn on my behalf and your own o away, Soa, for I have done with you'
”Then, Deliverer, rather than part with her whom I loved, and whom I had nursed from a babe, I yielded And now you stand upon the borders of the country of my people Say, are you minded to cross them, Deliverer?”
”What else did I come for, Soa?” he asked
”Nay, I know not You came out of the folly of your heart, to satisfy the desire of your heart Listen, that tale I told you is true, and yet I did not tell you all the truth Beyond that cliff live a people of great stature, and very fierce; a people whose custoers to their Gods Enter there, and they will kill you thus”
”What do you mean, woman?” asked Leonard
”I mean that if you hold your life dear, or her life,” and she pointed to Juanna, ”you will turn with the first light and go back whence you came It is true that the stones are there, but death shall be the reward of him who strives to steal them”
”I must say this is cheerful,” replied Leonard ”What did you mean, then, by all that story you told me about a plan that you had to win the treasures of this people? Are you a liar, Soa?”
”I have said that all I told you was true,” she answered sullenly
”Very well, then, I have cooodto turn back now You can leave o on I will not be made a fool of in this way”
”None of us have any wish to befor myself, I would far rather die at once than attempt a return journey just at present So now, Soa, perhaps you will stop croaking and tell us definitely ecountrymen of yours, e have come so far to spoil