Part 72 (2/2)
All of us except Monty had beards by that tih for any venture Considering the rifles and our uncouth appearance, Hassan took heart of grace He insisted on an aruard to walk on either side of hi behind rocks at intervals, ier to show the way
It seeschen's early arrival he had camped within aunreasoning courage froschen for friend But the cannibals (who ry folk, for there were no plantations, and almost no animals on all those upper slopes) had pounced on his three lean porters, , he had watched his three men killed, toasted before a fire in a cavern- the shoulder of theuncooked corn he had in a little bag, hiding and running at intervals for a day and a night until he chanced on us For an old ly little affected by the adventure
We took longer over the course than he had done, because he wanted to find cannibals, and teach them, maybe, a needed lesson Fred's theory was that we should surprise the soht thee
So we threw out a line of scouts, and pounced on cave- the course of theht ourselves lost in the glooain we found bones--bones of wild animals, and of birds, and of fish; now and then bones that perhaps had been monkeys, but that looked too suspiciously like those of the fat babies es below for the benefit of the doubt to be conceded without so did we see until we rounded the northeastern hump of the mountain in a bitter wind, and spied half a hundred naked ht of us and volleyed ridiculous arrows from a cave-mouth The arrows fell about midway between us and them, but threw Hassan into a paroxysm of fear, out of which it was difficult to shake him
”Those are the people who ate my men! That is the cavern where Tippoo Tib hid the ivory! That is wherefor their naked wouard for fear lest he bolt again and leave us And all that day, and all the next we hunted for cannibals through mazy caverns that seemed to extend into the mountain's very womb
There were times when the stench was so horrible we nearly fainted We stumbled on looht we knew in advance--and scraes that in places were sht, or left of us, or up above, or down beloe could hear the inhabitants sca away Now and then an arroould flitter between us; but their supply of aht we camped in the cavern mouth to cut off all escape, and resumed the hunt at dawn But the caverns were hot--hotter by contrast with the biting winds outside; and when in the afternoon of the second day we all ca sweat,the whole tribe--scarcelyabove, whose existence we had not guessed, and go scae like monkeys Some of them stopped to throw stones at us--impotent, aimless stones that fell half-way; and Fred sent three bullets after thee, after which they showed us a turn of speed that was sireat disillusionhed Will ”Hassan! Go forward, and shohere that hoard of ivory ought ta be!”
We all expected disillusionment Broas under no delusion as to his share in the venture, scoffed openly at the idea of finding anything buried, in a land where every living ”crittur,” as he put it, was a thief from birth But Hassan led on in, fearless now that the cannibals were gone, and positive as if he led into his own house and would show his house-hold treasures
He stopped before a black- the shts and a rope We lit lanterns, and he showed us risly confusion
”Tippoo Tib hisivory in here, then byu to tell!
Plenty men who eat men in those days--all mountains full of them!”
He tied a lantern to a rope and lowered it dohat looked like an old vent-hole in the lava But the little light was lost in the enor
”Send a e and sniffed There was a faint sh to hurt
”Who'll go?” asked Monty, and I thought he was going to volunteer hio down!” announced Kazimoto cheerfully, and promptly proceeded to divest hi
We ave hie For fifty or sixty feet he descended steadily, swinging the lantern and walking doard, held almost horizontally by the slowly paid-out rope Then he stopped, and we heard hi
”What do you see?” we called down
”Pembe!” (Ivory)
”Much of it?”
”Teli!” (Too much!) ”Oh, teli, teli! Teli, teli, teli, TELI!”
His voice ended with the very high-pitched note that natives use when they want to ain Next he called very excitedly